June 2014

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Change is in the wind for three of the upcoming District 7 All-Star Little League tournaments.

One was rearranged after a team was added and two were dropped, one was switched around after a team was dropped and a third -- the Juniors age 13-14 tournament -- has been cancelled altogether.
Southwest of White Center dropped out of the age 9-10 tournament, leaving seven teams instead of a full field of the eight member charters.

West Seattle gets a first round bye as a result, waiting until 9 a.m. Sunday to play the winner of a 9 a.m. Saturday game between Rainier and Seattle Central.
South Highline American opens against Renton at 12 p.m. Saturday and South Highline National meets host PacWest of Burien at 3 p.m. Saturday.

The winners play each other at 12 p.m. Sunday.

The winner's bracket final awaits Sunday's winners at 6 p.m. Wednesday, with the loser's bracket final at 10 a.m. Friday, the championship at 10 a.m. Saturday and the if-necessary game at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Benito’s Chicago Eatery in Ballard is celebrating its second anniversary in June with a friendly dining competition for Mariner fans vs. White Sox fans.

Competition:
Benito’s will offer a “Mariner’s" Deep Dish Pizza and a "White Sox" Deep Dish Pizza and whichever one sells the most from June 25-June 29, Benito’s owner and Chicago native Chef Ben Kulikowski will hang that team’s flag in Benito's window facing 15th Avenue NW during the Mariner’s vs. White Sox series July 4-6.

Ben is a lifelong White Sox fan so Mariner’s fans can unite to win it for the home team!

Mariner’s pizza = White Pie: house made creamy garlic dressing, chicken breast, fresh spinach, mushrooms, fresh tomato slices, pecorino romano.

White Sox pizza = Benito’s Special: aged mozzarella, sausage, pepperoni, peppers, mushroom, onion, organic tomatoes, seasonings, pecorino romano.

Anniversary Specials:

By Peggy Sturdivant

I love sharing good news. It’s true that the Ballard location of RE Store is no more but the doors are now open at Ballard Reuse. Longtime employees Pat Finn Coven and Joel Blaschke have managed to create a new business on the same site, with same hours, and the same emphasis on culling the reusable from structures to keep it from the landfill. Long live Ballard Reuse.

Every item in the building has a story and the same is true of the new business on the old site. Ballard’s RE Store was the Seattle location of a Bellingham-based non-profit; the retail arm of RE Sources for Sustainable Communities. The Ballard location opened in 1999 just a few blocks northeast of the Ballard Bridge and chugged along for 15 years, overstuffed with salvage materials.

The Seventh annual Phinney Ditch Block Party is coming up on July 12 and will be held at 6226 6th Ave. N.W. Don't miss your chance to "To rock your socks-in-sandals off, Seattle" with pie jousting, dodge ball, noodle wars, face painting, spam carving, bouncing, cooking and just plain rocking out.

This year the party has additions, including a second baby bounce house, a mini-kiddo sprinkler park, painting, a kamikaze cart, and art bikes.

Inspired by the Stumbletown Artists Trunk Show, the Phinney Ditch Block Party will host a trunk show featuring any local artists, business owners, and practitioners who would like to set up and talk about what they love and do. If interesting in showing off your skills or business, email phinneyditch@gmail.com

It’s in the spirit of buying local, and while we’ve always had cool local music, we’ve never had cool local visual arts and wares. Included in the showcase is The Summer 2014 Ballard Pop-Up Food Garden Project.

By Jeanne Kohl-Welles

The abduction of nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls in April happened half a world away, yet the sheer horror of it makes it seem impossible that it could have taken place on the same planet.

When the leader of Boko Haram, the group responsible for the abductions, said, “I will sell [your…There is a market for selling humans,” he invoked what is at the heart of the motivation behind human trafficking – it is about power and greed, and it knows no bounds or borders.

Because crime proliferates in the shadows, the world’s attention is rarely drawn as dramatically to the true terror of human trafficking as it was with this monstrosity. But attention to the issue, and an understanding of how trafficking occurs, is key to addressing and eliminating it. Coerced or forced prostitution or pornography, abduction, commercial mail-order bride brokering, commercial sexual abuse of minors, forced labor – these are all forms of human trafficking, and tragically occur the world over, including in our state and city.

Change is in the wind for three of the upcoming District 7 All-Star Little League tournaments.

One was rearranged after a team was added and two were dropped, one was switched around after a team was dropped and a third -- the Juniors age 13-14 tournament -- has been cancelled altogether.

Southwest of White Center dropped out of the age 9-10 tournament, leaving seven teams instead of a full field of the eight member charters.

West Seattle gets a first round bye as a result, waiting until 9 a.m. Sunday to play the winner of a 9 a.m. Saturday game between Rainier and Seattle Central.

South Highline American opens against Renton at 12 p.m. Saturday and South Highline National meets host PacWest of Burien at 3 p.m. Saturday.
The winners play each other at 12 p.m. Sunday.

The winner's bracket final awaits Sunday's winners at 6 p.m. Wednesday, with the loser's bracket final at 10 a.m. Friday, the championship at 10 a.m. Saturday and the if-necessary game at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Seattle Central and Rainier both dropped out of the age 10-11 tournament, but Renton was added to leave a total of four teams.

The South Park Bridge, rebuilt at a total cost of $162 million will open at 6am on June 30 but first a neighborhood celebration will take place the day before.

The effort to replace the original bridge that was open from 1931 to 2010 brought together community members, business partners, and government at the local, regional, state, and national levels. King County Executive was successful in building a coalition of agencies and with the assistance of U.S. Senator Patty Murray and U.S. Representative Jim McDermott the funds, much of them from a federal stimulus grant, were found to complete the project.

The bridge is similar in some regards to other Seattle area bridges but has features and functions unique to the neighborhood. Chief among those is the rain garden that lies on the southeast side of the bridge. The rain garden is both a design accent and a functional part of the project in that all runoff from the structure is routed to it where through a combination of soils and elements, the water is naturally filtered and then sent to the Duwamish River.

By Gwen Davis

Karen Sykes, the well-known hiker and author who died last week while hiking, loved life. She lived fully and richly, whether hiking or doing photography or writing. Her way of experiencing the world inspired a countless number of people.

“I was aware of her for several years before I emailed her,” said Karen Portin, a friend of Sykes. Portin new of Sykes from all of her writing, and was so enchanted with her that she wanted to personally connect.
“We exchanged emails in 2012, and we had so much in common with our interests in photography and hiking that we decided to meet.”

It was a quality friendship.

“We met up once a week, normally for a photography or hiking trip,” Portin said. “Lincoln Park was one of her favorite places. She also liked the garden at South Seattle College, but she really liked any park, especially ones that were in her area.”

The two were mutually inspired by each other.

“She loved to photograph beautiful things,” Portin said. “I did a lot of that with her. All of the things that she loved were things that I loved, as well.”

Update as of 9:50 am June 26

From SFD PIO Kyle Moore

Seattle Fire Investigators have classified an overnight fire at a West Seattle playground as undetermined because there was no obvious source of ignition.

At 1:19 a.m. a call came into dispatchers at the Fire Alarm Center reporting a fire coming from the back of a school located in the 5000 block of SW Spokane Street. The first arriving engine company found flames coming from a playground area. Firefighters quickly knocked down the fire which was confined to the wood chips. The heat and flames also melted and damaged the metal and plastic playground equipment. The damage estimate is $50,000.

Original Post
Seattle fire quickly responded to a fire in the 5000 block of SW Spokane Street around 1:18 am on June 26.

Upon arriving they noticed that the fire was mostly contained to the play structure on the west side of the school and was started in the playgrounds bark but no official cause was yet determined.

Seattle Police and fire responded to a report of a 23 year old man stabbed in the thigh near 61st Ave SW and Alki Ave SW around 11:30 pm on June 25.

According to Seattle Police the altercation began as two groups fighting which ended up as one person getting stabbed.