June 2010

After heavy rains cancelled Friday, May 28, competition at the Class 4A State Fastpitch Championships at the South End Recreation Area, the tournament resurfaced on Saturday as a one-day affair with consolation rounds ending before originally scheduled and all remaining teams in this round being designated as third place teams. Winners rounds continued all the way to the end.

In Thomas Jefferson's case, the Raiders' third trip in four years ended in two close losses.

Morning action featured a slow start by Jefferson and a late rally that fell just short in an 8-6 loss to Inglemoor.

The black and gold uniformed Vikings struck early on a second inning run and a three-spot in the third to take a 4-0 lead.

Jefferson closed the gap with two runs in the fifth inning when Reno Whitcomb drove two runs home on a single, but Inglemoor unloaded for four runs in the sixth inning to command an 8-2 lead.

The Rotary Club of Fremont is sponsoring the Second Annual Center of the Universe Rock Paper Scissors World Championships at 6 p.m. on June 24.

The event will be held at the LTD Bar and Grill, which is located in downtown Fremont at 309 N. 36th St.

The Rock Paper Scissors event will support FamilyWorks Food Bank, which provides food for hungry families throughout Fremont, Wallingford and nearby Seattle neighborhoods.

"We decided to kick off the summer by sponsoring a fun event featuring the world's most popular way of making decisions," Club President Jean Withers said in a press release. “And, we wanted to bring public attention to the needs of local hungry families and the food banks that help them.

Tens of thousands of children lose access to school-provided breakfast and lunch at the end of the school year and spend the summer perpetually hungry, Withers said in the press release.

Food banks are doing everything they can to help, but in this economy, families are being forced to return more frequently, she said.

The recent inclement weather has forced local artists to delay the installation of their piece "On the Fence" at the vacant lot on the corner of Market Street and 14th Avenue Northwest.

Anne Baumgartner and Pam Gray originally planned to begin installing the collage panels, each one representing a letter, on the fence surrounding the lot June 1. Because of the rain, Baumgartner said they will now wait until next week.

In the first wave of installation, Baumgartner and Gray will be installing four or five panels. They said they hope to eventually have panels for all 26 letters.

The lot, the former home of Sunset Bowl, is owned by AvalonBay Communities. The six-story, 271-unit, mixed-use Avalon Ballard development passed final reviews in November 2009, allowing construction to begin at any time, but there is no set timeline for development of the site.

Against state-best competition like Ferris, the East's best, the Federal Way Eagles came out tough, holding the Saxons scoreless until nearly midway through the second half of a 2-0 loss in the WIAA 3rd-4th place consolation game at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood Saturday, May 29.

Kodey Eley performed well at fullback along with Max Ward, also playing in the center, and Eley was walking off the field after the game and talking, listening to coach Baumgardt.

"Second and fourth over two years," said Baumgardt, who coached the Eagles to the state final three years ago in 2007. "Not bad."

Not bad.

The Eagles lost 2-0 to Lake Stevens in a well played, closer than the score semifinal, before the consolation game was more of the same good play.

Federal Way and Ferris (Spokane) played a dead even game in the first half, with both teams taking nine shots.

The backs of their Nike emblazoned spandex, deep-hue-blue shirts read: How Dare You, FW.

And they dared.

Together, some Federal Way runners erased what was until then a rough time at the state meet, of not getting the wins they wanted in individual events, but then breaking over the top of the longstanding 1982 all-time best 4x400 relay record time of 3:16.09 with their 2010 shattering performance, 3:15.66, at the Washington State Track and Field Meet at Mount Tahoma Stadium Saturday, May 29.

Sweet redemption for the Eagles in the last event of the three-day weekend, May 27-29, at state.

"Individually, we didn't do what we wanted to today," said Trenton Pinson, the anchor leg of the Eagles' faster than any other relay team ever in Washington. "But we came together for the end. We swallowed the defeat and came out with a victory at the end."

And, the foursome of Ezekiel McNeal, Pinson, Robert Shelby and Maurice McNeal (running in that order) came out with a state record that held in place for nearly three decades of state high school Washington track and field meets.

What a way to go out, to throw behind them the memories -- for some of competition gone awry.

Seventeen of Ballard resident Celia Nicks' violin students, some as young as 4 years old, gathered onstage together to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" variations to cap off their June 2 concert at the Nordic Heritage Museum.

Originally from Michigan, Nicks has been living in Ballard for two years and teaching violin "forever."

She started playing piano when she was young but fell in love with the sound of the violin and switched to the instrument at 12.

Nicks has passed her love of violin on to countless students, including her own family. Two of Nicks' grandchildren performed in the concert, and her son, another violin player, was in attendance.

Ballard Big Picture is a column of scenes from around the neighborhood. If you would like to submit a photo for use on this site and in the Ballard News-Tribune, please send it to Michael Harthorne at michaelh@robinsonnews.com. Be sure to include your name and information about your photo.

Unranked Federal Way played respectably and competitively against Lake Stevens, a team with a much better record and, of course, ranking, and played toe-to-toe with them and but for some dumb (lucky) goals. The Eagles could have won instead of lost, 2-0, in its WIAA 4A state semifinal at Harry Lang Stadium Friday.

"The kids fought hard," said Eagles coach Jason Baumgart, who took this squad to the state final three years ago, losing to Pasco, 4-3.
The Vikings (Snohomish area) movedon to the state final against Stadium (Tacoma) with a 19-2-1 record while the Eagles played in the consolation game for third-fourth place.

Despite missing its 37-goal scorer, Kelyn Rowe, six behind Mount Rainier's Darwin Jones' 39, in 3A. Rowe was the SPSL North Most Valuable Player, unsurprisingly. Despite all that, the Eagles came out strong and took a shot just two minutes in, saying their Rowe-less team would still give it all they had.

Brad Lewis, with 38 minutes left in the first half, took a shot after fullback Nevin Hair sprinted forward nicely and crossed it from the left wing area for Lewis to let loose a near-post shot missing by only a few feet.

Tonight’s public forum with the Police Chief finalists – Seattle Interim Police Chief John Diaz, Sacremento Police Chief Rick Braziel and East Palo Alto Police Chief Ron Davis – starts tonight at 6:00 p.m. in the Rainier Room at the Seattle Center. The comment thread on this blog post will be incorporated with the questions and comments discussed tonight at the forum. An agenda for the meeting can be viewed after click on the “Read more” link below the video.

http://mayormcginn.seattle.gov/

Highline Public Schools announces the sponsorship of the Simplified Summer Food Program for Children in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Under USDA guidelines, meals will be made available at no charge to all children age 18 and under. The child does not need to be a Highline Public Schools student. There are no forms to fill out and no names are taken. Food cannot be taken off the premises.

Meal service will be at the following sites:

Beverly Park
Breakfast:
8:00-8:30
Aug 30-Sept 3
Mon-Fri
1201 S 104th St
Lunch:
12:00-12:30

The Sustainable West Seattle Workshops and final exhibitors list have been updated along with a map to the festival on June 5.
Here's the link to the detailed story about the event.

MAIN STAGE:

Emcee: Alberto Mejia

DJ: B-Girl

1-130: Welcome, awards (Presentation)

1:30-145: Duwamish Drumming (Native)

2-230: Youngstown Records (Soul/Rock/R&B/HipHop)

2:45-315: Militant Child and Simar (need his stage name) (HipHop)

3:30-4: Cristina Orbe (Pop/Punk)

4:15-445: To The Sea (Rock)

COMMUNITY STAGE:

DJ: Neebor

130-215: Talent Showcase (Talent)

2:30-315: GG Green Magic Show (Magic)

3:30-4: Dream a Sound Future Awards (Presentation)

4:15-5: Quetzal (Fandango)

INDOOR WORKSHOPS:

Multipurpose Room 1:

1-3: Dream a Sound Future Workshop (Arts)

3:30-430: How to Create a Character with Gin Hammond (Theater)

Multipurpose Room 2:

2-3: Interact and Be Active with Dora Oliveria (Dance)