October 2011

Press release:
Burien Little Theatre is seeking an actor in his teens or 20s to play 12-year-old Luther Beatty in the hilarious holiday comedy "Inspecting Carol," written by Daniel J. Sullivan and The Seattle Repertory Theatre.

Luther Beatty is an extremely friendly 12-year-old who is really too big to be playing Tiny Tim, a role he has been performing two years too long. He could be played by a youthful-looking actor in his later teens or 20s.

Please contact us to make an audition appointment at maggie@burienlittletheatre.org or 206-242-5180. Auditions will be at Burien Little Theatre. 14501 Fourth Ave. S.W., Burien, WA 98166. For directions, go to www.burienlittletheatre.org.

Synopsis of show: A side-splittingly funny holiday hit since premiering at the Seattle Rep in 1992, "Inspecting Carol" is part "Noises Off," part "Waiting for Guffman."

Monster Costume CEO Kyle Kinkade was in a very effusive mood.

That's not actually unusual for the head of the West Seattle based software company but on Wednesday Oct. 12 he learned that the company's new children's interactive puzzle book Bartleby's Book of Buttons Vol 2 would not only be featured on the Apple App store with a large banner on top of the page but it would be among the featured apps for those taking delivery of the new iPhone 4s this week.

"This is the biggest thing to happen to this company since we began," said Kinkade. Speaking to his crew (now numbering 20) at a celebratory lunch at Buddha Ruska he said, "This is hands down my proudest feature. This is all of us. This is not just two or three people. Every single person here contributed to this. That's what makes our company very freaking cool. I wanted to say thank you guys (...) To success!"

The impact of being featured like this is hard to quantify exactly but it's clear that with millions of people visiting the iTunes store daily, being featured on it will raise the profile of the company to a level it has not seen before.

Entering the beautiful new Navos Mental Health and Wellness Center, I thought, "Boy, I bet Mom would have been amazed and very proud."

Please click the photo above for more.

The occasion was the open house last Thursday for the center's facility at Ambaum Boulevard and South 136th Street in Burien. Navos, the private nonprofit organization that operates the center, wanted to show off the building's completed first floor and talk about plans for the upper two floors.

Mom was among the small group of houswives/volunteers, who along with mental health professionals and government officials, got the mental health center up and running in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

It was placed in a one-story vacant elementary school near the airport.

After she died, center officials graciously named renamed the location the "Bernadine P. Mathison Campus." Ironically, that is where I attended sixth grade. As a kid, I never imagined in my wildest dreams that my school would be named after my mother.

At 9 a.m. on Saturday, October 15, some 10,000 walkers will be pounding the pavement from the Seattle Center into and back out of downtown to promote and raise funds for heart health. Soon after 70,000 Husky football fans will filling the streets around Husky Stadium as they make their way to the 12:30 football game between the University of Washington Huskies and the Colorado Buffaloes. Saturday evening, the Seattle Sounders will bring out a crowd of 55,000 enthusiastic supporters for the team’s match against the San Jose Earthquakes at 7:30 p.m. at CenturyLink Field.

The Seattle Department of Transportation encourages event-goers to consider reducing the stress and environmental impact of driving their cars and try one of the many alternate modes of transportation available - Metro Transit, the West Seattle Water Taxi, the Sounder commuter train, Link light rail, car pool, bicycle or even walking, if feasible.

Friday, October 14
UW Husky Band Friday Night Rally and Procession: 8:45 – 10 p.m.
Streets just north of the campus
200 participants

“How can our community grow from this conversation?” was the question asked by Tanya Baer of the Delridge Community Forum at the onset of the “world café” style town hall meeting to discuss the planned DESC supportive housing project for chronically homeless individuals. The meeting took place on Oct. 11 at the Youngstown Cultural Center in Delridge.

At the end of the night it was clear that many in the Delridge community have not come to peace with the project, with several questions and concerns still alive and unanswered. For some at the meeting, a “bad gut feeling” (as one resident put it) persists about the 75-unit, four-story complex planned for the 5400 block of Delridge Way S.W.

There was a shared sentiment amongst many in the room that Delridge is on the up-and-up, with hopes that one day it can thrive with strong local businesses and a safer community. There was a shared fear that the DESC project could set the community back in achieving that goal.

“You are harming one community in an attempt to help another,” one Delridge resident wrote on paper that covered the tables where people were encouraged to put their feelings down in writing.

We had recently moved into McMicken Heights in the mid 40's. I decided to join the the volunteer fire fighters. They had one shiny new engine. The new station was built on SW 170th across the street from Herron's grocery store. Third son Tim (6) would raid my pennies jar to purchase Bazooka bubble gum by the pocketful at Herron's. I could never figure out why he needed some much dental work when he was ten.

McMicken elementary school was only about five blocks from our two bedroom bungalow. Sons Mike and Ken were two of the school's first students. They got a kick out of sitting in the driver's seat of the truck making siren sounds when they came by the station. Ken was destined to become a fireman. I know because I changed his diapers a few times. The kid could spray.

There was very little training in fighting fires for rookies so we just watched what several old timers did and aimed the big hoses at the flames till the fire died. We then hung the hoses up when we got back to the station. We had to climb like monkeys up the ladder in the drying tower to let the woven fabric hoses dry out.

UPDATE 10/18: The man detectives believe responsible for at least 5 indecent exposure incidents was arrested at his residence in Kenmore this morning at approximately 1:00 a.m. During the course of their investigation, detectives discovered that the suspect had been at Westlake Park, participating in Occupy Wall Street. Flyers of the suspect was circulated to officers and the public at the event.

The suspect was booked into King County Jail this morning for Investigation of Indecent Exposure.

Previous article:

Detectives seek public’s assistance in locating an exposer

Seattle Police detectives are seeking the public's assistance in locating a man who has on at least five different occasions between September 29, 2011 and October 3, 2011, exposed himself to several children. Three of these incidents occurred in North Seattle, one on Capitol Hill, and one in West Seattle. The description of the suspect and vehicle descriptions are very similar in these incidents.

The West Seattle Herald was alerted to the sudden death of a well known West Seattle resident on Saturday Oct. 8 but since we did not know the status of notification of next of kin we did not publish that information. Today a family friend, Paul Ricard has shared this information regarding Ed Kingston and the memorial fund that has now been set up in his name.

On Saturday, October 8, Ed Kingston died suddenly doing what he loved: spending time with his young son on a soccer field. The West Seattle community is reeling from the loss. He was a great husband, father, friend, teacher, and coach.

Many of you have been asking how you can help support his wife, Laura, and their children during this time. A memorial fund for the family has been set up at Sound Community Bank. The Kingstons will be able to use the fund for all immediate and future expenses. You can contribute online at http://www.edkingston.com/. You can also contribute to the fund at any of the branch locations http://www.soundcb.com/home/cu/loc or through the mail at the bank’s main location:

Sound Community Bank
Attn: Ed Kingston Memorial Fund
2005 5th Ave, Suite 200 Seattle, WA 98121

Drivers and transit users have just 9 days to get ready for a nine-day closure of the State Route 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct so crews can demolish the southern mile of the seismically vulnerable double-deck structure.

SR 99 will close for nine days from 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21, through 5 a.m. Oct. 31. While crews are demolishing the viaduct and completing connections to new SR 99 lanes in SODO, drivers will face daily commutes without one of Seattle’s two crucial north-south freeways.

State Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond asked drivers across the Puget Sound region to plan now to avoid regional gridlock as up to 110,000 daily drivers adjust where and when they travel during the closure.

“It’s time to demolish the southern mile of the viaduct, and that means significant congestion and delays across the region unless drivers plan ahead for this major closure,” Hammond said.

Hammond encouraged commuters and travelers to:

· Take the bus, train, or water taxi to work. Be sure to check if there are changes to your typical route during the viaduct closure and try an alternate route if necessary.

· Carpool and vanpool.

· Ride your bike to work.

Students of the Ballard High School Video Production Program have been named winners in the Teen Division of the 35th Annual Young People's Film & Video Festival for the seventh year in a row.

This competitive regional festival is coordinated by the Northwest Film Center in Portland, Ore. It accepts entries from students in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Alaska.

This year's winners were selected from over 300 entries by a panel of filmmakers and educators. Celebrating originality, freshness, authenticity and conviction in the voices of young filmmakers, the Festival is divided into two sections: a Kids Division of works created by youth K-8, and a Teen Division of works created by teens in grades 9 - 12.

Students Nate Sawtell, Dylan Spence, and Louis Weissman were awarded for their digital film "Safe at Last".

The Festival Winners of the Teen Division will be screened on Saturday, November 19 at 1 p.m. at the Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium, 1219 SW Park, Portland, Ore.