May 2010

As city, county and state law enforcement gear up for another statewide Click It or Ticket seat belt mobilization between May 24 and June 6, officers would be wise to take extra precautions with people who drive unbuckled at night. That’s because new research shows that nighttime unbuckled drivers are twice as likely as daytime buckled drivers to have criminal records for offenses that involve violence.

The Click It or Ticket seat belt patrols moved to the hours of darkness three years ago because the traffic death rate at night is four times higher. Officials also expected the research to show that nighttime unbuckled drivers have worse driving records, which proved true. The research also uncovered surprising findings about the criminal histories of nighttime unbuckled drivers. Compared to people who drive during the day with their seat belt on, nighttime unbuckled drivers are:

• Three times as likely to have a felony record.
• Twice as likely to have a criminal record for offenses that involves violence.
• Three times more likely to have a DUI on their record.

Many years ago before Burien became an incorporated city, I contacted the King County Parks department and met with the official in charge of the Dotty Harper park.

He came out and we traipsed the tree covered terrain.

I was a good friend of Dotty and respected her lifetime efforts on behalf of the Highline community.

But I had an idea that I thought might help Burien compete against the attraction of Southcenter's enormous shopping community and help offset the ravages of expansion of the airport.

And that was to create something attractive enough to attract the tourist dollar. Something Seattle has done, Kent has done, and Leavenworth has really done.

When tourists come to Seattle from all over the world they want see Pike Place market, the Space Needle, the waterfront, you name it.

They land in our front yard on the third runway and never even glance our way to look at our attractive downtown Burien plaza, Olde Burien, Seahurst Park, the Des Moines marina, the Redondo aquarium or even the funky row of houses sitting cheek by jowl along the south beach at Three Three Tree Point in a glimpse reminiscent of the Algarve in Portugal.

Do you have any books you’ve outgrown? How about DVDs or VHS movies you have seen too many times?

Cub scout pack 307 from Federal Way is asking the community for a donation of used books and DVDs to help enhance the media library of the Mary Bridge Children's Hospital.

Bring gently used books, DVD’s and VHS tapes to donate to the Children’s Emergency center and hospital game room. Titles for all ages from toddler to teen are welcome.

Pack 307 hopes to encourage students and teachers in Federal Way schools to participate, and they're offering an incentive: The classroom with the most items wins an ice cream party.

Steve Welch, CEO of Todd Pacific Shipyards, and Scott Hoggarth, general manager of Crowley Marine, both on Harbor Island, were among those honored Tuesday, May 11, at the 59th Annual Maritime Festival Luncheon. Welch won the Puget Sound Maritime Achievement Award. Hoggarth received the Marine Environmental Business of the Year Award.

The awards ceremony took place in the lavish Pharaoh’s Place Show Lounge with stage, balcony, and Egyptian motif on the 960-foot Carnival Spirit Cruise Ship, ready to sail that day to Alaska for a 7-day cruise to the Tracy Arm Fjord, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, and back through Victoria. As speeches were given, crowds of tourists were entering the ship, pulling their luggage up ramps and heading toward the buffets.
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The Luncheon is a tradition that officially concludes the 2010 Maritime Festival that includes tug boat races, Maritime Career Day, Working Waterfront Workshop, and other events this year held May 4 to May 8.

The Rotary Club of West Seattle is pleased to announce an agreement through King County Prosecutors with the man responsible for taking the totem pole from Rotary Viewpoint Park November, 2009.
West Seattle Rotary donated the totem pole to the Seattle Parks Department in 1976 as part of a larger park development project, and has worked with Seattle Parks since then to keep the viewpoint and totem pole maintained.
According to the press release sent by the King County Prosecutor's office the man who removed the totem pole has agreed to pay approximately $3200 in restitution to the Parks Department for the cost of recovering the stolen totem pole. He has also made a payment of $17,745 to the Rotary Club of West Seattle Service Foundation. These funds will afford professional restoration to be completed on the pole. This work was needed at the time of it's removal. The Rotary Club has stated that they do not wish to pursue a criminal charge against the man responsible for its disappearance and have communicated this to the Prosecutor's office.

Nicholas Stevens has a Shiba Inu named Sawyer who is one year old. Shiba Inus are Japanese hunting dogs that were originally bred to go through dense undergrowth in search of smaller wild game like rabbits. As pets they are reserved toward strangers.

Stevens got the dog from a breeder in central Washington. "We did a little bit of research," Stevens said," and my parents have a 2 year old son and they wanted him to grow up with a dog. We all went down and got the dog together."

Sawyer is a very active dog, loves to walk and is often pulling at his leash. "When he gets really excited he jumps and spins in the air," often doing a full 360 degree turn Stevens said. "For their size they can jump higher than any other dog," he continued, "They can jump 3 1/2 feet high. It's pretty insane."

Shibas like to "ignore people...they kind of do their own thing. They don't like to listen," according to Stevens.

May 21 - June 6, 2010
Evenings: Friday and Saturday 8:00 PM
Matinees: Saturday and Sunday 2:00 PM

The comic and musical soul of 1930s Harlem lives on in this rollicking, finger-snapping revue that is still considered one of Broadway's best.

Ain't Misbehavin' evokes the delightful humor and infectious energy of this American original as a versatile cast struts and sings the songs "Fats" Waller made famous in a career that ranged from uptown clubs to Tin Pan Alley.

Buy tickets online today at www.centerstagetheatre.com or call 253.661.1444

Featuring: Bill Bland, Stacie Calkins, Ashanti CoLe, LaVon Hardison and Jesse Smith. Directed by David Duvall.

Grab your sneakers, bikes and swim goggles, and head out to Federal Way for the U.S. Women's Triathlon Series (USWTS).

Federal Way is the second stop in this three-city national series.

This is the sixth year that the event has been held in Federal Way, and with a new July race date, it is one of the first all-women triathlon events in Puget Sound.

The event ─ a combination of swimming, biking and running ─ can be run as either a Sprint or SuperSprint Course.

Entry fees support the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. To date, the USWTS has raised more than $1 million for this cause. Other 2010 USWTS cities are Naperville, Ill. (June 12-13) and San Diego (Oct. 16-17). Information on these events is at www.USWTS.com.

Dwindling numbers of participants resulted in a Seattle Christian School girls nonleague golf forfeit to Steilacoom at the Riverbend golf complex on Thursday, May 6.

The Warriors simply had an insufficient number of players that finished the rare 18-hole match on the par 72 course. Illness and other reasons sidelined three SCS players throughout the day.

Seattle Christian's purpose for an 18-hole match was to prepare already qualified players for district and add to the number of eligible district-eligible members.

"We've done well this season," said Warrior head coach Mandy Fiechtner. "Our home course at Riverbend is fairly flat, but we've struggled with higher rating courses. All of our team members are improving."

Cherokee Kim of the Steilacoom Sentinels earned medalist honors with an 84.

A trio of players finished the full round for SCS. Junior Sydney Corliss led the Warriors with a 101.

"It was all right," she said. "I was hitting my drives to the right and my irons were a little short. My strengths are normally my fairway woods. Today, I did use my U club from 25 yards to pitch the ball within inches of the hole."

Cleanup from last week's diesel fuel spill at Dash Point State Park wrapped up today, and the day-use area - closed since
April 30 - reopened May 7.

Fuel spilled in the early evening of April 29 from a 300-gallon tank owned by a contractor performing work for the Washington State
Department of Transportation (WSDOT) on a the F.B. Hoit Bridge along State Route 509 through the park.

Crews removed 250 tons of potentially impacted soil, asphalt, curbs and rip rap, and replaced them with clean materials. To access
contaminated areas, a cleanup contractor cut through and repaired small areas of a parking lot and road.

The cleanup also involved the removal of trees and other vegetation along Thames Creek, which flows through the park. New native
plants will be planted along the restored stream bank next week.

Erosion-control mats and fences remain in place in the meantime.

Dash Point State Park is a day-use and camping park on Puget Sound. The day-use portion of the park was closed to the public during
the cleanup. Regular park hours - 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. - resumed on May 8.