March 2013

Today March 20 and March 21 the Alki Tavern is wrapping it all up by holding a rummage sale of what's left there. Greg "Kona" Haapla said, "We've got chairs, stools, a dart machine, beer signs, other neon, mirrors, kitchen equipment and more. Just bring cash and show up and make an offer.

The address is 1321 Harbor Ave SW.

Please DO NOT call. They expressly requested that you must show up in person and all sales are final.

The Tavern, which closed for good on March 17, held an auction but there was material left over. It must be sold and/or removed before Friday. The city will be removing the sidewalk to do some utility work and access to the building after Thursday will be very restricted.

If you missed any of our coverage of the closure of the long time Alki fixture here are the links:

SLIDESHOW: The last days of the Alki Tavern were full of good beer, good food and goodbyes

By Tori Gottlieb
SPECIAL TO THE WEST SEATTLE HERALD/WHITE CENTER NEWS

One of only thirteen members of the Highline School District teaching staff with a doctorate, Michael Town plays down his education.

Most of his students at Technology, Engineering and Communications High School (TEC) on the Evergreen campus in White Center call him “Mr. Town” rather than “Dr. Town.”
Even some fellow staff members have no idea that he holds a Ph.D. He joked that before starting at TEC, he had to spend a year retraining as a teacher, because having a doctorate practically disqualified him from teaching at the high school level.

At the University of Michigan, Town developed an interest in climate change that would eventually lead him to a doctoral program at the University of Washington. After graduating in 2007 and working for several years overseas as a postdoctoral scholar, Town decided it was time to make a change.

“The opportunities were taking me farther and farther away from my friends and family,” he said of his career in research.

He also longed to pursue his passion of teaching, which is what brought him back to Seattle and, eventually, to TEC.

West Seattle-raised award-winning sports writer Dan Raley, known for his 29 years with the Seattle PI, and his book "Pitchers of Beer: The Story of the Seattle Rainiers", just released "The Brandon Roy Story", (Old Seattle Press) a biography of the West Seattle-raised NBA superstar. While his softcover is 236 pages with more than 30 color photos for NBA fans to peruse with delight, Raley is effective in making the case that you don't have to be a sports fan to be a Brandon Roy fan.

In his professional career, the 6' 6" Portland Trail Blazer, and now Timberwolf, appears to have perfected the art of a life of ball-handling. He could both storm toward the basket for yet another two points, and tread lightly off the court to quietly, and privately, raise his two toddlers, Brandon Jr. and Mariah, with his high school sweetheart, wife Tiana, while making assist after assist to help family and friends from his humble beginnings.

Kim Biggs has a sense of humor. It's obvious because even though she deals with very serious matters as a CSI detective for the Seattle Police Department she chose to name her faithful companion, Watson, after the assistant in the Sherlock Holmes stories. While Watson is not a police dog he, "Improves my mood," said Biggs.

He is a 14 month old Golden Retriever.

As a young dog Watson is still learning the ropes of course but he's eager to gain skills.

"He does Agility (a dog exercise competition) but he's too young to compete in it. So he does what they call Rally. The first one is next Sunday at Bainbridge," Biggs explained. He's also getting training in White Center at Puppy Perfectors.

Schimtz Park, Westcrest Dog Park, Lincoln Park, Fauntleroy Park and Alki are preferred walking paths.

You might have noticed a strong gust of wind winding its way through the neighborhood. No, it isn't just you, the National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory lasting from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. tonight. Here's their advisory, in classic all caps:

"...A STRONG PACIFIC FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL WILL BRING WINDY
CONDITIONS TO WESTERN WASHINGTON THROUGH THIS EVENING...

...WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO
11 PM PDT THIS EVENING...

* SOME AFFECTED LOCATIONS...EVERETT...SEATTLE...BREMERTON...
TACOMA...OLYMPIA...SHELTON...CHEHALIS.

* TIMING...STRONG WINDS WILL DEVELOP BEHIND A COLD FRONT THAT
MOVES ACROSS THE AREA THIS MORNING. WINDS WILL BE STRONGEST THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING.

* WIND...SOUTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH.

* IMPACTS...WINDS THIS STRONG CAN BREAK SMALL TREE BRANCHES AND
CAUSE LOCAL POWER OUTAGES."

Cliff Mass has a more palatable version of events on his blog.

As of last Saturday, Garden Sushi is back. Now on the corner at Barnes Ave NW and 17th Ave NW, just south of NW Market St.

After being displaced when the Shell station on the corner of 15th Ave NW and NW 70th St closed down, there was some concern about what would happen to Tsering Lama and his popular food truck, Garden Sushi. But it wasn't long until he found a new place, when a customer offered Lama a piece of property he had at the new location.

"I haven't made sushi for 3-4 weeks now and people kept calling, 'Where are you?'" he said. "That's sweet. Very sweet."

The loyal customer, who we won't name for privacy's sake, seems confident in Lama's ability as a sushi chef.

"He knows what I make. He trusts me. He wants to see me have success," Lama said.

Make no mistake, though out of a truck, the sushi Lama makes is not like the stuff you find in a gas station. He brings with him over ten years of experience as a sushi chef from a variety of restaurants.

"I like to make sushi. When I make sushi, people are happy," Lama said. "In life, do something useful or do something that can make people happy."

Compiled by Shara Wallace

Deadline for receiving items for Community Calendar is 5 p.m. Wednesday for the following week’s Times/News. Events are published based on timeliness and space availability. Email submissions to: hteditor@robinsonnews.com Items can be accepted from nonprofit groups and government agencies only. Others may call Dona Ozier at 206-708-1378 for inclusion in our “Out & About” advertising section.

Art Exhibits

Burien Community Center--“A Sense of Place: In My Garden, Under the Sea – Four Highline Quilt Artists.” Featuring work of Marie O’Kelley, Carla Stehr, Sonia Grasvik and Linda Johanson. March 18-29. 14700 6th Ave. S.W. Admission is free.
Burien Community Center--Paintings by Richard Jahn. 14700 6th Ave. S.W. Through March 31. Hours are Monday-Thursday 8:30 a.m.-8 p.m. and Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Burien Town Square Retail Space—S.W. 151st St. and 5th Pl. S.W. Work by Burien artist Don Liljar.
Normandy Park City Hall Council Chambers—“No Boundaries 2013-Beginnings & Beyond.” 801 S.W. 174th St. Sponsored by Normandy Park Arts Commission.

The CSI team on TV sees a lot of death.

So did the 29 intrepid members of CSI: Highline.

In the case of the fictional Crime Scene Investigation detectives, it is human bodies.

For the Community Salmon Investigation: Highline volunteers, it was dead fish carcasses.

In teams of two, the CSI: Highline volunteers hiked one-mile stretches of Miller and Walker creeks in Normandy Park looking for coho and chum salmon between mid-October and mid-December. Each team had an assigned day to count fish.

When they spotted a carcass, they took measurements and cut open the belly to see the gender and if it had spawned before dying. They then cut off the tail so the carcass would not be counted again during the annual fish census.

What they found was disturbing--an 88 percent pre-spawn mortality rate. The rate was 95 percent for Miller Creek and 57 percent for Walker Creek. Previous studies have shown a 100 percent pre-spawn mortality rate in Des Moines Creek.

By Tori Gottlieb
SPECIAL TO THE HIGHLINE TIMES

One of only thirteen members of the Highline School District teaching staff with a doctorate, Michael Town plays down his education.

Most of his students at Technology, Engineering and Communications High School (TEC) on the Evergreen campus in White Center call him “Mr. Town” rather than “Dr. Town.”

Even some fellow staff members have no idea that he holds a Ph.D. He joked that before starting at TEC, he had to spend a year retraining as a teacher, because having a doctorate practically disqualified him from teaching at the high school level.

At the University of Michigan, Town developed an interest in climate change that would eventually lead him to a doctoral program at the University of Washington. After graduating in 2007 and working for several years overseas as a postdoctoral scholar, Town decided it was time to make a change.

“The opportunities were taking me farther and farther away from my friends and family,” he said of his career in research.

He also longed to pursue his passion of teaching, which is what brought him back to Seattle and, eventually, to TEC.

West Seattle-raised award-winning sports writer Dan Raley, known for his 29 years with the Seattle PI, and his book "Pitchers of Beer: The Story of the Seattle Rainiers", just released "The Brandon Roy Story", (Old Seattle Press) a biography of the West Seattle-raised NBA superstar. While his softcover is 236 pages with more than 30 color photos for NBA fans to peruse with delight, Raley is effective in making the case that you don't have to be a sports fan to be a Brandon Roy fan.

In his professional career, the 6' 6" Portland Trail Blazer, and now Timberwolf, appears to have perfected the art of a life of ball-handling. He could both storm toward the basket for yet another two points, and tread lightly off the court to quietly, and privately, raise his two toddlers, Brandon Jr. and Mariah, with his high school sweetheart, wife Tiana, while making assist after assist to help family and friends from his humble beginnings.