June 2008

Federeal Way police were dispatched to investigate a case of malicious mischief called in to 911. According to the complainant, a witness spotted a unknown person breaking out the windows on a parked vehicle with a baseball bat. The vehicle was a black 1996 Ford. The registered owner is not known because the vehicle was recently sold to a new owner. The suspect spotted the witness and ran after him, threatening him and yelling at him. Federal Way officers attempted to search the area for the suspect but were unable to locate him. No other suspect information is listed in the report.

Four "Level Three" sex offenders recently moved into a house in the 1400 block of Kent-Des Moines Road. Level three indicates high risk to re-offend.

The Des Moines Police Department put out bulletins about each of the four men and held a community meeting on May 21. About 90 people attended.

"Most people had questions about the laws relating to sex offenders and what our limitations were with working with them and restricting where they can live and what our process is," said Des Moines Police Sgt.

The other day, my seven year-old son asked me what I did for a living.

When you are seven, there are livings that are easy to understand, of course. Teacher? Easy. Firefighter? Cool. Dentist, doctor, store-owner. All graspable.

Try explaining to a 1st grader that you do public relations.

This challenge has been bouncing around my mind as I read the flap over Scott McClellan's book. The former White House spin doctor now admits he lied on the job.

General governmental revenue collections and expenditures by the city of Des Moines were marginally higher in the first quarter this year compared to the same period in 2007.

Revenue collections of $4,133,966 through March accounted for 23 percent of the city's annual budget, compared to 20.8 percent last year, according to the First Quarter 2008 Financial Report recently submitted to the Des Moines City Council by finance director Paula Henderson.

General expenditures of $4,367,602 came to 24.5 percent of the 2008 budget, compared to 24.1 percent in 2007.

Interested in doing something good for the environment and your community now that school's out?

Summer is coming, and the Friends of the Hylebos has new restoration and habitat enhancement events planned. If you would like tobe involved in any of these events, please RSVP to streamteam@hylebos.org.

A volunteer confirmation with directions and other details will be sent out on Thursday, two days before the event.

June 14

West Hylebos Wetlands

9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Commuters along the 348th Street corridor will have to endure longer wait times and tolerate more backups as the city works to complete its remedy for Federal Way's growing pains.

During a lunch-break rush last week, drivers occasionally backed up into the 348th Street and Highway 99 intersection as they attempted to navigate the one-lane bottle neck of west-bound traffic in the area.

They weaved through a maze of orange cones and construction workers, with a few offering frustrated honks and glares directed to the men and women in hard hats and blaze orange vests.
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Do you know how the song, "Make Someone Happy" goes?

How about "Abba Dabba Honeymoon?"

Can you play the "bones" or do you even know someone who can?

If your answer to this is yes, then you may have heard of Adamick's Famous Museum.

Can a Governor Solve the Education Problem?

Over the past few decades we have had several "Education Governors" who have vowed to "improve education."

As we can see today these efforts to date have not been sufficient to "fix" the system.

June 6, 4:05 PM Responding to a report last week in the Post-Intelligencer, Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent Tim Gallagher clarified that Parks does not intend to take any action this year.

A scheduled briefing is an opportunity to make the park board, which has many new members, aware of the costs and issues associated with beach fires, and to let them know what the options are for regulating them.

In 2004, Parks did a substantial analysis of the issues surrounding beach fires after receiving a citation from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency for allowing the b

On Wednesday, June 4, the tide was Seattle's lowest in 92 years, at minus 4.3 feet, and cause for quiet celebration and exploration as the surface under Luna/Anchor Park exposed a spongy world.