It's The Law; There Must Be Flowers Along I-405

Hey Johnston: Who is responsible for the beautiful display of pink and red poppies along Interstate 405 near the Totem Lake exit? Here's a round of applause for that person!

Answer: A contractor for the state Department of Transportation gets the credit for the poppies.

But the reason behind the display is a federal regulation. The feds require one-fourth of 1 percent of a highway landscaping project be spent on planting wildflowers.

When the work was completed on I-405, the contractor planted the poppies on the freeway side of the highway, and trees and shrubs on the side facing houses and businesses.

A similar project was done a couple of years ago at the Bellevue Way Southeast exit on Interstate 90. Some of those flower still are blooming.

Before you start thinking the Highway Department has gone sensitive, we should point that the state doesn't like planting wildflowers as much as us folks like looking at them.

When motorists slow down to look at the flowers, it slows down the vehicles behind them, and that causes problems. Also, wildflowers don't stop erosion on the hills, and the transportation folks would rather have something with deeper roots.

Hey Johnston: Sweyolocken is the name of Camp Fire Boys and Girls' camps in Port Angeles and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. I went to one in Port Angeles, and my daughter went to one in Idaho.

Answer: Thanks to all the former Camp Fire members who called. Some of them thought it was a Native-American word, but we couldn't find a translation. The search continues to find out how the name of a Camp Fire camp got attached to a public pier in Bellevue and what it means.

Hey Johnston: We moved into a new house in Bellevue and ordered a home phone and a home-office phone from US West. They came out to install the home phone and said they couldn't - they didn't have enough wires, and they had to bury new cables, etc. But they came out the next day to install the office phone, and they completed that with no questions asked. It's been 45 days, and we still have no home phone (same explanation), but now they called and said they can install the high-speed computer line. What gives? There is only one cable in the ground, and either it has space on it for another line or it doesn't.

Answer: This situation has been corrected, and a residential phone was hooked up last week. The homeowner said he wanted the residential line in before the business line while US West said they were told just the opposite.

But the situation does point out a growing problem on the Eastside with telephone lines.

Dana Smith of US West said Eastside home builders used to plan for 1.5 phone lines for each new house, figuring not everyone wanted a second phone line. But with more people using home computers as well as fax machines and a private line for the kids, 1.5 lines doesn't cut it.

Now the phone company is wiring for three to five lines per house. But if you have an older home, you might find there isn't enough room for all the electronic things you want.

How to Just Ask Johnston: This column appears Mondays and Wednesdays in the Eastside edition. Leave your questions on Steve Johnston's voice mail at 206-464-8475. Or write: Just Ask Johnston, c/o The Seattle Times, 10777 Main St., Suite 100, Bellevue, WA 98004. The e-mail address is east@seatimes.com