April 2013

Come out and support the Ballard High School Video Production Program by watching their films at the National Film Festival for talented Youth, which will be screening right here in Seattle.

Seven short films by sixteen students in the Ballard High School Video Production Program were named Official Selections of NFFTY, which showcases outstanding work by filmmakers age 22 and younger.

The competition was grueling, surely, with over 700 entries from 30 states and 20 countries. Official Selections for NFFTY are determined by a jury of professional filmmakers.

NFFTY opens at the Seattle Cinerama Theater on Thursday, April 25 and continues through Sunday, April 28 at the Seattle Center (You can buy tickets here).

These short films by Ballard High School video students have been selected for screening:

Deep Down by Kaila Lafferty & Isaiah Hoban-Halversen

Dream House by Ariahna Ghormley, Ana Krafchick & Louis Weissman

Great Mimes Think Alike by Will Slater, Michael Vitz-Wong & Kiana Wyld

Making a Mark by Brittney Blokker, Helen Miller & Sam Weller

Information from RCAC:

In June 2011, White Center curated it's first Short Film Festival. Three twenty minute programs covering a wide range of subjects were hosted by Southgate Roller Rink, Full Tilt, and Big Al Brewing.

We are again calling for submissions for the June 2013 Festival!

This is a one night festival, held on June 13th in White Center. White Center is located between Seattle and Burien in unincorporated King County. It is a place with a lot of character and characters, where RAT is technically an acronym - but embraced as a mascot. RatCity ArtCity's mission is to bring and sustain an eclectic, diverse range of art and artists to White Center, focusing on both emerging and well established artists. RCAC has revived the White Center Art Walk that had been in place for the past several years. Amanda Kay Helmick, Devrim Ozkan, and Theresa and Jason Beaulieu are the current facilitators and co-conspirators.

At Anchors Down (2016 NW Market St), Ballard's newest bar, you will find three things: a bunch of nautical things, hot dogs and good drinks, thanks to good bartenders.

Anchors Down is the latest venture of Laura Olson, who owns Po Dog next door, as well as Auto Battery and Grim's on Capitol Hill. For the nautical-themed bar, she brought in as business partners her friends: Grim's Manager Amy Graeff and Auto Battery Co-Owner and General Manager Christopher Williams.

With no obvious signage, the entrance can be a bit mysterious. But where there be anchors and other nautical things (and a Po Dog sign next door), there will lie your destination, Anchors Down. Photo by Matt Mills McKnight

On Tuesday night, the Ballard News-Tribune (and our photographer friend Matt Mills McKnight) paid a visit to the new joint. The bartender was Graeff, a former New Yorker who came out to Seattle on a whim when a friend asked her if she wanted to open up a bar here. (She said "Yes," if you didn't guess.)

From Seattle Parks
The Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee is hosting a public hearing to gather public comments on the proposed second round Opportunity Fund projects on Monday April 22, 2013. The hearing is at Miller Community Center, 330 19th Ave. E, from 6 – 9 p.m.

Parks staff and the Levy Oversight Committee heard more than 40 group project presentations in January 2013. The Committee is holding a public hearing to gather input before finalizing the list of recommended projects it submits to the Mayor and City Council. These community driven projects represent interesting ideas from many Seattle neighborhoods.

The Oversight Committee made a draft recommendation of projects for the second round of funding. The list of twelve projects represents two projects from each geographical sector of the city.

Southwest
· South Park Plaza Acquisition

· Camp Long Infrastructure Improvement Winterization Project

Central East
· Broadway Hill Park

· Installing playground at Washington Park Playfield

Central West
· Northwest Native Canoe Center

Our news partner, Q-13 Fox reported on a car chase this morning:

BURIEN – A car being chased by a King County sheriff’s patrol vehicle slammed head-on into another car in the 9600 block of Des Moines Memorial Drive Tuesday night and burst into flames, the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies were able to pull the driver and a passenger from the wreckage, but two dogs inside the car were killed in the fire, sheriff’s office Sgt. Cindi West said. The driver and passenger were taken to the hospital with serious injuries, she said.

The King County sheriff’s deputy first spotted the car driving recklessly at about 9:15 p.m. on northbound Des Moines Memorial Drive South, West said. When the driver refused to stop, the deputy started a pursuit, which ended when the car crossed over the center line and crashed into oncoming traffic.

Read more: http://q13fox.com/2013/04/16/car-being-pursued-by-sheriffs-deputy-crash…

The Burien City Council appears ready to extend the animal control and services contract for the controversial Burien CARES group and increase funding by $50,000 annually.

With the two-year contract extension, CARES would also be required to implement several recommendations made in an audit by Denise McVicker, deputy director of the Tacoma, Pierce County Humane Society.

Two King County representatives appeared before the council on April 15 to answer questions about operations of the Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC). Some CARES critics have suggested Burien return to contracting with King County for animal services. SeaTac and Tukwila contract with RASKC.

Sean Bouffiou, King County Records and Licensing finance administrator, estimated RASKC would charge Burien $418,000 per year minus pet licensing fees from the city. The net cost is pegged at $332,000 annually.

The proposed new Burien CARES contract is $170,000 annually. CARES has one animal control officer who covers the city and an animal shelter on Southwest 151st Street.

After 17 years as the magnetic cashier at McClendon Hardware in White Center, "Dutchie" has decided it's time to retire.

Her last day was April 17 and coworkers, longtime friends and customers gave her a proper sending off with way too many cakes in the break room and a surprise party at the White Center Eagles.

The West Seattle Herald/White Center News was lucky enough to spend an hour with Dutchie on her last day, and we will have a full story in the coming days.

Our full feature is now available here.

In addition to her 17 years at McClendon's, Dutchie has nearly four decades of customer service under her belt in West Seattle and White Center, including Olson's Value-rite Drug (where Starbucks now resides at the Morgan Junction) and Ernst Hardware (where Staples now stands in Westwood Village).

She'll be celebrating her 80th birthday in June.

Press release:

Highline Community College in partnership with Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc. (EMSI) is pleased to announce the release of Career Coach, a free online tool that allows students and the community to explore career and educational opportunities in our region.

Through a simple keyword search, students and community members learn about the employment prospects of careers and the educational training requirements. The real-time information is customized to Highline’s geographic location, includes detailed wage estimates, employment trends and up-to-date job postings associated with more than 800 careers.

“Career Coach offers both our campus and surrounding communities a powerful tool for career and educational exploration that is easy to use and best of all free,” said Dr. Lisa Skari, Highline’s vice president for institutional advancement. “It is an especially valuable resource because of the local data and job postings it provides. Our hope is that it connects users to the jobs and educational training necessary to obtain their ideal career.”

Sala Leiato who attends West Seattle High School sort of got his dog King by default. "Originally we were supposed to be watching him, that's how it started out, but we ended up falling in love with him. So we asked the owner if we could keep him and she agreed. We just have to switch off with her every weekend."

He's a pit bull and only 3 months old but he's growing fast. "He started out the size of my hand but I have no idea how much he weighs now," said Leiato.

"What I said about him is that he's not like other people's dogs. He doesn't bite people," he said chuckling.
"I've had bad encounters with them before and he's not like that." But that doesn't mean King isn't tough. "When we start playing tug of war with him, that's when you start to see his aggressive side."

King's diet consists of "eggs, meat and bread," said Leiato. We put eggs on top of Kibbles and Bits and he'll only eat the egg."

He's got a tennis ball and "two bones he's chewed through already," but not much in the way of other toys as yet.

With the help of Burien Arts secretary Sybil Davis, Cedarbrook Lodge general manager Scott Ostrander picked on April 17 the two winning entries in the Highline Classic Jazz Festival raffle.

The drawing was held Wednesday at Cedarbrook in SeaTac. The festival was held at the Landmark Event Center in Des Moines on March 9. It is sponsored by Burien Arts. Lance Haslund is the festival’s director.

Deb Rychert is the winner of the Portland Get-Away.

The Portland package includes an overnight stay for two at Hotel Fifty with breakfast, dinner for two at H-50 Bistro and Bar, round-trip travel from Seattle to Portland via Amtrak rail and cover charges for two at a Portland jazz club.
Rychert also received a jazz festival gift basket including a gift from Statements Home Décor in Burien, wine, chocolates and CD’s from festival bands.

The Get Away and basket were valued at over $750.

Ray Valpey is the winner of the SeaTac Get-Away.

The SeaTac stay includes overnight stay for two at Cedarbrook Lodge with breakfast and valet parking, dinner for two at Copperleaf Restaurant and two cover charges for Seattle’s Jazz Alley.