November 2012

During opening night of the independent film, "Old Goats" at the Tin Theater in Burien Nov. 17, owner Dan House took the stage and kvelled (Yiddish for 'bursted with pride, and then some') about one of the film's stars, Benita Staadecker. He then introduced her.

House explained how he met Benita, 65. "Two weeks ago at the Uptown Cinema I came in with my wife, and there were only two seats left, in the very back row, and I look over and start talking to Benita and Charlie." Charlie is her husband. "She asked me, 'Do you have a theater? You do? You should show my movie, "Old Goats.'" I go, 'We're showing it in two weeks.'"

Benita and Dan hit it off. When introduced, she told Dan and the audience, which included Dan's mother, Chirlee, "You should all be proud with what you have done with the theater, the restaurant next door, with Burien."

She said, "This has been an experience that is almost out-of-body. It has led to a path that I never thought I would see, and I have to say I don't come on for 37 minutes but I am worth waiting for. My name (in the film) is Cynthia Reilly and I play a wealthy widow."

The American Cancer Society/West Seattle Discovery Shop is celebrating their 22nd Anniversary, Saturday Nov. 17. The shop is located at 4535 California Ave SW.

Since opening in November 1990, this shop has generated $1,642,658.00 in sales from donated items, which were sold in the store.

This money went directly to fight cancer. Currently there are 81 volunteers at the West Seattle Shop,giving their time to fight the cause.

You can call them at 206.937.1811 .

Brodie Lamb, 49, is facing a first degree murder charge from the King County Prosecutor’s Office after allegedly fatally stabbing his mother – White Center resident, author and journalist Margaret Ryan – at her apartment on Nov. 13.

According to charging documents released after charges were filed on Nov. 16, Lamb allegedly broke down Ryan’s apartment door after she denied him entrance, grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stabbed her 18 times before calling 911 to report what he had done. Police and paramedics rushed to the scene on the 1300 block of S.W. 100th St. and attempted CPR on Ryan for 25 minutes, but were unable to save her life.

Lamb called 911 at 5:34 p.m. and told dispatch he had just stabbed his mom in the neck and killed her. Dispatch asked him to place the knife in the freezer and wait for authorities to arrive. Lamb was waiting outside the apartment and police took him into custody. The knife was found in the freezer.

No less than four West Seattle Junction businesses are holding holiday open houses on Saturday Nov. 17 with giveaways, treats and more planned to attract shoppers to the area. The West Seattle Junction merchants shared the details:

The JF Henry Holiday Open House will run from 10am - 5pm

There will be yummy cookies baked by JF Henry’s very own elves and some dark hot chocolate to wash them down! Tons of demos like: Crepe Making (yum!), Bake a Better Bundt, Knife Skills, Test Drive a Cool Kitchen Tool & More! Get a coupon for free knife sharpening! Enter a drawing for neat stuff!
Store is located at 4445 California Ave SW.

The NW Art & Frame Holiday Open House also runs from 10am - 5:30pm

They’ll have live artist’s demos, open house specials, lots of free drawings throughout the day, product demonstrations, all the latest in holiday decorations, free samples, and of course…free treats & goodies! Products that are being demonstrated will be 25% off during their demos. The demos will change every 2.5 hours!

Metro League
Boys basketball schedule

Saturday, Nov. 24
Boys basketball: Chief Sealth Jamboree.
Tuesday, Nov. 27
Boys basketball: Lakes at Chief Sealth, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 29
Boys basketball: Foster at Chief Sealth, 6:15 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 4
Boys basketball: Eastside Catholic at Chief Sealth; West Seattle at Lakeside, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 7
Boys basketball: Rainier Beach at West Seattle; Chief Sealth at Bainbridge, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 11
Boys basketball: Rainier Beach at Chief Sealth; West Seattle at Bainbridge, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 14
Boys basketball: Cleveland at Chief Sealth, 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 18
Boys basketball: Chief Sealth at West Seattle, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 21
Boys basketball: Chief Sealth at Lakeside, 7:30 p.m
Thursday, Dec. 27
Boys basketball: Chief Sealth at North Idaho College tournament.
Friday, Dec. 28
Boys basketball: Chief Sealth at North Idaho College tournament.
Saturday, Dec. 29
Boys basketball: Chief Sealth at North Idaho College tournament.
Friday, Jan. 4

Sealth High School Athletic Director Sam Reed has been in the process of coordinating the upcoming Nels Enquist Alumni Basketball game coming up Nov. 23. Here's our previous coverage.

Reed noted that the game roster filled up fast and shared the event details in an update:

"The responses came in so quick that the men’s game filled up quite early and registration has been closed since early this week. I’ve worked with Nels and the current coaches to develop a group of teams that will lend itself to a fun and competitive game and highlight some of the great basketball history here at Chief Sealth.

On the women’s side, the response has also been strong, but our current head coach Katie Jo Maris (’01) is still working on collecting a few more names (those interested can e-mail her directly at kevkat8@yahoo.com) and evening out the teams. We hope to announce the women’s roster early next week.

Readers have shared with the Herald correspondence they've sent to King County Metro regarding malfunctioning signage at bus stops in West Seattle since the changeover to RapidRide. Despite multiple complaints about it, the problems have persisted.

One letter reads:

"This is the fifth day in a row where the arrival signs at Morgan Junction station state "refer to schedule."

Either fix this or provide published schedules or get OneBusAway fixed, or all three.

This is 6 weeks since this service rolled out one year behind the original schedule and it's still in a massive failure mode.

As a tax payer and transit user this continues to be completely unacceptable."

And Metro's reply:

Update for Nov. 29
Brodie Lamb, 49, pleaded not guilty to first degree murder in the stabbing death of his mother, Margaret Ryan, in White Center on Nov. 12.

Lamb entered his plea on Nov. 29 and remains jailed with a $2 million bail, according to the King County Prosecutor's Office.

His case setting hearing (to determine a trial date) is set for Dec. 13 at the King County Courthouse.

Original post on Nov. 16
Son charged with murder after allegedly stabbing mother in White Center

Brodie Lamb, 49, is facing a first degree murder charge from the King County Prosecutor’s Office after allegedly fatally stabbing his mother – White Center resident, author and journalist Margaret Ryan – at her apartment on Nov. 13.

A Nov. 27 Open Arms benefit auction at SANCA in Georgetown will benefit, among many other services, the Outreach Doula Services Program that helps families in White Center.

As Open Arms spokeswoman Sabrina Urquhart explains, Outreach Doula “currently serves women in the Latina and Somali communities as part of Open Arms' community partnership with the White Center Early Learning Initiative (WCELI). The Outreach Doula Program is an intensive model that provides support to women early in pregnancy, through labor, birth and the first two years of a child's life.

“Imagine your neighborhood, knitted together with quiet residential streets where children and adults safely walk, ride bicycles, play and run. Imagine these streets are close to where you live and connect you to the places you want to go …”

Those are the words and hopes of Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, a volunteer coalition advocating for an extensive network of “greenways” in Seattle. The idea is you take non-arterial roads, ideally of the straight and level variety, and turn them into a bicyclists’ and walkers’ utopia with pavement markings to alert drivers to their presence, improved arterial crossings, stop sign priority given to the self-propelled travelers, signage specifically for greenway users, speed bumps and other traffic disincentives to keep large volume of automobile commuters off the road. The obvious side benefits are less traffic stress in a city already stressed during commuter hours, better health for those who use the greenways, and more “eyes on the street,” leading to a “safer and friendlier community.”