October 2011

Join both schools, past alumni and the entire West Seattle community in this annual contest between area rivals.  Festivities include a free pre-game barbeque provided by long-time supporters and named sponsors, Steve and Tom Huling.

School Principals Ruth Medsker of West Seattle and Chris Kinsey of Chief Sealth have upped the ante and backed their school, by placing a friendly wager on the game.  They’ve agreed that the winning team’s leader will get to be “principal for a day” at the other school.

The student leadership of each school is getting into the act as well, asking the fans representing each school to participate in a canned food drive during the week and at the entrance into West Seattle Stadium.  All of the donated goods will go directly to the West Seattle Food Bank, with the winning school’s community being recognized during the game.  

The game is also in the running for Kiro7's High School "Game of the Week" with voting raking place online at http://www.kirotv.com/hsfootball/index.html.

press release:

Please join us for a Road Safety Summit
First meeting: October 24th, 6pm

We invite you to participate in a Road Safety Summit, convened by Mayor Mike McGinn and members of the Seattle City Council.

The Summit will center around three basic questions:

What do you think are the highest priority safety problems to solve on Seattle roads?
What do you think are the most important things to do to make Seattle roads safer?
We often talk about what government can do to promote safety. What are the ways that non-governmental groups and individuals can promote safety?
Working together, we will develop a shared citywide commitment to safety and an action plan that will lead to safer streets for all.
This Road Safety Summit consists of three gatherings that are open to the public:

Public Forum #1
Monday, October 24th, 6pm in the Bertha K. Landes room at City Hall RSVP

Public Forum #2
Tuesday, November 15th, 6pm at the Northgate Community Center RSVP

Public Forum #3
Monday, November 21st, 6pm at the Southwest Community Center RSVP

In an unfortunate bit of timing the Seattle Department of Transportation is choosing to close the westbound lanes of the Spokane Street Viaduct overnight on Thursday Oct. 20 which, combined with the upcoming 9 day Alaskan Way Viaduct closure starting at 7:30 pm Friday, is, to at least one West Seattle resident an insult to the people of West Seattle. Here's what SDOT announced:

press release:
For the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) project to widen the Spokane Street Viaduct, crews will close both westbound lanes of the structure from 10 PM on Thursday, October 20, to 5 AM on Friday, October 21, to test techniques for preparing old deck for new paving. The westbound lanes will be closed between I-5 and State Road 99.

During the one night closure, southbound I-5 traffic will be directed to the S Forest Street exit to access surface streets leading to the lower Spokane Street Swing Bridge. Northbound I-5 traffic and westbound traffic from Columbian Way will be detoured to surface streets at 6th Avenue South to the detour route leading to the swing bridge. Signage will be posted to direct drivers along these routes.

press release:
Just in time for Fall when orcas travel into Puget Sound, Washington State Ferries and The Whale Trail have partnered to provide ferry passengers with onboard guides to identifying Puget Sound marine mammals.

Travelers can use two signs on each ferry vessel and one in each ferry terminal to familiarize themselves with marine mammals living in Puget Sound and help identify animals during transits.

“Our Southern Resident orcas are endangered. Ferries are perfect places to observe them and our many other marine mammals,” said Donna Sandstrom, executive director of The Whale Trail. “Our orcas depend on the health of the entire Puget Sound. Having these signs on the ferries is a good way to let folks know they use the entire region.”

The signs provide descriptions of orcas, gray whales, Dall’s porpoise, harbor seals and California sea lions and explain the habitat needs for the animals. The signs are the first generation of Whale Trail signs to feature a “QR” code that allow linking via mobile devices to The Whale Trail’s web site.

Why isn’t anyone asking why there are so many vacant key staff positions in Burien’s City Hall?

In these poor economic times, government staff are a dime a dozen because of the amount of reductions that have happened. In Burien, the staff seems to be disappearing for other reasons. Right now there are, at least, six key positions vacant.

What’s making all of these people leave their jobs?

In the last three years, Burien has had three different finance directors. Seems like they barely learn how to read the budget and then they leave.

This kind of staff turnover can’t be good for the workflow or continuity of services in the city.

Maybe when Burien added 14,000 people it should have added more staff—instead of trying to make the annexation of Area X look like such a cheap deal so Mike Martin could sell the annexation of Area Y to the council.

Or maybe it is the same kind of thing that happened to Mr. Martin in San Francisco when he refused to listen to his staff and had morale issues.

The Cooking Channel is coming back to Ballard on Friday.

Eat St., the show that featured Ballard's Veraci Pizza earlier this year, is back to take a look at Snout & Co, a local food truck that sells irresistible Cuban food.

Hosted by comedian James Cunningham, Eat St. celebrates North America's tastiest, messiest and most irresistible street food.

The Cooking Channel will stop by Snout & Co to film on Friday from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m., at which ntime the truck will be parked in the Ballard Blossom lot on 1766 NW Market St.

Here's your chance to try Snout & Co's Cuban food and be on national television.

What's the long-range vision for Ballard's unique business district?

How can the Chamber of Commerce work with other groups and individuals to help the district continue to thrive?

You can help the Ballard Chamber of Commerce in answering those questions by participating in a series of upcoming discussions.

The Chamber is hosting three session in the following two weeks to gather thoughts and ideas from Ballard's diverse group of stakeholders and to build on the strengths of Ballard's vibrant business district.

With the help of a grant from the City of Seattle's Office of Economic Development, the Chamber has enlisted Brian Scott of BDS Planning & Design to facilitate the sessions.

Each sessions will be focused on Ballard's potential and the Chamber's appropriate roles in realizing this potential.

"This is a great opportunity to begin building on Ballard's strengths for an even better business climate in the future," said Beth Miller of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce.

First up is a session on Economic Development.

press release:
Metropolitan King County Councilmember Joe McDermott issued a commuting challenge − and County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen accepted.

All three West Seattle residents will race from West Seattle to downtown Seattle to highlight the alternate forms of transportation available during the 9-day closure of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, which begins Friday at 7:30 p.m.

The race will start:

Friday, October 21
7:40 a.m.
West Seattle Junction
(Corner of California and Alaska, near Key Bank)

The three will use separate forms of transportation to go from the West Seattle Junction to the lobby of Seattle City Hall on Fifth Avenue in downtown Seattle:

• Councilmember McDermott will take a shuttle from the Junction down to the Seacrest Dock and will board the King County Water Taxi for the 8:15 sailing to Pier 50.

• Executive Constantine will board King County Metro Transit’s Route 54 to bus and walk to City Hall.

• Weather permitting; Councilmember Rasmussen will ride his bike to get into downtown.

Fresh berries are good sources of vitamin C, natural antioxidants, and fiber. Using fruits to satisfy your sweet tooth is also a great way to cut down on the salt and sugars you find in baked desserts. Your heart and kidneys will thank you.

If you don’t have room to grow berries on your own, remember the Pacific Northwest is overflowing with places to find fresh, local berries. Just take a drive up near Bellingham, and see miles of raspberries; south of there near Marysville are hundreds of acres of strawberry fields. Try checking out your local farmers’ markets, or even your grocery store. You can easily gather plenty of raw materials for a plate full of berry good desserts!

Strawberry Heaven
1 eight-ounce package low-fat cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons brown sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 cup low-fat sour cream
1 quart fresh strawberries

Bill Fitch is a man who gets things done. "Bill has very high standards. He's an active person. He's a doer. He's not going to just sit back and just watch," said Alice, his wife.

He is being honored by the West Seattle High School Alumni Association on Thursday, Oct. 20 at the Spirit Dinner and Auction for 10 years of service as the Foundation Vice President. The event is being held at the Hall at Fauntleroy. He has been very active in raising money in support of the school.  Each year the association has recognized an individual or organization who has gone above and beyond n support of the school.  Among past honorees are Dow Constantine, Christy Rowe, former Principal Phil Brockman, Hiawatha Community Center, YMCA & South Seattle Community College.  

Fitch considers his work on the bylaws and his securing of the 501 C3 non-profit status for the foundation as his most significant contributions.