December 2010

An armed robbery attempt on Delridge Ave s.w. had a flaw in the planning stage. On Nov. 28 around 2:43 a.m., the employee of a bar on the 9400 block of Delridge Ave was cleaning up shop when a Hispanic male (suspect #1), 5’5”, 150 pounds in dark clothing began knocking on the window and pleading to be let in. The employee told him the bar was closed, but went outside (locking the door on his way out) to see what the problem was. The Hispanic male told the employee he had not eaten in a couple of days and “some guy was trying to rape him,” then asked if he could use the bar as refuge from his possible assailant. As the bar employee called 911 on the man’s behalf, another Hispanic male (suspect #2), 5’4”, 160 pounds with short blonde hair approached the men and asked the bar employee “What’s up (redacted)?” The employee told suspect #2 he was calling 911, at which point suspect #1 poked the employee in the jacket with a “large kitchen type knife.” Both suspects then fled northbound on foot on 16th Ave s.w.

By Katy G. Wilkens, MS, RD
Northwest Kidney Centers

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have great access to fresh, seasonal foods. But during the long, dreary winter months, fresh, local fruit might seem like an impossible dream.

Think again.

Washington state is one of the places where cranberries grow well, and you can buy fresh cranberries all winter long. Cranberries are filled with protective nutrients and antioxidants. They can help against urinary tract infections and may help protect against heart disease, cancer and other diseases.

That’s great, but I like them because they’re so pretty! Pretty, and sour. Used in desserts, or combined with the sweetness of oranges, they can add brilliant color and flavor to winter meals.

When the cranberry growers figured out how to add sugar to cranberries and dry them, a whole new food appeared: Craisins. You can toss these dried fruits into salads, turkey stuffing or couscous. They’re also a wonderful addition to apple pie.

Rich’s Wild Rice Stuffing
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 cups mushrooms, sliced

Seven productions by students in the Ballard High School Video Production Program have been named Finalists of the 15th Annual Derek Freese High School Film & Video Festival. This prestigious festival draws competition from high school filmmakers across the country and is judged by professors from Temple University's renowned film school and industry professionals.

This is the eighth year in a row that productions by students from the Ballard High School Video Production Program have been Finalists in the Derek Freese Festival. Some have also won top prizes.

Finalists for Best Documentary are "Bar Ink" by Spencer Miller, Robyn Cochrane, Justin Smith-Mercado, and Georgia Peck; "Henry" by Amelia Elizalde, Levi Friedman, Sheridan Koehler and Sean Hendricks; "Seattle Street Performers" by James Vitz-Wong, Tony Meyer and Matt Law-Phipps; and "Split Mind" by Rikke Heinecke, John Christensen, Blair Scott and Allie Stock.

Finalists for Best Fiction Film are "Buy, Sell, Trade" by Emily Deering, Amelia Elizalde and Blair Scott; "The Real World" by Matt Law-Phipps, Tony Meyer and Ryan Zemke; and "Signs" by Rikke Heinecke, Tony Meyer and Lizzy O'Laughlin.

The Hometown Holidays Headquarters are open in the Junction in front of Key Bank for festivities and information on shopping, the Holiday Raffle, and in-store events. The booth is open from 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. on Sundays until Christmas. The West Seattle Volunteer Recognition Awards will be presented at 1 p.m.on the 5th. Pathfinder PTA is offering holiday facepainting and wreath sales.

Mule Carriage Rides are back again this year from Timberland WagonEars and you can get a ride around the Junction from 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. –These are Belgian Draft Mules and are often seen at fairs and celebrations around the Northwest. Carriages depart on California in front of Key Bank.

Santa Photos are available from 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m at Donna Ryan photography at 4218 Alaska Street. A suggested donation of $15 or more will be donated to West Side Baby on the 5th. Subsequent weekends will benefit the West Seattle Helpline and West Seattle Foodbank.

You can also suggest a name for Donna Ryan's photography store and win a $500 shopping spree in the store. She will announce the winning name January 5.

Capers, the entertaining and gift store in the West Seattle Junction at 4525 California Ave. s.w. held its annual holiday open house on Saturday and featured guests including Alizah Olivas offering silver jewelry, Mosey Handbags and Nashelle recycled gold jewelry with the ability to build a charm bracelet or necklace with Paul Cardoza.

Also in the store, as Capers has featured for the last few years was the Giving Tree, for which Capers is asking that you bring a new toy or gift for a mom for the Hickman House, a transitional home for victims of domestic violence.

Refreshments were served during the event.

The West Seattle Junction moved its Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony to the new Junction Plaza Park for 2010 and got what emcee Marty Riemer referred to as "tropical conditions" for weather (though the actual temperature was 47 degrees).

This year the tree, planted in the park, was substantially smaller (last year's tree behind the junction is very tall) at somewhere close to 17 feet in height which prompted Riemer and others to joke that "It will be very impressive in about ten years."

The event featured The Endolyne Children's Choir, led by Maria Johnson, and saw Todd Carden, owner of Elliott Bay Brew Pub and President of the West Seattle Junction Merchants Association welcome a large crowd to the site.

Black t-shirts adorned with the statement, “I (heart) White Center” were worn proudly by hundreds of attendees at the 2010 White Center Community Summit at the White Center Heights Elementary & Educare Early Learning Center on Dec. 4.

The 8th annual summit was guided by the theme, ““White Center Promise- Uniting to Improve Our Lives and Community,” and included free workshops and resource booths on housing, health care, employment, and education in addition to a plethora of free food from local restaurants and entertainment ranging from drum circles to spoken word performances.

The White Center Community Development Association, who’s central strategy is to “create a healthier and more prosperous community by strengthening families, schools and businesses in White Center,” hosted the summit with help from sponsors, Boeing Employee Credit Union, King County Library System and Noise w/o Sound, a graphic design company out of Seattle.

Aileen Balahadia, executive director of White Center CDA, said the event is all about community building and civic engagement in diverse White Center.

The new Fire Station 37 at 7700 35th s.w. held an open house on Saturday Dec. 4 that saw hundreds of people crowd into the new facility to get a tour, see fire engines both old and new and get information on public safety.

The new station offers more than twice as much space as the former station 2 blocks north. That has meant some adjustments according to Captain Gordon Wolcott. "We used to be really together all day in real close quarters. At the old station in my office the chair backed up into the bed. Now I've got this huge office that's bigger than the watch office at the old place with my own bathroom and my own bedroom so it kind of pulls the crew apart a little bit. It's so large that I'll be down in my office and I'll realize, I haven't seen or heard anybody for 30 minutes. We sleep better at night because there's less traffic noise but that old building was pretty charming (...) So we are sentimental but this place is like, 'Oh my god, I never thought I'd work in a city building that was this nice (...) This new building allows us to do the things we really should be doing."

(Click on photo to start slideshow)

To kick off the holiday season, the Fremont Chamber of Commerce held it's popular Lighting of the Lenin statue festivities last night.

"Lighting a tree isn't Fremont. Lighting a communist tyrant, now that is Fremont,"announced Kirby Lindsay, the MC for the night, while a crowd anticipated the lighting of the famous Fremont Lenin statue.

"We're multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and possibly, multi-offensive this year," said Lindsay. The statue of the famous Russian communist is adorned with a big David's Star around his head and the word "Christmas" around his chest.

"We've been doing this since we found out that a tree would cost $10,000." said Susie Burke laughing before leading the crowd in a sing-along-song.

The festivities in Lenin Square included live music from Rabbit Stew String Band, free refreshment from Peet's coffee, Mighty-O Donuts and Pie.

Santa was also present and had the honor of flipping the switch to illuminate the statue.

If you rook pictures at the event last night, we'd love to feature them in the slideshow. Please email them to anner@robinsonnews.com

Handmade soaps, lotions, oils, jewelry, gift baskets, candles, holiday decorations (to name a few) and a slew of sweet holiday treats are on sale at the Highland Park Holiday Bazaar today.

The bazaar brings vendors from as far as Federal Way to the elementary school gym to sell their wares just in time for the holiday shopping crunch. There is also a raffle for prizes donated by local businesses and bazaar vendors.

Christie Sjostrom, a parent of a Highland Elementary student and PTA member, came up with the idea for the bazaar three years ago and has been the chair for the event ever since.

“I really love bazaars, so I just make the school have one,” she joked.

Proceeds from the bake sale, raffle tickets and vendor space all go towards the PTA general fund, Sjostrom said.

Vendors were charged $15 for half a table and $25 for full table.

“We try to keep it a little bit of money because the economy is bad and I want (the vendors) to come, and I want people to come and buy from them so they make money,” Sjostrom said.