August 2010

It has just been reported by at least two major Seattle media outlets that the 427-page motivation document issued March 4 in Italian, called the "(Judge) Massei Report" regarding the murder case of Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, and West Seattle UW student Amanda Knox's involvement in the murder, has been for the first time translated in English by a team of of people on an international blog.

The Massei Report, authored by Judge Giancarlo Massei and Assistant Judge Beatrice Cristiani, explains the motivation of the judges and jury for their guilty verdicts of Knox, her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. and career burglar, Rudy Guede.

UPDATE: We now have links to both their English translation of the motivation and an English translation of Amanda Knox's rebuttal to that motivation document.

At 2:30 p.m. Aug. 10, nine months after it announced its move, the Ballard Food Bank will officially open for business in its new home at 5130 Leary Ave. N.W.

The food bank moved out of its old space at 7001 24th Ave. N.W. Aug. 6 with the help of volunteers and the Ballard High School football team.

And, after an exhausting few days of preparation, the food bank's new space is ready to receive its first customers.

"People just worked hard until we were done," said Nancy McKinney, executive director of the Ballard Food Bank. "It was a couple of 12-hour days."

The new Ballard Food Bank has 75 percent more square footage than the former space. There is more room for storage and services and customers will no longer have to wait outside in the cold and rain.

McKinney said she is looking forward to clients being able to shop in a store setting instead of a cramped space. They now have breathing room and space to browse, she said.

"When I go grocery shopping, I like to be in an atmosphere that's pleasant," she said.

Ballardites got their first look at the six-story, 107-unit apartment building planned to replace the former Ballard Library on 24th Avenue Northwest during an Aug. 9 early design guidance meeting.

Architectural firm Weber Thompson presented three schemes for the development, which will include apartments, commercial space, live/work space and underground parking.

All three schemes split the 200-foot-long building, located between Northwest 57th Street and Northwest 58th Street, into three distinct segments in order to avoid a monolithic presence along the street. They also focus the mass of the building onto 24th Avenue and away from the low-rise residential neighborhood to the west.

Weber Thompson's preferred scheme has commercial space along 24th Avenue with an eight-foot setback from the sidewalk in the middle to create more pedestrian space and allow for spill-out from future commercial tenants.

Live/work apartments would be on the ground level along 58th Street.

The South Seattle Community College (SSCC) Auto Collision Program has been certified as an "Envirostar" and will be highlighted on NPR radio during the week of August 9th, during the EnviroStars sponsorship message on national public radio stations KUOW 94.9 FM and KXOT 91.7 FM. The mentions are being made for the program's commitment to environmentally stable business practices.

This word comes from Laurel S. Tomchick who is the Envirostars Program Manager for King County Department of Natural Resources & Parks

To learn more about the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program visit envirostars.org govlink.org/hazwaste .

The recently born West Seattle Snow Sports Council will be hosting a meeting Wednesday, August 11th at 6:00PM at Mountain to Sound Outfitters 3602 SW Alaska St. Started last March by Greg Whittaker the new organization hopes to get young people more involved in winter sports, keep them active and involved through the winter months. He has modeled the group's structure and purpose after one in Kirkland that he was involved with. Here's our original story.

The agenda will include the following:
501c3 Fiscal Sponsor role (4H or Mountaineers?) In depth community discussion regarding roles and responsibilities.
IT Support for back end registration setup (position open)
Web hosting, setup and support roles.(position open)
Treasurer Role
Confirm transportation costs and availability
Local outreach (skilled and passionate people needed).
Please join us if you are interested develop winter recreation fun for WS kids.

The season will be on us soon and we should make sure the West Seattle youth have a chance to know these mountains.

Now its 12th year the Arts in Nature Festival is happening again at Camp Long and offers an eclectic mix of music, dance, art, crafts, and unique interactive experiences. It continues Sunday, Aug. 22.

Sponsored by the Nature Consortium and headed by Nancy Whitlock the festival always offers something unique and family oriented.
"There aren't more things to do necessarily than in years past," said Whitlock," but we have a lot more people."

CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT

The festival this year offers a special event Sunday night as a benefit show during the festival, Chris Ballew will be performing songs of the Presidents of the United States of America at 5 pm in the Camp Long Lodge (tickets $25).

The festival will be open from 11 AM Sunday to 6 PM.

Festival goers will have access to a wide-range of performing arts including:

Music
Dance
Aerial & fire performances
Puppetry
Marching bands;
And, visitors will also get to experience sound & visual art installations in the

Museum of Sound
Interactive arts activities such as Haiku
Printmaking
EcoRhythm Instrument Building

Morris dancers showed their stuff around the Alki Liberty statue at sunset Monday, Aug. 9.

A Morris Dance is a form of English folk dance usually accompanied by music.

Here's the Wikipedia entry.

Volunteers at the Highline Botanical Garden in SeaTac are inviting area residents to join them in the garden for a scoop of ice cream and the very best in gardening "edu-taintment" at their Fourth Annual Ice Cream Social, featuring this year's celebrity guest, Ciscoe Morris.

The fun starts Sunday, Aug. 15th, at 1:00 p.m., with Morris taking center stage in the Celebration Rose Garden at around 2:30 p.m. The event goes until 5 p.m. The garden is located at 13735 24th Ave. S.

Morris is the Pacific Northwest's premier gardening guru, author, and host of several radio and television programs. He will give one of his favorite talks, "Attracting Hummingbirds to Your Garden". He will pot 2 Hummer-friendly pots while giving his talk and the pots will be available as part of a new feature - a silent auction to raise funds for the Highline Botanical Garden Foundation.

The foundation will offer the first 40 new members to join during this event a pot from Aw Pottery.

By Leslie Kasper, DVM

Why should I spay or neuter my dog or cat?

Dogs and cats that have not been "fixed" are likely to bite, leave the yard, get hit by car, and encounter other hazards. Pets that are left intact have a natural drive to protect their territory. They are also more likely to leave their yard to find a mate.

There is no scientific evidence that dogs and cats need to be intact unless they're breeding. Spaying/neutering is a very safe procedure. Your pet will be feeling better and return to normal behavior in only a few days. The incision usually will heal within 10 - 14 days.

Spaying and neutering reduces the problem of overpopulation of dogs and cats. Unwanted cats and animals are a burden on taxpayers as governments work to provide humane treatment of animals.

My pet is always in the house or in the yard and never gets loose. Why should I license my dog or cat?

A fire in a single family residence at 9038 22nd SW near Westwood Village drew 11 fire units in response at around 7:01 pm.
Fire Department officials on the scene said the cause was not yet clear.

It was called in by the next door neighbor Kim Nugyen who said she noticed smoke on the roof of the home.
Firemen are cutting around the chimney to get at areas still smoldering but the fire is now out.
The fire tied up traffic on Henderson Street and halted the metro bus route 54.

Ladder Truck 13 from 16th and Holden was used to to gain access to the roof of the home which rises some 50 feet from street level.
The truck is at that station on a temporary basis but was instrumental in getting firemen to the roof to put out this blaze.

Engine 29 responded again to the same address at 9:37 PM, again to a 'fire in a single family residence' call.

CLICK THE PHOTO TO SEE MORE IMAGES FROM THE FIRE