Manhole Covers Get Quick Fix

Hey, Johnston: On Mercer Island on 80th Avenue Southeast, between Southeast 30th Avenue and Southeast 32nd Avenue in the northbound lanes, there are two manhole covers. They make lots of noise whenever cars drive by. We called the city and nothing happened. Any suggestions?

Answer: We called the Manhole Man at the Mercer Island Maintenance Department, and he said he was writing up an order to fix it even as our lips moved. It should be done by now.

He said the covers might've been fitted wrong and just needed to be adjusted. If that didn't work, then they had a fabric-like material they could put around the covers. That should've stopped the noise.

Loose manhole covers (and other street problems) can drive your average Mercer Island resident nuts, so call the maintenance people and they will fix it if it can be fixed. That's what they live for on Mercer Island.

By the way, manhole covers are round because that's the only shape that can't fall in on itself if it's atop a slightly smaller lip. Think about it.

Hey, Johnston: On Southeast 56th Street in Issaquah, over Issaquah Creek, they're putting in a bridge. Now they're bringing in big Styrofoam blocks. What are they for?

Answer: As you can imagine, a bridge weighs a lot, and it will start to settle in the soil after a while. So they are usually built over two years.

One of the engineers in Issaquah heard about a new technique sweeping Europe. Instead of using heavy concrete blocks for support, they were using special lightweight Styrofoam blocks and then covering them with concrete. That allows a bridge to be completed in one building season rather than two.

Hey, Johnston: When will the Redmond Theater open?

Answer: Sarah Lopez Williams covers Redmond like the morning dew for The Seattle Times, and she said Redmond's new seven-screen theater ("the theater for the fancy-pants") is expected to open the first week of October. This is according to Jim Roberts, assistant planning director for the city. The theater is being built on the west side of Woodinville-Redmond Road, south of 90th Street.

Hey, Johnston: On the front page of The Times, there was a story by Lee Moriwaki about Pete Pathfinder Davis, a Wiccan, a term for a male witch. I thought the correct term was "warlock." What's the difference?

Answer: "A Wiccan is a follower of an Earth-centered spirituality, and it is not the term for male witch," says Moriwaki. He adds that these folk are followers of a particular tradition of Paganism and may be male or female.

It comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for "wisecraft," or witchcraft.

Females were known as "wicce," or wise women, and males as "wicca," or wise guys. The term later became witch.

Lee wasn't up on warlocks, but these are guys who are in league with the devil and get their power from that association. Much like telephone solicitors.

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