June 2009

Seattle Public Schools celebrates the academic achievements of its high school graduates with commencements occurring throughout the city, Tuesday, June 9 through Thursday, June 18.

Here are the dates and times for West Seattle High Schools:

West Seattle High, Thursday, June 11 at 5 p.m. at Memorial Stadium

Chief Sealth, Saturday, June 13 at 1 p.m. at Memorial Stadium

Cleveland, Tuesday, June 9 at 5 p.m. at Cleveland High School

Superintendent Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson, Ph.D., will be speaking at four high school commencements this year: Ingraham High School, Rainier Beach High School, Roosevelt High School and South Lake High School.

The city of Everett has been quietly building a lovely garden show over the years, and it is now in its 12th year. Sorticulture is truly where art and nature are perfectly paired. It is located in the big beautiful Legion Memorial Park, where the displays, vendors and exhibits are casually placed throughout the park for your perusal and enjoyment.

But that’s not why you should go.

Our very own celebrity speakers will be there; Ciscoe Morris, Marty Wingate, Mary Robson and Marianne Binetti, among others. They will be covering such topics as colorful container gardening, vegetable gardening, and growing chocolate! (Binetti’s talk on Sunday afternoon – I’m so there.) Ciscoe will be on Sunday too with “Stump the Chump” – hmmm, sounds like a challenge, eh?

But that’s not why you should go.

In preparation for the 100th anniversary of West Woodland Elementary next year, Jan Dalby’s fourth-grade class is creating a commercial that will be broadcast on commercial television asking for memories from past and present students in hopes of creating a DVD of school memories.

“What they are doing is putting together a message that invites the public to send in pictures of activities or things that they did when they were at West Woodland (...) and those who are willing to be interviewed with memories,” Dalby said.

Paula King, education technologist and West Woodland second-grade teacher, will be assisting the fourth graders with shooting video and learning the ins and outs of broadcasting and technology.

“Jan Dalby is what we call my peep,” King said. “I’m the technologist in the building and I help her think of projects to incorporate technology.”

The school’s goal is to have the fourth-grade class do the introduction to the video and then gather as much material to create a 100-year's of memories DVD to represent the school, King said.

Kevin Carlson was born and raised in Ballard – he graduated from Ballard High School in 1994 – and his family has a history here – they owned Jones Brothers Meats under the Sunset Hotel, which burned down in 2000.

He said he wants his new bar, Shelter, to represent that localness.

"I've been wanting a place in Ballard forever," he said.

Carlson bought the property at 4910 Leary Ave. N.W. in January. The Station, another bar at that location, closed in December.

He said he wants Shelter to be a laid-back local hangout and he loves the location.

To add a touch of the neighborhood's history, Carlson is using a lot of cedar in Shelter.

"Ballard used to be the cedar capital of the world," he said.

The corner location has an abundance of nearby parking, is close to Ballard Avenue, and is the first and last thing people see as they head in and out of Ballard, Carlson said.

Shelter will feature outdoor seating, an outdoor fireplace and a unique indoor/outdoor bar.

The bar, made out of cedar, will be a complete circle half inside the building and half outside.

Why do stock prices fall? Various factors are involved, but in a nutshell, prices drop when more people want to sell stocks than buy them.

Conversely, the more people who buy a particular stock, the faster that stock’s price will rise. If you’ve studied basic economics and the law of supply and demand, you’ve already got a pretty clear sense of why stock prices move the way they do. And yet, while the process sounds fairly logical, the behavior of many investors isn’t — which gives you some good investment opportunities right now.

To understand why so many investors have acted in a way that may be counter-productive, let’s look at consumer behavior in another context.

Eric Taylor, Ballard High School's standout basketball player and member of the All-KingCo team, signed a letter of intent this spring to play for St. Martin's College in Lacey, Wash.

Taylor lead the Beavers in scoring last season with 14.9 points per game and helped the team reach the KingCo 4A playoffs for the first time in school history.

His scoring average was seventh in the league, and he finished second in free throw percentage (85.7) and sixth in assists per game (3.4).

St. Martin's College is an NCAA Division II school and a member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

The St. Martin Saints finished with a 22-8 record last season and were ranked as high as 13th nationally in Division II.

Hometown fans of Taylor will get a chance to see him play when the Saints visit Seattle Pacific University this winter.

The West Seattle High School softball team made school history this season with its unprecedented trip to the state tournament. In a two-day span, the Wildcats played a total of five games, winning the necessary three to advance from district to the state tournament.

Although the girls didn’t win at state, the 2009 season was a magical one. They made history by being the first softball team to make state from West Seattle, and they played two competitive games at the tournament.

Columbia River was Westside’s first opponent at state on the morning of May 29. In the first inning, West Seattle jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with Al’Asia Davis’ RBI double scoring Annie Patnode.

In the bottom of the third, West Seattle escaped without giving up a run, as the Chieftains stranded runners at second and third. Kelsi Baker had been flawless until the bottom of the fifth when Columbia River threatened again.

The junior and senior girls faced off last Wednesday in a memorable battle. The flag football game quickly turned physical, as both teams tried to prove that they were tougher.

Early on, it became apparent that the girls weren’t there to just have fun; they wanted blood and most importantly, a victory.

After several tackles and hard hits, a few of the girls lost their temper. After one of the plays, a scuffle ensued, resulting in one senior being ejected.

The game itself was very competitive. The senior coaches designed a play to start the game that worked perfectly.

Quarterback Sam Lavielle completed a pass to Tanya Tarabochia, who lateralled the ball to Lizzie Perkins. Perkins was able to outrun all the junior defenders for a touchdown, and a 7-0 lead.

At that point it appeared the seniors would be in complete control of the game. However, the juniors responded with a touchdown of their own on their first possession to tie the game.

After winning the Metro Sound division, the Wildcats suffered an embarrassing 12-0 loss to Bainbridge in the first round of the playoffs.

The team knew they had to bounce back if they wanted to make it to state. They matched up with Ingraham in a loser-out game on May 13.

West Seattle scored four runs in the first inning, and easily won 11-1. Junior Brandon MacKinnon pitched a complete game, giving up only two hits, and an unearned run.

Juniors Stephan Adams and Trevor Martin both hit home runs. The win against the Rams was expected, as it was the third time West Seattle had beat them this year. However, their next test was against Eastside Catholic, who beat the Wildcats 19-7 earlier in the year.

The Crusaders scored three runs in the top of the first inning to take an early lead. However, Westside clawed their way back and took a 6-4 lead after the third inning. The Wildcats couldn’t find any offense the rest of the way, meaning their pitching would have to be dominant
in order to hold on to the lead.

The Seattle Department of Transportation will close the west sidewalk of the Fremont Bridge from Nickerson Street to North 34th Street from 9 a.m. Wednesday, June 10, through 2:30 p.m. Friday, June 12.

Pedestrians and bicyclists will be detoured to the eastern sidewalK of the bridge between Nickerson to North 34th Street. During the closure, crews will replace concrete panels in the bridge sidewalk. Motorists will not be impacted, according to the the city.