September 2011

October 9th is Leif Erikson Day, a day Scandinavians mark as Leif’s historic landing as the first recorded European to set foot on North American shores.

The Swedish Cultural Center is celebrating a few days early to match up a several events.

On Friday, Oct. 7, two Viking boat building artisans will be sharing the lectern to describe their respective Viking boat projects, which are taking place 9,000 miles apart.

Geoff Briggs is building a ship in Anacortes with W.I.L.D. (Wilderness Intensive Leadership Development), the organization he founded with Dave Knudsen.

Their 56-foot vessel is modeled after the Skuldelev 6, believed to have been a fishing boat. It’s being assembled in the traditional way, just as the Vikings did 1,000 years ago, with klinker-style planking on oak frames, held together with hand-fastened rivets and lots of pine tar.

They are using oak logs gathered from Oregon and cedar planking from Canada, which they have milled and prepared for use.

When finished, their ship will be used in youth programs, and they hope we’ll see it in the waters of Puget Sound starting next summer.

Seattle Police Department, Seattle Parks and Recreation, and Seattle Department of Neighborhoods are coming together to host a Community Crime Prevention meeting to discuss public safety in the Ballard neighborhood.

Representatives from the City of Seattle Parks Dept.; Dept. of Neighborhood; Seattle Public Utility; and the Seattle Police Department will attend to discuss current criminal activity, other civility issues; and the role the residents can play in reducing crime and increasing our quality of life.
 
This will be a great opportunity for people to meet or reacquaint themselves with fellow neighbors who may be concerned with similar issues.
 
The meeting will take place Thursday, Oct. 6 at 6:30 p.m. at the Ballard Community Center, 6020 28 Ave. NW
 
For more information call Terrie Johnston with SPD. Crime Prevention  at 684-771.

The Ballard men’s cross-country team dominated the meet on Wednesday against Issaquah with six Beaver runners finishing in the top 7.

Senior Alex Bowns not only won the meet, he also broke the 3-mile course record by 10 seconds with a time of 15:46.

The second place runners, which included Ballard's Victor Bailly, came in 54 seconds after him.

With this victory, Bowns improved his undefeated record in the conference to 4 and 0.

By Chris Foster, Intern

Lots of action on Tuesday for Ballard sports, including the men’s golf team, who fell to a strong Woodinville team by ten strokes with a score 192 to 202, at the par 36 course at Echo Falls.

Jordan Dale cracked the top five however, tieing for third at 3 over par. The next match for the team will be at Jackson Golf Course at 3:00.

Volleyball

The Ballard volleyball team, coming off of a win against Redmond Monday night, lost to the Skyline Spartans on Tuesday in three straight games. Monique Marquez continued to pile up assists for the season, totaling 21, while Grace Taylor had 7 kills.

The loss puts the Beavers at 2 and 1 in conference play for the season, and 5 and 1 overall. They will look to rebound when they play at home Thursday night at 7.

Soccer

The women’s soccer team, looking for their first conference win at Issaquah on Tuesday, lost by a score of 3 to 1. The Beavers started out strong, with an unassisted goal in the 8th minute by Bailey Travis, but the Eagles scored three straight to put the game away.

Update 2 for Sept. 30. - Aileen Fisher responds
We received an email from Aileen Fisher Thursday night reacting to our interview earlier in the day with Mia Gregerson. It said, in part:

Mr. Mathison,
I was greatly disturbed to read your updated article containing incorrect information. I am hoping you will extend the same courtesy to me, giving me an opportunity to provide clarification on the emails.

All of the emails that I received were in PDF format, there was NO cutting and pasting or any other type of tampering, nothing was taken out of context, and all emails were run through the legal department before loaded on CD's and given to the requestor....

Oh, and by the way, Mrs. Sitterley requested these emails long before she thought about running for Council . However, according to Mrs. Sitterley, reading these emails was a deciding factor in her decision to run for Council (against Gregerson.)

If you have any questions regarding the process of how emails are reviewed and prepared for release to the requestor, please contact the Legal Department at SeaTac City Hall.

Posted by Detective Jeff Kappel-From the SPD Blotter

It has been nearly 10 years since a killer stood outside the Seattle home of Tom Wales and fired several shots from a handgun through a basement window, killing the assistant U.S. attorney and father of two while he worked at his desk.

Since that time, the FBI and our law enforcement partners have dedicated themselves to finding those responsible for the murder. Now, as the 10th anniversary of the killing approaches on October 11, we are announcing a new media campaign to again ask for the public’s assistance.

“This is an active case in which we are constantly and aggressively pursuing leads,” said Greg Fowler, the FBI inspector in charge of the task force investigating the murder. “Information is the key,” Fowler added, “and the better the information, the greater the chance of finding those responsible.”

Wales, a prosecutor who specialized in white-collar crime cases, was shot at 10:40 p.m. It has been reported that a lone male suspect was observed leaving the scene.

The West Seattle High School 3rd Annual Spirit Dinner & Auction will happen this year at the Hall at Fauntleroy 9131 California Ave s.w. with the doors open at 5:30 pm. Donations for the silent auction are still being accepted.

Sponsored by West Seattle PTSA and the West Seattle High School Foundation the event will Support girls & boys athletics at West Seattle High School.

Tickets

$45 Individual; $75 Patron; $360 Table for 8

Program

5:30 p.m. Doors Open for Silent Auction, Appetizers and Beverages

7:00 p.m. Dinner

7:30 p.m. Dessert Dash, 50-50 Raffle, and Live Auction

Special Presentation of West Seattle High School Foundation

Community Partner Awards honoring Bill Fitch and the WSHS Monogram Club

For more information, to donate an item or to order tickets, please contact Dick Lee at:

rjlee@seattleschools.org or 206-252-0476

From the SPD Blotter:
Posted by Detective Renee Witt

This Thursday, 100 families will become better prepared for disasters and other emergencies, thanks to a generous donation by Target. The event is part of National Preparedness Month, encouraging people to take necessary steps to ensure their homes, workplaces and communities are ready for disaster.

The Seattle Police Department’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and Target will co-host the event, set for 9 a.m. at the West Seattle Target, located in Westwood Village. Each family will receive a gift card for up to $100 that they will use to build their family emergency kits. All families have been notified in advance and pre-registered for the event. Target employees, Seattle police officers and OEM staff will provide assistance throughout the store.

Press release from West Seattle Be Prepared

West Seattle Be Prepared Training and Education Series resumes on Sept 28th!

Our 2011 Training and Education series continues following our summer hiatus on September 28th with a topic most of us needs to plan for: Pet Preparedness!

Event Details
What: Pet Preparedness Presentation followed by discussion and Q&A.
When: Wednesday, September 28th, 2011; 6:30 -8:30 PM (time has been updated since we originally posted).
Where: West Seattle Senior Center (4217 SW Oregon Street, corner of California Ave SW & Oregon, 2nd floor; the entrance is on SW Oregon Street).
Who: Everyone is welcome! An RSVP would be appreciated, but is not necessary to attend. We hope to see you there!

If you have pets, do you have a disaster plan for them?

The West Seattle Blockwatch Captains' Network received good news last week in the form of a check. Co-chair Karen Berge said the network received a $4000 grant from the Bill Wright Technology Fund, a matching program through the City of Seattle.

WSBCN co-chair Deb Greer officially accepted the grant during a special session of the Seattle City Council Energy, Technology and Civil Rights committee on Thursday, Sept. 22.

The video of Greer’s speech is available online here. She begins speaking 66 minutes and 15 seconds into the video.

Berge said the grant, “will allow us to achieve our primary goal of having an online tool that blockwatch captains can use to contact and locate each other.”

While accepting the grant from the City Council, Greer said, “the main part of our grant is to get people online and make it an open system,” so people can find blockwatch captains for their neighborhood, communicate with neighboring captains and identify parts of West Seattle that are in need of blockwatches.