September 2011

Mayor Mike McGinn will be fielding the public's questions at the September episode of Ask the Mayor on the Seattle Channel and there's still time to submit your questions.

Hosted by Barry Mitzman, McGinn will be asked to answer question like 'How will the Mayor propose closing the City’s $25 million budget deficit?' and ' Why is the Mayor proposing a reduction in community center hours?' and 'Does McGinn support “body cameras” for Seattle police officers?'

Hear the answers to those questions and many more on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on the Seattle Channel 21.

Until then, there's still time to ask your question. To submit your questions:

· Call 206-684-8821 during the live show from 7-8 p.m. on Wednesday, September 21
· Email: askthemayor@seattle.gov
· Tweet it to @SeattleChannel
· Send a message on Facebook to http://www.facebook.com/SeattleChannel

Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of the community discussion!

Past episodes are available for viewing at http://www.seattlechannel.org/AskTheMayor/.

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
Highline Community College-"Urban Rainbow." Sept. 1-22, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. Sept. 26-Oct. 31, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 2-10 p.m. Sundays. Free. Library (Building 25), fourth floor, 2400 S. 240th St. Photographer Jeremy Hurd shows the colorful side of mundane street objects with images taken in Seattle, Barcelona, Shanghai and Beijing. http://exhibits.highline.edu/

Auditions

Burglar plays video game
A family left their home, at 15800 blk 4th Ave. S., to attend a friend's birthday party. Upon returning home the woman noticed something wasn't right. It appeared her home had been entered without her permission. The subject(s) appeared to enter the home from the rear sliding glass door. No items were missing but she did notice that someone had played her video game console. No suspect information was available at this time.

Burien restaurant broken into
Germaine's Country Kitchen, located at 14901 Ambaum Blvd S.W., had its front door window broken and cash register stolen. According to the owner, only a few dollars in change was left in the register. Last year there were several similar "smash & grab" type robberies in Burien and West Seattle. Stephen H. Kirk was arrested and sentenced to 68 months in prison for those burglaries.

Vandal targets sign

Update for Sept. 28
Locöl Barley and Vine sold over 600 pints of Löwman Brau, the charity-driven beer crafted by Big Al Brewing in White Center, since June 15 when the brew was launched.

On Sept 28, Roxhill Elementary received a check from Locöl for $300 from those sales. 50 cents from each pint went to Roxhill.

Owners Kyle Duce and Shane Whittall presented the check to a group of Roxhill Elementary faculty and Principal Carmela Dellino at the beer,wine and food establishment at 7902 35th Ave S.W.

It was undeniable proof that beer and charity mix quite well.

"One of the biggest thing for us is it's one of the most needy schools in the neighborhood and they do fundraisers all the time," Duce said. "Being a public school it's just hard for them."

"So it's just being able to reach out to the people that need it in the community, and a lot of the parents and teachers live here (near Locöl)."

"A lot of them support us as well, so it's just goes full circle," Whittall said. "Community helping community and keeping it local."

My 97-year-old neighbor Lois is fiercely independent. She grew up during the Great Depression, faced down cancer in her 60s, lost her husband in her late 70s, and recouped from a broken hip in her early 90s. She still drives when she needs to. And she hates to ask for help.

And still I offer. As do the other neighbors. She occasionally accepts, albeit reluctantly. She often offers payment (declined). The real payment is in her stories.

Reflections on the Great Depression

“When you’re growing up, you have fun, but you don’t realize how good you have it,” she said. “I guess we were all poor, but we didn’t know we were poor. We made lots of things, my mom sewed everything. We learned how to do things because they needed to be done. We learned to work, we learned out to figure things out. During the depression, we gave stuff to anyone who needed it… No one sold anything, they gave it to them. The farm life was a close knit group that took care of one another. “

Cyclists devastated by the number of people killed while biking in Seattle and the region are coming together on Saturday, September 24, to honor the fallen with a bike ride.

"Perched on bike saddles all around the city, residents of Seattle are feeling a mix of fear, anger, sadness, hope and everything in between. Friends and family of those injured or killed on the streets of Seattle are coming to terms with their forever-changed lives," writes Tom Fucoloro, editor of Seattle Bike Blog. "Seattle, we need to get together, honor those who have lost their lives in traffic and support each other. We need to work for change. There is no better way to do this than to ride together."

Fucoloro together with Davey Oil of Bike Works and Adonia Lugo, one of the founding forces behind LA’s CicLAvia events and author of Urban Adonia, is leading the ride that will visit the memorials of Mike Wang, Brian Fairbrother and Robert Townsend.

A car fire in the 6500 block of 34th Av s.w. just after 8:30 pm Monday Sept. 19 was quickly extinguished by Engine 37. The owner said that he had just come home, turned off the car, come inside when his car caught on fire. It appeared to be a total loss.

Firefighters had to ask the owner repeatedly to stay away from the vehicle for his own safety.

Press release
West Seattle business owner, Gary Potter of Potter Construction, has installed of a larger-than-life sculpture of a yellow pencil on California Ave. SW.

The 13.5 foot sculpture was installed on the street side facade of Potter Construction's main office at 5606 California Ave. SW.

Beyond a visible way to display Potter Construction's inspired knowledge and experience in the art of home remodeling, Potter sees this as an opportunity to be on the cutting edge of community art projects that have a positive effect on West Seattle neighborhoods.

This playful facsimile of an everyday pencil with its bright pink eraser is the creative collaboration of Rock Brothers, under the direction of artist and West Seattle resident Stephen Rock.

The sculpture is made from one solid log and was hand-tooled by the three brothers on a very large lathe in their workshop in Ellensburg, WA.

In a nonleague clash of South Puget Sound League 4A schools, North Division Mount Rainier lost its third volleyball match in a row as it prepares for upcoming league action.

Continuing their learning experiences, the host Rams fell to strong South Division Curtis 3-0 on Thursday, Sept. 15.

"We have a good mixture of classes on our team," said MR had coach Danny Lum-Lung. "Without year-round players, we are slowly getting to our goals, building from the bottom up. We make do with what we've got. When we get out of the nonleague schedule, we'll be very competitive. Since we're no longer new to the SPSL, we'll try to take some teams by surprise. Our captains played a little bit in the second game and sat out the third game. Curtis is tough and our team saw where they need to get."

According to Lum-Lum, senior Megan Tron-Daley and junior Mykaela Mohammed are key players with leadership characteristics as well as phenomenal playing skills. Most of the squad has played together since last year with less than a handful of newcomers.

Press release:
Seattle Department of Transportation crews will make spot pavement repairs to SW Avalon Way SW between 35th Avenue SW and SW Spokane Street on Friday and Tuesday, and possibly into Wednesday, if needed, September 23, 27, and possibly 28, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., weather permitting.

One lane of traffic in each direction will remain open. Bicycles will merge with general traffic within work zones. All sidewalks and crosswalks will remain open.