Registration has officially opened for the 2013 Burien Brat Trot, set for Sunday, Oct 6!

The Burien Brat Trot is one of the BEST community events around (we’re proud to be the Media Sponsor…again!). All day long on Oct. 6, you will enjoy a Bavarian style celebration with entertainment, food, and a marketplace with crafts and vendors – all centered around the Burien Brat Trot 5k and one mile race!

The Brat Trot is anchored by Olde Burien’s Tin Room – a favorite watering hole for many and a fun community gathering place!

Save Money by Registering EARLY!

Race Registration is OPEN NOW - with an early registration rate of only $30 per runner. Prices go up later this summer-so register now!

This race benefits two important local organizations, The Highline Schools Foundation, which gathers community resources to support the 18,000 students in Highline Public Schools, and Safe Kids South King County, which supports injury prevention through access and education.

A ribbon-cutting celebration for Burien’s brand new Bike Racks is set for Saturday, June 29 at 11 a.m. in front of Bumbershoot Books at 639 SW 152nd Street.

“We’ve just installed a couple dozen, sparkling new, custom-designed bike racks around town, through the collaborative efforts of WABI Burien and the City of Burien’s Parks and Public Works Departments,” said Maureen Hoffmann of WABI Burien. “And there are more racks coming!”

Come to the ribbon-cutting ceremony and give a big, happy shout-out with the rest of the community. These bike racks have been a long time coming and there’s cause for celebration.

“Now it’s easier to hop on your bike, head into town and do your shopping at the local businesses!”

Here are the details:

WHAT: WABI Burien Bike Rack Ribbon Cutting

WHEN: Saturday, June 29 at 11:00 a.m.

WHERE: In front of Bumbershoot Books (639 SW 152nd Street). There will be refreshments and giveaways. A FREE raffle. Discounts offered by local businesses. And plenty of applause and good feelings. (Ride your bike to the ribbon-cutting, wearing your helmet, and we’ll give you an extra raffle ticket.)

• Locations for all the racks: Burien Bike Rack Map
• Bike Rack Project Overview: Bike Racks for Burien
• Details: ”All things Bike Rack”

The Downtown Burien Bike Rack Project has been a focus project of WABI Burien for almost 2 years, and has involved WABI board members, the City of Burien Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department, Burien Public Works Department, the Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board and community bike rack sponsors. All thanks goes out to the many people that have taken part in this project.

Looking for family summer fun and great savings? The Matt Griffin YMCA is the answer! Join by June 30th to save up to $125 on a family membership and get entered in a drawing for a FREE swim lesson.

Join the Matt Griffin YMCA and take a dip in one of our two pools, connect with other local families through interactive games and events, get energized in a Zumba®, yoga or Pilates class, and plan your summer with our Summer Activities Calendar on mattgriffinymca.org.

Year round, there’s something fun and engaging for your entire family at the Y. From adults to infants and every age in between, Y activities keep you and your family happy, healthy and involved.

Join today, save now and get involved!

Matt Griffin YMCA
3595 S. 188th Street
SeaTac
mattgriffinymca.org

“She was last seen flying from a tree by the parking lot around 9 p.m. on Monday,” Jeanna told The B-Town Blog. “She is fully flighted and could be anywhere in Burien by now. People will probably hear her before they see her. She is pretty loud, especially when she screams. But she mostly talks and says Hello, Hiiii, Maya, Hi Maya, How are you, Look what I have!, and some other things.”

If you happen to hear or see anything, please contact Jeanna Lee at jeannalee@me.com or 206-790-7872.

“Any info will be very appreciated,” Jeanna added. “She is probably pretty hungry by now – she loves bananas and raw nuts.”

Please fax your resume and cover letter to Kendle Johnson at 206-244-8703.

Highline Hand Therapy, 275 SW 160th St, Suite 201, Burien WA, 98166

Please provide a contact phone number.  You may be contacted by phone to set up an interview after we have an opportunity to review your resume.  Principals only.  Recruiters – please do not contact this job posting.  No phone calls, please.

Highline Hand Therapy is a privately owned clinic offering treatment to individuals with hand and arm injuries.  We are accepting applications for a part-time Medical Billing/Office assistant.

• Schedule:  Part time, three half-days per week (12 – 15 hours)
• Light  to light-medium physical demands
• Requires high school diploma or GED equivalent
• Medical billing experience preferred

Major responsibilities:  Enter data into medical billing program, verify insurance and obtain authorization. Answer telephone, check in patients, schedule patients.  File charts and documents, open and sort mail, fax documents, make copies, accept credit card or check payments.  Assist therapists with heat or ice applications, set-up or removal of exercise equipment, tidy treatment rooms, do laundry (towels and sheets).

Other skills:  Customer service and communication, speak and write English, write legibly, take initiative and perform multiple tasks.

Letter to the Editor:

When one candidate running for a City Council position recently contacted the City of Burien about political booths for the Strawberry Festival, that candidate was told that no political campaigning promoting individuals, an issue or party was allowed from booths at the event. This was the city’s policy. The only thing that political groups or individuals could do from the booths was to provide general information to educate the public on things like where to vote or how to register to vote.

However, Joey Martinez, the 33rd Dems, 34th Dems and two potential Port Commissioners violated the city rules for the festival and directly distributed campaign materials for a specific candidate. None of these booths were registering voters or explaining rules for voting. City staff were at the festival and could easily have stopped this material from being handed out or closed the renter’s booth down. They did nothing.

This demonstrates what Dick West (Burien Citizen) has been speaking about repeatedly at Council meetings. The City of Burien makes rules and ordinances and then selectively enforces them for only some individuals or businesses. For other individuals and businesses, it enforces them vigorously. This is not how consistent, honest and transparent government works and it creates a general distrust and disrespect of the government and how it operates in Burien.

So my question is; what is the city going to do to those booth renters that violated the rules for booths at the Strawberry festival? John Creighton, Courtney Gregoire, Joey Martinez, the 34th Dems and the 33rd Dems?

If the city intends to do nothing about rules and ordinances, why make them?

If the city enforces them for only some parties then this demonstrates a clear prejudice in favor of some citizens and something doesn’t smell right about that. Also if the city only stated the rules to some of the renters and then neglected to post or give the rules to other renters or potential renters, the city needs to clear up how it does business during its events. I believe that this is the responsibility of Michael Lafreniere, Director of Parks and Recreation and it appeared that he and his staff did nothing about this issue during the festival.

The Council and city staff have a responsibility to make sure that ordinances and rules are enforced equally and fairly for all citizens, candidates and businesses.

– R. DeLorm

[Have an opinion or concern you'd like to share with our ~90,000+ monthly Readers? Please send us your Letter to the Editor via email. Include your full name, please remain civil and, pending our review, we'll most likely publish it.]

It has white and tan fur and was found without a collar:

We can be contacted at (206) 268-0070.

Jeramie Harms, 28, was scheduled to make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Seattle today at 1:30 p.m.

Timothy Lynch, 50, is currently in custody on an unrelated charge and will be scheduled for his appearance in the coming weeks.

The theft was discovered on February 12, 2013, when a Port of Seattle employee noticed damage to the fence surrounding the runway light structures near South 188th Street and Des Moines Memorial Drive. In total, approximately 7,200 feet of copper cable was stolen from the FAA light towers, rendering them inoperable and potentially posing a threat to airline safety.

According to the criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday, Harms and Lynch entered a secured area of Sea-Tac Airport and removed copper cable from the light towers. Harms first came to the attention of law enforcement in connection with a King County burglary. While being questioned by law enforcement, information was developed linking Harms and Lynch to the wire theft. The copper wire cost more than $77,000 when it was installed in 2008. Harms was arrested Monday afternoon.

The men are charged with theft of public property which is punishable by up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force which includes officers from the Port of Seattle Police Department, the Seattle Police Department and the King County Sheriff’s Department. The case is being prosecuted by Executive Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Bates.

In the latest incident, the suspect attempted to enter a bedroom window of a house in the 10400 block of 3 Ave SW (map below) just after 10 p.m. A 1-year old child was sleeping in the room and the child’s mother had stepped out for a moment, but when she returned she saw the suspect pushing on the window screen. The child’s mother screamed and the suspect fled.

A relative who was home at the time jumped out the window and chased the suspect losing him near SW106th and 2 Ave SW. The suspect was wearing a grey hoodie and tan shorts.

When deputies arrived in the area they saw a red Mazda Pickup driving quickly out of the area. When deputies tried to stop the vehicle, a female passenger exited the vehicle and the vehicle sped off. The vehicle crashed a short distance away and the suspect fled on foot. The suspect was wearing clothes that matched those of the burglary suspect and was described as “tall and skinny.”

The vehicle was determined to have been stolen from Seattle on May 31st.

The previous incident on the street was on June 2nd when a suspect attempted to abduct a 3-year old child from his yard. The child’s mother was able to fight with the suspect to keep him from taking the child.

In the first incident is the suspect was described as a male, approximately 6’0 tall, and skinny. He wore a full mask, dark gloves, and all black clothing including a tight dark shirt, dark pants, and dark shoes.

The undeveloped parcels are north of the current Town Square condominiums and Burien Library/City Hall between SW 152nd and SW 150th streets. RECP/UP Burien II LP includes the developer and a capital partner that jointly own the properties.

Under the settlement agreement, RECP/UP Burien II LP will sell the properties back to the City of Burien or a third party designated by the City of Burien. In addition, the City of Burien will reimburse RECAP/UP II LLP for planning and design expenses incurred by the owner/developer over the past year.

“The City of Burien has engaged its community in a downtown master plan that will benefit the entire city,” said Matthew Burton, managing principal for UP Burien II LLC. “With time and the right fit, we believe the City will be successful.”

The settlement agreement was unanimously approved 6-0 by the council.

The parcels are the remaining empty lots – around 3.25 acres worth – north of the completed 124-unit Town Square condos, which were originally developed by Urban Partners. When Urban Partners purchased the parcels from the City in 2005, the development agreement required the developer to begin the next phase of the project within two years of completing the first phase, or by July 21, 2011. Urban Partners failed to meet this deadline and still has not commenced construction of Town Square’s next phase.

On April 30, 2012, the City notified the owner/developer, which had since merged with Harbor Properties to form Harbor Urban, that it had defaulted on its development agreement with the City. The City issued a formal written notice of its intent to repurchase the remaining undeveloped parcels. That repurchase was to occur within 180 days.

Under this deal, Urban Partners and its capital partners, Real Estate Capital Partners of New York, will sell the parcels to Legacy Partners, which has a Seattle area office. If that deal does not go through, the city could buy back the property from Urban Partners.

According to the Legacy Partners website:

Legacy Partners is a leading vertically integrated real estate investment manager, owner and operator, with a comprehensive portfolio of commercial and residential assets in the western United States. Based on our significant background and a stable, committed team who live, work and specialize in our core markets, Legacy provides its investors, partners, tenants and residents with the depth of experience, speed of execution and transparency to create superior value.