January 2014

information from Seattle Parks

Seattle Parks and Recreation will host three community meetings in January to get feedback on the work done by the Parks Legacy Citizens’ Advisory Committee in preparation for a potential 2014 park and recreation funding ballot measure.

The meetings will be held:

· Thursday, January 23, International District/Chinatown Community Center, 719 8th Ave. S, at 6 p.m.

· Saturday, January 25, High Point Community Center, 6920 34th Ave. SW, 1 p.m. (free childcare will be provided)

· Thursday, January 30, Bitter Lake Community Center, 13035 Linden Ave. N, at 7 p.m.

The meetings will feature a brief presentation that describes how the committee has prioritized a list of potential investment initiatives. That will be followed by professionally facilitated workshops that seek community input in three specific areas.

information from the Westwood/Roxhill/Arbor Heights Community Council

Here are the notes from our January 7, 2014 meeting! We had 15 people in attendance, and plenty of room and chairs to spare in the upstairs room at the SW Branch of the Seattle Library on 35th & Henderson, if you want to come in February. The meeting was from 6:15pm to 7:45pm.

We need more volunteers for projects around Roxhill Park!

If you are unable to join us in person you can join us at Facebook, here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/WWRHAH

Introductions & Community News:

30th Ave sidewalk construction
30th Ave sidewalk construction

We had a lot of brief community news items this month.

30th Ave SW construction: the sidewalk from Roxbury south to 97th is finally underway for being built.
SDOT has work orders in to fix the “depression” on 30th between Barton & Cambridge. This was the breakage caused during the few months of bus re-routing onto 30th last year, and had gotten worse over time.

By Kyra-lin Hom

Pardon me, as this week I’m slipping on my film junkie jacket. With a background in screenwriting and film studies and so many tasty blockbusters to choose from recently, I simply can’t help myself. Plus it certainly doesn’t hinder matters that TV and film alike have begun directly targeting the squealing kid in all of us. Seriously, what is film these days but a trip to the corner of Personal Fantasy Avenue and Mindboggling Budget Lane?

Let’s take some winter movie headliners, for example: Thor 2, Catching Fire, Ender’s Game, and The Desolation of Smaug. Plus let’s not forget the rapidly incoming Captain America 2, Iron Man 3, Amazing Spiderman 2, everything DC comics (good luck catching up to Marvel now), and what looks to be the end all Godzilla spectacular.

Am I loving it? Well, kind of.

By Shakira Ericksen

The Des Moines City Council started off the New Year by swearing in newly elected officials and selecting a Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem.
Councilmembers Melissa Musser, Matt Pina and Dave Kaplan were all re-elected to serve until December 31, 2017.

Councilmember Kaplan was unanimously elected to the position of Mayor and Councilmember Pina was unanimously elected to the position of Mayor Pro Tem. Both positions are a two-year term length.

“Thank you for the opportunity to serve another four years as your City Councilmember, and thank you to the Council for selecting me to serve as Mayor of Des Moines for another two years. It's an honor and a privilege,” said Mayor Kaplan.

Everyday there’s been work done on the Artemis Hotel and soon there will be a tower crane in Des Moines. There hasn’t been a tower crane in Des Moines since the construction of the Marina 40 years ago, said Mayor Kaplan.

Deadline for receiving items for Community Calendar is 5 p.m. Wednesday for the following week’s Times/News. Events are published based on timeliness and space availability. Email submissions to: calendar@robinsonnews.com
Items can be accepted from nonprofit groups and government agencies only. Others may call Dona Ozier at 206-708-1378 for inclusion in our “Out & About” advertising section.

King County Water District No. 20 Board of Commissioners
Regular meetings are on the first Wednesday and third Tuesday of each month at 10 a.m. at the district office located at 12606 1st Avenue South, Seattle. For more information, please call 206-243-3990.

Free Community Dinner
Grace Lutheran Church
22975 24th Ave. S.
Every 2nd Tuesday of month, 5-6:30 p.m. Bring your family and friends. All are welcome.

Boulevard Park Library Events
12015 Roseberg Ave. S.
206-242-8662

Children & Families:
Family Story Times ~ Wed., Jan. 15,22 & 29, 6:30 p.m. All ages welcome with adult.

By Georgie Bright Kunkel

A new year, 2014, is upon us. No better time than now to contemplate the life we have lived and learn from our past. They say that if one does not learn from one’s mistakes one is sure to repeat them. But we no longer have a village sage to assist us in making decisions. The elders of the village community have been replaced by the gurus on the internet, some making sense and others spewing out garbage. To sort the wheat from the chaff, as they used to say, is a problem in our information society. Our lives are filled with advertising to convince us to buy this and buy that in order to be slimmer,
healthier, happier or whatever. Even medications that are riddled with side effects are advertised by young vigorous people on the screen who seem to have no fear of anything as the music lulls us away from the voice announcing the dangers of using this medication. Even though doctors prescribe, the medication costs more because it is advertised to the consumer on TV who is supposed to ask the doctor for a prescription.

Rosemary Herold of Burien, WA has been named to the President's List at Benedictine College, in Atchison, Kan., for the fall 2013 semester.

Students who distinguish themselves academically are named to the President's List or the Dean's List. To achieve the President's List, students must carry a minimum of 12 credit hours and have a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Of the 1,742 undergraduate students on campus, only 93 made the President's List this semester.

Founded in 1858, Benedictine College is a Catholic, Benedictine, residential, liberal arts college located on the bluffs above the Missouri River in Atchison, Kansas. The school is proud to have been named one of America's Best Colleges by U.S. News & World Report as well as one of the top Catholic colleges in the nation by First Things magazine and the Newman Guide. It prides itself on outstanding academics, extraordinary faith life, strong athletic programs, and an exceptional sense of community and belonging. It has a mission to educate men and women within a community of faith and scholarship.

By Peggy Sturdivant with additional reporting by Izzi Cooper

Even on the peak day of a summer heat wave I never think to myself, “I’ll just go to Golden Gardens and take a dip.”

So I just had to ask different groups of people standing in the sand on New Year’s Day, “Do you swim here any other day of the year?”

The answer was almost unanimously “No,” with the exception of an older gentleman who said, “I swim here every day except this one.”

I’ve lived in Ballard a quarter century but this was the first year that I even went down to see people do what’s referred to as the Polar Bear Plunge (a la Ballard). My husband spearheads an annual New Year’s Day Open House so I’m always frantically cooking and hiding my clutter in the closets. But I’d noticed a certain pink glow on the friends tucking into the buffet table and righteousness when they announced, “I did the plunge at Golden Gardens this morning.”

This year on New Year’s Eve I happened to be privy to several friends making their plans the night before to meet at Golden Gardens the following morning. “What time’s the plunge?” I asked.

Earlier this morning at City Hall, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray announced that he is replacing Interim Police Chief Jim Pugel with Harry C. Bailey.

Bailey is a former assistant Seattle police chief who retired in 2007. He had a reputation of keeping intimate ties with the community.

69-year-old Bailey has served 35 years in the Seattle Police Department, and most recently worked for former Mayor McGinn as a consultant on community relations in lieu of the Justice Department finding officers had engaged in incidents of unnecessary force.

Bailey also worked as director of security for the Seattle Sonics, Oklahoma Thunder, and Mount Zion Baptist Church.

Murray also said he will be putting together a 12-member committee and a search firm to help decide on a new chief, Murray hopes to decide on the new chief by April.

Murray explained his new chief pick would be someone with the character to restore the morale of the police department, as well as community’s respect.

Pugel, will return to the rank of assistant chief.

FASTSIGNS® of West Seattle, is holding their grand opening on January 16. Owned by James Pike and Jessica Lee, It is located at 6323 35th Ave. S.W.

The West Seattle Chamber of Commerce will be part of the Grand Opening, holding a special After Hours Event that evening from 5:30 to 7:30pm.

The event is open to the public and guests will be treated with complimentary refreshments, door prizes, demonstrations and a tour of the center’s showroom.

The new West Seattle franchise offers a full range of custom sign and graphics solutions including banners, site and architectural signs, window and vehicle graphics, floor graphics, point-of-purchase signs, safety and identification signage, trade show displays, dimensional letters, QR codes, and much more .