March 2011

Woman steals car in Ballard; attempt to drive to chicago but runs out of gas

7 a.m. on March 11th. 105th block of Aurora Avenue North.

On the early morning of Friday, March 11th, a North Precinct officer observed a car being driven erratically around 105th and Aurora Avenue North. The officer attempted to pull over the driver, but the driver took off. The officer backed off and did not pursue. It was determined that the car had just been stolen from a dealership in Ballard and an hour later the Washington State Patrol located the stolen car parked along Interstate 90. The adult female suspect was standing next to the car, throwing rocks at it. Seattle Police arrested the suspect, who admitted to having stolen the car. She said she would have driven it all the way to Chicago, had it not run out of gas. The 45 year old female was later booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Auto Theft and Eluding

Ballard robber arrested

Since February, a pattern of street robberies have occurred in Ballard. 

Featured This Week at the Farmers Markets in West Seattle and the University District, March 14-20, 2011

Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance Markets:
University District (UD) – Saturdays, 9 am – 2 pm,
YEAR ROUND –
West Seattle (WS) – Sundays, 10 am – 2 pm, YEAR ROUND

Locations, Hours, Vendor and Event Info:
www.seattlefarmersmarkets.org

NEWSWORTHY:
Economics students from Seattle University recently conducted studies comparing our NFMA Farmers Market prices to grocery retailers. Produce at our winter Farmers Markets in the University District and in West Seattle are 1% cheaper than Safeway (and a whole lot more local), 9% cheaper than QFC and 14% cheaper than Metropolitan Market.
New this Week:

*****NEW ITEMS IN ITALICS*****

Mizuna
Arugula
Sorrel
Herb and Berry Starts
Chives
Cilantro

Artisan Cheese Dips; Blue Cheese Cranberry, Bacon Blue Cheese. From Willipa Hills Farmstead Cheeses

Fresh Milk and Yogurt; Silver Springs Dairy; goat milk, goat yogurt, goat cheeses; fresh pasteurized and aged raw. Also Cow’s milk and yogurt, plus cow’s cheese. At WS only.

Tyrone Curry is a busy man. At 60 years old he works three jobs as the janitor at Evergreen High School in Burien, a seating host at Safeco Field and an assistant lead usher at the Seattle Center. In addition, he coaches track and boys and girls basketball at Evergreen. He has a wife at home in White Center and four children – all boys (now men) – that take up the rest of his time.

One more thing about Tyrone Curry: he is a millionaire, courtesy of winning $3.4 million off a $2 ticket in Washington State’s Quinto lottery in June of 2006.

Instead of purchasing vacation properties at far flung destinations and moving in next door to Microsoft executives, Curry has kept his life much as it was before the big win.

“When people ask me, ‘How does it feel to be a millionaire?,’ I just tell them, ‘I’m just Joe Citizen,’” he said. “I do everything that I want to do and I still hang out with the same people I’ve hung out with for 60 years so, you know, it’s nothing different.”

St. Patrick's Day arrived five days early in Seattle, both with today's parade downtown, and folks who are Irish, and Irish at heart, enjoying their foam-blanketed pints of Guinness and other Irish fare at the Celtic Swell on Alki. About a dozen patrons were enjoying the famous Irish stout late afternoon.

"Whenever we come downtown, we come over here for a good pint of Guinness," said Adrian Finegan of Snohomish. He and his wife, Heather enjoyed a pint while his daughter, Meghan, and friend, Olivia Acuff, seemed pleased with their meals including their nacho plate and view of the sunny waterfront and Liberty Plaza from their table. They came to Alki after attending the parade.

Adrian is originally from County Meath northwest of Dublin and immigrated to Chicago in 1993, where he and Heather met.

Sláinte!

A key location in White Center is under new ownership in a family run business. The store at 9841 16th s.w is now named Phnom Khiev which means "Blue Mountain" in english and is now owned by the Khiev family including Jet (or Vichet), his brother Cha, and his grandmother, sister and uncle. The family took over the space in mid February, spent two weeks cleaning and stocking the shelves and opened on March 1. Their grandmother, who is helping out used to own the Maly Market in Tacoma in the 1980's and 90's. It's a whole family run operation, even the new sign is hand made by their uncle.

They named it Blue Mountain because "Seattle has a lot of mountains."

Khiev said that the money to start the business was raised from friends from, "all over the world, even New York."

One issue for the family at the moment is the time it takes to get a food stamp machine in store. They applied but were told it takes 45 days minimum to get one. "The food stamp machine is very important to the grocery business," Khaiev said.

West Seattle Herald reader Kim Hart reported on March 12 that she had found a parakeet. She said via email that evening, "He is doing good. The little guy slept from about 7:00pm - 7:00am and then I found him munching on some seed. He is happy in his dog crate turned bird cage."

TO SEE MORE PHOTOS OF "PEACHES" CLICK THE PHOTO ABOVE TO SEE THE SLIDESHOW

He was found near the intersection of s.w. 116th St & 26th s.w. Hart reported that, "He doesn't seem to be shy."

Hart operates a pet care service called Hart 2 Hart Pet Care that offers dog walking and Pet Sitting services so if the bird had to be found by someone, he picked the perfect person.

Via Facebook tonight Mar. 16, Kim, who had considered offers of adoption since the owners have not contacted her, chose to give him a home herself.

"The saga of the little lost bird is over. Since it didn't work out for (the prospective new owner) I have decided to keep the little guy. He will now be known as Peaches. He is happily singing away in his brand new cage. He is so happy to be out of the dog crate."

Gabriela Nunes is a West Seattle High School foreign exchange student, a junior from the world's sixth largest city, Sao Paulo, Brazil. She is studying here for one semester. Her hosts include Terese Machmiller and daughter Simone, also a WSHS student. Terese serves as Westside Notetaker Moderator for the high school's PTSA and is in communications. That is where she got involved with the foreign exchange program. Some may know Terese and Simone through their singing participation at Hope Lutheran.

"She's a model kid, more like a model 20 year-old," said Terese of Nunes, impressed with the Brazilian's maturity and grasp of the English language.

Nunes observed, "Here, you say you are from Brazil and they are like, 'Oh, nice! cool. That's amazing!' I'm not used to that. In Brazil they're grumpy all the time.

"I had a boyfriend. He broke up with me after one month of my being here," she added. Sounds like he may have become grumpy without her.

We recently reported that Admiral Junction resident Brent Amaker and his band, Brent Amaker and the Rodeo, will play the SXSW (South by Southwest) event in Austin next week in our article here:

http://www.westseattleherald.com/node/178758/edit

Always the cool cat, Amaker wanted to give a tip of his cowboy hat to Junction-area residents and up-and-comers, The Young Evils, a duo making some noise since they formed a year and four months ago. They are Mackenzie A. Mercer and Troy Nelson. While they call themselves Evil, they appear to be quite the cheek-pinching cute couple with a light, whimsical side, like in their video "Get Over It" from their debut album Enchanted Chapel.

They play Neumos on Capitol Hill tonight (March 12).

"This is our first time at SXSW," said the amicably evil Nelson, 34, a 10-year West Seattle resident from South Dakota. "We've played the Tractor (Tavern in Ballard) and made some contacts there for the 'South by Seattle Showcase' at SXSW where we will perform along with a bunch of other Seattle bands like the Black Whales and Shelby Earl."

Nelson describes The Young Evils as "folk, pop, with a hint of punk rock."

Undefeated Federal Way heavyweight Vincent Thompson steps back into the ring on March 19 when he faces Ryan Shay at Brian Halquist Productions’ Battle at the Boat 81 at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma.

Thompson (6-0-0, KO) is coming off an impressive victory over the previously unbeaten Charles Ellis, a former 2003 National Golden Gloves Heavyweight Champion on Nov. 13, 2010.

He will face an opponent who has registered knockouts in four of his five career wins.

“I don’t care who they throw at me. I am the type of fighter who will step into the ring with anyone,” said Thompson, who dominated his bout with Ellis, appearing as the 60-54 winner on two scorecards and a 59-55 victor on the other. “I am really looking forward to getting back in there and taking the next step.”

Thompson made his professional debut on Aug. 29, 2009, winning a four-round unanimous decision over Freddie Miller.

“Vincent has all the tools to be an exceptional heavyweight in this sport,” said promoter Brian Halquist. “The sky’s the limit for him.”

Undefeated Evgeny Gradovich squares off against once-beaten Francisco Reyes in a highly-anticipated main event.

Ballard High School has hired Joey Thomas for the position of head Football coach.

Thomas, a 1999 graduate and decorated athlete from John F. Kennedy High School, was a three‐sport athlete in football, basketball and track. While playing for the Lancers, Thomas was a two time high school all‐area and all‐state selection in football.

He accepted a football scholarship to the University of Washington where he red‐shirted his freshman year, then decided to transfer to Montana State University where he had 122 career tackles as a defensive back and 11 interceptions, and was selected as a two time All‐American and All‐Big Sky conference football player. Thomas also ran track for the Bobcats and finished 3rd in the 55m Big Sky Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Thomas was the 3rd round draft pick for the Green Bay Packers in 2004. He then played for the New Orleans Saints, the Miami Dolphins and finished his professional career with the Oakland Raiders – where he retired this season due to injury.