March 2010

By Kirk Prindle, candidate for King Conservation District Board of Supervisors

Vote in the King Conservation District Board election this Tuesday, March 16 at the Downtown library…shhhhhh.

Shhhhhhh…it’s at the library.

Shhhhhhh…The King Conservation District Board election is this Tuesday, but…shhhhhhh…it’s at the library.

Shhhhhhh…you are not mailed a ballot…shhhhhhh…you have to go in person to the downtown Seattle or Shoreline public library…shhhhhhh.

I love our libraries, but what kind of message does this send? What kind of message does it send when the only public election that deals directly with the conservation of King County’s important natural resources is the only public election not publicly administered by the King County Department of Elections?

Secret elections may work for the Skull and Bones Society. Secret elections may work to ably disenfranchise the vast majority of voters. And, secret elections may work to marginalize positions or issues.

More than 80 Ballard High School students are inviting the community into "The Secret Garden" for the school's 2010 spring musical.

Ballard High School's "The Secret Garden," a musical adaptations of the 1909 children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, opens March 11.

"After doing many of the traditional high school musicals over the past couple of years, we wanted to do a newer show," said Courtney Rowley, Ballard music teacher and director of the spring musical. "'The Secret Garden' is one of the masterpieces of contemporary American musical theatre."

It's the story of a young English girl born in the British Raj in the early 20th Century. She is sent to live with relatives in Britain at 11 after her parents are killed in a cholera outbreak. There she brings new life to a neglected garden, as well as her cousin and uncle.

"'The Secret Garden' is counted among the finest musical dramas, noted for its haunting music and for exploring the human emotions surrounding grief and healing," said Kathy Adolphsen, a parent volunteer on the Ballard High School Music Board.

Federal Way Public Schools staff and the community are invited to meet the finalists for the position of superintendent on March 24, 25 and 26.

On each evening, one finalist will provide background information, engage in informal dialogue and answer questions. These public events are scheduled for 6 to 6:50 p.m. in the Board Room at the Educational Service Center, 31405 18th Ave. S., Federal Way.

The public sessions will cap a full day for the candidates, which includes interviews with the board in executive session. The board interviews will not be open to the public.

Currently, a citizens’ advisory committee is forming to provide information to the Board of Education during the superintendent selection process, and a search firm is reviewing all received applications.

Timeline of events related to hiring the next superintendent:

Saturday, March 13, 2010: The board meets in executive session with the search firm to review all applications, and to discuss logistics and the nuts and bolts portions of the hiring process. The review of candidates will take place during executive session; otherwise, the meeting will be open to the public.

The Puget Sound Community’s blood supply is still struggling to recover from a high-usage week. In the last week, the inventory has dropped by as much as 50%.

Donations are important to restore the blood supply as soon as possible.
The Puget Sound Blood Center will be taking donations in West Seattle this Friday, March 12th at PCC 2749 California Ave. S.W. from
11:00AM to 5:00PM (closed for lunch 1:30-2:30PM)
Walk-ins will be accommodated as best as possible or for an appointment, call 800-398-7888

PLEASE NOTE THAT O NEG, O POS, A POS, B NEG and A NEG ARE AT ALERT OR CRITICAL LEVELS. ALL TYPES ARE ALWAYS NEEDED.

Jake is one of those dogs, a yellow labrador retriever, that everybody loves. His owner, Jon Durante got him as a puppy 12 years ago from his uncle in Mt. Vernon. Jake will "do pretty much anything for food," said Durante, but Jake does have a preference. He absolutely loves pizza. It doesn't matter where it's from really, "Just whoever is running a special."

Decatur and local rival Federal Way never played against each other this winter, but they did have common opponents including Gonzaga Prep at the state Class 4A boys basketball tournament at the Tacoma Dome.

One day after the Bullpups almost beat No. 1-ranked Federal Way, the Decatur Gators followed suit and beat Gonzaga by three, 48-45, in Friday, March 5 action.

"I think it's a good win," said Decatur head coach Kevin Olson. "Federal Way won the game last night, but Gonzaga was right in there and for us to beat them is huge."

Making Olson feel even happier was the fact the win clinched a top-eight state trophy since it got the Gators to the last day of action.

"Our goal was to get to Saturday," said Olson. "You get a trophy."

Decatur had to hold off the Bullpups to get the win Friday.

The Gators led, 43-38, after a three-point basket by Jerron Smith with 3:54 to play.

Parker Kelly of Gonzaga of Spokane answered with a three-pointer to close the Gators' lead to 43-41 with 2:37 left, before Decatur's Anthony Williams sank two free throws at the 2:29 mark to up the lead to 45-41.

Federal Way's dreams of a second-straight state Class 4A boys basketball championship were dashed by Jackson of Mill Creek at the state semifinal level.

The Eagles absorbed a 53-45 loss in the Friday, March 5 action at the Tacoma Dome.

Federal Way left the court in shock and tears, including floor leading senior guard Isiah Umipig.
Umipig had to sit out most of the game in foul trouble.

"It was extremely frustrating to see the guys struggling and I couldn't do a thing about it," said Umipig before the team entered a long meeting led by Eagles head coach Jerome Collins.

Sharpshooter Brett Kingma did the most damage against Federal Way, sinking four three-point shots on his way to 25 points. Ryan Todd led with 12 rebounds.

"I am so proud of our guys," said Todd, whose team went on to take a championship loss to Kentwood the next day. "We had to play a perfect game and that was real close to perfection."

Jackson jumped out to a 6-0 lead against the Eagles before Umipig his a three-point shot to break the string. Cole Dickerson then scored two on an inside pass from Umipig and Federal Way was back in it at 6-5 with 4:39 to play in the first quarter.

For the Decatur boys basketball team, a return to state coincided with the fortunate return of a key player in a Gator 50-47 win against A.C. Davis of Yakima in the first round of the WIAA/Dairy Farmers of Washington/Les Schwab Tires Class 4A boys basketball tournament at the Tacoma Dome on Wednesday, March 3.

With Decatur barely holding on to a 48-47 lead after leading by as much as 16 points, it was the opportunity for Anthony Williams to announce his return to the Gator lineup in a big way.

Williams partially blocked a four-foot shot by Davis guard David Trimble. Terrell Williams pounced on the loose ball and was immediately fouled, but missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw chance. Anthony Williams crashed the boards for the rebound and calmly cashed in on the two free throws to seal the deal for the Gators.

"The coaches, especiall (assistant) Steve Richardson, always tell us to be ready to rebound. Then I just concentrated on making the free throws."

After missing the previous six games for academic issues, the 6-foot-3 inch senior was cleared to play with the Gators.

Tough sledding in the fourth quarter kept the Decatur boys' basketball team from claiming a fourth place trophy in its final Class 4A state tournament appearance before switching to Class 3A next season.

Struggling to just two field goals in the final period, the Gators (19-11) allowed the Blue Devils of Walla (25-6) to pull away for a 48-38 victory in the game for fourth and seventh places.

"We just didn't make the plays, make our shots and didn't execute," Decatur head coach Kevin Olson stated. "We more than stalled there. Fourth quarter, give them credit for their defense."

Despite Jerron Smith's strong outside shooting -- including a pair of three-pointers -- in the first quarter, the Gators trailed 14-13. The inside-outside threats of 6-foot-7 Michael Weisner and 6-foot Gary Winston, respectively, took away a 12-7 Decatur lead.

This duo continued to be thorns in Decatur's side. Weisner scored all the Blue Devil points in a 9-4 run that gave Walla Walla a 27-20 halftime lead after Terrell Williams had whittled down a five-point Walla Walla margin to 18-16 on a three-point missile with 6:44 left before halftime.

Photographer Kurt Howard captured these images of Mt. Rainier's 65-55 victory over Franklin-Pierce. CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO PLAY SLIDESHOW.