January 2010

"For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.” H.L. Menken.

This quote is often made about solving our education problems by local educators. There have to be a few corollaries to this axiom at least in education.

Let’s start with “There don’t seem to be any complex solutions to complex problems that work in education, or complex problems in education are usually a result of collecting simple problems into a larger problem.”

A local writer put it, “Problems whose solutions are simple but unpopular are labeled as complex to account for the fact that they have not had the unpopular solution applied. “ This creates an excuse for some of the poor achievement seen in many school districts.

There does seem to be a simple solution, for many, to the problem of getting a satisfactory education. Over Thanksgiving I was in Boston and had a meeting with my Son-in-law whose office is right across the street from Boston Latin School.

GT called me just after Christmas, ‘I’m going to run up to that new sportsman’s store in Olympia, you want to come with me?’

GT went on to tell me a bit about the store, Cabela’s, and that it was huge, with neat things like stuffed animals inside.

I usually prefer my animals unstuffed, but I asked him if they have clothing items and he confirmed it to be so. Since I had been looking for a new pair of suspenders I said, "I’m in."

GT pulled up in my driveway, spot on 10:00 am Sunday, just like he had said and while we idled out of the neighborhood, we chatted about the importance of punctuality.

“Shows respect for the people you’re meeting,” I said. GT reminded me of a drywall man that we had both hired for remodel work in days past named Dennis who was real good at doing what he said he was going to do.

“That guy never showed up late, nicest fella….how long has it been?” I figured about five years since we had seen him.

We hit I-5 south and before the rain let up we arrived in the Nisqually delta area that stretches out just before Lacey, proper.

ArtsWest presents the Seattle premiere of Love Song by John Kolvenbach, directed by Kate Witt and featuring Cindy Bradder, Nick DeSantis, Heather Hawkins, and Christopher Zinovitch. The production begins performances on January 27, 2010 at ArtsWest.

Kate Witt, who starred in ArtsWest’s productions of Dead Man’s Cell Phone and Well gives her directorial debut in this off-beat romantic comedy from hot young playwright John Kolvenbach.

“The humor of this piece is great,” said Ms. Witt. “The lyrical quality of many of the lines is beautiful. But most of all, I love the sibling relationship between Joan and Beane.”

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.

Judith Rose got Ivy, her English Staffordshire Bull Terrier, from a breeder in New Mexico, 11 years ago. "She has a ball that she loves and she loves to play ball, until you get sick of it," said Rose. She's a "perfect watch dog" Rose continued, but "She will roll on her back for a pet."

"She's always doing something cute," Rose said, "She loves to burrow in the couch and she loves to have her face covered in a blanket, so I call her 'The BaBa Girl'. She's very spoiled and she's my best friend. I will not know what to do when she's gone."

Rose explained that her favorite behavior of Ivy's was when they were in New Mexico. "She would get on the wood pile and get a piece of wood until it became her stick and carry it around in her mouth and balance it and sit there and look at you until you went, 'You are such a dumb dog.'"

"This is a great breed but they are not always so friendly with other dogs," Rose offered, "That's where you have to be careful. But as far as people and kids, she's fabulous."

How to nominate your pet for Pet of the Week:

The former Westside Pharmacy will open, possibly Feb. 15, as the new West Seattle Pharmacy. Westside's owner, Michael Ng, sold his business including client list to the new QFC by the Alaska Junction in time for its fall opening.

Owners Kenny and Scarlett Wolfe are busy rehabbing and reconfiguring the 1,400 square foot space at 5401 California Avenue SW. They say West Seattle Pharmacy will be the only independent pharmacy in West Seattle. It will certainly be the only one with an espresso bar and barista.

"We'll have an LCD TV, lounge chair, massaging chair, free Wifi, for customers while they relax and wait for their prescriptions, or just hang out at the espresso bar," said Kenny. "If they can't make it in, I will go out in the evening and deliver, and I can administer flu shot shots at customers' homes."

That's right, house calls.

Scarlett is a part time dental hygienist and soon officially becomes a pharmacy assistant to help her husband.

Ed. Note: This is a copy of a letter sent to City Light Superintendant Jorge Carrasco by Jennifer Macuiba, president of the Ballard District Council.

Dear Mr. Carrasco:

As I am sure you can appreciate, good street lighting is a major factor in providing a safe and inviting environment for everyone using our streets.

The Ballard District Council, increasingly concerned about reports of nonfunctioning streetlights in our neighborhoods, asked for assistance from local volunteers to determine the extent of the problem.

Seventeen volunteers walked the arterial streets in the Ballard district between Dec. 21 and Dec. 30 and reported 198 streetlights out or malfunctioning.

We recognize that City Light is beginning the third year of a four-year effort to relamp the entire city.

According to the schedule, relamping will occur south of Northwest 65th Street in 2010 and north of Northwest 65th Street in 2011.

We believe well-lit streets are safer for pedestrians and that 2011 is too long to wait for some areas.

The Ballard High School boys basketball team flew south for the winter Dec. 28 for the Surf 'N Slam Tournament in California. But, it wasn't all fun in the sun for the Beavers, who went 0-3 against teams from California and Arizona.

"We were shorthanded, and three games in three days is not easy," coach Billy Rodgers said. "We are a team where we need contributions from everybody. If we don’t have that, we will struggle."

During the tournament, Ballard was led by junior Salim Gloyd, who scored a team-high 48 points in three games. Freshman Seth Berger made his presence felt with 30 points in the tournament.

"Seth is playing great," Rodgers said. "We knew he had great potential, but he is getting better every day. This is a kid that Beaver fans will enjoy watching over the next four years."

Upon returning to Seattle, the Beavers started 2010 off right with a 59-57 win against conference opponent Newport Jan. 5.

After the underclassmen shined in California, it was time for Ballard's seniors to take over against Newport.

Senior Marcus Heim had a game-high 17 points, and senior Gary Smith had 16.

A low public turnout and a low-key morning had Port of Seattle representatives feeling positive about a consensus between the Port and the users of Fishermen's Terminal on the future of the the terminal at a Jan. 6 open house.

The Port of Seattle is in the beginning stages of developing a 20-year plan for Fishermen's Terminal.

During a series of presentations to neighborhood and industry groups in the past months, the main desire expressed by the public is that Fishermen's Terminal remain committed to the commercial fishing fleet, said Peter McGraw, officer of public affairs for the Port.

McGraw said the Port has the same desire for Fishermen's Terminal.

"This is the goose that lays the golden egg – it's an economic engine," he said. "We don't want to stop what is working here."

Joseph Gellings, senior planner at the Port of Seattle, said the purpose of the 20-year plan is to look at the buildings and facilities of Fishermen's Terminal, which enables nearly 4,000 jobs, and make sure they provide what the terminal's customers need.

Swedish Medical Center is looking for anyone born at Swedish 100 years ago as they could be the "oldest baby" born at the hospital.

Since opening its doors in 1910, approximately 200,000 babies have been born at Swedish Medical Center. Last year alone, there were more than 7,400 born at Swedish’s Ballard and First Hill campuses.

On Jan. 6, in honor of its 100-year-old baby-birthing crown, Swedish launched its search for the oldest living person born at any birthing center now part of Swedish Health Services, including Swedish Hospital (Swedish First Hill, Swedish Ballard and Swedish Cherry Hill), Doctors Hospital, Seattle General Hospital, Ballard General Hospital and Providence Seattle Medical Center.

As the medical center gears up to celebrate its 100th anniversary, it is Swedish’s hope that the “oldest baby” will be the hospital’s “spokes-baby” for the year. Swedish’s spokes-baby will be featured in a full online profile as well as a Web video.

In celebration of its own 100-year birthday, Swedish will honor Swedish-born babies of all ages by encouraging involvement in its I’m a Swedish Baby campaign.