August 2010

Yahoo travel and writer Taylor Bruce have recognized West Seattle's Spring Hill Restaurant at 4437 California Avenue Southwest as one of America's finest for their fried chicken. Springhill was also singled out by Seattle Magazine in their summer issue.

Quoting from the story which included restaurants in Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Honolulu, Indianapolis, New York, Nashville, Austin and Houston:

Spring Hill

Seattle
Which is more difficult: finding a chef to open his place on Mondays or finding a chef to serve fried chicken in Seattle? Chef Mark Fuller of Spring Hill gladly does both. Reservations for Monday’s special family-style meal—herb dumplings in a cheddar cheese sauce, mashed potatoes with gravy and slaw, fresh cucumber salad, jalapeño cornbread, and two whole chickens—usually fill up by Friday. Fuller brines the chickens for six hours, then dredges the birds in a homemade spice mix based on his grandmother’s go-to flavoring, Johnny’s Seasoning Salt. Fuller also stirs up the perfect fried chicken cocktail: a bourbon-based drink he calls Kentucky Sweet Tea.

Six hours in to what would eventually become a more than 30-hour, 620-mile ride, Ballard resident and ultra cyclist, Chris Ragsdale, virtually alone on a rural stretch of road outside La Conner, Wash., was feeling confident. Then the weather changed.

"The winds kicked in," Ragsdale said. "It was traumatic."

This epic ride, taking place July 31 and Aug. 1, was an attempt to set world records in road cycling for most miles ridden in 24 hours and fastest time to 1,000 kilometers.

Ragsdale, a 33-year-old Michigan native who has lived in Ballard for the past eight years, started cycling in 2001 after Sept. 11 convinced him to commit time to doing the things he loved.

In 2008, after setting a competition record in the National 24 Hour Challenge, he told the Ballard News-Tribune his ultimate goal was to attempt a 24-hour world record within the next three years.

This summer was his shot at that goal.

Ragsdale's challenges to setting two world records started before he even mounted his bicycle.

The plans for the new Safeway Lifestyle store are moving ahead with the new larger store set to open one year from now. Sara Corn, Safeway Real Estate Manager supplied the Herald with the details and the most recent renderings of what the new store will look like. See our previous coverage here.

The Admiral Safeway store at 2622 California Avenue SW will be closing August 21st, 2010 to prepare for its demolition and the construction of a new 60,000 square foot state of the art Safeway Lifestyle store.

Safeway’s Lifestyle store format includes gentle lighting, custom flooring and unique display features to provide a warm ambiance that enhances the shopping experience. This format showcases enhanced service departments, which in this store will be:

- a huge produce department with a wide variety of specialty and organic produce;
- fresh bakery with hearth oven for baking bread;
- expanded wine and beer department with wine cellar;
- fresh sushi bar;
- service meat and seafood department;

Lt. Rob Kurrle, a North Carolina native, has come to the Puget Sound area for Seafair. In the past few days he has toured the Pike Place Market and Safeco Field and visited Tukwila's Museum of Flight.

Now he's looking forward to the weekend air shows. While thousands of spectators jockey for the best view along the shores of Lake Washington, Kurrle will be overhead, pulling up to eight g's.

This is Kurrle's first year flying with the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels demonstration team, a job he calls "a dream come true."

Always interested in aviation, he entered flight school after graduating from college and spent time instructing Hornet fighter pilots before he joined the group. Like most Blue Angels pilots, he is in his early thirties.

On Thursday, the team touched down next to the Tukwila flight museum. In the afternoon, planning flights started. "It all begins with a basic kitchen timer," Kurrle said of the process, during which crewmembers identify landmarks and gauge the flying time between them.

A new "daycation" website places Alki above the rest. It is www.cooldaytrips.com and is operated by Magnolia resident Fiona Gardella. A former Microsoft employee from Adelaide, Australia she loves day-tripping with her rubber soles. That means many West Seattle residents searching for a quick trip are already here.

Full disclosure: While Alki has so far earned four out of five stars, it is the closest of the 61 destinations listed to downtown Seattle, at a mere 7 miles, edging out Bainbridge Island by 2.3 miles. Walla Walla ranks last, at 272.6 miles. High-ranking destinations include Deception Pass, 82.8 miles from downtown, and Roslyn, about the same distance.

Dining options in Alki listed include Dukes Chowder house, Siam Pura Thai Restaurant, Slices Pizza, Celtic Swell and Salty's.

"I created the starting point but want the community to build on it and refine it," said Gardella, whose site encourages viewers to suggest restaurants, shops, and bed & breakfasts. She said she is doing this website out of a passion.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jarod Newlove's memorial service was held on Monday, August 9, 2010 11:00am at Holy Family Catholic Church 9622 20th Avenue SW.

CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS

Following the memorial service there was a procession to Tahoma National Cemetary 18600 SE 240th Street Covington, WA where commital service with full military honors was given at 2:00pm.

A reception followed directly after the commital service at Kent Civic Centre 10120 SE 260th Street Kent, WA 98030.

Aug. 5, at Camp Long was a night of skits, songs, and celebrations to end the two weeks of Chinook Girl Scout day camp, They also honored Fauntleroy resident Sandy Beaucage, a 35-year Camp Long girl scout volunteer, and life-long scout. Her camp name has been "Sunny." She has been volunteering at this camp for 35 years, and is retiring this year.

She was a leader of cabin #3 for so long that there is a plaque on the cabin with her name. Her daughter went through the camp, and all three of her granddaughters. All were there with her husband, Rob.

Sandy also volunteers on the West Seattle Garden Tour and the Duwamish Longhouse.

"I started in 1975 here at Camp Long," said Sandy. "I did day camps in New Jersey, Rhode island, and Massachusetts, because my husband was in the Coast Guard. My dad was in the Navy. Girl scouts builds a lot of character and people respect their attitude which helps them stay girl scouts. Some have been here since they were pixies, at age two.

King County Executive Dow Constatine sat down with Burien Lawmakers today to discuss local issues.

Constantine has been meeting with the leaders of every city in King County. Burien was number 34 on the list, out of 39 cities in King County.

With the creation of their own animal control service and beginning to take road maintenance in house Burien has been slowly backing away from contracting with the County for Services. Next in line to be brought in house will be police officers, in the next couple of years, Burien City Manager Mike Martin informed Constantine.

Currently Burien contracts with King County for police services. Martin said he felt the City could save a good amount of money by bringing the services in house. He said the City was going to be unable to keep up with the Sheriff’s yearly five percent cost of living increase.

Constantine said he had talked with the King County Sheriff’s Guild about negotiating their contracts and the Guild was uninterested.

If you've never been, then this might be the year you attend the party. The Seattle Parks Department sponsors their Community Picnic and Music in the Park event starting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 31 at the Alki Community Center - Alki Playfield, 5817 SW Stevens St.

From their press release:

All you need is a lawn chair or a picnic blanket to place on the grass as you enjoy live music and food. Please bring a non-perishable food item for donation to the local food bank.

Alki Community Center will serve hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers, macaroni salad, chips, and lemonade. The music group “The Board of Education” will be the featured live band for the evening; music starts at 6 p.m.

There will be a bouncehouse and music to keep the kids entertained. This is an alcohol free event.

Note: Volunteers are needed to help serve food and help with kids’ activities, so please call Alki Community Center at 206-684-7430.

Embattled SeaTac planning director Steve Butler has resigned and will become community development director for the city of Mill Creek in Snohomish County.

Butler became an odd man out in SeaTac when a consultant's study led by former Des Moines City Manager Greg Prothman recommended Butler's position be eliminated and SeaTac's permitting process be consolidated into an Economic and Development Services Department.
Prothman also suggested the positions of principal planner, building official and permit technician II be cut. The technician position is currently vacant.

Council members and city officials have indicated they plan to implement many of Prothman's recommendations.

Butler became the lightning rod for critics who complained that the City of SeaTac is not business friendly. Through the years, developers and Butler politely wrangled at City Council meetings over proposed development agreements. The developers and their attorneys maintained that the planning department's staff recommendations were too restrictive and would render their projects not economically viable.

Events of the past year have indicated changes in the direction of the city.