July 2015

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

West Seattle clubbed Renton, 11-1, Friday in the winner's bracket final of the District 7 age 10-11 Little League baseball tournament to earn a berth in Monday's 6 p.m. championship.
The Westsiders must be defeated twice to miss out on the title in the action at the PacWest complex between Burien and SeaTac off Des Moines Way. The if-necessary game would be played at the same time and place Tuesday.

Renton fell into a 1 p.m. Sunday loser's bracket final game with Seattle Central to determine who would provide the competition.

Renton rallied for one run in the top of the first inning to take the early lead, but it was all West Seattle from there.

West Seattle tied it with one in the bottom of the second as Will Godwin singled, stole second and scored on a base hit by Max Zerbato and took the lead to stay as Aiden Waller launched a home run over the fence in right to lead off the third.

Nick Hazelgrove added a two-run pinch-hit triple later in the inning, then scored on a Godwin double before Milo Sorensen tripled in Godwin for a 6-1 lead.

By Kathryn Kingen

You may not remember your first bite of stone fruit, but it's a love affair you'll never get over. No doubt it was the summer, a hot day with a sweet peach, or maybe it was fun times with a snappy bowl of cherries. The deep notes of a great plum are not soon forgotten, and a warm sassy apricot always makes you smile. I do caution you, they will love you and then leave you by fall. Then, there you will sit, talking to yourself and wishing you had just one more day with that stone fruit you love.

It's that time of year when the great Northwest produces some of the most enticing fruit you will ever encounter. These fruits with pits are also called stone fruits. No doubt their hearts of stone allow them to love us and leave us without too much heartache.

By Chef Jeremy McLachlan

Just poking a little fun at all the crazy things that have been happening in Washington and Oregon. If you do not know, "stone fruit" refers to any fruit that has a pit inside — think cherries, plums, peaches and apricots. With a plethora of stone fruit being harvested in Eastern Washington and Oregon, the month of July is prime time to grab these beauties. And they are legal too. They are also good for you, as Kathy likes to say: Stone Love.

Picking the Best Stone Fruit: When picking your stone fruit at the market, smell the end where the stem used to be. This should give you a sense of sweetness and ripeness. If you do not smell anything, then the fruit was picked too early and will not be sweet.

The Admiral Neighborhood Association Summer Concert Series is back for 2015 featuring some well known northwest musicians and a few surprises. All concerts take place in Hiawatha Park adacent to West Seattle High School and run from 6:30 - 8 PM. You are encouraged to bring (low) folding chairs, blankets, coolers kids and dogs.

Here's the line up:

July 23
Carrie Akre- A vocal delivery that is at once aggressive, haunting and melodic.

July 30
Naomi Wachira- Named best folk singer in 2013 by Seattle Weekly, Naomi is inspired by music from her native Kenya blended with American influences to create her own unique harmonies and Afro infused rhythms.

August 6
Star Anna- Twangy, lonesome, haunting Northwest alt-country.

August 13
Modern Relics- Original soul music with a twang. "Like Van Morrison, in Memphis." Featuring a 10-piece band including horns & pedal steel.

August 20

information from Seattle Parks

As of Monday, July 6, 2015, all Seattle parks will be smoke-free. Smoke-free parks further Seattle Parks and Recreation’s mission to provide healthful and welcoming places for all residents to enjoy.

The Seattle Board of Park Commissioners unanimously recommended to approve a parks-wide smoking ban in May. The new rule will expand the existing smoking ban from within 25 feet of another park visitor to no smoking on any publically accessible park land. This is similar to rules in more than 1,000 other cities and jurisdictions nationwide, including New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Portland and San Francisco.

Enforcement of the new rule would primarily be a matter of education and will be entrusted to Park Rangers and the Seattle police officers. The enforcement protocol for the new rule was developed in 2012. This protocol does not include excluding people from a park because they are smoking.

According to SDOT the next meeting for the 35th Avenue SW Road Safety Corridor Project will take place in mid-July. A postcard is on its way to residents living in the vicinity of 35th to alert them.

35th Avenue SW Road Safety Corridor Project
Since October 2014, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has been working with neighbors to get ideas on how to improve safety on 35th Ave SW. Please join us for a public meeting to review upcoming plans to improve safety and comfort for everyone that uses 35th Ave SW.

Wednesday, July 15, 2015
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Neighborhood House, Room 207
6400 Sylvan Way SW

As the Herald previously reported in March, a number of options are under consideration, all of them involve re-channelling the roadway from four lanes to three, and lowering the speed limit from 35 to 30 mph.

By Katy Wilkens, MS, RD

My husband always forgets the name of this little herb, maybe because the leaves look so insignificant. Its leaves may be small, but thyme packs a big flavor punch. My garden is overflowing with this tenacious herb, which does great in rockeries, pots and tucked in your flowerbeds. If you don’t have thyme, look for it at farmers markets or in grocery stores. It’s worthwhile to get a 4-inch pot to grow thyme in your yard, as this tiny powerhouse will reward you all summer and well into fall. It will also come back next year. When it’s done flowering, cut the stems back about 1/3 of their length.

Thyme comes in many of varieties with more than 10 types just for cooking, which can all be substituted for each other. There are pretty, variegated types and golden ones, but any will do. Thyme is one of the three “fines herbes” used in French cooking. (The other two are parsley and bay leaf.) It is best to add thyme, and most fresh herbs, toward the end of cooking.

Use thyme in any egg dish. It also pairs well with tomato-based dishes and is a nice partner to tarragon and sage.

Two double header meeting are coming up on July 16 and July 23 on some major development projects in West Seattle. Two are rescheduled design review meetings and two are for projects that have been in the works for a while.

4532 42nd SW
The proposal is to allow a 6-story structure containing 84 units and 3,350 sq. ft. of commercial space at ground level. Parking for 70 vehicles to be provided. Existing structure to be demolished. Meeting originally scheduled for July 2 has been rescheduled for July 16.

MEETING

Date: Thursday, July 16, 2015
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: West Seattle Senior Center
4217 SW Oregon St
Hatten Hall

By Peggy Sturdivant

“Shouldn’t you have a safety net?” a voice asked from below while I was priming the rickety second floor windows of the family’s 1870 cottage on the east coast.

“Probably,” I said. I felt so overwhelmed by a losing battle against rotten wood that my own safety seemed unimportant. A stable ladder would have been more helpful, as well as a paintbrush that wasn’t losing bristles with every stroke.

A neighbor passed by. From Memorial Day through the end of June there’s an annual scramble to complete exterior work. “Where’s your life line?” he asked. “Is that how you do things in Seattle?”

No. How I do things on Martha’s Vineyard is rarely the same way that I do things in Seattle. On Sunset Hill Martin would have me strapped into a safety harness and on a lead line if I so much as tried to crawl out on the roof to wash our windows.