June 2012

It was a particularly emotional commencement ceremony for Highline Public School’s New Start High on June 12.

The school’s beloved science teacher, Beverly Mowrer is leaving the school…and the district.
Mowrer, who gave an inspirational commencement speech aided by a full box of tissues, noted to the students and staff, “I’m not ready to be done with you guys or the district or the community.”

But four years ago when she came down to Highline to from the small farming town of Bow, just south of Bellingham, she promised her husband it would be only for a year.

She’s rented a basement bedroom in Normandy Park from a fellow Highline teacher. She braved the 3-4 hour commute back to Bow every Friday night. The Monday morning return trip was easier—1-½ hours.

Her husband sat down recently and figured out they have spent an extra $20,000 the past four years so she could teach in Burien.

While she is done teaching in Highline, she has eight more years to go until she can collect full retirement benefits.

As of commencement day, she hadn’t yet applied for another teaching job.

“I’ve been too busy getting these guys graduated,” Mowrer explained.

Information from King County Metro

Construction of the State Route 99 tunnel on the Seattle waterfront will continue to affect bus service for the next few years. When the Columbia and Seneca street ramps are closed in 2016, it could change access to downtown Seattle for many King County Metro Transit routes.

Metro is planning ahead on how buses will be routed through downtown Seattle in the long-term and during construction once the SR 99 tunnel project is complete and the city of Seattle begins works on the Central Waterfront project.

It is starting by soliciting feedback from the public via an online survey, and would particularly like to hear from current riders of routes: 15, 15X, 18, 18X, 21X, 54, 54X, 55, 56X, 113, 120, 121, 122, and 125.

The survey can be found online.

SPD Community newsletter from Mark Solomon, Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator

Dear Community Friends,

Recent Burglary Arrest
On Tuesday, June 12, 2012, a witness reported seeing an adult male tampering with a window on the 4200 block of S Raymond ST. The suspect was then seen entering the residence through the window and then exiting through the front door. A description of the suspect was broadcast; while investigating officers were processing the crime scene, other responding officers were able to locate the suspect. The suspect was positively identified by the witness, arrested, and booked into King County Jail for Investigation of Burglary. We want to acknowledge the work of Officers G. Barreto, E. Beseler, C. Caron, B Eggers, R. Huserik, M. Martin, and V. Pirak. Our sincere gratitude to the alert witness who saw the suspect tampering with the window. The witness did not hesitate to call the incident in to 911 and without that call, this suspect would not have been apprehended. Your calls to 911 do make a difference.

Summer Time Safety

Press release:

Two Highline students were awarded first place honors in the state-wide literary competition “Escribo en español” for writing by native speakers of Spanish.

Annie Araya, a senior at Global Connections High School, won first place in the prose category. Highline High School’s Yohan Lara, a junior, took first place for poetry.

Highline High School had two other winners: Junior Ileana Vega took second place and junior Sara Chang received honorable mention, both for poetry. Global Connections junior Andrea Sánchez received honorable mention for her prose entry.

The contest was sponsored by the Center for Spanish Studies, a partnership between the University of Washington and the Embassy of Spain. The theme of this year’s competition was “My Life in Ten Years.”

“[Annie and Andrea] were very excited to be recognized for their writing skills in their first language,” says Global Connections teacher Jennifer Wittenberg. Annie will attend the University of Washington in the fall.

PRESS RELEASE

The first annual B•Town Brewfest, a beer festival fundraiser for the SeaTac Guild of Seattle Children's Hospital, will be held Saturday, Oct. 6 at the Burien
Community Center, 14700 6th Ave. S.W.

There will be two sessions: 11:30 AM - 3:30 PM and 4:30 PM - 8:30 PM, and you
must be 21 years or older to attend. This new beer-lovers festival will feature local breweries from around the South Puget Sound area pouring their best drafts.

The Highline area (Burien, Normandy Park, Des Moines, and SeaTac) is ready for its very own craft beer event, and this inaugural festival promises not to disappoint event goers.

"We are working hard to feature the very best and unique brews and brewers from around the Puget Sound area," said festival organizer, John Fosberg. "All of the brewers we've spoken to about the event have been very excited about participating, and we're expecting a diverse list of brewers to attend -- and a lot of
incredible beers to choose from."

Press release:

Free meals will be available for children age 18 and younger this summer at designated schools and other sites around the district.
Children do not need to be enrolled as students of Highline Public Schools.
The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) was established to ensure that children in lower-income areas would continue to receive nutritious meals during long school vacations, when they do not have access to school lunch or breakfast.

Here is the schedule of times and locations:

Big Picture Breakfast: 9:00-9:30 June 25-July 26 Mon-Thur
440 S 188th St Lunch: 12:00-12:30
Burien 98148

Bow Lake Lunch: 11:30-12:00 June 25-Aug 10 Mon-Fri
18237 42nd Ave S Snack: 3:00-4:00
SeaTac 98188

Cascade Breakfast: 8:30-9:00 July 9-Aug 2 Mon-Thur
11212 10th Ave SW Lunch: 11:35-12:05
Seattle 98146

Chinook Breakfast: 8:00-8:30 June 25-Aug 10 Mon-Fri
18650 42nd Ave S Lunch: 12:00-12:30
SeaTac 98188

Evergreen Breakfast: 7:30-8:00 June 25-July 19 Mon-Thur
830 SW 116th St Lunch: 11:00-11:30
Seattle 98146

Gregory Heights Lunch: 11:30-12:30 June 25-Aug 10 Mon-Fri

By Nancy Farnam

It has been five years since the young Asian elephant, Hansa, was found dead in the barn at Woodland Park Zoo. Her mother, Chai, stood over her body as if trying to protect her daughter even in death. It seems appropriate on this sad anniversary to choose a lasting memorial to Hansa. But to do so we must ask why she died and what her life and the lives of the surviving elephants have been like at the Zoo.
The Zoo claimed Hansa's death was "unexpected". Tests showed Hansa died from one of the dreaded elephant herpes viruses that have killed many Asian calves in zoos and circuses. Researchers have confirmed that this particular virus (EEHV3a) is endemic to African elephants and the Zoo's African elephant, Watoto, has tested positive for it. What is shocking is that industry guidelines have told zoos since the 1990's that "Asian and African elephants should not be placed together in the same enclosure. Herpes viruses endemic to one species can be fatal in the other." (AZA Guidelines, 3.2.13). Woodland Park Zoo, inexplicably, chose to simply ignore this warning and Hansa died before her seventh birthday.

20-year-old Angelo Felice pleaded guilty on June 13 to second degree murder in the stabbing death of Fauntleroy resident Hokum W. Jeebs (aka Robert Stabile) in West Seattle on February 16, 2011.

Felice was originally charged with first degree murder, but prosecutors accepted his plea to the lesser charge.

Prosecutors believe Felice intended to rob Jeebs, a well known performer of Vaudeville-inspired entertainment, but ended up fatally stabbing him with a kitchen knife and fleeing the victim’s 44th Ave S.W. home.

He was tracked down by police the next morning thanks to several calls from people who saw a man covered in mud emerging from a ravine near 16th Ave S.W. and S.W. Holden.

According to charging documents, Felice admitted to being at Jeeb’s home the night of the murder, but claimed he left after the two partook of marijuana and methamphetamine and he became the victim of unwanted sexual advances from Jeebs. He denied hurting him.

The small locks at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks may be closed for repairs at the moment but the show must go on!

The 23rd Annual Free Summer Concerts and Events is in full swing and will bring entertainment to the Carl S. English Botanical Gardens every Saturday and Sunday until Sept. 9.

Concerts and events will range from car to flower shows and Brazilian to symphony music. Events will also take place on Independence Day and Labor Day, and all events are open to the public with limited seating available on a first come basis, so bring your blankets or lawn chairs.

This weekend’s concerts include a collection of Brazilian music, titled Batucada Yemanja, at 2 p.m. on Saturday. For Father's Day the grounds will host a classic car show from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., and at 2 p.m., the Elliott Bay Pipe Band will perform traditional pipe and drum music.

The Schedule for the follow weeks is as follows:

Saturday, June 23
2:00 p.m.
Woodinville Community Band- Classical music, marches and show tunes

Sunday, June 24
2:00 p.m.

The Woodland Park Zoo named a two-month old rescued penguin chick yesterday in honor of the little hero who saved it as it was hatching.

While enjoying the penguin exhibit, the little boy alerted the keeper that he could see an egg on a cliff in the exhibit. The keeper, Celine Pardo, immediately followed the boy’s instructions and scooped up the egg. The egg was rushed indoors and relocated under a pair of foster parents. It hatched on April 5.

By the time Pardo returned to the exhibit to personally thank the boy, he had already left the exhibit.

“We are so grateful to this little boy for helping us save this precious bird. If a crow or seagull had scooped up the egg, it would have been a goner,” said Pardo at the time. “We’d like to find him and extend an invitation to go behind the scenes to meet the chick and help name it."

But after two months of searching, the zoo was unable to locate the boy. Yesterday, the now two-month-old chick was named Ramón, a Spanish name that means “protector”, in honor of the little hero.

Ramón os one of two chicks of four-year-old mother Sardinia and nine-year-old father Groucho that hatched in April.