May 2011

Golfers from the Highline-Des Moines-SeaTac area fared well in state golf tournaments played across the state.

Rachel Forrey of Kennedy finished in a two way tie for 26th in the 3A girls tournament, shooting a round of 85 and a round of 96 for a total of 181.

Also making it past the first day of golf was JFK's Matt Herman, who shot a 78 and an 80 for a 158 total and a 41st place two-way tie.

Kelsey O'Keefe of Mount Rainier shot a 94 the first day for a three-way tie for 66th in 4A girls, and Drew Campbell of JFK came in 76th with a first day 89 in 3A boys.

Alex Glidden of Kennedy shot a 101 for 80th in the boys competition and JFK's Claire Grotz was 69th in the girls with a 102.

The Northwest Paddling Festival (NWPF), the brainchild of Alki Kayak and Mountain to Sound Outfitters owner Greg Whittaker is taking shape as a major event set to happen at Jack Block Park (and Seacrest Marina) in West Seattle June 25-26.

The beach at Jack Block Park will be open for the public to use for the first time in over 100 years through the Superfund Cleanup process in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Working with the Port of Seattle enables vendors to sell merchandise at the event without incurring the 10% parks surcharge on commerce, so there will be an open air market at the prime time of year for people getting geared up for the season.

The event takes place at a time that works well with the Port of Seattle, celebrating their own Centennial.

The Port will be using this opening to promote public access, highlight Port parks, and to tell the story of their successful restoration of a site that has gone through historical degradation and years of cleanup.

28 neighbors from Atlas Place s.w. and Beach Drive s.w. combined forces to file a formal complaint against the City of Seattle and upslope resident Peter Saladino. The suit is based on years of landslides resulting from drainage problems, sloughing slopes and Saladino building a home in 2008.

Saladino build a retaining wall in a non-compliance area and residents partially blame recent problems on the construction and the City’s inability to force him to comply with correcting it.

The lawsuit is attached as a PDF file in its entirety above.

The 5000-6000 blocks of Beach Drive are the epicenter of concern for residents filing the complaint. The root cause of the instability, according to the complaint, goes back to 1933 when the City widened Beach Drive, undercutting the slope between Atlas and Beach below. Slides have been commonplace during heavy rains since then and residents living on and below the slope have seemingly reached a breaking point in waiting for a solution.

Dear Editor,
This Thank You is long overdue! I can't tell you how many of my clients brought in a copy of the article you wrote about my new business in West Seattle (...) West Seattle Neighborhood Chiropractic is officially open and people have already called to make appointments thanks to you and others who spread the word!

Sincerely,

Carolyn Fancher
West Seattle Neighborhood Chiropractic
2140 California Ave. s.w.
206-659-0771

ANCHORAGE (May 25) – Alaska Anchorage women’s basketball coach Tim Moser added another talented prep star to his roster Wednesday as he announced that Seattle native Alli Madison has signed a National Letter of Intent with the Seawolves.

Madison, a 5-8 guard, was a four-year letterwinner at Washington Class 3A power Kennedy Catholic High School, where she helped the Lancers to a 100-12 overall record and four straight WIAA State Tournament appearances. As a sophomore in 2008-09, she played for Kennedy’s undefeated, state-title squad.

“We feel that Alli is a diamond in the rough,” said Moser, whose Seawolves have been nationally ranked for four straight seasons. “She is very solid as she has the ability to score off the bounce or from the perimeter, and plays great defense. We love her toughness and the fact that she has been well coached. We are thrilled that Alli chose UAA and are enthusiastic about her future as a Seawolf.”

SPANAWAY - Seamount League champion Kennedy Catholic pounded the tennis courts for some awesome results.

Mitchell and Jamie Thorp of Kennedy Catholic stroked to the boys doubles championship of the 2011 Class 3A West Central/Southwest bi-district tennis tournament in concluding action held at the Sprinker Recreation Center on Saturday, May 21.

Joel Richardson and Jacob Yannello of Lakes forced the Lancer tandem into a first set tie-breaker after a 6-6 standoff. Pulling off key shots, the Thorp brothers escaped with an 8-6 win in the tiebreaker.

"We trailed 5-6 in the tiebreaker," recalled Jaime. "I made a volley and Mitch knocked off two consecutive service winners."

In the second set, the Lancers avoided a tie-breaker, but still had to win by capturing critical points when presented. Leading 5-4, the Thorps broke serve to earn the final set, 6-4 when Mitch pulled a backhand up the line.

"They were tough," said Mitch. "They were good players, but we could have played better. We pulled through by having to make clutch shots. We'll have to improve ourselves for state (at Kamiakin High School and the Tri-City Court Club in Kennewick)."

DUPONT - Junior Jacob Doss of Seattle Christian carded a 3-over par 75 on The Home Course (6629 yards from the blue tees) in concluding 18-hole play of the 2011 Class 3A state boys golf tournament on Wednesday, May 25. Coupled with his previous day's 81, the SCS junior finished with a two-round total of 146, good enough for a tie for 13th in the group that survived the final cut on Tuesday.

Under sunny skies with strong winds Doss joined freshmen Alex Hay and Aaron McClelland on Tuesday in attempts to survive until Wednesday.

This trio had advanced from Tr-District at Gold Mountain Golf Club on Tuesday, May 17. Other SCS players in that tournament were junior Calvin Freatman along with seniors Zach Miller and Tyler Ronish.

Seattle Christian's team finished its season with the best record in the Nisqually League and advanced two golfers to state for the second time in the past three years.

On day one, Doss went out in 41 and came in with 40 for an 81.

"I scored well, although it was an up and down round," he said. "There were bogeys, but the key was making it up with some birdies. I've done better."

In his 46-45 round of 91, Alex Hay highlighted his play.

BNBuilders the contractor for the upcoming Denny Middle School project with the Seattle Public Schools will be demolishing the building this summer once school is out on the 23rd of June and building the softball field/tennis courts/playground finishing in December ‘11.

An upcoming community meeting to inform the neighbors of this project is set for June 14, from 6 PM – 8 pm at the Southwest Community Center, Social Room located at 2801 s.w. Thistle Street.

The agenda will cover an introduction of the project team and key members from the Seattle Public School district, Bassetti Architects, BNBuilders and more. They will describe the project, review the schedule, and let neighbors know what they can expect to see over the coming months, and answer any questions.

A door hanger (see the link above) will be distributed to the surrounding neighbors of the project in the next week or so to notify them as well.

Schedule of work:

Since track coach Tyrone Curry ponied up $40,000 to help restore the Evergreen High School running track the EHS football team athletes are contributing where they can as well.

Glendal Correa, left, Alex Tautua, and Manu Tuitoelau have scraped, prepped and painted a portable classroom on campus with the Wolverine logo. It is hoped this will inspire spring practices, which begin June 1st.

Press release:

Colman Pool, which had been scheduled to open on Saturday, May 28, will now open on Sunday, May 29.

The water in Colman Pool is sourced directly from Puget Sound. To make the water pleasant for swimming, Seattle Parks and Recreation heats the 47-degree Sound water to 84 degrees.

The main circulation pump at the pool has failed, which means the water cannot be properly heated. Parts to repair the pump are being express shipped from out of state; however, when the pool opens on Sunday, water temperatures are expected to be in the 70s – still quite cold.

The pump shaft broke unexpectedly, even after its routine maintenance was completed several weeks ago. The cool weather slows the heating of the pool, and without the circulation pump, heating can’t start until late Friday night.

Wet suits are welcome. Regular pool admission will be charged, but the 50-fiit corkscrew slide is free all weekend. The pool will also be open on Monday. Swimmers should expect cool water temperatures both days.

Colman Pool will be open on weekends only through June 11, and begin 7-day-a-week operation on June 18.