May 2010

The Barton Street Lofts held an open house Saturday, May 29. The 14 units in the complex have three stories and surround a spacious courtyard. They are located in White Center, at 9056 18th Avenue SW at Barton Street SW, and range from $299,000 to $329,000 which includes one parking spot in a secured lot.

Bill Parks, the builder, is a fifth generation Seattle native and former resident of a Portage Bay houseboat. His complexes are said to be influenced by the well-managed spaces in the houseboat design.

"He's always done interesting, cutting edge stuff, and builds with a sense of community," said Windermere broker Katharine Gibson, who partners with Lisa Strain in the selling of the units. "Everything has a dual purpose. You can sit on something and also put something inside, under it. He's rally a detail guy, which is a boat thing. "

Gibson said White Center was more "vibrant" than she first expected. This is a neighborhood with young, creative, interesting people, a lot of young couples," she said. "The food is great. Westwood Village is great. It's a quick in-and-out to the highway. There's a whole new thing going on down here."

By Cornel Chin

Celebrity fitness trainer Cornel Chin has trained a number of Hollywood stars, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Audrey Tautou, and Colin Firth. These are his suggestions for getting a Hollywood-quality workout without leaving the parks and beaches of Ballard.

Golden Gardens

If you’re fortunate enough to live near Golden Gardens, it is a great place to go to relax but also a great place to do your workout. There are countless activities you can do at the beach that will provide you with health benefits, though they won't seem like exercise at all.

Enjoy the sounds of the ocean waves breaking, take in the fresh sea breeze and feel the sand massage your feet as you get into these exercises that are suitable for your next visit to the beach. The sand and surf offers plenty of options for a great workout. Try out these ideas the next time you hit the beach.

Most of these exercise do not require any equipment, or can be modified to increase resistance using buckets or jugs, and filling them up with sand to make some dumbbells.

Take a dip.

Kevin Swalwell was sentenced May 28 to 30 years in prison for a string arsons last year in Greenwood, according to the King County Prosecutor's Office.

Swalwell was sentenced by King County Superior Court Judge Palmer Robinson at the King County Courthouse.

Prosecutors recommended 30 years in prison.

In April, Swalwell pleaded guilty to 11 counts of arson and one count of second degree burglary for his involvement in a string of fires that plagued Greenwood.

Eight counts of second degree arson, an arson in which lives were not put at risk, were leveled for a June 19 fire at the OK Corral, an Aug. 12 house fire, an Aug. 13 fire at O-Rings West, Nov. 5 fires at a Greenwood CPA office and Rosewood Guitars, a Nov. 8 fire at Moonphoto and Nov. 9 fires at Olive You and the QuickStop in Greenwood.

Three counts of first degree arson, an arson in which lives, including those of firefighters, are put at risk, were charged for an Aug. 13 house fire in which a resident was severely burned, the Oct. 23 fire at the Green Bean Coffee House that destroyed four businesses and damaged two others, and a Nov. 12 fire at a Shoreline warehouse at which Swalwell was apprehended.

This Satuday, May 29th, from 9AM till 2PM at South Seattle Community College horticultural center (north side) you can
be amongst the first to borrow a tool from the West Seattle Tool Library, SWS Members are being asked to come to South Seattle Community College this Saturday, May 29th, for a "test run" of the West Seattle Tool Library. The group will also be accepting tool donations.

They do not accept fossil fuel/gasoline powered tools and tools should be in working order. If they don't have a tool you are looking for, they will be providing referrals to local businesses where you can rent tool they don't have or buy the ones you find yourself needing more often.

Membership
Any West Seattle citizen over 18 is encouraged to apply for membership to The West Seattle Tool Library. Members are first required to fill out a membership application, a borrowers agreement, and a liability waiver. You may borrow tools as soon as these documents are received and your address is confirmed by a representative of the tool library.

Membership fees are entirely on a pay-what-you-can basis, with the following recommended donations:

Low-Income: $20

While the Alaska Junction has several dessert options, the Admiral Junction now has a sweet spot of its own. Heavenly Pastry & Cake officially opened Friday, May 28 at 2604 California Avenue SW, the space the West Seattle Herald office once occupied. And while some miss the old office, you can always grab a "Raspberry-Hazelnut Yum" bar and a cup of Stumptown Coffee and read our latest issue while seated on the bakery's Heavenly church pew and homemade tables.

Heavenly Pastry & Cake founder and baker Allison Barnes is a 20-year West Seattle resident.

"We built the tables ourselves," said Barnes. "They're in the basement now while the stain is drying," she said of the trimmed, butcher block "islands."

She explained, "The Full Gospel Pentecostal (Federated) Church on Delridge was giving the pew away. Clove and I got blessed when we picked it up. We'll see if that took."

Clove Burt works at the bakery. Like Barnes and her other Heavenly bakers, Burt graduated from culinary school at South Seattle Community College.

Starting at 10 AM on Saturday, June 5, the Highland Park Improvement Club located at 1116 SW Holden will walk in groups to the Delridge Days and reFresh Southwest event on Delridge Way S.W. They are urging participants to arrive by 9:45.

There will be points of interest along the way that the group will stop for. For those that want to win prizes, taking pictures and picking up trash along the way could help you win.

5 Categories to Win:

Groups with the largest number of walkers
Groups taking the nicest photo of the Delridge area
Groups taking photos of the most distressed area needing special attention
Groups that pick up the most litter on their journey to the event (bags and grabbers will be provided)
Groups that visit the most Delridge "Points of Interest" (A location map, and bus passes if needed will be provided)
More info on Refresh Southwest at www.youngstownarts.org/refresh2010

More Details:

WIN $50 - Register for the ReFresh Southwest - Delridge Day WALK!!

Bus passes will also be provided to participants to return to their original starting points.

“Alice in Wonderland” is everything you would expect from the collaboration of Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and, of course, Lewis Carroll. These three possess a direct pipeline to the subconscious that would keep the rest of us up at night, but watching them from the sidelines is a lot of fun.

Johnny Depp has a smile that leaves you wondering if the accepted norms of reality have ever applied to him. Watching him, as the Mad Hatter, march across a banquet table, indifferent to the rubble he is creating out of some very elegant china, to merrily greet a perplexed Alice (Mia Wasikowska) would have left Lewis Carroll himself nodding in approval—orange hair and all.

The premise of the plot is clever. Instead trudging back through a story we all know so well, Burton pushes Alice ahead in time. In the film, she’s grown up and about to be pressured into an engagement that everyone wants but her. A timely escape is offered by a familiar rabbit who leads her to a burrow and, well, we know what happens next.

Seattle area resident Candace Dempsey, journalist, and author of "Murder in Italy" which covers what Italians have coined "The Crime of the Century," the slaying of Meredith Kercher, the conviction of West Seattle UW student Amanda Knox, her boyfriend of six days, Raffaele Sollecito, and drifter Rudy Guede, spoke at the University Book Store just blocks from the campus Knox attended college prior to her move to study in Italy.

Over 60 people attended, including members of Knox's family and college friends. Dempsey read portions of her book and took questions. Most people asked about differences between the American and Italian court systems, Amanda's possible motive, DNA, and her upcoming appeal.

"I want my book to unfold like a movie," Dempsey told the audience. "It starts out chronologically with the dream and nightmare. The dream, of course, is the two beautiful young students who are in Perugia and have a wonderful time and are roommates there, and ends with the nightmare, Meredith is murdered. Amanda is arrested and convicted for the murder.

The City of Federal Way will hold two more open houses on June 8 and 15 on a new redevelopment proposal intended for the former AMC Theaters site in downtown Federal Way.

Both open houses will be about an hour in length and will be held in the Patrick Maher Room, first floor of City Hall, 33325 8th Ave. S. The open house on June 8 will be held immediately following the City Council’s Parks, Recreation, Human Services and Public Safety Committee Meeting, approximately at 6:30 p.m.

The open house on June 15 will be held at 5:30 p.m. prior to the regular City Council meeting.

As at the June 1 open house, representatives from the proposed development team, Twin Development, LLC., and the City will be on hand to explain the redevelopment concept and answer questions. Draft architectural renderings will be available for review.

Comments will be accepted at the open houses or by email, phone or snail mail. Please contact Patrick Doherty, Economic Development Director, 253.835.2612, Patrick.doherty@cityoffederalway.com or PO Box 9718, Federal Way, WA 98003-9718.

Background on the project

After rain and poor field conditions held off the start of the tournament originally scheduled for Friday, May 21, it was only a matter of time before the Mount Rainier fastpitch batting order got hot on Monday, May 24.

Taking care of business in a big way, the Rams exploded for seven runs in the third inning en route to an 11-0 shutout of Olympic in first round Class 3A West Central/Southwest Bi-District fastpitch action.

Four runs in the fifth inning ended the game by way of the 10-run mercy rule and left Mount Rainier one win away from a state berth.

"Once we saw the pitcher and timed her out, we were good to go the second time around," said Ram head coach Javid Shoemaker. "We were good to go and hit balls into the gap."

Mount Rainier's Rams ransacked the Trojans soundly,

B.J. Mipalar began the Mount Rainier charge with a leadoff double in the torrid third. Taylor Fillmore tripled Mipalar home ahead of Maylynn Mitchell's run-scoring single.

After Amanda Hopkins' gound out made the score 3-0, the Rams continued to roll. Finishing the inning with four additional runs and an insurmountable 7-0 domination.