April 2009

In mid-March an act of vandalism caused an estimated $150,000 in damages to Chief Sealth High School's permenant site, which is currently under construction.

Besides a garbage can which was set on fire in a classroom, police found graffiti, beer cans, broken wondows and damage to fences.

Police hope that by releasing the following photographs members of the public might be able to identify gang symbols and possibly aid the investigation.

If you have information please contact Detective Nick Bauer at nick.bauer@seattle.gov or (206) 233-7830.

In the 4700 block of 37th Southwest, the intoxicated man stumbled from a taxi without paying his $20 cab fare—and without his “very nice” backpack. The cab driver is holding onto the pack in hopes that the man will call to claim it...and to pay his bill.

Irritated by a 12-year-old skateboarding near her door, a 46-year-old Morgan resident yelled at him, punched him in the back and then kicked him in the thigh, even though the boy had quickly apologized and tried to leave. The woman has a history of over-reacting to circumstances and is known to officers. She was booked into King County Jail for investigation of non-aggravated assault.

When a woman ran into the Morgan Junction Starbucks early Tuesday, someone smashed in her car window and stole a laptop from a rear seat.

A 16-year-old mother has decided she “wants to finish high school and go anywhere she wants.” She asked an officer what would happen if she just left the child outside somewhere. She was told that was illegal and that she should make arrangements with the child's father, who lives out of state. She agreed to do so and said that she had already set a court date to resign custody.

Leading into the season head track coach Tom Burggraff puts a lot of work into the team.

The first meet was on March 26 against Seattle Prep, Chief Sealth, and Bishop Blanchet at the Southwest Athletic Complex.

Junior Markeem Adams ran the 100 meter dash in 11.34 seconds placing second, while senior Aaron Grymes ran it in 11.64 seconds placed fourth in the first meet.

Senior Lizzy Perkins ran the 100 meter dash in 13.34 seconds which tied for third place for the girls. Adams also excelled in the 200 meter dash in 22.24 seconds placing first.

Kris Tollefson, Lizzy Perkins, Tanya Tarabochia, and Madison French all placed second in the 4x100 meter relay with a time of 51.54 seconds.

Ian Keithly, Sean Chapman, Jules Guay-Binion, and Eddie Baker placed second in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of three minutes and 42.9 seconds.

Grymes placed first in the long jump with 20 feet and 7 inches. Perkins also placed first with 15 feet and five inches.

“I was very pleased with the results,” said Burggraff about the first meet.

Getting off to a slow start due to nasty weather canceling their matches, the tennis team is finally starting to get some game time. They beat Cleveland in their first match of the season, but then had a two-week delay as their match against Franklin was canceled from our rainy-spring weather. But that’s what can be expected with spring sports in Seattle.

Back from practicing, they lost the match to Nathan Hale, but defeated Sealth.

The team has a different look than last year. John Larkins is back as the coach after Laura Sugden coached the team last year. His experience in the game of tennis has brought the team back to basics, and they’ve been practicing their serves and follow through at practices.

There are also a lot more underclassmen on the JV team than last year; so many that a JVC team had to be formed to help out the beginners. There are many freshmen that are just learning tennis for the first time this year. They practice, along with most of the JV team at Hiawatha. The Varsity players practice at the courts near Lincoln Park.

The boys’ soccer team has gotten off to a nice start this season. After nine games, their overall record is 5-3-2, while going 5-1-1 in Metro league play. They’ve already far surpassed the number of wins they recorded last year.

“We’re off to a better start than last year,” said junior defender Cooper Sinai- Yunker.

The boys are led by captains Sean McMonigle and Danny Moy. They kicked off the season with a 3-0 loss at Issaquah, but some of the players hadn’t played before, and some key players weren’t eligible yet.

Since then, they have been for the most part, flawless. Their first league game of the year was against Franklin. The Wildcats took control of the game early, and crushed the Quakers 9-1 at Upper Genesee. After tying Ingraham and losing a non-league game against Samammish, they thumped rival Chief Sealth 7-0. Next, they dominated Cleveland for an 8-2 victory, followed by a 6-0 win over Rainier Beach.

Riley Scocco and her mom Kris (who works at Pet Elements) first saw their dog Yoda three years ago at Bellevue Precious Pups and back then, he was "all black."

But at the age of 8 months the Pugapoo (poodle pug combination) sprouted a white mohawk.

"When we groom him he looks like a punk rock dog," Riley said.

Yoda knows how to have fun. He chews the eyes off any stuffed animals in the house and gets into the stuffing of pillows.

"If he even sees a loose thread on a pillow or cushion he will dig at until he gets the stuffing out, " Kris said. There's a kitten in the house
that he has forged a special relationship with. The kitten will ride on Yoda's back around the house, that is until he throws her off.

How to nominate your pet:

Want to nominate your pet for Pet of the Week? Stop by the VCA West Seattle Veterinary Hospital at 5261 California Ave. S.W. and just ask for a form. A nomination is not a guarantee of appearance and your name and photo may appear in our newspaper and online.

The West Seattle Farmers Market is gearing up for an abundant spring harvest with a variety of fresh lettuces and hearty greens, asparagus, carrots, rhubarb and other local farm fresh delights. Farmers will also come with all kinds of plant starts so city dwellers can prepare for their own garden harvests.

Cooking demo May 10 at 11 a.m. with Foraged and Found Edibles
Jeremy Faber of Foraged and Found Edibles will show market shoppers how to make delicious dishes with wild Washington greens and mushrooms. Jeremy is an accomplished chef and loves to introduce others to the wonderful and unique flavors of Washington’s wild bounty. The demo will start at 11am and recipes will be provided.

May Events at the West Seattle City Farmers Market:
May 3 - West Seattle Symphonette
May 10 - Cooking demo with Foraged and Found 11 a.m.
May 24 - Free mule wagon rides for kids of all ages, live music from Clallam County, and free sweet pea starts from Langley Gardens

I taught sixth grade at Burton the first year I was in the Vashon School District. I had had very little experience with sixth grade students, so I was unprepared when the youngsters pulled a trick on me. The class was an interesting group, and I felt I had a good rapport with them.

It happened in the spring during the first warm day after a spell of wet weather. The kids were restless. In the middle of the morning of this bright April day, the class as one body rose out of their seats yelling “Jail break! Jail break!" and every one of them ran outside. Every seat was emptied quickly.

Dumbfounded, I followed them, only to find they had run down the ramp at the south end onto the playfield. They didn’t stop until they reached the baseball backstop where they milled around together, laughing and slapping each other on the back. I called to them and motioned them to come back inside, but they ignored me.

Dear Editor,

Initiative 1015, which requires a background check to avoid placing persons with abusive tendencies in jobs where they take care of people requiring assistance, is a well intentioned and proper piece of legislation, but it does have unintended consequences.

Our daughter lost her job as a home care worker because of an incident that occurred 11 years ago when she punished her son for unacceptable behavior. He was eventually diagnosed with ODD (Oppositional Defiance Disorder).

My wife and I made many trips to their home near Port Orchard to help the family with their house, acreage, barns, etc. over a number of years and we never ever saw Karen lay a hand on her son. And believe me, he was a handful and a half to keep up with. He slept very little and did so much to try the patience of anyone taking care of him.

Dear Editor,

I was interested to read Philip A. Talmadge’s letter regarding the King County Water Taxi in last week’s Herald especially following the record attendance we had on the Opening Day of the 2009 Water Taxi service in West Seattle. People often ask me one of Mr. Talmage’s questions about how the West Seattle-to-downtown Water Taxi performs when compared to the Metro Transit system as a whole. I have good news!

The Water Taxi’s farebox recovery was 39 percent in 2008 when just the costs of ferry service are included. When the cost of the free Water Taxi shuttle is added, farebox recovery for the full system is 26 percent. This performance tops the farebox recovery for King County’s Metro bus system as a whole. Metro’s farebox recovery was approximately 22.6 percent for 2008. Mr. Talmadge is correct that Metro uses 25 percent as a system-wide goal.