October 2013

By Matt Wendland

The B-Town Beat is welcoming seven new businesses to downtown Burien at their October 3rd music and art walk.

The B-Town Beat is an independent not-for-profit group of volunteers that formed in early 2013 with the mission of utilizing arts and culture in Burien as the catalyst to increase community and economic development. The group’s primary event is a free monthly Music and Art Walk that takes place on the first Thursday of each month in downtown Burien. Thus far, each Beat has attracted hundreds of people to between 25 and 35 local businesses hosting some form of art.

By Shara Wallace

Police dog stabbed
A man on the run for allegedly assaulting his brother stabbed a police dog. Officers were originally called to the 21400 block of 13th Ave. S. after receiving reports of a man beating his brother over the head with some sort of tool. When police and medics arrived, they found the victim and transported him to Harborview with head injuries. The
brother was gone. Officers spotted him a short time later. He then took off on foot. Officers and K9 from the Kent police department gave chase and found the man on the Des Moines Creek Trail. Police said the suspect stabbed Kato, the dog with a pocket knife in an effort to get away. The suspect was taken to Highline Medical Center for treatment for dog bites. Kato was rushed to an emergency veterinary hospital for emergency surgery. The suspects is expected to be booked into jail after he's released from the hospital. Kato is in stable condition and is expected to be released Wednesday afternoon.

Car break-ins, vandalism, prowlers and theft

Nature Consortium will bid farewell to their founder Nancy Whitlock Nov. 8 in an evening of music, cocktails, and celebration in her honor. The event will be held at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW.

Giving Thanks is an opportunity to celebrate the past and look ahead to the future.

The event will feature:
● Live music
● Beer, wine, and delicious hors d’oeuvres
● Art activities for youth
● Heartfelt remarks by some of our dearest friends
● A fond farewell to the founder, Nancy Whitlock
● Opportunity for guests to share thoughts, memories, and hopes for the future

Since 1998, Nature Consortium has grown from a small seed to a vibrant community organization that connects people, arts, and nature. We have much to be thankful for, and we invite you to join us in celebration as both Nancy and Nature Consortium embark on new adventures.

By Jeremy Martin

It’s often said that familiarity breeds contempt, and few area teams are more familiar with each other than West Seattle High and Chief Sealth International High School.

The first installment of this season’s neighborhood matchup was a ruckus affair hosted by Sealth and featuring a noisy and animated crowd.

The (25-16, 15-25, 25-11,25-21) Wildcat win initially looked like it may be a short night following a nine point opening game victory, but a fired up Seahawks team turned the match into a exciting and rowdy affair by sealing a double digit second game win; and making the visitors sweat through a back and forth final game.

However a massive spike from senior Makenzie Harrison gave the Wildcats (5-1) a 24-21 fourth game lead, a deficit Sealth was unable to recover from as the Wildcats took the win on the very next play.

The Wildcats were led by was led by Easton Baleto’s 10 digs, 5 aces and 19 kills, she was joined on the stat sheet by Aspen Knowles with 13 kills.

For a large chunk of Saturday and Sunday this weekend (Oc.t 5-6) SR 99 from the West Seattle Bridge to Battery Street Tunnel will be closed to all traffic so the Washington State Department of Transportation can perform their semi-annual safety check of the aging roadway.

Here are the details from WSDOT:

Semiannual Alaskan Way Viaduct inspection, utility work to close SR 99 through Seattle this weekend

The Washington State Department of Transportation will close the SR 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct for a semiannual safety inspection from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Additionally, crews working on the City of Seattle’s Mercer Corridor Project will close a section of SR 99 north of downtown, including the Battery Street Tunnel, to install a sewer line from 11 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday.

The closures were scheduled on the same weekend to avoid creating backups on multiple weekends. Travelers should expect increased congestion in and near downtown Seattle and allow extra time to reach their destination.

Closure details

Friday, Oct. 4, to Monday, Oct. 7 (Mercer Corridor Project):

As the oldest continually operating business in Seattle, Bonney-Watson has helped a lot of families celebrate the lives of the people they loved. But over those 145 years, the way in which people hold funerals and memorial services has changed. That’s why Bonney-Watson has decided to list its funeral home property at NW 57th Street in Ballard for sale.

Bonney-Watson purchased Wiggen and Sons Funeral Home, in 2000. Founded in the early 1900s, Wiggen and Sons had a rich tradition of serving families in Ballard and the surrounding neighborhoods, so it was a good company match. But in the last 13 years, Ballard has changed substantially, with a shift in demographics towards younger-aged people and with extensive real estate development in the area.

With the State sanctioning marijuana and Costco influencing the vote to sell liquor I, am reminded of my own years of living with an alcoholic father and why I became a pipe smoker, albeit with some amphora tobacco and not the mind altering seeds of hashish buds. Of course I did not have much trouble buying tobacco then. It was everywhere.

I can't say for certain my own mind was not altered by the sweet taste of my tobacco or even that of my own dad's Granger rough cut, that lingered in the air, as he worked his crossword puzzle.

My dad smoked a pipe for most of his 86 years and was not into fancy shapes like I was. I never saw him change tobacco brands. He brought home a cigar now and then but never smoked them. Somebody probably gave them to him. Mom never ever complained of smelly pipes and that might have been because we kids were hired to clean them each night and maybe get a nickel each.

I still have about thirty of my old pipes . Many of them quite unique and expensive when I bought them, like a beautiful Meerschaum that cost me 50 bucks in Denmark.

information from Seattle Parks

Seattle Parks and Recreation is undertaking a project to revegetate damaged areas in the Schmitz Preserve stream corridor. Activities will include planting native plants, erosion control and fencing off redundant foot trails that crisscross Schmitz Creek. The project will help conserve one of Seattle’s rare old growth forests while supporting the overall environmental stewardship goals of the urban forest system. Schmitz Preserve Park is located in West Seattle at 5551 SW Admiral Way.

Friends of Schmitz Preserve, a group of dedicated community members, are key partners in this preservation and restoration project in the park. These stewards host volunteer events every 1st Sunday of the month, from 1 – 4 p.m. The community is encouraged to participate. For more information please visit www.schmitzpreserve.org or meet at Schmitz Park Elementary at 1 p.m. this Sunday, October 6, 2013. These monthly work parties are essential for the health and longevity of this important public asset.

For the first time in his tenure, Mayor Mike McGinn has unveiled a $4.4 billion budget that features new expenditures and no cuts.

The news comes at an opportune time. Now he finally gets to unleash a goodybag full of expansions, just in time for a heated election versus State Senator Ed Murray. A recent King 5 poll shows Murray ahead of McGinn 52 percent to 30 percent (18 percent are undecided). The mayor has been taking full advantage of the sunny budget to fire off a barrage of happy-go-lucky press releases to try and gain more traction.

The $1 billion general fund budget includes money for 15 new police officers, an additional $2 million for road maintenance, $7 million for safety improvements around schools and more. It also adds almost $1 million for homeless services, $450,000 for domestic violence services and half a million for early learning and childcare.

The budget will add 167 full-time-equivalent employees next year, a healing salve after the city had to lay off almost 550 between 2010 and 2012.

West Seattle based theater organization ArtsWest has faced an ongoing issue with their plumbing involving low water pressure for some time now, prompting them to seek a solution.

Actress and comedian, Kate Jaeger is the spokesperson for the theater's quest to resolve the issue in a video the organization has shared on YouTube.

It's going to cost $5860 to replace their now 15 year old water gauge that they report,"resulted in under flushing toilets, out of order sinks, and pipes that spring a leak at the most inconvenient times."

In cooperation with Power2Give.org and ArtsFund they are hoping to raise half the money ($2930) through donations since every dollar contributed will be matched by an anonymous donor.

To donate visit the power2give webpage, and search for more power2give news on Facebook under Artsfund.