November 2011

Seattle City Council today adopted Resolution 31337in support of the Occupy movement.

The resolution recognizes and supports "the peaceful and lawful exercise of the First Amendment as a cherished and fundamental right in the effort to seek solutions for economically distressed Americans at the federal and local levels".

The Council also committed to a number of actions in response to the Occupy movement dealing with fair lending and taxation. 

The resolution was introduced by Councilmember Nick Licata and cosponsored by Mike O’Brien. It passed unanimously.

Forty-five years ago, at the height of the race to the Moon, a young White Center dentist filled a void, helping to develop a special kids play area called Astro City Children's Park.

The White Center Chamber needed someone to spearhead a fund raising effort to clean up a brushy area south of the old library building near the field house that had been the scene of a sexual assault some months before. The park was also missing its beloved WW II Navy Wildcat, removed previously, never to return. Kids had nothing but a merry-go-round and some swing sets. With community pride at stake, that dentist, Roy Velling spent many hours building interest and collecting cash.

PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE FOR MORE

The county owns the park. Dr. Velling owned the hearts of the community. Steadfastly he met the challenge. The Chamber generously put up $250. Kiwanis added $700 and the Lions Club provided $630. A few business people tossed in $50 each. Roy gave $100 himself. The goal was the princely sum of $12,000. In today's dollars, probably close to $90,000 to turn some brush and dirt into a space age play park with flying saucers and rocket ship slides.

Press release:
On Monday, Nov. 14 the Port of Seattle launched its new website, with more intuitive navigation that makes accessing information about Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, cargo and cruise facilities, Fishermen's Terminal and other Port of Seattle areas of interest faster and easier than ever with a better overall web experience.

The website features up-to-the-minute flight information, a new photo gallery, easy-to-use drop-down menus, plus slide shows and videos for faster at-a-glance communication. Tabular sections and a powerful search feature put most information and documents just a click away, for greater transparency to community groups and business partners. Special sections also cover the port's extensive environmental programs, properties for lease, and construction activities.

"Simple and to the point," said Port of Seattle CEO Tay Yoshitani. "That's what our website visitors are looking for, and our team is delivering with a concise new website that I think is informative, efficient and engaging," he added.

November’s monthly evening for Burien youth recovering from substance abuse is Wednesday, Nov. 23 at the Burien Library’s Multipurpose Room, 400 S.W. 152nd St. Activities go from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

The evening will include harvest/Thanksgiving crafts, Wii games, music, food, drink, prizes and more.

Last month’s B-Town’s Recovering Youth in Motion event drew 30 participants.

The evening is sponsored by Science and Management of Addictions (SAMA,) which strives to eliminate the disease of substance addiction in youth.

For more information, call 206-251-9171.

Sewage dumped at car wash
The owner of the U Do It Car Wash in Des Moines arrived and discovered sewage in the car wash bay on the south end of his property. He reviewed the security footage and saw a motor home pull into the bay and the driver got out and dumped sewage into the bay. The license plate couldn't be read on the footage. When the officer walked into the bay, he could smell the odor of sewage and saw what looked like used toilet paper on the ground.

Drunk man knocked out by scared citizen
A drunk man staggered onto his neighbor’s property making threatening motions referring to his gang affiliations and desire to fight. A different neighbor from across the street came over to investigate. The drunken neighbor continued his drunken threats and swung a fist sloppily missing his target. The neighbor who wasn't drunk punched the drunk man and knocked him out in the front lawn. 20 minutes later, the drunk man continued his restful sleep. Two partially drank fifths of whisky laid nearby.

Ring gets thrown in the garbage

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 at 206-708-1378 for inclusion in our “Out & About” advertising section.

Art
Burien Arts 20/20 Vision fundraiser—400 pieces of art for $40 each. Silent art auction. Nov. 19. 7-10 p.m. Burien Community Center, 14700 6th Ave. S.W. $10 suggested donation to benefit Burien Arts.

Call for Artists
Burien Community Center-- Artists working in 2 dimensional media are invited to apply for the 2012 schedule of gallery exhibitions at the Burien Community Center, 14700 6th Ave. S.W. Application materials due by Nov. 30th to ginak@burienwa.gov. For more information: ginak@burienwa.gov, 206-988-3700 or go to www.burienwa.gov.

Classes

Fine Art & Holiday Gift Fair
Fauntleroy Church
9140 California Ave. S.W.
November 18-20, Friday 5-8 p.m., Saturday 10-3 p.m., Sunday 11-1 p.m. Free. This juried show and sale, in it’s 4th year, will showcase the talents of 14 West Seattle artists and crafters.

Wine and Bikes
South Seattle Community College
6000 16th Ave. S.W.
Saturday, November 19, 12-5 p.m. Bicycles for Humanity Seattle and the Northwest Wine Academy are joining forces. Bring a bike or parts to donate and while you’re there celebrate the fall release of four new wines created by Northwest Wine Academy students (2009 Cabernet Franc, 2009 Merlot, 2010 Chardonnay and 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon).

Discovery Shop
4535 California Ave, S.W.
206 937 7169

The News Tribune in Tacoma reports 38-year-old SeaTac resident Holly Crahay died on Sunday, Nov. 13, after she was shot by Pierce County deputies in a shootout.

According to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, Crahay was spotted driving recklessly around 3 p.m. in the parking lot of a Bonney Lake shopping center.

When deputies arrived Crahay sped away, leading police on a chase through oncoming traffic on State Route 410. A deputy was able to pin Crahay’s vehicle against a guardrail at which time she opened fire on two patrol cars from her driver's seat, nearly missing one deputy with a bullet that shattered his windshield, the flying glass cutting his face.

Deputies returned fire and Crahay was hit. When they approached the vehicle Crahay’s pit bull jumped out of the car and attacked a deputy. The pit bull was shot and killed.

Crahay was taken to a local hospital where she died from her injuries on Sunday evening.

The deputies involved in the shooting were place on paid leave, standard procedure when an officer uses deadly force.

The Environmental Coalition of South Seattle (ECOSS) is launching a unique program aimed at local restaurants in effort to shrink their carbon footprint by getting them to Go Green. Through the Go Green Challenge ECOSS is looking for 25 family owned restaurants in SeaTac, Tukwila and White Center to compete in a 30 day going green challenge.

Among the areas being suggested for improvement are simple changes like moving to composting to reduce landfill waste, cleaning parking areas to reduce pollutants going into storm drains, purchasing recycled products, checking toilets for leaks to reduce water usage, turning off lights when possible, and buying local products. ECOSS points out that an average restaurant uses 300,000 gallons of water per year and approximately 2 and a half times the energy per square foot of other commercial buildings.

FEDERAL WAY--The Mount Rainier High School girls swimming team found out that it's all right to share -- at least with Kentlake.

The Rams of Des Moines knotted the Falcons for third place at the state Class 4A meet Saturday, Nov. 12 after also tying them during the regular season. The two teams racked up 123 points apiece at state, leaving them behind only the 147 of Stadium and the 202 of Skyline.

"I'm happy to share with Kentlake because they swim very well," said Mount Rainier head coach Ben Bruce of the South Puget Sound League North Division rival team. "We were scoring up the meet and that gave us fourth. It was a total shock to get third. It was pretty shaky."

Finishing close on the heels of the Rams in fifth place was Issaquah with 119 points. Mount Rainier finished fifth at last year's state meet.

"We're just glad, all things considered," said Bruce, who swam for the Rams' boys team in 2005.

Swimming with the grief of losing "a member of our family"
As well as the Rams did in the meet held at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, they were hurting after finding out Jayme Thomas, a member of last year's team, had passed away.