March 2009

He’s at it again!

One more time, Randy Leskovar has used the West Seattle Herald to publish a hateful screed against homosexuals and those who believe in constitutionally protected rights for all individuals in a secular democracy. By using the title Pastor and claiming to speak for god, Leskovar believes he is right and anyone who has a different opinion or belief is wrong.

Never mind that his opinions on the institution of marriage and the nature of homosexuality are historically and scientifically, respectively, inaccurate. Leskovar’s letter is little more than a sermon more appropriate for the pulpit or the church newsletter. He likes to quote scripture to substantiate his beliefs but where are the Christian values of love, compassion, acceptance and tolerance?

The is in regards to the Letter to the Editor from Randy Leskovar on the destructiveness of homosexuality.

As fellow Christians, it is very disheartening to see Randy Leskovar use the bible to denounce members of our community while professing his political views. While anyone can point to bible verses to support their views (including polygamy, slavery, and the stoning of rebellious children, Deut. 21:18-21), there is no evidence in the New Testament that Jesus ever demonized anybody. Quite to the contrary, he repeatedly, by his words and his actions, taught us to welcome the stranger, love our neighbor, and include those who had previously been marginalized by society.

We are writing to let the West Seattle community know that there are a growing number of Christian congregations and individuals that do not share Pastor Leskovar’s point of view, but rather strive to emulate a loving God and to do as Jesus did: provide a place in our hearts and our faith communities where ALL are truly welcomed, supported, and loved. We are members of such a community and welcome people of all sexual orientations and gender identities into the life and mission of our congregation.

Two women, ages 22 and 27, were booked into King County Jail after officers were dispatched to quell a disturbance involving 30 people at a Fremont bar. One of the women repeatedly punched a man who was trying to break up her assault on another patron. Another victim notes that as he pulled the second woman from the melee, she “recklessly” threw a pint glass up and over her head into the crowd, where it smacked into another victim, lacerating his face. Police video shows the two suspects yelling and screaming throughout the reading of their Miranda warnings. As an added highlight, one of the women refused to cooperate during a search, swearing that she was going to file a sexual harassment complaint against officers who were “enjoying looking at her private areas.”

Even though he had secured his bike with a lock, a cyclist was dismayed to find his ride missing from a rack in the 8500 block of Greenwood Avenue North on Thursday evening.

Amongst the number of apartments and condos popping up in Ballard, Ballard Apartments, LLC, an affiliate of the Pacific Northwest division of Trammell Crow Residential, has announced the completion of its construction of Leva on Market apartments.

The new 260-unit apartment building is located on the south side of Market Street between 15th and 17th avenues.

One building is eight stories, while the other is six stories tall above an underground parking garage.

Trammell Crow expects residents to begin moving in the 22 studios, 162 one-bedrooms, 67 two-bedrooms and nine live-work lofts, this month.

The new housing is also accompanied with an outdoor plaza and ground-floor retail space along Market Street.

“These new apartment homes will offer residents the opportunity to live in the first new luxury apartment community to be created in Ballard in almost 20 years,” said Sean G. Hyatt, managingin director of TCR’s local office in a news release.

Other recent condo and apartment developments like Hjarta and Canal Station II, both condos in Ballard, still have open units in their buildings.

Two students from marketing programs at West Seattle High have qualified to participate in the International Career Development Conference to be held April 28 to May 2 in Anaheim, Calif .

Students from the three Seattle high schools, Garfield, Roosevelt and West Seattle, participated in the state DECA competitions from March 5 to March 8 at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. A total of 27 students from Seattle Public Schools competed with about 3,100 students from around the state.

The five Seattle Public Schools students advancing to the international conference are:
• Sumeet Chadha and Tyson Kimball, West Seattle, who finished fifth in Advertising Team, advised by teacher Michelle Sloan;
• Austin Dickerson, Garfield, who finished fourth in Automotive Service Marketing; advised by teacher Eric Blazevic;
• Carol Brown, Garfield, who finished sixth in Marketing Management, advised by teacher Eric Blazevic; and
• Maggie Montgomery, Roosevelt, who finished sixth in Food Marketing, advised by teacher Lovenia Smith.

Tonight at 9 p.m. Easy Street Records will be hosting a special event to help celebrate the re-release of Pearl Jam’s debut album "Ten."

The store will be serving free pizza and soda plus cheap beer on sale all night while they play live and rare Pearl Jam songs from the "Ten" era.

All attendees will be entered to win tons of fabulous prizes including Pearl Jam T-shirts, an autographed Gorge box set, Ten Club memberships, and a few more surprises.

Finally, at midnight anyone who purchases one of the four new versions of "Ten" will received a limited edition lithograph.

Special sale prices for the reissues are as follows:

$15.99 (2 CD edition)
$19.99 (2 LP edition)
$29.99 (2 CD/ 1 DVD: Deluxe Edition)
$139.99 (2 CD/ 1 CS/ 1 DVD/ 4 LP: Super Deluxe Box Set Edition)

Knowing her daughter was wanted on a felony warrant, a local mom waited until the teen was in the shower before calling police to take her away. The girl was booked into the Youth Service Center for possession of a stolen vehicle.

In Highland Park, a woman was working at home while her car was in the shop. When she heard her dogs bark, she discovered that a basement window had been opened halfway and that the screen was missing. Officers noted that the home was bordered by a secluded area and that a trail let straight into her yard. An area check was negative.

Two cars suffered severe fire damage early Monday in the 3300 block of 31st Southwest. Officers found two plastic gasoline cans nearby and discovered that one of the cars had been stolen from Capitol Hill late Sunday. (The other damaged car, which was parked next to the stolen vehicle, belonged to a neighborhood resident.) To add to the mystery, although the burned car had stolen plates, and its real plates (and its rear bumper) had been left behind at the scene of a hit and run accident earlier in the evening on Admiral Way.

Though Seattle's housing and economic situation are not good, it's not as dire as some parts of the country, said experts in the industries at a panel discussion in front of the Seattle City Council Monday.

Susan Greenwald, director of single-family operations at Homestreet Bank, said nationally the percentage of homes either in foreclosure or with loans in delinquency is roughly just below 12 percent. In Washington State, it's 6.58 percent.

While it's better than the national average, Greenwald said she has never seen numbers that high in Seattle during her 30 years in the business.

"We have some real challenges ahead," she said.

Greenwald spoke with four other panelists from 10 a.m to noon, March 23 at a special council briefing titled,“The State of the Regional Economy:  A Panel Discussion Among Local Experts," chaired by council president Richard Conlin.

Greenwald attributes the state's lower number to less mortgage fraud against lenders here than other parts of the nation, such as Michigan.

(Editor’s Note: Jerry Robinson wrote this column in January 1979. He remains immortal.)

I think I’ve finally done it. Achieved immortality.

I approached it last month when, after two years of restoration work, I took my little Austin-Healey for a test run and was so delighted that everything worked…Till I came to a stop sign and went right through.

I escaped unscathed because there were no cars coming the other way. Some of you will marvel at that—and will call it luck.
Not luck, my friend.

I recall the time I was steelheading on the Green when I stumbled over a slippery rock and went floating down for a quarter of a mile.
All I got was wet. Luck?

Well, Sunday I gave it the ultimate test.

For 10 years there has been a big stand of thornbush in our front yard. Like any good suburbanite I spent Sunday morning rooting out those abysmal trees and after loading them in the pickup headed for the South Park dump. As I headed out the driveway I spotted old Earl walking his dog. You know old Earl. He’s not really that old. We just call him that because he always makes like Socrates and drops philosophy on you.

As a gay male, I am highly offended by the homophobic letters you constantly publish from Pastor Randy Leskovar from the Calvary Chapel.

Since your paper insists on publishing these anti-gay letters, I wish to cancel my subscription immediately. I hope your editor changes his attitude and stops printing this garbage.

Jeff Saily
Owner, Merry Maids