September 2007

What a trip. A grand adventure. I remember I went to Mount Baker (10,800 feet) to get to the top. I came home in awe of its beauty.

In awe of my companions, the same amazing group I summited Mount Rainier (14, 400 feet) with last year, my clients Sharon Best and Heather de Vrieze, Heather's husband Martin de Vrieze, and Tony Medeiros, along with our amazing and big-hearted mountain guide John Colver, who convinced friend and fellow guide Paul Rosser to assist him in leading our group.

So, rents are supposed to level off by 2010, says an expert in adivising apartment owners and managers.

My opinion on these extra tall houses is put them together away from one-story homes.

My mother had a person buy the house next to hers and he squeezed a big two-story next to her. Now she gets no light or sunshine on the north side of her house, it's always wet, slippery and keeps the house damp on that side constantly.

(If) the person next to me happens to sell his place and they build next to me on my south side, I'll get no sun for nine months of the year. I rely on the extra light and heat in the winter.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the picture of the Lander Street and California Avenue crosswalk on Page 2 in the Sept. 19 edition.

We can't get a safe crosswalk at 48th Avenue or 47th Avenue on Southwest Admiral Way and they get an "artistic" crosswalk where they already have a four-way light. This is an insult to the memory of the young man who was killed crossing at 47th last year.

I would like to know the following: 1) who ordered it, 2) how much it cost, 3) the purpose of it, 4) is this the way to spend our money?

Hats off to the efforts to bring salmon back to Fauntleroy Creek, particularly to the homeowners opening their backyards to important stream work.

As a "native plant steward" who works alongside dedicated volunteers upstream in Fauntleroy Park, I want to urge broader support from surrounding neighbors to retain the health of this valuable watershed.

It's Sunday afternoon. My husband and daughter are out of the house and I'm at my usual weekend station: at the kitchen sink, by the kitchen window hurriedly scouring the dishes. Housework has once again become a sporadic task, now that school has started.

A small Sunday crew, a contractor and two teenaged young men pull up in an extended cab truck, and proceed to do some work around the monolith still under construction across the street. Then, a mid-size silver late model car drives by on my side of the street.

It slows in front of my house.

Mayor Greg Nickels wants to keep commercial and retail development off industrial land and has announced an initiative to strengthen zoning protection for industry and manufacturing in Seattle.

The purpose, Nickels said during a press conference, is to protect existing industrial jobs and encourage new ones.

Over 120,000 jobs in Seattle are in industry and manufacturing, according to the Employment Security Department.

As new residential development around the region is completed, rents will likely start to level out by 2010, according to Mike Scott of Dupre and Scott Apartment Advisors. But it's still cheaper to rent in the south end, where there haven't been a lot of new rentals built.

For example, just 200 new apartment units have been built in West Seattle during the last 10 years, said Scott.

West Seattle's vacancy rate is also better compared to the rest of the city.

September was the official back-to-school season and National Preparedness Month.

The American Red Cross serving King County reminds you any time is a good time to review the "basics" - the basics of preparedness, that is -by ensuring everyone in your home knows the family emergency plan.

National Preparedness Month is now a nationwide coordinated effort that encourages individuals to become better prepared for disasters and other emergencies where they live, learn, and work.

"There are three simple things each of us can do to be prepared: Make a Plan, Build a

Due to anticipated record ridership and higher than expected revenues, King County Metro Transit will extend service on the West Seattle Water Taxi through October, ending on Nov. 2.