February 2015

by Paul Moseley

The West Seattle girls basketball team proved, again, that they are the best team in the Metro League. The Wildcats beat the Cleveland Eagles 49-48 in front of a roaring crowd tonight to win the Metro League tournament.

The game was a nail-biter from the start, with both teams getting more rebounds than baskets as they struggled to settle in. Cleveland came out fast and applied pressure throughout the game, forcing turnovers and hurrying West Seattle shots.

The Wildcats returned the favor, and commanded the defensive boards and created opportunities to score as they struggled to convert. “We were all struggling on shooting” said head coach Sonya Elliott. When they did score, they spread the ball around, and had 5 players with nets in the first half.

For most of the first half, the Eagles led the game, but West Seattle stayed close.

Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, today voted against Senate Bill 5052, medical marijuana legislation that she says doesn’t go far enough to reform the broken unregulated medical marijuana market.

“My priorities this session are to ensure access to a safe, reliable, adequate source of marijuana for qualifying patients who require marijuana for their medical condition” said Kohl-Welles, “as well as to provide regulation to an unregulated medical marijuana industry. Unfortunately, with the passage of this legislation, all patients have to look forward to is a bureaucratic, invasive and complex patient registry system.

“Patient privacy is especially at risk with the creation of a registry. Unlike prescription medications, the possession and growing of marijuana remains a federal crime. Being on a published list leaves patients vulnerable to investigation by federal agencies.”

On Feb. 12 Darcy Smith, the 41-year-old award winning teacher from McMicken Heights Elementary, entered a plea of Not Guilty to charges of three counts of Rape of a Child in the third degree. Smith is accused of having a sexual affair with a former student while he lived in her home for 4 years.
As reported by numerous outlets the courtroom at the Kent Regional Justice Center was packed to capacity with students and parents from the Highline district rallying with support for Smith. Students carried handmade signs with slogans such as “#SaveMrsSmith”, “We Stand by You” and “You Changed Lives Mrs. Smith”.
A plea of Not Guilty was entered by Smith and her lawyer with the next court date set for March 12.
Smith, a recipient of the Regional Teacher of the Year Award in 2012, is accused of having a sexual relationship with a former student that she took her into her own home when he was 12-years-old. According to the victim, who is 19 now, the two began having sex when he was 14 and the relationship ended when he moved out at 18.

This week crime in the West Seattle area became a trending topic after three separate incidents occurred involving teenagers on the morning of Feb. 11.

The first incident involved a Sealth High School student who was nearly robbed and assaulted while walking to school. The second involved a Denny Middle School student who was nearly abducted by a Caucasian male in his 50’s at the corner of Thistle and 25 Ave. S.W. The third incident involved another Sealth High School student who was accosted in an appropriate way by an older man while riding on a metro bus.

The school district immediately sent out a letter to parents detailing the incidents and offering tips for students and their families in dealing with dangerous situations.

By Anastasia Stepankowsky

Thursday night was the last chance for both West Seattle and Bainbridge to continue their seasons and clinch the last Metro Conference spot in the district tournament. West Seattle avenged an earlier 3-point loss to Bainbridge, earning a 67-62 win at Garfield High School on Thursday night.

West Seattle has struggled all season to come from behind to pull out a win. Wednesday night the Wildcats allowed Lakeside to score 15 points before scoring at all. But with their backs to the wall Thursday, they played briskly from start to finish.

“Yesterday we played like we still had a tomorrow ahead of us. We didn’t play with that urgency. Clearly we were a different team out there playing that underdog style that we have to play. I think we were fighting out there like we normally do— like we need to do if we want to win basketball games,” West Seattle head coach Keffrey Fazio said.

Did you know that more than 500 youth are bought and sold in Seattle? Raising awareness is vital to inspiring action and ultimately ending the commercial sexual exploitation of minors. Stolen Youth’s #NotOnOurWatch campaign, launched February 3rd, 2015, aims to engage the community on the difficult topic of commercial sexual exploitation and highlight how each of us can be part of the solution.

Through its #NotOnOurWatch campaign, StolenYouth implores the Seattle community to come together and stand behind the rallying cry "Not On Our Watch" by sharing the message using that hashtag. You can participate by “liking” the Stolen Youth Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/stolen.youth.seattle. Watching and sharing the video on our web site: www.stolenyouth.org and tweeting about the campaign: #NotOnOurWatch.

Coinciding with Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention month in January, StolenYouth showed a sneak preview of its #NotOnOurWatch campaign at a Town Hall Seattle meeting on January 26th. The campaign leads up to StolenYouth’s Not on Our Watch annual fundraising luncheon, to be held Wednesday, April 29, 2015 at The Sheraton Seattle Hotel.

This Spring will offer many new activities at the Ballard Boy's and Girl's Club. For more information visit http://positiveplace.org/locations/ballard/Pages/home.aspx.

Activities:

Ballard Boys & Girls Club
1767 NW 64th st
Seattle Wa 98107
Rookie Teeball
Preschool-Kindergarten (co-ed)
Mon, Wed, and Fri (2 of 3 days)
5-6:30PM
March 30-June 12
1st year players hitting off Tee

Teeball
Kindergarten-1st Grade (co-ed)
Mon, Wed, and Fri (2 of 3 days)
630-8PM
March 30-June 12
Hitting off Tee (1 year experience)

Rookie Machine Pitch
1st and 2nd Grade (co-ed)
Mon, Tues, and Thurs (2 of 3 days)
4-8PM (one hour block)
March 30-June 4
Hitting off Machine

Machine Pitch
3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade
Wednesday and Friday
4-8PM (one hour block)
April 1-June 5
Hitting off Machine

The Department of Planning and Development released a Land Use update today that reveals two subdivision applications have been filed. One of these applications is to subdivide one lot into three. DPD also announced they have granted permission for a separate application that turns one lot into three.

Comments for applications may be submitted through Feb. 25. Appeals to the Hearing Examiner can be submitted up to Feb. 26.

2019 NW 64TH ST:

Land Use Application to subdivide one development site into three unit lots. The construction of residential units are under Project #6442413. This subdivision of property is only for the purpose of allowing sale or lease of the unit lots. Development standards will be applied to the original parcel and not to each of the new unit lots.

5900 28TH AVE NW:

The University of Washington opened their new UW Neighborhood Clinic location on February 2 at Leary Way in Ballard (1455 N.W. Leary Way, Suite 250). In addition, The Sports Medicine Clinic and its physical therapy division, Advanced Manual Therapy, opened new clinics in the building.

As a whole, the facility offers primary care, sports medicine and physical therapy from pediatrics to geriatrics. UW plans to offer urgent care later this June on the building’s first floor.

“We are thrilled to bring UW Medicine to Ballard,” said Paul G. Ramsey, CEO, UW Medicine. “Northwest Hospital’s The Sports Medicine Clinic has already moved in, and next week we’ll be offering primary care in the new 30,000 square foot facility. We look forward to serving our Ballard patients closer to home and meeting new patients who entrust us with their care.”

By Gwen Davis

On Wednesday, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) announced to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) that 29 West Coast seaports would be largely closed for four of the five upcoming days.

Companies operating those marine terminals said they won’t hire crews to load or unload ships on Thursday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday, according to the AP.

Employers said they don’t want to pay hourly rates that are already far above average, according to the PMA. The President’s Day holiday and weekend factored in.

“Weekend and holiday pay rates command a premium of at least 50 percent of the basic longshore wage rate,” a PMA press release on Wednesday stated. “As a result, working hours on those days would be paid at between $54 and $75 per hour for longshore workers and clerks, and between $77 and $92 per hour for foremen. PMA members have concluded that they will not conduct vessel operations on those dates, paying full shifts of ILWU workers such high rates for severely diminished productivity while the backlog of cargo at West Coast ports grows.”