Here is a neat story about a successful and unusual Renton business Click Here
Special to Times: Bigger, safer and stronger: It’s an exciting time in Renton
Bigger, safer and stronger: It’s an exciting time in Renton
Special to The Times
Denis Law
Yesterday marked my two-month anniversary as Renton’s mayor.
I have taken my place in this community of extraordinary leaders and look forward to fostering a spirit of teamwork and cooperation that will keep us working together for the next several years.
British Telegraph: “The deal, announced on Friday, could prove an embarrassment to John McCain…”
The way the news is going, I think this issue will derail John McCain’s campaign when it runs its course.
I don’t think most people yet realize how unprecedented this contract is, or how small the presumed savings from not leasing were (McCain’s claim-to-fame from 2003) in comparison to the severe economic impacts of promoting European aviation above US industry.
I also don’t understand why promoting american jobs and technology is not a factor in the placing of huge contracts like this. Are we the only nation on earth that does not care about this?
In any case, I think Obama will get the edge he needs from this to make my pre-super-Tuesday prediction prove true. McCain already could count on Alabama as a solid red state, but he just lost Washington and Oregon for sure, and hurt himself severely in California and Kansas. There were forty states that stood to get jobs from the US-built airplane proposal, so any of these could become potential additional swing states.
What do you think?
From Denis Law; Benson Hill is now officially part of Renton!
From: “Denis Law” <dlaw@ci.renton.wa.us> Date: March 1, 2008 12:53:35 PM PST
To: “Don Persson” <dpersson@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Greg Taylor” <gtaylor@ci.renton.wa.us>, “King Parker” <kparker@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Marcie Palmer” <mpalmer@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Randy Corman” <rcorman@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Rich Zwicker” <rzwicker@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Terri Briere” <tbriere@ci.renton.wa.us>
Cc: “Jay Covington” <jcovington@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Julia Medzegian” <jmedzegian@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Kevin Milosevich” <kmilosevich@ci.renton.wa.us>
Subject: Benson/Cascade
Dear Councilmembers,
The city of Renton grew by 16,272 residents today with little obvious impact. I spent the evening out with the police last night and it was a relatively quiet . There were many traffic stops, a narcotics arrest and clearly a significant police presence. Those driving the area were certainly aware that Renton Police were in the neighborhood, and the King County Sheriff added extra cars to assist during the transition.
In addition to extra patrol officers today, the Traffic Division has been working the area. They have made some warrant arrests and there was an armed robbery at the Mission Ridge apartments on the Petrovitsky Road. It was apparently a drug-deal gone bad.
I recommend you drive the area if you have not yet done so. It’s quite large and there are a lot of homes, including some very nice neighborhoods. And there are tons of apartments, which have been the focal point of a lot of crime activity. We had adopted a little city!
So far, so good! I’ll let you know if there is any other news this weekend.
Denis
The British press report thousands of British jobs (in addition to French) saved by tanker contract
Quoted from the BBC: “The deal will also safeguard thousands of British aviation jobs, the BBC’s Andy Moore says. Wings will be made at factories in Bristol and in North Wales.”
Ugh! McCain gets his wish…. Airbus to make new tanker instead of Boeing in $100 Billion deal
I don’t see how the US government can justify spending up to $100 billion taxpayer dollars ($40 billion procurement, and estimated $60 billion in support/maintenance) for a french product, when the US is perched on the edge of a recession. Furthermore, I don’t see the logic in having anyone other than a US company in charge of spare parts and services for something as strategic as an air tanker.
Airbus has offered to build a new plant in Mobile Alabama, which takes some of the sting out of the announcement, but US labor unions and policy makers should not get too excited yet about this. Even if the plant is built, it will build the 167 tankers over ten years or so and then what….rust away as employees that have relocated to Mobile go jobless? Mobile is a beautiful place with fine people, but its isolated small-town economy can’t easily handle the expansion and contraction that would come from a one-time manufacturing run of this magnitude.
Airbus may suggest that the plant will then be used to manufacture commercial plans, but this will never pass muster with european labor unions, which are among the strongest in the world. France is much more socialist than the United States, and the placement of Airbus manufacturing jobs in Mobile Alabama will generate significants complaints in their population long-term.
I think our US government has just handed Airbus a major leg-up in their competition with US airplane makers.
Sometimes I feel like we US taxpayers are already paying for the military defense of the entire world…. This latest decision now ensures that the French, not the US, get any resultant technological advantages from it.
Here is the story Be sure to read the “sound off” comments by readers at the end
P.S. I mentioned John McCain in the title because he scuttled Boeing’s tanker contract in 2001 after raising concerns about the bidding process. While I understood his concerns, and watched in bewilderment as a former Boeing and former Air force procurement officer went to prison for improper dealings, the time for punishing the other 250,000 hard-working Boeing employees is long over. Furthermore, this decision punishes US taxpayers by giving tens of billions to France as the US enters a recession. Yet even today, new sources are reporting that this deal validates McCain’s position.
Some more old pictures
Lombard street in San Francisco, and Cathy and I attending my sister’s wedding (in our senior year of high school).
Uhmm…Isn’t this pretty much just called a “plant?”
Yes…I think this famed geneticist just invented the tree.
________________________________________
Famed geneticist creating life form that turns CO2 to fuel
Thu Feb 28, 3:56 PM ET
MONTEREY, California (AFP) – A scientist who mapped his genome and the genetic diversity of the oceans said Thursday he is creating a life form that feeds on climate-ruining carbon dioxide to produce fuel.
Geneticist Craig Venter disclosed his potentially world-changing “fourth-generation fuel” project at an elite Technology, Entertainment and Design conference in Monterey, California.
“We have modest goals of replacing the whole petrochemical industry and becoming a major source of energy,” Venter told an audience that included global warming fighter Al Gore and Google co-founder Larry Page.
Oops! Metro hired some criminals with outstanding warrents to perform security duties
Hmmm… I’m not sure this is the best way to control crime in our transit system…
Renton sky
I shot this from my front yard a few days ago. So pretty.
My guest article in today’s Renton Reporter; Animals!
Renton – An Animal Friendly Community
By Randy Corman, Renton City Council
Renton has always been a city that is friendly to animals. We recognize that animals occupy an esteemed place in many of our households, often being treated as members of the family. They offer a source of amusement, pleasure, and companionship. They provide opportunities for outdoor exercise and socialization. We have some of the lowest animal license fees in King County, we allow dogs in 26 of our 28 parks, and we have our own animal control officers who love animals. They are responsible for inspecting properties to make sure they are suitable for the safe and appropriate care of the animals. We also enjoy a great history of large animal husbandry, dating back to Longacres, which for decades hosted up to 1,500 horses. The greater Renton area has also been home to some great pet, feed and tack stores over the years.
Recently, we heard from our community about their preferences and desires regarding pets and other domestic animals. Many people are intensely passionate about the animals they keep and their right to keep them. On the other hand, people also feel equally strongly about the impact of animals in their neighborhood and their property rights. We decided to review our current code and regulations so that we could be responsive to residents’ needs and concerns, anticipate future needs regarding keeping animals and ensure that we protect property rights and our neighborhoods.
I’m happy to share with you that at our last Council meeting, we updated and approved our regulations regarding the keeping of animals in the city of Renton. The new regulations change the definitions so that they are more specific about which animals are permissible, and revise the definitions of small, medium and large domestic animals. The type and number of permissible animals is now based on the lot size required to keep these animals. The new code links the use to the property, and does not prohibit the homeowner from replacing animals.
For instance, homeowners on lots of over 6,000 square feet can now own laying hens, for a supply of eggs. The new law also allows people on larger suburban lots of over 12,500 square feet to keep miniature goats, ducks, geese and sheep. Those with lot sizes of at least one acre can keep potbelly pigs, cows, llamas and horses. The number of animals allowed varies according to the lot size. Historically people could have a total of three dogs and cats. The new law allows one additional dog or cat for homeowners with large sized lots that are over 30,000 square feet.
In addition to providing flexibility and security for Renton residents who love their pets, this new ordinance safeguards the animals, and protects against any detrimental effect to neighboring properties. It also makes it easier for our newly-annexed residents to continue to keep their animals.
For more information please contact Angie Mathias from our staff at 425-430-6576, or visit our website at rentonwa.gov.
Sincerely, Randy Corman
Death of a bypass in crowded Issaquah
While most Rentonites are very familiar with the configuration of the Renton end of the Renton-Issaquah road (highway 900), the east end in issaquah has been confounded by constuction delays, overuse, and restriction to single lane each way through many highly congested segments.
In some ways, these restrictions have helped Renton residents by resticting the total volume on this highway…but for those residents trying to commute on this road toward Issaquah, the growing traffic has been agrivating.
Many years ago I use to commute from Issaquah to my Boeing job in Renton, before I smartly moved my residence to our city. More recently, I’ve actually commuted from my Renton home to a Boeing facility in Issaquah, an ironic reverse of my commute two decades earlier. In both directions, the traffic on the Issaquah end makes our issues in Renton not seem as unsolvable, as they are constrained by even tougher topography and wetland issues than we see here in Renton.
Recently, there was an article about the end of the Issaquah bypass that has been discussed for 12 years to alleviate some of the backups.
I don’t have feelings either way about the death of the bypass, but I am sympathetic to Issaquah officials trying to resolve their worsening traffic problems.
Seattle PI: Renton community helps family in need
Someone already commented this… but YES, our police caught the suspected killer
From: “Denis Law” <dlaw@ci.renton.wa.us> Date: February 26, 2008 3:57:37 PM PST
To: “Don Persson” <dpersson@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Greg Taylor” <gtaylor@ci.renton.wa.us>, “King Parker” <kparker@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Marcie Palmer” <mpalmer@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Randy Corman” <rcorman@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Rich Zwicker” <rzwicker@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Terri Briere” <tbriere@ci.renton.wa.us>
Cc: “Jay Covington” <jcovington@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Julia Medzegian” <jmedzegian@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Kevin Milosevich” <kmilosevich@ci.renton.wa.us>
Subject: Fwd: Homicide Arrest
Dear Councilmembers.
A suspect has been arrested in the homicide case, thanks to the great work by our detectives. They have recovered a gun and gathered other vital evidence that will help with the prosecution of this case. The suspect was known to the victim and is well known by our officers.
Denis
Milosevich, Kevin(Kevin Milosevich) 2/26/2008 11:18 AM >>>
We arrested our suspect in Tacoma this morning. I will provide the details at staff.
Gun death in the Highlands
RENTON POLICE DEPARTMENT
MEDIA RELEASE
February 24, 2008
Contact: Renton Police
Office: 425-430-7500
Case 08-1827
At approximately 5:22pm on February 24, 2008 Renton Fire Department responded to an aid call in the 600 block of Index Ave. NE. The subject a 20 year old male was laying in an alley/right of way face down and was unresponsive. Fire Department personnel determined that the subject had died and the Renton Police Department Patrol, Investigations and Traffic personnel responded to the scene. It appears the man died as a result of a gunshot. The police department is investigating this case as a homicide. There are no suspects in custody at this time.
9:00 pm 2-24-08
Floyd Eldridge Commander,
Investigations Division
Renton Police Department