November 2010

“We’re going to swarm you,” Dr. Ray Jarris said, referring to future patients, at the beginning of a media tour of the new Ballard Swedish building that started on his turf as medical director of the Emergency Department.

Last week, I complained about press releases and pre-packaged stories. This week, I want to attest to the benefits, in the form of an invitation to tour the Tallman Building in advance of its official opening.

“It’s a good thing I’m here,” I said to Michael Harthorne, letting him take the quality photographs as outside light poured through the windows of each of the finished floors on our tour. With just three media (Michael, Kate Bergman from MyBallard.com and me) the Ballard Swedish “key spokespeople” group outnumbered us three to one.

“Did you invite the Seattle Times or the PI?” I asked Ed Boyle, Swedish’s media relations manager, feeling guilty to be one of so few guests. He expects more press for the public opening on Saturday and will have a professional photographer on hand.

West Seattle Senior Center Needs Volunteers
4217 S.W. Oregon St.
Make a difference by getting involved! Rewarding volunteer opportunities available: kitchen assistant, cafe assistant, and Stop ‘N Shop assistant. Call Margie, Volunteer Coordinator - 206-932-4044 or email at margiew@seniorservices.org.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly
Guadaloupe Church-Pastoral Care Center
7000 35th Ave. S.W.
Every Tuesday, 9:30 a.m. TOPS is an encouraging weight loss support group with weigh-ins every Tuesday. For information contact Peg at 206-932-2621.

GriefShare Class
Grace Church
10323 28th Ave. S.W.
Saturdays 10 a.m.-noon. This international grief recovery support group is open to anyone who has lost a loved one to death. You can start at anytime. For information: Barb at 206-932-7459.

Call for Vendors for Arts & Crafts Fair
Burien’s J.F. Kennedy Catholic High School’s Arts & Crafts Fair is set for December 4, 9-4 p.m. The Fair features hand crafted items and unique gifts. Vendors contact Julie Chaplin 206-431-6662.

Irish Dance Lessons
West Seattle VFW Hall
3601 S.W. Alaska St.

A woman returned home from work to find her living room window open. She entered the house and noticed blood on the floor. The blood trail led her to the kitchen and then to the fridge to discover that the burglar had stolen five pounds of beef. Officers were unable to find usable prints at the scene and there is no suspect in the case.

A house burglary on s.w. Grayson St. netted a burglar three shotguns, two rifles and an AK47 that had 40 rounds in the case with it. The victim had been out of town for several days and his neighbor noticed that newspapers were piling up at his door. The neighbor went to his house to make sure everything was OK and realized a door to the garage was open. He gathered the newspapers and called the victim to let him know it looked like someone had gotten into the house.
*This one leads to a good crime prevention reminder. If you are out of town and receive a daily newspaper, find someone who can pick the papers on a daily basis or stop delivery service for the time you are gone. Burglars look for these types of tell-tale signs of an empty house as they cruise neighborhoods.

OrcaFest 2010 was a lively event held Nov. 7 at the Alki Bathhouse co-sponsored by the theWhaletrail.org and Killer Whale Tales to celebrate the return of the southern resident orcas to this part of Puget Sound.

The event was also cause for celebration since the City of Seattle provided a matching grant for $20,000 to establish viewing locations and orca stewardship programs in West Seattle.

There were displays from NOAA, People for Puget Sound, The Seattle Aquarium, the Port Townsend Marine Science Center, the American Cetacean Society and other participants. The Whale Trail also had people on hand to videotape people's orca memories which will be compiled and presented on the organization's website in the coming weeks.The walls were lined with art created by local school children and kids were given the opportunity to color in line drawings and learn more about whales in a slideshow presentation.

The former Cafe Revo at 2940 Southwest Avalon Way is already underway as a new restaurant. Dubbed The Avalon the new proprietors have posted a letter in their window stating,

" Coming Soon to West Seattle
Avalon
Pacific Northwest fare inspired by our friends on the Meditteranean. We would love to include you on our mailing list. Sign up at avalonwestseattle@gmail.com. Follow our progress on Facebook: AvalonWS.

Or follow us on Twitter @Avalon@WS

See you soon

Deb, Thomas, Mary

The Goff family, former owners of Cafe Revo have been assisted by the efforts of many people around West Seattle over the last few weeks, as the West Seattle Herald reported here including a benefit held at the Admiral Theater on Oct. 24.

Dear Editor:
As a small businessman along with Chow Foods (Endolyne Joe’s Restaurant), Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant, Tuxedo & Tennis Shoes, and others located in the Fauntleroy area we need ingress for our business and egress to call on our customers, When I heard about the proposed changes to the existing plans for the Lowman Beach project, I attended the King County Water Sewer presentation at the Hall of Fauntleroy on 11/1/2010 to learn more. The Lowman Beach Project deals with the EPA rules on sewer overflow into the Puget Sound. At present, there are approximately 5 overflows into the Puget Sound annually as the existing holding tank is too small to contain the waste water. The new rules require King County to have in place an upgrade to the existing system that will only have one (1) overflow annually.

The original plan was to install the overflow under Lowman Beach Park at the north end of Lincoln Park, however the residents there formed a group to protest this installation, even though it was the most logical, cost effective, and had the least impact on traffic, local citizens, and commerce.

West Seattle author Conrad Wesselhoeft's book "Adios, Nirvana" was just released by publisher Houghton Mifflin.

The West Seattle Herald did a story about Wesselhoeft and how he came to write the book. Set in West Seattle it is aimed at a young adult audience but has appeal for readers of any age.

It is available from Amazon here.

That story is here. It is fiction, but set in actual West Seattle locations.

His kids attended his Nov. 6 book-signing party at a private Fauntleroy residence near his house attended by over 60 people. They seemed impressed with his ability to write with the voice of a teen, albeit a sophisticated teen.

"I really liked the book and was also amazed he wrote it," said his daughter, Claire, a UW sophomore interested in studying Law, Societies, and Justice, or LSJ.

Former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, now CEO, Seattle Foundation, was the keynote speaker at the 6th Annual Gathering of the Neighbors event held in the dramatic new Galleria of Chief Sealth High School, sponsored by the Delridge Neighborhood Development Association (DNDA) and Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.

"Wrap-around services are really what Delridge and DNDA is all about, making sure that it isn't just what you do in the classroom, but what the community does to support that child," said Rice, (...) making sure that parents are engaged and involved in that process whenever they can be, making sure that people reaching out and really understand that they have a role to play and that all of our children are our children, and if we are not thinking that way we can't build a community.

"What you have here is what offsets cutbacks a lot, the communities working together. When we think of things collectively we are a voice and we're very powerful making change."

Rice spoke with the West Seattle Herald on his concerns regarding cutbacks at South Seattle Community College and others. His wife, Constance, is the Chairman of the Board of the Seattle Community College District.

Junior Alex Bowns, the lone Ballard High School runner to qualify for the 4A Cross Country State Championships, placed 20th overall with a time of 16:00 Nov. 6 in Pasco.

Lewis and Clark High School senior Kenji Bierig won the state championship with a time of 15:09 – the second fastest course time ever.

Bowns' 20th-place finish qualifies him for an alternate spot in the Nov.21 Washington vs. Oregan Border Clash, which features the top 40 runners from Washington against the top 40 runners from Oregon.

Click here for complete results from the 4A State Championships.

From the Seattle Police Blotter:

On November 7th at approximately 1:17 a.m. officers responded to a one-vehicle collision on the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Preliminary investigation indicates that a female driver was traveling southbound on the viaduct at a high rate of speed. Near South Washington Street she lost control of her Ford Expedition and collided into the retaining wall. A piece of the concrete retaining wall was dislodged as a result of the collision and fell to the ground below (Alaskan Way South), damaging two unoccupied parked cars. Nobody was injured from the falling concrete debris.

The driver of the Ford Expedition was not injured in the collision however, her female front seat passenger sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was subsequently transported to an area hospital for treatment. Alcohol does not appear to be a factor in this collision.

While SFD units were on scene assisting the injured passenger their fire truck was rear-ended.