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http://transit.metrokc.gov/up/announce/soundingboard.html
Metro Transit, Sound Transit seek advisory group members
Help form recommendations about bus service and connections to Link light rail
King County Metro Transit and Sound Transit invite you to apply to serve on a community advisory board.
Metro and Sound Transit are considering changes to bus routes in the I-5 south corridor and in areas served by Link light rail, which will begin service in the summer of 2009. Changes might be made to provide bus connections to Link stations from neighborhoods, to improve bus service frequency and coverage, and to avoid duplication of service.
The transit agencies are forming two community advisory groups, called Transit Connections sounding boards. One sounding board will be in southeast Seattle (Rainier Valley, Skyway, West Hill and nearby areas), and one will be in southwest King County (Burien, Des Moines, SeaTac, Tukwila and nearby areas).
The sounding boards will provide advice early in the planning process about what changes would be best for local communities. They will make recommendations to transit agency staff and elected policymakers.
Approximately 30 transit riders and other community members will be selected to represent a broad cross-section of people who live, work, or go to school in the project areas.
The sounding boards will meet together on September 4 and 11, 2008. Then the boards will meet separately from October 2008 through February 2009. The sounding boards will meet together in March 2009 to make recommendations.
Bus routes in the project area: Metro Transit routes 7, 8, 9, 14-South, 32, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 42, 48, 60, 106, 107, 126, 128, 140, 154, 170, 174, 175, 180, 190, 191, and 194; and Sound Transit routes 560, 574, 577 and 594
How to apply
To apply for membership on a sounding board, please complete the application below and submit it by Thursday, July 31, 2008
The role of sounding board members
King County Metro Transit and Sound Transit are committed to working with communities as we consider possible changes to transit service in southeast Seattle and southwest King County. Sounding board members will play an important role throughout the planning process by:
* Participating in sounding board meetings between September 2008 and March 2009.
* Attending additional public meetings hosted by Metro Transit in local communities.
* Reviewing communities' transit needs with staff and providing transit riders' perspectives.
* Working together with other sounding board members to arrive at consensus recommendations about changes to bus service.
* Rainier Valley/Skyway/West Hill Sounding Board Meetings
6:30-8:30 p.m. at a location in the Rainier Valley unless otherwise noted
o September 4 and 11, meetings to be held in downtown Seattle
o October 15, 22, and 29
o November 12 and 19
o January 28
o February 11 and 25
o March 5 and 12, meetings to be held in downtown Seattle
* Southeast King County Sounding Board Meetings
6:30-8:30 p.m. at Foster High School in Tukwila unless otherwise noted
o September 4 and 11, meetings to be held in downtown Seattle
o October 16, 23, and 30
o November 13 and 20
o January 29
o February 12 and 26
o March 5 and 12, meetings to be held in downtown Seattle
Transit Connections Sounding Board Application Form
Please note: Sounding Board members cannot be employees of King County, King County Metro, or Sound Transit. If you think you might have a conflict of interest, such as contract work with the county or Sound Transit, please consult with the King County Board of Ethics before applying: 206-296-1586, www.kingcounty.gov/employees/ethics.
Complete and send this application by Thursday, July 31, 2008.
For more information, please contact:
Sarah Luthens, community relations planner
206-684-1154 TTY Relay: 711
Fax: 206-263-3489
sarah.luthens@kingcounty.gov
King County Department of Transportation
201 S. Jackson St., KSC-TR-0824
Seattle, WA 98104-3856.
Come have some summer fun at the Beacon Solstice Bike Parade and Potluck, happening on Saturday, June 21st, 4-8pm! We'll gather on the 1700 block of Forest, btwn. 17th and 18th, 1 block east of Beacon Hill Library. There will be potluck dining, bike decorating, face painting, bike parading and live music!
Bring your bikes and a potluck dish to share with a crowd. We'll have drinks and dessert available. In the interest of greener entertainment, bring your own plates and silverware to cut down on paper products (we'll have extras if you forget).
As some of you may have noticed, the white sign is up at the former Christian Restoration Center building on 15th Ave, indicating the start of the 14-day public comment period (you may have also gotten a letter from the Seattle Dept. of Planning and Development regarding this). Based on what the DPD project manager told me (see below), we have until June 11 to comment on traffic, parking, and environmental issues from the project. This is the public's only chance to do so. At the prior meeting in March, it was clear that many in the neighborhood, while pleased with the general direction of the project, are concerned about the potential traffic congestion and parking problems from such a large complex, particularly at the bottleneck turning off 15th Ave S onto S Oregon St. Please let the DPD know your opinions by going to the following DPD link: http://web1.seattle.gov/dpd/luib/Notice.aspx?BID=319&NID=8153.
The process will proceed as follows (give or take!):
*Report of the meeting will be published and sent to all that attended the Early Design Guidance meeting, 3/11;
*The applicants will move forward to MUP stage and submit full plan sets and a design package that responds to the Board's guidance from the 3/11 meeting. A two week public comment period will open when the MUP application is accepted by DPD, which is when the public will have an opportunity to comment on traffic, parking, and environmental issues relative to the project. Notice of application will be posted on DPD LUIB website, and residents within 300 feet of the project will be mailed the notice and alerted that they may then comment on the proposal, http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Notices/Land_Use_Information_Bulletin/;
*The project will go to the Design Review Board once again (perhaps two more times, depending on the response to earlier guidance), and the public will have another chance to meet with the applicant and Board to see the progress of overall design;
*The Board will make final recommendations for the project and the applicant will be expected to address those recommendations;
*The entire process could take up to another 10 months or so, and as a recap will entail one public comment period and one more public meeting.
Feel free to stay in touch for status updates. I'm in the office M-F, 6:30-4:00 p.m., off every other M.
Best,
Catherine
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Catherine McCoy, Land Use Planner
Seattle Department of Planning and Development
700 5th Ave Suite 2000
PO Box 34019
Seattle WA 98124-4019
Phone: (206) 684-0532
Fax: (206) 233-7902
catherine.mccoy@seattle.gov
www.seattle.gov/dpd
Seattle police raided a suspected marijuana grow operation early Wednesday morning at a Beacon Hill home, where they seized 244 plants.
There has been another assault by “the Groper.” The incident happened Saturday, May 17th at approximately 10am on the 7500 Block of Renton Ave S. An Asian female was walking northbound on Renton Ave S with a young child, approximately two-years of age. The suspect approached the adult woman from behind. The suspect was seen groping the woman’s buttocks. The suspect backed away when the woman screamed. The scream drew the attention of several witnesses in the area. The female victim was seen running northbound with the child along Renton Ave S.
The suspect is described as a black male, approximately 40 years of age, 5-10, flesh colored shaving bumps on left side of face. Suspect vehicle is a 1994 green Jeep Cherokee.
The adult female victim has not yet come forward to speak with police about the incident. We very much need to speak with this woman. She is described as an adult Asian female, possibly in her 40’s-50’s, wearing a white top and black pants. She was walking with a 2-year-old child on Renton Ave S at about 10am on Saturday May 17th, 2008. If you know this woman, please encourage her to come forward. It is extremely important that detectives speak with her. Please contact our Sexual Assault unit at 206.684.5575.
I stopped by this place yesterday and met the owner. He seems like a great guy. ... I'm overjoyed!
If you check your map, you will find that the shooting reported on May 7 occurred near 14th and Ferdinand, clearly on Beacon Hill, nowhere near Rainier Valley. In case you're still geographically challenged, 14th Avenue is about 10 blocks west of Beacon Avenue, and much closer to the Duwamish Valley than Rainier Valley. While all our South End neighborhoods often get lumped together as "South Seattle," we would appreciate accuracy as to the specific neighborhood of these unfortunate events.
Tristin Pagenkopf
Seattle
(Hillman City)
I have been sober for 4 ½ months. It is nothing short of a miracle. It has been difficult, incredibly difficult, but then again so has the rest of it. I have such a long way to go, and I have no doubt that I am my own worst enemy. But I have glimpsed another way, and I long to see more. I have felt genuine happiness, and I want to feel more. I have come this far, and I want more.
A Seattle man has been charged with second-degree murder, accused of repeatedly stabbing his wife with a 13-inch barbecue fork in front of their two young children Friday.
In filing the charges against Juan Carlos Bonilla, 33, King County Prosecutor Daniel Satterberg added an aggravating factor -- that the slaying was committed as an act of domestic violence.
Debra Lynn Bonilla, 38, suffered at least a dozen stab wounds, including one to her heart, in the attack at her Beacon Hill home. Despite the efforts of the staff at Harborview Medical Center, she died several hours after the attack. She had five children, three from a previous marriage.
...
Bonilla has a violent history of assaulting his wife, according to court documents.
In 2001, when the couple lived in Alaska, Bonilla allegedly beat his then-pregnant wife so badly, he broke her nose. He also allegedly threatened to stab her to death.
In 2003 in Minnesota, Bonilla was arrested for assaulting his wife, but it was unclear if he was convicted. Just last year, Seattle police arrested him again for assaulting her.
Debra Bonilla sought a protection order that day, writing in her petition that her husband threatened to kill her if she cheated on him and constantly believed she was unfaithful. ... [But she told a friend] that "the protection order was basically unenforceable because Juan Carlos would always come back and force his way into the house."
The Chinese Information & Service Center is hosting a Sexual Assault Survival Skill and Self Defense Workshop on Thursday, April 10. The workshop will offer information on what to do if you're attacked and personal safety tips to avoid trouble. It will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Chinese Information & Service Center, 611 S. Lane St., in Seattle. It's free. Those attending should wear comfortable clothing. To RSVP, call Alan Lai at (206) 624-5633, x4111.
If you were on the hill Saturday around 6 PM, you may have noticed the brilliant flash of lightning followed immediately by a thunder clap. The apparent strike point was a tree just west of Lawn Bowling Clubhouse at Jefferson Park. The tree had a significant portion shattered and blown out the south side.
One of the VA doctors happened along as I was looking at the tree yesterday. He said a nurse saw the strike from the hospital.
I found it facinating. Results may vary.