May 2013

Press release:

Information from family and friends soon will be considered when a licensed mental health professional and the court determine whether someone should be involuntarily committed for mental health treatment, thanks to legislation signed into law today by Gov. Jay Inslee.

“People who may need to be committed and receive treatment don’t always present symptoms when being examined and assessed; someone might exhibit none of the signs that immediate commitment is warranted,” said Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, the sponsor of Senate Bill 5480. “But friends and family who see that person from day to day often see behavior and telltale signs that won’t show up in a single examination.”

Her legislation accelerates the implementation date from July 2015 to July 2014 for legislation enacted in 2010 (House Bill 3076) to expand the scope of information used by the court when determining if someone meets the criteria for involuntary civil commitment for mental health treatment.

Press Release:

May 20 was kick-off day for a four-week campaign to raise funds for the Faith Callahan Memorial Swim Lesson Scholarship Fund.

The fund pays for swimming lessons for children who live in low-income households in the Des Moines community.

The Des Moines Legacy Foundation, the Des Moines Pool Metropolitan Park District and the Mount Rainier Pool have joined together to raise funds for the summer swim lesson program. These groups share a core value of sustaining a water-safe environment for all citizens.

Nine Americans drown every day and three of them are children. Most never learned how to swim. One of the goals of the Des Moines Pool Metropolitan Park District is to assure that no child in the district ever be one of those statistics because they didn’t have an opportunity to learn to swim.

The swim scholarship program was named in honor of Faith Callahan. She had been a life-long supporter of the Mount Rainier Pool and in her 106 years recognized the importance of water safety, exercise and swimming, in particular.

Retired Hall of Fame and UW football icon (1978), Warren Moon looks like he could still take a hard snap from the center.

We met recently at Seattle Seahawks headquarters. I was there with my friend Howard Bogie of West Seattle. Howard, retired from Seattle Parks Department. He met Warren when Don James introduced Warren to Howard during the Rose Bowl Season and they got to know each other when Warren began working with the Seahawks.

About 10 years ago, when Howard had retired and opened his own business of running Charity Celebrity Golf Tournaments, Warren and Steve Pool (KOMO TV fame) asked Howard if he would help plan and run a Charity Golf Tournament for them with the profit going to Children's Hospital. Howard worked with Warren and Steve Pool on their golf tournament for several years.

Warren is 56. He's 6'3", handsome and easygoing and close to his playing weight. He does press box commentary now with Steve Raible during Seahawks radio broadcasts as well as TV post game shows rather than take heat from onrushing lineman a head taller and 70 pounds heavier. Warren retired in 2000. He loved the game but knew it was time.

I do not have fine motor skills. I cannot cut a snowflake out of paper, even using a pattern. I abuse scissors by cutting inappropriate materials or opening wooden crates. But from when I saw the first poster for the Nordic Heritage Museum’s “Scissors for a Brush” exhibit I was like a fly in a paper web.

On March 21, I limped home from back to back days of draining events. It was 4 p.m. and my goal was collapse … until a friend’s email referenced the opening night reception for the first ever U.S. exhibit of Karen Bit Vejle’s paper cuttings. “How do I get an invite?” I queried.

“Members only,” she replied. “You’d have to join quickly.” By the time Martin got home at 5 p.m. I had purchased a family membership to the Nordic Heritage Museum online. Ignore the fact that I’ve lived within blocks since 1988.

“We’re going to a reception for a new exhibit,” I informed him. “We need to leave in 45 minutes.” I made it clear that comparing hardships of our respective days would be futile.

When Ballard High School film program student Vann Fulfs was announced the winner of The Justin Amorratanasuchad Scholarship Fund -- more colloquially known as the JDogg Scholarship -- it was an emotional moment.

“I actually think I started crying to be honest,” he said. “… I think it was very emotional for a lot of people in the room. It’s sort of a touchy subject.”

For Fulfs, it was a moment that meant his ability to attend all four years of college was assured. Fulfs said he and his family were unsure whether he would be able to finish college with the money they had.

But what made him emotional was the story behind the JDogg scholarship. It was created by two proud parents in memory of their son, Justin “JDogg” Ammorratanasuchad,” a former Ballard High School video production student and a junior at Emerson University who had won several accolades and the hearts of his friends and teachers.

By Sam Reed
Athletic Director/Activity Coordinator
Chief Sealth International High School

Last spring I led my season recap by saying that it was “my belief that the ‘12 spring sports season at Chief Sealth International High School will be one that sets a new standard for excellence and success.”
That statement proved true this year, as our athletes turned out in droves this spring, driven by high expectations. Led by a strong senior class, 254 student-athletes donned Seahawk apparel and demonstrated the “Sealth pride” that’s now come to be expected. Now, as this season and year comes to a close, it’s difficult to conger up the words to express what this group of seniors has meant to the school and to the athletic programs they’ve participated in. While it will be hard to see them go, the list of successes of all below should help demonstrate the strength of the program they’re leaving behind.

For aspiring chefs and food service professionals in the area, here's a heads up on a free open house for South Seattle Community College's Culinary Arts program.

From SSCC:

South Seattle Community College will host a free Open House/ Information Session for its highly regarded Culinary Arts department Saturday, June 1. The tour will being at 9:30 am in the Alhadeff Grill Dining Room.

Participants will be able to tour the facilities and learn more about South Seattle Community College’s highly-regarded Culinary Arts program. Hosted by members of the faculty, participants will also be able to learn about degree and certificate options in Restaurant & Food Service Production, Catering & Banquet Operations, and Pastry & Specialty Baking. After the tour, faculty and staff members will be on-hand to review program admission requirements, career opportunities and register new students for either the Summer 2013 or Fall 2013 quarter.

The Open House is free and a Continental Breakfast will be served at 9:30 am. Please do not wear sandals or open-toed shoes to the tour.

Culinary Arts Program
South Seattle Community College

Seattle Christian posted a wild 4-3 victory over Highland in Class 1A boys soccer action Saturday to earn its way into this coming Friday's state semifinals in Sumner.

Saturday's game took place in Orting in spite of it being a home game for the Warriors.

Most other quarterfinals also took place that day and created high field usage closer to SCS's SeaTac location.

Grant Fremmerlid scored two goals and one assist for the Warriors and teammate Josh Gehrke recorded one goal and three assists.

Fremmerlid struck first for the Warriors on a Gehrke assist, then Gehrke found the back of the net on a Fremmerlid assist.

Fremmerlid was then assisted by Gehrke on another goal before Gehrke assisted Gunhus on a score.

Seattle Christian also scored an own goal for Highland.

Highland also got a goal from Vaca on a Salcedo assist and a goal by Muniz on a Gutierrez assist.

The Warriors are now getting prepared for a trip to this Friday's semifinals, where they will meet Okanagen at 2 p.m. at Sunset Çhevrolet Stadium in Sumner.

COVINGTON - Seattle Christian concluded its action at the West Central Tri-District Class 1A girls fastpitch softball tournament with a chaotic 20-10 six inning win against Mount Baker at the Kent Service Club fields on Saturday, May 18, and will head to Richland as the No. 3 seed. The Mountaineers will go as the No. 4 seed.

After waiting for more than 30 minutes for their opponents to be determined, the Warriors began this game sluggishly.

Mount Baker ascended to a 4-0 lead after two innings before Seattle Christian started to click.

Molli Ronish, Kellie Kumasaka, Lisa Kumasaka and Makenna Wallingford drove home one run apiece with a wild pitch accounting for another run as the Warriors earned a 5-4 lead in the top of the third inning.
Mount Baker slammed away for four runs in the bottom of the inning to claim an 8-5 advantage.

The top of the fourth featured a Seattle Christian hitting and run bombardment that netted six runs and an 11-8 edge. Extra base hits included a Baucom home run blast plus doubles by Lisa Kumasaka, Wallingford, Benita Beale and Lindsy Ronish.

The state-funded Healthy Youth Survey (conducted every two years and sent out to 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th graders) results are in, and provide a glimpse into the healthy and not-so-healthy predilections of Seattle students.

Seattle Public Schools dove into the data and came up with the following trends from the anonymous, voluntary survey conducted in October of 2012:

From SPS
- The percentage of eighth-grade students who engage in 60-plus minutes of physical activity five or more days per week increased from 34 percent in 2008 to 49 percent in 2012.

- Television watching also declined among both middle and high school students. In the 2012 survey, 25 percent of eighth-graders said they watched three or more hours of TV on an average school day; in 2006, that number was 37 percent. The rate of TV viewing among high school students dropped from 28 percent in 2008 to 19 percent in 2012.

- Rates of being bullied in the past month has declined among 6th grade students from 26 percent in 2008 to 22 percent in 2012.