January 2013

Wrangling about attendance at City Council meetings has migrated from Burien to SeaTac.

SeaTac Mayor Tony Anderson announced at the Jan. 22 City Council meeting that the regular March 12 meeting would be cancelled because he and two other council members will be out of town.

He noted that there is no pressing business for the March 12 meeting. He suggested the topics that might be covered at the study session and regular meeting could be discussed at the Feb. 23 council retreat.

However, three council members, who often vote together, objected to the cancellation.

Councilmember Pam Fernald said Mayor Anderson had cancelled the meeting arbitrarily without consulting his colleagues. Anderson replied that SeaTac mayors routinely cancel meetings, including for summer and Christmas breaks in August and December.

Fernald suggested the missing council members could attend the March 12 meeting via Skype or telephone as has been done previously.

Anderson replied those methods are inconvenient and often fail.

The latest flu scare in the Northwest prompted me to recall an event from the days of my youth.

There was a lot of scarlet fever, mumps, chicken pox, diphtheria, small pox and pneumonia when I was growing up in Portland in the ‘20's and ‘30s. It was common to have doctors come out to the house and nail a cardboard notice on your front porch warning others not to enter if someone was sick.

I was lucky. I never had any of those awful diseases but my sisters and brothers did. One day, a doctor parked his 1927 Ford sedan in front of our house.

We weren't bad kids but we had a mischievous streak.

My brother Russ opened the car door while the good doctor was tending to my little sis. Russ hopped in the driver's side. I got in on the other side.

We took an imaginary trip to the store, the park, downtown, all the way making motor sounds and shouting ooogah, ooogah and yelling at imaginary people on the street.

Whatever Russ did, it got the car moving. I think he loosened the brake. We began coasting on a downhill slope.

A long-time Burien resident and United States Air Force veteran of World War II, Ed Allen, wrote short stories about war experiences that included tales of fiery parachute airplane bailouts, critical casualties, and crash landings.

Flying 30 missions over Nazi-held European countries in war had its moments. It was enough to catch the eye of a British editor who published three Allen writings in England-based “Fly-Past” Magazine.

Allen wrote his first book, “From Kansas Farm Boy to Bomber Pilot.”

When we’re young and positive we’re totally invincible, it’s exciting and scary to face danger. The adrenaline pumps, all bodily support systems register GO and the brain and body kick into high gear.

Allen piloted a Boeing B-24 Liberator airplane with a full crew of 10 members over enemy territory from July 1944 to April of 1945. The B-24 with its counterpart warhorse of the air the B-17 made history known as The Flying Fortress.

Thoughts of the pending dangerous reality hit Allen the night before his first mission.

By Rachael Levine
SPECIAL TO THE HIGHLINE TIMES

(Editor’s Note: Rachael Levine is the former president of the White Center Library Guild. She led the fight against closure of the White Center and Boulevard Park libraries. King County Library System staffers have indicated the White Center Library, currently a block within Burien’s city limits, will be rebuilt at its current site or at anther location, possibly within the unincorporated area. Levine favors keeping the library in Burien. She provides a timeline below on the controversy.)

“The White Center Library was started by members of the Mountain View School P.T.A. in 1943. It began with a collection of donated books, which Nel Freeze loaned from her nearby home.

The White Center Library Guild started at the same time and their first activity was to lobby for a community library. Their efforts were rewarded in 1946 when the White Center Library of the King County Library System (KCLS) opened in a space under the field house steps.

By Shara Wallace and Steve Shay
HIGHLINE TIMES

Stolen birds and guns
A home in the 11400 block of Military Road South was burglarized on two separate days. The first time the suspects broke the front door, the second time the rear door was broken into. The homeowners reported two parrots and two firearms were stolen. Also some miscellaneous tools were missing.

Man wounded in SeaTac
At least three gunshots caused bullets to fly through several walls and a laundry room before entering a SeaTac fourplex. The bullet hit a young man in the back. He was playing video games at the time. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center and is expected to recover. Reports stated the shots were fired in the 4600 block of South 189th Street. The first call came in at about 10 p.m. Detectives believe the shots came from a high-powered firearm because bullets flew through several walls. Detectives led a K-9 unit through a motel across the street from the fourplex to sniff out possible leads, but didn’t find any. It is still unknown if if the shooting was random.

Residential Burglary

Below is a note from Principal Jen Benkovitz on Salmon Bay K-8's website regarding the recent boycott on MAP testing. We have a phone call into her and will be following up on the issue.

MAP, which stands for Measures of Academic Progress, is a computer-based assessment program that is aligned to WA State Standards and is used in 131 districts throughout the state. Students taking the test spend about 45 minutes completing each test, both for reading and math. MAP tests are unique in that they adapt to the appropriate level for your child’s learning. As a result, each student has the same opportunity to succeed.

MAP results provide staff with information to improve student learning. It allows school staff to monitor academic growth and consistently track progress over time, provides and overview of students’ skills and offers an opportunity for making data driven decisions about instructional delivery.

Part of West Commodore to close for siphon project work

Beginning Monday, Nov. 11, a small section of West Commodore will be closed for approximately three weeks due to work on the Ballard SIphon Replacement Project. This work is weather dependent. Traffic will be detoured around the road closure via 23rd Avenue West, West Jameson Street and 24th Avenue West. The road closure is necessary to repave West Commodore Way in front of the project area.

What to Expect During the Road Closure:

• Traffic control signs and staff to ease congestion through the area
• Parking restrictions along the detour route (see map)
• High levels of activity involving crews, trucks, materials, grinding and paving equipment; noise and dust typical of a construction site
• Increased truck traffic along the detour route
• Typical work hours Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m.; longer weekday hours and Saturday work possible

Landscaping work to close one lane of Holman Road Saturday, Nov. 2, and the following Saturday

When my friend heard there was an opportunity for 90 Ballardites to receive emergency preparedness training, she thought it would be good to do together. She was so busy contacting me that she didn’t read the small print. So while I got excited about learning to use a defibrillator she thought the class would focus on how much water to have on hand and what food.

As it happened I was already on call for a neighbor who had asked if I could be available to check on her husband, just out of the hospital after completely unexpected cardiac surgery. I figured that a refresher on cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and use of what I now know to call an AED (acronym for automated external defibrillator) couldn’t come too soon.

Before Google, I was the person to call with health questions. I was popular with my medical encyclopedia and enough passing knowledge of first aid to not be too dangerous. I supplied milk when the neighbor thought her son had knocked out an adult tooth. I used my daughter’s babysitting class supplies to bandage a woman whose dog bit her in front of my house. I could confidently check for lice, remove stitches and extract ticks.

By Christy Wolyniak

Long-time director for the Federal Way campus, Shelley Puariea, made the move as Ballard’s new Executive Director in September, taking the place of 25-year Director Mark Hendricks. She shared her thoughts for the future of the club, and cited that her passion for children fueled the exciting new projects to come.

Though the community expressed frustration when a well-loved Hendricks was suddenly told that he was going to be transferred, Puariea said she has been easing into the community rather well. Puariea said her and Hendricks were close, long-time friends and often called each other when something arose.

“It’s been a good transition; the community has been very welcoming,” Puariea said. “It’s really great to have immediate friends you can connect with. It’s all about service above self and building friendships.”

Getting off to a slow start against the Bainbridge Spartans didn’t faze the Seahawks. Ending the first period down by six points the Hawks came out in the second running and gunning and quickly erased the Spartan lead.

The Spartans are a big team. 6’ 7” Nick Edens and Oskar Dieterich did much to control the area under the hoop making it difficult for Sealth to penetrate. But Sealth had a plan. Run fast, be patient, and shoot from the perimeter when needed.

It started slow but like the effect of rushing waters, a steady erosion of Bainbridge’s defense began to take place. The Seahawks took their time, passing the ball around the arc, waiting for the best opportunity to drop the rock. When no opening presented itself the Hawks, with the shot clock running out, would step back and launch long range shots from the perimeter. At the four minute mark in the second period Sealth pulled ahead 21-19 and never looked back.

Make no mistake; the Spartans are a good team. They also found offense on the edge. But the real story here was Sealth’s scrappy and stingy defense that found their rhythm and stymied and frustrated Bainbridge at every turn, giving up few easy baskets.