March 2010

The long awaited Washington State liquor store at Westwood Village is set to open Friday at 10AM. Located on the north side of the mall between Staples and West Seattle Highline Eye Clinic the new store is modern and will carry over 1500 items including wines and beers.

The store will have four employees. Manager Dolly Amend has been working for the Washington State Liquor control board since 1991 and spent the last 8 years working as manager for the store in Burien. Her lead clerk is Jennifer Owens, also a transplant from the Burien store where worked for the past three years.

The store will have specialty wines, some from limited production runs and seasonal beers. "The state will sometimes buy some wines that's kind of hard to get and they will go in and buy a few cases and they will distribute it to a few stores. It's wine that you can't just walk into any grocery store and get," said Amend. Most of these will be Washington wines. The store will also have gift displays year round.

The Ballard High School girls golf season got underway March 23 with the Beavers suffering a 40-stroke loss to Inglemoor.

Ballard shot a 286 to Inglemoor's 246 at Inglewood Golf Course.

Coach Casey McMullin said his team played fairly well, and two Ballard freshmen golfers were able to get their feet wet.

Sophomore Diana Shyue medaled with a score of 42, Ballard's low round of the day.

The Beavers match up with Woodinville at 3:30 p.m. on March 24 at Wayne Golf Course.

The Ballard High School boys soccer team lost 1-0 to Woodinville March 23.

Woodinville's James Pulse scored the match's only goal in the 29th minute.

Logan Richards, Woodinville goalie, got the shutout.

It was the Beavers second shutout in three matches. They have been outscored 7-3 on the season.

Ballard is 0-1-1 in KingCo and 0-3-2 overall.

The Beavers face Bothell at 7:30 p.m. on March 26 at Interbay Stadium.

Mountain to Sound Outfitters
3602 S.W. Alaska Street
Staging their first annual Sidewalk Sale.
They will have up to 50% off all winter gear. 20% off Thule, Paddlesports, and Skates.
Raffles for Atomic Sugar Daddy's, Salomon FIsh 130 Jr Skis, and lots of other prizes from Smith, Uvex, Swix, Pow, Spacecraft, and others. Proceeds to benefit the newly forming West Seattle Snowsports Council!
Open till 9:30 on Friday with a Free BBQ and Music (maybe live, maybe ipod, they need to see who shows up).
Gift Certificates available for Alki Kayak Tours, some of the best prices of the year...got any birthdays coming up?
206-935-7669

Fleurt Studio
4461 California Ave SW
Fleurt will open it's first retail location in West Seattle April 2.
We deliver fresh blooms daily throughout Seattle. Free West Seattle delivery.
http://www.fleurtseattle.com
206-937-1103

Seattle Integrated Martial Arts and Limber Yoga
two new buisnesses located across from Jefferson Square on 42nd ave. SW.
www.simamartialarts.com

The East Ballard planter project on 14th Avenue Northwest, which will install 27 city-donated planters on median ends north of Market Street, is moving forward but needs volunteers to become a reality.

Volunteers are needed for the following days and events:

Planters Pickup and Delivery – 8. a.m. on April 1

There are 27 planters currently sitting at the Seattle Department of Transportation's Sunny Jim facility in south Seattle ready to be picked up. Big trucks, trailers and drivers are needed to help pick up and deliver.

Gravel Delivery – morning of April 9

Gravel donated by Salmon Bay Sand & Gravel will be delivered and dropped in the median ends for weed control. Volunteers are needed to control traffic during delivery.

Gravel Raking – morning of April 10

Volunteers needed to help rake and smooth out the gravel.

Planter Placement – morning of April 12

Several strong volunteers are needed to help move the 50-pound planters from a storage area on 14th Avenue to their designated locations in the medians. Hand truck donations for the morning would be greatly appreciated.

After a disappointing debut, Ballard High School's Viking Robotics is looking to improve on its second-to-last-place 2009 finish in the FIRST Robotics Seattle Regional Competition March 26 and March 27.

Or if not to improve, to at least do slightly worse.

"At least you can joke about last place," junior Paul Menendez said. "There's no fun in second to last."

FIRST Robotics started in 1992 in New Hampshire as a way to inspire young people to become leaders in science and technology. Now, more than 150,000 students nationwide are involved in it.

Teams spend six weeks designing, building and testing a robot to compete in a soccer-like game called Breakaway.

Last year, Viking Robotics did not do well. Menendez blames a subjective scoring system. Craig Nielsen, Ballard High School teacher and leader of Viking Robotics, blames the team's newness.

Three years ago, Nielsen said he was approached by Principal Phil Brockman about doing something with robotics but blew him off.

He saw an email about FIRST last year and decided to look into it. He said the program receives a lot of support from the state and didn't look like too much work, so he decided to roll with it.

The Burien Planning Commission made some dramatic changes to the proposed Shoreline Master Program at the March 23 meeting.

They raised the trigger requiring a destroyed non-conforming structure to meet new vegetation buffer standards from 50 percent to 75 percent.

The 50 percent threshold has been a contentious number for shoreline homeowners, many of whom will see their houses become non-conforming if new setbacks are passed.

Planning Commission Chair Joe Fitzgibbon proposed the percentage increase, saying he wanted to give flexibility to homeowners.

If 75 percent is used in the SMP passed by the City Council, it will leave a disparity between the SMP and the zoning code. 50 percent is the number used in the zoning code for non-conforming structures, and was originally used in the SMP for consistency.

Planning Commissioner Rebecca McInteer was the only Commissioner opposed to the change. She said there was value in the consistency.

In the proposed SMP new building setbacks along the shoreline of the Puget Sound would become 65 feet, increased from the 20-foot setback in place now.

The Ballard High School baseball team opened KingCo play with a 2-0 loss to Lake Washington March 23. But with Lake Washington being the defending conference champ and the Beavers being shorthanded, the loss hurts a little less.

"I'm not feeling all that bad about anything," coach John Lamm said.

Ballard was without senior designated hitter Kyler Korsmo and started three freshmen against the defending KingCo champs.

Despite that, the Beavers hit the ball fairly well and gave themselves opportunities to score but couldn't find any holes, Lamm said.

"Sometimes the breaks just go a certain way," he said.

Ballard also wasn't overpowered by Lake Washington's offense, he said.

Lake Washington broke a 0-0 tie in the top of the fifth inning when senior starting pitcher Charlie Beaudoin threw a bases-loaded walk.

Junior Oliver Guarino went 1-3 with a double for the Beavers, but the team finished with two hits and no runs.

Lake Washington's Trevor Dunlap went a full seven innings, throwing three strikeouts and giving up two hits.

Ballard pitchers Beaudoin and junior Danny Thomson combined for six strikeouts and four hits.

The Federal Way Police Department invites Law Enforcement personnel and the public to attend the memorial service of Officer Brian M. Walsh on Friday, March 26.

The service will be held at the Federal Way Christian Faith Center 33645 20 AV S, beginning at 1 p.m.

There will be a police precession for Federal Way Police and family only. All other Law Enforcement, emergency personnel and public are requested to meet at the Christian Faith Center.

A Memorial Fund has been established by the Federal Way Police Officer’s Guild. Donations can be made to Officer Walsh’s Memorial Fund at any Key Bank Branch location or through the Federal Way Police Officer’s Guild website at http://fwpog.com/FWPOGOfficerMemorial.aspx

Requested Route: from I-5 North or South take the 142b exit (348 ST) and turn North (right) on Enchanted Parkway (16 AV S) and turn right at the sign “Police Funeral,” there will be Police Explorers assisting with entrance and parking at the facility.

Danielle Orvella and Kelli Sugro combined for a seven-inning, 7-0, shut out girls' fastpitch softball victory against young Federal Way at Federal Way High School on Friday, March 20.

Orvella notched seven strikeouts with four walks over the first four innings while Sugro set down nine batters on strikes the rest of the way and allowed one base runner on a seventh inning base on balls.

"We're very young with no juniors," said sixth-year Eagle head coach Rosemarie Burke. "I've got the best kids. They're very motivated and understand the concept of team. They have the work ethic to go along with high athletic potential. They've committed themselves to two hours of practice in the moring (on week days) and after school. we also have practice on Saturday."

With youngsters starting at key positions Federal Way trailed only 3-0 after five comlete innings as Kentridge notched single tallies in the second, third and fifth innings before five hits, including a Kayla Andrus double, in the fifth inning led to three additional runs. The Conquerors tacked on a final run in the seventh.