January 2013

By Pam Fernald
SPECIAL TO THE HIGHLINE TIMES

SeaTac citizen Doris Spence has been honored for her dedicated volunteer service to the USO where she has racked up an amazing 12,348 hours of service.

That is equal to six years worth of time with no days off.

Doris began volunteering with the USO in 1991 after her husband passed away. Doris says her time with the USO “has been very rewarding and did as much for me as the other way around. It’s been a good experience so that’s why I continued for so long.”

Over the years, Doris has been responsible for bringing the new volunteers on board and training them as well as well as doing less glamorous things like ensuring that all of the bedding and towels and linens for the USO facility are changed out and clean.

Shopping for, and preparing food for the hungry military travelers was another big job. Doris says that “our tuna sandwiches are known all over the world” and are one of the most requested food items.

Cecilia Bloomberg’s colorful tapestry hangs at the new McMicken Heights Elementary School, It was an eight-month project.

The tapestry was commissioned by the Washington State Arts Commission.

AUBURN--Mount Rainier High School boys basketball head coach Ken Bush refused to let Friday's 53-52 loss at Auburn bother him too much, even though it could go down in the books as a costly heartbreaker.
"It was a tough loss, but we played well," Bush said. "This drops us down into the middle of the standings, I'm sure, but like I told the kids, there's a lot of basketball left to be played."

The Rams did play extremely well against the host Trojans, and the game did not get away until the closing seconds.

With Mount Rainier of Des Moines out front, 52-51, and only 9.1 seconds left, Auburn's JJ Ruffin went to the free throw line and calmly iced two charity tosses to suddenly put his team up by a 53-52 score.
That turned out to be the final margin, with the Rams only having enough time for an inside miss followed by a rebound that was not put back up in time.

Mount Rainier had taken a 52-50 lead with 1:35 remaining on a basket by senior forward Caden Rowland.

Sam Reed, Chief Sealth International High School Athletic Director has been selected as the Washinton Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) District 2 Athletic Director of the year. WIAA District 2 includes all the schools from KingCo 4A, KingCo 3A, Metro 3A, Emerald City 1A, and SeaTac 1A and 1B leagues.

"To receive this honor over deserving candidates from more than 55 other area high schools is quite an honor," said Reed.

Each of the 9 WIAA Districts sends one name to the state conference in April where they will name a single AD of the Year.

Sam will represent District 2 at the Washington Secondary School Athletic Administrators Association (WSSAAA) State AD Conference in Spokane April 21-24.

Those interested can attend the awards banquet on April 23rd.

Registration is online: http://www.wssaaa.com/2013-conference-information.html.

White Center's First Annual White Center 5K Walk and Run is coming up on February 16th, and all race proceeds will benefit the White Center Community Development Association and the YES Foundation.

Here are the details from race organizer Tony Vo:

The White Center Community Development Association (CDA) is partnering with the YES Foundation of White Center to plan the first annual White Center 5K Walk & Run. This new community event will take place on February 16, 2013 from 9:00am to 12:00pm at White Center Heights Park.

Registration for the 5K will begin at 8:30 that morning with community performances following the completion of the run which starts at 10:00am. The cost of participation is $25 for people 55 and older, $30 for people between the ages of 11 and 54, and free for children 10 years of age and younger. All proceeds from the event will benefit the White Center CDA and the YES Foundation.

If the last couple of Ballard District Council meetings are any indication, one thing is clear: Ballardites care about safe, walkable streets and intersections.

At last Wednesday's Ballard District Council meeting, community members quickly re-presented (having first presented last month) nine proposals for the Seattle Department of Transportation's Neighborhood Street Fund, which is funded through the Bridging the Gap Levy.

Funds are for projects that are large, but not to large, according to SDOT, with each one having to range in between $100,000 and $750,000. Each of the city's 13 neighborhood district councils were asked to select three top priority projects.

The three that were chosen out of the nine for Ballard were:

1. Improvements to intersection of 3rd Ave NW and NW 56th St: One community member said, "It’s infamous in our neighborhood, it’s a terrible intersection, it’s an accident waiting to happen. And quite frankly, we’re surprised nothing has happened."

Coming this spring, the Woodland Park Zoo will be opening a new Asian tropical forest exhibit.

Construction on it began last year as part of the More Wonder More Wild Campaign. Phase one of the 2-acre exhibit complex will feature Asian small-clawed otters, a tropical aviary and a kid's nature play area.

Phase two of the exhibit will feature Malayan tigers and sloth bears, including the newborn sloth bear cub born last month.

“We are in the home stretch of our $80 million More Wonder More Wild Campaign,” Jensen said, noting that about $9.7 million remains to be raised for the Asian Tropical Forest Initiative. “We are very grateful for our community’s generous support. They recognize our zoo as a treasured community asset, and we truly appreciate their investment in helping ensure a sustainable future for wildlife and people locally and around the world."

The Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce will recognize outstanding businesses and individuals from Burien, SeaTac, Tukwila, and Des Moines at the Annual Recognition and Awards Luncheon at the Doubletree Guest Suites in Tukwila, on Friday, January 11, 2013.

The Chamber's Board of Directors will recognize the efforts, commitments and achievements of businesses and organizations that help make the Burien, Des Moines, SeaTac and Tukwila communities viable places to work and live. There will be awards for Large Business of the Year, Small Business of the Year, Ambassador of the Year, Business Advocate, Outstanding Community Service and Outstanding Leadership.

The following business and individuals were awarded in the categories for 2012:

LARGE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
A business with more than ten employees and has achieved excellence through innovative business practices, products, and/or employee programs and community commitment.

Press release:

A few weeks ago, Rep. Tina Orwall was selected Deputy Speaker Pro Tempore-designate by her fellow Democratic Caucus. As required by House rules, she was officially confirmed Deputy Speaker Pro Tempore by the full House of Representatives today, the first day of the 2013 Legislative Session.

“It is an incredible honor to be elected by my peers as Deputy Speaker Pro Tempore. I will work hard to ensure the process is fair and all voices are heard,” said Orwall, who has served as Assistant Speaker Pro Tempore for the past two years.

The Deputy Speaker Pro Tempore presides over sessions of the House as needed when the Speaker Pro Tempore and the Speaker of the House are unable to do so. As active Speaker she will be tasked with keeping the process flowing as smoothly as possible when lawmakers are debating proposals on the floor.

2013's legislative session is shaping up to be pretty interesting, to say the least.

Earlier today, a floor vote approved Medina Democrat Sen. Rodney Tom's proposal for a "Majority Coalition Caucus," which he and fellow conservative Democrat Sen. Tim Sheldon created by joining with Republicans. The caucus effectively shifts the balance of power from Democrats over to Republicans, by creating a narrow 25-24 Republican majority with the two Democrats trading sides. A proposal by the Democrats to create a more bipartisan Senate -- by having all the committees co-chaired by a Democrat and Republican instead of just one or the other -- was rejected.

Instead, Tom's caucus won out, and several committees have now been stacked with Republican chairs, including the powerful Ways and Means committee.

In the 36th District, where Ballard lies, it means Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles has been dethroned from her chairmanship of the Senate Labor, Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee. Republican Janea Holmquist of Moses Lake, who was the ranking Republican of the committee before the new caucus rearrangement, will be taking Kohl-Welles' place as chair.