March 2013

Darlene Corcoran got her dog JC, who is part pug, part Boston Terrier, about 3 1/2 years ago from a breeder in Yakima who breeds Terriers and pugs.

Cororan grew up in West Seattle and when her husband passed away four years ago she was living in Bellevue. Her daughters had gotten out of school and had moved here. They loved it and said, 'Mom you are moving to West Seattle.'

Her daughters said she needed a dog. "A month after my husband died, my oldest daughter and her son drove me to Yakima and we got JC."

She is named after the initials of Corcoran's late husband. "We were trying to come up with a name and we didn't want it to sound like a boy's name or girl's so we decided just to call her JC," in a form of tribute to him. "He loved animals," said Corcoran.

JC loves to jump according to Corcoran, "She thinks she belongs in a circus. She will get on something, jump up in the air and twist around. She loves everybody but she's still a dog and you never quite know what dogs are going to do."

Seattle Public Schools will hold a community meeting at Chief Sealth International High School on April 2 to share information on updating the District’s Strategic Plan: Excellence for All and ask for public feedback on the process.

Tuesday, April 2, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Chief Sealth International High School auditorium, 2600 S.W. Thistle (Interpreters available in Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Chinese, Tagalog, Amharic)

The West Seattle meeting is one of five across the city. SPS explains, “The updated plan will guide academic and operational priorities for the next three to five years and include ongoing benchmarking to measure the District’s performance.”

As they say, “All ships rise with the tide,” or maybe rather, “Rising suds lift all breweries.”

Such is the case in Ballard, where the list of breweries is fast becoming a lengthy one: Hale’s Ales (4301 Leary Way NW), Maritime Pacific Brewing Co. (1111 NW Ballard Way), Hilliard’s (1550 NW 49th St), Northwest Peaks Brewery (4912 17th Ave NW), Reuben’s Brews (1406 NW 53rd St #1a), Peddler Brewing Co. (1514 NW Leary Way), Populuxe Brewing (826 NW 49th St) and, soon, Bad Jimmy’s (826 NW 49th St). What’s more is that they are all within a one-mile radius.

So, it has begun to beg the question, can Ballard sustain all of these breweries?

On a recent sunny Saturday, it was a question that the Ballard News-Tribune sought to answer, by personally visiting several of the breweries.

“I haven’t thought about it,” said Adam Robbings, founder of Reuben’s Brews. “I’ve just been concentrating on making the best beer I can.”

Robbings did use the example of Portland, which has about 90 breweries within its metro area, the most in the nation. “I don’t hear people say, ‘Oh, another brewery is going to be too much,’” he said.

Ballard Natural Gas Service (4758 Ballard Ave NW) will be having a Food Drive the entire month of April to benefit the Ballard Food Bank. They will have two large donation cans in the lobby for anyone who would like to make a donation.

Ballard Natural Gas does have a parking lot, so there shouldn't be any issue with that. They're open Mon-Fri, 7 a.m. - 6 p.m., and on Saturdays 8 a.m. - 3 p.m.

"This is part of our 20th Anniversary celebration," said Jessica Schelly, marketing director. "We’ve been in Ballard since 1993 and wanted to give back to the community that has given us so much."

Ballard Natural Gas, which opened in 1993, specializes in total home comfort by selling, installing and servicing residential heating and air conditioning equipment.

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If you’ve seen a Volvo with a flame on the hood you’ve seen Silver’s car. If you’ve seen a woman with silvery bangs and ponytail wearing the most extraordinary leggings (yes that is the sign for Pi) then you’ve glimpsed Silver. If you’ve ever heard an above average number of sirens in the night, Silver has probably heard them too and may have an explanation.

You see Silver is the screen name of a woman who lives in Ballard, has a police scanner and knows how to use it. A former Capitol Hill resident she bought the scanner because knowing the reason for police activity and sirens give her a certain piece of mind.

Somehow when a woman with silver hair appeared in Thursday yoga last wearing a skeleton leotard I knew it was the infamous Silver from on-line forums and Facebook updates on local doings. In the women’s locker room this woman known for her ability to report on things gruesome, macabre and just plain bizarre is outgoing, open about her complicated love life and eager to discuss fox trot lessons.

The Seattle Fire Department in cooperation with the King County Sheriff’s Office conducted a Night Time Hoist Helicopter Training Drill Tuesday night, Mar. 26 at the City of Seattle Joint Training Facility near White Center.

The purpose of the exercise was for firefighters to practice rescuing patients at night from a high rise building. About 30 fire and police personnel took part.

The drill was part of an All Hazards Regional Aviation Response Partnership which includes the King County Sheriff’s Office, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, the Seattle Fire Department and other regional agencies.

As part of the drill rescuers used the KCSO Guardian 2 helicopter to practice skilled maneuvers.

The training grounds are located at 9401 Myers Way South.

All images copyright stevesheltonimages.com Used with permission.

Congratulations to Hao Cheng, a photography student at West Seattle High School, for winning an outstanding achievement photography award at the Puget Sound Regional Art Competition.

WSHS Art Department Head Michelle Sloan shared the news, and said Cheng received the award on March 24.

His work is titled "Withered Lotus" and can be seen above along with a picture of Cheng with his award.

By Audrey McMullen
SPECIAL TO THE HIGHLINE TIMES

Founded in Des Moines on Jan 20, 1963, the Tillicum chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Tillicum is the local chapter covering the south King County area.

The chapter is welcoming an influx of new members dedicated to the principles of Preservation, Patriotism and Education. We are active in our community in fields of American History in the schools, commemorative programs in the schools; Conservation, Good Citizens, Flag of the USA, literacy with a program of new books for the Des Moines Library Summer Reading Programs, giving honorariums and offering scholarships, Project Patriot sending phone cards, care packages, to our active service personnel and visiting Seattle Veteran’s Hospital on Memorial Day and thanking them for their service to our country.

Hunger Action Week is underway in King County from March 25 - 30 seeking to raise awareness is about an issue that affects 13% of King County residents and 1 in 6 people nationwide. According to organizers 1 in 5 kids in King County is at risk for hunger.

To bring attention to the issue and get people involved King County Executive Dow Constantine paid a visit to the West Seattle Food Bank on Tuesday, March 26, and tweeted his breakfast list with associated costs ": 1/2 cup cereal: 20¢ 2 oz soy milk: 22¢ Banana: 19¢ Coffee: 38¢ Total: 99¢" to demonstrate that even small donations can go a long way to fight hunger in our community.

Sign up for Hunger Action Week, and auto accessories and cell phone dealer Car Toys will donate $5 to help hungry families.

King County United Way lists other ways to help and get involved on their website:

By Steve Shay

The legal ordeal, and anguish, of West Seattle-raised Amanda Knox, and her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, continues. Both were acquitted Oct. 3, 2011 of all murder charges of her British college roommate, Meredith Kercher, stabbed to death in their shared apartment Nov. 1, 2007 in Perugia, Italy, also the town where trial took place.

Early this morning West Coast time, an Italian court ruled they must stand trial again. Legal experts, at least here in America, are reporting that it is doubtful Knox will return to the courtroom in Italy. She lives in Seattle where she studies at the University of Washington. However, Sollecito is more vulnerable as he lives in Italy.

See the West Seattle article about the overturned appeal here.