October 2009

The Discover Burien Association has appointed Steve Gilbert as their new executive director.

Starting the first week of November, Gilbert will be charged with promoting Burien as "The Place to Be."

"It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to work with such a great organization and I am excited to get started. Burien is a true gem in the Northwest and a tremendous community. There are so many great things about it and yet it is full of opportunities." said Gilbert. "This is the right time for businesses to look to Burien as a great place to do business."

Lori Alden, branch manager of Prudential Northwest Realty and Associates and Discover Burien chair said, "We are so excited to have someone of Steve's caliber to lead the organization. He has strong ties with the business and commercial real estate communities, as well as, working with volunteers on economic development initiatives.

"We had a lot of great people interested in the position, but Steve brought all of the enthusiasm, work ethic, and skills we needed. He will have his plate full here, but he has a tremendous support group of all the members that make up the Discover Burien Association."

Lydia Davis will visit Ballard High School on Nov. 4, courtesy of Seattle Arts and Lectures’ Writers in the Schools program.

Davis will read from her work, talk about her life in literature and answer questions from the students. She will speak to one class of ninth graders at 10:25 a.m.

The author of four collections of short fiction, a novel and numerous translations of French literature, Davis has always played with, and broken the rules of, fiction.

She has taken everything a textbook story should be – structural devices, plot points, character development – and shaken it up. She has written stories that resist plot, stories with more characters than can be fully developed and stories in the form of poems.

Davis’ work is revered by a Los Angeles Times book reviewer for “defining problems precisely and economically,” for presenting in any given
story “at least two ways of understanding any given situation.”

Kate Moses from Salon writes, "Introspective and subversive, ironic and playful, obsessive and funny, Davis' stories reveal the ratcheting of the imagination and the ineffable movement of the mind over the varied textures of daily life."

Ballard High School tennis player Neal Berg made it to the KingCo 4A quarterfinals Oct. 26 but was defeated in three sets.

Berg was beaten by a Garfield player. The scores from the match were 2-6, 6-0 and 6-2.

"It was kind of a bummer," coach Charles Brenner said. "You always hope your teams are going to go far."

The Beavers finished their 2009 season Oct. 20 with a final record of 1-9.

Berg had an 8-2 individual record in the regular season.

The Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board will review controls and incentives for the historic 80-year-old Sanctuary at Admiral, located at 2656 42nd Ave. S.W., on Nov. 4.

Now used as a reception hall, the building was originally the Sixth Church of Christ, Scientist. Built in 1929, the church held its first service on Jan. 1, 1930 and was dedicated on Feb. 8, 1942.

See related story here.

Architect Gerald C. Field designed a building that is considered Art Deco style, with formal geometry and diverse brickwork patterns. It was built by Niel McDonald and construction costs totaled $37,000.

The Church of Christian Scientist was started in 1875 with the publication of “Science and Health with a Key to the Scriptures,” by church founder Mary Baker Eddy. According to the building’s landmark nomination, the Sixth Church of Christ, Scientist came to West Seattle as a need for religious services grew along with the population grew.

The Planning, Land Use, and Neighborhoods Committee of the City Council has reviewed the changes to the multifamily zoning provisions proposed by Mayor Greg Nickels in May 2009, and will hold a public hearing on the proposal Nov. 30 at 5:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 2nd floor, Seattle City Hall, 600 Fourth Ave.

The complex proposal has been split up into two pieces of legislation. The first piece of legislation (Multifamily Bill No. 1) would:

- Revise the standards for Midrise and Highrise zones.

- Change the parking requirements for all multifamily zones.

- Add rooftop height exceptions in all multifamily zones to encourage sustainable features, such as wind energy power generators.

- Simplify the code by combining the rules for small institutions (such as schools and child care centers) for single family and multifamily zones into one chapter, consolidating the use provisions in multifamily zones into a chart, and making similar improvements.

- Add incentive zoning options for Midrise and Highrise zones, including affordable housing, public open space, green street setbacks, and landmark preservation.

- Clarify the provisions for measurements.

In partnership with the Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club, Southwest Youth and Family Services and Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, the city is calling on young artists to depict the violence prevention theme of the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative.

Young artists are encouraged to submit original artwork showing young people in safe and positive environments or other images depicting the message of stopping youth violence. The artwork should include a tagline about preventing youth violence. The selected artwork will be used in communication materials for the initiative.

“This contest is an educational effort to share with children and young people that youth violence can be prevented and should not be tolerated,” said Initiative Director Mariko Lockhart. “We want the artwork of this initiative to come directly from the youth in our community because we know they have an enormous capacity to portray simple and remarkable ideas through art and words in a straightforward way.”

Although I complained about it for months, I knew if I wanted to be officially divorced, I was going to have to fill out all of the paper work myself.

For 14 years, I was the one that filed our taxes, I was in charge of our finances, and I filled out the kids’ school forms and medical forms, so why would I expect the divorce to be any different? Plus, I was the one who needed closure.

At the time, filling out some forms while the kids played seemed quite doable. But soon enough, “some” forms, turned into 49 forms, all in a language I didn’t understand. I believe it’s called legalese, but really it should be called bullshit.

I rarely felt sentimental or any emotion besides frustration while wading through the bullshit, so I was surprised to find myself crying on the morning I was scheduled to file the papers with the courthouse.

“I’m getting divorced today,” I cried to my mom when she showed up to watch the kids.

“I know,” she said.

“I’m so tired of doing everything myself. Why do I have to take care of everyone and everything?”

“I don’t know,” she said and gave me a hug.

Mayoral candidate Mike McGinn held a town hall meeting Oct 27 at the Ballard Community Center, and once again the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement plan was a major topic.

After a number of questions about the post-viaduct waterfront, during which McGinn said he wants to know where the money for cost overruns is coming from before it gets built and that his favored surface option would not cause gridlock, the candidate decided it was time to move on.

"We've been killing the viaduct here, and I don't know if we are getting anywhere," McGinn said to laughs from the approximately 40 people in attendance.

When asked how he would keep Nickelsville from turning into McGinnville, the candidate said he would would mobilize more resources and be more responsive than the current administration.

He said homeless people with mental and substance abuse issues need to have housing that is connected to services. The city needs to look at bringing in new kinds of low-cost housing to serve other homeless populations, he said.

One meeting attendee expressed concern over McGinn's statement that he would look at taking over the schools if they were not performing well.

Sports Roundup

Volleyball

Kennedy 3, Mt. Rainier 0

The Kennedy Catholic High School girls volleyball team struck for a 25-21, 25-21, 25-23 victory over Seamount League rival Mount Rainier last Tuesday.

Malentina Timoteo racked up 19 digs and Alina Moss had one ace, 10 digs and three kills. Kathleen Mulligan chipped in eight digs, two blocks and 11 kills while Christina Postnikoff had two aces, five digs and 17 assists. Amanda Yapp added two blocks.

SCS 3, Orting 1

Seattle Christian School prevailed against Orting last Tuesday, Oct. 20.

Highline 3, Renton 0

Renton was the Pirates’ latest victim in a Tuesday, Oct. 20 match.

Hazen-Tyee

The score of the Tuesday, Oct. 20 action was not reported.

Evergreen 3, Lindbergh 1

Evergreen knocked off the Eagles of Lindbergh by a 3-1 match score last Tuesday.

Girls soccer

Foster 4, Tyee 4

Foster and Tyee tied each other at 4-4 in a wild high-scoring contest at Highline Stadium last Tuesday, Oct. 20.

Mt. R. 2, Lindbergh 2

It may not have been easy, but the Ballard High School volleyball team secured itself a spot in the playoffs with a 3-2 win against Roosevelt in the final match of the season Oct. 26.

The Beavers got off to a good start, beating Roosevelt 25-20 in the first game.

But, Roosevelt took the next two by scores of 25-15 and 25-23, endangering Ballard's postseason hopes.

Ballard coach Tami Reese said her team was not passing well at all in those two games.

"I told the girls, 'You've got to compete. This is a big game,'" Reese said.

The Beavers listened, winning the next two games 25-19 and 15-7 and taking the match.

Senior Lisa Day finished the match with 27 kills and 22 digs.

Senior Madelyn Voelker had 13 kills and 11 digs and sophomore Monique Marques dished out 38 assists.

Seniors Marjorie Pichon and Audrey Pefferman had 10 digs apiece.

The Oct. 26 match was senior night for the volleyball team. The team is saying goodbye to graduating seniors Day, Pefferman, Pichon, Voelker, Blair Morgan and Alex Papac.

This is the 13th season in a row the Ballard volleyball team, which finished 5-6 in KingCo and 7-6 overall, has made the playoffs.