October 2010

In a very seasonal if unlikely pairing Mountain to Sound Outfitters (M2S) is planning a Halloween Ski Swap and Haunted House Oct. 30 at the VFW Hall 3601 s.w. Alaska St. Halloween Weekend benefitting the West Seattle Snowsports Council (WSSC).

There is some set up and planning required, and you are welcome to to assist in the effort. Plus of course you can drop of your gear to be swapped in advance.

Greg Whittaker, owner of M2S and the head of the WSSC said, "Many different Manufacturers Reps will be bringing sample product, so you can get some great deals on some of the best new gear in the NW."

Here are the details:

October 29th - Gear Drop Off 4-7 PM, Haunted House Setup
October 30th, Ski Swap and Haunted House 10-6
October 31st, Haunted House and Ski Swap 10-4, Gear Pickup 4-6pm
At the Veteran of Foreign Wars Hall (VFW), 3601 SW Alaska St (across from M2S)

WSSC Planning and Haunted House Meeting
Weds October 13th @ M2S, 6:00 PM.

As chill autumn evenings chase away the last remnants of summer do you get a hankering for a good story? West Seattle Toastmasters Club 832 invites our neighbors to enjoy a special night of storytelling.

Tales From The Hearth: Guest Night at West Seattle Toastmasters Club 832

C & P Coffee Company, 5612 California Avenue SW
Tuesday, October 19, 6:15-8:30 pm (admission is free)
For more information call (425) 243-4294, email: WSToastmasters832@gmail.com or visit www.westseattletm832.org.

The high-profile White House Community College Summit held Oct. 5 was led by Dr. Jill Biden, the wife of the Vice President and a community college professor for 17 years. She spoke of the community college’s role, including opening doors to new career opportunities for the unemployed. She introduced President Obama, who said of Ms. Biden, “She knows personally these colleges are the unsung heroes of America’s educational system. They may not get the credit they deserve or the same resources as other schools but they provide a gateway to millions of Americans to good jobs and a better life.”

President Obama proposed the American Graduation Initiative to pump $12 billion into community colleges and add 5 million new graduates by 2020.

Currently, however, South Seattle Community College, like all community colleges in Washington State, is getting squeezed in yet another annual budget cut.

SSCC had to cut their budget by 7-percent in the 2008-2009 academic year, then another 7 –percent in 2009-2010, and this year the governor announced more cuts, resulting in an additional 6.2- percent at SSCC, or $1.2 million.

The West Seattle Herald iPhone App was released on Thursday Oct. 7 and the newest version, now up to 1.3 is faster and easier to use, and it's still FREE.

The splash screen (the first thing that appears when you start the app) flashes on briefly then opens to the News Headlines. The top 12 most recent stories appear. You can link to the web page in question to see slideshows or videos directly from the app.

As before the app gives readers direct access to the Herald's full Flickr Photo Gallery, containing the best images from news stories we have covered over the past year, plus a direct in-app viewer for the West Seattle Herald YouTube Channel where you can see our standalone video stories.

But beyond those features you'll find that you can use the app to submit news stories to the Herald through a service called 360 News. The feature lets you take or use an existing photo, or video, and submit it directly to the Herald through the app itself. This solves the problem of attaching photos or videos or trying to find the right email address, it's all built in.

For Kay Singkeo and her two children who attend Holy Rosary School, using the crosswalk at California Ave s.w. and Dakota s.w. has always been treacherous during the a.m. commuter rush.

“Cars are just flying by that early in the morning,” she said.

Finally, last school year, she got fed up with the morning gauntlet and contacted the Seattle Department of Transportation to request school speed limit signs be installed since there are a number of schools near the intersection and many children using it on a weekly basis.

“It took an unreal number of phone calls,” Singkeo said. “I wasn’t going to let up because it’s about all of our safety.”

Finally, in September, her persistence paid off. SDOT installed signs that read, “20 mph School Zone When Children are Present.”

But nothing changed.

“Much to the danger of our students, (the signs) are going virtually ignored,” she said. “I even drove my car around the block to see how visible the signs are, and they are there.”

Wendy Warborg walks her children to school as well and has had a couple of close calls at the crosswalk, one time having to grab her daughter by the hood and yank her back to avoid a car.

The interim park-and-ride lot at the old BBC Dodge dealership will open Tuesday morning, Oct. 12.
Once it opens, the park-and-ride next to the Burien Transit Center closes. But, all bus routes that currently serve the transit center will continue. Plus, there's a few routes serving the interim lot.

The start of work on the Burien Transit Center parking garage has been slightly delayed as work was completed on the temporary park-and-ride at the old BBC Dodge lot.

The temporary park-and-ride the site along 1st Avenue South near state Route 518. The park-and-ride lot at the transit center will close while a new parking garage is constructed.

Burien Economic Director Dick Loman said bus service will continue as usual at the Burien Transit Center even after the transit center park-and-ride is closed.

"We have over 5,000 people who come into Burien and change buses there," Loman said. King County Metro has told the city bus service for those people will not be affected.

It's hard to start a match any better than junior Cassie Winter did for the Ballard High School girls soccer team in its Oct. 7 win against Redmond High School.

In the first minute of the match, Winter had already scored a goal to put the Beavers in the lead for good. She also earned the assist on senior Jordan Travis' goal in the 70th minute that cemented the Ballard win.

Senior keeper Jessica Spaulding preserved the shutout for Ballard. It was only the second Ballard shutout of the season.

The Beavers upped their record to 2-4-0 in KingCo and 2-7-3 overall, already seeing an improvement in fortunes after a tough first half of the KingCo schedule.

Next up for Ballard is Inglemoor (1-4-0 KingCo, 1-8-1 overall) at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12 at Inglemoor High School.

Back in the 80s, Ballard resident David Krafchick's girlfriend at the time enjoyed bicycling. But, Krafchick's physical disability prevented him from using his right hand to properly apply a bicycle's brake, keeping him from joining in on her rides. He needed a solution.

Twenty-two years later, Krafchick is the co-creator of Brake Director, a power-braking system that utilizes a single hand control to engage both the front and rear brakes on a bicycle, allowing cyclists with physical disabilities, as well as other riders, to get on the road with greater safety and ease.

Krafchick met his partner in Brake Director, David Hawkins, when a number of bicycle shops told Krafchick they couldn't help him find a one-handed solution for his braking problem, but they knew someone who could.

For more than 15 years, Krafchick funded the development of Brake Director himself while Hawkins, who has more than 30 years of experience in bicycle technical service, designed and engineered prototypes, which Krafchick tested and analyzed.

On Oct. 7, King County announced its recommendation for a project that will improve water quality in Puget Sound by controlling combined sewer overflows in the North Beach community.

To control overflows of stormwater and wastewater that can occur during heavy rains, King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division is proposing to build an underground storage pipeline in the public right-of-way beneath Triton Drive Northwest and Northwest Blue Ridge Drive.

The planned 12-foot-diameter, 325-foot-long pipeline would be able to store approximately 230,000 gallons of stormwater and sewage that could later be conveyed to West Point in Seattle for treatment after storms subside.

In addition to meeting permit and engineering requirements, this recommendation received strong support from community members over a seven-month public process that focused on three proposed alternatives, according to a Wastewater Treatment Division press release.

There will be a public meeting to provide community members with additional information on the recommended project from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 19 at the Loyal Heights Community Center, located at 2101 N.W. 77th St.

ZippyDogs held its 10-year anniversary party and open house party Thursday afternoon and evening, Oct. 7, at its new "World Headquarters," a shiny new multi-story live/work loft space condo, at 6031A California Ave, SW.

A promotional products business, many of their product samples with customized logos were displayed, including apparel, stainless steel water bottles, dog dishes, calculators and candy and gum containers. Their splashiest logo was on their little electric car with wrap-around cartoon signage advertising their business. We featured that car in our recent electric vehicle story here:

http://www.westseattleherald.com/2010/09/28/features/more-electric-vehi…

Partners Elise Lindborg and Kelli Henderson welcomed guests with enthusiastic hugs.

"Small business like ZippyDogs are going to turn the economy around," said Lindborg. "It’s so important to support your local businesses and small banks."

"We've run our business out of our home for 10 years so this is our next chapter," added Henderson. "And with more room we can have more employees. It’s the next step for ZippDogs."