November 2006

Decked out and trim in his Navy whites from World War II, Art Peters connects with teenagers in the classroom when he tells them he served with 200 other guys ages 17 to 25 aboard a ship the length of a football field.

He and the others were at sea for two years and three months without ever going ashore.

Peters, a White Center resident for 53 years, regales middle and high school students in the Highline School District with his experiences as a crewman aboard the USS Lyman, a 300-foot destroyer escort.

There's concern that waves during a bad storm this winter might break a vulnerable section of the seawall along Emma Schmitz Memorial Viewpoint, which could threaten a large sewer pipeline buried behind the seawall as well as Beach Drive.

There are signs of erosion along the bottom or "toe" of the seawall at the southern end of the viewpoint, where about 200 feet of the seawall bottom is exposed to waves.

The Seattle School District is forming another community advisory committee, but this time the focus will be on building better alternative education programs, rather than shutting down schools.

The new committee was proposed by the district's chief academic officer, Carla Santorno, and will be charged with advising the School Board on policies and procedures related to alternative schools.

Last year, a short-term School Board's advisory committee formed to develop a definition for alternative education because, although alternative schools have been in the district since

Highline voters may be asked to approve a $140.4 million, four-year public school levy next year.

District staffers recently presented the proposal that would replace a four-year levy that expires next September.

Superintendent John Welch said he plans to bring a resolution to the board for approval but has not done so as yet.

Interim Business Services director Donn Fountain said the levy would fund about 18 percent of the district's budget.

King County is planning to create a five-block pedestrian corridor to connect the new Greenbridge housing development to the White Center business district.

The new walking route is planned on Southwest 98th Street between 11th and 16th avenues Southwest.

The lights will stay on at the Solstice Park tennis courts as the city starts its winter energy-savings plan.

Formerly known as the Lincoln Park Annex, the six public tennis courts at 7400 Fauntleroy Way S.W. are among the busiest in Seattle. That's why the lights will stay on there and at four other public courts around the city including Meadowbrook, Rainier and Miller playfields as well as Lower Woodland Park.

The lights will be turned on at other city tennis courts March 11, when Daylight Savings Time returns.

Seattle City Light cleared out overgrown English ivy, weeds and blackberries recently with the help of four-legged workers that made a "baaa" sound.

The city hired 260 goats from a Spokane company, Healing Hooves, to maintain a one-acre area behind s substation. Healing Hooves is a natural vegetation management company.

"They like to eat blackberries. They eat and it does not bother them. Their mouths chew it up into small pieces," said Craig Madsen, owner of Healing Hooves.

With a steep slope, the goats are used where it's too dangerous for human workers.

Well, maybe it's no gang, but some unscrupulous person noticed a rotting wall in a duplex undergoing remodeling. They enlarged that portion of the crumbling structure, climbed through the hole, and stole $300 worth of plumbing supplies and hand tools and $75 worth of ceramic tile.

Just after midnight early Saturday, two men were kicked out of an Alaska Junction tavern. For unknown reasons, they ran across the street, confronted a stranger in front of another restaurant and hit him in the head with a bottle. The victim fell to the ground and was kicked by the suspects.

The West Seattle High School Women's Volleyball Wildcats went up against the Eastside Catholic Crusaders Thursday in their first game of the District Championship tournament. The loser of their match would be knocked out of the tournament. This is the third time this year that the teams have met with the Crusaders coming out on top both of the first two matches. Both teams were on a roll coming off of their Metro tournament success.

West Seattle came out strong in game one and played the crusaders tough through a 6-6 tie and then again tie scores at 8-8 and 12-12.

Nancy Malmgren and her late husband Les Malmgren are winners of the Fourth Annual Denny Awards for their volunteer service benefiting Carkeek Park.

The award was presented during a ceremony held by Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent Ken Bounds last week at Seattle City Hall.

"I felt really grateful, " said Malmgren after receiving the award.

The Malmgrens have dedicated 35 years to restoring Carkeek Park and the Piper's Creek Watershed, which runs through it.