Breaking News: Mail Theft

Reports are coming in from several residents on the south and east sides of the lake regarding mailbox break ins having occurred this morning (Thursday, October 31) along 198th Street and all down Military Road.  If you were a victim of this crime – please report it to the King County Sheriff via the following web site:

http://www.kingcounty.gov/safety/sheriff/ReportToSheriff.aspx

Mail theft is more than a nuisance; it is a serious crime, yet it is assumed that many residents don’t report mail theft for such reasons as:

• they don’t know how
• they got no feedback/outcome from earlier reports
• they are not sure what’s missing if anything
• they are not sure what all is involved; they are not sure it’s worth the trouble.

Stolen mail is often a thief’s first step into an even worse crime: identity theft, which is the fastest growing crime in the US today, one that takes its victims hundreds of ugly hours researching damages, resolving billing disputes and restoring credit ratings.

If you are a victim of mail theft, you are urged to first submit a crime notice through the King County Sheriff's Office Online Reporting System and follow that up with a report to the United States Postal Inspector Service.  

For added protection you should also consider performing the following additional actions:

• Call your bank and have a “watch” put on your account. All major banks and credit unions will have this capability and most will also have the added protection of adding a supplementary password added that must be given for any access to your account.
• Call all your credit card companies and also put a watch on your accounts.  If you’re ultra-paranoid, you can get your credit card company to issue you a brand new account # and card which you should be able to get within 3-5 business days.
• Contact the credit reporting agencies to put a “Fraud alert” on your credit file.  Calling each one individually is a pain in the back side, however if you file a fraud alert through Transunion, they will automatically notify and process fraud alerts to Experian and Equifax also.

And finally, if you witness any suspicious activity of individual(s) loitering around or tampering with mailboxes or if you observe anyone improperly discarding mail along the road – don’t hesitate to call 911!  The few minutes you take to make a report may save a neighbor from years of grief caused from identity theft.

Local Ballot Drop Off Option Available

It's Election Time!

Unless you've been out of town for any substantial period of time, else you have been living in absolute isolation – you no doubt already have an awareness of the impending elections scheduled to conclude on Tuesday November 5th.

An all too common scene during election season!

If you've traveled virtually any major thoroughfare in SeaTac, you've undoubtedly passed a vast number of yard signs and billboards promoting a pro or con position on Proposition 1, certainly a good indication of the importance and impact of Proposition 1 on the area. With the amount of flyers, cards and letters being stuffed into personal mailboxes almost daily is further evidence of significance of this issue and the willingness of each side toward investing thousands of dollars to promote their position.

As an additional noteworthy sign of significance of the election in this area, the King County Department of Elections will locate and operate a temporary ballot drop-off van in the parking lot of SeaTac City Hall in effort to supply additional convenience to area voters and provide an opportunity for voters to return the mail ballots without incurring postage costs. The van will be staffed with County Election personnel and will collect the ballots from voters.

Ballot Drop-Off Vans will be available during the following dates and times: 

• Saturday, November 2nd 10 AM – 5 PM
• Monday, November 4th, 10 AM – 5 PM
• Tuesday, November 5th, 10 AM – 8 PM (Election Day)

As of Saturday, October 26th, only 1,152 ballots have been returned from the 12,104 registered voters.  If you’re a SeaTac registered voter, please be sure to submit your ballot before 8 PM on Tuesday, November 5th.

Got Drugs?

The City of SeaTac is participating in the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, encouraging all residents to locate expired or otherwise no longer needed medications in their homes and bring them to City Hall this Saturday October 26th, between 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM for a responsible means of proper disposal.

With public participation at an all-time high after six prior events in three years, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and its national, tribal, and community partners will hold a seventh National Prescription Drug Take Back Day at thousands of sites across America on Saturday the 26th.  These Take Back Days give the public the opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, or unwanted prescription drugs.

Prescription drugs that languish in medicine cabinets create a public health and safety concern because they are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse.  Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high; almost twice as many Americans (6.8 million) currently abuse prescription drugs than the number of those abusing cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin, and inhalants combined, according to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.  Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.

Americans participating in DEA’s six previous Take-Back Days turned in nearly 2.8 million pounds—almost 1,409 tons—of prescription drugs, most recently at more than 5,800 sites operated by over 4,300 of DEA’s law enforcement partners.  Please consider taking advantage of this FREE service to rid your home of unnecessary prescription drugs.

Temporary Closure of South 188th Street

Construction Alert – 

Between the hours of 6 and 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 23, all lanes of South 188th Street will be closed at the intersection of 28th Avenue South in SeaTac. No east/west traffic will be permitted through the intersection for about four hours.  

Sound Transit contractor, PCL Civil Constructors, will close the road to safely move large construction equipment across the roadway.  Detour signs will be posted to help motorists and pedestrians navigate safely around the construction work zone and local business access on South 188th Street will be maintained.

The recommended detour is as follows:

• (In blue, on the map) Eastbound traffic on South 188th Street will be detoured right on 28th Avenue South, left on South 192nd Street and left on International Boulevard to return to South 188th Street.
• (In green, on the map) Westbound traffic on South 188th Street will be detoured left on International Boulevard, right onto South 192nd Street, right on 28th Avenue South to return to South 188th Street.

PLEASE NOTE: The potential is high for eastbound drivers familiar with the area to diverge from the recommended detour route and elect to continue eastbound on So 192nd Street, choosing 32nd or 37th Avenues to connect back with 188th street instead of the recommended International Blvd route. Therefore traffic in the North Angle Lake Neighborhoods may become unusually high during the closure.  

Levitz Hill Update

Gone for years now from the corner of So 178th Street and Southcenter Parkway sat the location of Levitz Furniture alongside the recently removed iconic landmark Levitz sign that was anchored high on the hillside above the old store location and now, the hill itself is witnessing the removal of the former 21 percent grade roadway which is being replaced with a less extreme slopped grade, the result of the So. 178th Street Realignment Project. Any familiar reference to Levitz will now only exist in memory.

Extremely favorable weather conditions have resulted in a reduced construction period and the new roadway is nearly complete. However before the new thoroughfare will open to general traffic the old South 178th Street will be closed from the period of September 30th through October 30th, for the final paving and utility tie-ins. Detour routes will be maintained around this area throughout the closure period. 

When complete the new roadway will intersect Segale Drive C and Southcenter Parkway and is scheduled to be open to traffic on or around November 1st, depending on suitable weather conditions just in time to support the extra Christmas volume coming in and out of this area.

Christmas Anticipation

Christmas Time.  For the faithful, Christmas is a joyous time to celebrate the birth of their savior and for the majority, it's a time to gather with friends and family. However at this particular time of year – Back to school is top of mind for most children, more so than making up this year’s Christmas wish list. If you were an elf in Santa’s workshop, the gift building business would not start to peak for several more weeks; but for Julie Hill, she’s already been heavily engaged in planning for the upcoming ALSC Members Only Christmas Party scheduled for December 7th this year. 

Julie has also been frantically searching for the ideal location to host the party this year. Unfortunately the leads this year have been few and considerations have been even fewer. Julie is still yet to find a member who’s willing to step up and commit to hosting the party this year.  If a member home is not secured by the end of October, the party will then need to be hosted at a rental location off lake which will result in an increase in expense and unfortunately will most likely create a rise in the admission price.

To host the party at your home all that is required is to have enough space to accommodate 80-100 people everything else is managed by the Christmas Party Team.  Volunteers provide all the necessary tables and chairs; set up; decorations; manage all the catering, refreshments and entertainment and also thoroughly clean up afterward – the only thing the host/hostess will need to provide is an open door and a warm welcome toward all the guests.

If you’re interested in having your home considered as the location for this year’s party, please contact Julie Hill at (206) 355-6460 or respond via email to anglelakesc@gmail.com