November 2007

Mayor Greg Nickels has added $3.5 million to his 2008 proposed budget to help fund 84 permanent supportive housing studio apartments for chronically homeless people.

Half the units at the Plymouth Housing Group's First and Cedar project would use a "Housing First" model, which combines homeless housing with important in-house medical and mental health services and other support programs.

"For too long, we attempted to manage homelessness through a system that in many cases provides little more than a mattress for the night," said Nickels.

Their slogan says it all. "Wrap the world around your finger," and they mean it literally.

The small West Seattle business is known as The Giving Ring and it is literally changing the world one ring at a time by donating 100 percent of its net profits to 10 beneficiaries located all over the globe.

"I operate this as a small business that donates profit, because I believe very strongly that global sustainability is the responsibility of all businesses," says owner Susan Stein Quattrociocchi, who also runs a small Japanese acupressure business known as Stone Lily.

A handful of West Seattle residents joined homeowners with solar power across the country recently and opened their doors to citizens curious about solar energy.

Participants in the 12th annual National Solar Tour hoped to inspire others to reduce energy use. The American Solar Energy Society sponsors the event.

West Seattle homeowner Stephanie Brown, a solar power enthusiast, converted her 1910 farmhouse into an energy-saving catalyst. Relying on the sun for power and heat not only helps the environment, but also saves Brown money on energy bills.

The Seattle City Council has unanimously passed the Seattle Bicycle Master Plan in order to, it the city's words, "increase bicycling and improve bicyclists' safety in the city."

The Bicycle Master Plan was an 18-month collaboration between the city and a Citizen's Advisory Board that

included representatives from the Cascade Bicycle Club, the Bicycle Alliance of Washington, and others.

"Bicycling has great benefits for personal, public, and global health, said Councilwoman Jan Drago, chair of the Transportation Committee.

In the Nov. 7 front page story on the seal pup, we incorrectly named the director of fisheries for the Suquamish Tribe. His name is Rob Purser. We regret the error.

A grandfather flagged down an officer in the Southwest Precinct parking lot to report a missing child. His former daughter-in-law planned to move to the Tri-Cities with her fianc

Increased coyote sightings and the suspected killing of a dog by a coyote in North Seattle were featured in a KING 5 news report on Nov.