August 2011

Shortly after 4 a.m. on August 1, unknown vandals broke the glass front door of the West Seattle DOC branch on the 6300 block of 35th Ave S.W. and spray painted an anarchist sign and “Against Prisons” on the wall, according to police.

Todd Johnson with DOC said the buildings alarm went off around 4:30 a.m. He said there was also damage to a window near the entrance that seemed consistent with someone trying to break in.

Det. Mark Jamieson with the Seattle Police Department said officers responded and filed a report, but there are no suspects in the case at this time.

Anarchistnews.org, whose stated goal is to “provide a non-sectarian source for news about and of concern to anarchists” on their website, made mention of the attack as well.

“Last night a Department of Corrections office in West Seattle had its windows broken. ‘Against Prison’ was written on the building as well. In solidarity with all those who face the everyday violence and repression of prison and the police. Fire to the prisons,” the anarchistnews.org posting said.

King County Executive Dow Constantine has ordered an inquest into the shooting death of Burien man Anthony David Ourada, 25, by a King County Sheriff’s Deputy.

The inquest was recommended by King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg after reviewing the case.

Ourada was shot on April 17, 2011 by a 42-year-old KCSO Deputy with over 14 years on the force. Ourada, wanted by police for two high speed chases shortly before his death, was shot after attempting to flee an apartment parking lot in his Honda Accord.

Officers identified his vehicle at the Arbor Court Apartments on S. 112th St. shortly after 8 p.m. and several squad and undercover cars responded, planning to box Ourada in so he could not escape.

According to King County Sheriffs, Ourada got into his Accord with a female and struck three vehicles in the parking lot while trying to get around the police cars. One deputy fired his weapon, striking Ourada who was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:56 p.m.

His female acquaintance was not injured in the shooting, but became unresponsive after the shooting and was taken to Highline Hospital for treatment, according to the Sheriff’s office.

Unattended bag causes partial evacuation at SeaTac Airport
Part of Sea-Tac Airport was evacuated briefly due to an unattended bag left at the baggage carousels. A bag was found between carousels two and three but security blocked off one through four. Airport security also shut down elevators in the area. A bomb technician was called in to check the bag. An all clear was given within an hour. There was no report of what was found in the bag. No flights were delayed.

Woman stabbed in Tukwila
Police said a 24-year-old woman was stabbed multiple times in the 9600 block of 53rd Ave. S. It is believed that the victim may have known her attacker, who is still at large. A description was not available. The woman's condition was not known at the time of this report.

Deputies break up possible dog fighting ring

Seattle based civic software company and incubator FrontSeat.org has for the past few years been generating Walk Scores for neighborhoods in cities as diverse as Washington D.C., New York, Boston and Seattle. The company rates walkability based on the ability to accomplish errands and access local amenities without the use of a car plus other factors.

Here's their more complete description:
What makes a neighborhood walkable?
A center: Walkable neighborhoods have a center, whether it's a main street or a public space.
People: Enough people for businesses to flourish and for public transit to run frequently.
Mixed income, mixed use: Affordable housing located near businesses.
Parks and public space: Plenty of public places to gather and play.
Pedestrian design: Buildings are close to the street, parking lots are relegated to the back.
Schools and workplaces: Close enough that most residents can walk from their homes.
Complete streets: Streets designed for bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit.

Walk Score Description

Please click the photo above for a slideshow of Peterson working in Iran

Former Highline Times paperboy and summer reporting intern Scott Peterson, now Middle East correspondent for the Christian Scientist Monitor, is returning to the area Aug. 11 for a book signing at Burien Books, 824 S.W. 152nd St, from 4-6 p.m.

He will be promoting his book "Let the Swords Encircle me: Iran - A Journey Behind the Headlines," which was released in October 2010.
The book documents historical, political, and religious analyses of the Iranian government and the Iranian people as seen from Peterson's perspective.

Peterson recalled that working at the Highline Times with publisher Jerry Robinson and editor Jeanne Sweeney was his first professional journalism experience.

"That newsroom was ideal for gaining experience because it was a real newspaper with deadlines and talking to real people. It gave me a great opportunity and I was grateful that I could do something locally," Peterson declared.

press release:

Seattle Firefighters will be visiting several “Night Out Against Crime” celebrations tonight near neighborhood fire stations. This is the 27th annual celebration here in Seattle which falls on the first Tuesday of every August. Seattle Firefighters will stop by neighborhood gatherings to promote fire safety and awareness. Seattle Police Officers will also be out sharing crime prevention and awareness tips.

On “Night Out”, neighbors typically turn on porch lights as a symbolic gesture supporting a public safety message. Seattle has hundreds of celebrations. This year’s theme is Fighting Crime Together-Being Prepared Together.

For a full list of Seattle celebrations you can visit the “Night Out” website.

http://www.seattle.gov/spd/Nightout/default.htm

Unified Grocers’ Summer Youth Employment Program Teaches Nine Local High School Students about Supermarket Industry
Press release:
Unified Grocers, the largest wholesale grocery distributor in the western United States, is providing nine Seattle-area high school students an opportunity to learn how the supermarket industry works while participating in the Company’s sixteenth annual Summer Youth Employment Program.

Unified’s Summer Youth Employment Program is designed to give the students an understanding of the grocery industry, teach them how corporations function, and develop job skills while working in various departments throughout the Company. During the seven-week program (June 27 through Aug. 12), the students’ activities include hands-on instructional presentations, visits to retail grocery stores, and tours of food manufacturing facilities operating in the region.

When a Burien City councilman suggested last week that White Center is thriving and that Burien should be supportive of annexation, he failed to mention the empty store fronts on main street (16th avenue)  Marv's Broiler, Napa Auto Parts, South End Florist and even the little Thai place up at 112th are all shuttered. 

If you talk with Donnie Malo and his general manager Brad Truesdell over at Malo's Auto Body on 17th you'll get their story. Malo has been through it all for the last 40 years and can speak about urban renewal and decline. While he feels things might be on an upswing in some areas he definitely expressed his desire for Seattle to take up the annexation banner rather than Burien. "I love Burien and they have a lot going on there", Malo said. He added that Seattle is better equipped financially to support White Center and one particular issue is the boundary at Roxbury St. 

Due to lack of funding, SHARE, King County's largest shelter provider, will be forced to close 15 indoor shelters by next week.

The organization was informed last week that it would not be receiving Emergency Food and Shelter Program funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is $44000 loss.

For over 15 years, FEMA's financial support has helped SHARE shelter more than 500 homeless people per night.

The National FEMA Committee changed their requirements and King County as a whole did not meet the 11.5% unemployment rate or the 14.5% poverty rate, thus no organization in King County is eligible for the FEMA fund.

The FEMA disappointment along with a city funding shortfall of $29,000, leaves SHARE with a $73,000 budget deficit.

SHARE is calling out to King County residents asking for donations to help them stay above water and keep people off the streets.

Donations can be made electronically, here.

To learn more about SHARE, visit http://www.sharewheel.org.

(Editor's Note: Burien angler Peter Tarabochia has quite a fish tale to tell-and it's all true.)

Myself, my dad Don Tarabochia (Fircrest, WA), and our friend Jim Holly (Fircrest, WA) were all fishing on my dad's boat. Fishing had been generally slow around the Tacoma area at the time, and as the morning passed we were hoping for even a cookie-cutter 12-15 lb. king.

We had a couple other takedowns, but nothing that stuck. In short, the action was slow but it was a beautiful morning on the water.

While trolling the area we saw acres of herring flipping around and marked huge baitballs on the fishfinder. In fact, there was so much bait you sometimes start to wonder if the fish are distracted and overfed by it.

In any case, I decided to switch to using a new spoon I had just purchased -- a particular pattern that caught my eye in the store and seemed to have a nice lifelike herring look to it. I set that rod at only about 45 feet down to mimic the depth of the baitfish.