September 2015

by Sarah Cecil

If you work for a fairly sizable company, you may be entering your open enrollment season, when you can add or adjust your employer-sponsored benefits. While you probably should review all your benefits, you may want to pay special attention to your life insurance to determine if you and your family are adequately protected. 
How much life insurance do you need? You may hear that you require anywhere from seven to 10 times your annual income in life insurance coverage, but this rule of thumb might not be appropriate for everyone; the amount of insurance you need will depend on your individual situation. 
To help determine if a “gap” exists between the amount of insurance you have from your employer and the amount you need, your first step is to identify all those expenses that your family would face alone if you were gone. Here are some to consider:

By Tim Clifford

Knife-wielding shoplifter
On Sep. 14 police were called to a grocery store located on the 2600 block of S.W. Barton St. at 9:20 a.m. to investigate a report of a shoplifting suspect who pulled a knife on store employees. The store manager, one of the victims, explained the incident to police and shared what is reported to be strikingly clear video surveillance footage of the incident.

According to the manager’s account the suspect first caught the attention of store employees when she was spotted standing by a self-checkout machine that was switched off. After an employee informed the woman that the stand was closed she walked off carrying a canvas bag and began wandering through the aisles filling it with groceries. Eventually she returned near the check stands and sat down on the floor next to the Starbuck’s inside the store.

The official dedication of the rain gardens installed in two West Seattle neighborhoods was held Sept. 20 at th corner of 32nd SW and SW Kenyon.

After the ribbon cutting tours of three locations in the Sunrise Heights and Westwood neighborhoods were conducted.

King County’s contractor, Goodfellow Brothers Inc., constructed 29 roadside rain gardens on five blocks in
the Sunrise Heights and Westwood neighborhoods this year (orange blocks on map). That brings the total over the past two construction seasons to 91 roadside rain gardens on 15 blocks.

King County installed these roadside rain gardens to divert stormwater runoff away from the combined sewer system. When it rains, stormwater will filter through bioretention soil to a drain pipe, which will take water to a deep well to get absorbed underground. Keeping stormwater out of the sewer system will reduce overflows of combined sewage and stormwater into Puget Sound near the Fauntleroy ferry dock during large storms.

Candidates for City Council districts 1, 8 & 9 will meet in a forum at Fauntleroy Chuch UCC at 6:30-8 PM on Tuesday, October 6th

The church is located at 9140 California Ave SW.

Agenda
6 PM - Doors open. Campaign literature available. Informal conversation.
6:30 - Brief welcome & introduction. Moderated forum: District 1.
6:50 - Moderated forum: District 8 and 9.
7:30 - Moderated forum: questions from the audience
addressed to all 6 candidates
8:00 - Informal conversation with candidates.

Co-sponsored by the Westside Interfaith Network (WIN)
& The League of Women Voters of Seattle-King County

information from SDOT

Starting on Saturday, September 19, 2015, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will mark the existing eastbound bus-only lanes on the West Seattle Bridge with high visibility red markings. Similar to those installed in locations such as Battery Street and NE Pacific Street, these markings raise the profile of the transit-only lane and improve driver compliance with the restriction.

“As new bus service comes on line, this improvement will buses flow more freely from West Seattle to Downtown,” said Mayor Ed Murray. “Painted bus-only lanes have been effective in increasing driver awareness in other areas of the city, and we will continue to use the approach in other key transit corridors.”

The red lane markings and “BUS ONLY” legends will be installed at the beginning of the bus lane and spaced approximately every 500 feet. The markings are intended to make drivers more aware of the bus-only lane, making transit more reliable and a more competitive choice for thousands of bus passengers each day. This addition to the existing transit lane will help 378 buses each day reach their destinations more quickly.

The newest member of the Water Taxi family the MV Doc Maynard, named for one Seattle's founding fathers was dedicated at Pier 50 on Sept 18. King County Executive Dow Constantine was the primary speaker at the event.

The new vessel was built by All American Marine, designed by Teknicraft Design Ltd. at a cost of $6.25 million. It can carry 278 people (with more than 40 people on the bow), is 104 feet long and and speed along at 28 knots powered by biodiesel fuel.

The Doc Maynard has indoor and outdoor seating, accessible bathrooms, wheelchair tie-downs, space for 26 bicycles, and video screens that display safety, schedule and trip information. Officials said that advertising was under consideration on board.

Pending upgrades at the Seacrest Dock, which will begin soon, the new boat will serve on the Vashon Island Downtown Seattle run while the current boat, the MV Sally Fox goes in for warranty work.

Once the dock is ready, likely within 2 months, the MV Doc Maynard will serve the West Seattle- Downtown run on a regular basis.

The City of Seattle is working with local and federal agencies to manage traffic on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week during the visit of a large Chinese delegation. Seattle officials are working to support U.S. Secret Service efforts to provide security.

“Seattle is honored to host President Xi and his delegation during his visit to the United States,” said Mayor Ed Murray. “With an international visit of this stature and the accompanying federal security requirements, we want all travelers to be advised of the impacts to business as usual. Everyone needs to be patient, reevaluate their commute plans, add in extra travel time, and monitor traffic alerts for the latest information.”

Intermittent closures of freeways, regional arterials and downtown streets are expected. The flow of buses and cars in downtown Seattle and around the region will be disrupted.

Travelers in Seattle are advised to plan ahead and expect traffic delays on all three days. Those who can postpone trips downtown or work from home are encouraged to do so.

You are invited to join leading health care and wellness professionals from our community as they share some of the best information available for how we can all live our healthiest and best lives. This annual event provides a terrific opportunity to learn about the newest best-practices in health care. You can also improve your general well-being with free health screenings, free samples, physical fitness information and much more. The first 250 people who attend the Wellness Fair also receive a free gift!

This year, the fair focuses on prevention with a fully-programmed stage dedicated to demonstrations and interactive presentations on how to live your healthiest life. Thank you to the health care and wellness professionals who have so generously donated their time and expertise to share their knowledge with us on stage and at the fair, as well as to the City of Burien and CHI Franciscan Health for their generous sponsorship of the fair!

You are invited to join leading health care and wellness professionals from our community as they share some of the best information available for how we can all live our healthiest and best lives. This annual event provides a terrific opportunity to learn about the newest best-practices in health care. You can also improve your general well-being with free health screenings, free samples, physical fitness information and much more. The first 250 people who attend the Wellness Fair also receive a free gift!

This year, the fair focuses on prevention with a fully-programmed stage dedicated to demonstrations and interactive presentations on how to live your healthiest life. Thank you to the health care and wellness professionals who have so generously donated their time and expertise to share their knowledge with us on stage and at the fair, as well as to the City of Burien and CHI Franciscan Health for their generous sponsorship of the fair!

Photo by Patrick Robinson

If you would like to obtain some well considered financial advice, contact Sarah Cecil 206-938-6017.

Brought to you by Sarah Cecil Financial Advisor with Edwards Jones Investments.

Sponsored post.