May 2007

The King County Council recently expanded potential transportation options for county residents by creating a King County Ferry District.

Passenger-only ferry service to South Puget Sound and Vashon Island, or across Lake Washington to the Eastside, could be operated by the ferry district.

"With the impending replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the State Route 520 Bridge, we must seize this opportunity to use our open waters to get people out of gridlock," said Councilman Dow Constantine, D-West Seattle, the legislation's prime sponsor.

"Passenger-only w

The Elliott Bay Water Taxi and Metro shuttles from the dock to Alki, Admiral Way and the West Seattle Junction will be permanent year around under the King County Ferry District approved recently by the King County Council.

A newly revised state law permits the county to levy and use locally property taxes to finance walk-on-only ferries.

The state has a curb on the auto ferry business.

An additional penny in King County's property tax would raise $2.5 million annually for water taxi service, said King County Councilman Dow Constantine, D-West Seattle.

woman sent to prison for

killing, beheading daughter

May 18-Samara Spann was sentenced in King County Superior Court to 23 years in prison for the macabre murder of her six-year-old daughter Kyeimah in White Center on Dec.

Kennedy beamed all the way to the championship game of the West Central District III 3A tournament, only to be blinded again in the district final for a second straight year. This time it was by Auburn-Riverside, coming back against the Lancers late in the game for a 3-2 win at Sprinker Recreation Center May 19.

"We were right there in the game," said Dino Josie, the Lancers' head coach. "We beat them in the league playoffs (final) and they beat us in the district final.

Track and field

West Central District 4A

Marlon Murray of Highline won the 100-meter dash in 11.24 seconds as the West Central District 3A meet concluded Saturday, May 19 at Mount Tahoma in Tacoma.

Mount Rainier's Ryan Prentice placed third in the 1,600-meter run in 4:26.73 and Highline was third in the 1,600 relay in 3:27.34.

Vincente Cordova of Evergreen captured first place in the high jump at 6-2.

No girls from the Highline Times/Des Moines News area broke into the top three at the West Central District 3A meet.

The Mount Rainier Rams had another good season. The traditionally strong team made it to districts, not state, and certainly not fourth place in the state like a couple, three years ago.

But regardless of that, the ladies from there made it to the postseason and a loss to the Auburn Mountainview Lions, 11-1, was not such a bad West Central District III 3A loser-out loss in action at Sprinker Recreation Center May 19.

Afterall, they lost to Kennedy, 1-0, the day before and they very easily could have been right where the Lancers ended up, second.

Pro instruction offered

Local tennis professional Steve Walters again offers area tennis lessons at outdoor locations this summer. Walters, certified Pro 1 by the United States Professional Tennis Association since 1986, has coached at some of the world's top tennis resorts and academies in Florida, California, Texas and Canada. Also he traveled on the men's professional tour, including the 1988 U.S. Open, as a traveling coach for world-ranked pros and nationally-ranked juniors.

As a player, Walters has been ranked No.

In the Dec. 27, 2006 Herald (now don't tell me you threw it out) I wrote a story that described several dreams of things I've always wanted to do in West Seattle. Things I thought would never be possible.

One of these was to spend the night in a place we all know, a place many would consider the best spot in West Seattle. It is an historic place, and one often used as a symbol of the area. So come along with me now as, thanks to the kindness of strangers, one of those dreams comes true.

It is early evening on the last Sunday of April.

Let me tell you something about Howard.

Howard is a seventy-something piano player who has become pretty darn famous in Seattle. He played for years at "Sorry, Charlie's" on Queen Anne and developed a loyal following. Opera divas, jazz singers, rock stars - everyone came to Howard's to sing at the microphone as he played along. Any song, any key. Always incredible.

I began visiting almost two years ago. The first time, my knees were knocking, and I was a nervous wreck. You see, it had been years since I had really sung much of anything.

When you imagine what West Seattle was like in 1907 and look around today, it nearly blows the mind to think of the vast changes in the next 100 years.

Will we be using the West Seattle Bridge, still, with its soaring beauty of today or will there be a sleek 22nd century monorail whisking us all around the region?