March 2013

Mayor Mike McGinn, Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Banda, University of Washington President Young and South Seattle Community College's Chancellor Wakefield are urging 7th and 8th Grade students to sign up for a program called the College Bound Scholarship they said in a press release today.

The College Bound Scholarship promises tuition at public institution rates and a small book allowance for income-eligible students residing in Washington State.

To participate in the program, students must sign up in the 7th or 8th grade, maintain a 2.0 average, stay out of legal trouble, graduate from high school, and successfully apply to a higher education institution.

Various Seattle-area leaders and organizations have teamed up to promote College Bound and make sure all eligible students are signing up for the program.

Program partners include:

The White Center Taco Time and corporation working with the White Center Homeless Summit (WCHS) community group will provide a free taco lunch for homeless people in White Center on Friday March 8 at noon., WCHS, a coalition started by the White Center Chamber of Commerce and many local service entities and local businesses has been working for almost a year on a strategy to support the White Center homeless and chronic alcoholic populations to recovery.

The taco feed will begin at noon in front of the White Center Chamber of Commerce office in Steve Cox Park (corner of SW 102nd and 14th Ave. SW) behind McLendons, across from the Cross Church site. Volunteers will provide fresh tacos to the crowd, supplied by the White Center Taco Time.

King County Community Services and Environmental planning announced today that jet grout material has been found in the underground transformer vault near the Barton Pump Station.

Seattle City Light will have crews on-site from 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Thursday, March 7 to remove the grout.

It is expected to have no impact on ferry riders since they said that during the work, power will be turned off to the pump station and the ferry terminal, but two “Whisperwatt” generators will be on-site to provide power to both locations.

What to expect:
· Increased noise and activity on site
· Generators running from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on March 7 only
· Work is weather dependent. King County will notify the public if work is rescheduled.

It might be a no brainer for most Ballardites, but parking in the downtown Ballard area can be a bit prickly.

That's why members of the Central Ballard Residents Association has voted to ask the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to conduct a parking study to consider potential Restricted Parking Zones (RPZ) in central Ballard, according to a press release sent out by CBRA President Mike Kahrs.

Here's what SDOT says about RPZs on their website:

"Curb space is part of the public street system, a public good available for all people to use. To restrict the use of curb space for some requires a compelling reason. The Restricted Parking Zone (RPZ) Program was created to help ease parking congestion in residential neighborhoods, while balancing the needs of all people to be able to use the public streets. RPZs help neighborhoods deal with the impacts through signed time limits from which vehicles displaying a valid RPZ permit are exempt."

Press release:

Highline Public Schools has received two years of funding to update the physical education (PE) program for students, as part of the King County Community Transformation Grant, (CTG). The $36,000 grant will fund high quality PE programs and allow Highline teachers to collaborate as they plan PE learning in grades K-12.

“There are learning standards for PE, just as there are for math, literacy, science, and other subject areas,” said Rick Maloney, Teacher Advancement Coordinator. “The PE curriculum will set out what we want students to know and be able to do at each grade level. It will also provide guidance to teachers on the types of games and activities, such as, basketball, softball, and running, that will help students reach the standards.”

“We are so pleased to receive funding to do this work,” said Christin Lindner, K-12 PE and Health Facilitator. “We will be able to ensure that PE activities build from grade to grade, and also that our programs are consistent from school to school. I am excited to work with my colleagues on this project, and I’m certain that all of our students will benefit.”

Press release:

The Environmental Science Center (ESC), Sustainable Burien, Permaculture Now! and Sustainable West Seattle (Tox-Ick.org) with support from the city of Burien, King County, and The Russell Family Foundation are sponsoring a free workshop for the public. Please join us in the Multipurpose Room at the Burien Library (400 SW 152nd Street, Burien) on Sunday, March 10th, 2013 from 2:00pm – 4:00pm.

The workshop Don’t Feed the Monster will now include a presentation from Jenny Pell from Permaculture Now! She will speak on ways you can improve your yard to become more functional as well as benefit our watershed. Puget Sound diver, Laura James, will still present on the health of Puget Sound and seven easy ways we can all help protect it.

Practicing sustainable yard care can be beneficial not only to the environment, but also to your pocketbook. Simple practices such as using natural pesticides and organic fertilizer from yard waste help protect waterways from being polluted with toxic chemicals.

Press release:

Students at Technology, Engineering, and Communications High School (TEC) got the attention of national policy advisors when they gave feedback on an important document about research into climate change.

Comments prepared by Dr. Michael Town’s class at TEC featured prominently in feedback on the policy document. Dr. Town was approached to review the document due to his work as a researcher in polar climate change prior to entering the teaching profession.

The students reviewed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Summary for Policy Makers, which brings together current research, and is used by decision-makers at local, regional, national, and international levels in business and government as they consider changes to policies related to climate change.

The students concluded that the report, as initially drafted, would not be understood by readers who are not experts in climate science. They cited the extensive use of technical scientific jargon, lack of clear explanation of climate science concepts, and graphs that were difficult to understand.

West Seattle residents have a neighbor who can bring an interesting form of nature to their yards or gardens. The large, colorful flowers, insects, birds and fish that artist Mike Pond brings to life from metal are created by hand in his studio in West Seattle.

Mike will have several of his flowers and butterflies, as well as trellises with herons or hummingbirds, and other works of art, on display and for sale this month at the “Best of the Northwest” art and fine crafts show, produced by the non-profit Northwest Art Alliance.

Mike started working with metal about four years ago. Before he discovered his talent with metal he had worked with wood (he’d earned his living as a carpenter) and then he says he “dabbled in glass” – for a couple of years he produced stained glass pieces, then moved into “hot glass” and built his own glass-blowing studio, which didn’t prove as successful as he’d hoped.

Press release:
Seattle-based Ariel Development announced today its plan for construction of Hyatt Place at SeaTac to be built at 19518 International Boulevard in the City of SeaTac. Construction is set to begin before end of year.
Scheduled to open in early 2016, the hotel will feature 150 rooms, adjacent to nearby Angle Lake Park. Amenities will include a pool, fitness room and 2,500 to 3,500 square feet of meeting space
“The City of SeaTac is an epicenter for our region, and is an ideal site for this new property,” said Shimon Mizrahi of Ariel Development. “Its central location between Seattle and Tacoma provides an easy access point to freeways and the airport, as well as the city itself. We see a lot of potential on the scenic Angle Lake waterfront and the amenities guests can enjoy. We know the hotel will not only thrive here—it will create employment opportunities for the residents and neighboring communities.”
The estimated $25 million project has enlisted Seattle-based Linardic Design Group Architects, including all construction and soft costs. Hyatt Place plans to recruit 60 to 80 employees.

Social media expert and Microsoft researcher Andrés Monroy-Hernández recently created an interesting map of Seattle, filling the landmass of each unique neighborhood with Twitter words that commonly arose in those areas over a two-month period.

Twitter, for those who haven’t jumped into the fray, is a social networking service where users send and receive 140-character “tweets” (for example, you can follow the West Seattle Herald on Twitter at @westseattleher for links to new stories, photos and more). At its worst, Twitter is a platform for celebrities to tell us what they ate for breakfast. At its best, it is a great way to funnel information you find interesting into one place, with links to more details if you are so inclined.

While Twitter is largely used by media outlets to share their news and businesses to promote their happenings, a growing number of everyday people are using the platform to connect and comment.