July 2013

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn spent part of his July 13 weekend touring the Southwest Precinct, covering West Seattle and South Park, and talked about his experience alongside Precinct Captain Joseph Kessler on July 15.

Before meeting with media in front of the Southwest Precinct (which is available for viewing at seattlechannel.org), McGinn said he toured the Nickelsville homeless encampment in West Seattle’s Highland Park neighborhood, visited Alki Beach where police are deploying emphasis patrols during the warm summer months, and visited the High Point community to discuss concerns about youthful shenanigans taking place in parks while kids are out of school.

As viewed on the Seattle Channel website, McGinn and Kessler discussed crime trends over the past year and public safety initiatives in the works.

Prolific shoplifter escapes, but doesn't get his prize

July 12, 4:32 p.m., 1400 Block of NW Market St -- A prolific shoplifter, who steals hundreds of dollars of liquor at a time, struck again at the Ballard Safeway.

After employees were told to be on the lookout for the suspect, the man himself made an appearance, loading numerous bottles of liquor adding up to $800 to his personal stroller. Then, without any intention of paying whatsoever, the suspect strolled past the cashiers.

Security stopped the suspect at the door and advised the suspect that he was being detained for shoplifting. When a security officer attempted to handcuff the suspect, he struggled to break free. He grabbed a knife from his pants pocket and tried to slash the face and throat of a security officer.

Concerned for their safety, they let the suspect go, but were able to recover all of the liquor. When the suspect ran off, he left his stroller at the scene. Police placed the stroller in evidence and did an area check for the suspect, but it came up negative.

Seattle Public Schools issued an update on next year’s schedule, known as “Option B.”

Here are the details from SPS:
Now that the Washington State Board of Education has denied Seattle Public Schools’ request to waive the 180-school-day requirement to accommodate three professional development days, SPS has adopted the Option B calendar for the 2013-14 school year.

Two calendars were approved by the Seattle School Board at its July 3 meeting to accommodate pending state board action – Option A, with the professional development days included, and Option B, without. Since the state board on July 11 voted not to approve the waiver to include professional development days, SPS will now follow the Option B calendar, which shows three student instructional days instead of three professional development days. The already-scheduled early release days will remain in place.
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Here is the link to the Option B calendar.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

West Seattle's state stay ended with an 8-1 loss to Eastlake Thursday.

The Westsiders finished with a 2-2 record in the Major Little League action for 11-12 year-olds played at the Luke Jensen complex in Vancouver.

West Seattle won its opener by a 5-4 score over Camas and blasted Gig Harbor National, 13-1, before being knocked into the loser's bracket by Federal Way, 14-6. Federal Way went on to become the undefeated team in the final awaiting an opponent out of the loser's bracket.

West Seattle set out to be the survivor in the loser's bracket, but took the loss at the hands of Eastlake to be eliminated.

The District 7 championship West Seattle squad was managed by Jason Woodward with David Douglas and Jon Muench serving as coaches.

Players for West Seattle this year included Chris Frost, Dylan Diggdon, Henry Muench, Henry Ruf, Nathan Pelley, Jack Summers, Jarek Woodward, Joe Pare, Kai Osaka, Kenji Suzuki, Noah Oehling, Richie Wallace and Will Douglas.

The West Seattle charter president is Brian Pare.

There was a time, long before preservatives and a highly-coordinated food shipment system in the United States, when people could simply swing by a local farmer’s field, find his or her stand, and buy the freshest produce imaginable. Looking beyond the stand, customers could see the very fields where their fruits and vegetables were grown.

Today, with the exception of farmers markets, those fields are mostly replaced by a semi-truck delivering from far-flung locations. When that carrot was pulled from the earth is anyone’s guess.

Hearkening back to yesteryear, the newly opened High Point Farm Stand in West Seattle’s High Point neighborhood allows you to buy fresh fruit and veggies only a few feet away from where they are grown, and handed to you by the people who grew them.

When it comes to knowing where your food comes from, it’s right up there.

Bertha, the world’s largest tunnel boring machine, will be set in motion by the end of July on a 14-month voyage through the earth of downtown Seattle’s waterfront, creating a 57-foot diameter tunnel for an underground SR 99 that will replace the aging Alaskan Way Viaduct.

A public pre-bore dedication ceremony for the engineering marvel set the project in motion officially with speeches by Gov. Jay Inslee, transportation, city and port officials on Saturday July 20.

The atmosphere was festive as members of the public were allowed to peer down from catwalks over the 80 foot deep launch pit that Bertha occupies. Some 14 months from now the primary tunneling is expected to be complete as Bertha travels two miles underground and a series of conveyor belts churn the dirt out and onto a barge. The $80 million machine is expected to move 36 feet a day.

Governor Inslee estimated the project has and will create 3900 jobs, adding "When I look down into this pit I see innovation, determination, I see teamwork, I see the symbol of a community that worked together to move us forward.

UPDATE:Alaska Airlines and the Washington Restaurant Association failed Friday, July 19 to convince a King County Superior Court judge to halt the SeaTac council from placing the measure on the Nov. 5 ballot.

HERE IS OUR PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

There was only a week’s notice but the place was packed.

Proponents and opponents of a proposed ordinance that would set a minimum wage of $15 per hour and other employment conditions for some airport transportation and hospitality workers testified at SeaTac City Council chambers on July 16 in a town hall meeting.

The SeaTac City Council is expected on July 23 to formally put the measure on the Nov. 5 SeaTac election ballot. Because the initiative received the required amount of petition signatures, the lawmakers only other choice would have been to adopted the ordinance outright without a citizens’ vote. They refused to do that at their July 9 study session.

Two separate proceedings on Friday, July 19 could halt the council’s action. One is a review of the validity of the signatures by King County Elections. Aug. 6 is the deadline for placing measures on the November ballot.

One of Burien City Councilmember Jack Block Jr.’s election opponents is accusing him of receiving excessive and unnecessary expenses for taxpayer paid travel.

Lauren Berkowitz said this week Block spent over $32,000 on what her campaign termed “junkets” to locations such as Boston, Washington D.C., Reno and San Francisco. The travel was for a variety of conferences and public events. His expenses were reimbursed by the city.

“Councilmember Block’s travels at taxpayer expense seem entirely inconsistent with his frequent talk about responsibly managing city funds,” Berkowitz said. “His actions don’t seem to match his rhetoric.”

Block responded that the travel expenses are spread over his entire eight years as a council member.

He said he traveled quite a bit in his first term and not as much during his second term. He said he has earned silver level certificates from the National League of Cities and the Association of Washington Cities.

In his first term he went back to the nation’s capital every year to successfully lobby for the city’s interests, he said.

A free community event, “Band Jam” will showcase the marching bands participating in the Seafair Torchlight Parade July 26 at the Southwest Athletic Complex (SWAC) at 2600 SW Thistle Street.  The event will run from 7pm to 8:30pm. The doors will open at 6pm.

All City Band is a summer marching band program for high school students sponsored by Seattle Public Schools.  The ACB is marching in the West Seattle parade this weekend as well.

The Director of ACB is Marcus Pimpleton, also the music director for Chief Sealth HS and Denny MS.  Of the 138 participating students this year, 62 of them are students at West Seattle HS and Chief Sealth HS.

Traditionally ACB rehearses (and holds Band Jam) at Memorial Stadium.  Because of the remodeling and construction at Memorial Stadium this summer, rehearsals (3 nights a week) are being held at the SWAC .  Band Jam will also be held at SWAC.  The event is free, and concessions will be sold. 

By Maggie Nicholson

A shiver of black interrupts the sunlight. The disruption is caused by infinitesimal wings, which break the light with a quiet drop. The shadow vanishes. “Echo Azure,” says Stewart. A blue butterfly appears.

“How could you tell?”

“After a while, you can recognize them by their shadows,” says Stewart. “How do you recognize your friends? You see their face all the way down the street. You know them. It’s like hearing their voice from a great distance.”

Stewart Wechsler was born on Long Island in 1956. He was his mother’s fourth baby and her final try for a girl. Stewart’s father, post World War II, wanted to be a fine artist. He began working in advertising, which paid very well. Eventually he started his own agency. Despite his success, in his heart was a pool of regret. He gave Stewart advice. “Follow your passion, and not the money,” he said.