February 2011

At a recent North Hill Community Club meeting, Des Moines councilmember Melissa Musser made a good presentation seeking ideas and solutions towards restoring downtown Des Moines. The audience brought up the water shortage from Water District 54 as part of the problem. Community activities and business cannot grow without an adequate supply of water.

Perhaps now is the time to start thinking outside of the box!

In this region, clean water is plentiful and cheap. However, funding for commercial wells and water mains is scarce, especially for a small water district like WD 54. Some new WD 54 water mains are being laid.

However, the general suspicion is that the Highline water customers are indirectly paying for those mains in their property taxes.

At the risk of rocking the commissioners' boats, perhaps now is the time for Highline Water District to determine how much it would cost to rebuild WD 54, bring WD 54 up to Highline standards and BUY WD 54. Of course, the cost of repairs etc. would be deducted from the buy out.

Does your neighborhood need sidewalks, playground improvements or a traffic circle? The City is now welcoming proposals for small neighborhood improvement projects to be considered for funding from the Neighborhood Projects Funds (NPF).

"The Neighborhood Projects Fund is often used to fund traffic circles, sidewalks, and small scale parks improvements like benches, trails," said Ron Angeles in an email.

"Get your project ideas in now."

The NPF gets its budget from the Neighborhood Street Fund and the Cumulative Reserve Subfund and through this program, approximately $1.2M is set aside in the 2012 City budget for small scale improvements to neighborhood streets and parks. These funds are unique because NPF projects are proposed by the community.

The NPF can be used for projects valued up to $90,000 to fund street or park improvements, such as sidewalk repair, traffic circles and traffic calming, sidewalks, school zone speed limit signs, playground improvements, etc.

The citizen complaint filed by Chuck and Dierdre Wright against two Des Moines Police officers involved in the shooting death of a dog will be held on Feb. 28 at the Des Moines Municipal Court.
The Wright's are the of the dog who was shot, a newfoundland named Rosie. They are charging Des Moines Officers Micheal Graddon and Sgt. Steve Weiland with animal cruelty in the second degree and trapping and wounding an animal. Both charges are misdemeanors.
Des Moines Judge Alicea-Galvan will hear the complaint on Monday morning Feb. 28 at 9 a.m. at the Des Moines Municipal Court.
Officers responded to a roaming dog call on Nov. 7. Officer Graddon shot Rosie four times on killing her after attempts by officers to contain her failed. Sgt. Weiland is named in the complaint because he gave the ok to Graddon to use lethal force on Rosie.
The citizen complaint comes after the final investigation ordered by the City was completed earlier this month.

Cody Beebe & The Crooks, a Roots Rock band made up of seven local musicians, launched their first true national tour on Saturday with a show at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Saturday was a triple celebratory event as it also marked Cody Beebe's birthday and the band's two year anniversary.

"It's a huge show for us," said Tyler Paxton.

Their two-moth tour will take them across the country and includes some big showcasing opportunities. In L.A. they'll be showcasing at Triple A radio alongside K.D. Lang and Iron and Wine, and in March they'll hit up SXSW at The Texas RockFest.  

They will also be playing at the conclusion of the Galveston Mardi Gras celebrations.

"We're really hoping to make an impact down there," lead singer Cody Beebe said.

"We're really excited to get down there. We're just excited to hear some good music and share ours," added pianist Aaron Myers.

The band said they're unsure what to expect but they've been told frequently by fans that their music will fit in with the Texas music scene.

Self-labelled as a "Steve Earle meets Pink Floyd band", the band takes gritty and emotional song writing and pairs it with intricate music.

Rhianna and Emma attend Kindergarten classes at Westside School (their Dad's were in the classroom) under the watchful eye of Marsha Lovely and Margaret Wilkins and the whole class made valentine bags with individual valentines for each other that they had to put in each other's bag.

There were many creative efforts and according to Rhianna's dad they" spent hours and hours at the dining room table crafting works of art," and Emma;s Dad added, "and leaving big messes for Mommy and Daddy to clean up afterwards."

The dads shared their favorite valentine memory from their childhood. "I think it was handing out those single flap valentines we bought at the store," said Rhianna's dad, who got his first love valentine from a girl in the second grade. Emma's Dad said, "I had to wait until the fourth grade, but I remember getting the Sweet Tart hearts. When you got an I Love You heart from a girl, that was a big deal."

Magic Show
High Point Community Center
6920 34th Ave. S.W.
206-684-0644
Saturday, Feb. 19, 10:30 a.m. Share the experience of magic with your child at this fun show brimming with audience participation. $3 per person in advance; $5 per person day of show.

Discovery Shop
4535 California Ave. S.W.
206-937-7169
Half off all red or white or blue clothing on Presidents’ Day, Monday, 2/21.
Antiques & Collectibles Fundraiser begins on Monday, 2/21. See our ad in the Herald!
Yellow-tagged items: $1 from Tuesday, 2/22, thru Monday, 2/28.The Shop is open on Sundays (except 2/20), 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. All other days the Shop is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m

West Seattle Garden Club Meeting at Daystar
Daystar Retirement Village
2615 S.W. Barton St. - Bldg. One
Friday, Feb. 25, 10-2 p.m. New Location. Coffee social half hour and registration at 10 a.m., followed by business and morning study program. Brown bag lunch at noon with dessert and beverages served by the Club. 1 p.m. afternoon program. Donation $5. For info: 932-2540.

2nd Annual CE Chinese Scholastic Competition

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Roller derby isn't a sport for those afraid to get body checked, elbowed, pushed and fall while zooming around a track on roller skates. It's a sport for tough women who fall down hard, get back up and have a friendly after-match beer with the person who just gave them a grapefruit size bruise on their thigh.

The Ballard News-Tribune sat down with some of the toughest roller skating Ballardites at the Rat City Rollergirls undisclosed Ballard-based training ground, The Rat's Nest.

"The tough girl stigma is a front but we run with it," said Carmin Thomas, better known as Clobberin Mame of the Sockit Wenches.

"I can give and take hard hits on the track but everyone knows I'm a big softy."

Thomas has been part of the Rat City Rollergirls since its founding days in 2004 and sits on the organization's Board of Directors.

"I like the tough girl image. I need it to remind me that I have the ability to be tough, to be a bad-ass," she said.

Thomas got involved after her fiance was asked to be an announcer.

From the east side of the Duwamish last week, a person living near a business on s. Michigan St. noticed a ground level window had been pried out and was leaning against the wall. He called police and four officers arrived. Everything was locked up so the officers went in through the window to investigate. Shortly after the owner showed up and it became apparent the suspects had gone through most of the offices and work areas but, “laptops, desktop computers, cameras and money that were left in plain sight were left behind.” Instead or stealing anything significant, the suspect(s) apparently located office munchies and went to town. Police found trails of crumbs from office to office, an empty cracker box and bits of chewed pineapple on top of a filing cabinet.

This might be the year I trade out my 1989 Toyota Corolla for a new - or new to me - car.  I've had my little black coupe since 1998, when my newer model Toyota was totaled by a hit-and-run driver.  I was moving back from Canada and needed a replacement in a hurry with limited Canadian funds to work with. Knowing a little about planned obsolescence when it comes to vehicles, I thought I'd keep it a year, given age, mileage, and its bare minimum of accessories. 

Understanding the energy and resources it takes to make a new car, as opposed to keeping an older one running (if it's in good shape), it's now 13 years later.  An upgrade makes sense even though my little car is still great on gas, looks pretty sharp, and with regular service, consistently runs fine.  But safety features, like ABS brakes and airbags, are appealing as driving continues to be a necessity for me.

So it begs the question:  Gas, hybrid, electric, or biodiesel? 

By Christy Wolyniak, News Intern

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Green Lake was greeted with a flurry of pink and red as nearly 3,100 runners participated in the sixth annual Love ‘Em or Leave ‘Em Valentine’s Day Dash on a chilly, yet clear Saturday morning.

Kris and Chad Lukkarila commented said the run was the warmest 5k they have done in three months.

“People like Valentine’s Day. There are some good costumes out here,” said organizer Gary Slettebak.

“We try to produce an event that people will really enjoy and will tell their friends about. One of our goals is to provide unique-style running races at a level that people enjoy.”

PCC vendors provided morning treats for participants while loud pop music pumped good vibes into the park for an upbeat, positive atmosphere.

“I thought [the race would] be fun. What other to do on a day of love than run with people you love,” said runner and Flash Mob member Andy Swanson.