June 2013

South Seattle Community College celebrated its 2013 graduating class on June 12 at Benaroya Hall.

SSCC's 43rd graduation ceremony recognized the achievements of 864 students who have earned degrees or certificates. The 2013 graduating class represents a wide range of South's student population including five 17 - year old graduates, and one 62- year graduate.

The Commencement Address was given by Geo Quibuyen, of the acclaimed hip-hop group the Blue Scholars. Quibuyen was the Town Hall Seattle artist-in-residence for the last three months and a keynote speaker at the Association of Asian American Studies (AAAS) Conference in April.

West Seattle Herald photographer David Rosen was there to capture the festivities.

Please click the image above or see below for more!

As school gets out, the weather gets drier and warmer and summer rolls in, its time for parents to think about their children and what they do at night. With nothing better to do, underage drinking can run rampant.

Recently, the Ballard News-Tribune acted as a passenger in a police car. Sgt. Todd Kibbee, who has worked in the North Precinct for over 20 years and knows it like the back of his hand, showed the Tribune all of the common places that officers find underage and illegal drinking. Soundview Playfield, Sunset Hill Park, Golden Gardens and private beaches are all places that kids will congregate to drink and, in their perspective, have a good time.

At Golden Gardens especially, people seem to either ignore or are unaware that no alcohol is allowed, be it wine, beer or liquor, Kibbee said.

“That's the biggest rule in Golden Gardens that gets violated by people. Hopefully by this point everyone knows ‘No Alcohol,’” he said.

Still, someone who is over 21 and drinking modestly is not as big of a concern as kids who don’t know better and who can get themselves in a precarious situation.

West Seattle Elementary School had a very special set of visitors on June 11. The Seattle Mariners selected a group of seven members of the team to visit the school to talk to the students about the D.R.E.A.M. program.

The D.R.E.A.M. Team is a comprehensive program that stresses the importance of the D.R.E.A.M. principles: Drug-free, Respect for yourself and others, Education through reading, Attitude, and Motivation to achieve your dreams.

The Mariners who spoke were:
Broadcaster Aaron Goldsmith, Jason Bay, Jeremy Bonderman, Nick Franklin, Joe Saunders, Kelly Shoppach, coach Robby Thompson.

Each player spent time to talk about each letter in the D.R.E.A.M. set of principles and then the kids got a thrill as the players came out into the audience to sit with them, talk for a little bit and watch a set of Mariners highlights on video.

Other Mariners' team members were dispatched today to spread the same positive message at other schools.

Viewlands Elementary School, 10525 3rd Ave. NW, Seattle, WA 98177 (Seattle School District)

By Rachel M. Lusby
SPECIAL TO THE HIGHLINE TIMES

In the areas surrounding the site of the future Tukwila Village project, (set to break ground before the year’s end,) crime activity has long been a major issue.

Tukwila Mayor Jim Haggerton says “The calls for police, fire and medics were astronomical compared to other areas of the city.”

The specific area includes five motels, a smoke shop, and pawn shop along Tukwila International Boulevard, just south of South 144th Street.

On April 22 the mayor proposed an ordinance to the council which would allow them to purchase the seven businesses under the state law which allows cities to designate areas as “Urban Renewal Areas” and gives the city the right to purchase or condemn properties in blighted areas in the name of economic development.

The Council approved the ordinance.

By Harland Eastwood
SPECIAL TO THE HIGHLINE TIMES

Here’s the conclusion of our story about the DC-4 military transport plane N-88852 that crashed near Boulevard Park in 1955:
What really happened? The editor recalls that speculation about the cause of the crash was plentiful in the days and weeks following the crash. It seems as if everyone you talked to had an idea of what had happened, but that no one really knew. Many of these theories have persisted to this day. One of the more prevalent theories advanced was overloading.

While doing research on this story the editor interviewed Merrill Kleinmann who was renting a room from Sam and Florence Montgomery at the time of the crash. Near the end of my interview, Mr. Kleinmann presented me with a copy of the Accident Investigation Report conducted by the Civil Aeronautics Board. This 19-page report was extremely detailed, thorough, and covered every aspect of the accident.

The following are portions of that report.

The Burien Community Center has a new sculpture in the lobby atrium.

The sculpture/fountain was created by welding students at the Puget Sound Skills Center welding program, lead by instructor Dale Copeland. Copeland is an artist in his own right and worked with the students to develop the design of stacked metal stones and koi fish.

The students are Reggie Curry, Brooks Enciso Jr. , Anthony England, Sam Keaton; Logan Lee, Forrest Magel, James Majstruk, Donald Mayer, Logan McDonnell, Maximillian Mullin, Payden Oman, Jesus Puliod, Jared Standiford, Santiego Webb, Jamar Wells, Zachary Woodward and Cameron Badley.

All materials for the project were donated. The previous “lighthouse” sculpture will be installed on the Puget Sound Skills Center campus.

To view the new sculpture/fountain visit the center at 14700 6th Ave SW. Hours are Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-8 p.m. and Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information, call 206-988-3700.

By Dusty Henry

Guitar shredding and manners aren’t necessarily synonymous. Neither are catchy pop melodies and head banging. Mikal Cronin is hard pressed to be stereotyped. Between every hard rocking song he played at the Tractor Tavern last Friday night, he’d either say “Thank you” or “Sorry” for some sort of technical mistake.

Cronin is not one to be pigeonholed or to fulfill a stereotype. He has garnered a following over the years associating himself with other California lo-fi garage rock acts like Ty Segall (for whom he plays bass) and Thee Oh Sees. But there’s almost nothing lo-fi about Cronin’s music, except for maybe his “just hanging out like the rest of you” attire. His latest record MCII is polished, hard-hitting, radio-ready rock music with big guitar hooks and infectious vocal melodies.

The Highline High School Alumni Foundation provided 17 college scholarships to Highline seniors.
The winners are Back row, from left, Stephanie Anderson, Tyler Moiser, Kaitlin Pitz, Brandy Teigen, Quang Lam.

Middle Row: Breana Brookbank, Mackenzie Allen, Brenda Robles, Tran Lam

.Front Row: Losa Berhane, Madalynne Gatto, Chelsea Thompson, Briana White, Fredy Hernaqndez.

Not pictured: Jazzmyn Lee-Dowers

At three years old, Seahurst Park sun worshiper James Cummings hasn’t seen that many sunny days in Burien so last week he took full advantage of the summer weather.

Spring brings about the sense of renewal and this is definitely evident in a recent senior project at Mathison Park in Burien.

Aviation High School student Gina O’Kelley approached the Burien Parks & Recreation Department last summer with a proposal to complete her senior project at a local Burien park.

Pointed in the direction of Mathison Park, Gina was excited to embark on a project to improve the ecology in a portion of the park.

In Gina’s words, “The ecology of local parks is intriguing to me because they are so closely impacted by human interaction. It also matters to me that these green spaces continue to be available to future generations. “

Gina started in early September by visiting the Mathison Park with Adopt-a-Park Coordinator Lisa Aumann and set about defining an about 2,500 square foot area to remove invasive plants and re-vegetate with native plants.

In September, she gathered school volunteers and coordinated another 40 community volunteers to grub out over 50 cubic yards of Himalayan blackberry and English Ivy. Additionally, Gina worked with parks staff on removing some of the Holly and Laurel stands.