February 2012

By Francine Keller
As a volunteer for the American Heart Association, I had the unique opportunity to participate in the American Heart Association’s Education and Lobby Day at the Capitol in Olympia on February 13.

I am a heart attack survivor, and when I was 32 years old after a lengthy illness, I suffered a heart attack which precipitated an emergency aortic aneurysm and open heart surgery. Less than 1% of those stricken with this condition ever make it to the hospital. I was one of the lucky ones who really wanted to find a way to give back and encourage prevention of heart disease in women.

About 40 volunteers and staff members participated in Lobby Day, learning more about heart disease and advocating for key issues in the current legislative session: Protecting Clean Indoor Air Law by preventing a loophole that would allow smoking back into cigar lounges and tobacco shops; increasing the cigarette tax; requiring CPR education as a graduation requirement in high schools; and improving health outcomes through transportation planning.

By David Rosen

The Genesee Hill School Building (5012 SW Genesee St) was the training ground for the Seattle Police Department Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team Feb. 15 honing their response to active school shootings.

Officer Mike Solan talked with the West Seattle Herald. “The reason the SWAT Team is here tonight is because the building itself is vacant and Seattle Public Schools were gracious enough to let us use it. Basically this training is for our response to an active shooter, a situation involving public schools, private schools, any kind of large business, anywhere like a mall that has a lot of people gathered that could be a mass casualty and a response would be needed, Virginia Tech comes to mind," Solan said.

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"Our full team is here tonight, a full team of officers which is around 28 people. We alternate monthly as far as day training or night training and this month is night training.”

Moving to the Puget Sound from Idaho two years ago was a mixed bag for me: there was the prospect of heading to a very cool city with the woman I want to spend the rest of my days with, but also what felt like the abandonment of my natural world. The beauty of living in Idaho was never the cultural bounty, but the outdoor opportunities (it’s great to find out you have both around here, by the way).

I was going to especially miss those rivers.

I was leaving the St. Joe, Marble Creek, the North Fork of the Clearwater and Kelly’s Creek above that, which wound from the upper gut of wild Idaho into the burly navel of Montana. Those were the rivers I learned to lust after when I discovered fly fishing in 2000.

There was the rediscovery of Southeastern Idaho, returning to my hometown after paying one hell of a deal in in-state tuition (those were the days, not so many ago) at the University of Idaho in Moscow … right next door to the Cougars in Pullman.

Property crimes including home burglaries, car prowl and auto thefts are a common occurrence in North Highline, and King County law enforcement is making a push to encourage blockwatch programs to help them keep an eye on residential streets.

During a public safety forum on Feb. 9 hosted by the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council, White Center’s Storefront Deputy BJ Myers presented his case to take the leap, meet some neighbors and form a pact to help keep an eye on each other’s safety.

“You get to know your neighbors; it’s not just relying on the eyes of law enforcement to deal with problems in the neighborhood,” Myers said. “It is one of the most effective and least costly methods of law enforcement in the nation.”

A blockwatch can come in many forms, from organized to loosely knit, from a few people on the block to a small army. Beyond watching out for each others safety in the face of property crime, blockwatches can also prepare a plan for natural disaster and help each other out in the inevitable downtime before outside help can arrive (around here, of course, a major earthquake is the main concern).

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and Seattle City Light (SCL), in collaboration with the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA), will be closing 15th Avenue Northwest from NW 65th to NW 80th Streets for three nights for an LED streetlight demonstration.

Closures:

The closures will take place March 6, 7, and 8 (Tuesday through Thursday) from 8 p.m. until 1 a.m. each night.
 
During the closure, no on-street parking will be permitted along the study area of 15th Avenue NW, and only emergency or test vehicles will be able to drive it.  Residents who live in the study area will not be able to enter or leave 15th Avenue NW during the test period with their vehicles, although individuals are welcome to watch from the sidelines on any of the nights.
 
The goal of the demonstration project is to evaluate the use of energy-saving LED streetlights in wet and dry pavement conditions. The guidance provided by these studies will help municipalities in selecting proper lighting levels for LED streetlights, which use up to 50% less energy than traditional streetlighting technologies. 
 

Ballard Greenways is meeting tonight to recap some of the events of the previous month and discuss the Safe Routes to School program.

Ballard Greenways are a local group with the mission to bring Neighborhood Greenways to Ballard.

Neighborhood Greenways are slow-speed, low-traffic residential streets near major arterials which provide a safe option for people to bike or walk.

By adding new park-like amenities and limiting cut-through traffic, Greenways are naturally attractive both for families, and for anyone seeking a safer, more connected community experience.

While many new dedicated walking and bicycling trails are beyond the reach of the City budget, 10 miles of Greenways can be built for the cost of a single mile of new trail, offering the potential to bring a high-quality network to all Seattle neighborhoods at a comparatively low cost.

John Feeney, a volunteer at New Start High, has been named Burien’s "Citizen of the Year” by the Burien City Council.

The council will honor Feeney at the Feb. 28 council meeting.

At the council’s Feb. 13 meeting, Councilman Gerald Robison praised Feeney for his low-profile involvement in the community and his help to neighbors.

Feeney has performed volunteer work at New Start, an alternative high school in White Center. He has worked with students in identifying and getting rid of invasive species as well as installing native plants in Salmon Creek Ravine.

Beverly Mowrer, a New Start teacher, was recently honored for her conservation work with the New Start students. Mowrer received the highest honor in the 2012 Golden Apple Awards sponsored by KCTS 9.

Feeney also helped a student build a greenhouse as part of the student’s senior project.

In addition, Feeney is a reading volunteer at several elementary schools and been active in Sustainable Burien.

In naming a single “Citizen of the Year” the City Council returned to a tradition begun when Burien was first incorporated.

With the aid of my flashlight the other day, I found treasure in my garden – Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, kale, spinach, beets (and their greens) and parsnips. Better than pirate’s booty!

If you don’t have a winter garden, you may think the world is lying silent and still, but there’s lots of fresh produce to be found. Leafy greens are plentiful – truly winter treasures! They are known to help prevent cancer and to add a ton of vitamins (especially K, A and C) to your diet. Plus, there are plenty of low-salt ways to cook them to keep your heart and kidneys healthy.

If you don’t like the sometimes pungent taste of Brussels sprouts and cabbage, I’m willing to bet you aren’t cooking them right. If you cook them in an uncovered pot, the bitter oils evaporate right off, which lightens up their strong taste. My favorite way to cook Brussels sprouts is sort of a stir fry technique (see the recipe below). Done this way, they taste roasted, nutty and sweet, with no hint of bitterness.

Seattle Police reports that on Sunday night, a bicycle delivery guy was riding along 54th and Leary Avenue NW when a group of men attacked him with racial slurs and rocks.

It was around 1:19 a.m. and the delivery man was headed back to the restaurant he works. He stopped when a group of five or six intoxicated white men yelled racial slurs at him.

Two nearby women witnessed the incident and attempted to deescalate the situation by standing between the group and the delivery guy.

But the attackers continued to yell at the man and started throwing rocks at him and the witnesses. The men were too drunk to aim accurately and only one witness was struck on her hip and thigh.

The men then took their aggression out on the delivery guy's bicycle and backpack before leaving the scene.

This remains an open investigation and the police report noted that one of the men was wearing Mariners jersey and another was was sporting a Portland Trailblazers jersey. Collectively, the men were identified as frequenters at a local club.

After May 1, red-light cameras will be gone from three Burien intersections.

Burien lawmakers decided Feb. 13 not to renew the contract with Redflex Traffic Systems after May 1. The company has been providing the cameras to Burien since 2009.

The cameras are located along First Avenue S. at 148th St., 152nd St, and 160th St. The cameras are designed to catch drivers going through the intersections or making a right turn without stopping when the traffic lights are red.

Finance director Kim Krause said the program is designed so the city does not pay Redflex more than revenues received from tickets. She noted that payment is not sent to Redflex until the revenues are received.

However, the city spent about $55,000 in district court costs for the photo enforcement program in 2009 and 2010. She said Burien is expected to incur another $30,000 in costs for 2011. Krause added the added cost for Burien police to review and issue the tickets is unknown.

She provided a summary of revenues and costs billed the city by Redflex for the past three years.