September 2010

Shavelle M. Lewis, 20, has been charged by the King County Prosecutor with vehicular manslaughter.Complete story here.

Our original story from Sep. 24

William Padilla, a tow truck operator for GT Towing Service, died early Friday morning after being struck by a driver police believe to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

"He was a big teddy bear of a man who loved his job," Sande Tillet-Hain, a friend of Padilla's and the office manager for GT Towing said.

"He was a great guy and towing was his life," she said of the Burien man who worked in the towing industry for over 15 years.

Shavelle Lewis, 20, admitted to state patrol that she was the driver of a Ford Explorer that careened across five lanes of traffic and struck Padilla, 51, who was working on a disabled vehicle on southbound I-5.

"It was a result of drugs or alcohol and road conditions were not an issue" said Washington State Patrol trooper Christina Martin.

The chefs take center stage at the 7th Annual Eat Local Now! dinner at Herban Feast’s Sodo Park venue on September 30th. Sustainable West Seattle, CoolMom, Herban Feast and The Seattle Good Business Network are partners in the event.

The featured chefs include many Seattle favorites, including:

Ariel Bangs - Healthy Creations
Dalis Chea - Herban Feast
Marisa Lown - The Radical Cupcake
Traci Knight - Personal Chef
Hajime Sato - Mashiko
Jack Spiess - Seatown
Jacob Wiesberg - Blackboard Bistro

It’s the job of an economic development manager to sound optimistic about his city’s prospects, even during a long economic downturn.

But Dick Loman, Burien’s economic development guy, insists he has solid reasons to be enthusiastic about the city’s future.

He believes the stalled Burien Town Square condo and retail space logjam will be cleared by the end of the year and sales will begin.

Also, in October the long-vacant BBC Dodge lot will be used for parking displaced from the Burien Transit Center as construction gets underway on a six-story garage.

One hundred parking spaces will become available at the former car lot, located at 1st Avenue South and South 148th Street.

“Not only will it help the BBC Dodge owners get a little cash flow but Burien is very fortunate to provide some temporary but significant construction jobs,” Loman declared. “It’s a win-win for everyone.”
A trustee sale by the F.D.I.C. on Oct. 29 will determine who owns the Town Square project, according to Loman. Once the owner is set, asking prices can come down to reflect current market prices.

Dear Editor,

Since the Herald has given Mark Schletty and his tree trauma story front page coverage and made him sound like a hero, let's hear from the other side.

My husband and I own a large parcel in the Admiral District. We have gardened here for nearly 25 years and our trees, about 50 total, are maturing and getting bigger.

Some have already grown to six inches in diameter and I have removed several of them, rather than subject myself to city constraints about what I can do with my trees. Let's be clear - these are MY trees. I selected them, I paid for them, I dug the planting holes, I fertilize, prune, water and tend to them. If I don't like the way they perform or their location, I get rid of them, just as I do the furniture in my house.

Cedars are terribly overrated anyway. So are big leaf maples. They are gloomy and dark, cast way too much shade, and don't belong in the city, except in large areas such as Lincoln Park and the Arboretum. If you are going to have conifers, plant something more attractive. Firs at least have the advantage of upturning branches and can be thinned to allow more light penetration.

Both the Ballard High School boys and girls cross country teams took second place in the Sept. 22 meet against Redmond High School and Inglemoor High School.

The boys scored a 43, behind Redmond's 31 but ahead of Inglemoor with 56. The 55 points of the girls team was behind Redmond's 20 but ahead of Inglemoor's 56.

Alex Bowns placed third overall with a time of 17:15 for the Beaver boys. Victor Bailly placed seventh, Blair Scott came in ninth and Scott Mill finished 10th.

For the Ballard girls, Natalie White finished ninth in a time of 22:30, and Rachel Livengood came in 10th.

Click here for complete results.

Next up for the Beavers is the 15th Annual Curtis Invitational at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 2 at Titlow Park.

The matriarch of a southwest Seattle family shot four family members, three fatally, before shooting herself at their home near White Center on Thursday.

PHOTOS FROM THE SCENE ARE IN A SLIDESHOW-CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE

According to Jim Pugel, assistant chief of the SPD Criminal Investigation Bureau, the shooter was the mother of the family, and she died of a self inflicted gun shot wound after shooting her daughter, son-in-law and their two daughters. The daughter is expected to survive after being shot three times.

"My mom went crazy," the injured daughter told police as she was transported to Harborview Medical Center.

Although authorities have not released the names of the family, Seattle Times reports that the shooter was Chhouy Harm, 61. Her injured daughter was identified by family members as Thyda Harm, 40, and Thyda’s fatally shot daughters were Jennifer Harm, 17, and Melina Harm, 14. No name has been released for Thyda’s fatally shot husband, 41.

“Grandma just shot them for no reason,” 17-year-old Tony Sun told the Seattle Times. Sun is a family member who lives in the house and arrived home shortly after the shooting occurred.

The most recent appeal by a group calling itself the Ballard Business Appellants in the ongoing saga of the Burke-Gilman Trail's Missing Link was denied by the Washington State Appellate Court last week, for the moment clearing the way for completion of the trail.

The appeal was filed in July and based on a July King County Superior Court ruling in favor of the Seattle Department of Transportation on eight of nine issues regarding the city's existing environmental assessment of the Missing Link.

The Missing Link is the uncompleted section of the Burke-Gilman Trail, primarily along Shilshole Avenue Northwest, from 11th Avenue Northwest to the Ballard Locks.

The additional environmental analysis required by the single issue on which the King County Superior Court ruled in favor of the Ballard Business Appellants is currently underway, said Richard Sheridan, Department of Transportation spokesperson.

Sheridan said the department anticipates completing the additional environmental work on the portion of Shilshole Avenue between 17th Avenue Northwest and Northwest Vernon Place by the end of the year.

The Municipal League of King County has posted this press release regarding their positions on issues in the November general election:

The Municipal League of King County has released recommendations on six proposals that will appear on the November general election ballot. Notably, the League is opposing the proposed King County sales tax increase.

The Municipal League is a volunteer-driven, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works toward better government in King County, Washington.

Findings from the League’s review are attached. In summary, the League made the following recommendations:

· SUPPORT: King County Charter Amendment No. 1 to specify the local and regional role of county government,
· SUPPORT: King County Charter Amendment No. 2 to change the way political candidates file campaign finance materials,
· NO POSITION: King County Charter Amendment No. 3 to grant the Sheriff authority to bargain working conditions,
· OPPOSE: King County Proposition 1, which authorizes King County to impose an additional sales tax (two-tenths of one percent) to fund criminal justice services,

Lifetime Ballard resident Allan Wenzel has always been interested in history, so when the old-timers near his family's summer home on Lake Cavanaugh would tell him stories about the history of the lake and nearby Alpine Village, Wenzel would listen.

Now, decades later, Wenzel has used those old-timers' first-hand accounts as the springboard for his newest book, "Alpine on the Lake: A History of the People of Lake Cavanaugh and Alpine Village," the first book ever written on the history of that little-known area in Skagit County.

The book is a history of the people who were associated with the lake and village during the first period of its settlement, 1890 to 1910.

Since he was a baby, Wenzel was captivated by Lake Cavanaugh, which is situated a mile above sea level with mountains on all sides. In the summer, the surface of the water can reach 83 degrees, and in the winter, the one-mile-wide, three-miles-long lake can completely freeze over.

"It's very picturesque," Wenzel said.

Seattle Parks and Recreation and Seattle Department of Transportation are working together to finish the minor structural improvements, cleaning and painting of the Carkeek Park Pedestrian Bridge over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks on the west side of Carkeek Park.

The bridge, used to access the beach at Carkeek Park, will be closed from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 30.

The work done to the bridge was substantially completed in February 2010. But, final touch-up painting on the rails and deck needs to be completed before the project is considered finished, according to a Parks press release.

For additional information on the bridge painting project, click here.