June 2009

Ballard newly-weds Lauren Kisser and Barry Fuchs plan to climb the 10,781 foot elevation of Mount Baker this summer in honor of Kisser’s late grandmother Ellen.

A year and a half ago, Kisser and Fuchs, both members of the Mountaineers, received a Mountaineers newsletter with an ad for the Climb to Fight Breast Cancer.

“It’s funny we both got our own copies so we both were looking at it and I immediately looked at Lauren and said, ‘You gotta do this,’” Fuchs said. “Her family has had a history of breast cancer and she had an interest in climbing Mount Rainier."

Thus created Team Ellen.

Kisser had climbed Mount Rainier’s 14,411-foot elevation last year.

“I was training for Rainier and was going through the preparation and was wanting to do it for the cause,” Kisser said. “(...) My family has a strong history of breast cancer, my mom, my aunt and my grandmother. So eventually it was fate that we’d be doing this."

(Editor's note: This article appears originally in Seattle City Council member Bruce Harrell's E-newsletter "Positive Focus.")

Have you ever called in a burned out or flickering streetlight to Seattle City Light and were told that it would take six to eight months to repair—even a year?

Have you called and were told the light would be repaired in a certain timeframe and it took much longer than expected or wasn’t fixed at all?

For the last month, we have communicated with hundreds of residents who have told us their stories.

To fix the problem, on May 27, 2009 I announced my support of a solution to speed up street light repair by using $2.1 million that was allocated in the 2009-2010 general fund budget and allow for it to be spent earlier. By accelerating the work and assigning more crews on regular time to repair streetlights, City Light’s goal by the end of 2009 will be to respond to reported outages within 10 days.

(Editor's note: This article appears originally in Seattle City Council member Bruce Harrell's E-newsletter "Positive Focus.")

The Seattle City Council has been working diligently on finalizing legislation that would put a seven-year, 2009 Housing Levy on the November 2009 ballot. The goal: Affordable housing.

We held eight public meetings and many of us reviewed enormous amounts of written materials to develop, what we believed was a great package to place on the November ballot. On June 15, the full council unanimously approved legislation supporting the final package for the voters. This is not a new levy. It is a renewal of a levy that voters have approved since 1981 (three levies and one bond).

I want to thank council member Richard McIver for chairing the Housing Levy Committee of the Whole and for his leadership in shaping a good package. The $145 million proposal will pencil out to about $79 annually in cost to the average homeowner.

(Editor's note: This letter was sent originally Su J'n Chon, a program manager with the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, and copied to this newspaper.)

Dear SuJ'n, 

It was nice to see you at the June 20 Celebration.  What I needed to know and cannot seem to understand is WHEN WHEN WHEN are you, the Department of Neighborhoods, going to listen to the LARGER part of this community and it's desire to maintain it OPEN SPACES? 

When is the Department of Neighborhoods going to get in tune with this neighborhood?  

FACT: Friends and neighbors of North Admiral do not represent the larger part of the North Admiral Community and are certainly not listening to the Admiral residents.  They represent themselves and their pure self interest and a small special interest group that will seemingly make some sort of profit by going against and angering the neighbors. 

How many petition signatures do you want? How many more hours standing on a corner representing the residents who live here do you want?

FACT: At the public meetings the people wanting to maintain our open space far outnumber the park change supporters. 

A "senior prom" party was held at the Senior Center of West Seattle Tuesday night, June 23 and while most in attendance had graduated high school decades earlier, many were stepping and spinning like teenagers.

The event was sponsored by Merrill Gardens West Seattle. Entertainment was provided by the three-piece Duane Wright and the Jazz Unlimited Band.

Two guests contributed their musical talents. Jean Roberts sang, and West Seattle Herald columnist and activist Georgie Bright Kunkel both sang and played piano, but not at the same time.

CLICK ON PHOTO FOR SLIDESHOW.

The health care debate is heating up in Washington, DC and as a member of the state Senate Finance Committee, I’m working to help Washingtonians get the coverage they deserve, and ensure this care is of the highest quality at the lowest cost.

As a nation we spend too much on health care and get too little in return, leaving businesses and families with outrageous bills and eroding benefits, and our country with exploding deficits.  We need to focus on fixing what's broken and building on what works.
 
I’ve long maintained that Washington State can serve as the model for improving health care nationwide.  For years, we have been at the forefront of innovation, providing programs and services to bring costs down and improve quality of care. 

Our state routinely ranks in the top quarter of the nation in healthy outcomes, and at the bottom end for wasteful spending. Rather than rewarding doctors, hospitals, and health care providers for the number of procedures they perform, Washington state rewards them for the healthy outcomes of their patients. This is exactly the type of approach we should take nationally.
 

The Woodland Park Zoo will close three hours early on Friday, July 10 for its 33rd annual Jungle Party fundraiser.

The zoo will open at 9:30 a.m. and close at 3 p.m., and visitors may remain on grounds until 4 p.m.
 
The Jungle Party fundraising event draws nearly a thousand civic, community and philanthropic leaders, according to the zoo. Held on the zoo’s North Meadow, the it features tours of animal exhibits, bidding on unique auction items during the silent and live auctions, reception, lavish sit-down dinner and live entertainment.

Last year’s Jungle Party raised more than $1.8 million to help support the zoo’s animal care, education programs and field conservation projects around the globe and in Washington state’s backyard.

Areas of impact at the north end of the zoo:

- The North Entrance off North 59th Street and Phinney Avenue North will be closed all day.

- The North Meadow and its walk path will be closed all day.

- The historic carousel will be closed all day.

- The North Entrance parking lot will close at noon and vehicles must be moved by this time.

Taking a break from helping keep the Seattle Mariners in the race for the American League West, Brandon Morrow and Russell Branyan spent an afternoon separating overripe plums and squished tomatoes from the good ones.

"I don't even know how to sort fruit in a grocery store," starting pitcher Morrow said. "I'm having trouble with a few questionable ones."

Morrow and first-baseman Branyan were at the Greenwood Food Bank June 23 to sort and distribute donated food with student leaders from the Volunteers of America.

Everett High School student and volunteer Chealsea Sheffild said she volunteers because she likes to help people.

"It puts a smile on my face so see people happy," she said.

Morrow said working with the Volunteers of America is a way of giving back to the community. But mostly he said he wants to motivate and support the teens who are doing the real volunteering.

Volunteer Adrianna Aroche, also a student at Everett High School, said it is cool to work side by side with the Mariners, who she sees on television.

King County has been awarded nine federal economic stimulus grants totaling almost $79 million, funds which will be used to create or retain 192 jobs, according to a report issued by the county executive’s office.

The report is part of an organized effort to maximize the benefits to King County from federal stimulus funding sponsored by council chair Dow Constantine. Another 22 county stimulus applications—totaling $78 million and creating another 602 potential jobs—are pending and King County has also worked with regional and national partners on preparing another nine grant applications.

“By adopting an organized game plan for pursuing federal stimulus funds, King County has already realized significant benefits, especially as it pertains to job creation and retention” said Constantine. “In these tough economic times, it is imperative we focus significant effort on bringing job opportunities to the citizens of King County.”

Among the grants obtained by King County were:

- An award of $400,000 to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to allow for the retention of prosecutor’s staff.

At the June 23 North Seattle Industrial Association meeting, industry leaders from the Ballard and Fremont area expressed their dissatisfaction over a number of Seattle Department of Transportation projects.

Grace Crunican, director of the department of transportation, fielded questions about the replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, the Mercer Street project, upcoming changes to Nickerson Street, and the completion of the Burke-Gilman Trail.

There was disapproval from the meeting's attendees over the department's list of routes to access the future tunnel, including Aurora Avenue North to Dexter Avenue and Mercer Street, Elliott Avenue to Alaskan Way, and Elliott Avenue to Mercer Street.

Susie Burke, president of the Fremont Docking Company, was in particular disbelief over the idea that industrial trucks could use the Elliott to Mercer route.

"Oh God, you've got to be kidding me," she said.

Warren Aakervik, owner of Ballard Oil, expressed concern over bikes traveling on the east side of the new Alaskan Way and being hit by trucks attempting to turn right.