August 2008

State Sen. Margarita Prentice received almost 50 percent of the vote in the Aug. 19 primary in the battle with two other Democrats over her 11th District Senate seat.

Tina Orwell outpooled her Repubican opponent in the race to replace veteran state Rep. Shay Schual-Berke in the 33rd District.

Prentice, chairwoman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee was challenged by two fellow Democrats in the primary.

As of Aug. 22, she received 5,491 votes (49.00 percent) and will face Juan Martinez in the Nov. 3 election.

The man crossing the parking lot with the big red basket full of tools, novel inventions, and jugs full of homemade alchemy is stopped several times before he reaches the Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden just yards away.

First by a ice cream-clutching little boy who earnestly wants to shake his hand, then a woman who loves his book, and then another who wants to thank him for saving her favorite plants.

In short order, several fans that just want to greet him before he reaches the metal gates surround him.

Who is this man? A TV star?

South King Fire & Rescue is looking for volunteers to receive a home safety survey on preventing falls conducted by a fire department education officer.

The department serves Des Moines and Federal Way. Twelve people will be selected.

The fall prevention program was established to teach people what causes falls, but more importantly, how they can be prevented.

There is no cost to participate.

Heat pours it on

The boys' U13 Highline Premier Football Club (HPFC Heat) captured first place in the Nike Cup in Lake Oswego, Ore. The tournament took place July 27 - 29 and the Heat played four games before making the championship. They won three games and tied the fourth to go into the Championship game, which they won in dramatic 1-0 finish.

The team is made up of 15 boys from the Burien and West Seattle areas. The coaches of the team are Don Preiss and John Frank.

Fall signups begin

Fall 2008 youth soccer registration is now open.

PUBLISHER

(Editor's Note: Jerry Robinson offers a couple of fish tales this week.)

What a story

Marco Spani lent his boat to Ross Locher, daughter Jesann and friend Jane Connelly to fish for salmon at Three Tree Point.

They took along three hot dogs to eat. They forgot to take any herring so Ross put part of his cheese-filled hot dog on his hook.

Fishing in forty feet of water, using a downrigger at 60 feet, they thought they were caught on the bottom.

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES/NEWS

If this is the boss lady's idea of a joke, I for one am not amused.

Yes, it's me again - Sadie, the People Dog, and you'll never believe what she gave me for my birthday. A puppy! What was she thinking?!

I'm not the only one wondering.

TIMES/NEWS

As you can tell from Joy Henley's column in this space last week, her first name fits her perfectly.

Celebrating five years as a Times/News freelancer, Joy revels in her story assignments and the chance to tell people's stories.

As an assignment editor, I instantly know what is a "Joy Henley Story."

To me, they are categorized as features about the "damned, the doomed and the disinherited."

Well, that might be a tad overstated. But, as Joy noted, they are often "stories of courage and unbearable tragedy."

The latest Democratic energy policy espoused by their presidential candidate, Barack Obama, scolds the citizenry for their failure to properly inflate their tires and obtain regular tune ups on their vehicles as this "simple action" will save as much petroleum as that which could be obtained by drilling for our own domestic oil.

I have on good authority that his next solution will capitalize on wind power and will require everyone wear caps with little propellers attached to the top so they can power walk rather drive.

Furthermore to assure that everyone is doing their p

Burien's beach access is controlled by the powerful "Three Tree Point Association."

Burien doesn't dare oppose the takeover of this beautiful Public Access area and Beach Park located 15 minutes away from downtown.

You get around 40+ feet of waterfront across the street from your property. You can put in a 12-ft. high concrete bulkhead. It appears you can pave and build any kind of structure you want utilizing all of this space, apparently without any building codes or restrictions of any kind.

Des Moines Reader Joelle White wrote a letter to the editor supporting a U of W student's idea about the "blue house" located at the entrance to Beach Park.

White writes the city should buy that house and use the property for more public parking. (Safety before Serpent -Des Moines News, 8.20.2008)

First, many years ago the City of Des Moines did buy that blue house and property. The sellers can live there for their lifetime, if they wish.

Second, more public parking is not, in my opinion, the highest and best use for this pristine one-of- a-kind property.