September 2013

Update for Sept. 19
Police now say the same man that exposed himself to Holy Rosary students on Sept. 18 may have done the same at Westside School, both located in West Seattle.

Here are the details from SPD Det. Jeff Kappel:

On September 18th at approximately 5:12 p.m. officers arrived on scene at Westside School located in the 7700 block of 34th Avenue SW. Preliminary investigation indicates that a 7-year-old girl was out on the playground for her afternoon recess. The playground is well elevated above the street level.

The girl was at the east fence south of the intersection of 32nd Avenue SW and SW Holden Street. The girl looked down and saw the suspect sitting in his car, which was parked on the west side of 32nd Avenue SW facing northbound. The suspect was wearing a red t-shirt but no pants. The girl then went back to playing with her friends but did not report the incident to any of the school staff.

Information from King County

Progress continues on the Barton CSO Control project. Puget Sound Energy spent the summer relocating select gas lines to accommodate the future bioretention swales. These gas lines have been relocated, and temporary repaving work has been completed. The temporary pavement will remain in place until swale construction is completed on each street.

Tree transplants will begin later this fall. King County will notify the neighborhood in advance of the work, and neighbors who are receiving a tree for transplant to their property will also receive information on how to transplant and care for the trees.

King County is in the process of hiring a construction contractor, and major street construction is scheduled to begin in late winter. King County will share a detailed construction schedule later this fall, which will outline when construction will occur on each of the 15 streets slated for swales.

The political melee between incumbent Mayor Mike McGinn and challenger Sen. Ed Murray (43rd District) was in full swing on Sept. 17 as the two faced off at the West Seattle Senior Center in front of a packed house.

The Q & A debate ran for an hour and heated up at times, with both candidates challenging each other’s management skills and priorities heading into a November election to decide Seattle’s next executive.

With five minute opening remarks, McGinn focused on his accomplishments in the past four years.

“When I took office we were in the middle of the deepest economic recession since the Great Depression,” he said. “It was hard on our people; it was hard on the city budget too. That’s when we went out there and started looking at what was important. You told us jobs were important and we worked with our traditional industries, our new industries and I can report to you that we have been growing jobs in Seattle at a faster rate than the region, than the state, than the nation.”

The effort to bring a cooperative community grocery to the Delridge Neighborhood, the Delridge Grocery is still in the process of seeking member/owners. The neighborhood is considered a "food desert" since for many of its residents there is no easy access to a major grocery store nearby.

The organizers of the effort want your attendance at a meeting on Sept. 23 and/or your volunteer efforts to help get information about the program out. The store is scheduled to open on the first floor of the DESC project now under construction at 5444 Delridge Way SW. That project with housing for 66 is on schedule for completion in December of 2013 and the grocery will move in after tenant improvements are made and the full scope of the store is determined.

Here's a note from the organizers:
"Your next, in-person opportunity to become a member/owner of Delridge's future co-op grocery store is in one week. Please meet us at the Delridge branch of the Public Library at 5423 Delridge Way SW on Monday, September 23rd between 6:30 and 7:30pm to sign up with your cash, check or credit card.

By Bob Sims

It has been an eventful past seven months in the world of sports.
The Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl, the Chicago Blackhawks took the Stanley Cup, the Miami Heat are NBA champs, and the Seattle Mariners are finishing up yet another losing season.

To the chagrin of many Pacific Northwest pro boxing fans, however, seven months is the length of time they've been hoping to see undefeated Federal Way heavyweight "Vicious" Vincent Thompson's return to the ring.
The wait is over.

Thompson, who has had difficulty drawing quality opponents because of his southpaw style, will face another unbeaten left-handed fighter, Charles Martin, 27, of Los Angeles, in a six-round fight on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Skookum Events Center in Shelton.
"It's good to be back in the ring, said Thompson by phone today. "It's been a rough, frustrating year."

The good news is, none of this past weekend's football games count in the Seamount League standings.

Even perennial Class 3A power Kennedy took a 38-14 loss to Roosevelt of the Class 4A Kingco League on Saturday but still has high hopes for winning the Seamount League once again.

In the other home game this weekend, Highline was hammered by a strong White River contingent, 55-6, on Friday.

Evergreen, meanwhile, journeyed to Orting Friday and took a 40-12 loss. Foster went on the road to Clover Park Thursday and took a 62-28 loss.

Trouble even spread to former Seamount League teams, as the Mount Rainier/Tyee squad lost to Auburn by a 47-12 score in South Puget Sound League North Division action.

Seamount League action begins this coming weekend except for Kennedy, which drew a bye and filled it with a 7 p.m. home game against Ballard.

Evergreen hosts Lindbergh at 7 p.m. Friday, while Foster hosts Renton at the same time and Highline travels to Hazen, also at 7 p.m. Friday.

Mount Rainier visits Kentwood for a 6 p.m. game Saturday.

From K-5 STEM to Schmitz Park Elementary: SPS’s draft for the future
Seattle Public Schools (SPS) released their Growth Boundaries draft on Sept. 17, and it includes several points of interest for West Seattle students and parents over the next several years.

Starting with STEM (an option school focusing on the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and math), Seattle Schools proposed keeping the K-5 STEM school at the Boren building in Delridge, eventually making it a kindergarten through 8th grade program. The timeline for expansion to 8th grade is proposed to occur in increments, with 6th grade coming in 2015-16, 7th in 2016-17, and finally 8th in the 2017-18 school year.

SPS had indicated earlier they were thinking of moving K-5 STEM to the Schmitz Park Elementary building. In recent weeks both the STEM PTA and North Delridge Neighborhood Association wrote to SPS asking them to consider keeping the school at Boren or moving it to the currently-in-renovation Fairmount Park Elementary building.

Benito’s Chicago Eatery (6201 15th Ave NW) has now passed the one-year mark -- a badge of honor for any restaurant in a neighborhood that has become a magnet for hip and upscale restaurants. (To be more specific, he's at about 15 months now.)

Kulikowski has found his own swing in offering a niche food that isn’t delivered elsewhere in Ballard. Or, really, that isn’t delivered (at least effectively) in all of Seattle. He brings customers Chicago-style deep dish pizzas, hot dogs, pasta, Italian beef sandwiches and more.

As sugar on top, he’s willing to give anyone who walks through the door his own brand of intense-but-laid-back Chicago style chattering. Especially if you bring up the Chicago Bears, which, alas, he still favors over the Seattle Seahawks. (For now.)

Benito's classic Chicago-style deep dish pizza/Photo courtesy of Benito's

As with any aspiring restauranter hoping to make it in the saturated Ballard market, Kulikowski said it could be hard, especially if you’re someone with relatively little experience and not a lot of money.

This story has been updated to include a statement from BGC Early Learning and Child Care Director Doug Chidgey

Ballard Boys and Girls Club Child Care Co-Directors Dena DeYoung and Hallie Larson stepped down from their jobs as of yesterday, according to Doug Chidgey, King County BGC Regional Director of Early Learning & Child Care.

Chidgey said they failed to meet the state-mandated Washington Administrative Code requirements for early learning and child care. They knew about the requirements, he said, but chose not to update their credentials.

"We are sad to see them go and are prepared to welcome them back to our Clubs if they choose to complete the state’s requirements," Chidgey said in a statement.

The letter Chidgey sent out to parents is spare on specifics. It states that the BGC met up with the Washington State Child Care Auditor and talked about the staff and programs at Ballard. They "discussed a couple of important changes found in the annual assessment which the Child Care Center has been asked to make."

By Peggy Sturdivant

When I called they already knew my name. When I arrived they had flowers for me. How many of us have people waiting for our call that we don’t even know about?

Several folks had suggested that I do a column on a longtime local business, and had even written the editor. But there was another reason that I was overdue to pay a visit to LT Nails (2309 NW Market St). I needed to thank them in person for the floral arrangement they sent to my mother-in-law’s memorial over a year ago. All it took was mentioning her name; they already knew mine from her.

Charlotte was one of their regulars. LT Nails has about 250 regulars. The sister owners even know the year that a client started coming into the salon, and Kathy and Kim Tran always know the year better than the client.