March 2013

Editors Note: This story was written for our sister publication, the Ballard News Tribune but has relevance for many people, so it is shared here.

If happiness is all a matter of a shift of perspective and a deeper understanding of what genuine unconditional love means, then a new book, partially written in Ballard will likely sell very well. The Ballard News-Tribune did an exclusive interview with the author.

This dog was found off of 21st and S. 118th in Burien this afternoon.
--
Monique Shiels
Office Administrator
C.A.R.E.S.
Community Animal Resource
& Education Society
(206) 812-2737

Mary Rutherford of the Seattle Department of Transportation sent out this letter to residents on March, 22.

Greetings:

I am writing today to share plans about making NW 58th Street an even safer place for residents to walk and ride bikes. Hopefully you are aware of work the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has been doing to create a neighborhood greenway along NW 58th Street from the Burke-Gilman Trail at Seaview Avenue NW and to Fourth Avenue NW. We want to make sure you know about the project and have a chance to talk to us. This letter provides an update on the progress we’ve made to date and has details on an upcoming open house being held April 11.

Wednesday, April 10th from 8:30am-11:30am at Delridge Community Center

Register Now: http://seattlefaithbasedforums.eventbrite.com/

For more information, visit West Seattle Be Prepared.

The City of Seattle, Seattle-King County Public Health, and the American Red Cross of King & Kitsap County are pleased to invite you to attend the Faith-Based Forums! These forums have been organized to create an opportunity for leaders/representatives of Faith-Based Organizations (FBO's) to come together with local government, service providers and emergency management to talk about being ready for a disaster in a community fellowship environment.

In any large scale emergency, faith-based organizations are often looked to by the community as trusted information resources as well as a means to obtain support. It benefits all of us to have these conversations before a disaster event and to have established relationships for when an emergency happens.

Information from the West Seattle Block Watch Captains' Network:

This month Capt. Kessler will be introducing himself to the Block Watch Captains. He was supposed to come in January but was called away by an emergency but he’s coming this month. He’ll be there at 6:30, don’t be late as he won’t be able to stay for the whole meeting.

Sarah Sorensen from the Victim Support Team will tell us about this volunteer opportunity and how to get involved if you are interested.

Officer Jon Kiehn will give his presentation on Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. Learn how to reduce the chances that your home will be the target for burglaries. It’s an interesting and enlightening presentation (think “target hardening” and “hostile vegetation”). You’ll come away with ideas and changes that you can make for little to no money and make your home and neighborhood a safer place to be.

Meeting schedule
Tuesday, March 26, 2013, 6:30-8 PM
SW Police Precinct, 2300 SW Webster Street (at Delridge Ave SW, next to Home Depot)

6:00-6:30 Arrive early for light snacks, socializing and networking with each other while we set up the room!

Monday, March 18
Baseball
Mt. Rainier 20, Enumclaw 4
Mount Rainier enjoyed its journey to Enumclaw last Monday, blasting the Hornets, 20-4.
Decatur 15, Highline 5
Highline was hammered by the homestanding Gators Monday.
Mt. Rainier Luth. 8, Ev. Luth. 6
Evergreen Lutheran of Des Moines came up short against Mount Rainier Lutheran this past Monday.
Sequim 11, Foster 8
Sequim slugged its way to victory over the Bulldogs of Foster High School in Tukwila last Monday.
Vashon Island 4, SCS 2
Seattle Christian School of SeaTac came up short in a low-scoring game against Vashon Island on Monday.
Fastpitch
SCS 13, Vashon Island 1
Seattle Christian turned the tables on Vashon Island in Monday softball action from baseball.

Tuesday, March 19
Boys soccer
Evergreen 1, Lindbergh 0
Evergreen shut down the Eagles in last Tuesday's action.
Tyee 4, Highline 2
Tyee tallied a victory over the Pirates this past Tuesday.
Kennedy 4, Foster 3
Kennedy Catholic edged out the Bulldogs of Foster on Tuesday.
Baseball
Kentridge 8, Mt. Rainier 0
The Rams were brought back down to Earth with Tuesday's loss.
Kennedy 14, Highline 0

Monday, March 18
Baseball
West Seattle 3, Lakeside 1
West Seattle prevailed, 3-1, in action against Lakeside this past Monday.

Fastpitch
Chief Sealth 7, Eastside 6
The Seahawks nipped Eastside Catholic in a Metro League battle last Monday.
Chief Sealth goes to Holy Names for a 4 p.m. game this coming Monday and entertains Franklin at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Tuesday, March 19
Fastpitch
Bainbridge 6, West Seattle 5
West Seattle was edged by Bainbridge Island in Tuesday's Metro League game.
The Wildcats are at Seattle Prep for a 3:30 p.m. game Monday before hosting Ingraham at 3:30 p.m. at the Southwest Athletic Complex on Wednesday.

Boys soccer
Evergreen 1, Lindbergh 0
The Wolverines blanked the Eagles in a 1-0 boys soccer battle of Seamount League teams Tuesday.
Evergreen entertains Kennedy for a 5:30 p.m. match at Valley Ridge this coming Tuesday and West Seattle goes to Lakeside for a 4 p.m. contest.

Thursday, March 21
Boys soccer
Chief Sealth 2, Ingraham 1

Dear Editor,

In the story "In Ballard, a wave of townhouses densifying the neighborhood,"Mr. Valdez is attempting to mask his greed with feel good thoughts on density and affordability.

Where does Mr. Valdez live? What does he consider affordable?

Density brings higher crime and conflict, which I think Ballard is beginning to see.

How about aesthetics? How about less green space? What happens when the backyards are filled with housing which looks like so many stacks of boxes? What happens when skinny houses take up the majority of the property footprint and the neighborly activities of gardening and chatting disappear? People will cocoon and not know their neighbors -- they will cease watching out for each other.

What happens when you have an area of Ballard dominated by rentals and transient populations? What happens when this is just another community indistinguishable from so many others?

Here’s the pitch: This is the story of “a career politician who suffers a brain injury that begins to derail his promising career as he begins to experience supernatural visitors and a growing rift with his dedicated wife.”

Sounds a bit more interesting than Tyler Perry’s latest offering, right?

It’s the synopsis of “The Servant,” a film written by Seattle director and writer Nathan Williams, and coming to fruition with the help of two producers representing West Seattle – Gevin Booth and Ian Bell. All three have been involved in every aspect of independent filmmaking in Seattle for many years, and this will be all three’s first crack at leading on a full length film.

Rep. Reuven Carlyle (D-Queen Anne), Rep. Gael Tarleton (D-Ballard) and Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Belltown) met up with two principals from the 36th District -- Keven Wynkoop of Ballard High School and Erika Ayer from Daniel Bagley Elementary School -- to talk about the importance of fully funding basic education.

"Principal Ayer and I were happy to meet with Representatives Carlyle and Tarleton and Senator Kohl-Welles and are confident that they are fighting to fully fund all the education reforms that the Legislature has put in place recently in a way that benefits our students," Wynkoop said.

As we've talked about before, the Washington State Legislature has a hefty task before it: Meeting its state constitution's requirement to fully fund K-12 education, as required by the Supreme Court's McCleary decision last year. It's a $1.1 billion bill they're looking at, which with other items will make for a whopping total of $2 billion in debt that the Legislature has to make up.

Add to that the fact that the Supreme Court overturned the 2/3 majority rule required for the Legislature to raise any taxes, and you have yourself an interesting conversation.