BTB Advertiser Pro Se University wants our Readers to know that Seattle Family Law Attorney and CEO Marie White will be offering FREE 30-minute family law issue support appointments on Tuesday, March 23, 2010.

Sign up for a free 30-minute appointment now, but keep in mind that there is a limited number of these free appointments available, so you may want to act fast.

For more information, click here or call 1-877-776-7310.

Free drinks and light snacks will be available as well.

[Would you like to have a “Blogvertorial” Ad and/or Event Listing like this on a popular, fast-growing website seen by nearly 50,000 interested Local Readers every month? Email us for more info, or check out our Advertise page!]

The B-Town Blog would like to welcome our newest Advertiser – the Law Offices of W. Tracy Codd!

He’s the new guy in our “Page Peel” Ad spot in the upper right corner.

Tracy’s a longtime Burien resident. He attended nursery school in Seahurst. He then attended local public schools, and is a 1979 grad of John F. Kennedy High School.  After that he had a gig as a college tennis player at the University of San Diego, but the gloom and doom of the Seattle area called him back to finish at the University of Washington. Then off to UPS Law School to get his law degree, then back to the University of Washington to get an MBA.

In 1987 he hung his law shingle in downtown Seattle to become a sports agent, specializing in representing baseball players. But Burien called him back. In the early 90s he started office sharing with his Father, Paul J. Codd. Paul J. Codd has been a Burien general practice lawyer for over 45 years. He’s also served as a municipal court judge for 30 years. His sister Julie Codd also shares office space.

“I’m lucky to see my family members every day. I’ve often benefited from my dad’s years of accumulated wisdom,” states Codd.

The substantial portion of Tracy’s practice involves Plaintiff’s Personal Injury cases and Criminal Defense. But instead of talking about the law, Codd chose to use his complementary BTB “Blogvetorial” to sing the praises of Burien, his family and running (but not necessarily in that order).

In Codd’s mind, “Burien is one of the best kept secrets, if not in all of the state of Washington, certainly King County. The quality of life, the water, access to the freeways and the firmly rooted community,” are at the top of his list. When it comes to community involvment issues, he commends two restaurant/bars and their owners on 152nd that have changed life for runners and residents alike in Burien.

As a lifelong athlete, Codd continues to run to keep fit. As a former Marathon Man and Iron Man, he has diverted his running to “cause related” races and shorter distances. He hopes to run into his 60’s or 70’s.

When Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub started the Cove to Clover race last March, it gave Codd and many others a chance to participate in cause related running while making over $10,000 for the Highline Area Food Bank. He hopes to talk to Mick about changing the course …..”the hill from hell, the snake hill’s gotta go. Mick is trying to kill us.”

He also appreciated the Tin Room’s Brat Trot. Perhaps that’s because if was on a flat course, it’s well organized and the inaugural race day weather was beautiful. Four hundred runners raised $25,000 for West Side Baby and Safe Children in South King County.

Codd wanted to use his complementary blogvetorial to give a Big Shout Out to Mick Purdy (Mick Kelly’s) and Dan House (Tin Room) for their civic service!

Codd and his family live in the Burien area.  His wife Michelle is part owner of Poggi Bonsi and board member of Discover Burien. They moved back to Burien shortly after they started a family. Daughters Sydney (17) and Caroline (16) are basketball players at Mt. Rainier High School, while son Stuart (14) is on the swim team. Son Paul (9) is carrying on the family sports tradition by playing soccer at St. Francis.

So there you have our profile of W. (William) Tracy Codd. Dad, Husband, avid runner, Burien-ite, Burien advocate and plaintiff’s lawyer in personal injury and criminal defense. We hope that you, our Readers, don’t need his services, but if life throws you a curve, be sure and give Tracy Codd a call.

You’ll find him at:

Address: 15401 1st Ave. South #A

Phone: 206-248-6152

Website: www.tracycodd.com

[Would you like to have a “Blogvertorial” story, Ad and/or Event Listing like this on a popular, fast-growing website seen by nearly 50,000 interested Local Readers every month? Email us for more info, or check out our Advertise page!]

Acting as your own lawyer – as a pro se party – may well be the most challenging thing a person ever does.

Our latest Advertiser, Pro Se University PS, offers webinars and seminars on specific family law issues. They walk people through the process of completing paperwork, filing their paperwork, getting ready for the courtroom, and understanding court courtesy. They also provide one-on-one attorney and paralegal support. They can help you through the confusing process of adjusting or modifying your child support if you cannot afford an attorney.

They know the problems, they understand the process and they know how to help you.

• Are you receiving too little child support?
• Are you paying too much child support?
• Do you need help with daycare or uninsured medical expenses?
• Are you still paying daycare expenses for a child no longer in daycare?
• Does your child need help paying for college?

These are just a few of the possible reasons that you might need to adjust your child support payment or modify your child support order. If you feel that you have a good reason to make a change, contact Pro Se University PS for help. You can give them a call at 877-776-7310 or email them at info@proseuniversity.com. Their services are a small fraction of the cost of full service legal representation.

As you move through each step of the complex and confusing court process, you can attend the one-hour Pro Se University PS Webinar or Seminar that addresses that step. Throughout the life of your case, you can continue to attend Webinars or Seminars specific to the phase of your case.

Coming up in the next few weeks will be webinars and seminars covering Drafting a Child Support Order, Motion to Adjust Child Support and Petition to Modify a Child Support Order (class schedule here). Over the next several months, this menu of Webinars and Seminars will be expanded to help you work through your other family law Issues. The one-hour webinars and seminars are $65 each. Paralegal support is $65 per hour and attorney support is $200 per hour.

Pro Se University PS works with people in either the Kent or Seattle superior court systems in King County. For more information visit their website – www.proseuniversity.com.

First go to school…then go to court – Pro Se University!

[Would you like to have a “Blogvertorial” story, Ad and/or Event Listing like this on a popular, fast-growing website seen by nearly 50,000 interested Local Readers every month? Email us for more info, or check out our Advertise page!]

by Mark Neuman

We sat down recently for a talk with King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg.

Dan joked while recollecting his days playing both offense and defense for Highline High School’s football team in the late 1970’s.

“We were a small team, but we were slow.”

The Pirates won, perhaps, four games during the three years Dan was there.

“But really, I have to say that learning to lose and learning to do so with some grace and class is part of learning to live,” he said. “I think I may have learned more by being on a losing team than I would have being on a state championship team.”

Dan went on to the University of Washington for his BA in Political Science and a law degree.

“My favorite professor in law school was the one that scared me the most. His name was Arval Morris, a constitutional law professor. He was an intellectual giant,” Dan said. “I was in awe of him because of his ability to analyze and his depth of knowledge.

“He taught us so much about constitutional law and the rules of criminal law and how the government interacts with its citizens. The contract between government and citizens is the Constitution.

“It’s a fascinating area because we continue to define what we mean by that contract. The Constitution is a living, breathing document in my office because we look at Fourth and Fifth and Sixth Amendment issues every day as we analyze cases.

“I love the law, and I see those years in law school as formative years,” Dan added. “The prosecutor has a significant role in moving law in new directions. A prosecutor can actually direct traffic.”

JUVENILES WITH GUNS
One area where Dan is directing traffic deals with attempting to separate kids from gang activity before they fire a weapon in commission of a crime.

“You would think that when a 16 or 17 year-old youth is caught with a handgun that we would bring to bear all of our resources because this is a giant red flag. ‘We better pay attention to this kid,’” Dan said. “But the truth is that current state law builds in a tolerance where literally nothing happens until (there are) five felony convictions.

“And only then the kid, by law, would go to a Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration facility, let’s say Echo Glen, for a period of time.

“So the message that we send to a kid is that gun possession is not a big deal.”

Dan Satterberg and The State Prosecutors Association want to change that. They are pressing the Washington State Legislature to make changes to the law during the upcoming legislative session such that a juvenile found in illegal possession of a handgun will “get an immediate response from the system. We don’t wait. The kid gets removed from the community and put into Echo Glen,” he said.

“And while there the juvenile can get help with tried and true programs such as Moral Recognition Therapy which helps him understand his options and the potential consequences of his future actions.”

CANINE COMPANION PROGRAM
Dan spoke about the relatively new Canine Companion Program which involves having a dog in the courthouse to help calm the nerves of those going through the legal process.

“We have a dog in our office. Her name is Ellie, a six year-old Golden Lab. Ellie’s full time job is to come in and lay on the floor and look up at you with doe eyes. She puts kids at ease. We use her with our elder abuse cases as well.

“Once we got Ellie on board we realized this is an essential part of what we need to do to put witnesses and victims at ease. We have a lot of children who come into our office to talk about sexual abuse that happened to them or some scary moment, and when they see the dog all of a sudden everything’s okay. And they want to come back to see Ellie again.

“We even bring the dog up to drug court. Ellie will put her head in the lap of someone who may be heading to prison because they screwed up.

“Ellie doesn’t discriminate. Ellie loves everybody.”

NORM MALENG AND THE JOB OF PROSECUTOR
The duties of King County Prosecutor involve overseeing a staff of about 500, including 220 attorneys. The Office of the Prosecutor has an annual budget of $56 million.

Those duties fell on Dan’s shoulders quite unexpectedly in the spring of 2007 when long time Prosecutor Norm Maleng died suddenly at the age of 68.

Dan was appointed by the King County Council to serve as prosecutor and subsequently won election to serve the remainder of the full term.

“It was a great honor for me to work with Norm Maleng for 17 years. I was just 29-years old when he selected me to be his chief of staff.

“What I learned from Norm was not so much about the law as about life in general. I started with him shortly after he’d lost his daughter in a tragic sledding accident. So he was in many stages of grief and I learned an awful lot about dealing with people in grief.

“One of the things that he taught me was that every one of the thousands of felony cases we deal with involves a human tragedy, a story of someone’s hurt or loss or suffering.

“Norm would always start out a meeting with a homicide victim’s family by reaching out and saying how sorry he was that this happened to their family. He would say ‘Tell me about your son or daughter.’ To make that case and that person alive. The case wasn’t just a file full of papers.

“I try to keep that practice alive. What makes this job so meaningful is the ability to reach out and talk to victims and their families.”

THE FAMILY AND THE BAND
Dan and his wife, Linda, have two children and live in Normandy Park.

When he finds the time, Dan loves rocking out with his pals in their band The Approximations. Here’s info from their website:

Organized by bass player and singer Dan Satterberg (aka the King County Prosecutor), the band includes harmonica player and vocalist Bill Mattocks leader of the Bill Mattocks Band, keyboardist and vocalist Michael Hepburn from the nationally known 80’s R&B group Pleasure; drummer and vocalist Rusty Fallis, guitarist Tom Pratt, guitarist and vocalist John Rankin, percussionist and drummer Fred Staples, vocalists Linda Norman and Michelle Purnell-Hepburn. Tom, Rusty, Dan and John also play and record original songs as the Treehouse Dreamers.  With such a large band and wide array of musical backgrounds, the Approximations are likely to play songs by Smokey Robinson, the Beatles, AC/DC, Savoy Brown, Stevie Wonder, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Fleetwood Mac and Kings of Leon all in the same set.

The Approximations have played their full, multi-faceted, danceable rock sets in Seattle venues such as the Showbox, Showbox Sodo, Mountaineers Club, and the Highway 99 Blues Club entertaining for private functions, special occasions, and benefits for the Domestic Violence Coalition, and the American Cancer society among others.

The band’s website is here, and you can view videos of the band in action here.

You can catch The Approximations at Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub (located at 435 SW 152nd Street in Burien), this Friday night, Sept. 18th:

An Editorial by Jim Branson

At Monday’s City Council meeting, several prominent Burien citizens spoke up for City Manager Mike Martin, saying he has done a good job and he deserves another chance. They said he shouldn’t be judged before the facts were known.

Former Council Member Jack Block Jr. said he (Block) had the disease of alcoholism, he had sought treatment for it, and it did not stop him from being a contributing member of society as long as he took the right steps.

One difference between Mr. Block and Mr. Martin is the admission of having a problem.

Mr. Martin has had plenty of chances to come forward and explain what happened.

The Seattle Times reports:

“Martin’s breath strongly smelled of alcohol, his speech was slurred and he said he had consumed a couple of glasses of wine and two beers, a deputy wrote in a report.”

That is something that needs explaining. If Mr. Martin wants to protect himself from paying the legal consequences for his actions, he was smart to refuse the sobriety test and the breathalyzer. If Mr. Martin is serious about serving the City of Burien, he could have, while he had the microphone at Monday’s meeting, said he was sorry. He could have given a minimal explanation of what led up to the accident. If he shouldn’t be judged before the facts are known, then why doesn’t he tell us the facts? At a minimum, if he couldn’t discuss the matter for legal reasons, he could have apologized to the Council and to the City for putting Burien citizens at risk, whatever the reason or circumstances. He could have outlined his plan to make sure nothing like that ever happened again.

Ideally, he could have offered his resignation and let the Council decide whether they would accept it at that point or discuss it further.

Instead, he went on with his report as if his DUI arrest weren’t the burning issue on everyone’s mind. Yes, the City does have many other important matters to discuss, but first we need to know if the person we rely on most for our public safety and fiscal well-being is someone we can really trust.

It is not only in the City’s best interests for Mr. Martin to explain himself; it is ultimately in his best interests. If he has a drinking problem, he needs to seek treatment before he kills himself or someone else. If he hopes to have a future in Burien, where he has purchased a home, he needs to resolve this quickly and openly. If he hopes to ever have another meaningful job after leaving this one, it would be in his best interests to address the matter directly, without equivocation.

The City Council tip-toed around the issue, adjourning to executive session to discuss “a personnel issue,” as if everyone didn’t already know they were going to talk about Mr. Martin’s DUI. What do they need to discuss in private that they couldn’t discuss in public? A negotiation or a settlement? How to spin this incident for the least damage to Burien’s image? The way to handle it with the least damage for all would be to discuss it openly and honestly. Although Mr. Martin has passed up many opportunities to speak, he can, at any time, explain to the Citizens of Burien what exactly happened and why he should or should not continue as Burien’s City Manager. The longer he waits, the more he and the City Council discuss how to deal with the situation instead of actually dealing with it, the more it looks like he, and they, have something to hide.

The way to deal with the Mr. Martin’s accident is to tell the truth. He doesn’t need a lawyer for that.

If he can’t tell us the truth, he has no business being our City Manager.

So, what do YOU think Mike Martin should do? Please answer our poll:

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Branson is a longtime area resident and outspoken activist. Previously, he wrote an editorial on "Earth Hour" that received quite a few Comments from Readers.

What do you think of his opinion on Mike Martin? Please Comment below.

Also if you have an opinion about a local issue, or a "Letter to the Editor" you'd like us to post, please email us.]

A 16-year old Burien girl accused of killing a man in Kent has made a deal with King County prosecutors.

The girl (whose identity remains unreleased due to her age), plead guilty to manslaughter Thursday, and will serve less than three years in state juvenile detention after being sentenced Oct. 21st in King County Juvenile Court.

Prosecutors say information emerged that the girl may have been attacked or threatened.

The 49-year-old man, Francisco Pena, was stabbed in the chest in April at his home near Kent, after hiring the girl as a prostitute.

Everyone’s favorite, hood-adjacent-named roller derby clan, the Rat City Roller Girls, have emerged victorious (by termination default) in a lawsuit over their logo filed by Starbucks.

According to the lawsuit, Starbucks believed that the RCRG logo was “too similar” to their logo, what with its highly-unusual usage of the “circle with a lady inside it” concept (albeit a black-eyed tough derby girl vs a contortionist mermaid).

This means that this ding-dang great logo:

Apparently does not infringe on this one:

Yeah Roller Girls – way to kick some corporate ass!

by Mark Neuman

Matt Hale has been starting early and thinking big since his early days here in Burien, and he’s still tackling early and big things today.

The 1998 graduate of Highline High School, who was already taking college courses at age 17, is running for a seat on the King County Superior Court.

He’s wasting little time pursing his longtime dream.

“I’ve always wanted to serve on the bench. I was talking with a friend about my goals and he said ‘Well, why don’t you run now?’ And I decided ‘I’ll do it.’”

You may have seen his orange and blue yard signs around town recently.

He’s taking on two-term incumbent Laura Gene Middaugh, wife of State Senator Adam Kline.

Matt is currently an attorney at Wiener, Lambka & Deutscher, a Seattle-based personal injury firm.

He earned an academic scholarship that helped pay his tuition at Gonzaga University Law School. He earned his BA in Political Science at Gonzaga. Before that, he pursued writing and public speaking while earning his AA at Highline Community College.

His work experience has included employment at local hardware stores. In Spokane, Matt helped counsel people in crisis, answering an emergency telephone hotline.

He feels one change the court might look at is the role played by the citizen juror.

“A friend of mine was called and he told the judge that to serve might literally cost him his house. He was living from check to check,” Matt says.

“Perhaps there might be a way in the future for the court system to ease the burden of jury duty.”

The mere process of running for office has been a learning experience.

“Campaigning has helped me more fully realize how wonderful not only Burien is, but what great people the residents of King County really are.”

“I am moved by the importance of the service to the community that judges provide from the bench. That knowledge and awareness, in itself, is humbling,” he said.

You can meet Matt, his wife Nicole, and his team at a campaign fundraiser this Sunday afternoon, July 20, at HiLine Lanes, 15733 Ambaum Blvd SW, in Burien. It runs from 1 to 4pm.

Find more info go to: www.peopleformatthewrhale.com

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