September 2015

By Eric Mathison

There’s always some fun event happening in Burien.

Brat Trot and Cove to Clover, Wild Strawberry Festival, Arts Aglow, Empty Bowls, 4th of July Parade and Vision 20/20 to name a few.

One of my favorites is the Highline Classic Jazz Festival. This year it’s coming up this Saturday, Sept. 19.
I may be a little biased because I am on the board of Burien Arts Association, which sponsors the event.
However, I loved the festival even before I started volunteering.

Current Burien Arts president Lance Haslund invented the festival. Back in 2009 when Lance was a new Burien Arts trustee, members were brainstorming about new events they could present.

“In the middle of the night, I woke up and suddenly realized I knew a lot of musicians who played early jazz that I could get to perform,” Lance recalls.

At the time, Lance was playing rhythm guitar in a traditional jazz band at the New Orleans Restaurant in Pioneer Square.

The first three years, the festival was staged at the Performing Arts Center (PAC,) next to Highline High in Burien. Four bands played in the afternoon and four bands played in the evening.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Thursday, Sept. 10

Girls soccer
Blanchet 2, West Seattle 1
West Seattle took a close loss in its season opener.
Ballard 5, Chief Sealth 0
The Seahawks were outscored by the Beavers.
Kennedy 1, King's 1
Kennedy Catholic played to a tie Thursday.

Volleyball
Federal Way 3, Chief Sealth 0
Federal Way flew past the Seahawks in a non-league match.
TJ 3, Evergreen 2
Evergreen was edged by the Raiders of Thomas Jefferson.
Mt. Rainier 3, Bethel 1
The Rams rallied for a non-league victory over the Braves.

Boys tennis
Mt. Rainier 5, K-M 0
The Rams aced out the Royals in South Puget Sound League North action.

Boys golf
West Seattle 147, Franklin 6
The Wildcats roared to a lopsided win Thursday.
Kentlake 85, Mt. Rainier 36
Mount Rainier fell to the Falcons.

Girls golf
West Seattle 50, Franklin 6
West Seattle waltzed past the Quakers in Metro League action.

Wednesday, Sept. 9

To the editor:

Around 4 o-clock in the afternoon today Shelli and I drove into our driveway, which is shared with Eagle Landing Park. I saw three young kids painting a car in the parking lot. All the windows were taped off with newspaper and they were spraying the car black using hand held spray cans. Overspray was going onto other cars parked in the lot.

I called 911 and said a group of kids were actively painting a car in the Eagle Landing parking lot. The police operator asked "Where is Eagle Landing Park?' I gave her the address. I then said it is well known among criminals in Burien that it takes more than 20-minutes for the Burien Police to respond to a call - even though the dispatch office is less than a mile away, and I told her I was hoping an officer would arrive before they finished painting.

No such luck. No police were dispatched. All the paper and crushed paint cans lay in the parking lot. The parking spot is black with paint and the surrounding trees smell like paint.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Saturday, Sept. 12

Football
Seattle Lutheran 52, Oakville 0
Seattle Lutheran slammed another Class 1B opponent Saturday.
Kennedy 42, Seattle Prep 0
Kennedy Catholic journeyed to Seattle Memorial and came away as a lopsided winner over Seattle Prep, running its record to 2-0.

Girls soccer
Bothell 2, Kennedy 0
The Lancers took a non-league loss at home.
Kentlake 4, West Seattle 0
The Wildcats were blanked at Kentlake on Saturday afternoon.

Friday, Sept. 11

Football
West Seattle 17, Washington 13
West Seattle evened its record at 1-1 with Friday's win over the Patriots in Parkland.
Kingsway Christian 53, Chief Sealth 35
The Seahawks were outgunned in Friday's game in Vancouver.
Sammamish 30, Foster 29
One point proved to be the difference for the Bulldogs against Sammamish.
Nathan Hale 43, Highline 14
Highline had a ray of hope early against the Raiders from Nathan Hale of Seattle on Friday.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Saturday, Sept. 12

Football
Seattle Lutheran 52, Oakville 0
Seattle Lutheran slammed another Class 1B opponent Saturday.
Kennedy 42, Seattle Prep 0
Kennedy Catholic journeyed to Seattle Memorial and came away as a lopsided winner over Seattle Prep, running its record to 2-0.

Girls soccer
Bothell 2, Kennedy 0
The Lancers took a non-league loss at home.
Kentlake 4, West Seattle 0
The Wildcats were blanked at Kentlake on Saturday afternoon.

Friday, Sept. 11

Football
West Seattle 17, Washington 13
West Seattle evened its record at 1-1 with Friday's win over the Patriots in Parkland.
Kingsway Christian 53, Chief Sealth 35
The Seahawks were outgunned in Friday's game in Vancouver.
Sammamish 30, Foster 29
One point proved to be the difference for the Bulldogs against Sammamish.
Nathan Hale 43, Highline 14
Highline had a ray of hope early against the Raiders from Nathan Hale of Seattle on Friday.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

High schools

Volleyball
West Seattle hosts Chief Sealth for a 7 p.m. battle Wednesday as Highline entertains Seattle Christian.
Mount Rainier gets a 7:15 p.m. visit from Todd Beamer the same day.

Seattle Lutheran visits Shorewood Christian at 6 p.m. Thursday at the old Glacier High School gymnasium, then at 7 p.m. Foster is at Tyee, Highline at Kennedy and Evergreen at Hazen.

Mount Rainier hosts Lake Washington for a non-league match at 7:15 p.m.

Friday's schedule has Seattle Christian entertaining Bush at 5:45 p.m., Chief Sealth hosting Franklin at 7 p.m. and West Seattle going to Ballard at 7 p.m.

West Seattle turns around to host Roosevelt at 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday Seattle Lutheran is at Quilcene at 5 p.m. and Shorewood Christian home against Rainier Christian at 6 p.m.

In the Seamount League matches at 7 p.m., Highline plays host to Tyee as Evergreen entertains Lindbergh, Foster hosts Hazen and Kennedy travels to Renton.

Girls soccer

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

McPherson standing out at WWU

Opposite-side hitter Jennica McPherson (Sr., Seattle/Kennedy) had match highs of 14 digs and three service aces along with seven kills and a .429 hitting percentage as nationally ranked Western Washington University swept Dixie State University, 25-19, 25-14, 25-22, in its opening match at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference/Pacific West Conference Crossover Tournament which began Thursday, Sept. 10, at Nicholson Pavilion on the campus of host Central Washington University.

“Jennica (McPherson) had an all-around great match for us,” said WWU head coach Diane Flick (16th year, 320-87). “Whether it was in the back row, the front row, hitting at the net or blocking at the net, she steadied us with her consistency.”

McPherson followed up with eight kills, 19 digs and two aces in a 25-16, 16-25, 25-18, 25-16 win over Fresno Pacific.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Saturday, Sept. 5

Football
Seattle Lutheran 60, Mary Knight 8
The Saints scored a lopsided win over Mary Knight in their first game of the season Saturday.
Seattle Lutheran is a Class B-8 school in West Seattle.

Garfield 48, Chief Sealth 13
The Seahawks took a loss to the Bulldogs as they opened their season at the Southeast Athletic Complex near Rainier Beach High School on Saturday.

Friday, Sept. 4

Football
Kennedy 49, Rainier Beach 21
Kennedy Catholic of Burien jumped out to a 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter of Friday's non-league opener, widened it to 21-0 early in the second quarter and led, 35-15, at halftime.
The Lancers cruised to victory from there, scoring two second half touchdowns.

Ingraham 27, Highline 14
The Pirates came up shy against the Rams of the Metro League in Friday's road action.

Interlake 43, Foster 16
Foster fell to the Saints in season-opening action Friday.

Nathan Hale 36, Evergreen 6

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Keone Kela finds himself playing a key role in the thick of a pennant race, and the Texas Rangers are more than happy to have him along for the ride.

"He's a good pitcher," said Texas manager Jeff Banister. "We like having him, and he's done a solid job for us."

Kela is in his rookie season as a relief pitcher out of Chief Sealth High School in West Seattle and Everett Community College. He mostly comes in for the eighth inning when the Rangers are ahead.

He has come through more often than not -- with 18 holds, one save and a 6-5 won-loss record.

Kela is cruising along with a 2.59 earned run average, and has 63 strikeouts in 54.2 innings of work over 62 games.

His latest success came in the eighth inning of Tuesday's 9-6 win over the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field.
The 6-foot, 1-inch 190-pound right hander set the Mariners down 1-2-3 on a strikeout, a ground out, and another strikeout to earn a hold.

Kela has helped the Rangers into the lead for the American League's No. 2 wildcard spot and to within one and a half games of first place Houston in the AL West pennant race.