September 2008

Seattle Public Utilities has reported that food scraps take up about one-third or 45,000 tons of residential trash each year and solving this problem has been made easier for single family homes by giving them the solution to create their own food composting and yard waste compost bins at their own leisure.

But what about multi-family homes that have to share waste bins or don't have the option for food composting in their housing complexes?

A program called Food Waste for Apartments and Condominiums Test Project began late last November of to start solving this problem.

The Washington Drug Card, which is free to all residents and provides savings of up to 75 percent on prescription drugs, can now be accessed by simply visiting any Safeway pharmacy location.

In the past residents were required to obtain and present a member card in order to receive prescription discounts through the program.

"This presented a problem as many uninsured and underinsured residents were not getting access to the program and this will solve that problem," said Eric Brown, development director for the Washington Drug Card.

As a result of their commit

Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent Tim Gallagher has made appointments to four key positions in the organization: recreation director, parks director (all maintenance activities), planning and development director, and deputy planning and development director.

"The broad range of skills in this team of creative thinkers will serve Seattle well as we finalize our five year Strategic Action Plan and begin to implement it," Gallagher said.

The mayor has appointed Michael Mann as interim director of the Office of Sustainability and Environment

Since 2003 Mann has served as the deputy director of the Office of Policy and Management, leading the department's Transportation and Infrastructure Team.

"I have great confidence in Mike's leadership abilities and I know he has the passion to protect the climate and improve the environment," said Mayor Greg Nickels.

Mann joined the mayor's staff in 2002, serving as director of Council Relations.

The city of Burien has notified the county Boundary Review Board of that it is withdrawing its current request to annex the southern portion of the North Highline unincorporated area.

Burien officials plan to re-file an annexation request later this year after completion of a new round of negotiations with King County and the cities of SeaTac and Seattle regarding the proposed annexation boundary, said Mike Martin, Burien's city manager.

"We're withdrawing for procedural reasons, and we absolutely intend to pursue annexation," said Martin.

In May 2008, the Buri

While violent crime is down, some City Council members still get many complaints about graffiti, open-air drug markets and other crimes from citizens concerned about the safety of their neighborhoods.

So Seattle Council member Tim Burgess submitted the Safer Streets Initiative to the Public Safety, Human Services, and Education Committee for discussion.

The initiative is a series of 12 steps intended to cut down crime citywide through the coordination of the government and the private sector.

With city funds already tight, Burgess said the initiative should be

Parents in West Seattle hardly have to lift and finger to raise money for their schools through the national fundraising program Electronic Scrip Incorporated, better known as eScrip.

While fundraisers usually conjure up images of messy car washes or traveling door-to-door to solicit your neighbors, eScrip has given families an opportunity to raise money for their school or organization by simply doing what they do everyday - shopping.

With eScrip, families register a debit card, credit card, or store rewards card.

Spokane Street will be closed to eastbound traffic starting Monday, Sept. 8 - the first of a series of construction projects disrupting traffic from now until the Alaskan Way Viaduct is replaced starting in 2012.

Lower South Spokane Street, the surface road, will be closed between First Avenue South and Fifth.

That crash you might have heard just after midnight on Monday? That was the sound of a Volkswagen Beetle slamming into three cars as it rolled backwards down the steep hill at Genesee and Avalon. The driver, who had a suspended license, was passed out but later fought with officers and had to be tasered. He had meth and Ecstasy tablets in his pockets and meth, a scale, vials of an unknown liquid, and syringes in the car. Officers also found the man?s little black book of contact numbers.

Thanks to community efforts over the past spring and summer students at Pathfinder K-8 School are returning to improved facilities this week.

Pathfinder is an alternative school with a focus on Native American cultures and teaching methods that emphasize learning by doing.

Since Pathfinder began expanding from an elementary school to include grades 6, 7 and 8, facilities have been stretched thin and forced to teach the older grades in portables.

Jennifer Giomi, president of the Parent, Teacher and Student Association at Pathfinder says that the school has great