December 2009

From Alki Point to Roxbury and White Center, from Beach Drive to Delridge and Pigeon Point West Seattle is a great place to live. We wish everyone who lives here and makes West Seattle what it is a happy, healthy and productive New Year.

Robinson Communications

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The street scene you see was the way things looked in 1924. And 26 years later when we bought the White Center News from then publisher Dean Phares, the historic intersection was not too different.
Roxbury Street, the city limits for Seattle, served as the dividing line for the blue laws, which forbid drinking on Sundays.

Omar Schau bought the bakery where it stands in the picture and eventually retired and turned it over to son John who learned the bakery business and did the driving of a delivery truck to Burien and West Seattle stores. He is now residing at the Providence St Vincent home in West Seattle.

His sister Helen was once owner of the Hideaway Restaurant on the same block shown.
The main street was and still is16th Southwest, but the trolley tracks which led to Burien were torn out and there was only a strip of concrete down the middle with huge puddles on both sides til 1952 when Omar Schau arranged a local improvement district and the county paved the road on both sides south to 108th Southwest.

You have to give points to Spike Jonze for even trying. Bringing Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s book, “Where the Wild Things Are,” to the silver screen is a task fraught with peril. For starters, “Where the Wild Things Are” isn’t just a good book or even a classic it is an epiphany, the distillation of an essential ingredient of being a boy.

Sendak found that primal enthusiasm for chaos and when he did, he did something very smart. He didn’t analyze it, he didn’t judge it, he simply celebrated it for what it was: the reason why sand castles get smashed, why clean carpets are traversed with muddy footprints and why the poor family dog deserves extra treats at Christmas.

Maurice Sendak defined for NFL linebackers everywhere what the term “inner child” is really all about and I’m reasonably sure that when Hannibal led his elephants over the Alps he whispered under his breath, “Let the wild rumpus start!”
But Jonze is, if anything, a fearless director and in translating “Where the Wild Things Are” into a live action film he starts out with some good choices.

On Dec. 29 officers arrested a 29-year-old male suspect who is responsible for at least two recent armed robberies.

Earlier on Dec. 29, the suspect robbed a pharmacy located in the 5400 block of 15th Avenue Northwest.

On Dec. 21, the suspect robbed a pharmacy located in the 8800 block of Roosevelt Way Northeast.

In both robberies, the suspect displayed a handgun, stole prescription drugs and fled the scene on foot.

Investigating officers interviewed the suspect and subsequently booked him into the King County Jail for Investigation of Robbery.

Robbery detectives are investigating the possibility that this suspect may be involved in additional armed robberies.

This remains an active and on-going robbery investigation.

After numerous delays, the QFC on the ground floor of the Ballard on the Park development could open as soon as Jan. 13.

That is the opening day the store is shooting for, said Kristin Maas, QFC director of public affairs.

QFC moved into the space on 24th Avenue Northwest and Northwest 58th Street in June and hoped to have the store completed by Thanksgiving, according to a June press release from QFC.

The store is finally taking shape, with shelves, lighting, signage and more falling into place.

The new QFC will be 40,000 square feet with underground parking for 411 vehicles, replacing the 23,000 square foot store at the same location that closed in December 2007.

Ballard on the Park, the 268-unit apartment development under construction above the new QFC, also suffered delays. A sign outside the project states an opening date of September 2009.

Visit www.BallardNewsTribune.com on Jan. 11 for a sneak-peek at the new QFC before it opens.

An 89-foot mural celebrating the vibrancy of Greenwood and its ability to rebound after a series of arsons this summer and fall was unveiled Dec. 31 by Taproot Theatre and Seattle Mural Art.

The mural, created by local artists John Osgood, Zachary Bohnenkamp and Kevin Sullivan, features references to the fires that destroyed four businesses in the Eleanor Roosevelt Building on North 85th Street off Greenwood Avenue North, such as a flaming phoenix and a firefighter rescuing a kitten from the nearby Cat City.

But, the mural also pays tribute to the neighborhood with a depiction of the annual Greenwood Car Show and theater masks representing the neighboring Taproot Theatre.

"Hopefully this just makes people smile and remember what a great neighborhood we have," Scott Nolte, Taproot Theatre's producing artistic director, told the crowd at the unveiling.

Steve Giliberto, president of the Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce, said the mural is perfect for a quiet, occasionally overlooked neighborhood like Greenwood.

Seattle Parks and Recreation Department announced yesterday that a park on Capitol Hill was to be named Perugia Park, after the Italian city in which West Seattle resident Amanda Knox was recently convicted of murder. Today they changed their mind.

Tim Gallagher, Superintendent of the department said, "Due to community concerns about the naming of Perugia Park on the heels of the recent verdict in the criminal case involving Seattle resident Amanda Knox, we will temporarily shelve the naming process for this park. We will take up the process again in the spring."

The name was originally chosen based on a recommendation from the public to the Park Naming Committee. The proposed park site is at the northeast corner of East John Street and Summit Avenue East.

Chris Mellas, Amanda's step-father told the West Seattle Herald that when he first heard about the proposed naming on Dec. 30th, "I think it's disgusting. I'm dumbfounded."

Perugia is one of 21 "Sister Cities to Seattle and there is an organization that promotes this relationship that has existed since 1991.

The Peoples Pub
5429 Ballard Ave. N.W.
206.783.6521
http://www.peoplespub.com
Monday-Tuesday: 3 p.m. – Midnight
Wednesday-Sunday: 3 p.m. – 2 a.m.

There aren't many German restaurants in Seattle, so we're lucky to have the Peoples Pub right here in Ballard.

Southwest Germany must be someplace on the map of our human migratory legacy because this cuisine both satisfies and intrigues.

In a region of the world subject to a broad array of influences (Russian, French, Mediterranean), the cooking style brings together warm and firm, punchy and tangy sauces and lively presentations of cabbage. Potatoes (fried and mashed) also abound.

But, let's move back, back in time for a moment. Once upon a time centuries ago, there was a crazy little street in Ballard lined with bizarre establishments full of the very, very drunk. This street was called Ballard Avenue.

The Vasa Sea Grill and Patio Room was one such venue on Ballard Avenue.

The West Seattle members of the West Seattle Trails Alliance and Feet First have updated the Walking Trails Map and are planning on printing the new version as soon as possible. Seth Schromen-Wawrin, FeetFirst outreach manager did the map updates for the project. They are seeking support to have this new version printed. The previous version went through 20,000 copies in 6 months distributed in many places around West Seattle. The new version will be distributed in a similar fashion.

They are seeking approximately $3500 to get the project completed. The first version was printed using a neighborhood matching fund grant but the grant money is not available for this version."This map actually includes a few corrections including staircases and other changes," said Chas Redmond West Seattle Trails Alliance Project Manager. The new map goes way beyond the previous map in both content and clarity.

With 2:15 to play in the game, Evergreen Lutheran's Eagles girls basketball team led North Beach's Hyaks by three points, 44-41, following Eagles senior captain Markelle Lance throwing up a three-pointer for that late fourth quarter lead in opening round action of the North Beach Tournament at the Hyaks' high school in Ocean Shores December 29-30.

But the Hyaks ended up winning, 48-44, in the end.

"We felt we should have won, but we couldn't match their size," said Eagles head coach Jeff Kurbis.

Height and weight favoring the Hyaks mattered most as two of their key players were big and tall and they had just enough outside shooting presence from Gabbie Mackinson with 10 points, nine of those from three three-pointers.

The score was close in the beginning as the Hyaks led, 11-10, after the first quarter, and 24-19 at halftime. I's a wonder the Eagles were that close even with the Hyaks shooting 8-for-13 from the floor while the Eagles shot 5-for-17. The Hyaks made one three-pointer in the first two quarters until halftime while the Eagles in the same time shot 0-4 from long range. Free throws favored the Eagles, 9-for-11 for them and 5-for-6 for the Hyaks.