Written by 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.
Monthly archives for May, 2010
Flowers and sunshine yesterday
In honor of today’s running of the Preakness…
I’ve always loved this little number from Guys and Dolls.
Renton’s draft Shoreline Master Program continues to generate comments and controversy
A couple months ago I wrote about the complex and controversial process of developing a significant update to Renton’s Shoreline Master Program.
As this plan makes it’s way through Planning Commission, Planning and Development Committee, and eventually the Renton City Council (which has received one briefing so far), it seems that the controversy has not abated… at least, not if I judge by the correspondence and comments I have been receiving.
Far and away the most correspondence has come from lakefront property owners concerned about possible losses of use and value to their property, non-conformance of currently conforming docks and bulkheads, increased set-back requirements, and other issues.
At the council briefing on this topic a couple weeks ago, I had asked for further clarification about how Renton’s proposed rules compare to nearby cities. I made the comment at that meeting that it would seem to me that our approach should be compared to Mercer Island’s, since we are sitting on opposite sides of a common channel. Note: After writing this, I received a comment that the Mercer Island plan was rejected by the State Department of Ecology. (see comments below)
The council received the following memo two days ago on this topic from our staff. Click on each image to enlarge it… and then you may have to click it again to read it in your browser.
Memo page 1
Memo page 2
Comparison Table
Comparison Table Notes
For those of you interested in this subject, you can find city documents and meeting schedules here.
I look forward to further discussion on this topic. Meanwhile, our Renton City Council Planning and Development Committee is working hard to process your comments and inputs.
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.
It’s so great having our daughter Katie back in town
We’ve been having a great time with our oldest daughter Katie and her husband Brandon since their return from Japan. Cathy has one of her favorite shopping-buddies back! Yesterday, they came back from Ross (at the Landing) with some cute coffee shirts which gave me a nice photo.
Three generations of Guthries entertain at Kent’s Showare Center
Arlo Guthrie’s concert in Kent last night was an inspiring celebration of family just as much as a wonderful celebration of folk music. Here he performs with his children, their spouses, and his grandkids.
Arlo Guthrie sings with his three daughters, all accomplished musicians carrying the flame from their legendary grandfather Woody Guthrie.
Forty-one years after Arlo Guthrie’s performance at Woodstock, the American folk-singer is as vital and relevant as ever. Last night Arlo, his children, and his grandchildren put on a beautiful sing-along performance at Kent’s Showare Center.
Arlo Guthrie’s son Abe covered the Keyboard through the show, and his three daughters played major performance roles on guitar, ukulele and auto-harp. His grandchildren, ranging from adult to as young as two, played many other instruments from bass to tambourine. In-laws rounded out the band and added additional music styles. And of course, everybody sang.
Arlo explained that this Kent performance was their third-to-last stop on a special family tour that begun last October. The family was looking forward to being home, but was also going to miss the time they have spent together as an extended family on the road. It was obvious that they are a big, loving family, and it was simply heart-warming and uplifting to see the three generations perform together. There were times in the show when it seemed like Arlo was entertaining his kids and grandkids just as much as he was entertaining the audience. Arlo Guthrie still tells funny, funny stories, recites poems, and makes up crazy song verses like his famous father Woody Guthrie did. Arlo’s story-telling is arguably what propelled him to fame with Alice’s Restaurant.
After their next two stops, Arlo Gurthrie will be returning to his home in rural Massachusetts, where he performs and socializes regularly at the church where Alice once lived during the Alice’s Restaurant days. His children are all accomplished musicians in their own right, and they have been producing albums on their own. His youngest daughter Sarah and her family just released Go Waggaloo, an album of kids music, and Cathy and I picked up a copy after they performed some of their tracks from it.
The family ended the show on a very high note with the family singing Woody Guthrie’s best known song ever “This Land is Your Land, ” Arlo stopped the song mid-way to explain that his mother once heard this song performed in China, by children, back in the 70s. The family has since heard it sung all over the world, with some countries, like Canada, changing the words to reflect their own geography “from the Arctic, to the great lakes”. When Arlo hears another nation sing it without changing the words, he figures they are referring to the LONG way around the world when they sing:
“From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me”
After a standing ovation, the family offered an encore with “My Peace”, another beautiful and spiritual song that uses lyrics written by his father Woody, put to music by Arlo.
They will be performing in Bellingham tonight, and then hopefully Arlo will be back this way on tour again in a couple more years.
I last saw Arlo Guthrie perform a year ago in Wichita Kansas, when I was on a business trip and his band stayed in the same hotel. Here is a link to my journal entry about that.
For those who want to see more photos, click below.
Honey Creek trail almost fluoresces light green in its spring foliage
My wife Cathy on a recent ride on Honey Creek trail (photo by Katie Jones)
Any time of year, Renton’s Honey Creek trail looks like it could be in the Hoh Rain Forest. This time of year is especially bright green and heavy with fresh foliage.
The trail can be reached by walking or riding a non-motorized vehicle down Devils Elbow road, from either the Renton side (NE 27th Street) or the King County side (SE 95th way). The Renton side of Devils Elbow road takes off from Kennydale Memorial Hall.
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