October 2011

By Kyle Howard

The Hazen Highlanders took on the Evergreen Wolverines in a Seamount match up at Highline Stadium Friday night. Both teams were winless in league play so far this season.

Please click the photo above for more photos from Kurt Howard

Hazen got things started early by putting together a 58 yard drive that ended in a 19 yard touchdown reception from Tony Nipert to J.D. Peterson. On Evergreens next possession a bad snap was recovered by Hazen to set up great field position and they then scored on a 30 yard touchdown run by Frankie Johnson to increase their lead 14-0. Everything continued to go Hazen’s way in the 2nd quarter as they put together an 89 yard drive that was topped off with quarterback Tony Nipert rushing for the touchdown.

With nearly $50,000 in budget cuts and ever-increasing family need, the White Center Food Bank's Annual Harvest Auction Dinner is happening at a critical time.

Press release from the White Center Food Bank

Help Celebrate White Center Food Bank’s 40th Anniversary: Harvest Auction October 15, 2011 at Brockey Center

Press release from the Normandy Park Police Department

On Sept. 9, the Normandy Park Police Department had to say goodbye to a long time member.

Skyler, our fifteen-year-old Australian Shepherd Narcotics K-9 had to be put to sleep. Skyler had suffered from Arthritis for many years and his health had seriously deteriorated over the last six months. He had seizures earlier this year and never fully recovered.

Skyler retired from police work in December of 2007 as the better half of a Master Narcotics K9 team, and spent the remainder of his life with Assistant Chief Gaddis and his family.

Skyler was a true partner in every sense of the word and even better in most cases. Skyler never complained, never backed down and was always there when he was needed. This is true if you are speaking of his work as a police officer or that of a friend.

In 1999, Skyler joined the police department as their very first K-9. Skyler was a rescue dog from STAR (South Texas Australian Rescue). He was saved by this group just hours from being put down, and was sent to the Washington State Department of Corrections K9 training facility on McNeil Island.

By Pam Fernald

Three World War II veterans were welcomed home Sunday by a group of smiling SeaTac USO volunteers with banners and flags.

The Vets were returning from a whirlwind trip to Washington D.C. to visit the WWII, Iwo Jima, Korean and Vietnam war memorials. They also visited the Lincoln Memorial.

Please click the photo above for more.

The Veteran's trip was sponsored by a Freedom Fighter Honor Flight whose goal is "Helping every single veteran in America, willing and able of getting on a plane or a bus, visit THEIR memorial."

Their website is http://www.freedomfightershf.org/ Each Veteran is assigned a 'guardian' to accompany them on their trip. Sarge's guardian on the trip was Tom Hallum. Tom is also a Veteran.

The trio and their guardians left Seattle at 6 a.m. Friday and spent all day Saturday visiting the memorials, returning to SeaTac on Sunday.
'Sarge' Carter reported, "It was a beautiful trip though it was raining and windy."

Students from Roxhill Elementary had a remarkable opportunity this week to write and record their own song with a visiting hip hop artist. Sponsored by America SCORES and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) the program brought recording artist Psalm One to the school to spend time over three days working with children as they selected beats, worked on themes and ideas and finally went to a Seattle recording studio to take part in creating the final song. 32 students, a mix of 3rd, 4th and 5th graders were selected on the basis of on being good scholars and good citizens, not necessarily just having the best grades.

The group was led by Poetry coaches Kristie Stoehr, and Kenny Short as well as two soccer coaches Mark Amsden and Marissa Jenks.

Roxhill Principal, Carmela Dellino said, "This program, with the poetry, lets our children experience the joy of writing and that they truly are authors."

What would you do if you had the Alaskan Way Viaduct all to yourself for 30 minutes, free of cars and people? Maybe celebrate a birthday, propose to your significant other or stage a flash mob?

That’s what the Washington State Department of Transportation wants to know.

WSDOT is sponsoring a contest where one lucky person and 24 of their friends will win exclusive access to the Viaduct’s downtown section for 30 minutes on Oct. 22. The southern mile of the Viaduct closes for nine days for demolition starting Oct. 21.

To enter, answer the question “What would I do with 30 minutes on the Alaskan Way Viaduct?” in 100 words or less and send it to viaduct@wsdot.wa.gov by Sunday, Oct. 16. The winner will be escorted to a private section of the viaduct at a predetermined time to follow through with their plan. Check the WSDOT website for contest details, rules and restrictions.

What would you do if you had the Alaskan Way Viaduct all to yourself for 30 minutes, free of cars and people? Maybe celebrate a birthday, propose to your significant other or stage a flash mob?

That’s what the Washington State Department of Transportation wants to know.

WSDOT is sponsoring a contest where one lucky person and 24 of their friends will win exclusive access to the Viaduct’s downtown section for 30 minutes on Oct. 22. The southern mile of the Viaduct closes for nine days for demolition starting Oct. 21.

To enter, answer the question “What would I do with 30 minutes on the Alaskan Way Viaduct?” in 100 words or less and send it to viaduct@wsdot.wa.gov by Sunday, Oct. 16. The winner will be escorted to a private section of the viaduct at a predetermined time to follow through with their plan. Check the WSDOT website for contest details, rules and restrictions.

For those who don’t win the contest, and anyone else interested in spending a little time on the viaduct before it’s demolished, there’ll be a commemorative walk on Saturday, Oct. 22. This is a perfect opportunity to get a firsthand perspective as this historic event unfolds.

The Seattle Police reports that on October 6th at approximately 2:30 a.m. an officer on patrol around Golden Gardens came across a 1989 Volvo 4-door sedan parked in a parking lot next to the boat launch at Shilshole Bay.

Upon further inspection the officer discovered a dead male in his 50′s sitting in the driver’s seat of the car with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The officer then noticed a suspicious-looking box in the back seat of the car with wires coming out of it. The officer backed away, called for additional units and secured the area (there was nobody else inside the vehicle nor anyone in the immediate area).

Arson/Bomb Squad (ABS) detectives responded to the scene. After further examination ABS detectives determined that the suspicious box in the back seat of the car was harmless.

The death is being investigated as a suicide.

Christy Wolyniak, Intern

Driven by the zeal for music and event planning, one Ballard resident has bid farewell to his day job and embraced the struggle and excitement that comes with being an entrepreneur.

A diehard lover of blues-rock, Mackenzie McAninch chiseled his way into Seattle’s music scene after discovering the vibrant social life here. He felt like Seattleites respected live, original music more than fans in his hometown of Cincinnati, who seemed to prefer cover bands.

“I've found that I have to really dig to find the good blues musicians here; and there are some. But in the old days, you had to really search and find those dingy, smoke-filled basement rooms to find the good blues musicians,” he said.

In spite of this, Seattleites’ serious respect for musicians at shows and their deep appreciation for music was enough to hook McAninch. He said the first time he visited Seattle he was into it; the second time he was sold and knew he had to move here.

October is International Walk to School Month and on Wednesday, October 5, more than a thousand schools across the world participated in Walk to School events.

More than 50 schools across Washington State held special Walk to School activities on Wednesday, 16 of which were in the city of Seattle.

Activities ranged from walking school buses to school assemblies and all focused on student health and safety.

The U.S. participated in its first Walk to School celebration in 1997 as a way to bring community leaders and children together to build awareness about walkable communities. 

Walk to School Month celebrates efforts to increase physical activity, clean air, pedestrian safety, and connections between families, school and the broader community, all while reducing traffic congestion around schools.

At West Woodland Elementary School students arrived by bike, bus, or in 'walking school buses' on Wednesday morning. Students were greeted with stickers and second breakfast of breadsticks once they arrived at the school.