May 2015

The City of Seattle Department of Transportation and Department of Planning and Development hosted a meeting with the Ballard Partnership for Smart Growth on May 7 at the Leif Erikson Lodge. Their goal was to hear feedback from the community for ways to shape the development in the Ballard Business District and address transportation issues.

Amid murals of Scandinavian folklore, over 50 attendees filled the hall to hear words from city representatives. Five stations displayed critical issues the city plans to tackle: light rail station location, parking, street infrastructure, greenways and building standards. Attendees were encouraged to write comments and submit new ideas on sticky notes. They place the notes on large maps of Ballard. Citizens voiced opinions about what could be done on a multitude of issues and were as specific as naming a street sign pointing the wrong direction on NW 17th Avenue to larger issues, like choosing a light rail corridor.

‘Crack head’ takes wallet and electronics from Ballard home

A Ballard man is missing some electronics after a known “crack head” broke into his home at 900 NW 60th Street. On May 1 the complainant told police that he heard footsteps on the ground level of his home. He went downstairs to check and noticed the backdoor was open and his iPad, laptop and wallet were gone. A witness told officers that she saw a known “crack head” repeatedly walk by the complainant’s home. She said he disappeared from her sight for about a minute, and then she saw the suspect walk quickly away from the home holding a bag close to his chest. She also told officers that her daughter had been friends with the suspect when they were children and that he was a “problem child” and a known trouble maker in the neighborhood.

Vicious attack at Golden Gardens Park leaves victim with no sight

Courtesy article by Bob Sims

Texas Rangers rookie relief pitcher Keone Kela, a Chief Sealth all-stater and Metro League co-MVP his senior year in 2011, has made quite a splash in the big leagues this season.

Kela, 22, recorded his first two major league wins in the span of three days, one against the Oakland A's, an 8-7 verdict on May 2, and the other on May 4, a 2-1 win over the resurgent American League West-leading Houston Astros.

He pitched scoreless ball in the eighth inning of both games.

In his pitching debut April 7 against Oakland at Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, Kela came on in the seventh inning to protect a two-run lead. The first two batters got on, and the bases eventually would get loaded with one out.

During that crisis, Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux, brother of baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux, came out to calm his young pitcher.

"Mike came out there and said, 'you have other pitches, right'?" Kela told the Dallas Morning News. "I was like 'yeah.' So, I did (pitch them). Experience is a great teacher. This is something to put in my memory bank."

By Ed Shepherd
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Three goals was too many.

Tyee lost, 4-3, to the Hazen Highlanders, as the Totems' comeback bid fell short, on Seniors Night, at Highline Memorial Tuesday'.

But, comparing this game, for the Totems, to the season's first meeting against the Highlanders, there was no comparison.

"The first game of the season, they embarrassed us, they beat us, 9-1," said Seyti Sidibay, the Totems head coach, whose team will take first place for the Seamount, in 2A, getting the No. 1 seed into the district playoffs, starting May 14.

S, this game was a lot different than the walloping suffered the first time to Hazen, a Renton Highlands school, a 3A team The Totems finished third, with a 7-5 mark. But, as just stated, the Totems were a 2A school, so, they do not compete in the postseason playoffs against the Highlanders nor Lancers, because both of those teams are the higher 3A classification.

Thursday, May 7

Baseball
West Seattle 15, Franklin 1
The Wildcats opened Metro League playoff action with a lopsided win Thursday over Franklin, advancing them to a second loser-out game against Roosevelt on Friday.
Nathan Hale 5, Chief Sealth 1
The Seahawks' season ended with Thursday's Metro League playoff loss.

Fastpitch
Metro Tiebreaker
West Seattle claimed a No. 1 seed into the Metro League tournament with a 2-0 tiebreaker victory over Ballard and a 2-1 win over Bainbridge at Rainier Beach on Thursday.
The Wilcats advance to play Blanchet or Chief Sealth at 7 p.m. Monday at the Southwest Athletic Complex lower field.
Blanchet 13, Highline 10
The Pirates lost a non-league slugfest to Blanchet on Thursday.
Kentridge 18, Mt. Rainier 1
Kentridge battered the Rams as the South Puget Sound League season ended Thursday.

Wednesday, May 6

Fastpitch
Kennedy 10, Hazen 0

Saturday, May 9

Fastpitch
Chief Sealth 10, Blanchet 5
Chief Sealth beat Blanchet to open its Metro League tournament stay Saturday, advancing the Seahawks into a 7 p.m. Monday meeting with West Seattle at the Southeast Athletic Complex (Rainier Beach).
The winner comes closer to home to the Southwest Athletic Complex (Chief Sealth) to play again at 7 p.m. Tuesday, while the loser returns to the Southeast Athletic Complex for its 7 p.m. loser-out game Tuesday.

Baseball
Liberty 10, Foster 0
Foster was shut out as it opened West Central District tournament action at Liberty High School Saturday.
Washington 14, Foster 3
The Bulldogs' season ended with a second Saturday loss.
River Ridge 11, Tyee 9
Tyee was outdistanced by River Ridge in a slugfest to open West Central District play at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds on Saturday.
Franklin Pierce 14, Tyee 0
Franklin Pierce got the best of the Totems to end their season Saturday evening.

Friday, May 8

Boys soccer
Chief Sealth 2, Ingraham 1
Chief Sealth won a shootout, 3-0, Friday to break a 1-1 tie.

Contributed article by Gerardo Bolong

South Puget Sound League 2A second place Orting showed clout and stinginess in a 6-1 girls fastpitch softball win at Nisqually 1A Seattle Christian.

As part of their preparation for postseason, the Warriors have scheduled strong non-league opposition.

In this case, on Fri., May 8, the Cardinals forced SCS to fight hard from the beginning by navigating for a single tally in the first inning.

The home team evened the score with a fourth inning tally.

However, Orting clamped down to stop any further Warrior scoring. The Cardinals scored two runs in the sixth inning and a trio runs in the seventh inning for the margin of triumph.

McKenzie Behnke twirled a five-hitter for the Cardinals. Grace Schrader batted 4-for-5 with a triple and two runs scored. Teammate Alycis Bannan was 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Sudney Banyai scored two runs in a 1-for-2 performance.

For the battling Warriors, Carlee Ronish was 2-for-3 with a double and SCS's only RBI. Lisa Kumasaka was also 2-for-3 with a triple and a run scored.

By Ed Shepherd
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

One bad inning.

The Highline Pirates, who played well, leading, 3-1, going into the sixth inning against Sammamish in its opening West Central District 2A district playoff game, fell apart.

Fielding errors from the Totems' switch to small ball late in the game hurt in a 5-4 loss, sending the Pirates into a loser-out game next at Russell Road Park in Kent Saturday.

The Pirates, after the Totems' loss, would, later that day, go on to face the White River Hornets, getting stung, 10-0, ending the Burien high school team's baseball season. The Pirates finished 9-7 for the season, having a nice year of winning the Seamount League in 2A.

But, what happened in the first game to the Pirates, against the Totems, effected what happened in the second game, and Pirates' coach, Casey Rice, summarily, stated that fact.

"We shot ourselves in the foot in the first game (Totems), gave them some runs," said Rice. "We were still beat up mentally from the first game when we played the second game."

Highline High School will be hosting a 5k Run/Walk around its campus on Sunday, June 7 to benefit Highline Athletics and Activities. Check in will begin at 9:00 a.m. at Highline Memorial Stadium, with the run beginning at 10:00 a.m. and walkers at 10:10. Prizes will be given to category winners and the first 100 registrants are guaranteed a race souvenir.

May 11, 2015 (SeaTac, WA) – SeaTac United, a non-profit group that promotes personal skills development and cooperative partnerships for local students, will celebrate the conclusion of its 2014-2015 math academy with a closing ceremony on May 18 at the SeaTac Community Center.

SeaTac United offers the SeaTac United Math Academy (SUMA) to elementary school kids in the SeaTac area as a way to improve their math abilities while having fun. The free academy takes place after-school and offers transportation and a free meal to students at the Bow Lake location.

Designed for students in grades 3-6, SUMA meets twice a week after school where volunteer mentors - both adult and teens - provide personal support and supervision. Aligned with what they are currently learning in school, SUMA math instruction is web-based and uses a system of rewards and team competitions to keep kids enthused about their math studies. SUMA is hosted on Mondays and Wednesdays at two locations in SeaTac -- Bow Lake Elementary and the Matt Griffin YMCA.