January 2010

West Seattle’s indefatigable artist with the gravity-defying hair, Randy McCoy, lit up the room once again with his new collaged paintings, prints and sculpture at the “Super Duper Art Opening Reception” Friday night, Jan. 8, at Fetherston Gallery, 818 East Pike Street on Capitol Hill. Also featured, paintings by former Seattle artist Michael Hoffman.

The event coincided with McCoy’s book release, Form & Process, New Paintings by Randy McCoy, (authored) by Daniel Kany. McCoy owns art galleries in “The Building,” 4316 SW Othello Street in West Seattle. Many area residents know McCoy and The Building from his participation in the West Seattle Art Walk.

McCoy’s work ranges from the near $1000 mark to $6000 for his largest painting, and he sold a piece within the first hour of the show.

“In this particular show what I love is that Randy’s work is very tactile, very three-dimensional,” said gallery owner Betsy Fetherston. “Some of the images sort of float off the canvas, and his use of color is beautiful. It’s got a lot of surfaces to it.”

The show will stay up through Feb. 6.

A fundraiser for Amanda Knox, whose recent trial in Italy for the murder of her roommate ended in her conviction, will take place Wednesday, Jan. 27, 8:00 pm- 10:00 pm, at the Comedy Underground in Pioneer Square. Money raised at the “Amanda Knox Appeal Fund Benefit” will go toward the cost of her appeal, a one year process. Her family is already in debt nearly $1 million since Knox was first accused, over two years ago. Six professional comics will perform for free, including Renee Perrault, also the MC. They will avoid political jokes involving any aspects of the trial.

Perrault, a Renton resident, worked with Amanda’s father, Curt, and step-mother, Cassandra, at the downtown Macys corporate division, then the Bon Marche, in the 1980’s and ‘90’s. They have remained in contact.

“I was part of a large circle of work friends from Bon Marche who have celebrated many major milestones in life together, including a baby shower for Curt just prior to Amanda’s birth,” said Perrault.

Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and King County Department of Transportation (KCDOT) issued news releases to West Seattle residents this week informing commuters crossing the West Seattle Bridge about the upcoming $168 million Spokane Street Viaduct work. An SDOT link lays out specific construction projects currently in progress that will take over two years to finish.

SDOT spokesperson Marybeth Turner said, "Spokane Street and West Seattle Viaduct are very important for traffic circulation, and limiting access to them is bound to have an impact, although we are striving to reduce impacts as much as possible. The long-term benefit of the project will be considerable improvement, and it will also improve access to downtown Seattle during replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct."

Improvements include widening of the Spokane Viaduct (upper roadway), South Spokane Street reconstruction (lower roadway), the eastbound 4th Avenue off-ramp commuters witness now taking shape, and the new westbound on- and off-ramp at 1st Avenue.

On Nov. 23, 2009, the City Council added $860,000 to The Seattle Public Library's 2010 budget to restore some branch hours. The additional money means the Library can provide seven-day-a-week service at 11 branches and the Central Library in 2010.

Effective Feb. 3, these branches will operate 60 hours a week:

Beacon Hill Branch
Southwest Branch
West Seattle Branch

Hours will be:
10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Thursday
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Saturday
1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday

Hours at the Central Library will not change.

These local branches will operate five days a week for 35 hours:
Delridge Branch
High Point Branch
South Park Branch

Hours will be:
1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, Tuesday
11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday
CLOSED FRIDAY
11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday
CLOSED SUNDAY

On Sept. 25, 2009, then-Mayor Greg Nickels announced his proposed 2010 budget, which included cuts to address a projected $72 million revenue shortfall in the city's 2009 - 2010 biennial budget. The Library was asked to identify approximately 5 percent in cuts - about $2.6 million.

Health Sciences and Human Services High School (HS3) and Aviation High School were both named on the 2010 list of America's Best High Schools published by U.S. News and World Report. HS3 earned a bronze award and Aviation High School earned a silver.

They were the only two South King County schools to make the list.

The list, published annually since 2008, identifies the country's top-performing high schools. "The goal is to provide a clear, unbiased picture of how well public schools serve all of their students - from the highest achieving to the lowest achieving - in preparing them to demonstrate proficiency in basic skills as well as readiness for college-level work," according to the U.S. News and World Report website.

"HS3 and Aviation are examples of our effort to reinvent high school to better prepare all students for college, career, and citizenship," says Highline Superintendent John Welch. "Both are innovative schools that are preparing students for the math and science careers that will dominate the new economy."

A decomposed body was found yesterday (January 7th) by Washington State DOT workers clearing brushing along I-5 just east of Federal Way.

The workers found the body about 2:30 PM near the 3100 block of S. 298th. Due to the advanced state of decomposition, it was impossible to tell the gender or cause of death. The remains were turned over to the Medical Examiner’s Office.

I recently had dinner with a friend, who described not three but four interesting men she met through work.

I thought about my work place, my home, my colleagues, my cat, my clients, other women and had a hard time concealing my jealousy of my friend’s access to thousands of people, a.k.a men.

“You should try internet dating,” she suggested. “That’s what people do now.”

“No way,” I laughed. “You know what a luddite I am. I can’t imagine that working for me.”

Two nights later, I found myself cruising the sites.

“I’m just looking,” I told my cat. But before I knew it, I was downloading photos of myself and getting my credit card out.

I have to admit, it was exciting to see so many “requests” in my inbox the next day. That is, until I opened the emails.

The first was from someone called “Lusty4u.” I deemed him and his name ridiculous and deleted it immediately.

The second only showed a picture of a hairy chest. “Ewww,” I yelped and deleted that one as well.

The next one looked promising. It was from a good looking divorced man in his 40s with children, and it stated that he was a musician and good cook.

Mr. Spot's Chai House, located at 5463 Leary Ave. N.W., is set to close its doors Jan. 30.

The landlord raised the rent by 50 percent, hoping to lure wealthy renters as new condos are built in the neighborhood, said Chai House employee Rita Foreman.

Chai House owner Chris Tutor, of Tutor Holdings LLC, plans to reopen the business but has not yet chosen a specific location, Foreman said.

She said Tutor hopes the new location will be within a few blocks, but there is a small chance it will be outside Ballard.

The Chai House has been in its current location since 1997. The founder of Morning Glory Chai, Jessica Vidican-Nesius, opened the Chai House and sold it in 2008 to Tutor Holdings LLC.

Foreman said the business is community-oriented and feels like a family.

“Everyone is really sad about [the move],” she said.

She said she estimates that Chai House customers are about 90 percent regulars and said it is “a counterculture hippie joint that has grown up a little” in recent years.

Tutor said he hopes to reopen the business within five months with a bar, which Foreman said is very important to customers.

After a three-week winter holiday, the Ballard High School gymnastics team picked up right where it left off, beating Roosevelt 163.45-128.15 Jan. 7.

The Beavers were so dominant against Roosevelt, they only allowed one Roosevelt player to crack the top three in any event.

Taylor Stern took first place all-around for the third time this season with a score of 34.75. Erica Redman and Molly Barnes placed second and third with scores of 34.75 and 32.55.

The Beavers took all three top-spots on the bars with Stern leading the way with a score of 8.9. Maria Volk came in second with 7.5. Redman and Barnes tied for third with a score of 7.2.

The floor event was all Ballard as well. Stern earned a score of 9.55 and first place. Redman came in second with 9.45, and Taylor Green and Maureen Sturgeon tied for third with 9.

Roosevelt's Becca Boyd ruined Ballard's complete dominance on the beam and in the vault.

Redman took first on the beam, scoring 9.15. Barnes tied with Boyd for second with an 8.

Stern and Barnes were first and second in the vault with scores of 9 and 8.4 respectively. Boyd from Roosevelt took third.

The Ballard High School wrestling team didn't offer much resistance to Bellevue Jan. 7 on the way to a 69-6 loss.

Of the night's 13 matches, the Beavers won only one, a Luke Fabian pin of Bellevue's Sam Bassford. Seven of the matches were Ballard forfeits.

The Beavers are 1-5 overall this season.

Ballard's next match is against Inglemoor at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 14 at Ballard High School.