May 2011

Zippy's Giant Burgers, which moved from its HIghland Park location weeks ago will officially open Tuesday, May 31 in its new location in White Center at 9614 14th Avenue s.w. at 10:30 am.

In a brief but pointed email to the West Seattle Herald, owner Blaine Cook said today,"Tuesday is the day….hip hip hooray,"

Cook and family and crew have been waiting through a series of delays caused by inspections, and the biggest one, building wide fire alarm that had proven to be faulty. It had to be fixed and then reinspected, with the final health inspection following before Zippy's could get the green light.

By Cassandra Baker, Intern

3:08 a.m. on May 22nd. 87th block of Greenwood Ave N

On May 22nd, police responded to a 911 call reporting a man bleeding in the street. When they arrived at the scene, they found the victim lying on the ground and bleeding from the neck. The victim was treated at the scene and was able to identify the person who had assaulted him, who was still at the scene. Two witnesses also pointed out the suspect. The victim was then taken to the hospital for treatment of the cut in his neck, which was over four inches long. The suspect was arrested.

The victim said that he was waiting at a bus stop when the suspect came up to him, bumped into him, and tried to hit him in the face. The victim told the suspect to go away, and the suspect left, but returned about ten minutes later. The suspect then cut the victim’s neck with a piece of glass from a broken bottle. Police found the pieces of the bottle at the scene near the suspect. The suspect was booked into King County Jail on investigation of assault.

9:55 p.m. on May 21st. 6th block of NW 75th St

The Ballard softball team received a lot of recognition at the all league selections last night, taking home various honors.

Pitcher Andrea Jewett was named to the second All-KingCo team and players Bernie Cardon, Jamie Thelen, Brittney Blokker, and Julia Boone all received honorable All KingCo mentions.

The Lady Beavers also received the Kingco Best Sportsmanship Award and Coach Kyle Gray was named Kingco Coach of the year.

"It was certainly a great season," Gray said. "It was tough to lose that last game but I couldn't be any more proud of the girls. I really wanted them to finish strong and leave it all out on the field and they did that.

"I am very happy the girls got recognized and very proud of our team receiving the sportsmanship award. That is a testament to our captains and their leadership. I know that was important to them it certainly was to me. Andrea and Bernie were amazing all year long. The connection between pitcher and catcher is a special one and those two really took us a long way."

By David Rosen

The Seattle Police Department and SWAT Team were out near 38th and Oregon St around 6:00 am this morning in West Seattle to serve a search warrant.

According to Det. Mark Jamieson of the SPD media relations unit, he didn’t have much information on what happened this morning and everything is still under investigation.

The West Seattle Herald will provide an update if more information becomes available.

On Saturday, June 4, Ballard will host the 18th annual Second Ascent Twilight Criterium, one of Seattle’s classic bike races. Commonly known as "The Ballard Crit", the race is a favorite among both racers and spectators, and promises plenty of action, entertainment and danger.

"This is the best crit in Seattle hands down," said organizer and Second Ascent racer, Nicholas Rhodes. "We hear it every year from a lot of participants and spectators. Having raced all of them ourselves too, we agree."

What makes the Ballard Crit so popular is a combination of a challenging course, a great crowd and good organization.

"While [the may look like an innocuous four corner crit, it's anything but," Rhodes said.

The competition at the Ballard crit is good, and the course is fast but also dangerous. Rhodes said more than a few accidents have happened on this course due to cobblestones, old tarmac and general bad road conditions.

"If it rains, riders will run lower tire pressure, but even at that, it takes a really good bike handler to make the rubber stick on a challenging course like this in the rain," Rhodes said.

Superintendent John Welch has recommended $2 million in cuts to the 2011-2012 Highline School District budget after the Legislature slashed 1.9 percent from the teachers salary schedule and 3 percent for funding of certified administrators salaries.

Among the cuts suggested by Welch at the May 25 school board meeting were reducing two management positions and cutting five classified staff positions.
Welch had previously announced that finance director Susan Smith Leland will take over the duties of assistant superintendent for support services Geri Fain when Fain retires in June. Welch said May 25 that a technology management position will also be eliminated.

Other cuts proposed by Welch include moving to a six period day at Highline High in Burien and eliminating the first grade Challenge program for gifted students.

The superintendent did not recommend eliminating any librarian positions. Over the last few months, the board has heard numerous speakers supporting the value of teacher-librarians.

A new West Seattle based musical theater kids camp is coming and there is still time to sign up. It is called Sing Out Seattle! and is sponsored by Westside School, 7740 34th Ave. SW.

Classes begin July 11 and all kids ages 6 to 12 years old are welcome to enroll in the two-week programs. Those participating in the first, July 11-22 session will perform The Lion King July 22. The July 25-Aug. 5 session will perform Princess and the Frog Aug. 5, and the Aug. 8-19 session performs Shrek! the Musical Aug. 19. Each two-week session costs $350 and promises "total immersion" into the drama experience.

Westside School tapped Fauntleroy actor/director David H. Koch (pronounced "Coke") to run the program. We featured Koch in our story about a comic operetta he directed last year here:

Queen Anne Medical Weight Loss presented the Ballard Food Bank with a donation of 600 pounds of food on the morning of May 26 in honor of the first 600 pounds lost by clinic's clients.

The idea came from one of the clinic's patients who collected 100 pounds of food to celebrate her weight loss success, said Program Director Brian Grev.

"It's a great way to translate the number of pounds they lost into something that will actually help the community," Grev said.

The Ballard Food Bank serves the Ballard, Magnolia and Queen Anne communities and Executive Director, Nancy McKinney, said the donation came at a time when donations are most needed.

"We are always in need and we rely on the community to keep the food coming in but the summer months get especially skinny," McKinney said.

The 600-pound donation from Queen Anne Medical Weight Loss included canned goods, some pet food and coffee.

Started in June 2010, Queen Anne Medical Weight Loss is a division of Queen Anne Medical Associates, PLLC. The program uses meal replacement and exercise to help clients get to a healthy weight.

Editor's note: The West Seattle Herald has been covering news here for nearly a century. Robinson Newspapers (which publishes the West Seattle Herald) have a massive news archive of Herald coverage dating back to 1928. What follows are crime reports and public safety issues from 1932. Although reporters’ names were not included with stories at that time, their original words remain intact. As more historical crime reports are compiled there will be more installments of West Seattle All Time Crimes.

January 21, 1932
From Rupert L. Hamilton, editor of the Herald
Have you suffered this most embarrassing moment? – Riding down California Ave some rainy night, cussing other motorists who acted like they were blind, only to discover finally that you had your headlights turned off? It is a common sight every evening, indicative of the general carelessness of West Side motorists.

Even after weeks of announcements, with tickets for speeding and aggressive driving piling up fast, many people are failing to get the message. The Seattle Police Department is very serious about enforcing traffic laws. The message they are sending is, slow down, obey the law or you will be stopped and ticketed.

Here's the latest report from the Seattle Police Department blotter.

On May 25th, Aggressive Driving Response Team (ADRT) officers patrolled the West Seattle Bridge and the 2300 block of Airport Way S. They issued the following citations:

West Seattle Bridge- 45 mph zone

3 at 69 mph
1 at 67 mph
2 at 65 mph
1 Proof of insurance

2300 blk of Airport Way S.- 30 mph zone

1 at 50 mph
1 at 47 mph
1 at 46 mph
3 at 45 mph
3 at 44 mph
1 at 43 mph