December 2009

This time last year snow pelted West Seattle and left some potential last-minute Christmas shoppers stranded at home. Others chose to walk to the ma & pa shops in the Alaska Junction as driving or bussing to the mall was not a safe or doable option. Some Junction merchants say they benefited from the storm, others say they suffered. However, all seem to believe that, despite the ubiquitous doom-and-gloom economic reports, spending is up this Christmas season, and, as of Tuesday, Dec. 22, report a last-minute surge in business.

Miles Abrams, owner, Rubato Records, specializing in new and used easy & hard-to-find records, CD’s, DVD’s and tapes, 4710 California Av.

“The very end of this season has been picking up. On Black Friday more people were at the malls. Then people that needed unique gifts, struggling to find something special, came out to smaller shops. I’m going to say definitely this year is better. Last year’s snow really hurt.”

Jack Menashe, Menashe and Sons Jewelers, 4532 California Av.

Seattle’s Snow-Fighting Approach
The purpose of SDOT’s snow and ice response is to maintain mobility on Seattle’s streets and maintain access to the regional transportation system. They commit to achieving bare and wet pavement on specified streets within eight hours after a lull in the storm. Bare pavement means pavement free of most compacted snow and bonded ice (isolated pockets of slush may persist). The plan is based on nationwide best practices and includes anti-icing, deicing, use of abrasives and specified snow clearing routes.

Anti-icing - Anti-icing takes place before the storm, when snow is predicted with 50 percent or greater certainty. An enhanced salt brine solution will be used to impede the bond between ice and the pavement. Of course, if it is raining, SDOT will use granular salt instead.

Deicing - Deicing removes snow and ice that have already accumulated. SDOT will apply an granular salt to designated routes when snow and ice are on the ground. The application rates for granular salt range from 150 to 300 pounds per lane-mile.

It was a furtherance of four minutes that proved fruitful in a fulfillment of victory on Monday night at the Gator Dome.

Relying on defense at critical times, Class 4A South Puget Sound League Decatur broke into the win column for the first time after six losses in a 45-41 non league overtime win against Class 3A Seamount League Highline.

"This group of players plays outstanding defense," testified Decatur head coach Kevin Rawie. "After a summer without playing together, these girls continue to learn to play together. We're capable and have a lot of heart. The girls just dig down deep."

In overtime, Takiya Flowers fed Alexis Cole for a layin to give the Gators a 38-36 lead. Amber Coughran countered with a Pirate free throw before Flowers stole the ball at midcourt and drove to the basket for a 40-37 Decatur margin. Samantha Erben got free on the back side for a lay up as Highline drew within 40-39. Flowers then faced up from the top of the key beyond the three-point arc and bombed home the goal for a 43-39 Gator advantage with 1:17 remaining in the overtime.

A preliminary review of Link light rail’s low-speed, non-injury derailment on Nov. 16 shows the accident occurred after the train operator failed to follow established protocols for requesting access to the main line of the system and proceeded through a stop signal before entering the main line. The train then derailed while attempting to reverse course off the main line.

The two-car train was empty and coming into service when the operator moved through a stop signal on the access tracks at the Link Operations and Maintenance facility connecting to the Link mainline. Once on the mainline, staff at the Link Control Center detected the train in an incorrect position, ordered the operator to stop, then instructed the operator to visually check the track switches for correct alignment and then reverse course back onto the access tracks.

The review shows the operator failed to check the switches before walking to the other end of the train and reversing back down the access tracks. While making the reverse move back down the access tracks, the switch position caused two sets of wheels on the second train car to derail and block the southbound mainline tracks.

Seattle City Council member Tim Burgess, chair of the Public Safety, Human Services and Education Committee, showed support for increased police presence in the neighborhood and more services for homeless individuals at the Dec. 9 Ballard District Council meeting.

Burgess attended the meeting to discuss the progress of the city's Safer Streets Initiative, which the council passed in summer 2008. The initiative includes a dozen steps to address street crime and social disorder.

He said the city council has recently implemented an ordinance that allows the city to move against problem properties, such as drug houses and certain hotels on Aurora Avenue, with better efficiency.

The city council is taking an aggressive posture toward child prostitution by making Seattle only the fourth city in the country to provide a safe haven for the estimated 300 to 500 children younger than 17 being abused, Burgess said.

Most importantly, the city council is continuing to work toward staffing up the Seattle Police Department, he said. The city spends 54 percent of its budget on the police and fire department because public safety its its number one priority, he said.

The Camp Long Environmental Learning Center main lodge will close for renovations in January 2010. The Environmental Learning Center is located at 5200 35th Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98126.

The Parks and Green Spaces Levy provides $1 million in funding for improvements and upgrades to this building. The renovation will make improvements to the building’s mechanical systems and lower level teaching and learning spaces. These upgrades will help the lodge maintain and improve its stature as a distinctive community gathering place that facilitates environmental education and recreational activities.

The park, the shelters, fire ring and cabins will be open during renovation. Reservations for these amenities in 2010 may be made by calling 684-7434 after 8 a.m. on January 12. Leave a message at that number, and your reservation will be made in the order they were received.

In addition, programs sponsored by the Camp Long Advisory Council will continue to be offered. Check the website for a current list of courses and our quarterly brochure. http://www.seattle.gov/PARKS/Environment/camplong.htm

North Highline Fire Chief Scott LaVielle resigned on Monday, clearing the way for the district to balance its budget without cutting two or three firefighter positions.
Feb. 28 is his official resignation date.
Burien/Normandy Park Fire Chief Mike Marrs will take over for LaVielle. The North Highline and Burien/Normandy Park fire departments will not officially merge, but will consolidate functions.
About half of North Highline's coverage area will be annexed into Burien in March.

In the first part of the 20th Century, the large, nearly block-size building on Ballard Avenue and Northwest Vernon Place housed a serious of saloons.

During Prohibition, it became the Dexter-Horton Bank. The vault still remains in the lower levels of the building.

The building served as Ballard's post office during the 1940s. Some Ballard old-timers remember congregating around it to hear news of friends and family fighting overseas.

For the past 30 years this January, the Olympic Athletic Club has called the building home and carried on its tradition as a neighborhood meeting and gathering place.

"The club really has a life of its own," said Jim Riggle, who owns the club along with his wife Debra. "People just like to be here. It's been a great business since the day it opened."

Riggle had heard stories of Snoose Junction from his grandfather, who talked of fishing in the area and dining at a place called Hattie's Hat.

Riggle said he never realized his grandfather's Snoose Junction and Ballard were the same place until he bought the building from the Elks Club in 1980. Hattie's Hat sits right across the street.

"They told Eiffel to take down his tower after the fair because it was an eyesore.

"They said the same thing about the Golden Gate Bridge. Maybe we should take that down, too."

That's the way Burien architect Roger Patten responded to criticism from state Department of Transportation officials who rejected his proposal for an Elliott Bay Bridge to replace the viaduct.

The original story about his bridge is here.

In a 2006 memo, state transportation officials said Patten's bridge would block views of the bay. The memo said Patten's 800-foot bridge towers would be eight stories higher than the Columbia Tower, 200 feet higher than the Space Needle and 100 feet higher than the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Herald outlined Patten's design last week.

Patten's cable-stayed bridge would be an alternative to the planned deep bore tunnel and would arc out over Elliott Bay. He has a patent pending on his buoyancy-stabilized floating pier to hold the structure.

Twelfth Night Productions celebrates its thirteenth annual performance of Amahl and the Night Visitors, a short opera by Gian Carlo Menotti. This fully orchestrated production of Menotti's brilliantly scored opera tells the story of a poor young shepherd and his mother who receive a visit from the Three Kings on their way to Bethlehem. “Amahl's mother welcomes the royal sojourners, who rest in the small, bare house where love and faith work miracles during the night.” Publisher’s Weekly, 1986. “Our production has become a tradition for many families in the Seattle area. It is a beautiful way to close the holiday season,” said artistic director Mary Opland Springer. Each year many cast members, musicians and dancers return to recreate the magic of this beautiful opera.

Twelfth Night Productions is a non-profit performing arts organization located in the new Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. This production features several artists from the West Seattle community as well as the greater Seattle area.