February 2017

Millions of gallons of untreated wastewater are dumping into Puget Sound after an equipment failure at the King County West Point Treatment Plant in the Magnolia.

County officials said this morning that the equipment shutdown combined with heavy rains and a high tide led the treatment plant to go into emergency bypass mode and dump the untreated wastewater to prevent the plant from flooding.

Currently the Four hundred million gallons of waste water is being discharged every 24 hours approximately three-quarters-of-a- mile offshore at a depths of 240 feet. 10 percent of the water is raw sewage; the rest is stormwater, which is the same ration of Combined Sewage Overflows that spill into Puget Sound, lakes and creeks during heavy rains about 300 times a year.

The County stated that the dumping is to “protect the treatment plant from significant flooding,” and that they have not determined how long the dumping will go on. The plant has not shut down in over a decade.

King County has notified other agencies about the dumping, and water quality testing and warning signs at polluted areas are underway. People should avoid contact with the water.

information from King County

King County is among the first major metropolitan regions in the United States – and possibly the first – to reach a major milestone set by the World Health Organization in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

A broad partnership led by Public Health – Seattle & King County achieved what is known as the 90-90-90 goal: 90 percent of residents infected with HIV know their infection status, 90 percent are on HIV antiretroviral treatment, and 90 percent are virally suppressed.

King County reached the milestone three years ahead of schedule.

“King County continues to be a global leader in public health,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “The progress we’ve made toward ending AIDS in our community is the result of decades of hard work by our staff, strong community partnerships, and state and federal funding. We will continue to work together to end this epidemic in our region once and for all.”

By Greg Whittaker

The groundhog was right, we are back into a winter snow cycle. The groundhog in this case is my father, Darrell, who did in fact see his shadow on February 2nd, its as good as a litmus test as anything.

This last storm cycle was much needed, giving powder to the people. So many face shots were had that it was ridiculous. We personally went up to Alpental Saturday afternoon, and after waiting for the highway to re-open for avalanche control, we finally made it to the camping lot, and immediately got our van stuck. The mountain friends came to our rescue and helped us get unstuck, which was pretty much the theme of the weekend.

The next design review meeting is set for March 2, over the construction of a 4-story, 108-unit apartment building with 25,000 sq. ft. of retail at ground level on the current site of the PCC Natural Market. Parking for 158 vehicles to be provided at and below grade, which includes 30 existing parking spaces on adjacent surface parking lot. Environmental review includes demolition of existing retail structure. As the Herald reported in August the completed building would have residential outdoor garden terraces and enclosed amenity spaces within the three stories above ground level.
The existing 11,427 sq ft. of surface parking area west of the alley with parking stalls would remain as an accessory use for the proposed retail spaces.

The project was designed by Hewitt Architects and is being developed by the Madison Development Group.

The current tenant Puget Consumers Co-Op Natural Markets (PCC) said online, "PCC reached an agreement with the new landlord and will return as the retail tenant in the building once the project is complete, securing our long-term future in West Seattle, a community we have served for over 25 years.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

West Seattle earned its way into the Metro League girls basketball tournament championship game with a 51-45 semifinal victory over Rainier Beach at the University of Washington Wednesday.

The Wildcats will now play Bishop Blanchet for the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds into the Sea-King District tournament at 5:45 p.m. Friday at Chief Sealth.

The West Seattle boys also played in a semifinal at the UW Wednesday but lost to Nathan Hale by a 72-59 score.
They play a 7:30 p.m. game in the Chief Sealth gymnasium Thursday.

Chief Sealth also stayed alive with a 73-58 victory over Roosevelt Wednesday and will be back at work there Thursday.
The Seahawks girls team was eliminated by a 58-47 loss to Lakeside at Lakeside on Wednesday.

Now that we have some relief from the snow, it's time to get out and about and take in the February art shows!

The Burien City Hall exhibit features collage artist Linda McClamrock in a show entitled, Every Season Has Its Own Beauty. The exhibit runs to Feb. 28 and is open to the public during City business hours, 8 AM-5 PM, Monday – Friday. Take the elevator from the first floor lobby by the Library to reach the Burien City Hall on the third floor.

Linda is a self-taught artist who uses primarily recycled paper with acrylic paint to create her beautiful and whimsical collages. She loves creating something imaginative out of materials that would otherwise be thrown away. Linda does all the work herself and gives 10% of sales to charity.

She started creating her collages about five years ago. “I always considered myself a musician and not an artist,” she said. “What joy to be surprised in middle age by a new thing I not only could do, but do well!”

The City of Burien is pleased to announce its first annual public service announcement (PSA) film contest. This year, the contest theme is stormwater pollution—why it’s a problem and how to reduce it. The contest gives student filmmakers an opportunity to both practice their filmmaking skills and help protect the environment. Films should cover both problems and solutions related to stormwater pollution.
Stormwater runoff is rain that falls on streets, rooftops or other developed land, picking up and mixing with what's on the ground. The polluted runoff then rushes into nearby gutters and storm drains and flows directly into Puget Sound's streams, lakes, rivers and bays. In most areas, stormwater runoff enters these waters without being cleaned of pollutants. This is causing serious damage to our watershed. Most of the four million people who live in the Puget Sound region contribute to stormwater pollution every day.

Verda R. Hansberry was born on August 19, 1919, to Lavina and Fidele Guenzi on a farm in Logan County, Colorado. She died on February 5, 2017, in Seattle, Washington.

In between those dates, she graduated from high school at the age of 15 and earned her library certificate by the age of 20. She worked for the Denver Public Library and went on to be the Basin County Librarian in Wyoming.

She married Orvus L. Hansberry on August 22, 1944, in Sterling, Colorado, and moved to various Army airfields for the rest of World War II. After her husband’s discharge, she moved with him to Seattle, Washington, his birth place. She worked for a short time for the King County Library System, but stopped working when her first child was due. She returned to the library world in 1956, joining Seattle Public Library for the remainder of her career.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Both West Seattle High School teams opened with wins as Metro League basketball tournament action opened Tuesday.

The girls team dealt Cleveland a 71-52 defeat and the boys edged Seattle Prep by a 53-49 score, with both games played in the West Seattle gymnasium.

The scene switches to the University of Washington for the championship semifinals.

The boys meet Nathan Hale at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday after the girls play Rainier Beach at 3:30 p.m.
Chief Sealth, meanwhile, is still alive in the non-championship portion of the tourament.

The girls opened with a 62-15 rout of Franklin Tuesday and now pay a 7 p.m. Wednesday visit to Lakeside.
The boys open at home against Roosevelt at the same time.