March 2011

The Ballard girls and boys lacrosse teams played their season openers last night with a win for the boys and a narrow loss for the girls.

The Ballard boys lacrosse team played their season opener against Franklin last night and the boys couldn't have asked for a better first home game. The Beavers quickly outscored Franklin and gave them no chance to catch up. Ballard won 11 to 2.

Ballard attack man Brian Gemme lead the way with three goals for Ballard. Taz Berkeley added another two goals along with two assists and Scott Brownlee scored two goals as well.

Game Stats:

Goals/assists:

# 1 Brian Gemme 3/0
#8 Taz Berkeley 2/2
#12 Scott Brownlee 2/0
#27 Jacob Marks 1/3
#28 John DeGarmo 1/0
#33 Thomas Christensen 2/0

GroundBalls:

#27 Jacob Marks, 12
#8 Taz Berkeley 7
#38 Joe Kirkendall 7

Goalie/Saves:

#29 Nick Onstad-Hawes 3
#37 Taylor Eagan 1

Girls lacrosse loses season opener to Overlake

The girls lacrosse team faced a tough team in Redmond last night as they played the Overlake Owls. The Beavers and Owl played to a 7-7 draw at the half before Overlake pulled ahead in the second half for the win.

The first annual World Water week will take place the week of March 21-25 at Chief Sealth International High School. World Water Week will promote understanding of the relationship between members of our local community with water here and around the world, with the emphasis on improving that relationship through conservation and local action addressing equal access for all global citizens.

http://www.seattleschools.org/schools/chiefsealth/h2o.html

The week will consist of five days full of powerful speakers and engaging workshops for students, teachers and the community. Monday, March 21st will feature an exciting keynote speaker, Robert Glennon (http://rglennon.com/). Glennon is a professor of law and public policy at the University of Arizona and is the author of the bestselling book, Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What to do about it. His talk will be preceded by personalized video message from Alexandra Cousteau, famed global water activist and filmmaker.

(http://www.alexandracousteau.org/alexandra-cousteau).

Deepak and Robin Kumar describe their dog Calvin as "a mutt, probably got a little Shepherd, maybe a little Rottweiler," said Deepak. Calvin is six years old and the couple got him at the Bellevue Humane Society in 2006.

Calvin is a very sweet soul according to the couple, who would rather go along to get along since "The cats in the house are boss," which is a lesson he learned very fast. "He's one level of pecking order below the cats," said Deepak, "He gives up his beds and the cats boss him around," even beating up on him from time to time.

Calvin takes it all in stride however. He loves to walk through Lincoln Park. Robin added, "One of his favorite morning walk routines is a trip to C & P Coffee where he gets a doggie biscuit and says hi to Adie, the C & P family dog."

Calvin has a stuffed cow, "his moo-moo," said Robin and loves to chase and retrieve tennis balls as a favorite pastime.

He enjoys Can A Day, lamb and rice formula dog food and goes crazy for dehydrated salmon and raw beef ribs as treats. "He's a pampered pooch," said Deepak.

Queen Anne and Madrona love Molly Moon's frozen treats more than Ballard does, Molly Moon Neitzel announced yesterday, adding that she is expanding her ice cream family this summer with a new scoop shop in Queen Anne and new “micro” concept shop in Madrona.

The neighborhoods for the Molly Moon’s expansions were chosen by ice cream enthusiasts during the three-month long “Shop 3, where will it be?” campaign. Each month Molly Moon's ice cream truck "Leo" was parked in a different neighborhood to see where business in best. As it turns out, Queen Anne has the most Molly Moon's fans and will be receiving a Molly Moon's scoop shop in July of 2011.

Madrona, the runner-up in the “Shop 3” campaign, will be awarded a Molly Moon’s micro-shop in May of 2011. This petite version of a Molly Moon’s scoop shop will serve pre-packaged pints and scoops of Moon’s delicious ice cream, sorbet-sicles, and ice cream sandwiches.

Press Release:

Effective immediately the King County Water Taxi will operate both the West Seattle route and the Vashon route schedules as published. Repairs to the Melissa Ann have been made and the Coast Guard has cleared her return to service this afternoon. The Rachel Marie will return to the West Seattle route and the Melissa Ann will resume service to Vashon.

Clamps holding a rubber seal that prevents water from getting into the engine room of the vessel had slipped and needed to be repositioned.

Japan's Miyagi Prefecture is home to the fishing ports of Shiogama, Ishinomaki, and Kesennuma - three ports with a long and valued relationship with the Port of Seattle. The ports, devastated by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami, have been "friendship ports" with Seattle since 1990, when a delegation visited the region to finalize the agreement.

"Miyagi is home to a fishing fleet, as is Seattle," said Commission President Bill Bryant. "Our hearts go out across the Pacific to those who share that honor and heritage and who are now suffering horrific losses."

The port will be sending a letter to the governor of the prefecture, offering that advice for rebuilding their fishing, container, and airport facilities.

Additionally, The Port of Seattle plans to host a memorial at Fisherman's Terminal for the victims in Miyagi and throughout Japan. Details for the candlelight service will be released soon.

The Port of Seattle and Japan have enjoyed a strong trading relationship since 1919, when the first NYK vessel called here. Currently, trade with Japan represents about 15% of cargo handled by the port.

Semiannual inspection closes SR 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct this weekend

WSDOT tests automated viaduct closure system

WSDOT press release:

Crews will close the State Route 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct this weekend for its semiannual inspection and to test a new system that automatically closes the viaduct when sensors detect an earthquake.

The new system is designed to clear traffic from the aging and vulnerable structure of as quickly as possible within two minutes of the first signs of a moderate to severe earthquake.

“Recent events in Japan remind us how vulnerable we are and that earthquakes come without warning,” said Washington Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond. “These gates provide an added level of safety to motorists traveling on SR 99 while we work to take the viaduct down.”

From the SPD Blotter:

On March 14th, Aggressive Driving Response Team (ADRT) officers stopped and ticketed a driver on the West Seattle Bridge for driving 84 mph in a 45 mph zone.

Additionally, ADRT officers were advised of speed issues in the area of 47th Avenue SW and SW Admiral Way. Two officers worked the area during the morning hours and wrote a combined seven speeding infractions and three other infractions. The high speed was 41 mph in the posted 30 mph zone.

Speeders beware. The Aggressive Driving Response Team is coming soon to a neighborhood near you.

Photographer Kurt Howard ventured out with his camera as area student athletes took the field for the start of the spring sports season.

SLIDESHOW: CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO PLAY SLIDESHOW.

The Des Moines City Council voted March 10, to form an ad-hoc committee to review animal control policies and procedures in the Des Moines Police Department.

This is in response to the Des Moines police officer shooting of a Newfoundland dog last November. The shooting of Rosie, a two-year-old Newfoundland, sparked international outrage. Over 6,000 people have signed an online petition demanding justice for Rosie.

An internal review and a shooting review have both said the police officers followed procedure. The city also asked the King County prosecutor to review the case, as well as Pierce County Animal Control.
The King County prosecutor said there was no criminal culpability on behalf of the officers. Pierce County Animal Control gave the city some suggestions, including animal control training for police officers, but found no serious problems with the city's procedures.

Mayor Pro-Tem Dave Kaplan said, "I believe the officers followed procedure, but I think that our procedures need to be reviewed strictly."