June 2013

While burning your homework on the last day of school is certainly a strong symbolic gesture of passage into the care-free summer months, it’s also considered arson by Seattle Police.

From the files of “those darn kids,” Seattle Police investigated two homework burning incidents on the last day of school, June 14, and one of them resulted in the arrest of a minor for possession of drugs and weapons and a separate charge for arson.

The first incident didn’t result in any arrests, but it did result in a few chuckles as Seattle Police searched for three kids near the intersection of California Ave. S.W. and S.W. Lander. Police, from their Twitter account, joked that their sketch artist already had a composite sketch ready for their suspects. In actuality, it was a screenshot of Beavis and Butt-head, characters from the MTV cartoon of the same name.

In the second event, police were driving through Schmitz Park around 6:30 p.m. on June 14 when they smelled smoke, according to SPD.

A Better Burien for Animals – take the survey!

My organization is Feral Cat Assistance and Trapping, my name is Pamela Staeheli. I would like for you to participate in taking this anonymous survey so that I can provide the Burien Council and candidates with community feedback through this survey. The Council might be revisiting the animal control contract sometime this year. The survey will help clarify what the community wants and provide the council with better information to make a decision.

Animal control service will also be important during this year’s local Burien elections where the voters of Burien will be electing four Burien council members. To help inform voters, each of the 12 candidates will be asked to take the survey and participate in an endorsement process.

Please support this effort by taking the survey, telling your friends and neighbors about the survey, and finding out about Burien candidates. We’ll post the results of the survey at several different locations.
Thanks!

Please click on the link below.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Burien_Animal_Survey

Pamela Staeheli

School is out and the weather is perfect...all the more reason to be extra careful as children and walkers alike are streaming outside and lining the sides of the roads.

They are not thinking about the white line that they should stay behind or the car coming up the road.

Therefore it is our responsibility as drivers to be more aware. Kids just want to have fun this summer and thinking of safety is one of the last things on their minds (unless they have some really smart parents who are on top of this).

So when you see children or walkers, slow down and just think that they will suddenly turn in front of you, without even seeing you.

Let's all stay safe.

Karen Steele
Normandy Park

When one candidate running for a City Council position recently contacted the City of Burien about political booths for the Strawberry Festival, that candidate was told that no political campaigning promoting individuals, an issue or party was allowed from booths at the event. This was the city's policy. The only thing that political groups or individuals could do from the booths was to provide general information to educate the public on things like where to vote or how to register to vote.

However, Joey Martinez, the 33rd Dems, the 34th Dems and two potential Port Commissioners violated the city rules for the festival and directly distributed campaign materials for a specific candidate. None of these booths were registering voters or explaining rules for voting. City staff were at the festival and could easily have stopped this material from being handed out or closed the renter's booth down. They did nothing.

(Editor’s Note: This letter was sent to the Port of Seattle with a copy to the Highline Times)

Dear Commissioners and Mr. Tay Yoshitani:
The City of Normandy Park congratulates the Port of Seattle on its effort to reduce storm water pollution from the airport, and better protect downstream communities from these water quality impacts.

For some time, our city has been concerned about impacts from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport storm water discharges to waterways upstream of our City. In particular this includes, Lake Reba, Miller Creek, and Walker Creek.

Over the last decade, the Port of Seattle has made a substantial investment in upgrading the airport’s storm water system, and implementing new treatment in a number of locations.

Investments have included re-routing of more contaminated storm water locations to the Port’s Industrial Wastewater System, constructing new, or enlarging existing storm water ponds, and putting additional treatment/filtration online to provide an additional polishing of storm water prior to release to the waters of the state.

Burien Arts press release:

Did you know that Burien arts started the Strawberry Festival in Burien back in the ‘70s? It's true. It got too big for the little non-profit to handle, so they passed the torch to the city. We are still one of the anchors of the festival. We have not missed one year.

We are the only non-profit food vendor. We operate solely with volunteer help. This year we got a lot of help from a group of students from Highline High School and the Skills Center. We would have been lost without them.

Because of our great team and the great weather we were able to have a record breaking year in sales, up about 20% from last year.

We had only one gallon of the fabulous northwest berries left unopened when the festival closed at 4:00 PM on Sunday. We have gallons of leftover juice from straining the frozen berries. The juice was brought to the Bread of Life Mission in downtown Seattle. They were very appreciative.

The plastic tubs that the berries are packed in are washed and reused and/or recycled.

Press release:

A residential burglary attempt of an occupied house occurred on Sunday night on the same street as an attempted abduction of a 3-year-old child last week. Detectives believe it may be the same suspect in both cases.

In the latest incident, the suspect attempted to enter a bedroom window of a house in the 10400 block of 3 Ave SW just after 10pm. A 1-year-old child was sleeping in the room and the child’s mother had stepped out of the room for a moment but returned and saw the suspect pushing on the window screen. The child’s mother screamed and the suspect fled.

A relative who was home at the time jumped out the window and chased the suspect losing him near SW106th and 2 Ave SW. The suspect was wearing a grey hoodie and tan shorts.

When deputies arrived in the area they saw a red Mazda Pickup driving quickly out of the area. When deputies tried to stop the vehicle, a female passenger exited the vehicle and the vehicle sped off. The vehicle crashed a short distance away and the suspect fled on foot. The suspect was wearing clothes that matched those of the burglary suspect and was described as “tall and skinny.”

Press release:

After a highly successful pilot program, the Port of Seattle is extending live music performances through the end of the year at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

A twelve-week pilot program began in March with live music performances from local, Northwest artists at multiple locations in the terminal as part of the Sea-Tac Airport Experience The City of Music program - a cooperative effort by the Port of Seattle, Seattle Music Commission and PlayNetwork.

“There has been a tremendously positive response from the traveling public for the live performances,” said Port of Seattle Commissioner John Creighton. “Passengers have been pleasantly surprised by the entertainment and our performers have received encouraging feedback. It really does improve the passenger experience and celebrate our unique Northwest musical heritage. ”

Two live music performances will continue to take place Monday through Friday, ranging between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. at various locations throughout the terminal, both pre- and post-security.

Press release:

Scammers are calling Washington residents claiming to represent various Washington courts and demanding residents wire money by 10 a.m., or face arrest.

People who receive these calls assume the calls must be about outstanding fines or warrants they are unaware of. It’s only when they follow up with the court they discover there is no violation, and confirm they got scammed.

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) believes the scammer is spoofing court phone numbers, so it looks like a court is calling. Most recently, the scammers are using the Des Moines Municipal Court’s phone number.

Keep these facts in mind if you receive a call:
• Courts never call people to collect debts;
• Non-payment of debt is not a crime; and
• Most courts accept cash or credit cards and don’t encourage wiring money as an option.

The AGO encourages consumers to be skeptical of any call demanding money.

Press release:


Now it’s easier to hop on your bike, head into town and do your shopping at the local businesses.

We’ve just installed a couple dozen, sparkling new, custom-designed bike racks around town, through the collaborative efforts of WABI Burien and the City of Burien’s Parks and Public Works Departments. And there are more racks coming!

Come to the ribbon-cutting ceremony and give a big, happy shout-out with the rest of the community. These bike racks have been a long time coming and there’s cause for celebration.

Date & Time: Saturday, June 29 at 11:00 a.m.
Place: 639 SW 152nd Street (Out in front of Bumbershoot Books)

There will be refreshments and giveaways. A FREE raffle. Discounts offered by local businesses. And plenty of applause and good feelings. (Ride your bike to the ribbon-cutting, wearing your helmet, and we’ll give you an extra raffle ticket.)

Locations for all the racks: Burien Bike Rack Map
Bike Rack Project Overview: Bike Racks for Burien
Details: ”All things Bike Rack”