February 2021

The Sweetheart of Boulevard Park Place celebrates 90 years

Burien businesswoman Viola Mae Steinman took time away from helping to run and garden around Boulevard Park Place, an active north Burien retirement community she and her late husband, Merle Steinman, built in 1996 to celebrate her 90th birthday on February 3rd.

Residents creatively stood on balconies and patios, banging pots and pans and wishing her “Happy Birthday” while Vi passed by in a decorated cart followed by the North Highline Fire truck, lights and sirens shouting their congratulations.

 

viola mae steinman

Category

Ken's View: Where the money goes

By Ken Robinson

Managing Editor

You know that old saw about trying to get 10 pounds of something into a 5 pound bag? You must have a sense of this if you leave the house and go into almost any part of town. If you get on I-5 or 405 during daylight hours, you will know what I mean.

In 1990,a census of King County revealed a population of 1.5 million people. In 2020, that number had swelled to 2.26 million. 

It is the 15th largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States and is home to over half of Washington's population.

As a lifetime resident, we do have a longing for the ‘old days’ when Boeing was the state’s biggest employer and you could drive from Federal Way to the U District in 30 minutes at 70 MPH. In a rainstorm.

Category

Governing Seattle: What'll It Take?

By Jean Godden

Jenny Durkan has promised to complete her one term as Seattle mayor by working to help the city recover from the corvid crisis. While that's all to the good, the reality is that, at this time next year, Seattle will have a new mayor, its eighth chief executive since 2000.

Many lament that Seattle with its strong activism and many challenges is simply not governable. They say it is not possible to please every faction and seldom possible to satisfy even one. When labor forces are made happy, it may come at the expense of business interests. Or when neighborhood goals are favored, it may leave developers at odds.

Category

HERBOLD: COVID-19 Vaccination updates 

Once supply is ready, a West Seattle site will open within two days of that status

This update was shared by District 1 City Councilmember Lisa Herbold in her newsletter to constituents:

I’ve heard from many District 1 residents over the past week concerned, frustrated, and confused about the difficulties of receiving a COVID vaccination.  As many of you have discovered, vaccine providers are generally not offering appointments for the vaccine, because they do not have sufficient numbers of vaccines to distribute.  The problem we are all experiencing is systemic – the federal government is neither producing nor able to purchase enough vaccine for everyone who is now eligible to receive it.   

Category

West Seattle's Rebellyous Foods is on a mission to save the world one nugget at a time

Plant based food maker is now selling chicken alternatives in your grocers freezer case in the northwest

By Patrick Robinson

How do you plan to save the world?

One way might be to follow and support a company that actually has a shot at it. 

Rebellyous Foods, a West Seattle plant based food startup that began in 2017 is working toward that goal. They are doing it in a smart, focused and dedicated way by first, making a good product and second by leading a well chosen team of professionals in a no frills environment.

They produce a soy based, breaded food product in the form of nuggets, patties and tenders.

The company, now only four years old, is led by CEO Christie Lagally. Her background as an engineering lead in the Boeing 777x program taught her a lot about manufacturing processes, and innovation. She holds five patents in manufacturing technology. Lagally also served as a Senior Scientist for the Good Food Institute, a food innovation non-profit.

Category