January 2010

Weaknesses on collaborative efforts dropped confidence levels on Thursday when Class 4A Decatur lost a 55-26 non-league girls basketball game to KingCo League Class 3A Liberty of Renton at the Gator Dome.

Decatur's overall record fell to 1-8 while Liberty improved to 4-7.

"We had some problems working our offense and defense together and got down on ourselves," said Gator head coach Kevin Rawie.

Decatur competed well early. Two free throws from Alexis Cole to start the game gave the Gators their only lead of the game. The Patriots gained a 4-2 advantage that Decatur erased for a 4-4 tie.

From that point, the Gators encountered communication problems with each other, unable to correctly anticipate each others' movements. This led to a plethora of turnovers and defensive breakdowns as Liberty rolled to a 10-4 margin. By the end of the quarter, the Patriots had pushed their margin to 15-7.

Trailing 27-13 at halftime, Decatur tried to energize itself, but the deficit kept growing.

Wondering how to honor the memory of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this year?

A group of dedicated volunteers is working with the City of Federal Way Diversity Commission to sponsor a food and blanket drive for those most in need.

This is the third year for the joint volunteer/diversity commission food drive. The joint effort has in the past two years collected more than 9,000 pounds of food and $825 for the hungry. Blankets were added this year given the extraordinary low temperatures we’ve had recently.

Approximately 56 AmeriCorps volunteers will be staffing collection barrels between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. at QFC Northshore, Trader Joes, Grocery Outlet and the Safeway in Milton.

Proceeds go to the Multi-Service Center Federal Way Food Bank and the Federal Way Senior Center.

Collection barrels will also be set up in early January at Federal Way City Hall, the Federal Way Community Center and the EX3 Teen Center.

Got something to lose? If that something is extra weight, don’t wait to sign up for the Federal Way Community Center’s Annual Biggest Loser fitness program and contest.

Since 2008, the Biggest Loser competition has helped 203 Federal Way-area residents lose a combined 2,577 pounds.

The contest runs Jan. 11 – March 26, 2010. It is open to Community Center pass-holders ages 15 and above. The cost is $400 per person.

The contest includes:
• Two 90-minute team workouts per week
• Weekly group weigh-ins
• Before and after fitness testing
• Team t-shirt
• Nutrition lecture

The initial fitness assessment is Jan. 11 from 6-8 p.m. or Jan. 12 from 7-8 a.m. (you only need to attend one). Wear your workout gear. Some movement is required.

First and second-place winners receive $250 and $125 gift certificates to the Community Center respectively. It can be used toward a Community Center pass, personal training sessions or a future Biggest Loser competition.

Teams are limited to 10 people per trainer. Read trainer bios and get more information on the program at www.itallhappenshere.org/biggestloser.

Kurtis John Kaufman
April 28, 1982 – January 1, 2010

Living life to the fullest, Kurtis died doing one of the things he loved best, snowmobiling; at one of the places he loved best, The Lakes (Lake Thomas near Colville, WA).

Whether it was motorcycling with his friends, fishing in Alaska with co-workers, hunting with his dad or taking a first time sky dive with his wife, Kurtis loved adventure and entered into them fully and with no fear.

Having met in high school nine years earlier, he married the love of his life, Claudia on May 10, 2008.

They bought a home near Lake Tapps to continue a passion for boating.

Sometimes known as MacGyver, Kurt loved their garage where he was often found hanging with friends, fiddling and fixing things. Seldom a weekend went by that Kurt was not organizing time with friends who said “We were his posse and he was our leader”.

His sisters lovingly describe him as “loved by many and hated by few” and “always willing to help others”. His actions said it all as he often stepped in to help his mom, sisters and others and shared his dazzling smile.

On January 6, 2010 at approximately 1518 hours the Chase Bank, located inside the Fred Meyer grocery store at 33702 21 Ave SW, was the subject of a robbery.

The suspect entered the bank, demanded specific denominations of money from the teller, and received an unknown amount of money.

The suspect did not display nor imply a weapon. The suspect is a white male in his 20’s or 30’s, approximately 5’04” to 5’06” tall, weighing about 160
lbs.

At the time of the robbery he was wearing glasses, blue denim pants, a navy blue parka with a red shirt underneath, and a green cap with an “M” (Michigan) logo.

The suspect was reported to be unshaven and a “tribal-type” tattoo was visible on his neck.

The Federal Way Police Department is asking for assistance from anyone who may know the identity of this person. Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information on the suspect is asked to please contact the Federal Way Police by dialing 9-1-1 or by contacting Detective Jeff VanderVeer at 253-835-6791 or by email at Jeffrey.vanderveer@cityoffederalway.com.

The Ballard High School girls basketball team broke a two-game losing streak and earned its first conference victory by out-toughing Bothell Jan. 8.

At the end of the first quarter, the Beavers found themselves down 21-8.

Coach C.J. Sealey said the team lacked aggressiveness from the start and stopped playing defense when the offense was struggling.

Sealey said she told her players they better start playing defense the rest of the way.

"They just rose to the occasion," she said. "They played really, really tough."

The Beavers played their way back to take a three-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, but Bothell was able to force overtime tied at 53 apiece.

Sealey said overtime was when Ballard's physicality paid off as the team gritted out a 56-54 win.

"It was good for us to win a tough, tough battle like that," she said.

Junior Theresa Moriarty had a game-high 20 points in what Sealey said was a fantastic performance leading the team.

Junior Elena DeWeese added 12.

Ballard is now 1-5 in KingCo and 3-7 overall.

The Ballard High School boys basketball team kept things close for the first half Jan. 8 against Bothell but was outscored by 16 points in the second, losing 52-37.

Junior Salim Gloyd led the Beavers with 14 points and senior Kyler Korsmo chipped in seven in the team's lowest-scoring game of the season.

Ballard is 2-4 in the conference and 3-7 overall.

Issaquah is up next for the Beavers at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 12 at Ballard High School.

A handful of Ballard residents had their Saturday morning coffee with a side of politics courtesy of 36th District Rep. Reuven Carlyle, who hosted the first of four Jan. 9 coffee hours at Caffe Fiore in Crown Hill.

The attendance hovered around 10 as Carlyle and residents discussed issues facing Seattle and Washington.

As with most political meetings in the past year, the focus was heavily on the budget deficit – how to fix it and what can be done despite it.

One coffee hour attendee said now is the time for the state to start talking about new sources of revenue. She said she would rather see an income tax put in place than rely on the hope of receiving federal aid.

Carlyle said bad economic times are times for change, and the state needs to talk about installing an income tax in the same conversation as lowering other taxes, such as the property tax and the sales tax.

"That way no one gets crushed with an ineffective, unfair system," he said.

The goal is to frame the conversation about an income tax in terms of fairness, not generating additional revenue for the short term, Carlyle said.

This week marks 58 years of being a newspaper owner for Jerry Robinson, Publisher of the West Seattle Herald/White Center News, Ballard News Tribune, Highline Times, Des Moines News, SeaTac News, and FederalWayNews.net.
He looked back at his career and offered his thoughts on this anniversary.

"Twenty years ago after thirty eight years of day to day newspapering we sold the papers and Elsbeth and I bought a winter home in Palm Desert and I concentrated on golf. It was great. For about two years... and then our buyers sold out to the Seattle Times.

That arrangement fizzled and the Times bagged it. They closed the papers (all except the White Center News and West Seattle Herald) and kept the commercial printing operation in Tukwila called Rotary Offset we had started in the 70s.

We immediately restarted the other weekly papers the next week.

The popular Seattle band, Memphos Radio Kings hit the Skylark Cafe and Club tonight with two other bands, beginning at 9:00 pm. No cover charge. You may know Radio King member Charlie Beck as the caller during Feedback Lounge's Tuesday night Rock Trivia competitions, and his MC work with Animals First Foundation fundraisers.

- Gunn and the Damage Done (9PM)
- Memphis Radio Kings (10PM)
- Nathan Wade and The Dark Pioneers (11PM)

Skylark Cafe and Club is at 3803 Delridge.