May 2017

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

High schools
Boys soccer
Metro League regular season play concludes Thursday, when West Seattle hosts Nathan Hale and Ballard gets a visit from Cleveland at 4 p.m.
Chief Sealth has a bye.

Fastpitch
Kennedy visits Hazen for a 4 p.m. game Thursday and Mount Rainier drops in on Kentlake at 7 p.m.
Kennedy travels to Seattle Christian for a 4 p.m. non-league game Friday.
Chief Sealth is at home facing Seattle Prep at 4 p.m. Thursday, with Foster hosting Fife and Evergreen visiting White River at the same time.
Highline is set to entertain Tyee at 4 p.m. Wednesday and Highline hosts Renton at 3:30 p.m. Thursday with Tyee going to River Ridge for a 4 p.m. game.
Highline visits Federal Way at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Seattle Christian also visits Cascade Christian for a 4 p.m. game Wednesday.

Baseball
Metro League tournament action continues Wednesday, with games at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Steve Cox Memorial Park's Mel Olson Stadium in White Center and at the Southwest Athletic Complex.

For many years, the neighborhoods along the Duwamish River have been impacted by the Superfund clean-up that has been occurring in and along the river. For that reason, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods is again seeking proposals to help fund community-based projects that increase the sustainability of neighborhoods along the Duwamish River. Proposals to the Duwamish River Opportunity Fund should address such topics as job training, economic development, access to healthy food, affordable housing strategies, environmental development or restoration, or major community development activities that will have long-term, sustainable impacts. The total amount of funding is $250,000.

Applicants are encouraged to attend a workshop before applying. These workshops will review the application process and discuss the requirements for a good proposal. The workshops will be held:

Brian DeRoy

Port of Seattle

A bustling airport at first glance may not seem like a place for charity and community building, but for many area residents, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport provides a lifeline.
The Port of Seattle, which operates Sea-Tac Airport, recently named Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, the Des Moines Area Food Bank and HMSHost among its Green Gateway Award winners.
All three businesses play key roles in Sea-Tac’s innovative food donation program.
HMSHost, who operates many restaurants and food stands at Sea-Tac, donated 31,000 meals – (close to 40,000 pounds of food) through the food donation program. The company also donated $12,000 and 40 backpacks to support the Des Moines Area Food Bank’s Weekend Backpack Program for children.

Information from South Seattle College

The TRiO Educational Opportunity Center (EOC) at South Seattle College is now open to community members, offering free one-on-one help for adults with questions about paying for and attending college.

EOC advisors provide assistance with financial aid (FAFSA), funding options, career guidance and college admissions applications to qualified adults who seek to enter or continue an academic or vocational degree or certificate program, whether that program is at South Seattle College or another college or university in the area. Staff also refer clients to programs that provide support with English language proficiency, high school completion and adult basic education.

Sponsored by the US Department of Education Federal TRiO Programs, the EOC welcomes qualified adults, and aims to provide support to low-income, first-generation (first in the family to attend college) and veteran students (including family members) in an effort to increase the number of adults who enroll and complete an academic or vocational program.

By Ken Robinson

The Junction parking story
The story by Patrick Robinson about the free parking lots in the West Seattle Junction is long. But it is emblematic of a city-wide problem that has been looming for years: parking.

The social engineering at play with the Seattle City Council that would have us all ride the bus or bike to do our shopping means an undercurrent of interest in getting us to eschew the automobile. Like smoking cigarettes, people will quit when they really want to do so. Still, this city and others have successfully limited where you can smoke. And they are doing that with where you can park.
One of the great off-putting reasons to stay on our side of the bridge is the dearth of parking to be found in Seattle, that other big town east of ‘Wesseattle’. Ballard is bad already and getting worse for parking. Burien has lots of free or time-limited parking but Diamond lots are creeping in.

by Teanna Gentry

What a crazy market we are living in! The housing market that is. This week I was reading the Seattle Magazine and saw our little town of Burien was featured as a "Place to Live" in Washington. How cool! And this article just reaffirms what we are all seeing. Everyone is moving to Westside Seattle. Homes are getting 10-20 offers, selling in hours, and people are even paying in cold hard cash just to snag their prized house. From what I am hearing, it's not going to get any better. 

By Lindsay Peyton

Gasps emanated from the crowd gathered at the Quiet Skies Puget Sound community forum when lawyer Steve Edmiston projected one of the first slides of his presentation.

He showed a map published by the Environmental Projection Agency, followed by an alarming statistic, placing Des Moines’ Mount Rainier High School in the highest percentile area of risk of cancer in the nation.

The campus’ location ranked in the same 95 to 100 percent risk range for respiratory hazard.

The data hit home for Edmiston’s audience, because Mt. Rainier is not only where a number of local students attend high school, but also exactly where they were sitting during the forum.

The school’s gym was full of concerned community members, who gathered on the evening of Wednesday, April 26, to learn more about health and environmental impacts of the expanding airport just 4 miles away.

To help his audience understand the severity of the problem, Edmiston shared his personal story of being diagnosed with both Leukemia and Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

The start of Discover Burien’s Farmers Market! Opening day is Thursday, May 4th 2017, 11am to 6pm located at Town Square Park 5th Ave SW and SW 152nd ST. Many of your favorite vendors as well as new vendors will be on hand offering their local and handmade wares. As always, the Farmers Market is open every Thursday, 11am to 6pm, May through October. Rain or Shine, the Market is always open!

Don’t forget to have the kids stop by the “Fruit is Fast Food” cart and get a fresh piece of fruit. Or take a break around lunch time listening to the enjoyable music of Eric “Two Scoops” Moore and Hendry Witherspoon as they jazz it up while you feast.

Shop local, eat local, and help us create a sustainable community. Support your local Farmers Market and enjoy the freshest produce and quality handmade gifts.

Alexandra (Alix) Pye passed away peacefully April 9, 2017 at West Seattle’s Providence Mt. St. Vincent, her home since 2009.
      A native of Faribault, Minnesota, the family’s early connection to Seattle and her passion for the outdoors brought her West in 1953. She sank roots in Alki, where she lived an active community life for 45 years. An Alki News Bulletin reported, “Survey the crowd in some civic event in West Seattle and chances are you’ll spot Alexandra Pye. Whether at Greater Harbor 2000, at Alki Community Council meetings, or sweeping leaves off the Schmitz Park Bridge sidewalk, the ubiquitous Ms. Pye seems to be there.”
        A 1948 graduate of Antioch College and the University of Minnesota’s School of Social Work (1953), she began her career working with the aging as the second director of Seattle’s Hamilton House. Her first overseas adventure (1957) was to Germany as recreation support to the U.S. Army’s Special Services. In 1959 she returned to work with developmentally-disabled residents at Seattle’s Fircrest School.