November 2012

Just in time for Black Friday, the city of Tukwila opened Southcenter Parkway from South 180th Street to South 200th St. on Wednesday, Nov. 21.

Shoppers and commuters driving northbound on I-5 can now use the Orillia Road freeway exit to get to Tukwila’s Southcenter district.

“We are very pleased to be able to open this new five-lane arterial road, which will provide much needed access to Tukwila’s Southcenter District and Westfield Southcenter Mall,” stated Mayor Jim Haggerton. “In addition, this new road opens up development for hundreds of acres of land that will help us meet our goals by attracting thousands of new jobs.”

A formal ribbon cutting ceremony will be held in early December, 2012 and the public will be invited. More details are available on the City’s website at: http://www.tukwilawa.gov/southcenter.html

Mollie, a pure bred Britttany, owned by Deborah and Lance Gooden came from, "a friend of mine at work whose father breeds Brittany's," said Deborah. Mollie is four years old.

"She's got a lot of energy," Deborah said, "and Brittany's are very very loving and need attention constantly, but also extremely active. She's a hunter. She doesn't hunt but she's enthusiastic about all the birds and squirrels and anything that moves."

Throughout our interview with the Gooden's Mollie was wailing, cooing, barking and otherwise vocalizing. "She's a big talker," explained Deborah.

True to her heritage, "When we go on walks," Lance said, "she will dig up a mole hill and try to find the mole."

"She also grabs things like socks or even scissors and runs with them," Deborah offered, "One of the funniest times was when she grabbed a pair of scissors and ran outside. She wants you to chase her. She makes up games."

Highline Public Schools press release:

Highline families have the opportunity to sign up for low-cost broadband service. Of the 8,700 Highline families who are eligible, only 260 have taken advantage of this inexpensive option.

Families with students who qualify for free- or reduced-priced lunch can get low-cost broadband service through Comcast's Internet Essentials program. The program was started last year by Comcast as a federal requirement after Comcast acquired NBC Universal.

Program participants receive:

■Residential Internet service for $9.95 a month plus tax;
■No price increases, no activation fees, or equipment rental fees;
■A voucher to purchase a low-cost computer for $149.99 plus tax;
■Access to free internet training.

Families may visit www.internetessentials.com or call 1-855-846-8376 to determine if they are eligible.

Garbage, recycling and compost collection customers served by CleanScapes in Des Moines may experience a change in collection day during the upcoming holiday season.

CleanScapes operates regularly on all holidays except for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.

If a CleanScapes customer’s regularly scheduled collection day falls on Thanksgiving Day, CleanScapes will collect the material on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

If the regularly scheduled collection day is Friday, the customer’s materials will be collected on Saturday.

Also, with Christmas and New Year’s Day falling on weekdays, all subsequent collections for the rest of the work week will be delayed one day and Friday’s material will be collected on Saturday.

Please visit www.cleanscapes.com for more information about our service schedule.

It’s the time of the year when we pause to give thanks. BLT has much to give thanks for. I have volunteered at BLT for over seven years. I have seen the theater grow, both in quality and stature. I have seen it go from people looking surprised and asking, “Burien has a live theater?” to people coming up to me in a store asking, “What is playing now at the theater?”

BLT has been blessed with wonderful donors who are making better live theater possible. BLT donors give in every amount from $1 to $5,000. Every donor is amazing, and every donation deeply appreciated.

BLT could not operate without the hundreds of hours of volunteer time put in by BLT’s fantastic volunteers. BLT is all volunteer. Because of their generous help, BLT is doing some of the best theater in the county.

BLT is most blessed by a great audience. Theater is no fun to do for yourself and a hand full of your friends. BLT’s audience comes from Vancouver, B.C. to Portland, Oregon and everywhere in between. Most come from within 20 miles of the theater, but others drive for hours just to join in the fun here at BLT.

Many Ballardites simply know Demetrios “Taki” Ditos as the chef at Taki’s Mad Greek in North Ballard. However, those who recognize him and have been to Taki’s on a Saturday night know him in a very different light. To them and fans across the world, he is known as the “King of Taxim.”

Taki acquired this noble status through his profound ability to improvise melodies and harmonies on the bouzouki. To see him play is like watching an imposition of dancing fingers over rigid metallic strings, causing matter to bend and dissonance to yield in gyrating flurries of notes.

Historically, Taki is known as the first bouzouki player from his home town of Florina and one of the most accomplished bouzouki players in the world. Taki plays “rebetika” style, which is considered a variant of the blues in Greece. “Taxim,” or “improvisation,” is a pronounced characteristic of the style. In the early 1920’s in Greece, rebetika became the music of the people. In the song lyrics there are themes common with many marginalized populations of the world like poverty, drink, love, eroticism, death, war and work.

As I reclaimed the laptop from the cat to write this column, a message from Alison Krupnick popped up in the corner of my screen. It read, “If it weren’t for the Ballard Writers Collective, I wouldn’t be about to release this book!”

There it was, the answer to the question I’ve asked myself in the years since I decided to try and identify as many writers in Ballard as possible and create at least one annual showcase event. After last year’s Book Slam, someone (I’m sure it was Ballard’s preeminent kilted man Jay Craig) suggested next year’s event be even bigger, and all day instead of just evening. Thanks a lot, Jay.

With just hours remaining until this year’s Ballard Writers Collective (The Big Event on Saturday, November 24th at 1 p.m.), I’m going to keep Alison Krupnick’s post open on my screen, to remind me why the headaches of organizing an event are worthwhile, even if it creates just one new positive.

UPDATE: 8:30 am

Power is now restored to the Burien area.

Original Post
A power outage not caused by the weather? A car striking a power pole in the Burien area caused an outage, that affects 2907 customers, started early Wednesday morning.

Just before 6 am a car struck a pole (exactly where this took place is not clear) and the power outage affected the area west of Sylvester Road down to near Maplewild Ave SW and then extended in patchy fashion north up to and including 152nd SW.

Restoration was expected to be made by 10am

Lifetime West Seattle resident Kenneth Wicklund was on his way home after picking up a pizza when he turned the corner at 42nd Ave S.W. and S.W. Charlestown St. on the evening of Nov. 13. He saw two police officers wrestling with a man in the middle of the road, pulled over, and stepped out of his vehicle …

Minutes before, Southwest Precinct Officer Sara Mulloy had seen a suspect run a red light in a black Kia and initiated a stop. The 28-year-old suspect failed to provide identification or a real name. Suddenly, the suspect attempted to drive away, Mulloy stopped him, and a struggle ignited as they spilled into the road. Southwest Precinct Sgt. Joe Bauer arrived at that moment and the two attempted to subdue and cuff Skyler Gronholz, the suspect in this case now facing assault charges as a defendant.

Every holiday season for the past few years Capers in the West Seattle Junction has hosted a very important tree.

That's the Giving Tree.

The tree features paper ornaments with the promises of people who will buy an item, from blenders to washing machines and then come back with that item to be donated to women and children at Hickman House, a transitional housing facility. Residents there are victims of domestic violence.

CAPERS, specializing in furniture and home decorating is located at 4525 California Ave s.w.

To participate is easy: Choose a wish from the tree, purchase the gift and return it before Christmas.

You may also make a cash donation via a CAPERS sales associate.