April 2014

Editors Note: When we did our story about the money raised by the West Seattle 4 OSO effort organized by Tracy Dart we mistakenly omitted what is a very important part of the story. The Chelan Cafe, part of West Seattle's history since 1935 held a major BBQ event in support of the OSO slide victims and families. Here's a letter from owner Mary Manning-Smith that explains what they did:

"Customers at the Chelan Café were so generous that weekend of the fundraiser for OSO Relief. As I was walking through the café people were throwing $20 and $50 dollar bills into a bucket. Everyone was so glad to have an opportunity to donate.

On Sunday March 30th the Chelan Café had a BBQ, organized by bartenders Carrie Ann Fernandez and Shawna Winkler. Thanks to everyone's hard work we raised a total of $2,365. Money was still being sent from family and friends in Hawaii, also customers at Roxbury Lanes donated to the cause. It was so wonderful to see peoples generosity. Chelan Café matched all donations totaling $4,730. All proceeds went to Snohomish Red Cross and NW Response for OSO. Thanks again to all who cared."

By Walker Orenstein

West Seattle is facing a reloading test more difficult than usual this year.

After losing Sam Helliger to graduation -- the Washington State Baseball Coaches Association and Class 3A state player of the year -- West Seattle is going to have some trouble staying on top.

Hellinger was a lockdown pitcher while also hitting .416 in May 2013 when he was named to The Seattle Times all-area team. The unanimous Metro League MVP pitched a complete game with no earned runs against Mount Si last season to send the Wildcats to the state championship game for the first time in school history.


The Wildcats lost the championship, finishing second in state, but Hellinger was drafted in round 39 by the Mariners last year.

“Sam earned everything he got because he worked so hard,” said West Seattle coach Velko Vitalich. Vitalich has coached the Wildcats for 27 years and was named coach of the year by the Northwest Baseball Umpires Association in 2012.


Friday, April 11
Baseball
West Seattle 5, Nathan Hale 0
Jake Magera threw a three-hit shutout for the Wildcats on Friday, striking out seven and walking only one in earning the win.
Larry Jensen hit 2-for-3 with one double and one run scored and Morgan McCullough hit 2-for-4 with one RBI, one run and one double.

Boys soccer
Chief Sealth 5, Rainier Beach 1
Yael Pina racked up one goal and three assists to lead Chief Sealth to a 5-1 victory over Rainier Beach this past Friday.
Devin Oxford added one goal and one assist for the Seahawks.
Oxford scored the first goal in the 14th minute on a Pina assist, then Pina struck unassisted for a goal in the 44th.
Luis Medina scored the next goal on a Pina assist and Abdallah Abo knocked in Oxford's assist in the 62nd minute.
Aldan McMurray capped off the Wildcats' scoring in the 68th minute on Pina's third assist of the afternoon.

UPDATE April 16
The West Seattle apartment fire in the early morning hours of April 15 in which a woman died did $20,000 damage to the structure and another $20,000 to the contents according to the Seattle Fire Dept. The cause of death has not yet been determined by the Medical Examiner.

Original Post April 15
One woman was died and another woman displaced in a fire that took place in the upper unit bedroom of an apartment in the 7500 block of 24th S.W. on April. 15. The 911 call went out at 4:23 am for a fire in the apartments located just south of the Home Depot store in West Seattle.

The fire was contained to the bedroom and the woman was found on the floor next to a bed that had been on fire, after firefighters overcame heavy smoke, "so thick they could not see their hands in front of their face," according to Kyle Moore Seattle Fire Dept. spokesperson.

The fire was quickly contained and confined to the single apartment but a neighbor was displaced due to smoke and water damage.

The fire is under investigation at this time and a damage estimate is expected later.

The message that King County Metro Transit will see major cuts in service if Prop. 1 set for a vote in the April 22 election does not pass, seems to be reaching only a few. Evidence of the lack of interest in the student demonstration on April 14 at South Seattle College was found in the low numbers that showed up for the event.

Admittedly getting people out to a rally on a sunny day to support a campaign to raise taxes is not easy.

Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen and King County Council person McDermott were there along with Wash. State Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon. but the audience was small.

Currently, there are two Metro bus lines that run to South’s Campus – the 125 and the 128. Both of these bus lines would offer reduced service to the campus if Proposition 1 is not approved.

By Hannah Danforth

Brad Campbell and his team of four play a crucial part as team members of the Seattle Seahawks. As Video Director to the Seahawks, Brad and his crew help prepare the weekly game plans by supplying coaches and players with breakdowns of cut-ups and game footage of upcoming opponents, as well as editing practice footage for coaches and players during the week leading up to each game. “If you were watch our stuff you would probably find it really boring.”

However boring, the footage is pivotal in teaching, coaching and strategy. Seahawk players are filmed at specific angles; merged together and broken down into Offense, Defense and Special Teams. Game footage and practices are reviewed. Coaches and players watch opposing teams footage looking to devise very specific strategies on the visible strengths and weaknesses of players. They can instantly see why or how a play succeeded or failed.

By Emile Monte

Laurie Blauner had a smile in her voice as much as on her face. She wanted to talk poetry—my poetry, her poetry—and prose and the combination of the two that her work has become. Her enthusiasm for literature—for words, characters, sounds, meaning—was as transparent and contagious as laughter.

But have you heard of her? Perhaps not. She’s a small press kind of writer and less interested in her work being popular than being true. In twenty years of writing, Blauner still writes primarily for herself.

And in twenty years of writing Blauner has a lot of work to show for her efforts: seven books of poetry, four novels, and a few more on the road to being published. The next in line is a book of poetry, It Looks Worse than I Am, due in the fall of this year. Not to give anything away, but the book is divided in three parts: the first, about animals and intimacy; the second, about rooms and the loss of capability; the third, about a self-contained man who cannot be contained.

The 36th District Legislative seat could be battled over by two Democrats.

Last Friday Rep. Reuven Carlyle told Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, that he would be running against her this November’s election, saying that it’s nothing personal. Not official quite yet, Carlyle is taking the weekend to deliberate.

There have been predictions that the Carlyle vs. Kohl-Welles race would ultimately stride into the November election under the state’s “Top Two” primary system. 

The system has every candidate from every political party appear on the same “primary” ballot. No matter the party affiliation, the top two voter’s picks are the only candidates named on the November general election ballot.

The 36th District, which includes parts of downtown, Queen Anne, Magnolia, Greenwood, Fremont and Ballard, has remained a Democratic sector over recent years.

The district contains a confluence of old and burgeoning economies. It’s known for housing a large portion of the maritime economy -- an essential economic engine for the City and State. The old meets the new with the technology industry booming in portions of the district.

April 9 – The Ballard District Council met to discuss issues facing the community. Topics up for discussion were Swedish Hospital improvements in the past year, Ballard Greenways, and the Holman Road Repaving project.

Jennifer Graves, Chief Executive and Nurse Executive at Swedish Hospital Ballard, updated the Council with the recent improvement at the hospital. She reported that Swedish has in the last year made strides in cancer treatment with a new cancer facility where patients can receive infusions treatments for chemotherapy as well as other treatments. As one of he largest employers in Ballard, the hospital employs over 100 physicians. Graves said the new cancer facility employs five primary medical oncologists.

“ As health care has changed we have started to offer new services. We are really trying to build services around the patient to make things convenient. Patients can walk to the clinic and receive chemo treatment and not have to go downtown and deal with traffic which can be difficult for them,” said Graves.

Seattle Lutheran scored 11 runs in the top of the seventh inning Saturday to turn a close 4-3 baseball game against Seattle Christian into a 15-3 rout.

The Saints of West Seattle improved their overall record to 8-1 with the non-league win under sunny skies as the Warriors of SeaTac fell to 7-2.
"I thought it was just a total team effort," said Seattle Lutheran head coach David Sleighter. "The guys all hit and we had guys give themselves up for bunts and it all added up."

Everything added up the best for Saints freshman J.J. Young, who blasted five doubles in five at-bats and also threw the first four innings for the win on the mound.

Young struck out seven and left when his team had the 4-3 lead.
"J.J. played spectacular," said Sleighter. "He's just a freshman, and that guy can hit and he pitched good, too."

Young was pleased as he left the Seattle Christian diamond.

"I kind of hit the ball and didn't think about anything," he said.
SCS head coach Chris Fox was not overly disappointed with the loss.