April 2015

A fire in an underground electrical vault at the Fairway Apartments located at 4511 35th SW drew a multi engine response from the Seattle Fire Department just before 8pm on Friday April 17. The vault was seen to have black soot on the outside and some smoke.

City Light was contacted to have them cut power to the building and the plan according to firefighter was to fill the vault with CO2 gas and smother any flames or fire still active in the space.

No word on how much damage was done, what caused the fire or when power would be restored.

Thursday, April 16
Kennedy 9, Lindbergh 3
Kennedy Catholic clobbered the Eagles in Seamount League makeup action Thursday.
Tyee 12, Renton 2
The Totems trounced the Indians on Thursday.
Federal Way 10, Mt. Rainier 6
Mount Rainier fell to Federal Way in a Thursday slugfest.
Quilcene 16. Seattle Lutheran 4
Quilcene rolled into the Southwest Athletic Complex Thursday night and came away as a winner over Seattle Lutheran.

Fastpitch
Kennedy 18, Lindbergh 2
The Lancers won in a rout Thursday.
Highline 13, Hazen 1
Highline hammered Hazen in Thursday action.
Renton 16, Tyee 5
Renton rallied past the Totems on Thursday.
Kentwood 17, Mt. Rainier 6
Kentwood got the best of the Rams Thursday.

Boys soccer
Kennedy 2, Highline 1
Kennedy slipped past the Pirates in a Thursday showdown.

Tennis
Foster 6, Evergreen 1
Foster felled Evergreen in a Thursday match.
Kennedy 5, Lindbergh 2
The Lancerrs netted a win over the Eagles Thursday.
Renton 5, Tyee 2
The Indians topped the visiting Totems on Thursday.
Hazen 6, Highline 1

Tuesday, April 14

Baseball
Mt. Rainier 7, Federal Way 3
Mount Rainier towered above the Eagles in Tuesday's game.
Bellevue Chr. 9, SCS 8
Seattle Christian came up one run short in a slugfest at Bellevue's Bannerwood Park against Bellevue Christian on Tuesday.

Fastpitch
SCS 20, Bellevue Chr. 0
Alyssa Baucom threw a five-inning two-hitter for the Warriors on Tuesday at Hidden Valley, striking out eight and walking only one. She also hit 2-for-3 with two RBI, two runs scored and a double.
Kelly Ronish hit 2-for-3 with two RBI and three runs, while Kumasaka hit 2-for-2 with three RBI, four runs and a home run. Rogle hit 1-for-1 with three RBI and Whillhoite 1-for-4 with a triple, three RBI and one run scored.

Boys soccer
Tyee 3, Evergreen 1
Tyee's Totems tallied a 3-1 victory at Valley Ridge over Evergreen on Tuesday.
Kennedy 6, Foster 3
The Lancers outgunned the Bulldogs in Tuesday action.
Highline 5, Renton 1
Isaias Gomez scored two goals for the Pirates in Tuesday's victory and Edgar Gonzalez, Gurjit Dhesi and Cristian Cortes all contributed one goal.

Update 7:22:
KIRO 7 News has identified the bus driver as Des Moines City Councilmember Jeanette Burrage. The councilmember has also worked as a King County Superior Court Judge.

The video of the incident has also gone viral. Burrage is seen struggling with the 6-year-old special needs student who then hits her. Burrage then slaps the child back in the face.

Burrage filed to run for re-election just two days ago. Supposedly Burrage will provide a comment to the media tomorrow.

Here is a link to the video: http://on.aol.com/video/bus-driver-accused-of-slapping-special-needs-st…

Original story:
The King County Sheriff’s Office announced through a press release on April 16 that a 62-year-old bus driver with the Highline School District has been charged with Assault in the 4th Degree after slapping a student.

Lyon Terry, the 2015 Washington State Teacher of the Year, was honored by the Washington State Senate with a resolution co-sponsored by Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell , Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, and other senators.

“Lyon’s passion for education is so very apparent and I continue to be struck by how dedicated he is to his students,” said Kohl-Welles. “As having been a fourth grade teacher myself after graduating from college, I can particularly relate to the significance of Lyon’s achievement. I’m very fortunate to have known Mr. Terry for a few years; he’s a dedicated educator who motivates his students by addressing their needs and making every class moment memorable.”

A National Board Certified Teacher, Terry teaches a multi-age classroom at Lawton Elementary in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle in the 36th Leg. District. Since Terry started at Lawton, his fourth graders have seen their writing proficiency rates raise by more than 10 percentage points.

The CEO of a Ballard based credit card processing company announced to employees on Monday that he is cutting his salary in order to pay each staff member $70,000 a year.

Dan Price, founder of Gravity Payments and CEO (1455 NW Leary Way), told the staff of 120 that they would all get a pay increase of up to $50,000 immediately and $70,000 by 2017.

The New York Times reports that the average salary at Gravity is around $48,000 and that the wage increase will bring at least 70 employees to the $70,000.

Gravity’s move happens at the same time Seattle Minimum Wage Ordinance takes effect, increasing the minimum wage $15 per hour by 2018.

Price plans to cut his own $1million salary to $70,000 in order to pay for the raises. Gravity also plans to dip into as much as 80 percent of their anticipated profits from this year to cover the wage increase.

Price started the credit card processing company out of his Seattle Pacific University dorm room when he was just 19 years old. He admits he is nervous about the wage increase and does not foresee the move as meaning higher prices for Gravity clients.

Art For Food, a benefit for the White Center Food Bank at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center is set for April 24, 2015 from 6-8pm. This art show (art is also available for purchase) features art from local artists, live music from the Ellis Brothers Trio, wine (21+) and cheese, and is open to all ages.

Available at the event will be paintings, (framed and matted) sculptures, jewelry, fiber arts, photography and prints. Admission is $25.

Information and tickets are available on this website:

http://whitecenterfoodbank.org/art-for-food-an-art-show-to-benefit-the-…

Youngstown Cultural Arts Center is located at 4408 Delridge Way SW.

UPDATE 5pm April 17
Northwest rock and roll classic band, The Sonics (& very special guests) WILL BE LIVE AT EASY STREET on Record Store Day Limited number of tickets on sale at store for $100 each. Limit of two per customer. Proceeds to benefit KEXP FM New Home Campaign

Original Post
West Seattle's own Easy Street Records will celebrate the annual Record Store Day April 18 by first opening at 7am with owner Matt Vaughan serving bacon for those in line and Caffe Vita providing Easy Street Indo Blend coffee.

While they have not yet disclosed all the special guests that will appear during the event they have announced that guest DJs (PUSA/Caspar Babypants mastermind) Chris Ballew and KEXPs Kevin Cole and Troy Nelson will be on hand. Troy will be live from 6 to 8pm, Kevin will work from 8 to 9pm, and Chris will appear in the afternoon, TBD.

Today, Mayor Ed Murray transmitted a proposed joint resolution to Seattle’s City Council affirming the City’s support of Somali communities who seek to care for their families still living in Somalia and the Horn of Africa by way of remittances.

In February, the Merchants Bank of California closed down all accounts of Somali-American Money Transfer Operators due to the increasing difficulty of complying with federal money laundering and terrorism financing regulations.

“Shutting down these accounts has had a devastating effect on thousands of Somali-American families in this country and their loved ones back home,” Murray said. “I am committed to supporting Seattle’s Somali residents, the vast majority of whom are refugees providing critical financial assistance to family members in their home countries. It is my hope that the federal government will do the right thing and find a solution to this very serious problem.”

The Ballard Historical Society is always interested in hearing about people who grew up in Ballard’s early days. They received a note this last week from Mr. Ron Bussiere, now of Edmonds. He gave his permission to share some of his memories. He tells the stories so well, no need for a middle person.

From Ron Bussiere:

My father worked as a molder at Salmon Bay Foundry for over 30 years. He also worked at some other foundries in the area and was the local union president for a while. I started working at Salmon Bay Foundry when I was 13 years old. They classified it as "yard work" so as not to get in any trouble with the state. I was in the seventh grade at James Monroe Junior High. I'd wake up at 5 a.m.  and work with a trouble light in the early morning darkness and later at night until about 10:30 p.m.