September 2012

A new season with new beginnings and hope for a championship is what every football player, coach, and fan dreams of. Taking to the field the pent up enthusiasm of a long off season. On a night that felt more like summer than early fall the Wildcats took to the field with smiles on their faces and a stern look in their eyes, but that exuberance was short lived.
At first the game looked to be defensive battle with both teams chewing up the middle of the field. At the 4:36 mark in the first quarter Seattle Prep ran a naked bootleg to the right of the Cat defensive line for a long gain to the Wildcat one yard line and on the next play broke the stalemate with a dive for the score. With the extra point West Seattle found themselves down 7-0.

After back and forth possessions by both teams Blue found their legs when a quick sweep toss took them 46 yards into the Panther end zone for their first score of the night. The Cats attempted a two point conversion but failed to get the ball across the goal line, but with a penalty for holding West Seattle had another chance to tie the game. The extra point went wide right and the west siders had to walk away down by one 7-6.

The North Highline Unincorporated Area Council is staging a Public Safety Forum Sept. 13 featuring the two candidates vying for the job of King County Sheriff.
The event which starts at 7pm at the North Highline Fire Station 1243 112th Street, s.w. near White Center
will give people a chance to hear from each candidate and ask questions.

In a press release the Council described the candidates:

"Steve Strachan - was a police chief, city-council member and state legislator in Minnesota before he became chief in Kent for more than four years. Sheriff Sue Rahr named him chief deputy in January 2011.

John Urquhart - a resident of King County for 54 years, served as a commissioned police officer for over 36 years, the last 24 full-time with the King County Sheriff’s Office."

BJ Myers, King County Sheriff Deputy, White Center Storefront, will provide updates on recent crime trends in the North Highline area and take questions.

According to White Center’s Storefront Deputy BJ Myers, the streets of unincorporated King County and southern West Seattle have gotten a bit safer with the recent arrest of three men who allegedly targeted female victims to snatch jewelry and purses.

Between July 21 and Aug. 14 there were six robberies in downtown White Center and Seattle Police experienced nine nearby with a very similar set of circumstances and suspect descriptions, Myers said.

“These were robberies, not thefts, because some measure of force was used to steal or retain the items,” he said.

On Aug. 15, the KCSO Major Crimes Detectives “were able to identify potential suspects and eventually, with SPD assistance, positively identify a group of four male individuals who had been committing a large share of the robberies in both jurisdictions,” according to Myers.

Three of the four identified suspects are in custody and will be charged with counts of second degree robbery and first degree trafficking of stolen property. The fourth suspect is still on the loose.

Noted Seattle musician Rafe Pearlman played in a unique venue on Friday evening Sept. 7, the bluff side home of Jan Campbell in the Arroyos in West Seattle. The event, was the "2nd Annual Earth Care Concert" put on by the Seattle Unity Church and organized by the Seattle Unity Earth Care Team. The event was intended to raise money for the church's environmental mission and bring home the message about sustainability, awareness, and as hostess Campbell put it to, "tread lightly."

Pearlman who has toured the world offering a blend of spiritual and deeply felt songs was recently in higher profile thanks to an appearance on NBC's America's Got Talent where he appeared in the quarterfinals with musican William Close (see that performance here).

After serving the Ballard community for 25 years and becoming an integral part of the community, Ballard Boys and Girls Club Director Mark Hendricks found out that he is shipping off to Federal Way.

On Wednesday, an email was sent out to staff saying that Hendricks would be leaving in 48 hours and that they would see a new director. That new director, in an old-styled switcheroo, will be long-time Federal Way Boys and Girls Club Director Shelley Puariea.

In a phone interview, President/CEO of Boys and Girls Club of King County Calvin Lyons said that the switch was not meant to be a bad thing.

"We want to do what's best for them (kids) across King County," he said. "I’m saying both of the leaders have strengths that can play well where the other players have been."

He did not specify, though, what those strengths were.

A brand new community festival is coming to West Seattle, put on by the Junction Merchants, it's the Harvest Festival, set for Sunday October 28th, 10am - 2pm

Susan Melrose, Junction Merchants Association Manager said, "We are expanding the popular Trick-or-Treat in The Junction into something new for our neighborhood. The Harvest Festival will be an opportunity for West Seattle families to continue the Trick-or-Treat tradition while adding elements that appeal to a broader audience. Most importantly, WE'RE CLOSING THE STREETS!"

The street closure will allow the West Seattle Farmers Market to move out onto California Avenue for the first time. In partnership with the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance, over 40 local farmers will set up to share their goods at the peak of harvest.

The event will include a kids' costume parade followed by Trick-or-Treating between Noon and 2pm.

The Junction is also inviting schools, clubs, non-profits, churches, and even businesses to set up a Harvest Activity tent (art activities or a game). It's free to set up an activity but it must be free for festival goers.

Update, 5:11 p.m., Sept. 10
King County Sheriff's spokeswoman Cindi West has provided updated information:

"Quandra Powell has been picked up on his warrants. We received an anonymous tip today and he was arrested in the Skyway area by King County Sheriff’s Deputies.

"Regarding Trina Curry. She was arrested by Washington County Sheriff’s Office when she tried to keep the officers from taking the baby. According to our detective we will not be pursuing charges here on Trina. The case will be handled by Family Court.

"The baby is in the care of CPS and is doing fine."

Update for Sept. 10
Baby Lillian was found by Washington County Sheriff's deputies in Aloha, OR after receiving a tip that the baby and her mother, Trina P. Curry, were staying at a relative's home there.

Original post on Sept. 7
King County Sheriff’s Detectives are asking for the public’s help locating a 7-week-old baby girl that is believed to be endangered.

A few hundred people showed up at Milepost 31 – the information center in Pioneer Square for the SR 99 Tunnel project – on the evening of Sept. 6 to take a guided tour from the Washington State Department of Transportation, and were rewarded with a close up glimpse of the work zone and many facts.

Attendees were led on a free mile-long walk to the west of the work zone where crews are currently digging an 80 foot deep “launch pit” from where the world’s largest tunnel-boring machine will launch in 2013. Towering cranes and massive drilling rigs were hard at work in preparation for the machine’s arrival from Osaka, Japan where it is being built.

The goal of the $3 billion project is to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct by building a tunnel under downtown Seattle’s waterfront section, connecting the new SR 99, south of downtown, to Aurora Ave. in the north and opening it up for traffic in 2015. According to WSDOT, the advantages will be a safer, “seismically sound replacement for the viaduct” and the freeing up of precious land on Seattle’s waterfront for future development.

High school girls varsity soccer is under way, marked by an early matchup between cross-town rivals West Seattle High School and Chief Sealth International High School on Sept. 6 at the Southwest Athletic Complex.

It was a hard fought match with several scoring chances for both sides as the WSHS Wildcats pulled off the win with a goal from Katie Dulong in the last five minutes to break a 1-1 tie stretching back to the first half.

PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE TO SEE MORE.

Dulong, a freshman forward (nothing new there as coach Kevin Fieser said almost half the team this year are freshman), started out dangerous as well with the first solid scoring chance of the game. She elevated above the crowd for a header from a corner kick two minutes in that was destined for the net before a quick-reacting Sealth player deflected it out for another corner.

Four minutes later, only six into the game, Seahawk midfielder Karla Mejia Fuentes broke free from West Seattle’s back line near the half line, but flubbed her shot to the right as Wildcat goalie Sarah Dulong came out to pressure in the one-on-one.

In the midst of a new tennis season with changed formats, Kennedy Catholic captured a 7-0 Seamount League boys tennis triumph at the heat-absorbed courts of Highline High School on Wednesday, September 5.

After several decades of having boys and girls compete together in spring, league athletic directors decided to stage the boys season in the fall with the girls competing in the spring. Team match ups will now feature four singles encounters and three doubles matches.

At this date, teams are struggling to get players eligible with enough practices while a significant number of schools do not have the numbers to field junior varsity teams.

When the eligibility issues are cleared the Lancers will field a formidable squad with virtually their entire squad intact from last spring.

"We'll have strong boys team," said JFK head coach Maryann Thorp. "Most of last season's team is back."

Waiting in the wings for Lancer eligibility are Jamie Thorp (two-time Class 3A state doubles champion with now-graduated brother Mitch), Vincent Viloria (state 3A singles qualifier) and veteran Sam Harrison.