June 2015

After a rash of violent crime last summer season, Golden Gardens Park has had almost no reports of assaults – a good thing for beach cruisers, sunbathers and sunset freaks. With one of the warmest summers on record the beach is a popular spot and crowds throng the sand, coming from all parts of the city.

“It’s actually been pretty good so far, but it’s very early in the summer,” said Officer Patrick Michaud with Seattle Police Department.

Last year there were many attacks and lots of other crime activity at Golden Gardens Park. Readers of the Ballard News-Tribune may remember a group of young punks causing trouble and calling themselves the 85-15 gang. The gang turned out to be a group of young hoodlums that didn’t stick around as the fall cooled off the beach. What else? Well, the Seattle Parks beach cruiser was stolen; a man was punched in the throat and mugged; and another man was beaten, mugged, and the suspects drove off in his car. There was another incident where a group of teens threw glass bottles at a park ranger’s truck windshield as the ranger tried to break up their late night carousing.

Today Mayor Ed Murray introduced legislation that would require all City-controlled and privately operated places of public accommodation to designate existing or future single-occupant restrooms as all-gender facilities. All existing City-controlled single-occupant restrooms (across all City departments, from City Hall to Parks) will be re-signed to conform to this new standard. The proposal is one of the early recommendations from the Mayor’s LGBT task force, and has been supported by the City’s LGBT Commission.

“The transgender community deserves the dignity and respect that most people take for granted,” said Mayor Ed Murray. “That’s why Seattle is building upon our history of being one of the most welcoming cities in the world by ensuring restrooms are available and safe for all.”

For the week of June 24-30

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Youth sports

Little League
The PacWest complex located between Burien and SeaTac will be the site of all District 7 Little League baseball tournaments this year, with the action getting underway Friday and running through July 10.
Divisions involved are Minors, age 10-11, Majors, Intermediate and Juniors and the charters involved are West Seattle, Southwest (White Center), PacWest, South Highline National, South Highline American, Renton, Rainier District and Seattle Central.
At stake are berths into state tournaments to be played in July.
No District 7 softball tournaments will be played this year, but SHNLL/SHALL will send a 9/10 team and PacWest will send a 10/11 team to state.

Swimming
Area youngsters will plunge into their summer swim club seasons with 6 p.m. meets Thursday.
Gregory Seahurst opens at home against Kent as Olympic View entertains Marine Hills.
Arbor Heights opens at Lakeridge and Normandy Park goes to Twin Lakes.

David Coyle, 58, left us too soon on June 6, 2015.

After spending his youth in New Jersey, David moved to Portland, OR before settling in Seattle, WA. DC, as he was fondly known, worked for several restaurants and wine companies including Duke’s Chowder House and the Metropolitan Grill. He left behind a wonderful legacy in the restaurant industry, mentoring many, creating much laughter and smiles, and making a difference for many years in so many lives. His quick wit and stories were legendary and they will be missed.

David is survived by his wife of 20 years, Karna; the joys of his life, sons, Cameron (18) and Christopher (15); mother, Nancy Coyle-Sharkin; sisters, Denise and Mariann; and brothers, Kevin and Robert.

A memorial service will be held Sunday, June 28, 2015, 6-8:30 p.m., at The Des Moines Activity Center, 2045 S. 216th St., Des Moines, WA. In lieu of gifts, his family has established a gofundme account for Cameron and Christopher’s education.

Published in The Highline Times Section of The Westside Weekly June 26, 2015

by Matt Parker  

The two-man dinghy unceremoniously sank out from beneath us, becoming an eery shadow in the depths below.  Immediately, the looks on my four best friends faces flushed cold white. Faces that had been warm with laughter hours earlier were now ashen. 

Puget Sound water in front of Three Tree Point, like most of it, is cold all year long. It was 1999. We were seventeen years old. Maybe we should have been experimenting with parties and drag racing our cars.  This was not the case as we hung on to our yearly summer ritual of building a Huckleberry Finn raft well into high school.  That year the raft had been bigger than any other.  

With little fear and plenty of moxie, we launched our raft to tow it to Seahurst Park. Safety first was not in our vocabulary then. We successfully landed our raft and headed back to the beaches of Normandy Park. It was dusk.  Five young men and some light personal gear in a two-person dinghy. Math and common sense did not add up at the time. 

We were doing okay until we got around the Point and lost our balance with the tidal shift.

Elderly woman struck by SUV in SeaTac
An elderly woman was rushed to the hospital after being struck by an SUV at the intersection of South 148th Street and Military Road in SeaTac last Tuesday afternoon. According to investigators, witnesses claimed that the 86-year-old woman never stopped and looked before she stepped into the crosswalk just as a small SUV was crossing. The driver of the SUV immediately stopped and called 911 after striking the woman. Emergency responders quickly arrived and rushed the woman to a local hospital where she remains in critical condition. Military Road was closed for several hours as police investigated the accident. At time of publication the driver had yet to be charged with any crime relating to the crash. 

Crimes reported between 5/31/15 and 6/14/15

Home and Business Larceny/Burglary:

The City is developing the new approach to property maintenance and related quality of life issues—generally referred to as code compliance. Although the City has an on-going code enforcement/code compliance program, this new approach will be a broad-scale coordinated program, involving multiple City departments and addressing the full range of the most common code-related complaints such as garbage, trash and junk; overgrown vegetation; abandoned buildings; graffiti and junk vehicles, plus new initiatives.

The City is asking for the public’s help in deciding on a name for this coordinated city-wide program that will convey the intent, focus and goal of the program. The City plans to use this as a key message for community outreach and education.

Please take the quick, one-question survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JRDLV8B. This survey will close at 11:45 PM on Sunday, June 28, 2015. A summary of the survey responses will be provided to the City Council and public shortly thereafter.

Burien, WA– Highline children can eat free breakfast, lunch, and snacks during the summer through the federally funded Simplified Summer Food Program (SSFP). The program provides funding for 17 Highline schools to serve children living in South King County in partnership with six community organizations.

Meals will be free to children 18 years old and younger. A child does not need to be a Highline Public Schools student to participate.

Registration is not required. There are no forms to fill out and no names are written down. Food cannot be taken off the premises.

By Eric Mathison

Maybe you were like me. Part of the majority in the middle. Got OK grades. Didn’t cause trouble. Flew beneath the radar.

Looking back, this small schools concept at Highline Public Schools’ Evergreen and Tyee High campuses sounds good. I admit I felt overlooked in a comprehensive high school where I moved from classroom to classroom with different teachers and different classmates.

In small schools, the students are in separate themed academies with the same classmates and set of teachers. The goal is to have students known well individually by their fellow students and especially by their teachers.

That sounds like something that I would have welcomed during those perplexing adolescent years.
On the other hand, luckily, I had the resources that enabled me to navigate those years relatively unscathed.

I came from a family where there was never any question I would go on to college. I found a couple of fellow misfits to befriend at Highline High and even expanded my social circle to a club outside school that became the main focus of my attention.