September 2009

As went the first play, so went the game for the Decatur football team.

The Gators lost the ball on a fumble on the opening in the Saturday, Sept. 19 action, leading to Spanaway Lake's first touchdown in an eventual 28-21 loss.

The opening kickoff landed behind a Decatur return man, who then lost sight of it as it bounced high and dropped right back down to the Federal Way Memorial Stadium Field Turf.

By that time the Sentinels were rushing in for the kill and they recovered the ball on the Decatur 29-yard line.

They lost the ball on downs at the 28 on an incomplete pass three plays later, but Decatur was still in the hole with the start on their ensuing possession.

The Gators lost ground to their 9-yard line on a 17-yard sack, then got 10 of the yards back on third down, but that left them still having to punt on fourth down.

Spanaway Lake took over the ball 26 yards from paydirt, and marched into the end zone on its eighth play.

West Seattle Wildcats beat the Chief Sealth Seahawks 3 to 2 at the volleyball match Monday, Sept. 21.

Varsity
West Seattle 3 Sealth 2
25-23; 22-25; 25-14; 22-25; 15-8

Westside Highlights:
Emmie Riley: 5 Aces; 11 Kills
Nicole Broten: 4 Aces; 21 Digs
Taylor Magera: 28 Assists

Thanks to Jim Hardy, Westside volleyball assistant coach, for sending the scores.

ArtsWest today, Sept. 22, is launching its 500 at $50 Campaign, a grassroots fundraising response to the current economic situation.
 
“This is an opportunity for us to reach out further into the Greater Seattle community,” said KayLee Jaech, ArtsWest’s development director, “We are inviting individuals, who believe that the arts are essential to a thriving community, to become part of ArtsWest.” 
 
ArtsWest, along with most other local arts organizations, experienced budget shortfalls in 2008 from decreased grants and contributions. 2009 has also seen a significant decline in government, corporate, and foundation funding.
 
“These were stalwart supporters of the arts in Seattle and, when the economy rebounds, we hope they'll support us again,” said Alan Harrison, ArtsWest’s executive director. “But to safeguard the present and take us to the future, ArtsWest and many other arts organizations need local, individual support.
 

The King County Housing Authority (KCHA) has won a national award honoring superior assisted housing and community development programs for the design of the Nia Apartments in White Center.

The 2009 Award of Excellence comes from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), and will be officially presented on Oct. 6 at NAHRO’s National Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C. The KCHA is one of 18 programs nationwide to receive the 2009 award, out of an original pool of 212 merit winners.

Nia Apartments were designed with the White Center area's older, diverse community in mind, according to a release from the NAHRO.

It offers easier access to services and friends, as well as simple living. Sixty-four of the development's units are for seniors, and 17 are for younger disabled individuals. It is built into a hillside, offering increased street presence, retail space and a lower-level lobby, and thus creating a more active urban streetscape.

The mixed-use community offers 40 units with public housing subsidies, and 41 units with project-based Section 8 subsidies.

Want to have some fun this weekend AND learn a thing or two? The sixth annual Sustainable Ballard Festival is this coming Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

First, Undrive to get there, which means that if you can avoid using fossil fuel to attend, awesome! Bus, bike, walk or carpool. Once you arrive, well, there are so many options! You can attend a cooking demo, see how to make cheese at home, learn about solar hot water options, watch a demonstration on designing your vegetable garden, listen to music, grab a delicious local snack and visit chickens and goats in the Urban Farm Zone.

And that’s only a few of the activities available with great stuff for kids, too!

Oh, did I mention the price? FREE, free, free.

Hours are noon to 5 p.m. each day. And, you are welcome to bring your own plate, cup and cutlery to cut down on trash while eating at the festival. If you come before 3 p.m. on Sunday be sure to say hello to me at the Urban Farm Zone.

See you there!

Rhonda lives in Ballard and is the Urban Crop Circle Project Leader for Sustainable Ballard. Questions, Comments, Ideas? You can reach her at Rhonda@sustainableballard.org.

White Center Square, the $11 million, acre-plus development at 15th Avenue Southwest and Southwest 100th Street is quickly rising since construction began in mid-July, thanks in part to government funding and dry summer weather.

It will be the new home of Vong Market, which currently rents the building just north of the site. Con Vong, who is heading the family project, said he is excited to see the major changes on the site each time he drives by.

According to Craig Parrish, superintendent of Bellevue-based Buchanan General Contracting Company, the site's developers, the $6.25 million loan granted by the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and Federal tax credit has helped move construction forward without interruption, as well as the mostly dry summer.

"Some privately-funded construction is experiencing delays because of the economy," said Parrish. "Also, the weather played such a key factor. The summer's been wonderful, good to work in an open area like this. It makes a big difference because we were able to use onsite material which is already placed into position and compacted well."

On Monday, Sept. 21 Explorer West Middle School took part in an international art and literacy project, Pinwheels for Peace by “planting” pinwheels with messages of peace. This was the third year the school has participated. Sept. 21 is also International Peace Day.

Pinwheels for Peace is an art installation project started last year by two Art teachers, Ann Ayers and Ellen McMillan, of Coconut Creek, Fla., as a way for students to express their feelings about world events and attitudes.

In 2005, groups in more than 1,325 locations throughout the world were spinning pinwheels on Sept. 21. There were approximately 500,000 pinwheels spinning throughout the world. The number was expected to be greater in 2009.

At Explorer West, art teacher Sarah Robertson Palmer had her seventh-grade students hand make and decorate metallic pinwheels, which were mounted on drinking straws and affixed to the school's link fence facing 30th Avenue Southwest.

"I wrote 'Peace' and 'Be Happy' and 'Be Peaceful' and drew a peace sign on my pinwheel," said student Amelia Best.

"I wrote 'Say something nice to someone' because that's something peaceful," said student Sam Waller.

Ballard High's Jesse V. Chugani is one of several Seattle Public School students who was announced as a semifinalists in the 55th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

The Seattle students are among 16,000 students nationwide who earned top scores on the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for about 8,200 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $36 million, that will be offered next spring.

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. About 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and approximately half of the finalists will
win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

Seattle students competing for the 55th annual National Merit Scholarship Program:

Lily I. Albrecht, Garfield High

Kate A. Lemly, Garfield High

Jixia Ao, Roosevelt High

Annika Linde, Garfield High

Lillian L. Brown, Garfield High

Jesse V. Chugani, Ballard High

Called to a disturbance outside a Junction bar, an officer dealt with a clearly intoxicated man who did not want his equally intoxicated girlfriend to drive home to Tacoma. The man admitted that he was in no condition to drive and that he planned to take a taxi. The officer called for a cab for the pair but didn't quite believe that the two wouldn't drive. On a hunch, he parked a block away from the couple's car and waited. Indeed, the pair returned to the car and drove off, making abrupt stops and failing to use turn signals. The driver was cited for DUI and was driven from the Southwest Precinct in a taxi. The girlfriend had already been picked up by an acquaintance.

A Ballard teen had a sleepover with six guests (some of whom, she told officers, she didn't know well). The next morning, the visitors seemed to be in a hurry to leave. The hostess later discovered that her computer was missing.

A female jogger reports that while she was on her regular early morning run on Sept. 16, she encountered a man masturbating near the 3200 block of Northwest 70th Street.

Late Wednesday, four armed men were able to gain access to a locked apartment building in the 8600 block of 3rd Northwest. They then knocked on one apartment door and assaulted and tied up the two people inside. (The victims said they didn't understand why they were targeted. Nor did they understand some of the references the suspects were making, for example, “Say hello to XXX.”) The suspects stole a shotgun before leaving the scene. Police interviewed neighbors, who said they hadn't heard the disturbance.