March 2011

At the Groundswell NW annual meeting last night, Councilmember Sally Bagshaw, Chair of the Parks and Seattle Center Committee, discussed the state of parks while the organization awarded those who have been volunteering their time and effort to create and maintain green spaces.

Three volunteers were awarded with the "Local Hero Award" for efforts that go well beyond the call of duty.

Carol Duescher, a Magnolia resident, was recognized for her own initiative to sweep parks and public access sites on a daily basis. She typically starts in the wee hours at Discovery Park and works her way along Commodore Way, over the Ballard Bridge and around to Salmon Bay Natural Area, picking up trash and sorting out recyclables.

Mark Blitzer has been a steady volunteer at the Salmon Bay Natural Area, where he came to an early Groundswell work party and just kept coming back. Blitzer was recognized for being the volunteer who can be counted on to show up and do whatever is needed.

Two firefighters from South King Fire & Rescue will trade their step mills for the real thing this weekend, as they climb 69 flights of stairs in full bunker gear at the Columbia Center in Seattle.
South King serves Des Moines and Federal Way.
The annual stairclimb, which raises funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, is the largest individual firefighting competition in the world. The event is sold out, with 1500 participants from fire departments across the country and Canada.
Firefighters Dan Borg and Kris Lindahl will be outfitted in full bunker gear including Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), boots and helmets, all adding an extra 50 lbs. of weight as they trek up 1,311 steps. This will be Lindahl's second climb.
"The first year it took me over 20 minutes. This year my goal is to be under twenty minutes," said Lindahl. "The whole thing is hard, nothing about it is easy."
Lindahl will focus on controlling his breathing in order to make his air bottle last the entire climb, while other competitors change their smaller bottles in the middle of the climb.

West Seattle based Monster Costume, a software development company the West Seattle Herald first told you about last August is living up to it's name by growing larger, gaining prominent clients and launching products that they believe will change the way stories are told.

Headed by Kyle Kinkade, this highly unconventional company had early success with a children's offering for the iPad called Bartleby's Book of Buttons Vol. 1 The Faraway Island which offered a puzzle laden, interactive story, that utilized much of the functionality an iPad can offer. It became the top seller in its category and to date is the highest grossing children's "book" title for the platform according to Kinkade. "We've had a lot of accolades for that title," Kinkade continued, " We've been talked about on USA Today, AOL, and Children's Technology Review," winning the Editor's Choice award for iPad.

The West Seattle Bowl fundraiser event for West Seattle-raised Amanda Knox March 20 is sponsored by friends Al Semple who was born and raised in West Seattle, and Julie Rogers, of Sammamish. You may recall they threw a fundraiser last October at Shadowland.

“My heart goes out to Amanda’s parents, not being able to protect her from a distance,” said Rogers. “My condolences go to the Kercher family as well. The bottom line is closure, and the media doesn’t help the way they are portraying Amanda. It’s unfortunate, but the truth will come out in the end.”

One hundred years ago, Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the South Pole and Ray Harroun reached record speeds of almost 75 miles per hour as he won the inaugural Indianapolis 500 that year. The U.S. Supreme Court dissolved Standard Oil. that same year and federal spending topped 500 million dollars. In 1911, William H. Taft was president, the U.S. population approached 94 million people and demonstrators in New York City demanded that women be granted the right to vote. And across the country in Seattle, the fishing vessel Tordenskjold slid down the ways at a little shipyard in the Scandinavian community of Ballard.
Of all the events that transpired 100 years ago, the Tordenskjold is one that endures and is the subject of a new documentary to be shown at the Nordic Heritage Museum in April.

As Tordenskjold celebrates her centennial, she is neither relic nor museum piece. The Tordenskjold leads a small fleet of hard working commercial fishing schooners that compete head to head with modern boats on the Alaska fishing grounds.

It may not be rational, but when I found myself being worried about my lack of money, I came up with ways I could spend some. “Money is merely energy,” I explained to my friend Vivien. “For the past couple of months, I’ve been nervous about every dollar I spent and wouldn’t allow for anything extra for the kids or myself.”
“Right, that’s what you’re supposed to do,” she said.
“No! It stopped the flow of energy. If nothing is going out and I’m all bunched up and constricted around it then there’s no room for anything to come in.”
She rolled her eyes, as she often does when I mention the word “energy.” But I knew I was on to something and I wasn’t going to let her dissuade me.
I am fortunate enough that “being worried about money” doesn’t translate to an immediate threat of being homeless or unable to provide food for my kids. “Being worried about money” merely means that in the last year my income was not what it had been. In fact, I made less than I did in the nineties. This was worrisome, but at the same time, I believed I was of able mind and body so I would be able to find some ways to bring in more income once I jump started the energy flow.

After the holidays food banks experience a decline in donations but the demand of food is still there.

Greenwood Ohlund is challenging the community to support the Ballard Food Bank and have donations matched dollar for dollar by an anonymous donor.

"The match limit is $10,000, but can you image what the folks at the Food Bank could accomplish with $20,000," wrote Beth Miller, Executive Director of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce in an email.

"Join in and see if together we can max out this opportunity."

Greenwood Ohlund's annual food drive goes until April 30, and has both food and checks are accepted.

The idea of Mexican food from a roadside van might suggest a high fat, cheese laden, deep fried offering that has little to do with real Hispanic cuisine. But Beloved Mexico is dedicated to disproving that notion.

Since last November, if you've driven down Fauntleroy Way in West Seattle, you might have noticed the sleek black trailer style installation on the north end of the parking lot of West Seattle Produce just past the Fauntleroy and Alaska Street intersection.

It's owned by the Guerrero brothers, specifically and from the oldest down, Eric, Christian and Rodolfo (or Rudy) who are originally from Mexico City.

Growing up as the children of a single parent (their father died when they were very young) meant that all of them had to help their mom do the cooking so while she was a fine cook, she had to work to support them. All the brothers took turns learning how to cook.

Their mom made Molé (MO-LAY) Sauce which can come in a wide variety of styles and flavors including black, red, yellow, colorado, green, almendrado, and pippian.
They naturally understand what is really good about Mexican food by growing up with the real thing.

News Release

Statement from Interim Superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield

At its meeting this evening the School Board voted 6-1 to appoint Dr. Susan Enfield as Interim Superintendent. The appointment is effective immediately and extends through June 30, 2012. The Board anticipates considering whether to extend a longer term employment agreement to Dr. Enfield or conduct a search for a permanent Superintendent prior to January 19, 2012. Following the vote Dr. Enfield made a statement to the board and community:

“As interim Superintendent, I look forward to working closely with the School Board, teachers, staff, parents and community to focus on providing our 47,000 students the highest quality education possible.

This is a very difficult time for us all. I know there are serious questions about our fiscal stewardship that we must, and will, answer for the community, our taxpayers, district staff, teachers, families and students.

3/16/11 update:

Today, Cal. Sen Dianne Feinstein will introduce legislation to repeal the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA). She will be joined by Sens. Leahy, Gillibrand, Blumenthal and Coons. Feinstein has opposed DOMA and voted against it in 1996.

In a statement, the senator said, "Last month, I was proud to see President Obama and Attorney General Holder announce that DOMA is unconstitutional and indefensible. But with Speaker Boehner moving to intervene in the courts, it’s high time we begin our fight in Congress.

While the Prop 8 case winds its way through the courts and DOMA remains on the books, same-sex couples will continue to be denied the right to marry. In my state of California, home to one of the largest populations of same-sex couples, that’s something I’m not going to accept. And we can do something about it.

As a member of the Judiciary Committee, I’m going to step up to represent my constituents and fill that role. But it will still be a long, hard slog."

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