May 2008

West Seattle residents can forget about a streetcar as a means of getting in and out of the neighborhood to downtown Seattle - at least for now.

A West Seattle-downtown route was one of nine potential routes the Seattle Department of Transportation considered to be part of a citywide streetcar network, but operating and constructability issues on the West Seattle Bridge proved too expensive to work around.

It would also be difficult and costly to build tracks on the bridge without the addition of stop signals for other traffic to allow the streetcar to successfully merge

The Seattle City Council voted on Monday to appropriate $12 million to the Spokane Street Viaduct improvement project, but a gap in financing still remains.

Construction could start this summer and would widen the Spokane Street Viaduct east of Highway 99 from two lanes to three in each direction and build a new eastbound exit to Fourth Avenue.

When 47-year-old Kris Wilder walks around his West Seattle neighborhood he never fails to hear the respectful words of "hey, Sensei!"

Wilder, owner of West Seattle Karate Academy located in High Point and author of five martial arts books, has earned this title, a form of respect towards someone who has achieved mastery in an art form, which he has in his 32 years practicing and earning black belts in Goju-Ryu, tae kwon do and judo.

His love and interest for the martial arts began when he first set eyes on the judo skills of Race Bannon of "Johnny Quest."

"Race

Seattle City Light says telephone con artists are posing as utility bill collectors and targeting customers with Asian surnames.

In the past few days, at least four customers reported they received phone calls from people claiming to be City Light employees. The callers claim there is a problem with payment of the customer's bill by check and demand credit card information to resolve the matter.

Find out more about the replacement to the Alaskan Way Viaduct, and voice your opinion as to what should be done.

One way is to attend a meeting in Ballard is from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 15, in the cafeteria at Adams Elementary School, 6110 28th Ave. N.W.

People agree they want the right solution for the future, though they disagree what exactly should replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

At an open house last week at Seattle Center, people questioned transportation staff and voiced opinions about what should be done with the waterfront structure. This was the first of three community meetings this month.

"The only true right answer is retrofitting and repairing the viaduct," said Bud Shasteen of West Seattle. "When they mentioned a surface street, I thought they were kidding. The tunnel is in disrepute.

Descriptions by witnesses helped officers nab suspected Admiral-area burglars on Thursday, around 10 am. Two suspects---a 16-year old male from south Seattle and a 15-year-old from Renton?were spotted running from the scene of two separate incidents, one on 37th SW and one on 38th SW. They were found inside a California Avenue business, identified, and booked into the Youth Service Center for investigation of burglary. A third suspect?18 years old--was later picked up at West Seattle High School and booked into King County Jail for investigation of burglary.

Sean Wells, and his mom "Nana" brought their 65 lb English Bulldog Mortimer to Next To Nature Pet store in the West Seattle Junction for Mother's Day where we caught up with them. Mortimer is a year and a half old and he's a handful, or he would be if you had gigantic hands. "We haven't found anything he isn't able to chew through," said Sean, "He eats pottery." His real name is "Mortimer Mr.Toad Wells" but given his tendency to chew through whatever he sees he's been rechristened "Mortimorsaurus".

Despite his fearsome mastication he's actually quite playful.

'Vantage Point' is good actioner

Directed by Pete Travis

Rated PG-13

(two and one half stars)

By Bruce Bulloch

Can a film that opens with Sigourney Weaver, as a hard-bitten cable news director browbeating a young reporter for having too much journalistic integrity, possibly steer you wrong? I don't think so.

Valley Street money

(Editor's Note: This letter was written to members of the Seattle City Council with a copy to this newspaper.

Honorable Council members,

I am writing to urge you to remove the provision of Council Bill 116161 that approves an initial payment of $25 million to purchase property and begin work on the proposed $200 million Mercer/Valley Street plan.

This project wasn't worth the cost when it was estimated at $90 million, let alone now that it has doubled to over $200 million.