January 2013

UNIVERSITY PLACE - Thrice did not suffice for the Seattle Christian girls basketball team in a Class 1A Nisqually League 59-42 loss at the Charles Wright Academy in the Cutler Athletic Gymnasium on Saturday, Jan. 5.

On three occasions, the Warriors from SeaTac held either the upper hand or played close to the Tarriers only to witness Charles Wright control the deck in pulling away to large leads.

Seattle Christian began the game by attacking its foe with pressure defense and an improved transition game for a 6-0 lead. Great shot opportunities abounded, but the Warriors were unable to convert the chances to pull away even more.

As Vanessa Davis became a potent inside force, the Tarriers rushed back to claim a 12-8 lead after the first quarter.

The Warriors' second opportunity came when Aly Kaler sandwiched a breakaway layup and an offensive rebound put back around a Charles Wright basket to keep the Warriors close at 13-12 early in the second quarter.

It would be a long time before SCS would show the previously mentioned characteristics again.

All that for a Pepsi?
On Dec. 24 someone broke into a home on the 3100 block of S.W. Graham St. through a kitchen window. While an urn containing ashes was moved from a bedroom dresser and a jewelry box was rifled through, nothing appeared to be missing. The only missing item, in fact, was a bottle of Pepsi soda from the refrigerator.

Silenced gun proclaimed in robbery

By Georgie Bright Kunkel

Before humanity spread around the globe there were isolated tribes of people who conformed to tribal practices passed down from one generation to the next. The elders of the tribe established the rules and those who wanted to be nourished and supported had to obey the rules or be shunned. Fast forward to modern living in city environments and diversity is the order of the day. Even with all the diversity people in cities tend to gather in groups with the same language and cultural patterns.
I remember when radio first came in and we were hearing people from other parts of the country. It seemed strange to hear someone pronouncing syrup as ”seer”up or
tomato pronounced as to”mah”to. And one of my favorite candies, caramels, which I pronounce “car’muls” is pronounced “care-a-mels.”
But it isn’t only people of different cultures who show such diversity. When teens began to attend huge high schools they began to show individuality by getting tattoos, tongue piercings and such. Personally I am such a hyper that if I had a stud imbedded in my tongue I would be licking it constantly. It would drive me crazy.

Transcendental Meditation and Stress Relief
America West Bank
4022 S.W. Alaska St.
Saturday, Jan. 12, 10 a.m. Wes Busch, West Seattle resident and certified teacher of the TM technique, will give a free presentation on how this enjoyable and scientifically verified mental technique has been shown to dissolve stress while unfolding inner peace and happiness. Pre-registration required. Call Wes at 425-221-3203.

American Sewing Guild Monthly Meeting
The Kenney
7125 Fauntleroy Ave. S.W.
Saturday, Jan. 12, 10 a.m.-Noon. We’ll be planning out our activities and presentations for 2013. Put on your thinking caps on and bring your inspirations and ideas for what you would like to learn or present. Don’t forget your Sew & Tell along with your questions. For more information: Claudia at 937-5774.

A Conversation Sponsored by Occupy West Seattle
Salvadorean Bakery
1719 S.W. Roxbury St.

By Kyra-lin Hom

I've been out of undergraduate college for about a year and a half now. I've had my time of identity crisis and readjustment – not to say that I'm over that hump just yet... But for a number of friends of mine who graduated class of 2012, that process is just beginning. See, students (or recently post-school individuals like myself) don't think of years as spanning from January to December but rather from fall season to fall season. We've been conditioned to think of the end of summer and start of autumn as the time to get back to work.

I remember my first no-school autumn (that would be last year) being a bit surreal and really quite fun. It kind of felt like skipping class, like I was getting away with something. By winter that feeling had settled out, and by spring full blown anxiety was setting in. I mean, what had I really accomplished during those last few months? School had always provided me with tangible proof that I had been doing something with my life. Without that, I felt a little... stuck.

In the 50's urban legend had it that a deep, dark hole existed at the bottom of Hicks Lake* and drained out to Puget Sound to the west. When someone drowned and the authorities could not find the body, we just assumed it got sucked down that hole and out to the Sound. Hey, we were kids.

As kids we often played in the woods below our house near Salmon Creek. The creek runs under Ambaum Blvd at 120th SW getting most of its surge from water run-off and from that sleepy drainage out of Hicks Lake under a mile north and adjacent to Cascade Middle School. 

We know now that even the idea of a body getting sucked down a hole in a lake is preposterous. It's not like a body-sized tunnel is waiting to capture anything floating down from the surface...is there?

If there's one thing that Ballard is good at, it's polluting the Puget Sound.

It’s the grim picture painted by statistics for combined sewer overflows in the month of November, a month which brought a whopping 8.28 inches in rainfall at SeaTac , the most in two years. And if you remember the soggy shoes and socks you inevitably had, Nov. 19 brought us the year’s most rainfall -- 2.13 inches -- and was also a record breaker for most amount of rain to fall on that date.

Needless to say, November was wet. And while it certainly freshened up the air after a very dry summer, it also dirtied the Sound -- especially in Salmon Bay within the Ship Canal.

During November, sewer overflows occurred for more than 486 hours in Ballard. There are only 720 hours in a month, meaning for almost 68 percent of the month, Ballard pumped polluted water into the otherwise pristine looking Sound.

More than 27 million gallons overflowed during the month, contributing more than 27 percent of the citywide total for the month.

By Eric Mathison

As the parents and siblings of the 20 children killed at the Connecticut elementary school grieve their unfathomable loss, a Burien public official says she knows exactly how they feel.

On Feb 12, 1998, Southwest Suburban Sewer District commissioner Susan (Suzy) Genzale’s 16-year-old son, Anthony William Genzale was murdered.

Known by everyone as “Moosh,” Anthony’s mother remembers him as a born salesman, an ace diver, and a hilarious comic.

Genzale is adamant that this story not be about her; that she doesn’t come off as a hero.
But she feels compelled by the school shooting to talk about her and her family’s journey in hopes it will help others facing similar tragic circumstances.

“It never gets better, it just gets different,” Genzale declared. “You learn to cope.”

She urges the parents and siblings, “Don’t let evil win. Keep fighting even though it is so hard.”

By Christopher Duclos

The girls took the court Friday night and put up a stalwart effort to contain No. 7 ranked Skyline at home. Defense shined in the second half after losing the first half 30-16. In the second half, the girls only yielded 14 Skyline points to their 28. In the final seconds of regulation, it came down to foul penalty shots that let Skyline edge out the Lady Beavers by an inch, 54-53.

Skyline’s nearly close defeat could send a message to the other teams in the conference: The lady Beavers can hang in there against some of the toughest teams.

Nancy MacGeorge had a whopping 23 points during the game along with Sam Hall with 13.

Friday night’s basketball double header continued as the Boys took the court. After the first quarter, it was all Ballard. However, Skyline hung in there and kept the score within 10 all game.

The pace of the game seemingly shifted in Ballard’s favor when Seth Berger slammed home a dunk in the 3rd quarter. You can see the video of that above.

By Rev. Judith Laxer

The frost is so white that at first I think it is snow. The infant sun cannot make its way high enough to clear my wall of laurel in the back yard and unable to melt it, the morning remains cold and still and quiet. My feet crunch along the frosty lawn in the laurels shadow, my breath a cloud before me, blankets of stiff maple leaves glisten on the beds. It is January in the northwest garden.