December 2010

Dear Editor-

I think that I fell asleep several months ago and woke up on another planet. I am in George Castanza's "Bizarro World".

Judge Micheal Heavy can "forget" about judicial ethics and and get off scott free because the people that evaluated his missuse of his judicial robes are also judges and lawyers. For god's sakes, the man took time and resources from us all when he had his staff research and type his letters to the courts of Italy. I wonder how he might react if a Judge in Italy did not like how he was running one of his trials in a case against an Italian national here and they tried to interfere.

Representative Rangle can cheat on his taxes and lie about his income for 17 years and he gets censured. What the heck is censured? Go to your room without dessert? At a minimum he should be tried for fraud and tax evasion. Oops. Excuse me. The people that judged him were peers. I wonder if they were afraid that they might get caught at something similar and want to be judged lightly too. tsk tsk How can I possibly think that? Yeah...right.

Community Invited to “The Christmas Guest”
Hope Christian Community
632 S.W. 143rd St.
206-244-1399 / www.hope-christian.net
Saturday & Sunday, Dec. 11 & 12, 6 p.m. You’re invited to the dramatic presentation of “The Christmas Guest.”

Old Clothes = New Opportunities Donation Station
Northwest Center ‘Big Blue Truck’
Diamond Parking Lot
44th Ave. S.W. & S.W. Edmunds St.
Fridays - Sundays, 9-5 p.m. Clean out your closets and drop off your reusable clothing and household items at the donation station. For a complete list of donations accepted visit bigbluetruck.org or (800) 992-2060. Donations are tax deductible and donors receive a $3 off coupon to Value Village.

White Center Kiwanis Holiday Nut Sale
On Sale while nut supplies last - sometimes that’s Valentine Day. $20 for 3 lbs. of Gourmet Mixed Nuts or 2.25 lbs. of Chocolate Covered Nuts & Raisins. Proceeds support the White Center Food Bank, SW Boys & Girls Club, and other local groups. To place an order, please call Bill Tracy at 248-2441.

West Seattle Senior Center Needs Volunteers
4217 S.W. Oregon St.

Dear Editor
Our City, County, State and Federal Government are broke............BROKE..........and no elected official from the local level to the federal seems to have the nerve to call for increased taxes yet they continue spending.

When you are broke you do not spend billions of dollars on a tunnel that will not even accommodate the number of vehicles that use the present viaduct.

It has no off ramp to downtown among other stupid things. The viaduct can be retro-fitted according to all reports. At present the only ones I see benefiting from this tunnel are the property owners downtown and enhancing the value of their property is not at the top of my list of priorities.

Harriet Benjamin
West Seattle

Photographer Kurt Howard captured these images of the Evergreen boys' 68-66 victory over Tyee on December 10.

SLIDESHOW: CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO PLAY SLIDESHOW.

(Click on photo to start slideshow)

December 13th is the official date Lucia Day or Luciatåg but there will be Lucia Day celebrations all weekend. Lucia Day is a Scandinavian celebration of light symbolized by a young woman dressed in white wearing a crown of candles on her head,

Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church celebrated its 46th annual Lucia Fest on Sunday with an all-Swedish performance (with English translation) and a reception.

If you took any photos that should be featured in this slideshow, please send them to anner@robinsonnews.com.

Metro bus routes 37 & 53 have resumed normal service on Beach Dr s.w..
The mudslide that occurred on Sunday evening has been cleared by SDOT crews and the road has been opened to traffic.

Four local teen bands are raising awareness of teen homelessness by playing a free night of rock music at the Salmon Bay Eagles Club on Friday, Dec 17.

The “Hot Rock on a Cold Night” concert will feature Pave the Earth, Empathy, No Excuses, and Fate Descends.

The convert is an all-ages event and concert-goers are encouraged to bring a warm article of clothing such as a coat, hand warmers or socks to be donated to TeenFeed.org.

Teen Feed is an organization that responds to the most basic needs of homeless youth. For the last 23 years, they've been providing hot meals specifically to youth and young adults in the University District. They feed 40-50 homeless youth on average each evening.

“In the last year we’ve been feeding kids every night like clockwork,” said Megan Gibbard, Executive Director of Teen Feed.

In addition to providing meals. collecting coats and socks is a big focus this year as a cold winter is expected in Seattle, Gibbard said.

They’ve been connecting with media and music bands to get their message out and raise support.

Des Moines resident Ava Cobb, 12, stands next to one of the colorful giant nutcrackers on the deck of Salty's at Redondo Restaurant. Ava dances the lead role, Clara, in the Evergreen City Ballet production of "The Nutcracker" in Renton.

To accompany her Dec. 8 board presentation on the district's upcoming budget situation, Highline Public Schools finance director Susan Smith Leland thought she had come up with the perfect graphic -an illustration of a black hole.

Using her "crystal ball," Leland said she expects the potential reduction in state funds to Highline will be $7 million for the 2011-2012 budget.

The district's "saving grace" could be voter approval of the school programs levy in February, according to Leland. That would bring in an additional $4 million to offset some of the $7 million loss.
State officials are also considering reducing the required school year from 180 days to 175 days to save money, Leland noted.

Leland reported the state Legislature is facing a $1.1 billion budget shortfall for the final seven months of this budget year. Because the state budget must be balanced, the state is required to make mid-year reductions to schools and state agencies.

Backhoe taken for joyride

A ten-ton Kobelco backhoe was parked at a construction site near South 128th Street and 30th Avenue South. An unknown suspect was able to start the backhoe by breaking off a key in the ignition. The suspect then used the backhoe to drop a two-ton barricade in the middle of 30th Avenue South.

The suspect also knocked down wires with the bucket of the backhoe then fled the scene leaving the backhoe partially blocking the roadway.

Officers arrived and called Puget Sound Energy to determine if the wires were live. They discovered that they were telephone wires and they were safely removed from the roadway.
The officer was unable to shut the backhoe off and called county roads to help. They were able to move the barricade and backhoe out of the roadway. The construction company was contacted. No suspect information was available.

Stolen meter from car wash