January 2014

By Kyra-lin Hom

Welcome back. Last week I gave a brief summary of our use and misuse of the infamous material known as plastic. I mentioned that the US produces over 30 million tons a year (2/3 of which is essentially single-use) yet only recycles 7.7%. I further illustrated how plastic is often swept out to sea and how ocean currents create giant patches of floating plastic trash in naturally ocurring convergent zones called ‘gyres.’ There are 5 major gyres in the world, one of which sits about 1,000 miles off of our coastline in the Pacific Ocean.

So why don’t we hear more about these giant plastic trash islands? If the problem is so exteme, why aren’t more people (and the Internet) up in arms?

The answer is visibility. I hear giant floating trash island and I expect pictures. You know how children’s charities show you disturbing images of starving children? I want ocean trash equivalents of those. Unfortunately I’m not going to get them. Thus people (myself included) initially think the issue can’t be all that bad. Wrong.

By Scott Anthony
 
For years I worked in a big printing plant in Tukwila. We had about 50 guys there, from all walks of life and of varying degrees of smarts. I learned a lot of things about human nature and working relationships there and one day I’ll probably use some of those lessons to write that book that I kid myself about.


Our foreman, Bill ‘Willy’ Blauvelt was a great mentor. Part disciplinarian and part drinking buddy, one of the best things he taught me was that even the most disagreeable, stick-in-the-mud individuals could still have something worthwhile to offer.

Because most of us worker bees were young and unencumbered by notions of punctuality and work ethic, we would frequently try to skip out on a day of work here and there. Willy, having done his own time calling in with the ‘beer bottle flu’ was on to us from the get-go, but he would make note of the best excuses and remind us of what worked and who, eventually, had to come to work. The following anecdotes are todays worthwhile offerings from me.
 
(Riiiiiiing)
Marty- 'Can't make it in to work today, Bill'
 
Bill: 'Why not Marty?'
 

By Jeremy Martin

For the second time in under a month, neighborhood rivals Chief Sealth International and West Seattle High met in a Metro League girl’s basketball clash, and much like the first meet up of the season, the Wildcats came away with a hard fought victory, besting the Seahawks 60-38

“Rival games are always a fun win,” West Seattle head coach Sonya Elliott said.

It was a game of runs with West Seattle breaking things open early, Sealth tightening the contest up before the half with a 10-2 run than the Wildcats once again taking over in the final two quarters of play.

The win came without starting center Lydia Giomi who did not dress for the contest due to a concussion she suffered against Cleveland High.
Starting in her place was junior Sarah Cooper who used the newfound playing time to put up five points and grab 9 rebounds while also coming away with three steals.

“(Giomi) will be out for a little bit, it’s five days minimum after she feels better,” Elliott said. (Cooper) played well tonight, and we had Ingraham the other night and she did a good job, it’s great to have her get that time on the court.”

UPDATE Jan. 30 9:50 a.m.
Seattle Police Detective Renee Witt offered this summary of the incident this morning.
"On Wednesday January 29, 2014, a Marked Tukwila Police Vehicle was following a stolen White Ford F250 truck that was traveling westbound on the West Seattle Bridge.  As they passed the SW Admiral Way exit, the stolen vehicle attempted to flee and rotate out of control driving eastbound toward the Tukwila Police Vehicle.  The stolen vehicle struck the Tukwila Police Vehicle head on and the occupants fled on foot.  All suspects were apprehended.
 
DRE Officer Lewis (T74) responded to the scene and the driver of stolen vehicle refused to cooperate with him
 
SFD responded and transported the Tukwila Officer to HMC for injuries sustained from the collision.
 
The investigation continues"

Original Post Jan. 29
A woman was driving a stolen white truck Wednesday night just before 7pm. According to Seattle Police the vehicle was equipped with GPS and was tracked from Maple Valley where it was stolen.

information from SDOT

The Spokane Street Bridge to West Seattle will be closed to motor vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians on Friday night, Jan. 31, from 8 p.m. to midnight. The closure will allow a contractor working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the channel where silt has accumulated. Drivers are advised to use the high-level West Seattle Bridge during this time.

The contractor will begin dredging tomorrow (Thursday) night, but will not need to close the bridge to motor vehicles until Friday night to finish the work. The channel will remain open for marine traffic.

Since the Jan. 14 Department of Planning and Development’s zoning code revisions meeting at Lowell Elementary, Ballardites are still weighing in on what the meeting accomplished and what it didn’t.

The DPD representatives held a public meeting to discuss the impact zoning and code changes made in 2010 are having on neighborhoods.

The meeting was held at Lowell Elementary School. Sally Clark, Seattle City Council President, called the meeting to address buildings surpassing height restrictions in Low-rise 3 (LR3) zones in Seattle's Designated Growth Areas and other low-rise housing issues. Seattle Speaks Up had sent Clark a petition calling to address a litany of concerns, especially the issue of developers finding loopholes in the code that has enabled them to sidestep regulations.

Many Ballardites made it to the meeting.

“It was a good showing,” said Ethan Van Eck, who is the Central Ballard Residents Association (CBRA) Secretary of the board and chair of the Land Use committee (Speaking on his behalf, not CBRA’s).

Van Eck was at the meeting and said there were a lot of angry people making their opinions known.

UPDATE Feb. 19
Anytime Fitness, finally opens tonight Feb. 19 with a Sneak Peek Workout
from 5 to 8pm. A Grand Opening event will follow in mid March.

UPDATE Feb. 15
West Seattle's newest fitness club, Anytime Fitness, delayed a bit by equipment deliveries and sign off from the city now plans to be open for business by the middle of next week according to the owners. They've completed the vast majority of the work inside and have taken delivery and had installed an impressive array of exercise equipment. They'll make the opening next week a soft open with the actual Grand Opening event set for early to mid March. They plan on inviting neighborhood businesses to "come in and set up a little booth in a 'Welcome to the neighborhood' event for the members," said Andrew Saldana,
"We want to say thank you for allowing us to be part of the neighborhood."

He reflected on the building's history, "I do remember the family bringing us here to Royal Fork when I was six years old so now it's come full circle. I like the history here."

In business for just a year in his new location, Tom Salle of Meat the Live Butcher in White Center had an inspiration as the Seahawks winning record began to build. He needed a landmark. Something for the community to navigate by but something truly memorable for his store and something that would honor the Seattle Seahawks historic run to the Superbowl.

Over a month ago, before it was even certain, Salle contacted Life Size Statues in New York to order a life size Angus Bull, and made some custom modifications, adding horns and told them it had to be in Seattle before the big game.

Then the weather back east took a wintry turn, and "Bernie" as he is now dubbed, got stuck in a snowstorm in Pennsylvania. "So they put him on a train and it was slow going but it happened that one of my customers who buys prime rib works for the freight outfit. He told me 'Don't worry I'll get your bull to you,' and he was here when I arrived."

The bull weighs 125 lbs (a real steer weighs in between 1200 and 1800 lbs), stands 60 inches at his back, and is 9 feet long, 30 inches wide.

Incoming officers for the Tukwila Historical Society are President Joan Hernandez, Vice President Wendy Morgan, Secretary Pat Brodin, and Treasurer Louise Jones-Brown. Both Ms. Hernandez and Ms. Morgan are former Tukwila City Councilmembers. Mr. Brodin is immediate past President of the Society and Ms. Jones-Brown is the Interim Director of the Tukwila Heritage Center.

Plans for 2014 include an ADA bathroom remodel at the Heritage Center, a series of open houses in the Center, completion of the Sister Cities Exhibit and participation in the STEPS Program, a series of community participation workshops that address setting standards for such things as governance, how displays are chosen and structured, how collections are kept, and how membership can be increased.

The Society is housed at the Tukwila Heritage Center located at 14475 59th South on Tukwila’s North Hill. For more information about the Society’s activities and how you might be involved is available on the Society’s web-page at tukwilahistory.org.

By Cindi Rinehart

I need you to know that in my entire life, I have NEVER been fired from any of the 30 something jobs I had before coming to Seattle. There was about to be a first. During my career at KOMO TV, I did a lot of outside jobs and pilots. I did an entertainment segment for Great Weekend at KABC in Los Angeles.

They liked my work so we were able to do it out of Seattle. George, the producers hired me as the talent, Janelle (My, then KOMO producer) to produce it and we hired my husband Jim for finding location, lighting and well…just about everything else. We worked on the weekends and I was thrilled because it was about a grand a week and Jim and I were eating beans dogs to try and save money. It was mostly stand ups at theatres and different places around Seattle.