March 2011

There is something about the love between girls and horses that goes beyond human understanding. It's a connection between them that blends love, respect, wonder, nurturing, and empathy and that transcends time.

For Lisa Nicholas of West Seattle, her goal as a girl was to one day own the horse of her dreams, a golden palomino. Through her teenage years she learned to ride horses and she came to own some but never that unique horse that she knew was the one she sought.

She married, and went about her life. Her husband is a ham radio fan and a Boeing employee. One day she accompanied him to a meeting of all the clubs at the company, "and I looked out the window from the exercise building and here was this beautiful golden horse that is every little girl's dream. So I went down and saw her and said to the owner, 'I don't suppose she's for sale,' and she said, 'I think she might be." Nicholas bought the horse and named her Blondie (though that wasn't her registered name) and ended up boarding her at the Aqua Barn Ranch in Maple Valley. She would ride Blondie frequently and the two bonded completely. Horse and owner in an absolute love affair that lasted for six years.

This weekend's enormously popular 3-day Emerald City Comicon convention attracting fans, including proud self-described geeks and nerds the comics and characters they emulate has a West Seattle contingent.

While William Shatner and other comic and fantasy stars are on the third floor of the Washington State Convention Center this weekend signing autographs and having their pictures taken, for a price, aisles and booths on the fourth floor are abuzz with comic fans, some donning super hero outfits.

Booth 511 is operated by professional cartoonist and teacher Greg Hatcher and his current and past students of the West Seattle YMCA after-school cartooning program. While he is a West Seattle YMCA employee, the classes are held, as are other after-school YMCA programs, at Madison Middle School. Some of his students do attend that school. About a dozen kids have been in rotation running the booth over the weekend, some drawing and selling their cartoons and comic books created over the last nine or so years they have participated at Comicon.

Featured This Week at the Farmers Markets in West Seattle and the University District, March 6 -13, 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

New this Week:

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

New Meat at West Seattle
- Olsen Farms now at WS with beef, pork, lamb and several varieties of gourmet potatoes

New This Week:
o Empress White Parrot Tulips and Spicy Salad Mix - Alm Hill Gardens
o Creme Fraiche and Fromage Blanc (both pasteurized) - Golden Glen Creamery
o Fresh Sorrel, Chives, and Cilantro - Stoney Plains
o Port Madison is back with all of their goat cheeses and a new Farmhouse Cheddar, aged 18 months – UD only
o Pipitone Farms’ newest creation: Organic Salsa Verde
o Deborah’s Pies - featuring apple raspberry - UD only

Fresh every day…

VEGETABLES:
Beans –Dried Shell Beans – Cranberry, Black, Cannellini, Fava
Beets – Red, Golden, Chioggia

The new Proletariat Wine Company from Walla Walla has chosen Locöl Barley and Vin at 7902 35th Ave. s.w. to be the only location in the Seattle area to be part of a brand new program in which otherwise very expensive wine will be available by the glass through their exclusive Tap Program.

The company's wines are made from 100% Walla Walla American Viticultural Area (AVA) fruit. There are eleven of these areas in Washington State. Darin Williams founder of Small Lot Co-Op (and a participant/owner of the Proletariat brand) said, " What that means is that a cabernet grown and used and produced in Walla Walla has different characteristics than a cabernet grown, say in Horse Heaven Hills. The Walla Walla AVA is known for very high quality fruit. All of the fruit in the Proletariat first releases are from Walla Walla."

The company has plans to expand and include the other Washington State AVA's over time.

Cascade Orienteering Club and Washington Interscholastic Orienteering League (WIOL) chose Lincoln Park on Saturday, March 5 for an event they called MoboGoGlobal! which paired partners in an effort to have fun testing communication, navigation, and orienteering skills.

As the event site describes it: "You're the legs, and someone else at the other end of a cell conversation navigates for you with your map! Choose a local partner or someone else anywhere in the world. It’s a mobile-orienteering event, for teams of two, where a runner is guided through an orienteering course without a map, only aided by the instructions of his/her teammate over the phone."

The West Seattle Herald encountered Janet Roberts and her son Ben from Redmond. She said, "It's like problem solving and exercise at the same time."

Roberts said, "It's hard because they don't have a map and we don't know where they are we have to judge from what they describe." She estimated more than 50 people were participating.

The resident eagles in Lincoln Park were enjoying the better weather on Mar. 5, perched atop one of their favorite viewpoints about the middle the park, looking out over the water at the crest of the hill.

This male (at least fiver years old given his white head feathers) was solitary at the time, preening and keeping an eye for any potential partners, since this is, after all mating season.

The Divine Marigolds, the home grown West Seattle based television production created by Corwood Productions, completed their first phase of show production some months ago but they haven't been taking a break.

In fact they are gearing up for the next phase of their effort to get the show picked up by a network or distributor.

First up is the new www.theDivineMarigolds.com which is set to be up and functioning Monday, Mar. 7. That site will provide more information about the show, including photos, and details on various show facts. This will be in addition to (not replacing) the show's long standing Facebook page where you can leave messages, and interact with the show's producers. Both the site and Facebook page will feature a newly edited trailer for the show.

From the SPD Blotter:
The Aggressive Driver Response Team (ADRT) regularly conducts speed enforcement patrols city-wide in accordance with the Traffic Unit’s mission to promote traffic safety through the vigorous enforcement of city and state traffic laws.

On March 3rd ADRT officers on patrol around the city issued the following citations:

West Seattle Bridge – 45 mph zone: one at 77 mph, one at 65 mph and one at 62 mph.

Highland Park Way SW – 30 mph zone: one at 52 mph and one at 51 mph.

SW Admiral Way – 30 mph zone: one at 52 mph and one at 50 mph.

East Marginal Way South – 35 mph zone: one at 83 mph!

Aggressive drivers beware! The ADRT squad is out there roaming the city streets and may be coming to a neighborhood near you!

Photographer David Rosen was at Fisherman's Terminal yesterday before the storm and shot this great picture.

(Click on photo to enlarge it.)

By Kate Ganiron, Web Intern

12:52 a.m. on February 26. 73rd block of 15th Avenue N.W.

On Friday around midnight police responded to a call of an assault by taser.
 The victim told police that he let a male stay with him for a few weeks but later told him he could no longer stay. 
On Friday night the male dropped by to pick up his belongings. The victim said there was animosity between the two of them and did not let the male into his apartment. 
The suspect then pulled a stun gun from his left pocket and shocked the victim on the neck and on the wrist.
The suspect then left in a brown vehicle with gold stripes down the side, possibly an Acura. 
The suspect was not located during an area search

9:42 p.m. on February 24. 45th block of 8th Avenue N.W.