July 2010

Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, working with the FeetFirst organization is coming to do a 'Walk and Talk' of 'The Triangle' in West Seattle. The event is scheduled for August 31 from 6pm to 8pm.

Bounded and bisected by Fauntleroy Way SW, 35th Avenue SW and SW Alaska Street this area is central to the health and future of West Seattle. It is located east of the Junction and is home to a variety of locally owned businesses and the West Seattle YMCA. Along 35th Avenue S.W. it's across from the West Seattle Golf Course.

When the Huling Bros. auto dealerships sold and Gee Automotive closed only a year later it had a major impact on this area of West Seattle.
Since then it has been the subject of a Draft Study by the Department of Planning and Development with a number of aims.

If you attended June's Morgan Junction Festival or the recent West Seattle Summer Fest you may have noticed a booth crowded with a gracious gang of motorcycle enthusiasts, each sporting a black t-shirt with a cross emblem designed with two wrenches. Their booth was decorated with some of their handiwork, recycled cycles they'd fixed at their West Seattle MISSIONmoto ministry where these holy-rollers wheel and deal Hondas, Yamahas, and vintage bikes with all profits going toward their missionary work. So far, sales have benefitted the West Seattle Food Bank, meals for the Union Gospel Mission, cooking stoves for Guatemalan villagers, and a Nepalese minister who can now begin his work in his mountainous nation.

Founder, Michael Daily, 39, got the idea of MISSIONmoto while attending New Hope Church in Shoreline where Pastor Jon Burgess gave the idea his blessing. There is no church or pews, but rather an 820 square-foot, three-car garage he built behind his house near Morgan Junction.

R. Kevin McFeely, President & Chief Executive Officer of The Kenney, a Continuing Care Retirement Community in West Seattle, has been elected as Board Chair for Aging Services of Washington.

Aging Services of Washington (formerly Washington Association of Housing and Services for the Aging) (WAHSA) is one of the foremost professional associations in Washington State comprised of non-profit and mission-based organizations that serve seniors.
McFeely, who will serve a one-year term as Board Chair, will work with the organization’s Chief Executive Officer Deb Murphy, in support of Aging Services’ legislative advocacy and professional development programs.

Aging Services has approximately 105 members, which include skilled nursing, assisted living, independent living, home health, memory care and other senior service organizations, from across Washington state.
Priorities for the coming year include fulfillment of a new leadership institute initiative to support the development of a new generation of industry leaders, equipped for civic engagement and advocacy work.

Last week the pedestrian suspension bridge in White Center Heights Park had to be closed to the public because of vandalism. Park workers have chased kids off the bridge several times for swinging the bridge back and forth. This has resulted in damage to bolts and cables holding the bridge together. A King County worker said “If the bridge is used as planned it should hold up and be fine but when people try and turn it into a swing there could be continuing problems with nuts and bolts because it’s a mechanical connection and not a truly welded system”.

King County Department of Transportation, whose’ jurisdiction the bridge falls under, is looking into ways to reinforce the structure. The damaged pedestrian footbridge will be closed for at least one month while crews inspect the structure and engineers develop a plan for repairs. King County Parks crews have closed access to the footbridge and have placed signs alerting pedestrians of the closure.

The bridge, which was constructed across a small bog in September 2009 as part of a series of improvements to the park, lost several bolts that connect elements of the structure together.

Beginning this month, the city will install new curbs along 28th Avenue Northwest between Northwest 56th Street and Northwest 57th Street to increase pedestrian safety and protect landscaping.

The Seattle Department of Transportation will install a curb between 56th Street and 57th Street on both sides of the street and on the one-half block just south of 56th Street on the eastside of the street.

The curb will provide a better walking environment by creating a buffer between the sidewalk and the street and will provide a protected area for landscaping by preventing cars from parking on the planting strip area, according to a Seattle Department of Transportation press release.

This fall, trees will be planted on both sides of the street. When completed, the width of the street will be the standard for residential streets with parking on both sides, similar to the blocks to the north. The current on-street parallel parking will remain in place following construction.

Seattle Department of Transportation paving crews expect to begin construction July 23 or July 26, depending on completion of work at another location, according to the press release.

In a move designed to increase efficiency for dealing with low level property crimes the Seattle Police Department has launched an online reporting option. 911 is still the first option for police emergency calls.

The SPD released this announcement:

The Seattle Police Department is proud to announce a new online police reporting option for the public. This web-based Community Online Reporting Program (CORP) will allow the public to file police reports for certain incident types (Property Destruction, Car Prowls, Auto Accessories, Theft of Property (under $500), and Identity Theft) over the internet. The Department expects this internet-based reporting service to be very popular among community members who have come to expect services to be provided immediately and conveniently online.

With the impending move to an all new fire station now under construction at 7700 35th Avenue S.W. the Seattle Fire Department is seeking input on what to do with the historic station at 7302 35th Avenue S.W. They are starting the disposition process by contacting residents and property owners within 1000 feet of the former station, interested parties and community groups to ask for citizen input before presenting a recommendation to the Seattle City Council regarding the property's disposition.

This isn't the last chance to say something, other opportunities will be presented.

That station, designated as an historic landmark in January of 2005, will be available in the fourth quarter of 2010, but there are restrictions regarding the site and how the building can be altered. These are covered by Seattle City Ordinance No. 122466.

It was valued at $294, 800 in the 2010 survey by the King County Assessor, is 5, 360 square feet, and sits on a lot of 9, 464 square feet in size.

It's in a single family zoned area.

Russ Rizzo is a dirty guy. Don’t shake hands with this man. Don’t try to get close lest you are willing to walk away with the vestiges of his job on your sleeve.

There is nothing clean about him or the work he does. Once he pops the hood on your ailing vehicle he’s all business at fixing your radiator or air-conditioning unit or both depending on the severity of the problem.

Russ has labored 30 years, more than 20 of ‘em at ABC Radiator, getting hot under your car to keep you cool inside it. He’s seen every do-hickey and quirky thing that can go wrong on a car heating and cooling system and is still amazed that some cars can go 15 years without a blink of a problem and others come to him 10 days past the warranty.

His arthritic hands are still able to turn a wrench. His keen sense of where the problems are occurring don’t make fixing it easier on him but easier on your wallet. He’ll tell you he won’t charge you if he can’t fix it. He’ll tell you cars are complicated and simple at the same time.

We’re all pretty accustomed to reducing, reusing and recycling, but I think “repurpose” should be added as a fourth “r.”

En route to my recycling container, I caught myself looking through a multi-page, full-color ad from a big box retailer. A year ago in August, I made a pledge to “buy nothing” except essentials, which I clearly defined as food, toiletries, cat necessities and house emergencies to avoid any and all justifications.

So, I also gave up looking at promotional flyers to limit temptation (because really, there’s a lot of very cool, useful stuff out there). But this time, the colors caught my eye, and before I realized it, I was flipping through the pages.

Maybe it’s the upcoming year anniversary, or a recent obsession with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, but I’ve been thinking more about “stuff.” I’ve done pretty well with my pledge, although hardly perfect.

But in my effort to buy less, I’m consistently looking for new ways to use old stuff before it heads out the door to the thrift store or trash can.

A vintage neon clock hangs over the entrance of an older burnt red building a few hundred feet from the imposing barricades planted at the out-of-commission South Park Bridge entrance. The clock is unplugged, frozen in time, just shy of 8:00 o'clock.

Bill Owens, shop owner of Seattle Canine Outfitters and South Park Organics, rents the building. He explained, "I turned the clock off at 7:57(pm) June 30, the moment the bridge closed, and it won't go back on until a new bridge goes up."

Owens, who also rents out 300 mail boxes at his shop at 8526 14th Avenue South, is a South Park fixture who has lived there for over 18 years after declaring his first Washington home, Ballard "unrecognizable" with its new high-rise housing construction and fast-paced living. He lives in a houseboat at South Park Marina on the Duwamish River, once perched under the shadows of the bridge. Owens can walk with a cane but, due to getting hit by a car in Greenlake and flying through its windshield, and diabetes issues, he is often spotted at community events and around town in his wheelchair as Honey, his trusty chow care dog, and companion to many in the neighborhood, prances a few steps ahead.