July 2013

Eastridge Church will give away 500 backpacks for the 2nd year and offer a lot of kids activities at the Delridge Community Center, 4501 Delridge Way SW on Saturday, July 20. The event starts at 1pm. The backbacks will be filled with school supplies.

included in the festivities are a kids area and BBQ lunch. Kids can enjoy inflatable games, face painting, a clown and carnival games. All activities are free! BBQ lunch is for purchase.

CLARIFICATION: While Burien CARES animal control officer Ray Helms is scheduled on duty at the CARES shelter 40 hours per week, he is also on call for emergencies 24/7 and many times has responded to 911 calls after hours and on days the shelter is closed.

“I want to reassure Burien residents that local animal control is available to them on an emergency basis at all times,” Helms said. “Part of the increased funding referred to in your article is to cover the salary of an additional part-time, nationally trained animal control officer to provide back-up coverage at times when I am out sick, on vacation, or otherwise unavailable. This was one of the improvement recommendations made in the recent audit report.”

HERE IS OUR PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

Burien lawmakers on a 4-3 vote have extended to May 30, 2016 the Burien CARES animal services contract and increased its funding from $120,000 to $170,000 per year.

Animal services has been discussed by Burien council members for a long time and is a contentious issue in the current council election races.

Update, Aug. 19

We stopped by and snapped a picture of the location. We imagine that they'll be taking out some of the foilage to provide access to a view of the shoreline.

Original, July 18

Seattle Parks and Recreation and Seattle Department of Transportation are working together to improve public street ends and increase shoreline access. Select street ends along Lake Washington, Lake Union, Puget Sound, and other waterways in Seattle provide physical and/or visual access to the shoreline and water for all Seattle residents to enjoy.

In Ballard, they will be improving the shore at the (imaginary) end of 36th Ave NW, located in Ballard on the north side of the canal and adjacent to the Burke Gilman trail, past the train bridge a bit. Proposed improvements include an overlook, bicycle rack and a picnic table.

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Kids on bikes are invited to ride in the West Seattle Grand Parade July 20th as part of the "Kidical Mass" this Saturday. Riders of all ages are welcome and kids and families are encouraged to join in the fun.

Kidical Mass is a grass roots movement to get more kids and families excited about bike riding. Escort your child on their decorated bike as you join Sustainable West Seattle, West Seattle Spokespeople and West Seattle Bike Connections in the parade for this family-friendly ride.

Meet at Alki Bike and Board 2606 California Ave. SW at 11 AM Saturday July 20th to ride in the parade. For more details contact alkistu@hotmail.com.

Rat Cit Art City is hosting another "Live Performance Extravaganza" in White Center Aug. 8. Artists will be placed all over the streets of White Center to perform for the public during the 3 hour festival from 6 to 9pm.

The organizers are looking for:

• Dancers-Dance Troupes
• Painters-Live Artists
• Spoken Word Artists that can perform without a microphone
• Poi Dancers
• Musicians
• Plate Spinners
• Interpretative Dancers
• One Man Bands
• Magicians

Please send a description and any links to your work you may have to be considered to ratcityartcity@gmail.com

From Sustainable Ballard

Acting as a neighborhood partner in Waste Management’s Think Green Challenge, Sustainable Ballard was recognized for its efforts to encourage neighbors to reduce the garbage they send to the landfill. Sustainable Ballard will direct the $3,300 in prize money to help fund projects that support the Ballard Community.

“We’re proud of our Ballard friends and neighbors for their efforts to reduce their ‘waste lines,’” says Sustainable Ballard president Jenny Heins. “We’re thrilled that this money will go to helping those who are helping our community.”

Individuals and groups with a great new idea for helping the Ballard community are invited to apply for funding. Proposals must be for a new project initiated by a Ballardite and benefiting the neighborhood. Proposals, which are due by July 31, 2013, can be sent to info@sustainableballard.org and must include the following information:

1. Name, phone and email

2. Project description (including how the work will be done in Ballard)

3. Fund amount requested ($3,300 or less)

Highline Cancer Center press release:

Cancer is a word heard too often both here at Highline Medical Center and in our community.

That is why we are fighting back against this disease with our long-time partner – the American Cancer Society – by encouraging you to consider taking part in the Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3) a historic research study has the potential to change the face of cancer for future generations.

CPS-3 will enroll a diverse population of men and women between the ages of 30-65 across the United States and Puerto Rico, to help researchers better understand the lifestyle, environmental, and genetic factors that cause or prevent cancer.
Researchers will use the data from CPS-3 to build on evidence from a series of American Cancer Society studies that began in the 1950s, which have collectively involved millions of volunteer participants.
Data from past studies have helped establish monumental findings, including the link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer.

If you are between the ages of 30 and 65 years old and have never been diagnosed with cancer, you are eligible to enroll.

Press release:

Senior Planner David Johanson has been awarded the City of Burien Innovative Stewards Award for his work on the Shoreline Master Plan (SMP) update which was adopted by the City Council earlier this year and now is awaiting state DOE approval.
Senior Planner David Johanson has been awarded the City of Burien Innovative Stewards Award for his work on the Shoreline Master Plan (SMP) update which was adopted by the City Council earlier this year and now is awaiting state DOE approval.

Adoption of the Shoreline Master Program update ended five years of study, negotiations and countless meetings involving the city, shoreline property owners and state Department of Ecology officials. Johanson served as the lead City official in the update process.

The co-worker who nominated him for the award wrote: “David had to collaborate with myriad people regarding the SMP…David is extremely tactful and has been a wonderful representation of the City throughout the SMP process.”

Press release:

Latino Theatre Projects and Burien Little Theatre are joining forces again this summer to present a co-production of the passionate Beauty of the Father, written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Nilo Cruz, opening Aug. 2 in English.

This production follows a successful and critically acclaimed co-production of Cruz’ Anna in theTropics last summer.
In Beauty of the Father, a young American woman travels to Spain to meet her long-estranged artist father and falls for his Moroccan companion.

Cruz explores the conflict between love and sacrifice in an unrequited love triangle in Andalusia, where the restless ghost of Spanish poet/playwright Federico Garcia Lorca wanders the streets, conversing with the living.

This show is suitable for ages 13-plus due to some adult themes and content.

Beauty of the Father will be performed at Burien Little Theatre from opening night on Aug. 2 through Aug. 25. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Why are Burien citizens still paying newsletter printing and mailing costs to send the Burien City Newsletter to Area Y/White Center citizens?

Eight months ago the citizens of Area Y turned down by a 2 to 1 vote annexation to the City of Burien. Burien citizens were told during the annexation campaign run by the City of Burien that the newsletter was being sent to Area Y residents to give them information about a city they might be joining. The cost of the newsletter production and mailing cost and is still costing the citizens of Burien thousands of dollars out of the Burien budget to mail to Area Y.

Yesterday, I went up to see a friend of mine who lives in AreaY. To my surprise, he was still receiving City of Burien newsletters and not just one but two of them each time the city sent out a newsletter. I am wondering why the citizens of Burien are still paying to send City of Burien newsletters to the citizens of Area Y when they rejected annexation.

In these tough economic times for the City of Burien, it seems strange that Burien would still be mailing to non citizens. Can anyone explain why this is still costing Burien taxpayers money and still happening?