February 2015

The labor dispute between the longshoreman’s union and the Pacific Maritime Association management has had far reaching effects in the 29 ports along the west coast with ships offshore unable to offload their cargo and shipments on shore held up and prevented from leaving.

The effect on the economy at large will have to wait to be determined once the dispute is finally settled but for one West Seattle business, it is having dramatic impact.

The 23 year old Emerald Maritime is a freight forwarder located near the West Seattle Junction, dealing primarily with fruit shipments from eastern Washington growers to nations in the far east and middle east. The labor dispute which began in November has reduced the business for Emerald by as much as 35% said company Co-Owner Tom Alderson.

“Two weeks ago was really the last time we could have shipped apples to Asia in time for Lunar New Year which is coming up next week. To make matters worse the growers had the largest crop in history and so it’s all being kept in refrigerated storage because it can’t be shipped.”

The Highland Park Playground upgrades are the subject of the third and final meeting for the public on the design, usability and safety of the plan. The meeting is set for Tuesday March, 3 at 6:30pm at Highland Park Elementary School 1012 SW Trenton St.

For questions about the project or if you need special meeting accommodations please contact Jeron A. Gates, Seattle Parks and Recreation Planner, 800 Maynard Ave. So. Suite 300, Seattle WA 98134 or by phone at 206-684-0998 or Jeron.gates@seattle.gov

For project information visit www.seattle.gov/parks/highland_park/

The King County Board of Health will hold its next meeting Thursday, February 19, 2015 at 1:30 p.m. Last month the Board of Health subcommittee proposed keeping farmers market and temporary fees at 2014 levels through 2015. The Board will likely vote on this proposal at the meeting tomorrow.

According to Public Health, over the course of this year staff will develop an alternative service model with the goal of safe food vending at farmers markets and temporary events that is within the limitations of the full cost recovery requirements required from Public Health.

The meeting will be held at:
King County Council Chambers
10th Floor, King County Courthouse
516 3rd Avenue, Room 1001
Seattle

Agenda

1. Call to order

2. Roll call

3. Announcement of any alternates serving in place of regular members

4. Approval of Minutes of January 15, 2015

5. Public comments

Discussion and possible action

6. Election of Chair and Vice-Chairs

7. Resolution No. 15-02

The Seattle Department of Planning and Development has approved an application for a six-story, 90 unit residential building at 1516 NW 51ST St. The the building will have a 500 square foot live/work unit on the ground level. Plans state that parking for 35 vehicles will be located on the site. The existing structures will be demolished.

Conditions:

The following appealable decisions have been made based on submitted plans:

Conditionally Grant - Design Review
Conditions: Conditions have been placed on this project. You may view the decision through our web-based Land Use Information Bulletin, or contact either the assigned planner whose name and phone number appears above, or contact the Public Resource Center (206-684-8467, prc@seattle.gov ).

Determination of Non-Significance with conditions (no environmental impact statement required). Environmental review completed and project conditioned as applicable. This DNS is issued using the optional DNS process in WAC 197.11.355 and SMC 25.05.355. The comment period was originally published on June 26, 2014 and there is no further comment period on this DNS.

The Ballard Partnership for Smart Growth and Seattle's Department of Transportation would like your input on the location and design of a potential public restroom in Central Ballard. This has been a high priority for the Partnership of community and business organizations in central Ballard. Please take a few minutes to learn more about the project and provide your feedback by visiting www.ballardrestroomstudy.com.

Click here to take the survey.

On Feb. 5, Seattle Police reported that they spent hours working to convince a man to come out of his home after he had eaten hallucinogens and assaulted his mother.

The incident happened at the 9200 block of Eighth Avenue Northwest at around 10 a.m. that Thursday morning.

Police reported that the man was in his late twenties and that judging by the man’s “babble,” they believed him to have eaten psilocybe containing mushrooms.

Det. Drew Fowler with SPD reported, “It was indicated he had eaten mushrooms, but we don’t know for certain. We believe it may have been mushrooms because it was mentioned in some of his babbling --- that was one thing that gave us a clue.”

The National Drug Institute reports that users ingest the mushroom after ingesting them whole or in a tea. The effects of psilocybin appear 20 minutes after ingestion and last approximately six hours. Users describe spiritual insight, the “giggles” and a sense of euphoric complacency, as wells visual and other sensory hallucinations and distortions. They can also cause profound fear, loathing and hysteria arising from prolonged paranoia.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

High schools
Girls basketball
Kennedy Catholic faces a 6 p.m. West Central District game at Washington High School in Parkland on Wednesday and Seattle Christian School battles Coupeville at the same time at Sumner High School.
West Seattle waits until Thursday to play Juanita in 6:30 p.m. Sea-King tournament action at Bellevue Community College.

A win would advance the Wildcats into an 8:15 p.m. Saturday game at BCC for the Sea-King title. A loss and they play for third and fourth at 2:15 p.m. at the same site.

Boys basketball
Shorewood Christian and Seattle Lutheran are playing playoff games at Mount Vernon Christian on Thursday as Kennedy Catholic battles Auburn-Mountainview at 6 p.m. at Clover Park High School in Lakewood.

Gymnastics
The state gymnastics meet takes place Friday and Saturday at the Tacoma Dome exhibition hall.
March in for the 4A team competition is at 9:40 a.m. Friday and for the 1A/2A/3A it is set for 6:20 p.m.
Individual finals start at 11:20 a.m. Saturday.

Wrestling

By Elliot Bailey
The Talisman A&E Editor

Ballard’s first multicultural assembly was held on February 13, and student groups and two private groups performed dances and songs representative of their cultural origin.

“Sometimes we hear stereotypes or we hear something like a joke that’s stereotypical, or just things that we hear on the news, and we don’t really explore in depth certain cultures sometimes,” senior Wing Hadrann, Multicultural Committee President said.

“So I think that this gives a chance for everyone who doesn’t do that an educational opportunity.”

The assembly, which attempts to combat stereotyping and promote understanding of the cultures that meet in Ballard hallways, is the first of its kind at Ballard. The Asian Pop Culture club, which is also headed by Hadrann, has performed twice in Ingraham’s multicultural assembly which has been running since the 80s.

Hadrann says that funds had always been a difficulty and that this year’s fundraisers — bake sales and after-school Italian soda vending — have helped make the assembly at her own school a possibility.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and Commute Seattle recently hosted the first annual Seattle CTR Champion Awards ceremony. SDOT Director Scott Kubly, Seattle’s Director of Policy and Innovation Robert Feldstein and Downtown Seattle Association President Jon Scholes were in attendance to congratulate Seattle employers who have made significant contributions to the Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) program.

The city recognized 50 worksites out of 250 citywide for their programs’ accomplishments. Employers were recognized for significant reductions in drive-alone commuting, transportation benefits offered to employees and for active engagement in the CTR program. Four employers received the award’s highest recognition of the platinum level: Seattle Children’s Hospital, Big Fish Games, the University of Washington and KPFF Consulting Engineers.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray’s ‘Find It, Fix It’ Community Walks, focused on Seattle crime hotspots, are starting again in 2015. This first walk of the year will be held in Seattle’s University District on Saturday, Feb. 21 beginning at 11 a.m.

At the walk, community leaders and residents, police, and city officials will gather together to identify physical disorder and solve it. The City’s Find It, Fix It mobile app will feature a new “Community Walk” button to help report any street disorder observed the day of the walk in order to organize and expedite fixes in the neighborhood.

In 2014, walks in the Central District, Lake City, Rainier Beach and several other neighborhoods led to significant improvements made in those neighborhoods. You can watch videos, view photos and read actions taken as a result of these walks at: http://murray.seattle.gov/finditfixit

This year, the City will be able to leverage more resources for the community walks thanks to a $30,000 grant from the Cities of Service “City Hall AmeriCorps VISTA Love Your Block” program, which incentivizes local governments to engage communities in neighborhood revitalization efforts.