February 2011

Operations Lt. Pierre Davis with the Southwest Precinct discussed West Seattle crime rates and recent big arrests that put a dent in those numbers while Anti-crime Team Lt. Darin Chinn gave an lesson on youth drug use in Seattle – from the streets to medicine cabinets – at the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting at the SW Precinct on Feb. 15.

According to Lt. Davis, West Seattle saw a spike in burglaries and car prowls in early February.

“To curtail a lot of that activity we mobilized strategically a lot of our patrol forces out into some of these (problem) areas and to date, we have had a 39 percent significant drop in property crimes that we’ve had,” he said.

Lt. Davis cited excellent police work, with the help of community tips, in identifying specific criminals who commit serial property crime in West Seattle.

“Right now we are in the process of linking a lot of these individuals to not one, but many crimes and because of an initiative that is coming from the prosecutor’s office, if we can successfully do that it means enhanced sentences for a lot of these individuals,” he said.

Chief Sealth boys basketball earned a spot in the state playoffs when they defeated Mercer Island in the SeaKing 3A district tournament. This is Chief Sealth’s first trip to state since 2001.
Ranked fourth in the 3A Metro league, Chief Sealth never let Mercer Island, the KingCo 3A champion gain the upper hand, defeating them 68-54. In the second half Mercer Island pressed hard and came within six points of Chief Sealth, but they were unable to gain the lead.
Chief Sealth faces Seattle Prep tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Bellevue Community College for the State semifinals.
Mercer Island will now play a loser-out came on Friday against Franklin at 3 p.m.

Over 50 guests surprised Fauntleroy resident Calvin (Cal) Bannon, the 90 year-old birthday boy, at Kenyon Hall Tuesday night, Feb. 15. The birthday party was organized by his long-time friend, Flora Belle Key, or Frankie, as she is known. Those who know the very active Cal know he loves to dance, loves tennis, dancing, traveling, and even more dancing. He and Frankie can often be spotted at the Senior Center of West Seattle cutting a rug on its shiny hardwoods till the end of the night.

Lauren Petrie was on keyboards. He was the musical staple at the former Corner Inn and gigs at the Senior Center West Seattle and other area venues now.

West Seattle Herald columnist, and entertainer extraordinaire, Georgie Bright Kunkel, favored Cal and the others with her version of "New York, New York":

"Start spreading the news, to celebrate Cal. I want to be a part of it, this 90 bash. His vagabond shoes, will no longer stray, he's a man about town, who's now turning gray..."

Kunkel was asked by America's Got Talent to audition Saturday at the Tacoma Convention Center.

Lily is a Manchester Terrier mix which by itself is interesting but she's not from around here. She's from Puerto Rico.

She's a rescue dog in fact who was living on the streets. "We adopted her from a couple that went to Puerto Rico to visit some friends," said Mem Rippey, "(...) and they were very taken by the plight of the street dogs who are abused. They saw a lot of injured dogs, a lot of abandoned dogs, dogs who really needed a home and medical attention so they started this organization called AnimalsInNeed.

They live in Poulsbo and they have volunteers who go out and feed the street dogs and try to convince owners to treat their dogs better or give them up. Lily was one that was in a pack of street dogs and she followed the volunteer back to the car and as the volunteer was opening the door, she turned around and Lily was looking at her like, 'You can leave without me.' So she opened the door, Lily jumped in and the volunteer said, 'OK, I guess you're the one who gets saved today."

The King County Water Taxi reminds riders that both the Vashon and West Seattle routes will not operate in observance of Presidents Day, February 21. The free West Seattle Taxi Shuttles, routes 773 and 775 will not operate either.

Editor:
I read and reread with some interest your article "TUNNEL:Skeptics have thier say" in the December 10 issue of the Herald. In particular, a quote attributed to our local City Councilman, Tom Rasmussen, caught my eye, "Why can't Seattle get things done?". I have been waiting for someone to make some suggestions, but haven't seen any in print, so here goes.
I was initially a supporter of the monorail. Then I started looking at it with a more critical eye. Lots of questions, but no answers, only arm waving. Below is a letter I sent to Councilman Rasmussen conveying some of the reasons for my skepticism.

Sent: Friday, February 04, 2011 09:46
Subject: Tunnel Skeptics

Dear Councilman Rasmussen:

I read with some interest the article in the December 10, 2010 issue of the West Seattle Herald on the subject. I was particularly bemused (or maybe amused) by a quote attributed to you, "Why can't Seattle get things done?"

I offer a few thoughts.

Westside School chose Valentine's Day to hold a school assembly featuring a 4-person African Dance and Drum Troupe called Nian Cho Elyno that combined African drumming, dancing, acrobatics, authentic costumes, and a lot of interaction with the students and teachers.

The four performers from all over the United States (three of them were immigrants from Africa), demonstrated and shared with the audience songs, some samplings of language, and got everyone involved in dancing to the rhythms.

Curtis Ghoma Diallo from San Diego led most of the program by dancing and teaching the children some words in Swahili. The husband and wife team of Limene and Dallas Somah from Guinea played drums and danced respectively and were joined by drummer Baye Balla. The troupe explained that the drums were made of wood, had cow skin covers and were called Djimbe (Jimbee) drums.

Ballard beekeeper Corky Luster has been nominated as a finalist in the first-ever VISIONary of the Year Awards by AMD.  The VISIONary of the Year Awards recognize nine unsung heroes in three categories - food, photography and entrepreneurship.

AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) is a technology company providing innovative graphics, processors, and media solutions.

Luster caught AMD’s attention with his Ballard Bee Company and their efforts to sustain the local honeybee population, whose consumption of the areas’ diverse flora results in a unique-tasting honey.
Luster, like all nominees, was hand-selected for their unique contributions and informed of their finalist status by a surprise phone call. 

“It’s an honor to be nominated for the AMD VISIONary of the Year Awards, and it’s a recognition I want to share with the entire Seattle urban agriculture and food community,” said Luster in a press release. 

“They’ve been a tremendous factor in my company's success in bringing back honeybee populations in our city.”

Seattle Public Schools is looking for solutions to close the estimated $35 million budget gap by implementing cuts and cost increases.

The state of Washington only funds half-day kindergarten and families are charged $207 per month to fund full-day kindergarten. SPS is looking to increase the cost to $310 per month.

In addition, SPS is considering a 20 percent cut in central office staff positions, changes to the transportation plan, furloughs and the use of reserves. 

"Our commitment is to reduce funding to individual schools only as a last resort," SPS stated in a press release. "However, having explored all potential budget solutions, at this time we do not believe we can balance the budget for 2011-1012 without some direct impact to schools."

Families that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch will not be charged for full-day kindergarten.

SPS is asking for parents' opinions regarding payment for full-day kindergarten through an online survey.

By Amanda Leonard

What do you do when your sink backs up and both plunging and cursing fail to free the clog? You could call a plumber for a costly visit. In most cases, though, all you’ll find out is that the plumber is most likely just going to use a plumbing snake to solve the problem. This is something you can do yourself and save big bucks in the process!

The most common plumbing snake is a hand auger, which is made up of a flexible wire with a handle on one end and a hook or corkscrew on the other end. Simply insert the working end into the drain, and begin cranking the handle slowly while feeding the wire down to the clog. Once the clog is reached, the plumbing snake may either break the clog up or corkscrew into it in order to pull it out.