October 2009

Editor's Note: Times/News freelancer Judy Sone Vue from SeaTac earned a Foreign Intrigue scholarship from the University of Washington Communication Department to intern at an English-language newspaper in Sierra Leone. She shares her observations.

What comes to mind when one thinks of Africa?

Safaris. Wild animals. Poverty. Slums.

While some of these things are certainly very true for many parts of the continent, remember that Africa is a huge landmass consisting of 47 countries with roughly 2,000 different languages spoken.

While people from Africa may look the same at first glance, the diversity there is as prevalent and fragmented as you would find in the United States, perhaps even more so.

I had the privilege of getting a small taste of Africa this past summer. I spent two months interning at a local newspaper called Awoko in the West African nation of Sierra Leone.

The small country, which is just slightly bigger than Rhode Island and buffers the shores of the Atlantic, is perhaps best known as the setting of the popular movie, "Blood Diamond," starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Not sure what to do with those carved pumpkins on Sunday, Nov. 1?

Bring them to the Burien Interim Art Space for a celebration from 3:30 to 11 p.m.

The community is invited to a party on Sunday, Nov. 1 to celebrate the Day of the Dead and experience the last event at B/ IAS.

The Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos or All Souls' Day) is a holiday celebrated in Mexico and by Latin Americans living in the United States and Canada. The holiday focuses on gatherings of families and friends to remember and pray for family members who have died.

The Burien Interim Art Space has been a yearlong experimental artists' "Pea Patch."

Over the past year the empty construction site next to the Burien Town Square has been filled with art loaned from local artists and created by kids at Burien elementary schools, Highline High School and Puget Sound Skills Center.

Sustainable Burien also installed real pea patches. The space also hosted many events over the summer.

The space was developed and managed by Kathy Justin and Dane Johnson, local residents who volunteered their expertise and much time to create this space for the community.

It's been some time since my last column but I'm back behind the wheel and pulling out into traffic again.

I suspect many of you attended the Junction Car Show recently, as did I, and I was very impressed! The turnout was great, the weather was great, and the selection of cars on display was also wonderful.

In only it's second year, I see that West Seattle was very welcoming in hosting a car show like this, and with all of the sponsors involved, looks like it will likely grow next year. Being in the heart of the business district of West Seattle, I think it's a great way to show what the community has to offer and it is always nice to see the care and attention that all of the owners give to the vehicles they had on display.

The Car Counselor looks forward to next year, and with a little luck, maybe our show can outgrow the Greenwood show!

My next topic is, now that summer has finally ended, the month of October is national Car Care Month. It is a great time to have your car or truck checked out and serviced for the fall/winter season.

The Ballard High School football team took a wet, sloppy game against Roosevelt Oct. 16 to overtime but could not get the win.

Roosevelt (1-3 conference, 2-5 overall) led 14-7 going into the fourth quarter, but Ballard sophomore Jesse Scott returned a punt 45 yards for a touchdown to force the extra period.

Roosevelt got the 21-14 win on quarterback Peter Ianelli's third touchdown pass of the game.

Senior quarterback Gardar Olafsson scored the Beavers' first touchdown of the day on a one-yard run in the second quarter.

Rain was falling steadily for most of the game and play got a bit sloppy at points. In one five-minute span in the first quarter, there were three turnovers – a Ballard fumble, a Roosevelt interception and a Ballard interception.

Ballard (1-3 conference, 1-6 overall) plays Woodinville (2-2 conference, 3-4 overall) at 7 p.m. on Oct. 23 at Memorial Stadium.

After that, it's the final game of the season Oct. 30. The Beaver opponent will be decided by the final KingCo 4A standings.

This update was just released from the Seattle Department of Transportation.

Update, Oct. 16:

The paving portion of the Beach Drive Southwest project is now scheduled for Sunday, Oct.18, weather permitting, from 7 a.m. to early afternoon. Sidewalks will remain open.

Previous announcement:

Seattle Department of Transportation paving crews will pave a block on Beach Drive Southwest from Southwest Oregon Street to Southwest Snoqualmie Street starting Wednesday, Oct. 14 and possibly continuing through Tuesday, Oct. 20, according to the city.

First the crews will grind off the old surface and then they will lay new asphalt. When they are grinding, (Wednesday and possibly Friday) one lane will remain open in each direction, with bicycles sharing the same lane as motor vehicles, and the crews working from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

When crews are paving (possibly Friday, and could extend into Monday and Tuesday of the following week), all traffic will share one lane, assisted by a traffic flagger, and the crews may work as late as 6 p.m. Sidewalks will remain open.

The paving is needed to restore the street surface.

Conor Byrne will be closed for four days this week as it undergoes a drastic change of face.

"It's going to look a lot better from the street," owner Diarmuid Cullen said. "It's kind of a dark, gloomy sort of bar, We're trying to get away from that."

The popular pub at 5140 Ballard Ave. N.W. will be closed Oct. 18 through Oct. 21 while its mostly wood facade is replaced with double doors and large bay windows on either side.

Cullen said the change will bring more natural light into the bar and make it a little more airy.

Conor Byrne will reopen Oct. 22, but Cullen said the facade probably will not be completely finished for two weeks.

The facade will be a return to what the bar looked like in the past, before it became Conor Byrne, Cullen said.

This is the second part of the bar's renovation. In early July, a large cooler was moved from the front of the pub to the back. A new bar was built around the cooler, and the front is now used for seating.

The new facade is the last major part of the renovation, though Cullen said they will bel looking to replace Conor Byrne's flooring at some point.

The Ballard High School boys tennis team lost their sixth match in a row 5-2 to Lake Washington Oct. 15.

Neal Berg won his singles match by scores of 6-0 and 6-2.

Berg is seven for nine in singles matches this season.

The second Ballard point of the day was scored by Luca Foppoli and Andrew Mathers, who won their doubles match by scores of 6-2 and 6-4.

The Beavers (1-8) have two matches remaining: against Newport at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 20 at the Lower Woodland Tennis Courts and a rescheduled match against Garfield.

West Seattle residents want more businesses, better transit and less townhouses, or maybe more. They aren't quite sure about that one.

Last summer, the city conducted a survey – via neighborhood meetings and online and mailed questionnaires – of residents in all Seattle neighborhoods as part of the process to update the city's Neighborhood Plans. The results of that survey have been released.

The West Seattle Junction had the second most responses of any neighborhood in the city with 383.

Residents of the Junction said they liked the farmers market and the parks that have sprung up since the Neighborhood Plan was created in the late 90s. They said they want to see more retail stores open to mix with the current stock of bars and restaurants.

Admiral residents, of who 194 responded, liked the new businesses in the area and the improvements to Hiawatha and Schmitz parks, but could do with more parking and fewer townhouses.

The 121 Delridge respondents want improved transit and a grocery store. They were split over new townhouses, which, depending on who was asked, were either ruining or improving the neighborhood.

Dear Editor,

We are a gay couple in a 16-year committed relationship.  We raised a son together as full-time parents.  We were active PTSA members and officers.  We own and maintain a home together. 

In short we do all the things a ‘traditional’ family does.  Ref. 71 allows committed homosexual couples to have the same rights and responsibilities as married couples.  Those who seek to reject Ref. 71 claim that to grant us these rights will undermine marriage and weaken families. We strongly disagree.

Protect Marriage Washington (PMW) claims in their ‘talking points’ that children raised in ‘traditional’ families are healthier emotionally and physically than those raised by non-traditional families. 

Children are damaged emotionally by those in society who perpetuate the message that ‘non-traditional’ families are abnormal or wrong.  It is the sense of difference caused in part by the current lack of equal rights for homosexual couples that is the problem--not the sexual orientation of the parents.

Ballard and Crown Hill residents took the crown for most involved community members in the city – at least as far as input for Seattle's Neighbor Plans is concerned.

Over the summer, a total of 901 people responded – in person, online or by mail – to questions from the city about changes in the neighborhood. That is more than 500 more responses than the city received from any other neighborhood.

"People in Ballard are poised and energetic to engage in a community-wide discussion of their Neighborhood Plan," according to the recently released Seattle Planning Commission's executive report on the responses.

According to the report, which can be downloaded with the link on the right, Ballard and Crown Hill residents are happy with the increase in parks and businesses and the new library since the Neighborhood Plan was created in the late 90s.

Residents are less happy about traffic, public safety and the continuing lack of sidewalks in Crown Hill.