June 2011

Pac West Fields provided the backdrop for an extra inning thriller in the 2011 District 7 Little League Baseball 9-10 age All-Star tournament.

It took seven innings, but in the end, the South Highline National All-Stars remained in the winners bracket with a tense 9-7 edging out of West Seattle on Sunday, June 26.

SHN moved on to a Wednesday game while the West Seattle All-Stars faced a loser-out game on Monday.

"It was perseverance and total team play," observed National manager Tim Fenster. "It's tough at this level to keep them focused. I'll take my chances with them any day of the week."

Visiting team South Highline opened up its arsenal for a five-run first inning bombardment. Consecutive singles by Teddy Covich and Trevor Morine plus a walk to Christopher Mills to start the game set the Nationals up for the huge at bat.

Jack Fenster's walk pushed one run home before the Normandy Park boys unleashed more hitting prowess. Tyler Kilstrom plated two runs for a single ahead of Joseph Allred's line drive, two-run double.

Community police officer Scott McGlashan informed the Ballard News-Tribune that two men behind the "Valley One" graffiti marks on over 50 Ballard businesses have been taken into custody.

On Tuesday, June 28, Seattle police counted 37 businesses that had been tagged with "Valley One" in blue paint, McGlashan said.

The following morning, on Wednesday, June 29 around 5 a.m., a witness called 911 after sighting two men spray-painting along 15th Avenue NW.

Officer Macks responded to the call and took the men into custody.

"She handled it very well and we're happy to have her here in Ballard," said McGlashan.

After the arrest, the two men admitted to tagging 20 buildings in addition to the ones counted by the police.

Four years ago, West Seattle residents Lori Gilliam and Sue Benyak moved their Chef du Jour Catering business from Delridge Ave. to the funky, up-and-coming Georgetown neighborhood just across the West Seattle Bridge and one exit south to combine it with a restaurant business. They bought an existing establishment there called Two Tartes Bakery and tweaked the name to Two Tartes Cafe & Catering. The two have become known as the "Two Tartes" and their five employees the "Tartlettes", whether they like it or not.

"I don't mind, as long as I don't have to wear the flowered apron," said full-timer Bryan Jayne, 25, a Chief Sealth class of '04 grad. He is half way through the Art Institute's culinary program.

Chalk this championship up to the number three.

West Seattle manager Mark O'Neal did after his team won its third-straight game to capture the District 7 age 10-11 Little League tournament title.

"We had three games of outstanding pitching, three games of outstanding defense and all three games enough of our hitting came together at the right time." said O'Neal, whose team clinched the crown with a 6-2 victory over host PacWest on Tuesday, June 28.

The team opened the tournament with a 9-0 victory over the same PacWest squad close under the SeaTac airport flight path on Saturday, June 25 before beating Rainier Beach, 12-1, in the winner's bracket semifinal Sunday, June 26.

That set up the rematch with a scrappy and come-from-behind minded PacWest team Tuesday. PacWest needed to win that game to force action for all of the marbles the next night -- but it never happened.

After the opening loss to West Seattle, PacWest of Burien defeated South Highline National, 15-1, before eliminating Rainier Beach, 13-2, in Monday's loser's bracket final.

Former West Seattleite, Lorraine Montez is creator, co-executive producer and co-writer of a film now in production called Stop Requested. The film is taking an unusual path to the screen. Montez and the other producers are utilizing a crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo. Supporters can help bring Abundant’s newest project to fruition with a monetary donation of their choice. Various fun and interesting incentives are available at different contribution levels. You can also view a trailer for the film there.

So far they've raised more than $5600 toward their $13,000 goal with a total budget of $20,000.

Basic team chemistry and execution enabled the Pac West Red Sox to bring down the South Highline American Little League Angels 14-3 for the 2011 District 7 9-10 age baseball Tournament of Champions title on Monday, June 20, at the Normandy Park City Hall Fields.

"All the guys played really well as a team," observed Red Sox manager Paul Kemp. "They do their best to be good sports."

In the beginning, the match up shaped up as an explosive back-and-forth fireworks show.

A three-run triple by Victor Lopez and Luke Sturm's RBI single keyed a five-run Pac West first inning salvo that started with a lead off double from John Kemp.

Consecutive walks to Nolan Stevenson and Keaton Banister set up Jaden Stevenson's two-run double as the score reached 5-2.

As the game progressed, Pac West added a single tally in the second inning while the Angel bats went silent.

Dylan Shaw's RBI double plus William Schnaith's single that plated two runs were part of a Red Sox five-run third inning that propelled Pac West to an 11-2 margin. Schnaith's two-run single in the fourth inning helped add an additonal three scores to the Red Sox total.

Click on the above image to see a load of Kurt Howard's great photos of a great game that was won by West Seattle over PacWest with a score of 9-0.

In the early morning hours of Thursday, June 30, Community Police Officers Scott McGlashan and Travis Testerman were out in a boat on Green Lake warning swimmers to stay out of the middle of the lake.

"We're not ticketing, just trying to get the word out that swimmers should stay within 50 feet from the shore," said Testerman.

The SPD has been receiving an increased amount of complaints from rowers who had to come to a near halt because swimmers were in their way, McGlashan said.

According to a Seattle Parks and Recreation ordinance, swimmers are prohibited from swimming more than 50 feet off the shore.

"We're just trying to find something that works for everyone - the swimmers, the shells, and the fishers," Testermann said.

Row boats are all over the lake during crew season and generally not paying attention to potential swimmers.

"We don't want swimmers in an area where they're going to run into boats," Testerman said.

The middle of the lake is generally where boats have the right-of-way and Testerman said the best place for swimmers to train uninterruptedly is the from the Bathhouse to the rental area.

As many recall, Fauntleroy resident William Khazaal organized a Multiple Sclerosis fundraiser on World MS Day May 25. He helped round up 69 restaurants and small businesses, over 20 in West Seattle and White Center, to donate a percentage of their take that day. Those funds go toward the purchase of copies of The MS Children's Book which he created and will be sent to three charities, the National MS Society, National Pediatric MS Center, and the CCSVI Alliance ( “Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency") to distribute to both children and adults to better understand the often puzzling disease.

The book has just begun printing this week and is now available. And while the participating restaurants are still sending in their May 25 donations, Khazaal said he has sold nearly 1,600 books through his website www.mschildrensbook.com. Those who would like to support the cause can purchase the book online and gift it to camps for children with MS, to the UW Medical Center, Children's Hospital, and Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York.

Now is the time to express your opinions on the future of West Seattle’s Triangle as Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development heads into its final month of public comment, ending on August 1.

In the words of DPD, the area of land under the microscope is “an unassuming triangle of land that is located in the heart of the West Seattle peninsula. Bounded and bisected by three major arterials—Fauntleroy Way S.W., 35th Avenue S.W. and S.W. Alaska Street—the Triangle serves as a major gateway to West Seattle. It is located east of the Junction, West Seattle’s central retail district, and is home to numerous locally-owned businesses and the West Seattle YMCA. It is adjacent to a large open space and golf course. The Triangle is the location of numerous bus routes, and will soon be home to West Seattle’s first Bus Rapid Ride network.”

Please see the file "West Seattle Triangle Map" above for a visual representation of the area.