September 2009

"Up"
Directed by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson
Rated PG
(Three and one half stars)

“Up,” Pixar Studio’s latest animated feature, almost collapses under the weight of plot exposition before it even has a chance to get started.

The film opens with a long montage that follows the arc of Carl Fredricksen’s (voiced by Ed Asner) life from a young boy devoted to the exploits of famed explorer, Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer), to an aged widower consigned to a walker and a breakfast of bran flakes.

It’s a warm and fuzzy piece of filmmaking, sketching his quiet but happy marriage to his childhood sweetheart, Ellie (Elie Docter)—but it’s just not very entertaining.]

Then there’s a knock on Mr. Fredricksen’s door.

Enter Russell (Jordan Nagai), an ambitious young Wilderness Explorer bent on assisting the unsuspecting—and in this case unappreciative—elderly in order to earn a coveted merit badge.

Ted Nutting, a 12-year veteran math teacher at Ballard High School, was presented the first ever PI Award for excellence in math education during a Sept. 17 Ballard PTSA meeting.

The award was given to Nutting by Where's the Math?, a non-partisan advocacy group of parents, educators, and community members in Washington, for raising the Advanced Placement test scores of his AP Calculus students to the highest in the Seattle School District over the last two years.

Ballard High School Principal Phil Brockman said the test scores are just amazing.

"He knows how to do it," Brockman said. "He knows how to reach those kids."

In 2007, Nutting was selected to present "The Ballard Miracle: How AP Calculus Scores Quickly Rose from the Depths to the Stratosphere" to a conference of superintendents.

Brockman said Nutting's success in teaching comes from his high expectations of students and his knowledge of the curriculum.

"The bottom line of every great teacher is knowing what to teach and how to teach it," Brockman said. "He knows mathematics. He knows that material forward and backward."

After a two-month summer break for the prosecutors, defenders, judge and jurors, the Perugia, Italy murder trial of West Seattle resident and University of Washington student Amanda Knox has resumed.

Knox, who turned 22 on July 9, has been in prison for nearly two years on suspicion of sexually assaulting and murdering her British roommate Meredith Kercher Nov. 1, 2007 during her college studies there. More than one year passed while she awaited trial, which began Jan. 16 of this year.

Also accused is Raffaele Sollecito, her boyfriend at the time of the murder, and Rudy Guede, who was already found guilty of the murder and is serving his sentence.

It is the custom of workers in Italy and other European nations to take a summer siesta to escape the heat. But Knox and her prison mates inside Capanne Prison were confined to near 100 degree temperatures. Her family acknowledged that the heat, monotony and anticipation of more court hearings have taken a toll on Knox.

On Sept. 18 at about 12:03 p.m., Seattle police arrested two males suspected of the Sept. 16 robbery of Westside Pharmacy, located on the 5400 block of California Avenue Southwest.

On Sept. 16th at approximately 2:20 p.m. the suspect entered the pharmacy and pushed the female clerk against the wall, pointed a gun at her and demanded drugs and money. The suspect stole cash from the register and a bag full of prescription drugs. A witness saw the suspect run to a waiting car and throw a bag into the trunk. The suspect quickly got into the car and the vehicle sped off.

On Sept. 18 at 12:03 p.m. robbery detectives assigned to the case were conducting a follow-up investigation in the field. Detectives arrived at an address in the 4000 block of 53rd Avenue Southwest and spotted three male subjects standing around what they believed to be the suspect vehicle.

When detectives approached the three men and identified themselves as police, one subject ran. The fleeing subject matched the description of the primary robbery suspect. He was apprehended in a nearby elementary schoolyard by responding uniformed patrol officers.

West Seattle High graduate Sophia Sandvig will represent the community in a teen pageant Oct. 11 at the University of Washington.

If she wins Sandvig will get an all-expense paid trip to represent Seattle at the Cities of America National Competition in Orlando, Fla.

“As a born and raised West Seattleite, I am pleased to represent my beautiful and diverse community in this year’s Miss Teen Seattle Pageant," she said. "I graduated with honors from West Seattle High School where I participated in volleyball, soccer, swimming, tennis, debate club and the school’s newspaper. Since the third grade I have always played sports, admiring the fashion world from afar. As a result, I am very excited for the chance to trade in my cleats for high heels to perform on a different stage."

For 22 years I have been coming home to Ballard in the fall. After several weeks in the family cottage, home in Seattle feels strange at first until I’m sucked into the pile of unopened mail and old messages.

But the flight west is always a time for reflection, thinking back to previous summers and looking ahead to the upcoming year.

Three summers ago my best friend from college died of breast cancer on Sept 11. So when I returned home to a message from a local woman asking me to remind readers that October is state and nationally-designated as Breast Cancer Awareness Month it touched a nerve.

Frederica Elliott wrote that her mother had died of breast cancer at a relatively young age; she worried that in this economy women over 40 might skip their annual mammogram.

My friend Lisa had just turned 46 when she died; we both had August birthdays. She had hoped to at least be able to watch her older son graduate from high school but it didn’t work out that way. She was from Maine; when I am back east I sometimes turn toward a voice because I think it is hers.

On September 17, at approximately 3:22 p.m., Federal Way officers were dispatched to a shooting at the King County Metro Transit Center located at 31621 23rd Avenue.

When officers arrived, a 19-year-old male victim of Federal Way was located on the transit center platform suffering from life threatening gunshot wounds.

The preliminary information indicates prior to the shooting the victim was involved in a verbal altercation.

One subject shot the victim, and two subjects fled the scene.

A Federal Way Police Officer in the area of the transit center heard the shots fired and took immediate action contacting witnesses that provided the direction of the two subjects.

The officer took one 20-year-old male immediately into custody.

He was transported to the station as a person of interest. Following interviews with detectives he was released and remains a witness to the crime.

Witnesses at the scene identified the direction of the second fleeing subject. Following a brief K-9 track the second subject was contacted.

Dear Editor,

A warm thanks to talented Steve Shay for writing the King of the Hobos article about "Inkman" Tommy Maras.

It brought back a flood of memories from 1973, when I had just graduated from Richland High School in the Tri-Cities, and convinced a buddy to come spend two weeks "riding the rails" across America. What an adventure it was.

My mom had died of cancer a bit earlier, and this was my pass into a new era of life. When word got out to the moms of all my friends, they called begging me not to go. I stood my ground and went anyway, with a back pack full of gear.

I had studied judo and akido and prior to the trip, I had carried a 65-pound pack to the summit of Mt. Rainier, so I was a strong and confident 18-year-old Eagle Scout who could do anything.

It turned out to be one of the most important adventures of my life. I did my homework before hand, and learned that we would need gloves (trains are dirty and rusty), glasses to protect your eyes, (specks fly of those old metal box cars) and lots of water (water can be hard to find in rail yards) So backpacks in hand, we crossed Montana and made it to St. Paul, Minn.

The Southwest Pool, 2801 S.W. Thistle St., is now expected to remain closed at least through Oct. 4, according to the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department.

All swim programs are canceled through that date. Current lesson participants will receive a credit on their account for the canceled classes, according to Parks. A firm date for the pool’s reopening has not yet been identified.
 
During a maintenance closure to comply with the Virginia Graeme Baker Act, which calls for new drain covers, a leak was discovered under the pool deck. Workers are attempting to fix the leak without tearing up the pool deck.

If excavation is not necessary, the pool could open as early as Oct. 4. If excavation is necessary, the pool will likely be closed longer.
 
To check for the latest updates, call the pool at (206) 684-7440, visit the Web page here.
 

Gun shots on 152nd
Multiple police cars sped down 152nd on Tuesday, September 22, at 2 p.m. They were responding to a call of shots fired.
A man had recently inherited a pistol and was test firing it. The subject was cooperative with police and the pistol was taken as evidence.

The case will be referred to the prosecutor's office for possible filing of charges for discharging a pistol within city limits.

Driver struck mother and three children
King County prosecutors have filed vehicular assault and felony hit-and-run charges against a Tukwila man accused of striking a woman and her three children, including infant twins who were riding in the stroller.

Prosecutors contend that John Simmons, 22, was driving drunk at 6:10 p.m. on Aug 30 when he veered off the road at a Burien intersection and struck the family.

Simmons returned to the street and grazed a building before coming to a halt after striking a utility pole, according to police reports. His car wrecked, Simmons allegedly tried to flee the scene on foot but was tackled by a bystander and restrained until police arrived.