August 2007

The Washington State Little League Baseball All Star Championship at Richland saw West Seattle Little League All Stars (11-12year old boys) win third place.

West Seattle won their first three games at the State Tournament outscoring their opponents 36-7 before losing in 101-degree heat to defending state champs Kent 14-3. West Seattle's three victories were against the District Champions from Sedro Woolley, Centralia and Vancouver.

The big question is whether "Seattle Homes Within Reach" will reach enough of the residents of the city to keep them from either being forced to live elsewhere or become part of the working homeless.

As Rebekah Schilperoort's story on Page One of today's West Seattle Herald outlines, the new housing relief plan proposed by Mayor Greg Nickels is supposed to permit developers to rent at a higher rate than the current program. The new program would target those making around 80 percent of median, which means singles making up to $49,000 and families earning no more than $62,300.

I read Mary Ellen Kanyer's recent letter to the editor (August 15) regarding bus service at Alki with great interest.

While I share her unhappiness with the amount of regular bus service now available to Alki residents, I would like to give West Seattle Herald readers a little more background on this issue.

With the passage of Tim Eyman's Initiative 695 in 1999, a great deal of transit funding disappeared. Metro was forced to cut the lowest-performing 10 percent of its routes, including night, mid-day and weekend runs on Alki's route 37. I am told that Mrs.

If the buyer of the Fauntleroy property would bother to take a snapshot of his house as seen from the properties below he would understand what the fuss is all about (story, August 8). The structure dominates the entire hillside and is woefully out of scale. Besides, who would ever consider erecting a three-storey house on what was once someone's back yard!

Don Butler

Fauntleroy

Thank you, Tim St. Clair for your excellent article, "More people mean more lost views," August 8. While this is not a new concern, your "tell it like it is" report is appreciated.

I have great empathy with Dennis Hoelscher as I lost half of my view - the middle part - when a two-story home was taken down and replaced with a three-story one last year. We had a lovely view of the sound and the ferry terminal. Not any more.

And nothing could be done about it.

Great editorial (August 15). It was concise, accurate and called for action on an important issue. You can be sure I will be back in Olympia working on this again this next session.

Also, Rebekah is doing a great job covering the housing issues.

Tom Rasmussen

Seattle City Councilman

Last Tuesday, during our West Seattle block party, my elderly neighbor decided she wanted to go to the store and get a salad for her contribution. She had had some car trouble earlier so we were a little worried about her getting there and back.

Sure enough, after the block party started a strange car rolled into her driveway and some people I didn't recognize were helping her get out of their car. Apparently she got halfway to the store when the car died again.

In comes our Good Samaritan.

How We Got Here

Every governing system run by a single party or ideology runs the risk of falling victim to groupthink, a condition in which basic assumptions go unchallenged, debate is minimized, dissenters are marginalized, and all the knowing smiles and vigorous head-nodding create an impression everything is going just great - until it isn't.

Seattle Police are investigating the purposeful burning of a three-story apartment building under construction north of the Junction.

Firefighters were called to California Avenue near Genesee Street at 12:42 a.m. Aug. 17 and found the partly built structure enveloped in flames. A new building behind the main structure also was on fire, said Helen Fitzpatrick, Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman. Damage costs were estimated at approximately $650,000.

Two firefighters were injured battling the blaze and taken to Harborview Medical Center.

In an attempt to encourage developers to build more affordable housing for middle-income workers, Mayor Greg Nickels has released a revamped version of Seattle's tax exemption program, which builders say has never "penciled out."

The current program wasn't scheduled to sunset until 2009, but the rental market has changed drastically enough to render it practically useless, said Rick Hooper, policy director for the city's Office of Housing.