June 2010

Seattle Parks and Recreation invites the community to celebrate Olympic Day on Wednesday, June 23, at West Seattle Stadium, 4432 35th Ave. SW, from 5 – 8 p.m.

The event is free and designed especially for kids ages 3 – 12. Meet Olympic athlete Emily DeRiel and Paralympic athlete Mike Peters, test your skills at Olympic events and rock out with the Recess Monkeys.

June 23 is the anniversary of the founding of the modern Olympic movement, and is celebrated annually by thousands of people in more than 160 countries. Not only does it commemorate the birth of the modern Olympic Games, Olympic Day is an international effort to promote fitness and well-being and encourage Olympic ideals, such as fair play, perseverance, respect and sportsmanship.

For more information, or if you would like to volunteer at the event, call High Point Community Center at 206-684-7422 or send e-mail to hallr@seattle.gov.

2 a.m.-10 a.m. June 5, 5500 Block of 11th Avenue Northwest

Victim stated that an unknown person took his third bike that was against the wall in front of his car.

He stated at 2 a.m. the automatic garage door to the garage was working. At 10 a.m. a tennant mentioned to him that the door was not working.

Victim went down to the garage and found that the motor was disengaged from the track. He fixed it and went to his unit. His girlfriend then mentioned to him that maybe he should check the garage.

Victim went downstairs and found a window on the northeast side open and the drapes had been knocked down. Victim then discovered his bike and equipment missing.

On May 30, victim reported that his expensive racing bike was stolen in the same area.there was no sign of forced entry but the open window had a small crack in it.

No suspects or witnesses.

10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. May 25, 7000 Block of Sycamore Avenue Northwest

According to victim, the burglary had actually occurred on between 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on May 25.

She stated that she called 911 at that time but had to leave for an appointment before officers responded.

Mayor Mike McGinn told South Park residents that the city would try to ensure the neighborhood and business community they would not become isolated after the South Park Bridge closes June 30 at a community meeting at the South Park Community Center June 9. The city allocated $150,000 toward helping the neighborhood's businesses after June 30. He and Seattle City Councilmember Sally Clark also said they would try to find funding for a new South Park Bridge.

The Crown Hill Business Association recently received a $3,000 grant from the Seattle Office of Economic Development it will be using to commission five murals on the neighborhood's signal control boxes.

Signal control boxes are the ground-level metal cabinets found at most intersections with four-way traffic signals.

Murals have already been added to signal control boxes in various Seattle neighborhoods, including Downtown, Capitol Hill and Columbia City.

Catherine Weatbrook of the Crown Hill Business Association said the association is currently looking for artists to paint the five signal control boxes. They are talking with Urban ArtWorks, as well as individual artists and Crown Hill-based programs.

Weatbrook said there are numerous aspects of Crown Hill that could serve as inspiration for the murals, such as the neighborhood's ravines and orchards or its history as a logging village and a place that was "on the wrong side of the tracks."

With the slogan, "We get to the bottom of the problem," the Exchange Club of Highline has undertaken a unique collection drive to help area food banks.

The club is collecting rolls of toilet paper through June 30 at eight local locations. Area food bank staffers told members of the service club that they need more than food donations. Toilet paper is one of the items mentioned.

Donors can drop off rolls of bathroom tissue at the Burien fire station, 15100 8th Ave. S.W.; Normandy Park fire station, 2nd Avenue South and Normandy Road; and the North Highline fire station, 12th Avenue Southwest and Southwest 112th Street.

Other drop-off spots are Collins Chiropractic, 619 S.W. 152nd St.; E.B. Foote Winery, 127-B S.W. 153rd St.; Economy Wiring/YB Tubless, 633 S.W. 148th St.; Interiors by Jayme, 633 S.W. 153rd St.; and Matt Griffith YMCA, 3595, S. 188th St.

Club members are also having a Toilet Paper Collection Day on June 26 at the 5 Corners Albertsons, 15840 1st Ave. S., from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Checks for the project can also be mailed to Exchange Club of Highline, P.O. Box 66532, Burien WA 98166.

By Heidi Henson, Tobacco Cessation Specialist

When asked, most people who smoke or chew tobacco admit that they don’t enjoy it anymore. Typically, the reasons include cost, health, family and friends’ comments and the fact that it’s not socially acceptable.

And yet in King County, alarmingly, one in five high school seniors smokes as well as 4 percent of pregnant woman. On the cost front, newly implemented tobacco taxes passed in Olympia have now made the average cost of a pack of cigarettes more than $8.

Sometimes, tobacco users imagine being free of these burdens – with extra money in their pockets, taking deep breaths without rattling and wheezing – but they can’t seem to put it down for good. The number one stumbling block is stress, and not everyone knows how to quit. Considering the state’s increased tobacco taxes alone, there’s one more reason to find out.

The good news is that there are more ways to quit than ever before – from support groups to medicines. After helping people kick the habit for 10 years, I know there is one that works for you.

West Seattle High School Music Department is presenting their Spring Concert tonight June 10th, 2010 (Thursday) at 7:30pm
In the WSHS theatre, featuring the West Seattle High School Choir, Band, Rock Trio and Stage Band!
Music to be performed will be from the catalogs of Rascal Flatts, Madonna, Kim Putnoky, Shania Twain, Earth, Wind and Fire.
Admission is free. Donations greatly appreciated!

West Seattle High School is located at 3000 California Ave. S.W.

NOAA will bring two large vessels through the swing bridge this afternoon, according to SDOT at approximately 5:30 PM, but they could arrive ten or fifteen minutes earlier. It is expected that the openings will last in the 25-30 minute range.
Delays to motor vehicle and bicycle traffic along the corridor are expected.
Travelers are advised to use alternate routes to West Seattle. Variable message signs are being deployed to alert the traveling public and King County Metro Transit has been notified of the opening.

Update June 11:

Nicholas A. Hodgins, 18, another passenger in the vehicle rear-ended on I-5 Wednesday, died Thursday afternoon from the injuries he sustained in the collision.

The vehicle occupied by King, Hodgins and friend and classmate Anthony Beaver was struck from behind near Southcenter in Tukwila after it became disabled on their journey home from Bellevue. The vehicle was struck from behind by Alexander E. Peder, 50, of Kirkland.

Highway Patrol believes Peder, with a history of alcohol-related arrests, had been drinking at the time of the incident.

The Seattle Times reported that Peder had been charged with two separate DUIs, one in 1998 and one in 2007. Both charges were reduced to lesser offenses.

From June 10:

Derek King, a Decatur High School student slated to graduate this Saturday, was killed Wednesday evening, June 9 in a collision on I-5 near Southcenter mall in Tukwila.

King was to turn 18 years old today.

The rear-end collision that killed King also injured two of the passengers in the Honda Civic. The Civic was struck by a Ford Explorer SUV around 10:30 p.m.

Sabas O. Rousseau, Chief Sealth High School student, received a $5,000 scholarship called the Sun Life Rising Star Award given by Sun Life Financial June 10 in the Sealth lunchroom. Over the past four years, Sabas has participated in the full breadth of Treehouse Education and Enrichment programs. He brings his high school homework to the after-school Treehouse Learning Center three times a week to receive support from a tutor. He has volunteered for the United Indians' drug and alcohol prevention program and Latino Voices, an organization for Latino Americans. Treehouse strives to give foster children a future. Sunlife and Treehouse representatives were on hand to present.

Sabas will attend South Seattle Community College with the goal of transferring to a four-year college.

"To have a financial gift like this is really special," said the happily-stunned Sabas. "I grew up in Burien and West Seattle and went to high school here for three years. That I succeeded and that I'm following my dreams is really special. I'm very excited actually."