June 2010

Three Chilean flamingo chicks recently made their first public appearance at the Woodland Park Zoo. Hatched last August and September, the chicks marked the first successful hatching of this species in the zoo’s 110-year history.

In another chick sighting, a 1-month-old red-crowned crane is under the watchful care of its 18-year-old parents, which have contributed more than a dozen successful hatchings of this critically endangered species to zoos around the country.

Red-crowned cranes are renowned for their spectacular and elaborate courtship dances and are known as important symbols of long life, peace, happiness and fidelity for many Asian cultures.

After a 10-year absence from Woodland Park Zoo, hooded cranes have returned. The new male and female are designated to breed under the Association of Zoos & Aquarium’s Population Management Plan to help sustain a healthy and genetically diverse population of the species.

Seattle Department of Transportation announced that "today crews have been able to keep one lane open for each direction of traffic on First Avenue South at South King Street. The estimated time to reopen the entire street is now approximately 11 a.m. tomorrow, June 18.

Seattle Public Utilities crews continue to work on repairing a broken water main that closed the street to southbound traffic yesterday. Once their work is completed, SDOT crews will repave the street so that it can be reopened to traffic."

What if a retired teacher traveled to her class reunion and none of her former students showed up?
That's the fate that could befall an ex-teacher when the Marvista 6th grade class of 1972 holds a reunion dinner at the Normandy Park Cove, 1500 S.W. Shorebrook Dr., at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 25.

Marvista alum Al Peterson said he and his fellow 1972 classmates organized the reunion to honor their l teachers.
He invited Doris Lein, thinking she was a teacher that he had just forgotten from his long ago grade school days.
It turns out she taught at the school after 1972.

She excitedly accepted and is even bringing family members, according to Peterson. But, sadly none of her students were invited.
Peterson's solution? He's inviting all Marvista Elementary alumns from the years 1973 to around 1977 to join the dinner.
"There is no admission charge and we'll welcome those former students with open arms," Peterson declared. "The possibility of a little old lady with a broken heart is something we really need to avoid."

The dinner starts at 6 but folks can drop by any time before 9 p.m., Peterson noted.

What do you do if you are 29 years old, working as a C.P.A. and wish you were doing something else? Morgan Herzog is answering that question by opening the Beer Junction at 4707 42nd Ave. S.W. The store will start with approximately 600 beers for sale but Herzog hopes to eventually offer 1000 different brands from around the world. The store will open for business, "Hopefully June 25," Herzog said, with a grand opening in July, featuring tastings and visits from local brewers.

"About six months ago I decided to try something new, but I wasn't sure what it was going to be at the time", said Herzog, " so I was over at the Porterhouse (a restaurant in the Admiral District), and I was sampling through their beer list with my girlfriend and I just kind of realized that there was no really great place to take beers home." That provided the spark to leave his career crunching numbers and venture into the world of Ales and Pilsners.

WestSide Baby will be the lucky recipient of 200,000 diapers as part of a promotion by Kimberly-Clark, makers of Huggies diapers.

The company announced yesterday that it will donate millions of diapers to 10 diaper banks across the country. They will arrive at Westside Baby 10032 15th Ave. SW in White Center next week on Wed. June 23 at 11am. The company plans to give away millions of diapers starting this week and raise awareness about parents who struggle financially to provide them for their children.

Seattle Fire Department Investigators determined that the Fremont apartment fire that killed four children and an adult June 12 started when a foam mattress came in contact with a light fixture in a closet on the first floor.

Open doors and windows caused the fire to spread quickly from the first floor to the second floor of the two-story apartment at 334 N.W. 41st St., according to the Fire Department.

One woman and her 5-year-old niece escaped the fire, but heavy smoke and flames trapped four children and an adult woman in an upstairs bathroom. A 22-year-old woman, 13-year-old boy, 7-year-old girl, 5-year-old girl and 5-year-old boy lost their lives in the fire. Fire damage was estimated at $200,000.

The apartment had a smoke alarm system, and investigators were told that the smoke alarm did go off.

A mechanical problem on a reserve fire engine prevented the first firefighters on scene from being able to put water on the fire. The crew on Engine 18 was using a reserve engine the day of the fire while their first-line engine was undergoing routine maintenance.

Friends of the Hylebos today announced a re-structuring plan necessary to keep the organization sustainable amid a rapidly shrinking funding base for nonprofit conservation. The move by the Federal Way –based conservation organization includes personnel reductions and a re-focusing of key programs.

“This is an extremely difficult step, but one that’s necessary to keep conservation efforts alive in our community,” said Board President Margery Godfrey. “There has been a seismic shift in the conservation economy of the Puget Sound area, and the scope of funding that has supported the Friends during the last decade has shrunk rapidly and devastatingly. Our number one goal is to ensure that we can continue to provide conservation services at a level that’s sustainable in this economy.”

Re-structuring will enable the Friends to continue as a force for clean water, clean air and conservation in Federal Way and the Hylebos Watershed. The Friends will be focusing efforts on forest health at four local parks. There are nine volunteer events scheduled between now and the end of the year.

Thousands of Seattle children ages 1 through 18 will enjoy free breakfasts and lunches this summer through the Seattle Human Services Department’s Summer Food Service Program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded program, also known as “Summer Sack Lunch,” is open to children at qualifying sites. From June 28 through August 27, the meals will be served at approximately 100 sites across the city.

These include designated community centers, Seattle park playgrounds, Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCAs and YWCAs, and other community sites throughout Seattle and parts of King County. Not all sites offer both, so check the local list below for the site closest to you.

Meals for children enrolled in programs: Some of these sites offer the food program to children enrolled in specific activity programs. Meals are served to all children enrolled in the program for free. However, 50 percent or more of the children enrolled must be from families that are at or below the levels in this table.

Highland Park Elementary School teachers were surprised by retiring fellow teachers, Debbie Richter and Marilyn Nelson, and administrative assistant, Margaret Young, with a party in the library, Wednesday afternoon, June 16.

Richter, a special education teacher, has taught 21 years at Highland Park.

"It's time to say goodbye, said Richter, a Bellevue resident. "I've seen many students come and go. I'm going to travel. I have a new grandchild. This is going to be the next phase in my life."

"I'm going shopping when the stores are empty, and traveling when it's not tourist season," effused Young, who lives near the school, and still has a graceful North Carolina lilt even though she moved here 40 years ago. She was an office assistant at Highland Park School for six years before she moved into the Administrative Assistant position which she has held for the last 22 years.

The City of Normandy Park has found itself at odds with multiple residents, first over a possible cell tower at City Hall Park, and now due to claims the city violated residents' free speech rights at two separate council meetings.

Normandy Park resident Michael Ditchik, an attorney, says there are about 50 to 70 residents who have openly opposed the cell tower.
Ditchik also maintains that free speech rights were violated at both the May 11th and June 8th council meetings.

As to whether a claim will be filed, Ditchik said, "We are still evaluating whether to formally initiate a First Amendment-based lawsuit against the city. The filing of a Notice of Claim with the City Clerk, which has not yet occurred, would be the first step in this process."

Ditchik charges, in a letter to City Manager Doug Schulze, at the May 11 council meeting, Normandy Park Mayor George Hadley repeatedly attempted to cut him off when he tried to speak about the application pending before the council and/or the subject of RF emissions.