For nearly three years Rochelle Ruffin crashed at the homes and apartments of various friends and family members while she continued to attend Rainier Beach High School. While she always had a roof to shield her from Seattle's notoriously dark and damp weather, she was technically homeless during her couch surfing days.At one point Ruffin found herself seeking help through Seattle's KC Family Services, a program designed to find housing for foster children. It was here that she met Aaron Dixon, a committed community activist and Seattle native raised in the Central Area and now living in the Skyway neighborhood. Unfortunately, the program had nothing to offer the young woman, and Dixon had to refer her away from KC.
A Kirkland City Council vote on the proposed Lake and Central project didn't take place as expected at a packed-to-overflowing council meeting on Feb. 15. There were simply too many speakers who wanted to weigh in on the mixed-use project that night, but a vote was expected at a council meeting on March 1, past the Courier deadline.
Around 50 residents of Tent City 4 found a new temporary home on a church parking lot near downtown Kirkland on Feb. 19. But conspicuously absent in the move from St. John Vianney church in Finn Hill to the Kirkland Congregational Church of Christ were picketers from the TentCitySolutions.com group.The sometimes-vitriolic Tent City opponents weren't around during the move on Saturday, and none of them showed up on Sunday that weekend, added John, who spoke on condition his last name not be used because he has a job and fears the stigma of being homeless.
You could easily miss it. From the outside, the building looks vacant. If you drive by too quickly you probably wouldn't notice the former Lakeshore Clinic building at 515 State Street. But the building is far from empty. Since November it has served as the permanent location for the Ithna-Asheri Muslim Association of the Northwest (IMAN), an Eastside Muslim congregation that had been searching for a home for several years.
Residents join orchestra, new City Council candidate, Mother's Club raises $4,000, and more.
X Gym's owner and operator PJ Glassey has been searching for an Eastside location for a few years -- at his clients' continual bequest -- and finally found his ideal spot at 126 Central Way in Kirkland.
My teenager came into my room the other afternoon after school and plopped her hip-hugging-jeans-wearing body down on my bed. "Mom, I need new shoes - my old ones are ugly."Oooooh Kay. I kept typing on my computer, knowing what was coming next."Moooooooooooooom! Are you listening to meeeeeeeeee?"Of course I wasn't listening to her. I heard her, naturally. But listening was another matter entirely.
To my regret, 30 years ago I planted English ivy on a slope to keep blackberries under control and because I thought it required low maintenance and the dark green leaves looked good. Today, I'm slowly pulling it out and wishing I had known 30 years ago what I know today about English ivy.
ebruary article, "Local Teacher Pitches Tent in Solidarity," is disgraceful. It is filled with innuendo bordering on libel, guilt by association and reads as if it were written by the PR flack for SHARE/WHEEL and Tent City 4. The Courier responds to this criticism.
Finn Hill Junior High finished its 2005 basketball season playing arch rival Kamiakin Junior High at Juanita High School. For the Finn Hill Falcons, it was a disappointing loss. The basketball program has been struggling for several years. With a group of talented ninth graders, the expectations were high that this was to be the year that the Falcons would have a winning season.
Bowling Team qualifies for StateSwimmers contendBoys Basketball team finishes season.
Junior High School volleyball meet schedule through March 25
Junior High School Wrestling Schedule through March
Once feared for their drug dealing and prostitution, the streets of Madison Valley are once again alive -- but with new shops and eateries that entice visitors to the neighborhood. In the last two years alone more than a dozen new storefront businesses have opened, joining nearly 40 other gift shops, restaurants and professional services to make this one of the city's fastest-growing business districts.
Tragic accident has residents concerned about speeding motorists in MadisonPark.All letters -- whether sent via regular mail or e-mail -must include an address and a telephone number at which you can be reached for verification for the letters to be printed. We will publish only your name and neighborhood in which you live. Letters are subject to editing.