December 2010

I have always gloried in being the father of a flock of boys.

Macho thing? Perhaps. But it gave me a sense of uniqueness. Just lucky, but I have always liked being envied for my brood. Of course, it is just chance at work.

Those boys, eventually five, were arranged by my first wife, Lee Bower, whom I met by chance while walking down the hall past my high school auditorium and hearing piano music.

Curious, I opened the double door and there was a pretty blonde seated at a piano up on the stage all by herself playing "Deep Purple," which happened to be one of my favorite melodies. I watched and listened with fascination. Then I quietly left.

Wonder of wonders, not long after that, I was calling on another blonde who lived near me in an apartment house. I was knocking on her door one Saturday when another door opened down the hall.

There stood the piano player. I was a little stunned.

"Orpha is not home," she yelled.

Twenty-nine Highline School District teachers have achieved National Board Certification in 2010, the largest class ever at Highline.

This brings the total number of National Board Certified teachers at Highline to 88. Successfully completing this rigorous process means teachers have met high standards through intensive study, expert evaluation, self-assessment, and peer review.

The group will be honored by the school board at the Jan. 5 meeting.

"It's a tremendous amount of hard work but you are some of the best teachers in the country getting better," said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in congratulating the new class of board certified teachers across the country. "I think the example of being a life-long learner, of challenging yourself to continue to improve even when you are already so good, is an amazing example for our students."

Washington State and Highline Public Schools have both seen an increase in teachers who achieve board certification. Washington was one of twenty-two states with at least a 10 percent increase in the number of board certified teachers in 2010 over 2009.

A girl touches a giant starfish in the moonlight on Dec. 4 at Burien's Seahurst Park. The Environmental Science Center is sponsoring another moonlight walk on Jan. 1 at the park.

The walk is 7:30- 10:30 p.m.

BUNDLE UP AGAINST THE WEATHER AND BE SURE TO BRING: Bright flashlight with good batteries, warm hat and dry gloves, and wading boots (you'll be in ankle deep water).

More details at Programs@EnvScienceCenter.org or by calling 206-248-4266.

"In with the new and out with the old." Diet today and forget about it tomorrow. It's that time of year when changing is both fact and too often just wishful thinking. Happy New Year!

Des Moines has seen two significant changes at year's end-the completion of major marina reconstruction and earlier retirement of highly respected Chief of Police Roger Baker.

After nearly1-1/2-years of marina construction, Project Contract City Representative Doreen Torseth reports in a Dec. 22 email that north marina projects are basically finished: (Memo edited for space)
Where do we stand today?

Asphalt paving of project parking lot and right-of-way areas was completed. Striping follows finished landscaping weather permitting. Irrigation mainlines have been installed, lateral irrigation lines are approximately 90+% complete. Compost/topsoil and plants in areas should be complete next week.

Marina Tenant access to the new N-Dock security enclosure and the west side of the western dry shed should be restored at the end of this week.

Vehicle traffic can access Dock Avenue South with construction equipment and pedestrians. Be careful.

The Highline Area Food Bank is already celebrating the season of giving, thanks to a $1,000 donation from Waste Management.

The Highline Area Food Bank gathers and distributes food to those in need in Burien and the greater Highline area. For more information, call 206-433-9900 or email highlinefb@gmail.com.

The holiday gift is part of a broader Waste Management initiative to help families in need. Across the Pacific Northwest, the company is now delivering $35,000 in donations to help non-profit organizations provide critical services.

In addition to the $1,000 gift, local Waste Management employees are donating food that will be matched by additional company funds. For every pound of food that employees donate to the food bank, the company is donating a dollar in addition to the $1,000 gift.

Waste Management is the leading provider of comprehensive recycling and environmental services in the Pacific Northwest and North America.

It was a happy occasion for Burien art activists Dane Johnson and Kathy Justin when they were honored as community leaders. But KING-TV News is reporting the two now fear bankruptcy after their insurance company has refused to pay for damage caused when their Three Tree Point home began slipping toward Puget Sound during the Nov. 23 storm.

Chris Cancro, Carol O' Kennedy and O'Kennedy's pooch were the most intrepid Three Tree Point polar bear plungers of New Year's Day 2010. Brave swimmers will enter the water again from the Point's south public beach at noon sharp, Saturday. The Angle Lake Manor Club is also holding a plunge at 10 a.m. New Year's Day for lake area residents at the club's private beach.

Back in 1978, Mary Carr was a mother with 3 boys and a husband, Dick, who worked as a police officer in Seattle. With energy to spare, she decided she could help the family bring in some extra income and started looking for a job. What she found was school bus driving, and she has ridden her buses to the top of her department.

And now as 21 years as the Highline School District's transportation director, Carr is retiring on Dec. 31.
One thing she probably won't miss is dealing with the irksome combination of school buses and snow.
As the district's bus boss, snow brings lots of extra work. It means Carr gets up at 3 a.m. to call her assistant, Cindy Hanson, who lives in Federal Way. Then they both go out and drive the district. Hanson covers the south; Carr, the north.

Carr takes the district Jeep out. If she has to use 4-wheel drive, that section will be closed to buses. The drivers must get new routes that will circumnavigate the closed sections. The affected kids need to be notified to walk to emergency snow stops.

The previous year saw the oversized ceremonial scissors getting a real work out with grand openings of Burien Town Square, Burien Transit Center, Highline YMCA and two area light-rail stations.
Except for the opening of a new Emergency Room at the Highline Medical Center in Burien, 2010 was a year of hunkering down in the shadow of the Great Recession.
Here's a month-by-month review of what made news in Highline in 2010:

January
With Dow Constantine, who represented Burien and North Highline on the County Council, as the new County Executive, Highline city officials expected better relationships with the county. The first manifestation of that in the new year was an agreement to transfer ownership of Puget Sound Park at Southwest 128th Street and 1st Avenue South to the city of Burien. That cleared the way for Burien to formally annex the southern portion of North Highline on April 1.
The SeaTac City Council rescinded a controversial condemnation proceeding against a surface parking lot next to the airport light rail station. The threatened eminent domain action received national and regional attention from property rights advocates.

Armed gender-bender robber hits King County pharmacies
The King County Sheriff's Office is seeking information on the suspect behind multiple pharmacy robberies in King County in the past few months. The robber who dressed in bulky clothing to hide their gender was originally thought to be male, but now detectives believe the suspect may be female. The suspect enters the store and heads to the pharmacy to ask for oxycodone. In at least one robbery a pistol was waved around. Police believe the robber hit a Walgreen's in Burien at least three times. The suspect is described as a black female, short and stout and quite heavy-set. She is between 5 feet 5 inches and 5 feet 8 inches and estimated to weigh at least 200 to 225 lbs. She has dark skin and wears bulky clothes under a coat, a hat and hoodie and tries to conceal her face with her hair from a wig or scarf. Crime Stoppers is offering up to a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect. Call 1-800-222-TIPS. Another reward, up to $1000, is available from Rx Patrol at 203-588-7614 or www.rxpatrol.org.

Suspicious men at local bus stops