Last summer the traffic was horrible going southbound on Harbor Ave SW (most traffic coming from Alki to Harbor Ave SW) within 2 -4 blocks of 30th Ave SW, and the Spokane Street SW intersection area, which includes the left turn to the West Seattle bridge entry. This is especially the situation in the evening and on weekends in the summer. It may also be an issue on weekday mornings.
No doubt about it, there are a lot of problems crossing the Ship Canal.
It's why Mayor Mike McGinn is proposing in a supplemental budget request to start a study for a new Ship Canal crossing. It would be a possible remedy to relieve two of the biggest choke points in the city, the Ballard and Fremont bridges.
The Ship Canal crossing, which would be dedicated to transit (in anticipation of light rail coming to Ballard), bicycling and pedestrians, would come with the pricetag of $500,000. McGinn is also requesting to advance the study for the South Lake Union-University District corridor to this year.
"It's hard to get around Seattle on a bike, especially if your trip requires you to cross the Ship Canal as your options are either intimidating, inconvenient or not safe. It doesn't have to be this way," said Craig Benjamin of the Cascade Bicycle Club. "Another crossing would make it safe and faster for everyone to get around Seattle, whether you drive, ride transit, bike or walk."
Speakers were quick to name the problems with the current bridges:
Press release:
Two Highline schools are headed to St. Louis at the end of the month to compete in the FIRST Robotics World Championships.
Aviation High School holds the Washington State Robotics Champion title this year. The team also earned the Chairman’s Award at the state competition, which honors teams for excellence in design, creativity, innovation, and competition performance.
Highline High School will also compete in the World Championships. The team earned their ticket at the Seattle Regional competition by winning the Judge’s Award and the Safety Award.
Highline’s coach, Fred Leuke, won the Woodie Flowers Award as the region’s best mentor.
As an organization, FIRST exists to inspire young people to become science and technology leaders.
In the FIRST Robotics Competition students compete to build robots that perform various tasks. The tasks change each year and are revealed in January. Teams have just six weeks to construct the robot before competition.
Press release:
The Northwest Association for Blind Athletes (NWABA) has announced that it will be hosting a 2013 Paralympic Experience in SeaTac in conjunction with U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
The event is scheduled for Saturday, May 11th at the Tyee Educational Complex, 4424 S. 188th St. It is open to all K-12 students with visual impairments across the state of Washington.
"We are very excited to announce our Paralympic experience for students who are blind and visually impaired. This event will introduce students to several different sports, and give them the opportunity to learn more about the Paralympic games," said Executive Director Billy Henry
"The Paralympic Experience program encourages physical fitness and overall well-being for individuals with physical and visual disabilities, and we are thrilled to be working with Northwest Association for Blind Athletes (NWABA) on this initiative," said Charlie Huebner, USOC Chief of Paralympics.
Press release:
This spring, more than 2,000 students will hit the beach with the Environmental Science Center's naturalists to explore intertidal Puget Sound. A new component this year includes an expanded field study from one and a half hours to two hours so that students can learn about the harmful effects of marine debris on our oceans and actions they can take to be a Beach Hero.
Taking advantage of ESC's new facility at Seahurst Park, students will be able to explore plastics collected from the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" in the North Pacific Gyre, view satellite imagery of earth's ocean currents, and learn how to pack a sustainable lunch box by minimizing single use plastics.
When students make the pledge to REFUSE, REDUCE, RE-USE, and RECYCLE plastics in their daily life, they will receive an official Beach Hero identification card.
Most of the more than 90 classes that ESC will serve this spring receive a one-hour classroom session, two-hour field study, and bus transportation free-of-charge.
Press release:
Budding scientists at Cascade Middle School and the Arts and Academic Academy (AAA), both in SeaTac, are working together to experiment on new biotech equipment.
High school students in AAA’s BioInformatics, Technology, and Ethics class are partnering with 7th grade science students from Cascade to learn together. While the older students are mentoring the younger students, both groups are learning from each other.
“Working with the students was really fun and it seemed that they responded better and were more interested in working with other teenagers rather than teachers,” said high school student Kateah Nims. “I felt they were more inspired to be more involved with what was happening.”
In class, the students are learning about the genetic basis for antibiotic resistance.
“This lab is a real world application of everything they have been learning,” said Cascade teacher Anna Kramer, “It wouldn’t be possible without the AAA students leading each small group on the specific lab skills.”
Press release:
One of the most heavily used routes through Highline today is also one of the very oldest roads in Washington state, and it was built by men who achieved the pinnacle of national prominence in their day.
Now the Highline Historical Society is collaborating with three other historical societies in South King County to draw attention to the historical significance of Military Road.
On Saturday, April 27, at 2 p.m., the Historical Society is hosting a presentation of “General George Pickett, His Life & Times” at Global Connections High School cafeteria (Tyee campus), 4424 S 188th Street, SeaTac. National Park Service interpretive ranger Michael Vouri will give a lively, one-man performance of Pickett’s life.
Pickett was one of the junior officers sent out to the Pacific Northwest to help build Military Road in the 1850s. Civil War buffs may recognize him as the fellow who, ten years later, led the doomed Pickett’s Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Editor's note: Wife and husband Wendy and Brian Kaehler have been visiting Brian’s aunt Dolores in West Seattle for many years, and they always look forward to a very unique staple in her home.
On their most recent visit, Wendy and Brian decided to document Dolores’ prized miniature figurine house and share their story and photos with the West Seattle Herald (and of course our wonderful readers).
Now, this isn’t some plastic store-bought doll house made oversees and found in thousands of homes. It’s one of a kind, and made mostly by hand by Dolores (now in her 80s) and her mother in the 1970s. The detail is exhaustive.
Here is the story of Dolores’ home by Wendy and Brian:
1970 Miniature house treasure
By Wendy Kaehler; Photographs: Brian Kaehler
In the modest West Seattle home of Dolores Kaehler lies a surprise: a fully furnished and electrified miniature house decorated in 1970’s motif, a labor of love project by mother and daughter.
When I first filed my request with the city of Burien for the city manager's evaluation I was told it would take 30 days for it to be ready.
On April 1, 2013 when I got the information I was told it was a complete release of the evaluation documents. After reading through the materials I was given, it was clear the evaluation summary was incomplete. I contacted the city and asked for the missing information. When I was given a second release of evaluation information, I again noticed it appeared to be incomplete. After a third request I have been told what I have is final and complete now.
However, I still remain skeptical that I have received a complete release of information, as the section titled Overall is not formatted the same as the other sections. If supposedly all of the other council members made no comments in the Overall section, their names should be shown with n/a after their names. This is not the way the released Overall section appears. I suspect the media providers in the city may also have not received a complete release of information from the city either.
From King County Metro:
On Wednesday evening, April 10, starting at 9:00 PM, all King County and
Metro web pages and internet sites will be temporarily unavailable due toroutine maintenance. Metro’s Customer Information call center will also close at 9:00 PM on Wednesday.
While Metro and King County websites and general information will not be
available during the approximate one hour maintenance window, it is possible for Transit customers to obtain transit service schedules, trip plans and ORCA information by visiting the websites of Metro’s regional transit partners – Community Transit, Pierce Transit or Sound Transit – or the OPRCA website.
It is expected that Metro and King County websites will be restored after 10:00 PM, and Metro’s Customer Information phone line will resume service as usual on Thursday morning at 5:00 AM.
We apologize for any inconvenience, and your patience is appreciated.
