December 2016

by Georgie Bright Kunkel
 
        The Hebrew  Bible states that the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates River was promised by God to Abraham and his descendants. My interest in all this came about after I recently viewed an old film about this time in history. I got to thinking about the Puget Sound region with its beauty and temperate climate. How fortunate am I to have been born into this wonderful part of the world.

Television brings views of war torn countries with famine and pestilence plaguing the population. But here I am in the best place in the world I could have chosen to live my life.

        West Seattle is still neighborhood friendly so I still know most of my close neighbors. In fact we will soon gather for a neighborhood meeting.

A fight at the fiesta
At 1:44 a.m. on Sat., Dec. 10, suspects followed a customer at Fiesta Del Mar restaurant, located at 12803 Ambaum Blvd. S., into the restroom where they attacked him, punching and kicking him.

Burglary on S.W. 173rd Place

A woman residing on the 2100 block of S.W. 173rd Place was attending her husband’s funeral at 10 a.m. on Sat., Dec. 10. While she was away, someone entered and burglarized her home. Officers believe suspects entered through an unlocked back door.

Drunken push-down at Wizards Casino
A man called dispatch just after midnight on Thurs., Dec. 8 to complain about security guards at Wizards Casino, 15739 Ambaum Blvd. S., pushing him down. When officers arrived they discovered that the man was highly intoxicated and had assaulted staff. He was kicked out of the casino for the night.

Attention drivers

By Lindsay Peyton

West Seattle resident José Iñiguez is not the type to back down from a challenge.

In fact, he has been developing the courage to pursue his passion since childhood.

Now, the artist who is equally at home with classical, opera and traditional mariachi music, has developed a unique singing style, in a dramatic tenor tone, and his career is taking off.

He recently performed in the Encanto Holiday Opera, an event he also organized, at the Moore Theatre. And he is currently planning for the year ahead, full of concerts and appearances across the country. He is also working on his first full orchestra album.

Looking back, he said he has come along way – from signing in the apple orchards to major concert halls.

Growing up in the small Washington town of Mattawa, as the son of a farmer with 10 siblings, was difficult at times. He faced discrimination for his ethnicity and his immigrant family’s income. But he also had developed a love of opera, which wasn’t easily accessible or popular among his friends and family.

By Amanda Knox
 
According to Wikipedia, the Cold War was “cold” because the U.S. and Russia never engaged in open conflict. Instead, they exerted their super political and military influence over lesser powers to outplay each other on a global scale, all the while upholding the threat of mutually assured destruction. It was a race of ideologies—West vs. East, capitalism vs. communism, democracy vs. dictatorship—with real stakes that were ever-present for everyone who was alive and aware between 1945 and 1991.
 
Not me, then. I was born in 1987, and the Cold War has always been a part of the past for me. I didn’t grow up with civil defense sirens, or get drilled in school about what to do in case of a nuclear attack. “The Russian threat” was a James Bond trope. In real life, I never felt like Russia was any more threatening than any other foreign country. The game was over. Democracy had won.
 

Caller I.D. is a pretty cool feature. It is helpful to know who is calling so you can:
1) Quickly answer the phone. Or,
Spend time practicing being delighted for a caller you cannot stand. Or,
3) Pretend not to be home at all. (Most convincing if you have a landline.)
I’m hoping that the next advance in phone technology will be TOPIC I.D. It’d be handy to know in things in advance like: “Annoying cousin is in town and planning to drop by.”
Or, “Co-worker is ill and wants to know if you’ll fill in for them.”
And especially: “Kid is calling from college and needs money. Again.”
Most of the time when my father-in-law would call, I would already know what the topic would be. “What’s it doing over at your place?” he’d say. He was referring, of course, to the weather. There is no single topic that is of greater common interest to all people. The fact that my father-in-law only lived a mile away did not matter in the least. “We got about three inches of snow over here,” he might say. “I would tell him, “We only have two.” He would sound triumphant.

Pearl Jam, intimately connected to West Seattle, by lead singer Eddie Vedder's home here will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame next April. The band was inducted in the Performer category.

The announcement came in a press release from the Hall Dec. 20:

"The 32nd Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, presented by Klipsch Audio, will take place on Friday, April 7, 2017 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York for the third time. Ticket on-sale dates will be announced in January. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2017 Induction Ceremony will again have its television premiere on HBO, and a radio broadcast on SiriusXM. Broadcast details will be announced in early 2017.

A limited number of pre-sale tickets will be available for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame members in advance of the public sale date. To be eligible for the member pre-sale, you must be an active Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member by December 31, 2016. Additional public ticket details and presale offers will be announced in the future.

The special exhibition on the 2017 Inductees will open at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on March 30.

If you drive in West Seattle you are aware of the changes made to 35th SW, the conversion to three lanes for much of its length and the reduced speed. There's more coming in the near future. This came before the September announcement by Seattle's Transportation Director and two City Council members who plan to reduce speed limits by 5 miles an hour. The proposal cut speed limits on residential streets from 25 to 20 mph, and in the city center from 35 to 30 mph.

You likely found that the time it takes to get from south to north in West Seattle took more time. Many people chose Delridge Way SW whose speeds were higher. That's going to change.

On Tuesday, December 20, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will lower the speed limit on Delridge Way SW as part of the city’s Vision Zero initiative aimed at enhancing transportation safety and saving lives.

In a press release about the change SDOT said:

Pillowcase bandit makes off with jewelry

Seattle Police responded to a burglary at a home located on the 8700 block of Mary Avenue N.W. on Dec. 7. Police received the report from the father of a woman who lives there. He said that he stays there sometimes and that he was at work at the time of the incident. The door of the apartment had been pushed in. Police suspect the perpetrator used a shoulder to break through the door. A room was rummaged through and custom jewelry was taken. There was also a pillowcase missing. Police suspect that the perpetrator used the pillowcase to carry items from the apartment. No fingerprints were found at the scene.

Keypad crook takes laptop

By Amanda Knox
 
According to Wikipedia, the Cold War was “cold” because the U.S. and Russia never engaged in open conflict. Instead, they exerted their super political and military influence over lesser powers to outplay each other on a global scale, all the while upholding the threat of mutually assured destruction. It was a race of ideologies—West vs. East, capitalism vs. communism, democracy vs. dictatorship—with real stakes that were ever-present for everyone who was alive and aware between 1945 and 1991.
 
Not me, then. I was born in 1987, and the Cold War has always been a part of the past for me. I didn’t grow up with civil defense sirens, or get drilled in school about what to do in case of a nuclear attack. “The Russian threat” was a James Bond trope. In real life, I never felt like Russia was any more threatening than any other foreign country. The game was over. Democracy had won.