March 2006

Tom Weeks of West Seattle has joined the board of directors of People For Puget Sound, a citizens group dedicated to protecting and restoring Puget Sound.

Weeks is the former Monorail board chairman, Seattle City Council member and Seattle School District director of human resources.

"From my home office, I look out across the driftwood and the beach of Fauntleroy Cove," said Weeks. "I watch the Vashon ferry coming and going, I see Blake Island and the setting sun on the Kitsap Peninsula and the Olympic Mountains farther to the west.

Margaret Toomey, daughter of Denis Toomey of West Seattle has been named to the Grinnell College Dean's List for the 2005 fall semester. Toomey is a theatre major. Toomey is one of 267 students honored for outstanding academic achievement by being named to the Dean's List. To make the Dean's List, students must have a grade point average of 3.75 or above.

Founded in 1846, Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, is an independent liberal arts college.

When the phone rang and my neighbor said there was an eagle out front I raced out with my trusty digital camera and got a shot of a young bird on their bulkhead.

But a few seconds later two adult birds came swooping overhead being chased by several seagulls. I watched in fascination and suddenly one eagle landed right on top of the gold ball on our flag pole.

People along the shoreline from Alki to Dash Point see a number of these magnificent birds throughout the year.

On Friday afternoon, a local 18-year-old was allegedly speeding down Highland Park Way at 2nd SW when he lost control of his car. He hit and killed a 58-year-old Junction-area resident who was riding his bicycle on the bike trail. The suspect was released from the precinct but will be investigated for vehicular homicide charges.

A young man held a butcher knife to his throat and threatened to kill himself after the latest in a series of family disappointments.

Enron is breathing its last gasps. Trials are in progress for its former chairman, Ken Lay and president, Jeffrey Skilling. Before the year is out, we'll likely know whether they're found guilty of crimes relating to misleading investors in the second largest bankruptcy in history. Even after the echoes of the trial fade, Enron will be a benchmark of corporate malfeasance and catastrophe for a long time to come. Or at least it should.

Because of its size, Enron managed to splatter a lot of people when it hit the ground.

One technique the budget-minded gardener must master is dividing: breaking up one plant to make many new ones. For a relatively low risk the return can be phenomenal. Huecheras are a good example. Most of the trendy cultivars, such as Lime Rickey and Green Spice, sell for up to $15.00 for a 6-inch pot. And for the best effect at least 3 Huecheras should be planted together. Ouch -- that adds up. Instead, buy one and wait a year or two, then divide it. That $15.00 plant may yield up to 6 new plants. That's a savings of $75.00! Division is not without challenge and risk, however.

Years before the Seattle Seahawks existed, Lafa Lane, president of the Ballard Mortgage Company, brought professional football to the city when he owned the Seattle Rangers from 1966 to 1969.

The Rangers competed in the old Continental Football League (CFL) against 29 other teams across the country in three divisions.

Lane first became interested sports as a teenager while growing up in Gas City, Kansas. He learned football as a second string quarterback at Lola High School.

In 1940 he moved to Seattle and started the Ballard Mortgage Company.

The Northwest Senior Activity Center's 2006 Senior Benefit Auction is coming up and the timing could not be better as the organization faces budget cuts to its nutrition program.

An additional $29,000 needs to be brought in throughout this year for the lunch program due to increased costs and reduced support from Senior Services, said Executive Director Carlye Teel.

The five-day-a-week lunch program serves 12,000 meals a year.

Mayor Greg Nickels was in Ballard last week promoting a number of initiatives for the beginning of his second term in office. The viaduct replacement, in all its permutations, has dominated recent headlines but the mayor's biggest push last week was for projects significantly more pedestrian. One of the most important, he said, is finding funding for repairing roads and bridges.

"It's not very sexy but it's very important. At some point, you get a street in such disrepair, you've got to rebuild that street.

Overlooking Puget Sound, the bluffs along Shilshole Bay from Golden Gardens to Carkeek Park are unstable and prone to landslides. On Thursday, January 6, a four foot high retaining wall above the railroad tracks running along the shoreline failed, allowing a small slide to close one of the two lines. Passenger rail service was halted for 48 hours.

Approximately 60 slides occurred across the city in 2005. Landslides are a yearly occurrence in Seattle. They are caused by a combination of precipitation, loose soil, and steep slopes, three things that are abundant throughout the city.