November 2013

By Tim Robinson

It was nearly 35 years in the making but Mike Gain, formerly of Cayce and Gain Realty in West Seattle, knew it would eventually turn out well, becoming Berkshire Hathaway Home Services last week.

Persistence is a virtue it is said and Gain stayed in the game. In fact, he started his realty company during one of the area's worst economic downturns in 1979-80, survived a similar trend in 1993 and again but more severe from 2007-2012.

That hundreds of his realty agents hung in there through those times is testament to Gain's never-give-up style. Now, 35 years after it began, Gain has aligned the company with some pretty good friends, one in particular.

Warren Buffet, he of Omaha investment fame, bought Prudential Insurance giant's realty arm last year saying it made more sense to buy a going concern than it would be to start his own realty company. Mike Gain had a going concern.

By Tim Robinson

It was nearly 35 years in the making but Mike Gain, formerly of Cayce and Gain Realty in West Seattle, knew it would eventually turn out well, becoming Berkshire Hathaway Home Services last week.

Persistence is a virtue it is said and Gain stayed in the game. In fact, he started his realty company during one of the area's worst economic downturns in 1979-80, survived a similar trend in 1993 and again but more severe from 2007-2012.

That hundreds of his realty agents hung in there through those times is testament to Gain's never-give-up style. Now, 35 years after it began, Gain has aligned the company with some pretty good friends, one in particular.

Warren Buffet, he of Omaha investment fame, bought Prudential Insurance giant's realty arm last year saying it made more sense to buy a going concern than it would be to start his own realty company. Mike Gain had a going concern.

By Gerardo Bolong

TACOMA - For Foster, it was a short stay at the West Central District III 2A volleyball tournament held at Franklin Pierce High School on Friday, Nov. 8th.

No. 5 seed Fife hitched up the wagons early and rolled to a three-set loser out victory against the No. 12 sub-district seeded Foster from Tukwila.

"Today was the first time all season that I saw them begin with a 100 per cent winning attitude," said Bulldog head coach Brandi Travess.

"They can carry this into next year. We've really got a bunch of potential. It goes in cycles and this was a rebuilding year with lots of young players. For us, it's more than just about winning games. Besides, the volleyball, we want to help stabilize lives with a positive experience whether you win or lose. Teaching life skills is even more important than volleyball skills. This is a young team and we'll be a lot stronger next year."

By Gerardo Bolong

TACOMA - Evergreen High School (White Center) duked it out for five sets against Port Angeles before the Roughriders ousted the Wolverines at the Class 2A West Central District tournament, 25-15, 23-25, 25-13, 22-25, 15-10 in a loser-out match at Franklin Pierce High School.

"I'm really proud," said first-year head coach Robyn Schirmer. "We set goals of becoming more students of volleyball to understand the concepts better, improve our league scoring and improve our league placing league placing. We accomplished all our goals and got experience. It was tough to lose, but for my first year it was fun. This is something we can build on."

The first set began with early energy for the Wolverines in a 6-1 lead before the Roughriders ran back within 6-5. Evergreen led 9-7, but a huge turnaround started for Port Angeles in a 7-0 surge that pushed the Roughriders into a 14-9 advantage that the Wolverines never overcame as PA outscored Evergreen 11-6 down the stretch.

The seventh annual Seattle Turkey Trot, a 5 K fun-run or walk, will take place Thanksgiving morning, November 28, 2013, starting at 9:00 a.m. at 32nd Avenue NW and NW 85th Street, in the Sunset Hill neighborhood in Ballard, and ending in Golden Gardens park. Early Registration is $25; $15 for children (10 & under); the deadline is November 19th. All proceeds from this family-friendly event will benefit the Ballard Food Bank.

Last year, over 2,000 people participated and over $50,000 was donated to the Ballard Food Bank. 3,000 participants are expected this year.

“The Ballard Food Bank is grateful to have the support and participation of many Ballard residents for this year’s Turkey Trot,” says Rebecca Butler, Ballard Food Bank Board Chair.

The Seattle Turkey Trot was started by Ballardites Erin Fortier, Matt Ramme, and John O'Brien. “In my family it was a tradition to go for a run on Thanksgiving morning,” says Erin. “It was a way to spend time with family on the holidays and feel better about all the food we’d be eating for the rest of the day.”

Saturday, Nov. 9
Football
Peninsula 55, Chief Sealth 7
Chief Sealth's Seahawks saw their season come to a grinding halt Saturday when they lost to their namesake Peninsula Seahawks by a lopsided 55-7 score.
The road action against the Purdy-based team at Roy Anderson Field was the state 3A playoff opening round of 32 game for both teams.

State cross country
Two athletes from Evergreen High School in White Center competed in the Class 2A boys portion of the state cross country showcase held at the Sun Willows golf course in Pasco.
Marcus Chacon of the Wolverines came in 18th in the race in a time of 16 minutes, 20.20 seconds and teammate and brother Matthew Chacon placed 40th in a time of 16:42.17.
In the 1B/2B boys race, David Albers of Shorewood Christian High School of White Center took 92nd with a 19:49.94 effort.

Sea-King swimming
West Seattle
The Wildcats finished with only three points as a team in the Sea-King District meet held Saturday.

WCD swimming
Evergreen

High schools
Girls swimming
The state girls swimming and diving meets will take place this coming Friday at Saturday at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.
The Class 4A preliminaries begin at 9:45 a.m. Friday, followed by the 2A preliminaries at 2:30 p.m. and the 3A preliminaries at 6:15 p.m.
Finals will be held Saturday, with the 4A meet starting at 10 a.m., the 2A at 2:30 p.m. and the 3A at 6:30 p.m.

Winter sports
Tryouts for gymnastics start Tuesday of this week, with the other sports -- boys and girls basketball, wrestling and boys swimming -- getting underway next Monday.

Colleges
Football
The University of Washington Huskies play Friday this week, visiting the UCLA Bruins for a 6 p.m. game that can be seen on the ESPN 2 cable network.
Washington State University, meanwhile, goes to Arizona for 11 a.m. Saturday action to be carried on the Pac-12 network.

Women's basketball
Washington's women's team is scheduled for a noon home game against Portland on Friday before hosting Seattle University next Tuesday.

On the eve of Veterans Day, those who have served our country gathered at the West Seattle Veterans Center (formerly the American Legion Hall) on Nov. 10 to share a meal and pay homage to Doris Gross, a trailblazer for women’s increasing role in the U.S. Military.

Go back to 1941 and you’ll find a 20-year-old Doris Gross deciding to join the Navy. With the United States entering military action in Europe, Gross – from Washington – was sent to Texas where she became a link instructor teaching Navy pilots how to fly in simulations before they broke into the sky for real combat.

After four years of service Gross moved back to Washington where she attended college, started a family, worked as an examiner for new recruits and co-founded the West Seattle-based American Legion Post 204, an-all female post known as the “Service Girls.”

A West Seattle Herald article from Dec. 19, 1946 gives a glimpse into that group’s inception: “Women Urged to Join American Legion Post,” the headline read. “Former service women who are interested in joining the American Legion are urged to join Post 204 which is a service girls post trying to reach a 300 membership.”

Seattle Fire Department responded to calls of a car on fire in the 5300 block of 46th S.W. about 1:45pm Monday, Nov. 11 and found a hatchback car on a trailer with flames coming from the rear of the vehicle.
They quickly applied foam flame retardant and got the fire under control.
No cause was immediately apparent.

By Shara Wallace

Racial Discrimination
Nine minority staff members filed a racial discrimination claim with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Ethelda Burke. Burke who was the Tukwila superintendent and is African American stepped down from the district's top post last July amid the controversy. Staff member said she often used inappropriate slurs during the school day. JD Hall who is the Athletics and Actives director at Foster High school said she called him, "J Darky", and said he was making her district look like a ghetto for hiring African American coaches and African American bus drivers. Friday the agency release their finding saying their investigations found "sufficient evidence to indicate a hostile work environment consisting of race and color harassment." Tukwila School District denies the allegations. Foster High Schools former assistant principal said he hopes the federal agency's finding bring change and a better work environment. The district and teachers will meet together and try and reach a settlement or the case will be handed over to the department of justice.