June 2011

For the third consecutive year, students from Denny International Middle School have won the Seattle Public Schools Math Olympiad. Principal Jeff Clark shared this news in a letter:

"I am very pleased to announce that on Thursday, June 16, students from Denny International Middle School won first place overall at the Seattle Public Schools’ Middle School Math Olympiad! This is the third year in a row that the Dolphins have won this city-wide math competition.

The team got strong performances from all three grades: 8th and 7th Grade teams finished first overall in their grade levels, while the 6th grade team finished second overall. The competition was held at Campion Hall on the Seattle University campus. The sun was out and the mathematicians from all of the schools were having fun. Congratulations to our students and to Mr. Lai, our math team coach."

As of last week, Ballard Farmers Market faithfuls can vote for their favorite market to help Ballard rank once again in the America's Favorite Farmers Market Contest. Last year, the Ballard Market was ranked fourth in the nation.

This year marks the market's 12th season.

"It's success of perserverance" said Judy Kirkhoff, market organizer.

"The local farmers market started as farms selling the produce from the back of their trucks at the Fremont market," Kirkhoff said, who was a vendor herself at the time.

"Then, Great Harvest and some other community businesses came to the Market association and said we needed one in Ballard. So in July, 1999, I brought the farmers with me to Ballard and set up at the parking lot that is now the Library."

The market was well received and that summer the Ballard Market expanded to 30 to 40 vendors and there was talk of continuing the market throughout the winter months.

The first meeting of the West Seattle Fixers' Collective was lightly attended but productive as members tried to bring a broken clock radio and an espresso maker back to life.

The collective, which plans to meet Thursday nights at the West Seattle Tool Library workshop (Youngstown Cultural Arts Center), is a new venture for people interested in prolonging the life of the things they own, learning how things work, saving a few resources, or who just love to tinker. It is modeled on a Fixers' Collective in Brooklyn, New York.

The small crew that gathered Thursday night dissembled a clock radio that would no longer turn on after it was dropped on the floor. A look at the innards revealed a broken circuit board. When superglue, epoxy and a sautering job
failed to restore power to the clock radio, it was determined that it would probably require an extensive refurbishing and new parts to save and not worth the trouble.

UPDATE

CLICK ON PHOTO FOR SLIDESHOW More photos to come!

The Art Car Traveling Roadshow arrived in West Seattle for the first time Sunday night. Many had shown their stuff at this weekend's the Fremont Solstice Parade and continued on to the Morgan Junction location.

It's an artist collective that has its members decorating their cars in wild and whimsical designs in cars and vans, including some old clunkers that get 5 miles per gallon. (The organization refurbishes their gas.) One car is completely covered in rubber toy monsters, another in dentures and toothpaste tubes. Then there's the car adorned bumper to bumper with women's shoes. About 30 vehicles appeared plus the plus the "Fabulous Elvis Mobile" built by Jo David and West Seattle native, Marlow Harris.

Kelly Lyles of the Delridge neighborhood helped organize the event. She affixed shoes, purses, the "access of accessories" on her Hond Odyssey.

From June 26 through July 17 the Phinney Neighborhood Association (PNA) will once again turn their Community Hall into a World Cup fan fest extraordinaire: Roughly 20 soccer matches will be shown LIVE on a big movie screen as the US Women’s team and 15 of the world’s best teams will converge on Germany this summer to compete for the biggest prize in women’s soccer.

Home country favorites, Germany, have won two straight World Cups, while the U.S. team (two-time World Cup champions and currently ranked Number One) is coming off a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a record 8th Algarve Cup win. Brazil, led by five-time FIFA World Player of the Year, Marta, hopes to shed the runner-up label and win its first major global soccer title.

These public viewing are an all-ages even and entry to this event will be on a first come, first serve basis.

Suggested donations for the event are $3/game for adults; $2/game for children (under 18) or $10/game for families. Refreshments will be on hand.

The event is co-hosted by the Pig ‘n Whistle Pub, which will show all Sunday matches. Both venues are all ages.

By Cassandra Baker, Intern

10:40 p.m. on June 11th. 90th block of Greenwood Ave N

A woman was assaulted by a man she agreed to give a ride home from a wedding. The victim said that she attended her boyfriend’s brother’s wedding on June 11th with her boyfriend, nieces, and nephew. A friend of the bride and groom asked her for a ride home. She agreed to drive him from the wedding in Lake Forest Park to his home in Renton. On the way home she stopped at her apartment to settle the nieces and nephew there first. The victim went into her bedroom for a few minutes. She said that the suspect then knocked on the door and asked to be driven home. She told him that she would be ready to leave in five minutes. The victim said that the suspect knocked on the door several more times and she told him each time that she would take him home in five minutes.

King County Elections has issued a certificate of sufficiency certifying that the petition requesting a change in SeaTac's form of government contained enough valid signatures.

The SeaTac City Council is expected to place the measure on the November election ballot on Nov. 26 as "Proposition #1.

Here is our previous coverage:

It appears likely SeaTac residents will once again vote on allowing the citywide election of a mayor.

Earl Gipson, of SeaTac Citizens for Elected Mayor, reports he turned in 624 petition signatures June 14 to City Clerk Kristina Gregg in favor of a resolution to change the city's form of government. Only 446 signatures are required in order to place a proposition on the November ballot. The signatures are being verified.

A similar resolution failed by only 9 votes in a November 2009 election. Proponents contended that King County Elections did not count all eligible ballots. They said they helped submit valid signature cards for approximately 25 voters whose signatures had been challenged by Elections staff but the votes were not added to the totals.

By late summer or early fall, drivers of electric cars will be able to recharge their vehicles in the SeaTac City Hall parking lot

On the busy Interstate-5 corridor between Seattle and Tacoma, there may not be a more convenient place to stop for drivers.

Located at 4800 S. 188th St., City Hall is just a few blocks off the freeway. On and off-ramps to I-5 allow drivers to quickly get on and off I-5, going either north or south.

A grant to the charger manufacturer allows the deployment of the two charging stations.

According to Public Works Director Tom Gut, the stations will be available to anyone at any time free of charge. The stations will be remotely monitored with cameras.

“We’re pretty excited about this,” Gut declared. “This will, literally, put us on the charging station map.

SeaTac City Hall’s central location right off the freeway already makes it an attractive location for regional meetings of governmental agencies. Gut noted. Many agencies are changing their fleets to electric vehicles so it will be easy for meeting participants to charge up their cars before heading back to the office.

Interviewee: Gina Kavesh

Occupation: Owner of Renton Western Wear

Riding style: racing

Her ride: her commuter is a vintage Davidson with a carbon fork, titanium frame. "It's a great rain bike."

In recent years, Washington has become one of the top states for women's cycling, with separate categories for beginners, and prizes and incentives to do well for all.

With team rides, clinics, and a welcoming community, more and more women are discovering the sport of cycling.

I rode with a 17-year veteran of the local women's peloton, Gina Kavesh, who is considered one of the matriarchs of the local women's cycling scene.

She joined a cycling team in a time when women's cycling was just starting to catch on and only a few teams had women racers.

Bicycle racing is organized into various categories based on skill and ability levels. In Washington State, women’s category 4 is the starting point. Racers win points in every race they participate in and even more points for placing in the top 10. Once they earn enough points, they advance up to the next category.

Ballard High School's production of "Cabaret" was well-received at the 5th Avenue Theatre Awards held at Benaroya Hall last week.

Ballard High School's pit orchestra won the 5th Avenue Theater Outstanding Orchestra Award for excellence in High School Musical Theater, beating more than 90 high schools from throughout the state that took part in this year’s competition.

Ballard HIgh School's production of "Cabaret" also received an honorable mention in the Outstanding Direction category as well as an honorable mention for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Featured Ensemble Role for student Macklin Hamilton.

'Cabaret' was also nominated for Outstanding Scenic Design, Outstanding Costume Design, Outstanding Program Design and Outstanding Lighting Design. Eliza Palasz, playing the role of Sally Bowles, was nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role.