February 2012

On Feb. 18 shortly after 7 p.m. Burien police responded to the call of a person with a gun on the 500 block of S. 150th St. As deputies arrived on the scene a wild scenario played out.

Here are the details from Sgt. Cindi West with the King County Sheriff's Office:

A deputy was traveling S/B on the Des Moines Memorial Dr S area checking for the suspect with the gun. As the deputy was traveling S/B on Des Moines Memorial Dr S he saw a vehicle traveling towards him at a estimated speed of about 60 mph.

He saw the front of the vehicle dip a couple of times indicating to him that the driver was braking, causing the front of the vehicle to dip. He then saw the vehicle aggressively swerve form the N/B lane of travel into the S/B lane of travel. The vehicle continued traveling towards the deputy in the S/B lane of travel. Deputy swerved into the N/B lane of travel and the truck again swerved sharply off the shoulder of the road and started traveling straight towards a light pole. The truck suddenly accelerated and collided with the light pole.

A Seatac homeowner shot an intruder in self defense on the evening of Feb. 21, according to Sgt. Cindi West with the King County Sheriff's Office.

Around 6:30 p.m. a man living on the 3700 block of S. 191st St. heard a knock at his door followed by ringing of the doorbell. The man decided not to answer the door and shortly after heard the slider breaking on his back door, West said.

The man was in his upstairs bedroom and armed himself with a handgun while calling 911. One intruder came into the home and headed upstairs. The homeowner fired his weapon once and struck the suspect in the head.

The male suspect is in stable condition at Harborview as of Feb. 22, according to West.

West said one additional suspect fled the scene. A suspect description was not available.

This story will be updated as more information comes in.

Three Ballard gymnasts competed at the State Championships over the weekend.

Coach Stephanie Gundel said there were some rough spots but overall the championships was a good experience for the student athletes.

"Freshman Lauren Lee had a very good and consistent meet, competing well on vault, bars and beam. Her highest placement came on bars where she was 28th. While Laila Lee had a bit of trouble on bars, she had her best beam routine of the year. Although senior Maria Volk didn't have her best floor routine she did well on vault to finish a great Ballard gymnastics career," said Gundel. "Looking forward to next season." already

Scores:

Vault
Maria Volk 8.75
Lauren Lee 8.55

Bars
Lauren Lee 8.15
Laila Lee 6.625

Beam
Lauren Lee 8.5
Laila Lee 8.45

Floor
Maria Volk 7.9

Mayor Mike McGinn delivered his third State of the City Address in City Council Chambers on February 21 as is mandated by the City Charter. The 2012 State of the City Address focused on Seattle's economic recovery from the longest, deepest recession since the Great Depression, implementation of the overwhelmingly approved and enhanced Families and Education Levy, and recent city efforts to protect public safety in our neighborhoods.

Text of the speech, as written, is available on the mayor's blog. And a video of the speech, archived by Seattle Channel, is available at seattle.gov/media.

In Africa villagers sometimes pull up silver or gemstones when drawing water from the river. I had the same feeling of unexpectedly finding something precious when I went to the third floor of the Ballard Building to ask Jamie Jockwig about a trip to Africa advertised in the office space he shares with jeweler George Smith.

Though Phil’s Jewelry is no longer a storefront on Market Street, owner George Smith still plies his trade upstairs. I had previously met Jamie when picking up a jewelry repair; he sticks his head out if George isn’t there. I just thought he was another jeweler.

Jamie Jockwig could more accurately be described as a man on a mission. Not only does he have a plan to improve the lives of children in Africa, he wants to change the entire jewelry industry, and until a few years ago he wasn’t even trained as a jeweler.

An only child raised in Michigan, Jamie had been around the world 23 times by age twenty-eight. He led service teams for a faith-based organization in many different countries, always asking of himself, where did he most want to get involved? It was Africa that caught him.

By Shane Harms

Last night’s visiting lecture series held at the Swedish hospital in Ballard was sweetened with cake and coffee in honor of the Norwegian King Harald V’s 75th birthday.

The visiting lecture series, presented by the Norwegian American Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, The Ballard Chamber of Commerce. and the Consul of Norway, presented researcher Willy Østreng and renowned polar explorer Liv Arnesen from the Thor Heyerdahl Institute of Norway.

Willy Østreng provided details in the potential for shipping routes through the Arctic Ocean as the polar ice caps melt, and Liv Arnesen told the story and success of her life long dream of skiing across the Antarctic continent.

Portia, a Portugese Water Dog (just like the President's dog,, lives with Marcie Kindinger and her husband Jerry and is six years old.

The Kindingers got Portia in Abbotsford B.C.

"We have some friends who have two dogs from her breeder, so I was familiar with the breeder and she was going to be their show dog but for financial reasons they had to let her go," Kindinger explained.

"She's my very best friend ever," she said and described Portia's personality as,"Mischevious. She's always thinking of something to do like stealing socks, unpacking your luggage when you're trying to pack, stealing everything that she can possible steal."

Her diet is very simple kibble but does enjoy pumpkin treats for a snack.

She loves the water, "but she can't swim very well. In fact she's kind of allergic to the beach. We live on the beach which is why we got a water dog. She gets hives."

Portia is a people dog, preferring the company of her owners over other dogs by far. "She never leaves my side," said Kindinger.

press release:
For only the second time in its 74 year history, the Seattle-King County First Citizen Award will be presented to an organization.

Rotary International District 5030, which encompasses 53 clubs stretching from Mill Creek to Enumclaw, will be honored at a civic banquet on June 13 in Seattle. Collectively, the clubs in the district have approximately 3,200 members.

The only other organization to be honored with the First Citizen award was Children’s Orthopedic Hospital (now Seattle Children’s) in 1944.

press release:
The Fauntleroy Expressway (at the west end of the West Seattle Bridge) will be closed tonight, February 21, as previously announced. The schedule for the rest of the week will depend on work progress. The contractor expects this will be the final week of nighttime closures. The same detours as last week will be in effect tonight:

Westbound motorists traveling to West Seattle via the West Seattle Bridge will be directed to use the Delridge Way SW off-ramp.

Eastbound motorists on Fauntleroy Way SW will be detoured at 35th Avenue SW and will be directed to the West Seattle Bridge via SW Genesee Street and Delridge Way SW.

For more information on the Fauntleroy Expressway and a map of the detour, visit SDOT’s project Web site, http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/bridge_rehab_fauntleroy.htm .

The Wolverines bowed out of the West Central District Class 2A tournament with a pair of losses over the weekend.

They were eliminated from contention with a 60-52 loss to Port Angeles this past Saturday after losing their opener to Seamount League rival Lindbergh Thursday, 54-31.

Evergreen came into the tournament as the No. 2 seed and was hoping to break through to this coming Friday's state regionals.