December 2015

The Davis home at 4152 46th Ave SW (Genesee and 46th) is looking extra bright for the 2015 Christmas Season. The view in the photo is from the balcony of the new house across the street.

According to the Davis family "There are over 6,000 LED and 4,000 incandescent light in my bushes, trees and on the house. Our neighbors have joined in the festivities, making the drive between Genesee and Dakota very nice with lots of lights."

By Tim Clinton
Sports Editor

A second round of winter storms on Snoqualmie Pass dumped an ample amount of snow onto the regularly-maintained trails at Cabin Creek, a roughly 60-minute drive from Seattle and just 10 minutes past the Snoqualmie summit. This addition builds on top of a snowpack already greatly exceeding what last winter provided, and is setting the stage for the “Mavericks” participants of Momentum Northwest, a non-profit cross-country ski organization based in Seattle.

The Mavericks program encompass ages six through eleven and encourages all abilities, from complete beginner up to advanced young skiers to join on snow every Saturday morning at Cabin Creek for coached activities and learning to ski. “Our Mavericks are the foundational element of Momentum Northwest,” says Sam Naney, Program Director. “Getting kids on skis at a young age and helping them develop their skills in a high-energy atmosphere of coach-led instruction is the best way to foster in them a love of the sport, and an innate comfort on snow.”

By Tim Clinton
Sports Editor

Penner named Player of the Week

Senior forward Mitch Penner from Kennedy Catholic High School in Burien, who earned the tournament Most Valuable Player award after leading 13th-ranked Seattle Pacific to a pair of men's basketball home wins, was named as the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Monday.
The Falcons (9-1) were the only undefeated team in the Oak Harbor Freight Lines Classic at Brougham Pavilion led by Penner's 30 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
He hit 6 of 14 shots from the field while converting 18 of 23 free throws during the two outings.
Penner produced 16 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 71-54 victory over defending West Region champion Azusa Pacific. He had 14 points and six boards on Friday in a 76-64 win against Northwest University.
Penner currently leads SPU by scoring 14.8 points per game. He also averages 5.2 rebounds and is shooting 46 percent from 3-point range.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

High schools
Gymnastics
Mount Rainier hosts North Thurston, Decatur and Todd Beamer for a 7 p.m. meet Wednesday.

Girls basketball
Shorewood Christian visits Northwest Yeshiva for a 6:15 p.m. game Wednesday, then at 7 p.m. Lindbergh is at Kennedy Catholic, Evergreen at Foster, Hazen at Highlne and Tyee at Renton.
West Seattle entertains Lakeside at 7:30 p.m. as Chief Sealth entertains Rainier Beach.
Scheduled for 6 p.m. Friiday is Shorewood Christian at the Christian Faith Center as Seattle Lutheran travels to Bear Creek, then at 6:30 p.m. Chief Sealth is at Ballard and West Seattle at Ingraham.
Highline visits Evergreen at 7 p.m. as Kennedy drops in on Tyee, Foster goes to Lindbergh and Mount Rainier to Decatur.
Seattle Christian is at home against Lindbergh at 3 p.m. Saturday and at 3:30 p.m. West Seattle is at Kentridge and Seattle Lutheran at Mount Vernon Christian.
Highline hosts Decatur at 5:15 p.m. Monday and Seattle Christian entertains Cedar Park Christian at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Saturday, Dec. 12
Girls basketball
Auburn-Riverside 59, Kennedy 32
Auburn-Riverside routed the Lancers in a rematch of the schools that played for the state Class 3A volleyball title in the fall with Kennedy winning that one.
Saturday's game took place at Highline Community College.
Mt. Rainier 67. Evergreen 25
Mount Rainier won Saturday's matchup of former Seamount League rivals.
Seattle Lutheran 39, Bush 29
Seattle Lutheran High School of West Seattle took Saturday's SeaTac League matchup by 10.

Boys basketball
Mt. Rainier 67, Evergreen 43
Mount Rainier rallied to beat the Wolverines in non-league action Saturday.
Todd Beamer 59, Kennedy 49
Kennedy Catholic took a loss in a non-league game played at Highline Community College.

Friday, Dec. 11
Boys swimming
Mt. Rainier 97, Kennedy 86
The Rams edged the Lancers in a matchup of close non-league neighbors Saturday.

Girls basketball
TJ 43, Mt. Rainier 32
Thomas Jefferson gunned down the Rams in South Puget Sound League action Friday.

Zillow, the leading real estate and rental marketplace and West Seattle's Nucor Steel really came through this year for the West Seattle Food Bank.

The Zillow employees donated 4752 lbs. of food and $6063 in cash.

Employees from Nucor donated 5,200 pounds of food – more than 2 1/2 tons. They also donated cash and checks that with additional/matching donations from Nucor brought WSFB a check totaling $21,708

The Seattle City Council today adopted a resolution in support of Seattle’s Muslim community and speaking out against the rise in hateful rhetoric and violence targeting Muslims.

“We must never allow a religious test for families seeking refuge in the United States or in Seattle,” said Mayor Ed Murray. “Since our nation was founded, America has always stood as a beacon of freedom and religious pluralism. We stand united in opposition to racism and bigotry that targets any faith community.”

Approximately 100,000 Muslims call Washington State home, where they serve our community in every walk of life -- as doctors, police officers and school teachers.

“Elected leaders hold a responsibility to speak truth against the anti-Muslim hate rhetoric and violence increasing in the national discourse,” said Councilmember Tim Burgess. “The City of Seattle welcomes and affirms our Muslim residents, both native born and immigrant, and recognizes the enormous value they add to the cultural and economic life of this city. When we respond from fear, we respond from weakness. We all want our community to be safe, but fear does not lead to safety.”

Four Ballard High School student filmmakers have won Cinematic Arts awards from the National YoungArts Foundation – tying the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA) for the most winners from a single school.

Ballard students have won the prestigious national award in recent years, but four winners is the highest number ever for the Seattle Public Schools high school, according to Matt Lawrence, the teacher who leads Ballard’s Digital Filmmaking Program.

Ballard’s winning film students are Coleman Andersen, Leo Pfeifer, Sho Schrock-Manabe and Meagen Tajalle. YoungArts winners receive cash awards, validation by renowned mentors, and opportunities to participate in YoungArts programs in Los Angeles, Miami and New York City.

Additionally, this is the 11th year in a row that Ballard students have been honored by Fresh Film Northwest. Two short films by Ballard students recently won at the competitive regional festival coordinated by the Northwest Film Center in Portland, Oregon. It accepts entries from filmmakers ages 13 to 19 in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

Seattle Seahawk player Kevin Smith stopped by St. Alphonsus Parish School last Tuesday as part of a one-day food drive to support the University District Food Bank. St. Alphonsus students and parents donated canned food and gathered in the auditorium to listen to encouraging words from Smith. Smith spoke of pursuing aspirations and to never give up and told students to “stick with it and your dreams can come true.” Later, St.Alphonsus student council members helped Smith load a Fed Ex truck with the donated goods.

Smith is a former University of Washington Husky, who was recently called up from the Seahawks practice squad. He talked about his struggles in his career and how he overcame an injury. Students asked Smith if he ever thought about leaving football. “I never considered giving up. I never give up when I put my mind to it,” said Smith.

Originally from Southern California, Smith said that Seattle is his second home and that it’s important to give back to the community, especially during the holidays. Smith thanked the students for their donations and shared high-fives and hugs before delivering the donated goods to University District Food Bank.

By Marjorie Young

As I was preparing to write my latest column concerning the recent dreadful events in Paris, two other appalling incidents occurred…the Planned Parenthood attack, followed by the bloodbath in San Bernadino. The deeds of the perpetrators may be ‘explained’ by ‘political’ or ‘religious’ motives, while remaining forever incomprehensible to most of us. But such episodes bring home the fact that, on any given day, or in any given moment, we cannot know what may be delivered in our direction. We could step out the door to never return, or chat with a loved one, never dreaming this will be our final conversation.

Fortunately, violence or terrorism is rarely responsible for our ever-evolving fate. To the contrary, it is likely to be something far more ‘mundane – a distracted driver fails to see the pedestrian at the crosswalk. A bolt of lightning sends a tree crashing into a bedroom. Too many Christmas lights results in a home going up in flames. An unhealthy life-style leads to a heart attack. All this may seem gloomy, of course, but does remind us that life is largely unpredictable…even to those possessing ‘psychic abilities’!