Renton, WA

I got a great list of emergency preparedness websites from my children’s school. Since you are unlikely to be able to access a website in an emergency, these are obviously for planning purposes. In case of an emergency, listen to the Emergency Broadcast System on KIRO 710AM.

Here are the websites, in no particular order:

Our local fire department
CERT Programs
3 days / 3 ways
FEMA
American Red Cross
Seattle Red Cross
Regional Information
King County Information

Fisher price is recalling 83 different preschool toys which may contain lead paint. I thought that stuff was long gone, but this recall affects perhaps 1 million toys.

The toys involved are Nickelodeon and Sesame Street toys sold since in the last few months. The list is too long to blog, but click here to visit their web page and see them all.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Renton River Days start tomorrow Wednesday July 25.

If you haven’t been before, it’s the typical small festival - booths, activities, fair food - in Liberty Park. Which is next to the library and Cedar River.

Wednesday is Kids’ Day, which includes free face painting and a circus ($1 admission). And the grand finale on Sunday is the traditional Rubber Ducky Derby.

Powered by ScribeFire.

While I’m not sure that “rural” is quite the word for it, I guess it is relatively accurate, compared to Seattle downtown. A significant number of people in Southeast King County live in areas which are still unincorporated, although that should change in upcoming years. King County is strongly encouraging these areas to incorporate or annex to [some city] by 2009.

Those of us in unincorporated King County have two representatives in the larger picture. There is a Rural Ombudsman, David Spohr, and one King County Council member who lives in unincorporated King County - Regan Dunn. These two, along with other representatives, will be hosting a Town Hall Meeting at Maple Valley’s Lake Wilderness Lodge on Monday July 23.

The schedule is 9:30-10AM, “Public Reception”, followed by 10AM-Noon “Program”. Since I doubt the program is a live stage show or actual entertainment, it is probably education on why we should vote in the way they are about to explain, and information about what they have been doing for us.

The city of Renton is taking nominations for the Renton Citizen of the Year. They will pick three finalists and then one candidate to be named Citizen of the Year. Read here about the full description - basically we need Mother Theresa living in Renton - and to download an application. The nomination deadline is August 31st. Their website says 2005, but I’m pretty sure that was just a copy and paste error.  Unless the citizen of the year really does need special skills, like time travel.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Gene Coulon Park was rated one of the top five family parks by the Seattle Times. And with good reason. There is a massive play area for children, waterfront beach, and a couple of little eateries.

They are now opening up the swimming area for the summer. The Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park and Kennydale Beach park will be open noon to 8PM, with lifeguards June 23rd through Labor Day.

Also at Gene Coulon Park will be free family concerts every Wednesday at 7PM. The Family Concert Series starts June 27th and goes through August 15th.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Valley Medical Center is among several locations throughout Washington and the country which had faulty equipment from a German lab. This is equipment is supposed to “zap” the tumor, but the targeting was a little off.

“French health authorities have suspended four BrainLAB radiotherapy machines for improper targeting. A notification sent to hospitals warned of “serious injury or death to the patient.”

VMC says there were 60 patients who “may have been affected” and they have all been contacted. The hospital was notified on June 5th.

Powered by ScribeFire.

For local residents, VMC will refund up to $2,000 of hospital bills in your lifetime. You must be a local property owner who pays property taxes - the refund is in consideration of the property taxes you have paid, which support the hospital. But, you have to ask. More importantly, you have to know you need to ask.

Hospitals have districts, much like school districts, and those who live in the Public Hospital District No.1 can get a lifetime refund of $2000 on their out of pocket (after insurance) hospital bill. This applies only to inpatient hospitalization. It can’t be applied to inpatient services, emergency care, lab work, and/or elective procedures

You can use this map to see if you are in the Public Hospital District No.1. If you are in the district, have been hospitalized at VMC, and have your final bill after insurance payments, call the Valley Dividend Hotline at 425-656-4058.

Many thanks to Andrew from MillerPark to bringing more information on the unpleasant topic of neighborhood sex offenders to my attention, and suggesting that I share it.

The Seattle Police Department has put together a website to address some common concerns, such as the ones I voiced, regarding sex offenders in the neighborhood. I’m not completely reassured that “high probability to re offend” means anything other than “high probability to re offend”. Although it is extremely unlikely to be my child, it is still *not a good thing*.

The vast majority of cases where a child is molested (or abducted, for that matter) are committed by someone known to the child. Protecting our children should be far more focused on trusting our intuition and safety practices such as those taught by Gavin de Becker in his excellent book Protecting the Gift than on some paranoid “stranger danger” tactic.

However, the fact that it is statistically unlikely is not going to make me feel any better if it happens to my child. So I still study the faces of sex offenders registered in my area, and the current admitted pedophile running a website - with pictures - on where to observe little girls in public places. I absolutely do not expect to see one of these people, but if nothing else, getting these email reminders serves as a reminder to me that occasionally random evil does happen, and I best not be complacent about it.

The City of Renton maintains a website listing high risk sex offenders, their picture, and registered address. Parents, or just concerned citizens, should review the site periodically, and sign up for email alerts.

If you want to torment yourself, go ahead and read the descriptions. I don’t understand why people who are “likely to re offend” are out in society. I understand that the guy has served his sentence, but as far as I am concerned jail is about more than just punishment. Jail is also about keeping society safe. If a person is still a danger to society, that person still needs to be locked up.

Weedman failed his sexual deviancy treatment and is seen as a chronic predatory sexual pedophile. Weedman is classified by the Department as a Level 3 offender, which indicates a high probability to reoffend.

This is an example of someone who needs to be locked up for the safety of society. Find out who lives near you by visiting the City of Renton website. At their website, you can sign up for email alerts. Obviously, the most dangerous predators are the ones that haven’t been caught yet, but gather whatever knowledge you can.

Any holiday occasion brings out the drunk drivers, and if our weather forecasters are correct, Memorial Day should be a nice early summer day. It will a perfect afternoon and evening for family BBQs, but even more likely that guys (and gals) who have had a few too many beers will be driving home that evening.

In case a little thing like ethics isn’t enough to keep you from driving drunk, be advised your chances of getting caught are increasing. The Washington State Patrol has a new method to bust drunk drivers.

Their newest tool is aircraft equipped with Forward Looking Infrared Radar. Using this, police can see real-time live video of cars on the ground. Information received about possible drunken drivers will be relayed to troopers in a plane who will then track the driver and send live video to a command center. Troopers on the ground can then move in to make an arrest if necessary.

If you, the sober driver, see any suspicious behavior from other drivers, please call 911 immediately to report it.

My ducklings pictures were so blurry, they are extra well camouflaged. So I got these fawn pictures from someone who actually knows how to use his camera.

Silly me, I think of Memorial Day weekend as kicking off the summer season. Today at the Renton IKEA, they set me straight.

I only wanted a few things (really) one of which was the plastic gizmo for freezing juice into popsicles. I asked a clerk in the kitchen section, and was informed that they only carry that particular item “in summer”. Which sounded promising, until she informed me rather haughtily that they were probably out, since they had been selling summer since March.

I asked where they sell summer - I guess IKEA really does sell everything - but the clerk just gave me directions through the maze. Once there, I determined that they were indeed sold out. And some of their summer items are already on clearance.

I shouldn’t be surprised; retail always seem to be way too far ahead. This does not bode well for my need to buy a swimming suit for a June vacation. I probably needed to plan ahead and buy in February.

Seen this morning were at least two families of baby ducks. The baby Canadian geese were not out today, when I had my camera, of course.

If you’re thinking about going again, or haven’t been, don’t delay too long. The Spirit of Washington Dinner Train will only operate on it’s current route until July 31st. Widening 405 in Bellevue, which sounds like a good thing, will have some casualties. The construction will wipe out the Wilburton Tunnel currently used by the train. Since the Dinner Train is the only thing directly affected by the tunnel, the state decided to save about $30 Million by not rebuilding it. Instead plans are to run the dinner train farther north, on a new route between Woodinville and Snohomish.

The train is pricey, but fun. I’d encourage you to take one last trip before it goes away. The train goes along Lake Washington, up to the Columbia Winery in Woodinville. They of course have free wine tasting there. For a little extra, you can take the murder mystery train, which is fun with a group of friends.