December 2010

The first time it occurred, I was riding in the backseat of a car. My mother was fiddling with the radio while my father drove. He likes to smoke while driving and fails to understand why we protest this behavior. “What?” he asks incredulously, “I opened the window.”
Fortunately for us, it was a warm summer day and the drive to the pool wouldn’t take long. Something about being crammed between my two children in the back seat made me feel like a child myself. A flood of memories of rolling around my parent’s station wagon with my sister came to me and I mourned that my children would never experience this freedom. They are always strapped in and harnessed to molded plastic. Rolling around in a moving car is now deemed precarious, if not downright lethal. We didn’t worry about these things in the seventies. In fact, in many of these memories I can clearly picture my dad’s highball glass in one hand, the steering wheel in the other.

The following is an excerpt from the autobiography of our Publisher, Jerry Robinson called "Listen to Your Father". At age 90 he is still actively writing and contributing to the newspapers. In this excerpt he recalls a boyhood memory and a deal he made with God in the 1920's in Portland Oregon.

I couldn't fight and I couldn't run very fast. But I did have big brown eyes. If I rolled them around in their sockets, wonderful things happened. When big guys threatened me I could sometimes dazzle them by rolling my eyes. But it didn't work with Johnny Celoria. One day on the way home from school he stopped me: "You wanna fight?" I was so scared I just rolled my eyes. He was with a buddy. While I stupidly rolled my eyes trying to dazzle them, his pal grabbed me from behind and Johnny socked me in the eye. Luckily for them Russell, my older brother wasn't with me, or he would have shown those guys. Instead, I just howled so loudly they thought I was dying. I ran home without them inflicting any more damage. I had a beautiful shiner for a few days and elicited lots of sympathy from the family.

The West Seattle Golf Course Mens Club Board of Directors received a letter this week from acting Deputy Superintendent of Parks Eric Friedli that was a response to the emails, letters, and comments made at three public meetings, in which golfers shared their concerns over the proposal to locate the range on the 9th fairway which would require a redesign of three holes. Friedli's letter even goes so far as to suggest the driving range may not be built at all.

"Dear West Seattle Golf Club Board of Directors,

By Micah Summers
Sometimes the coolest tools come in small packages. And sometimes the most valuable tools are not those that help create, but those that help undo. This week’s tool is both of these things: the screw extractor.

Anyone who has spent a decent amount of time taking things apart or rebuilding them has come across that one stubborn fastener that just won’t come out. Whether it's a poor quality screw or a worn out screwdriver bit, it can be all too easy to strip a screw head and render your tool useless in removing the now rather permanent fastener. Of course, the best way to deal with stripped screws is to avoid them altogether, which is great if you can manage it. Learning to recognize when a fastener or screw is about to strip, though, is actually a subtle skill that only comes with practice and a little bit of luck. When your luck run outs, these screw extractor bits come to the rescue.

Dave Montoure, who owns the West 5 restaurant in the Junction, is the new President of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the West Seattle Herald asked him to take a look at the year ahead, and to share his thoughts on the role of the Chamber regarding business in West Seattle.

He began by stating his primary goal for this year. "I want to strengthen the business climate and environment in West Seattle. " To accomplish that he wants to "bring more money into the Chamber of Commerce." While he has some thoughts in mind about this he said he's open to suggestions from the public as to how they might do that. Contact the Chamber at info@wschamber.com.

It's official. The former Jade West Chinese restaurant, 6023 California Ave. SW, will, within a month, become Meander's Restaurant and offer family style dining Tuesday's through Sundays, 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The restaurant is owned by Miranda Krone who lives just four blocks away.

As many recall, Jade owners Wah, Salina, and son, Jason Wong were seriously injured a year ago, Dec. 12, when a drunk driver hit them while they were unloading luggage from a parked car in their Beacon Hill driveway. The driver of a 1998 black Chevy Corvette went off the road and struck them, and has since been charged.

The West Seattle Herald spoke to Salina last night, Dec. 23.

"Wah is recuperating now, day by day doing better and better," she said with optimism in her voice. "Jason is a very determined young man, but not out of the woods yet. He is still working on his new leg and has to learn how to walk."

Jason was the most seriously injured.

Salina said she and Wah were delighted that Krone will open Meander's.

Unsuspecting customers, and a few insiders, at the Feedback Lounge at Morgan Junction were treated to a surprise appearance, and an intimate performance, by the rock band Loaded, Thursday night, Dec. 21. Its lead singer is Seattle's own Duff McKagan who many know from his Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver days. He writes a column for the Seattle Weekly. "Duff" was joined by Loaded band members Jeff Rouse, a 14-year West Seattle resident, who does bass and vocals, and Mike Squires on lead guitar. Drummer Isaac Carpenter did not attend.

The reason for the gig was for West Seattle's Jamie Burton Chamberlin and crew to videotape the performance for the film, The Loaded Project, based on their soon-to-be-released, and fifth album, called "The Soundtrack."

Just over a year ago filmmaker and documentarian Chamberlin released his movie and 2-DVD set "Double Down Live" featuring an intimate look at rock icons ZZ Top performing live throughout America and Europe including rare, behind the scenes footage.

Leading naturopathic practitioner, Dr. Iris Crawford, proudly introduces an innovative addition to her medical services. In addition to her practice at Eden healing Paradise on 4808 Leary Way, Crawford now offers online service through the Hello Health.

She’s not only the first Seattle-based practitioner to do so, but also the only Naturopathic Physician currently offering medical services of her kind online.

“Hello Health is a two year-old company that started in New York. The practice is based on an online platform allowing for virtual visits, video visits, text message and email visits,” Crawford said. “I joined in February because I liked the concept.”

For the first time, Seattle residents have access to secure, online care at any time of the day without having to leave their house or office.

“This is a great thing for doctors and patients,” Crawford said explaining that she benefits because it diminishing her time spend on administrative tasks.

“I’m a solo practitioner and as such, administration is a big timely requirement of the job. Hello Health helps me do all the billings, appointment setting, and administration at the click of a button,” she said.

Citing the potential for disruption to transit service, King County Executive Dow Constantine approved an interim policy from Metro Transit this week calling for a halt to the acceptance of any new non-commercial advertising on King County buses.

Metro officials rejected a proposed ad from the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign and the proposed response ads from two other groups.

“The escalation of this issue from one of 12 local bus placards to a widespread and often vitriolic international debate introduces new and significant security concerns that compel reassessment,” said Executive Constantine.

“My job is to deliver essential services to the people of King County, including transit service,” he added. “I have consulted with federal and local law enforcement authorities who have expressed concern, in the context of this international debate, that our public transportation system could be vulnerable to disruption.

Anyone who has ridden the bus around Ballard this week will likely have noticed a few missing stops.

Earlier in the week, Metro reduced the number of closely spaced bus stops on the Route 75 corridor, which includes Route 18 on 24th Avenue N.W., to help buses move faster, operate on a more reliable schedule, reduce energy consumption and emissions, and reduce Metro’s operating and maintenance costs.

The corridor had 168 bus stops between Pend Oreille Road and N.W. Market St. with an average stop spacing of about 980 feet. The plan was to remove 27 of these stops, increasing the average spacing between stops to about 1,170 feet.

Metro calculated that only 5 percent of Route 75 riders, who board along that corridor, will have to catch their bus at a different stop as a result of this change.

Last month, the Seattle Department of Transportation announced they’re planning on removing eight bus stops along Market St. as well to speed up Route 44.

These changes don’t come without opposition from the community, and complaints, most notably senior citizens.