January 2011

By Amanda Leonard

One of the most popular and heavily used power tools is the hand held circular saw. You’ve probably seen them on just about every do-it-yourself show out there. Believe it or not, stationary circular saws have actually been around since the late 1770’s, though they weren’t available in a hand held form until 1923.

The basic circular saw uses a rotating blade to make relatively straight cuts across a piece of material. Though the hand held version is the type most people think of when circular saw is mentioned, there are also a wide variety of other circular saws such as miter saws, radial arm saws, table saws, and biscuit joiners. The beauty of a hand held version is that, instead of moving the wood across the blade, the blade moves across the wood. This allows for much more flexibility in the angle or length of the cut.

UPDATE:

The West Seattle Chamber of Commerce hosted a sold-out brown bag lunch Jan. 26 with a presentation entitled “Why the Tunnel Works” at the Kenney.

The event featured John Creighton Commissioner, Port of Seattle and Dave Gering Director, Manufacturing Industrial Council and architect and West Seattle resident Vlad Oustimovitch, who each provided, quoting from the Chamber invitation "facts about keeping our economy moving and why the Deep Bore Tunnel is both critical to the economic health of our region and the best choice."

The West Seattle Herald and Robinson Newspapers have updated the online commenting system for WestSeattleHerald.com to a system called DISQUS. As of August 10, 2010, the service had over 13 million registered users and 500 thousand communities. This same commenting system is now part of our sister sites BallardNewsTribune.com and HighlineTimes.com.

At the bottom of almost every story on the site you will find a place to login and add your comments.

Here's a bit more about what Disqus is and how it works.

Realtime comment system

Comments become more like live discussions with realtime posting and updating. By offering a faster, more intuitive experience, Disqus is everyone's favorite way to comment.

Social integration

It is fully integrated with Facebook, Twitter, and more. You can login, comment, and share using social services that you already use and love. Your Facebook or Twitter ID works on the Herald site too. But you don't have to be logged in to comment. Just supply a valid email address.

The Community Box

Game Plan Fitness, the small gym that sits on the corner of 8th Avenue and Market Street N.W. has been closed for three months. Now, a former boxer is taking over and re-opening the gym.

John Ganley assumed ownership on January 1st and plans to take a boxing fitness format to his new gym.

"We're offering something different from what I've seen in the area," Ganley said who will be running the gym with his son, Sean.

Ganley runs a gym in the Tri-Cities and has taught boxing fitness for years. He has coached several national champions and professional boxers but encourages everyone to try boxing.

"To me boxing has always been the hardest workout anyone can do," he said. "You start it off slow but it gets progressively harder. I take a boxer's workout and cut it to fit a person's needs."

Ganley uses ropes, shadow boxing, bags, and a person's own weight.

"Everyone can use that kind of workout," he said, sharing a story about a 65-year-old man who'd always wanted to be a boxer. "I just started him off slowly and we progressed. I trained him for two years."

She claims to be “strictly an amateur” but after 23 years as librarian at Sons of Norway Leif Erikson Lodge #1, Margaret Anderson should qualify for an honorary degree. Her domain is a small room in the basement of the lodge, accessible only by taking the elevator to its lowest point. This is where Margaret holds court from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesdays.

Margaret’s reign as librarian began soon after the Sons of Norway built the Leif Erikson Lodge on N.W. 58th street, relocating from Boren Avenue. Some 700 books had been randomly packed and put into storage. Margaret was curious so she unpacked them, but still couldn’t find what she wanted. There was no order to them. That was in 1987. Now the library has at least 3,600 books; Margaret is pretty sure she could put a hand on each one of them. She keeps them in perfect order based on her own system.

A handwritten sign on an otherwise ordinary door reads, “PLEASE, Any books removed from this library, must be checked out by the librarian.” In small letters on the bottom it’s signed, Margaret Anderson, Librarian.

The Ballard boys varsity team faced the Crown division's third placed Inglemoor Vikings last evening for an important win.

The Beavers knew going into the game that they had to win the game in order to maintain their second place ranking.

Ballard started off the game strong, gaining an 11-point lead in the first quarter. Their shooting was on target and the Beavers managed to gain an 18-point lead going into the fourth quarter. The Vikings however took their last opportunity to even the game seriously and came back by scoring 21 points in the last quarter. The Vikings were still short six-points however and Ballard won with a final score of 63 to 69.

Senior Salim Gloyd lead all scorers with 25 points and 15 rebounds. Sophomore Johnny Verduin was second in scoring with a career high 12 points and three rebounds.

Ballard will host Woodinville this Friday evening at 8 p.m. and Saturday will be their last home game as they host the Newport Knights.

Second quarter solidarity sent Seattle Christian storming past Charles Wright , 42-10, in Nisqually 1A/2A League girls basketball action last Friday at the Warrior campus in SeaTac.
Post player Katie Collier was under constant pressure with the Charles Wright 6-foot, 5-inch center and a roving guard collapsing on her during virtually every Warrior offensive set.
First quarter play was sluggish due to turnovers and ice cold shooting by both squads. Midway through the quarter, SCS led 6-2, before both teams went scoreless into the second quarter.
Moving the post outside created the necessary room for Collier to use her superior maneuverability. Turning her inside defenders every which way but in her path, Collier continually dribbled and faked her way to the hoop, scoring 12 of the Seattle Christian 14-0 scoring points run as the Warriors stormed to a 20-2 advantage with just less than two minutes remaining before halftime.
Collier scored 14 of her game high 18 points in the first half while closing out the game with six rebounds and five blocked shots.

Trust and sharing totalled up to a Seattle Christian boys basketball 66-46 Class 1A/2A Nisqually League home victory against the Charles Wright Tarriers last Friday,
Leading only 27-24 early in the third quarter, the Warriors turned into a juggernaut of destruction. Johnny Sutherland drove inside for a lay up to begin the SCS onslaught. Blake Weber and MCkinnon Simpson worked inside and outside to key a12-point scoring run that essentially put the game out of reach. Seattle Christian magnified its margin steadily, establishing a 24-point dominance at one point.
"We just came out with the reminder that we're better," said Simpson, who closed with 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field and 5-for-5 from the free throw line along with a collection of six caroms off the glass. "It ticked us off and we started getting to the net for easy layups."

As the West Seattle Herald told you about first in December a "Ropes Challenge Course" is being built in Camp Long in cooperation with Washington State University.

Last year, Seattle Parks and Washington State University 4-H entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to bring the course to Camp Long. Parks is moving forward with implementing this agreement and plans on breaking ground in spring 2011.

The public has a chance to meet the design team for the project on Thursday, Jan. 27 at 7:00 pm.

There will be several elements of the ropes course that will be integrated into the forested areas of Camp Long and will provide an integral part of the developed curriculum. WSU 4-H, through 30 years of adventure
education experience, has created student focused curriculum that use activities to strengthen critical life
skills including decision making, self confidence, positive risk taking, selfesteem, teamwork and leadership. Camp Long will be joining an extensive system of WSU 4-H Adventure Education Programs and Courses.

Update 5
Duane E. Starkenburg, 46, was charged this afternoon with assaulting three women in West Seattle's Lincoln Park. Prosecutors charged Starkenburg with two counts of Indecent Liberties for allegedly attacking a woman in August and another in December. He is also charged with one count of Attempted Indecent Liberties for the January 25 assault on a woman jogger. The defendant was released from jail yesterday after posting bail totaling $175,000. Starkenburg is scheduled for arraignment on February 10 at 8:30 a.m. at the King County Courthouse, courtroom 1201.

Update 4

Duane Starkenburg, who was arrested for allegedly attempting to tackle a female jogger in Lincoln Park on Jan. 25, posted bail and was released on the evening of Jan. 27. According to an AP report, his bail totaled $175,000 - $150,00 from the King County Prosecutor's Office and $25,000 from Seattle Municipal Court.

Starkenburg, 46, has been charged in Tuesday's attack and is under investigation for Indecent Liberties in two additional incidents from August and December of 2010 (more information on those incidents will be posted shortly).