December 2015

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Kennedy Catholic senior Angela Gagliardo was named as the Seamount League girls swimming Athlete of the Year and her coach, Sean Prothero, was named as the Coach of the Year.

Hazen won the league title this year, however, and Lindbergh landed the Team Sportsmanship award.

Making the swimming first team along with Gagliardo were Highline senior Reva Zacharias, Highline freshman Emily Zacharias, Kennedy senior Angelica Gil, Hazen senior Kristen LeBar, Lindbergh sophomore Avery Knittle, Hazen junior Ashtin Luedtke and Lindbergh senior Rachel Andelin.

The first team diver is Kennedy junior Madeline Kemp and the second team diver is junior teammate Maddie Terry.

Second team swimming selections were Highline freshman Stella Fosberg and Kennedy senior Theresa Tran along with Hazen senior Clarissa Mitchell, Hazen junior Emilie Nelson, Renton freshman Naima Pai, Lindbergh junior Colette Garcia, Hazen senior Hannah Atchison and Lindbergh senior Victoria Yackel.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Ryan Fike was selected as the Coach of the Year for boys tennis in the Seamount League after leading Kennedy Catholic to first place in the league standings.

The Team Sportsmanship award, meanwhile, went to Foster and Renton senior Oscar Cruz was named as the Athlete of the Year.

Three Kennedy players were named to the first team in senior Haydon Clifton, sophomore Brendan Stoll and freshman Francis Viloria, while one Highline player made the first team in junior Finn Fosberg.

Other first team picks were Cruz, Hazen senior David Vaisar, Hazen senior Justin Nguen, Hazen senior Sonlam Nguyen, Lindbergh junior Donovan Dang, Lindbergh senior Jeremiah Bayna and Lindbergh junior Patrick Tiamzon.

Kennedy and Foster landed two players each on the second team and Highline had one make the squad.
Honored from Kennedy were senior Ben Xu and sophomore Hayden Wood, while the Foster picks were junior Aaron Anonuevo and freshman Mehtaab Buttar. Chosen from Highline was Drew Sagmoen.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Kennedy Catholic captured both top Seamount League golf awards this fall, with Alyssa Nguyen named as the Girls Athlete of the Year and Evan Golando as the Boys Athlete of the Year.

The Lancers also won both the boys and girls league titles.

Foster, meanwhile, earned the Team Sportsmanship award and Todd Morris of Hazen was named as the Coach of the Year.

Joining Nguyen on the girls first team were Kennedy teammates Makenzie Milton, Addie Hedge and Emily Porter along with Hazen's Isabell Deak.

Joining Golando on the boys first team were teammate Ryan Sheardown, Highline's Noah Voges and Hazen's Nick Yee and Zach Dea.

The boys second team had three Lancers in James Navarro, Nicholas Fieghner and Grayson O'Niel. Also on the second squad were Jack Madsen of Highline and Hazen's Tyler Learn.

The girls second team included Jacquelin Kemp of Highline and Kennedy's Maddy Milton. Three Hazen players made that team in Kayla Smith, Emma LedBetter and Analicia Hernandez Giron.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

High schools

Boys basketball
Tyee will entertain Chief Sealth for a 7 p.m. game Wednesday as Kennedy Catholic travels to West Seattle.
Highline is at home against Nathan Hale at the same time, with Evergreen hosting Interlake and Mount Rainier going on the road to Auburn-Riverside.
Evergreen will be home playing Tyee as the Seamount League season opens Friday, while Kennedy will be at Foster and Renton at Highline -- all at 7 p.m.
Mount Rainier plays host to Liberty at the same time, while at 8 p.m. Chief Sealth hosts Blanchet and West Seattle entertains Roosevelt.
Seattle Lutheran is playing in the Mount Rainier Lutheran tournament Friday and Saturday as Shorewood Christian goes to the Friday Harbor tournament.
Tyee gets a 7 p.m. visit from Mount Rainier on Monday as Foster hosts Sultan.
Seattle Lutheran entertains Taholah at 6 p.m. Tuesday and at 7:30 p.m. Chief Sealth is at Cleveland and West Seattle at Nathan Hale.

Girls basketball

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Gandy sinks game winner for Western

HONOLULU, Hawai'i – Junior forward Kiana Gandy hit the game-winning basket with less than three seconds left in the game to lift the Western Washington Vikings to a 64-62 victory over Hawai'i Pacific Friday evening in the O’ahu Women’s Basketball Thanksgiving Classic.

The Vikings went 2-0 in the O’ahu Thanksgiving Classic with wins over Chaminade (61-53) and HPU to even their season record at 3-3.

Gandy (Des Moines, WA/Mount Rainier) scored a career-high 22 points in the victory, capping an excellent trip to Hawai'i in which she scored 40 points in the two games. Her game-winning basket with 2.4 seconds left on the clock capped a big second half in which the Vikings outscored the Sharks 38-29. Gandy scored 16 of her 22 points in the second half, including 11 points in the decisive fourth quarter.

By Tim Robinson

From the age of 11 to 15, living near Salmon Creek, I often walked with my brother to the small grocery store about a mile from our house. In some cases we "thumbed" a ride. Not because we needed one but because we wanted one. I only recall one car ever stopping. A man gave us a lift no more than 1/2  mile up Ambaum Blvd before we asked him to drop us off. Thumbing was dangerous even then and we knew it was better to travel together rather than alone. I tried thumbing a ride alone but must not have had the technique quite right. I did not know you had to walk backwards while extending your arm. I never got a ride. We also had to walk WITH the traffic rather than the suggested AGAINST the traffic for safety reasons. You certainly cannot get a ride that way. 

The Salmon Creek grocery was nestled into the corner of a row of businesses with tenements above. Shopkeepers likely lived above their shops in those days. It was very European (I think now but was actually clueless then). 

by Aya Hashiguchi Clark

Here’s something different for the holidays: Burien Actors Theatre is performing a comedy parody, affectionately spoofing the works of Charles Dickens this Christmas season.

A Christmas Twist takes two of Dickens’ most famous stories, A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist, and tosses it “into a high-spirited blender with plenty of pop culture and a cast of characters that includes Little Orphan Annie.”

Ebenezer Scrooge meets Oliver Twist and Orphan Annie? Now, you’re getting the idea.

Would Dickens be turning over in his grave? Or, would his laughter be spreading holiday cheer throughout the cemetery?

The good folks at BAT are attempting to answer this puzzling question, and are doing it with plenty of enthusiasm and comic bravado.

The mashed-up plot begins like this: The criminal Fagin (John Lynch), leader of the pickpocketing orphans of London, is visited by Mr. Bumble (Tim Takechi), who runs the cruel workhouse for orphans (you know, the one of the “Please sir, I want some more” fame).

As staff and volunteers arrived to the new Habit for Humanity store being built in Tukwila on Thanksgiving Eve, they discovered that someone had stolen one of their box trucks used to pick up and deliver donations from right out in front of the store overnight. The truck contained an estimated $20,000 worth of donated energy efficient windows and doors. Residents in a neighborhood just five minutes away soon reported the truck abandoned on their street. The truck was found with all of the donations still inside but with several thousands of dollars worth of damage to the truck itself. The box truck, which was completely covered in Habitat for Humanity branding, had the driver’s side door forced open and the steering column disassembled. The truck had been hot-wired and is now completely un-drivable. Repairs on the truck are expected to cost a minimum of $2,000. While they are waiting for the truck to be repaired, the nonprofit will be forced to lease an additional moving vehicle to ensure they can continue operations. The new Tukwila Habitat for Humanity store is set to open in January replacing their former location in SODO which closed earlier this year.

For the past several months, the City Council has been working to address our long-term financial issues through the 2016 budget process. In conjunction with our economic development efforts, which is the key to making the City financially sustainable in the long-run, we are working diligently to address our long-run budget issues.

None of this has been easy. We have had an overflowing crowd of residents come down to tell us they don’t want to cut to services … most notably Parks, Recreation & Senior Services. We’ve had large crowds make compelling cases and outlining our need for additional police officers. And we’ve had a few overflowing crowds come tell us not to raise their taxes.

The number of residents weighing in on the budget for 2016 has been impressive, and the input greatly appreciated. It’s in the context of that feedback that we’ve tried to figure out what will work to ensure we keep Des Moines an incredible place to live, and yet meet our obligations for financial sustainability. The last Washington State Auditor’s report (for 2013) essentially demanded that we get this done now, to ensure our sustainability.