October 2010

The new adventure-themed Golden Gardens playground will be located directly to the east of the Golden Gardens Bathhouse and include a sailing ship climbing toy followed by a pod of spring-toy whales, a tower with a slide, a large net climbing dome and more.

During the third and final public meeting on the design of the new playground, which is replacing the old playground to the south of the current site, Seattle Parks and Recreation and HBB Landscape Architects presented the design that will be heading on to the construction phase with minor refinements.

During the Oct. 13 meeting, members of the public reiterated their satisfaction with the new playground location and expressed their appreciated for the thought and effort that went into the design of the playground in order to make it workable, said Virginia Hassinger, project manager for Parks.

She said the selection of playground equipment reflects the input of the community during the meetings in April and May, and the design reflects public's preference for the Bubbles concept – partial circles of play designated for different age groups and separated by central picnic tables – during the May meeting.

UPDATE: FUNDRAISER

On Tuesday, Oct. 12, “Friends of Sofia Goff” issued a press release that her Italian restaurant, Café Revo, closed two days earlier. It was located just south of the Luna Park Café at 2940 Southwest Avalon Way. The organization is raising money for Sofia and her children.

Sofia Zadra Goff and her husband Sean realized their lifetime dream and opened the restaurant Feb. 19, 2009. The menu was modeled after the food traditional to the northern Italian town of Revo where Sofia’s family originated. Sean had been a chef 25 years, 10 years with Anthony’s Pier 66.

Many in West Seattle recall the tragedy that followed. Sean became very ill three months after the grand opening, suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage, and died September 17 at age 43. Sofia and staffer Matthew Melzer, who became general manager, carried on, hired a new chef, Jennifer Meyer, but finally had to close Café Revo’s doors after two separate offers to purchase the restaurant fell through. Both the economy and mounting medical bills contributed to the closing.

West Seattle resident Anne Melle, 87, has been a gay activist for nearly 40 years, and wears her over-sized, bright yellow button a lot lately with the message “I’m a PFLAG Mom.” PFLAG is “Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays,” an international organization, with over 500 chapters in America.

Melle, a PFLAG past-president, and her late husband raised two gay sons, Raymond and Len Hilgermann. Raymond passed away three years ago and would be 63. Len, 64, also active in the organization, lives in an apartment just across the patio from his mother, near Endolyne Joe’s.

Gay rights are high on people’s radars now. October 11 was National Coming Out Day, which respects civil awareness of those disclosing their sexual orientation. Four young American students who recently committed suicide as a result of bullying for being gay never made it to see Oct. 11. On Oct. 12, Fort Worth City Councilmember Joel Burns gave an emotional, much-viewed 12-minute anti-bullying plea to colleagues, and gay youngsters and parents via YouTube.

A-List politicians and dignitaries congregated at the southern end of the former South Park Bridge to announce that the TIGER II grant of $34 million was just secured and now there are enough funds secured to build a new South Park Bridge just feet downstream from the old bridge. The new bridge estimate is $131 million.

The South Park Bridge was closed on June 30, 2010. The reason given was that structurally, the bridge was deteriorating at such a rapid rate that it was no longer safe to operate. Demolition of the bridge began in August, 2010. The new bridge is shovel-ready and construction will begin immediately, to the relief of local commuters and merchants who rely on business from the other side of the bridge.

While speeches were given to thank many involved in raising the funds, there were many pleas to ask voters to back Sen. Murray for her help with this project, and others statewide.

Here is the breakdown:

TIGER II grant: $34 million
State of Washington: $20 million
King County: $30 million
City of Seattle: $15 million
Puget Sound Regional Council: $15 million
State Transportation Improvement Board: $10 million
Port of Seattle: $5 million.

Ballard senior Jordan Travis' score and senior keeper Berni Cardon's relentless protection of the net kept the Ballard High School girls soccer team's postseason hopes alive as it beat Newport High School 1-0 Oct. 14 and held onto the sixth and final playoff spot.

Travis scored the match's lone goal in the 65th minute off an assist from sophomore Kat Anesini to defeat Newport, a team still looking for its first KingCo win.

The victory improves the Beavers' record to 3-4-1 in KingCo. After starting with three straight losses in conference play, Ballard has gone 3-1-1 with two matches remaining.

Those final two matches – against Roosevelt High School and Bothell High School – will be very important to Ballard. The Beavers, currently in sixth place, are only two points ahead of seventh-place Roosevelt and three points behind fifth-place Bothell. The top six KingCo teams make the postseason.

Ballard faces off against Roosevelt and its 2-3-2 KingCo record at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at Nathan Hale High School.

Issaquah High School snapped the Ballard High School girls swim team's three-meet win streak Oct. 14, winning 97-89. But, the Beavers still managed to win seven of the competition's 12 events.

Galen Bond and Gailyn Portelance led the team with three wins each.

Bond took first place in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:14.96 and the 100-yard backstroke in 1:02.35. Portelance won the 100-yard fly in 1:04.61 and the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:13.80.

Both swimmers were part of the Beaver team, along with Janine Miller and Luisa Chan, that won the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:53.53.

Chan also placed first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 26.18. And Miller, along with Katie Seibel, Kylie Brown and Victoria Shao, won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:53.95.

Ballard will swim against Garfield High School and Roosevelt High School at 4 p.m. Oct. 23 at Rainier Beach Pool. Ballard beat Garfield earlier this season but lost to Roosevelt.

Whitman Middle School received a share of a $1.5 million grant for energy management control system upgrades as part of $4.6 million in energy-efficiency improvement grants made to Seattle Public Schools from the Washington State Department of Commerce.

The grants, part of the $50 million State Jobs Acts for Public K-12 and Higher Education awards, will help fund 10 energy-efficiency projects at 22 Seattle schools, according to a Seattle Public Schools press release.

The Seattle School District grants were awarded during the second round of state Commerce Department energy-efficiency grant funding.

During the first round, announced Aug. 12, Seattle Public Schools received seven Department of Commerce energy conservation construction grants totaling $3.86 million. In addition, Seattle Public Schools was awarded three energy conservation construction grants, totaling $5.58 million, from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

With the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 23 arson that scorched the Taproot Theatre Company and destroyed four other business approaching, Taproot's leadership, board and staff are renewing their commitment to Greenwood and commemorating those affected and devastated by the string of arsons in 2009.

“We planted our roots solidly in Greenwood when we bought the early-1900s theatre 22 years," Scott Nolte, Taproot artistic director, said in a Taproot press release. "We love the vibrancy and creativity that surround us everywhere. We want the neighborhood to know that we’re here to stay, that this is where we want to be.”

Production manager Mark Lund echoed Nolte’s sentiment.

“Taproot seems as much a part of Greenwood as Greenwood seems a part of Taproot,” he said in the press release. “I’ve spent the past 19 years of my career working at Taproot and can say with confidence that the positive changes I’ve witnessed here in Greenwood over the years are at least partly due to Taproot’s presence in the neighborhood.”

If you see a pink color on the hands of firefighters at Sea-Tac Airport this month, don't be surprised.

To support National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, firefighters from the Port of Seattle will be wearing pink surgical gloves to all aid calls through October. With an average of 15 aid calls per day, firefighters are expected to go through nearly 1,500 of the pink surgical gloves.

The idea came from one of the Port fire fighters and the medical supplier made the pink gloves available.

The Port's fire department includes 65 firefighters who respond to aircraft incidents and accidents, structural fires, hazardous materials, and emergency medical services on airport property as well as mutual aid in local communities.

Carmen Martinez, Recreation Program Specialist, South Park Community Center. received the 2010 Latino Heritage Award at City Hall Thursday, Oct. 14. Two awards, a large orange art glass vase, and a commemorative mug, were presented to the elated South Park resident by Mayor Mike McGinn, and Seattle Department of Transportation Project Control Analyst Sonia Palma who chairs the Latino City Employees Organization which sponsored the award. Palma is a Morgan Junction resident.

McGinn and Palma were joined by Acting Deputy Superintendent of Seattle Parks and recreation Eric Friedli in praising and introducing Martinez during the sixth annual presentation.

Musicians from the Fandango Project performed following speeches, including Yesenia Hunter, of Morgan Junction, and her daughter, Amaris 11, who attends Pathfinder, but took the day off to perform the traditional dance. They were invited as part of the Seattle Presents Free Noon Concert series at City Hall, which tied in well to the program. The Fandango Project is sponsored by the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs.