September 2012

Press release:

The city is conducting a series of informational sessions designed to inform North Highline residents about the upcoming North Highline annexation measure on the Nov. 6 General Election ballot. City officials will be present to answer any questions.

The next information session is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 13, 6 p.m. at Beverly Park Elementary School cafeteria, 1201 S. 104th St. The final information session will be Oct. 18, 6 p.m. at Cascade Middle School cafeteria, 11212 10th Ave. SW.

Only registered voters in the proposed annexation area will vote on whether to become part of the City of Burien.

The proposed annexation area includes the unincorporated remainder of North Highline, which takes in White Center, Top Hat, Beverly Park, Glendale, and portions of Boulevard Park, Riverton Heights and Shorewood.

If approved by voters, the annexation would likely take effect in spring 2013. Burien annexed the southern section of North Highline in 2010.

Information from Highline Public Schools

More Highline Kindergarteners will learn a second language at school starting next fall. Highline will open new dual language programs at White Center Heights and Madrona elementary schools. Each school will have two dual-language Kindergarten classes starting in fall 2013.

Madrona will offer Spanish immersion. At White Center Heights, there will be one Vietnamese immersion and one Spanish immersion class. Half of the students in each program are native English speakers and half are native speakers of the other language. Students spend 50 percent of every day learning in English and the other 50% learning in the second language.

Each year, the schools will add a grade level as students progress through each grade and new Kindergarteners enter the program every fall.

Hilltop and Mount View elementary schools were the first two schools in the district to offer Spanish dual language programs. The first cohort at Hilltop will enter 7th grade in 2015. Highline plans to expand dual language to middle school at that time.

Ever since it opened up in Ballard back in 2005, the Tuscan-inspired upscale restaurant Volterra has seen a lot of success. So much success, that Ballard is going to have to share its rich foodie spoils with a second location, Kirkland.

Today, Volterra announced that the popular restaurant will be expanding. The Kirkland location will offer a more "modern and sophisticated" offshoot to the original and will feature art from local artists, including for drawings by Dale Chihuly and a Murano glass and Swarovski crystal chandelier in the entryway (how's that for sophisticated?).

The restaurant is the brainchild of Chef Don Curtiss, who delivers customer favorites such as Oil Soup (named one of Seattle's Legendary dishes by Seattle Met), Wild Board Tenderloin with Gorgonzola Mustard Sauce (Rachel Ray's all-time favorite), Fontina filled Polenta Custard with Wild Mushroom and Truffle Rague, and 16 oz free range Veal Chop.

UPDATE: The exhibition has been extended through Sept. 23. It can be viewed Mon-Fri, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., or by appointment.

There’s something strangely poetic in viewing a contemporary art exhibit featuring artists with completely different and, at first look, unrelated styles and themes.

The Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA) in Ballard is currently featuring “Organic Painting,” an exhibition made up of work by two Pacific NW painters, Dick Matthies and James Weed.

“At first glance the two appear to be apples and oranges ... when you look closer you see similarities, and that was my goal in juxtaposing the two,” said Joseph Roberts, curator and board member of CoCA.

And indeed, when perusing the gallery, there comes forth a stark contrast, between Matthies’ touching on an innovative, economical and airy style with roots in traditional Japanese watercolor style and themes; and Weed’s strikingly vibrant colors and dark thematic undertones that comment on western culture and values.

At seventy years old, Matthies, once a Seattle contractor by trade, lives in Arlington, WA with his wife, Laura.

By Joshua McNichols, author of the Urban Farm Handbook

We have our priests, too, we foodies. The Greg Atkinsons, the Tamara Murphys. They inspire our pallets with their sermons on a plate. They give the local food movement a moral backbone. We make pilgrimages to their restaurants.

But am I going to invite a priest over to my house? No. Because deep in my heart, I am a sinner. I proudly tell my friends I see no need for salvation. But secretly I fear what Greg would think if he could look in my refrigerator.

He'd see overly-sweetened yogurts, which I use to bulk up my kid's lunches in a pinch. He'd see sweetened peanut butter, because my son rejects all other kinds. And in the freezer, my son's favorite meal. It steams faintly in autumn light like a smoking gun: a frozen pizza. You'd think I'd given up on him already, this finicky seven-year-old teenager of mine.

But not quite yet. A sudden inspiration hits me at a late dinner, which we've had to push until just before the kids' bedtimes due to soccer practice. I offer a twisted display of manliness that awakens his curiosity.

By Isabella Fuentes

Yesterday, the 5th day of Spetember and the penultimate day of the Democratic National Convention, was a masterclass in democratic rhetoric by (who else?) the masters of democratic rhetoric.

Chris Van Hollen, John Hickenlooper, our very own Patty Murray, and other powerful Democrats provided strong arguments for the reelection of Barack Obama. As soon as the convention officially started at 5 the party began and it didn't stop until (spoiler alert!) Barack Obama walked off the stage at 11:30 p.m.

From the Seattle Police Blotter

Written by Detective Jeff Kappel on September 6, 2012

A mentally ill man remains in the hospital after two prior police contacts and hospitalizations within the last 24 hours.

At approximately 2:41 a.m. on Wednesday, September 5th officers responded to a 911 call at a 7-11 convenience store at 35th Avenue SW and SW Avalon Street for a disturbance involving a male suspect tearing up the inside of the store. Officers arrived on scene and contacted an adult male suspect who was in a highly excited state and was subsequently transported to an area hospital for treatment. The store was closed down for four to six hours in order to clean up the mess created by the suspect inside the store.

Like the haunted Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film, "The Shining", the historic Everett Theater plays a starring role in a movie in production, "Ghostlight". But, unlike the mythical Inn, the 1901 theater, formerly the Everett Opera House, may actually host some spooky guests too stubborn to leave.

That, according to many of the independent film's cast and crew, some from West Seattle, White Center, and Burien. Believers include the film's stars, West Seattle's Lisa Coronado, and Brian Sutherland, who also starred in the short, "All My Presidents", shot, in part, in North Admiral, produced by Coronado and West Seattle's Alder Sherwood.

Like the haunted Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film, "The Shining", the historic Everett Theater plays a starring role in a movie in production, "Ghostlight". But, unlike the mythical Inn, the 1901 theater, formerly the Everett Opera House, may actually host some spooky guests too stubborn to leave.

That, according to many of the independent film's cast and crew, some from West Seattle, White Center, and Burien. Believers include the film's stars, West Seattle's Lisa Coronado, and Brian Sutherland, who also starred in the short, "All My Presidents", shot, in part, in North Admiral, produced by Coronado and West Seattle's Alder Sherwood.

The 5th Annual West Seattle Car Show returns to the junction on Sunday September 16th from 8am to 4pm.

Classic cars, motorcycles, and trucks will line the streets, many with information displays and their proud owners on hand to answer questions.

There will be music, trophies and a raffle to win a $350 Weber gas grill. Proceeds will benefit the West Seattle Rotary Club's Pencil Me In for Kids.

Call 206-619-7664 for more information.

The West Seattle Junction Car Show is is staged on California Ave SW & SW Alaska Streets in the West Seattle Junction.