May 2014

By Steve Shay

A controversial development involving an older house bookended by two new tall houses in West Seattle's upscale Benchview neighborhood angered neighbors and sparked the Seattle City Council to enact a sweeping downzone affecting small single family lots and houses citywide. Developers in West Seattle, Ballard, and other neighborhoods with precious and pricy lots are taking note. So are longtime homeowners who counted on selling a vacant swath of their property or selling their house as a tear down to pay their retirement.

The Benchview development hugs the southeast corner of 55th Av. SW and SW Manning St, about four blocks west of Schmitz Park Elementary School. The two new houses, marketed by Blueprint Capital, and the existing home, offer panoramic views of Alki below, and shimmering Puget Sound beyond. The neighbors' beef? The new cribs were out of scale. The original house and property, a relatively large 11,500 square foot lot, sold for $860,000 to Ronald Day of Silverado Development according to King County records.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

West Seattle came up only two runs shy of a Sea-King softball tournament semifinal and state berth one day, then fell in the game for the fifth and final berth to state the next.

The Wildcats lost to Liberty of Issaquah, 10-1, in the consolation final at Lower Woodland Park in Seattle to see their season end Thursday.

That came a day after they opened with an 11-0 victory over Chief Sealth and lost to Juanita by only a 2-0 score. They then beat Bellevue on Thursday before losing to Liberty.

The 2-0 loss to Juanita stood out in West Seattle head coach Trevor Leopold's mind.

"It was real close," said Leopold, who was just named as the Metro League Coach of the Year. "A fly ball to left field scored one run, then there was a steal from third to home. The catcher threw it back to the pitcher, and Gabby (Wenn) walked off the mound, and she took off and scored. I was like, 'What?'"

Wednesday's first game against Sealth was scoreless until the fifth inning, when the Wildcats erupted for all 11 of their runs.

Update as of 7:17pm May 23
Seattle Police updated their report on the hit and run at 11th S.W. and S.W. Spokane Street on May 22.

"Detectives have reason to believe the suspect vehicle is light metallic blue and is missing the right side mirror. The vehicle should have damage to the front bumper as well as heavy damage to the windshield. The suspect’s vehicle had been traveling westbound at the time of the collision and likely continued over the lower bridge and into West Seattle. Detectives are asking anyone with information to please call TCIS Detective Andrew Norton at (206) 684-8934."

Update as of 11:32 am May 23
The Seattle Police Blotter posted this update on the incident:

"Police are searching for a motorist who struck a cyclist on Harbor Island on Thursday night and sped away.

Witnesses found the bloodied and seriously injured cyclist lying in the street at 11 Ave. S.W. and S.W. Spokane St around 8:20 PM and called 911.

Seattle Fire Department Medics responded and transported the victim to Harborview Medical Center with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

By Andrea Reay, Executive Director, Discover Burien

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Jenny Cole to chat about why her and her partner Bill Virgin chose to open their business in Burien. Discover Burien recently welcomed Jenny and Bill’s business, Page2Books, to the community in April with a ribbon cutting.

I asked her why she and Bill decided to open their business in downtown Burien. She replied “It starts with our loyal customer base, built over many years by the previous owner. In a business like book retailing, if you don't have that you don't have much of anything. We wanted a new location that had more space and visibility, but we also didn't want to stray too far from our customers.

We also knew a little about Burien, since I'd worked there for Dr. Schmidt for a dozen years, and our daughter goes to school at Three Tree Montessori. Bill also knew one of the businesses just down the street, Scott Law's Electric Train Shop, through the newsletter he publishes about railroads.

Editor's note: This story first ran on 05/23/2013. Today, the station remains unoccupied while officials from the Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department arm wrestle with the contractor over several problems associated with the building.

By Steve Shay

The Burien Fire Department seems to be on a life-saving mission to rescue its new station at 900 SW 146th St. The state-of-the-art, but yet-to-be-opened, facility is plagued with infrastructure problems, from the massive roof, which hosts numerous stagnant puddles, to the 28-foot high brick facade, with rebar rusting through more than two hundred large brick sections, to those bright red vertical "apparatus bay" doors, each one warped at the seal.

The building cost the public $8.6 million, $9.2 million with tax. However, costs continue to mount as specialty contractors and architects work to identify the failing features, and try to find a fix, if there is one.

Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department Chief Mike Marrs gave a tour of the station to the Highline Times Wednesday, May 23, focusing on the key problems causing delays.

LA Fitness, which is planning on moving into the space formerly occupied by SAAR’s and Staples, was in mid-demolition last week.

The proposed scope of work includes “partial demolition, alteration and remodel of the existing 45,030 square foot building into a health club with basketball, sales, racquetball, kid’s klub, aerobics, cycling, pool, spa, sauna, locker room, free wights, cardio and circuit training area.”
The project valuation is estimated to be $4 million dollars.

Jeanette Burrage announced her candidacy for State Representive in the 33rd District,
position 2.

Jeanette Burrage was raised in Burien and has lived in Des Moines for over 20 years.
She is a former State Representative from the Burien area and now serves on the Des
Moines City Council.

Jeanette wants to make Olympia more responsible to students, employees and the general
public. She wants to work with other legislators to fully fund schools. This means
prioritizing spending so schools and colleges come first. As a former substitute school
teacher and a current school bus driver, Jeanette understands the need. As a former
budget analyst, she knows how to make it happen.

Jeanette understands that lack of sufficient roads affect us all in congestion and in losing
jobs to areas with better roads. This is especially important near the Port of Seattle and
Kent industrial areas, where goods and services can be distributed.

Having served on the City Council in 1993-1994, she can see how the State has made it
more difficult for many cities to fund basic services like police and roads. She wants to

Jeanette Burrage announced her candidacy for State Representive in the 33rd District,
position 2.

Jeanette Burrage was raised in Burien and has lived in Des Moines for over 20 years.
She is a former State Representative from the Burien area and now serves on the Des
Moines City Council.

Jeanette wants to make Olympia more responsible to students, employees and the general
public. She wants to work with other legislators to fully fund schools. This means
prioritizing spending so schools and colleges come first. As a former substitute school
teacher and a current school bus driver, Jeanette understands the need. As a former
budget analyst, she knows how to make it happen.

Jeanette understands that lack of sufficient roads affect us all in congestion and in losing
jobs to areas with better roads. This is especially important near the Port of Seattle and
Kent industrial areas, where goods and services can be distributed.

Having served on the City Council in 1993-1994, she can see how the State has made it
more difficult for many cities to fund basic services like police and roads. She wants to

By Eric Mathison

The “Throwin’ Samoan,” Jack Thompson and his family were among those honored May 20 at Highline Public Schools’ third annual Scholar-Athlete, Coach and Community Recognition Banquet.

Thompson and his siblings, Lina, Pat, Margo and Gene received the Director’s Award for their exceptional commitment to the students and community, particularly the Evergreen High campus and White Center.

Thompson quarterbacked the Cascade Junior High and Evergreen High football teams before graduating in 1974. At Washington State University, where he acquired his colorful nickname, he was a Sporting News First Team All-American in 1978 before being selected as a first round NFL draft pick in 1979. Both Evergreen and WSU retired his football jerseys.

At the banquet, Thompson praised Highline’s athletic leadership and urged community members to support the district.

Pacific Middle assistant principal Heidi Geise, who supervises her school’s athletics, also received special recognition. Geise is retiring after 38 years as a teacher, coach and administrator.

By Gerardo Bolong

Highline High School's No. 2 girls doubles pairing of sophomore Jacquelin Kemp and senior Disney Vorng went unbeaten in four matches, including an opening round bye to shock the field for the No. 1 Seamount League seed to the West Central/Southwest bi-district girls 3A tennis tournament that begins on May 23 at Auburn Mountainview High School. Out of the Highline High School locale of the Seamount League 3A tournament that concluded May 17 the top two placings qualified for the next level.
As the No. 4 seed, Kemp and Stanford-bound Vorng defeated Liliann Mai and Andressa Chan of Hazen before outlasting Kennedy Catholic sophomores Avery Corcoran and Aine Dempsey-Horstman, 4-6,6-2,10-6 ( super tie-breaker) in the semifinals. The surprising sensations then overcame Pirate teammates, the No. 3 seeded Nhi Lam and Angelica Yu, in the championship match.

"They played smart and worked hard," Highline Pirate head coach Scott Babcock said. "Kemp adjusted from singles from the first half of the season and is smart plus works hard. She gets better every match."
Kemp and Vorng open play at 10 a.m on Friday against a yet to be determined pair.