November 2009

City of Burien

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: 4254 / 16617 25.60%

Council Position No. 1

Sue Blazak 1707 45.35%

Jack Block, Jr. 2033 54.01%

Write-in 24 0.64%

Council Position No. 3

Joan McGilton 2763 96.74%

Write-in 93 3.26%

Council Position No. 5

Rose Clark 2758 96.47%

Write-in 101 3.53%

Council Position No. 7

Brian Bennett 2894 98.07%

Write-in 57 1.93%

City of Des Moines

Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: 3577 / 15291 23.39%

Council Position No. 1

Anne Farmer 1431 44.72%

Matt Pina 1758 54.94%

Write-in 11 0.34%

Council Position No. 3

Melissa Ponder 1471 47.03%

Carmen L. Scott 1642 52.49%

Write-in 15 0.48%

Council Position No. 5

Melissa Musser 2551 98.30%

Write-in 44 1.70%

Council Position No. 7

By Craig M. Benjamin, Conservation Program Coordinator for the Sierra Club Cascade Chapter

In a sweeping win for the environment, the people of Seattle have proven once again that they care about moving our city and our world forward by electing leaders with a proven vision for a cleaner, greener planet.

By electing Dow Constantine for King County Executive, Mike O'Brien for City Council and voting down I-1033, and with Mike McGinn holding a slim lead in the race for Mayor, Seattle and King County voters simply get it.

This election is not only a win for the Puget Sound region and for two of the Sierra Club's Cascade Chapter leaders; it is a win for climate change, for the future of our light rail system and for smart growth policies.

McGinn and O’Brien championed grassroots campaigns that relied on the power of volunteers over wealthy special interests groups. Just as they led the Sierra Club in our campaign to prevent the construction of 182 miles worth of polluting suburban highways, they went directly to the people of Seattle for this fundamental win for change.

The NW Insurance Council and Arson Alarm Foundation are offering a $10,000 award fund to anyone who has information that helps investigators track down the arsonist(s) responsible for setting fire to four Greenwood-area restaurants Oct. 23.

The fire caused an estimated $2 million in damage to the Green Bean Coffee House, Szechuan Bistro, C.C. Teriyaki and Pho Tic Tac restaurants.

Anyone with information about this arson is encouraged to call the Arson Hotline (800-55-ARSON) or local authorities. Callers may remain anonymous and could be eligible for an award, according to a press release from the two groups.

Arson is a deadly and costly crime, killing hundreds of people each year and destroying hundreds of millions of dollars in property, according to the press release.

According to the release, FBI statistics show only 17 percent of all arson offenses result in arrests

NW Insurance Council and Arson Alarm Foundation offer an annual $10,000 Arson Award Fund for Washington residents who provide tips to authorities that result in the arrest or conviction of arsonists.

Football

Kennedy 49, Mt. Rainier 18

Kennedy Catholic High School got the best of crosstown rival Mount Rainier Thursday, Oct. 29 at Highline Memorial Stadium.

The Lancers of JFK led, 21-6, by the end of the first quarter and widened it to 28-6 by halftime. Mount Rainier then outscored Kennedy Catholic, 6-0, in both the third and fourth quarters to close the final margin to 49-18.

Antonio Valencia started off the onslaught with two touchdowns early in the first quarter, scoring on runs of 89 and 8 yards. Christian Velte kicked both extra points for a 14-0 JFK lead.

Junior Jack of Mount Rainier broke the string with a 45-yard fumble return for a touchdown with 4:27 left in the quarter, but the Lancers came right back with five touchdowns in a row.

Valencia scored again on a 35-yard run and Velte made the kick to get the new string started, then teammate Darian Brooks scored on a 20-yard run and a 47-yard run with Velte successful again.

It wasn’t a loser-out game, but it would be a nice moral victory for Evergreen Lutheran if they could beat Bear Creek’s Grizzlies for the right to be second place all alone in the Sea-Tac B Division or tied if lost. And the Eagles won it, 1-0, over the Redmond area private school at Starfire in Tukwila on the Fort Dent grounds.

The Eagles finished the regular season 6-6 overall and 3-3 in league, including winning and losing one to the Grizzlies by a 1-0 score both times. The Eagles and Bear Creek (2-4, 6-8) will both play at Everett or Edmonds-Woodway Saturday, Nov. 7 in loser-out games for the right to go on to the B state tournament.

“We played hard,” said Eagles coach Stan Cole, who directed this little Christian private school off 260th and Pacific Highway to a championship runners-up finish last November at Sunset Chev Stadium in Sumner -- a 1-0 loss that was not decided until a shootout.

This team’s had to play hard and find new players replacing four graduated seniors that were there last year but not this year, like Grace Lorette and Grace Bender.

“We lost four starters,” said Cole. “We’ve pretty much had to fill in with freshmen.”

In an afternoon and evening of long matches, the Mount Rainier volleyball team bowed out of the Seamount/South Puget Sound League 3A sub-district tournament at Mount Rainier by way of a 3-1 setback against Peninsula in its last chance to qualify for district.

Closely fought action mirrored the events of the entire day as the No. 6 SPSL Seahawks emerged with a 25-20 win in game No. 1. Taking charge of the middle and outside hitting, the Rams outfought their foes in long rallies. Each time No. 4 Seamount Mount Rainier threatened to pull away, Peninsula battled back to tie or lead by small margins. When the stretch run ensued, the Rams were at their best in a 25-22 win.

After continuous close matches, Mount Rainier finally wore down in 25-16 and 25-17 closing losses.

Junior outside hitter Katie Mulligan blasted 12 kills with three digs and three aces while teammate Alina Moss earned six kills to go along with nine digs, one block and one ace. Olivia Moss sustained five kills and Maletina Timoteo had 19 digs.

Seattle Public Schools released its revised attendance area boundary maps Nov. 3 after nearly a month of public feedback.

Since the original maps, which will assign students to a school based on their address, were released on Oct. 6, Seattle Public Schools has held nine community meetings and received additional feedback through surveys, email and over the phone, according to Seattle Public Schools.

The changes to Ballard-area school boundaries are small in the revised maps.

In the most drastic change, the eastern boundary for Ballard High School has been moved west, from Aurora to Greenwood Avenue, ceding a large area around Green Lake to Roosevelt High School.

According to the Seattle School District, this was done to facilitate easier walking commutes for Roosevelt and Ballard students.

The major community request for the Ballard High School boundary area was to move the northern boundary past its current location on Northwest 85th Street. That change was not made because it would have put Ballard High School over functional capacity, according to Seattle Public Schools.

Mount Rainier fought hard but the breaks opened up Kennedy Catholic’s way in a 3-0 girls soccer game at Highline Stadium Wednesday, Oct. 28.

The Lancers improved their undefeated record to 16-0-0 Seamount League and 17-0-0 overall in doing nothing to defeat its No. 2 current state ranking, one spot behind Everett – the team beat the Lancers (4-1) in the semifinals of the 3A state tournament last year.

Both teams now play the respective number seed from the South Puget Sound League 3A Division in the post-season playoffs Wednesday. Both teams put a lot of fight into this game and the Rams just couldn’t quite get a good enough blow. But there’s time for more punches to be pulled at state soon.

“It was a good showing for the girls,” said Rams first year coach Gary Hunter. “They needed to play well to go into the playoffs with confidence that they can play with the best teams.”

This game was played mostly in the midfield area with few shots on goal by either team in the first half. The Rams took a total of three shots on goal while the Rams got off two. Keepers made about the same number of saves as well, with it 4-3 favoring Kennedy.

Driving to work last week on one of our uncharacteristically sunny fall days, I stopped at a traffic light and saw a bright flash.

I looked around and saw that the flash had come from the car next to me where a girl had hung a small disco ball from her rear view mirror.

I chuckled to myself, imagining Donna Summer and BeeGees songs straining out of her stereo, but then I wondered how she drives around, particularly on sunny days, without going blind.

As I continued on my way, I glanced around and began to notice the ornaments hanging from the mirrors of other motorists. Fuzzy dice, handcuffs, a Hawaiian lei, a Rosary and Cross, and a few cars sported those ever popular pine tree air fresheners.

Going around the corner onto Highway 99, I saw a Honda car with a CD dangling from the mirror. I had heard that the reflective surface on the music disks can foil police radar guns, but after I researched it I learned that this is not true. So the shiny disks are mostly just annoyance.

Ok, so it’s the last couple of days before Halloween and you’ve hemmed and hawed about going to that party your friends are having, with no good costume ideas.

You can run up to Spirit Costumes by Trader Joe's, but if you don’t find what you want, or you’re a bit low on cash, don’t worry, I’ve been there and so I’ve assembled a few home made costume suggestions.

Most will start with a visit to Michael's Arts and Crafts on Pac Highway, but you may also find some items at the hardware store.

Iron Man: Pick up a sheet of two inch foam insulation board at Lowes and cut it in the triangular shape of a large clothing iron. Paint it with some silver paint, making dark ‘steam holes’ where they would be on a clothes iron, and cut holes for your arms and face. Wear a black sweat suit and boots.

Babe Magnet: Light colored clothing, pick up a bunch of inexpensive doll babies at Michaels and attach them with duct tape and safety pins.
Note: Baby chicks make you a ‘chick magnet’