June 2012

By Earline Byers

The city of Des Moines has provided me with these significant details for scheduled transportation improvements in the city in response to my request for information for my column.

This money is available for new projects using grants, but not easily for paving streets as noted below by Mayor Dave Kaplan:

S. 216th Street: The Washington State Transportation Improvement Board awarded the city of Des Moines a $4 million grant for construction of S. 216th Street (24th Avenue to 18th Avenue South) including the 24th Avenue S. intersection. The city plans to advertise this segment for construction in October with construction beginning in the spring of 2013. Construction costs are estimated to be $7.5 million.

24th Avenue South: The city expects a $3 million federal grant for construction of 24th Avenue South (S. 208th Street to S. 216th Street) in July, the project will be advertised in 2013 when the federal funds become available, and construction will be substantially completed in 2014. Total estimated road construction costs are estimated at $7.3 million.

The 99th Tour de France kicks off in Liege, Belgium on Saturday, June 30, and for three weeks, the world's best cyclists will race 20 stages throughout France and Switzerland to end with a grande finale at Champs-Elysées in Paris on July 22.

Ballard’s Bastille Café & Bar and Cascade Bicycle Studio in Fremont are partnering up to celebrate the Tour de France with a Ride, Eat, Cheer event. This two-day event will feature bicycle rides, breakfast buffets, viewing parties and more.

Ride, Eat, Cheer will begin with your choice of an enthusiast ride followed by a casual bike parade. Both rides will start at Cascade Bicycle Studio in Fremont and ending Bastille Café & Bar in Ballard.

“This is going to be a very special event, We look forward to hosting an event where we take care of all the details for riders," said founder of Bastille Café & Bar James Weimann. "We’ll have bike parking, a French breakfast buffet, and of course the Tour will be screened at multiple locations inside and outside at Bastille.”

With the success of Groupon and other group buying daily deal websites, it is no wonder many have jumped on the bandwagon and attempted to create their own version.

Sharing Spree, a startup out of Portland since 2011, joins that list, but with a twist: they donate 10 to 15 percent of their proceeds to a non-profit chosen by their customers. The rest of the model is similar to daily deal sites in that you get a significant discount on products, services or dining as long as enough people buy into the deal.

The Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence is the first educational non-profit Sharing Spree has partnered with, according to Liz Kenny, who is in charge of coordinating with Seattle non-profits.

Highline Schools Foundation helps schools within the Highline School District.

As a side note, the Foundation is Sharing Spree’s featured non-profit until June 30. They get additional contributions during that time, and you can get more details at their website, http://www.highlineschoolsfoundation.org/

With the success of Groupon and other group buying daily deal websites, it is no wonder many have jumped on the bandwagon and attempted to create their own version.

Sharing Spree, a startup out of Portland since 2011, joins that list, but with a twist: they donate 10 to 15 percent of their proceeds to a non-profit chosen by their customers. The rest of the model is similar to daily deal sites in that you get a significant discount on products, services or dining as long as enough people buy into the deal.

The Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence is the first educational non-profit Sharing Spree has partnered with, according to Liz Kenny, who is in charge of coordinating with Seattle non-profits.

Highline Schools Foundation helps schools within the Highline School District.

As a side note, the Foundation is Sharing Spree’s featured non-profit until June 30. They get additional contributions during that time, and you can get more details at their website, http://www.highlineschoolsfoundation.org/

Seattle Parks and Recreation, the Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA), the Carkeek Park Advisory Council, Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, and 4Culture Site Specific are collaborating on an outdoor art exhibit now open at Carkeek Park.

Titled Rootbound: Heaven and Earth IV, the exhibit is one of the country’s only outdoor art exhibits occurring in a public nature preserve.

The temporary exhibit features sculptures along a two-to-three mile trail through Carkeek Park which will remain there until October 31, 2012.

Following a widely acclaimed debut in 2009 that received national attention, CoCA and the five organizations have partnered again to bring another exhibition to Carkeek Park in northwest Seattle.

As before, the theme concerns the natural world in a time of dramatic change. Some of the art is designed to weather in place and erode, while other work incorporates movement and interactive use by visitors.

Press release:

The Environmental Science Center (ESC) invites people of all ages to join us for a beach walk at Seahurst Park this Sunday, July 1st from 10 a.m.-Noon. (Editor’s Note: Low tides will be lower than usual through July 4 at area beaches.))

Naturalists from the Seattle Aquarium and ESC will be roaming the beach to help you discover the treasures of the tide pools including sea stars, crabs, sea cucumbers, and more!

Make sure to drop in to the Environmental Science Center at Seahurst Park for additional activities. No registration required. No Fee.

Directions
http://envsciencecenter.org/about/contact/

UPDATE, June 29

Dept. of Rev. press release:

OLYMPIA – June 29, 2012 – Retailers operating machines that allow their customers to roll their own cigarettes must begin affixing cigarette tax stamps to those products beginning July 1.

Although a Franklin County Superior Court judge issued a preliminary injunction earlier this week barring the state from collecting the tax, it was contingent on the plaintiffs filing a $200,000 bond to protect the state’s interest should the state ultimately prevail.

The plaintiffs stated in a brief to the Supreme Court today that they do not intend to post the bond at this time due to pending federal legislation that would define the operators of roll-your-own cigarette machines as manufacturers requiring federal permits.

The plaintiffs reserved the right to post bond at a later date, which would trigger the injunction unless the Supreme Court issues a stay to the injunction that the state requested on Thursday.

UPDATE: June 29, 6:00 p.m.

Dept. of Rev. press release:

OLYMPIA – June 29, 2012 – Retailers operating machines that allow their customers to roll their own cigarettes must begin affixing cigarette tax stamps to those products beginning July 1.

Although a Franklin County Superior Court judge issued a preliminary injunction earlier this week barring the state from collecting the tax, it was contingent on the plaintiffs filing a $200,000 bond to protect the state’s interest should the state ultimately prevail.

The plaintiffs stated in a brief to the Supreme Court today that they do not intend to post the bond at this time due to pending federal legislation that would define the operators of roll-your-own cigarette machines as manufacturers requiring federal permits.

The plaintiffs reserved the right to post bond at a later date, which would trigger the injunction unless the Supreme Court issues a stay to the injunction that the state requested on Thursday.

As one of many events that are all part of the White Center July Jubilee Days the White Center Garden Tour is set to begin at 10am. Gardens are self guided. There will be prizes and raffle drawings- turn in your votes and raffle tickets to Village Green Perennial Nursery for the drawings and prizes awarded by McLendons and Village Green. Organizers have finalized the events and now have included a BBQ at McLendon's Hardware at 3:00 pm for anyone who wants to attend.

A downloadable map for all ten participants in the tour is available at the link above.

You can learn more about the tour at their Facebook page here.
or by visiting the July Jubilee Days page at www.jubileedays.org.

The Garden Tour is a FREE event open to all ages.

It is sponsored by:

• Big Al Brewing
• Urban Land Army
• CenterStudio
• Devonshire Landscapes
• Bird on a Wire Espresso
• Mighty House Construction
• West Seattle Landcape and Stone Supply
• Proletariat Pizza
• Liberty Bell Print & Design

press release
The westbound lanes of the Spokane Street Viaduct will be closed the weekend after the July 4th holiday. Specifically, all westbound lanes between I-5 and SR 99 will be closed continuously from 10 p.m. on Friday, July 6, until 5 a.m. on Monday, July 9. The SR 99 off-ramp to West Seattle will remain open, providing an opportunity to avoid the closure. (A link to other detours is provided below.)

Calendar of Other Upcoming Project Traffic Impacts:

Monday, July 2

· The westbound lanes of the Spokane Street Viaduct between I-5 and SR 99 will be closed overnight from July 2, 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning, July 3. The SR 99 off-ramp to West Seattle will remain open, providing an opportunity to avoid the closure. The links below lead to information regarding other detour options.

Map routes to West Seattle from north during the closure