November 2011

On Saturday, Nov 26, a variety of short films made by local talent will hit the big screen at the Sunset Hill Community Club for its Third Annual Ballard Film Nite.

The evening will be packed with works by local film makers, some as young as nine years old.

The event will feature shorts by students from Adams School, Whitman Middle School, Ballard High School, Reel Grrls, and Center High School.

Some of the youngest filmmakers are from the Reel Grrls productions. Reel Grrls is an organization that empowers young women, ages 9 to 19, to realize their power, talent and influence through media production. Their films this years surround the subjects of corporate media, an evil toaster, gender norms, feminism, and bicycling safety.

Adams School will be showcasing a film about Penny Harvest titled "Abe Helps Out", and there will be a series of Public Service Announcements made by Whitman Middle School.

With Black Friday upon us and in light of the ongoing Occupy Seattle demonstrations, the Seattle Police Department would like to remind the public that additional police patrols will be in the downtown shopping district to ensure the safety of all.

It is a critical mission for the department to protect people’s rights to demonstrate. This includes providing traffic control and general police services to keep the peace. It is equally important that people feel safe coming downtown to shop, dine or participate in one of the many holiday traditions that Seattle has to offer.

To those wishing to commit crimes, know that your behavior will not be tolerated. Vandalism, theft and assaulting our officers are among the offenses that will result in arrest.

The additional uniformed officers are deployed downtown for everyone’s benefit. Whether your goal is to demonstrate for economic reform or to shop for the holidays, if you see uniformed officers out and about, please take the time to say hello.

Pizzeria 22 in the Admiral District has started a Coats for Kids, Pizza for Parkas coat drive. The restaurant, located at 4213 College Street is across from Blockbuster Video, around the corner from the Yen Wor Village.

Owner Cary Kemp said, "We are accepting new or slightly used coat donations for children ages infant to 18 years of age. Those who donate will receive a coupon good for one free Margherita pizza redeemable at Pizzeria 22, Via Tribunali, and Cornuto Pizzeria. The coats will be donated to the Atlantic Street Center. Our goal is to donate 200 coats for children in need."

By Pat Robinson and David Rosen

People arrived at 4 pm at Target at Westwood Village, to get in line first for the Black Friday bargains that began at Midnight. The first people there were there for a Playstation 3 (it's a replacement for a broken one with the new one on sale for $199), another for an XBox 360, yet another for a large TV and the fourth for a laptop computer.

Target, in previous years had opened in the very early morning hours but in a move to match other large retail outlets this year they began Black Friday at the earliest possible hour.

Paul, Mellisa, Kacie, and Darren, all from the Roxbury/White Center area had bundled up and huddled together to stay warm. They ate their respective Thanksgiving dinners quickly they all reported.

When the doors opened, more than 200 people had lined up in front of the store.

Local stores in West Seattle are offering special products and bargains and you can find them in the list here.

NASA began disassembling the full-size mockup of the space shuttle this week in preparation for shipping it next year to the Museum of Flight in Seattle, scheduled to arrive in June.

The mockup is called the Full Fuselage Trainer, or FFT, and is located at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Used for 30 years, it is made primarily of plywood, and a mostly-complete orbiter mockup (absent its wings) outfitted with flight-quality systems, including an instrumented crew cabin, payload bay lighting, and closed circuit TV.

On April 12 the Museum of Flight announced it will house the trainer in its new state-of-the-art, 15,500-square-foot Space Gallery. The Space Gallery had the potential to house a retired United States space shuttle, but the shuttles will be given to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the California Science Center in Los Angeles, the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

When I was asked to write a preview of the upcoming Apple Cup featuring which team I thought would win, I wasn’t reluctant at all. Sure, I may be a senior at the UW, majoring in journalism with an emphasis in sports. And sure, that may qualify as a conflict of interest to some. Yet I am capable of writing a completely unbiased, purely factual article with a reasonable prediction: Saturday at Century Link Field the Huskies will be all teeth, in what will be a good old-fashioned Cougar cookout.

Ballard hosted the fifth annual Seattle Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning and thousands laced up their running shoes for the 5K run and walk to benefit the Ballard Food Bank.

The fun-run or walk took people from 32nd Avenue NW and NW 85th Street down to Golden Gardens, and participants were cheered on by neighbors along the way.

The event benefited the Ballard Food Bank and last year’s $19,000 in proceeds was the amount to beat.

This year, organizers were hoping for 2,000 participants and by the pre-registration deadline that amount was already met. Adding the people who registered the morning of the race, this year was the biggest Turkey Trot yet.

Nancy McKinney from the Ballard Food Bank said the event exceeding their expectations.

“It was really, really awesome. The turnout was great, the weather was perfect. It’s just a great community event,” McKinney said.

The Seattle Turkey Trot was started five years ago by Ballardites Erin Fortier, Matt Ramme, and John O'Brien.

SLIDESHOW, Click above photo for more

Lee Bui, founder, Vietnamese Cultural Center, in West Seattle, and other members of the Vietnamese community brought 200 meals to the homeless at Nickelsville on Thanksgiving Day and will return Christmas.

Pharmacists offered free flu shots headed by Dr. Rosalie Nguyen, owner, Puget Sound Pharmacy, Tacoma, who donated supplies and service.

Some "Nickelodeons" had gotten motel vouchers for the weekend, and some were invited to private homes, in some cases their relatives' homes, for Thanksgiving.

Quang Adam Nguyen is area VP, National Vietnamese Community. He owns the Speedway Collision Service. "We feel like it's time for us to share and give back. The United States of America gave us the opportunity here as a place to live and now we can share that with others. I came here in 1980 when I was 15. I live in Lynnwood (...) I was homeless, and slept under the bridge in Portland when I attended high school for a short time."

More than 75 men honored a long tradition of playing football on Thanksgiving Day in a game that is far more than just a pick-up game. The Pacific Highway Renegades and The West, two teams comprised of former players from Sealth High School, West Seattle High School, Evergreen High School and a few alums from WSU and elsewhere came to the Southwest Athletic complex on Thistle Street. This game, which for the past 7 years has been played elsewhere had men in their 20's who just love the game show up despite the 40 degree temperature and what became a very chilling rain with wind from the south.

The game was organized via Facebook by Ike 'Realdealholyfield' Leiataua who said that the Renegades play every weekend out at Tyee High School near SeaTac to stay in shape.

CLICK THE PHOTO ABOVE TO SEE MORE

Before the game began, all the players gathered in a group huddle, took a knee and were led in prayer.

With that many players, to make it fair and stay warm every three or four plays, players would shuttle in and out of the game and shout encouragement or taunts from the sidelines.

New Ballard retailer, Beverly’s Daughter, is holding a month-long open house to share their story and products.

Inspired by one woman’s experience caring for her mother throughout the advanced stages of her life, Beverly's Daughter aims to make caring for loved ones in their own homes easier.

The store, located at 1555 NW Market St, is owned by Laura Berry, founder of Soundview Medical Supply of Seattle. Berry launched the store after years of experience searching for products that enabled her ailing mother, Beverly, to live safely, comfortably and independently in her own home.

More than 90 million of the 300 million residents in the United States, are over the age of 50. Many of them, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, live in multigenerational homes. And sooner or later, each will likely require and benefit from the types of products and services offered by Beverly’s Daughter.