August 2010

The August meeting of Sustainable Burien will be held Sunday, Aug. 8 from 2- 4 p.m. at the Burien B-Patch Garage, 437 SW 144th St.
The meeting will not be held at the Burien Library.

Parking is available in the lot of the old Community Center, access off of South 144th Street, next to the community garden.
The speaker will be Jeanne Johnson from the Environmental Coalition of South Seattle. She'll have free green cleaning products to give away to everyone.

She'll explain how to read the labels on cleaning products and other chemicals.

She'll have information about how to take care of the home using green products cheaply, easily and effectively.
Johnson will also have copies of the Grow Safe/Grow Green Guide for yard and garden care.

For more information visit www.sustainableburien.org.

The Highline School Board approved Aug. 4 a $183 million general operating budget for the 2010-2011 school year.
Board president Bernie Dorsey noted the district has faced an $8 million budget shortfall last year and a total budget shortfall over the past two years of over $11 million.

"I am getting fatigued with the years of cuts and cuts," Dorsey declared. "We are to the marrow."
He suggested board members become more vocal in calling for school financing reform.

"We should lead in moving the public from seeing (educating) children as an obligation to a priority,' Dorsey added.
He praised finance director Susan Smith Leland for her work on the budget and noted that no members of the public had asked to testify at the second of two public hearings on the budget.

He attributed that to the process the district used to gather public comment. Besides hearing public comments during previous board meetings, the district sponsored public forum in schools and sought written comments.
Superintendent John Welch also congratulated Leland on her handling of the last few budgets "that have been very challenging."
Leland predicted future cuts in school budgets.

A Burien judge has been suspended by the state Supreme Court for being rude in her courtroom.
A majority of five justices imposed a five-day suspension on King County District Court Judge Judith Eiler. However, four justices favored a 90-day suspension.

In the majority opinion, Supreme Court Justice James M. Johnson noted Eiler had received many complaints about her bench behavior. In April 2009, she received sanctions for rude behavior.

In arguing against the 90-day unpaid suspension sought by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct, Justice Johnson wrote, "Judge Eiler did not cut deals with litigants behind closed doors, accept bribes or otherwise demonstrate that her decisions were governed by anything other than the law and the facts of the cases.

"Her misconduct also did not undercut public perceptions of judicial integrity or impartiality."
But Justice Gerry Alexander argued that in a district court, Eiler dealt with defendants who often don't know much about legal proceedings.

Seattle Parks Department expects to begin construction as soon as contracting paperwork is complete on the park to be built on the site adjacent to the water reservoirs at the intersection of SW Myrtle St. and 35th Ave SW
Workers on site said the painting of the larger reservoir should be complete within a week. It has been sealed off to permit sand blasting and painting. See our previous coverage of the project from April here.

Ohno Construction, chosen in late May to complete the work has built several succesful projects for Seattle Parks and Recreation, including the recent completion of the Magnuson Wetlands and Athletic Fields Sports Complex. Parks anticipates completion of the project by mid-September 2010.

The design incorporates recreational elements and ideas suggested by the community members, Parks staff, Seattle Public Utilities and the Seattle Design Commission. The design includes an open grass field on top of the lidded reservoir for informal play with a pathway circling the field and ADA accessible pathways.

The new fire station at 7700 35th Avenue S.W. is moving closer to completion with the numeric designation going up within the last day. According to Christina Faine, Fire Levy Communications Officer, "Construction will be completed this fall, followed by firefighter move-in to the new station. Currently construction work is focused on the interior of the building."

In the meantime the former station at 7302 35th Avenue S.W. is still serving but is being prepped for sale. The Seattle Fire Department is seeking your comments on the older station which was designated an historic landmark in 2005.

The Seattle Fire Department invites your comments, suggestions and recommendations by August 13, 2010.
You can contact them by writing or via FAX by addressing it to Fleets and Facilities Department, Attn: Louis Webster, P.O, Box 94689, Seattle WA 98124-4869; FAX number (206) 684-0525.
You can reach Louis by phone at (206) 684-0357, or reach him via email at Lous.Webster@seattle.gov

Our previous coverage of that is here.

The Seafair Air Show presented by Boeing takes off at different times Friday, Aug. 6- Sunday, Aug. 8, and unfolds over Lake Washington and Genesee Park. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels will display their dynamic maneuvers directly overhead of boaters on Lake Washington. The Seafair Air Show was recently awarded "Air Show of the Year" by the U.S. Navy.

The Blue Angels took off and landed two separate times at Boeing Field Thursday, Aug. 5, practicing maneuvers over the field, South Park, Beacon Hill, and Lake Washington offering a sneak peak and a loud roar to Seattleites searching skyward.

Fallen Officer and West Seattle resident, Jarod Newlove, was transferred at Boeing Field at about noon on Thursday, Aug. 5.

See our previous coverage here and here.

Vision Greenwood Park is one major step closer to bringing a 40-plot community garden to Greenwood Park after the Seattle City Council approved a $60,000 Neighborhood Matching Fund Large Projects grant for the project Aug. 2.

"It's a huge success," said Michael Stringer, steering committee chair for Vision Greenwood Park. "We've been working toward this grant all year."

The $60,000 will be the major funding source for the P-Patch, and Stringer said it is a turning point in the move from planning to implementation.

The P-Patch will be created on one of two vacant lots along Fremont Avenue North that were acquired by the park, which lies between North 87th Street and North 89th Street.

Out of sight since the March 1 closure of the Woodland Park Zoo's popular Night Exhibit, sloths, bats, small anteaters and springhaas are now on display in the newly renovated Adaptations Building.

The zoo decided to close the energy-inefficient, 35-year-old Night Exhibit as part of an attempt to reduce it's annual expenses by $800,000 to $1 million. Closing the exhibit will save the zoo approximately $300,000 annually.

There was a large public outcry when the closure was announced. The Facebook group "Save the Woodland Park Nocturnal House" had approximately 25,000 members.

Nearly $40,000 was raised through private contributions and a $20,000 grant from the BNSF Foundation to help toward the long-term care of the handful of Night Exhibit animals that stayed at the zoo.

The first meeting to introduce plans and seek public input for a new two story driving range with 50 stalls at West Seattle Golf Course was held Aug 4 at the course located at 4600 35th Ave. SW. Another meeting is planned in approximately four weeks that will reflect input gleaned from this first discussion. The project is slated to be operational in the spring of 2012.

The initial plans show some impacts on views, the environment, and the occasional errant golf ball but it was made clear that these early plans are subject to change and some of the effects might be seen as more impactful than they will be in the final product. Comparisons were drawn to the range at Interbay which is shorter but wider and which uses "limited flight balls."

The range would be located, essentially on the same site the former range (built in the early 1950's and removed in the 1980's) occupied, near the entrance to the course and parallel to 35th Ave. S.W.