July 2015

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

PacWest won two of three games against South Highline National to win the two-team District 7 Junior Little League all-star baseball tournament.

South Highline National won the first game between the two teams, but PacWest battled back to take the next two including the if-necessary game last Tuesday and take the double-elimination action.

PacWest will now advance to the state tournament to be held at the Glenwood Little League complex in Vancouver.

The age 13-14 action opens at 4 p.m. Saturday, July 18 for PacWest against the host District 4 champion.
The South Highline National Dodgers won the previous District 7 Tournament of Champions for regular season champions, but no state tournament is held except in all-stars.

The all-star championship PacWest team is managed by John Domenowske and coaches are Steve McClean and Frank Roberson.

Players are Adrian Brown, Trenton Brown, Carlos Cropley, Nestor German, Marc McClean, Isaiah Pighin, Ray Roberson, Will Roberson, Carden Sadettan, Dylan Shaw, Dawson Sigler and Alonzo Zaragoza.

By Gwen Davis

King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg and King County Sheriff John Urquhart held a news conference Wed. morning aimed at closing unlicensed marijuana stores operating in unincorporated King County.

They were joined by Russ Hauge of the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board. The conference was located at the Sheriff's Office White Center Storefront, located at 9609 16th Ave S.W.

"If you have a license you can sell, if you can't you won't." Satterberg said.

But the crowd of roughly 30 was vocal. Hecklers screamed as the prosecuting attorney and the sheriff were giving their speeches.

"You are horrible people," one woman yelled at Satterberg.

However, the information was simple.

Fifteen unlicensed businesses were sent letters informing them that they do not have a state-approved license for the sale of marijuana and must close their stores, according to King County.

Bud Nation is the only remaining legally licenced recreational store in White Center, according to Elizabeth Gordon at Bud Nation.

It began with marijuana was legalized.

By Gwen Davis

Which Seattle City Council District 1 candidate should you vote for? Every year, the Municipal League of King County (MLKC) conducts an annual review for local office positions in King County. Over 80 candidates ran this year, and nine from District 1.

Each candidate receives an “outstanding”, “very good”, “good”, “adequate”, “not qualified” or “insufficient information”.

Here is how District 1 candidates stacked up:

• Arturo Robles  Not Qualified
• Brianna Thomas  Adequate
• Chas Redmond  Very Good
• Jody Rushmer  Not Qualified
• Karl Wirsing  Not Qualified
• Lisa Herbold  Good
• Pavel Goberman  Not Qualified
• Phillip Tavel  Good
• Shannon Braddock  Very Good

Candidates received their ratings by questionnaires and interviews, according to the MLKC.

However, the ratings are not endorsements. The MLKC only speculates on the potential effectiveness the candidate will have in office.

Seattle Parks and Recreation is hosting a community celebration for the Westcrest Park expansion on Saturday, July 25, 2015 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The ribbon cutting ceremony is at 11:15 a.m. The event offers music by Correo Aereo, youth soccer fun by West Seattle Soccer Club, and an obstacle course relay by Camp Long Environmental Learning Center. Additional family entertainment includes face painting, a bouncy house and model plane making. What Up Dog and Full-Tilt Ice Cream will be at the community event. Westcrest Park is located in the Highland Park neighborhood in West Seattle at 9000 8th Ave SW.

Seattle City Light has proposed plans for environmental remediation at the potential temporary homeless encampment site in Ballard (located at 2826 NW) after finding it being contaminated with heavy metals and pesticides.

The notification was posted on July 6 and explains that 18 inches of soil will be removed from the property in order to remove the contaminants. The post was stuck to a healthy Korean Ashe, located on the site. The tree will be removed along with other material because it will not survive the remediation and the roots of the tree are considered contaminated. It will be cut down after a 10-day comment period.

According to Scott Thomsen, Senior Strategic Advisor in Communications with Seattle City Light, testing the site is part of the City’s process in identifying encampment sites.

“As a part of this process, we tested the property to check for possible environmental contamination from our previous uses. Testing identified pesticides and heavy metals, which we have a responsibility to clean up,” said Thomsen

City Light will plant two new trees on the site in accordance with the tree replacement program.

Information provided by Western Washington University

Western Washington University honored its Outstanding Graduates for the 2014-15 academic year at spring Commencement Saturday, June 13.

Faculty members from dozens of academic departments and programs select one graduate to honor as the Outstanding Graduate of the year. Selection is a high honor based on grades, research and writing, service to the campus and community, and promise for the future.

Ballard resident, Hannah Newman, was honored at commencement ceremony for her exceptional academic achievement.

The swift confluence of change in Ballard is an ongoing shifting in ideas, people, space and culture. Amid the flux there is a game of chairs being played. Buildings are changing hands as the demand for a seat at the table intensifies. Indeed, in this game of chairs for property, long time community members are unwillingly forced into claiming a space to call their own and by the nature of the game someone will be out.

It’s such the case with the Nordic Heritage Museum’s acquisition of Fenpro: a studio and shop space located between 26th Avenue NW and 28th Avenue NW on NW Market Street. The once WWII munitions manufacturing site now studio space will be the new home for the museum and will provide a much needed building for them to showcase and celebrate the heritage of the Scandinavia boat builders and artisans that built Ballard over 150 years ago.

“There has been a lot of change in Ballard over the years, and we are really happy to be a cultural anchor for our Nordic heritage in Ballard,” said Jan Woldseth Colbrese, Deputy Director of External Affairs at NHM.

Judy Pigott, founder of Personal Safety Nets is the organizer behind a plan for a “west side arts district”. As part of the Seattle City’s Office of Arts and Culture initiative to add one cultural arts district per year, KAWS (Kulture and Arts for the Westside) is asking that you join the effort spread awareness of the vibrant artist communities that exist on the Duwamish peninsula.

You can find them on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/KAWSSeattle

You can take the City of Seattle's cultural space inventory survey here: http://www.seattle.gov/arts/space/cultural_space_inventory.asp

Their website states:

What is an Arts District?

By Georgie Bright Kunkel

In my mother’s day having eleven children was usually not conducive to having a career outside the home. In fact, many careers were not open to married women, period. After my mom was widowed with ten children, only two grown, I was born.

My mother said that she cried every day for the first year of my life. No wonder I related to minor music for a very long time and thought that joyous little ditties were frivolous. With an intellect like my mother had it was difficult for her to have to spend most of her time caring for a new baby and wash, clean and prepare meals for eight children still living at home. Of course my older siblings helped in many ways but soon she had to find work. A close friend offered to be my live-in nanny until I was old enough to enter elementary school.

Burglar breaks in to party

A Ballard resident reported that while she was away someone broke in to have a party in her home located on the 900 block of Eighth Avenue N.W. On June 26 the complainant told officers she was gone for a week, and when she came home she noticed things were askew. She found drug paraphenalia and other evidence of what she believed was evidence of a party. She threw most of the evidence away before police arrived. She also told officers that the house used to be the location of marijuana grow operation and that she believed someone affiliated with the grow broke in looking for “lumber” or other growing materials. Police noticed light damage to an upstairs window. They believe the suspect climbed the gutter to get to a balcony where the suspect had access to the window. The complainant could not determine if anything was taken. No fingerprints were recovered at the scene.

Safes and rifles pilfered