November 2009

The murder trial of Amanda Knox in Perugia, Italy has some new twists and turns. While the West Seattle family of UW student Amanda Knox, await a jury's verdict, just days away, for her alleged roll in the stabbing of her roommate of three weeks Nov. 1, 2007, the Perugia police have accused and charged Amanda's biological parents of defamation. The charges against Curt Knox and Edda Mellas were brought by the officer in charge of the Perugia murder squad, inspector and head of Perugia homicide squad, Monica Napoleoni, and five of her officers involved in the case.

About six months after the murder, Knox's parents gave an interview to the British Sunday Times stating their daughter had ''been abused physically and verbally" during her interrogation Nov. 5 and 6, just after the murder. Amanda also told her parents she was hit in the head by an officer in front of Napoleoni, deprived of food and water, denied an English translator, and was told by the Perugia police that if she asked for a lawyer, "things will get worse for you" and 'If you don't give us some explanation for what happened, you're going to go to jail for a very long time."

Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church thanks the many community volunteers and organizations who contributed to our Thanksgiving Day meal for neighbors, including many who are struggling to make ends meet.

We are grateful for the food and expertise provided by the Ballard Food Bank, the incredible support of more than 70 volunteers (from both Our Redeemer’s and the wider community), the impromptu music, and donations from Smokin’ Pete’s BBQ and Greenwood Fred Meyer.

More than 200 people shared the Thanksgiving meal together. New sleeping bags were offered free after the meal.

Remarks heard during the Thanksgiving Day meal include:

“We are really glad you had this meal, there is no way we could have afforded the food. Thank you so much.”

“All my family is far away. It was good to be here for this meal.”

“The small tables, the flowers and the music made the good dinner much better.”

“Thank you for this opportunity to help today. It means so much to me.”

“I am homeless right now, and this sleeping bag will really help me. That’s why I came. Thank you.”

We thank everyone who participated.

Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church,

Bob Warden, local attorney from Kent, Washington filed a lawsuit against the City of Seattle and Mayor Greg Nickels with the aim of overturning the gun ban issued by Nickels this morning in U.S. District Court in Seattle at 9:30 a.m.; and then served on defendants via personal service on Jake Nickels at Mayor Nickels' home in West Seattle at 10:00 a.m.

The 32 page suit addresses Executive Order 07-08 issued by Mayor Nickels on June 6, 2008 entitled "Gun Safety at City Facilities." The order directed all City departments to conduct an inventory of present policies, rules, and leases, to determine the extent to which departments could prohibit firearms on City property and to implement plans to make such changes.

The case has been given docket number C09-1686, and assigned to Judge Marsha J. Pechman.

Anytime you have one of the top-10 rated girls basketball players in the nation on your team, you should feel good.

But Federal Way head coach Dan Graham has a worry about another top player who is sitting out the first month or so of the season with an injury.

The top 10 national player is Talia Walton, while the injured player is Brittany Barrington.

Barrington, the younger sister of Eagle graduate and Washington State University football player Andre Barrington, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) this past April.

“They say she’ll be back in January,” said Graham. “When one of your best goes down, it hurts.”

As for Walton, Graham is more than glad to get to watch her playing on his team.

“Talia Walton is considered one of the 10 best posts in the nation,” Graham said. “She’s going to go anywhere she wants.”

For college, that is, although she will be a presence anywhere on the court, too.

“She could go to Louisville, Kansas, you name it,” Graham said. “She just wants to play.”

Walton is one of three players on the team who tops out at over 6 feet in height along with Ty Bergerson and Jaleecia Roland.

There will be no looking back allowed for the Federal Way High School boys basketball team this year.

Yes, they won a state 4A championship last year, but head coach Jerome Collins wants his team to tend to more timely matters.

“It’s another year,” Collins said. “We’re not focusing on that. Last year was last year and this year is this year.”

Collins is looking for a more intense focus on the current goals.

“As I told the kids, focus on one quarter at a time and one game at a time,” he said. “Our approach is simple. We want to work hard and play hard every day.”

The Eagles have faced only each other in practices so far, but that will change at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1 when they plunge into a challenging non-league schedule starting with a home game against No. 9 state ranked Lincoln.

“First we open up against Lincoln, which will be a great challenge for us,” said Collins, whose team finished with a 28-2 overall record last year.

From there they open the regular South Puget Sound League North Division season with a visit to Auburn-Riverside at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4.

Shoppers were out in force on Black Friday in West Seattle, lining up as early as 12:30 am in front of Target to be the first to get flat screen televisions and other electronics bargains. Several hundred people waited patiently as the crowd grew.

The line stretched down around the sidewalk past Barnes and Noble all the way to Chicos by the time the doors opened at 5 am. Other stores, including Radio Shack, Marshalls, Bed Bath and Beyond and Staples also had early morning sales taking place but Target was the big draw.

It was cold and breezy and not everyone showed up early. Breanna Whited, a teacher at Denny Middle School was there but near the end of the line. "If I wasn't parked way over by WAMU I would be going back home but I'm going to wait in line and maybe I'll get a $3 crockpot," Whited said.

Target itself appeared to have a lot of staff on hand to take care of the huge crowd and had stacked merchandise around the store with the televisions on sale stacked in the Women's department.

Televisions were also the first out the door and into the car.

West Seattle High Point resident Fadumo Mohamed and her husband risked their lives to follow their hearts. Fadumo and Adam Jama Abdi grew up together in Merca, Somalia, 45 miles south of the capital, Mogadishu, where they had known each other much of their lives.

Both were Muslim, middle-class, and, when seen in public appeared a perfect match. However, when they married, they nearly signed their death warrant, and they knew it.

That’s because Fadumo is from the noble Nasab class of society while Adam is from the lower Nasab-Dhiman class. Somali’s refer to these tribal divisions as “clans.” For these two clans to intermarry is taboo.

“It’s very rare,” said Fadumo, here since 2007. “I loved this man. We wanted to make a new generation and change the culture. We were hoping to hide our whole lives.”

They moved south to a town near the Kenyan border and hoped for the best. Adam owned a food and clothes market and made a good living. Fadumo said that even the richest Nasab-Dhiman is still considered inferior to the poorest Nasab.

Thanksgiving is a time of traditions of course but for an intergenerational group of people in West Seattle it means gathering at Lincoln Park for a North vs. South soccer match.

Approximately 50 people, including mothers, fathers, sons and daughters have been coming to the park every year for over a decade to enjoy each other's company and play a spirited soccer match.

Jamie Stubner, the official commissioner of fun for the match said, "I started coaching soccer a long time ago with my little girls. We started every Thanksgiving having a soccer game down here at Lincoln Park...We have rain, sometimes it's good weather. When it's rain we have a better game because no one can stand up."

Click the image to see more in a short slideshow

The game is between people living north and south of Lincoln Park. They don't keep score,

Undeterred by a steady drizzle and the possibility of a relaxing holiday morning, hundreds of runners, joggers and walkers turned out for the third annual Seattle Turkey Trot Nov. 26 in Ballard.

More than 700 people had pre-registered for the 5K fun-run and walk, and registration was still open minutes before the race started.

Some participants donned serious running attire. Others dressed for the day, wearing feathered headbands, turkey hats or full-on Pilgrim garb.

"We are amazed and very pleased with the number of people here," said Nancy McKinney, director of the Ballard Food Bank.

The Turkey Trot is a fundraiser for the food bank. McKinney said she was not sure how much they raised with this year's race, but she guesses it is more than $15,000.

The numbers for Turkey Trot 2009 dwarfed those of the previous year, when 200 participants raised $2,500 for the food bank.

Nick Roosa, a 24-year-old New Yorker in town visiting his sister, was the first to cross the finish line.

He said the Turkey Trot, which headed south on 32nd Northwest from 85th Avenue Northwest and ended at Golden Gardens, was a lot of fun. He has raced in a lot of them but never won.

It’s that time of year! Friends, family, shopping, dining and…crime? While anytime is a good time to think about personal safety and crime prevention, the Seattle Police Department would like to remind citizens of some easy techniques that will help keep them and their property safe during the holidays!

CAR PROWL PREVENTION
• When you exit or enter your parked vehicle, take a moment to look around the area.
• Turn off and lock your car whenever you have to walk away from it. This includes at gas pumps, ATM machines, etc. Never leave your car idling.
• Before leaving your parked car, always remove the keys, roll up the windows and lock the car.
• Leave No Valuables in Your Car. Never leave valuables in your car. Items of little or no value to you still look inviting to a thief. Even pocket change is enough of an enticement for some thieves.