June 2011

The Washington State Department of Transportation announced today that it will not appeal the King County Superior Court decision to refer one section of a Seattle City Council ordinance to voters on the August ballot.

From the press release:

The ordinance approved three technical agreements between WSDOT and the city of Seattle for the proposed State Route 99 bored tunnel project.

The technical agreements ensure that the city’s infrastructure is protected during construction, the project is built to city standards and elements of the project important to the city are completed. One section of the ordinance requires the Seattle City Council to provide notice to WSDOT after holding a public meeting. The meeting would be held after the final environmental report is published this summer, and, if given, would continue the agreements during final design and construction.

Press release:

For more information contact:
Rick Jump, Executive Director / White Center Food Bank
206-762-2848 or rjump@whitecenterfoodbank.org

On June 23, 2011 the Seattle Foundation will host the largest day of giving ever planned for King County, WA through its online giving event to assist local non-profits. Summer is often a slow time in charitable giving for all types of organizations; food banks often feel a strong pinch as children whom are eligible for school-based feeding programs are home for the summer and families find themselves scrambling to keep healthy foods on the table. As part of Give Big, all participating organizations are eligible for “stretch dollars” as the Seattle Foundation will proportionally donate funds from their own donors to grow the amounts to each individual benefiting charity on June 23. The more an individual charity raises through the Seattle Foundation’s website on that day – the greater their portion of stretch dollars.

Some participants at a final Burien visioning open house June 13 objected to wording in the draft statement that they felt was derogatory to Burien.

Consultant Brian Scott presented the final draft at the open house. The headline for the visioning statement is "Burien....Really!"

Under the headline, the statement reads "A surprisingly vibrant community where the residents embrace diversity, promote vitality, and treasure the environment."

A few audience members said the use of the words "Really" and "surprising" play into negative impressions of people from outside Burien.

"It's like we are defending ourselves," one woman commented.

Another participant praised the inclusion of youth in the visioning draft but said seniors should have also been mentioned.

"Seniors need advocates, too," he noted.

The visioning statement, in the works for the past six months, will be available for review at the city's booth at the Wild Strawberry Festival on Saturday and Sunday.

On Monday, the City Council is set to approve the final version. The visioning statement is designed to give a framework for city budgeting decisions.

Close to 70 concerned citizens came out to Gas Works Park on June 15 for a chance to speak face-to-face with City Council candidates.

Presented by the Fremont, Green Lake, Greenwood and Wallingford Chambers of Commerce and North Seattle Industrial Association & Aurora Merchants Association, "Politics Not As Usual" allowed Seattle residents to learn more about the candidates to make an informed vote later this year.

In a speed-networking setting, politicians made their way from table to table to listen to people's concerns and questions while enjoying some sunshine and a lunch.

All the politicians that were present at the event are campaigning for positions that are up for elections in 2011. Among the politicians present were Jean Godden, Bruce Harrell, Tim Burgess, Tom Rasmussen, Sally Clark, Maurice Classen, Bobby Forch, and Diane Ferguson.

Along with disapproval of the tunnel, the biggest topic of the afternoon seemed to be parking taxes.

The 37th annual Ballard SeafoodFest is coming up on July 9th and 10th and the organizers are looking for help.

"We are looking for help with set-up and tear-down, selling raffle tickets, being part of the “green team” for recycling and trash, ice wrangling, music stage volunteers, and working with children in the KidZone," announced Karen Siscel Smith, co-volunteer coordinator for SeafoodFest.

Interested volunteers can email Karen Siscel Smith at seafoodfestvolunteer@hotmail.com. Also, please join our new group on Facebook to see all the fun activity planned of this fabulously fun festival and long-time Ballard tradition.

Tylen Johnson, UW News Lab

Jesse Scott, a junior at Ballard High School has come with a plan to sell letterman jackets for less.

“I always wanted to get a letterman but they were so expensive. My grandpa thought it would be a great idea,” said Scott.

He began thinking of the idea in an entrepreneur class offered at Ballard. Initially, Scott began working on a business plan for a sporting goods store, said Scott’s teacher Jill Zawatski.

Scott came up with the idea after his family was unable to purchase one last year. He began researching letterman jackets and fine-tuning his operation.

Letterman jackets typically cost close to $400 and go up in price depending on what is added. Scott believes that he will be able to sell them for about $160, regardless of how it is customized.

He is able to offer affordable jackets thanks to Peter Sherlock. Sherlock is the owner of Custom Embroidery and Promotions, a Ballard business that typically focuses on corporate identity and embroidery works. Scott orders the jackets from a Montana state wholesaler and ships them to Sherlock for stitching.

CLICK ON PHOTO FOR SLIDESHOW

Wednesday night's pub crawl was a big success as over 200 people sampled the newly presented LÖWMAN BRÄU beer at 10 area pubs. The beer is being brewed at Big Al Brewing in White Center, and will only be served in West Seattle and White Center pubs. The name is a portmanteau with a play on West Seattle's Lowman Beach and of course Löwenbräu beer. Tonight the 10 participating pubs donated the proceeds from those beer sales to various charities, and will continue to do so as long as the beer is served. Big Al plans to have a fall/winter beer and so on, to continue with the charity.

The participating pubs and their charities include:

THE BRIDGE: Dogs For Dogs
MISSION: Summer Concerts at Hiawatha
SHADOWLAND: West Side Baby
WEST 5: SW Historical Society/Log House Museum
LOCÖL : Roxhill Elementary
FEEDBACK: West Seattle Helpline
EASY STREET: West Seattle Food Bank
BIG AL: White center Food Bank
COMPANY: West Side Baby

Be part of the Seattle Chinese Garden’s first photography workshop and first juried mixed-media show June 24 through 26.

Participants will photograph the new Knowing the Spring Courtyard and adjacent pavilion with exclusive early morning and evening access before and after public hours when the light is prime.

For part of each day, your results will be critiqued with a focus on improving your composition and on selecting your best images for a final, juried show.

You will also learn how to produce and price framed prints.

A panel will jury the selected images and each participant will have at least one framed print in the final show, which opens August 11, as part of the West Seattle ArtWalk.

The workshop takes place over a single weekend:

Friday, 6-9pm, Saturday, 5am-9pm, and Sunday, 5am-4pm
Tuition: $220 (Garden members $200) Materials Fee: $20

From the Seattle Police Blotter:

On June 15th, the Aggressive Driver Response Team (ADRT) conducted a “Bus Only” lane emphasis patrol on the West Seattle Bridge at the request of West Seattle residents.

The following citations were issued:

West Seattle Bridge – 45 mph zone

1 at 59 mph

19 Bus Lane violations

Additionally, an ADRT officer issued the following citations today:

3100 block SW Admiral Way – 30 mph zone:

1 at 52 mph

1 at 49 mph

1 at 48 mph

2 at 47 mph

3 at 46 mph

1 at 44 mph

1 Seat Belt

The Seattle Police Department encourages all motor vehicle operators to be familiar with and obey all local and state traffic laws and to always drive with due regard for all others on the roadway.

Bright Horizons family solutions the child care center at 4530 38th Ave. s.w. the West Seattle Herald profiled in March is holding their Grand Opening event this Saturday, June 18 featuring State Senator Sharon Nelson for the ribbon cutting, storytelling, live music, and much more.

Starting at 10:45 am Nelson will do the honors by cutting the ribbon on the new facility which joins 565 others across the nation and 141 overseas. At 11:00 am Professor Watermelon will offer storytelling which will run until 1:00 pm. At 12 noon popular West Seattle band The Not It's! will play a 45 minute set.

Also at 11:00 am face painting by Colorific Kids will begin.

A scavenger hunt, food and more celebration will take place all day long.