March 2014

"It was like the biggest house party I ever had", Heartland Cafe owner Jay Wergin said on Friday. After a memorable four years serving Midwest-inspired comfort food to the people of West Seattle’s Admiral District, he announced that the business has been sold to new owners Allison and Ian Hill, effective in April, 2014

In a letter describing the change Wergin wrote:
"We are grateful for the community’s support over the past four years and thank everyone who took the time to stop in and patronize our business. I’m thrilled that we had the opportunity to resurrect the Benbow Room bar and launch a family-friendly café in the Admiral District. As longtime residents of the area, we knew our neighborhood needed an establishment like the Heartland. It took us almost an entire year, back in 2009, to breathe new life into a building that had been abandoned and neglected for five years. We felt strongly about resurrecting the Benbow Room (originally the Admiral Benbow Inn), one of West Seattle’s historical institutions. We were also aware, once Bank of America took over the old Admiral Café space, that West Seattle needed a good, all-American breakfast joint.

Monday, March 17
Baseball
Garfield 11, Chief Sealth 6
Garfield grabbed a victory over the Seahawks pf Chief Sealth in Monday's action.

Mixed tennis
Chief Sealth 10, Cleveland 1
Chief Sealth dominated the day as the Metro League spring mixed tennis season opened Monday.
Holy Names/O'Dea 11, West Seattle 0
The West Seattle Wildcats tennis team was shut out by Holy Names/O'Dea in Monday's opener.

Tuesday, March 18
Garfield 6, West Seattle 4
Garfield edged the Wildcats on Tuesday to complete a sweep of West Seattle-area teams for the week.

Thursday, March 19
Boys soccer
West Seattle 2, Chief Sealth 1
West Seattle and Chief Sealth opened their Metro League boys soccer seasons against each other Thursday with the Wildcats prevailing, 2-1.
Carter Mensing scored an unassisted goal for West Seattle, then assisted Max Sadow for the second goal.
Justin Alvarez struck unassisted for the Seahawks.

36th Legislative District town hall to be held April 5th

Information provided by the 36th Legislative District

The three state legislators from the 36th District, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles and Reps. Reuven Carlyle and Gael Tarleton, will be holding a town hall meeting on Saturday, April 5th from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Demaray Hall, Room 150, Seattle Pacific University. The 36th District encompasses Ballard, Greenwood, Queen Anne, Magnolia, Interbay, Belltown, and parts of Phinney Ridge and Fremont.

“I look forward to our town hall every year,” Kohl-Welles said. “It is a unique opportunity to gather with constituents and discuss issues that are important in our neighborhoods, city and state.”

“Having a meaningful, engaging dialogue with citizens is a crucial part of our democracy,” Carlyle said. “We’re eager to talk about the successes and failures from this past legislative session, and dive into the issues you care about.”

“Constituent engagement is a critical part of the legislative process,” said Tarleton. “It’s absolutely essential that our neighbors make their voices heard.”

Four new otter pups at Woodland Park Zoo received a clean bill of health today during their first, hands-on wellness exam. The Asian small-clawed otter pups—three females and one male—were born to 4-year-old mother Teratai (pronounced tear-a-tie) and 8-year-old father Guntur (pronounced goon-toor) on January 20.

The zoo’s newest additions underwent a thorough neonatal exam to check their ears, eyes, mouths and overall development. Each of the otter pups just barely tipped the scales at 1.2-1.5 pounds, a healthy size for their 8-week-old frames. Exam results indicate all four pups are growing healthily as expected.

“Since their birth, the parents and four brothers, born last summer, have all pitched in to build their den nest, provide support and, most recently, teach the pups to swim in a behind-the-scenes pool,” said Pat Owen, a collection manager at Woodland Park Zoo. “The family has been busy introducing the pups to their new environment, and the pups are adjusting very well.”

Mt. Rainier High student Amber Fiol will display four of her drawings during April at Skinperfect Salon in Olde Burien as part of her senior year project.

The grand opening for Amber’s show, titled “Wild Mind” is Thursday, April 3 at Skinperfect, 905 S.W. 152nd St. in Olde Burien. The opening is 4-8 p.m. It is part of April’s B-Town Beat art walk.

Amber will show framed four drawings, each 18”X24”.

Maureen Hoffmann, who will display her own encaustic work as part of a four-artist show at the Burien Arts Gallery, 826 S.W. 152nd St in Olde Burien, during April, mentored Amber on her senior project.

The Burien Arts Association is also collaborating with Amber on her senior project show.

The mission of Burien Arts Association is to engage, enrich and entertain all the communities, generations and visitors to the Burien and Greater Highline area through creative and innovative arts programming. The non-profit was founded in the 1960s and for years operated a gallery in the little blue house at Dottie Harper Park.

In fall 2013, Burien Arts Association opened an exciting new gallery in Olde Burien at 826 S.W. 152nd St.

information from Twelfth Night Productions

Called "a bundle of laughs," the New York Post and "delightful" by the New York Times, A... MY NAME IS ALICE is a musical revue conceived by Joan Micklin Silver and Julianne Boyd. It won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Revue and consists of some 21 songs by composers David Zippel, Winnie Holzman, and Lucy Simon, along with sketches by writers like Anne Meara. The delightful and thought provoking show features songs and sketches performed by women of different ages and types in a wide variety of situations and relationships with insight, empathy and self-deprecating humor. From the horrors of parent/teacher conferences, the delights of a male strip club, to the tragedy of losing a parent, the show explores the many facets of women's lives through scenes, monologues and songs.

A… MY NAME IS ALICE will be presented at Kenyon Hall, (7904 35th Ave SW) April 4, 5, 11 and 12 at 7:30 PM and April 6 and 13 at 5 PM.

Tickets are $18 for adults and $15 for students and seniors.

Dear Editor,

My name is Birgit, I live on Morgan Junction in West Seattle.

In a nutshell: Here is the reason for my email to you:

Rosanna and Francesco came to West Seattle from Napoli/Italy in 2001 to join the Italian owner of ABBONDANZA pizzeria at 6503 California Avenue to work. Rosanna worked in the restaurant, her husband Francesco was the chef. The owner of the restaurant was deaf. Rosanne and Francesco came with almost "no knowledge of the English language" so they not only had to learn English but also sign language in order to communicate with their boss. They worked in the restaurant until 2003 and business was great with Francesco in the kitchen and Rosanna in the service. Then there was a fall out between the owner and Rosanna and Francesco. They left the restaurant and worked both in downtown in restaurants as employees. In 2013, the deaf owner made them an offer to purchase the restaurant, which they did.

They took over the ownership of Abbondanza in June 2013 and have been running the restaurant AGAIN.

Bruce Rips and Jerry Suder of the Seattle DPD were the hosts for a public meeting at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center March 20 to listen to public comments, and answer questions related to the proposed change in land use for a chunk of land on 24th S.W.

Listed with DPD as Project Number 3013981 the proposed subdivision on which owner Nick Antonie has said he would like to see six houses built, is in a zone labeled as flood prone, as a riparian corridor (meaning is it near in this case Longfellow Creek) and while it is regarded as single family, it's also a salmon watershed.

DPD describes the land use application this way:

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Land Use Application to subdivide two parcels into eight parcels of land in an environmentally critical area. Proposed parcel sizes are: A) 5,017 sq. ft., B) 5,009 sq. ft., C) 5,009 sq. ft., D) 5,033 sq. ft., E) 5,033 sq. ft., F) 5,040 sq. ft., G) 6,533 sq. ft., and H) 5,625 sq. ft.
The project requires the following approvals:
 Short subdivision to create eight parcels of land
 SEPA environmental determination

press release

Symetra and the Seattle Seahawks honored the 16 Puget Sound-area teachers who were recognized as Symetra Heroes in the Classroom® during the 2013 NFL season, at a special celebration at CenturyLink Field on March 14. Among the 2013 honorees was Robin Hicks, an Intermediate Autism instructor for grades 3–5 at Roxhill Elementary School.

Jim Pirak, Symetra SVP, Marketing, and Mike Flood, Seattle Seahawks VP, Community Relations & Special Projects, hosted a luncheon in the Coach’s Loft, welcoming the teachers, their school principals and special guests. Hicks was joined by Roxhill’s principal, Sahnica Washington.

Following lunch, the teachers received an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the stadium, which included taking in a view of the field from the press box. The festivities wrapped up in the Seahawks locker room, where each teacher was surprised with a “customized” locker complete with nameplate. Each teacher’s locker’s contents included a plaque commemorating his or her “Heroes” award and a copy of the March 14 edition of the Seattle Times, which featured a ¼-page ad saluting all 16 Symetra Heroes in the Classroom recipients.

On Sat., March 29, Compost Days is kicking off the spring planting season with a Cedar Grove truckload sale and the Big Garden Give compost drive at the Ballard Fred Meyer. Ballard Fred Meyer at 915 N.W. 45th St. will host the event from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The campaign is a partnership by King County, Waste Management, Cedar Grove and Seattle Public Utilities with multiple goals: thank residents for diverting 350,000 tons of food and yard scraps from landfills by composting at curbside, donate free compost to more than 150 gardens that feed the hungry, and offer residents deep discounts on compost and kitchen containers.

Participating in the Compost Days Big Garden Give compost drive is easy: the public can go online to www.compostdays.com from March 15-April 15 and donate a bag or take a pledge to compost. Cedar Grove will match each coupon used and each online bag donation with one bag of compost to a local garden benefiting low-income communities, ensuring that all 150 community gardens will be ready to grow this spring!