May 2013

UPDATE May 30
Video and a photo of the Lighthouse Cookies to be given away June 1 at the Loghouse Museum were added.

Original Post May 24
The Alki Point Light Station, built in 1913 will celebrate 100 years this summer with a special exhibit at the Log House Museum and tours of the Lighthouse itself.

On June 1, the museum at 3003 61st Ave. SW will open an expanded exhibit featuring artifacts, photos, memorabilia and handmade lighthouse cookies.

The exhibit is called “Alki Centennial Summer: From Lantern to Lighthouse."

The U.S. Coast Guard will open the Alki Lighthouse for public tours from 1 to 4 p.m. the same day and thereafter on weekends throughout the summer.

According to legend (and the U.S. Coast Guard) Hans Martin Hanson hung the first lantern to mark the hazardous Alki shoals and the southern entrance into Elliott Bay in the 1870's. The lighthouse was constructed in 1913 and has remained the same (but well maintained) ever since. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Lighthouse is located at 3201 Alki Avenue SW.

Updated details from this morning's story are found below.

Two employees at the White Center License Agency (a Department of Licensing sub-agency) on 16th Ave. S.W. were arrested on May 22 along with the father/son owners of T & C Premier Auto Sales (SeaTac) and T & C Wrecking (Seattle) for an alleged fraud and forgery scheme aimed at avoiding excise taxes on vehicle transfers, according to the Federal Way Police Department.

According to FWPD, a four month long investigation found the four were allegedly working in collusion “to forge and/or fabricate title documents to avoid paying excise taxes.”

Authorities believe the illegal operation has been going on for years, and “suspect hundreds, if not thousands, of vehicles have been illegally titled for the purpose of making money and defrauding the State of Washington of Motor Vehicle Sales/Use Taxes.”

The “Aluminum Overcast,” the Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EEA) restored B-17 bomber, returns to Boeing Field to offer rides Saturday, May 25 through Monday, Memorial Day. People can book flights at the Museum of Flight.

Pictured left is WWII B-17 pilot, Ken Wheeler, 90, of Gig Harbor, with current B-17 pilot, Rick Fernalld, at Paine Field, Everett, before the plane flew down to Seattle for the long weekend. Wheeler, who flew with the 15th Air Force out of Italy, is a docent at the Museum of Flight. If you see him, he might tell you about the time three of his four engines failed and he and his crew bailed with parachutes over Croatia. He landed in a tree, cut himself down, and escaped.

Burglar makes clean sweep of jewelry

May 16, 7:28 p.m., 6200 Block of 4th Ave NW -- A victim called police reporting that her home had been burglarized. The victim, who seems to have an impeccable inventory of her jewelry, listed the belongings that were missing: A Notre Dame class ring, a white gold sapphire ring, a sapphire ring with an aquamarine stone, two pearl necklaces, a Jakques Luman watch, gold earrings with jade earrings, and a platinum bracelet and ring set with sapphire and diamonds.

Police surmised that the burglar got in through the basement window, which had its latch damaged during forced entry and its screen window on the ground in the backyard. The police officer attempted to lift prints from the window but was unsuccessful. He left the victim a business card and follow-up forms.

‘He was getting in my face’

Press release from the Boulevard Park Place Walking Club

The residents of Boulevard Park Place Retirement Community have formed a walking club. They have been walking since January in support of their fellow residents who are involved in the Relay For Life of Highline cancer walk.

The team has 34 members who have collectively walked over 2,700 miles. Their goal is to reach 3,000 miles by June 8, the date of our Relay. Each team member has received a pledge of $1.00 per mile walked. It will be donated to Relay For Life of Highline in their name. The average age of this group is 79 years young. One of them has walked more than 410 miles, on her way to over 450 miles by June 8th.

SLIDESHOW:

he Highline Public Schools and Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence Second Annual Highline Public Schools Scholar-Athlete, Coach and Community Recognition Banquet was held Tuesday, May 21 at Mount Rainier High School. Last year's inaugural awards banquet was successful as enough money was raised in advance to donate from $500 to $2,500 to all 16 student athletes honored. This year, 16 athletes received from $1,000 to $3,000, totaling $22,000.

The event was organized by Terri McMahan, Highline Public Schools Director of Athletics. She organized last year's event. too. Scholarship recipients, coaches, community and business contributors and sponsors were honored, including the Highline Times for its sponsorship. Highline Times Editor, Eric Mathison, accepted the award.

The Burien Fire Department seems to be on a life-saving mission to rescue its new station at 900 SW 146th St. The state-of-the-art, but yet-to-be-opened, facility is plagued with infrastructure problems, from the massive roof, which hosts numerous stagnant puddles, to the 28-foot high brick facade, with rebar rusting through more than two hundred large brick sections, to those bright red vertical "apparatus bay" doors, each one warped at the seal.

The building cost the public $8.6 million, $9.2 million with tax. However, costs continue to mount as specialty contractors and architects work to identify the failing features, and try to find a fix, if there is one.

Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department Chief Mike Marrs gave a tour of the station to the Highline Times Wednesday, May 23, focusing on the key problems causing delays. He said every expert they have hired to examine the structure agrees with the departments' specific claims of structural faults.

The “Aluminum Overcast,” the Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EEA) restored B-17 bomber, returns to Boeing Field to offer rides Saturday, May 25 through Monday, Memorial Day. People can book flights at the Museum of Flight.

Pictured left is WWII B-17 pilot, Ken Wheeler, 90, of Gig Harbor, with current B-17 pilot, Rick Fernalld, at Paine Field, Everett, before the plane flew down to Seattle for the long weekend. Wheeler, who flew with the 15th Air Force out of Italy, is a docent at the Museum of Flight. If you see him, he might tell you about the time three of his four engines failed and he and his crew bailed with parachutes over Croatia. He landed in a tree, cut himself down, and escaped.

Iconic West Seattle animal rights advocate Teri Ensley will have an open house plant sale Saturday, June 1, beginning at 4:00 p.m. to benefit her Furry Faces Foundation. She had a tragic fire Jan. 9, 2012, and is bouncing back.

On May 23, the West Seattle Lions Club, which meets upstairs at the Senior Center of West Seattle, gave out 11, $1,000 scholarships to seniors graduating Chief Sealth, Seattle Lutheran, and West Seattle high schools, a tradition since 1956.

"We give scholarships based on criteria of citizenship and academic prowess and abilities," said Lions Club past president, Nancy Sorensen, a Burien-based attorney who pointed out that King County Executive Dow Constantine was a Lions Club scholarship recipient.

"The Lions Club is the world's largest service organization," she said. "There are more than 40,000 clubs all over the world. (…) The Lions Club worldwide has a primary commitment of hearing and vision because they were challenged by Hellen Keller who spoke at their convention in 1924 to be of service to those who could not see and could not hear."