July 2010

This past spring, Furniture Spa, a Ballard paint-stripping company, was investigated and cited by state and city agencies for the improper handling and disposal of solid waste and a number of chemicals, including the potential carcinogen methylene chloride.

On May 4, the Washington State Department of Ecology sent a letter to Furniture Spa owner Lorin Emtage citing several areas in which the business was out of compliance with the state's Dangerous Waste Regulations.

The letter outlines three areas of concern, but the Department of Ecology's major issue was with the handling and disposal of methylene chloride, the main chemical used in paint stripping, said Larry Altose, the department's northwest region spokesperson.

On June 22, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency issued a Notice of Violation to Furniture Spa and ordered them to immediately cease using methylene chloride in their process, said Kimberley Cline, spokesperson for the agency.

Prudential Northwest Realty through Mike Gain and Don Bereiter have come forward to help maintain a popular local event. The Senior Coffee Hour, a gathering that would feature a meeting with a city official for senior citizens in Seattle was in danger of being eliminated due to budget constraints.

"When we heard that the city was going to cut out supplying coffee for the Senior Coffee Hour program we decided to take care of it. We can make other cuts in our budget to cover the cost to supply their coffee. It is the least we can do for our Senior Citizens. We are happy to do it," Mike Gain said.

The City of Seattle released this press release:
When Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said that belt-tightening meant no more City dollars could pay for food and beverages at City meetings, the Mayor’s Office for Senior Citizens was faced with a dilemma: How do you continue a Senior Coffee Hour program without any coffee?

Ferocious bidding on auction items, up-close animal encounters, dining al fresco, and live entertainment all contributed to a roaring success of raising $1.7 million at Woodland Park Zoo’s Jungle Party. The premier fundraiser held July 9 exceeded its goal by $300,000.

The 34th annual Jungle Party was themed “Big Claws, Big Cause” to commemorate the zoo's felines, such as snow leopards, jaguars and Sumatran tigers.

Nearly 1,000 civic-minded patrons converged on the zoo’s North Meadow to raise funds that will help the zoo continue to provide exemplary animal care, offer engaging education programs and partner with conservation projects around the world and locally, according to a Woodland Park Zoo press release.

A record-breaking $832,000 was raised among the $1.7 million for this year’s Fund-Our Future: Animal Care.

The West Seattle Herald recently toured the refurbished Sealth International High School, now two and a half years into construction. Robert Evans, project manager for Heery International and sub consultant to DKA Architecture the Construction Program Manager for the project, and Principal John Boyd were our guides for the two-and-a-half hour peek at what they believe will be a world-class facility. Absher Construction is the General (primary) Contractor.

Other adults present were heard commenting that they wish they could go back to high school as they seemed in awe of the modernization.

A construction levy in February 2007 provided 125 million dollars for two buildings in the West Seattle area. One was the construction of a new Denny Middle School and the other was the renovation of Sealth. Denny was allocated funds to build a new school (75 million dollars) and Sealth was allocated 50 million dollars for remodeling. The work on Sealth is nearly complete and they will open this fall.

A complete overview of the project is available online at http://bex.seattleschools.org/chiefsealth.html

Libby Carr, speaking on behalf of the Alki Community Council and more specifically for the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza has shared this update on the status of the plaza and the bricks that remain available for sale.

Her update follows:
In October of 2009, a Memorandum of Agreement was signed between Seattle Parks & Recreation and the Alki Community Council designating the Council as the local organization responsible for the Plaza and granting it the right to sell additional engraved bricks and bronze Tribute Plaques. As specified in this agreement, funds raised by this sale have been turned over to Parks and will be placed in a separate account to be used to supplement the original Phase II maintenance fund and for Parks approved ACC sponsored events that “benefit the Statue of Liberty Plaza and the community’s enjoyment or involvement with the plaza”. This ongoing Phase III sale has resulted in the addition of 257 engraved bricks and 1 Tribute Plaque which were installed in the Plaza by Seattle Parks & Recreation in May of this year.

It was not until Chris Holm was tapped to take part in the Rosie the Riveter group in West Seattle that she began to share her stories of working at Puget Sound Sheet Metal during WWII. Looking nothing like the muscular riveter that Norman Rockwell pictured on the front of the Saturday Evening Post she nevertheless held her own, first as a bucker, and then as a riveter, using 3/16th ice box rivets on the B-29 bulkhead.

If you're driving under the influence and have a trunk loaded with a scale, money in a cigar box, little plastic bags, and a bunch of marijuana, it's best to drive cautiously as you pass a police car with flashing red lights that has pulled over a fellow driver. Driving up on the curb, while telling the officer that you didn't notice the red flashing lights is not recommended. This advice comes too late for the 20-year-old Beach Drive resident, who ended up being booked into King County Jail for investigation of several charges, including possession with intent to sell.

On Friday the 9th, security guards at a Junction grocery caught a woman trying to shoplift. Officers noted that she had been arrested the previous week on a shoplifting charge, and that she was wanted on a $25,000 Pierce County warrant for theft in the third degree. The suspect, a Delridge resident, was booked into King County Jail.

King County Executive Dow Constantine took in construction sites and sound views on his July 8 trip to Des Moines.

The visit was one of 27 tours of the cities in Constantine's constituency that the executive hopes will "lay the foundation" for a new relationship between King County and its cities.

Constantine, accompanied by Des Moines City Manager Tony Piasecki and Mayor Bob Sheckler, first visited the South Correction Entity (SCORE) jail site on the border between Des Moines and SeaTac.

As King County will no longer house inmates convicted of misdemeanors in 2012, the cities of Auburn, Burien, Des Moines, Federal Way, Renton, SeaTac, and Tukwila have undertaken a cooperative effort to build the jail, which will house 822 inmates when it is completed.

Next, the executive toured Des Moines Beach Park, remarking on the nearby buildings featured on the National Historic Register. At the Des Moines Marina, Piasecki explained the seawall replacement project and plans for new pedestrian areas.

4 p.m. July 2 – 7 a.m. July 6, 600 Block of N.W. 77th St.

A man who is the [redacted] that [redacted] said the house is [redacted]. He said he [redacted] July 2, and when he returned to the home July 6, he found some of his [redacted] missing.

The Seattle Police Department's redaction of this report creates a "Mad Lib" burglary. All it needs is a job, two verbs, an adjective and a noun.

For example: A man who is the ventriloquist that bakes said the house is smelly. He said he exploded July 2, and when he returned to the home July 6, he found some of his elephants missing.

Feel free to play along at home.

10:33 p.m. July 6, 3400 Block of Fremont Ave. N.

After a woman locked up a Fremont business and took out the trash, she walked around the building to see a person enter. It appeared as if the person "walked right in" the front door.

The suspect left the building and walked southbound along Fremont Avenue North with another person who had waited outside. The front door was still locked when police arrived.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Sen. Patty Murray visited Aviation High School in Des Moines on July 9th for a panel discussion promoting the educational philosophy behind what Duncan described as "an extraordinary high school."

Aviation High is administered by the Highline School District.

Duncan and Murray praised the school, calling it innovative and effective. They emphasized that education reform should focus on encouraging such institutions.

"My job as a legislator is to write very precise language," Murray said, but legislators must allocate resources to educators who "color outside the lines."

Principal and CEO Reba Gilman told visitors that besides preparing students for college and careers, the school's founders "wanted students to solve real, authentic problems." Thus, she and her staff implemented a program of project-based learning.