September 2011

Seattle Parks and Recreation, the Washington State University 4-H, and the Camp Long Advisory Council celebrated the opening of a challenge course at Camp Long today. Camp Long is at 5200 35th Ave. SW.

The event featured hot dogs and cake for attendees. The official ribbon cutting took place just after 4 p.m. to a small crowd of nature-lovers young and old.

Some of the organizers stopped to talk to the West Seattle Herald before the ribbon-cutting.

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Scott Vanderwey, Director, 4-H Adventure Education, which runs programs in 19 Washington State counties, including ropes course, rock climbing, right-of-passage, kayaking, back-packing, and other adventure programing. He works for Washington State University extension branch.

Dozens of cyclists, devastated by the number of people killed while biking in Seattle, came together on Saturday, September 24, to honor the fallen with a bike ride.

"Perched on bike saddles all around the city, residents of Seattle are feeling a mix of fear, anger, sadness, hope and everything in between. Friends and family of those injured or killed on the streets of Seattle are coming to terms with their forever-changed lives," said Tom Fucoloro, editor of Seattle Bike Blog, in an announcement.

"Seattle, we need to get together, honor those who have lost their lives in traffic and support each other. We need to work for change. There is no better way to do this than to ride together."

Fucoloro together with Davey Oil of Bike Works and Adonia Lugo, author of Urban Adonia, led the ride that visited the memorial sites of cyclists Mike Wang (on Dexter and Thomas St), Brian Fairbrother (on Fairview Avenue), and Robert Townsend (on University and Campus Way). Each site is now marked with a ghost bike.

The Outwest Bar West Seattle's GLBTQA bar on California Avenue is calling for solidarity and a show of support in response to a hate crime that took place Friday night Sept. 23 in the Genesee neighborhood.

They have posted the following notice on their Facebook page and on flyers posted at the bar itself.

"In a hate crime last night just after midnight, property was vandalized outside of the home of a local gay couple in the Genesee Hill area of West Seattle. Both of their cars had all tires slashed and large rocks smashed through the car windows. A typed note on one of the rocks said, “God hates Fags, get the f**k out of our neighborhood. The Bible says, ‘God forbids men committing indecent act(s) with other men.’ Pack up your s**t and get your gay s**t out! KKK”.

We believe that this action and note speak for themselves. There are two white males suspected of perpetrating this hate crime; one about 5’9” with a muscular build, and the other about 5’7” maybe about 170lbs.

The Beaver cross-country team competed in the Bellevue High Invitational on Saturday, a meet that included 46 teams from all over the state. The event featured four varsity races, with two runners from each school represented in each race, and took place at Lake Sammamish state park.

Of the Ballard runners participating in the races, three finished in the top-10. Senior Alex Bowns —coming off of his third victory in a row on Wednesday— competed in the 5,000 meter 1-2 race, which featured the top two runners from each school. Bowns clocked a 16:03, which was good enough for 5th place out of 56 runners.

The other two Beavers who finished in the top-10 include junior Matt Rusk, competing in the 5-6 race with 67 other runners, who finished 9th with a time of 17:26. For the Women’s team, junior Anna Mirenzi ran a 20:41 in the 3-4 race, finishing 8th out of 46 runners.

Ballard’s next meet is this Wednesday at Issaquah high school.

Soccer

The Beaver soccer team took the pitch Saturday against Woodinville, but was unable to find the back of the net.

Being a firefighter means using your training and experience to respond to an emergency and that's exactly what Daniel Hess a Seattle firefighter with Engine Company 37 in West Seattle did on Thursday, Sept. 22 when a fire broke out in the condominium complex where he lives in North Seattle.

He was off-duty and asleep at 11:15 pm when a rooftop deck fire broke out on the four-story 24 unit condo complex in the 115 hundred block of 15th Avenue NE.

Multiple 911 callers reported large flames coming from the blaze.

Seattle police actually smashed a window, entered and pulled the building alarm which woke Hess and made his training kick in.

Historian and Civil War expert Pete Mazza returns to South Seattle Community College Continuing Education with his series The American Civil War – Beyond the Battles focusing on a unique look at the Civil War, to start Thursday, Sept. 29 and run for 8 weeks ending Nov. 17. All are welcome to enroll.

Mazza also offers a free course at Daystar Retirement Village, 20th Century History, From the Franco Prussian War to Korea and Beyond scheduled weekly to begin Tuesday, October 4th from 1:15 to 2:45 and ending Nov. 22. All are welcome to enroll.

To sign up for the Civil War courses, visit www.learnatsouth.org or call (206) 934-5339.

This will be Mazza's third time teaching there, and Daystar points out that people can attend one session that covers their favorite topic, and need not feel obligated to attend all sessions. They add that folks of all ages seem to appreciate Mazza's passion for history.

To sign up, call Daystar at: (206) 937-6122. Again, no charge.

SSCC Course outline for his Civil War series:

By Chris Foster, Intern
On a muggy Friday night at Memorial Stadium, the weather wasn’t the only thing that was a little too hot. The Inglemoor Vikings, en route to a 35 to 14 victory over the Beavers, scored three unanswered touchdowns in the first half to gain a substantial lead they would hold for the rest of the night.

The Viking’s offensive attack was paired with a stout defense, which kept the Beavers from scoring until the third quarter. Although they had no momentum going into the second half, the resilient Beavers continued to battle on. After a 43-yard drive to start the third, Dominic King—adding to his already stellar season—scored on a run from 18-yards out. Yet the Vikings answered quickly, scoring off of a 65-yard run on the first play of their next drive.

Late in the third, Ballard cut the lead to 14 with a scoring drive capped off by a one-yard touchdown run by King. A comeback was looking possible after a booming 54-yard punt by Johnny Verduin put the Vikings deep in their own territory, until the Vikings responded with another score.

Monday, Sept. 19

Volleyball
Sealth 3, Ingraham 1
Chief Sealth scored a Metro League victory over the Rams last Monday.
West Seattle 3, Franklin 1
The Wildcats of West Seattle also won by a 3-1 score last Monday.
Bear Creek 3, Sea. Luth. 0
Seattle Lutheran High School of West Seattle fell in three straight games to Bear Creek School last Monday.
Em. Ridge 3, Mt. Rainier 0
The Rams were swept by the Jaguars last Monday, 25-7, 26-24, 25-15.

Tuesday, Sept. 20

Girls soccer
West Seattle 3, Ingraham 0
Hailey Watkins earned the shutout for West Seattle in its victory last Tuesday.
Kennedy 10, Foster 0
Kirsten Olson exploded for three goals to lead the Lancers to victory last Tuesday. Sara Bell and Mary Witkowski added two goals apiece.
Highline 3, Lindbergh 0
Highline hammered the Eagles in last Tuesday's game.
Kentwood 1, Mt. Rainier 0
Kentwood shut down the Rams' defense and needed to score only one goal to win last Tuesday's match.
Sealth 8, Rainier Beach 0
Chief Sealth' s Seahawks poured on the goals in last Tuesday's victory.
Lindbergh 3, Highline 0
The Pirates were shut out by Lindbergh last Tuesday.

White Center has earned a rough reputation through its history largely as a result of factors like reduced law enforcement presence and a concentration of drinking establishments.Other businesses that are more aimed at the age 21 and over crowd don't help.

Some of that reputation is deserved. Much of it is not.

But the focus for some people has been in the block between 98th s.w. and s.w. Roxbury Street.

That block was home for Club Evolucion which was the scene of numerous fights, and arrests until it closed. It was in the process of being converted to a Latin Dance club for ages18+. A recent ruling by the King County Council banning dance clubs in White Center has put those plans on hold however.

Sealth toppled Rainer Beach 34 to 19 at the Southwest Athletic Complex in West Seattle, Sept. 23.

Coming into the Friday night contest Rainier Beach High School had a 1-1 record and Sealth was 0 and 3 but that apparently didn't mean much as the Seahawks overpowered the Vikings, especially on defense in the second half.

With 10:17 left in the first quarter Sealth scored on a punt return to go up 7 to nothing.

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Then, with just over 3 minutes left in the first quarter the Vikings intercepted a Sealth pass and returned it for a touchdown on a 70 yard scamper, tying the score at 7 -7.

With 8:38 left in the second quarter. Rainer Beach scored on six yard running play but missed the point after touchdown but taking the lead 13 to 7,

On the ensuring kickoff Sealth had an outstanding return all the way down to the Viking 20 yard line. Two plays later they scored but also missed the extra point by tying the score again, this time at 13-13.