Renton, WA

It’s really over. The owners of the longtime fixture of the Puget Sound area announced Monday they have canceled all service. The train’s last run was the brunch train on Sunday. The train had run between Renton and Woodinville for 15 years before being forced to abandon that route on July 31 to make way for I-405 expansion construction, which was to sever the tracks near Bellevue.

The train had served over 1.4 million people during that time.

Last July, owner Eric Temple said he had plans for a 20-year contract with Tacoma and also planned to operate dinner trains in Vancouver, Wash. and Woodinville. The train will now head to a storage facility in Clark County. Temple said they are still keeping an eye on perhaps some resolution to resuming service to Woodinville some day, but added they have been waiting for that for years with no solution in sight.

KUBE 93 Haunted House

Renton 7-10 p.m. today, 7-10 p.m. Monday and Tuesday; 7-11 p.m. Wednesday. 3701 E. Valley Road. Cost: $13 on Halloween; $12 other dates. Click here for more info.

UPDATE: This haunted house was just blogged as the best in the Seattle area.

Slightly further away …

Carpinito Brothers U-pick Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze

Carpinitos is my favorite stop in the spring and summer for both plants and vegetables. Check them out in the fall for fun Halloween activites.

Kent Pumpkin-carving kits, tractor-pulled hayrides and prizes. 9 a.m.-dusk, through Wednesday. Carpinito Brothers Farm, at the corner of South 277th Street and West Valley Highway and Highway 167. (253-854-5692 or

Serena Farms U-pick Pumpkin Patch

Kent U-pick pumpkin patch, corn maze and hayrides. 9 a.m.-dusk today; noon-dusk through Wednesday. 4400 S. 212th St. (jser316@hotmail.com)

Follow this link for more “grown-up” events in Seattle, from another 451 press blogger at http://www.about-seattlewa.com.

Spring forward … fall back … is it time to change our clocks yet?

UNDATED, Ore. (AP) - If you were planning on setting your clock back an hour Sunday night as people are used to doing on the last weekend in October, you’ll find yourself an hour late for work on Monday.

Legislation was approved in 2005 that added four weeks to Daylight Savings Time.

That move was finally implemented this year. Three of those weeks came last spring when Daylight Time began early. It will end a week later than it has in the past.

Standard Time is set to start the first weekend in November, on the fourth

This is a nifty Costco trick, sponsored by GreenSight Technologies. You can turn-in your item for credit in the form of a Costco Card, or just plain recycling, for many of your old electronics. They will send you a UPS pre-paid label to mail your item in to them, and you fill out the form online. So it takes almost zero effort to get rid of your old stuff. If your item does not qualify for any trade-in value, you will be offered the opportunity to recycle your item for free.

Items which are included are: Notebook PCs, MP3 players, Desktop PCs, LCD monitors, Game Systems, Camcorders, Digital Cameras, SmartPhones, and PDAs. They offer free recycling only, no credit, for CRT Monitors, Personal Printers, and Fax Machines.

This is a great deal to recycle your CRT monitors, since I know RE-PC charges you to take them, and office supply stores like Staples only periodically will take them for no charge. I find it hard to believe that they would provide me free shipping to recycle such an item, but went as far as I could through the sign-up process without actually commiting myself, and it definitely said “Qualifies for free shipping to recycler for disposal.”

The only catch is the small print which says “Your email address will be provided to Costco.com, which may use it to send you brief advertising announcements regarding special offers, hot buys and services from Costco.com and other Costco companies”. I think that’s more than fair.

Use this link to begin application for this trade-in program or call 800-955-2292 (6am to 6pm PST weekdays; 8am to 5pm PST Saturday).

A community art project entitled “Cedar Salmon” is on display at the Renton Public Library now through November 3rd. This event is sponsored by Friends of the Cedar River Watershed.

The project involves ten life-sized salmon silhouettes created from cedar planks by local artists, which will be displayed at a series of sites along the salmon’s migration route from Puget Sound to the Cedar River Education Center in North Bend. The showing at the library will coincide with weekend visits by naturalists on October 13, 20, 21, 27, 28, and November 3 to explain the life cycle of the salmon and the importance of the Cedar River as prime salmon habitat.

The art is available for sale in an online auction that will raise money for the Friends of the Cedar River Watershed’s salmon education program and restoration projects.

Olde Fashion Halloween Party in the Main Street Square
On Saturday, October 27, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., enjoy free games, treats, and festive decorations at The Olde Fashion Halloween Party in the Main Street Square (enter at the 200 block of Main Avenue South). Come in costume or make your own there. Also from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., downtown Renton businesses will host Trick or Treating. Look for the orange “Trick or Treat” signs in storefront windows of participating businesses throughout downtown.

Boo Carnival at Renton Community Center
Children ages 2 to 8 years, accompanied by an adult, are invited to the annual Boo Carnival on Saturday, October 27, 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Renton Community Center, for a spirited time of crafts, games, and inflatables. Carnival pass for all activities is $6 per child. This event is co-sponsored by Stoneway Concrete. For more information, call 425-430-6700 or visit www.Rentonwa.gov.

If you want to venture a little further away, the Kent Parks and Recreation Department, et al, is sponsoring a Halloween Party at the Kent Commons on Saturday October 27th from 3:00-6:00 PM

You can see some crazy things on local cable. One of these is Renton’s own “magazine tv show” called “The Curve” on Renton’s own channel - channel 21. Yes, Renton has it’s own local cable channel. Cable Channel 21 is the City of Renton’s cable television channel dedicated to government programming 24 hours a day. It combines coverage of local government meetings, community events, an information readerboard, a quarterly magazine program highlighting City services and programs, land use updates, and other information of citizen interest.

I would not go so far as to call The Curve a “must-see” show like they do, but you have to take that with a boulder of salt. That line was written by the same people who in the video call Renton “the center of opportunity in the Pacific Northwest”. I’m not sure what came immediately after that part, since I was lol, but you can download the video from their website if you miss any of the six segments.

A Parallel Universe in Renton; A River Runs Through It; Ready for Take Off?; High Tech Truckin; Meet Me at the Market; and Don’t Open a Small Business (unless you check with them first).

The show is actually somewhat informative, or at least entertaining, so if you are the type to be flipping around in daytime TV, you should check it out. On Channel 21, you can catch “The Curve” at one of the following times:
# Mon, Wed, Fri: 2 a.m., 1 p.m., 5 p.m., and 10 p.m.
# Tues, Thurs: 12:01 a.m., 8 a.m., 3 p.m., and 11 p.m.
# Weekends: 4 a.m., 10 a.m., 3 p.m., and 7 p.m

You can also try local cable channel 77, which is the Puget Sound Access Channel.

I have nothing against McLendon’s Hardware in Renton. Nothing at all. They have knowledgeable salespeople, which is a rare commodity for a home improvement store (ahem). If I need any help finding the right gizmo for my situation, I go there.

But they just can’t compete with the massive selection of Home Depot and Lowes if I am browsing for the right door knob or planning a minor home improvement project. Both of these stores are - of course - in Tukwila. And even the Renton McLendons is a significant drive when you are coming from the east side of Renton, or Fairwood. And if you are half-way through a paint job. And leaving a cranky significant other at home waiting for you.

However, the powers that be have smiled on Renton, and deigned to open “The Landing”. The Landing in Renton will be a massive retail and apartment “lifestyle center“. It will have many of the big box stores we have been missing, like Target, and mid-size stores like Trader Joes. And of course there will a Starbucks, but I think that is only there by some tacit law in the Seattle area requiring one in every square block. Or less.

Not technically part of The Landing, across the street by Frys there is a large Lowes building, with brightly lit sign looming. This new Lowes is advertising the grand opening for October 25th. Target had a “soft opening” earlier than their grand opening date, so the rumor that Lowes will be opening for business customers on the 22nd sounds likely.

Sit down and vote!

If you are not already signed up to receive an absentee ballot, you can find out where you need to go by visiting www.vote.wa.gov. You must be registered, even if it is just a change of address, at least 30 days before the election. If you want to automatically receive an absentee ballot, you must submit a written application, but you can still get the details from the website.

I got my absentee ballot in the mail yesterday. If you are like the majority of King County, which votes absentee, so did you. The tricky part is that the booklet explaining the issues was mailed earlier, and is now lost under a pile of paperwork somewhere in your den/office/living room.

It looks like this:

Got it? Good. Now, while you are thinking about it, open the pamphlet and fill out your ballot and stick it in the mail.

On the ballot this time are the following issues:

Initiative 960
Should we make our politicians go through extra voter notification and approval, and have a 2/3 majority vote for any fee increase.

Referendum 67
Should we make it illegal for insurance companies to unreasonably deny certain claims (this does not include health insurance).

Don’t be fooled into thinking that other lower-profile initiatives and elected positions which haven’t had the same amount of advertising are less important. Your day to day lives are probably more impacted the lesser local officials than, say, the President of the United States. Which, by the way, we will begin electing when we have the Washington State Presidential Primary on February 19th, 2008.

Councilman Randy Corman has put up on his blog the scan of a letter a letter from the Renton Police and Fire departments endorsing Dennis Law for mayor over incumbent Kathy Keolker.

“Finally, we want to mention that both our police and fire organizations endorsed the current mayor during her terms on the city council, and we initially put our trust in her when she ran for mayor in 2003. However, she has lost credibility with our members over a number of serious issues during the last four years, and we strongly believe that a change in leadership is critical to Renton’s future”

Ouch!

Everyone knows about calling 9-1-1, but there are some other three digit codes you can use.

2-1-1 to report non-life threatening emergencies
4-1-1 gets you directory assistance
5-1-1 gets you traffic updates
6-1-1 gets you customer service (with most cell phone companies)

I’m really tempted to try dialing the remaining something-1-1 codes to see what happens. I’m pretty sure I have seen signs with codes to report HOV violators and that sort of thing. If you know of any I am missing, leave me a comment and let me know about it.

See chinook, sockeye and coho salmon returning to spawn, and learn about their epic journey, with Friends of the Cedar River Watershed at the Renton Library, weekends through Nov. 3.

Hours: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and Oct. 27-28, Nov. 3.
Cost: Free

Yet another free Halloween themed activity for your family. But bring your money if you want professional photos or concessions. Take a hayride through Puyallup’s Wildwood Park.

Hours of 7-11PM
Thursday 10/18 through Saturday 10/20

Valley Medical Center will have a seminar led by Dr Jason Thompons on medical treatments for back pain. 6-7 PM Tuesday 10/16 at the Medical Arts Center on the VMC Campus.

The Kent Parks and Recreation Department, et al, is sponsoring a Halloween Party at the Kent Commons on Saturday October 27th from 3:00-6:00 PM.

The party will host a haunting array of hands-on activities:
* Pumpkin Head Decorating
* Ghoulfish Pond Fishing
* Horrifying Hole-In-One Golf
* Frightening Face Painting
* “Squeal of Fortune” Carnival Game
* Scary Ghost Project
* and lots more

The cost for this one is $5. Kids under two are free, and if they mean what they wrote then adults are free also. I’m not sure if that is what they meant to say, or where they draw the line on that one. Humor and entertainment will be provided at 4:30 by Bob Bailey III.