April 2011

Deadline for receiving items for Community Calendar is 5 p.m. Wednesday for the following week's Times/News. Events are published based on timeliness and space availability. Email submissions to: hteditor@robinsonnews.com.
Items can be accepted from nonprofit groups and government agencies only. Others may call Dona Ozier or Sheila Lengle at 206-708-1378 for inclusion in our "Out & About" advertising section.

Art
T-Shirt Design Contest-- The Normandy Park Arts Commission is sponsoring a contest for the best slogan and logo indicative to Normandy Park. Logo designs should be kept simple, limited to one color and the slogan short, original and catchy. No limit to number of entries per person. Contest deadline is May 16th. Forms and more information are available at City Hall, 801 SW 174th St., Normandy Park on the city's website www.normandyparkwa.gov and can be mailed or emailed upon request to artscomm@ci.normandy-park.wa.us or by calling 206-248-8248.

Auditions

Nearly thirty years ago we were visiting Portland. We were impressed by their gigantic success with an open-air collection of booths and tables they called the Saturday Market.

It started largely as a venue for local farmers to sell their fruit and veggies like our Pike Place and grew into open-air booths by the dozen. They sold everything under the sun and sometimes the rain. It still is a huge success today.

In 1983 it inspired me to rally some Highline business people to emulate that fun place.

Together with Dick Dahlgard we asked Remlinger farms in Carnation and others to participate. We arranged with what was Logan Lumber (now Dunn) who happily designed and built about 20 pull-apart booths and made a deal for free use of the Burien Park & Ride lot.

We got a fine response from the public in a short time and soon had to build another score of booths. A stage was built where we could offer musical entertainment and gather prizes from local merchants to award to winners from a huge spinning wheel of fortune.

All of this was part of a vision we had to bring people to Burien. Very similar to what city planners are doing this year to help create a better city.

(Editor's Note: The following letter was sent to Des Moines council members with a copy to the Times/News.)

As suggested by Councilmember Carmen Scott (Times/News, April 15) may I urge that NO changes be made in the Des Moines building height limit.

Unfortunate changes in the marina have severely hurt the maritime business in Des Moines and cost a substantial loss of tax revenue for the city.

I believe that it would be to the city's overall benefit to encourage new business with an emphasis based on the view from various points in the city and the maritime history of Des Moines.

At present there is substantial vacant land or substandard buildings in "downtown" Des Moines that can be capitalized upon or used and improved for higher quality maritime themes for the city. For example Seattle has a downtown Skid Row theme.

Higher buildings will only emphasize the WD 54 water shortage, require wider roads with the loss of parking and crime related to densely populated apartments and condos.

As a parent of a 4th grade student who has great concern over the fact that more than 50 percent of Highline's elementary students cannot pass their state math exams, I must express my surprise and disappointment in Stacie Hawkins, president of the teacher's union, comments to the school board questioning the decision to spend money on improving math education.

The district wants to give teachers better curriculum so our children and, therefore, our teachers will be successful.

Mary Michalson
President
Des Moines Elementary PTSA

Relieve that spring-cleaning itch by helping friends and neighbors spruce up Burien during the city's thirteenth annual Clean Sweep on Saturday, April 30. New this year, Clean Sweep will include a scavenger hunt for the volunteers celebrating artwork by young Burien artists on Southwest 153rd Street.

From 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 30, make a difference in the community by sweeping sidewalks, trimming shrubs, planting flowers, picking up trash and more. During last year's Clean Sweep, more than 400 people removed 8.15 tons of garbage from Burien's streets, parks and commercial areas.

Clean Sweep is presented by the city of Burien and the Discover Burien Association. Event sponsors are the law firm of Linn, Schisel & DeMarco, P.S., Prudential Northwest Realty Associates and Waste Management.

The Sylvester Road Bridge will close for about 6 months, beginning, Tuesday, July 5.
The 80-year-old bridge will be demolished and replaced with a new bridge.
The new bridge is scheduled to open around Dec. 19.

Here is our previous coverage:

After nearly 80 years of the service, the Sylvester Road Bridge is about to be replaced.

Normandy Park Public Works director Peter Landry said there will be occasional daytime closures in May with the bridge expected to be closed for five or six months some time in early June. It will not reopen until November or December, according to Landry.

It is located in the 16800 block of Southwest Sylvester Road.

The bridge has several condition problems including cracked columns and girders, as well as weathered and worn rails and decks.

The concrete bridge was build during the Great Depression era and has spanned Fox Creek for eight decades.
The replacement will be a full span bridge with no supporting columns. The new bridge is better designed to withstand earthquakes. However, it will look similar to the current bridge with concrete rails.

Sixteen-year-old Jamie Curfman loves to cook - and to eat many different things. But steak is his absolute favorite.

The Tukwila teenager has his preparation down to a science. In the winter, when it's too cold to grill outside, he bakes the steak in the oven to 90 degrees, then sears it on the griddle until it's done.

Jamie, who eats up the cooking shows he sees on TV, takes the time to do it right, patiently waiting for the meat to cook to perfection. So it was a no brainer for the folks at Providence Hospice of Seattle to set up a tour for Jamie Tuesday at the Outback Steakhouse at Southcenter.

One even customized a chef coat for him.

Chaplains and social workers learned about Curfman's passion for steak and cooking as part of their work with Jamie and his family through Providence Hospice of Seattle's pediatric Stepping Stones program for children living with potentially life-limiting illnesses.

Administrative operations and facility manager King Cole, who has a background in the restaurant business, made a few calls and the folks at Outback stepped up.

SeaTac celebrated the completion of the first project in the city's Neighborhood Sidewalk Program with a ribbon cutting along 42nd Avenue South. Participating in the ceremony are, from left, City Manager Todd Cutts, Councilman Ralph Shape, Mayor Terry Anderson and younng neighborhood resident Alexander Mullin.

For three weeks last fall, when students from New Start High School in Burien finished the school day, they went home dirty, scratched up and exhausted. They worked in the rain and snow and their "homework" was piled everywhere -- giant mounds of Himalayan blackberries and English ivy they cleared by hand -- and they couldn't have been prouder.

Up to 20 high-schoolers worked on a habitat restoration project at Salmon Creek Park and Salmon Park Ravine as part of New Start's hands-on science curriculum. Their efforts and dedication to environmental stewardship earned them King County's "Earth Heroes at School" award presented April 14 by King County Executive Dow Constantine.

"It's a good thing because you're helping your environment, getting to know your fellow schoolmates better and it's good physical exercise!" says Fidel Trower-Kelly, a New Start student.

Click on photo for slideshow

Robinson Newspaper office employee Beverly Moore lost her husband, Ronald Lewis Moore, 72. He passed away suddenly on April 12 in Burien. They were married 45 years. To celebrate Ron's life, Beverly, family and dozens of friends gathered at Wayne's World Tavern in Burien Saturday, April 23. She was joined by their son, Todd, and daughter, Tami.

Liz Bowers, Wayne's World owner, greeted guests at the door. Ron was a part-time employee for her there. He was the dart coordinator for 15 dart teams and did janitorial work.

Ron was hired in 1960 by Continental Airlines where he held several positions. He met Beverly (Justice) in 1963, then a Dallas-based Continental hostess. In 1967, Ron became Director of Passenger Service and flew aboard Boeing 707's and 747's domestically and Military Air Command charters moving troops around Asia and in and out of Vietnam. He joined ground handler Aviation West at SeaTac following Continental's 1983 bankruptcy.

He was an avid NASCAR and Mariners fan, and coached Southwest Little League.