April 2011

By Christy Wolyniak, Intern

Hundreds of record aficionados came out for Record Store Day of Saturday, April 16, in support of the struggling record stores and rare LPs.

Seattle in particular, prides itself in its love and support of the struggling artist and faithful record store. As a result, five independent record stores within close proximity of each other continue to drive in revenue in spite of the difficult economy, according to Terry McGibbon, sales and marketing rep. for RED music.

Sonic Boom’s Ballard location was bustling with dedicated supporters of the arts and independent record stores. Their presence alone boasted their appreciation for this small, yet dedicated cluster of record stores in Seattle.

“[Record Store Day] is not about records, but about celebrating the [independent] record stores [that have been] hit hard by the economy and digital music,” said Grant Greenman.

Greenman said Record Store Day is just one way to support independent record stores and keep them afloat,

The 2011 Green Home Tour sponsored by the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild featured four West Seattle locations (among 28 across the region) and offered a chance for people to meet the builders and architects behind the projects that all showcased a variety of environmentally sensitive efforts.

Each stop on the tour presents such a volume of information it's clear that for those considering a more green remodel or new construction seeking qualified and experienced professionals in this burgeoning field is necessary. Not only to get the right advice but to be more aware of an aspect of the field called "Greenwashing" in which manufacturers and service providers attempt to portray themselves as more green than they genuinely are.

The EcoBuilding Guild, formed in 1993, is among the first in the nation to foster greater awareness of green building techniques and promote both greater use and more in depth public knowledge about them.

In West Seattle specifically visitors toured the "Kitchen Art House" in the Admiral District.

The restoration of the Duwamish River was the primary focus of Duwamish Alive! on April 16, an event that brought together environmental, tribal, community, and elected officials. But it was also a chance to dedicate a hand launch boat ramp at T-107 (4700 West Marginal Way) and a commemorative bench honoring the late Ken Wise, West Seattle Rotarian.

An estimated 1100 volunteers in 13 work parties at multiple sites along the river bank performed cleanup and restoration work.

An interpretive sign was unveiled at the event as well. The sign is a project funded by the Rotary Club of West Seattle, with cultural and historic information created and reviewed by People for Puget Sound, the Port of Seattle, Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition/TAG (DRCC), Suquamish Tribe, Duwamish Tribe, and the Burke Museum. Sign artwork by Noel Design. To see a larger version of the sign click HERE.

Soccer:

The boys soccer team loses to Inglemoor in an exciting overtime match on Friday evening.

Inglemoor was the first to score, putting a ball in the back of the net 15 minutes into the first half.

Ballard's Sam Zisette scored the equalizer in the 34th minute for a 1 -1 tie at half time.

Inglemoor scored their second goal at 55 minutes but Jeff Collings soon evened out the score for Ballard.

The game went into overtime with a 2 -2 tie and it was Inglemoor's Baxter Hagen who scored the winning goal.

Ballard lost 3 to 2.

Baseball:

Beavers baseball faced Skyline last night and lost 6 to 1.

Danny Thomson was on the mound for Ballard and had 7 hits against them. Ballard had 5 hits but didn't manage to get the runners across the plate.

The game was scoreless until the second half of the third inning when Skyline brought three runners home. They scored another two runs in the fourth. Ballard got on the scoreboard with one run in the fifth inning but didn't score again for the rest of the game.

Softball:

Beavers softball hosted Bothell at Lower Woodland Park yesterday for a 10 to 6 loss.

Press Release:
A national bus tour travelling 14,000 miles over five weeks will arrive in Seattle on Tuesday April 19th to launch Kids Bowl Free/Washington (www.kidsbowlfree.com) which provides kids with two free games of bowling every day all summer long.

Program supports the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award Challenge (PALA) (www.presidentschallenge.org) where kids can earn awards for adopting more healthy, active lifestyles.

Local bowling centers are encouraging kids to use free games to raise funds for local schools, PTAs and other local non-profit organizations hard hit by difficult economic times.

Bowling is part of the physical education curriculum in 15,000 schools nationwide. Bowling just two games:
+ Completes 40/60 minutes of daily physical activity as required by PALA
+ Exercises 184 muscles while swinging around 576 pounds
+ Burns between 320 to 580 calories
+ Results in walking around a half a mile

The bus will tour Seattle on Tuesday, including stops at Magic Lanes and West Seattle Bowl, winding up at Safeco Field at 5:00 pm before the Mariners - Detroit game.

By Christina Hahs

The West Seattle Tool Library is here to help you save cash. Not only do we have over a thousand tools available to borrow, but we also have tools dedicated to helping reduce your utility bills. The Tool Library currently has three electric usage meters called Kill-A-Watts.

The Kill-A-Watt measures the electric usage of an appliance. It can calculate not only the kilowatts used by the appliance, but also how much that appliance costs to run.

In December, the Tool Library did a demonstration at the West Seattle Farmers Market, comparing incandescent holiday lights to LED holiday lights using our Kill-A-Watts. After 4 hours of usage, the incandescent holiday lights had used fifteen times the power of the LED lights.

Mayor Mike McGinn paid a visit to the Westwood/Roxhill neighborhood on March 6 and spoke at the Southwest branch of the Seattle Public Library as the West Seattle previously reported.At the time he answered questions from those in attendance and promised that he would provide answers in a followup for questions that he couldn't answer on the spot. Here's the Mayor's response sent as an email to those who requested it:

"There were a couple of questions raised that we weren't able to address at the time; here they are, along with our answers:

1) What can we do to ensure that people don’t use Smith Cove Park as a park and ride?
Parking Enforcement patrols City Parks Department property as needed. You can report illegal parkers to the police non-emergency line: (206) 625-5011. We patrol more in the summer months when parks usage is higher and demand for space can become a friction point.

Press Release:
It’s spring, and now’s the time to get your garden started. Whether you’re new to growing veggies, or a seasoned pro, Seattle Tilth offers a wide variety of classes to help you take the next steps in gardening.

Check out these upcoming classes in the West Seattle area.

Get Your Garden Growing
Learn how to prepare garden beds for planting, amend the soil and determine whether or not it is ready to cultivate. We will cover seed sowing methods and how to use season extension tools such as cloches and cold frames. You will leave prepared to get your garden started for a season of productive gardening! This class is offered in partnership with Community Harvest of SW Seattle.

• Saturday, April 23; 10 a.m.-noon
• White Center Cultural Community Center; 9421 18th Ave. S.W., Room 12, Seattle, WA 98106
• $36 or $25 for Seattle Tilth members. Advance registration and payment are required.

http://seattletilth.org/learn/classes-and-workshops/get-your-garden-gro…

Permaculture Design Certification Course

Press Release:
Throughout May, PCC Natural Markets (PCC) will host food drives at all of its nine neighborhood locations in King and Snohomish Counties. Specially marked donation bins will be set up inside each PCC store. These special food drives will help nourish kids who don’t have access to school-supplied meals during the summer months and whose families are served by food banks that partner with PCC in its year-round food bank program.

According to the “Communities Count Report” (September 2010), most school districts within King County, Wash. alone experienced an increase in the percentage of students qualifying for free or reduced-priced meals between 2009 and 2010. In Seattle, the largest K-12 school district in the state, 42 percent of students qualify. Families must have incomes at or less than 130 percent of the federal poverty level to qualify for free lunches; families at or below 185 percent qualify for reduced-price lunches.

PCC’s food bank partners – and items most in need – include:

Beneficiary food banks:

• Redmond Hopelink Food Bank
• Kirkland Hopelink Food Bank

Press Release:

Event Reroute – Rts 15, 18, 21, 22 & 56

Metro Routes 15, 18, 21, 22 & 56 will be rerouted off of 1st Av S in both directions between S Lander St and S Atlantic St / Edgar Martinez Dr S after weeknight, weekend and holiday Mariners games.

The northbound reroute for routes 15, 18, 21, 22 and 56 is via S Lander St and 4th Av S.

The southbound reroute for routes 21, 22 and 56 is via 4th Av S to S Lander St.

The rerouted buses serve all posted stops along 4th Av S.

There are no reroutes prior to Ms games; Metro service operates via regular routes & stops prior to games, with possible delays when traffic is heavy.

There are no post-game reroutes for games that start prior to 7:00 PM on weekdays.

There will be no 1st Av S post-game reroutes on Wed, April 20th when the game starts at 12:40 PM.  On that day buses will operate via regular routes and stops with possible delays during post-game traffic.

Expect possible transit service schedule delays during stadium events and at other times when traffic is heavy in the SODO or stadium area.