July 2011

The District 7 age 9-10 Fastpitch All-Star Championship took place this past week, hosted by Seattle Central Little League at Garfield High School. The Championship pitted the All-Star teams from South Highline National Little League (SHNLL) and Seattle Central Little Little League (SCLL) against each other in an exciting 3 game series, with the winner heading to the state tournament in Poulsbo, which started Saturday, July 16.

The first game was held on Monday, June 27. SHNLL looked strong early, bringing out the big sticks and putting up 12 quick runs in the first three innings, including an amazing three run home run by Marianna De Simone. SHNLL was also paced by star pitcher Graciana Mecklenburg, as she struck out five of the seven batters she faced to start the game three.

By Cassandra Baker, Intern

1:35 a.m. on July 12th. 77th block of 15th Ave NW

A business selling cannabis products was burglarized early in the morning of July 12th. The alarm went off at 1:35 a.m. Officers arrived less than 20 minutes later to find one of the store’s door windows broken and a large rock lying in the lobby. No suspects were located on the premises.

Furniture and marijuana plants had been scattered throughout the room. The suspect(s) disabled one of the store’s four security cameras and emptied a display case of food made with marijuana.

The officers were unable to determine what may have been taken besides the food because they were unable to reach the proprietor of the business.

5:41 p.m. on July 9th. 16th block of NW 67th St

Bernie Matsuno, acting Director of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, visited the Ballard District Council on Wednesday, June 13 to talk about the diminishing city resources and the future of her post and the Department of Neighborhoods.

Matsuno was appointed to her post by Mayor Mike McGinn earlier this year. She has worked for the Department of Neighborhoods since 1989, previously serving as a project manager for Seattle’s well-known Neighborhood Matching Fund program. She came back from retirement after McGinn asked her to step in as acting director and now, as the permanent director.

"I thought about [the permanent position] long and hard," she said.

"I knew last year was particularly hard. We had unprecedented budget cuts and we're looking at more cuts. I care about the department (of neighborhoods) and I care about the opportunity to advocate for the department and the communities and what they want of the department. That's what convinced me."

Matsuno said while she enjoys the work, it hasn't been easy.

While Dante Obcena attended the Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA) and West Seattle Chamber Of Commerce (WSCC) Candidate Reception at the Hall at Fauntleroy Wednesday evening, he was, at times, hard to spot. That's because the 23 year-old South Seattle Community College student was often surrounded by local politicians, including King County and Seattle City Council members engaging him in serious conversation. You might say Obcena is someone to keep an eye on in future area politics. But look at him now.

On July 22 and 23, the Des Moines Waterland Festival will take place at the marina.
Events will start with a Marina Dedication and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at the marina at 6:30 p.m. on Friday the 22nd, followed by the Des Moines Classic Community BBQ at 7 p.m.. There will also be a ticketed beer garden. The event will be hosted by Billy McHale’s Restaurant.
On the 23rd, the Classic Car and Wooden Boat Show will begin at 8 a.m. and go on until 4 p.m. It will feature over 200 classic cars and is sponsored by the Knight Car Club, while the boat show is sponsored by Powell Homes. There is no admission fee to these shows, but donations will go to the Hospitality House, a Burien womens homeless shelter, and Destination Des Moines.
Following the shows, there will be a Children's Parade at 5:45 p.m., followed by a motorcycle drill routine performed by The Cossacks.
The Waterland Parade will begin at 6 p.m., sponsored by Scotch and Vine. Times/News columnist Earline Byers and Clark Snure will be the Grand Marshals this year.
Beyond these main events, other events are occurring this weekend as well, such as art exhibitions and the Des Moines Farmer's Market.

On Friday, July 15, the Friends of the Woodland Park Zoo Elephants took their protest to the air. Towing a banner with the message "Zoo elephants suffer", an airplane flew over Woodland Park Zoo and the surrounding neighborhoods.

"When people see the aerial message, we hope they will contact the Seattle City Council and WPZ to ask for the release of these long-suffering elephants to the Sanctuary", says Sandy Clinton of Friends of the Woodland Park Zoo Elephants.

As the airplane was coming in from Renton, members of Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants and Sound Animal Rights Alliance lined the West entrance of the Woodland Park Zoo, calling for the release of the Zoo's elephants to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.

This is the activists' latest action to free the elephants, a mission that has been going on for years. The elephant activists believe that the space for the elephants at the zoo is far too small and that Watoto, Chai, and Bamboo should be retired permanently to The Elephant Sanctuary, which currently houses 14 elephants on it's 2,700 acres of natural habitat.

You can expect ferry delays and traffic impacts at the Fauntleroy terminal starting Sunday, July 17 because the Washington State Patrol is dropping traffic control on Fauntleroy Way due to lack of funding.

This will mean that caution at and around the Fauntleroy Ferry terminal is required and delays are likely.

Cadets also will not be available to manage street traffic to help expedite vehicles leaving the terminal. Backups may occur during periods of heavy congestion as drivers try to merge into regular city traffic.

“We’ve had to make a tough choice between federally-mandated security efforts and traffic control,” said Capt. Mark Thomas, commander of WSP’s Homeland Security Division. “Our first priority has to be safety and security. Drivers will now have to be guided by common courtesy and the rules of the road.”

Drivers also may notice ferries departing the West Seattle terminal without a full load. The Fauntleroy terminal provides service to both Vashon Island and Southworth. Sometimes drivers queued along the street for one destination can block access for those trying to reach the other.

It was one heck of a run. After 20 shows and nearly a decade of outrageous comedy, Breeders Theater bid us a fond farewell last March. The winery that was their unique performance venue was being sold, so we in the BT audience sadly said "goodbye and good luck" to Breeders Theater.
Or so we thought.
BT founder TM Sell tells us that when the sale of the E.B. Foote Winery fell through last spring, owner Sherrill Miller informed them that the winery would still be available for another production, if they chose to do that.
So, Sell contacted his troupe of actors and asked who would be interested in doing one more show.
"I took those who responded and wrote a show around them," explains Sell. The wonderful result is "Help Desk," an entertaining story about 5 women and their adventures working in a customer support center.

CLICK ON IMAGE TO START SLIDESHOW

On Thursday, July 14, 250 Harry Potter fans stood in line at the Majestic Bay Theatre to watch the midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, some were waiting since 1 p.m.

Tickets for the premiere of the final film in the Harry Potter saga sold out a week and a half prior to the event and the waiting line was simply for good seats.

"This is the last movie of my childhood. I grew up with Harry Potter and I want this evening to be a perfect experience," said Kyra Calnan, an 18-year-old who had been camping out since 1 p.m.

Calnan said that for the previous Harry Potter film, she had shown up for the midnight premiere 'only' four hours early and got stuck with a crappy seat.

This year, she was going to make everything perfect and she knew exactly what seat she was aiming for.

"The best seat is two rows up from the middle, seat 12," she said.

Calnan expected the film to "be intense" as the movie trailer alone made her cry.

She said she has a "fat crush on Ron" but found Professor Snape to be the most interesting character. "He's the most complex,' she said.

UPDATE 1:20 pm: SPD Det. Renee Witt clarified how the standoff ultimately ended. Apparently the suspect's mother contacted him and convinced him to meet up with her to turn himself in. Det. Witt said the suspect slipped out of the barricaded house at some point and met up with his mother. She then drove him to the Southwest Precinct. The suspect was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence stemming from the confrontation with his girlfriend at Camp Long the night before.

UPDATE 9:25 am: Delridge Way open, situation over. Suspect turned himself in to officers and was taken first to the Southwest Precinct scanner traffic indicates. There were two additional people inside the residence on Delridge who finally came out after the suspect had turned himself in. Police are now interviewing everyone involved.

UPDATE 6:40 am: Scanner traffic indicates that the suspect's mother has arrived at the Southwest precinct. Since the road is closed Metro has rerouted the #120 bus on Delridge Way s.w. between s.w. Alaska St & s.w. Brandon St.
Original post:
From the SPD Blotter