Transportation

What can West Seattleites expect if an earthquake takes down the Alaskan Way Viaduct?

The Seattle city police, transportation planners and emergency managers proposed an emergency closure plan for the viaduct to the Transportation Committee of the Seattle City Council July 18.

When you have lunch with Mary Gates and Betty Huff, you have to accept a periodic interruption from friends of theirs. At Indochine recently, where Mary ordered a shrimp dish with a five-star degree of hotness, and Betty a more demure Thai salad, we gnoshed and talked symphony and the exciting pops program planned for August 13. Now and again, someone they knew would drift by the table (Mark Clirehugh, then Peggy Laporte) to say hello.

The very good reason for this is that these two women are among the leaders and shakers in town who makes things happen.

Special to the Times/News

After several years, a tug-of-war between the city of Des Moines and the Port of Seattle over the use of 90 acres of land south of Sea-Tac International Airport has been settled.

Both the city and the port recently adopted unanimously the first development agreement for the Des Moines Creek Business Park at this location.

"This is very significant," Des Moines Mayor Bob Sheckler declared.

The land, which City Manager Tony Piasecki said has sat vacant for almost 20 years, will be transformed from a property that was almost d

A man leaned on his elbows at the Seattle Monorail Project board of directors' conference table and urged the board members to divide the Green Line into two $800 million halves which would cut interest payments significantly.

First build the monorail from Seattle Center to West Seattle, the man suggested.

The Tukwila Pantry, a food bank that has been serving families in South King County for five years, has an immediate need of additional funding to continue its mission of helping hungry families

"It takes many sponsors to keep an operation like the Tukwila Pantry running," the food bank stated last week in a news release asking the community for financial assistance.

"Please help [our] volunteers continue to feed the community by sending a financial contribution."

An unanticipated rate of growth in the need of families for assistance from the Pantry is the cau

The Community Center building at the Emergency Family Shelter operated by the Multi-Service Center just off Military Road and the Kent-Des Moines Highway, was showing its age. Then three area corporations recognized the need, stepped forward, and have created a local version of "Extreme Makeover."

Once base housing for the Navy's Nike Missile Base in the '60s and '70s, the four-block area was deeded to King County several years ago by the federal government. The King County Housing Authority then sublet the single family homes to three non-profit organizations, including MSC, to be used for housing programs. Although the site has been well-maintained since then, the homes are definitely '50s vintage architecture, and the majority of the maintenance funds have been spent for basic, functional needs...plumbing, wiring, paint and cleanup.

The Community Center, once one of the base homes, serves as a meeting ground, intake office and counseling office for the three current housing providers sharing the units: Highline Mental Health, St.

Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin said his success in getting legislation passed and his ability to go into any neighborhood and point his accomplishments is what makes him feel he is ready for a third term.

As chairman of the council's Transportation Committee, Conlin says his goals for the next four years are to continue to largely concentrate on addressing transportation issues and setbacks, and road, street and bridge repairs, both regionally and locally.

He is a member of a regional committee that has been lobbying for legislation to provide adequate money fo

TIMES/NEWS

The Highline School District received $16.2 million in state construction funds last week for the rebuilding of Mt. Rainier High School in Des Moines.

The funds were part of more than $294 million in capitol construction money released by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to 29 districts.

The money was approved during the 2005 legislative session.

NEWS-TRIBUNE

As a two-term Seattle City Council member Richard Conlin said his leadership in the past eight years to bring community concerns and plans through council approval is part of what drives his confidence in his re-election campaign.

Having the ability to go into any community and point out my hand in many of their accomplishments with community goals makes me a difficult candidate to beat, he said.

As chair of the Councils Transportation Committee, Conlin said his goals for the next four years are to continue to largely concentrate on addressing tran

Is there some sort of rule in Seattle that says all proposals for advancement and change must be greeted with a loud and definitive "No"?

As soon as Southwest Airlines suggested moving its operations to cheaper quarters at Boeing Field, the nattering nabobs of negativity immediately cried "No way." The "no-way" crowd spewed their nonsense even when the airline did something that none of the promoters of sports palaces did: offer to pay for the improvements themselves.

Southwest would spend $130 million on a terminal and a parking facility.