September 2008

Thank you for your recent article featuring Volunteer Chore Services, "New Leader Hired for Volunteer Chore" (Aug. 19, 2008). While the article gave an excellent description of the services and the needs of older adults in West Seattle and the White Center community, it did not mention that Volunteer Chore Services is a program of Catholic Community Services of Western Washington, a non-profit with a 90-year history of providing services to people in need.

Upon a time, once long ago

A little cabin we loved so

Sat on a lake near meadowland

At peace in nature's gentle hand

And though she was a modest place

Her rustic charm and quiet grace

Allowed all those who came her way

To just relax and get away

But sadly now she's been replaced

Buy one who's full of wasted space

The bike and the water buffalo

By Dave Kannas

How to proceed when ideas relating to bicycles, bicyclists and my place in the grand scheme of the world appear to be in temporary short supply? 'Guess I'll dig behind the boxes in the closet of my mind, boxes that contain worn and soiled jerseys, shorts of various materials that have seen better times and cobwebs covering memories of long gone days on the bike.

The memory I pulled out kicking and screaming today happened long, long ago in a land far, far away.

We often hear people say they have written, called or stopped by a local public official's office only to feel rejected or ignored. People will write an e-mail expressing dismay, anger, support or questions for a project, proposal or new rule or law.

"I got some general stuff thanking me for my letter, but no real answers to my questions," goes the refrain.

We understand the feeling because editors and reporters often share that feeling. Calls or e-mails asking for a response sometimes seem to disappear into the ether.

I was with you up until you said, "We do not fight the fact that plastic bags are bad for the environment."

What exactly are you basing this assumption on? Obviously not actual facts. Sure, most of what us humans do is bad for the environment.

What does it take to get the Seattle Department of Transportation, Mayor Nickels and now Mr. Licata to see the "light"? (pun intended!) Instead of all the little Band-Aid approaches? Curb bulbs, red flags, changing signs - all help very little like "Peter and the Dyke" - not in the long haul though!!

We need more police enforcement. I know they are busy fighting "crime," but I look at this as assault with a deadly weapon! Remember "Tatsuo".

We want and need a push button stop light at 47th Southwest and Admiral Way.

November's Sound Transit proposal to expand express bus service, enhance commuter rail, and add 36 miles of light rail will have enormous benefits for West Seattle and the entire three-county region.

The 15-year plan - known as Mass Transit Now - is a sound investment that will provide immediate relief for overcrowded buses and commuter trains while creating infrastructure that will serve people's mobility needs for generations into the future.

Seattle has begun to see a change in the type of people who are coming in for food bank services - people with their pressed slacks and white button down shirts are no longer a rare sight amongst the usual consumers.

As gas and food prices dramatically increase, food banks are getting hit by the economic blow as well as are Seattle families. However food banks are finding alternative ways to support the gradual increase of those seeking assistance.

"On average we have about 525 families that come in a week ...

The recast Statue of Liberty, atop a new pedestal and surrounded by a plaza of inscribed bricks, will be rededicated during a daylong celebration Saturday.

The Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band will start the celebration at 11 a.m. Arts and crafts, and food vendors will be set up between the new plaza and the Bathhouse. Boy Scouts will demonstrate activities toward earning badges.

The statue will be unveiled during a ceremony at 1:30 p.m.

Local troops of Cub Scouts, Sea Scouts, Boy and Girl Scouts will present colors.

During the six months that Bruce Harrell has been a Seattle City Council member he has grown frustrated with the limited feedback he hears from the community.

While he found that the council often heard from certain activists, he said he rarely gained a balanced perspective from the majority of the city.

"Most people (in Seattle) are either enjoying their lives or struggling, and they don't have the time or resources to be committed to process," Harrell said.