December 2015

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

High schools

Boys basketball
Tyee will entertain Chief Sealth for a 7 p.m. game Wednesday as Kennedy Catholic travels to West Seattle.
Highline is at home against Nathan Hale at the same time, with Evergreen hosting Interlake and Mount Rainier going on the road to Auburn-Riverside.
Evergreen will be home playing Tyee as the Seamount League season opens Friday, while Kennedy will be at Foster and Renton at Highline -- all at 7 p.m.
Mount Rainier plays host to Liberty at the same time, while at 8 p.m. Chief Sealth hosts Blanchet and West Seattle entertains Roosevelt.
Seattle Lutheran is playing in the Mount Rainier Lutheran tournament Friday and Saturday as Shorewood Christian goes to the Friday Harbor tournament.
Tyee gets a 7 p.m. visit from Mount Rainier on Monday as Foster hosts Sultan.
Seattle Lutheran entertains Taholah at 6 p.m. Tuesday and at 7:30 p.m. Chief Sealth is at Cleveland and West Seattle at Nathan Hale.

Girls basketball

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Gandy sinks game winner for Western

HONOLULU, Hawai'i – Junior forward Kiana Gandy hit the game-winning basket with less than three seconds left in the game to lift the Western Washington Vikings to a 64-62 victory over Hawai'i Pacific Friday evening in the O’ahu Women’s Basketball Thanksgiving Classic.

The Vikings went 2-0 in the O’ahu Thanksgiving Classic with wins over Chaminade (61-53) and HPU to even their season record at 3-3.

Gandy (Des Moines, WA/Mount Rainier) scored a career-high 22 points in the victory, capping an excellent trip to Hawai'i in which she scored 40 points in the two games. Her game-winning basket with 2.4 seconds left on the clock capped a big second half in which the Vikings outscored the Sharks 38-29. Gandy scored 16 of her 22 points in the second half, including 11 points in the decisive fourth quarter.

By Tim Robinson

From the age of 11 to 15, living near Salmon Creek, I often walked with my brother to the small grocery store about a mile from our house. In some cases we "thumbed" a ride. Not because we needed one but because we wanted one. I only recall one car ever stopping. A man gave us a lift no more than 1/2  mile up Ambaum Blvd before we asked him to drop us off. Thumbing was dangerous even then and we knew it was better to travel together rather than alone. I tried thumbing a ride alone but must not have had the technique quite right. I did not know you had to walk backwards while extending your arm. I never got a ride. We also had to walk WITH the traffic rather than the suggested AGAINST the traffic for safety reasons. You certainly cannot get a ride that way. 

The Salmon Creek grocery was nestled into the corner of a row of businesses with tenements above. Shopkeepers likely lived above their shops in those days. It was very European (I think now but was actually clueless then). 

by Aya Hashiguchi Clark

Here’s something different for the holidays: Burien Actors Theatre is performing a comedy parody, affectionately spoofing the works of Charles Dickens this Christmas season.

A Christmas Twist takes two of Dickens’ most famous stories, A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist, and tosses it “into a high-spirited blender with plenty of pop culture and a cast of characters that includes Little Orphan Annie.”

Ebenezer Scrooge meets Oliver Twist and Orphan Annie? Now, you’re getting the idea.

Would Dickens be turning over in his grave? Or, would his laughter be spreading holiday cheer throughout the cemetery?

The good folks at BAT are attempting to answer this puzzling question, and are doing it with plenty of enthusiasm and comic bravado.

The mashed-up plot begins like this: The criminal Fagin (John Lynch), leader of the pickpocketing orphans of London, is visited by Mr. Bumble (Tim Takechi), who runs the cruel workhouse for orphans (you know, the one of the “Please sir, I want some more” fame).

As staff and volunteers arrived to the new Habit for Humanity store being built in Tukwila on Thanksgiving Eve, they discovered that someone had stolen one of their box trucks used to pick up and deliver donations from right out in front of the store overnight. The truck contained an estimated $20,000 worth of donated energy efficient windows and doors. Residents in a neighborhood just five minutes away soon reported the truck abandoned on their street. The truck was found with all of the donations still inside but with several thousands of dollars worth of damage to the truck itself. The box truck, which was completely covered in Habitat for Humanity branding, had the driver’s side door forced open and the steering column disassembled. The truck had been hot-wired and is now completely un-drivable. Repairs on the truck are expected to cost a minimum of $2,000. While they are waiting for the truck to be repaired, the nonprofit will be forced to lease an additional moving vehicle to ensure they can continue operations. The new Tukwila Habitat for Humanity store is set to open in January replacing their former location in SODO which closed earlier this year.

For the past several months, the City Council has been working to address our long-term financial issues through the 2016 budget process. In conjunction with our economic development efforts, which is the key to making the City financially sustainable in the long-run, we are working diligently to address our long-run budget issues.

None of this has been easy. We have had an overflowing crowd of residents come down to tell us they don’t want to cut to services … most notably Parks, Recreation & Senior Services. We’ve had large crowds make compelling cases and outlining our need for additional police officers. And we’ve had a few overflowing crowds come tell us not to raise their taxes.

The number of residents weighing in on the budget for 2016 has been impressive, and the input greatly appreciated. It’s in the context of that feedback that we’ve tried to figure out what will work to ensure we keep Des Moines an incredible place to live, and yet meet our obligations for financial sustainability. The last Washington State Auditor’s report (for 2013) essentially demanded that we get this done now, to ensure our sustainability.

Haggen today announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Delaware in Wilmington confirmed the sale of 47 stores.  Completion of these transactions remains subject to certain conditions. Stores in Burien and Renton are among those to be sold.

SEATTLE — Group Health’s Transportation Assistance Program needs volunteer drivers to transport senior members to and from medical appointments in King County. Volunteers use their personal cars, are reimbursed for mileage, and determine their own schedules—including when, where, and how often they will drive.
 
Group Health’s Special Transportation Program is funded by the Group Health Foundation, Metro Accessible Services, and Senior Services of Seattle/King County. Volunteers do not need to be Group Health members.
 
For more information, please contact the Group Health Resource Line at 206-326-2800 or email resource.L@ghc.org.
 

Shirley Skavlem, 84, of Des Moines, WA, died peacefully, surrounded by those she loved, on November 19, 2015, at Valley Medical Center.

Born November 3, 1931, to Oswald and Nettie (Vanderhoef) Olsen in Sanish, North Dakota, Shirley was the 3rd of four children, Bette (Olsen) Robinson, Glenn Olsen and Van Olsen – all raised on the prairie in North Dakota and later in eastern Montana. Her father was a Norwegian immigrant who worked as a banker.

After graduation from high school in Sidney, MT, Shirley worked as a doctors’ medical assistant for several years. She moved to Seattle in 1956 where she worked at Minor & James Medical Center. It is here she met and married Edward (Ned) Skavlem in 1960. After the birth of their daughter, Terrie Beth, Shirley continued to work in the medical profession until moving to aerospace, first at Bendix Corp. and then at Boeing . . . always stating with a smile: “I loved the patients but I just couldn’t stand working for doctors anymore!”

Born January 7, 1939, Janet Hineman passed away suddenly November 4, 2015.

A SeaTac resident for over 30 years, Janet recently moved to Renton to be closer to family.

Predeceased in 1989 by her husband of 25 years, Robert, Janet is survived by her daughter, Paula (Paul) Pellegrino, and her son, Chris (Tami) Hineman; five grandchildren, Madison & Bobby Pellegrino and Chelsea, Cassidy, & Courtney Hineman; sisters, Donna Gray and Paulette (Gerry) Bowen; and many cousins, nieces and nephews.

Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, December 5, 2015, 11 a.m., at New Life Church, 15711 152nd Ave. SE, Renton, Washington 98058.

Full Obituary & Guestbook: www.bonneywatson.com

Published in The Highline Times Section of The Westside Weekly December 4, 2015.