July 2013

West Seattle didn't exactly do things the easy way at the District 7 Junior Little League baseball tournament, but got them done nonetheless.

The Junior age 13-14 Westsiders had lost the winner's bracket final to host PacWest by a 5-3 score on Sunday, July 7 but came back to rout Renton, 16-6, in the loser's bracket final the next day and earn another shot at PacWest.

West Seattle needed to win twice to knock off PacWest, and rallied for an 11-1 win in the first championship played Tuesday, July 9.

The West Siders then won the if-necessary championship game by a 7-6 score on Wednesday, July 10 to take the title.

Now the West Seattle team will advance to the state tournament starting Sunday, July 21 at Medical Lake High School near Spokane.

West Seattle will await the winner of the Saturday, July 20 game between Key Peninsula and District 11.

With a win the team would play again at 10 a.m. Monday, July 22 for a berth into the winner's bracket final to be played at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 24.

Championship action starts at 10 a.m. Friday, July 26 after the 7 p.m. Thursday, July 25 loser's bracket final.

One state championship game got away but not the other for the PacWest Little League Intermediate all-star team in action at Luke Jensen Field in Vancouver that concluded Thursday, July 11.

PacWest -- the District 7 representative in the double elimination tournament for players age 12-13 -- started off the day needing to be beaten twice to be eliminated and was once by Evergreen of Vancouver by 6-4 score.

But the PacWest team came back to win the if-necessary championship in a 14-11 slugfest later in the day, earning a trip to Irvine, Calif. for Western Regionals starting this coming Friday at 12:30 p.m. against Montana.

The team is the first from District 7 at any level to reach regionals, where it will play for a World Series berth.

Evergreen scored first with one run in the first in the if-necessary game, then PacWest seemed to take complete control by scoring six in the bottom of the first and one in the second for a 7-1 advantage.

But Evergreen rallied for 10 runs in the top of the third to take an 11-7 lead.

Evergreen fell silent from there, however, and PacWest won it with three runs in the fourth and four in the fifth.

Press release:

The Port of Seattle Fire Department will be conducting aircraft fire response exercises this week as part of regularly scheduled training on a runway closed due to construction. Two exercises are scheduled for each day from Tuesday, July 16 through Friday, July 19.

Passengers in the terminal may notice fire response vehicles during daytime hours. Again, these are training exercises ONLY and will NOT affect normal operations or airline flight schedules.

Port of Seattle Fire vehicles will respond to a mock aircraft located at several different positions on the closed center runway (16C/34C) during the week.

Firefighter response will include water spray on the mock aircraft. The drills take advantage of the temporary closure of the center runway for pavement maintenance.

These exercises were scheduled prior to the recent aircraft incident in San Francisco as part of the port’s regular training exercises.

Information from Seattle Parks

Seattle Parks and Recreation, Seattle Parks Foundation, Green Seattle Partnership, EarthCorps and six corporate sponsors, including REI, have teamed up to host Love Parks Day on Friday, July 26, at Lincoln Park. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., volunteers will clean the park and remove invasive vegetation species.

The goal is to have 200 volunteers who will work with Seattle Parks and Recreation crews and Friends of Lincoln Park who have identified projects throughout this 135-acre park.

Not only will volunteers have the opportunity to invest in the future of one of Seattle’s most beautifully forested parks, but partners and sponsors will provide exclusive Love Parks tee-shirts, water bottles, lunch and snacks for those who pre-register.

In addition, everyone who volunteers gets a raffle ticket for a surprise give-away gift provided by REI. And REI staff will lead outdoor yoga to help volunteers get stretched out and ready before work begins, as well as during the lunch break.

King County has been developing the upgrade to the site adjacent to the Fauntleroy Ferry dock as the Barton Street Pump Station since June of 2012. The project is an underground wastewater conveyance facility that moves wastewater from parts of West Seattle north toward the West Point treatment plant in Magnolia. They expect to have it completed in 2015.

While the pump station is primarily underground the construction has called for both above and below ground preparation to keep the site safe during construction, even as the station in operation.

King County notes that the work completed this past year includes:

• Removal and safe storage of existing artwork and relocation of beach driftwood
• Installation of an erosion control fence
• Utility relocations to make room for construction activities and pump station upgrades
• Installation of a safety fence around the site and a concrete retaining wall on the north edge of the site
• Soil stabilization using both jet grouting and pile driving techniques to ensure a safe underground work zone

Lexi of Old Ballard Liquor Co. (4421 Shilshole Ave NW, on the East side of Ballard Bridge) is quick to note, her new Cherry Vodka is not simply cherry-flavored vodka, but rather it's made from cherries.

While she's still waiting for official permit approval of her flagship product, the Cherry Bounce (among other flavors), the cherry vodka is the next best thing. It's distilled from sour pie cherries and she said it's smooth, clean and makes a fantastic martini. It goes for $20 a bottle while supplies last. (We hear it got a thumbs up from a Russian.)

Old Ballard Liquor Co. also has official hours now. They are:

Sunday: 2-8 p.m.
Monday: 4-8 p.m.
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 4-8 p.m.
Thursday: 4-8 p.m.
Friday: 2-9 p.m.
Saturday: 2-9 p.m.

We wrote all about Old Ballard Liquor Co. last month. You can read it here.

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(Editor’s Note: David Gooding previously wrote us a letter offering to eat the contents of the printed Highline Times if a reader could cite New Testament scripture that says Jesus Christ condemned homosexuality.)

Dear Mr. Gooding,

I'm glad you are curious about Jesus and the Bible. I don't claim to be a scholar, but I have been a student of the Bible for a long time.

This is what I found:
Jesus got much of his authority from the Old Testament writings. He told his disciples to search the scriptures and that they could be trusted (Matthew 5:18, Luke 16:17, John 5:39).

One of the topics Jesus discussed was judgment. He referred to Sodom and Gomorrah in these discussions (Matthew 10:15, 11:23, 24, Luke 10:12; 17:29). The major story about these cities and their destruction is in Genesis 14 and 19. The sins of these people are clearly portrayed in these stories.

I hope this helps.

Chris Chapin
Des Moines

By Rev. Judith Laxer

There is always something to do in the garden, especially in the height of summer. Weeding, watering, watching. If you sharpen your ability to notice and observe, you’ll find that July usually offers surprises. Some are disappointing to discover, like that hardy looking Delicata Squash that just withered and lost its green overnight, or the big, burly radish plants that turned out to be all leaf and no root and therefore nothing more than mere bio mass for the compost pile. Too much nitrogen in the soil.

Carmela Dellino, the current SPS Executive Director of Schools for the Southwest Region (covering West Seattle), is leaving her job for another position with the City of Seattle, according to a letter she sent to staff shared by Teresa Wippel with Seattle Public Schools.

Dellino held her current post for one year, and formerly acted as principal at Roxhill Elementary. Here is the letter on her move:

Dear Esteemed Colleagues,

It is with mixed emotions that I send this email to all of you. After much reflection and discussion with my family, I have made the decision to pursue the opportunity to work for the City of Seattle and support the elementary schools that are the Family and Education Levy recipients.

Press release:

August 3 & 4, 2-3 PM
Lake Burien School Park, SW 148th and 16th Ave SW

When a historic Italian theater troupe attempts to tell the most perfect tale of Pinocchio, they're dismayed to discover their lead actor has disappeared!

The troupe scrambles to find an actor for the all-important lead role. But when the show begins, nothing goes according to plan and everything goes hilariously awry.

Join Balagan Theatre this summer for our annual, FREE outdoor show for families, created by local playwright Brendan Healy and directed by Shawn Belyea.

The script was created by Brendan and our fantastic cast in the comedy improv style of Christopher Guest (think Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show).

For more information please call Burien Parks at 206-988-3700, www.burienparks.net