April 2008

Carina Borja is searching for fosters - not to parent children, but rather, pit bulls.

Borja is the founder of Animals First Foundation, a non-profit animal-rescue group based in West Seattle that has recently teamed up with the Kent shelter. Overflowing with pits, the shelter sought Animals First's assistance in placing the dogs. The two have a foster program to save shelter pits under way.

Along with finding the pits fosters, and eventually permanent homes, Borja is searching for avenues of blood donation.

Nancy Heinrich, a West Seattleite who served three years as the chair of the American Cancer Society's West Seattle Discovery Shop, was named the 2007 Volunteer Of The Year at the Shop's first 2008 quarterly meeting.

Nancy began volunteering at the Discovery Shop in 1998. In addition to her on-going volunteer duties at the shop, Nancy serves as vice-chair of the American Cancer Society's Great Western Division, working with the division's 11 regional shops.

King County Metro Transit and the City of Seattle claim a "new partnership" will be bringing a big boost for bus riders in West Seattle and White Center within the next three years.

King County Executive Ron Sims has signed an ordinance that formalizes 16 partnerships which the executive says will result in four new Metro bus routes, more trips on at least 25 existing routes, and traffic improvements on city streets that will improve the speed and reliability on two RapidRide corridors for bus rapid transit service.

For West Seattle and White Center by 2010, Route 60 will

Completing a 5492 mile journey on bicycles to bring more attention to climate change , Six Sealth high school students and a Gatewood 4th grader were welcomed by a happy crowd of well wishers on April 22nd , Earth Day as they arrived home at Sealth.

Coined An Inconvenient Ride, the route took them through cities that had signed on to Mayor Greg Nickels Climate Action Now Initiative. They began in Washington D.C. on March 31st and each took turns riding while followed by a truck escort.

Meet Sister Barbara

I spotted her entering the check out line at the Fred Meyer store in Burien just as I entered and offered to give up my spot. She pleasantly declined so I asked her name and told her mine. "No thanks," she said.

Then she said, "I know who you are. I work for you at the Herald.

Notes from parents

By Georgie Bright Kunkel

I recently looked through some things I had saved from my teaching years and found a large envelope containing the original notes sent by parents to me during 1951. They represented all the reasons parents wanted a teacher to take heed of their children. One parent wrote that her daughter had missed a week because she was constipated and had to have a laxative so she asked that her daughter be allowed to go to the bathroom whenever she asked to go. We all know how children use the trip to the bathroom as power over the teacher.

Morton's Pharmacy is sold

Morton's Pharmacy has been sold to Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, making its third store in Seattle.

Pharmaca will take over the retail and pharmacy operations of Morton's by the end of May.

Growing healthy attitudes about money

By Suzzanne Bull

In many families, kids rule the roost when it comes to at least some household spending. A study by the Center for a New American Dream found that a typical school-aged child will nag her parents nine times to get something parents had previously refused to purchase. What's worse is that 12- and 13-year-olds nag up to 50 times after their parents have said no.

Growing rates of personal debt and bankruptcy show that an increasing number of Americans are unable to successfully manage their personal finances.

New history column debuts

By Lesley Guest

History is as vital as air to me. History sustains me; feeds me, inspires me.

I walk through the Alki breeze, watching for whales and sailboats, playing with my child and our friends, and spotting the yellow art studio. Instantly, I remember the old natatorium of the early 1930s which once stood in about the same location, where legions of Seattlites came to swim and to enjoy the sun.

I look. I pass by.

Tall Oregon Grape, Mahonia aquifolium, is flowering now with bright yellow clustered flowers that will become the blue-purple fruit seen later this summer. This is the state flower of our neighbor to the south, designated as the Oregon state flower by resolution in 1899. It has also been known as Oregongrapeholly, Holly-leaf Oregon-grape, and Hollyleaved barberry. With leaves that look like holly, this woody shrub originated in the Northwest, but has been cultivated on the East Coast and Europe.

Since the beginning of human culture, plants have been the primary source of medicine.