September 2006

Election season is in full swing, and forests of campaign signs have sprouted on medians and other public places such as planting strips and even traffic circles. Candidates and their staffs, as well as the general public, should be aware of where campaign signs may or may not be placed.

The Seattle Municipal Code allows for temporary political signs in the public planting strips in front of private property with the consent of the occupant of the property.

Was that the sound of strings-a-strummin'? And I thought I just heard a double-neck guitjo. Some unique sounds are going down on Delridge. And this is in addition to the already happenin' scene just down the street at the Skylark.

For a neighborhood that used to seem somewhat quiet when it came to live music, now the hills are alive with the sound of it.

Anyone familiar with Richard Linklater's earlier animated film "Waking Life" knows it played across the screen like a Dilettante Chocolate - a sumptuous pleasure if consumed in small bites.

Linklater's animation technique is beautiful to distraction; scenes are shot live and then illustrated, frame-by-frame, creating a startling hybrid of replication and decoration.

Something interesting has been going on at the corner of Roxbury and 15th in White Center lately, and I'm not talking about the toilet paper price war raging between local drugstore giants.

For the last several months a small group of local folks has been gathering every Wednesday afternoon at 3 o'clock at this busy intersection to peacefully protest the Iraq war.

The opponents this week for the West Seattle Wildcats girls' volleyball team were two regular playoff contenders for the Metro League's Mountain division; Holy Names Academy on Wednesday, and the Eastside Catholic Crusaders on Friday.

Both matches followed a similar path ending with two shut out losses for the West Seattle girls, but there was a lot of good experience gained and great excitement for the spectators. The Mountain division has beaten up on the Sound division in inter-division play, and the Wildcats are not alone in defeat this week.

Someone said the other day that the subject of whether the North Highline Unincorporated Area should be annexed to Seattle or Burien has been going on for years and people are plain getting sick of it.

Regardless of the ever on-going discussion, it will mean a great deal to the 30,000 people who live there. Their taxes will likely go up no matter which city takes the region, services will be different and even those who wish life would just go on as it is will have to finally understand that change will happen no matter what.

The argument is heating up.

I would like to thank you for having such a good newspaper. You cover our local issues much better than Seattle's two major newspapers do - I really enjoy the different local writers and their views. And I always learn something from the "Letters to the Editor" section; I'm glad you print so many reader responses.

I'd also like to compliment my paper delivery person. I've never had a missed paper and it always arrives on time. For as many years as I've been a subscriber, the service has always been perfect.

Writer has to question why your newspaper is called White Center News. Find it very difficult to read anything pertaining or related to White Center in your paper. Being your offices are in West Seattle probably accounts for all the articles about West Seattle.

There are many great organizations in our White Center area whose goals are to make our community a better place.

Frankly we need publicity that your paper can give us to get our politicians attention to make dollar investments in traffic enforcement, roads, parks, even contaminated lakes.

So, Miss Hom slept through her driver's education course and can't drive when she's nervous - and we're supposed to be glad that she got her license? And she complains about someone else's attitude? Oh dear. I wish her a safe driving experience nonetheless, and hope she will soon gain a little patience, wisdom, and compassion.

Valerie Sensabaugh

Gatewood

I read in today's daily paper that the air ambulance company, Airlift Northwest, is going through some changes relative to safety which prompts me to express my concerns about another issue; the noise levels produced by their aircraft as they fly over or near West Seattle.

One can easily hear Airlift Northwest flights several miles away as they travel in a northeasterly direction, parallel to Alki Avenue towards downtown Seattle. Following several months of hearing their noisy helicopters on a daily basis, including a couple of window rattling 4 a.m.