June 2014

SeaTac man assaulted after demanding neighbor stop selling crack
A SeaTac man called 911 on the evening of June 11th alleging that his neighbor had assaulted him when he demanded that the neighbor stop his drug dealing practice. According to the paperwork obtained from the King County Sheriff’s Department, the man told police that he had a few drinks in his apartment and worked up the courage to go and confront his drug-dealing neighbor. When the man knocked on his neighbor’s door and told him to “stop selling crack,” the neighbor allegedly punched him two times in the face and closed the door. The neighbor was charged with assault in the fourth degree but received no drug related charges.

Wanted teen criminal arrested after vomiting in Burien Library

From the 1960s through the 1980s, sixth-graders in the Highline School District came home from their week at Camp Waskowitz with a fir seedling to plant in their yards as a reminder of lessons about forestry and conservation. Many of those trees still dot our landscape and have become a significant part of our local urban forest.

Now the Highline Historical Society and the Waskowitz Foundation are teaming up to co-sponsor a contest to identify the biggest Waskowitz tree still growing in our area. If you know of a Waskowitz tree and would like to enter the contest, you’ll find an entry form at www.highlinehistory.org. The form includes space for you to tell the story of this tree and how it has grown. Contest entry fee is $5. Submission deadline is September 1, 2014.

The business sponsor of this contest is Emerald Tree Service, and students in the University of Washington’s School of Environmental and Forestry Sciences will do the final judging. The owner of the winning tree and the student or family who planted the tree each will receive a plaque to commemorate this achievement, along with the bragging rights this honor brings.

CANTON, Ga. From Carolina Dreaming Appetizer Meatballs in the Southeast to Easy PB&J Breakfast Tarts in the West, our nation is filled with diverse, delicious peanut butter-packed dishes that reflect regional palates. To find the best hometown recipes, Southern Peanut Growers conducted its first “PB My Way” regional recipe contest and announces local winners.

“We called on residents nationwide to celebrate our ‘United States of Peanut Butter’ by sharing their favorite PB-powered recipes,” said Leslie Wagner, executive director for Southern Peanut Growers. “After receiving recipe submissions from coast-to-coast, the top five semi-finalists in each region were put out to the public to pick their favorites. In America’s kitchens, our local food traditions may be unique, and our culinary preferences may be diverse, but we have a common bond: love for peanut butter.”
Western Region Winner

By Eric Mathison

The Highline School Board is expected to approve July 9 a $227.5 million general operating fund budget for the 2014-2015 school year.

With projected revenues up because of higher enrollment and increased state money, the district will add programs to address its ambitious new strategic plan.

To help meet its goal of having students perform at grade level by third grade, the district plans to hire 21 additional teachers to reduce class sizes in kindergarten and first grade. $60,000 will be budgeted for additional initiatives.

For middle school students, the district will launch a middle school international baccalaureate program at Pacific Middle in Des Moines. Neighboring Mt. Rainier High currently offers a baccalaureate program.

Free tuition to the Camp Waskowitz outdoor education program will be available for sixth-graders moving from elementary to middle schools.

To increase high-school graduation rates, administrators plan to add four “success deans” to the secondary schools.

By Eric Mathison

Burien lawmakers reviewed the city’s tree preservation ordinance at their June 16 meeting.

City Manager Kamuron Gurol emphasized city staffers were just looking for guidelines from the council members in a process that would take several months before changes could be adopted.

The regulations on removing large trees apply only to undeveloped vacant lots or property to be developed as part of a land use review or permit. Trees in designated critical areas are regulated by another city ordnance.

Community Development director Chip Davis emphasized that trees on already developed lots are not protected by the ordinance and may be removed without a permit unless they are subject to a previous landscape agreement. The regulations also only pertain to healthy trees, Davis noted.

Councilmember Gerald Robison said changes he favors include changing the definition of “significant” trees, possibly extending the ordinance to developed properties in some cases and enacting a “saner” tree replacement requirement.

Robison noted trees grow rapidly in the Pacific Northwest.

Hello Scott Anthony:

Thank you for the article, I’m in full agreement with you.
It is a holiday that I do not look forward to at all. Every year I have to hose down the trees, yard, house, sheds for hours before the fireworks start in my neighborhood, I’m very concern about a fire.

And try to sleep through all that noise. And my dog suffers too I have to go to the veterinarian to get tranquilizers for my dog so she will be comforted through the noise.

I wish the holiday would be eliminated completely.

Kathy Willborg
West Seattle Resident

To the Editor:
The big political news over the last few weeks centered around the stunning defeat of the House Majority Leader– Eric Cantor. Although the reasons will be debated, one of them had to do with the notion that he had become too Liberal; that he was compromising with Democrats on issues like immigration.

My God, the country was founded on working together, now it’s a political mistake. It seems we don’t elect people to move the country forward; we elect them to go to Washington to fight! Just listen to the political ads and that’s what you’ll hear – “Elect me and I’ll fight for you”.

Had enough?

With Congress hitting all-time lows on productivity and approval ratings, isn’t it time we get back to “We The People?” If you are frustrated by the lack of our government working to move us forward, I urge you to look at No Labels, a citizens movement of 93 (and counting) Democrats, Republicans and Independents dedicated to a new politics of problem solving.

Police blotter 6.19.2014

by Tim Clifford

Roving, robbing and stealing
Three victims were robbed by a large gang of thieves on the 1700 block of Alki Ave. S.W. between 2:50 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. on the morning of June 14. The first victim, a female, was walking with her friend when they encountered the group of 7 suspects and stopped and talked with them for about 10 minutes. One of the suspects asked the victim if she could use the victim’s cell phone to call her own cell phone which she claimed to have lost earlier that night. The victim passed her the phone but noticed some resistance when she tried to get it back.

The suspect reached out and suddenly hugged the victim; another suspect did the same to the friend. During these unexpected embraces the victim and her friend could feel both suspects attempting to pick pocket them and perusing through the victim’s purse. At this the point the group wandered off and the victim and friend went home to discover that the victim’s cell phone, ID card, debit card and keys were missing. The victim hesitated to call police for about 15 minutes.

By Kyra-lin Hom

Most of us have heard the argument that consuming violent media generates a violent mindset if not violent behavior. Meh, the evidence is inconclusive. But while the jury has so far declared a mistrial on the specific pros and cons, it is known that observing and interacting with violent media does stimulate the same areas of the brain as real physical violence. This same phenomenon is why watching professionals or performing visualization exercises does actually improve performance. Why then hasn't this principle been applied to other social elements? With the rate of media consumption per American predicted to rise to 15.5 hours a day by 2015, isn't this an important question?

(And for those who are wondering, it is considered possible to consume more than 24 hours of media a day because of simultaneous data streams such as watching Youtube during muted commercial breaks of a TV program.)

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Discovery Shop
4535 California Ave. S.W.
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All women's clothing is reduced 40% through Thursday the 26th and all items with pink tags are $1 starting the 27th.  Start your 4th of July celebration with holiday appropriate clothing.  All clothes with red, white or blue are 40% off July 1-3 and all items with blue tags are half price starting July 1.  Our customers often comment about how much fun the volunteers in our shop seem to be having.  Well, we are and you can, too, when you volunteer to spend one 4 hour shift a week with us.  The all volunteer run, non profit American Cancer Society shop will be closed July 4, of course, open Sundays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and all other days 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  Follow our blog at www.discoveryshopwestseattle.or  and LIKE us on Facebook.

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