December 2014

Zippy’s Giant Burgers in White Center robbed
Deputies from the King County Sheriff’s Department were called to the scene of Zippy’s Giant Burgers in White Center after an employee, scheduled for an early morning cleaning shift, arrived at the restaurant to find that it had been burglarized. The break-in took place sometime before 4:00 a.m. on December 22nd. Restaurant owner, Blaine Cook, reports that the thieves entered the business by breaking through the glass in the emergency exit door. Once in the restaurant they caused significant damage by forcing entry into locked and unused rooms, stealing the cash register and stealing a safe. Further information about the investigation has yet to be released.

Shots fired after argument in Burien

The next meeting of the Valkyrien Lodge of Daughters of Norway will be January 10th at the Norse Home at 10:00 AM.
We will have a short meeting and more goodies.

The lodge is open to any lady of scandinavian decent.

For more information call Elaine Greggs 206-524-4317

Information provided by the Ballard High School Foundation

Many of you have received our year end appeal and some of you may not have. If you have not already donated, please consider using this opportunity to make a year end, 100% tax deductible donation.

Your direct contributions along with successful events sponsored by the Foundation this year, such as the Performing Arts Gala, the Annual Golf Tournament and Dinner of Champions, have allowed us to provide over $159,000 in direct support of the school this past year; specifically, Visual & Performing Arts, Video Production, Academic Excellence, the Library as well as Athletics. The vast majority of Ballard students are directly impacted by this funding -a priority of the Foundation's mission.

We are also encouraged by the investment we are making in the GAINS (Graduation Assistance Impacting the Needs of Students) Program which continues to work with students who have been identified as 'at risk' for delayed graduation or dropping out of school due to grades, absenteeism or disciplinary issues. Keeping students enrolled and increasing the overall graduation rate is a key goal at Ballard.

By Pat Cashman

My wife and I were looking at a beautiful sunset over Hawaii the other day. More specifically, we were looking at a photo of a beautiful sunset over Hawaii. There must be photos of beautiful sunsets over Covington, but they’re not as widely distributed.

“That sunset sure is neat,” I said.

“Neat? ”said my wife. “What century are you living in? Who says neat anymore?”
I replied loftily, “Guys who are cool cats and groovy hipsters---that’s who! Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go get something out of the icebox.”

Yea, it IS something I do---use words long after their expiration date---but mostly just to be ironic. I just think it’s sort of funny to say, “How’s it going, Daddio?”---as if I were a latter day beatnik dropped to earth.

My wife thinks it’s pathetic. “You are about as much of a beatnik as you are an NBA power forward,” she says. Remarks like that can cut deep into my 6’ 11” muscular frame.

Who gets to decide which words---or practices---are no longer relevant? Why do perfectly good,
timeworn, antediluvian, moth-eaten, old-hat things suddenly get discarded?

By Peggy Sturdivant

Gayle and Jerry witnessed a lot of drama during six months of visits to an emergency veterinary clinic. One comment in particular has stayed with them for years. It was the middle of the night and a young man was there with his dog. “I never thought I’d be one of those guys,” he said. “But he looks at me with those eyes, and I want to say, ‘just take my credit card.’”

Jerry Casson probably never thought he would be one of those guys either, at least not for a feline. Until he met his future wife, Gayle Tate-Casson, he was on record as having only one previous relationship with a cat. Plus he was horribly allergic. His wife Gayle jokes they wouldn’t be together if they hadn’t met in person. On-line she would have mentioned her cat.

Denny International Middle School teacher Jonathan Moor was honored Dec. 17 by Symetra and the Seattle Seahawks as a “Symetra Hero in the Classroom”

Moor is an eighth-grade Algebra instructor at the school.

“Jonathan Moor is a hero to both students and staff,” said Aimee Schulte, a teaching colleague at Denny International Middle School. “The year before Jon came to our school, a little more than one-third of eighth-grade math students were meeting state standards on standardized tests. Due to Jon’s tireless work, more than 80 percent of students met or exceeded standards this past spring. He has even designed and created his own material in response to students who were struggling to learn with some of the provided curricula, effectively addressing the diverse learning needs of our student population. Jon’s energy in the classroom creates a positive and fun environment for students to learn and reach their full potential.” Schulte nominated Moor for the Symetra Heroes in the Classroom® award.

Concrete pours scheduled to begin this week at the Murray Basin CSO across from Lowman Beach Park have been postponed. King County contractors have tentatively rescheduled the first pour for the facility’s underground storage tank for Monday, January 5.

A second pour is planned for Thursday, January 8.

No work is planned for Thursday, January 1. Schedule updates will be provided as necessary.

On pour days, about 10 trucks an hour will deliver 2,000 cubic yards of concrete to the site— less than half the amount delivered daily for the pour in early December. The site will look as it did during those earlier pours. Concrete will be delivered to the site between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Two concrete pump trucks on the east side of the 7000 block of Beach Dr. S.W. will pump concrete into the hole. Crews may continue working in the tank area after 6 p.m. if necessary. Traffic delays and congestion can be expected near the project area on pour days.

What to expect during concrete pours:
• Smaller concrete pours between 7 a.m. and
6 p.m. on:
o Monday, January 5
o Thursday, January 8

By Gerardo Bolong
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Foster boys basketball head coach Isaac Tucker had a straightforward reason for Seamount League 2A Foster's 82-77 overtime win at Nisqually 1A Seattle Christian on Tues., Dec. 23.

"Once our defense warmed up, the pressure gave us the momentum."

Overtime was dominated early by the Bulldogs of Tukwila.

Ronnie Roberson grabbed an offensive rebound and scored. Following a Seattle Christian missed shot, Jordan Magee hit a layup on transition ahead of another Warrior missed shot, Elijah Nnanuba hit a short range basket. Following a Warrior turnover, Patrick Straight's basket had Foster in command at 78-70 with 1:48 left in the five-minute overtime.

Seattle Christian roared back from an 80-71 deficit beginning with a Tyler Fox corner 3-pointer.
The Warriors called time out and subsequently stole the ball with 38 seconds left.

Another SC time out set up the offense as Taggart Anderson gunned home a 3-pointer to bring the home team within 80-77 as 24 seconds showed.

By Gerardo Bolong
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

High octane defense propelled an aggressive offense as Nisqually 1A League Seattle Christian ran away from visiting Seamount 2A Foster (Tukwila) 45-24 in non-league girls basketball action on Tues., Dec. 23. SCS remained unbeaten after four games.

"This season, we're getting better play at point guard from multiple players," said Warrior head coach Dave Jansen. "The team has aggressive players that want to win. It's a good mix of young talent and good returning players that want to win. There's good attitude out there."

Wielding mighty weapons in their 1-2-2 full court zone press and 2-3 half court zone, Seattle Christian surrounded its opponents for 18 first half turnovers and 29 for the game as well as setting up numerous short range shot chances.

By Gerardo Bolong
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Tournament host Seamount 3A Kennedy Catholic used pick pocket style defense and rugged rebounding as catalysts for breakaway offensive thrusts in a 74-38 first round boys basketball win against Cascade Christian at the 2014 Oberto Classic on Fri., Dec. 26.

The Lancers showed early signs of what was to be by keeping the Cougars from penetrating inside their 2-3 zone.

Gradually, Kennedy claimed the territory of the John M. Goodwin Memorial Gymnasium for a 17-10 lead after one quarter. Outside shot making by CCHS plus a proneness of KC to commit player controlled fouls kept the margin from being greater.

Pilfering and running to daylight, the Lancers also used a trio of 3-pointers along with breakaway goals to create a 34-18 lead before settling for a 36-22 halftime clearance.

The trending situation continued even as KC reserves commanded playing time to sail away to a 39-point margin shortly before closing up shop for the night.