August 2012

UPDATE, Aug 15: Application for dinner reservations has been extended through Saturday, Aug. 18. All proceeds go toward Ballard High School's athletics and music programs. Register here.

Life-time Ballard resident and the man who taught Ballard how to drive, Mick McDonald, will be the guest of honor at the 12th Annual Ballard High School Foundation "Golf Classic Dinner of Champions."

The Golf Classic Dinner of Champions, held on Monday, Aug. 20, is a golf tournament and dinner held by the BHS Foundation to help raise money for athletics and music -- both of which are programs constantly being cut and slimmed down in school budgets everywhere.

There are varying levels of dinner reservations that can be made for the dinner, from $75 to $150 per person. Reservations must be made by Monday, Aug. 13. Most slots for the golf tournament are full, but it doesn't hurt to ask in case someone drops out.

The West Seattle arts organization, The West, wanted a party for their followup to their notable debut in February and they got it with a powerful rock show at the Benbow Room in the Heartland Cafe. The event was an "After Party" following the monthly West Seattle Artwalk and it featured Brent Amaker as host and Troy Nelson of the Young Evils as the DJay for the evening.

Live music came from Hobosexual, power duo that amid massive plumes of stage smoke, blasted the crowd of over 100 people with crunching guitar and crushing drums. Their set was followed up by Grizzled Mighty, another duo whose blues infused rock got the room pumping.

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Metro driver Jae Williamson saved the life of a man choking on a piece of chicken on his bus, the Route 131 line, at 1st Ave. S. near SW 116th St. This occurred two Thursdays ago, July 27, at about 10:30 p.m., when he successfully performed the Heimlich maneuver.

Williamson, 43, acknowledged he performed a less effective maneuver the following Thursday as he rolled over a bees' nest while mowing his Kent lawn. He is now home, resting in a cast.

Here is how his life-saving heroics went down.

"I was driving the bus and heard a noise behind me," he recalled. "I looked in my mirror and saw this guy standing up, making loud gagging noises. He was skinny, probably about 50. I pulled the bus over, stopped, and asked him, 'Are you having a heart attack?' I noticed he was eating and then I could tell he was choking and I got behind him and made a fist."

He then performed the Heimlich maneuver.

"I'd never done it on a person," he said. "I'd done it on those dummies.

Seattle Public Utilities is placing robo-calls to Seattle recycling customers whose pickup day is Tuesday with the announcement that a special one time pickup is set for Saturday Aug. 11.

The call states:

"Please follow these instructions. There will be a special Saturday recycling pick up for last Tuesdays, July 31st recycling customers. Please place recycle carts and any overflow recyclables at the curb, before 7 a.m. this Saturday Aug. 11.

We apologize for the disruption to your service and we thank you for your patience."

The Admiral District Merchants, whose annual Halloween and Christmas events are always well attended are offering something new this coming weekend. It's a Flea Market, meaning a sale featuring odds and ends of merchandise, all at excellent prices as they clean out their inventory (and closets) as head of merchants organization Parris Saddow put it, "Gypsy Style" on the sidewalks in front of their businesses.

The sale is only for a limited time, from 10am to 2pm and you'll see individual participating merchants with their items set up outside.

You can follow the Admiral District Merchants on Facebook here.

The local West Seattle arts organization The West whose first party at the Eagles was, by any standard a notable event is back and this time they are behind the first After Party following the West Seattle Artwalk tonight Aug. 9.

The party starts at 9pm at the Benbow Room/Heartland Cafe at 4210 SW Admiral Way. There's paid parking in the lot under Bartell Drugs.

Free tickets are available at all participating artwalk venues or it's $5 at the door. There is limited seating so get your tickets early.

Live music will be from The Grizzled Mighty and Hobosexual. The party is hosted by Brent Amaker and DJ Troy Nelson.

Also part of the event is a special presentation of rock photography by Lance Mercer.

The 120 unit apartment building that the West Seattle Herald told you about this past winter is seeing the demolition of the homes on the site today, Aug. 9,

The $13 million project is backed by developer David Meissner and designed by Nicholson Kovalchick Architects, a West Seattle company located above Easy Street Records in the Junction.

Four residential are being demolished and the H-shaped, residential-only complex will take their place.

NK Architects project manager Steve Fischer said a guiding principle in the design was to take advantage of the views, with north-facing, south-facing and rooftop terraces.

“We are taking advantage of the views towards downtown Seattle and Mt. Rainier and the golf course and football stadium,” he said.

A new development is being planned for the block at 6401 32nd Ave NW, where the Sunset Hill Green Market and two other businesses currently reside.

If the application is accepted, the new building will be a three-story structure with 18 residential units, 5,000 square feet of retail, and 18 spots for parking below ground level, according to the Department of Planning and Development's Land Use Information Bulletin. The current structure is two stories.

The development is being planned by Johnston Architects, PLLC, and property owner Bill Parks, who are also planning the development on NW 64th St and 24th Ave NW, the site of The Viking and 2 and 1/2 Happy Barbers.

Parks bought the property back in 2007, but waited until the market stabilized and until conditions were better before starting the process for development. Parks plans to have Sunset Hill Green Market stay in its current location, with another branch opening up in his development on NW 64th St and 24th Ave NW.

Press release:

Burien Little Theatre announces auditions for the comedy Dead Man’s Cell Phone, written by Sarah Ruhl.

The producer is seeking actors to portray two male characters 30s to 50s and four female characters late 20s to 70s. Actors of all ethnicities are encouraged to audition.
Synopsis: Jean is sleepwalking through her life until she answers a dead stranger’s cell phone. It turns out to be a wake-up call that sends her on a date with the dead man's brother, a drinking binge with his wife, a mysterious rendezvous with his mistress, and a trip to the afterlife and back.

This film noir-tinged surreal comedy by playwright Sarah Ruhl, Pulitzer-Prize finalist for her play The Clean House, traces one woman's accidental quest to make a few people feel a little bit better about themselves.

Dead Man’s Cell Phone is also about how we memorialize the dead and how that remembering changes us, and the odyssey of a woman forced to confront her own assumptions about morality, redemption, and the need to connect in a technologically obsessed world.

Press release:

The Seahawks exhibition season gets underway this weekend, and Sea-Tac Airport is reminding fans to save money, traffic frustration and emissions with its half-price game day parking offer.

Fans can save 50% off Terminal Direct parking rates in the airport’s ParkSmart garage, with easy connection with Link Light Rail to the stadium district for game days on all Friday through Sunday Seahawk, Sounder, Husky, Cougar and Mariner games.

[Remember, University of Washington football plays in CenturyLink Field this year during their stadium renovation and Washington State University hosts the University of Oregon at CenturyLink Field for their annual westside game.]



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