March 2015

The son of Nordic immigrants, Chicago-born painter Warner Sallman (1892-1968) has been cited by the New York Times as one of the most recognized artists of the 20th century.

Sallman’s most popular and iconic image, Head of Christ, has been reproduced over 1 billion times. This year marks the 75th anniversary of this iconic painting. A selection of Sallman’s works, both Christian and secular, will be on display at the Nordic Heritage Museum from April 11-21, 2015.

An opening reception and lecture by notable Sallman scholar Dr. Jack Lundbom will take place at 4:00 p.m on Saturday, April 11 at the Museum.

Warner Elias Sallman was the eldest of three children born to Elias Sallman and Christiane (Larson) Sallman, who were immigrants from Finland and Sweden. He trained as an artist by apprenticing in local studios while attending the Art Institute of Chicago at night.

The Ballard High School Jazz Band has been selected to perform at the 11th Annual Next Generation Jazz Festival Presented by Monterey Jazz Festival, March 27- 29, 2015, at the Monterey Conference Center. The weekend-long event includes Big Bands, Combos, Vocal Ensembles, and individual musicians vying for a spot on the stages of the 58th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival. The event is open to the public, free of charge.

More than 1200 students participate each year in the Next Generation Jazz Festival, and the public can enjoy the largest gathering of young jazz talent in Northern California, outside of the Monterey Jazz Festival itself. In 2015, 62 groups from seven states and British Columbia are finalists in the adjudicated categories.

The Ballard High School Jazz Band has been selected to perform in the Big Band Category.

Mayor Ed Murray and Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole today announced a major restructuring of the department’s command staff. Four new assistant chiefs and a chief information officer have been appointed to lead policing and reform efforts at the department.

“This reorganization of our command staff is an important step in our year-long effort to build a stronger police department,” said Mayor Ed Murray. “Each of these additions will support the department’s efforts to fight crime, comply with federally mandated court orders and build a national model for urban policing.”

The four new assistant chiefs include two candidates promoted internally and two candidates brought in from outside the department. Each has a strong track record of law enforcement leadership and innovation in his or her respective department and career assignments.

The two assistant chiefs promoted from within the Seattle Police Department are:

By Peggy Sturdivant

On January 4, 2015, the Seattle Green Spaces Coalition held a meeting at the High Point Branch library, possibly the first community meeting of the year. Two weeks later, that long ago day when the Seahawks pulled off the championship in the final two minutes, I was enroute to the Southwest Branch library for another meeting about green spaces. When we heard fireworks we inferred the amazing turnaround.

Those of us who want to keep former Seattle City Light substations for public use are hoping for a similar turnaround. That’s why I have been trekking to West Seattle for weekend meetings and they have journeyed to Ballard. We need it because the King County housing market is “hot” with another 6% increase in home prices since one year ago according to a Seattle Times analysis. Demand is up; supply of homes and condominiums is low. So developers are eager to maximize lots by demolishing existing structures or acquiring land. Since Seattle is now the fifth fastest growing city in the country, how can we hope to hold onto undeveloped land?

By Anastasia Stepankowsky

The Bainbridge Island girls lacrosse team had an easy Tuesday evening, routing the Kennedy Catholic Lancers 20-3 at Sunset Park.

The Spartans scored 15 unanswered points in the first half. Mackenzie Chapman and Sofia Olson led Bainbridge, each tallying five goals for the match.

“We were playing a really hard team. But I think it went really well. We have a lot to learn and a lot to take away from this game so we know what to focus on for future games,” said Natalie Merrill, the Lancers’ first-year varsity head coach.

The Lancers got down to the Spartans’ side of the field only three times in the first half. When Kennedy Catholic did manage to get the ball, the Spartans often intercepted passes and managed to recover most ground balls.

“There’s room for improvement everywhere. We have to focus on communicating and working the ball through each other. We have really been focusing on teamwork through the past couple weeks of our practices,” Merrill said.

In an announcement by Seattle police Chief Kathleen O'Toole March 11, SW Precinct Capt. Steve Wilske was named as one of four new assistant chiefs replacing four people in those positions. O'Toole also created a new position of Chief Information Officer.

The full team named includes: WIlske, Lesley Cordner, Robert Merner, Perry Tarrant, and Chief Information Officer Greg Russell.

Wilske has been a member of the SPD for more than 28 years in a variety of roles, including mounted patrol, homicide and crime scene and use of force investigation.

The other members have varied backrounds.

Cordner came to the SPD in 1989, serving in the domestic violence unit, north precinct operations, community policing and other work.

Merner came to Seattle from the Boston Police Department, where he served in that city's investigative bureau. He has experience in homicide, gangs, narcotics and forensics.

The Admiral Benbow, open for just under a year, have called it quits, making the announcement via Facebook tonight. Owned by the couple of Ian and Allison Hill the Benbow featured a lot of live music during it's one year run.
The announcement reads:

"It is with great sadness that Ian Hill and I are announcing the closure of The Admiral Benbow. We made a great run at it and love it dearly, but some things just aren't meant to be. We want to thank all the friends, fans, pirates, scallywags, bands and everyone else who helped make this dream of ours come true, even though it was only a short period of time.

Our last day will be Sunday, March 22nd. So come down and see us over the next 12 days and help us go out with a blast! We're still open until then so come get your drink on or catch a show.

Help us send this place off the right way! Thank you all again. We love you and can't thank you enough."

Sportswatch

Sports events worth keeping an eye on

For the week of March 11-17

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

High schools
Girls lacrosse
Southwest Seattle opens its season Wednesday when it hosts Holy Names for a 7:30 p.m. match at Moshier Field in Burien.

Baseball
The spring baseball season is scheduled to swing into action Saturday, when Kennedy Catholic visits Archbishop Murphy at 10 a.m. and Foster hosts Evergreen Lutheran at 3 p.m.
Foster is at home again playing Bellevue Christian at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday as Tyee entertains Cleveland.

Boys soccer
Highline Memorial will be the site of the Highline School District Jamboree starting at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Highline, Tyee, Evergreen and Mount Rainier are scheduled to take part.
Kennedy opens with a 5 p.m. match at Shorecrest that day before hosting Shorewood at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Starfire.
Chief Sealth and West Seattle collide at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at Walt Hundley and Evergreen visits Sammamish at 7:30 p.m.

Fastpitch
West Seattle is scheduled to host a jamboree at the SWAC on Saturday.

Born and bred in West Seattle, Al Jones passed from this world February 17, 2015 in Boise, Idaho. Born May 2, 1932, the only child of Lucien and Louise (Hillier) Jones, Al spent his life around the waters of Seattle, Washington.

Al appreciated growing up on Alki with a great group of kids having wonderful adventures - many remained lifelong friends. He attended local schools and graduated from West Seattle High School in 1950.

His hours spent on the waterfront made him a fan of the maritime history of the Pacific Northwest. His love of Puget Sound led to frequent trips on the Princess Marguerite to Victoria B.C., and to volunteer for the Security Committee at the annual Sea-Fair Hydroplane races and the Virginia V Steamship Foundation. Throughout his life Al took every opportunity to drive along Beach Drive and Alki Avenue so he could see what was going on with the ships and the ferries.