December 2013

By Tim Clifford

Home Alone
At a residence on 14th Ave SW on December 14th a burglar encountered the worst surprise a burglar can find: the victim still being in the house. The victim was taking a nap during the day in the basement of his home when he heard voices in his upstairs. Believing the voices to be those of his son returning home from school the victim continued to sleep. About 15 minutes after first hearing the noises the door to the basement opened and there was the suspect, a black male in his late teens or early twenties with a black hoodie and blue jeans, who began screaming at the sight of the victim asleep in the basement.
Making his way out the same window he had entered through the suspect ran away as fast as he could leaving a trail of stolen items in the yard. The victim immediately called 911. Responding officers took pictures of muddy prints in the kitchen and marks on the window that the suspect pried open. The officers also took the items found in the yard, including a camera, into evidence for finger print processing.

Obey

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Two people and their pet dog have lost their home following an apartment fire this evening in the 20400 block of 32 Ave. S.

Neither of the residents was home when the fire broke out at 9:00 pm. Firefighters rescued their dog while also keeping the fire from spreading to other units in the eight-apartment building. Besides SeaTac, firefighters from the Kent Fire Department RFA, Port of Seattle, South King Fire and Rescue, and Burien responded to the call.

There was a slight amount of damage to two other units but all of the residents were able to return to their homes once firefighters made them safe for reoccupation. The apartment complex’s management is helping the displaced couple with another apartment. In the meantime, Red Cross was also called in to assist.

The cause of the fire is under investigation and there were no reports of any injuries.

UPDATE 8:17am
Power has been restored.

UPDATE 8:00am
Power is getting turned back on with only 310 homes now still out.

UPDATE 7:35am
The power outage affecting the area around Burien has been partially corrected with more than 1800 homes now restored. The updated time of restoration is 9 am.

Original Post
A power outage, with an as yet unknown cause has struck nearly 4100 homes in North Highline, Burien and east of SR 509. The outage began at 5:31am and reaches from roughly 100th Street South across SR 509 and south through Chelsea Park, west to Eagle Landing Park on Puget Sound down to approximately 150th S.W.

The estimated time for restoration is 12 Noon.

Performers Willow Fulton and Ali Christopherson came to the Greenbridge in White Center on Dec. 21 to mark the arrival of winter which began on Saturday (officially at 9:11am) with an event called Winterfire.

They performed fire dancing using a variety of implements to accentuate the fire and dance moves.
It was a soggy night however which kept the crowd to a handful, though some watched from the windows of the nearby Dubsea Coffee shop.

Fulton with 13 years of experience performing with fire and Kristofferson with just four months swing kevlar wicks on chains burning with a special blend of fuel. Music from a small amplifier provided the soundtrack as they whirled, and spun around the public space.

The performance was brief but spirited and welcomed winter to White Center with a warm and bright flame.

It’s no secret the actors in Burien Actors Theatre’s “Coney Island Christmas” are talented and hilarious. So you don’t want to miss their smokin’ fundraiser performance. It will get you into the holiday spirit and help BAT recover from the recent fire.

Join the Coney crew as they perform a spirited holiday mash-up of mad-libs, sketches, improv and song on Monday, Dec. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the Mark Restaurant & Bar, 918 S.W. 152nd St., Burien.

Come hang out with the actors, and support BAT’s recovery from the Dec. 10 fire at BAT’s theater home. This is a pay-what-you-will fundraiser. The Mark’s tasty beverages and noshes may be purchased separately. We look forward to seeing you there as we celebrate BAT’s rising from the ashes!

Monday, Dec. 16
Boys basketball
Decatur 67, Evergreen 37
Kevin Ford and Brandon Valencia finished with 14 points each to lead Evergreen in Monday's road loss.

Girls basketball
Shorewood Chr. 53, NW Yeshiva 35
Shorewood Christian of West Seattle scored a victory over Northwest Yeshiva on Monday.

Tuesday, Dec. 17
Boys basketball
Rainier Beach 100, Chief Sealth 28
Chief Sealth became the latest victim of the Rainier Beach buzz saw Tuesday.
LaConner 50, Seattle Luth. 49
Abijah Smith scored a team-high 16 for Seattle Lutheran in Tuesday's loss.
Shorewood Chr. 66, Christian Faith 50
Shorewood Christian was led to victory by the 22 points of Ignacius Medina.

Girls basketball
Shorewood Chr. 50, Christian Faith 38
Nicole Jones tossed in 22 for Shorewood Christian in its win Tuesday.

Wednesday, Dec. 18
Boys basketball
Renton 73, Evergreen 49
Valencia tallied 20 for the Wolverines in Wednesday's loss.

Girls basketball
West Seattle 48, Bainbridge 28

A time-lapse video of the construction of Washington's newest Olympic Class ferry, 144-car Tokitae, from the start of construction through summer 2013 has been posted on YouTube. The video shows various viewpoints during the construction process.

Vigor Industrial began construction of the Tokitae in March 2012 at the company's Harbor Island shipyard.

Vigor fabricated major modules and assembled them, along with the vessel ends made by Jesse Engineering in Tacoma, into a complete hull. The shipyard hit a major milestone in March 2013, when they moved the superstructure of the Tokitae onto the hull while both structures were in floating drydocks.

The 1100-ton superstructure was fabricated at Nichols Brothers Boat Builders on Whidbey Island. The shipyard reached another milestone in July, when it floated the vessel out of drydock to finish final outfitting pier side. The Tokitae is scheduled for delivery to Washington State Ferries in early 2014.

Today, Dec 21, 2013 the sun rise is 7:55 AM and sunset is 4:20 PM making it the shortest number of daylight hours all year at 8h 25m 24s. The actual equinox moment is at 9:11am when winter officially begins.

A Winter Solstice Sunset Watch, now a West Seattle tradition led by Alice Enevoldsen the Planetarium Supervisor at the Pacific Science Center and one of NASA's Solar System Ambassadors gets underway at 4:05pm at Solstice Park located at 7400 Fauntleroy Way SW visit http://www.alicesastroinfo.com for more info. It's a brief event, ending at 4:35pm. The park is a tiny area above the tennis courts across from Lincoln Park. It sits atop a hill and is an observation point. Looking west towards Puget Sound, the park has three stones placed as markers for the four astronomical events (winter solstice to the left, both autumn and spring equinox’s in the middle and summer solstice to the right). To the east of the stones are earthwork mounds with three paths carved out to line up with the stones.

This event is Enevoldsen's personal part of the NASA’s Solar System Ambassador program

A free and fiery event at the Greenbridge Plaza Community Space 8th Ave SW & SW 99th St in White Center called WinterFire will celebrate the Winter Solstice on the longest night of the year.

In a Facebook announcement of the event the organizers say:
All around the world, for thousands of years, families, friends and communities have gathered around fires for light, heat and celebration. Traditions have emerged in many cultures around the Winter Solstice – many as a way to extend the light of the sun and hold back the dark of the longest night of the year. It’s also a time to celebrate the transition toward the longer days of Spring and Summer to come.

On this night, we will come together to celebrate with fire and dance – creating a new tradition unique to OUR community.

WHEN:
4:00 pm
Saturday December 21, 2013

WHERE:
Greenbridge Plaza Community Space
8th Ave SW & SW 99th St
Seattle, WA 98106