December 2009

Amanda Knox, the UW student and West Seattle resident has been found guilty on all charges. This would result in a sentence of 26 years for Knox and 25 years Raffaele Sollecito her former boyfriend who was also found guilty. The Italian court arrived at the decision after a process of deliberation by 2 judges and 6 jurors. Amanda's aunt, Janet Huff said, "This is so stupid. They didn't listen to the facts in the case. All we have now is the appeals process to get her home." Knox who has spent the last 2 years in prison is clearly expected to appeal.
"We've been told that in the Italian court process nobody wins in the first part," said Huff, "I think they (the jurors and judges) were scared and intimidated. "

A new Burien fire station will be located at the current site of the Bonney-Watson Parker Chapel property at 900 S.W. 146th St.
Cameron Smock, president of Bonney-Watson, announced the sale Dec. 4.

The Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department will build a new station to replace the existing headquarters facility, located at 15100 8th Ave. S.W.

Fire Chief Mike Marrs said the new station, funded by a capital facilities bond passed by voters last year, is desperately needed.
"Station 28 has safety and seismic issues, lacks co-ed facilities and is outdated and deficient in a number of other ways," Marrs said.

"This new site, located just five blocks away, will provide our hard-working firefighters with a safer, more efficient facility while allowing us to maintain our excellent response times.
"In addition, the site will eventually allow us to add an onsite paramedic unit and bring our ladder truck closer to Burien's commercial district."

Construction of the new fire station will begin early in 2010 and is expected to be completed within two years. The department's existing downtown Burien station will remain in operation until the new facility is complete.

The Amanda Knox verdict is expected at 3:00pm PDT according to West Seattle Herald sources in Italy.
Here's our original report:
http://www.westseattleherald.com/2009/11/23/news/amanda-knox-verdict-ju…

The Ballard High School gymnastics team, led by Taylor Stern, beat Mercer Island and Roosevelt Dec. 3 to start their season off on the right foot.

The Beavers finished with a score of 155 to Mercer Island's 130.55 and Roosevelt's 124.9.

Ballard took the top three all-around spots with Stern finishing first with a score of 31.8, followed by Erica Redman with 30.7 and Maureen Sturgeon with 30.3.

The Beavers swept the bars as well with Stern, Redman and Taylor Green placing first, second and third.

The beam event belonged to Ballard as well with Molly Barnes taking first place and Sturgeon tying for second with a Mercer Island player.

It was the same story with the floor routines – Stern first, Maria Volk second and Redman third.

The only event the Beavers didn't dominate was the vault, with Stern placing second behind Sonia Reo of Roosevelt and ahead of Kristin Trumble of Mercer Island.

Ballard takes on Inglemoor at 7 p.m. on Dec. 10 at Ballard High School.

The Ballard High School swim team opened their season, and the Ballard winter sports season, with a trouncing at the hands of Inglemoor, falling 145-41 Dec. 3.

The Ballard team, which is largely comprised of new swimmers, didn't win a single event against Inglemoor.

The Beavers' next meet is at 8:15 p.m. on Dec. 8 at MI Pool against Bellevue.

At approximately 11 a.m. on Dec. 3, officers responded to a 911 call of an armed robbery at a gas station in North Seattle.

Preliminary investigation indicates that two juvenile male suspects entered a gas station mini-mart located at North 85th Street and Aurora Avenue North.

The suspects displayed a gun and demanded cash from the clerk. The suspects then fled the scene on foot.

Responding officers apprehended both suspects in the area. North Precinct detectives will conduct the follow up investigation.

The best swimmers in the country are coming to the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center Dec. 3-5 to compete in the 2009 AT&T Short Course National Championships. This nationally televised event will propel the victors to international competitions and provide a showcase for new improvements made at the county facility.

More than 775 swimmers will participate in this meet, which will include races of 50 yards to 1,650 yards. Athletes will be racing for gold, silver and bronze medals and qualifying times for international races.

Preliminary sessions will begin each day at 9 a.m., and finals begin at 5 p.m. Races will feature many swimmers from the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte will be present before the Dec. 4 finals to sign autographs.

Defending Class 4A boys state basketball champion Federal Way demonstrated why opponents will have tremendous difficulty removing the crown from its current king with an awesome display of team cohesiveness in a nonleague 110-85 devastation of preseason poll No. 8 Lincoln at home on Monday in season-opening action for both teams.

As the top-ranked squad going into this season, the screaming Eagles flexed their sharp talons and exhibited the great gulf between themselves and a strong state contender at this moment in time.

"We came out and established ourselves on defense," Federal Way head coach Jerome Collins stressed. "That's where it starts. The defense triggers the offense. We played good defense, got in the passing lanes and disrupted them. We did a good job of just playing good defense, and the offense kept us in a rhythm throughout the game."

Boys basketball

TJ 66, Beamer 56

Thomas Jefferson came away from Todd Beamer's home gymnasium with a 66-56 boys basketball win over the Titans Monday, Nov. 30.

The game was non-league, however, putting the Raiders at 1-0 overall and 0-0 in South Puget Sound League North Division action.

Brigham buried 30 points to lead TJ to victory, while Lanier and Radford hit nine apiece, Baklund seven, Braxmeyer five, Hicks four and Sanford two.

Davis sank 18 points to top the Beamer scorers and Coggins contributed 12. M. Aficuc and Nefi scored five each and V. Aficuc and Moore hit four apiece. Gridley and Holcomb threw in three apiece and Rhodes added one.

Decatur 58, Stadium 52

Jerron Smith hit 18 points to lead the Gators in non-league action Tuesday, Dec. 1 and Terrell Williams backed him up with 17. Jordan McCloud added 12, Peters eight and Davis four.

Leaving for work this morning I parked Old Greenie in the driveway while I locked the gate.

Walking back to the van I spot a set of muddy tracks across the asphalt that adjoins the concrete drive. I’d seen them before, last year at this time, large prints mixed with much smaller ones, the hind feet and forepaws of a wild rabbit who I’ve seen around our fences.

It’s a welcome thing to see since Mrs. Anthony and I lost our long lived, beloved rabbit, Grump, a couple of years ago. The van chugs into motion and with the radio tuned quietly to a classical station I ease down the lanes of my neighborhood, the sides of which are heaped with the fallen leaves of maples and alders, ocher and crimson, chocolate and cinnamon, until the grassy medians and peoples yards become reminiscent of the fall season in New England.

The only thing that is out of place is the temperature, which has been unseasonable to be sure. At the Home Depot, I stop to buy some carpenter’s pencils and a new saw blade. At 7:45 in the morning, a young guy passes me wearing sandals and shorts as he walks by the garden rakes and leaf blowers.