August 2010

Recently, the controversy of the mosque in NYC has been front-page news and arguments on both sides have been made and continue to be.

My opinion is that this is PC at its worst, exemplified by the comments of Mr. Obama and the comments of NYC's PC mayor, Mr. Bloomberg.
One forgets the conniving he did to run for another term and his picking and choosing which laws he will obey as NY is a sanctuary city and he will not cooperate with ICE on illegals.

Mr. Obama talks about religious tolerance as fundamental in the USA, but let's hear him lecture those colleges and universities who cannot accept a different opinion on another PC subject and that is homosexuality, but make students go through "reeducation" or be kicked out of the college or their program.

Back to the mosque. Recently in Germany, a mosque in Hamburg was raided by the police and shut down, after which computers and files were removed and found to contain terrorist-related material.

This was the mosque that harbored/trained about three of the 9/11 attackers and planned the attack.

Julie Burr Spani stepped out on her deck at Three Tree Point one morning last week to discover two bald eagles perched on her neighbor's roof. Some fisherman had caught a salmon in front of her house and she sent the picture to the Highline Times.

She surmised the two big birds were planning to help themselves to what remained on the beach after some fisherman cleaned it.

Eagles are fairly common at the Point and nest at Eagle Landing Park in Seahurst.

We have another Eagle who lives on the hill near the park.

He is Guy Harper, who got his prized Eagle Scout honor way back in 1946 as a member of scout Troop 377. The troop had meetings in a small building, just off Maplewild. It is the highest award given.

One of his fellow scouts in Troop 377 is Burien attorney Doug Moreland who lives on Three Tree Point.

Harper is a graduate of Highline High, Class of 1950 and the University of Washington where he joined the Husky rowing team that won national honors.

Why does the City of SeaTac own a business mall and decide which businesses can operate there? They are kicking out one nightclub and bringing in a new one.

I thought cities did road maintenance and police protection. I don't think the Constitution allows for cities to compete with private businesses for non-government services.

Recently, the City of SeaTac tried to deny a private permit to build a parking garage with businesses and then build one themselves. The property owner sued the city and the public complained, so the city was stopped from condemning the property.

Does the city have to be sued in order to stop them from owning and renting business properties?

Jeanette Burrage
Des Moines

While running for office, President Obama promised that if elected, he would get us off OPEC oil within 10 years. Earlier Presidents promised us similar independence.

Two years are gone and we still don't have a plan. In fact, there is some evidence that we're going in the wrong direction. In July 2010, we imported 388 million barrels of oil. That's the single largest import month since President Obama was inaugurated.

The NAT GAS Act will create jobs, clean up the environment and improve our national security by providing tax incentives to organizations that switch their fleets to operate on natural gas rather than on oil.

Think of the new jobs that will be created, the large sums of money that goes abroad will stay within US and the improvement in the environment. It may save your job or create a job for you or your loved one.

Election Day will soon be here. Those who are running for office--be it open seats, incumbents or challengers--take a look at this legislation and make independence from OPEC oil a central part of your campaign.

On behalf of South King Fire & Rescue, I want to say Thank You to the people we serve for your support over the years, and for voting in the recent Primary Election. Your participation in this fire department and the electoral process - regardless of the outcome - is important and appreciated.

We have taken your message to heart and wanted to keep you informed about the next steps for South King Fire and Rescue.

First, we will not run a ballot measure in November. We will work tirelessly to provide the highest level of fire and emergency services possible within our budget, as you have asked.

Immediate cuts include maintaining a freeze on all internal positions; reducing staff through attrition, or direct cuts as necessary in 2011 or 2012; freezing salaries; and working to reduce the budget for the balance of 2010 and heading into 2011 by a minimum of $1 million or more.

In January we will take an Aid Car out of service. Aid cars are staffed with two Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs). This will save the taxpayers approximately $600,000 or more.

If revenues haven't picked up by the first quarter of 2011, we must look at additional reductions across the board.

The public has until mid-September to comment on recently updated Shoreline Master Programs for Des Moines and SeaTac.

In July, the cities of Des Moines and SeaTac submitted the updated shoreline programs to the state Department of Ecology for review.

Ecology has extended the deadlines for accepting comments until Sept. 13 in Des Moines and Sept. 16, 2010 in SeaTac.

The extensions will accommodate those who weren't notified as requested about the comment periods, due to a database glitch.

More information on the two cities' shoreline updates appears in these previous Ecology news releases:

Des Moines, July 21: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/news/2010news/2010-173.html.

SeaTac, July 27: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/news/2010news/2010-180.html.

The Burien City Council held a public hearing on its draft plan on Aug. 30. The council is expected to approve its Shoreline Master Plan on Sept. 13.

Burien lawmakers have received extensive comments from residents of Three Tree Point and Lake Burien on the plan.

When approved, Burien's plan must be sent to the state Ecology department for review.

September 8
Afternoon Dance--Burien Elks Lodge, 14006 1st Ave S. 1-3:30 p.m. Randy Litch will be providing the music. For info 206-243-7044.

September 9
Burien Breakfast Toastmasters Open House-"Four Lessons on Speaking from 'The Karate Kid.' Highline Public Schools ERAC Building, 15675 Ambaum Blvd. S.W. 7- 8:15 a.m. 206-588-5088. Burienbreakfast.com@gmail.com

September 11
Book Sale--Des Moines Library, 21620 11th Ave S. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Thousands of used books at bargain prices. All proceeds benefit library programs. For info 206-824-6066
Stewards of the Cove in Normandy Park--Various activities to care for the area along Miller/Walker Creeks where they meet the Sound in Normandy Park. Sign up with gary.l.gaebler@boeing.com or 253-657-2186.

September 12
Book Sale--Des Moines Library, 21620 11th Ave S. 1-3 p.m. Thousands of used books at bargain prices. All proceeds benefit library programs. For info 206-824-6066

Burien Master Gardeners

Burien Little Theatre is seeking submissions of unproduced, unpublished plays by Washington state playwrights for the 2011 Bill and Peggy Hunt Playwrights Festival.

Winning scripts will be staged April 8 through May 1, 2011, as part of the company's 2010-2011 season. In addition to being produced, winning plays will also receive monetary prizes. Additional scripts of merit may receive readings.

The submission deadline for all scripts is Sept. 30. To qualify for the festival all submissions must follow playwrights submission guidelines detailed below. The guidelines and entry form can also be found at www.burienlittletheatre.org.

The mission of the Bill and Peggy Hunt Playwrights Festival is to encourage, promote and showcase previously unproduced theater works written by state residents.

The festival was named to honor Bill and Peggy Hunt's dedicated service to theater and their devoted involvement with Burien Little Theatre.

As the Evergreen Wolverines prepare for the 2010 football season one critical question has been answered. Who is coaching them?

Answer; Mark Becker, 1998 Highline High grad and former player who worked as a volunteer at Tyee in 2005 with Pat O'Grady.

O'Grady is now coach at Lindbergh in Renton. Charlie Pettit, former Tyee coach, had encouraged Becker to help develop some younger talent that year and now the tables have switched. Becker employs Pettit as an assistant coach for the Wolverines.

Coach Becker also worked with Mike Brown at Highline as a JV defensive coordinator and later as varsity defensive coordinator under Juan Cotto.

When the Evergreen job became available last spring, amid a scandal last year over a volunteer, Becker applied for the job.

The Highline School District picked the Central Washington University grad as head coach in early August. Besides Pettit, working with Coach Becker will be coaches Victor Tuli and Erik Heineman.

By Lisa Mills, CHt

Q. So, how does this hypnosis stuff work, anyway?

A. Great question! And the honest answer is... we're not really sure how it works. But, hey! We haven't been able to prove how electricity works, either. That doesn't stop us from using it very effectively!

We've got a good theory, or rather, a good model of how hypnosis works but like electricity, we're not really sure if we're correct. While we do know that it can be extremely effective for lots of people, we haven't been able to determine for sure the reason why hypnosis is so effective. And like electricity, that hasn't stopped us from using hypnosis to help people transform their lives.

We think that all of our beliefs, habits, emotions and creative ability reside in a part of the mind below conscious awareness, known as the subconscious. Because they are in the subconscious, normally they are beyond our ability to consciously alter them, or even to be aware of them sometimes.