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My son Kenny and his wife Anastasia have the right look for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Photo by Gabe Tompkins.

Twilight Fans get their third installment of the motion picture series starting tonight at midnight. The popular series covers romance, vampires and werewolves, and it is set in Forks. Regal Cinemas at the Landing will no doubt be seeing a line-up.

The press release announcing Dog Days of Summer at The Landing was sent out earlier this week. I’ll be helping judge the dog-onwer look-alike contest at Doggapalooza on July 10. I hope to see many of you at the Landing for some of these great events!
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The Landing in Renton Announces Series of Summer Events and Promotions

RENTON, Wash. – June 20, 2010 – While families across the country prepare for summer vacation out of town, many in the Pacific Northwest opt to stay in town to enjoy the best time of year. Luck has it that Renton residents won’t have to look far — The Landing in Renton is pleased to announce The Dog Days of Summer, a series of summer events and promotions which encourage local residents to escape the summer doldrums and visit The Landing’s small boutiques, convenient national chains and mix of eclectic dining options.

Starting July 10 through mid-August, there are a number of ways your family, friends and furry companions can enjoy The Landing. From strolling with your sweetie, dining al fresco with your dog or catching a flick with your family, The Landing’s Dog Days of Summer event series has everything you need to spice up the summer months.

Here’s a sample of what we’re planning this summer at The Landing:

I. Renton’s Fabulous 4th of July Presented by The Landing

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Start the summer off right with an exciting family Sunday “fun day” sponsored by The Landing. The all-day event, hosted at Coulon Park will feature face painting, live music and a spectacular 22+ minute fireworks show.

7:00am Coulon Park Opens

12:00 – 8:00pm Free Inflatables & Face-Painting for Kids

1:30 – 9:30pm Stage Entertainment

10:00pm Fireworks off the Shores of Coulon Beach Park

II. Doggapalooza

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Doggapalooza is The Landing’s signature event of the Dog Days of Summer. The event will feature KISS 106.1’s Bender and his dog Ted, kid-friendly activities and a dog and owner look-alike contest with great prizes valued at up to $500.

11:00 – 11:30am Dog / Owner Look-alike Contest Registration

10:00 – 1:00pm Balloon artists, face painting, pet adoption services and more

12:00 – 12:30pm Dog / Owner Look-alike Contest Judging

12:45 – 1:00pm Winners Announced

Contest entry: Suggested donation of $10 to benefit the King County Humane Society ($5 with a pet food donation)

III. Friday Date Nights

Fridays, July 9 through August 13

Bring your sweetheart and enjoy a romantic evening at The Landing complete with live music, extended shopping hours and special Friday-night deals for movie ticketholders.

IV. Saturday Strolls

Saturdays, July 10 through August 14

Enjoy summer Saturdays at The Landing. Shop, stroll and picnic with your pooch, al fresco of course!

V. Summer at the Movies

Prizes Announced Mondays, July 12 – August 9

Escape the heat with movie-ticket giveaways to The Landing’s Regal Cinema. Follow Facebook.com/thelandinginrenton or Twitter.com/landinginrenton for chances to win. Winners will be announced via Twitter and Facebook and contacted via phone or e-mail.

VI. Regal Cinema’s FREE Family Film Festival

Tuesdays and Wednesdays, June 22 through August 26.

Family friendly just got more fun! Free screenings of select G or PG movies for families of all age at 10:00 a.m. Limited capacity.

VII. Seahawks Training Camp

The Landing will once again be official transportation center for Seahawks Training Camp. Seahawks fans with tickets to training camp must park at The Landing to catch convenient shuttles to the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. Dates, times and ticket purchasing details will be announced in early July. For more information, visit www.seahawks.com

The city has been working to tighten up the timing of the school zone speed enforcement cameras. As of now, the mayor does not expect to operate any of the cameras even during summer school this year. This should reduce confusion on the part of motorists. This will please many people, and I think it is a good decision.

But now the disclaimers and reminders: Don’t forget that everyone is still expected to adhere to the 20 mile per hour speed limit when children are present (on the sidewalk, in the street, or near the street/sidewalk) regardless of whether the lights are flashing. Furthermore, the mayor’s email says they are not PLANNING to use the camera, but it is potentially subject to change. Finally, there could be flashing lights around other schools, where there are no cameras. These are still enforceable by the police. So note the lights when you pass by the schools.
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Here is a recent email from the mayor about summer speed camera plans:

From: Denis Law
Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 8:07 AM
To: Council
Cc: Jay B Covington
Subject: School zone photo enforcement

FYI – In case you receive any inquiries:

We are not planning to operate our photo enforcement cameras in the school zones this summer. In addition to the confusion to motorists who are not aware of summer school classes, there are many classes that have been canceled due to budget cuts. We have decided not to operate the cameras in these zones until classes resume in the fall.

Mayor, City of Renton
1055 S. Grady Way, Renton, WA 98057
425 430-6500
rentonwa.gov

Renton is implementing a new Special Event Permitting process to formalize and better organize the way we approve such events (and to help recoup costs). City Council spent forty-five minutes going over this ordinance on Monday getting it ready for final reading and adoption.

The permit application fee will be 50 dollars, and the forms and instructions will be available online.

This new Special Event Permit may be all you need for your event, or it may point you to additional fire, street use, or other permits you may need– depending on the nature of your special event.

We already require street and fire permits for special events, but until now these permits have been handled separately by individual departments and it has lead to confusion on the part of citizens and city staff. For instance, we have had occasions where one department has granted a permit for one aspect of an event (such as a fire permit for a special tent), only to find that other elements of the event (like transportation planning) are not workable. Or, we’ve seen special city events piled on top of each other, using the same road capacity and spreading services thinner than we would like.

The new Special Event Permits will make sure all of the events get added to a master city calender, and that all of the affected departments get word that an event is coming. This will enable individual departments to help event organizers figure out what additional accommodations and permits they will need, and should make event planning less chaotic all around.

The applications are requested at least 90 days prior to the event, but this deadline can be waived if it can be shown that the event could not have been planned that far in advance; for instance, a protest parade of a sudden political action, or a labor rally during a strike might qualify for a shorter approval period since they could not be anticipated. On the other hand, if you are planning a Thanksgiving Day Parade, we’ll be asking you to let us know at least 90 days ahead of time–preferably more if possible.

You won’t generally need a special event permit if your activity is being held on private property (like a church or hall) that has already been approved for the assembly of people in the numbers you expect to host. So a church having a block party in it’s parking lot would generally not need a permit. But if it’s an unusual use of private property, such as a circus coming to town and setting up at your church or assembly site, you would need to check with the city about the special event permit (and you would likely need fire and other permits as well.)

Below are some excerpts from the ordinance which give additional details about when the Special Event Permit will be required. At the bottom of the page I have a link to a PDF of the whole document.

Continue reading →

The Renton community services department has prepared a memo for council recommending against allowing dogs at Coulon Park at this time. You can read the memo by clicking here .

This city parks department worked very hard assessing this request, going as far as to survey residents and wade through many, many inputs (for and against.)

In the end, the Parks Commission (which is composed of Renton Citizen volunteers and helps set park rules and policy), unanimously agreed with the city staff recommendation.

The council has final authority over this issue, and we will discuss it at Committee of the Whole on Monday (which runs 5:30 to 7:00 PM). History shows that council is unlikely to vote against a combined staff recommendation and unanimous Parks Commission recommendation on an issue like this.

I will wait until we see the presentation on Monday night to make a final decision.

State Representative Marcie Maxwell and the Eriam Sisters will be headlining the fifth annual Salvation Army Renton Rotary Food Bank Benefit on June 29. This year community leaders are gathering support for a new regular community supper as well. The event will also be showcasing Renton’s largest new venue, the new auditorium at the New Life Church. This beautiful brand new sanctuary is available for community rentals when it is not being used for church services. It seats around 1600 people, roughly three times the number that IKEA Performing Arts Center can accommodate.

Cathy and I had a fun morning at the Landing yesterday. Here are a few pictures from an outdoor art sale at C’est la Vie. We also enjoyed live music provided by Papaya Vietnamese Restaurant and C’est la Vie. We bought some environmentally conscientious Himalayan beer (Lhasa) from a booth staffed by Gene Sens and Linda Middlebrooks (outside Papaya), saw kids gathering for special karate demonstrations at the opening of Karate Kid at Regal Cinema, and then enjoyed some great coffee at Cafe Felice. Then we caught the opening of “the A-Team” since Cathy and I always enjoyed the TV show… we had a great time. A great start to a great weekend.

Renton police have reported that two Kennydale elementary students ingested PCP after school today. The two eight-year-olds are recovering, and there is an on-going investigation to understand exactly how they came into possession of the illegal drugs. This could have been extremely tragic, and it is important to get to the bottom of it.

Here is more information in the Renton Reporter.

Four Renton councilmembers and the mayor pose with new artwork on display down at the Landing. Master Artisan/welder Ivan McLean produced this piece. Left to right are Concilman Greg Taylor, Councilwoman Marcie Palmer, Councilman Don Persson, Mayor Denis Law, and Councilman Randy Corman (me). Photo by Lisa Garvich.

The Landing is home to a new sculpture by Ivan McLean. The sculpture is for sale for around $20,000, but until it’s sold the community gets to enjoy it. Other pieces will likely be joining it in the future. We may even be seeing a privately-funded sculpture garden down at the Landing.

This sculpture project has been spearheaded by Michael Bowman, owner of C’est la Vie, who has made a very positive impact on our city in his short time in Renton. In the words of Suzanne DaleEstey from our Economic Development department, Mr. Bowman “is already making a tremendous impact to our economic goals of helping to foster a thriving arts and culture scene in our city. Michael served on the four-person Leadership Group of the Arts & Culture Master Plan process and will be a key player in ensuring that we help move forward and implement the plan.”

Keep your eye out for new art projects in this area!

This just in from our Public Works Administrator:
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Latest update on the situation with the Royal Hills Sewer line.

Internal TV inspection has revealed that the second sink hole in Royal Hills Dr. was caused by a large hole in the pipe line a few feet upstream of the portion that was replaced on June 8. The sink hole has been filled with crushed rock, and the entire width of the street continues to be covered with 20-foot wide steel plates above the pipe. One lane of the street will be closed to traffic and barricaded over the weekend, the other lane will be open to traffic.

The TV inspection has revealed that the entire section of pipe between the MH next to Royal Hills Dr. and the downstream MH in the Royal Hill Apt. complex (about 200-feet of line) is in a near failing condition and has to be replaced soon. The preliminary results of the TV inspection indicate that the pipeline going up the hill to Tiffany Park and the pipeline downstream of the 200-foot section that is failing are in better shape, and may not require immediate attention.

Two methods of replacement of the 200-foot section are being evaluated and priced: replacement with a more shallow line about 4 to 5 feet deep with transition manholes at both ends, or pipe bursting, which involves inserting a device in the failing line which bursts the walls of the pipe and allows a high density polyethylene pipeline to be pulled thorough the passage to serve as a replacement pipe. We will obtain cost estimates for these two alternatives early next week.

Because of the need to proceed with replacement soon, this may constitute an emergency situation. Declaration of an emergency would allow construction without the need for competitive bidding, which would save time. This also will be evaluated early next week.

No construction work on the line is planned for this weekend. However, a call out maintenance worker will visit the site every 8 hours to check the pipeline trench for possible widening, or for development of other sinkholes. If a problem develops, a crew will quickly be mobilized to deal with it. The bypass pump will remain in place on Index Ave. up the hill in Tiffany Park, but will not be running unless an emergency happens over the weekend. If a problem is identified, sewage can once again be quickly bypassed around the deteriorated pipe.

No sewer overflows from this line have been noted since June 2.

Gregg

Gregg Zimmerman, P.E.
Public Works Administrator
City of Renton

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While the Renton sinkholes were extremely dangerous, they did not come close to the startling hole that opened up in Guatemala last week.

In Guatemala, a horrendous 300 foot deep pit opened up, killing several people and swallowing a building.

Guatemala Sinkhole which opened up this week during record floods. This could be a very difficult situation to repair.

(Of course, the circumstances that created the Renton sinkhole and the Guatemala sinkhole are different. The Renton sinkhole is man-made, as a break in a sewer line started sweeping away soil supporting the road. The Guatemala hole came about from the regions volcanic geology which allowed the creation of a subterranean void that became exposed during record flooding. Sinkholes are usually about water in some way. They typically develop where water has moved soil or dissolved soluble rock over a period of time. There can be man-made contributing factors beyond the presence of leaking pipes. For instance, the presence of underground mines –which we have in parts of Renton, or excessive changes in underground water conditions –which we work to monitor in Renton as we pump water from our aquifer.)

Thanks to Kenny for pointing out this video for me. It’s pretty clever. (Be aware they will use the F-word once near the end). Enjoy!

This 57 second video gives you a quick picture of the environment down at the market today. Temperatures are perfect, the food is fantastic, the music is great, and there are lots of your friends and neighbors there. It’s a perfect street fair.

Above: my youngest three kids and wife Cathy down at the market today

The Landing’s new travel store “The Savvy Traveler” has it’s facebook site up and running. Facebook users should be sure to connect! Here is the link. (If the link does not work for you, type “the savvy travler into your facebook search page.)

Cathy and Susie dine on crepes at the Renton Farmers Market
The Renton Farmers Market opened this afternoon in the Piazza. This is sure to be it’s biggest season so far. In addition to a record number of booths offering produce, flowers, and hot food, the market has expanded across Logan Avenue this year to include arts and crafts sellers.

Cathy and I enjoyed getting dinner at the market with the family, catching up with many old friends, and then bringing home some excellent purchases. The rain stayed away, and the temperature was actually pretty comfortable today. It was an excellent opening day.

We’ll be back next Tuesday….hope to see you there! It will be open every Tuesday from 3:00 to 7:00, until mid-September.

My middle-son Kenny and his wife Anastasia at the Market

Hamming it up for the camera, downtown business owner (and community booster) Mary Clymer offers a great selection of locally made art, clothing, Renton-branded products, and other fun items at her “Happy Delusions booth”. Mary had worked hard to create the new arts and crafts section of the market.

The view from the Happy Delusions booth across Logan to the rest of the market. The market is bigger and better than ever.