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This is a project of the Seattle Area Happiness Initiative and Sustainable Seattle, with Take Back Your Time and the Compassionate Action Network
Want to help Seattle develop an index of our collective happiness? An on-line survey offers you an enjoyable way to learn just how well you are doing in the nine domains of happiness identified by researchers around the world. These include:
- psychological well-being
- physical health
- time or work-life balance
- social connection and community vitality
- education
- access to arts, culture and recreation
- environmental quality and access to nature
- good governance
- material well-being
When you complete the survey, you will receive an instantaneous well-being score for each of these domains, and you will be able to compare your score with the median results for others who have taken the survey. You will find that the 135 questions in this survey will encourage you to think about your life in new ways and about what you can do to be happier.
This survey takes around 20 minutes to complete and you cannot stop and start over, so do the survey when you have a period of free time. It is the length of the survey that allows it to give you a comprehensive picture of your well-being in comparison to others.
Overall data from the survey will be analyzed and provided to media but your individual data will not be revealed to others. Demographic data is requested so overall results can be analyzed, but it does not ask for your name, address, etc. Your privacy will be protected.
Find out more about the project and take the survey: http://sustainableseattle.org/sahi
Ruth Williams from Thornton Creek Alliance asked me to pass this along:
Greetings, Friends of Thornton Creek!
We would like to invite you to our Jan. 20th membership meeting. As always, it is open to the public and free of charge. Olympic Hills Elementary teacher Eddie Paltrineri will share his experiences with the Salmon in the Schools program. The program offers the students the opportunity to hatch Coho eggs, release the fry into Thornton Creek, and learn about the lifecycle of the salmon. This program, passed from the state to the City of Seattle, and then to the school district, is in danger of being dropped altogether.
Here are the details:
Thurs., 1/20/11, 7:00pm– first TCA Membership Meeting of the Year.
New location: Meadowbrook Community Center, Room 1, 10517 35th Ave NE, 98125. After the program will be the business portion of the meeting.
Please consider joining and taking an active role in the Alliance on behalf of a healthier Thornton Creek Watershed. You would be joining a group of over 100 longtime members, that would benefit from more people serving on its board in a leadership capacity. We welcome your ideas and knowledge about the watershed and how to care for it. You will find our group interested and supportive of your environmental concerns whether they involve the entire watershed or just a specific subject or site. As an alliance we are prepared to serve as an umbrella for a wide variety of activities. The fact that we are all-volunteer and nongovernmental allows us a great deal of latitude in our advocacy.
In the past couple of years our activities have included restoration of riparian areas, lobbying the City of Seattle on behalf of natural ecosystems, obtaining grants for riparian work, assisting with the development of the Feet First NE Seattle walking map, giving away native plants, representation on the Thornton Creek Watershed Oversight Council, and much more. Our quarterly meeting speakers have included Russell Link (WA Dept of Fish & Wildlife) with his entertaining discussion of bringing wildlife to the back yard, Alan Johnson (Natural Systems Design) with a history of the Thornton Creek Watershed, and representatives from Seattle Public Utilities keeping us updated on their plans and issues and listening to ours.
Please contact any of the people below for more information, or better yet, attend the upcoming meeting.
Who is Thornton Creek Alliance? You can reach us at:
Frank Backus, Pres. –frankbackus@comcast.net
Dan Mahler, 1st VP –kkmahler@earthlink.net
Ruth Williams, 2nd VP –ruthalice@comcast.net
Gary Olson, Treas. –judyngaryol@msn.com
Tom Cunningham, Sec. –cunningham39@hotmail.com
Also find Thornton Creek Alliance on Facebook!
Thanks to DOT’s Kit Loo, Project Manager, for this update to the work being done on the bridge on 15th Ave NE. Bottom line, it is still on schedule to be opened in March. Here are the details:
At this time the most difficult and challenging portions of work which is being done on the temporary suspended platforms below the bridge, is wrapping up. The existing box girders have all been strengthened; the strengthening consisted of adding reinforcement steel, thickening the sides of the concrete box girders, and post-tensioning the entire bridge. These items were completed without much incident. Most of the remaining structural work, such as rebuilding the existing abutments, has have also been completed.
With most of the under-the-bridge work complete and some minor painting and utility relocation work scheduled to be completed by mid-January, the contractor expects to begin dismantling the suspended platform sometime at the end of this month.
The removal of the suspended platform is expected to take several days to complete. As soon as the suspended platform is completely removed, the contractor will finalize the final deck preparation for placement of the new bridge deck overlay, as well as the vehicle separation barrier.
At this point the critical item will be the placement of the new bridge overlay, which is highly temperature and weather dependent. The contractor will need at least 7 clear days of no rain or snow with an ambient temperature above freezing in order to be able to place the final deck overlay.
This critical project is on schedule for completion in March 2011, barring any weather related issues. As they get closer to determining when the deck overlay will be placed, DOT will then work out the final details with Metro on when the buses will be re-routed back onto 15th Ave NE.
The DOT website for this project is: http://www.seattle.gov/Transportation/bridge_rehab_15th.htm
AARP, in cooperation with the IRS, offers FREE tax help at the Lake City Library for taxpayers with low and moderate income, with special attention to those age 60 and over.
Service is provided each Monday from 3:30 PM to 7:00 PM during the tax season (Feb. 7 through April 18, except Feb. 21).
Counselors can prepare Form 1040 and many common forms and schedules, and they file returns electronically. (Taxpayers with complex returns are referred to paid preparers.)
All counselors are trained and certified to IRS standards. There is NO FEE, NO AGE LIMIT and AARP membership is NOT required.
For more information call 425-606-4230 (local call from the Pinehurst area).
For more information about AARP Tax-Aide, go to www.aarp.org/taxaide.
Saturday, February 12, 2011, will mark Seattle’s 17th annual celebration of Neighbor Appreciation Day. It’s the day when we reach out, create new bonds, and express thanks to those who live or work around us.
History
The celebration began in 1995 when Phinney Ridge activist Judith Wood suggested that the City designate “a special day to celebrate the goodness in those around us and to reach out and strengthen our bonds to each other.” Mayor Norm Rice responded by proclaiming the Saturday before Valentine’s Day as Neighbor Appreciation Day. The observance has grown every year since.
The day is celebrated across Seattle by groups of neighbors, organizations, or neighbor to neighbor. People organize block parties, potluck dinners, or work parties to recognize and encourage caring neighbors.
Student Art Contest
By tradition, we ask Seattle students every year to send us drawings of what they think it means to be good neighbors. The winners of the contest have their art adorning thousands of Neighbor Appreciation Day cards available throughout the city prior to the day’s events. Beginning January 15, the FREE greeting cards will be available at City Hall, the seven Neighborhood Service Centers, community centers, and libraries throughout Seattle.
So get some of those cards and send them to your neighbors! Organize a potluck, block watch party, or other event. For help organizing an event, go to http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/neighborday/, where the above text originated. 🙂
Nine friendly Pinehurst volunteers met January 8th for the second of four annual events to pick up litter along Pinehurst Way NE and NE 115th St. In spite of a forecast for rain and possibly snow, it was crisp but sunny! Donning bright safety vests and gloves, and carrying bright yellow trash bags, grabbers, brooms and dust pans, we formed teams to divide and conquer the territory.
We picked up your usual assortment of bottles and cans, cigarette remnants, and various paper products. Some of our more memorable finds were a dead rat, a squirrel too ripe to bag, snow chains, and a sports bag we thought might contain treasure, but in fact held yukky old clothes. Interestingly, our haul was almost twice as great as in October.
A big THANK YOU to everyone who participated, including the two year old, who was a real trooper. We will schedule another event in March or April.
If you have any questions on crime prevention, or if you would like to form a block watch, please contact Diane Horswill (diane.horswill@seattle.gov or 206-684-7711) at the North Precinct.
12/13 11300 blk 17th NE the victim was away from her house from 12:00PM until 8:00PM, when she returned she found that her bathroom sliding window had been removed from its track, jewelry and her computer charger were stolen
12/17 12700 blk 8th NE the victims were gone for several hours in the afternoon, when they returned they found their front door open and the doorframe damaged, a TV, laptop, jewelry and Christmas gifts were stolen
*unofficial stats
Some benefits of native plants are that they “are adapted to our local climate, soils, and animal life,” writes Linda Chalker-Scott, Associate Prof/Extension Horticulturist at Washington State University, in her Sustainable Landscapes & Gardens: Good Science–Practical Application . Native plants also flower when our pollinators are ready to buzz and can handle our soggy climate, she says.
You can buy burgeoning native plants–from groundcovers to towering trees–for incredibly low prices from several Washington State county conservations district plant sales, in March. But you’d better PREORDER NOW to get the best selection!
ORDER INEXPENSIVE NATIVE PLANTS NOW!
Several nearby Conservation Districts are now taking preorders for native plants at (seriously) amazing prices. These sales are the best and cheapest way to get good, healthy native plants.
To get the best picks, preorder ASAP. You can often pick up additional, listed or unlisted plants at the open sale, but supplies of the “hot” items are often limited.
For preorder forms, plant information, and more contact information, see the listed Web sites.
Don’t be fooled if a sale is listed as a “tree sale.” All the conservation districts offer a variety of plants–plus detailed information on plant needs (exposure, water, soil type) and ultimate size.
(Note: This list is not comprehensive. Other Conservation Districts sell at different times of year and in other counties.)
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KING COUNTY Conservation District Native Plant Sale, Renton (http://www.kingcd.org/pdf/plant-sale.pdf): Preorder forms due JANUARY 31.
Pick-up and walk-up sales dates (1107 SW Grady Way, Renton (west parking lot)):
- Friday, March 4: 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
- Saturday, March 5: 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
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PIERCE COUNTY Conservation District Native Plant Sale, Puyallup (http://www.piercecountycd.org/treesale.html): Preorder forms due JANUARY 21.
Preorder pick-up and walk-up sale dates (5430 66th Ave. E., Puyallup):
- Saturday, March 5: 9 a.m.-1 p.m
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SNOHOMISH COUNTY Conservation District Native Plant Sale, Snohomish (http://snohomishcd.org/plant-sale/): Preorder forms due FEBRUARY 3.
Preorder pick-up and walk-up sale dates (Evergreen State Fairgrounds, Snohomish):
- Friday, March 4: 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
- Saturday, March 5: 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
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KITSAP COUNTY Conservation District Native Plant Sale, Bremerton (http://kitsapcd.org/programs/tree-sale): Preorder by JANUARY 31.
Preorder pick-up and walk-up sale dates (Kitsap County Fairgrounds, 1195 NW Fairgrounds Rd., Bremerton):
- Friday, March 4: 1 p.m.-6 p.m.
- Saturday, March 5: 9 a.m.- 1 p.m.
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MORE EVENTS/SALES/GARDENS WITH NATIVES
This is off the top of my head, so PLEASE post followups with additional info!
- Free Native Plant Workshop: January 15, 9 a.m.-noon, Eagle’s Nest, Kitsap County Fairgrounds, 1195 NW Fairgrounds Rd., Bremerton
- Washington Native Plant Society (http://www.wnps.org) Plant Sale: May 7
- King County Master Gardeners Plant Sale (http://www.mgfkc.org/events/2011-plant-sale): May 7 and 8 (tons of native plants for different habitats plus an immense selection of edibles (esp. tomatoes), rare plants, and other plants)
NATIVE PLANT INFORMATION
My three favorite online resources:
NATIVE PLANT BOOKS
Three of my favorite native plant books:
- Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, & Alaska, Pojar & McKinnon
- Gardening with Native Plants, local expert and Kruckeberg Botanic Garden (http://kruckeberg.org) founder Arthur R. Kruckeberg. CHECK OUT MSK NURSERY (http://www.msknursery.com/) on site.
- Propagation of Pacific Northwest Native Plants, Robin Rose, Caryn E.C. Chachulski, and Diane L. Haase
The Chief of Seattle Police Department, Chief John Diaz, was the guest speaker at the January 5th North Precinct Advisory Council. Before his talk, Chief Diaz delivered a commendation plaque to a North Precinct officer from the Roosevelt Community. The office, upon accepting it, said that the officers especially value commendations from the citizenry. Those mean the most to them by far. I encourage you to make commendations whenever you are especially pleased with the service you get from SPD officers. This can be as easy as writing or calling the North Precinct Clerk at 206-684-0850 or 10049 College Way N., Seattle, WA 98133.
Chief Diaz outlined SPD priorities, which I summarize below:
Fighting crime – SPD is focusing on serial offenders, reasoning that there is more bang for the buck to get serial offenders off the street than to investigate every crime with equal effort, which would dilute the effort. It has been successful using this strategy in numerous areas, such as car theft, burglary, and gangs.
SPD is also focusing on places where crime occurs. For instance, if there’s a lot of prostitution on Aurora, SPD will focus attention there on prostitution. If there are a lot of car prowls at Northgate, it will focus attention on car prowls there.
Another crime fighting focus is on improving investigative procedures. There are almost 100 projects to improve how the SPD does business. For example, the computer system was upgraded, there is a new method for officers to make reports, etc. Needless to say the budget cuts are also forcing SPD to rethink/revise some business practices in order to continue providing excellent service for less.
Reducing fear of crime – A big priority for SPD is to help citizens feel safe in the community. Polls show that people think crime is increasing, when in reality it is not. SPD is focusing on getting officers out of cars and into neighborhoods. Police presence helps reduce crime and allay fear. SPD has also participated in exploring with the citizens what public safety means. There have been forums and polls to discuss what helps us feel safe, how quality of life in Seattle can be improved, etc. SPD brought in a national expert on safe city design and invited some community members to attend the discussion.
Building community – A third SPD priority is to foster meeting of neighbors with neighbors and neighbors with police. Tight knit communities help reduce crime. Trust between neighborhoods and police help reduce crime. The model SPD is moving toward is having community-based police in each neighborhood, and each neighborhood will help the officers prioritize what crimes to focus on. Also, SPD knows it needs to be a lot better at explaining what it does. Chief Diaz didn’t mention the recent controversies over use of force, but I’m sure SPD wants to better communicate the situations officers are faced with every day and educate the citizens about the choices they have to make in split seconds. I think that if citizenry understands better, then when things go wrong there is a bit more compassion for tragic mistakes. That said, Chief Diaz strongly declared that SPD wants to be held to a high standard. Finally, SPD wants to improve its communication of the many successes of the force, and the many heroics that officers exhibit on a continuing basis.
Thaddeus, fifth grader at Sacajawea Elementary School, is this week’s artist.
Sacajawea’s theme this year is Africa, and here is Thaddeus’ cool African mask.
It’s on display now at the Pinehurst Pocket Park, in the kiosk. The park is at 19th Ave NE and NE 117th St.
Stroll by and take a look.
Thanks, Thaddeus, for making our park beautiful!
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