February 2012

DeAndre Coulter of West Seattle High School was awarded the "Scholar Athlete of the Week" by the Davis Law Group. DeAndre has been a leader in the West Seattle program for the past three years averaging 11 points per game. He was also recently recognized with the All-Metro Honorable Mention. He is a two year basketball team captain whose cumulative GPA is 3.3,

Aside from his basketball achievements, DeAndre is also involved in many leadership programs in school. Coulter is a member of Diversity Club, Link Crew and writes for the high school newspaper. He is also involved with the National Young Leaders Conference, and was one of four high school students in Washington State to earn a trip to Washington DC and go to the House of Representatives.

“He posses great leadership skills and is an excellent role model to his two younger brothers and his community,” West Seattle High School basketball coach Josh Martinez said.

Seattle Parks and Recreation is looking for candidates for the 2012 Seattle Volunteer Naturalist program. The perfect candidates for the program are people who love sharing nature with others and would like to learn more about the flora and fauna of Seattle’s many public green spaces and parks.

As a volunteer naturalists, people will participate in 10 weeks of training and commit to providing 12 programs a year at Environmental Learning Centers and in parklands near schools throughout Seattle.

Volunteer naturalists provide hands-on learning opportunities for school groups and nature programs for families and adults at Discovery Stations, destination locations throughout parks that present visitors with a theme and natural objects that help them discover their backyard parks.

Taproot Theatre kicks off their 2012 season with Molière’s hilariously clever satire, Tartuffe.

Moliere’s comic masterpiece brings us a con artist extraordinaire who oozes piety and charm. Will Tartuffe’s hypocrisy be discovered before Organ’s household is turned on its head?

The play features lightning-quick wit, star-crossed lovers, a badgering grandma and a plot that could be ripped from today’s headlines.

“The more I read it, the more modern it feels,” said Taproot's Associate Artistic Director, Karen Lund, who directs Tartuffe.

Lund hopes the audience will, “take a kernel of truth about life” while falling in love with the stylized absurdity that comes to life on stage through various forms of comedy—the hilarity of physical slapstick to Richard Wilbur’s smart translation of Molière’s play on words.

Wilbur’s stays true to Molière’s rhyming verse by writing the entire play in rhyming couplets.

After winning last year's Battle of the Bards, Don Fleming's comic adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" will be featured at the Ballard Underground.

Titled Freak Storm, the play surrounds the story of a powerful and corrupt scientist, Dr. Benedict Karybduff, who returns to the Cascade Mountains to investigate the causes of the disruptions in his research on using volcanoes as an energy source.

A mysterious figure awaits him in a secret base, ready to wreak revenge on her enemies and usher in a new, environmentally-sensitive and sustainable age.

Freak Storm is written by Don Fleming and directed by Lisa Anne Glomb, and features the work of Jillian Boshart, Chris Davis, Brian Eagen, Linnea Emigh, Joey Fechtel, Jocelyn Fowler, Gordon Hendrickson, Allison Irvine, James Lyle, Mok Moser, Madeline Nutting, Sarah Rose Nottingham, Emily Veling and Dan Yost.

The play opens February 24th and runs until March 11 at the Ballard Underground, 2220 NW Market St.

Tickets are $15 general, $12 student/senior/tps and are available at Brown Paper Tickets.

By Kyle Howard

Chief Sealth and West Seattle met Wednesday night for a metro league sound division battle.

Chief Sealth proved to be a little too much to handle as they beat West Seattle for the second time this season 55-39.

Full story to follow in an update.

On Wednesday evening, the Washington State Senate voted in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage legislation in Washington State. The measure passed by a bipartisan vote of 28-21, with 23 Democrats and four Republicans joining together to advance the bill.

"This is an historic vote for the Legislature and for the people of Washington state," said King County Executive Dow Constantine. "More than a decade ago, I stood to fight against the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act.” Today the Senate has righted a wrong and has placed itself on the right side of history."

"All adult residents should and soon will be able to marry under state law—making Washington the seventh U.S. state to recognize this basic civil right," Constantine continued. "I salute the many supporters of this legislation and the Senators who took a tough vote to do the right thing."

Civil rights activists cheered as the measure passed in Olympia.

Putting on a parade is not easy or cheap and the annual West Seattle Parade every July is no exception. The event requires some 522 "No Parking" signs, a huge number of barricades, to cover 4 and 1/2 miles of parade route, adjoining streets, and the bypass routes. Those barricades and signs must be placed, and then verified by the city all at a cost.

The West Seattle American Legion Grand Parade is set for Saturday, July 21, 2012. The parade organizers are asking the West Seattle community to raise funds to help them put the parade on. They are trying to raise $5,000 this year to cover the expenses of putting up the street barricades, city permits and trophies for the winning entries.

Donations can be sent to the West Seattle American Legion Post 160, 3618 SW Alaska St, Seattle, WA 98126 (206) 935-9407
or
online at the parade website http://thewestseattleparade.com/

Unified Outreach a charity that provides arts programs to students will be producing the 2012 festival of animation; 10 cartoon, animation, and video shorts set to the music of local artists and featured in a 2 hour big screen presentation at the Historic Admiral Theater in West Seattle later this year.

You can see a sample some animation in the video.

Unified Outreach is a 501c3 recognized charity that provides unique arts programs to schools, community centers, transitional housing facilities, youth shelters, and churches interested in providing industry level instruction to children in under-served neighborhoods of Greater Seattle.

Their mission is to assist at-risk, inner city, disabled, and underserved youth with personal growth and character building using the Arts for informational outreach and the promotion of positive self esteem.

In addition to free classes and workshops Unified Outreach also presents a community showcase once each year allowing youth to conceive, plan, and execute a unique industry-level production of their choosing.

UPDATE 7:25pm-
The investigation is continuing, and most equipment has left the scene but traffic now getting through. Engine 26 is still at the scene.

Original Post-
A full Seattle Fire response was issued shortly after 5 p.m. on Feb. 1 to a single home fire on the 5600 block of Fauntleroy Way S.W.

The incident commander on scene said it was a kitchen fire that was quickly extinguished.

No injuries reported and investigators are currently looking into the root cause.

As of 5:30 p.m. traffic is blocked at the 5600 block of Fauntleroy.

Metro asked for public comment last November, on proposed service changes related to the upcoming September launch of the RapidRide C line in West Seattle. King County has taken that feedback and used it as part of a revised service change proposal.

The proposed changes for fall 2012 are as follows:

Proposal

The new RapidRide C Line will connect Westwood Village and downtown Seattle via Fauntleroy, Morgan Junction, and Alaska Junction, replacing Route 54 (current map). Download a map of the C line at the link above.

Link the C Line with the D Line: On Third Avenue, C Line buses will continue as the D line to Uptown, Interbay, and Ballard, and vice versa.
Change from November 2011 suggestion

Keep some peak-hour trips on Route 55 (current map) to downtown Seattle in the morning and to the Admiral District in the afternoon to prevent overcrowding on the C Line.

Reason(s) based on Metro’s Service Guidelines

Take advantage of an investment in service.