February 2012

press release:
Chief Sealth International High School has selected Luther Carr III to be the Seahawks newest head football coach. Carr comes to Chief Sealth with over 18 years of coaching experience, the last 10 in Division I college football.

Most recently, Carr held the position of Wide Receiver Coach at the University of Idaho, and before that served on coaching staffs at both University of Montana and University of Washington. During his time in the college ranks, he has coached and recruited numerous all-league and academic all-American players.

A graduate of Seattle’s Garfield High School, Carr received a football scholarship to Eastern Washington University where he played and graduated. After serving as an assistant coach and teacher at Lewis and Clark High School (Spokane, WA) and Pasco High School, he took over the head coaching responsibilities at his alma mater at the age of 27, leading the Bulldog team from 1998-2001. At Garfield he also taught World History.

Linda Treece thinks it would make her husband sound too old if she updated his website to say that he has been practicing law in Ballard for 49 years, so it stays at “over forty”. In person Tom M. Treece, P.S. looks as though he must have passed the bar exam at age ten to boast almost 50 years as a local attorney. The man may be a Golden Beaver but he just took up horseback riding 12 years ago. And according to his wife, Tom’s mount is “one strong horse.”

A few weeks ago I was told I should talk to Tom, “Because he knows everyone in Ballard.” When I called he asked who I wanted to talk about.

“You,” I told him.

Being the subject was not as comfortable for him as recalling fellow Ballard High School graduates and businesspeople of Ballard dating back to the 50’s and 60’s. Treece is Ballard-born (when the hospital was still in the Eagles building) and he was a BHS Junior already interested in theater when now-legendary Earl Kelly took over the Drama program. After University of Washington law school, Treece first practiced law with two others on Ballard Avenue, just north of the old city hall.

By Shane Harms, Intern.

Ballardite Joshua McNichols may not look like your typical farmer. He has soft features and speaks like an English professor. However, don’t let the looks and academic demeanor fool you, McNichols is a true farmer, and an urban farmer at that.

McNichols recently co-authored a book on the craft called, “The Urban Farm Handbook: City-Slicker Resources for Growing, Raising, Sourcing, Trading, and Preparing What You Eat.”

McNichols is passionate about procuring foods from local sources such as community oriented urban gardens and farms, not from commercial supermarkets.

“That was our target but we ended up doing more – one family meal a day with foods that are completely locally derived ingredients that did not come from the grocery store," McNichols said. “It’s hard to fit it into your schedule all the time but if you do it thirty percent of the time it comes out to one meal a day.”

Through this passion he met the co-author of the book, Annette Cottrell, at a back yard bartering community.

There's a movement underway in urban environments across the nation and led by northwestern city examples it is gaining momentum. Seattle City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw has written about the idea of Neighborhood Greenways, alternative routes for biking and walking that offer safety for those who take them instead of heavily traveled roads.

Greenways facilitate travel between neighborhoods, and to schools, parks, shopping and other destinations. Often they are located on quiet streets parallel to busy arterials, and include traffic calming measures, protected crossings, pocket parks, and other elements that make the route safer and more pleasant for everybody.

The first meeting about Greenways in West Seattle is taking place Sunday, February 19, at Pearl's Coffee 4800 Delridge Way s.w. at 3 pm

Toby, owned by Bevan Annaloro is a "Beagle, Terrier, Chihuahua mix," though he's never been proven to be those breeds through a DNA test. "He has the Beagle coloring, he has the itty-bitty Chihuahua head and he is mostly Terrier in size and shape so I just put it together. That's my own deduction," Annaloro said.

Annaloro got Toby in Hawaii. "I rescued him from a chicken coop on Kaneohe, Hawaii. He was in a chicken coop with a bunch of chickens and he was going to be used as a pig hunting dog. When you pig hunt you need about ten dogs and they clip their ears, and they use the dogs to take down the pigs."

He was referring to the wild or feral pig population in Hawaii where it has become a serious problem.

He paid $50 for Toby when he was three weeks old. That was four years ago.

Two years ago Annaloro moved to Seattle but Toby started to gain weight.

South Seattle Community College President Gary Oertli has shared a letter to the public urging comment and involvement regarding the proposed changes by Metro set to take effect next September. The changes to Route 125 from the college to downtown are a primary concern and his letter urges people to voice their opinion.

TO: SSCC Community

FROM: Gary Oertli, President

RE: Metro Changes

Last November, Metro asked for public comment on suggested service changes related to the September 2012 start of the RapidRide C and D lines. Under those proposed changes, South Seattle Community College and our neighbors would have been severely impacted by revisions to Routes 125 and 128.

press release:
The latest proposals for bus service changes next September reflect community feedback we heard last fall. Now Metro is seeking a second round of input to help shape our final recommendation, which will be submitted to the King County Council later this spring.

Please join us at one of the open houses listed below to learn more and share your thoughts about Metro’s proposals for improving its transit system.

West Seattle
Wednesday, Feb. 15
6-8 p.m.
Madison Middle School
3429 45th Avenue SW

Delridge/White Center
Thursday, Feb. 16
6-8 p.m.
Chief Sealth High School
2600 SW Thistle Street
Can’t make the meeting? Learn more and take our online survey »

What’s in the proposal

Here’s a rundown of some of the revised proposals for West Seattle neighborhoods:

Meeting for the first time at Vietnamese restaurant Pho My Loi just off 106th s.w. the White Center Chamber of Commerce meeting for Feb. 14 the organization took care of the vote for new board members (installation is March 13) and announced some good news about efforts to improve White Center's public image.

A so far anonymous grantor has made available $10,000 for the development of a new website for the community WhiteCenter.com which will be developed by Kathi Wheeler of Noise Without Sound Design. The new site will include a full business directory, possibly coupon offers for local merchants and will be developed over the next few months beginning in March and going live this summer.

Pharin Kong and Sopha Danh of the Cambodian Cultural Alliance spoke about the upcoming New Year Street Festival scheduled for April 28 (10:30 to 5:00) and said they are seeking sponsors to make the festival successful. You can learn more about their efforts at www.camculture.org or by calling Sopha at 206-861-2898. Last years event saw more than 1200 people enjoy food, music and dancing in the middle of White Center celebrating Cambodian culture.

(Editor’s note: the following is a preview for Greg McCorkle’s photography show that will be on display at Proletariat Pizza in White Center as part of White Center’s Art Walk. McCorkle is a freelance photographer who has covered many events – from house fires to snow storms - for the West Seattle Herald/White Center News and Highline Times over the years. Please click the image above for a slideshow preview of his show.)

The specifics
What: WE ARE: Images of the Occupation. Images from Occupy Seattle and Occupy Olympia by Greg McCorkle

When: February 18th to March 16th, 2012 at Proletariat Pizza, 9622-A 16th Ave S.W., White Center. The show officially opens at 6 p.m. on Feb. 18 (along with many more shows that open at White Center businesses on the third Saturday of each month).

The Washington State Dairy Ambassador Shannon Rodeffer brought a three week old calf to Roxhill Elementary school on Valentines Day, Feb, 14 to share with the students the story of dairy’s farm-to-table journey and the benefits of dairy and calcium for children’s growing bodies.

The visit was part of the Washington Grown Harvest of the Month program, designed to engage students in a variety of settings where nutrition education can have the biggest impact -- the classroom, cafeteria and home. Each month, a Washington-grown item will be showcased; in February, the highlight is on dairy products.

The calf, named Polly, is a Jersey cow. "Jersey's are the smallest of the dairy breeds but they have some of the richest milk. It's good for making butter and ice cream," said Rodeffer.

How does a person get to be the Dairy Ambassador? It helps to be very familiar with cows, and Rodeffer is, having raised them and proving with a firm grip that she has experience milking them too.