August 2009

Gold mine slips away

(Editor's Note: Jerry Robinson is recovering after slipping in the shower and breaking his left hip on July 13. He had a partial hip replacement a few days later and rehabbed at Des Moines Caldwell Health Center.)

This is not the first time a slippery deck has changed my life.
When I was 12, my Dad and some friends owned a gold mine in Bandon, Oregon. This was in the early thirties in the heart of the Great Depression.
Talk about riches and bragging rights at school.
Dad was the promoter and fundraiser and he and a gaggle of engineers and builders created a large ungainly barge above town on a small lake.
The barge had a huge ungainly superstructure sporting a stork-like neck at one end that extended out over and into the shallow lake. It looked like a prehistoric beast.
The plan was to suck rich gold-bearing mud up from the bottom and pump it over a sluice chute, collecting particles of gold on its way back into the lake.
It was a brilliant idea that was good enough to get a bunch of investors. Trouble was they could not keep the hose from plugging up like an elephant with a bad cold.

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West Seattleite to perform Italian operas

Eduardo Villa, a leading Metropolitan Opera tenor, will reprise his roles as Canio in Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci" and Turridu in Mascagni's "Cavalleria rusticana" this weekend at Meydenbauer Theater for Lyric Opera Northwest. He will be joined in "Pagliacci" by West Seattle baritone Craig H. Nim who will sing the role of Tonio this weekend at the 7:30 p.m. Friday night opening and Saturday evening performances.

Villa sang the roles on the Met stage in New York in April and Lyric Opera Northwest secured him to sing the lead roles with an otherwise all Puget Sound area cast. Villa had closed in February at the Met with his riveting presentation in the lead role of Otello. As a personal friend of Lyric Opera Northwest's founders and co-directors, Pamela Casella and Craig Heath Nim, Villa agreed to come to the Northwest to perform the roles here this weekend.

In a second short opera to be performed with "Pagliacci, Cavalleria rusticana" (the pairing is called "Cav-Pag" by opera aficionados), Nim will sing the role of Alfio and daughter Veronica Nim will sing the role of Lola at both the 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday matinee performances.
 

Neighborhood
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Stabbing, hit-and-run highlight Police Blotter

Unwanted squeeze
A King County Sheriff's deputy called for assistance at the Monte Carlo Casino. He had two subjects in custody for assault. A male suspect grabbed the buttock of a female patron. The victim's father stepped in to help and tried to pull the suspect away. The suspect grabbed a glass bottle and hit the father in the head causing a laceration. Police interviewed witnesses at the scene and the men were taken into custody.

Sneaky photographer
Police responded to a call in the area of South 164th St and Military Road South. A woman reported an unknown male was taking pictures of her. He followed her a short distance up the street snapping photos. Police were not able to find the subject in the area.

Hit and run driver comes back
A vehicle, driving at a high rate of speed, was not able to stop for the red light, causing the vehicle to hit a blue truck. The driver fled on foot after the accident, but then returned to the scene one hour later. Police arrested the driver for hit and run with injuries.

Burien stabbing

South Park Bridge to close Saturday, Aug. 29

The King County Road Services Division will close the South Park Bridge over the Duwamish River on 14th/16th Avenue South this Saturday, Aug. 29 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for repairs.

The bridge will be closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic over the bridge and to large marine vessels on the water.



In recent years, the 80-year-old drawbridge has become more difficult to operate due to long-term movement of the bridge piers, according to the King County Department of Transportation.

During the closure, crews will be working to realign the two sides of the drawbridge for smoother opening and closing. Motorists can detour via the First Avenue South Bridge.



Studies of the South Park Bridge show that the condition of the span is severely deteriorated and was made worse during the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake. King County is expected to complete the Environmental Impact Statement process shortly. 

Design of the new bridge will be completed later this year.  The crossing is used by approximately 20,000 vehicles a day, and has a moveable span that opens to accommodate large marine vessels on the river.


Neighborhood
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Sportswatch

Tuesday, Sept. 1
Golf: Kennedy at Mt. Rainier; Highline at Foster.

Thursday, Sept. 3
Football: Mt. Rainier at Tyee; Highline at Lindbergh; Kennedy at Puyallup.
Golf: Highline at Kennedy; Renton at Foster.

Friday, Sept. 4
Football: Hazen at Evergreen; Foster at Renton.

Tuesday, Sept. 8
Girls soccer: Mt. Rainier at Tyee; Foster at Renton; Hazen at Evergreen; Highline at Lindbergh.
Golf: Highline at Mt. Rainier; Lindbergh at Foster; Kennedy at Renton.

Thursday, Sept. 10
Girls soccer: Kennedy at Tyee at Valley Ridge; Mt. Rainier at Evergreen; Highline at Hazen; Foster at Lindbergh.
Football: Hazen at Highline.
Cross country: Class meet at Evergreen.
Girls swimming: Hazen at Evergreen; Highline at Lindbergh; Kennedy at Mt. Rainier; Tyee at Renton.
Golf: Hazen at Foster; Renton at Mt. Rainier.

Friday, Sept. 11
Football: Mt. Rainier at Evergreen; Lindbergh at Foster.

Saturday, Sept. 12
Football: Tyee at Kennedy, 1:30 p.m.
Volleyball: Varsity Jamboree at Kennedy.

Monday, Sept. 14
Golf: Renton at Highline.

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Burien Bearcats battle way into new season

Roar!
Time now to talk a little noisily about the Burien Bearcats and their Junior Football League.
These pad-bearers, 6-14 in age with various weights, classify into five divisions: Juniors, Bantams, Midgets, Pee-Wees and 89ers.
As usual, the Juniors division made a lot of noise last season, getting to the playoffs for the third straight year. And, under head coach George Jackson, offensive coordinator John Howard, and defensive coordinator Milt Chatman, they have owned this league with championships littered all throughout the late 1990s and into the 2000s and consistent playoff qualification the last few years.
But this year the pickings at this point, appear slim for this flagship group of usually 13-14 year olds, with some heavy 12s mixed in at this classification.
Only 13 players so far for the Juniors, and that is not good. But with Jackson, Howard and Chatman, the triumverate of coaching talent, it should be all good before things are through.

Neighborhood
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Slain sound man recalled by Des Moines buddies

Hundreds of people came to the Moore Theater Thursday night, Aug. 13, to celebrate the life of former Des Moines resident and Mt. Rainier High graduate Tom Pfaeffle.
Pfaeffle was a Black Diamond sound engineer and teacher at the Art Institute of Seattle.
Pfaeffle, who was 49, died after he was shot at a hotel in Twisp on July 17. He was he was on vacation with his family.
The alleged shooter, Kino Michael Gomez, has been charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault. Pfaeffle was shot after putting his room key into the wrong door, Twisp police said.
The Seattle Times reported Gomez's attorney, Michael Haas, told Okanogan County Superior Court Judge Jack Burchard on July 20 that Gomez was sleeping with two handguns and began shooting when he woke up because he thought someone was coming into his room.
Pfaeffle worked with many music groups including "Nirvana," "The Black Crowes," "Heart" and "Queensryche. "
He also operated a recording studio in Black Diamond called The Tank. He spent 30 years in the music industry touring and working with bands as a sound engineer as well as teaching and recording.

Neighborhood
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More Tukwila light-rail parking needed soon

The Tukwila Sound Transit station still has that new escalator smell.
During the first week of light rail service an average of 12,000 people road the train every weekday.
"We're encouraged by the large numbers of people who boarded light rail on opening weekend and have started using it every day," Sound Transit Board Chair and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels said in a press release. "This is a new way to think about getting around our region and we know ridership will continue to increase as more people try the system and we expand the line to more communities."
The number of people riding the light rail is expected to nearly double by the end of 2009.
Sound Transit Rail Operator Darius Hakki said he expects the light rail train will be used more once the Sea-Tac Airport/SeaTac City Center station opens. Sound Transit is predicting a weekday average 26,000 riders in 2010 once the new station opens in December.
In a short time more parking spots will be needed at the Tukwila Station, according to Hakki.
“I believe this is the future of the region and I am happy to be a part of it,” said Hakki.

Neighborhood
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Heroes honored for valor at Des Moines Marina

Stevie Kokita and Bruce Johnson were awarded certificates of valor at the Aug. 13 Des Moines City Council meeting.
The other five men who received the award were unable to attend.
Kokita and Johnson were both involved rescuing a man who had driven his car off the Des Moines Marina last June.
Captain Englebert and Lieutenant Osburn from the United States Coast Guard presented the certificates on behalf the Department of Homeland Security and the Coast Guard.
Sam O'Neil was also given a certificate for completion of his Eagle Scout project in Des Moines.
In other business, the city's National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) ordinance was passed after its second public hearing.
The goal of NPDES is to stop and or limit discharges into the city's stormwater system, surface waters, ground water and Puget Sound.
The council amended the ordinance to allow single-family residential lawn watering and lawn watering or other irrigation for businesses and multifamily residences as long as they use best management practices.

Neighborhood
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It'll be a freaky Friday in Burien as local film shown

Highline schools Superintendent John Welch dressed in punked-out teen fashions?
That's what moviegoers will see on the big screen Friday night, Aug. 21 at Lake Burien School Park.
The locally-made "The Day My Parents became Cool" is featured on a double bill with the similarly-themed "Freaky Friday" as part of Burien's Movies in the Park series.
The movie was filmed at Burien's Highline High School and features Supt. Welch and local teens.
"The Day My Parents Became Cool" is a modern costume comedy, and every teenager's worst nightmare.
When a thousand-year comet crosses the night sky, a brave new world is created where adults instantly adopt every teen trend in attire and body image.
This short film was shown at the Seattle International Film Festival and was a winner at the 2009 International Family Film Festival.
Moviegoers are invited to bring lawn chairs, blankets and popcorn to the park, Southwest 148th Street and 16th Avenue Southwest, for the free double feature.
The movies will begin at dusk-around 8-8:30 p.m.

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