September 2011

press release:
Please join Mayor Mike McGinn, Councilmember Nick Licata, members of the Seattle City Council and the Seattle Coalition for a Healthy Workforce for the Mayor’s signing and a celebration of Seattle’s new Paid Sick Days ordinance, passed by the Seattle City Council on September 12.

The new Paid Sick Days ordinance will take effect in 2012 with tens of thousands of employees beginning to earn paid sick time on the job.

When: 2:30 p.m., Friday September 23, 2011
Where: Plum Bistro, 1429 12th Avenue

Update:
The King County Districting Committee is rescheduling its public hearing on a proposed redistricting plan until Nov. 1 at 6:30 p.m. The meeting was previously scheduled for Oct. 3.
The change will allow residents and local city councils, who usually meet only a few times per month, a better opportunity review the plan and provide comment. The deadline for written testimony has also been extended until Nov. 1.
The hearing will be held:

Tuesday, November 1, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
King County Courthouse
Council Chambers, 10th Floor
516 Third Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104

Previous story:
The Highline area will continue to be split between the 5th and 8th King County Council districts, according to a draft plan approved this week by the King County Redistricting Committee.

Please click the links above for more information and a larger map.

Julia Patterson currently represents the 5th district while Joe McDermott is the 8th district representative.

      I did not know that duck hunting in the Skagit flats required a boat due to the huge tidal flow that goes in and out through a myriad array of channels. Tree stumps dot the channels, victims of the brackish water. 

Together, with my buddy Cliff Goodman, we motored across a great body of salt water stopping at a huge stump where he let me off and headed out looking for a stump for himself.

We couldn’t afford a real Duck Blind. The stump was our best bet to conceal ourselves. 

     Overhead a million Mallards and Teal were darkening the sky. How could anybody fail to limit out even on his first trip with a shotgun he’d never fired; not even once. I envisioned a barrel of ducks on the kitchen counter.

    I had hoped grampa's 12-gauge shotgun would be more reliable than my aim but with a million birds up there who could miss?

    What I did not know was that the tidal waters we putt-putted over, while looking for a comfy stump, concealed an unpleasant surprise about three feet deep.

Even if you are late for something important, and no matter what you think of the 45 mph limit on the West Seattle Bridge, speeding over it at 78 mph is going to get you a ticket.

Here's today's report from the Aggressive Driving Response Team:

Posted by Detective Mark Jamieson- From the SPD Blotter

Officers from the Aggressive Driver Response Team issued the following citations:

Today, September 22

Airport Way South – 30 mph zone

1 at 48 mph

1 at 45 mph

1 at 42 mph

1 Suspended Driver’s License

1 No Proof of Insurance

School Zone Enforcement – 20 mph zone

Roxhill Elementary

2 at 36 mph

1 at 34 mph

1 at 30 mph

Arbor Heights Elementary

2 at 28 mph

1 No Proof of Insurance

Holy Family Elementary

1 at 37 mph

2 at 30 mph

1 at 28 mph

1 No Proof of Insurance

September 21st

West Seattle Bridge – 45 mph zone

1 at 78 mph

1 at 65 mph

By Tom Fucoloro, Editor of Seattle Bicycle Blog

What started as a couple deaths after a long stretch with very few has turned into a devastating couple weeks on our city’s streets. After the third death on Seattle streets since July, one question has been on the minds of city residents and various media outlets this week:

What the hell is going on?

Nobody can really answer that question, and it is probably a combination of a lot of things: Bad luck, more people biking, holes in the bicycle facility network (and sub-par facilities), traffic errors, and on and on.
But we know for sure that something must change.

Tuesday morning, I was standing with friends of Brian Fairbrother at the spot where he crashed down a staircase at the end of a city-designed “bike trail” that had no warning signs. Brian’s friends held a beautiful memorial for him, creating art, telling stories and supporting each other through the loss of a friend who had touched so many people’s lives.

The appeal trial of West Seattle raised Amanda Knox, serving 26 years for stabbing her roommate Meredith Kercher to death in Italy four years ago, and that of her then boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, is coming to a close. Tomorrow morning, Sept. 23, which is late tonight, Sept. 22 West Coast time, the final arguments begin. Most experts believe the appeal will end within a week or 10 days with a verdict, but no one seems to know what that verdict will read. "Cautious optimism" is the mantra of Knox's parents, step parents, and press.

Since the murder of Ms. Kercher Nov.1, 2007, those who have questioned Knox's guilt have accused the British tabloid press of painting a false, negative, and sometimes horrific, picture of Knox's reputation. The jurors, who are not sequestered in Italy, have been free to read these articles. Those maintaining their belief in Knox's guilt have praised the accuracy of such reports. Britain has been prickly on this case, understandable considering Ms. Kercher was born in London.

But the tabloid tide has shifted.

Ballard High School houses a collection of 60 world-class art pieces, which will be unveiled to the public on October 1.

The collection has been named after Orre Nobles, a celebrated Northwest who taught at Ballard High School for more than thirty years.

"Orre Noble showed students that through art, they can find interesting careers and lifelong experiences," said C. David Highbanks, founding president of the Ballard High School foundation who played a key role in starting the collection. "He inspired students that there's a place for artists in the world."

The 60-piece collection features many works of former BHS students, some of whom will attend the Open House on October 1.

Highbanks said in order to be accepted into the collection, each piece of art must have a Ballard connection.

The artist(s) must have been a Ballard High School student, live or have a studio in Ballard, or the piece of art must be an historic or contemporary depiction of the Ballard area.

"We're not trying to be exclusive but make the collection more meaningful to the students," Highbanks said.

Update for Sept. 27
The police report from a standoff between a SeaTac resident on the 2800 block of S. 146th St. and law enforcement reveals the man was asleep while officers surrounded his home and asked him to come out.

After several hours, the police decided to enter the home and found him sleeping.

Police were initially called to the home for a domestic dispute with shots fired. They later stated the man was likely drunk and shooting into the air.

The suspect was taken into custody.

Original post on Sept. 22
According to a kirotv.com report, a SWAT team has surrounded a SeaTac man's home in a standoff situation.

KCSO Sgt. Mike Caldwell told Kiro police initially responded to a 911 call for possible domestic violence to a S. 146th St home (near the crossroad of 29th Ave S) around 5:30 a.m. on Sept. 22.

When officers arrived they heard gunshots and a SWAT team was called in to negotiate what may have initially been a hostage situation.

Talk about girl power! "Team Tracy", a 16 women team around cancer survivor and reluctant hero, Tracy Dart, raised $40,000 for breast cancer research during the Susan G. Koman 3-Day for the Cure this past weekend.

The 60-mile walk went Friday to Monday, Sept. 16-18, and routed an estimated 2,000 walkers through Seattle and the East Side. The walk concluded at Seattle Center where volunteers, family members and friends greeted walkers marching into Memorial Stadium.

For Dart this was her fifth year participating. She is concluding another round of chemo therapy and has become a local icon and reluctant celebrity for the cause, supporting breast cancer fundraising and offering moral support for other survivors and their families and friends, while dealing with her own struggle.

By Jeff and Eileen Bidwell

Autumn is harvest time, time to pick fruit from trees and vines, harvest and enjoy late summer and fall vegetables, showy sunflowers and gorgeous dahlias, and prepare your garden for the long, rainy winter ahead. On September 12th, we Ballardites were fortunate enough to experience a clear evening, which allowed us the luxury of waxing poetic as we watched the harvest moon rise. Inspiring, huh?

Here’s a summary of fall garden chores:

Lawns
Many of us let our lawns go dormant through the dry season. Lawns should be thatched and aerated in October of every fourth year. Overseed as needed with a blend of rye and fine or creeping fescue. Rake the seed into the soil, mow twice a month, and mulch.