A power outage hit Burien Tuesday afternoon (April 27) around 1:35pm, initially affecting some 4.750 customers, according to Seattle City Light spokesman Peter Clark.

UPDATE 2:46pm: According to City Light’s Powerlines page, power has been fully restored and the culprit was a tree branch:

UPDATE 2:24pm: @SEACityLight just Tweeted:

“A power outage in South Seattle and Burien has been mostly restored. Current estimate 800 customers still out. Cause ID’d and being fixed.”

We first caught wind of the outage through a Tweet from @isisb511, who said:

“Omg everyones power in burien on 1st ave went out. Both my branch (and the whole freddies) lights went out and chris’ branch power went out”

and

“Omg power out again! Three times straight its out now… for good.. my goodness”

We also got a call from Photographer Francis Zera, who said that there were multiple “flickering” outages before power finally went out for good.

While the cause of the outage is still being investigated, the boundaries of it are:

• NORTH: South 96th
• SOUTH: South 172nd Street
• EAST: 24th Ave South
• WEST: 33rd Ave SW

According to Clark, crews were en route to investigate.

It is unknown when electricity will be restored, but if you’re a Blog Reader in these areas you can always use your iPhone or other mobile device.

To find out more, visit Seattle City Light’s “Powerlines” page here (be aware though that as of 2:15pm, that site has yet to be updated) or follow them on Twitter here.

Earth Hour 2010 is coming up this Saturday, March 27th, starting at 8:30pm, and BTB Contributor Jim Branson wants to know: will YOU participate this year?

And what (if anything) will the City of Burien do?

Last year, the city seemingly did nothing, as far as we could tell (see our coverage here).

Here’s a challenge from Jim:

Last year the citizens, businesses, and government of Burien mostly ignored this event while cities around the world marked the occasion by turning off the lights to major landmarks and skyscrapers.

Judging by the reaction to my editorial last year, many Burien residents will want to mark the event this year by buying extra floodlights to light up the night.

During 2009's "Earth Hour," the lights were left ablaze all night at the new city hall/library building.

What will YOU do for Earth hour?

Will you turn on every light in your home and turn on the headlights to all your cars and buy extra lights to illuminate the neighborhood?

Or will you join the growing number of people trying to raise awareness of global warming and the unsustainable use of finite resources?

What will City Hall do?

Last year, every single light in the new Library/City Hall building blazed brightly even though the building hadn’t been finished, and was completely vacant at the time.

Will Burien do any better this year?

I plan to go out for a walk again, and I’ll have my camera with me.

If you’re wondering what the heck Earth Hour is, according to the organization’s website:

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million homes and businesses turned their lights off for one hour to make their stand against climate change. Only a year later and Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries participating. Global landmarks such as the, Sydney Harbour Bridge, The CN Tower in Toronto, The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and Rome’s Colosseum, all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour.

In 2009 hundreds of millions of people around the world showed their support by turning off their lights for one hour.

Earth Hour 2010 will continue to be a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community. A call to stand up, to show leadership and be responsible for our future.

For more information, visit the Earth Hour website here.

Also, here are a couple of promo videos:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We know they’re out there, and we need your help finding them. We’re talking about budding “Clark Griswalds” – you know the type we mean – when they flip the switch on their holiday display, the lights dim on the entire block from the power drain. Airplanes arriving at SeaTac are momentarily confused about the location of the runway because their house is so bright. You have trouble sleeping at night because of the beams of light blazing through your blinds and curtains no matter how tightly you close them.

We all love their work, as long as we don’t have to live next door.

If you live on a block that features one of these spectacular outdoor lighting displays — or if it’s your own display (we promise not to tell) – we want to know about it! We’d like to compile a list of the best locations in the general Burien and Des Moines areas for our readers looking to put together their holiday light cruising plans.

Send your recommendations to michael@b-townblog.com and we’ll dispatch our photographer to check it out. If we like what we find, you could see your favorite holiday lights showcased right here on the blog!

by Mark Neuman

We touched base this week with friend of The B-Town blog, Burien’s first mayor, Dr. Arun Jhaveri, and he’s as busy as ever.

He’s planning a trip to Copenhagen this month, interviewing for a position on the Metropolitan King County Council this week, and just recently accepted a position as Executive Advisor with One Million Lights, a Palo Alto-based group determined to bring light to the world.

Literally.

“Two billion people in this world of a little over six billion, one third of the world’s population, do not have electricity,” Dr. Jhaveri said.

One Million Lights, a year-old non-profit group, “provides rechargeable solar handheld lights to poor children and adults in developing countries,” he told us. “They can use these in lieu of kerosene lamps, particularly at night so children can study in their huts.

“These solar batteries last forever. And the children don’t have to be exposed to the (kerosene) fumes or the fire hazard while they do their homework.”

The organization has delivered 30,000 lights worldwide with a goal of one million.

Anna Sidana, One Million Lights’ founder and CEO, is “thrilled to have someone of Arun’s caliber on our board of advisors. He brings depth of knowledge and contacts that are invaluable to us.”

Dr. Jhaveri recently announced his interest in filling the seat left vacant when King County Councilmember Dow Constantine took over as County Executive.

“I meet Thursday afternoon (December 3) with the advisory committee for an interview,” he said. The committee will recommend “three or four candidates” to the eight sitting members of the council, who hope to make a final selection by December 14.

“I am interested only in an interim one-year term,” Dr. Jhaveri said. “I am not interested in campaign financing or running for election (beyond 2010). I want to focus my attention on helping the council on the priorities such as the budget and county services.”

Dr. Jhaveri is planning on attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen December 7 through 18.

“If things move forward with respect to the vacancy on the council, I might have to cancel or postpone my trip to Copenhagen.”

Dr. Jhaveri was recently in Washington D.C. signing copies of his new book, “Carbon Reduction: Policies, Strategies and Technologies” (Fairmont Press, Georgia) which he co-authored with long time colleague and fellow engineer, Dr. Stephen Roosa.

“The book is something I believe in. There is a lot of interest in it.” Dr. Jhaveri’s book can be ordered through Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble’s website.

For more information on One Million Lights and how to offer help, here is their website: www.onemillionlights.org

And here’s a video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• From Bombay To Burien: Meet Dr. Arun Jhaveri
• Dr. Arun Jhaveri: From Bombay To Burien To…Obama?

Santa will be arriving in Burien to help light up our big fir tree, along with firefighters, the St. Francis School Choir, free treats and much more at the annual Tree Lighting Festival on Wednesday, Dec. 2nd beginning at 6pm.

The ceremony will take place at the large Fir tree at BTB Advertiser’s Y-B Tubless store, located at 633 SW 148th in Burien.

Here are the details:

WHAT: Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony

WHEN: Wednesday, Dec. 2nd beginning at 6pm

WHERE: The giant Fir tree at YB Tubless, located at 633 SW 148th

INFO: Santa will arrive with Burien firefighters on a fire engine and the St. Francis School Choir will sing Christmas songs.

Treats and hot beverages will be available for everyone.

We will also be collecting canned food for local needy families.

Come out and enjoy the evening.

Courtesy BTB Contributing Photographer Gregory Rehmke comes this nighttime photo of Lake Burien, which appears to have thawed out, as well as grown some seasonal sparkling lights and an airport tower in the upper right corner…

Have any cool photos to share?

Please either email us or add ‘em to our Flickr Group so we can share them!