July 2012

At Salmon Bay Park, the grass is green and full. Kids play on the playground, dogs run around panting and on a warm summer day people will lay their blankets down on the ground and relax.

But a few spots of brown can be seen, too. And as summer continues, visitors may begin to see more of it.

In parks all over Seattle, including Salmon Bay Park in Crown Hill, the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation has started testing out a new water conservation pilot program.

Out of 430-plus parks, about 300 are currently irrigated, and about half will be going through reduced watering this summer. Parks says they spend about $1.25 million a year to irrigate parks, according to a press release. At Salmon Bay Park, watering costs between $1,600 and $3,400 per year.

The program is meant to discover how much money Parks can save as well as test out what they can do in case of a drought emergency, should that ever occur in the Pacific Northwest.

Dr. Leslie Miller, who has lived by Salmon Bay Park for over 21 years now, is upset with the plan.

By David Rosen

Update for 2 p.m., July 31
The Seattle Fire Department said improperly disposed-of smoking materials were to blame for the a West Seattle apartment fire overnight that took the life of an elderly woman.

Here is SFD's full report:
July 31—A Seattle Fire Investigator ruled an early morning fatal apartment fire in West Seattle was accidental. The investigator determined the cause was improperly discarded smoking materials left burning inside the apartment.

At 2:13 a.m. the Fire Alarm Center received a 911 call reporting smoke coming from a second floor apartment in a building located in the 9000 block of 45th Avenue SW. Firefighters arrived to find flames visible in the second floor unit of a 19 unit complex. A resident reported the occupant was still inside the burning apartment.

Firefighters evacuated the complex and made a forcible entry into the apartment. Once inside they quickly extinguished the flames and found the deceased female occupant.

Press release from the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains' Network

Tomorrow (Tuesday, 7/31) is a second opportunity to pick up Night Out materials for your neighborhoods (for those of you who missed the first opportunity at our June meeting).

We have materials for adults as well as materials for kids. The adult materials include information about crime prevention and emergency preparedness, and WSBWCN ‘No Soliciting’ signs (to make it more difficult for strangers to case your house). The bags for kids contain fun items: 9-1-1 stickers and coloring books.

We have some of the materials (including the personal safety brochure) in multiple languages, so you can customize the bags to include those as well.

The first step to making better transit to Ballard has just been OK'd today by the Seattle City Council.

A proviso blocking funding for an $800,000 study to identify possible modes of transit -- such as light rail, a street car, or a tunnel -- has been released in a City Council vote. The money will be added to $2 million already funded by Sound Transit.

Now, the council must approve the funding itself in order to proceed any further. There is no date set yet or promise for when they would start the process on creating an improved transit system, but with growing demand from a quickly developing Ballard, the city has become more serious about making it a reality.

“Today’s vote means that we can immediately begin substantial planning work for a streetcar or light-rail line that will extend our transit network to neighborhoods who have long demanded better service for their residents," Mayor Mike McGinn said through a press release. "Our updated Transit Master Plan identifies this corridor as a top priority. That’s why we worked with Sound Transit to accelerate spending $2 million of Sound Transit funds to assist the City in this work.”

Press release:

Beginning August 1st, CleanScapes will begin a curbside Styrofoam collection pilot program. This free program will allow Des Moines CleanScapes residential customers to place Styrofoam on the curb for collection.

Every Wednesday, regardless of your collection day, CleanScapes will collect Styrofoam from your residence. Call or email CleanScapes customer service by 4pm on Tuesday to schedule collection on Wednesday. Call (206) 762-4900 or email desmoines@cleanscapes.com.

“CleanScapes is proud to offer this free service to the City of Des Moines. Styrofoam can be recycled into valuable high density plastic, and we want to keep Styrofoam out of the landfill,” said Chris Martin, CleanScapes President.

For more information about the program including instructions for placing Styrofoam on the curb, please visit CleanScapes website at: http://www.cleanscapes.com/des_moines/community/

Seattle-headquartered PCC Natural Markets (PCC) in a cooperative effort with Alaffia Sustainable Skin Care, will help African teens avoid missing school due to lack of transportation by collecting and distributing used bicycles. PCC has conducted such drives since 2008.

The West Seattle PCC is located at 2749 California Ave. S.W. and bike donations can be made there on Sunday August 12.

Alaffia has collected, transported and distributed used bicycles for the past 8 years for the benefit of teens in Togo, a small country in West Africa. The bicycles are given to disadvantaged teens for transportation to and from school.

Alaffia founder, president and Togo native, Olowo-n’djo Tchala, knows first-hand the challenges of overcoming poverty and the impact a simple bicycle can have on a child’s life. With over 4,000 bicycles distributed and 95% of recipients staying in or completing school, “Bicycles for Education” is making a real difference in rural Togolese communities.

Seattle Police are looking for tips in an ongoing murder investigation from 2011 that seemingly flew under the radar of news media across Seattle (including the Herald).

According to SPD’s “Catch a Killer” website, detectives are investigating the death of Kaari Higgins as a homicide.

While police said they cannot release any additional details on the case (citing it as an active investigation) here is what we know:

On January 8, 2011, Higgins was found unconscious inside her house near the intersection of 44th Ave S.W. and S.W. Concord St. She was rushed to Harborview Medical Center where she later died from her (undisclosed) injuries.

The King County Medical Examiner determined Higgins’ death was not accidental, and a homicide investigation was launched.

Police say Higgins was the mother of a 10-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter.

Anyone with information on this crime is encouraged to contact the SPD Homicide tip line at (206) 233-5000 and reference Case # 11-13343.

A community festival at the Delridge Community Center, 4501 Delridge Way s.w. that will feature a huge backpack giveaway and lots of kids activities is happening Saturday, August 4, hosted by Eastridge Church.

The event will start at 11 am with outdoor activities for the entire family. It's a reasonably brief event, ending at 2:00 pm, but during that three hour span a massive giveaway of 750 backpacks filled with school supplies, a kids area and BBQ lunch are all set to take place. Children’s activities include inflatable games, face painting, a clown and Olympic-style field games. All activities are free but the lunch has a fee.

Eastridge Church Lead Pastor, Steve Jamison said, “Each year we have a great response to our annual turkey giveaway at Thanksgiving and toy giveaway at Christmas inWest Seattle. This year we wanted to do something more to give back to the community. To help give kids a jump start to the school year we decided to give away backpacks loaded with supplies and throw a fun summer festival event,” he said. “It’s a tangible way that we can extend a blessing to the families in the community.”

South Puget Sound League
Mt. Rainier Fall Schedules
Thursday, Aug. 30
Football: Mt. Rainier at Auburn-Riverside, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 4
Boys golf: Kentlake at Mt. Rainier, 3:15 p.m.
Girls golf: Mt. Rainier at Kentlake, 3:15 p.m.
Boys tennis: Mt. Rainier at Kentwood, 3:30 p.m.
Girls soccer: Kentwood at Mt. Rainier, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 6
Boys golf: Mt. Rainier at Tahoma, 3:15 p.m.
Girls golf: Tahoma at Mt. Rainier, 3:15 p.m.
Boys tennis: Kentridge at Mt. Rainier, 3:30 p.m.
Girls swimming: Mt. Rainier at Kentridge, 3:30 p.m.
Girls soccer: Auburn-Riverside at Mt. Rainier, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 7
Football: Auburn at Mt. Rainier, 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 11
Boys golf: Mt. Rainier at Kentridge, 3:15 p.m.
Girls golf: Kentridge at Mt. Rainier, 3:15 p.m.
Boys tennis: Kentlake at Mt. Rainier, 3:30 p.m.
Volleyball: Graham-Kapowsin at Mt. Rainier, 7:15 p.m.
Girls soccer: Mt. Rainier at Tahoma, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 12
Cross country: Kent-Meridian, Mt. Rainier at Auburn, 4 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 13
Boys golf: Kentwood at Mt. Rainier, 3:15 p.m.
Girls golf: Mt. Rainier at Kentwood, 3:15 p.m.
Boys tennis: Kent-Meridian at Mt. Rainier, 3:30 p.m.

Seamount League
Friday, Aug. 31
Football: Yelm at Highline, 5 p.m.; Evergreen at Chief Sealth (SWAC); Lindbergh at West Seattle; Bremerton at Foster, 7 p.m.; Mt. Si at Kennedy, 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 4
Volleyball: Hazen at Evergreen; Highline at Kennedy; Renton at Tyee; Foster at Lindbergh, 7 p.m.
Girls soccer: Eastlake at Kennedy (Starfire), 6 p.m.; Renton at Foster, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 5
Boys tennis: Evergreen at Hazen; Lindbergh at Foster; Tyee at Renton; Kennedy at Highline, 3:30 p.m.
Girls soccer: Eastside Catholic at Highline, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 6
Volleyball: Evergreen at Lindbergh; Tyee at Highline; Kennedy at Foster, 7 p.m.
Girls soccer: Washington at Evergreen, 5:30 p.m.; Tyee at Foster, 6 p.m.; Highline at Meadowdale, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 7
Boys tennis: Lindbergh at Evergreen; Foster at Kennedy (Steve Cox); Highline at Tyee, 3:30 p.m.
Girls soccer: Evergreen at Tyee (Valley Ridge), 3:30 p.m.
Football: Orting at Evergreen, 5 p.m.; Kennedy at Roosevelt; Highline at White River; Foster at Clover Park, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 8
Girls soccer: Foster Alumni at Foster, 7:30 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 10