Discovery. Endeavor. Enterprise. These are names that have defined the modern-day U.S. space program.
Technology today may be measured on the nano scale, and a manned mission Mars may soon be in reach, given our vast technological advances.
But amid all that – and operating on machinery that predates even the cell phone in your pocket – these three space craft, indelible fixtures of the U.S. Space Shuttle program, have brought their crews home safe.
When I walked through the door of the Neighborhood Resource Center Tukwila International Boulevard this month, I was prepared to do a story that was fairly cut-and-dry: The center's upcoming closure, and why it was happening.
But when I met Mike Fowler and Rob McKee, the two volunteers behind the counter that day, I realized I had another story on my hands.
It was just an e-mail, sent out to the Tukwila Police Department, wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving.
When Mike Fowler started to volunteer for Tukwila’s Neighborhood Resource Center about 12 years ago, he was surprised at what he could see.
Located on Tukwila International Boulevard, the center is home to a bank of readouts from surveillance cameras, running along 20 blocks of the busy road.
There's an unusual public stunt taking place Sunday, Jan. 9, on Sound Transit's Link Rail, but nobody seems to have their panties in a bunch about it.
When Dennis Childers shipped out for Iraq in 2009, little did he know a fire on the home front would occupy his waking moments in a war zone.
The Army sergeant had just left Kuwait for his forward operating base in Iraq when the message came: an electrical fire at his Fort Lewis home had destroyed the home and all his family's possessions.
For years the Tukwila Pantry has been helping those in need with basic food supplies.
Now the local food bank could greatly use some help itself.
In a small apartment on Tukwila International Boulevard, a decorated Christmas tree glows in the living room.
On a wall next to the tree, outlined in tiny lights, is a tapestry of Jesus, kneeling in prayer.
For the family of seven who lives in this apartment, the tapestry says a lot more about Christmas than does the tree.
Led by brother and sister Nga Reh and Tee Meh, and including their mother, Buh Meh, and Tee Meh’s four young daughters, this family of Burmese refugees will spend their first Christmas together again as a family.
For Marylyn Bjorn, it was the excitement of fast-paced shopping.
"I had to have the experience," the Auburn woman said, as she and her mother-in-law Arlie Bjorn pushed their cartful of gifts out of Toys 'R Us just before midnight Thursday in Tukwila.
Every time the cold weather comes around, I begin to think of soup and the holidays.
One item that goes beautifully with both is fresh-baked egg bread. With egg bread you can do it all: from dunking it in sweet butternut squash soup to making a gorgeous, glistening loaf that’s a hit at any holiday meals you’re planning. It can even be the basis of a delicious bread pudding.
Mary Koontz and Pam Fernald have been living in their neighborhood for a long time.
Long enough, in fact, to feel a pang of ownership when they notice unsafe road conditions near their Riverton Heights neighborhood. Or the gradual shift from family-owned homes to rental homes, where the residents are more transitional and properties sometimes aren’t as well-tended.
The Cascade Land Conservancy is trying to gauge interest in a new community garden for Tukwila.
The project could be developed on property owned by St. Thomas Catholic Church, adjacent to Foster High School.
Skye Schell, community engagement manager for the Cascade Land Conservancy, said the idea began as a project that the local Burmese refugee community could do, but has since broadened out in scope to potentially include anyone in the Tukwila community who has a love of gardening and agriculture.
Just how much community involvement there could be in such a project is what the Cascade Land Conservancy is now trying to determine.
"What we really need are people from the community," he said, speaking Thursday. "People willing to step up and fill these roles."
With that in mind, the Cascade Land Conservancy has organized a meeting for 6 p.m. Nov. 11 at St. Thomas Church (4415 S. 140th St.) to see how much interest there is for such a garden.
King County Sheriff Sue Rahr likens her dilemma to operating a hospital.
With $7.2 million to pare from her agency’s budget next year, it will be like “eliminating all preventative care and operating only an emergency room,” she said.
Having already cut $10 million out of her budget in the last three years, Rahr said, “the cumulative effect is huge.”
This year the Tukwila Reporter is offering the following suggestions on some of the high-profile state initiatives on the November ballot. The overviews are the consensus of Publisher Polly Shepherd and Editor Laura Pierce.
The moment is etched in Cecile Hansen’s mind, first with joy, then with anger.
It was the day her tribe, the Duwamish, achieved what they had sought for more than 100 years: federal recognition.
They received it in the last hours of the Clinton presidency, in an epic moment of acknowledgement Jan. 19, 2001.
But in a matter of hours, the incoming Bush administration reversed that recognition on a technicality.
It was a flip-flop that put Hansen’s tribe back to Square One in its fight for the opportunities that federal recognition bring.
Don't lose Fire Engine 52.
That was the resounding message Monday night from full room of Tukwila residents and workers, who came to share their views on budgetary cutbacks to the City of Tukwila.
King County Councilwoman Julia Patterson recently shared her thoughts on an upcoming Town Hall meeting she has scheduled for Sept. 15 in Tukwila at the Foster Performing Arts Center.
Titled “Health Reform & You,” its purpose is to shed more light on understanding the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act, passed last year by Congress, and what opportunities it will offer, especially in light of the working poor.
King County Councilwoman Julia Patterson has scheduled a Town Hall meeting from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Sept. 15 at the Foster Performing Arts Center, with health-care reform in mind.
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