The Seattle Times reports a retail "feeding frenzy" in Renton today. They report that there were TW THOUSAND people in line at Fry's Electronics at 5:00 AM when the doors opened.

I was very impressed by the crowds at the Landing as I went driving by this morning... I did not yet brave the crowds myself, but I am bracing myself for a shopping adventure this afternoon.

I'm running way behind Councilman Rich Zwicker, who listed in his Facebook all the places he has already shopped today... and it sounded almost like a "who's who" Listing of Renton's businesses.

I'm excited to see a strong kick-off of the retail season. Consumer spending is a critical component of economic recovery, so a good Holiday Shopping season would bode well for further economic recovery in 2010.

Here is the Seattle Times Story.

Katie has been steadily posting pictures, keeping an online journal, and video-conferencing with us (for free) over Skype. This great technology has really helped bridge the distance while she and her husband Brandon teach school in Japan.

Here are a couple recent pictures:



Katie and Brandon at a local park




Brandon with Kishiyo; Kishiyo has been like family since she stayed at our home as an exchange student in 2002

We pose with other home-schooling friends in front of the large Christmas Tree






The Landing was the popular place to be last night, as bustling crowds and tight parking marked the beginning of the 2009 Holiday Shopping season.

In addition to two beautiful new shops opening just in time for the holidays, c'est la vie and Poggi Bonsi. The Landing also lit a Forty foot tall Christmas Tree, showed off Dasher and Dancer, and offered families train rides.

The Hazen High Choir stood on risers in front of the new stores, and graced a large crowd gathered around them with Carols from the season.

The weather cooperated, as we only had to cope with on-and-off light sprinkles... not bad at all for a November event.

Cathy and I and our two youngest met up with three other home-school families to catch the festivities and take in the new 3-D Pixar Movie "A Christmas Carol". The new Regal Cinema is a perfect location for it, as the theater is so comfortable and the sound and picture are perfect.

Watching the movie, with it's incredibly-detailed 3-D renderings of Scrooge and Spirits flying over Victorian London, reminded me of being on an attraction at Disneyland. ( I strongly encourage you to see this movie in 3-D if you can. It costs about $3.50 more than a typical movie; passes are allowed, but you need to pay the $3.50 charge. And it is a little scary for children.)

Here are some more photos from the event:



Families enjoyed train rides last night



Youngest daughter Susie and my wife in front of "The Rock" Pizza.



Beautiful marchandise lines the shelves in the new "Poggi Bonsi", attached to the new "c'est la vie"



We bumped into Councilwoman Marcie Palmer and her family in Pongo



Hazen High Carolers add to the festivities






I try out my 3-D glasses. The polarized lenses were fun when I would look into the eyes of other people wearing the glasses

I continue to be neutral about Fairwood's future governance. This journal entry that I wrote over three years ago is still applicable today. My council colleagues have expressed neutrality as well.

The future governance of Fairwood is in the hands of Fairwood's residents.

There have been two annexation petitions submitted to the city of Renton for consideration, and we placed both of these petitions in abeyance until the Fairwood incorporation decision was voted on. One of these petitions is a "property petition" submitted by property owners holding much of the central business district in Fairwood (called the Red Mill petition), and the other petition is from a percentage of registered voters and calls for a vote by the overall Fairwood Community to consider annexation of the entire community (approximately 25,000 people) to Renton.

We are going to act slowly and openly as we lay out next steps for consideration of any annexation of Fairwood property.

Next Monday the Mayor will present the council with his recommendation for how to proceed with these two petitions. We will then most likely refer this recommendation into a future Committee of the Whole meeting, to be reviewed probably in early December. Residents of Fairwood and Renton will have a chance to review the Mayor's recommendation, watch the council deliberate on it, and make their comments during the audience comment portions of City Council Meetings. They can also send us written comments on the Mayor's proposal after it is unveiled on Monday night, if not earlier.

Among the issues the Mayor and staff are considering is how to handle the two petitions in a way that is as fair as possible, makes the most sense to the most people, and minimizes the strain on the Fairwood Community after they have just weathered a divisive campaign season.

We will have a process and expected election schedule defined by the end of December, but any election would likely not occur until late in 2010. This would give Fairwood residents a break, and allow time for all the pros and cons of annexation to be determined and reviewed by the community.

We'll know more next week.

And of course I'm maintaining neutrality. I encourage you again to read my earlier blog on this if you have not read it already Here is the link again.


Here is a sample of pro and con letters on this topic:

-------------------------------------------
Sent: Monday, November 09, 2009 3:02:40 PM
To: Council
Subject: The next step
Monday, November 9, 2009

Dear City of Renton leadership,

As a resident of the community of Woodside, east of Fairwood just off Petrovitsky, we have just endured the second attempt of a few folks living in Fairwood to make us all into the City of Fairwood. The effort has failed. I'm sure they have some sort of contingency plan to delay any efforts to annex the area into the City of Renton. But I would encourage you to begin as soon as possible the work necessary to bring us into the Renton by annexation. We all spoke loudly with our votes, so now let's get going. Please reply with an overview of your plans on this subject. Thank you.

Respectfully,

Almost a Resident
City of Renton

___________________________________________________________________

Posted by Letters Editor

A hearty “No thanks” from a Fairwood resident

Once again The Times offers an opinion in ignorance, this time about the Renton and Fairwood issue [“Renton and Fairwood: It’s time to get hitched,” Opinion, editorial, Nov. 11].

Regardless of the fact that studies performed by finance experts have suggested Fairwood is feasible, The Times offers Renton as some proverbial paradise. As Renton knows all too well, and as the studies showed, Fairwood is a tax exporter and thus we have more than ample funds to provide and improve our basic services.

However, becoming a new city is a scary thing, and voters apparently desire the seemingly easy path of annexation rather than the best long-term path of incorporation.

The Landing was cited as evidence of a transformed Renton, while the editorial failed to mention the high vacancy rates there, and Renton’s $8 million budget deficit.

So how will Fairwood’s services improve? Sadly, the editorial simply overlooks the reality of our situation — not a surprise, as we’re far-flung from Seattle.

Renton is salivating at the prospect of acquiring Fairwood, solely for the tax surplus we generate. Fairwood will become another forgotten, rundown Renton neighborhood while the city mismanages our tax surplus on failed projects.

— Tom Edwards, Fairwood

__________________________________

And Here is a Renton Reporter article with further background on this topic.

1972-2004 owners of "The Fish Gallery" bring in new merchandise as they rebuild the store at Renton Village.


Renton's wonderful locally-owned pet store, situated at Renton Village near Uwajimaya, is being restored to its former glory. The Renton location was once the flagship store for their local "Fish Gallery" pet supply chain, and the owners intend to restore the Renton location to its previous prominence.

Kim and Bruce, who owned the store from 1972 to 2004 and built it into a fixture for South King County animal lovers, have recently repurchased the store after it had fallen on hard times. They will be assisted by their son Jonas, who grew up in the family business, and has been helping them manage their other stores in Issaquah and Kent.

The store will be called Sierra Fish and Pets, and will have the wide-range of animals and supplies that Renton Fish Gallery was always known for. As one of their customers for 25 years, I can tell you that this store has a definite niche in our local economy. Compared to Petco or Petsmart, I suspect they will have a significantly wider range of fish and other animals for sale, as well as a highly varied selection of supplies for caring for these animals. In some ways, Sierra Pet (formally Fish Gallery) will be to Petsmart what McLendon's is to Lowe's Hardware... a strong local competitor emphasizing a great selection and local ownership. As an animal friendly community, there is plenty of market for pets and supplies in our city.

The store has been open for a week now under the new (and former) owners, and I strongly encourage you to stop in, say hello to them, and check out their selection of saltwater fish and other animals. The store was pretty busy when Andy, Susie and I stopped in this morning, as customers shopped merchandise while it was being unpackaged and stocked for the first time. Here are a couple photos.

Maple Valley Highway closed due to an accident. Read the story HERE

The Seattle Times published an editorial following up on the Fairwood incorporation election.Here is the link.

I'm delighter to hear that Fred Jarrett had been tapped to be to be the top deputy for King County Executive-elect Dow Constantine. Mr. Jarrett has excellent ideas for wrangling the budget into line. As an added bonus, he is intimately familiar with much of the Renton Community as he has most recently served as our 41st District Senator (his home is on Mercer Island).

Click here for the story

Value Village in Renton will be closinng its doors next weekend. The Picaroon has run a thorough article about the closure that you can find by clicking HERE.

I'll be very sorry to see this store close it's doors. I've always felt they did an excellent job of managing the store and it's "previously-owned" merchandise for sale-- a very high quality second-hand store. And I was surprised to hear of this business closure. I would have thought that they might have weathered the bad financial climate better than others because of the nature of the store and their extremely low prices. But times are really tough for local business.

My best wishes to all of the staff at Value Village, and my thanks to each and every one of them for running a great business for 30 years.

An email made its way around cyberspace two weeks before the election which left those of us in Renton elected offices scratching our heads.

In the email, the MHOA activist who organizes Leisure Estate's candidates forums made it clear that she wants a change on Renton City Council, the Renton School Board, and the Renton Hospital Board.

This came as a surprise to many of us on council, who have worked hard over the years to provide all the support and security to Leisure Estates that the law will allow.

Here is a quick list of items I remember working through the years. I'm sure there were more:

(1) We created a new zoning category, and rezoned Leisure Estates and the adjacent Sunnydale Mobile Home Park to be zoned "Manufactured Home Park" to preclude the property from being redeveloped by the owner for another purpose.

(2) We've advocated for the residents of the parks regarding water sub-metering and other changes the property owners were trying to impose.

(3) We responded to complaints from their neighborhood about two derelict houses on Union Ave, which we purchased and tore down, and ultimately turned into Heritage Park...one of the only new parks in Renton in the last 15 years.

(4) We've given more general support to mobile home owners, such as advocating in Olympia for improved/lengthened notice of impending park sales, and relocation assistance in the event that an owner tries to sell a park.

(5) We worked hard to help the residents of Wonderland Estates successfully keep their park intact, first attempting to work an emergency annexation, and then lobbying Renton Housing Authority, and ultimately King County Housing Authority to purchase the park to save it.

(6) We've made it a budget priority to maintain the fastest emergency aid and police response times possible-- placing fast delivery of medical aid and police service above all else in Renton.

(7) My council colleague (and most-recent Campaign Manager) Don Persson and I headed up an effort two years ago to establish a Utility Tax Rebate, which rebates the approximately $100 dollars per year in taxes that low-income seniors pay on their utilities. We did this after hearing concerns from Leisure Estates residents and other seniors on shared water accounts that they were not able to take advantage of our reduced water rates offered to low-income seniors. Low income senior rate payers now get a check each year signed by the mayor.

(8) My first big vote on Renton City Council was over a mobile home community issue. I cast the lone vote against rezoning a mobile home park on Lake Washington Blvd into a multi-family apartment zone. (The six members who voted to rezone the park into apartments are all retired from public office in Renton).

Two years ago Judith White attempted to keep Denis Law from being elected Mayor even though he had also supported Leisure Estates and was trying to improve emergency response times. Ms. White wrote a letter to the paper at the time, saying Denis was getting his support from developers-- an unfair charge which much more accurately described the candidate Judith White was backing. (Denis Law, a newspaper and magazine publisher, got his biggest contributions from police officers and fire fighters, and received almost all the rest of it from involved citizens).

In this month's campaign, Ms. White advocated that we replace Rich Zwicker with Jim Flynn (a view out-of-sync with 62 percent of Renton voters), and she advocated writing in her own name on the ballot instead of voting for me-- an obvious statement of her dislike for me that served no purpose other than making me ( Renton's longest serving council member and current city council president) feel like I don't really care to talk to her if I don't have to.

But local races were not the only place where her email showed she was out of sync with the people she claimed to be representing. She also seemed to be working at odds with another organization she lobbies for, the Washington State Senior Citizen’s Lobby. This organization was working hard with AARP and other senior's groups to defeat I-1033, while Judith White, a member of the Board for the Senior Citizens Lobby, was using her email lists to encourage voters to SUPPORT this measure.

Ms. White is of course entitled to support whoever she wants for any public office. But by sending an email with her political choices to her Leisure Estates mailing list (and perhaps others in MHOA) she risks giving the impression that these are official Leisure Estate positions. In so doing, she not only runs the risk of irritating city councilmembers, but she has potentially gotten Leisure Estates off to an awkward start with King County Executive elect Dow Constantine, recently re-elected school board member Pam Teal, and Port Commissioner Rob Holland as well.

I have enjoyed my friendship and community work with the residents of Renton's mobile home communities, and I will continue to work for Leisure Estates in spite of Judith White's complaints about us. However, those of us in local Renton elected offices would appreciate it if Leisure Estates could find a spokesperson and lobbyist who is more collaborative and consistent in her positions.
________________________________________________________
Email from Judith White:

Dear Candidates and Public Officials:

The Leisure Estates Community will host its Annual Candidates Forum in the Clubhouse, 201 Union Ave. S. E., Renton, 98059, on September 15th, 2009 at 7:00 P.M. ....

Come and get to know us, we are a very active Senior Community.

Your contact for this event is Judith E. White, and I can be reached at JudithEWhite@msn.com or via phone at xxx-xxxx.

Information for you:

...Judith White serves as State Secretary for AMHO-Association of Manufactured Home Owners, Active in MHOA-Manufactured Home Owners of America, Washington State Senior Lobby-Board, and the Legislative Action Team for the Manufactured/Mobile Home Community.
_________________________________________________________________________


From: JudithEWhite@msn.com
Sent: 10/16/2009 8:50:33 A.M. Pacific Standard Time
Subj: Judith's Political Pic's

I have been asked by several who I am voting for: So Here goes. If you don't like my selections, delete, but please VOTE! Also check our Kirby Wilbur's Pic's.

King Co. Executive: Susan Hutchinson
Sheriff Sue Rahr
King Co. Assessor: Lloyd Hara
King County Council #3: Kathy Lambert
King County Council #5: Julia Patterson
King County Council # 8: Regan Dunn-Our Representative
Port Commissioner Position 3: David Doud
Port Commissioner Position 4: Tom Albro
Initiative 1033: YES
Referendum Measure 71: (When you vote on this Bill you are voting to Approve or Reject the bill passed by the Legislature) I am rejecting this Bill!
City of Renton:
Position # 1: Write in-Judith White-
Position # 2, Jim Flynn
Position # 6, Terri Briere
Municipal Court Judge: Terry L. Jurado
School Board #5: Jim Grossnickle - a PHD in Math and Science, could really make a difference!
Hospital Board: Dr. Aaron Heide

It is time for Change on the Renton City Council, the School Board and the Hospital.


_________________________________
Excerpt from the Website for "NO on I-1033"

( See the background data here )

We received really great news today about the flood risk in the Green River Valley. Instead of a 1 in 4 chance of flooding, the Army Corp now predicts only a 1 in 25 chance of flooding. This is thanks to some significant repairs they just completed on the dam.

The risk of serious flooding in Renton is even reduced further than this. We were previously predicting about a 1-in-10 chance of bad flooding in Renton, so now we can say the odds are closer to 1-in-60 or so. This is still a concern, but way, way better.

Here is the story of the Army Corp announcement on King5.com.

Here is a response from our Mayor to a letter we all received yesterday about our photo-enforcement program. Other citizens have expressed similar concerns, and we are studying the issues raised.

As a reminder, the community was split about whether installation of these cameras was a good idea. There had been many requests to do something meaningful to improve safety in the school zones. People on both sides of this issue that spoke to council, and even left comments on some of my earlier blogs. You can find those by clicking here . I think it is important that people feel the cameras perform fairly, and that there is are clear expectations for the drivers.

Summer school issues have probably been our biggest complaint, when no kids can be seen anywhere but the cameras are still in force. This complaint is closely followed by another frequent complaint in which drivers feel certain the flashing light was off at the time they got their ticket. I have a theory regarding this second complaint. I think because we use a single flashing light, on...off...on...off, that it is possible for a safe driver to make a visual sweep when the light is in it's off-pulse, and not dwell on it long enough to notice that it is flashing. Drivers may be traveling 30 feet per second, which means that they can not afford to stare at the light for more than a half second or so when entering a danger zone. In the summer time at noon, the LED lights may not be easily perceived by peripheral vision, so unfortunately you need to look at them.

If we as a community decide to implement any more of these cameras, I will ask for dual lights, where a pair of lights blink alternately top and bottom. A dual light could be recognized as being illuminated immediately, without a half-second delay. I'll also look into whether it would be worthwhile to retrofit our existing lights with this improvement.

Here is the most recent email exchange on this topic:


( Read the email on photo-enforcement by clicking here )

My thanks to David Moylan for his excellent questions. His Q and A session with our Public Works Department regarding the re-opening of Shattuck Avenue (which was closed by the railroad work in downtown Renton) will be of general interest:

(The email chain starts at the bottom)

( Read more... )

The Picaroon shares the latest news about the downtown restaurant situation:

"Here is the local restaurant news from Renton - Fin and Bone, Billy McHales and Calico Cheesecake/Lure Cafe/Tapestry Saloon closed all within the last few days. SOooo - here is the plan, people of Renton.... Read the whole article at "the Picaroon"

Pam Teal and Rich Zwicker hug after the announcement that both officials decisively won election to their positions on Renton School Board and Renton City Council.



The mood was festive at Liberty Cafe tonight, as two hard-working appointed local officials each won election for the first time.

Both Rich Zwicker and Pam Teal had been appointed to their respective positions on Renton City Council and Renton School District Board of Directors. Rich was appointed to fill a vacancy after Dan Clawson resigned, and Pam was appointed to fill the vacancy created when Marcie Maxwell won a position in the State Legislature.

Evidently, voters agreed that these two were the right people for the job. As of this writing, the results are Rich Zwicker has 61.89 percent of the vote for city council, and Pam Teal has 55.49 of the vote for School Director. Rich prevailed over Jim Flynn, and Pam beat Jim Grossnickle.

These are decisive margins, and extremely unlikely to change. About 25% of registered voter's ballots were tabulated in these returns, and it is likely that about 50% of voters will return their ballots. The second half of the expected ballots would have to completely reverse for the election results to change, with is a statistical impossibility.

Both of these excellent public servants had my enthusiastic endorsement, so I'm in a very good mood tonight. I'll enjoy working side by side with Rich Zwicker for at least four more years.

All of the other Renton Council and School Board positions were unopposed. Al Talley was re-elected for another term on School Board, and Terri Briere and I were each returned for another term to Renton City Council.

Here are some additional photos from tonight's party.










Zwicker Campaign Manager Ed Prince checks election results while Councilman Rich Zwicker and Mayor Law stand by

Some award-winning local retailers will be opening new shops at the Landing. Here is the announcement.

Last night was a perfect night for Halloween parties...a stormy Friday night, the night before Halloween.

We had a costume party with many of our Homeschooling friends (many of who we have met through the Renton School District's HOME program).

A few of my favorite costumes were Fred and Daphne from Scooby Doo (our friends Jon and Gina Brichoux), tourists traveling with a gnome ( City of Renton Planner Erika Conkling and her family), and Nintendo's Mario and Princess Daisy (My son Andy and his girlfriend Amy Mitchell)

Here are some of the photos. Happy Halloween Renton!













( See more pictures by clicking here )

"Where the Wild Things Are" editor Jim Haygood (second from left), with my brother Roger (second from right); also shown are friends/musicians Mark Eneidi (far left), and John Adams (far right)

Kids...keep nurturing your film-making skills!

After watching Renton's Curvee Awards Tuesday night (for the 48 hour film frenzy), I thought it would be fun to share this high school photo of Jim Haygood, the editor of Hollywood's new Blockbuster "Where the Wild Things Are". I grew up with Jim around, as he was a close friend of my older brother Roger. My brother Roger is standing next to Jim, holding the mandolin in the picture. (My brother is not THE Roger Corman of B-Movie fame, but he IS a highly talented musician and software designer currently living in Santa Rosa California). I remember all the band members pictured above making a movie about their construction of a tree-house in a giant Eucalyptus tree, which Jim filmed and edited as a high-school humanities project.

Jim seemed to always have a movie camera, or a still camera, or a guitar with him while we were growing up in Livermore California. In addition to this funky jug band and other folk/rock bands, he also performed on guitar with his sister and brothers in church services when we were growing up. He followed his passion, and now has become one of the industry's great editors.

Here is a recent industry article about him. And here are some of the films he has worked on as listed in the IMDB data base.

Commander Paul Cline 425-430-7597 October 29, 2009


Renton Police Department
Media Release

The Renton Police Department is investigating two separate Armed Robberies that occurred at “Simply Espresso” located at 401 Airport Way N in the City of Renton.

1st Incident: October 1, 2009 at 11:48 a.m. Suspect approached on foot and ordered a drink. When given his drink he implied a weapon in his pocket and demanded money from the register. After receiving the money the suspect fled on foot. The suspect was described as a W/M, early 30s, 6’0 / thin build with Brown mid-length hair. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, zip-up fleece like sweatshirt with a Puma logo, a black hat and sunglasses.

2nd Incident: October 20, 10:44 a.m. Suspect approached the Simply Espresso stand on foot, displayed a handgun and demanded all the money in the register. After receiving the money he fled on foot. The suspect was described as a W/M 30-35, 6’0 / thin build, unshaven with reddish facial hair and having collar length dark brown hair. He was wearing a green CAMO coat over a grey hoody, a black baseball cap, and dark sunglasses.

The second Robbery was captured on video and still photos from that video are attached to this Press Release.

The Renton Police Department is asking assistance in identifying the suspect in these photos. Anyone who believes they can identify the suspect or has any other information about these Robberies is asked to call 9-1-1 or the Renton Police Department at (425) 430-7500. If you see this suspect or know who this suspect is DO NOT attempt to contact him as he is considered Armed and Dangerous.

Commander Paul Cline
Patrol Operations Division
Renton Police Department

Rich Zwicker, a tireless Renton volunteer, presents an "Honorable Mention" Curvee Award last night.


Letter to the Editor
Rich Zwicker


In January of 2008, 12 Renton residents applied to fill a vacant Council seat. After interviewing each candidate and reviewing their submitted information, the City Council enthusiastically appointed Rich Zwicker. 20 months later, we have an experienced Council Member in Rich, who has proven to be an outstanding addition to the Renton City Council.

Rich joined the Council as we transitioned to a new Administration with a new mayor and newly elected Council Members (Greg Taylor and King Parker). Rich immediately jumped in with his full attention, time and intellect. He engrossed himself in the study of all key issues, so he would be thoroughly prepared for every meeting. He dedicated the time to get to know the city staff and participated in activities such as Fire Ops 101 and police ride-alongs in an effort to learn as much as possible. He consistently asked the hard questions and listened to all the information before making decisions.

What I appreciate most about Rich is his sincere desire to serve the Renton community. A lifelong resident of Renton, Rich has deep passion for our community. He is a fixture at community events, and enjoys few things more than meeting and visiting with community members at the Farmer’s Market, neighborhood picnics, and every special event that comes along. In my opinion, it is so important that elected officials stay connected to the people they serve or they lose touch with “reality”. Rich is active in so many areas in our city, I know he will always be accessible and open to everyone.

Please join me in retaining Rich on Council. He has earned your vote!

Marcie Palmer
Council Member

The Fairwood Community News did a great job of covering the Curvy Award Ceremony last night...for the winners in the Renton 48 hour Film Frenzy.

You can read the complete story here.

Here are a couple of Gary Palmer's photos from the event.



Councilwoman Marcie Palmer presents a Curvee award for second place student division.



The amazing EriAm Sisters energize the Performing Arts Center with three excellent musical numbers


The films from the event will be available in the coming days at rentonreporter.com

Hooters Communication Director Kendahl Damico (center) and two Hooters servers greet visitors on the opening day celebration at the Renton Hooters.


The Renton Reporter first broke the story about six months ago. Investors would be reopening the Cascade Lanes bowling alley and attached diner/casino/lounge as a Hooters-branded Restaurant, Bowling Alley and Casino. The idea was welcomed by many who were looking for new life in the Cascade Shopping Center, and the idea was questioned by others who wondered if this was the right location for Hooters and others who object to the Hooters brand in general.

The Renton council and mayor had no say either way in this decision, which was a bit of a relief politically. The property use did not change from the previous use, and the property already carries the correct zoning for the Hooters proposal. Furthermore, the building itself had a four-decade history of service as a restaurant/lounge/bowling alley.

I had personally dined at the Lake Union Hooters with my wife and another couple, and it was far less salacious than I would have believed from all the hype and the Hooters logo. The Hooters waitresses are dressed in athletic shoes, shorts, and tank tops. They reminded us far more of cheerleaders than of burlesque performers. They occasionally joined together to perform a cheer, even getting customers to do "the wave", following a big sports play on the big screen.

Still, I wondered whether the location would be visible enough for Hooters customer base and whether the neighborhood would be satisfied with it. On the positive side, I knew that the Cascade Shopping Center desperately needed some serious investment if it was to break out of it's slide toward reduced occupancy, possible abandonment, and public nuisance status.

They did a great job renovating the restaurant/bowling alley complex and putting on a ribbon-cutting celebration. They invested well over one million dollars in their renovations, including a beautiful remodel of everything, an all-new kitchen, and state-of-the art fire protection systems that even use two $30,000 lasers to sense smoke anywhere over the bowling lanes. The non-smoking establishment has come a long way from the smoke-filled lounge of past decades. The Hooters complex provides jobs for 125 people, and is expected to bring approximately 3000 people per week to the Cascade Shopping Center.


Cutting the ribbon. I had the honor as Council President. (Picture by Cathy Corman)



(Picture by Cathy Corman)


You can read more on this story in this Renton Reporter article by Dean Radford.

My youngest son Danny (far left) posed with friends and inlaws at Steam Con on Saturday



The Seattle area experienced it's first "Steam Con" this weekend, Friday through Sunday at the Marriott.

The Steam Con convention celebrates a sub-genre of Science Fiction that focuses on steam powered vehicles and contraptions contemplated before wide-spread use of electricity; Jules Verne is the author that best comes to mind.

The style, gadgets and clothing that go with this genre are now often referred to as "Steam Punk," and typically look like upscale 1800's attire usually from Victorian England. This wikipedia article provides a good summary of the design and fantasy that go with this type of sci fi.

Our family has been identifying steam punk more frequently lately, in part because of its recent popularity here in the US, and in part because of its long popularity in Japan. Japanese Anime incorporates steam punk so often that they even have a series named for the topic.


Steamboy, a great example of the sci fi "steam punk" genre


And below is a frame from one of Japan's most famous feature-length animated movies of all time, "Howls Moving Castle", from Miyazaki's studio Ghibli-- Japan's eqivalent to our Walt Disney.





In fact, steam punk is so popular in Japan that Disneyland even incorporated steam punk themes into large sections of Tokyo Disney Sea, the Disney Tokyo theme park that is unique to Japan.

Below are a couple of snap shots from Tokyo Disney Sea last year, with the Jules Verne "Steam Punk" theme very evident.






So, after explaining the genre, here are my photos from the "Steam Con" this weekend at the Sea Tac Marriot.



Danny gets his 19th century flight gear put together at our house before leaving for the convention











Kaylie, my son-in-law's sister, created a very elaborate costume complete with a unique brass/copper steam punk muzzle loading rifle.
( see all the pictures by clicking here )

I was glad the state finally did the right thing, and decided it was okay for home-owners to keep and reuse the rainwater run-off from their buildings and other impermeable structures. Here is the article on the topic. Up until now you were essentially a scoff-law if you were collecting water from your downspout in a rain-barrel. Now you are good to go. So save that water to irrigate your garden during the next dry spell... now one's gonna arrest you for it.

On Wednesday I had the honor to cut the ribbon at the opening of the Access Wellness Center on Lind Avenue across from IKEA.

The modern, impeccably-clean and attractively decorated center takes a holistic approach to health in a format that is a cross between am upscale medical clinic and a beauty spa.

They make all their services and prices available on their website at AccessWellnessCenter.com

In addition to providing a range of health services to Renton-area clients, the center has also created 13 excellent new jobs in our city.

Access Wellness Center is a welcome addition to the City of Renton, and I wish them great success.

I just surfed over to Zillow to see how the internet site feels that local real estate valuations are holding up, and I discovered they are having some troubles identifying schools.

When I checked my duplex in the Renton highlands I was a little surprised that they implied that Hillcrest Special Sevices Center was the elementary school. But it was the high school that really caught my eye. Zillow reports that the high school for this part of Renton Highlands is the Griffin Home, which is actually a juvenile halfway house located on Lake Washington Boulevard! (The Griffin Home has been most recently in the news as the point of escape for the "Camano Island Serial Burglar" described in this story here .)

Here is the Zillow page:

The Renton Reporter recently posted this story about Renton's Uptown Glassworks potentially going out of business. This would be a big loss for our city, as the unique glass art studio and retail shop is a big draw to our downtown and has introduced countless new students to the world of glass blowing. It has helped anchor our downtown for nearly two decades and has become one of my favorite spots to purchase gifts for far-away friends when I want to send something made in Washington.

I hope someone with a hundred thousand dollars in upfront costs and a couple years of operating reserve can step forward to purchase this business to keep it open. Whoever buys it for $100,000 will be inheriting a large loyal customer base and a nearly twenty-year excellent reputation.






In the above photo, a delegation from our sister city of Nishiwaki Japan gets a glass-blowing demonstration (and ever participates a little) at Uptown Glassworks

The Seattle Times ran this story today about pilots taking naps in the airplane flight deck. I'm wondering how they find it so easy to fall asleep when--as hard as I try-- I can never seem to fall asleep on an airplane?

I received some correspondence about a serious collision involving a playful dog and a doggy "fire hydrant" at the dog park. By the time I received this, Kevin Pool of RUFF had already responded with an excellent answer. I agree with Kevin that we should take a look at this. I don't know whether this was freak accident, or if it could likely be repeated. And I don't know if the color (yellow-green, with painted paw prints) or some other quality of the hydrant makes it hard for the dogs to see. But in any case, we should look into it and move it if appropriate. Meanwhile, be careful throwing balls for your dog or running them quickly in the area of these hydrants.







From: RUFF - Renton's Unleashed Furry Friends <rentonoffleash@gmail.com>
Date: October 20, 2009 9:42:23 AM PDT
To: JB
Cc: Randy Corman <rcorman@rentonwa.gov>
Subject: Re: Dog Park Accident. Attn Randy Corman. Notice of Possible Safety Problem.


I'm so sorry to hear about Kodiak's accident at the park, and hope he's doing OK.

Ironically, the two fire hydrants in the park aren't actually hooked up and they aren't there for fighting fires. We installed them in the park after we received complaints that there weren't any objects that male dogs could urinate on. The fire department donated the two hydrants, and we painted and installed them (one is set on a post, the other is bolted to a 2x2' piece of plywood below the mulch). We definitely considered the issue of safety when placing them, but at the time, we believed their locations wouldn't be in the path of running dogs. Of course, that was back in August, before the rains started, when the most heavily-used area of the park was much further away from the entrance. Now that the rains have started, the center of activity has shifted closer to the entrance where the ground is covered with mulch.

I'll forward your message to the rest of our core volunteers at RUFF and to the city staff members involved in the dog park (Todd Black and Kristine Stimpson), and we'll make a decision on what to do with the hydrants in light of this accident. I would guess that we'll probably move the one near the entrance to a spot that's more out of the way, or perhaps into the small dog area.

Thanks for bringing the accident to our attention, and again, we hope Kodiak makes a full recovery.

Best Regards,

Kevin Poole/RUFF



On Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 8:54 PM, JB wrote:

Dear Randy:

We took our 20 month old Akita for the first time tonight to the new dog park and wow did he enjoy being off leash. He is in the middle of Advanced Obedience training but he enjoyed running after balls and running with other dogs in a confined environment. Unfortunately he was hurt quite severely while inside the park.

In the middle of the park there is a yellow fire hydrant. He was being chased at full tilt by another dog and Kodiak was looking to his side when he slammed into the fire hydrant. There was a deadly thud because his contact was with the horizontal branch at the side of the iron structure. He was running at full speed and it stopped him immediately. He yelped and whined and could not move. He held his left leg up and I feared that it was broken. After I helped him he was carried off the park by another kind dog owner that witnessed the accident. By the time we got him out of the park he managed to limp back to our vehicle. Our initial thoughts that his leg was broken were relieved so we did not take him to an animal clinic. We will observe him tomorrow in case he has some kind of stress fracture. He is a powerful young dog and from what I see is only bruising and swelling as of tonight.

Dogs go the park to run and chase etc and probably this was a freak accident. I am not sure why there is a fire hydrant inside the park because I there are no buildings nearby. I know that as a fire hydrant there must be certain clearances around I and since I do not know why it is there in the first place whether it might not be possible to cap it off to avoid another incident.

What do you think might be done to avoid this happening again?

Thank you . JB

Rich Zwicker provides an excellent summary of why voters should return him to city council here in his blog. Don't forget to give Rich your vote. My family and I have already voted for him.