October 2010

When Rizzo's French Dip opened on 15th Avenue Northwest in July 2009, it created a buzz with its small space, smaller menu and the larger-than-life family that owned it. Now, the restaurant is for sale as the Rizzo family prepares to leave Seattle.

About a month ago, owner Frank Rizzo moved back to Los Angeles to take care of family business and got stuck there, son and Rizzo's employee Anthony Marks said. Now, the rest of the family is preparing to join him, Marks said.

Though business at Rizzo's has been good, Marks said it would be too difficult for them to continue to manage it from California.

"It's been doing pretty good," he said. "It's just one of those things we can't take care of anymore."

Frank Rizzo said it has been tough to keep the business up to his standards while he has been in California, but he has savored his time at the helm of Rizzo's

"I enjoyed it," he said. "It's not hard work, and we sell a lot of sandwiches."

Rizzo said he is hoping to sell the business, not just the space, in order to make some money and because he believes there is a future in the Rizzo's brand.

After a tree-planing presentation and demonstration, residents of Fourth Avenue Northwest will plant more than 30 trees on both sides of the street near Northwest 60th Street Oct. 9.

East Ballard's trees are part of 276 being planted in 19 neighborhoods as part of the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods' 2010 Tree Fund.

As part of the Tree Fund program, more than 50 community members will attend a tree planting workshop and participate in planting. Department of Neighborhoods staff and City Arborist Nolan Rundquist will lead the workshop.

From 9:30 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. Oct. 9, there will be a presentation and training at Grace Fellowship Church, located at 410 N.W. 62nd St. From 11 a.m. to noon, there will be a hands-on demonstration at 6027 Fourth Ave. N.W.

After noon, Fourth Avenue neighbors will continue planting the trees.

Junior Alex Bowns led the Ballard High School boys cross country team to a first-place finish against Newport High School and Bothell High School as the Ballard girls cross country team took second in its race Oct. 6 at Wilburton Hills Park.

The boys team finished with a score of 25 to Newport's 46 and Bothell's 60.

Bowns' winning time was 16:52. Behind him for the Beavers were senior Blair Scott (17:48) and junior Victor Bailly (17:55) in fourth and fifth respectively.

The girls team finished with a score of 45, while Newport had 17 and Bothell finished with 77.

Senior Natalie White led the Beavers with a fourth-place finish in 21:39, 15 seconds behind first-place Alisa Poplawski from Newport. Juniors Rachel Livengood (22:09) and Anna Mirenzi (22:21) finished seventh and 10th for Ballard.

Click here for complete results from the meet.

Next up for the Ballard cross country teams is the Fort Worden Invitational at 10 a.m. Oct. 9 at Fort Worden in Port Townsend.

Last March a made-for-TV documentary called "The Trials of Amanda Knox" aired in Seattle on TLC about the West Seattle U.W. student currently serving a 26-year jail sentence outside Perugia, Italy for the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher there. A new cable-TV movie is scheduled to air on the Lifetime Channel in mid-2011. Some reports are calling it “Tangled,” while others are saying the title is “The Amanda Knox Story.”

Hayden Panettiere, 21, who starred as Claire Bennet on the hit TV series, Heroes, will portray Amanda Knox. It has been widely reported on TV, including Inside Edition, and in newspapers nationwide, including the Chicago Sun-Times, that Panettiere met with Knox in prison “as part of her preparation to play Amanda Knox.” However, this is untrue.

“I can confirm that Hayden did not meet with Amanda,” Les Eisner told the West Seattle Herald by email. Eisner is Vice President of Corporate Communications with Lifetime Television.

FOR THE ECONOMIC VITALITY OF WEST SEATTLE AND OUR REGION THIS PROJECT MUST PROCEED.

It has been almost ten years since the Nisqually quake severely damaged the Alaskan Way viaduct. Since that time we in West Seattle and in the rest of the city have debated the pros and cons of
a) repairing or replacing the existing elevated roadway,
b) digging a cut and cover tunnel and improving surface streets, transit and the central waterfront
c) drilling a deep bored tunnel and improving the surface streets, transit and central
waterfront or
d) taking the old viaduct down and just improving the surface streets, transit, 1-5 and central waterfront. In 2007 the citizens of our fair city voted against both option
a) repairing or replacing the existing elevated roadway and
option b) digging a cut and cover tunnel.

On “Face the Nation” recently General Petraeus, our General in Afghanistan, was discussing the situation and what had to be done to improve our situation in Afghanistan. We are spending millions everyday in Afghanistan as you know.

It occurred to me that what he was saying about Afghanistan had several similarities to the situation we face in education where are also spending millions of dollars every day and results are not much better than the results we have seen in Afghanistan.

General Petraeus called for obtaining the “Buy-in” from the natives in a country that has never seen a government that could honesty deliver services to the people. I am sure that most Afghanis have some real doubts that this will happen with the Americans any more than it happened with the Russians or the British in the past.

2 year old Maddie is a Portugese Water Dog, just like one President Obama owns, who belongs to Kim Kerwin. Maddie is from a breeder on Lopez Island in the San Juans and is a pure bred. Her name is short for Madeleine which Kerwin explained is a wine named Madeleine Angevine made on the Island.

Why a water dog? "I am a neat freak and they don't shed, and they are supposed to be good for allergies," said Kerwin.

Maddie loves her Pro Plan dry dog food and loves to chew on "indestructible bones" Kerwin said, "They are really good. She has a ton of those around the house."

Her sleep habits are worthy of note because she, "sleeps right on top of the pillows," Kerwin explained, "right next to your head. She just likes to be with us." This means of course that she keeps the same hours as her owners, rising and resting at the same time.

On a sparkling sunny fall day, Des Moines officials Oct. 6 celebrated the opening of the final mile of the Des Moines Creek Trail.

The completed paved bicycle and pedestrian trail winds through more than 2 linear miles of heavily forested salmon-bearing habitat from South 200th Street in SeaTac to Des Moines Beach Park. Trail-goers, who end at the park, come upon a half-mile of public beach, tidelands, pier and a marina along an unobstructed waterfront.

Des Moines Parks director Patrice Thorell noted the creek segment is the first part of the planned King County Lake to Sound Trail.

The Des Moines Creek trail will eventually connect with the Westside Trail in SeaTac along Des Moines Memorial Drive, the Green River and Interurban trails in Tukwila and the Two Rivers Trail in Renton. It will end up at Lake Washington in Renton.

Des Moines Mayor Bob Sheckler said the trail is a "vital connection" that will attract more people to visit Des Moines.

He termed it "an extraordinary collaborative project."

State Sen. Karen Keiser agreed the opening marked "a fantastic day."

When I was asked to attend this play currently running at Centerstage in Federal Way, I reluctantly said, “Yes.” I’d been to a one-person show before and it put me right to sleep.

“The Belle of Amherst” opened with Maria Glanz, who plays the poet Emily Dickinson, immediately connecting with the audience. And I do mean connecting. She even passes out her black cake to those sitting in the front row. When she makes eye contact with you and asks a question, you feel compelled to answer her. Not a single audience member dozed during this outstanding performance.

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that Glanz performs one-woman shows often and receives awards for them. “See Me Naked” and “Pu’uhonua” garnered her critical acclaim and honors including “Best of Fest in the Edmonton and Winnipeg Fringe festivals and Artistic Pick in the 1999 and 2001 Seattle Fringe Festivals. Seattle is lucky to have her and she has graciously shared her talent by teaching for Seattle Children’s Theatre, Youth Theatre Northwest, Seattle Public Theatre and a variety of schools.

Michael Day shot par with 36 strokes Oct. 5 at Jackson Park Golf Course, but the Ballard High School boys golf team lost to Skyline High School 192-214, its ninth loss in a row.

Eric Frank, who was the only Beaver to place in the previous day's meet against Eastlake, shot a 38, leaving him in a three-way tie for third place with Skyline's Brian Mogg and Nathan Stephenson.

The Beavers take on Garfield High School at 3:30 Oct. 7 at Jefferson Golf Course.