September 2012

Rotary of West Seattle press release

ROTARY SPONSORS AN EXCHANGE IN RUSSIA (all expenses paid)

Applications due Oct. 22, 2012. Complete information and application forms are available at www.gse.rotary5030.org.

The Rotary clubs of greater Seattle are seeking business and professional people ages 25-40 to apply for a month-long cultural/vocational exchange program in 2013. An exchange with Western Russia will take place from late April 2013 to late May 2013.

The Group Study Exchange is a longstanding program of Rotary International. It offers an all-expense paid experience with home stays with Rotarian host-country families, vocational visits, and an opportunity to exchange ideas and customs with Russian counterparts. Applicants must live or work in Rotary District 5030, which covers all of King County and the communities of Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and Mill Creek in Snohomish County. The exchange is not open to Rotarians or their lineal descendents.

Navos Mental Health Solutions, a private non-profit with locations in West Seattle and Burien, is putting together a group of businesses, citizens, non-profits and government agencies to launch a Community Coalition for Drug Free Youth, aimed at reducing drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse in the Highline School District and White Center/Burien communities, according to Rudy Garza, the coalition coordinator for Navos.

Garza said the coalition will be primarily focused on working with teens at Cascade Middle School and the Evergreen Campus, but services will be available to all area teens. The program is tentatively set to launch in March of 2013, with youth surveys and coalition meetings in the coming months to create a plan.

Over 25 different organizations are currently on board, and Garza said they will be adding students and parents soon (see his contact information below for more information).

· King County Housing Authority

· Community Schools Collaboration

· Boys and Girls Club

· YWCA

· White Center Rec & Park

Anthony Carter, Galya Stetsenko, their son Adrian, daughter Abigail and their dog Cookie happened to be at Lincoln Park when we encountered them and they gave us their story.

Cookie is a five year old Teacup Poodle, very tiny at 3.5 pounds, that they got, "From my friend Anne," said Galya, "There were too many dogs and it became a little bit too exciting so Cookie came to live with us.

Like many dogs Cookie loves to chase and be chased. "Whenever kids are running around she's very much a member of the family. She likes to chase others and play tag with kids."

They recently had a close call with Cookie when she apparently disappeared. "A week ago Cookie ran away or was stolen the day after I got in a big accident. We searched all over the neighborhood and posted signs and we couldn't find her and even checked shelters. We kept searching every single day, driving around. Then miraculously, six days later she just ran into the kitchen and we had almost given up on ever seeing her again. It turned out that she was just two houses away but she had gotten out and the lady did not know her."

Editor’s note: This opinion is written by Save Our Sodo, which is co-chaired by Max Vekich, a marine clerk in Seattle, and Warren Aakervik, the owner of Ballard Oil, a small business in Seattle for the past 75 years

As a grassroots group of people with concerns about the proposed Sodo site for a new arena, we were excited to hear the City Council’s lofty rhetoric last week when announcing a deal with potential NBA owner Chris Hansen.

The council members said they had reached a deal with Hansen that would protect Port of Seattle operations, family-wage jobs in the maritime industry and also require a thorough and unbiased study of alternate arena sites.

So we were greatly disappointed several hours later when the text of the revised memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the city and Hansen was released to the public. Instead of a deal that protects jobs, we have a deal that has a good chance of killing thousands of jobs. Instead of a deal that will study alternate sites in a thorough and unbiased manner, we have a deal that is overwhelmingly favored toward the arena being built in Sodo.

Coming September 29, the Ballard area will be seeing a lot of changes to their bus schedule, and Ballardites may take some time getting used to it. At a Ballard District Council meeting, District Coordinator Rob Mattson said that the Northwest region may be seeing some of the most dramatic changes in all of Seattle.

So buckle up, faithful transit riders, and let the Ballard News-Tribune guide you through some of the changes.

For more details, including maps of routes and bus stops, readers can visit the King County Metro website at metro.kingcounty.gov/up/scvchange.html. Public comment has already officially ended.

RapidRide

The big question that has been on many Ballardites’ minds this summer is, “What the heck is RapidRide, and how will it serve me?” Many the BNT has talked to in casual conversation have scoffed at the idea that the service would provide “rapid” service at all, and the new bus shelters have become the butt of many jokes around town.

Faunt/Va/SW - Fall Schedule Changes from Washington State Ferries

Washington State Ferries’ fall schedule begins this Sunday Sept. 23.

There are many five minute changes this schedule including: the summer 4:30 a.m. sailing from Southworth to Vashon and Fauntleroy will be sailing this fall at 4:25 a.m. and the summer weekday 6:05 a.m. sailing from Southworth to Vashon and Fauntleroy will depart at 6 a.m.

From Vashon, the 4:50 a.m. summer sailing from Vashon to Fauntleroy will depart this fall at 4:45 a.m. and the 5:45 a.m. summer weekend sailing from Vashon to Southworth moves to 5:40 a.m. for the fall.

The 5:20 a.m. sailing from Fauntleroy to Vashon and Southworth moves to 5:15 a.m. this fall.

Habitat for Humanity of Seattle and South King County is working with the White Center Community Development Association "to identify and assist families with homes in need of critical repair," in the North Shorewood Park region of North Highline, according to Mikel Davila with the CDA.

Homeowners with houses that are either unsafe or in a state of critical disrepair are eligible for the program in a several block radius from North Shorewood Park. The program boundaries are S.W. Roxbury St. to the north, 20th Ave S.W. to the east, S.W. 104th St. to the south, and 26th Ave S.W.

Please see the attached map for a visual representation.

Homeowner selection criteria for the Home Repair Program

1) Need for adequate housing
- The functional areas of the home are in critical disrepair or unsafe, and Habitat's scope of work can significantly benefit the homeowner. We are doing exterior work, including roofs, windows and siding.
- Family is unable to physically and/or financially complete the work themselves.

For anyone looking to learn more about massive Metro service changes coming up on Sept. 29 or learn more about other transit service in our area, a Transportation Fair is set for Wednesday, Sept. 19 at Greenbridge in White Center.

Wednesday, September 19 from 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm at the Jim Wiley Community Center at Greenbridge - 9800 8th Ave S.W.

The pungent scent of natural gas permeated a two block radius surrounding the 4000 block of S.W. Southern St. after workers with a private utility pole inspection company accidentally punctured a natural gas line on Sept. 18.

Seattle firefighters and utility workers responded quickly to the 911 call at 11:46 a.m. and were able to stop the leak by 12:11 p.m.

The pole inspectors were digging near the base of a utility pole when they hit the gas line.

Last week, Mayor Mike McGinn announced an ambitious plan to dedicate $6 million to study light rail and high capacity transit which would connect various neighborhoods in Seattle.

Ballard is a part of that deal.

In the 2012-13 budget proposal that he will announce to City Council on Monday, Sept. 24, $500,000 is dedicated to studying a north/south pedestrian, bike and transit crossing of the ship canal, one of the most constrained choke points in Seattle. (Anyone waiting for the Ballard Bridge to go back down can attest to this.)

The Transit Master Plan identifies that a high capacity route from downtown to Ballard via Fremont has the highest ridership potential.

"You could see the excitement on everyone's faces at last month's groundbreaking for Sound Transit's Northgate Link light rail line," McGinn said in a press release. "Families, commuters, and business owners came out to celebrate the coming of rail to the University District, Roosevelt, and Northgate. It's no surprise. Seattle loves rail. The question for our region is no longer if we are going to build rail, but when is it getting to your neighborhood."

The $6 million budget will also include: