December 2008

Consider falling asleep one night knowing you're only 17 years old, but when you wake up, you're two years older.

To the average person this may be unimaginable, but for Alanna Wong, a former upcoming tennis star at West Seattle High School, it's a nightmare turned reality.

Alanna has spent almost nine years with a disorder that has plagued her once normal life and left years of her young existence a mystery.

A turning point came at the age of 14 when two girls from school found Alanna sleeping on the floor of the school's bathroom. That incident, along with milder signs, pointed to a larger problem after Alanna hit puberty at the age of 10 said her mother, Diane Wong.

"When she woke up she was disoriented and confused," Diane recalled. "She didn't know where she was, she was frightened and she started to cry. She felt like she was in a dream."

Diane went searching for answers as to why her daughter had no memory of what had happened to her prior to the bathroom episode. No one could provide her with any answers.

Construction has officially begun to transform the empty one-fifth-acre lot just south of the Beverage Place at 6413 California Avenue Southwest into a piazza-like park. Once slated for a future monorail station, the site will have green spaces, a U-shaped gathering place with seating, and decorative lighting. The park construction is funded by the Pro Parks Levy.

"We've pulled all the wall, asphalt, and are now blowing out blacktop," said Ray Elder, project supervisor with Archer Construction in Kent, the firm awarded the job by Seattle Parks and Recreation.

Extra funding beyond the $2.8 billion committed to replacing the viaduct, which will be necessary to pay for a bored tunnel to go with a surface-transit scenario, should come from local taxes or tolling.

Committee members who fought snow and ice to attend the last meeting of the Alaskan Way Viaduct Stakeholders Advisory Committee Thursday, Dec.

Lenny Wilkens, former Seattle Supersonics Hall of Fame basketball player and coach, has become part of this town's psyche.

The NBA icon and east side resident will reveal some insights from ball-handling to life-handling when he speaks at the Tibbetts United Methodist Church in West Seattle Jan.

Update: 3:30 p.m., Monday With travel conditions still not stabilized, Metro Transit will be offering approximately half of its regular weekday service on Tuesday morning, Dec. 23.

Difficult driving conditions and ten straight days of snow operations are beginning to take their toll on Metro?s bus fleet. The number of buses available for peak service has decreased each day over the past week due to difficulties some coach models experience in the deeper snow or in prolonged icy conditions.

During the current economic crisis as more people find themselves relying on the assistance of government benefits, some do not take advantage of the resources they qualify for either because they are unaware or because they are held back by the application process.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, better known as ACORN, estimates that there is over $70 million in unclaimed basic food benefits in King County alone.

Symetra Financial and the Seattle Seahawks announced today that Chief Sealth High is the recipient of the 2008 Symetra Heroes in the Classroom "MVP Award." Through the award, the school will receive $20,000 toward an innovative student achievement program.

The Chief Sealth program will improve technology education and expand the availability of computers.

The Symetra Heroes in the Classroom program honors Seattle Public School teachers for excellence in the classroom throughout the Seahawks season.

Developers who want to build above existing height allowances in Seattle neighborhoods will now have to offer some of the increased space at an affordable rent.

The change occurs after the Seattle City Council approved both a resolution and an ordinance to apply incentive zoning to neighborhoods at a Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee meeting on Dec. 10.

The Workforce Housing Incentive Program is designed to encourage a wide range of affordable housing in the city.

Emma Merz and her dog Baggen and Chloe Eustaquio are neighbors and friends. The girls hang out together and the dogs like to play together. Emma is 11 and her dog Baggen is almost 3. Chloe is 9 and her dog Daisy is just 7 months old. Chloe went with Emma when she got Baggen and Emma did the same when Chloe got Daisy. The girls love their dogs and often swap "dog stories." Baggen reminds the Merz family of the dog "Clifford". Baggen is very good with Daisy and plays with her nicely despite the size difference between the two dogs.

Remember when you were a kid and you wrote letters to St. Nick, ticking off the toys, the dolls, the bicycles that you desperately wanted, no....needed in the days before the Jolly Elf made his annual appearance?

I could try to pull a tear from you, my readers, with a sad story about a little kid who only wants world peace, but truth be told, kids are materialistic little critters, pawns of the television merchandising machine, and when they don't get what they want, you may expect a serious, week long pouting session.

I asked Mrs.