December 2011

2011 proved to be a very memorable year with the return of Amanda Knox, who had been convicted of murder in Italy and dramatically released on appeal, amid an international media storm. She's back in West Seattle and her family is grateful that she is largely being allowed her privacy, especially by local media. The death of Jeremy Peck, while apparently from the end of 2010 was confirmed in January, 2011. The Alaskan Way Viaduct/ Deep Bore Tunnel issue finally came to a head with a final vote that set the project in motion. Denny International Middle School completed the Sealth/Denny joint campus construction and opened. But a lot more took place this year from business developments to changes all across our community. This is not a complete list of every single event but rather a sampling of highlights. Here's a look back.

Top Stories

Amanda Knox acquitted, and released (October)

Here’s a list of public meetings in Highline area

(Editor's Note: Schedules are subject to change or cancellation. Call to verify meeting times.)

Burien City Council
Regular council meetings are on the first, second and fourth Mondays of each month at 7 p.m.
Meetings are held at Burien City Hall, 400 S.W. 152nd St. For information, call 206-241-4647.

Des Moines City Council
Regular council meetings are on the first, second and fourth Thursdays of each month at 7:30 p.m.
Meetings are held at the Des Moines City Council chambers, 21630 11th Ave. S.
For information, call 206-878-4595.

King County Fire District No. 2 Board of Commissioners
Regular board meetings are on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 5 p.m.
Meetings are held at Fire Station No. 28 at 15100 8th Ave. SW. in Burien. The district coverage area includes Burien and Normandy Park. Firefighters also assist those in District 26, which includes a portion of Des Moines.
For information, call 206-242-2040.

King County Water District No. 20 Board of Commissioners

Most martial arts champions enjoy a short stay in the winner’s circle. Time, tough opponents, and injuries each take their toll, and anytime they do have in the limelight is usually hard fought and harder still to hold.

However, Sgt. Don Gulla of the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center in Burien has managed to hold onto his championship status for well over three decades and counting.

Since 1985, the 53-year-old King County deputy has won five gold medals in the World Police and Fire Games in Karate with his most recent win coming in this year’s International games held in New York City.

In his teens he was a Junior Olympic gold medal winner in Judo, and in between then and this latest Karate gold, he had also managed to squeeze in regional championship titles in Tae Kwon Do, Flipino Arnis Stick fighting, and Kung Fu.

True to form Gulla is humble about his many career wins and plays down his tournament success.

“I’ve done okay,” he says.

The core of White Center’s business district along 16th Ave S.W. has a unique upgrade popping up along the sidewalks: handcrafted bike racks built by a local blacksmith with a passion for promoting self-propelled transportation and community pride.

Take a walk along 16th in White Center and you’ll find newly installed bike racks in front of Full Tilt Ice Cream, Proletariat Pizza, Café Delia (sharing the space with Proletariat) and the King County Sheriff’s deputy storefront. More are planned with Company Bar and Big Al Brewing signing up for the upgrade.

While utilitarian in function, these are not you’re everyday county-issued bike racks (those already on 16th are mostly bent and loose from repeated car taps). They blur the lines between function and art with sunray-like extensions projecting from logos atop each rack.

Matthew Tilton of Tilton Fine Metalsmithing in South Delridge is the man behind the work. Tilton said he moved his shop from Georgetown to South Delridge about a half year ago and started spending time on 16th, specifically at Company Bar co-owned by a close friend Jesse Lovell.

Where’s Ralph Nichols? Only he could add proper perspective to the article, “Tukwila teacher active in Occupy movement” in your last edition.

I congratulate teacher Mr. Escamilla for wanting to see, first hand, events that are shaping the attention of the public as the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement has done.

However, I take exception to his views that government’s role is to create jobs, and that funding should not be cut for social services. If Mr. Escamilla’s intention is to teach his students something about the “economy and the lack of quality jobs,” he should be turning his ire to both federal and state governments, instead of looking for more handouts to justify some notion of social injustice.

I am tired of people wanting more from government. Whatever happened to self-reliance and hard work. The founding work ethic of this once great nation and the cornerstone of Liberty.

Wanting more from government is the reason our nation faces a $15 trillion debt (equivalent to 100 percent of GDP.) and our state faces a $2 billion deficit.

Innovative recycling changes have flown into SeaTac, making recycling more convenient than ever for its residents.

Allied Waste Services now accepts more recyclables in your curbside-recycling cart. By keeping all recyclables out of your garbage cart, you may be able to scale down your garbage cart size.

Here are some changes you’ll notice with the new service:

- More items are now accepted for recycling, including plastic food trays (like take-out containers), plastic bags, kitchen plastic wrap used for packaging, dry cleaner bags, aluminum foil, plastic plant pots, lids measuring three inches and larger, and paper and plastic cups.
All recyclables should be relatively clean, with no big chunks of food or dirt. The plastic bags and plastic wrap must be combined in one bag and tied off, since loose bags get tangled in recycling processing equipment.

- Your Allied Waste Services yard waste cart can be filled with all your yard debris and all your food scraps as well, including meat, fish, bones and dairy products.

(Editor’s Note: This column was written before the Jan. 5 Des Moines City Council elections for mayor and mayor pro-tem.) 

In comes the New Year of 2012 bringing with it some new and some not-so-new local politicians. It’s been an election year voters demonstrated nationwide as; “Out with all incumbent politicians!”

Politics are really not much fun -– especially in a campaign mode.  Yet, the ability to have substantial say in your community’s present needs and future goals can be quite satisfying.

The key to political success, as I see it, is to keep your feet on the ground, your head out of the clouds, do your homework, and keep the voice of “the people” in your soul with every vote.

 Des Moines City Council new members may not have previously been so involved with city goings-on, yet they are experienced in other local issues and various business careers.
 

If you don’t plan on selling your house soon, or even if you do, here are some handy hints for fixing the place up. I learned these tricks over many years and am now willing to share them with you.

I’ve done it all-- plumbing, electrical, wallpapering, house painting, window glazing and even septic tank cleaning.

 Bowling shoes are not a good choice for this work.

We had a two-bedroom house near Sea-Tac airport in the ‘40s. It was not very big, no basement and certainly no room for a workshop to suit the handyman in me.

Shortly after moving in I fashioned an opening in the second bedroom closet ceiling. I’d never owned a house before so the word attic was not in my vocabulary.

I pushed on the thin ceiling board to reveal a hot, musty space not quite four-foot high at the highest angle and enough room to nail down two sheets of plywood. I strung an extension corded light from a nail hook on the roof truss. I built a ladder and hung some extra hooks.

I was officially a handyman. I built a tiny workbench and seat and spent a lot of time fixing things up there.

This beautiful rainbow made an appearance in Ballard around 3 p.m. on December 30. It could be seen for about half an hour before it vanished.

Many people and organizations support Hospitality House in many ways.

Recently the Burien Eagles presented Hospitality House with a full size washer and dryer for use by their residents.

Tim and Charlene Farman accomplished this through the sale of sliders at the Burien Eagles. They replace a smaller size units and some work was necessary to get them installed.

Hospitality House staffers also expressed gratitude for the work done by Gordon Shaw to make room for the bigger units.

Treasurer Ed Dacy said, “We are thrilled and pleased with this generous gift from the Burien Eagles. The old washer and dryer were failing and we thought we would have to buy a used washer and dryer. This gift is greatly appreciated by the clients and staff alike”.

Hospitality House is its eleventh year of helping single women go from homelessness to being in a stable housing situation. Hospitality House operates a homeless shelter for women at Lake Burien Presbyterian Church in Burien.

Its website is http://www.hospitalityhousesouthking.org/index.html.