September 2012

Press release:

The Global Connections High School Wind Ensemble has been invited to participate in the 2013 Presidential Inauguration Music Festival in Washington D.C. and attend the Presidential Inauguration Ceremony.

Global Connections is located on the Tyee campus in SeaTac.

The Global Connections band is one of only four in the country invited to participate with no audition, by recommendation of a national adjudicator.

“Some of our students have never been out of this community. This is an opportunity they never imagined possible,” said Principal Rick Harwood. “Many are children of immigrants who came to America for a better life. To be able to participate in one of the most significant events in American society is huge.”

Nearly eight out of ten Global Connections students live in poverty. The 37 students in the wind ensemble must raise $60,000 in order to make the trip.

Press release from the American Cancer Society

The Relay Train is coming to your neighborhood here in West Seattle! Are you on board? Right now, the local American Cancer Society signature fundraising event is looking for committee members to help organize the 2013 Relay For Life. With just over nine months left before the Relay, the committee has a place for everyone.

Positions available include:

 Sponsorship Chair: Get local businesses involved in this community-based event.
 Luminaria Chair: Deliver the message of Relay – “Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back.” Help develop and run this moving, candlelit evening ceremony remembering those we have lost to cancer, and those who are fighting the battle right now.
 Online Chair: Manage the online fundraising arm of the American Cancer Society’s most successful event!
 Publicity Chair: Spread the Relay word around the community!
 Many more!

This year’s Relay For Life of West Seattle will take place overnight in June (date TBD) at West Seattle Stadium.

Seattle Department of Transportation paving crews will be making driving on Beach Drive s.w. much more pleasant next week. The washboard effect of the road goes back a long time and is caused by water runoff and the freezing and thawing over time.

Crews plan to grind and pave the roadway from Atlas Place s.w. to s.w. Juneau Street on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 18 and 19 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day, if weather permits.

During the work all sidewalks and crossings will remain open. You can still get through since a single travel lane will be shared by both directions of traffic. Flaggers will be assisting drivers through the area.

Earlier this year SDOT crews repaved an area of Beach Drive to the south of the current area. The section of Beach Drive between the two repaved areas will be repaved once work is completed to stabilize the slope.

The current work on Beach Drive SW is part of the annual paving program funded by the Bridging the Gap transportation initiative approved by Seattle voters in 2006.

The replacement of Arbor Heights Elementary, by 2019, the reopening and upgrades of Fairmount Park Elementary School by 2014, and the replacement of the existing Genesee Hill building at Schmitz Park Elementary with a new and expanded facility on the Genesee Hill site then the relocation of Schmitz Park to the new facility by 2015, are all part of the latest round of Building Excellence levies coming up in February. This one, called BEX IV will be the subject of a public meeting at Madison Middle School, Monday, Sept. 24, from 6:30- 8 p.m.

In a letter to the community, new Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Jose Banda and Pegi McEvoy Assistant Superintendent for operations detailed the proposed changes and upgrades that the new levy would make possible.

"Dear Seattle Public Schools families, staff and community:

We opened our doors to about 49,500 students last week and had a great start to our 2012-13 school year. We spent time in several schools and it was wonderful to see our students already engaged in learning.

Seattle Public Schools is growing!

The Seattle City Council approved “emergency” legislation on Sept. 10 that puts new controls on small, residential lot development in Seattle.

The target is a fairly common sight in West Seattle – a row of modest, single level homes on small single family lots lining a block with one exception – the modern house that reaches far higher than the rest, often times to procure a view of the Sound (at least on the west side) and maximize living space.

Mayor Mike McGinn’s office, in a press release, wrote “While the City has generally been supportive of urban infill development, some single family development approved under current lot size exceptions has resulted in structures that are out of character with surrounding conditions and inconsistent with the policy intent of infill development.”

The emergency legislation gives the City time to analyze and debate permanent standard changes moving forward.

The interim measure does three things:

- Limit the height of development on lots less than 3750 square feet to 22 feet.

Despite news from Boys & Girls Club of King County Board of Directors Chair Brad Thoreson, community members are still protesting the decision to the transfer of Mark Hendricks, who has been the executive director of the Ballard Boys & Girls Club for 25 years.

Using Change.org, organizers have created an online petition asking to reinstate Hendricks as the executive director of the Ballard Boys & Girls Club. It has 201 supporters so far.

Comments have been generally positive with light critiques of the decision. David Folweiler wrote the following on the petition:

It was the kind of bank robbery that you see in movies and television.

Just before 3 p.m. yesterday, the suspect pictured above walked into the U.S. Bank on NW 61st St and 15th Ave NW and told everyone to get on the ground, according to the SPD Blotter. He implied he had a gun, demanded money from the bank employees and fled in a two-door black Porsche 944 Turbo Hatchback.

The police are still investigating the matter and are looking for the robber. He was described as a white or Asian male, about 30, 5'8" to 5'10", with a medium build and wearing black jacket, jeans, face covering and sunglasses.

Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI – Seattle Safe Streets Task Force at (206) 622-0460.

Aiden Behar pounced on a fumble in the end zone to complete a 14-yard touchdown play as Chief Sealth pulled out a 26-20 win over Evergreen Friday, Aug. 31.

It was the non-league season opener for both of the two close neighbors, as Chief Sealth of West Seattle plays in the Metro League and Evergreen of White Center in the Seamount League.

"It felt good, man," said Seahawks head coach Luther Carr III of the win. "It's good that we came out in our first game at our new school and won. I'm just happy we won."

The touchdown with 3:56 to play in the fourth quarter broke a 20-20 tie, and even though the Seahawks fumbled away a two-point conversion attempt it proved to be the winning margin.

Chief Sealth also opened the scoring in the game.

LeeAndre Dickerson snagged a 10-yard touchdown pass from Maxwell Sarver to make it 6-0 with 7:27 to play in the first quarter and a run for a two-point failed to keep it there.

The Wolverines of Evergreen took a 7-6 lead with 1:34 to play in the first quarter. Kenny Dang scored a 3-yard touchdown and Dickerson kicked the extra point.

A shout out to Benjamin Lennon and Julian Powell, two Ballard High School students who are now semifinalists in the 2013 National Merit Scholarships program.

They are two of 23 students selected from the Seattle Public Schools program to compete with 16,000 other students nationwide. There are only $8,300 scholarships to win, totaling more than $32 million, meaning that our duo Lennon and Powell will have to turn up the brainiac level to maximum.

To take it to the next level (about 90 percent of semi-finalists are expected to become finalists), the two will have to be endorsed by a high school official, write an essay, do well on the SATs, show leadership ability and, of course, have an incredible academic record. Among other things.

Shouldn't be too hard. Congrats to Lennon and Powell!

(Editor's note: This story was originally published in the West Seattle Herald, BNT's sister paper.)

Though the sets were close and competitive, the Ballard Beaver girls came out on top all three rounds in their volleyball match with the Sealth Seahawks Monday, Sept. 10. Despite a good effort from the Seahawks, the Beavers beat them 30-28, 25-18 and 25-18.

It could be considered pre-season for volleyball but Monday's non-league matchup between the girls of Ballard and the Chief Sealth Lady Hawks had the feel of a game that counts.

Sealth hung close in every match, with two decided by 2 points, but this is a young team with very little time together and Sealth coach Lorna Considine feels they will gel as the season progresses. “I thought they played well,” Considine said.

Ballard coach Tami Reese had a more pointed view of her team. Even after the win she thought her team “still needs to work on fundamentals.” She did make note of two of her standouts: team captain and Center McKinley Kellog was a “great force” in the middle all game long and Liza Berg had 17 kills.