March 2013

First the Matador, then Kickin' Boot Whiskey Kitchen, and now Ballard Annex Oyster House. Nathan Opper and Zak Melang are officially starting their latest venture, a seafood joint, today, Thursday, March 21. It'll open at 3:30 p.m.

The Ballard Annex Oyster House (5410 Ballard Ave NW) is, to put it bluntly, very Ballard.

It's a new wave, hip Ballard with a splash of old Ballard. It's another haven that will attract food-obsessed Seattleites from the recesses of Capitol Hill and elsewhere, but it's also comfortable enough where a local could feel right at home. Not too loud, cramped or blaringly hipster.

Zak Melang, who spearheaded the design, said in a press release, “My goal was to create an attractive space comfortable for every seafood lover -- whether you want to grab a counter seat and a quick bowl of chowder or sit down for cocktails, oysters, prawn scampi, and dessert.”

By Joshua McNichols

There is a moment, when a storm has passed you by, when you can stand on the sidewalk and feel the warmth of the sun, even as ten blocks away the yellow-gray storm cloud sits on Phinney Ridge like a hen on its nest. Depending on where you live, there might be a rainbow over Ross Park, or Ballard Market, or the Library. That rainbow is a perfect expression of spring.

With a freezing wind that pushed temperatures close to arctic conditions the Chief Sealth Seahawks and Roosevelt Roughriders played to a 0-0 tie at the SWAC on Wednesday, March 20.

The wind blew hard south to north, the direction of the pitch. So the defender of the north goal was at a distinct disadvantage. The ball would sail farther and faster. The plus for the goalie was if a ball was kicked too hard it would sail over the goal. However neither team could take advantage of this. Sealth came close late in the game but just missed by inches.

Both teams played good defense allowing just a handful of shots on goal apiece. Each team had a penalty shot, Roosevelt in the first half and Sealth in the second. As it turned out both were at the north goal and went high over the crossbar. The match ended in a 0-0 tie.

Sealth goes on the road to Ingraham on Thursday the 21st. Game time is 7:30.

Burien will not be divided up into wards for the upcoming City Council election races.

Informed that the King County Elections Department needs to receive adopted ward/district boundaries by April 1, City Councilmember Gerald Robison on March 18 withdrew his proposal to change the way city lawmakers are elected.

Robison emphasized he is not abandoning his idea. He noted there was not enough time before the April 1 deadline to fully discuss and then act on the changes.

He had suggested dividing the city into wards. In the primary, candidates would have to file and run in their own district. In the general election, the entire city would vote on the candidates.

Robison said that would ensure council members come from different areas of the city. He said the current system where candidates can file for any council position favors richer areas west of Ambaum Boulevard Southwest.

However, critics, who have flooded the council with e-mails and public comments, said the ward system would promote cronyism and discourage the best candidates from being elected.

Highline High School opened its 2013 fast pitch softball season with a non league 13-2 win against the Roosevelt Roughriders on Monday, March 18, at Moshier Park after participating in a weekend jamboree at Mount Rainier High School.

It was a 10-run first inning that was sufficient enough to settle the issue against a hard trying but over matched Metro League opponent. Highline had 15 at bats in the inning that was interspersed with some good hitting and Roosevelt mistakes. In two at bats, Mikki Haury slammed a double plus a single for three runs batted in. Hope McElwain doubled for an RBI while Nicole Jacobson and Jenny Hovland also plated one runner each among the scoring highlights.

The Pirates spent the rest of the game working on some skills and techniques while the Roughriders kept at it until they were able to score a pair of runs in the fifth inning. Before that, the Pirates had amassed a 13-0 margin and the match up ended on the 10-run mercy rule.

UPDATE Mar. 29
The documentary "Sleeping with Siri" by Michael A. Stusser and Marty Riemer has won its first award. it was selected as the Winnner - Best Short Film / Best Short Documentary in the 2013 Big Easy International Film & Music Festival held in New Orleans this week.

Original Post Mar. 20
It's likely you won't read this whole story. Not because the subject is boring (it's not) and not because it doesn't concern you (it does). You will probably stop because (A) you've been interrupted by a text, a tweet, an email, a phone call or (B) that truck merging on your right. Even if you are reading it in print (less likely these days) you more than likely have a smart phone that is absolutely an extension of your consciousness that will buzz, ding, hum, chime, or flash with the next chunk of data you feel the need to pour into your head.

These portable digital powerhouses have become a completely addictive phenomena that has gone largely unexamined. True at least in part to the attention domination the devices themselves have created.

Press release:

Highline Community College faculty member Dr. Emmanuel Chiabi has been awarded a Fulbright grant to lecture and perform research in Cameroon, Africa for the 2013-2014 academic year. He will be teaching a hybrid course of American history and government, and cultural anthropology at the Catholic University of Cameroon while continuing his research on the history of Cameroon.

“In the higher education community, it’s a significant honor to be selected for a Fulbright. Beyond the prestige of Dr. Chiabi’s award, the project itself is important,” said Jeff Wagnitz, Highline’s vice president for academic affairs. “His work in Cameroon builds on his prior academic work and will enrich Highline Community College’s efforts in internationalizing curriculum.”

This is Dr. Chiabi’s second time receiving a Fulbright award. In 1993 he was given a Fulbright research grant to the University of Florida, Gainesville, as well as other additional exchange grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the University of Yaoundé, Cameroon. Dr. Chiabi joined the Highline faculty in 1997.

Press release:

Thirty-third District legislators Sen. Karen Keiser, Rep. Tina Orwall and Rep. Dave Upthegrove, will host a telephone town hall focusing on topics such as education, health care and environment.

Constituents in the areas of Kent, SeaTac, Normandy Park, Des Moines, Burien and Renton will receive a phone call inviting them to stay on the line to participate in the town hall.

Residents who do not automatically receive a call can also dial the toll-free participant number to listen in on the event and ask questions of their elected state officials.

WHAT: Telephone town hall
WHEN: 6–7 p.m., Thurs., March 28th
WHERE: Constituents will receive a phone call, or can call-in (877) 229-8493, ID code 18646#

Press release:

Parents of middle and high school students are needed to help shape a plan that will guide schools for the next three years. It is part of a community effort to create a new three-year strategic plan.

The core planning team responsible for designing the plan is seeking ideas from Highline families and community members. The upcoming public input session will focus on ideas that can shape students’ middle school and high school experience.

“We are working toward very ambitious and necessary goals, to achieve better outcomes and broaden the opportunities for all students, and to better prepare them for their adult, working lives,” said Stacia Jenkins, a member of the core planning team and mother of a student at Pacific Middle School.

All parents are welcome, but middle school and high school parents are especially encouraged to join other families and community members for a meal and a conversation about what we want for our children and our community.

The Spokane Street Viaduct project approved by the Seattle City Council in 2008 was declared complete by the City of Seattle and in a press release it was announced that the project came in under budget. The resulting savings that the additional funds will be applied to a variety of areas around the city. The project itself improved the stretch of roadway that connects the West Seattle Bridge to I-5 by expanding it to three lanes in each direction and adding on- and off-ramps, including one exclusively for buses. While the improvements help move transit, freight, and vehicles on the Viaduct, they also provide better access on Spokane Street (below the Viaduct) for pedestrians and bicyclists.

The release from the city said: