February 2015

By Ed Shepherd
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

Represent!
That's what any teams want to do at state. The Highline Pirates wrestling team did that, with boys getting there and mostly placing -- and a girl, too.

The Pirates sent five total to state, with junior Brian Womac making it along with seniors' Zach Edson, Jimmy Matta, Justin Herbruger and Sophia Munoz, with the latter four mentioned all with medal-worthy finishes of top eight after competing in action at the 2A Washington State Mat Classic Championships at the Tacoma Dome Friday and Saturday.

The Mat Classic culminated for four of those five getting medals after having did the "walk of fame" from placement chairs to the podium for hundreds of people to file into an area of the T-Dome floor to snap pictures, as the "Superman" theme music blasted over speakers.

"They did great," said Casey Rice, the Pirates' head coach.

Munoz, already featured in her own story, but she's one of the boys, too, wrestling right beside them/with them, in practices. She did great, at 235 weight class, took second, best on the team overall.

Information from King County

King County Metro Transit riders will pay a bit more to ride the bus beginning March 1. The fare change will apply to adults, youth, seniors and people with disabilities who use regularly scheduled transit services.

Transit fares will increase 25 cents for riders and businesses offering "Business Choice" accounts to their employees. Customers who have a Passport or U-Pass through their business or school will notice the change as contracts are renewed after March 1.

Fares for Access paratransit service will increase 50 cents to $1.75 per trip. This adjustment will more closely align Access fares with regular off-peak fares. The increase reflects the much higher expense of operating Access service compared to regular bus service.
The fare increases will place Metro on more stable financial footing and will help keep service on the road.

New reduced fare will help those with limited incomes

information from King County

Water Taxi Watch, modeled after Washington State Ferries’ (WSF) very popular VesselWatch, allows you to track vessels on our routes in real time, including their position, speed, and direction. You can also find arrival and departure schedules and other useful information on the site. Hopefully the next foggy morning you are down at the dock and cannot see your vessel, you will be able to use this new tool to track the status of your boat.

This project was funded by a Federal Transit Administration technology grant and is a collaborative effort between WSF and the King County Marine Division. Please visit our website at www.kingcounty.gov/watertaxi for a link to this exciting new feature!

(Note: The site currently lists the vessel’s estimated arrival time. This is an estimate based on the scheduled crossing time added to the actual departure time and does not account for weather or other delays during the crossing)

By Gwen Davis

This Thurs. Summit Public Schools (SPS) will host a public info session about the new charter school that's slated to open in West Seattle in the fall of 2016.

The school will serve grades 6-12.

During the first part of the hour-long session, SPS will provide a brief presentation about its charter school model, mission and the results it has achieved so far.

The rest of the meeting will be an open feedback discussion. Brittany Alvarez, startup operations coordinator at SPS said she's eager to know what West Seattle wants in a school.

"We want to get input from the community," she said. "What they need from a charter school, and their ideas and interests."

The meeting will take place on Thurs. Feb. 26 at the Southwest Branch of the Seattle Public Library from 6:30-7:30 p.m.

In hopes of expanding the public knowledge and awareness of the native American art in our community and elsewhere, the Southwest Seattle Historical Society has teamed up with Duke's Restaurant to offer an Alaskan Totem Cruise Sept. 19-26.

The seven night cruise to Glacier Bay is being promoted in a series of dinners put on by Duke's owner Duke Moscrip and feature northwest guitar legend Michael Powers.

On the cruise those aboard can see and learn about the origin of Seattle’s colorful totem poles.

Moscrip and Duke's Executive Chef “Wild Bill” Ranniger will be on board the ms Westerdam to provide special cooking and socializing opportunities.

The promotional information from the Society said:
"In Ketchikan, see the largest collection of standing totem poles in the world, along with a gorgeous Clan House.
In Sitka, stroll a lush rain forest and view even more traditional totem poles, surrounded by nature.
Juneau is the third port of call, plus scenic cruising in Glacier Bay National Park and a stop in Victoria, B.C."

2015 Alaska Totem Cruise

This exclusive AAA cruise packages includes:

West Seattle Hi-Yu is looking for young women or men to represent West Seattle on the 2015 Senior Court.

Candidates are judged on their community service projects, talent, spontaneous speaking, and other skills necessary to represent West Seattle Hi-Yu.

Applicants for West Seattle Hi-Yu scholarships can download the form at the link above.

West Seattle Hi-Yu has extended the deadline to March 31st.

Applications will be accepted until March 31,2015Download / copy & print out application and mail it to West Seattle Hi-Yu PO Box 16130 Seattle, WA 98116send to: info@westseattlehiyu.comor do both to assure receipt.

by Ed Shepherd
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

Playing against Lummi Nation, the No. 1, state-ranked, team in the 1B classification, the Seattle Lutheran boys basketball team led by five points late in the third quarter, had the momentum, but could not hang onto it, losing, 62-48, to the Blackhawks in a 1B Tri-District Tournament semifinal game Thursday.
"We played tough," said Saints' coach, Brett Kapels. "Proud of my team."

This game was only for seeding purposes, there's another seeding game now, Friday, 6:30 pm versus Tulalip Heritage, and, one more seeder to follow after that Saturday before the following weekend's regional game, Saturday. That last one is a loser-out, with the winner to go to the state tournament that starts March 5 in the Spokane Arena.

And, though, neither the Saints or Blackhawks immediate season future was in doubt for this game's outcome, this game carried playoff atmosphere, with both team's going all out, neither wanted to lose this one, as, one fan from the Blackhawks' side, shouted, afterward, "Best game all year."

The West Seattle peninsula is dotted with medical marijuana outlets but as yet, no purely recreational store has opened so, the Grand Opening of Seattle Cannabis Company at 3230 1st Ave South this Saturday will mean those who choose to partake will have a store very nearby.

Owner Doug Waun and his staff transformed a former "grungy old warehouse" into a sleek modern store with muted colors, and brightly lit display cases full of product. Waun worked for the past year to get the business established and four months ago got the space.

Waun said that Seattle Cannabis is very selective in terms of the kind of vendors they will carry in the store. "We have about 25 vendors that we feel are some of the best product. Obviously everything is tested but there are other things that go into it such as growing practices and other ways we feel make the product more premium." Despite that approach Waun said that his prices are actually close to the relatively low medical marijuana prices with some priced as low as $12 per gram.

Nearly a hundred protesters marched from the Burien transit center to the Burien City Hall and Library at 7 p.m. on Feb. 23 to speak out against city ordinance 606. Homeless citizens marched with members from S.A.F.E., the A.C.L.U., and numerous other organizations to speak at the study session for the Burien City Council.
“Burien City Council you can’t hide, we can see your greed inside,” shouted S.A.F.E.’s Josh Farris from a bullhorn as the line of protesters wound their way into city hall.
Filling the council chambers to capacity the activists chanted as they waited and sounded off in an attempt to get the attention of the council members.
The councilmembers heard comments and presentations from protesters, homeless citizens, and supporters of the ordinance. Each speaker was given one minute of speaking time.
More details to come.

What is Ordinance 606?

By Gerardo Bolong
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

TACOMA - Senior Mt. Rainier gymnast Ava Welch closed out her high school career at the 2015 WIAA 4A state gymnastics championships in intense individual event competition on Sat., Feb. 21.

Welch earned a spot on the podium by earning a bronze medal on the vault in a powerful and artful 9.325 spring at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall to trail only gold medalist Jenna Schlosser of Mead (9.725) and Marisa Savage of Woodinville (9.675). The excellent Ram performer also closed out with a ninth place 8.525 bars performance in an event won by Jenna Schlosser of Mead (9.525).

Tia Thomas of Federal Way celebrated her impressive floor exercise with a fist pump and dance with the knowledge that she had just concluded the performance of her life. It turned into a gold medal winning 9.7 in her third year of the state finals.

Thomas credited hard work and talked about her performance score being, "in God's hands and the judges' hands.".

Freshman Anna Olsen of Skyline took the top medal on the balance beam at 9.325.