The Port of Seattle has started adding water to Des Moines Creek this summer, one year ahead of schedule.
Augmenting water flows into Des Moines and Walker creeks was required by environmental permits for construction of the third runway at Sea-Tac International Airport.
Thanks to visionaries both past and present, the Normandy Park Swim Club simultaneously celebrated last month its 50th anniversary and the completion of a pool renovation project.
The club, which opened on July 14, 1957, was "the first outdoor private club in the northwest," said Walt Binz, who swam at the pool as a child and whose mother Betty has been a member since the club's inception.
Binz said the city originally wanted a sewer treatment plant in the area but decided against it because of the Swim Club.
"Without it, Normandy Park would not be Normandy Par
Des Moines' North Hill is going to acquire a sewer system.
A petition in favor of sewer service required signatures from 51 percent of landowners within the improvement district to be successful.
The proposal had already received 51.6 percent approval before the city council considered the item, according to petition proponents.
But some area residents are contesting the petition and reporting an improper signature gathering process.
"The citizens are looking very much at the city and are well aware that you have land there and they are relying on yo
Residents of West Seattle will have an opportunity to enjoy international cuisine and free world music during the second annual Music Nights in White Center.
Music Nights is sponsored by the White Center Arts Alliance and will occur on the second Friday evening of every month through October.
Six different White Center restaurants host live performances by musical groups in international genres, in a format similar to Columbia City's BeatWalk.
"People can go from venue to venue, listen to the music, check out the restaurants and take a look at what we've got he
Moments before 1 o'clock on a recent school day - the exact moment when the bank was reviewing the loan application of the Community School of West Seattle - director Sarah Airhart spoke to the whole school, asking the students to shut their eyes.
"I asked them to shut their eyes and to think happy money thoughts," Airhart recalls.
For anyone who knows the Community School well, the result was typically empowering.
Most fire calls are not for fires, but for first aid and the mission of the Seattle Fire Department is to prevent the loss of life and property resulting from fires, medical emergencies and other disasters.
"The fire department has a layered response system," said Helen Fitzpatrick, public information officer for the Fire Department. "About 80 percent of the calls we get are for non-fire situations.
"If it's more serious, one of the medic units will be dispatched," said Fitzpatrick.
With more than 16 square miles of territory, West Seattle was the largest of a half dozen towns annexed by Seattle a century ago in July.
An incorporated town in its own right, West Seattle became part of the larger city of Seattle July 24, 1907 with the signature of Mayor William Hickman Moore.
Seattle annexed five other nearby towns that year too.
Ballard's 3.7 square miles were added and so was South Park with 0.87 square miles.
Another 5.7 square miles in Southeast Seattle were added, as were 1.12 square miles of Columbia City, and 0.62 square mi
South Seattle Community College's 2007 President's Medal went to Sinath Touch, who graduated with an associate of arts degree (3.99 GPA), and Melcombe Forbes, who graduated with an associate of applied science in landscape management (3.80 GPA).
Both can give voice to the fact that anything is possible when you put your mind to it.
The criteria for selection for the President's Medal include a student's grade point average, rigor of course work, and obstacles that had to be overcome, or other extenuating circumstances.
Some Christians prefer to preach. Some would rather practice. With its "Here's Life Inner City" program, the Campus Crusade for Christ ministry calls upon its college student interns to do both.
Spotting the group's "Prison Bus" parked at the Westwood Christian Assembly church in White Center recently, I tapped on the door and soon found myself talking with program director, Tom Durrant, and Joseph Yasso, one of the student interns, about how it works.
Durrant described the program as a month-long "urban immersion" experience.
Strong. Virile. Aggressive. Dominant.
These are adjectives reflecting physical and acculturated male power. Reinforcing these attributes are the experiences of male bonding, the uniting of men into close knit camaraderie units of power symbolized by the male football team.
Athletic star sports has been tied closely to male bonding. The edge created by the drive to win against an opponent was not a part of the usual female training, however. In days past, a girl to indicate such a spirit would appear too aggressive in the eyes of a future marital partner.
