October 2009

The Warriors from Seattle Christian defeated the Evergreen Lutheran Eagles from Des Moines in a Friday night volleyball showdown.

The Warriors come into the match with a 10-1 record and 6-0 in the Nisqually League.

“We have beaten everyone in our league,” head coach Mike Todd says, “but now we have to battle through the second round and there are some good teams.”

Coach Todd, in his second year, takes each game one-at-a-time.

“We want to get to the state tournament. That is our goal,” he says confidently.

“We were knocked out early last year.”

Their eyes can be focused on that goal when a person locates the tall, 6-foot, 2-inch frame of sophomore middle hitter/blocker, Katie Collier.

“She was intimidating at first,” Melanie Laete, senior middle hitter of the Eagles, responds after the contest, “But it was our miscues that cost us at the end of each set.”

The power of her hits were very impressive when they were able to supply her with good sets. She opened and closed the first set with powerful finishes untouched.

She finished the match with 15 kills.

Collier towered above the Eagle would-be blockers.

During a meeting at Ballard High School Oct. 14 more than 100 parents crowded into the library to let the Seattle School Board hear their reactions to plans that would draw new school boundaries.

School Board members said the plan will simplify the process for families and also save the district considerable money. But residents did not seem convinced.

Many of the complaints came from Ballard residents living north of Northwest 85th Street, an area that would feed students into Ingraham High School under the proposed plan.

“Whenever you make a change, some people like it and some don’t, and that’s what’s going on tonight,” said Tracy Libros, enrollment and planning manager for Seattle Public Schools.

Following a “small group discussion” during which school board officials asked community members to talk about the plan’s merits and drawbacks, parents stepped up to the microphone to voice their concerns.

Mayor Greg Nickels and the Seattle Parks and Recreation have put into effect a new rule that prohibits the possession or display of firearms at designated facilities where children and youth are likely to be present, which includes most city-owned open space or recreational facilities.

“When children and families visit a Seattle Parks and Recreation pool, playground, community center or other facility, they are entitled to a reasonable expectation of safety,” said Nickels in a news release. “It’s common sense to prohibit guns in places where kids and young adults play and learn.”

Firearms will be prohibited at designated facilities only after signs are posted notifying visitors of the new rule. By noon on Friday, Oct. 16, signs will be posted at South Park Community Center, 8319 8th Ave. S; Garfield Community Center, 2323 E. Cherry St.; and Bitter Lake Community Center, 13035 Linden Ave. N.

The signs will be posted in phases, beginning with community centers, pools and the most intensively used play areas and ballfields. All designated facilities will be posted by Dec. 1.

Dear Editor,

My wife and I are passionate about equality. We often remark on how sad and silly it would be if we had been born different genders.

Our rights as a couple would be different in many parts of the country. Luckily, Washington already has a great domestic partnership law. Unluckily, it's under threat this fall.

Approving Ref. 71 will treat Washington's gay and lesbian families equally, preserving important protections that have a real impact on the lives of committed couples.

Join me in approving 71. It's the fair thing to do for all couples.

Nick Lesiecki
Ballard

Dear Editor,

In addition to protecting gay families who are denied the right to marry, the domestic partnership law provides protection to older hetrosexual couples where one partner is at least 62 years of age.

It is really important that we approve Ref. 71, so that senior citizen couples and gay couples can have the security just like other Washington married couples have to take care of their families.

Religious liberty is one of the most important protections all Americans and Washingtonians enjoy. Neither domestic partnerships nor marriage equality infringe on religious liberty. Just as they can today, faith traditions will always be able to decide for themselves what families they religiously recognize.

Marriage is Marriage. It is a unique institution that is understood around the world and operates at both the legal and social level. Domestic partnerships neither provide legal equality nor the dignity gay and lesbian couples deserve.

Please join me in approving Ref. 71. It is fair and correct to affirm the rights of Washington's gay and lesbian families and couples who are partnered but not married for financial reasons.

A power outage from Southwest Findlay at the north to Southwest Henderson Street on the southern edge affected 2,700 customers Wednesday, Pct. 14 beginning at about 6:50 pm. Power was restored at about 8:08 p.m.

The eastern boundary was 28th Avenue Southwest.

The problem was traced to the failure of an underground cable.

Click on photo for SLIDESHOW.

Here is very cute idea for Hallowe’en. Several of these can make a nice table arrangement, or they can be a little gift placed at each table setting if you’re having a sit down dinner.

It can even make an oh-too-cute hostess gift.

Carving a miniature pumpkin it almost like carving a big one – almost. There is little room for error (literately) and, because you are holding the pumpkin in hand, you’ll have to have total control over the knife, lest you might hurt yourself. This may be too meticulous for kids, as they’ll need to have full control over the knife, and work small.

The beauty of this, however, is that there is very little mess to contend with afterwards, AND you won’t mind spending a whole three minutes sorting out the seeds to roast!

For this experiment, I tried a miniature Cinderella pumpkin (Called that because it looks like her chariot that she went to the ball in) and a wee sugar pumpkin (No, I won’t be making a pumpkin tart out of it! Stop that!).

Here are some more pointers I’ve come up with:

On November 4, voters will assess the value of pedestrian and bicycle safety.

The ballot in Burien this year includes a proposed $25 license tab fee titled Proposition 1, which if passed will fund two new projects: a sidewalk on one side of 8th Avenue South (from South 128th St. to South 136th Street), and new portions of sidewalk and repairing and upgrading existing sidewalks on South and Southwest 136th St.

Supporters of the proposition say that, once finished, the improvements would create a safer environment for pedestrians and bicyclists, provide easier access to Cedarhurst Elementary School and abide by the standards set forth in the American Disabilities Act.

The projects' origins can be traced back to a comprehensive plan the city initially adopted in 1997 and that reached completion in 2004.

One of the primary goals of the plan was to create a livable community that integrates cars, pedestrians, bicycles and transit.

Joe Fitzgibbon, a supporter of the proposition, believes a community's desirability is directly related to the ease of getting around on bike or on foot.

Mayor Greg Nickels is looking for qualified candidates to fill twelve upcoming openings on the city of Seattle’s Design Review Board, including one on the Southwest Board, which reviews large-scale developments in West Seattle.

The volunteer positions will be available April 4, 2010 when retiring board members’ terms expire.

“We are looking for professionals in the design and development fields, who have proven skills and established careers," said Nickels in a statement. "We also need community and business leaders with an interest in shaping new development in their neighborhoods, and a passion for keeping Seattle a great place to live, work and play."

Applications will be accepted for the following twelve board positions:

Southwest Design Review Board

• general community interests representative

Northwest Design Review Board

• development interests representative
• local residential interests representative

Northeast Design Review Board

• design professional representative
• development interests representative

Queen Anne/Magnolia/South Lake Union Design Review Board

• general community interests representative

After three weeks of losses and ties, the Ballard High School girls soccer team finally got another conference W Oct. 13 against Garfield.

Sophomore Cassie Winters scored seven minutes into the match off an assist from junior Maria Tsagalakis, and the Beavers held on for a 1-0 victory.

It was Ballard's first win since a Sept. 22 defeat of Redmond.

Junior goalie Bernie Cardon earned the shutout for the Beavers. The team had not shutout an opponent since the Sept. 8 season opener.

Ballard has a 2-3-2 conference record and is 3-6-3 overall with four matches left in the season.

If the Beavers want to earn back-to-back victories for the first time this year, they'll need to get by first-place Issaquah (6-1-0 conference, 9-2-0 overall) at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 15 at Ingraham High School.