On Monday afternoon (Aug. 30), Jim Spady of Dick’s Drive-In announced that they’ll be expanding their line of fast food restaurants by one, with the final location to be determined by votes from the public on the restaurant’s website.

There are three areas under consideration:

1. South End, which includes SeaTac, Tukwila, Renton, Burien, South Seattle and West Seattle.
2. North includes Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace, Lynnwood, Edmonds and South Everett.
3. East includes Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Bothell, Mercer Island, Issaquah and Sammamish.

As of 11pm Monday night, the vote tallies are showing us South Enders trailing in third place, with just 29% (1,748 votes) – could this be a sign that we already have a sufficient supply of red meat and tater-based food product?

Leading the pack is the obviously burger-starved East Side, at 37% (2,260 votes).

Second place goes to the North End with 33% (1,982 votes).

So Burien – do YOU want a Dick’s Drive-In ’round these parts? Or are you already happy with your local joints?

Click here to vote, but be very patient – last time we checked, their website was moving about as fast as Heinz ketchup on a cool crisp rainy late-summer day.

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This week, our decision to “take the pledge” to the TAO of Journalism came to fruition, and we’d like our Readers to know about it.

The “TAO of Journalism” is, quite simply, a “promise to your audience that you will be Transparent about who you are, Accountable for your mistakes, and Open to other points of view.”

Here’s how this concept originated:

At a Journalism That Matters conference in Washington, D.C., in 2008, John Hamer of the Washington News Council was thinking about how journalists demand that everyone they cover be transparent, accountable and open — but what about journalists themselves? Isn’t it a two-way street? He realized those three words spelled “TAO” and proposed a breakout session on the “TAO of Journalism.” About two dozen conference attendees showed up to discuss the idea and help refine it.

In 2009, at another Journalism That Matters gathering at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, Hamer floated the idea again and convened another breakout session. Several attendees came and talked it over — including Tom Stites of The Banyan Project, who encouraged Hamer to pursue it.

At a third Journalism That Matters event at the University of Washington in Seattle in January 2010 (Editor’s Note: this is where we first met John and learned of this concept), the “TAO of Journalism” was informally launched. Several attendees took the “TAO pledge” and/or bought T-shirts displaying a TAO logo. Others signed up at a Society of Professional Journalists convention in Seattle in April 2010.

We now proudly publish the pledge we took for not only The SeaTac Blog, but for our five sister sites as well:

Transparent
We will fully disclose who we are, our journalistic mission and our guiding principles. We will post information on our background and expertise, including education and experience. We will list advertisers, donors, grants, and any other payments that support our work. If affiliated with a political party or special-interest group, we will disclose that. If lobbying for any particular legislation or regulation, we will disclose that. If we are being paid to promote a product or cause, we will disclose that. If other factors could be seen as potential conflicts of interest, we will disclose them. (NOTE: The principle of transparency does not apply to confidential sources, who may still be protected.)

Accountable
If we get any facts wrong, we will admit that promptly and publicly. We will post/publish/print/podcast/broadcast a correction or at least a clarification. We will fully explain what happened to cause the error or mistake. We will do a follow-up story if that is appropriate, putting the original material in better context. We will apologize and promise to be more careful next time. We will show a little humility.

Open
If there are credible challenges to our point of view or simply differences of opinion, we will be open to contrary positions. We will give the other side(s) opportunity and space to express their views and engage in open public dialogue through comments or other means. If we are primarily engaged in opinion and commentary, rather than news reporting, we will make that clear – while inviting others to express their opinions through comment and feedback means.

We do not necessarily agree to abide by any particular code of journalism ethics or professional standards, although we may choose to do so. If we do, we will declare that publicly. If we don’t, we will declare that as well. We understand that this will not be enforced by any outside organized group. It will be overseen by everyone on the Internet who wants to see high standards of transparency, accountability and openness in journalism – through whatever media platform.

We understand that if someone using the “TAO Seal” starts violating its basic principles, they will be admonished, criticized, reprimanded and embarrassed in public through the awesome power of the Internet. Call it “crowdsourcing” ethics and accuracy. In summary, we believe that Transparency, Accountability and Openness are keys to our personal credibility and public trust.

So…what the heck does this mean to our Readers?

• It means that you can rest assured that if we have a bias or agenda, we’ll do our best to openly disclose it.
• If we make a mistake, we’ll do our best to correct it.
• And, as we’ve showed in the past by allowing anonymous Comments and Forum Postings, we’ll continue to allow contrary points of view, as long as they’re not libelous, or contain naughty words.

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Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training begins Sept. 16th and continues every Thursday evening from 6pm – 9pm at SeaTac City Hall, which is located at 4800 South 188th Street.

CERT was created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 1994. The goal is for emergency personnel to train neighborhood residents, community organization members and employees in basic emergency response skills. CERT members are then integrated into emergency response efforts for their area. Some sessions require physical participation while others are primarily lectures. Instructors emphasize that participants must be physically fit enough to engage in strenuous activities, such as lifting and carrying.

There is a $35 fee for the course and select supplies, and a thorough background check is conducted on applicants.

Various session highlights include:

• Sept. 16: Disaster Preparedness, with Instructor Mike Marrs, Chief of the Burien/Normandy Park Fire Dept.
• Oct. 7: Disaster Psychology & ICS, taught be Sgt. Henry McLauchlan of Burien Police, and Kathleen Gleaves of the Port of Seattle.
• Oct. 28: Terrorism & Review with Doug Reynolds of SeaTac Police.
• Oct. 30: Final Mass Casualty Exercise, which is the big finale with fake “victims” being treated in a mock disaster. Cool.

For more information, contact Community Service Officer Mechee Burnett at (206) 973-4917 or mechee.burnett@kingcounty.gov.

Here’s the full class lineup:

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The Port of Seattle announced Monday (Aug. 9) that South 160th St., between Air Cargo Rd. and International Blvd. (SR-99), will be closed to eastbound traffic during working hours (7am – 4pm) now through mid-September.

All eastbound traffic will be detoured to S 170th St. During non-working hours one lane in each direction will be open to traffic.

Exit from Airport Garage Rerouted; New Route Gives Drivers Access to the Exit to S. 170th Street

Drivers leaving the garage make an immediate right to enter the northbound Airport Expressway. This route gives drivers access to the exit to South 170th Street, which connects to both Air Cargo Road and International Boulevard (SR 99).

Drivers should use extra caution exiting the toll plaza, drive slowly and pay close attention to signage on the new route.

The exit ramp to Air Cargo Road on the southbound approach to the Airport terminal has closed. A new exit ramp is open on the opposite side (on the left) of the expressway, giving travelers access to the Cell Phone Waiting Lot, Overheight Parking, South 170th Street and Air Cargo Road . Drivers should pay particular attention to signage directing them to the new exit only lane on the left.

South 160th St., between Air Cargo Rd. and International Blvd. (SR-99), will be closed to eastbound traffic during working hours (7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) now through mid-September. All eastbound traffic will be detoured to S 170th St. During non-working hours one lane in each direction will be open to traffic.

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The Port of Seattle has signed a new contract with Yellow Cab company after the Washington Supreme Court rejected an appeal on an earlier ruling by the State Appeals Court.

The new contract will not take effect until at least October 31, as the Port has extended the current agreement with the Seattle-Tacoma International Taxicab Association (STITA) two months because of the pending legal cases.

People needing to hire a cab from the airport until Nov. 1 will still use the familiar STITA cabs, STITA officials said, until the new Yellow Cab contract takes affect.

However, STITA says it has other matters to take before courts that it hopes will prevent Yellow from taking over the cab service at the airport.

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The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) seeks public comment on the City of SeaTac’s recently updated Shoreline Master Program, a landmark effort that will significantly increase protection and restoration of Angle Lake.

Ecology will accept public comment on SeaTac’s shoreline program from July 28 through Aug. 27, 2010. Comments and questions should be
addressed to:

David Pater
Department of Ecology
3190 160th Ave. SE
Bellevue, WA 98008

Or via email: David.Pater@ecy.wa.gov.

The updated master program guides construction and development in the City of SeaTac’s 2.17 miles of lake shoreline. It combines local plans for future development and preservation with new development ordinances and related permitting requirements.

Under Washington’s voter-approved Shoreline Management Act, Ecology must review and approve SeaTac’s shoreline program before it takes effect.

SeaTac’s proposed program and related documents are available for review at:

City of SeaTac Planning & Community Dept.
4800 South 188th Street
SeaTac WA

Or online here.

Ecology may approve the shoreline program as written, reject it or direct SeaTac to modify specific parts. Once approved by Ecology, SeaTac’s shoreline program will become part of the overall state shoreline master program. Ecology will help each local jurisdiction legally defend its shoreline program if necessary.

The SeaTac city council adopted the updated shoreline program after an extensive local process. The update began with a thorough inventory of existing land-use patterns and environmental conditions to preserve existing shoreline areas while protecting future economic development. SeaTac collaborated over two-and-a-half years with waterfront property owners, commercial property owners, real estate agents, environmental interests, and state agencies.

Shoreline master programs are the cornerstone of the state Shoreline Management Act passed by voters in 1972. The programs help minimize environmental damage to shoreline areas, reserve appropriate areas for water-oriented uses and reduce interference with the public’s access to public waters and shorelines.

The law requires cities and counties with marine shorelines, lakes 20 acres in size or larger, and streams and rivers flowing at 20 cubic feet per second or greater) to develop and periodically update their locally-tailored shoreline programs.

Key features of SeaTac’s updated program include:

• Improves protection of habitat and water quality through regulations that apply to all Angle Lake waterfront property owners.
• Requires structures to be set back 65 feet from the lakeshore.
• Promotes incentives for reestablishment of vegetation buffers.
• Reduces ecological impacts of new and replacement recreational piers.
• Limits construction of new shoreline armoring and encourages the use of soft-bank erosion control methods.
• Includes a restoration plan showing where and how voluntary improvements in water and upland areas can enhance the local shoreline environment.
• Helps support the broader Puget Sound initiative to protect and restore the Sound.

Ecology adopted new guidelines in 2003 that establish the basic requirements for updating local shoreline master programs. The guidelines resulted from a negotiated settlement between business interests, ports, environmental groups, shoreline user groups, cities and counties, Ecology, and the courts.

SeaTac joins a growing number of cities, towns and counties that have updated their shoreline programs using the 2003 guidelines. The state guidelines allow each town, city and county flexibility to customize their programs to fit its local land-use circumstances and vision of local waterfront development.

More than 30 cities and counties have already updated their shoreline programs, with 70 updates currently under way. Most haven’t done so comprehensively in almost 40 years. From 1978 through 2008, the state population grew from about 3.8 million to an estimated 6.6 million people.

Starting July 1, 2009, Ecology provided $7.5 million in state grants to an additional 77 cities and counties to help them begin updating their shoreline policies and regulations – including $3 million earmarked by the 2009 Legislature specifically to help municipalities throughout the Puget Sound region.

Washington has 266 cities and counties with shorelines that qualify for grant funding and must update their shoreline programs by December 2014.

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by Jack Mayne

A cab driver for the Seattle-Tacoma International Taxi Association (STITA), Jaskaran Singh, is credited with finding and returning an envelope of cash to a family that flew into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and took a cab to a downtown hotel. The name of the family is not being used to protect their privacy.

“We arrived very late at night after a long flight from New York,” the traveler wrote to the city taxi authority and to the cab company. “Exhausted from our travels we took a STITA taxi driven by Mr. Jaskaran Singh from the Seattle airport to our hotel.

“My wife was holding a very large amount of cash in an envelope,” the traveler wrote. “This represented all the cash we had in our possession. In the hustle of getting out of the taxi with two small children and handling six pieces of luggage my wife unknowingly lost the envelope containing all our money.

“Upon arriving at our hotel room we soon discovered all our money was missing. We frantically searched the hotel lobby and outside street with no luck. My wife was crying hysterically and our trip was ruined. The children asked how we would survive with no money.

“One of my children thought he remembered the cab number but we were unsure of the taxi company name. From our hotel manager we obtained a phone number for STITA taxi company and called the dispatcher on the unlikely chance he could track down our driver. At this point we were unsure where we lost our money.”

The New Yorker said he told the dispatcher “our sad story and he instantly responded to the gravity of our situation.”

“Despite the large number of taxis at the Seattle airport that evening the dispatcher called me right back to say he was somehow able to locate our particular taxi.

“Moments later I received another call from my driver, Mr. Jaskaran Singh. The first words out of his mouth were ‘there’s a lot of money here.’ Mr. Singh appeared soon afterward and dropped off all our lost money.

“We will always remember Mr. Singh’s honesty and integrity,” the traveler said. “I share this experience in recognition of Mr. Jaskaran Singh efforts and the fine folks who work at the STITA taxi company who responded to our crisis. Mr. Singh’s actions were truly commendable and turned our worst nightmare into an example of humanity at its finest.”

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Our friends at the Highline Historical Society (we’re members, are you? Join here) are looking for people who worked at Sea-Tac Airport or for an airline or airport vendor between 1930 and 2000.

If you have a story to tell about your time spent at the airport, or if you have personal mementos such as photos, uniforms, ephemera (contracts, tickets, advertisements, schedules, etc.), or even home movies taken at the airport, the Historical Society would like to hear from you.

The Society can make careful copies of photos and documents and return the originals to the owner in pristine, museum-quality conditions.

This is a unique opportunity to be part of preserving the history of Sea-Tac Airport, and of documenting its impact on the communities of Highline. Donors of memories and memorabilia will be entered in a drawing to win a dinner for two at Mick Kelley’s Irish Pub in Burien.

If you can help out, please contact the Society today by calling 206-246-6354, or by e-mailing editor@highlinehistory.org.

Here’s a great photo courtesy the historical society, of Opening Day of Sea-Tac International Airport, taken in July, 1949 (more great photos here):

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The Highline Blue Sox Colt Baseball team recently advanced to the West Zone Colt Baseball Tournament in California by winning all their games in the NW Regionals held in Kirkland recently. Their first game is scheduled for Saturday, July 31st, and they’re holding a car wash this Sunday, July 25th to raise funds for their trip.

They’re asking our Readers to come get their cars washed and “help a local team travel to California!”

Here are the details:

WHAT: Fundraiser Car Wash by the Highline Blue Sox Baseball Team

WHEN: This Sunday, July 25th, from 11am – 3pm

WHERE: Airport 76 Station, located at 46th Ave South and South 188th Streets in SeaTac.

INFO: From a flier:

Enjoy The Benefits of the Best Car Wash in The Area and Help a Local Team Travel to California!

Support the Highline Blue Sox Colt Baseball Team 2010 Northwest Regional Colt Baseball Champions

Sunday, July 25, 2010 Airport 76 Station – 46th Ave So and So 188th St.

11:00 am to 3:00 pm (Eco-friendly soap for the gentle care of your vehicle)

The Highline Blue Sox Colt Baseball team has earned the honor to compete in the West Zone Colt Baseball Tournament in Santa Clara, CA. by winning all of the games in the Northwest Regional tournament held in Kirkland recently. Their first game is scheduled for Saturday, July 31, 2010 at 5:00pm at Washington Park in Santa Clara, CA

Team members: Erik Anderson #10, Desmond Drew #8, Wyatt Dumar #32, Carlos Herrera #23, Kyle Howell #27 , Justin Lang #12, Andrew Lenaburg #21, Michael McLean #9, Miles McNair #0, Jake Morine #4, Jordan Morine #3, Luke Olson #13, Ryne Phelan #7 , and Danny Teja #5. Coaches: Darin Lang, Lupe Herrera and Reid McNair.

Come and meet the players.

Help give them a great send off!

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Highline/SeaTac Botanical Gardens will be hosting their annual “Ice Cream Social and Plant Sale” on Sunday, Aug. 15th, with special guest Ciscoe Morris and FREE ice cream to the first 300 guests.

Here are the details:

WHAT: Ice Cream Social & Plant Sale with Ciscoe Morris.

WHEN: Sunday, August 15, 2010, 1:00pm to 4:00pm.

WHERE: Highline/SeaTac Botanical Gardens, located at 13735 24th Ave S, SeaTac, WA 98168.

INFO: From a flier (download PDF here):

Join us in the garden on Sunday, August 15th for our 4th annual Ice Cream Social.

This year’s Celebrity Guest will again be Ciscoe Morris, who hosts “Gardening with Ciscoe” on KIRO 97.3 FM radio and KING 5/NWCN television, and is the author of the best-selling garden tome, “Ask Ciscoe”, as well as a weekly column in the Seattle Times.

Ciscoe’s topic will be “Create a Hummingbird Haven in a Pot or Garden ”

The fun starts at 1:00 p.m., with Ciscoe taking center stage in the Celebration Rose Garden at around 2:30 p.m.

Local nurseries & designers will plant 10 gorgeous pots. Register to vote for your favorite container & get a chance to take it home for free. Door prizes & free ice cream to the first 300 guests!

More information: www.highlinegarden.org or 206-391-4003.

Other featured events include:

• Silent Auction
  Bid on a variety of great items including two Aw Pots personally planted by Ciscoe, a room at SeaTac’s Radisson Hotel, a sightseeing flight around Seattle with pilot Warren Hendrickson, an original oil painting by Kathy Wyckoff, garden art, garden tools, a complete bird-gardening kit, and more!
• “Humm-dingers!!!”
  Local nurseries and designers will again plant up 10 gorgeous pots donated by Aw Pottery. This year’s theme is plants that attract hummingbirds. Just show up and register to vote for your favorite container and get a chance to take it home for FREE!!! HGBF members get two extra chances to win! Memberships will be on sale the day of the event.

Participating designers and nurseries include Clinton Bamboo Growers, Design of the Times, Dogwood Design, Minter’s Earlington Greenhouse and Nursery, Furney’s, West Seattle Nursery, Herr Backyard Garden Center, and Branches Garden Center.

• Free Aw Pottery Pot to first 40 new members!
  Be one of the first forty people to join the Highline Botanical Garden Foundation during the event and receive a gorgeous, frost-proof Aw Pottery pot! (NOTE: IF YOU PLAN ON ENTERING THE CONTEST, BRING A VEHICLE LARGE ENOUGH TO TAKE HOME YOUR WINNINGS! THE PLANTED POTS ARE BETWEEN 24″ AND 36″ TALL AND MAY WEIGH AS MUCH AS 75 POUNDS!)
• Door Prizes Galore!!!
  Register to win two free passes to the 2010 NW Flower and Garden Show, a “Cascadia” compost bin from the City of SeaTac, and gift packages from Benson’s Best Bites, Hey Paison, The Tin Room Bar and Grill, 909 Coffee and Wine, Vino Bello, Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub, and Elliot Bay Brewpub.
• Free Ice Cream to the first 300 guests!
  Please join us in the garden for an afternoon of the very best in gardening “edu-tainment”, ice cream, and of course, brussels sprouts!

For directions to the garden, click here.

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