In 2001, the EPA added the Duwamish to the nation's Superfund list-a collection of the most toxic sites in the U.S. Since then the City of Seattle has partnered with Boeing, King County and the Port of Seattle to form the Lower Duwamish Waterway Group and to develop a plan to clean up the river and restore habitat for the river's wide array of fish and wildlife.
I recently joined a group of local leaders to tour the Superfund site and to review cleanup efforts. Current cleanup efforts focus on four Early Action Sites: Duwamish/Diagonal, Boeing Plant 2, Slip 4 and Terminal 117 (also known as Malarkey Asphalt). Pollution at these four sites stems from combined sewer overflows, storm drains and industrial activity. Officials at Seattle Public Utilities and Seattle City Light play a vital role in directing a plan to rectify design flaws and past oversights at their facilities.
Seattle has a great opportunity to work with its partners to create a healthier and more livable river for fish, wildlife and people. As cleanup efforts continue to unfold, we must ensure that our resources are well and wisely spent and that cleanup sites are not polluted once again.
When Betty Kechley was a youngster, one of six siblings, growing up in Wapato, Washington, she was never chosen for the team. Not for any team, big or small.
"I couldn't catch a ball," laments Kechley, who was then young Betty Browne. "I could bend my feet around my neck and walk on my knees," she said. "But they never picked me for a team. They said I was too little."
Kechley, who turned 89 last week, is still diminutive, stretching 4 foot 8 on her tiptoes. But she hasn't let the slights of childhood keep her from athletic feats. She's become the Y's poster child for the value of life-long fitness.
Most weekday mornings, the energetic senior leaves her University District home at 6:25 a.m. and walks a block and a half to Northeast Family YMCA for an hour-long exercise class; aerobics on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, yoga on Tuesday and Thursday.
"I've been exercising at the Y since 1971," Kechley reports. "The Y was in bad shape in those days. They had a yoga teacher, but often I was the only one who would show up for class."
She says she was inspired to work out by a friend, a professional dancer. Kechley liked the idea of exercising early in the day, before she went to work on a variety of jobs, most involving book sales.
Times have changed in the 35 years since Kechley began her exercise regime. Women who used to consider "sweat" a gender-specific word now crowd the gym and jostle for space in the Spartan women's locker room.
Kechley isn't alone exercising in the early morning. Some 10 or 12 regulars show up for the Y's 6:30 a.m. classes. They're mostly women, joined by the occasional token male. The classmates range in age from their early 20s through Kechley's 89, though many are in their 40s and 50s.
All these years, Kechley has been faithful, standing in her "place" in the front row to the right of the instructor.
"I can hear better that way," she explains. Not that there's much wrong with Kechley's hearing. Nor is there anything amiss in her ability to bend, twist and stretch with grace and tempo. She sometimes complains mildly about an exercise, but mainly she's as supple as any member of the class.
Her fitness training - which involves a form of kickboxing -- may have been the reason a mugger backed off when he tried to steal her purse a few years ago. He lunged at her, but she stood her ground, tightened her grip on the purse, drew herself up to the full 4 foot 8, and said, "Oh, just shoo." Surprisingly he did.
Kechley last week reminisced about some of the instructors who have taught the class over the years. Remembered fondly are Dawn, Char, Amy, Mindy and Charity. Also recalled are some of the more colorful classmates, including "the nudist," a guy who showed up wearing a "Bare Buns Run" T-shirt and a pair of thong-inspired shorts.
But of all the classmates, Kechley is the most notable. She's the class role model. She invariably arrives wearing color-coordinated outfits, a scarf setting off her workout togs, hair coiffed and makeup already applied. On the infrequent mornings when she's a little late, she says, "You can either take me late or take me with my hair uncombed."
Her classmates these days would pick her first for any team.
To find out more about YMCA fitness programs contact (206) 524-1400. For information about other senior fitness programs in Seattle, call 1-888-435-3377 or email: information@shapeupkingcounty.org.
Senior Source Archives
|
Councilmember Godden's "Soundings" is a great way to stay abreast of current events in Seattle
If you wish to unsubscribe from this e-newsletter mailing list, please click here.
If you are not a regular subscriber and wish to sign up for the e-newsletter, please
click here to subscribe.
If you have any questions or comments, please email me at jean.godden@seattle.gov.
|
In late September the Seattle City Council will begin what many believe is its most important job: consideration of the budget. As we start that task, I am committed to seeing that the 2007-2008 budgets sustain and protect core services while enhancing programs that improve our quality of life.
Seattle City Light Superintendent Jorge Carrasco and Councilmember Jean Godden show off their "green pizza" as
they launch City Light and Pagliacci Pizza's joint campaign encouraging customers to "Green Up" their energy.
Green Up gives customers the opportunity to purchase up to 100 percent of the energy they use from renewable energy
sources such as wind, biomass and landfill gas projects. Starting in August, all Pagliacci Pizza boxes delivered in the
City Light service territory will include a special promotion encouraging customers to sign up for City Light's Green
Up program. First time residential subscribers will receive a free $15 gift card, which can be applied to any future
purchase of a Pagliacci Pizza. For more information, call (206) 684-8822 or visit
For nearly a century the Duwamish River has served Seattle as a bustling port where trade and industry thrives. Unfortunately the effects of commerce and Seattle's growing population have taken their toll on Seattle's largest river ecosystem: pollutants have contaminated the river's sediments, posing a health threat to its aquatic life and the humans who depend on it.
