January 2011

This morning, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, and Sen. Jerome Delvin, R-Richland, and introduced legislation that would improve law enforcement investigations of human trafficking and improve services for human trafficking victims.

An estimated 15,000 people are trafficked into the country each year and forced into prostitution or manual labor, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Senate Bill 5545, introduced by Sen. Delvin, would allow law enforcement officers to conduct surveillance operations on suspected human-trafficking and child-prostitution activities with the consent of the victim. It would also authorize prosecutors to request assistance from juveniles in the undercover surveillance of telephone communications in trafficking investigations, without putting them in danger.

Copperleaf Restaurant, a 30-seat restaurant at Cedarbrook Lodge in SeaTac, has been recognized as a 2011 Top 10 New Restaurant in the U.S. by Gayot for its farm-to-table cuisine and commitment to locally sourced ingredients.

"This recognition is an incredible honor," said Culinary Director Roy Breiman. "Chef Mark Bodinet does a superb job incorporating the best Northwest flavors with new preparations. From the atmosphere, décor, menu offerings and excellent service, Copperleaf offers the freshest, most sophisticated and responsible dining experiences possible."

The theme for the 2011 Top 10 New Restaurants awards was local, from restaurant ingredients to menus and interiors. In addition to being a 2011 Top 10 New Restaurant, Copperleaf has also been recognized by Gayot on the Hot 10 Seattle Restaurant list and the Top 10 Seattle Food Ratings Restaurant list.

Four hours.

It’s a period of time Tim McClellan, the father of 17-year-old Shane McClellan, has trouble imagining. For four hours Shane was beaten and tortured, whipped with his own belt and burnt with cigarettes, by two men in a racially charged attack on the night of May 25th, 2010 in West Seattle.

One of the attackers, 22-year-old Ahmed Mohamed, signed a plea deal in December and was sentenced last Friday, Jan. 21 to just under six years in prison for first degree robbery and malicious harassment by Judge Carol Shapira. His alleged accomplice in the attack, Jonathan Baquiring, 21, will go to trial on Feb. 22.

“We targeted McClellan because he was a different race than we are,” Mohamed wrote in his plea deal. Shane is white, Mohamed is black and Baquiring is Pacific Asian.

Tim took the stand last Friday in Mohamed’s sentencing.

“It was very hard for me and I got up to speak to the Judge and it was very difficult, especially since it was the first time I had seen Ahmed,” he said.

Tuesday, Jan. 25
Boys basketball
Chief Sealth 66, Bainbridge 38
Keon Lewis scored 20 points and Abdi Mohamed 15 for the Seahawks in their Tuesday, Jan. 25 Metro League 3A victory.
Eastside Catholic 79, West Seattle 62
Troy Lingle scored 18 points and LaTray Newsome 17 for the Wildcats in their Tuesday, Jan. 25 loss. Deandre Coulter added 13.
Hazen 65, Evergreen 31
Evergreen High School of White Center was topped by the Highlanders last Tuesday.

Girls basketball
Bainbridge 74, Chief Sealth 49
The Seahawks were buried by Bainbridge in a Tuesday, Jan. 25 contest.
Evergreen Lutheran 49,
Seattle Lutheran 35
Evergreen Lutheran of Des Moines was led past Seattle Lutheran of West Seattle by the 20 points of Erica Hansen and the 17 of Erika Herman. Abby French led Seattle Lutheran with 10 points.
Eastside 63, West Seattle 24
Eastside Catholic made short work of the Wildcats last Tuesday, Jan. 25.
Hazen 68, Evergreen 47
The Wolverines of White Center were beaten by Hazen last Tuesday.

Gymnastics
Evergreen

The Alki Homestead/Fir Lodge has been the subject of a great deal of controversy and public attention in recent years. It was named as an Historical Landmark in 1996. It suffered a fire in 2009 and has been boarded up since that time. It's been the subject of press conferences, public gatherings, speeches and many conversations.

Finally, it is on the road to restoration.

What that means and how it happens will no doubt be subject to public and official scrutiny. The West Seattle Herald, in an exclusive interview with the owner and architects, has seen the details of the plan.

Owner of the building Tom Lin has, with private investment funding, quietly assembled the information and people necessary to bring the facility back to life as both a working restaurant and banquet/meeting place. That's both his vision and that of the architects he has hired to make it happen. But before that can be explained and understood, some background on the building, how it began and evolved is important.

History

A reader notified us that on Google Maps, Ballard is marked as Adams. While this isn't quite true, the reader did correctly notice that the name "Ballard" isn't marked on the map. Google Maps marks the various neighborhoods - Sunset Hill, Whittier Heights, Loyal Heights, West Woodland and Adams - but it does not mark Ballard as a whole.

Likewise, Google Maps does not indicate West Seattle but rather the nine neighborhoods that make up West Seattle - Alki, North Admiral, Junction, Seaview, Fairmount Park, Genesee, Gatewood, Fauntleroy, and Arbor Heights.

According to the Seattle City Clerk's Office, Seattle has 16 (unofficial) districts - Northgate, Lake City, Ballard, University District, Magnolia, Interbay, Queen Anne, Cascade, Downtown, Capitol Hill, Central District, West Seattle, Delridge, Beacon Hill, Rainier Valley and Seward Park. These districts in turn are made up of various neighborhoods.

The Ballard girls basketball team played the Inglemoor Vikings on the road last night and saw a bad defeat.

The Vikings took the lead in the first quarter and were up by 15 points at half time. Inglemoor is the number two team in the Kingco Crown division and they proved it as they shot well and dominated the rebounds.

The Beavers struggled to score in the second and third quarter and despite a high scoring last quarter, they were unable to catch up to Inglemoor. The final score was 52 to 28.

Senior Theresa Moriarty lead the Beavers by scoring 13 points.

Up next is another tough game as the Lady Beavers host the number one Kingco Crown division team, Woodinville, on Friday night. It is the last home game of the season for the Lady Beavers and they will be honoring their four seniors: Morgan Bailess, Theresa Moriarty, Elena DeWeese, and Maddie Soukup.

Dick's Drive in, a Seattle staple, is celebrating its 57th birthday this week and offering 10-cent Cokes to all its fans on Friday.

On Tuesday, customers who bought a regular $1.40 burger received a second for free.

Friday's 10-Cent coke special applies to any size Cokes, Diet Cokes, Sprites, Root Beers and Lemonades.

This is a popular annual tradition that marks the opening of Dick Spady's first drive in at 111 N.E. 45th Street.

Perennial champion Courtney Steinke (79), recently returned from the Korean War National Veterans Golden Age Games held in Des Moines, Iowa. Steinke competed in the horseshoe toss, high jump, bowling, discus, long jump and shot put winning medals in three of the six events. He qualified through the Puget Sound Senior

Games to attend the national event in Houston, Texas in June. Competitors must be Veterans and at least 55 years of age. For more information on the games go to: www.veteransgoldenagegames.va.gov.

(Editor's Note: Utter the words 'National Treasure' and images of the Grand Canyon, redwood forests and Sally Field come to mind. To these must also be added ninety-six-year-old Fauntleroy resident Morey Skaret, whose life not only links us with much of our nation's rich heritage; it shines like a sorely needed beacon of hope, humor and humanity in these uncertain times.
This is the twelfth in a series of articles on Morey Skaret, who has devoted much of his life to public service, including thirty-one years-spanning two wars-in the U.S. Coast Guard.)

"When I went in the Coast Guard during World War II," Morey begins, "I was twenty-eight years old. I came in from the police department. They noticed that I was pretty apt in asking men to do different things-lining them up and keeping them in order.

"I studied and worked my way up to be a chief petty officer. Then, of course, I had a whole squad of men, maybe thirty-five or forty. And I had to direct them in what to do and that kind of thing."