April 2015

I urge a yes vote on the April 28th election of the bond for South King Fire & Rescue. The district has earned the best rating in Washington for overall performance. Prop. 1 will maintain this rating, which keeps insurance rates low, for fast emergency medical and cardiac response & help keep South King safe. It also includes needed fire station upgrades, decontamination areas, earthquake safety improvements, up-to-date fire trucks and ambulances, and technology infrastructure upgrades.

South King Firefighters respond to more than 17,000 emergency calls for firefighting, basic life support, and cardiac arrests. Prop. 1 will upgrade Firefighter Safety Equipment to meet current safety standards including up-to-date equipment for dangerous firefighting and life-saving situations.

Everyone has to vote, every vote counts. When you get the ballot, fill it out and send it right back. This levy requires a 60% super-majority to pass. The cost for the average homeowner of a $250,000 home would be about $78 per year, or $6.50 per month for these improvements. Vote YES in SUPPORT of our community's safety!

Wayne Corey

The Burien Arts Gallery, centrally located in downtown Burien, is calling for artists to apply via HYPERLINK "http://www.burienarts.org/"www.burienarts.org for consideration to have their work exhibited in the Burien Arts Gallery. We are interested in contemporary artists working on topical narratives in all genres, but specific to 2015, we would like to curate shows focusing on:

GLASS WORKS (in 2 dimensions and 3)
MULTI-MEDIA
FIBER ARTS

In addition, we are building several shows based upon the following themes:

METAMORPHOSIS
ALTERED REALITY
STORIES, PERSONAL & UNIVERSAL

The Burien Arts Gallery, opened in October 2013, is the only fine-arts gallery between West Seattle and Tacoma.

Entry form is easily accessible online and can be submitted immediately electronically.
HYPERLINK "http://burienarts.org/artist-entry-form/"http://burienarts.org/artist-entry-form/

SUBMISSIONS MUST INCLUDE:
Minimum of 4 and maximum of 10 samples of work
File types for images – JPEGS only, 300 dpi
Largest dimension to be 1200 - 1800 pixels

It’s time again to roll up those sleeves to tackle trash and beautify Burien during the city’s annual Clean Sweep, starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday, April 25, and sponsored by Recology CleanScapes.

From 8 a.m. – Noon, Burienites will be shredding confidential paperwork, picking up litter, eliminating graffiti, and sweeping sidewalks.

A continental breakfast will be available in the morning at Fire Station No. 2 on 8th Ave SW, along with a hot dog lunch in the afternoon to thank the volunteers. Participants will also receive a ticket that will enable them to enter to win prizes and giveaways. Winners will be announced at the end of the event! The top prize this year is a bicycle, generously sponsored by Collins Chiropractic.

By Tim Clifford

Less than 12 hours after reaching out to the public the King County Sheriff’s Office has identified their suspect in a Malicious Harassment incident that took place in SeaTac last month.

KCSO Sergeant BJ Meyers confirmed to the Highline Times that information from local tipsters has led detectives to identifying the suspect and his current whereabouts. While the identity and location of the suspect are currently known an arrest has not yet been made, nor has there been any contact between the Sheriff’s Office and the suspect.

Detectives are working closely with the King County Prosecutor's Office on handling the details of the charges being filed and timing the arrest.

“Detectives have not arrested him yet, there is still more work to be completed, but they are confident they have the correct person ID’d,” tweeted Sergeant Myers at 5:03 p.m. on April 2.

An arrest is expected sometime during the next week with a press release from KCSO to be issued at that time with more information concerning the suspect.

By Gwen Davis

Tuesday evening the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) rolled out its highly anticipated safety improvement plans for SW Roxbury. The need for improvements of the street first came forth in 2013.

West Seattle Transportation Coalition (WSTC) co-chair and City Council candidate, Amanda Kay Helmick facilitated the meeting.

SW Roxbury plans:

Jim Curtin of SDOT described the plans: “Not a whole lot has changed,” since the improvements were originally drawn said. “We are moving forward with changes in mid-October.” The Safe Routes To Schools (SRTS) procured the funding for the project. “As for the existing conditions, we look very closely at what’s happening on the corridor. It serves 13,000 vehicles to 25,000 vehicles every weekday. “One of the main reasons this project got born is because of speeds.”

“We've had very high 85th percentile speeds at Roxhill Elementary which in SDOT’s book is a big problem.”

What do you do if you've got a steep hill, overgrown with blackberry bushes, and other brush that must be cleared? A lot of people, including the City of Seattle call on goats to do the job.

Rent-A-Ruminant was contracted to clear the overgrowth on the stairs near SW Holden St during the week of April 7.

More than 40 goats converged on some of their favorite foods on the hillside and their tender Tammy Dunakin said, "This job is going to be about four days and around $3000. That's a rough estimate."

Despite the goats reputation for eating anything there are things they can't (or shouldn't) eat. "Rhododendrons, laurels, azealea, or other ornamental plants which can be problematic for goats. I scour the site before I put them in there. But other than that if it's green, they like."

Blackberrry bushes, thorns and all don't faze them. "I call it the mystery of goats. Its almost like the thornier the better. I've never had a goat with a bloody mouth.It's what they were designed to eat."

The goats will be on site until this Friday.

By Ed Shepherd
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Evergreen could not get the bat to connect on the ball all game for even one hit off Highline pitcher Nicole Jacobson on Monday and all the while the Pirates connected again and again in a 13-0 girls fastpitch win at Moshier Park in Burien.

"Nicole was tough out there," said Highline coach Emily Ezpeleta, whose team won by the 10-run rule so it was only a four inning long game. "And we hit the ball well."

The Pirates moved to 2-1 in the Seamount League and the Wolverines dropped to 3-2, but still are well in the race for a playoff berth with a lot of season left to play.

So, after this game, what was Wolverines' coach Darryl Felix emphasizing to his girls about the Pirates' win?

"We went from playing three teams with not the best pitching to a stud," said Felix.

Sums things up cogently, and appreciatively, even, of this game and specifically of Jacobson's awesome mound work.

Jacobson liked her efforts on the hill?

"Yes," said Jacobson, who notched 10 strikeouts while walking two. "It went well."

By Regional Administrator Calvin Goings

Government may be historically slow to adapt, but adapt we must. We’ve rebranded the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to stand for “Smart, Bold and Accessible.” The private sector implemented smart systems years ago. Now it’s our turn to catch up; America’s 28 million small businesses and many more potential entrepreneurs are counting on us.

We are working smarter and harnessing the power of technology to bring the SBA fully into the 21st century. On the debt financing side, we’ve implemented LINC, an online SBA platform connecting lenders with small businesses and entrepreneurs. We’ve established a predictive credit scoring method for our underwriters. And soon we’ll fully automate our loan application process under a program called SBA One.

Update from Seattle Police Blotter

by Detective Drew Fowler

Police are searching for a man who entered a West Seattle home Tuesday morning and pointed a gun at the resident before fleeing with several stolen purses.
A woman called 911 around 11:30 AM saying a man armed with a shotgun had entered her home in the 8100 block of 22nd Ave SW and locked her and her four-year-old son in a bathroom. The woman and her son climbed through a bathroom window and ran to a neighbors house where she called 911.
According to the victim the suspect left the home after stealing two purses and some prescription medications. The suspect is described as a white male, about 5’4″, thin build, with “scruffy” facial hair, wearing a black Kangol hat, black jacket, dark pants and sunglasses.
Officer searched the home and neighborhood and are still working to locate the suspect. Robbery detectives will be handling the investigation.

Original Post

Today, the Mayors of Seattle Oakland, Portland and San Francisco announced that, after consulting with each other and reviewing the changes to Indiana’s SB 101, the four Mayors agreed to lift their cities’ respective bans on City-funded travel to Indiana. The four Mayors issued the following statements:

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray
“After an unprecedented response from businesses, governments, faith organizations, non-profits, sports organizations and millions of people across America, Indiana’s legislature and governor amended their state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act to include LGBT people for the first time in that state’s history.

“While the most egregious parts of the law were changed, LGBT people still face a tough reality in Indiana and in many other places throughout the country. Indiana needs a comprehensive civil rights law like Washington’s, which protects people from discrimination regardless of who they are or who they love.