September 2010

The Alki Community Council Board of Trustees, the community organization representing citizens of Alki Beach in Seattle, has announced they are giving free six-month memberships to each person who has purchased a brick, plaque, bench, or was a major donor for the building of the new Statue of Liberty Plaza at Alki Beach or for its ongoing maintenance program.

The gift is in celebration of the first ACC Family Fun Day at Alki Beach on Sunday, September 12. The Plaza Project was completed in 2008.

Since then, funds collected from the sale of bricks and plaques have gone into a separate Maintenance Fund for the plaza, according to a Memorandum of Understanding between the Alki Community Council and the Seattle Parks Department. The gift includes two free quarterly issues of the “Alki News Beacon”.

The Alki Community Council, a non-profit organization that represents citizens in the Alki Beach neighborhood in many areas of community interest, exists to encourage community cooperation and participation in local activities.

By hosting the ACC Family Fun Day for the community, they wish to raise awareness of the values in local community involvement.

Mike Cairns, one of the founders of West Seattle Produce, the produce company at 4721 Fauntleroy Way s.w. has left the business.

He has plans to open his own produce stand, "outside Seattle," he said and has left business operations to his two partners Bruce McPherson and Bob Klein. Klein is the owner of The Corner Market at Pike Place Market.

"I wish them luck, and I hope they make it." said Cairns, who will initially start his next effort with a Christmas Tree stand that will then grow into a produce stand.

West Seattle Produce opened last May 1 and was successful quickly, forging relationships with local people and building the business.
The original West Seattle Herald story on the business is here.

Cairns declined to provide a reason as to his departure.

The Ballard High School girls soccer team lost 1-0 Sept. 9 to some stiff competition from Kennedy Catholic High School.

Kennedy Catholic's Jenna Bojorquez scored the nonconference match's lone goal in the 57th minute. And, keeper Ellie Bruns earned the shutout.

The Beavers faced a tough opponent in Kennedy Catholic, a team that went 19-2 last season while playing in the Seamount 3A conference.

Next up for Ballard (0-1-1) is Roosevelt in the Beavers' first KingCo test of the season.

Roosevelt is 1-1 this year and went 7-10 last season, including a 2-1 victory over Ballard.

The match is at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 11 at Nathan Hale High School.

Ballard High School junior Alex Bowns, picking up where he left off for the cross country team last season when he made state, placed third in the boys varsity race during the KingCo Preview meet Sept. 9.

Bowns was Ballard's highest finisher of the day. His time of 16:08 was a 23-second improvement on his personal record for Lincoln Park course.

Ballard's next-highest finisher in the boys varsity race was senior Blair Scott, whose time of 17:26 was good enough for 23rd place.

Freshman Michael Vitz-Wong finished second in the junior varsity boys race with a time of 18:03.

On the girls side, junior Alyson Fromm placed 32nd in the girls varsity race with a time of 21:25. Below her was sophomore Julia Boone in 42nd with a time of 21:42.

Sophomores Anna Gallagher and Tess Schooler placed 39th and 40th in the girls junior varsity race with times of 24:44 and 24:49 respectively.

Click here for complete results from the race.

The Ballard cross country team heads to Beaver Lake Park at 3:45 p.m. Sept. 15 to take on Eastlake High School and Woodinville High School.

After news was leaked to the media in August that Fred Meyer was scrapping its decade-long plan for a sunken, mixed-use Fred Meyer, store officials met with the Greenwood Phinney Chamber of Commerce Sept. 10 to further explain that decision and expand on the new remodel plan.

Tom Gibbons, Fred Meyer director of real estate, reiterated that Fred Meyer moving away from the planned redevelopment is strictly an economic decision. The economy is in bad shape, and the development would have cost as much as two standard Fred Meyer stores, he said.

The scrapped plan was for a $91 million multi-use development, including a 170,000-square-foot, underground Fred Meyer topped with additional retail and residential space, as well as a three-story parking garage.

In addition to the high cost, the project was over budget by as much as half the cost of a new Fred Meyer, said Melinda Merrill, director of public affairs for Fred Meyer.

In these troubled economic times local cities are trying to find development wherever they can.

Des Moines Mayor Bob Sheckler just returned from an economic conference in China.

But Des Moines Economic Development Manager Marion Yoshino is looking toward a much closer location in an attempt to bring a few more jobs and some popular fast food to her city.

Yoshino has announced that state Rep. Dave Upthegrove (D-Des Moines) has written a letter to Jim Spady, owner of Dick's Drive-In Restaurants, urging him to locate a Dick's in Des Moines.

The 56-year-old Dick's, with five locations around Seattle, has decided to open its first new restaurant in 36 years.

They are asking customers where they want the new drive-in to be placed.

More than 92,000 customers have responded to an online survey. That doesn't count tens of thousands of extra votes that the company said were entered into the poll by computer hackers. Dick's staffers report those votes have been removed.

In addition, another 2,400 have tuned into a YouTube video that kicked off a video contest asking people to describe why their city should be awarded the next Dick's.

The Sept. 3 Admiral Way shooting suspect has been charged with three counts of second-degree assault by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Charging documents claim Thomas J. Qualls, 59, allegedly fired an assault rifle at three police officers at his home last Friday night. Officers returned fire and Qualls was hit in the abdomen, ending the ordeal and sending him to Harborview Medical Center.

Several more details on the shooting have emerged in court documents released on Sept. 9., originally reported by the Herald here.

According to prosecutors, Qualls’ daughter placed the 911 call on Friday night after he called her to say he had an argument with his wife and if she did not return to the house, he would shoot himself. She heard a gunshot and the line went dead, prompting her to call police.

When officers arrived at the scene the house was dark except for porch lights in the backyard and “what sounded like fireworks or possibly a gunshot” was heard from the area around the Qualls’ home. Three officers took the alleyway into the backyard to investigate and, according to police, Qualls emerged from the home with an assault weapon.

Former FBI agent, Steve Moore, who lives in the Los Angeles area, believes West Seattle UW student Amanda Knox, and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, are innocent. They were charged Dec. 4, 2009, for the murder of Knox's college roommate, Meredith Kercher, who was brutally stabbed to death in the flat they shared in Perugia Italy. Knox is serving a 26-year sentence in Capanne Prison just outside Perugia.

Moore spent 25 years as a Special Agent and Supervisory Special Agent with the investigation and prosecution of violent crime, from murder to mass-murder and terrorism.He was the supervisor of the Al Qaeda Investigations squad, and ran the FBI’s Los Angeles-based “Extra-Territorial Squad” responding to terrorism against the United States in Asia.

The West Seattle Herald asked Moore some questions. Here they are, with his responses:

1) Which TV and radio shows you have appeared on to the point of arriving in Seattle?

The TODAY Show, The Early Show, Good Morning America, Good Morning TV: ITV Britain, Fox and Friends, KING5, Frank Shiers-KIRO, Gayle King- Oprah Radio XM.

For the second match in a row, Ballard High School golfer Michael Day came out on top, shooting a 39, three above par, Sept. 9 at Jackson Park Golf Course against Inglemoor High School.

Despite Day's success, Ballard dropped its third match in a row, 203-212, to fall to 0-3 for the season.

The good news for the Beavers is they have shown steady improvement at Jackson Park. In three matches there, the team has lowered its total strokes from 223 to 215 to 212.

Ballard's Oliver Guarino also had success for against Inglemoor, shooting a 41 and tying for fourth place with Inglemoor's Kyle Allar.

The Beavers will look to break their losing streak against Redmond High School at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 16 at Bear Creek Country Club.

The Ballard High School boys tennis team was shutout 7-0 by Newport High School in the Beavers' Sept. 9 season opener.

In singles matches, Newport's Chris Lilly beat Ballard's Nelson Cooper 6-0, 6-0. Newports Andrew Choi beat Ballard's Ben Thompson 6-0, 6-0. Newport's Adam Owen beat Ballard's Marco Sacchetti 6-3, 6-1. And, Newport's Kelvin Yuchen beat Ballard's Kensei Kawamura 6-2, 6-0.

In doubles matches, Newport's Alec Tsutsumoto and Allen Kim beat Ballard's Ian Griffith and Evan Lund 6-0, 6-1. Newport's Dylan Harlow and Matt Sham beat Ballard's Alec Barett-Wilson and Tarik Akyuz 6-0, 6-1. And, Newport's Garrett Lee and Kevin Kayahara beat Ballard's Brandon Jensen and Adlie Nissen 6-0, 6-0.

The Beavers take on Inglemoor High School at 3:45 p.m. Sept. 14 at Inglemoor.