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Yesterday’s Official Press Release following the shooting at the Shell Station on Rainier Ave
I received this press release yesterday. The Renton Reporter posted a story pretty fast which you can find here .
Shooting – Shell Station 300 Rainier Ave S 10-5846
At 2318 hours, we were dispatched to a Shoplift at the above location. The RP advised that the suspect was GOA. Two minutes later the RP called back to advise that the shoplift suspect had returned and that he had been shot in the leg. Officers arrive and find Maurice A. Harris (10/8/62) with a gun shot wound to the knee area. He said that he got into a dispute with 4 black males and 1 black female who were in a silver 4dr. vehicle parked outside the gas station. Harris said he was shot when he turned away from vehicle and he could not identify the shooter or any of the occupants. Harris was transported to HMC with non-life threatening injuries. A single .380 caliber casing was located at the scene.
There is no further suspect information. Surveillance video from the gas station is pending.
Cooking Oil Spill near Lake Washington in Renton
Hopefully, we won’t need to use “Top Kill” to fix this one: Here is an email I received this morning.
___________________________________________
Councilmembers:
The following press release was issued a short while ago by the Department of Ecology regarding the cooking oil spill in Renton today.
The boat launch at Gene Coulon is expected to have normal operations during this weekend.
In addition to Dept. Of Ecology and Waste Management, I will be available in the event of media calls.
From: Partridge, Dan (ECY)
To: Preeti Shridhar
Sent: Fri May 28 22:22:21 2010
Subject: FW: Dept of Ecology: Cooking oil spill near Lake Washington
Here you go
Washington Department of Ecology
May 28, 2010
Cooking oil spill near Lake Washington
RENTON — The Washington Department of Ecology tonight is overseeing the cleanup of a cooking oil spill that was reported this afternoon near Lake Washington.
Ecology is working with a contractor hired by Waste Management to vacuum up as much of the spill as possible before it flows into storm drains which empty in Johns Creek. The creek flows through Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park into Lake Washington. A crew with the City of Renton public works department was also on the scene tonight.
A Waste Management truck caused the spill when it knocked over a 140-gallon waste oil container about 5:15 a.m. today behind the Panda Express restaurant at 750 Park Ave. N. in Renton. The driver replaced the container and placed absorbent pads around the area, as required by Company policy. Ecology spill responder Brad Martin said the spill wasn’t reported to Ecology until 3 p.m. but Waste Management is cooperating with Ecology in getting the spill cleaned up.
It is unknown how much of the oil made its way into the storm drains before a vacuum truck arrived but some of it may make its way to the creek and into Lake Washington.
“We’re doing everything we can to keep as much of the cooking oil out of the water as possible, “ Martin said. A catchment area will be set up to collect the oil as it flows down the creek overnight and the contractor will return early tomorrow morning to collect the oil with absorbent pads.
Oil not trapped in the catchment area may be visible on Lake Washington over the weekend, Martin said.
Martin said there has been no evidence of adverse impacts on fish or wildlife. Cooking oil is of low toxicity but can stick to fish or birds who come in contact with it.
City of Renton officials said boat launches this weekend from Gene Coulon Park are expected to proceed as usual.
CONTACTS:
Dan Partridge
Department of Ecology
360-480-5722
Katie Salinas
Waste Management
206-962-1673
Proof that a funny name can not keep you from running for public office
This is a cute video. (Thanks to Ryan on Facebook for pointing this one out)
Here’s proof that even if your name is Young Boozer, you still have a chance to win public office. I tried going to this candidate’s website, but I received the message that his bandwidth was exceeded.
A bear visits a friend’s backyard in Newcastle this afternoon
A friend took this photo today as a black bear stopped by her back yard in Newcastle. It seems like bears are getting more common in our area.
Beavers help keep Renton crews busy
The Renton Reporter recently ran this interesting story about a beaver knocking out electrical power at the Landing.
I have not seen any photos of the Landing incident, but it reminded me of this previous close call on the east airport access road in 2008. In this earlier case, a power line and a road were both in jeopardy.
Beaver damage to a Cottonwood tree near the Renton Airport in February 2008
Man who murdered Renton Police Specialist and her mother sentenced to life without parole
Last week, the man who murdered our police specialist Bretta Hawkins was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The killer was sentenced to a second life term for killing Ms. Hawkins mother, Barbara Nettlebeck, a King County corrections officer. Both women were loved by their colleagues and their communities.
Bretta and her mother Barbara
An estimated 700 people turned out fourteen months ago to tearfully celebrate the lives of the two women who were taken from us. I described the service here.
Last week, the killer was handed two life sentences by the Pierce County Court. Here is the full story in the Seattle Times.
With the trial over, it’s time to try to forget the killer and focus on remembering the two lovely women who worked so hard for Renton and King County.
Here are some comments I saved from an online guest book a year ago:
Boeing and Renton reach new FORTY YEAR lease agreement! (20-years, plus two ten-year options)
Boeing 737 Airplanes line Renton’s Clayton Scott Field as they are readied for final test flights and delivery to customers all over the world
Renton City Hall was abuzz tonight as Renton City Council put it’s formal approval on a new airport lease agreement with the Boeing Company.
The agreement covers a new 20 year lease term, followed by two ten-year options. The agreement comes after Boeing and Renton real-estate experts have been finalizing details for many months. Per the agreement, The Boeing Company will pay a market-based lease-rate plus a through-the-fence airport access fee for Boeing-owned property. The lease payments will increase through the term of the lease following the consumer price index, adjusted with market appraisals every 6 years.
The more complex lease terms revolved around the buildings that Boeing currently owns on the property. The buildings will convert to Renton City Ownership, per a turnback agreement in the old lease, similar to buildings owned by other leaseholders at the Renton airport. The maintenance and future upgrades of these buildings is the subject of additional lease language.
Like all lease money collected at the airport, all the funds will be used by Renton to operate and improve the airport.
Residents of Renton and our region should celebrate this commitment by the Boeing Company to the Renton facility. The company annually delivers many billions of dollars of airplanes out of it’s factory here in Renton. Our community gets thousands of high-value jobs from Boeing’s presence, along with tax revenues and generous contributions to local charities. The 737 is astoundingly popular– we’ve recently been told that the 737 airplanes on order today would stretch about 47 miles if they were parked nose-to-tail.
General aviation users have an additional reason to celebrate. Boeing’s presence at the airport ensures the airport’s long-term viability, and gives the FAA plenty of reason to keep investing in it.
This is on top of today’s national news that Boeing is increasing it’s 737 production rate in Renton starting in 2012. Today’s picture looks bright for Renton’s aerospace sector.
This agreement helps assure general aviation users that Renton’s airport is viable long-term
Boeing has several buildings on Renton airport property, including a state-of-the-art aircraft paint hanger. The new lease ensures these building will continue to function to their highest and best use.
Flowers and sunshine yesterday
Our friends Gina and Jon maintain beautiful gardens at their home in Skyway. Yesterday, the flowers seemed especially pretty when Cathy and I dropped by.
In honor of today’s running of the Preakness…
I’ve always loved this little number from Guys and Dolls.
New Facebook group forms to combat prostitution in Renton
A new Facebook group has recently sprung up, called “City of Renton; Behind the Curve on Prostitution” Here is a link.
The new group is sharing information about suspected locations of prostitution activities, and pushing for increased resources to combat them.
We do take prostitution crimes very seriously at city hall. While some may mistakenly believe that this is mostly a victimless crime, there is actually a great deal of sexual/physical abuse and human trafficking associated with it. In addition, violators run down neighborhoods and set-back economic development efforts.
I’ve addressed this in previous journal entries, such as this one here
The city has been addressing prostitution in a number of ways. Our police have been raiding locations where the crime occurs, and arresting prostitutes, their pimps, and their customers. More recently we’ve been testing some new tactics such as contacting all the parties with financial interest in real property where this crime occurs, such as mortgage holders (banks), to let them know when their properties have become sites for prostitution and subject to police actions, code enforcement actions, or other litigation; we are working with these stakeholders to get repeat-offenders evicted from their locations and from our city.
We are open to any other ideas on how to combat this problem, and perhaps some will come from the new Facebook group.
Backlog of blogs I want to post; some birthday activities delayed me a few days
I’m in the midst of posting several new articles. I got delayed by some fun birthday activities and a few other obligations. Here is one birthday photo that is a little scary.
There are not even 48 candles, and it still looks like it could burn the house down
As a reminder, I am exactly the same age as the Space Needle. Here is the cover of LIFE Magazine from two days before my May 6, 1962 birth:
Our city, region, and our state have dodged a bullet with the Howard Hanson Dam
By now, most people in the area are familiar with the GREAT news that the risk of flooding from the Howard Hanson Dam has been diminishing. As a reminder, the abutment of the dam was leaking; I described it in detail in the photo-journal entry here .
The Renton Reporter covers the most recent development in this story here . Thanks to hard work from many, many people, Senator Murray was recently able to secure 44 million dollars to install a temporary fix to the dam to prevent flooding in the near term. Meanwhile, the Army Corps of Engineers is working on designing a permanent fix that will cost about half a billion dollars.
These developments are enormous for the security of our region, as a flood in this area could have done many billions in damage and immense human misery.
Our own Mayor Denis Law represented us expertly to help obtain this money. He was back in Washington DC a couple weeks ago meeting with numerous federal agencies, elected representatives, and White House staff to help obtain money for the interim fix. Public officials from all levels in our region were there with him, and their solidarity and good planning helped us get this funding and avoid catastrophe.
Senator Murray speaks at a recent news conference announcing the procurement of 44 million dollars for the interim repair of Howard Hanson Dam. (Renton’s Mayor Law is standing on her right side.)
Thanks for all the birthday wishes!
I’m enjoying my birthday today, and I think all of you that have sent me birthday greetings.
I have to admit, I was a little worried today when the stock market almost seemed to turn my birthday into an infamous day on Wall Street. As it turned out, the unprecedented sharp drop followed by an equally unprecedented sharp rise only succeeded in letting a little helium out (and left investors a little dizzy), but May 6 has come out okay.
I’m staying in the stock market, but I’m not sure if TD Ameritrade pitchman Sam Waterston is making me feel any more confident with his new banner:
Is it just me?…
Anyway, I have plenty of great birthday plans left. I’m soon headed down to emcee a talent show, and then drinks with friends. I’ve got more city stuff to write about, and I’ll try to get some stories posted this weekend.
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