March 2010

A graduation was held on Feb. 24 at SeaTac's Chinook Middle School for 7th grade students completing the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program.

The G.R.E.A.T. middle school curriculum consists of thirteen 30- to 45-minute lessons designed to be taught in sequential order. In the lessons, the kids learn the connection between drugs, gangs, crimes, and violence.

The lessons are about learning to make good decisions, practicing saying no, goal setting, anger management, empathy for other, helping others calm down and effective communication to just name a few.

The goal for Chinook is to have all the new 7th graders go through the program during the first semester of each school year.

Students were selected from each class period and spoke about making better decisions in dealing with confrontations. The teachers also spoke about the positive behavior changes in their students and an appreciation of the material presented. Several students volunteered to be G.R.E.A.T. peer mentors and mediators next year.

There were approximately 250 7th grade Chinook students who attended this program.

Students at Foster High School in Tukwila are striving to raise awareness of the need in Haiti, and sustain that awareness despite the media's fading attention.

French teacher Sue Pike has been assigning service learning projects to her students for years. This year the earthquake in Haiti took the focus.

Students have created posters using drawings, photographs and facts to depict the dire situation Haiti is in after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the country on Jan. 12.

Pike complimented her students on the strong emotion behind their posters. Students drew faces with tears, pregnant women worrying, helping hands holding a bandaged world, and annihilated buildings. Statistics are written to grab attention, stating the current death toll at over 200,000 people.

In addition to the posters, Pike's students from all levels are involved in making and selling bracelets for $1 each. Their goal is to sell 250 bracelets. Donations are also coming in.

Foster's Interact Club is also involved in the making and selling of these bracelets, as well as buttons, which were designed by a Foster student.

An entire century of music presented in 55 minutes.

That's the promise as KidSounds, YouthSounds and TeenSounds Northwest present their annual spring concert March 19 at 7 p.m. in the Highline Performing Arts Center, 401 S. 152nd St.

Tickets are $10 to $15 with youth 17 and under admitted free with a paid adult ticket. Tickets are available from www.nwassociatedarts.org or 206-246-6040.

Following an original opener by Greg Gilpin, the concert will take the audience on a decade-by-decade celebration of popular music. Paula Hawkins directs the groups.

"You're A Grand Old Flag," "Give My Regards to Broadway," "Rock Around the Clock," "Fame" and "Good Vibrations" are among the songs to be performed.

Narration, dancing, and solos blend together with choral singing in this showcase of the budding talents of the youth choruses.

The NWAA young people's music education program is funded, in part, by the support of 4 Culture, Lucky 7 Foundation, Glaser Foundation, Norcliffe Foundation, City of Burien, JR Mailing Services, Inc, and many individuals and families throughout the community.

Former SeaTac City Manager Craig Ward is one of five finalists for the city manager position in Oregon City, Oregon.

Oregon City is just south of Portland and is the county seat of Clackamas County. Its population is estimated at almost 30,000 residents.

Oregon City was the first city in the United States west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated.

Ward was removed as city manager and suspended from his duties by the SeaTac City Council on Oct. 22.

Ward and city staffers had come unde fire for cost overruns on fire station construction, a critical state auditor's report, a controversial tree retention ordinance and the condemnation of a private parking lot that was later rescinded.

He was removed just before the November general election. On the ballot was a proposition that would have eliminated the city manager position and replaced it with an elected mayor. The measure lost by 9 votes.

Ward started in SeaTac as the city's principal planner and became assistant city manager before being promoted to city manager.

Todd Cutts was appointed interim city manager after Ward's suspension.

Michelle Tuncap is a soft-spoken woman from Tukwila.

Soft-spoken is how she stayed when she found out she won $250,000 playing Mega Millions in the Washington state lottery, though it isn't how she felt.

"I'm freaking out," she said quietly the day after learning that she'd won.

Tuncap doesn't play the lottery all that often. "It's just for fun. I never thought I would win; It's just a couple of dollars here and there," she said.

She did win though, and she won big.

"I didn't know how to react, I just can't believe it," she said. "I couldn't really sleep...I just kept looking at it."

Tuncap's had some time to think about what she'll do with the winnings, and says she'll pay some bills and go back to school. She'd like to become an auto mechanic so she's looking for technical schools in the area.

Tuncap purchased her $250,000 Mega Millions ticket from Spanaway Deli on 22nd Avenue East in Tacoma. For selling the winning ticket, the store will receive a retail selling bonus of $7,500.

Normandy Park resident Ted Lomax is proof that life continues with kidney dialysis.

Lomax, 83, has been on dialysis for nearly a decade. He started dialysis three times a week at a Northwest Kidney Centers' clinic. For the past eight years, Lomax has been having dialysis at home with the help of his wife, Gloria, 79.

Dialysis is absolutely necessary in keeping a person with kidney failure alive. It removes impurities and waste from the blood when one's kidneys are unable to do so. Without dialysis or a kidney transplant, a person with kidney failure would not survive.

Most people dialyze in a center, but others prefer the flexibility of home dialysis, as treatments done at home can be longer and therefore more similar to the function of healthy kidneys.

Home dialysis gives patients more control over their lives, Gloria explained. "It's flexible. You can do it earlier, or later, to accommodate something else that's happening that day. It allows you to work your dialysis around your life."

Ted did not have any major symptoms before suffering from the kidney disease that required him to begin dialysis. The cause of his ailing kidneys is a mystery.

Because of budget constraints, Burien has gone without any asphalt overlay to any of their streets for two years. There are no plans to do it this year.

After the annexation of the northern portion of North Highline on April 1, Burien will have new streets to maintain as well.

Burien Public Works Director Larry Blanchard told the City Council at their meeting March 1 they need to think about a strategy to keep the city's roads up.

Overall the Burien's streets are in good shape at the moment. But the longer streets go without maintenance the more expensive they become to repair.

In seven years, if nothing is done to the roads all of the streets in Burien will either be failed or failing, Blanchard said. When a street fails the road has to be completely removed and the road has to be rebuilt from the foundation underneath the asphalt up.

Mayor Joan McGilton blamed the drop in sales tax for the city's inability to budget money for repaving over the last couple of years.

"It is not the city being irresponsible with tax funds," McGilton said. "We haven't had the funds."

Recent controversies over condemnation proceedings and the city's form of government were set aside as residents and staff celebrated on March 1 the City of SeaTac's 20th anniversary of incorporation.

The 12-square mile city with a population of about 25,000 was incorporated Feb. 28, 1990. At a ceremony in city council chambers, King County Executive Dow Constantine noted the city includes Sea-Tac International Airport, which handled 31 million passengers last year and is the nation's 18th busiest airport.

The Hanky Panky Band from the SeaTac Senior Center at the North SeaTac Community Center provided entertainment before the ceremony.

Frank Hansen, the city's first mayor, noted, "I can wax on for hours about our accomplishments."

But he said he preferred mentioning day-to-day achievements such as the domestic violence victim who received immediate help after contacting city staffers.

Hansen lamented the anger he said that has entered politics.

"My personal experience is that good people are elected and we have a hardworking staff," Hansen declared.

Mt. Rainier High School teacher Kari Robins is an avid volunteer. Two summers ago she went on a volunteer vacation to Costa Rica and Panama to help rescue endangered sea turtles and manatees.

This year she has a new mission. Her destination this time is Haiti.

"I knew I wanted to do another volunteer mission this summer and [I] was looking into Guatemala and Africa," says Robins. "Then when the earthquake hit and the need was so dire, it didn't even seem like an option!"

Schools, she says, will remain closed for many more months and so her task will be mostly to give an education to orphaned children.

"Being a teacher, I am so excited to help in this way," says Robins.

Robins' trip will be for five weeks and will cost her about $3,000.

"I am doing a fundraiser," she says. "A 'Parent's Night Out' at the end of this month, but I could really use all the help I can get."

The fundraiser will be on March 19 at Seahurst Elementary School, 14603 14th Ave. S. in Burien, from 5 -10 p.m. and on April 23 at Mt. Rainier High School, 22450 19th Ave. S. in Des Moines, at the same time. The cost is $20 per child and $10 per each additional sibling.

Cutting Edge
Olympic Recital Hall
6000 16th Ave. S.W.
206-937-2899
Saturday, March 27, 7:30 p.m.
A multi-media feast of post-minimalist piano music accompanied by vibrant visual are projections. With pianists Oksana Ezhokina, Robert Krupnick, and Jane Harty. Tickets $18 General Admission, $16 seniors, free for students to age 25, but must be reserved in advance. www.musicnorthwest.org.

March ArtWalk - March 11, 6 to 9 pm
Artists and Locations
http://westseattleartwalk.blogspot.com/
Download an Artwalk Walking Map
The West Seattle art walk is a monthly art event that is held the second Thursday of each month 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. year-round.

Some highlights and listed artists
Aplus Hearing Aid Center 4519 California Av SW Carol Griffin figurative art on canvas
Charlestown Cafe 3800 California Av SW Marilyn Van Cleave Ullin, contemporary mixed medium