April 2013

Yesterday, police made a big move to prevent further selling of drugs to students from Ballard High School and Whitman Middle School, according to the SPD Blotter blog.

When police received several complaints about middle school and high school students buying marijuana and marijuana-laced brownies from a residence on the 6700 block of 15th Ave NW, Narcotics detectives looked into the matter. They had no problem identifying that students were going up to the back door to buy marijuana products.

The investigation climaxed yesterday morning, when SWAT officers, Narcotics detectives and North Precinct patrol officers served a search warrant on the suspected residence. (This warrant involved the police blocking off surrounding streets, if you were one of the people who had to make a detour yesterday.) Five adults were detained and interviewed. tTe primary suspect, a 50-year-old male, was arrested while he was still at his job.

The following was recovered from the house:

May 1 – 25, 2013
33 VARIATIONS
Northwest Premiere
By Moises Kauffman

Directed by Christopher Zinovitch

A mother coming to terms with her daughter. A composer coming to terms with his genius. And, even though they're separated by 200 years, these two people share an obsession that might, even just for a moment, make time stand still. Drama, memory and music combine to transport you from present-day New York to nineteenth-century Austria in this extraordinary American play about passion, parenthood and the moments of beauty that can transform a life. Nominated for 5 Tony Awards©. “Not to be missed” (New York Magazine). Appropriate for ages 16+.

CAST: Jody Mc Coy (Dr. Katherine Brandt), Lindsey Larsen (Clara Brandt), Matthew Gilbert (Ludwig Von Beethoven), Anton Schindler (Mike Spee), James Lyle (Anton Diabelli), Mark Tyler Miller (Mike Clark), Ruth Mc Ree (Dr. Gertrude Ladenburger)

CLICK HERE to read more, & to purchase tickets.

After five often-tortuous years, the Burien City Council is set to approve this month a shoreline master plan that will likely be approved by the state.

The council will hold a public hearing May 6 on a compromise plan worked out by an ad hoc committee. The hearing will be held as part of the regular 7 p.m. council meeting in the City Hall/Library multipurpose room, 400 S.W. 152nd St.

Lawmakers are expected to vote on the plan May 20 and send it on to the state Department of Ecology (DOE), which must OK it.

On May 23, 2011, the state agency approved Burien’s previous plan with a few required changes. But when the city and DOE could not agree on the changes, the state agency was set to formally deny the city’s plan but held off after the city decided to form a committee to come up with a compromise over a few sticking points.

The largest controversy concerned setback requirements along the city’s Puget Sound shoreline.

After fierce lobbying by marine waterfront homeowners, the council established a 20-foot setback between the ordinary high water mark and a home or building.

Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Seattle Sports Advisory Council are hosting a track meet at West Seattle Stadium, 4432 35th Ave. SW, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 1.

Field events include the Pole Vault, Long Jump, Triple Jump, Shot Put, Discus, High Jump, Javelin and Hammer Throw.

Track Events are the 100 M Dash, 200 M Dash, 400 M Dash, 1,500 M Race Walk, 3,000 M Race Walk (race walk will be judged), 800 M Run, 1,500 M Run, 5,000 M Run, 4 X 100 M Relay and 4 X 400 M Relay.

Athletes can enter as may events as desired. This meet is a USA Track and Field sanctioned event sponsored by the Seattle Sports Advisory Council. The entry fee is $5 per event.

Participants can register online at https://class.seattle.gov/parks/Start/Start.asp (Please use Code 99489), or by calling Antoinette Daniel at 206-684-7092, or email her at Antoinette.daniel@seattle.gov.

Seattle Parks, Feet First and the Russell Family Foundation are presenting a free training session, Watershed Walks, on how to engage walking groups and how to teach how environmental threats affect our watersheds and what individuals can do to reduce their impact on local ecologies.

The session will take place from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Southwest Branch Library meeting room, 9010 35th Ave. SW. Saturday April 27.

The watershed walks provide an enjoyable way for people to learn about the relationship between their actions and a clean environment, and provide participants an opportunity to experience their community in a different, more personal way.

Parks’ Camp Long Naturalist Jeanie Murphy-Ouellette and Feet First Coordinator Darcy Edmunds will lead the training.

The Watershed Walks Program is designed to train Neighborhood Walking Ambassadors how to educate residents about the importance of watersheds, using the natural ecology of Roxhill Bog and the Longfellow Creek/Duwamish River Watershed in West Seattle as a training case study.

At this training you will learn:

Press release:

The Environmental Science Center (ESC), Cascadia Consulting Group, Master Gardeners, and Sustainable Burien 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, May 19th, 2013 from 2:00pm – 4:00pm.

A beautiful garden or yard depends on healthy soil. Learn how to achieve this while also keeping the Puget Sound and our community vital. Master Gardener, Mary Machala, will show you examples and tools to use to build soil health inexpensively.

Gretchen Muller, Senior Associate at Cascadia Consulting Group, will also speak on low-impact development practices and protecting our watershed.

The Southwest Suburban Sewer District has applied to the city of Burien for permits to construct a new operations facility consisting of an administrative building, a vehicle storage and maintenance building, a vehicle washing area, a fuel storage and filling station, material storage bins and associated public and employee parking, landscaping and storm water detention.

The new facility will be at 17874 Des Moines Memorial Dr. S.

Here is a part of the notice of application from the city:

For this proposal, the City of Burien is using the “optional Determination of Non Significance (DNS) process” under the State Environmental Policy Act (WAC 197-11-355). The City expects to issue a DNS for the proposal. Individuals who submit timely written comments to the City (as indicated below) will become parties of record and will be notified of any decision and environmental determination made on this project.

Most of our new college graduates have a hard time finding jobs, yet Boeing has to import young people to fill its positions that need math and science skills.

Well, of course--reducing taxes prevents schools from being adequately funded. If a student, in spite of that, finishes with a good background in technical subjects, he also finishes with a large debt.

He can't afford to pass on his knowledge by becoming a teacher; he needs the much larger pay he can get from a job in industry.

Science and math classes are left to be taught mostly by people whose primary interests and talents aren't in those subjects. Over the decades, fewer and fewer qualified people are available to even consider teaching them.

Should we keep on letting it get worse, or should we ask the investors in our high-tech businesses to pay a little income tax to finance a quality of education that will produce enough talented employees for both our schools and our industries?

Bruce Pringle
Normandy Park

Press release:

The Port of Seattle Commission has selected Stephanie Bowman of Seattle to fill the seat vacated by Rob Holland.

Bowman, executive director of the Washington Asset Building Coalition, is the former manager of federal government affairs at the Port of Tacoma.

“We very much look forward to working with Stephanie,” said Commission President Tom Albro. “She has the background and skills to be an outstanding member of our commission and asset to the port. Her in-depth knowledge of port issues will enable her to hit the ground running.”

Bowman’s position on the commission will be on the King County ballot in November, when voters will elect a commissioner to serve a full four-year term.

“We are so appreciative of the tremendous group of applicants who sought the position, especially all the finalists,” said Albro. “Their interest is a testament to our region’s commitment to the port, economic development, growing jobs and the success of future generations.”


Press release:

This Friday Sound Transit will celebrate the start of construction of the future Angle Lake Station and 1.6-mile elevated guideway that will extend light rail service from Sea-Tac Airport to South 200th Street in SeaTac.

Special guests U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Jay Inslee will join Sound Transit board members, Washington State Department of Transportation Secretary and Sound Transit Board member Lynn Peterson, state Rep. Dave Upthegrove, Port of Seattle Managing Director Mark Reis, and SeaTac Mayor Tony Anderson to kick off the groundbreaking event.

The public will have an opportunity to hear about the project construction schedule, as well as view a 3-D animation of the elevated guideway and design illustrations of the station and public art.

When complete, the South 200th Link Extension will include a parking garage, bicycle and pedestrian improvements, and a plaza area. Service is scheduled to begin in late 2016, at the same time Link service begins to the University of Washington.