Fellow Disneyland-lovers may recall the familiar baritone voice that has welcomed monorail passengers with the words “You are riding aboard the NEW MARK FIVE Monorail” for over 20 years now.
So, I am glad to see that the old “New Mark V” is finally going to be updated.
Now, if Seattle Center could only find a way to replace its even-older monorail trains…
This was the scene on NE 16th Street in Upper Kennydale this morning, as firefighters and animal control officers tried to figure out how to wrangle a black bear that had meandered it’s way around the neighborhood.
My council colleague Marcie Palmer kindly provided the email stories, with the details, below.
The speed cameras are going in near three schools this week.
Here is a shot of the camera being installed on Edmonds Ave NE, next to McKnight Middle school. We are also installing red-light cameras at three intersections.
The Renton Reporter published a story in today’s edition. Click HERE for the story.
When the cameras get activated, please be prepared for other drivers to act a little erratically. for a while. These cameras are great at eliminating T-Bone car crashes, and preventing kids from getting hit in school zones, but they can actually increase the number of rear-end fender-benders due to people driving unpredictably (hitting the break abruptly when they first thought they would run the light, or slowing down fast). So be careful until the speed-demons out there learn some new habits.
My lovely bride is celebrating her birthday today, so I have to keep my stories short. I need to get back to eating cake with her and other celebrating! 🙂
Don’t forget your passport if you go to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.
The US Border Patrol is now spending your tax dollars checking up on Washington residents traveling within Washington, (warning, sarcasm alert…) on the theory that it is worth it because some of the Washington residents could actually be Canadian terrorists. After all, they could have swam or rafted from Canada to San Juan Island… these desperate Canadians can be very tricky when trying to get into our county.
I know what you are thinking…why wouldn’t the terrorist simply walk across the virtually unprotected 3000 miles of land border between our two nations, instead of paddling in a raft across the Strait to get to San Juan Island. But clearly you do not understand how tricky Canadian terrorists are.
Apparently, San Juan island is possibly teaming with Canadian terrorists, just waiting to sneak into the United States. So we better check everyone’s ID, and ask them what they are up to. Bill-of-Rights be damned…these are Canadians we are up against.
The Renton Planning Commission is a board of skilled Renton volunteers, (often with backgounds in community leadership, planning, architecture, engineering, and similar fields) who receive and review land-use testimony and make land-use recommendations to the City Council.
Last night, Council approved Mayor Law’s appointment of a new planning commissioner who lives in the recently-annexed Benson Hill Neighborhood.
The new Commisioner, Ed Prince, will give Benson Hill their own member of this important city commision. (All the commisioners represent the city at large, but it is advantageous to have commisioners reside in a variety of neighborhoods.)
Ed has been active in his community for many years, and is well known and respected by the Mayor and City Council. He will be a great addition to the Planning Commission.
Please join us in welcoming him.
Benson Hill Resident Ed Prince, 33, was just appointed to the Renton Planning Commission
Renton’s “Wizards of the Coast” comes out with some new products for Star Wars Fans. Click here for the Story
And, if you are a Star Wars fan then you may fince this website kind of interesting
My beautiful wife is sometimes a nervous flier, so she has learned a technique for getting more comfortable when she must take a long flight. As we board the plane, she asks to greet the flight crew, which the airline will almost always arrange for her. Then she chats a little with the pilots, so that she feels more comfortable with the people at the plane’s controls. I usually go straight back to my seat, so I don’t participate in the visits.
I noticed she was very relaxed on our trip to Japan, following her pre-flight stop in the cockpit of the 777. A day after we arrived, one of the crew members sent her this photo to remember her visit.
Yep, that’s Cathy in the captain’s seat.
The latest edition of the Renton Reporter ran a nice story about Jet City Espresso, the eclectic coffee shop at the corner of Second and Main Street.
As the article points out, the land and building have been for sale for some time now, and the coffee shop (which many consider to be a community “living room” may have to relocate at some point in the future. For now, if you haven’t dropped by to see the place, I recommend you stop in for some coffee and a snack.
And, if any readers have pictures that I may post of the eclectic furnishings, or visitors who don’t mind being on the web, I would love to have the photos.
From time to time I’ve met with many of Jet City’s regulars for some very involved policy discussions over coffee at Jet City, and I hope the friendly and popular coffee shop can find a place ot relocate (as opposed to disappearing) if/when a new building is built on the site.
10 year old Highland’s elementary student Haben Abraham continues to wow audiences with her singing!
Here is a story from today’s Seattle Times:
Strong set of pipes takes girl to New York City
By MARY SWIFT
P-I COLUMNIST
She’s a personable 10-year-old with a demeanor that melts hearts — and that’s even before Renton’s Haben Abraham opens her mouth to sing. Then, jaws drop and audience members are sometimes so moved they dab at tears.
Haben was just 9 last spring when she wowed attendees at the Renton Salvation Army’s annual fundraising dinner with her rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Now Haben, a fifth-grader at Renton’s Highlands Elementary School, is getting ready to play to a national audience.
She’s scheduled on a segment of “The Maury Show” set to air 3 p.m. May 6 on KCPQ-TV.
Read the full story by clicking here
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Footnote from Randy: Some of you might remember that my council colleague Marcie Palmer had a role in getting Haben the Salvation Army Fundraising gig mentioned above. Here is a link to this earlier story Obviously Marcie knows talent when she hears it.
As soon as the weather warms up, the state DOT will be painting some new stripes on I-167 from Auburn to Renton. Then, motorists driving alone will be able to buy their way into the car pool lane in a pilot program to test the new concept.
I’ll be interested in getting feedback on how this system works out.
We arrived home from Japan yesterday, and this is my last trip entry.
I had such a wonderful time on this trip that I am dreaming about Japan every time I close my eyes. I will be thinking about my trip, and all the sights I took in, for a long while.
While the sights were fascinating and educational, what I will surly miss the most are the sincere, warm and generous people that we visited with on every step of our journey. Our friends in Japan, new and old, were all soooo kind to us that I felt like we were completely cared for. (For those of you reading this in Japan, my sincerest thanks to all of you for this kindness. Please come visit us in Renton so that we may attempt to host you in a similar way.)
We completed our Tokyo Disney visit at Disney Sea, a Disney park that is unique to Japan. The park is themed around waterfronts from all over the world, including a century-old New England Coast from the US. There are some Jules Verne type rides, including an undersea voyage and “Journey to the Center of the Earth”, which provides a fantasy trip deep below an active volcano.
If any of you ever have just one day to take in a Disney Park in Japan, I recommend Disney Sea because it is great fun, while being much different from the standard “Magic Kingdom” park that is also available in California, Florida, and Paris.
They also have Sinbad’s voyage, a terrific roller-coaster with a loop-the-loop, an Indiana Jones ride similar to the one in California, a uniquely themed “Tower of Terror”, gondola rides, and many other attractions. We also saw some great shows, including a “Little Mermaid” aerial ballet, in which the dancers flew around on cables as if swimming all around us.
In the Arabian village, following a Genie show based on Disney’s Aladin, we were walking through a square when a troop of traveling musicians/dancers pulled me and other guests into their act. 
I think it is smart to keep these tracks in place… at least until it is very clear what the long-term future of this corridor is. So I was glad to see the tracks will remain.
(As a reminder, the tracks will still be cut at I-405 in South Bellevue, where the Wilburton Crossing used to carry trains over the freeway.)
We wrapped up our Japan visit back in Tokyo, meeting with friends, and enjoying the Tokyo Disney resort as it kicks off it’s 25 anniversary.
I’ve finally had a chance to upload some pictures from Tokyo Disneyland.
This park is really nice. It is similar to Disneyland in California, but with some Asian theming and color schemes. There really are not any language issues for English speakers familiar with Disney. And the park is even more impecably clean than those in the United states (the street sweepers used soap spray bottles to clean spills of the street and sidewalks, and there is no gum-chewing allowed). We also got lucky on the timing of our visit, and experienced no crowding at all. Every ride was available in five minutes or less at both Disnyland and Disney Sea, a real plus for any Disney visit. The service and hospitality are top-notch at the park.
In addition, our Hilton Hotel adjacent to the park (and at a Disneyland Monorail stop) was nicer, newer, more accessible, and gave much more personal attention than the famous Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, and it was also less expensive. I suspect it is not a match for Disney’s newest luxery hotels, like the Grand Californian (where I have not stayed), but it was very, very nice. I would recommend it. (We paid about $190 per night for a large, comfortable room at the Hilton)
We left Nishiwaki on a bus this morning, and Cathy and Susie and I spent the day enjoying Osaka with Kishyo, a good friend (and former exchange student) of ours.
Kishiyo showed us some of the busiest shopping areas in Osaka. We also visited Universal Studios to take Susie on some rides.
The pictures are in reverse order because of a mistake I made, which I don’t have time to correct right now!
