September 2008

The clock struck one and the 22 "Nickelsville" tent city residents who still remained at 7115 West Marginal Way SW packed up their possessions and vacated, some with the persuasion of the police. The officers did a sweep while residents and volunteers frantically packed up the city like a western movie set relocating. Those who did not cooperate were arrested and held temporarily at the Southwest Precinct. Over 130 homeless lived there since it opened Monday.

If you can run or walk and want to help women dealing with breast cancer, your opportunity comes on Sunday, September 28th in the form of the 5th Annual Alki Beach Walk/Run.

All proceeds go to benefit the West Seattle based Northwest Hope and Healing Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping women battling breast cancer. The 5K route will begin at the Statue of Liberty at Alki Beach Park, and continue along the West Seattle waterfront to Anchor Park.

Each participant is encouraged to gather pledges of $100 or more.

(Note: This letter was addressed to Mr. Tim Gallagher, Parks Superintendent Seattle Parks and Recreation. A copy was sent to the West Seattle Herald/White Center News.)

Dear Mr. Gallagher,

As you may be aware, Tim St. Clair, a former reporter for the West Seattle Herald, passed away earlier this year. Mr. St. Clair was a resident of the Morgan Junction neighborhood, and a highly respected member of the West Seattle community as a whole. He was a professional journalist who was dedicated to the residents of West Seattle.

Please keep those poems from Carol Smith coming! As a subscriber I look forward to her work as one of the highlights of my week. Her "Poe service" this week was particularly fun.

T. Warren

Seattle

Three open houses scheduled on options for replacement. Two meetings have already been held however they have not been reported by the major news media. It must be evident the meetings and public input wasn't important enough for media coverage. Most people feel that the downtown section of the viaduct is already a done deal and any comment is a waste of time and effort. Our research over the past year of meetings has proved to us that the City Surface Street option plan has been adopted and all we're getting now is lip service.

The Puget Sound lowland forests were once dominated by dense coniferous forests made up of western red cedar, western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). These forests represented both a valuable resource and an obstacle to agriculture.

I don't ever remember hearing or reading that "single use" bags were going to "solve" our environmental woes! But, come on! Give it a rest! It will "help" the environment.

How many plastic bags do you need in your life? If you don't want to re-use bags, then pay the "bag tax." Simple solution.

Yes, I think 20 cents is a bit much but even people who can't afford to pay the "bag tax" can save their previous bags, or, most stores have a big bin by the doors where people deposit the bags they don't want, take some from there.

I've used my own bags for years.

Live comedy returned to the Admiral Theater this fall with "Ladies of Laughter."

Featuring Seattle's best standup comics, the series ran through the month of September and benefited the Susan G. Komen Breast Foundation. If you have an appetite for edgy, no-holds-barred humor there was no place else to be. Case in point is Cathy Sorbo who headlined the Sept. 12 and 13 shows.

While Matador has become a staple of Market Street, the restaurant is currently on trial in a lawsuit that could prevent them from using the rustic d/cor and Tex-Mex recipes that have made it a favorite spot in Ballard.

Brian Hutmacher, founder of the Queen Anne restaurant Peso's Kitchen and Lounge, filed a lawsuit in January 2007 accusing founders of Matador restaurant chain of replicating a decor unique to his restaurant, stealing recipes and consequently hurting the business at Peso's.

It is a dramatic story of two once friends: Hutmacher and Nate Opper, who worked as

Neighbors disdain the use of the Boren building as a temporary site for other schools, especially high schools, during their renovations. But now that Chief Sealth High School began classes there Sept. 3, school administrators and neighbors both think that local students and a developing neighborhood may make this a different situation - for the better.

Since Louisa Boren Junior High on Delridge was closed 27 years ago, its building has been used as a temporary site for programs.