August 2010

Forty West Seattle Junction merchants are teaming up on Saturday Aug. 21 to stage the Big Bonanza promotion with coupons and discounts starting at 10 am.

A checked table cloth and balloons are your visual cue that the merchant displaying them is participating in the promotion. The West Seattle Junction Association is sponsoring a $100 gift card you can enter to win at each participating merchant.

But come prepared for a fight. A water fight that is. At noon a community water fight showdown will be staged. You can pick up your squirt pistols or other water weapon before noon at the WSJA tent.

You can file this under "proud parent" file if you wish

Just a bit of background on Nick Czajka, one of Monster Costume's employees, from me his father.

In tenth grade Nick wanted to skip ahead into AP calculus - the school officials at
East Lake High school said he would have to pass the first semester AP calculus final to do that.

So Nick read the calculus book over Christmas break and took the final.

When the tests were graded, the teacher announced that for the first time someone had scored 100% on the final and
what's more hadn't taken the class. As far as I know Nick's score - based on his self instruction
remains the only 100% on an AP calculus final at Eastlake. Other competitive testing placed him as the number one
high school math/physics student in the northwest, and number six ranked in the country.

Nick taught himself to build and repair guitar amps - he worked his way through UW working for THD
Electronics as their lead designer/repair person, and graduated with honors and no student loans.

The public is invited to join Providence ElderPlace and Heritage House at the Market for the 9th annual Cooking with Class event and fundraiser, to be held Sept. 14, 2010, at Salty’s on Alki.

The event pairs 22 chefs with 176 guests, with each chef teaching three 30-minute classes. Guests attend three classes each, to make a dish hands-on with the chefs. Each dish is paired with wine donated by Northwest wineries. Through this intimate setting, guests get to know the chefs and learn their tips. The concept has been such a hit that the concept and name have been trademarked.

In addition to cooking, eating and wine tasting, guests will have the opportunity to participate in a raffle of culinary items and a small live auction. John Curley, formerly of Evening Magazine, and Jeremy McLachlan, executive chef at Salty’s on Alki, will act as the auction tag team.

The event benefits Providence Heritage House at the Market and Providence ElderPlace-Seattle, both programs run by Providence Senior and Community Services, a division of Providence Health & Services. Both programs assist frail elderly in King County. For more about these programs, go to www.providence.org/pscs.

The Heartland Cafe has a ghost. That's the report from multiple witnesses and while this isn't new (a brand new ghost might be creepier) the haunting continues as it has for years now. The Heartland Cafe at 4210 Southwest Admiral Way is a Wisconsin themed restaurant that moved into the space once occupied by the long time West Seattle landmark, the Admiral Benbow Inn. Their motto is "Serving Midwestern Comfort food like mom used to make."

But it's doubtful that your mom had a ghost in the bathroom.

Jeff Loren, a co-owner said, "I've heard from two of our waitstaff that they've seen the faucet actually move while they were standing there. I haven't seen the ghost but I've been told the ghost is a long time story."

The City of Seattle and the Seattle Animal Shelter shared this press release today. If you have room for and would like to have a new cat in your home, this is your chance to add one at a major discount.

The Seattle Animal Shelter is bulging at the seams with cute cats and adorable kittens waiting for their forever homes. To help every cat and kitten find its special someone, through Aug. 31, you can adopt two cats or kittens for the discounted price of $224, which includes two-year Seattle pet licenses. The regular price would be more than $300.

Have room for just one adult cat? Until Aug. 31, you can adopt a single cat that’s one-year or older, for a reduced fee, ranging from $22 to $112, based on whether or not the cat was already spayed or neutered when it arrived at the shelter. The regular price for one cat goes up to $157.

The "Walk On Jayme" fundraiser was bitter sweet, but seemed more sweet than bitter. While Jayme was in her wheelchair, she was "forcefully" moved onto the dance floor by loved ones encircling her in a celebratory frenzy, to her eventual delight. She was joined by her father and brother, and other friends and supporters. Some took a turn at karaoke. Miller's friend Helen Johnson sang like there's no tomorrow, which served to impress. Sydni Smith videotaped the hijinks and with Johnson and other event organizers kept track of the silent auction bids and raffle prizes.

As the West Seattle Herald first reported here:
http://www.westseattleherald.com/2010/08/01/features/west-seattle-woman…

Jayme Miller was stricken with a disease that rendered her paralyzed. She is making progress. However, her medical costs are mounting and a fundraiser in her name "Walk On Jayme" will be held Saturday, Aug. 21, at 7:30pm - 2:00am at Rocksport Bar and Grill, 4209 Southwest Alaska St. It also happens to be her birthday.

If you'd still like to donate an item to the auction, please email Syd at: heysyd@gmail.com

The contractor working for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to widen the Spokane Street Viaduct will do overnight work beginning at 10 p.m. Saturday, August 21.  Crews will be working in the East Marginal Way southbound curb lane between Hinds and Spokane streets, doing advance work in preparation for shaft drilling, until approximately 8 a.m. Sunday.  The work requires limiting southbound traffic on East Marginal Way to one lane.  It is not expected to impact westbound turns onto Spokane Street.

After more than 10 years of working with the city and the neighborhood to develop a satisfactory replacement for the 30-year-old Greenwood store, Fred Meyer has announced it is scrapping plans for a new $91 million, mixed-use development in favor of a much cheaper remodel of the existing store.

The most recent design for the new Greenwood Fred Meyer development, which was approved by the Northwest Design Review Board in September 2009, included a mostly below-ground, 170,000-square-foot Fred Meyer with a three-story parking garage, additional retail space along Northwest 85th Street and 250 apartment units.

The project was $13 million over budget. Melinda Merrill, public affairs director for Fred Meyer, said they knew the project – the most expensive Fred Meyer development ever – would be over budget going in, but $13 million is too much to cover.

The remodeled Fred Meyer, located at 100 N.W. 85th St., will include groceries and apparel and be more high-end than a typical Fred Meyer, Merrill said. When the neighboring Greenwood Market's lease is up, it will be converted into Fred Meyer's garden center and home department, she said.

Fresh made made bread and pastries, hot coffee and a slight air of mystery proved to be the perfect ingredients to entice a steady stream of customers into Burien’s newest bakery on opening day.

Their Burien location, at 626 S.W. 152nd St., is Grand Central Bakery’s third café/bakery in the Puget Sound Area. There are also six Grand Central Bakery’s in Portland Oregon.

Being under heavy construction for the last couple of months the building was completed covered in plywood, which gave it mystery, Grand Central Bakery Co-Owner Gillian Allen-White said. After the plywood came off Allen-White said you could see nose marks no the window from people looking in.

All of the proceeds from their opening day go to the Highline Food Bank and the Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence.

“We like to tailor what we do to what is close to our hearts,” Allen-White said. Which she said includes fighting hunger, education. They also help support the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure each year, which raises money to fight breast Cancer.

12:16 a.m. Aug. 14, 26th Ave. N.W. and N.W. Market St.

A man told police officers that, "to the best of his recollection," he was assaulted by five unknown male suspects with a baseball bat. He was unable to give any further information.

The man's injuries were consistent with being beaten by a bat. His face was swollen, and there were bruises on his chest and stomach. The man may have fractures in his face.

Police found several empty cans of beer near the victim.

3:30 a.m. Aug. 13, 8500 Block of Phinney Ave. N.

Police found a women lying in a parking lot with blood on the ground around her head.

A witness told police he saw three men talking and yelling by the victim's truck, which she lives in, as she was lying in the bed of the truck.

The victim got out of her truck with a small baseball bat and confronted the three men, according to the witness. One of the men took the bat from the victim and started hitting her with it. The men also hit the vicim with their fists and one stomped on her head a few times before they fled, the witness said.