March 2007

When Marcia Brunner's insurance dropped her coverage for a stem cell transplant, the community stepped in to raise money for the medical procedure, which may save her life.

The insurance company, which was to pay for 90 percent of cost of the operation, told Brunner the procedure was too experimental and unproven.

"The insurance reneged on the stem cell transplant," said Brunner's son Dan Johnson.

She was left with the challenge of raising $379,000 for the operation originally set for March 1.

Head to Seattle's new Olympic Sculpture Park downtown where you can see artwork like this Alexander Calder sculpture, titled Eagle, 1971. Eagle displays curving wings, assertive stance and a pointy beak that is weightless, colorful and abstract. Calder developed his sculptural style while in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. Dean Wong photo.

Veteran team returns for shot at KingCo

By Dean Wong

With spring fast approaching the Ballard Beavers fast pitch softball team is ready to make a statement in KingCo.

There's reason for optimism. Eleven players from last year are back for another run to the playoffs.

Senior Leslie Ellingsen is playing the final season for Ballard and if the last two years are any indication, KingCo pitchers have much to fear.

Ellingsen had what head coach Al Lowe described as an "incredibly high" batting average of .609 in 2006.

This was no ordinary Monday morning. Instead of throwing on a sweatshirt, jeans and tennis shoes, I dressed formally and arrived at Ballard High School an hour before class began.

Sixty sleepy classmates and I boarded the yellow school bus on March 5, bound for the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, location of the seventh annual Student Biotech Expo.

The Biotech Expo, hosted by Northwest Association for Biomedical Research (NWABR), is a unique science fair that requires creative expression of a concept from biotechnology or biomedicine.

They may go by a different name now, but their commit to protecting the Hylebos Creek watershed remains the same.

The Friends of the Hylebos Wetlands has changed its name, ever so slightly, dropping the "wetlands" to become Friends of the Hylebos.

The new name reflects the organization's focus on conserving and restoring the entire Hylebos Creek Watershed.

The group also unveiled a new logo to accompany the name change.

"The Friends started out in 1983, focusing on protecting the West Hylebos Wetlands near St.

Southwest King County residents will have their say on a proposed roads and transit funding package during an open house at Highline Community College on March 20 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Regional Transportation Improvement District (RTID) and Sound Transit officials will give a presentation at 6 p.m.

The college is located at 2400 S. 240th St.

I slept terribly last night.

I dreamt about tunnels and dirt, of ruined lawns and flower beds.

I forced my frame out of bed and I took a shower. In the steamy room, I organized my thoughts and smiled.

Today was the day.

After a light breakfast, I went to the garage to make preparations for "Operation Eradication."

The pivotal portion of the plan being my latest acquisition, ''The MoleBuster 3000 - Insectivora Live Ensconsement Apparatus."

With a history as rich and colorful as Federal Way's, it's hard to believe this no one has tried to take on this project earlier.

Volunteer Marie Sciacqua agrees.

Citizens for Accountable Elections filed an initiative petition with King County last week that proposes to create an elected Director of Elections.

The group's spokesperson, former legislator Toby Nixon, declared, "Every county in Washington has an elected person that oversees all aspects of the voting experience, except King County. We'd like to change that."

The group is now is waiting for King County to give it the go-ahead to collect the requisite 55,000 signatures to qualify for this November's general election ballot.