November 2009

Over 60 years past a remarkable generation of Americans, our friends, fathers, mothers,grandparents, our youth joined forces during World War ll. Now 62 years later our City of Seattle is planning to desecrate this War Memorial dedicated to our youth who gave their all fighting for our freedoms. Some of those youth were never returned and their resting  place is the Memorial Stadium. How dare you Seattle???
 
Seattle Memorial Stadium was dedicated Thanksgiving Day 1947 to honor this remarkable generation. How soon we forget the sacrifices our youth made going into war directly out of Seattle schools. Shame on you Seattle to even think about desecrating a War Memorial honoring those youth and our future youth. Do we realy need another parking garage in lieu of a War Memorial. This is being considered by the Seattle School District and our City Council at this writing.
 
Guy Gallipeau 
American Legion post 1
5617-45th Avenue S.W.
Seattle, WA 98136
206-935-9499

Ed. Note: This piece originally appeared in the Nov. 16 edition of "City View," Tim Burgess' newsletter.

The Seattle City Council has completed the heavy lifting on next year's city budget, including millions of dollars in cuts, additions and restorations from the mayor’s proposal.

The four main funding sources for the city government are property tax collected by King County, retail sales tax collected by Washington state, the city Business and Occupation Tax, and the Real Estate Excise Tax collected by the county.

The council will approve $907 million in general fund expenditures. As you can see in the downloadable graph to the right, public safety takes by far the largest chunk of our tax dollars.
Here are some of the most significant decisions of the council and my personal assessment of how we did.

Back in August, the council sent the mayor a letter reiterating our top priorities: public safety, human services and housing.
The mayor’s proposed budget and our council decisions strongly reflect these priorities.

Ed. Note: This column originally appeared in Nick Licata's "Urban Politics" Newsletter.

Friday afternoon, Councilmember Jan Drago stuck her head into my office and said in a jovial manner, "Hey, if you want to see the new mayor, come next door." That would be Councilmember Sally Clark's office.

Drago and I found Mayor-elect Mike McGinn in the middle of Clark's office, smiling broadly (his seemingly ever-present smile may become his trademark) and talking in a casual style to both staff and Clark.

Councilmember Tim Burgess soon walked over and joined us.
McGinn explained that rather than making courtesy calls to all the councilmembers, he thought it better to just walk over and meet face-to-face on a casual basis.

This is a departure from Mayor Nickel's style, which was to rely more on Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis to walk the council hallway.
In another way McGinn is making a more dramatic departure from not only the Nickels' transition but others that have gone before him as well.

Rather than appoint a distinguished list of civic leaders and activists to head up his transition team, he is relying on a more diffuse collection of community people.

African Gospel Acapella
Hillcrest Presbyterian Church
10404 34th Ave. S.W.
206-937-0101
Sunday, Nov. 29, 6 p.m. The African Gospel Acapella, featured in NPR, will be doing a concert to kick off the holiday season. Free concert, donations are accepted.

November ArtWalk

The West Seattle art walk

A monthly art event that is held the second Thursday of each month
6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
year-round


Bank America
4323 SW Admiral Way

Toshi Ensumi, Contemporary Oils on Canvas

Chez Dominique
77 Spring

Stephen Rock
Contemporary
mixed medium

Charlestown Cafe 3800 California AV SW

Paul & Judy Miller,
water colors of world
For complete up to date listings visit westseattleartwalk.blogspot.com/

A woman knew her neighbor wasn't home on Thursday evening, so when she saw a stranger exiting his house in the 6000 block of 26th SW, she asked what he was doing. He claimed to be visiting a friend, but was carrying a full bag (which turned out to be a sofa cushion stuffed with goodies) under his arm. He ran off, as did an accomplice, as the neighbor called 911. Officers arrived and immediately smelled the strong odor of marijuana in the home. The victim, a renter, admitted that he had a small “grow operation” in the basement. So in addition to what the burglars stole, the victim was out 26 marijuana plants, ballasts, and grow lights. He was interviewed and released from the precinct. The burglars remain at large. They are described as black males of East African descent in their late teens. One wore a distinctive pair of dark blue pants that were covered in multicolored pockets.

The Holy Rosary School Christmas Tree Lot
will be opening on Saturday, Nov. 28 until Sunday, December 20. The hours of operation are Monday – Friday 3pm – 9pm and Saturday and Sunday 9am-9pm.
The link to our web site is:
http://treelot.holyrosaryws.org/
As in years past, 15% of the proceeds support local charities including the West Seattle Food Bank, West Seattle Helpline and Hickman House of West Seattle.

Sunday, December 13 at 7 p.m. - New York pianist Donald Sosin accompanies
the original 1927 blockbuster, CHICAGO, the classic comedy-drama crime film
that spawned two recent movies and a stage musical. Produced by Cecil B.
DeMille, this will be the first Seattle screening of this recently restored
masterwork. Tickets $8-$14.
Kenyon Hall
7904 35th Ave SW
Seattle 98126
(206) 937-3613
www.kenyonhall.org

Threads of Love Open House
St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church
3050 California Ave. S.W.

DEC. 4 UPDATE:

UPDATE: The verdict of the Amanda Knox murder trial will be read at midnight in Perugia, Italy, 3:00 pm Seattle time, according to West Seattle Herald news sources in Italy. According to our sources, when the verdict is ready, jury members will inform the clerk of court, who will inform the defense at least an hour before the reading of the verdict. It is possible the jurors already know her fate.

Now, Amanda is in Capanne prison. She has the right, if she wants, to be in the Courthouse at the moment of the reading. She's being informend in these moments.

It is nine hours later in Perugia, Italy where attorney Luciano Ghirga, one of the lawyers on Amanda Knox's team wrapped up Knox's defense in the Italian murder trial today with an emotional appeal to the court to acquit her of charges that she murdered roommate Meredith Kercher. Today was the final day of summations in the nine-month long murder trial which is expected to produce a verdict by this Friday or Saturday. Seated in the courtroom were Knox's father Curt, her mother, Edda Mellas, and the oldest of her three younger sisters, Deanna, 20.

As Thanksgiving approaches, let’s talk a little turkey. Turkey is usually the centerpiece of Thanksgiving tables. It is relatively inexpensive protein and a great supplier of leftovers. But how healthy is it?

The answer depends upon what turkey you buy. Many turkey processors inject saltwater (saline) into turkey to make it freeze well and stay juicier when it cooks.

Fresh turkey naturally contains about 70 milligrams of sodium per 4-ounce serving. A saltwater-injected turkey serving has 300 to 500 milligrams of sodium!

Not all turkeys have added salt. Most fresh, natural birds are a healthier buy.

When you buy a saline-injected turkey, it may seem cheaper, but the water in it is heavy, so you pay a premium price per pound – for saltwater.

Ask at your grocery store whether the meat department carries turkeys that are not sodium-enhanced, enriched or injected. Ask the butcher to point them out to you; labels can be confusing. Ask whether natural turkeys will go on sale as the holidays get closer.

Boy Scout Troop 100 kicks off its annual Christmas tree sale the weekend after Thanksgiving at St. Alphonsus Church, located on 15th Avenue Northwest and Northwest 57th Street.

The St. Al's tree sale is a tradition of nearly 60 years in the Ballard community.

Trees of all shapes and varieties are hand-picked by some of the troop's fathers and sons.

The trees are freshly cut and replenished every few days and are guaranteed fresh.

Scouts volunteer their time to work at the tree sale.

The money raised enables the scouts to participate in many activities throughout the year. Some of the proceeds are donated within the community.

The tree lot will be open from Nov. 29 to Dec. 20 or until the trees sell out.

By Carina Barnett-Loro, Fair Fish Campaign Seattle, and Tom Hanlon, Ballard Resident, former commercial fishermen, LLM marine resource law

There are few places where the term “family fisherman” has more meaning than here in Ballard.

Our Fishermen’s Terminal houses one of the largest commercial fleets on the West Coast and affords locals the opportunity to purchase fish right off a boat or near the docks at the Wild Seafood Exchange.

Unfortunately, there are also few places where the fight between anonymous, large-scale corporate ownership and small-scale family fishermen is more apparent.

Driving over the Ballard Bridge, you can witness this clear division in the industry: factory trawlers bearing the logos of large, transnational seafood companies dwarf the family fishing boats boats tied to the Terminal docks.

This physical juxtaposition of small versus large embodies the struggle currently playing out on the national stage over the privatization of our fisheries.