October 2016

To the editor:

by Ken Robinson
Editor

What is the poison nature of Burien City Hall that has led to the departure of five department heads in the last two years?

One city attorney quit the first day of work without coming to the office. He cited "family" considerations. His replacement left after little more than a year. A long-time parks department head left mid-year of 2016. The economic development man left mid-summer. And then the council fired the city manager.

And now, no one is talking. The mayor won't return calls for comment. The new city attorney won't call back. The deputy mayor has not been heard from. None of the council members are willing to speak.

What has been going on is like a TV mini-series in its third year. In a town where drama is pretty hard to find, the council seems to be making its own. They already dealt with the problem  of people who smell bad hanging out at the library. And they really went after residents who insist on displaying junk cars in their yards. 

By Lindsay Peyton

It was an important lesson wrapped in a fun package.

Emery, the 9-1-1 Emergency Penguin, wants children to know how, when and why to make a life-saving phone call.

The new, child-friendly character is part of King Countys program to make the first response hotline more accessible to the diverse communities surrounding Seattle.

Today, the county presented its seventh workshop at the Woodridge Park Apartments community center, located at 12424 28 Avenue South in Burien.

Children gathered around their desks and colored pictures of Emery, filled out activity sheets and took 9-1-1 pop quizzes. Teachers from King County set-up possible scenarios, asking students what to do if they called the number by accident and what reasons are there to dial.

Kayreen Lum, program manager III for the county, said creating a lesson that appeals to diverse populations was a high priority, especially since there are 170 languages spoken in area schools.

King County is so very diverse, she said. We really needed to reach out.

Lum said talking to young children was equally important.

To the editor:

On September 13, 2016, the Census Bureau released its latest income and
poverty data.  The good news was that 3.5 million fewer Americans lived in poverty in 2015 compared to 2014.  In addition, the poverty rate for
children also dropped from 21.1 percent to 19.7 percent.  This is good
newsâ•"no doubt about it.  But we still have one in ten US households
trying to make ends meet with incomes below $13,300 last year.  We still
have one in seven Americans living below the federal poverty line (just
over $24,000 for a family of four).  And sadly, we still have almost one
in five American children living in poverty.  But the candidates for
president did not address the issue of poverty in their  debate on
September 26,2016.

So what can we do about this?  As candidates vie for our votes in the
upcoming elections, we must demand that they start to address the issue of
poverty by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which, along
with the Child Tax Credit, lifted 9.2 million people out of poverty in
2015.  The problem is that the EITC currently excludes millions of younger

Anthony Spain, Music Director
On Friday, October 28, 2016 the NWSO presents a “Family Concert” at the Highline Performing Arts Center at 7:30pm. Children are invited to wear family friendly costumes to this family oriented concert. After the concert, children will also be invited to come up
on stage and try out instruments under the guidance of Northwest Symphony Orchestra musicians.

Musical highlights include-
Star Wars Suite- John Williams
Capriccio Espagnol- Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Ride of the Valkyries- Richard Wagner
World Premiere Overture- Brad Hawkins
Peer Gynt Suite #1- Edvard Grieg
Jig from St. Paul’s Suite- Gustav Holst (with students from Mount Rainier High School Orchestra)

Tickets are available by calling Brown Paper Tickets at (800)
838-3006, or you can order them online at www.brownpapertickets.com

Tickets-
Adult - $20
Senior (Over 60) - $15
Student - $15
Group Rate - $12 per person when total ticket purchase is 10 tickets or more

You are invited to a Meet & Greet event for Pramila Jayapal on October 16, from 4-6 PM. Pramila is a State Senator and Candidate for US Congress, WA-
07.

Organized and hosted by Toni Lysen and Dorene Carrel, it will be held at
the home of King and Toni Lysen, 12864 Shorecrest Dr. SW, Burien. Please RSVP to Toni Lysen at tlysen@comcast.net or 206-244-6611.

Contributions are appreciated, but not required. Other hosts includ
e King Lysen, Georgette Valle, Dr. Arun Jhaveri, Bill Tracy, and Jack Block, Jr.

The evening is sponsored by Drinking Liberally - Burien

By Lindsay Peyton

The proposed operating budget for Burien for 2017-2018 would allow the
e city to increase staff- adding positions previously eliminated during the last economic downturn.

The new positions were among a number of recommendations to improve city services made when finance director Kim Krause presented the budget
plan during the city council’s regular meeting on Monday, Oct. 3.

She explained that the process of creating the budget began on Aug. 1, with a public hearing and general budget discussion, as well as
a presentation of the financial policy, which was updated earlier in the summer.

Estimated revenues for the 2017-2018 general fund total $51.6 million. Sales tax accounts for 35 percent or $18 million of the revenues.
Krause said sales tax revenues represent a 12 percent increase over the 2016 budget and explained that automobile sales mainly account for this growth.

Property tax accounts for 27 percent, or $13.75 million, of the revenues.

The budget includes a 1 percent property tax increase, proposed during the financial policy update.

By Amanda Knox
 
It was partly travel fatigue, but mostly the placement of the the TV screens. Splitting huevos rancheros for breakfast at the airport, Chris and I kept catching ourselves trailing off in conversation and looking over each other’s shoulders. A game show called “Let’s Make a Deal” was on. A pretty woman wearing a midnight blue gown, a pageant sash, and a tiara was debating whether to risk her winnings in order to go for the dining room set. In the background, the rest of the audience was in costume too—there were cowboys, clowns, robots and Peter Pans. I gave myself over to it.
 
“It’s remarkable how much people in costume look like people in costume,” I said.
 
“You mean, instead of looking like thing they’re dressed up as?” Chris said.
 
“Yeah. Like that Roman gladiator in the back row with the plastic shield and helmet all askew.”
 
“Is this a Halloween edition? They probably just gave all the audience members cheap costumes as they walk in the door.”
 
“Yeah. Like, that guy does not look pleased to be wearing those pink bunny ears.”
 
“What’s this guy supposed to be? Hip-Hop?”
 

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Thursday, Oct. 6
Football
Cleveland 30, Chief Sealth 13
Chief Sealth played Cleveland close in a Thursday loss.
Lindbergh 45, Foster 27
The Bulldogs came up short against Lindbergh.

Volleyball
West Seattle 3, Chief Sealth 0
West Seattle won three straight against their crosstown rivals from Chief Sealth on Thursday.
Kennedy 3, Hazen 0
The Lancers aced out the Highlanders Thursday.
Highline 3, Eatonville 1
The Pirates cruised past the Cruisers in Thursday action.
Orting 3, Tyee 0
The Totems were topped by Orting.
Foster 3, Evergreen 2
Foster edged Evergreen in five Thursday.

Girls soccer
Chief Sealth 7, Cleveland 0
Chief Sealth conquered Cleveland on Thursday.
Kennedy 1, Kent-Meridian 0
Kennedy Catholic blanked the Royals of Kent-Meridian.
Kentridge 3, Mt. Rainier 0
The Rams were shut down by the Chargers.
Evergreen 2, Washington 2
The Wolverines played the Patriots to a tie Thursday.
White River 10, Foster 0
The Hornets buzzed by the Bulldogs on Thursday.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Saturday, Oct. 8
Football
Kennedy 34, Kent-Meridian 21
The Lancers trampled the Royals of Kent-Meridian underfoot in a North Puget Sound League football clash Saturday.
Kennedy improved to 4-2 on the year.

Girls soccer
Charles Wright 5, SCS 0
The Warriors were blanked by Charles Wright in Saturday action.

Friday, Oct. 7
Football
Highline 22, Clover Park 14
Highline scored its second victory of the season Friday, beating the Warriors of Lakewood to improve to 2-4.
Kentwood 34, Mt. Rainier 0
The Rams tasted defeat for the first time this season, falling to 5-1 on the year with Friday's loss to the perennially powerful Conquerors.
Liberty 63, West Seattle 27
The Wildcats fell to 4-2 overall with Friday's non-league loss.
Franklin Pierce 71, Evergreen 12
Danny Martinez scored on a 26-yard run and Mo Vea on a 34-yard run in Friday's Wolverines loss at Franklin Pierce.

Girls swimming
Garfield 120, West Seattle 68