January 2013

By Shara Wallace and Steve Shay
Highline Times

Burien man & his dog attacked by another dog
Burien resident Matt Crockett and one of his two dogs were attacked by another dog during their daily walk near Shorewood Grocery Monday, Jan. 14.
A pit bull got away from its owner, possibly a homeless man, and jumped on the back of Crockett's golden doodle, a golden retriever, poodle mix. The vicious attack lasted several minutes.
On Facebook, Matt's wife wrote that as a result of the attack her husband had a broken bone in his hand, and Brody, their dog, was left with several puncture wounds to his neck and ears.
It is believed the dog belongs to a homeless individual who lives in the area. Crockett used five pound weights he carries on his walks and hit the attacking dog in the head twice and the dog finally let go.
Deputies located the owner of the pit bull at a nearby church. Eric Swansen with the Regional Animal Services of King County was also contacted. The Crocketts said Brody faces several months of recovery.

Des Moines man sentenced to 32 years for attacking prison guard, & sex trafficking minors

By Brian LeBlanc

Last month while writing an article about the coal train controversy, I talked to Herb Krohn, a railroad union representative at a WSDOT rail transportation public workshop. Krohn made several points that I felt needed further investigation.

Digging deeper into this issue has made me realize how long and complicated a process the decisions to build the coal terminals are going to be, but also how important it is to stay involved to the end.

The points that Krohn made that I felt were worth investigating further were: coal dust was not hazardous except in confined spaces, that people were getting worked up about coal when there are much more hazardous materials being transported on the rails every day, and that environmentalists were attacking the railroads to stop the use of this particular commodity.

According to Seattle Police, an alleged burglar is behind bars on Jan. 22 thanks to the awareness of a would-be victim's neighbor in West Seattle.

Here are the details from Det. Renee Witt with SPD:

An alert neighbor called 9-1-1 after she saw an unknown male “lurking” in the area and disappear into her friend’s yard. This morning just shortly after 9:00 a.m., a woman saw an unknown male roaming around in her neighbor’s yard in the 3700 block of SW Donovan St, she then heard the sound of glass breaking. The woman immediately called 911 and gave an excellent description and direction of travel as the suspect was leaving her neighbor’s yard.

Update for Jan. 24
Seattle Fire has provided a summary of the West Seattle house fire earlier this week that resulted in a close call for four chihuahuas:

An unattended portable halogen work light inside a dog cage is to blame for a West Seattle house fire according to a Seattle Fire Investigator.

At 10:39 a.m., firefighters were called to a house on the 200 block of SW Roxbury Street. When firefighters arrived then found the one-story home’s deck on fire with flames extending up the side of the home to the roof.

Firefighters were able to knock down the fire and foamed the remaining charred area to prevent the rekindling of the flames.

The fire investigator determined the fire began inside a metal dog cage on the wooden deck of the home and spread to the deck and exterior wall. The fire never made it inside the house.

The cause of the fire is being called accidental electrical. The damage estimate is $20,000.

The four Chihuahua’s inside the dog cage all survived the fire.

Update for 1:30 p.m.
Kyle Moore with the Seattle Fire Department has an update on the Roxbury house fire on Jan. 22.

On Tuesday, Jan. 22, 36th District's Rep. Reuven Carlyle, Rep. Gael Tarleton and nine other legislators signed onto a letter to Tyler Schroeder of Whatcom Planning and Development Services asking for full statewide review of any economic impacts the coal export terminal would bring.

"We are particularly interested in ensuring that this review process accurately identifies and assesses the full range of potential externalities and impacts, not just in the area immediately surrounding the project site, but statewide in a comprehensive and cumulative fashion," the letter states.

What they ask to be reviewed -- which includes impacts on both built and natural environments -- is no short order. They are as follows:

• Traffic congestion at railroad crossings
• Impacts to existing freight cargo and passenger rail
• Impacts to ferry systems and San Juan Straits marine traffic
• Effect on property value
• Net employment changes
• Public investment to maintain transportation infrastructure
• Impact market volatility on commerce and infrastructure
• Greenhouse gases a emission targets

Tuesday, Jan. 15
Boys basketball
Tahoma 78, Mt. Rainier 73
Mount Rainier dropped a five-point decision to the Tahoma Bears Tuesday.
Jamil Wilson-Jones poured in 28 points for the Rams and teammate Jake Morine was next with 15 points.
SCS 55, Vashon 46
Miller tallied 27 points to lead the Warriors of Seattle Christian to a 55-46 victory this past Tuesday.
Girls basketball
Mt. Rainier 55, Tahoma 37
The Rams remained on a roll this year by beating the Bears on Tuesday.
Jordan McPhee led the team to victory with 18 points and Brittany PcPhee added 14 to the mix.
SCS 45, Vashon 25
Gleason garnered 13 points and Weber 12 of the Warriors won against Vashon Island this past Tuesday.
Gymnastics
Lindbergh-Kennedy-Tyee
Lindbergh won Tuesday's meet as a team with a total of 132.65 points as Kennedy Catholic took second with 114.05 points and Tyee was third with 102.05.

Wednesday, Jan. 16
Boys basketball
Foster 47, Tyee 39
Summers and Reynolds led Tyee with 13 points, but Brown led the winning Bulldogs team with 10 points.
Hazen 55, Highline 40
Anderson scored 11 points for the Pirates in Wednesday's loss.
Renton 75, Evergreen 53

Seattle Christian School ran off to quick early lead to leave Bellevue Christian in its tracks en route to a 39-16 Nisqually 1A boys basketball home win on Friday, Jan. 18.

"The last time we played them, it was close (in a 53-45 Warrior win)," said an astonished SCS head coach Shaun De Yager. "We focused really hard the last couple of days. Our idea was to take away their shooters. We smothered them when they had the ball and tried to keep their big kid (six-foot, nine-inch Jake VanDenBrink) away from the basket. It was a chance to rest our players for the Saturday game at (first place and undefeated) Cedar Park Christian (Bothell)."

Like a boxer catching an opponent before the foe gets warmed up, the Warriors landed the knock out punch early.

Seattle Christian's spectacular transition offense was made possible by clinging defense plus Bellevue Christian's poor shooting from the field as the Warriors sprinted to an 11-0 lead after one quarter.

Homecoming at Seattle Christian showcased an exciting Nisqually 1A girls basketball game that visiting Bellevue Christian won, 42-40, after 40 minutes of extreme effort from both teams.

"They just executed a little better than us," said Warrior head coach Dave Jansen. "The girls played hard from start to finish. We just couldn't execute when we had to and beat ourselves. The girls never gave up."

Trailing 41-40, Seattle Christian possessed three opportunities to execute for a tie or lead in the final 27.5 seconds.

After the visiting Vikings turned the ball over in their forecourt, the Warriors took over only to lose the ball on a player controlled foul call with 16 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Forced to foul, Seattle Christian received another chance after Bellevue Christian converted only the first chance of a one and one free throw opportunity.

Continuing to pound the offensive boards, the Warriors just missed on an offensive put back try as the buzzer sounded the end of the game.

To the editor:

Zachariah Bryan’s photo and articles on the thousands at the last “scoping meeting” on the Bellingham coal terminal proposal (“No surprises; coal opponents overwhelm…” and “Mayor announces study…” in the 21 Dec. Ballard News-Tribune) were thankfully more reality-reflective than those of the Seattle Times. No doubt most Ballard area residents also object to daily snakes of open cars grinding through Golden Gardens and Carkeek while flooding all around with poisons. However, decrying the destruction of our rail corridor neighborhoods will not win popular opinion against the expensive propaganda being pumped out by Peabody Coal, Goldman Sachs, and their cohorts.

Now that we are in the limbo of the Army Corps’ EIR preparation –before expected public hearings in 2014– we need to address the one false claim on which the coal exporters depend: that terminals in Pacific Coast bays, rivers, and sounds will “create employment”.

It looks like the notice slipped by us yesterday, but the burn ban is off again, as of 1 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 21. Yes, this means you can burn your Christmas trees, roast chestnuts over an open fire and heat your hot cocoa with a small wood-fire.

And this time, finally, it looks like the burn ban will stay off, as the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency predicts that tomorrow will bring us "Good" air quality. It has been "Moderate" for the better part of this last week or so, meaning that pollutants could cause moderate health concern for people especially sensitive.

And while the dry weather has been nice for bicycling and sunset strolls, tomorrow will bring 90 percent chance of rain and 14 mph winds, which should help clean up all this air.

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