Whole Foods project on schedule

Although construction on the incoming Whole Foods at Interbay has been halted, West Seattle's future store at Fauntleroy Place is right on schedule.

The upscale grocery store specializing in natural and organic foods will be the center of BlueStar Management's $65 million mixed-use project on Fauntleroy Avenue. It is expected to cover approximately 45,000 square feet and should be completed in February 2010.

Construction for the West Seattle project broke ground in August. As Phase One of the project wraps up, in which contractors dug down to create the foundation of the new parking garage, they now enter Phase Two, where they begin building up.

Meanwhile construction of the Interbay store has been halted. The store was scheduled to open this December until TRF Pacific filed a lawsuit against Whole Foods after the company tried to downsize the store and delay its opening until late 2009.

Whole Foods regional president John Clougher claims that the company had been talking with TRF Pacific about downsizing for months, and hopes to reach an agreement with the developer soon.

Bonds stay Triple A

King County's AAA bond rating was recently renewed despite the world financial crisis.

"These ratings validate the quality of my balanced 2009 budget proposal and the six-month lifeboat we created using reserves to continue critical services while seeking state help," said King County Executive Ron Sims. "The council's history of supporting conservative fiscal policies and our healthy reserves are also cited as elements for maintaining the AAA rating."

Two national credit rating agencies have given their highest short-term bond ratings for King County and reaffirmed the county's exemplary ratings on all previously issued long term bonds, including each agency's highest AAA rating for certain long term bonds. The high ratings were renewed despite stepped-up scrutiny by rating agencies because of the worldwide credit crisis.

Standard & Poor's cited King County Executive Ron Sims' proposed 2009 Budget and his handling of the projected $93.4 million deficit as a major factor in the high ratings: "Management's development of a detailed multi-tiered proposal to address an anticipated budget gap for fiscal 2009 enhances our confidence in the county's ability to continue to meet all of its obligations as well as its ability to meet its financial reserve policy targets."

Walk to school at Alki

The message sent to Alki Elementary School children at Bar-S Playfield one recent morning was "Walk this way and nobody gets hurt." That's because it was International Walk to School Day, a program that originated in Chicago in 1997. The six-block safety march from the play field to Alki School was organized by PTA mother and executive director of WestSide Baby, Nancy Woodland and child safety educator Deb Will, with Mary Bridge Children's Hospital. They handed out fistfuls of stickers and raffle tickets, the prizes provided by co-sponsor Federal Express.

Woodland and Will led children and a few willing grown-ups in school songs and cheers preceding the walk.

Mayor Nickels joined the march. Later at Sanislo School he announced his "2009 Safe Routes to School" project. Those include Sacajawea, North Beach, Blaine K-8, and Concord. Sidewalk and pedestrian improvements for the schools are planned.

Insurance reading block

A Regence Health Insurance survey shows steep health plan learning curve with confusing terms that may keep people from getting full benefit of coverage

"Almost nine out of 10 people in this country have some kind of health insurance coverage," said Robert Harris, who oversees Regence's market research. "But our focus groups show they don't understand the language and that makes them afraid to use it. It will be difficult for many health system reform ideas to get traction when people literally don't know what we are talking about."

Regence research measures - for the first time - true levels of consumer understanding of health insurance concepts. Previous surveys gauged self-reported understanding, but Regence asked 961 people with insurance to define terms and calculate their bill.

Only 60 percent answered correctly just half the time while four in 100 achieved an 80 percent score.

Fear and embarrassment keep people from asking what words mean, according to research following the survey

"One thing we learned is that glossaries don't cut it," said Harris. "Our industry must simplify our language to help people get full value from their health plan."

Regence offers member education and assistance features.

Mayor gets award

At the international Pro Walk/Pro Bike Conference, the League of American Bicyclists presented Mayor Greg Nickels with a gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community award.

The award recognizes Seattle's commitment to, and investment in, improving conditions for bicyclists. More than four percent of Seattle residents commute by bicycle, 10 times the national average.

"Seattle is honored that our work on enhancing cycling citywide has been recognized by the League of American Bicyclists," said Nickels. "Our Bicycle Master Plan laid out aggressive 10-year goals to triple the amount of bike usage and reduce bike accidents by a third, which is essential given the impact of cars on the environment. Being honored as a gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community shows Seattle is in high gear in moving toward those goals."

Judges from the League of American Bicyclists were particularly impressed with Seattle's critically acclaimed Bicycle Master Plan. The plan lays out a 450-mile bicycling network that is being implemented over the next 10 years.