October 2012

By Val Gilmore, UW News Lab

Andrew Lee, manager of Seattle Public Utilities, told a public meeting Tuesday night that his agency did not involve the community enough in last year’s rain-garden project. “Shame on us,” Lee said. “We were in a phase where we weren’t listening as much as we should have. We are listening now.”

About 40 local residents attended the meeting at the Sunset Hill Community Club. Lee presented phase two of a plan to combat the failed pilot program that was launched last year, which had installed 10 blocks of roadside rain gardens. When many of the gardens flooded over, the project had to be scrapped.

Now SPU is taking a new approach that he described as far more transparent and involving the community. “It is safe to say we won’t do a project that way again. We have done a lot of thinking and know what we need to do this time,” he said.

The discussion revolved around how Seattle Public Utilities plans to combat combined sewer overflows (CSO) by learning from the mistakes of the initial plan.

In just over a month from now, Highline Medical Center will open their Urgent Care and Family Medicine clinic in West Seattle, significantly expanding their presence from the current 41st Ave S.W. location and placing them in the heart of the Triangle.

In order to share a better idea of what this new clinic (located in the old Cycle U building just east of the intersection at S.W. Alaska St. and Fauntleroy Way S.W.) will offer, the West Seattle Herald toured the facility-in-the-works on Oct. 3 in advance of their projected Nov. 19 opening date.

Please click the image above for more photos of the clinic.

Our guides were Highline’s Vickie Jiminez, operations director for primary care clinics, Lisa Randall, manager for the West Seattle clinic, Marty Couret, ARNP and the clinic’s medical director and Chris Holmes with HST Construction.

The space itself
Moving to the Triangle will provide Highline with far more space (than the 41st Ave S.W. location) for their family and urgent services, allowing them to devote individual floors to each division.

Sgt. Cindi West of the King County Sheriff’s Office said a 40 year-old man entered the public bathroom tonight at Jacob Ambaum Park at 12621 Ambaum Blvd. SW. when another man walked in and tried to take his cellphone.

The victim refused, and the man stabbed him in the head and neck. He is described as a Hispanic man with a blue backpack. Police said he would likely be covered in the victim's blood.

The victim was taken to Haborview Medical Center and is expected to live.

We will update.

John and Masako Fry got their dog, Sebastian who is a Havanese (the name comes from Havana, Cuba) and "originally these dogs were from Cuba and I think they were introduced to the U.S. in the 70's," explained Fry. "They were rescued and became a popular breed and he's a really sweet guy."

They got him from a breeder in Toledo, Washington named Stephanie and she's an excellent breeder. When we went to her house and picked him up it was really a good experience."

They chose his name from a list of Hispanic names given his Cuban heritage and chose Sebastian.

He's a year and four months old now and when Sebastian came to live with them he weighed four pounds. But he's grown. In fact, "He's a big boy for his breed he now weighs 15lbs. The breed standard is around 12."

They feed him Science Diet dog food and he loves the Costco beef jerky treats for snacks.

While he hasn't had obedience training he's a quick thinker and learns easily. "He's a very smart dog and pays attention to what you want," said Fry.

Highline Schools Foundation press release:

Thursday, Oct. 4 is the last day register online for either the Brat Trot 5K or Short Course race: www.burienbrattrot.com
 
5k Solo Race 
The 5K race begins @ 1:00 PM (at the corner of 10th and 152nd) 
» $35.00 registration (through 10/4 at 11:59 PM US/Pacific) 
» $40.00 day of and day before registration (Oct 6th & 7th, in person only)

Short Course Race (about 1 mile) 
The short course race begins @ 1:40 PM (at Lake Burien Park)
 
» $30.00 registration (through 10/4 at 11:59 PM US/Pacific) 
» $35.00 day of and day before registration (Oct 6th & 7th, in person only)


There's more to Brat Trot than just racing! Check out the calendar below for dates and times of all the weekend events!
Friday, October 5, 2012
Brat Trot Team Pub Crawl:
It's a new take on the old Pub Crawl

Individuals register (online at www.burienbrattrot.com), then form teams of 2 or more. Check in with your team at the Tin Theater between 6 and 7 pm on Friday, October 5th. We'll get you going on a team scavenger hunt of sorts-to local pubs and other nearby B-town businesses!

Press release:

Northwest Symphony Orchestra announces the opening of its 2012– 2013 season. The concert entitled “Symphonic Fireworks” includes music for the whole family and features Tchaikovsky’s famous 1812 Overture. The concert also features 12-year- old local trumpet player sensation Natalie Dungey, as soloist.

Family Concert

October 26, 2012- Symphonic Fireworks
Friday, October 26, 2012 at 7:30pm
Highline Performing Arts Center

1812 Overture- Piotr IlyichTchaikovsky
Firebird Suite- Igor Stravinsky
Hungarian March- Hector Berlioz
Calling the Cavalry- Mateo Messina- Natalie Dungey soloist

ABOUT NORTHWEST SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

UPDATE:

ALERT: WE’VE CHANGED THE MEETUP PLACE FOR THE NORTH SEATAC PARK WALK-N-TALK! We will meet on the grassy slope near the restrooms above the large parking lot at the north end of the park. See the revised map.

DIRECTIONS: Approach the park entrance by driving north on Des Moines Memorial Drive S., (either from downtown Burien or from the Hwy. 518 off-ramp.) Take a right and go east on S. 128th St. Drive one block and take a right on 20th Ave. S. into the park. There are spaces for a couple hundred cars here, compared to the 15 parking spaces in the small lot off of Des Moines Memorial Drive S.

Press release from WaBi Burien:

For our October 7 Walk-n-Talk, let’s go explore our “neighbor’s” trails. Adjacent to Burien’s eastern city limits is the city of SeaTac, home of North SeaTac Park.

North SeaTac Park amenities include: baseball/soccer/softball fields, open area, restrooms, playground equipment, picnic area, outdoor basketball, paved walking trails, community center, BMX track, disk golf, parking.

The Barton Street P-Patch at 34th s.w. and s.w. Barton Street, which opened on March 11 of this year, has seen an prodigious volume of work done to not only build the structures within it but to plant and maintain the garden areas. It's been a remarkble few months with all volunteer labor coming to work parties most weekends creating garden walls, paths, laying bricks, and of course planting what became a bountiful crop ranging from flowers to many vegetables.

On October 20, the volunteers will celebrate their first successful season (even though they are calling this the 2nd Annual) by holding a Harvest Festival from 1 to 3pm, that will feature the unveiling of a special arbor built on the site. It's a potluck event so bring a dish to share if you'd like to take part but some beverages will be provided.

The organizers emphasized that those attending should bring their own plates, utensils and cup and that this is a trash free site so if "you pack it in, pack it out."

press release:
John Titus, owner, president and CEO of Aero Controls, Inc. has received the South Seattle Community College Outstanding Alumni Award for 2012.

Aero Controls, based in Auburn, Washington, is an FAA certified repair station. The company overhauls, repairs, sells, exchanges, and modifies aircraft components. The company employs approximately 200 people and has 275,000 square feet of offices, shops and warehouses located in Auburn and Shelton, Washington.

Titus graduated from South in 1974 with a degree in Aeronautical Technology. After graduation he joined a major aircraft overhaul facility as a manager, and then started his own company in 1984. He has maintained a relationship with South since graduation, now serving as a member of the Aviation Technical Advisory Committee. He also has supported South with donations of aviation equipment for classroom use.

The success of Aero Controls has enabled Titus to diversify his holdings. Among other holdings his current ventures include a Best Western hotel, a retirement community outside Atlanta, Georgia, an IP television company based in New York, and an IT Park infrastructure company in India.

In a news release sent out on Oct. 3, the King County Wastewater Treatment Division announced plans to reduce the number of bioswales (similar to rain gardens) and impacted streets in the Westwood and Sunrise Heights neighborhoods of West Seattle, as part of the Barton CSO wastewater control project.

In addition, they plan to reduce the number and size of curb bulbs to maintain more on-street parking, "preservation of property access and tree canopy," and rebates/financial incentives for residents who volunteer to install raingardens and cisterns on their property.

The changes are due in part to community push back against the project, with concerns ranging from loss of parking to safety concerns of standing water in the bioswales during heavy rain.

The purpose of the project is to reduce combined sewer overflows into Puget Sound during periods of heavy rainfall.

An open house on the changes is set for Saturday, Oct. 13 from 10 a.m. to noon at Westside School, 7740 34th Ave S.W.