May 2013

It's been a season of firsts for the Tyee High School boys soccer team.
The Totems made their first state playoff appearance since 1982 when they hosted Capital this past Tuesday, and they posted their first state victory ever when they won that game by a 4-1 score.

Now Tyee goes on to the state quarterfinals Saturday, May 18 for the first time when the Totems pay a 7 p.m. visit to Franklin Pierce High School of Tacoma.

The Totems are aiming to win that loser-out game and earn a berth into the May 24 state Class 2A semifinals to be played at Sunset Chevrolet Stadium in Sumner. The championship game follows for the winner the next day and the loser plays for the third place state trophy.

Tyee would love to add those firsts to its history, but first they had to win Tuesday's game against Capital played at Highline Memorial.

It was the Cougars who scored first in that game to put the pressure on the Totems, with Kellen O'Neill striking on a Riccio assist in the 20th minute of play.

Tyee tied it up again in the 39th minute. Osvaldo Lopez found the back of the net on an Aguiniga assist.

At 6:15 a.m., May 17, a Boeing 737-400 Alaska Cargo Combi arrived at Sea-Tac Airport with much fanfare to unload 24,000 pounds of recently-caught Copper River king and sockeye salmon via processors, Ocean Beauty, Trident, and Copper River seafoods.

After their three-hour flight, pilots Jeff Meyer, captain, and Peter Michels, first officer, appeared holding a "lucky" 42-pound salmon over their heads, then escorted the fish down the outside ladder to the tarmac, and across a red carpet for media and other onlookers. The fish was caught in the Copper River near Cordova, Alaska, just nine hours earlier. This event has become an annual Seattle ritual since 2010.

Under a large tent blocking a slight drizzle, four master chefs and their assistants received a portion of the booty by veteran slicer Nestor Guillermo for the cook-off competition, a key ingredient of the annual event. After a 30-minute rush in their makeshift, outdoor kitchens, the four dishes were served to four celebrity judges.

Press release:

Hello my name is Steve Armstrong and I am running for Burien City Council / Position 7. I’ve lived in Burien for over 40 years. Attended Shorewood Elementary, Cascade Middle School, Evergreen High and the University of Washington. My children, Alex and Elena, attended local schools – St. Francis, Highline and JFK. I am currently employed by The Boeing Company (32 years) specializing in Contracts. My hobbies include: hiking, mountain climbing, fly fishing, tennis, volleyball and spending time with my family and friends.

I’m running for city council because I believe it’s time for a change and that I can help initiate this change. It appears that some Council members and the City Manager have lost touch with the citizens of Burien. Recent evaluations from the City Council are mixed as to whether the City Manager is performing to expectations. Council members do not (or will not) work together. This condition must change.

In the entertainment world, there is a long history of talented musicians and actors who happen to be gay keeping that part of their lives private, at least until they’ve “made it,” including Elton John, Ellen DeGeneres and Neil Patrick Harris. Most recently, as a first for professional sports in the U.S., active NBA player Jason Collins came out as homosexual, saying “I think, I know, in my personal life, I’m ready and I think the country is ready for supporting an openly gay basketball player.”

It’s 2013 now, with voters in state after state approving gay marriage as a sign of acceptance that some people are born homosexual, have a right to marry the person they love and share the benefits of such a union with heterosexual couples. Gay characters in film and television are no longer an anomaly, nor presented in caricature as a rule. Normalization is the trend for an increasing slice of the national population.

With the cultural sea change seemingly underway, Sarey Savy, a 17-year-old lifelong White Center resident born to entertain, believes the world is ready for an openly gay musician right from the start.

For the Ballard High Jazz Band students, winning first place at the Mount Hood Jazz Festival the weekend of May 4-5 was no sure thing.

"It was actually a surprise for me," said junior Emerson Jordan, who plays tenor sax. "It was hard to judge sort of how good the other bands were. It felt good when they said our name."

Of course, the band didn't go to the festival necessarily to win. Students said they simply wanted to play well and put on a good performance.

"One of the things we focused on was not trying to win ... to win, that was just a nice surprise," said junior Julian Amrine.

Along with the first place trophy, the talented band also had three students get recognized as outstanding soloists: Amrine on Trumpet, Will Radford on Alto Sax and Luca Cartner on Drums.

"We know we played well, but we didn't hear all the bands," said director of bands Michael James. "I was hoping to place, but to get first place was fantastic. I think the kids worked so hard, so I was just very proud of their performance."

At 6:15 a.m., May 17, a Boeing 737-400 Alaska Cargo Combi arrived at Sea-Tac Airport with much fanfare to unload 24,000 pounds of recently-caught Copper River king and sockeye salmon via processors, Ocean Beauty, Trident, and Copper River seafoods.

After their three-hour flight, pilots Jeff Meyer, captain, and Peter Michels, first officer, appeared holding a "lucky" 42-pound salmon over their heads, then escorted the fish down the outside ladder to the tarmac, and across a red carpet for media and other onlookers. The fish was caught in Cordova. This event has become an annual Seattle ritual since 2010.

Under a large tent blocking a slight drizzle, four master chefs and their assistants received a portion of the booty by veteran slicer Nestor Guillermo for the cook-off competition, a key ingredient of the annual event. After a 30-minute rush in their makeshift, outdoor kitchens, the four dishes were served to four celebrity judges.

On May 16 the Washington State Liquor Control Board released their initial draft of rules for I-502 implementation, the framework for legalization of recreational marijuana. Much of the information is reserved for those interested in becoming part of the system – from growing to processing to retailing, but the rules also give end-users an idea of what they might see upon walking into a retail marijuana shop for the first time (which is expected to happen around the turn into 2014.)

From seed to purchase, there is a sea of regulations on record keeping, labeling, security and precise guidelines on the growth, quality testing, processing and transport of marijuana before it reaches a retail outlet. For those interested in reading about the system in depth, they are available online at https://lcb.box.com/initial-draft-rules. A good summary is also available from Seattle Times reporter Bob Young, found here.

The WSLCB is taking recommendations on the draft rules until June 10 and is expected to release finalized rules later that month.

Information from King County Ferry Service:

Spirit of Kingston begins West Seattle-downtown Seattle service Saturday
Newest addition to King County water taxi fleet will provide more reliable service

The King County Ferry District’s new vessel, Spirit of Kingston, will make her inaugural trip to West Seattle from downtown Seattle’s Pier 50 at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, May 18.

The 65-foot catamaran recently joined the King County Ferry District’s fleet of water taxis after being acquired at no cost through an agreement with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The King County Ferry District was able to acquire the FTA funded vessel after its former operator, Port of Kingston, discontinued service to Seattle last fall.

In addition to improved service reliability, the acquisition will help the district reduce operational costs. The district estimates it will save more than $425,000 on lease and rental expenses over the next five years.

The annual Taste of West Seattle benefit event was a sell out again as hundreds packed into the Hall at Fauntleroy to sample flavors from 48 restaurants and others around the area. The admission price all went to help the West Seattle Helpline charity.

Monies raised (which we will provide in an update once they have been totaled) will provide the following for West Seattle families facing one-time emergencies:

• Rent & Utilities
• Clothing at the Clothesline
• Metro bus tickets
• Back to school supplies
• Referrals to other agencies

It's not too late to support the West Seattle Helpline.

You can donate directly.

$25 will buy bus tickets for 55 people for job interviews and medical appointments
$50 will supplement a family’s utility payment during a time of need
$100 will keep a family’s water on while they look for work
$250 will keep the power on for two families as they recover from a financial setback
$500 will insure that several families won’t face eviction while looking for employment

How can you donate?

Press release:

Highline Community College’s Marine Science and Technology Center (MaST) is pleased to announce the launch of the “Got Caps?” plastic bottle cap collection campaign on Saturday, June 8th from 10 a.m.–2 p.m. The MaST Center is partnering with community organizations and local schools to collect bottle caps to prevent accumulation in our landfills. The caps will be reused for eco-art educational projects and distributed to partnering organizations for proper recycling.

The launch event will include workshops to teach different ways to reuse caps for things such as children’s projects or garden art, and a “Sink Your Boat” contest. Attendees that bring a grocery bag of plastic bottle caps to the MaST Center will be entered to win prizes such as a Salty's at Redondo gift certificate, an iTunes gift card, a “sustainable” gift package and more.