April 2012

Highline School Board member Susan Goding walked into a private executive session last night concerning complaints against a public officer…. and the meeting was about her.

The board will hold another meeting on Goding tonight at 5 p.m. at district headquarters, 15675 Ambaum Blvd. S.W. The meeting is set as an executive session but Goding said she has the right to change it to a public meeting.

The Wednesday night session followed a fairly routine regular board meeting at Bow Lake Elementary in SeaTac.

In an email to the Times/News, Goding said other board members felt comments she had made at a previous board meeting about lack of academic rigor at Cascade Middle in North Highline “were an illegal attack or something.

“They say I should have quietly brought the problem to the Interim Superintendent (Alan Spicciati.)

“Also I posted the comments on my blog, which they also find illegal.”

Goding has taken down the comments from her blog. Her blog site is at http://susangoding.blogspot.com.

Preview from Sam Reed, athletic director at Chief Sealth International High School:

With 2-0 win over the defending division champion Ingraham High School (West Seattle Herald coverage of that game), the Chief Sealth Seahawks boys soccer team took another step forward in what is turning out to be an outstanding season.

Behind a high-powered offense which features 3 players in the top 6 in scoring in the Metro League (Mori Tsuchiya, 1st - 28pts, Abel Madrigal, 3rd - 24pts, Aden Fidow, 6th - 19pts), and stellar goal play by Keepers Kristian Nilssen and Luis Ramirez (9 combined shutouts) the Seahawks have outscored opponents 59-4 on the season. Helped by the coaching prowess of varsity coaches Ron Johnson and Joe Grijalva, the boys sit atop the Metro Sound division and are currently ranked 4th in the Seattle Times 3A state rankings with an 11-0-1 record.

Four games remain on the regular season schedule – all at home – including the following exciting events:

Update for April 30
The final tallies are in from the Seattle Police Department for the April 28 Drug Take Back Day, and the numbers show southwest Seattle residents took the opportunity to safely dispose of unused prescription drugs to heart. Here are the results, by precinct:

Southwest Precinct (West Seattle area): 238.45 pounds, accounting for 34 percent of the citywide total

West Precinct: 170.70 pounds

South Precinct: 43.55 pounds

East Precinct: 67.95 pounds

North Precinct: 176.50 pounds

Total: 697.15 pounds

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Original post on April 26
Press release from Seattle Police

Our Lady of Guadalupe (OLG) is just about to make a 50 year dream come true. Opening near the highest point in the City of Seattle on May 27 is the OLG Parish Center and Alex J. Brunett Gymnasium. The gym's namesake former Archbishop of Seattle Alexander J. Brunett will attend and speak at the opening ceremonies.

The West Seattle Herald was granted exclusive access to the new building and toured it with OLG Administrator Frank Handler.

The church and Parsh Center are located at 35th s.w. and s.w. Myrtle in West Seattle near the highest elevation in the city (510 feet above sea level).

The $3.5 million project broke ground last July 18.

CLICK THE PHOTO ABOVE TO SEE MORE

The parish's Pastor, Father Jack Walmesley said," It's been a 50 year dream for the parish and a 10 year experience for myself as Pastor. I put in the bulletin this weekend that a few weeks ago I was out there, standing in the rain, just so aware of how many people helped make it happen. From the building committee to the finance committee to the campaign committee, to people who made contributions, it stands there as a tribute to the folks in the parish."

Valley View Early Learning Center received a donation of 3,000 new books from First Book, a non-profit organization that distributes books and learning materials to low-income families.

The books are geared to preschool aged students. Each classroom will get a copy of every book donated. Every student will receive a packet of books to read over the summer, and packets will be given to new students when they enroll.

“It took five cars to pick up the 134 boxes of books!” says Stacie Lee, a family support worker at Valley View.

The Valley View Learning Center serves approximately 200 families with its Special Education preschool and state-funded Early Childhood Education Assistance Program.

Press release:

Contaminated groundwater and soil under and near a SeaTac property will undergo cleanup with a combination of below-ground air injection, vapor removal, and natural bacterial action, under a proposed legal agreement submitted for public comment by the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) and the site’s current and former owners.

The proposed agreement, called a consent decree, incorporates a cleanup action plan that underwent public review and comment in 2011.

The parcel – owned by Sea-Tac Investments LLC, ANSCO Properties, LLC, and Scarsella Bros. Inc., -- is located at 16025-16223 International Blvd. The site has no connection with the nearby Sea-Tac Airport.

The property has had various occupants and businesses, including a construction yard and tenants who installed underground fuel tanks.

Sampling studies show that contaminants related to gasoline affect ground water under the property’s north end and a surrounding area. A cleanup of contaminated soil occurred in 2001, and pavement on the site prevents people from coming into contact with soil and vapors from the contaminated underground water and soil.

Press release:

Port of Seattle Commission on Wednesday, April 25 accepted the LEED® Silver award from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for the design, construction and operation of the soon-to-open consolidated Rental Car Facility at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. (The facility is set to open to the public on May 17.)

This is currently the largest consolidated rental car facility in the nation to be certified Silver by the USGBC, the nation’s preeminent program for high performance green buildings. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the nation’s preeminent program for green building certification.

”We can build a sustainable future while we create jobs,” Port of Seattle Commission President Gael Tarleton said after learning of the award. “All of our partners can take credit for recycling more than 97 percent of construction waste and sourcing nearly 30 percent of building materials from local and regional suppliers.”

Press release:

Eilers Family Art Collection

Thursday, April 26, 2012

6:00 – 9:00 p.m.

At Normandy Park City Hall

801 S.W. 174th Street

The Eilers Family, Karl, Marge and their son David, generously share with us works by two artists Emma Eilers, Painter, 1870-1951, and Ed Firmage Jr., Photographer.

Emma Eilers is the Great Aunt of Karl and Marge.

David, who has engaged in extensive research about the life and career of Emma Eilers and also worked with Ed Firmage, will be speaking about both
artists and their works.

In addition, there will be a few other art
treasures which will be available for viewing only the evening of the reception.

This exhibit is sponsored by the City of Normandy Park Arts Commission and Arts Commissioner Robert Frey.

Join us at this reception for refreshments, conversations with the Eilers Family and truly enjoyable surroundings.

Press release:

The Highline Community College Continuing Education department and the Center of Excellence for International Trade, Transportation and Logistics are introducing a new course for individuals who plan to sit for the U.S. Customs Broker’s License Examination this fall.

The ten-week course is one of the first in-class Customs Broker’s Examination prep course options available in the region. It will occur from July 18 – September 19, 2012, and will feature a high-profile facilitator, Microsoft’s Director of International Trade, John Soares. A trade expert with more than twenty years of experience in the industry and a licensed customs broker himself, John possesses an in-depth knowledge of regulatory compliance, customs procedures and trade management.

The new course at Highline will offer comprehensive preparation for the exam. Students will read key source material, learn sound test-taking strategies, take practice exams and engage with fellow classmates in a classroom setting. The course is formatted to encourage student learning and retention of testing material through real-world applications and peer-to-peer discussion.

Press release:
Students from Global Connections High School in SeaTac authored three bills that passed the National E-Congress, an interactive online simulation of the United States Congress run by the Youth Leadership Initiative.

All students in the You and Your Government class at Global Connections researched and wrote their own bills, which were then exchanged online and debated by their fellow E-Legislators in classroom committees all across the country.

This year, three seniors had their bills approved by committees and pass on to the House floor vote, where they were voted into law.

Zaki Mohamud’s bill, “An Opportunity for Healthy Food,” proposed a ban on fast food advertising for the month of February to promote heart health.

Karina Gomez created the “Hope Act” to support Latina education.

Melisa Parras’ bill, “Stop, Think, React: Hate Crimes Need to be Taken Seriously”, targeted bullying and harassment of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) students.

“I couldn’t be more proud of these capable World citizens,” says their teacher, Kate Hennessy-Fiske.