November 2010

In the Nov. 5 Times/News and at highlinetimes.com we reported that some merchants have complained about Burien's two-hour parking limit along Southwest 152nd Street during business hours.

The merchants say that sometimes a party or group meeting goes a little bit over the limit and customers receive $50 parking citations from the city. Parking meters or temporary party permits were suggested as possible alternatives.

We asked our readers for their comments on the situation and promised we would publish the comments.
Here is a letter we received form a Burien businessperson:

I am a local business owner. I own a stained glass studio. I have been in business in Burien since 1974.
We moved from Olde Burien in 1989 and have been at 648 S.W. 152nd since then.

Voters in the King County Council District 8 elected former state Sen. Joe McDermott to the council; while at the same time voting to reverse legislation passed by McDermott during his time as a state senator.

McDermott defeated 15 year front-line King County employee Diana Toledo in the race for King County Council by winning 68 percent of the vote as opposed to Toledo's 32 percent. But at the same time, voters said NO to Joe's platform and previous legislation.

I-1107 Voters said YES, but McDermott Said NO. (Reversed the tax on candy, bottled water, and other foods)

I-1053 Voters said YES, but McDermott Said NO. (Legislature now needs a 2/3 majority vote to pass new taxes)

Prop 1 Voters said NO, but McDermott said YES. (Would have imposed a new 2 percent sales tax)

I-1098 Voters said NO, but McDermott said YES. (Would have established a state income-tax)

The results puzzled many in the District 8 community; why voters would elect an official who seems to put forth legislation that the majority of voters are opposed to? And why overlook a candidate like Toledo with a proven track record, who clearly wanted to give a voice to their values?

Moon-I Ice Cream, owned by Ji Moon Jang has opened inside Ali's Corner Gasco at 8856 35th Ave. s.w. The stand is set up on the north side of the convenience store/gas station, occupying the northwest corner. There are chairs and tables set up making it a comfortable spot to relax and enjoy some ice cream.

"I searched for a lot of things I might want to do in West Seattle," said Jang, "and I decided to settle on Ice Cream because nobody is selling waffle cone, organic ice cream here."

"My goal is to serve kids. I'm trying to make a space for them to rest. We will have free Wi-Fi and they could come here after school and study or just get some ice cream and relax." There will be a sofa, tables and chairs inside the store and on good weather days chairs will be outside too. He believes the proximity to the library and area schools mean a steady stream of customers.

The Tuscan Tea Room and Romanza Floral, as described by owner Aimee Pellegrini, is a "place to be delighted," held its soft opening on Monday Nov. 8. It is located at 4521 California Ave. s.w. in the West Seattle Junction.

Pellegrini's family started the La Rustica restaurant on Beach Drive. As she states online "they say in life to do what you know to have the most success. The two things I know are the restaurant business and flowers. So, I decided to embrace both and my business plan was born!"

Offering "Fine Teas and Exquisite Flowers" the business officially opens Nov. 9 at 8:00 a.m. for tea at the tea/coffee bar and with the dining room opening at 10:30 a.m.
There is seating for approximately 50 guests. There are more than 65 teas to pick from and wine is also available.

The Seattle Chinese Garden, and the Knowing the Spring Courtyard under construction by visiting Chinese artisans for the past few months is now essentially complete, and ahead of schedule with only grading, a single cement staircase and landscaping to be finished. The artisans are heading home to China on Wednesday, Nov. 10.

The Knowing the Spring Courtyard is slated for a Dec. 31 soft opening with the Grand Opening celebration to take place in mid- May, 2011. Following the initial opening the courtyard will be open to the public from 10:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m.

The garden is located on 4.6 acres of land just north of the South Seattle Community College campus and just grew in size slightly by nearly half an acre recently when the college donated some land near the southern entrance of the courtyard. That land will permit a staircase to be built connecting the path from SSCC to the garden as well as an ADA access path.

The finishing touches required a lot of fine tuning as the architect on the project. Feng Dacheng Chief Architect took great pains to adjust the placement and orientation of the trees in the welcoming courtyard.

On the afternoon of Sunday, November 7, 2010, a Des Moines resident glanced through the sliding glass door out to the back yard to find a dog wondering about the back yard. Dogs have previously wondered into the yard before but, what differentiated the situation was that this was a very, very large, plentifully haired dog resembling a black Great Pyrenees.
The resident called out to the dog in attempt to look at any tags he may have. The dog responded by quickly trotting amid the blackberry bushes stopping suddenly to peer at her around the corner. As she called out, the dog stood frozen as he stared at her with his big eyes, he was terrified.
The resident looked toward the street in attempt to find any sign of an owner; instead, a police officer appeared asking if a big dog had been seen in the area. The resident responded affirmatively and that the dog was in her back yard. The gates that had been opened earlier in the day were now closed; assumingly the big dog was trapped.

From the Seattle Fire Department website:
Some West Seattle neighbors will be seeing smoke billowing out of a house located at 2206 California Avenue Southwest over the next four days. The Seattle Fire Department is using the house from November, 9 – 12 to train recruit firefighters about fire behavior, rescue techniques and the importance of teamwork in live fire situations.

Eighteen Seattle Fire Department recruits from Recruit Class #97 have spent the last two and a half months in drill school learning the fundamentals of what it takes to be a Seattle Firefighter. Their training incorporates academic requirements as well as preparation for the mental and physical challenges that arise in emergency situations. Up until now their training environment has been controlled with simulated incidents at the City of Seattle’s Joint Training Facility and the Washington State Patrol’s Fire Training Facility in North Bend. There will be sixteen fires ignited over the course of the week. Each day the fires will grow more intense and provide more challenging situations for the recruits.

West Seattle Montessori School at 11215 15th Ave s.w. has been chosen as one of three schools in the nation to host a Pardoned Turkey All-School Assembly at the Delridge Community Center at 4501 Delridge Way s.w. on the morning of November 15.

Barbara Chatten McNichols, a lower elementary teacher at the school said, "It's a project the entire school is involved in and very excited about. Our middle schoolers took over classrooms today to do some student-family work where they were working with the youngest pre-schoolers, through elementary and upper elementary. We made turkey headbands. We voted on names for the turkeys and we learned a turkey song. We're also hoping to be able to do a recitation of another turkey poem, and be doing American Sign Language with that. We're making posters."

Each year, two turkeys are chosen to be sent to the White House for the President’s Thanksgiving dinner. Starting in 1989, with George H. W. Bush, the turkeys were formally “pardoned” from the traditional meal.

Press Release:

Westside School, the premier independent school in West Seattle, is expanding to add a middle school to the well known Early and Lower school programs. Westside School will be the first and only accredited independent Preschool – 8th grade choice for elementary education in West Seattle. The rollout will start with a new 6th grade class in Fall 2011, adding one grade per year until the programs round out to a full Middle School. “We are thrilled to providing the West Seattle community with a new option for the crucial middle school years. We believe in honoring middle school students as scholars, where their talents, imaginations and potential can soar,” says Jo Ann Yockey, Head of School.

To the editor:
Voters in the King County Council District 8 elected former State Senator Joe McDermott to the Council; while at the same time voting to reverse legislation passed by McDermott during his time as a State Senator.

McDermott defeated 15-year front-line King County employee Diana Toledo in the race for King County Council by winning 68% of the vote as opposed to Toledo’s 32%. But at the same time, voters said NO to Joe’s platform and previous legislation.

1. I-1107 Voters said YES, but McDermott Said NO. (Reversed the tax on candy, bottled water, and other foods)
2. I-1053 Voters said YES, but McDermott Said NO. (Legislature now needs a 2/3 majority vote to pass new taxes)
3. Prop 1 Voters said NO, but McDermott said YES. (Would have imposed a new 2% sales tax)
4. I-1098 Voters said NO, but McDermott said YES. (Would have established a state income-tax)