April 2015

Update: 12:05 pm April 7

Crews are deconstructing the Bergen Mural piece by piece in order to refurbish the picture. They plan to have the mural reinstalled on different material by the end of the month.

A crew of two men working on the mural said they started taking it down that morning. By noon they were about halfway done. The mural is painted on pieces of wood about two feet wide and four feet tall.

Original post:

To prepare for the May 17th festivities, there is going to be some work done to the Bergen Place Park.

Olson Real Estate performs some needed work on the wall directly behind where the mural resides.

The mural will be taken down this week, and Friends of Bergen Place hope to reinstall the refurbished version --same picture but on better material -- by the end of April, if not the very beginning of May.

US Senator for Washington, Patty Murray, visited Hilliard’s Beer in Ballard last Friday April 3, to chat with brewery owners about ways to develop and grow small businesses in Washington State.

Hilliard owners, Adam Merkl and Ryan Hilliard, showed Murray around their space. Amid large steel 15-barrel vats, a canning line and pallets stacked almost to the ceiling with cases of beer, their conversation moved from discussing how to actually make beer to international trade.

“Our economy here really is based on a lot of folks just like this (Hilliard’s Beer) who start a business. They hire people; they make production and they bring in good economic growth,” said Murray, “Small businesses are a key component to our entire country's economic success.”

Merkl and Hilliard started the brewery in Ballard almost four years ago at 1550 NW 49th St. They started with canning distribution in mind and quickly were moving beer to local merchants.

Seattle police arrested a 19-year-old man after he attempted to break into a Crown Hill marijuana shop and led police on a 90-minute chase through the neighborhood.

On the morning of April 1 officers were dispatched to a pot shop at Northwest 85th Street and Third Avenue Northwest. Neighbors reported they saw a masked man and heard loud repetitive noises.

Before police arrived, the suspect noticed neighbors watching him and fled.

Officers searched the area and noticed the suspect near a van on Northwest 87th Street and 17th Northwest Avenue. He had taken off his mask. The suspect saw police and sprinted away.

From there the suspect ran from police. He hid in yards and hopped fences. For 90 minutes the suspect evaded officers and the K9s, Ziva and Jaeger.

Finally, officers arrested the tired and shirtless suspect near Northwest 83rd Street and 12th Avenue Northwest. Officer Brandon Craig apprehended the suspect.

Police booked the suspect at King County Jail for burglary charges. Officers seized the suspect’s van, which they discovered had a towrope attached to the hitch. Police believe the suspect used the rigging to pull down a gate at the cannabis shop.

SDOT is bringing back the goats. The animals will help clear some unwanted overgrowth in West Seattle starting April 7.

The work will take place on SW Holden St between Delridge Way SW and 20th Ave SW to clear a stairway. SDOT is hiring a contractor to use goats to remove vegetation beginning Tuesday, April 7 through Saturday, April 11 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The work is weather contingent and hopefully it won’t be too baaaad. The work may be completed sooner than scheduled; the goats will be ruminating but won’t be overthinking their work.

The area will be fenced off day and night April 2 to approximately April 15. Goats are better suited to steep hillsides than humans, so it’s safer and more cost-effective to have this work done by goats than by humans.

Pedestrians will be detoured south to SW Thistle St to connect between Delridge Way SW and 20th Avenue SW. There is no sidewalk north of the top of the staircase, so there will be no detour to the north. There won’t be any parking impacts associated with this project.

Ax-man aims to keep his onions

Saturday, April 4
Baseball
Seattle Lutheran 19, MR Lutheran 14
Seattle Lutheran of West Seattle outslugged Mount Rainier Lutheran in Saturday action.
Nathan Hale 3, Highline 1
Highline lost a low-scoring non-league game to Nathan Hale at Safeco Field on Saturday.
Roosevelt 15, Kennedy 4
Roosevelt rode roughshod over the Lancers in non-league action.

Fastpitch
Highline 7, Fife 1
Highline finished off Fife in a Saturday non-league game.

Track and field
Arnie Young Invitational
Mount Rainier finished eighth on the boys side in Saturday's 20-team meet with 41 points and Foster came in 20th with five.
In girls action, the Rams scored 24 points for 15th place while the Bulldogs came in 22nd with 8.5 and Highline was 23rd with eight.
Alden Basco of Mount Rainier won the boys 300 hurdles in a time of 38.83 seconds.

Friday, April 3
Fastpitch
Chief Sealth 15, Rainier Beach 3
Chief Sealth clobbered Rainier Beach in a Metro League game Friday.
Ballard 8, West Seattle 0
Ballard blanked the Wildcats on Friday.
Evergreen 11, Foster 10

Recently I walked down memory lane and reached into my past to call old friends that I hadn’t contacted for years. I talked with one who moved in with her son as she could not take care of her home anymore. However, since it was far away from her old neighborhood she confessed that she was really bored a lot of the time. I tried cheering her up with some ideas that I use to stay involved in the world. Clinging to a past that is no longer viable only brings sadness. My motto is, “Do whatever you can do with your life to bring joy into your world.” My system is to keep contact information for all your friends and contact these friends from time to time. I don’t ever want to be one of those people who bemoan the fact that an old friend died without having had recent contact with that friend.

Connor McClean, a student at John F. Kennedy Catholic High School, served as a page this week in the Washington State House of Representatives. Sponsored by state Rep. Tina Orwall (D-Des Moines), Connor is the son of Mindy and James McClean of Normandy Park.

“I really enjoyed sponsoring Connor and was very inspired by his enthusiasm and thoughtful questions about the legislative process,” said Orwall, who serves as Deputy Speaker Pro Tempore of the House.

Pages perform a wide variety of responsibilities, from presenting the flags to distributing amendments on the House floor. In addition to contributing to the efficient operation of the Legislature, pages receive daily civics instruction, draft their own bills, and participate in mock committee hearings.

“This is one of the best experiences of my life,” said an excited Connor. “Everyone has been so supportive and they are glad that we are here. I would recommend that my classmates, who are interested in law or politics, or not sure what they want to do, should serve as pages, it would help them out.”

Over the past three months, two people at Mount Rainier High School in Des Moines have been diagnosed with active tuberculosis (TB). The first person was found with infectious TB in early January, the second in late March. Both individuals are being treated to ensure a full recovery.

At this time, investigation by health officials has found no evidence that TB was acquired at school. Both people have other risk factors for TB that are unrelated to the school environment. However, out of an abundance of caution, public health officials are recommending that all 1700 students and staff at Mount Rainier High School get TB tests.

“We have not found a link that suggests the infection was passed at the school. But we are examining every possibility, and that’s why we’re recommending TB testing for all students and staff at this time,” said Dr. Jeff Duchin, Interim Health Officer for Public Health - Seattle & King County.