August 2011

The numbers show that White Center/North Highline may be getting a bad rap when it comes to crime.

Data presented to Burien’s City Council during a special session about annexation on Aug. 22 by King County and Burien police concluded that crime rates in Burien and White Center are “pretty similar,” as Capt. Carl Cole, day-to-day operations manager of the Burien Police Department said.

The city council had asked City Manager Mike Martin to put together a presentation on what crime issues the city would be taking on if they annexed and the results, at least by the numbers, is more of the same.

Capt. Cole came up with two numbers to illustrate the comparison. He found Burien had a crime rate of 49.9 crimes per thousand people over a 10 month period from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011. North Highline had a rate of 56.76, based upon an estimated population of 17,600. The captain said North Highline’s actual population is hard to determine and his “stats guy” said there was a margin of error of plus or minus 2,000 people.

The numbers show that White Center/North Highline may be getting a bad rap when it comes to crime.

Data presented to Burien’s City Council during a special session about annexation on Aug. 22 by King County and Burien police concluded that crime rates in Burien and White Center are “pretty similar,” as Capt. Carl Cole, day-to-day operations manager of the Burien Police Department said.

The city council had asked City Manager Mike Martin to put together a presentation on what crime issues the city would be taking on if they annexed and the results, at least by the numbers, is more of the same.

Capt. Cole came up with two numbers to illustrate the comparison. He found Burien had a crime rate of 49.9 crimes per thousand people over a 10 month period from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011. North Highline had a rate of 56.76, based upon an estimated population of 17,600. The captain said North Highline’s actual population is hard to determine and his “stats guy” said there was a margin of error of plus or minus 2,000 people.

In the last week, two separate assaults took place at bus stops along 15th Avenue NW.

The first incident happened around 9:50 a.m. on August 19 as a man exciting a Metro bus was intimidated with a knife.

Police reports state that a man flagged down a patrol car along 15th Avenue N.W. and N.W. 80th and explained that a man had just "pulled a knife on him".

The victim stated that he had been on the same bus as the suspect and when the bus reached the victim's stop, the suspect followed the man and told him to get off the bus.

Unsure if the suspect was talking to him, the victim turned around and the suspect repeated his demand using profanities.

The victim got off the bus and once the bus left the suspect continued calling the victim names.

The suspect then approached the victim, swung his shoulder bag around and pulled out a knife with the blade exposed.

The suspect pointed the knife at the victim and thinking he was going to get stabbed, the victim picked up a brick from the ground to defend himself. As the victim bend down, the suspect lunged at the him. The victim backed away and the suspect walked away.

Seattle Mariners pitcher, Felix Hernandez, a.k.a King Felix, will be visiting Ballard on Thursday, August 25.

The Cy Young Award winner will be signing autographs for fans at the Ballard Fred Meyer from 1:45 p.m. until 3 p.m.

This is a Pepsi MAX Field of Dreams event and will take place between the produce and clothing section.

The Ballard Fred Meyer is located at 915 N.W. 45th St.

Some Sounders players will be making an appearance at Market Arms later today as well. Starting at 5 p,.m., players Brad Evans and Steve Zakuani, Head Coach Sigi Schmid and General Manager Adrian Hanauer will hold an intimate Q & A session at the pub.

This is a fundraiser for America SCORES, an organization that inspires urban youth to lead healthy lives, be engaged students and have the confidence and character to make a difference in the world.

There will be a $5 suggested donation and attendees will be eligible for prize drawings with exclusive Sounders FC memorabilia including, a Mauro Rosales signed ball, Fredy Montero autographed jerseys, suite tickets to a Sounders FC home match, and much more.

By David Rosen

The Seattle Fire Department responded to a fire in a single family residence at 8917 Fauntleroy Way SW shortly before 10:00 pm on August 24.

The SFD determined that the fire was small and that it started in the kitchen and spread above to some cabinets but there was no extension to any of the structure.

The call went out as a full response due to standard procedures, but was later downgraded because the fire was under control and was put out.

Vincent Thompson went the extra mile in training this summer.

Boy did he. He logged nearly 5,250 miles across the world.

The local boxer just got back from Moscow, Russia, where he sparred with top heavyweight contender Alexander Povetkin (21-0, 15 KOs) under the watchful eye of famous trainer and ESPN commentator Teddy Atlas.

Thompson was invited to camp to help the Ukranian boxer prepare for his fight against Ruslan Chagaev (27-1-1,17 KOs) for the vacant WBA heavyweight title this Saturday in Erfut, Germany. He also helped himself get ready for his own upcoming fight in the process.

Thompson (8-0, 3 KOs) squares off against Masataka Takehara (6-4--3, 2 KOs) in the main event of the Battle of the Boat 83 at the Emerald Queen I-5 Casino in Tacoma Saturday, beginning at 7 p.m.

As Povetkin's sparring partner, Thompson was instructed to stand in front of the 6-foot-4 Povetkin and work side-to-side, mimicking Chagaev's boxing style. Ironically, Takehara, Thompson's foe, also likes to stand in front of his opponents.

"Teddy Atlas said I emulated Chagaev the best (of the sparring partners)," Thompson said. "He dug that about me."

By Rachel M. Lusby

In a grand ceremony to present the new location for Raisbeck Aviation High School, people gathered at the Museum of Flight in Tukwila where they watched student-flown airplanes land; attendants and students proceeded to walk to the school’s new site across East Marginal Way.

It has been located at a former school in the Highline District in Des Moines.

With roughly one hundred people in attendance, (including Bill Boeing Jr.) guest speakers stood at the podium and expressed their excitement over this innovative high school.

The student speakers all graduated in 2008.
“Compared to AHS,” the students agreed, “college was easy!”

All three student speakers agreed the school gave them the skills to push them through college and two of these students made it through college in just 3 years.

The mission of AHS is to prepare students for college and beyond.

“To prepare all students for college, career and citizenship through a personalized, rigorous and relevant learning experience that is facilitated in the context of aviation and aerospace,” their mission statement says.

It was 1991 and Carlos Alcabes was living in Barcelona, Spain with his wife Meryl. His wife’s family lived in the Puget Sound area and wished for the couple to move stateside. All Carlos knew was he didn’t want to move to Seattle without a job.

Before making the move, Carlos got word from his in-laws that a Perry’s Furniture on California Ave S.W. was going out of business.

“We bought the store, sight unseen, by phone and I said, ‘It’s a piece of cake, I can sell furniture.’ Well, it was not a piece of cake; I had never sold anything before in my life,” Carlos, now 65, said.

“I thought a La-Z-Boy was a boy who never did his homework.”

Today, the business is growing like mad, with website sales across the nation (and sometimes beyond) doubling monthly in 2011 and a projected $1.5 million in online sales alone by the end of the year.

Here’s how they got there:

In a grand ceremony to present the new location for Raisbeck Aviation High School, people gathered at the Museum of Flight in Tukwila where they watched student-flown airplanes land; attendants and students proceeded to walk to the school’s new site across East Marginal Way.

Please click the photo above for more images

It has been located at a former school in the Highline District in Des Moines.

With roughly one hundred people in attendance, (including Bill Boeing Jr.) guest speakers stood at the podium and expressed their excitement over this innovative high school.

The student speakers all graduated in 2008.

“Compared to AHS,” the students agreed, “college was easy!”

All three student speakers agreed the school gave them the skills to push them through college and two of these students made it through college in just 3 years.

The mission of AHS is to prepare students for college and beyond.

“To prepare all students for college, career and citizenship through a personalized, rigorous and relevant learning experience that is facilitated in the context of aviation and aerospace,” their mission statement says.

It is very important to stop when a school bus has its red lights on and the stop paddle out. This means you must stop if you are behind the bus or coming toward it from the opposite direction. It is a state law that you must stop. There are times when you should not stop, however.

If there is a two way left turn lane in-between you and the school bus you should not stop. If there are lanes of traffic between you and a school bus you should not stop. The school district does not allow students to cross the street when there are more than two lanes on a road. You will be unnecessarily stopping traffic if you stop unless you are in the lane next to the bus.

School starts September 1st so be careful and on the lookout for students near your vehicle. The reduced speed zones near schools are enforced when children are present and they will be around their schools soon.

Watch out for students and stop for school buses except when you are going the opposite direction and there is a lane between you and the bus. If in doubt, please stop. Students may not always watch where they are going and it is up to you to protect them.

Jeanette Burrage
School Bus Driver