March 2008

I worked with him way back in 1992, when I was at the West Seattle Herald for a reporting internship that stretched to, I believe, around nine months.

Tim was always ready with a resource for me to call, or to listen and help when I got stuck on something, or to provide other helpful guidance. Most of all, though, I loved Tim's sense of humor. Sometime after I left the Herald I called him about a strange noise I was hearing at night from my Manning Street apartment. It was a low rumble that was driving me nuts (I'm pretty noise sensitive).

I worked with Tim for over 10 years and whether we were debating politics, agreeing on politics (more often than not the past eight years) or just sharing stories about our daily newspaper grind I never had an uninteresting conversation with him.

When you met Tim it was easy to understand why he was such a great reporter and such a good friend. He was always interested. No matter what the subject he was interested.

Libby and I were so sorry to hear about the death of Tim St. Clair. While we know it was not unexpected, the loss hurts no less.

I recently sustained a leg injury which prevented us from attending the memorial service last night, even though it was very close to where we live, but we wanted you to know Libby and I hold all of you in our hearts and prayers during this time.

Since we only met Tim on a few occasions, I cannot say we knew him very well.

I had the fun of working with him for over six years when we were both professional busybodies - Tim for The West Seattle Herald and I for the City of Seattle (Department of Neighborhoods, Neighborhood Service Center Coordinator for Southwest District).

Since we both specialized in the same area, we had a lot of professional reasons to share information, but for personal reasons, we also became friends. I can't remember Tim ever saying a mean thing about anyone. What he did say, he made interesting, including many a fun lead sentence to his stories here in The Herald.

Editor's note: This letter was sent to Parking Services, Diamond Parking Inc., with a copy to the Wells Fargo Bank, the Neighborhood Farmers' Market Alliance, and this newspaper.

Unfair ticketing practices

Re: Parking ticket for Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008.

Enclosed herein is my payment of $38 for a ticket I received on 2/17/08 at 12:21.

* At 10:30 a.m., I parked my car in the lot. I brought a friend to buy her breakfast and attend the West Seattle Farmers' Market.

A group of North Highline citizens working to keep Seattle as an annexation option organized a recent Saturday meeting, on private property. We had invited Charley Royer, former mayor of Seattle, to talk about government, and Rep. Bob Hasegawa, D-Tukwila, to give us an update on state legislation to provide annexation incentive funding to both Seattle and Burien.

Someone from the "We hate Seattle" group got a copy of the email and organized their group to show up in force, angry and indignant.

I see street parking fees as a deterrent to shopping at the Junction. I often park and walk to several Junction businesses, but I would not pay to do this - I would drive elsewhere. You will lose business from those living outside of walking range if others are of the same frame of mind.

RapidRide will not be enough to lure me to the Junction for a quick purchase. There will be a gain in business from those living in the new apartments and condos, but those outside the core will probably end up somewhere like Westwood.

West Side MOPS, a non-profit program designed to nurture mothers of preschoolers, wishes to thank the following local businesses for generously donating their time, goods and/or services for our annual Spa Day event on Friday, March 7.

Again & Again, Alaska USA FCU, Alki Bakery, Arbonne Beauty Products - Christina Miskho, Authentic Home, Bakery Nouveau, The Body Bar (Leg Scrubs & Massage), Capers, Sherry Cejna (Massage), Coffee to a Tea, Kathy Cronin (Massage), Curious Kids Stuff, Eat Local, June Eguchi (Massage), Elliot Bay Brewery, Essential Services - Danielle Varanda (Waxing),

Well, here we go again. We need to keep our aeronautics at home. Do you really want our men, women and children depending on the French or any other country; after they had taken away our jobs and safety. I would not feel safe, would you?

Don't you think we should get to vote on where tax dollars go? Please write or call your representatives, better yet - call the president. The president is the only one who can stop this. Stop our jobs from going overseas and out of the country.

Harbor Properties may be best known for their development of downtown Seattle's upscale 734-unit Harbor Steps apartments.

They would also like to be known as the developers with a conscience.

They have plans for three West Seattle apartment buildings - that's right, apartments, not condominiums, targeting the environmentally conscious middle-income customer.