September 2010

Dignitaries including King County Executive Dow Constantine, and District 8 King County Council member Jan Drago came to speak and turn the ceremonial shovels of dirt at the groundbreaking ceremonies for the first project in the Strength of Place Initiative (SOPI) low income housing project on Sept. 15. in White Center.

SOPI is a construction project of 30 units of affordable rental housing near the business district, close to public transit, shopping and services.

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Executive Constantine said, " It's an exciting project bring affordable housing into the district in partnership with DNDA, Capitol Hill Housing and the White Center Community Development Association. King County is a small partner, about 2.5 million dollars. This is an opportunity for us to help people stabilize their lives so they are able to get to the task of raising their kids, get their careers going and ultimately to get out of the homelessness and into being a productive part of society."

This evening, Wednesday, Sept. 15 the Seattle School Board voted to approve a landmark contract for teachers and other certificated staff at Seattle Public Schools. The three-year contract covers the school years 2010-2011 through 2012-2013.

At a news conference this afternoon, government and community leaders joined the Superintendent and Board Director Sundquist to acknowledge the significant of this landmark agreement.

In voting to approve the contract, Director Steve Sundquist, who has acted as board spokesperson for this negotiation, stressed the importance of this new contract to students and to teachers, “We all want to see improvement at our schools, higher levels of achievement for all of our students, and the elimination of the achievement gap,” Sundquist said. “This new agreement is a big step toward achieving that. By making student growth central to teacher evaluations, we promote a culture of teaching excellence at Seattle Public Schools based on clear, measurable results. Our teachers deserve a system in which they will be appropriately supported, recognized and rewarded for their dedication to our students.”

King County Sheriff Sue Rahr, Burien Police Chief Scott Kimerer, Normandy Park Police Chief Rick Kieffer, and Senator Margarita Prentice gathered at the Educare Early Learning Center in White Center Sept. 15 to speak to the need for pre-K education in Washington schools.

Laura Wells, State Director of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids of Washington, set the tone of the morning. “What’s really been proven to keep kids from ending up in the criminal justice system”? Referring to newly released studies Wells went on to say, “We use this research to inform policy makers and the public about approaches with children that are proven to cut crime, save lives, and save money.”

Back by recent studies showing that at- risk children who attend high quality early learning programs were less likely to commit crimes as adults than similar children who did not, Wells went on to praise Educare Early Learning Center for their efforts in preparing children for their entry into the education system.

"I'm so wanting to move on to something else," Deputy Mayor Rose Clark sighed as Burien Mayor Joan McGilton asked Sept. 13 whether lawmakers wanted to vote that night on final approval of the city's Shoreline Master Program (SMP).

Burien council members will have to wait just a little bit longer as they decided to place the SMP's final adoption on the Sept. 27 consent agenda. Three lawmakers can vote to take the measure off the consent agenda.

Because Councilman Jack Block Jr. was absent from the meeting, council members said they wanted to wait until all lawmakers were present to take a final vote. They also said they wanted to wait to study a draft of the changes they had made before voting on the final document.

Council members worked through the final remaining issues at the Sept. 13 meeting.

By a 5-1 vote, lawmakers decided to set a 15-foot setback plus a 30-foot buffer zone for Lake Burien homes. Councilman Gordon Shaw was the dissenting vote.

Spud Fish and Chips, a fixture on Alki since it began in 1935 celebrated its 75th Anniversary on Sept. 15 with people lined up long before it opened at 10:30 a.m. Those early arrivals got a special Anniversary Pack of a commemorative plastic mug, a T-Shirt and other goodies. They were also among the first to enjoy the special pricing of the day. Those who contributed a non perishable food item (to the West Seattle Food Bank) got a fish and chips order for only $1.75 or without a donation, $2.75 and Spud would donate a dollar in place of food.

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The event was kicked off by Spud Operations Manager David Fechter who noted that the founders Jack and Frank Alger originally sold two pieces of fish and fries in a little cardboard box for 10 cents at a walk up window. He said, "We've kept the same traditions, we've kept the same batter, kept the same breading, kept the same tartar sauce recipe and really tried to maintain the things that made Alki Spud successful and unique that you guys have asked us to do for all these years."

This report sent by SDOT:

The contractor working for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to widen the Spokane Street Viaduct will be working at the intersection of East Marginal Way and South Spokane Street for up to four days—from 7 p.m. on September 16, to 5 a.m. on September 20. Crews will maintain one lane both northbound and southbound through this intersection. No turning movements will be restricted.

As a reminder, the contractor continues overnight work along Fourth Avenue South, between eastbound Spokane and Horton streets. The crews are drilling shafts for a new off-ramp from the Spokane Street Viaduct to Harbor Island. The work requires the complete closure of Fourth Avenue South from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. each night, wrapping up the morning of September 18. During the closures, southbound traffic will be detoured west on Horton to First Avenue; northbound traffic will be detoured east on Spokane Street to Sixth Avenue.

People along Alki saw a Coast Guard vessel, apparently being moved by tug boats the morning of Sept. 15. The vessel is the USCGC Polar Sea and yes, it was being towed between berths for routine maintenance according to the Coast Guard.

FROM THE SITE FOR THE POLAR SEA:

Coast Guard Cutter POLAR SEA (WAGB 11) is one of the world's most powerful, conventionally propelled icebreakers.

POLAR SEA was built by Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company in Seattle. Homeported in Seattle since being commissioned in 1977, POLAR SEA has operated around the globe. POLAR SEA is designed to perform science, icebreaking, and all Coast Guard missions in both polar regions. With a reinforced hull and up to 75,000 horsepower, POLAR SEA can break up to 21 feet of ice, or 6 feet of ice at a continuous speed of 3 knots. POLAR SEA can carry two HH-65 CG Helicopters for science and logistics support. Berthing is available for approximately 150 crewmembers, and as many as thirty-five scientists and technicians.

John Diaz yesterday called in his top 50 commanders to unveil his vision, goal and priorities, including a new emphasis on community building and training techniques in the Seattle Police Department. Nine high-level commanders are now taking on new roles to implement the chief’s priorities of: (1) Fighting Crime, (2) Reducing Fear and (3) Building Community.

Mayor Mike McGinn and Chief Diaz today briefed the press on these changes and provided updates on the investigation into the fatal shooting of John T. Williams by a Seattle police officer.

Reorganization of command structure

One of the most important strategies for Chief Diaz in putting his personal stamp on his new administration is to place key personnel in critical positions. Community building will be integrated at the highest staff level into all day-to-day operations of the department to advance community policing principles.

Captain Joseph Kessler, Commander of the Southwest Seattle Precinct for the Seattle Police Department has been reassigned.
He will now head the West Precinct. This news came in a letter he sent to the media directed to Southwest Precinct Residents today.

City of Seattle
Seattle Police Department
September 15, 2010
Southwest Precinct Residents:
During the past two and a half years I have had the pleasure and privilege of serving as the commander of the Southwest Precinct.  During this time I have been continually amazed at the incredible quality of the work done on a daily basis by the men and women of the Southwest Precinct.  The ability to provide our community with quality service is due in large part to the great working relationships our officers have with all of you.  

The Seattle Department of Transportation, in collaboration with King County Metro, is planning upgrades to improve Metro Route 44 service by promoting faster travel, better schedule reliability and enhanced bus stops.

The department is hosting a community open house Sept. 16 for residents to learn about the proposed changed for the Northwest Market Street and 45th Street corridor that connects Ballard with Wallingford and the University District.

The proposed changes for Market Street are based upon a “complete streets” approach, which equally considers the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, freight, transit and automobiles, according to a Department of Transportation press release.

The proposed changes will include eastbound and westbound bus bulbs, which extend the sidewalks and allow buses to pick up and drop off passengers while remaining in the traffic lane, at Market Street and 11th Avenue Northwest and Market Street and 28th Avenue Northwest.