April 2008

The spirit of Steve Cox, like the chilly wind, was felt by many on the field and in the stands of the newly upgraded Steve Cox Memorial Park during Saturday's dedication.

Family, friends, dignitaries, and many King County police and firefighters honored the deputy who died in the line of duty just over a year ago. But the occasion seemed to warmed things up in a hurry.

King County provided $430,000 toward the renovation of the park, formerly known as White Center Field. The name "Mel Olson Stadium," referring to the structure itself on park grounds, will remain.

This fall, the Department of Neighborhoods will be providing free trees for planting on residential streets in Seattle neighborhoods.

Applications are accepted from groups of neighbors and are due on Friday, August 15, 2008.

This is the Tree Fund's 13th year, having planted 19,000 trees, and investing nearly $700,000 in making Seattle a greener city.

King County's newly released 2007 Annual Growth Report shows that the county is growing more diverse and more densely populated, with more rich and poor people.

The increase in diversity is most pronounced in suburban cities beyond Seattle, the study found.

Communities in south and east King County have experienced doubling and tripling of Latino, Asian and African-American populations since 1990 while Seattle's population of color has held relatively steady.

The annual reports, which first began publication in 1983, provide population, economic and housing inf

When Explorer West Middle School presented a musical production of Alice in Wonderland, faculty drama teacher and director David Kelly treated the audience to a psychological juggling act, literally.

He cast three Alice's. Like braiding hair, the three stars intertwined what Kelly described as "different aspects" of the character into one tight statement, and in some scenes appeared together on stage.

He said the youngest Alice has the most wanderlust, and views the other two as if seeing herself in a dream. The second Alice transitions between the first and third.

The Seattle School District has named a chief information officer and a director of strategic planning.

Sherri Bealkowski joined the district as the interim chief information officer.

Students at West Seattle Elementary were treated to a unique experience recently when they recorded stories using their own voices at Jack Straw Productions, a non-profit audio facility.

This is the second time West Seattle Elementary multi-arts teacher Laurel Anne White has taken her kids to Jack Straw Productions, where she has also worked as a voice and reading coach the last 14 years.

Jack Straw Productions is based in the University District and was started in 1962.

The "Stop Youth Drinking, Start Thinking Coalition Project" has a message that is sobering.

The project coalition has partnered with Southwest Youth and Family Services to offer free workshops with strategies for teens to connect with parents, not alcohol or drugs.

Madison School was chosen for the survey, and it qualified for the grant because 23 percent of its eighth graders surveyed acknowledged drinking alcohol.

Sean Keller, a seventh-grader at Madison Middle School, took second place last Friday in the statewide Washington Geographic Bee in Tacoma.

Competition began in the morning, with the field of 100 school champions split among five separate, but identical, preliminary rounds. The judge for Keller's round was particularly distinguished - she was Caitlin Snaring, the 2007 National Champion from Redmond. The preliminary round consisted of eight questions each. Keller correctly answered all eight.

White Center is experiencing something of a local renaissance and it's been underway for nearly two years now.

The White Center Arts Alliance and Cafe Rozella are the inspiration for the latest flowering of this new growth and its happening in an unlikely place - the White Center Glass and Upholstery at 9443 Delridge Way S.W. A new art space and bistro called All About Art is taking shape in a space the owners originally planned on using for their glass business.

A large scale mural is now being painted on the entire back or west face of the building on 17th Street.

The Metropolitan King County Council has approved the transfer to the King County of $426,000 from the defunct project for transit improvements that connect Ballard and West Seattle with downtown.

"These funds will help us to improve service on one of the busiest transit corridors in the region," said council vice chair Dow Constantine, whose district includes West Seattle.