December 2008

In the article in last week's paper headlined 'Parents question school closure process' Steve Sundquist's name was misspelled. We regret the error.

Low-income people in King County appear to be significantly impacted by obesity. According to the King County Housing Authority, they suffer disproportionally from preventable diet and health related diseases such as diabetes and coronary heart disease.

According to surveys, 9 percent of middle and high school students in King County are obese and 13 percent are overweight.

It has been a half-century of happiness for Ken and Donna Olsen who enjoyed their Golden Anniversary Dec. 19.

"I picked up film from the photo shops and drug stores around Bremerton to get developed at Crystalike, a commercial darkroom, and Ken worked at a camera store on my route," recalled Donna. "That's how we met.

In years past, those suffering from a lonely-heart or physical illness may have consulted a psychic for a peak into their future for a hopeful sign. The psychic, in turn, consulted a large crystal ball, a numerology chart, a deck of tarot cards, and personal intuition in hopes of finding that sign. But it's 2009, and everything has changed, even in the mysterious world of the occult.

According to three area professionals claiming psychic ability or fine-tuned intuition who offer "readings," the universal question, "Will I ever find Mr.

Alki Kayak Tours has expanded their normal summer business to serve active area skiers too.

"The mission of the West Seattle Ski Shuttle is to provide fewer cars and more fun, " said Greg Whittaker, owner. With anticipated rising snow levels during the upcoming decades due to CO2 emissions, ski areas are looking at a dismal forecast with global warming.

A 41-year-old man was taken into custody with some difficulty Sunday afternoon after behaving bizarrely and assaulting passersby at the Junction. At one point he was stripping off his clothes, practicing karate chops, and crawling on the ground "like an ape," according to one witness. It took three minutes for three officers to get the man?who was unfazed by a taser? under control. Even after he was in handcuffs, the man kicked officers and thrashed at medics who transported him to Harborview for an exam.

At the farmers market

www.seattlefarmersmarkets.org

This week will feature lamb, chicken, pork, eggs, beef, duck, veal, goat, pate, fish, wine, baked goods, nut butters, wild mushrooms, fresh dairy products, soup, beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, celery root, chard, fennel, garlic, greens, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, leeks, onions, parsnips, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, rutabagas, shallots, spinach, squash, turnips, apples, pears, nuts, dried fruits and veggies, fresh pasta, honey, bread, pastries, cide

Claire is a miniature black poodle that weighs about 14 pounds and wears a very stylish brown sweater with a striped stocking cap attached to it for the extreme cold weather. Donna Burkholder, her owner, didn't know if she should take her precious pooch to work at her psychotherapy practice by the public market but she tried it and every body loves her.

Donna calls Claire her little therapy dog, "If people get teary eyed she goes over and comforts them". She goes most of the places that Donna goes and now even people at the public market know Claire.

In my salad days (Thanks Dylan Thomas.), while commuting and cavorting aboard my ten-speed, as it was known back in the days of old, I was nothing more than an oddity.

There were times when I was even less than an oddity, morphing into invisibility and frequently viewed with suspicion. During those early days in my bicycling career the great bikes were Masi, Gitane, Raleigh, Merckx, Pinarello, Bianchi and a few more, but only a few.

Last year I posted a list of the basic resolutions that people routinely try to accomplish each year, and I listed my own self-improvement goals and how well I fared from the previous year.

I won't bore anyone with how much more I've grown as a human, suffice to say that if I were anymore angelic, I'd never be able to eat devil's food cake again.

Still, I know how difficult it is for the poor man and woman on the street to keep their sites on personal triumphs like dropping ten pounds, quitting the coffin nails or even just being nicer to jerks on the road.

And