January 2014

I have aways been pretty lucky in life. I had two great wives. My first was an amazing happenstance. I was a senior walking through a hallway in Portland's Franklin High school one day. As I passed the door of the auditorium I heard someone playing 'Deep Purple' at the school piano, my then favorite song.

   Out of curiosity I opened the door and saw a pretty, brown haired girl on the stage, playing to an empty house. 

  I listened for a few minutes and closed the door and went away.

   That same week I was knocking on a door in an apartment house two blocks from where I lived. I was interested in a beautiful blonde girl named Orpha who lived there when I heard a voice coming from down the hall yelling " Orpha is not home."

   I stopped knocking and walked down the hall. A gorgeous brown haired girl stood in her doorway. I introduced myself because it was the same girl I had seen at the piano earlier that day. I was stunned a little by the coincidence and asked her name and did she go to Franklin? Did she play the piano that day?   She confirmed she was that girl. What a strange chance meeting. Kismet?

Update Jan. 13
Charles Knutson of Washington State Governor Jay Inslee's office on January 14 will not be part of the meeting on the 14th according to WSTC spokesperson Joe Szilagyi.

"Governor Inslee called for a special meeting between leaders of both parties in Olympia for Tuesday, January 14th, focusing on transportation. As a result, Mr. Knutson had to cancel several engagements in Seattle to stay at the capitol, including ours. The Governor's office is currently attempting to arrange for a high level WSDOT representative to attend in their place, who will be briefed on the questions we have provided."

Original Post
information from the West Seattle Transportation Coaltion

The West Seattle Transportation Coalition in October 2013 issued a call to action from the offices of Washington State Governor Jay Inslee, King County Executive Dow Constantine, then Mayor Mike McGinn and then Mayoral candidate Ed Murray, and City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen.

UPDATE Jan 8

The large graffiti that had defaced the roof line along the Admiral Theater has been painted over now.

UPDATE Jan 6 8:45am
The graffiti on the Admiral Theater roof is likely to be painted over in the next few days. It has been there for some weeks and according to the Seattle Graffiti Nuisance Ordinance, once notified by police, it is the building owner's responsibility to remove it within 10 days of notification. Here's the full explanation from the City of Seattle:

Graffiti Nuisance Ordinance

"The Graffiti Nuisance Ordinance requires property owners to remove graffiti in a timely manner, or have the property considered a nuisance and dealt with through the 4 steps below. It was adopted in 1994 to encourage the rapid cleanup of graffiti and to prevent its spread throughout the community. SPU's Graffiti Prevention Program enforces the ordinance.

How the Graffiti Nuisance Ordinance is Enforced

If you've been wishing you could go back to a simpler time when beer cost less and you could play video games like Joust, Defender and Galaga to your heart's content your wish has come true.

A new bar called Vidiot has opened in the former location of the Shipwreck Tavern at 4210 SW Admiral Way.

The Shipwreck closed in November of 2012, and the space has sat vacant since. But now Quentin "Tony" Mitchum has launched Vidiot with a focus on video and other gaming but with a full bar and a variety of sandwich selections to complete the picture.

Mitchum is a veteran restaurateur with several places he's been part of including Picolo's Pizza in the U-District, Tony's Liquid House in Wallingford, and Speedway Pizza in Mukilteo.

He chose the theme because he himself is a self described gaming geek. He said he has reached, "level 19 on Tetris," reaching a high score of over 500,000.

"There are other places like this around but none really in West Seattle," said Mitchum," and some friends of mine and I wanted to go play pinball and there were only like three machines in the entire area."

34th District Democrats will hold their Membership Meeting, Wednesday, January 8th at 7:00 p.m.
at The Hall at Fauntleroy 9131 California Ave S.W.

District Award Recipients

Presentation of 2013 District Awards to Bill Schrier with the Lifetime Achievement award and Cecilia Palao Vargas as PCO of the Year.

Program - Health Care Reform in Washington State: An update and look at where we go from here:

By Kyra-lin Hom

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas – if that’s your thing. If not, hopefully you had a wonderful Hannukah, Kwanzaa, and the like. Some of my friends have celebrated Aslan Day (Aslan, the lion from the Narnia series) for years instead of Christmas. Whatever floats your boat, ‘tis the season.

Cynics beware, I am one of those irritating individuals who really just loves the holiday season. I love what it stands for: family, friends, love, charity, and all of those other sickeningly feel good things. I stand stalwart by Thanksgiving, not allowing a single Christmas decoration up in my home until after politically-incorrect-turkey-day, but then I’ll leave the tree and ornaments up until Easter. (Heck, if they make it until the June halfway point, just leave them up all year.) Yet one thing I have never done is told someone how to celebrate their holiday.

By Jeremy Martin

Every season fans and players alike have select dates circled on the calendar.

Friday night’s matchup between Chief Sealth and West Seattle was one of those occasions as the heated neighborhood rivalry always brings out the best in both teams.

A packed gym at Chief Sealth International High School witnessed an old school, physical and highly emotional 32 minutes of basketball that would eventually be conquered 62-46 by an energetic and fired up West Seattle squad.

Emotions ran hot all night, but the crowd was at its loudest following an emphatic first quarter dunk from the Wildcat’s Deandre Love.

The senior forward stole the ball just passed mid court, flipped it to point guard
Nate Prior who gave it right back to love who by then was cutting towards the basket where he finished the play with a powerful two handed slam.

Spurred on by an eruption of visiting crowd noise, the wildcats would go on a run, extending its lead to double digits by the end of the quarter.

By Jeremy Martin

Students may still be on winter break, but when Chief Sealth hosted West Seattle on Friday night not one player on the court was taking it easy.

The intense effort put fourth during West Seattle’s 65-31 victory was especially apparent in the Wildcat’s sophomore duo of Lydia Giomi and Lexi Ioane who combined for a whopping 63 percent of the teams scoring output.

Giomi who anchored the team with a double double of 16 points and 12 rebounds to go with three blocks was a bit too much inside for the Ladyhawks who’s smaller, quicker lineup just didn’t have the size to throw at the 6’5’’ center.

Many of Giomi’s points came thanks to the great vision of Ioane, who despite only contributing four assists effectively moved the ball down court and attacked the
Sealth full court press with timely passes and strong ball handling.

The forward’s game high 25 points, 8 rebounds and three steals spoke volumes towards her well developed court presence and in game maturity.

Junior Charli Elliott was a defensive force nabbing three steals and grabbing 9 rebounds.

Bringing a new business into being is a big job anytime and as you'd expect the biggest hurdle is the money.

Shane Whitall, Paul Ritums and Jean Pierre Vidican, co-owners of the forthcoming Westy Sports and Spirits have managed to secure all the permits, got their liquor license last week and have made excellent progress on the physical space in the 2500 sq. foot restaurant/bar. It is located at 7908 35th S.W. See the Herald's previous coverage here.

They are aiming at a March opening now and while they can complete the space with existing funds, they have a few items on their wish list to make the space exactly the way they have envisioned it. To do that means they need an additional $20,000 to $40,000 in financing.

"We looked at using Kickstarter," said Ritums of the well known small business financial assistance site," but everybody is sort of 'Kickstartered out' and we wanted to make it a cleaner arrangement, and one that really involved the community in helping to launch a small business."

information from the Seattle Chinese Garden

The Garden gates are now open to dogs with their two-footed friends, even those lacking this pair’s perfect garden names. Note that Willow in the photo above is on a leash. The Garden’s big field to the north of "Knowing the Spring Courtyard" is great for walking dogs, but also is enjoyed by children (and many other visitors). Please bring plastic baggies for you know what. The adjacent South Seattle Community College Arboretum also is a lovely place to extend your walk.

Volunteers Welcome Too! Chinese Garden manager Bob Seely welcomes volunteers to help with mulching, pruning, thinning, and other winter projects. Dates and hours are flexible. Please contact Bob at 206.849.4055 (cell) or gardenmanager@seattlechinesegarden.org or

Garden Location:
South Seattle Community College (north end)
6000 16th Avenue SW, North Entrance/Parking Lot

For more information: seattlechinesegarden.org