December 2012

Sports Roundup

Monday, Dec. 3
Boys basketball
Lakes 51, Evergreen 43
The Wolverines of Evergreen High School in White Center took a non-league loss to the Lakes Lancers last Monday.
Tyee 55, Lakewood 54
Tyee squeezed out a one-point win over Lakewood in non-league action Monday.
Girls basketball
Lakewood 43, Evergreen 25
Evergreen also came up short on the girls side Monday.
Foss 51, Highline 39
Highline took a non-league loss to Foss this past Monday.
Kennedy 47, Crosspoint 35
The Lancers posted a non-league victory against Crosspoint on Monday.

Tuesday, Dec. 4
Girls basketball
Mt. Rainier 67, Kentlake 19
The Rams showed why they are expected to go to state again with a 67-19 crushing of Kentlake last Tuesday.
Highline 39, Decatur 29
Highline hammered its visitors from Federal Way in a 10-point non-league game Tuesday.
Boys basketball
Mt. Rainier 59, Kentlake 29
The Rams rallied for a 30-point victory this past Tuesday over the Kentlake Falcons.
Mt. R. Luth. 51, Evg. Luth. 31
The Eagles of Evergreen Lutheran fell to Mount Rainier Lutheran last Tuesday.
Boys swimming

Highline sprung to double victories in a Seamount League gymnastics meet held at its own gym Tuesday, Dec. 11.

The Pirates picked up 142.1 team points to outscore two other area teams -- Kennedy Catholic with 117.0 points and Evergreen with 56.5.
Kristen Rodal led the way to victory by winning the all-around competition.

Rodal scored 34.35 points for the Pirates ahead of the 32.40 total of teammate Mia Alvarez. Danielle Carnahan of Kennedy Catholic came in third in the all-around with 28.85 points.

Rodal won the vault with an 8.4 score, took the bars with a 7.40, won the beam with a 9.2 and the floor exercise with a 9.35.

Alvarez placed second in the bars (7.25), second in the beam with an 8.3 and second in the floor exercise with an 8.7.

Kennedy's Carnahan took second in the vault with an 8.35 score, third in the beam with a 6.15 and third in the floor exercise with a 7.25 score.

Laurissa Engelhardt of Highline placed third in the vault with a 7.25 score.

Highline has a bye for Tuesday, Dec. 18 and will not return to action until Tuesday, Jan. 8 when it entertains Kennedy Catholic again only along with Lindbergh in a 7 p.m. meet.

The Evergreen Wolverines of White Center took one on the chin from the Renton Indians in Seamount League play last Wednesday.

One could point out the Wolverines' shortcomings during the game but Evergreen head coach Tony White put it succinctly when asked about the outcome.

“Renton is just a better team," he said. "They played harder, they played smarter. My guys let themselves get pushed around and got intimidated. Too many mistakes, too many turnovers, (and) missed free throws. I think we missed 14-15 free throws. We can’t win like that.”

"What will you tell your guys in the locker room," White was asked

“Forget about it and move on to the next game,” he responded.

When I was a boy in Portland, Oregon, sometimes we got to go downtown at Christmas time where the Elks had rented the Hippodrome building and put on a big show for poor kids.

When it was over we lined up and each got a net stocking full of candy, a big orange and some kind of windup toy or a top you wound with a string and then threw it and it would spin. Wow!, It is a memory that has stayed with me and helped me understand the less fortunate.

Fast forward: The halcyon days of the mid-fifties at holiday time was very special. We had five little rascals and not much time or money.

But we were healthy and had more than others. Specifically more than some of the less fortunate families living in the tossed-together King County Housing project developed at the end of WWII near White Center.

The county needed room for the returning war vets and their growing
families.

New apartment complex looted
A recently-opened apartment complex on the 4600 block of 36th Ave S.W. was burgled overnight between Dec. 8 and Dec. 9, and the crooks made away with a lot of loot. It appeared unknown suspect(s) broke into the building through a service door in the shared alleyway with a retirement community. Once inside, they broke into the main office and stole the master keys (which would open every door in the complex, forcing the owner to rekey the entire building), tenant records (including social security numbers), and several Visa gift cards. Once done with the office, the burglars moved into the common areas, stealing furniture and electronics. A dolly/cart was found in the parking garage below, indicating the thieves may have loaded up a vehicle with large items before making their getaway. Police were busy checking nearby surveillance footage and talking with residents of the retirement community for clues in the case.

False friend

Trenton Tibbetts, an O'Dea High School senior and West Seattle resident, just took first place in his 160 lb. division Saturday, Dec. 15, at the 2012 Shelton Holiday Tournament. He did the same one week earlier in the 10th annual Larry Brown Tournament in Fife. He is still undefeated this season, with a 10-0 record, including nine pins.

The West Seattle Herald followed Tibbetts' wrestling successes the last few years including this story. and here, too.

While Trenton is familiar in high school wrestling circles, many of our readers know of his proud parents, real estate agents James and Cynthia Tibbetts with Windermere on California Av..

The 12.8 foot high tide at 8:17 am was sort of the perfect storm combination with the high winds that hit the area on Dec. 17. It brought waves crashing on to the beach and up and over bulkheads, cars and roads as the wind reached gusts of 55 mph or higher.

109 customers along Maplewild Drive lost power about 4:40 am due to the high winds. Restoration was expected before noon.

Debris brought up off the beach ended up on the road along Maplewild Drive, but no reports of injuries or serious property damage came in.

King County crews were busy around the area pumping out storm drains in the area.

In a firm but formally toned letter sent on Wednesday, Dec. 12, the Ballard District Council re-requested that a formal community advisory committee be formed as Seattle Public Utilities makes progress on Phase 2 of the Ballard Roadside Rain Garden.

Ballard District Council had already requested this back in October, but felt their request was snubbed in a followup letter by SPU.

In an SPU letter sent on Nov. 16, Andrew Lee, CSO Reduction Program Manager, said that they welcome the opportunity for community feedback. Lee wrote that they will start engaging residents on the neighborhood block level in early 2013, once they have a better idea of where the soils may be located.

But the Council found the response somewhat sidestepped their request for a community advisory committee.

Of course, the Ballard District Council's letter reminds SPU of Phase 1, called the "Ballard Natural Drainage Project," which has scarred residents' immediate willingness to let SPU continue without consent.

By Patrick Robinson and David Rosen

The storm that hit the Seattle area during the early morning hours of Dec. 17, when coupled with a high tide of 12.8 caused a storm surge that flooded Alki Beach, the promenade, and beach front houses. Only three homes noted power issues in the West Seattle area though others in Seattle lost power, notably east of I-5 and near Tukwila.

Well known blogger, Rhonda Porter of Beach Drive Blog, had pumps in place to remove the shin deep water that had come crashing over her bulkhead and waterside deck.

Porter said, "We got up around 4:30, and we already had our pumps set up because we were concerned about flooding. But we got on our flood gear and we had a lot to move around, getting ready to have the pumps manned."

Other neighbors on 4700 block on the beach were also seeing flooding problems. Porter said she had been publishing a series of warnings on her blog and has shared her pumps when she could in the past.
"Most neighbors had rented pumps when they were able to get them in time," said Porter," and most neighbors with low driveways are prepared for it."

King County Sheriff press release:
Over 7,000 Wii game consoles were stolen from a distributing warehouse in SeaTac in the last 24 hours and detectives are asking for the public’s help in locating the van and trailers they were stolen in.

Employees at Seattle Air Cargo in the 19100 blk of Des Moines Memorial Dr said the theft occurred sometime between 9pm Saturday night and noon on Sunday. The suspects used forklifts on the premises to load up two 53’ trailers and a box van with at least 64 pallets of Wii game consoles.

Both Trailers are 53’ in length, white in color and have the name “McKinney” on the side. The box van is a large International van with “Seattle Air Cargo” written on the doors. (Note: Seattle Air Cargo is NOT written on the side of the box, only the doors)

Trailer #1- California license plate 4HB3365 with a trailer number 533457
Trailer #2- California license plate 4EA5521 with trailer number 531841
Box Van- make “International” Washington license plate B40622K