April 2013

The first Road Map Region Parent Forum on Saturday, April 20 was a big success, drawing 750 parents and hundreds of children to Foster High School in Tukwila for a day of workshops, inspirational speakers and an interactive Resource Fair.

The purpose of this first-of-its-kind, regional event was to give parents the information they need to help their children do well in school – from cradle to college and career.

The Parent Forum was hosted by the Road Map Project, a community-wide effort to dramatically improve student achievement from cradle to college and career in South King County and South Seattle.

Road Map Project partners, including nonprofit organizations, public health and housing agencies, school districts and parents, collaborated and co-designed the forum to address needs identified by parents.

Beachgoers got a front row seat at Seahurst Park in Burien as a fin whale, not native to this area, washed ashore last week.

It was believed to have been struck by a container ship at sea and carried into Puget Sound where it dislodged and floated to the park.

The tail section was missing, leaving about 50 feet of the presumed 65-foot whale. After serving as an irresistible but stinky magnet for park visitors, the whale was towed away by a salvage company to an undisclosed location.

Meanwhile, FIN, a giant fiberglass fish that children can walk through and learn about the life cycle of a salmon stopped at Burien Town Square on April 17 and 18. Sustainable Burien and Community Salmon Investigation (CSI) hosted about 50 kids at the exhibit.

In the photo, Burien resident Lee Moyer really dives into his volunteer work.

By Shara Wallace and Steve Shay
HIGHLINE TIMES

Sting warrants served
Detectives from the King County Sheriff’s Office, and the Burien and SeaTac Police Department served search warrants on 4 locations April 18 related to a lengthy prostitution investigation.
Locations included the Royal Orchid Massage/Hair and Nail Salon in the 2800 block of South 200th St. in SeaTac, The Adam and Eve Hair Styling, Nail and Tanning Salon in the 19000 block of International Boulevard in SeaTac, The Zen Remedy Massage in the 100 block of S.W.153rd Street in Burien and an apartment in the 19800 block of International Blvd in SeaTac.
Detectives said business were fronts for prostitution and money laundering.
The three women were booked for Prostitution, Money Laundering, Conspiracy and Leading Organized Crime.

Chase ends with crash
A King County sheriff’s deputy spotted a reckless driver at about 9:15 p.m. in the 9600 block of Des Moines Memorial Drive April 16, according to King County Sheriff's spokeswoman Cindi West. The suspect slammed head-on into another car and the other car then burst into flames, the sheriff’s office said.

Press release:

Recognizing a law enforcement career that spans four decades, the Metropolitan King County Council honored Major Jim Graddon on Monday, April 22 for his work for the people of King County.

Major Graddon has served 39 years in law enforcement, including the past 34 years with the King County Sheriff’s Office.


Major Graddon has worked in numerous roles in law enforcement.

Since 2007 he has served as Major in the Sheriff’s Office and Chief of Police for the city of SeaTac. He also serves as Commander of the Sheriff Office’s Southwest Precinct, which covers unincorporated areas throughout southwest King County and the contract cities of Burien and SeaTac.

Graddon announced his retirement in January and will formally retire from his post with the Sheriff’s Office and the city of SeaTac at the end of April.



Tyee is excelling in soccer.

The Totem boys team has jumped out to a 9-2 record in the Seamount League for second place behind only Hazen, including a decisive 5-1 victory over Lindbergh this past Friday.

"We play an A-level game every time we put it on the field," said Tyee head coach Allen Rider. "We work a lot on ball control and conditioning."

The Totems jumped out to a commanding 5-0 lead by halftime Friday, then scaled back its attack in the second half.

Tyee went out of the locker room and played only nine players instead of the normal 11, and Lindbergh scored its only goal during the second half. The Eagles of Renton played with only 10 on the field the entire game because of a player shortage, not on purpose like the Totems.

"We were way up, and it was a chance to get the guys in," Rider said. "They only played with 10 the whole game. It didn't make sense rushing our guys in."

Tyee took the lead with only 1 minute, 15 seconds elapsed in the first half and never looked back.

Jose Aguiniga, a senior captain, drilled the ball into the left corner of the net to already make it 1-0.

Earlier this afternoon, on a very picturesque sunny day at Golden Gardens Park, Mayor Mike McGinn announced a new coalition against coal exports consisting of regional leaders. It's called the "Leadership Alliance Against Coal."

According to a statement, the alliance will call for "agencies to work together to explore the impacts on the health of people living near the rail tracks and coal terminals" and "urge state and federal agencies to deny permits for coal exports, as their benefits do not outweigh the likely costs to the local economies, health, natural environment and cultural resources."

The coal export terminal referred to here is the proposed terminal in Cherry Point. The Cherry Point-bound line would carry 150 million tons of coal annually through SoDo, Interbay, Ballard and further before shipping off to China.

Up to 18 coal trains would pass through the city, each more than a mile long. A study conducted by the City of Seattle found coal trains would add an additional two hours of gate downtime at major street crossings of the railway by 2025.

At around 1 p.m. today, Ballard High School went into "Shelter in Place" mode after someone reported seeing a teenager with a gun outside the school.

"My understanding was that a neighbor reported seeing someone with a pistol in his waistband," Seattle Public Schools Spokeswoman Teresa Wippel said. "Security took a look at some video and were able to identify that someone really was there and that person was a student."

It turned out to be a student with an airsoft pistol. The student was taken into custody by Seattle Public Schools security.

Wippel would not release the exact discipline because it was a student and student information is kept confidential, but she said, "We are a gun-free zone on our campuses; we don't allow any guns of any sort."

Wippel said that "Shelter in Place" only means that all the doors are locked and that all other activities go on as normal. At Ballard High School, only the front door remains unlocked throughout the day, so locking that door was basically the only difference the situation made.

Because it was a student, the Seattle Police Department did not get involved with the situation.

Friday, April 19
Boys soccer
Highline 1, Renton 1
Highline and Renton battled to a 1-1 tie in Seamount League action Friday.
Kennedy 4, Evergreen 0
Kennedy shut out Evergreen by a 4-0 margin Friday.
Hazen 7, Foster 0
The Bulldogs took a lopsided loss against the Seamount League-leading Highlanders this last Friday.
Girls lacrosse
Seattle Prep 18, Kennedy 8
Kennedy Catholic absorbed a loss at the hands of Seattle Prep this past Friday.

The Laurence Colman Estate Tour is right around the corner, on Sunday, April 28. What better way to spend a spring afternoon in West Seattle?

Organized by Historic Seattle and co-sponsored by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, this rare opportunity provides an in-person glimpse of the home of one of the legendary families of the Fauntleroy neighborhood, West Seattle and Seattle as a whole.

Under new ownership, the four-floor Colman Estate sparkles with panoramic views and a vivid rhododendron garden.

Southwest Seattle Historical Society members can register for the tour at a discount. Sign up now, while there are still slots available. The deadline is Thursday, April 25.

For details, visit http://www.loghousemuseum.info/events/colman-estate-tour-sunday-april-2….

Let's take a moment to look at the progress of townhomes in Ballard by examining one site in particular -- the old, now-demolished Art House on 22nd Ave NW and NW 61st St.

In our March 20 article, "In Ballard, a wave of townhouses densifying neighborhood," we talked to pro-development czar Roger Valdez to get the "why" behind all of the new townhouses sprouting up around town.

For the photo, we used the site of the old, 5,580 sq. ft., Art Church where a four-unit townhome and a narrow single-family residence were being constructed.

The Art Church, which was the brainchild of Marianne Maksirisombat, had been vacant for a couple years.

Here's a photo of the art house before, taken from our file photos: