August 2013

By Kyra-lin Hom

First there was McDonald's. Then there was the McNugget. Now there is the McBudget.

Have you heard of it yet? In response to the fast food workers' strike (“D15”) – protesting the unlivable minimum wage and asking for $15/hr pay – McDonald's published a budget guide. That's right. Instead of negotiating with their workers on a platform of mutual adulthood, McDonald's created a pamphlet. They didn't even print it out! It's available for download from their website http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com free just to show how much they care.

But a big company not really caring about the little people who, you know, just so happen to be the building blocks of its labor force isn't headline news. So what's the hubbub? The actual proposed budget itself. In an effort to prove that the minimum wage McDonald's pays its workers is livable, practicalmoneyskills provides a recommended budget breakdown full of helpful advice such as, “[F]igure out your Daily Spending Money Goal by dividing your Monthly Spending Money by 30

By Georgie Bright Kunkel

While examining his female patient, the doctor tells her: "Your heart, lungs, 
pulse & blood pressure are fine. Now let me see that little thing which gets you “ladies” 
into all kinds of trouble." The woman started taking off her clothes when the doctor said, "No! No! Please put on your clothes. Just show me your tongue."  I am sure that any so-called bull session would find men as loquacious as women in a women’s coffee klatch. But traditional humor focuses on the stereotypes for both men and women.

Recently at church we sang a hymn with words bringing out that some women are strong and some men are gentle.  We aren’t all stereotyped by sex. Granted, there are more strong men and more little women but within each group of men or women there is great variation. It is possible that an exceptionally strong female might qualify for a football team but professional teams aren’t recruiting women. Football is symbolic of male might and prowess. It is reserved for the strongest of the male sex. What nurturing woman would appreciate playing the dangerous game of football anyway.

by Jerry Robinson

Just last week I was doing my daily grind on the treadmill while my faithful caregiver sat beside me on a recumbent bike. I did 15 minutes before she got tired, so out of a sense of duty, I stopped to console her. After all she’s 30 years younger than I and it was only right that I should be aware of her limitations.

I was sweaty as a winter window. She seemed fresh as a new cucumber. Nobody told me women don’t sweat when they work out.

      It is not easy being 93. I have to choose between fresh peaches, cereal and coffee each morning over maybe oatmeal and toast and juice. My own doc said I could eat what I want. That I’ve earned the right to it. I don’t know.

       This long, hot summer has taken its toll on me. It seems like yesterday I was running barefoot through Peninsula Park in Portland, Oregon. I was ten. It was sunny. We did not think about it much. Now, if I go out to my deck, I have to wear sunscreen and a hat. I have an umbrella to keep in the shade. What happened?

The 3rd Annual BEAT THE BURN 5K Run/Walk & Kids’ Dash start with the blare of a siren on Sunday, September 29th at 9:00 a.m. at the Alki Beach Statue of Liberty Plaza in West Seattle at 1702 Alki Avenue SW. The event is open to all runners, walkers, fire fighters and family members of all ages, including well behaved four-legged best friends.

Web Page/Register On-Line: www.promotionevents.com/beattheburn/info.htm

Date: Sunday, September 29, 2013
Time: 9:00 a.m. Siren Start
Cost: 5K Run/Walk - $30 registration on or before September 27th
$40 - 5K Run/Walk on the Day of the Event (September 29th)
$100 - 5K teams of Four or more ($25 each)
$100 - Firefighter Challenge- Teams of Four ($25)
Free Kids’ Dash – 10 years & under (Fire Helmet & 5K water bottle)

With the Aug. 6 primary votes tallied up, the word is in: the Seattle School Board race in District 4, which covers part of Ballard, Magnolia and Queen Anne, is shaping up to be a heated race.

The contest is now boiled down to the two frontrunners, education writer and activist Sue Peters and Suzanne Estey, a government relations and public affairs consultant. The third candidate, former Federal Way Mayor Dean McColgan, is out, only garnering 9.8 percent of the vote. (McColgan raised no money and stated he had no plans of running a campaign unless he made it through the primaries.)

At last count, on Aug. 9, Estey and Peters were neck and neck. At 9,337 votes, Estey is in the lead with 47.18 percent. Sue Peters received 8,390 votes and got 42.4 percent of the vote.

The two are competing to take the vacant seat of Past School Board President Michael DeBell, who has given his blessing to Estey.

While both sides give credit to their volunteers and general community support, the race has one tipping factor going Estey's way: money.

Discovery Shop
4535 California Ave. S.W.
206-937-7169
Help us clear out merchandise to prepare the store for our upcoming, semi-annual Antiques, Vintage and Collectibles Event that starts August 26.  Everything in the shop is reduced 40% and items with yellow tags are reduced 50%.  You can help us earn cash for cancer cure research by bringing us your old and worn out cell phones and we'll recycle them through Shelter Alliance.  You can also help by volunteering in our shop for 4 hours a week.  Stop by for more information.  The all volunteer run, non profit American Cancer Society shop is open Sundays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and all other days 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

White Center Library August Events
11220 16th Ave. S.W.
206-243-0233

Children & Families:
Family Story Times - Thurs., Aug. 15, 11:15 a.m. Newborn to age 6 with adult.

Mount Rainier grad makes Majors

Mount Rainier High School graduate Brandon Mann broke into Major League Baseball briefly this season with the Washington Nationals.
Mann, a left-handed pitcher, threw in two games for the Nationals after starting off the year with a minor league contact.
Mann finished the stint with 1.2 innings pitched with three runs -- all earned -- plus three hits and two strikeouts. He also had no saves after coming in with one save opportunity.
Tampa Bay drafted Mann in the 27th round in 2002, and he went on to spend the 2011 and 2012 seasons with the Yokohama Bay Stars in Japan. He then signed a minor league contract with the Nationals after the 2012 season.

Travis Ishikawa on the move

Travis Ishikawa, a graduate of Federal Way High School, has played in three Major League Baseball organizations this year and earned call-ups from two of them.
Ishikawa started off with the Baltimore Orioles organization and was called up for a 17 at-bat stay with two hits and one RBI.

The annual Three Tree Pt Salmon Derby took place over last weekend with some pretty exciting results. Marco Spani and son Conner landed two beautiful fish. Lots of boats and good weather contributed to a perfect day on the water. The Spani family are regulars at the event. Fishing was good despite that fact that we've had a long, dry stretch of weather with little or no rainfall. The fish are likely pooling in bays and estuaries waiting for a freshet of water from the rivers before they begin their spawning migration. Marco's winning fish weighed 17 lbs 1.5 oz. Conner came in 7th place with a 7 pounder.

On Saturday, August 10, people from Ballard and beyond gathered at the Ballard P-Patch -- nestled on NW 85th St and 24th Ave NW -- to enjoy gardens, art, music, food and more.

Unlike the inevitable craze that street festivals and farmers market can bring, Art in the Garden was relaxing and opened itself up to conversation. Attendees chatted with the artists, kids gawked at Kudos the parrot and the urban chickens, people stopped and smelled the flowers and admired the plants. And, when all else failed, there was always the beer garden.

Several of the P-Patch's gardeners were present. Amy Ockerlander, who has gardened for about six seasons now, could be seen painting the scene of plants and people. Ockerlander has been involved with Art in the Garden for years now. She said it was one of her favorite events of the year.

"It's nice to be out of the studio and out here," she said. "I love my community at Ballard P-Patch."

A group of Marines from Always Brothers plus friends and supporters passed through West Seattle on Sunday Aug. 11 on their two day, 100 mile run from Seattle to Orting and back to honor military heroes from Washington State and to raise money for research of brain diseases and injuries experienced by veterans.

The Marines and civilians, some local and some from other parts of the U.S., left Leschi at 6 a.m., Aug. 10, and ran through Mercer Island, Renton, Maple Valley, and Enumclaw before stopping at the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs Soldiers Home in Orting. After a short break there they continued along the outskirts of Puyallup and on through Sumner, Auburn, Kent, Tukwila, South Park and West Seattle, where they were joined by a police escort as they crossed the lower level West Seattle bridge and finished, as a group, at CenturyLink Field on Sunday.