March 2011

Not even the absence of seven players could keep the Thomas Jefferson boys soccer squad out of the win column Thursday.

Seven players were suspended for partying reasons, but the Raiders still went out and delivered a 4-0 win over Mount Rainier at Federal Way Memorial Stadium.

"I had four starters missing, and we'll have two back for Saturday," said TJ head coach Dave Hanson.

"We just play our best with the missing players and try to get (team win) points and stay on top of the league," said sophomore midfield/forward Isidro Prado Huerta .

And even though Mount Rainier's Rams were lopsided losers against the Raiders, Hanson says to watch out for them down the line.

"I think maybe Mount Rainier could sneak back in since they're taking five teams instead of four," Hanson said. "Mount Rainier showed some signs there."

The only difference was that the Raiders showed their talent in the form of four goals for the offense and in a shutout for the defense.
Hanson also liked the way his team scored its goals.

"We scored some nice goals tonight," Hanson said. "It was a fun game."

And a wet game.

"The weather changed on us," Hanson said.

SPOKANE -- Former Federal Way High standout girls basketball player Jodie Kaczor is an assistant coach for the Gonzaga women's basketball team.

The Bulldogs (32-2) met Stanford (31-4) on Monday night in the Elite Eight final of the women's NCAA tournament, with the winner earning the right to go to the Final Four at Indianapolis, Ind.

Kaczor earned four varsity letters at Western Washington University and was WWU's all-time leader in three-pointers (210) and free-throw percentage (81.9). She was an All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference choice in 2001 and 2002. Her team was 95-24 during her playing career, going to the NCAA Division II Tournament all of her four years as a Viking.

Extra base hits were the fashion on Friday, March 25 at Mount Rainier High School.

Unfortunately for the home team, the visiting Tahoma Bears gathered more style points in a 10-5 five-inning Class 4A fastpitch softball win against the Rams.

"We showed signs of being great," said first year Mount Rainier head coach Larry Daly. "We'll do better as the season goes on."

With a good holdover crew from last season's Class 3A state team plus the addition of young talent, the Rams will have time to build a cohesive unit

Mount Rainier (1-2) grabbed the lead in the bottom of the third inning.
Jasmine Fulmore led off with a sinkjing liner that the center fielder gloved but could not hold.

Left-handed hitting senior BJ Mipalar followed with a smoothly swinging towering fly home run that sailed over the fence in right center field and hit the scoreboard for a 2-0 Mount Rainier margin.

After being no hit for three innings, Tahoma hitters began tatooing Ram pitches. A solo line drive home run and a two-run homer in the top of the fourth inning put the Bears on top, 3-2.

Lindbergh defeated Tyee 7-0 in Seamount League high school team tennis action on Wednesday, March 23 on the courts of the homestanding Totems, but the Tyee tennis program shows signs of an upswing this season.
The most competitive match of the day came in the curtain closer as the No. 1 girls doubles teams engaged in three suspenseful sets.
Lindbergh's Preet Kaur and Maria Phan fought off Lourdes Gatdula and Savannah Williams for a 6-4 first set win. Tyee turned the tables to garner the second set 6-4, setting up the decisive third set.
Kaur and Pham led, 4-3, with Gatdula and Williams on serve. The Eagle pairing broke serve in love, but the Totem team up broke back to draw within 5-4 on its own serve. Falling behind early in points, Gatdula and Williams fought to hang on before succumbing to a final service break to end the matches.
"Whether we won or lost, it's still good," concluded Tyee coach Kin Yee. "Lindbergh is a fine team."

UPDATE: City Attorney PETE HOLMES sues coalition, others, over referendum:

The Stranger's Dominic Holden and other media have the lawsuit published in full:

http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2011/03/29/1301427707-comp…

We will continue to update

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Over 56,000 signatures on two initiatives to put the deep bore tunnel to a vote have so far been collected at the City Clerk office.

Press Release from Drew Paxton, Protect Seattle Now:

Today the Protect Seattle Now coalition turns in 28,929 signatures, more than 10 percent of Seattle’s voters, to submit to the people a referendum overturning the City's agreements to go forward with the controversial deep bore tunnel. The coalition expects that Seattle’s elected officials will uphold the democratic process as directed in the City Charter and place this referendum on the ballot.

Seattle Fish Co. hosts a Halibut and Wine tasting featuring pan-seared halibut with spicy tomato chutney, prepared by popular chef, writer and food photographer Erin Coopey, Thursday, March 31st, from 5-7pm, 4435 California Ave. The public is welcome to attend.

To learn more about Erin Coopey, visit:

www.culinary-artist.com
www.winepairingchef.com
www.epicureanerin.blogspot.com

Erin Coopey
Chef/Culinarian
206.999.3411

According to the Daily Journal of Commerce, www.djc.com, Westwood Village is being bought by Bentall Kennedy, www.bentallkennedy.com for $78 million from Wesbild, http://www.wesbild.com/.

The DJC says Wesbild just sold Burien Town Square to a different buyer for $14 million.

The Beavers baseball team played against Roosevelt High School at Whitman yesterday afternoon for a suspenseful game.

After a scoreless first inning, Roosevelt got ahead with two runs in the first half of the second inning. Ballard scored one run that inning but couldn't get another run across the plate until the sixth inning. Roosevelt meanwhile got ahead four to one.

In the second half of the sixth inning the bats finally came lose against Roosevelt pitcher David Holt and the Beavers scored two runs, closing in on Roosevelt with a score of four to three.

Roosevelt was unable to score and Ballard had one more chance to win the game in the second half of the seventh inning. Ballard tied the game with hits from Brandon Foor and Guiarino Oliver.

With Steven Weber up to bat, Roosevelt changed pitchers. Weber's base hit was enough to hit Oliver home and put Ballard in the lead. Ballard won the game four to three.

Brendan Foor was four for four with one double and one run. Steven weber was two for four with one RBI.

The baseball teams plays again on Wednesday, March 30th at Bothell at 6 p.m.

By Christy Wolyniak, News Intern

Elephants are an educational addition to the Woodland Park Zoo; however, there have been ongoing complaints that the condition and treatment these elephants endure is abuse.

Watoto age 41, Chai age 31, and Bamboo age 44, have been at WPZ since they were one-year-olds and have adapted to zoo life. According to the WPZ website, elephants nurse until they are two-and-a-half to three years old.

One of the main complaints against WPZ is that the three elephants endure solitary confinement and a lack of social experience.

With roughly one acre of yard space outside, these elephants have four pens to roam in and their heated indoor barn is divided into four separate holding areas, according to the zoo's website.

Iain Douglas-Hamilton once wrote in a National Geographic article that elephants travel for three things: sex, sustenance and safety.

“We have all of that here – the elephant’s travel is resource-based and we are always looking for ways to enhance that,” said WPZ's elephant curator, Bruce Upchurch. “What we have now is enough. We have quality space, it’s just the amount that’s the issue.”

A couple of weeks ago, my parent’s invited my kids out for the weekend. I agreed and when I first mentioned it to my kids they seemed excited, but soon enough my already sensitive son became increasingly so. Bumps into tables resulted in tears and regular play with his sister was deemed “unfair” and also resulted in tears. When he asked about the weekend away I understood the real cause of the tears: fear.
He asked if his cousins would be there or if I was going to spend the night. The answer to both questions was no. “Then I don’t want to go,” he said. This didn’t surprise me, seeing as being away from both parents was often met with resistance. But in the last year, he spent the night at various friend’s houses and spent two nights away with his school. I reminded him how he returned from these events as well as from previous sleepovers at my parent’s house jubilant and proud and asked him what his reluctance was about this time. After a bit of discussion, he revealed another cause of the anxiety, “Nancy snaps sometimes and I don’t like it.”