July 2013

An estimated more than 1000 people turned out for the 19th annual Admiral 4th of July Children's Parade.

The event started at 44th Ave. SW and Sunset Drive SW and wound through the Admiral neighborhood, ending up at Hamilton Viewpoint Park where fun and games awaited the throng.

Former Mayor Greg Nickels spoke to kick off the event, thanking the community for the massive turnout.

King County Councilmember Joe McDermott and Seattle Mayor McGinn also showed up for the event.

By Simone Alicea

Greg Williamson is so obsessed with sound that he taught himself to build musical equipment when everything else failed to meet his standards.

Greg “Greedy” Williamson, 44, started building guitar pedals from scratch in 1992, and opened up shop as Greedtone in 2001. When Williamson began building amplifiers in his West Seattle shop earlier this year, his sound caught the ear of Queens of the Stone Age frontman and guitarist Josh Homme

“Josh was laying in a friend’s bedroom practicing [on the and calls me the next day with a 14-day deadline,” Williamson said. “Then we drove down to LA to hang out with Josh in their studio.”

Williamson’s work table is scattered with a number of half-finished pedals and tools. There’s also a computer lurking in the back featuring a rock-lover’s musical library.

Photo by Steve Shelton copyright © 2013 SeattleFinePortraits.com

The fair weather in Seattle means ships you might not see around here in colder wetter months will come to pay a visit. They are visible on the Seattle waterfront (in fact one was seen passing by Beach Drive this week)
and are worth knowing about.

The TS Golden Bear, nearly 500 feet long is the training ship of the California Maritime Academy (CMA), a campus of the California State University. It is 72 feet wide and can reach a speed of 20 knots, with its twin diesel engines. The first training ship of the California Maritime Academy was known as the Training Ship California State, then as the T.S. Golden State. Since then, there have been three ships to bear the name T.S. Golden Bear.

More info about it here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Bear_(ship)

Photo by David Rosen

City Attorney Craig Knutson will become Burien’s interim city manager on July 25. The City Council selected Knutson on July 1.

City Manager Mike Martin’s last day on the job will be July 24. He has resigned to become the city administrator in Lynden. Lynden is a city of 12,000 residents, located five miles south of the Canadian border and 15 miles north of Bellingham.

Mayor Brian Bennett thanked Martin for his service to Burien and noted city managers often “bear the brunt of the sword of public opinion.” The council has been split 4-3 and with three of Martin’s supporters up for re-election his employment future in Burien was uncertain.

Knutson will also receive a 10 percent raise. Councilmember Jack Block Jr. suggested Knutson receive the same pay as the current city manager but Human Resources director Angie Chaufty reported Knutson currently makes more than Martin.

Knutson said he will bring in outside help to handle some of his city attorney duties.

Lawmakers also decided to quickly put out request for proposals from recruitment search firms.

Ashley Luther got her dog Willie Nelson about six months ago (when he was two months old) from Daisy Hill Labradoodle's in Battleground, Wa. She and her boyfriend Mike feed him Costco Kirkland dry food twice a day and "He's really good with food. Twice a day and he's good to go," said Ashley. His mother was a black standard poodle and dad was a yellow lab.

He likes milk bones or any kind of bones for snacks.

"We're trying to teach him how to hunt so he has lots of duck toys," Ashley said. A labradoodle hunting? "Well, not really hunting but more like fetching," she explained.

"He's very lackadaisical, a very chill dog," Ashley said. "We take him outside, and we call them hot laps. He likes to take four or five really fast laps around the back yard, as soon as you let him out, and he takes his laps and he's totally fine and chill again. He's very relaxed."

Ashley and Mike have put sunglasses on Willie and, "Once you get going fast in the car his fur gets so big. So he gets like a lion and he had sunglasses on so we definitely snapped some shots of that. He's a character and he matches the name Willie Nelson."

Compiled by Katie Nelson

Deadline for receiving items for Community Calendar is 5 p.m. Wednesday for the following week’s Times/News. Events are published based on timeliness and space availability. Email submissions to: hteditor@robinsonnews.com
Items can be accepted from nonprofit groups and government agencies only. Others may call Dona Ozier at (206) 708-1378 for inclusion in our “Out & About” advertising section.

Art Exhibits

Artists United June Show--Burien Community Center, 14700 6th Ave. S.W. Through July 5. Recent paintings & photography by Barbara Benedetto, Harry Langen, Sharon McConnell, Judy Olson, Janie Sevela, Carole Shankland, Dorothy Wayne, and Nancy Wood. http://www.artistsunitedclub.com
Burien Community Center—Burien artist Kim McCarthy (aka Urban Soule) 14700 6th Ave SW, Through July 31. The Community Center is open Monday-Thursday from 8:30 a.m.-8 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information please call 206-988-3700.
Residences at Burien Town Square-- Art Installation. Retail Space at SW 151st St and 5th Pl SW.

Chanda Oatis, who has been the Principal at Alki Elementary for two years, after time at Denny International Middle School, has been named as Principal at Van Asselt Elementary School beginning in the fall. The announcement came in a letter to the Alki Elementary community from Superintendent José Banda on July 3.

Dear Alki Elementary School community,

Today I’m announcing a leadership change at Alki Elementary School for the next school year. Your principal, Ms. Chanda E. Oatis, has been appointed principal at Van Asselt Elementary School effective for the 2013-2014 school year.

Ms. Carmela Dellino, Executive Director for K-12 schools in West Seattle, will lead the process to identify a new principal for Alki. We will move quickly to form a hiring committee, and will keep you informed of the process. We are committed to finding a strong principal who will be a great fit for your community and who can build on Alki’s successes.

Aida Fraser-Hammer has been named as the new incoming Principal for Chief Sealth International High School, replacing the departing Chris Kinsey. She was welcomed to the job with a letter from Seattle Public Schools Superintendent José Banda.

Dear Chief Sealth International High School community,

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Aida Fraser-Hammer as your new principal, effective July 1, 2013. She replaces Chris Kinsey who announced in June that he would not be returning in the fall.

Ms. Fraser-Hammer comes to Chief Sealth International High School from Kentwood High School in Covington, Washington where she has been an assistant principal since 2004. At Kentwood she worked with staff, students, and families to increase on-time graduation rates and students’ academic achievement. Ms. Fraser-Hammer has an international background, and she is fluent in Spanish.

Two new lost dogs are now residing at the Burien CARES animal shelter, 909 S.W. 151 St., 206-81-CARES.

A young female puppy was found in the area of Southwest 135th Street and Ambaum Boulevard Southwest on Sunday morning, June 30. It is a possible Shepard mix--very timid and scared.

Another dog come in Tuesday, July 2. It is also pretty timid, but CARES staffers also report it is very sweet. It was found on Southwest 132nd Street in Burien.

Press release:

What a great day Saturday, June 29, for 100 people to cut some ribbon and celebrate. With the new bike racks in Burien and all the community support, (in addition to the warm, sunny day),there was much to applaud . The group of 100 spilled out in 4 vacated parking spots, as well as along the sidewalk.

WABI Burien and the City of Burien held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the success of the Downtown Burien Bike Rack Project. The ceremony was attended by Burien Mayor Brian Bennett, City Councilmember Rose Clark, Department Director of PaRCS Michael Lafreniere, the 6 WABI Board members, some of the bike rack sponsors and folks from all over town.
The ceremony was held in front of Bumbershoot Books in the heart of Burien. The book shop is one of the bike rack sponsors and represents the type of small, local business that benefits from the “Buy Burien By Bike” idea. By providing bike racks to lock to, we’re encouraging people to hop on their bikes and “shop local”.