April 2008

On Wednesday evening, May 14th, those seated in the historic Des Moines IOOF Hall will be taken back in time with a screening of rare memorabilia from the 1909 Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition.

The world's fair in Seattle marked the tenth anniversary of the Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska.

Leonard Garfield, executive director of Seattle's Museum of History & Industry, will be the guest speaker at the IOOF hall, located at 728 S. 225th St.

The city of Des Moines has carried over $309,712 less from 2007 than planned, city council members were told April 24.

City Manager Tony Piasecki said he has to sit down with Finance Director Paula Henderson to figure out how, or if, this will affect the budget for 2009 which will be based on the 2007 year end financial report as well as projected income for 2008.

In the fall of 2007, the year-end balance was projected to be $1,370,813.

When Jay Hargreaves slowly opens the garage door to his mother-in-law's Three Tree Point home, he explains, "This is really the heart of it."

The tools are all there - a giant sanding block, two band saws, a jointer, a drill press, sanding machines, work benches, and a pin router.

Hargreaves, of Des Moines, designs and builds exquisite guitars. From basses to classical guitars, to nylon and steel-string, his masterpieces are unique, rare and expensive.

Some cost around $10,000 and are shipped throughout the world.

A day after Burien council members discussed a staff recommendation to annex south North Highline, SeaTac lawmakers voted to get out of the annexation business.

The action removed the potential annexation area from the city's comprehensive plan.

SeaTac council members also directed city staffers on April 22 not to participate in mediation efforts between Burien, Seattle, Tukwila and King County on annexation.

SeaTac lawmakers voted last year to study annexing the Boulevard Park area.

Two Burien City Council members said last week they favor annexing the southern portion of North Highline as part of a phased acquisition of the entire unincorporated area.

Others said they thought the southern part-or a little less-is all that Burien can handle.

The comments came at the April 21 council meeting in reaction to a recommendation by City Manager Mike Martin.

Generally, in Martin's proposal, Burien's northern border would be at Southwest 112th Street in the Shorewood area, dipping south to South 116th Street to exclude the Evergreen Pool and Top Ha

I was glad to see that Burien is celebrating Arbor Day (Burien Celebrates Arbor Day, Wed. April 9, 2008) but a little deflated to read that only one little native dogwood tree is being planted for the celebration.

I'm thrilled that Burien is taking steps to "protect, enhance and maintain trees on public property" and has an ordinance "governing street trees and trees on public property as a valuable resource."

Please tell Chris Graham that he did a great job on that column (Times/News, April 23) in my humble opinion.

I found it not only interesting to read from a young adult's perspective, but also that he is addressing a very real and doable solution to help them have decent and accessible outlets for activities.

The City of Burien council should take notice of his suggestions and create a Youth Recreation Council from young adult community members and name Chris CEO and official Scribe of their progress.

Thank you for your continual coverage of the proposed Westmark Emerald Pointe Development Project. There are many aspects and complex issues at play in this project and the Highline Times has done a good job in bringing pertinent information to the citizens of Burien.

The Neighbors of Seahurst Park, a group of concerned citizens, held a public meeting regarding the Westmark Project on April 17th.

An unexpected attendee to the meeting was Robert W. Thorpe who works for the developer, Nizar Sayani/Westmark/Primestar Hotels.

Mr.

At the April 21st meeting of the Burien City Council, the council received a staff recommendation for partial annexation of North Highline.

Once again the financial data provided by city staff was skewed towards annexation.

As a Burien resident with concerns that our city council members are taking us to a place of financial despair with their annexation plans, I felt it important to verify that our council members are acting completely without bias.

In particular, Burien council member Kathleen Keene is also a Commissioner of Water District 20, a water district serving areas in both the City of Burien and the proposed annexation area.

Her term at WD 20 expires in 2009.