March 2013

A hazmat situation blocked off 8th Ave NW by Market St earlier today when the folks at Rain City Video received a strange package with a white or "kind of beige" powder in it, said a worker at Rain City.

Several police cars, firetrucks and a hazmat response unit came to the scene at about 11:30 a.m. They isolated the package and the worker who opened the package. They determined the powder was not hazardous and, by 1 p.m., they were packing up and getting ready to go.

"It's not hazardous or dangerous," said Kyle Moore, Seattle Fire Department spokesman. "The woman who opened the envelope didn't have any type of health problems. She was checked out. We didn't have to do any treatment there."

Moore said that they often don't find out what the substance is because they only test for hazardous or dangerous substances.

"I think the danger has cleared," said Mark Jamieson, a public affairs officer at the Seattle Police Department

We called Rain City Video and the worker who discovered the package said they were still open.

"Everything's all good," she said.

Zachariah Bryan can be reached at zachb@robinsonnews.com

Press release:

Navos is proud to announce that our CEO, Dr. David Johnson has been chosen for a prestigious “Visionary Leadership Award” by the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare.

The Visionary Leadership award honors staff or volunteers who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in the behavioral healthcare field and who exemplify the values and ideals embraced by the National Council.

Recipients have demonstrated superior, sustained commitment to quality behavioral healthcare and have had careers marked by significant contributions to the behavioral healthcare field and the consumers it serves.

Congratulations to David on this well deserved honor!

Press release:

The first-ever Obliteride will soon spin through Des Moines. Routes for the 25-, 50-, 100- and 180-mile rides have just been released. They offer various distances and terrains so all levels of riders can participate and make their marks against cancer.

Obliteride is a fundraising bike ride to benefit lifesaving cancer research at Fred Hutch. It features an entire weekend of cycling, celebration and concerts Aug. 9-11.

“Obliteride is a community-wide event that everyone can participate in by riding, volunteering or cheering on participants as they roll though your community,” said Amy Lavin, Obliteride’s executive director. “We would love to see people get involved by volunteering or lining the streets with signs honoring loved ones or friends who have battled cancer or are in the fight today. Simply come to the end of your driveway and cheer on the riders. We’d love to see everyone out there!”

Yesterday, Mayor Mike McGinn announced an executive order: to increasingly manage stormwater runoff with natural drainage systems (like rain gardens) rather than traditional pipe and tank systems.

“Whenever possible, we should be looking for ways to better manage our stormwater with natural processes and leveraging our drainage investments,” the Mayor said, announcing a new goal to manage 700 million gallons of stormwater annually with green stormwater infrastructure, by the year 2025. “Seattle residents and businesses care about the environment. And that’s why we are inviting the whole community to join us in this effort.”

Update, June 18

So, where is the new Bad Jimmy's brewery you ask? Well, it's taking longer than expected, and they need some help purchasing the final parts for the full build-out.

That's why they have started a Kickstarter campaign to try and raise $13,000 by July 10. As per Kickstarter rules, they won't get any money if they don't make that amount of money. Currently, they have raised about $5,500.

Money raised will go toward:

• Bar stools, tables, glassware
• Kegs, water boiler, high quality ingredients, glycol system
• New paint job for exterior of our building, additional lighting, exterior signage

Some items you can win for donating are: hats, stickers, t-shirts, pint glasses, homebrew classes, private parties, naming rights to seasonal beers, naming rights to fermentation tanks and more.

Haven't heard of Bad Jimmy's? Oh, no worries, you can read about them in our original post below.

Original, March 7

If you can believe it, Ballard is squeezing in yet another brewery: Bad Jimmy's.

If you have a baseball player at home the West Seattle Little League is reminding that tryouts for Majors and Minors divisions are taking place this Sunday, March 10 at the Bar-S playfields at 6425 SW Admiral Way, RAIN OR SHINE!

Key items to note:

- Remember to set your clocks ahead one hour Saturday night for Daylight Savings Time!

- Your player(s) must attend the tryouts in order to be eligible for a Manager to select him/her to their team in the draft (registered players who do not attend tryouts will be randomly assigned to a team).

- Majors division: Arrive at 8:45, tryouts go to approximately 11:00

- Minors division: Arrive at 1:30, tryouts go to approximately 3:45

If you have any questions, please contact Jon Muench, WSLL Secretary (jon@daifinancial.com), President Brian Pare (bppare@comcast.net), or Player Agent Laurie Rasmussen (playeragent@westseattlelittleleague.com).

Back in February, as part of the Herald’s weekly Police Blotter column, we brought you the story of a West Seattle family who was burglarized while away at work and school. The victim told police he had recently received two phone calls from someone claiming to be with the U.S. Census Bureau who asked very peculiar questions like when he and his wife go to work and when they are away from home. After the burglary, the victim put two and two together and believed he had been the victim of a scam.

Weeks later, Linda Clark with the Los Angeles Region U.S. Census Bureau contacted the Herald with valuable information on how to identify Census workers and learn the types of questions they might ask.

First off, contrary to what many of us may have thought, the Census Bureau doesn’t sit idly by, waiting for the next 10 year mark to do the big count. Instead, according to Clark, they “conduct surveys of households and businesses every month, quarter and year,” so it’s not unheard of to hear from them at any time.

Michael Noakes and Donna DiFiore were honored March 4 as Burien’s Citizens of the Year during a celebration of the city’s 20th anniversary.

Noakes was cited for his work on an ad hoc committee seeking a compromise with the state Department of Ecology (DOE) on an update of Burien’s Shoreline Master Plan. Noakes also serves as chair of the Burien Marine Property Owners Association. The revised master plan has not been formally adopted but city staffers are hopeful agreement can be reached with the state agency.

DiFiore was honored for her participation since 2007 on the citizens’ advisory Burien Arts Commission. She also hosted artist Augustina Droze, who along with volunteers painted the Dollar Tree mural at 4th Avenue Southwest and Southwest 151st Place in downtown Burien.

Noakes thanked City Council members for the “generous award.” He reminded lawmakers that dozens of people spent time working on improvements to the shoreline plan.

UPDATE 10 am April 12
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor performed the duties as West Seattle's Sally Jewell was sworn in as the new Secretary of the Interior in a private ceremony at the United States Supreme Court in Washington D.C. She will meet with some of the employees of the department on Monday.

UPDATE 3pm April 10

Sally Jewell, whose background in the petroleum industry, banking and who in her role as the CEO of Seattle based REI gave her the bona fides as a supporter of the environment was approved today by the U.S. Senate, 87 to 11 to be the next Secretary of the Interior. Jewell, who has a home in West Seattle was supported strongly by both Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell. You can see some of Cantwell's remarks in the video clip. Jewell will resign as REI CEO. More details will be added shortly.

Here are some highlights of Cantwell’s remarks:

After a fire was doused earlier in the day on March 5, a smoldering apartment roof reignited and caused $20,000 worth of damage in Phinney Ridge, according to the Seattle Fire Department Fireline Blog.

At 6:50 p.m., dispatchers received multiple 911 calls reporting a fire on a roof of a four-story, 21-unit apartment complex located at 7100 block of Greenwood Ave N.

Luckily, Phinney Ridge Engine Company 21 was quick to act, arriving three minutes later. By then, three feet of flames were sprouting out of the Northwest part of the roof. Firefighters ran a hose line up and doused a five-foot-by-five foot section of the roof.

The occupant of the apartment right below the fire was evacuated and was provided temporary housing by Red Cross. Both he and his cat are unharmed and safe.

As for the rest of the residents, they were able to reoccupy their rooms within the hour.

Just in case the fire felt like part three, "Return of the Fire," firefighters stayed outside overnight to make sure it wouldn't reignite.