March 2011

The YMCA Earth Service Corps has been getting West Seattle High School students and staff ready for a "Compost Test Drive", to be held on Tuesday, April 5.

Cedar Grove Composting will be partnering as they get their program up and running.

Cedar Grove is delivering a trial compost dumpster on Monday, April 4.

The effort is looking for donations of five gallon buckets to be used for food scraps and napkins in classrooms, in offices, and in their staff lounge.

They plan to use the buckets as liquids buckets, and they are encouraging better recycling of milk cartons and cans at West Seattle High. Students will be able to earn community service hours by helping out at lunch times, before and after school.

Spokesperson Jennifer Hall said, "We are a little apprehensive; food composting at WSHS is going to be a big undertaking. But we are also excited, and feel that food composting is the right thing to do for our school environment, for our community, and for our future."

The first ever Genesee Schmitz Neighborhood event was held Thursday March 31st offering neighbors a chance to get together, share their concerns and interests and to have a good time. Held at West Seattle Christian Church, 4400 42nd Avenue Southwest the event featured a hoedown led by instructor Dina Blade and live music from the Canote Brothers.

The event was sponsored by the Genesee Schmitz Neighborhood Council.

Council President Dick Miller announced that the organization has received a $20,000 grant from the Department of Neighborhood with the goal of "forming a more cohesive community."

Within that goal are three components for the year long effort:

Events, such as the one on Thursday night, and other events are being planned.
A gardening and landscaping project at Genesee Hill School with garden plots and will maintain the grounds.
Neighborlink: An effort to promote emergency preparedness, crime prevention and mutual support.

"Anybody who has watched the news about Japan can see that if you don't have a neighborhood that can pull together you're in deep trouble," Miller said.

General Manager Sarah Coyle for the Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe is excited to be opening the new West Seattle location at 3770 Southwest Alaska Street on the first floor of the new Link Apartments. It opens Friday, April 1.

She'll be there at 7:00 am and said, "We'll have all of our pastries, our coffee our espresso, and we have some special desserts for April. We have a carrot walnut cupcake and a vegan Nanaimo Bar which is a big deal and it's unbelievably good. If you want a sugar rush in the morning come on in for that," she said laughing.

The new space is expansive. "We've fallen in love with it," said Coyle and we haven't even really fully made it home yet."

As their website states:

Raw and Vegan Food

This is the second in a three part series. I hope you enjoy it.

As the end of the 20th century neared, the automotive industry was in a period of rapid change. In 1996, and new standard for diagnostic information was enacted and called OBD2 (On Board Diagnostics). This ensured that certain information from the vehicle's computer system was universal and able to be accessed by anyone with the proper tool. A single connector is now used on all vehicles sold in the US, whereas before 1996 every manufacturer had it's own individual connector and made it increasingly difficult for the independent repair shop to stay up to date.

From the SPD Blotter:
Aggressive drivers who met the ADRT squad today

On March 31st the Aggressive Driver Response Team (ADRT) conducted enforcement around the city in accordance with their mission to promote traffic safety through the vigorous enforcement of city and state traffic laws.

Today was another busy day for ADRT officers, who issued tickets for the following violations:

On the West Seattle Bridge, a 45 mph zone, 1 at 70 mph, 1 at 68 mph, 1 at 67 mph, 1 at 65 mph, and 1 at 64 mph.

On SW Admiral Way, a 30 mph zone, 1 at 52 mph, 1 at 51 mph, 1 at 49 mph, and 2 at 48 mph.

On the 1st Avenue South Bridge, a 45 mph zone, 1 at 76 mph and 1 at 75 mph!

In the 4200 block of 1st Avenue South, a 35 mph zone, 1 at 52 mph, 3 at 50 mph, one Negligent Driving ticket, two cited for Driving with Suspended Driver’s Licenses, and two No Proof of Insurance tickets.

The Seattle Police Department encourages all motor vehicle operators to be familiar with and obey all local and state traffic laws and to always drive with due regard for all others on the roadway.

SPRING EGG HUNTS

Tuesday, April 19

High Point Community Center
6920 34th Ave. SW
Toddler Spring Eggstravaganza
Ages 2 – 5
10 a.m. to noon
Activity Fee: $5; please use #69489 in the SPARC registration system at
www.seattle.gov/parks.

Bring your little one for a morning of fun and activities, including a very special bunny visit especially for toddlers. There will be games, crafts for the children, and an egg hunt (11 a.m. sharp) with age-appropriate prizes, candy.

Friday, April 22

Teens Only! Hiawatha Community Center, 2700 California Way SW
Teen Night Egg Hunt
Ages 12-18
8:15 p.m.
Free
Join us for the biggest outdoor teen night hunt in West Seattle! Please remember your
flashlight and goodie bag, and there will be prizes. We’ll serve a spaghetti dinner after the hunt.
Please call 206 684-7441 for more information.

Saturday, April 23

Teens Only! Southwest Teen Life Center, 2801 SW Thistle St.
Late Night Flashlight Egg Hunt
Ages 13-19
Free

Life continues to rock and roll for West Seattle filmmaker Jamie Chamberlin with today's release of his video of Seattle legend Duff McKagan's song Dead Skin, the first release from the album The Taking with his band, Loaded. Other band members include guitarist Mike Squires, drummer Isaac Carpenter, and bass player and West Seattle resident Jeff Rouse.

Chamberlin followed those cool cats, ZZ Top around Europe during their tour in 2008 with his cameras for his documentary Double Down Live which appears in ZZ Top's double DVD offering of the same name released a year ago November. He has currently been filming Loaded around West Seattle and in L.A. for a new project, a sort of Hard Day's Night look at the band's life, punctuated by all 10 songs from The Taking, and a fictional story line. The film's title is not yet decided.

The West Seattle Herald reported on Loaded here:

http://www.westseattleherald.com/2010/11/07/news/update-seattle-rock-le…

and the band's surprise gig at Feedback Lounge here:

Press Release:
South Seattle Community College’s WorkSource Center is pleased to announce six free job search workshops this spring. No registration is required, but seating may be limited and is on a first come, first serve basis. For more information please call (206) 934-6822

Classes are held on Wednesdays from 4:30 – 6 pm on the South Seattle campus, in the WorkSource office located in RSB 79.

Date Workshop
April 13 The New Job Search in the New Economy
April 27 Effective Resumes
May 11 Job Interview Basics
May 18 The New Job Search in the New Economy
May 25 Online Job Search Basics
June 8 Effective Networking for Employment

South Seattle WorkSource Spring hours:

Monday 8 am – 5 pm
Tuesday 8 am – 5 pm
Wednesday 8 am – 6 pm
Thursday 8 am – 5 pm
Friday 8 am – 4:30 pm

While Gov. Gregoire takes City Attorney Pete Holmes' side, saying that Washington is planning to join efforts to block the city of Seattle from holding a referendum on replacing the elevated Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel, the mayor and council member Mike O'Brien have a different take:

Mayor's Press Release:

Mayor’s statement

“State law says Seattle will pay for all cost overruns on the deep-bored tunnel. Before putting the public on the hook for cost overruns, we should first ask their permission. That’s why I support a public vote.”

Press Release, City Councilmember Mike O'Brien's office:

Today Councilmember Mike O'Brien released the following statement in response to City Attorney Pete Holmes's lawsuit that could deny the people of Seattle the right to vote on the deep bored tunnel project:

"This morning leaders from Washington State, King County, the Port of Seattle, and the City of Seattle told the public they want to move forward with the deep bored tunnel project, but they still plan to make Seattle pay for cost overruns. Meanwhile, only 35 percent of Seattle voters even want the deep bore tunnel.

While the varsity baseball game got rained out in Bothell last night, the girls lacrosse team braved the weather at Snohomish's Harvey Air Field and won their match.

Ballard's Maddie Soukup netted four goals to get Ballard its first win of the season with a 14 – 12 win over Snohomish.

Jyane Barnes, Kelsey Barta, Jessica Bryan and Haley Jackson all netted two goals and Hannah Breton had 13 saves.

Kaya Reilly netted 5 goals and Jessica Toy and Madison Posivio combined for 6 saves in the nets for Snohomish.  With the loss, Snohomish slipped to 4th place in the Northeast Division.

Ballard is placed 8th.

Ballard next faces Lakeside at home on Friday, April 1 at 5:30 p.m.