June 2012

Chief Sealth and West Seattle were both well represented among this past spring's all-Metro League selections.

Sealth scored especially high in the boys soccer selections, where Mori Tsuchiya was named as the Player of the Year for the Sound Division and Ron Johnson as the Coach of the Year.

The Seahawks also landed 12 players on the Sound Division first team and had three honorable mention selections, while the West Seattle team had one Sound Diviision honorable mention pick.

Chief Sealth junior Kristian Nilssen was named as the first team goalkeeper, while junior teammate Xahil McDonald, senior Antonio Garcia and junior Sean Umeda were among the picks at defender.

Included in the first team midfield from the Seahawks were senior Neville Mensur, senior Simon Crean, senior Brandon Rosario and junior Mori Tsuchiya.

First team forwards from Chief Sealth were sophomore Abel Madrigal, senior Aden Fidow and junior Eduardo Cardoza.

Selected from Chief Sealth for honorable mention were Jordan Luna, Logan Smith and Quang Nguyen.
West Seattle was represented among the honorable mention picks by Ryan Fry.

By Gerardo Bolong

Michael and Cong Nguyen led a trio of Evergreen High School (White Center) players with an eighth place finish at the 2012 Class 2A state tennis tournament held at the Nordstrom Center on the campus of the University of Washington on May 25-26.

High drama and lengthy court time characterized the hard working pair's trail.

Evergreen's boys tandem started with a May 25 match up against Reed Welch and E.J. Troutman of Bellingham. The Red Raider duo punched to a first set 6-3 win, inspiring the Wolverines to adjust and ramp up the intensity and reverse the trend in a 6-3 second set victory.

SLIDESHOW. CLICK ON PHOTO FOR MORE.

Navos Mental Health Solutions held its 4th Annual Bigger than Breakfast June 6, at the Grand Hyatt downtown. Meeghan Black of KING 5 TV's Evening Magazine emceed. Speakers included Navos CEO Dr. David M. Johnson, board member Don Warren, former client and current Navos employee, Sherry Harrison, and former Seattle City Council Member and former King County Executive, Randy Ravelle. It was announce that Seattle Children's Home (SCH) and Navos will merge.

A video featuring children in recovery at Navos was shown, funded by West Seattle-based Personal Safety Nets, co-founded by North Admiral's Judy Pigott. They offer seminars at Navos to "handle life's challenges and changes", and "help others learn to replace fear and isolation with security and connection", according to their website.

Last April 28 over 300 Sea Tac Airport employees, labor advocates, and politicians gathered at a park just east of the runways by South 188th St. and International Blvd. for over an hour of speeches, then marched south in a parade. They complained of bad working conditions including low salaries, generally minimum wage or lower, paid to taxi drivers, jet fuelers, skycaps and others.

Their struggle continues. The Port of Seattle, and the individual airline companies lease out sectors of jobs to other companies. Workers complain that the Port and airlines therefore take no responsibility for their working conditions. The Port told the Highline Times they have made an effort to assist, but that legally they cannot interfere with contractors.

West Seattle High School has been awarded one of five high school levy grants, receiving $350,000 each year over the next seven years  The funds are from the City of Seattle Families and Education Levy.  The total amount then is $2,450,000.

Here's a snap shot of how they will be spending the funds:

Full time Academic Intervention Specialists to case manage the academic success of all 9th graders teaching 1 Focus class, coordinate University Tutors, manage Mandatory After School Study Halls and Saturday Schools, monitors daily individual student academic progress, collaborates with teachers, participates in AIS and 9th grade team meetings, tracks progress toward meeting Levy Target goals, attends Levy meetings, calls 9th grade families, refers identified students to SIT, collaborates with feeder middle schools for early intervention, coordinates 9th grade MAP testing.

I've had a lot of dogs. Mac was an Australian shepherd I had when I was a teenager. Skipper was a beautiful collie. Tessie was our dachshund for 17 years. And Richard Tiger was a dog we got for son Tim at the dog pound. He was a wonderful spaniel (Richard, not Tim); I'd rent him from Tim for bird hunting. He charged me fifty cents.

The dog that stands out the most, however, was Charlie Brown. Charlie was a basset hound I got as a gift from my wife. "They told me that bassets have good noses," she said.

Charlie was supposed to be my hunting companion. But, after one pheasant hunt in which I had to break trail through the beet fields, I gave up on him.

Basset hounds are ungainly, saggy, baggy and undisciplined. They require constant attention. Nobody owns a basset; they own you.

No fence can hold one in. Originally bred to hunt rabbits in Europe, they go off to find a new, more attentive patron once you stop petting them.

34th District Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon and Burien City Manager Mike Martin attended the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting on June 7 to share updates on the potential annexation of North Highline to Burien, including the protection of annexation tax credits in the Washington State budget.

Rep. Fitzgibbon, opening with the fact that he will be representing more of North Highline after redistricting in 2013, had good news for those in the pro-annexation camp.

“We thought that as part of the budget balancing process, the annexation sales tax credit for Burien to annex the remaining unincorporated area would be put on the table and go away,” he said, referencing a higher tax credit for North Highline than other unincorporated areas in King County.

“We were able to keep (the tax credit) with help from our friends from other cities that have annexation issues, Renton, Kirkland, we were able to keep that on the table … I am pleased that that is sticking around and now you will have a chance to vote on whether or not to become part of Burien this fall.”

Burien has said if the tax credit was cut from the budget, they simply would not pursue annexation any further.

In March, Port of Seattle Commission President Gael Tarleton announced that she is seeking the 36th district house seat to be vacated by State Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, D-Seattle.

The Ballard News-Tribune met with the Ballardite over a cup of coffee to talk about the race and the crowded pool of candidates.

The other candidates include politician's son Brett Phillips, legislative aides Evan Clifthorne and Sahar Fathi, Progressive Majority state director Noel Frame, and longtime political activist Linde Knighton.

"It's going to be a heck of a race and there's nothing I like better than competition," Tarleton said. "My view about winning comes from baseball. Winning by 55 percent is the playoffs. Winning 60 percent is the World Series. But really, all I need is 50 percent plus one."

A Ballardite of 18 years, Tarleton is a lifelong Democrat with experience as a two-term Port Commissioner, a strategic advisor for the Institute for National Security Education and Research at the University of Washington, and a senior defense intelligence analyst at the Pentagon for a decade.

Friday, June 8, 2012 (press release)

A simultaneous community-wide re-launch at The Feedback Lounge, West 5, Shadowland, Mission, Big Al Brewing, Locol, Beveridge Place Pub, Company Bar

It was a year ago that Big Al Brewing’s LÖWMAN BRÄU – West Seattle’s first charity beer – was first introduced to the community. Followed by WHALE TAIL ALE and HI-YU BRU, the charity cycle begins all over again with the relaunching of LOWMAN BRAU, tiltin’ taps on Friday, June 8, 2012 and pouring all summer.

“I really liked WHALE TAIL ALE and HI-YU BRU, but I have a particular fond spot in my stomach for LÖWMAN BRÄU,” says Feedback Lounge owner Jeff Gilbert. “I’m pretty sure I drank more of it than anyone else. I was merely doing my duty for my community.”

All the Big Al Brewing charity beers have benefited everything from the West Seattle and White Center food banks, to West Side Baby, The Holy Rosary Parish, Hiawatha Concert Series and many more. This time around there will be one beneficiary of the percentage of combined sales of LÖWMAN BRÄU.

Jubilee Days celebration will feature more than 100 booths, everything from food to non profits. Organizers are saying that spots are filling up fast and to sign up as soon as possible. The vendor form can be found here.
The street fair is part of a major community cellebration that includes everything from a golf tournament to a garden tour. For more information go to www.jubileedays.org