The Sanctuary Apartments provide the key residential element at the Landing, and will enhance day-and-night energy in the retail/restaurants and entertainment.
Here is the LINK to the Sanctuary Apartments at the Landing. “The Sanctuary” will offer great views, easy access to shopping and Coulon Beach Park, convenient access to the freeway, and many modern features. I’ve heard from many Renton citizens who are interested in leasing one of the new apartments– I think they will go pretty fast.
Yay! Ken Griffey’s coming home!
This should add a spark to the team. It would be nice to see them get some momentum again.
King County Councilman Reagan Dunn has sent this letter to the Choose Renton Fairwood-annexation campaign, agreeing to sponsor the legislation which would put annexation to a vote of the affectted residents. (This vote would only occur if a vote to incorporate into a seperate city of Fairwood does not get a majority.) So, the stage is set for Fairwood to make a choice on their future.
The latest Gallup Poll shows congressional approval increasing over the last month, coinciding with their efforts to get the economic recovery package through.
I would have liked to see the stimulus package remain more focused on large infrastructure improvements. But still, I’m glad congress took action. We need to see job creation, house prices stabilizing, and credit markets unfrozen in order to restore our economic health. The stimulus package is intended to work the job element.
Some customers of the Banner Bank, at Airport and Rainier, were not going to let a robber get away with the bank’s money today. They caught him after a quick chase.
Here is the press release:
RENTON POLICE DEPARTMENT
MEDIA RELEASE
February 12th, 2009
On 02-12-09 at 9:34 AM Renton Police Officers responded to a Bank Robbery in progress at the Banner Bank located at 54 Rainier Ave. S. in the City of Renton. The suspect presented a note demanding money from a Bank Teller and implied he had a weapon concealed in his jacket. He obtained an unspecified amount of cash and then fled the bank on foot.
Bank employees indicated that they had just been robbed and two bank customers saw the suspect fleeing and gave chase. They were able to catch the suspect in the 200 Block of S. Tobin St. and detained him until officers arrived and took the suspect into custody.
Bank employees were able to positively identify the 23-year-old Auburn man who was in custody as the same suspect who had just robbed the bank. The money that was stolen from the bank was recovered from the suspect and he was booked into the Renton Jail for Bank Robbery.
Commander Paul Cline
Patrol Operations Division
Renton Police Department
(425) 430-7597
Dear Council,
In case someone asks you what happened at City Hall last night (Friday), I’ll try to give you a little detail. Shortly before 5:30 p.m., a woman apparently driving northbound on Benson Road apparently lost control of her car, struck the freeway retaining wall on the eastside of the road and careened across the southbound lanes, went airborn, struck a tree that was about 10 to 15 feet above the ground, and slammed sideways into parking garage wall, coming to a rest at the P2 level close to where I park my car. The impact snapped off the tree, which had a diameter of at least 10 inches, at the point of impact.
Our fire fighters worked for nearly 30 minutes to safely remove her from the car and get her up the bank. She was conscious at the scene but the extent of her injuries are not known.
Denis
Sports Illustrated reported yesterday on its website that Alex Rodriguez failed an “anonymous” steroid’s test in 2003; the results are no longer anonymous thanks to a federal search warrant.
This is very bad news for A-Rod and his fans (a group I used to count myself in, but I don’t think about A-Rod much any more).
What do you think…. will this mark the end of his super-stardom?
Photo by Tacoma News Tribune
I had an opportunity to tour Renton’s new Federal Reserve Bank today (Actually the Seattle Branch of the Federal Reserve of San Fransisco) along with a couple dozen members of Renton’s business community. We were treated to economic presentations and predictions by the Federal Reserve staff and Puget Sound Economist Doug Pederson. (I’ll make their predictions another blog topic for another day, but the preview is that both sources expect economic recovery to begin late this year…yay!…but they are not certain…boo!)
Anyway, back to the bank. It seems almost surreal to see greenbacks loaded into carts, about ten millions dollars per cart, and pushed around the floor just like insulation bales at McLendons Hardware.
The money-handling employees looked just like you or me, dressed in normal casual attire, some young and some more experienced. They all looked like they took their job seriously… you don’t want a stray Franklin ending up on the bottom of someone’s shoe. And the security personnel looked very serious– uniformed, well-armed, and watching activities intently. There are more cops at the bank than in all the rest of the City of Renton put together.
Essentially, the money is hand-carried in in cloth bags through a sort of air-lock, that keeps the armored car personnel from ever getting into the same room as the Federal Reserve employees.
Bank bundles are then removed from the cloth sacks, and each bundle is tagged and entered into a central computer system for tracking.
Once a cart is stacked with about ten-million dollars or so in bills, the cart is taken to a counting and inspection room. Here, automated equipment counts the bills, and credits the bank that delivered the bundle. While counting, the high-tech machines are also visually and chemically assessing the bills for damage– in the words of our host Mark Gould, the machine decides if the bill is “fit, unfit, or counterfeit.” Counterfeit bills go into a special collector to be turned over to Secret Service. Unfit bills are shredded immediately, and the remnants float up a clear exhaust tube looking something like puffs of smoke.
Finally, the bundles are re-stacked and relabeled, and taken to the vault for storage until some bank in Washington or Alaska is in need of them. The vault is right out of Harry Potter or The Da Vinci Code. (I noticed the Tacoma News Tribune writer had the same reaction I did.) The concrete is about two feet thick, and the steel door (open during business hours) is at least a foot thick itself. Inside the vault is a crane/elevator/conveyor system, which moves the bin of money to it’s special location in 3D space deep inside the vault.
Coins come in in a different “air-lock”, and they are moved to the vault, but they never leave the bags they arrive in. Before arriving they are automatically counted by the banks and Armored Car companies (presumably by calibrated and audited equipment), and the Federal Reserve Bank receives and stores them as is. I guess it is just not worth the money to recount it, and damaged coins are too rare to worry about.
There was lots of fascinating security equipment, making the building a true fortress. I don’t know what I could or should talk about, but suffice it to say it’s not going to get robbed.
The Tacoma News Tribune did a great write-up, and anyone who wants to learn more can read about it HERE.
______________________________
You can visit the bank yourself by making an appointment for your tour group.
Here is some info:
Seattle: Make your tour reservation today by calling (425) 203-0705.
* Tours are provided at the Seattle Branch (located in Renton) Monday through Friday, by reservation only.
* Tours last approximately 75 minutes and include an overview of the Federal Reserve System, pictorial history of the Seattle Branch, historical currency display and the Branch’s cash operation.
Tour Details
Prearranged tours are available to groups of students (high school and college), teachers, bankers, and community and business organizations, with a minimum of 8 persons (10 persons for San Francisco only) and a maximum of 30.
In San Francisco only, sixty-minute public tours of the Fed Center exhibit are available on a walk-in basis Fridays at noon.
All locations require a minimum of two weeks advance notice as well as a list of tour participants submitted to the tour coordinators two weeks prior to the scheduled visit.
Important Note
Due to heightened security requirements, we may close to the public at any time if the national threat level is elevated. No cameras or camera phones are allowed in our facilities; photo identification is required. We have security checks similar to those at airports. Groups requesting more than two tour reservations per month must obtain prior approval from the tour coordinator.
Our library is at a crossroads
You, the citizens of Renton, will get to make the final decision. But Renton City Council decided in a six to one vote last night to recommend annexing to the King County Library System. This was a significant change in direction from a year ago, when the prevailing mood on the council was to remain independent.
There were a few reasons for the change, but the most important one is the economy. The Renton Library System has not been keeping pace with the growth in the population, so we knew we were going to have to look at some major capital expansion and growth in annual operations funding. However, with our significant drop in tax sources linked to the economy, like sales tax, admissions tax, and business head tax, we are strained to the limit just to meet current city service demands. In contrast, the King County Library System relies only on a property tax revenue stream that is stable even when real estate assessments drop; the total funds taken in by the library district increase modestly each year, regardless of real estate values.
Note that the King County Library System is not part of the King County Government– they share the name only. Hence, the King County Library system is insulated from the draconian cuts that will be necessary to shed tens of millions of dollars of potential red ink from the county.
Other factors that make the King County Library System (KCLS) more appealing that first thought are the KCLS answers to several questions our staff put the them. Some of us (including me) were worried that they would close our Highlands library– but KCLS actually says their formulas call for a much larger library in the Renton Highlands. In addition, they are putting a new libary in Newcastle, reworking Newport Hills, planning to rebuild Skyway, and talking about another library near the Kent/Renton border in the Benson Hill area. They would use existing Renton facilities in the near term, but ultimately build a new Renton main library and a new highlands library. Both library branches would be larger than the present ones, but not as big as we would have had to make them because much of the King County distribution system is centralized in Issaquah. Hence, the buildings would not need as much administrative space as any we built if we remained independant.
This also simplifies growing confusion we were running into as more and more of our new residents found themselves in our city limits, but also in the King County Library System district. A growing number of residents were paying for service and new capitol improvments in both sides.
Also, Renton has had to pay more money each year to KCLS as part of our reciprocal-use agreement, which is pegged to how many books Renton citizens check out of KCLS vs. how many Renton books are checked out by KCLS patrons. When we started this agreement about 10 years ago, with a city population of about 47,000, the numbers were pretty much even and there was hardly any payment to speak of. Now, with a population of around 85,0000, we are seeing lots of KCLS use by Renton residents…so we have to pay KCLS a quarter million dollars a year to even things up.
KCLS also assures us they have a good procedure for transferring most, if not all, of our staff. When Auburn joined the KCLS a few years ago all of the staff were picked up by King County Library System.
On the negative side, an annexation to KCLS means reduction of local control, and many library power-users are concerned that we will not have the large and accessible local book collection we now enjoy. KCLS certainly has a lot of books, but many of them will not be housed in Renton, and will take ordering by patrons to get onto our shelves. Also, the service is likely to become less personal, as KCLS is an institution used to handling one million patron visits per month… not a formula for being flexible.
Also, an annexation to KCLS will cost us all in taxes– not any more than an updated first-class independent library in Renton, but more than we pay now. Hence, this decision is one for the voters to contemplate before jumping into.
After a 90 minute deliberation on Monday night, council still had several remaining questions and issues to resolve, but all council members except Marcie Palmer recommended moving ahead with the next steps for annexing to KCLS. Marcie brought a lot of data to the discussion, and had thoroughly studied statistics, library board minutes, and surveys, along with bringing tremendous personal experience as a patron of both systems. She remained unconvinced that this was the right move, even while the other six of us voted for it.
In the end, it will be Renton voters that decide whether to annex to the King County Library System. Our vote last night just kicks off the process to go to a ballot, and we still have to collect recommendations from our library board and up-to-date cost figures and proposed working agreements.
How do you think you will vote?
I really am disappointed in hearing about members of congress who failed to pay income tax or self-employment tax. It’s ridiculous that so many of the top members seem to have such tax problems. If these are presumably the people that favor government, that know where the money is going, that are RESPONSIBLE for the spending, and that are behind the system we all pay into…and the people that probably have the most to lose by failing to pay–one would like to think that they are the people who would be the most compliant. What does this mean about tax compliance across the rest of the nation?
I’m beginning to think we could sustain a massive tax cut paid for by the people that have not been paying all their taxes up till now. And maybe it’s time we have a tax auditor look at the records of anyone running for any public office… make their tax compliance an open-book before they run. I don’t think we have heard the end of this.
Here is the latest news.
This just in. I’m bummed. But I suppose we can survive with the other five or six Starbucks stores in the area 🙂
_________________________________
Council,
It’s our understanding that Starbuck’s will not be opening their store at The Landing. We have heard that they removed all of their equipment and signage. This is not a surprise with the announcement last night about 6,700 company layoffs. We will keep you updated as we learn of new tenants coming online.
Denis
Last night we decided to accept the ten-percent annexation petitions from Fairwood and West Hill. We will study the potential costs of both annexations more closely, and possibly allow one or both to go to ballot. There are A LOT of factors to still consider, and it is not clear to me what the voters in each of these areas will ultimately want. But at this time, both potential annexations are possibilities.
Other than the possibility of determining that we won’t take these on because of cost, the City of Renton will officially stay neutral on the annexations. This official city position does not extend to our employees however, who (like all citizens) are free to support any political positions they choose on their own time with their own resources. (For instance, our fire fighters local has endorsed the Fairwood annexation drive.)
Here are more details about last night’s vote on this topic (from today’s Renton Reporter).
The following detail was in the Seattle Times this morning:
Man arrested in 2006 fatal shooting in Renton
A 27-year-old man wanted in connection with a 2006 fatal shooting outside a Renton bar was booked into jail Monday afternoon.
By Sara Jean Green
Seattle Times staff reporter
And here is more info from Denis Law:
A 27-year-old man wanted in connection with a 2006 fatal shooting outside a Renton bar was booked into jail Monday afternoon.
William Adam Gray was charged with second-degree murder in November 2006 and a warrant was issued for his arrest, according to documents filed in King County Superior Court. He is suspected of fatally shooting 19-year-old Sanelive Hikila and wounding Vita Moimoi, now 19, in a parking lot across from Pounders Bar & Grill at 221 Main Ave. S. in Renton, just before 2 a.m. on Nov. 5, 2006.
Gray was also charged with first-degree assault and unlawful possession of a firearm in connection with the shooting.
According to charging papers, a fight broke out between a group of people as the bar was closing and patrons were ushered outside. During the fight, “a male known to witnesses as ‘D.I.’ moved toward Hikila and Moimoi and shot both at close range,” the papers say. The shooter fled in a red Chevrolet Caprice. Officers later found two .380-caliber casings in the parking lot.
Renton police released surveillance photos to the media and a citizen recognized Gray from a television news cast, court papers say. Witnesses, including a Pounders employee who had tried to break up the fight, later identified Gray as the shooter from a photo montage.
The circumstances leading to Gray’s arrest on Monday were unclear.
The King County Sheriff’s Office issued the warrant for Gray’s arrest but sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart said he couldn’t determine which police agency was responsible for apprehending Gray.
Gray was booked into the Regional Justice Center in Kent just after 5:30 p.m. Monday, jail records show. He was booked on investigation of second-degree murder, domestic-violence malicious mischief and for failing to appear in court on a drug charge.
Gray has previous felony assault convictions, including the shooting of another man, court records say. According to charging papers, he also failed to show up in court for his arraignment on the second-degree murder charge.
Denis Law
Barack Obama had his first official executive flight, as president elect, on a beautiful Renton-built C-32A… the Air Force nomenclature for a specially designed 757. This aircraft has been part of the official presidential air lift capability for about ten years, but was just recently videotaped by National Geographic for a new special.
The 757s remain popular, reliable and efficient airliners, even though Boeing took them out of production about five years ago.
The multitudes of us who work at Boeing are very proud of the role our airplanes play in official public business and national defense.
(The full National Geographic documentary, Onboard Air Force One, will air Jan. 25 on the National Geographic Channel.)
No, it’s not this…
and it’s not this…
But THIS creature which is putting some residents a little on edge just outside of Renton.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife file photo
Here is an email I recently received…
____________________________________________
This cougar was less than 100 yards from my house….
Cougar Alert
January 16th, 2009
We’ve had sightings of coyotes and bobcats in recent days, but here’s a warning everyone should take very seriously. Amy just emailed me to say a cougar was in her flower bed around 8 this morning. She lives at the end of 135th Place SE where it backs into the woods in the View Pointe/Olympic Ridge/Rainier Crest/China Falls area. The cougar took off as soon as it spotted Amy. She has already called Fish and Wildlife, but wanted to get the word out to neighbors as well. Cougars are a much greater threat to humans than bobcats, so please keep an eye out.
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I know, perhaps we should expect this right at the base of Cougar Mountain (although I don’t know what that means for residents of Tiger Mountain…yikes!)
In any case, with the big lions making their way so close to our homes, now is a good time to remind people how dangerous these secretive predators can be.
Here is a great Washington State site for more information and tips.
It sounds like one trick for keeping the lions out is to try to keep the deer out. If you have deer regularly tromping through your yard, the cats may be following. Keep an eye on your little children in the late afternoon and evening hours if you think you have Cougars in the area.
My wife and I have been pretty sure we’ve been near one or more cougars on the Honey Creek/May Creek trail, in the NE part of Renton. From time to time on evening horse rides, our horse (who was caught in the wild) starts to get real nervous, twitchy, and starts suggesting –with his body language– different directions he thinks we should flee. But to date we have never actually seen a cougar down in these natural areas.
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