February 2011

The previously announced lane closures on the Ballard Bridge for this Saturday, February 12, for paving have been cancelled due to an unfavorable weather forecast.

Crews tentatively plan to do the work on Saturday, February 26.

SDOT crews will pave the roadway at the north end of the bridge from 7 a.m. until no later than 7 p.m., weather permitting.

South ramps to the bridge and the walkways on the bridge will remain open.

Paving crews will grind the old surface and lay new asphalt on the raised portion of 15th Avenue N.W. above Leary Avenue N.W. at the north end of the Ballard Bridge.

Both the northbound and the southbound lanes will be paved. The work is needed to replace the deteriorated roadway surface.

Wednesday, Feb. 2

Boys basketball

Tyee 47, Highline 40

Tyee won a battle of cross-school district rivals last Wednesday.

Shorewood Chr. 61, Puget Sound Adv. 45

Shorewood Christian crunched Puget Sound Adventist in action Wednesday, Feb. 2.

Girls basketball

Tyee 45, Highline 42

The Totems squeezed out a victory over the Pirates last Wednesday.

Foster 65, Hazen 57

Foster put a loss on the Highlanders' record last Wednesday.

Puget Sound Adv. 62, Shorewood Chr. 41

Puget Sound Adventist turned the tables on its boys loss by beating the Shorewood Christian girls.

Friday, Feb. 4

Boys basketball

Kennedy 74, Tyee 54

The Lancers topped the Totems handily in a Seamount League game Friday.

Evergreen 70, Highline 41

Evergreen had an easy time of it in Friday's win over Highline.

Foster 65, Lindbergh 43

Foster gunned down Lindbergh in Seamount League action Friday.

Girls basketball

Kennedy 92, Tyee 52

The Lancers posted a 40-point victory over Tyee Friday.

Highline 45, Evergreen 41

The Pirates edged Evergreen in a tight Seamount League game Friday.

After losing to top-ranked Holy Names three weeks ago, the Kennedy Catholic girls basketball team has been on a mission.

The fifth-ranked Lancers have won six consecutive games by 35 points or more, including a convincing 92-52 win over Tyee on Friday night.

The Seamount League champion Lancers (19-1 overall, 14-0 in league) now move on to district play, drawing seventh-ranked Auburn-Mountainview (16-4, 9-1) on Friday at Lakes High School in Tacoma.

Against Tyee, Alli Madison and University of Washington recruit Aminah Williams combined for 39 points and 21 rebounds to lead Kennedy. Madison had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Williams scored 19 points and had 11 rebounds.

The two players' damage was done in less than three quarters of play because Lancers coach John Barbee chose to start senior reserves in their place on Senior Night at Kennedy High School.

"Kennedy has an excellent program," said Tyee coach Wayne Severson. "I give two thumbs up to coach Barbee for letting those seniors start the first quarter."

An exceptionally unusual night ended with Class 2B Evergreen Lutheran escaping with a 45 - 39 non-league girls basketball victory against upset minded Class 1A independent Auburn Adventist Academy on Wednesday, Feb. 2, on the Lutheran's Des Moines campus.

Locked in a 39-39 deadlock, the Eagles (5-4 league, 7-10 overall) regained the lead for good on an Erica Hansen three-point seeking missile with just less than 50 seconds remaining in overtime.

"As soon as I shot, I knew it was good," exclaimed the ever confident Hansen, who scored seven game points. "We should have destroyed them, but we won."

The Eagles still had to negotiate the final seconds. Meyer missed two consecutive free throws before hauling in her own missed second try and being fouled. Making up for her previous tries, Meyer collected herself to swish two free throws home. No. 43 closed out the scoring on a fee throw.

Katie Weber commandeered a clutch performance in the four-minute overtime. Fouled in the act of shooting in the corner, Weber shot an air ball on the first attempt, but regrouped to swish home the next chance as 3:13 showed on the scoreboard clock.

For the better part of the third quarter, the Associated Press Class 1A fourth-ranked Seattle Christian girls basketball team showed a very weak pulse. Catie Shelton's field goal with just less than two minutes elapsed time of the period accounted for the Warriors only two points, and SCS trailed by 11. It was a deep, dark hole that appeared to be growing deeper.

Kaycee Creech and Kadyn Coltom ranged far and wide in the Cascade Christian Cougar up tempo style. Both were effective driving to the basket, but it was the three-point ball that terrorized the Warriors, especially at key moments of momentum shifts.

Creech scored18 points with two three-pointers while Coltom downed four three-pointers en route to 17 points. Several of the three-pointers were far beyond the painted arc.

But it was the way the Warriors roared back to life in the fourth quarter that made its painful 43-41 loss to visiting Cascade Christian a more positive learning experience.

SCS trailed 38-29 after three quarters as Kadyn Coltom's duo of three-pointers keyed a 9-0 Cougar scoring salvo to end the quarter.

Tonight, Ballard High will host its first-ever boys basketball KingCo playoff game as the Beavers take on the Eastlake Wolves.

The first round of the KingCo playoffs start tonight at on 7:30 p.m. at four different schools in the area.

While the Beavers and Wolves battle it out inside the BHS gym, the number one -ranked Garfield is hosting Redmond, Woodinville is playing at Newport. and Skyline will host Inglemoor.

If Ballard wins tonight they will be facing the winner of the Woodinville- Newport game on Friday.

Marketing White Center was on the agenda (and a lot more) at the White Center Business District Mixer on Monday evening, Feb 7. Led by Nhan H. Nguyen, Neighborhood Revitalization Program Manager from the White Center Community Development Association, the meeting was crowded at Young Restaurant at 9413 16th s.w.

Nguyen spoke about upcoming revitalizing projects for the White Center business district sponsored by the CDA, Chamber of Commerce and other community partners: including façade improvement grants, street banners, a business resource guide, a shopper incentive card, a buy local campaign, seeking social media marketing training, brand promotion, and more.

At the last mixer, topics were listed and prioritized, which set not only the agenda for this meeting but for where people felt their energies would be best spent.

These included:
Facade Improvement Grants
Continue to organize mixer meetings
Media outreach
White Center Spring Clean
The creation of a White Center Shopping Guide and Map
Buy Local marketing campaign
Creating a business resource handout
Revamping the shopping card

Yesterday, the Seattle City Council accepted the state-offered agreements on the Alaskan Way Viaduct with an 8-1 vote, moving forward with replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a deep bored tunnel solution. The series of agreements under Council Bill 117101 provide legally binding protections for the City of Seattle with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).

The State's decision to built a tunnel was made when they signed the construction contract last month but the agreements ensure that the City has protections and commitments from the state to finish all the related projects, including local street improvements and improving the waterfront.

The agreement states that in order to assure the completion of the side projects, a separate $380 million fund must be established. The City is not waving its position on cost overruns however and clearly stated that the City and/or its citizens and property owners cannot be held responsible for any cost overruns on projects the state is responsible for. The agreement ensures reaffirms that the state will fund the tunnel.

By Anne-Marije Rook and Gwen Davis, UW News Lab student

Ballard High School hosted the KingCo 4A gymnastics championship over the weekend where nine of the best high school gymnastics teams in the state competed in one of the most anticipated meets of the season.

The spirit of the meet was telling. The event boasted some of the strongest performances of the year, with hundreds of passionate fans in the stands.

“This is exciting,” said Ballard's Molly Barnes on the morning of the competition. “We’ve been building up for this all year.”

For Barnes, a team co-captain and senior at Ballard, this was one of her last moments to shine in the BHS uniform as it was for five other BHS gymnasts.

The competition was stiff and with a score of 160.85, Ballard finished two points short of placing in the top three which means their season ends here.

Ballard's Taylor Stern had a great last meet placing first on vault and second in beam, floor, bars and all-around.

Newport won the championships with a score of 174.95, and will be advancing to the Sea-King District meet along with Woodinville, the four-time defending 4A state champion, and Bothell.

Ballots must be postmarked no later than Tuesday, Feb. 8 for the mail-in only Highline School District levy election.
The levy would raise $46 million in the first two years, $47 million in the third year and $49 million in the fourth year. The district's current levy expires this year.
Homeowners should expect to pay $3.44 per $1,000 of assessed home valuation.
The levy needs a simple majority of yes votes to pass.
With big cuts from the state, the Highline district is counting on the levy to provide nearly 25 percent of its budget. District officials say they have trimmed $14.5 million from the budget over the past three years and face up to $2.1 million in additional reductions this year
Highline staffers say the levy would fund about 250 jobs. Eighty percent of the levy is targeted for teachers and support staff.
King County Elections has received more than 55,000 ballots from voters in districts with measures on the ballot, and the department expects to slightly exceed the 38 percent projected turnout by the end of the election.