November 2009

Officer Tim Brenton, who was shot and killed Oct. 31 at 29th Avenue and East Yesler Way, was a class of 1988 graduate at West Seattle High School. Classmates honored his memory with an informal get-together at Pegasus Pizza on Alki Wednesday night, Nov. 4. Many who attended had celebrated their 20th class reunion with Brenton last year. Some were close friends with the father of two, including J Havner.

"Tim and I would hang out on the weekends together, shared a limo together with our group of friends at senior prom, talked about life together after high school, kept in touch while he was in the army. He gets busy working for the police department. I get busy with the fire department," recalled Havner.. I'm captain of Station 24 in Greenwood. Worked for Seattle Fire (Department) for 15 years. We had that spirit of service."

To the Editor:

Being a long-time West Seattleite and loving this community, I was appalled and saddened by the letter urging rejection of Ref. 71 by local pastors (and I see on your website that many more signed this absurd letter). The good Christians I know embrace love and tolerance and welcome the inclusion of people who are not identical to them (old white men, presumably). Are the signers of this totally inappropriate letter so filled with hate and fear that they must spew it publicly and urge others to embrace their narrow-minded, bigoted stance? Do they believe Jesus would approve of their hatred and lack of compassion? They claim that their "recommendation" is not "aimed at the oppression of others but out of love". That's a funny kind of love that DOES aim at the oppression of others.

Sincerely,

Nancy Pennington
6709 46th Ave. SW
Seattle, WA 98136
206-932-8122

Fueled by outrage over the current city administration, a proposition to institute popular election of a strong mayor and a slate of three candidates took on SeaTac city government in the Nov. 3 election.

On Friday night, Nov. 6, King County Elections reported that only 29 votes separated the yes votes from the no votes on the initiative to switch from a city manager/ council form of government to an elected mayor/council.

As for the reform slate in the SeaTac council races, the early score card is one win, one loss and one too close to call.

In other closely-watched Highline council races, former Burien Deputy Mayor Jack Block Jr. defeated current Deputy Mayor Sue Blazak and Des Moines Councilman Dave Kaplan soundly beat Councilwoman Susan White for White's seat.

As for the long fight to save the Mt. Rainier Pool, Des Moines voters overwhelmingly approved setting up a separate pool district to fund and maintain the pool. But, on Friday night only two votes separated the two sides in a Normandy Park proposition that would have formed a park district to help fund the pool and city parks.

Susan Hutchison has conceded the King County Executive race to opponent Dow Constantine after the second round of ballot returns from the Nov. 3 general election released Nov. 4 showed her trailing 42.26 percent to 57.53 percent.

Her campaign offered the following statement:

"Although we are encouraged to see tens of thousands of additional votes in our favor this afternoon, we are certain the final outcome in this race will remain the same.

"This afternoon I called my opponent, Dow Constantine, to congratulate him on his election to King County Executive. Because the new Executive has only a few weeks until taking office, I want him to be able to move forward quickly to accomplish an orderly transition.

"I am grateful for the tremendous support from our King County citizens throughout this campaign. Hundreds of thousands of voters recognized the need for new leadership in King County and believed in our promise to bring that change.

"I encourage Dow Constantine to reach out to all our voters in the county, setting aside divisive politics to solve the complex problems before us.

My column on the addiction that many have to sports and athletics prompted some strong rebuttals. Opening a dialog on this topic, in my opinion, is a worthy goal.

I would like to respond to Mr. Jaenicke and the “Guests” that chose to endorse this “Addiction.”

Mr. Jaenicke cites ““Life long productive skills” his daughter has acquired: Teamwork, Collaboration, Tenacity, Humility, Perseverance, Determination, Handling Adversity, Organizational Skills, Mentoring, Motivational Skills, Goal Setting/Goal Achievement, Building lifelong friendships with a positive peer group” as a positive benefit of the athletic programs in his children’s schools.

For some kids this is absolutely true, just as these attributes are also taught in Little League, Select Teams, and other programs that are conducted in the community.

Are they desirable? Certainly! If Mr. Jaenicke believes them to be so why do we not require them of all students?

Alaska Airlines and the Port of Seattle invited the media to see a full scale snow removal practice session highlighting some new equipment and procedures in the process.

Last winter's heavy snow was a motivating factor in getting the new gear, acknowledged Alaska Airline's "Snow Czar" Scott Ridge.

The company has gone to a system of centralized de-icing pads and has purchased eight new de-icing trucks. "These new trucks have enclosed cabs so it keeps the technicians comfortable but it also has compressed air so it allows us to do this de-icing with engines running. So it makes it a lot faster. We used to do our de-icing at the gate in about 20 minutes so now we should be able to do it in about 12", Ridge said.

The airline also noted the reduced transit time needed to refill the de-icing trucks. Three "nurse trucks" were purchased to shuttle fluid (propylene gycol) from the holding tanks in the hangar to the de-icing trucks. They also increased the storage capacity of de-icing fluid at the airport by 70 percent.

Forty-Six years of friendship were shared recently at the Burien Elks Lodge when nine members of the Sealth 1963 graduating class attended their monthly luncheon.

From left they are: Dick Reamy, Leo Mathias, Karin Queen, Ray Mitchell, Ron Holzer, Diane Scollard, Marlene Schoenfeld and Darlene Mitchell. Sandy Olsen is pictured in the center as she arrived too late for the group photo.

Alaska Airlines and the Port of Seattle invited the media to see a full scale snow removal practice session highlighting some new equipment and procedures in the process.

Last winter's heavy snow was a motivating factor in getting the new gear, acknowledged Alaska Airline's "Snow Czar" Scott Ridge.

The company has gone to a system of centralized de-icing pads and has purchased eight new de-icing trucks. "These new trucks have enclosed cabs so it keeps the technicians comfortable but it also has compressed air so it allows us to do this de-icing with engines running. So it makes it a lot faster. We used to do our de-icing at the gate in about 20 minutes so now we should be able to do it in about 12", Ridge said.

The airline also noted the reduced transit time needed to refill the de-icing trucks. Three "nurse trucks" were purchased to shuttle fluid (propylene gycol) from the holding tanks in the hangar to the de-icing trucks. They also increased the storage capacity of de-icing fluid at the airport by 70 percent.

Holiday Bazaars

AAUW Bazaar - 9-3:30 p.m. Normandy Park City Hall, 801 S.W. 174th St. Fundraiser sponsored by AAUW to recognize 11th grade girls who excel in science, math and technology.

Bit of Norway - Nov. 21. 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, 158 S. 168th St. Bazaar items and bakery demonstrations, kaffestue (coffee shop,) heritage display. Sponsored by Daughters of Norway, Solveig Lodge #31. 206-243-8020.

Annual UMW Christmas Bazaar - Nov. 14, 9-2:30 p.m. Riverton Park United Methodist Church, 3118 S. 140th St., Tukwila. Get a head start on your Christmas shopping! Christmas Bargains, crafts, dolls, 2nd Time Around, baked goods. All proceeds go to charity. Lunch served 11:30-1:30 p.m.

St. Francis of Assisi Christmas Bazaar - Creative crafters are welcome to share your talents at the Annual St. Francis of Assisi Christmas Bazaar on November 21 from 9-4 p.m. This popular Bazaar always draws spirited crowds looking for unique treats! Come join us and show our community your gift. Please contact Suzanne Loiseau at (206) 824-5319 ASAP to reserve your spot!

Recently the Chamber of Commerce and the local paper hosted a forum where school board candidates answered questions from the “public.” It was held at 11 am at Federal Way High School which excluded most parents and those with a job. The timing could have been much better.

To boost the attendance kids from the high school were brought in as there were probably about 7 members of the public in the audience.

There was some discussion about what the school board has accomplished in the past two years, and the incumbents spent a great deal of time explaining extensions of programs that were actually promoted by former school board members in what the incumbents characterized as “Adversarial” school boards.

Their point being that the current school board, who seems to be a very agreeable bunch, instead of “Adversarial,” was actually accomplishing “Something.”

If they have it hasn’t been done in public, in fact one of their best known accomplishments might be their restriction of public comment from their meetings. They have seemed quite unwilling to hold any open discussions about any issues.