January 2016

Sustainable West Seattle has Board of Director positions open for 2016. The board members meet once a month to plan the activities and events, like the Greenlife Festival that Sustainable West Seattle is known for. The board members also take part in the management of the various projects they partner with such as the West Seattle Tool Library and the Community Orchard of West Seattle (COWS) .

Being involved with Sustainable West Seattle can be great for experiencing the building of community and hope. Please join us!

The annual membership meeting for Sustainable West Seattle will be held on MLK Day of Service, January 18th at the Admiral Bird Cafe located at the corner of California Ave. S.W. and Admiral Way S.W. The meet and greet starts at 6:30pm and the meeting starts at 7pm.

By Lindsay Peyton

Ken Shaw calls it “an act of vandalism” – the city’s addition of rock to trails at Schmitz Preserve Park, located at 5551 SW Admiral Way, just down the street from his house.

“It’s the wildest landscape in the city,” he said. “They disrespect the park as a standard practice.”

Shaw believes that covering the trails with rock may hide faults lying underneath – and that those problems will rise to the surface again eventually. “It’s creating a situation where more work will have to be done,” he said.

And he has a problem with the manner in which the work on the trails is being conducted.

“They come into the trail system, off-load a truck right on the trail, blocking the trail,” he said. “They shouldn’t even be driving on the trail. Just getting there, they’re doing damage to the park. It does nothing but weaken what we have.”

Shaw has been volunteering in the park alongside his neighbors for the past 20 years – removing litter, clearing trails and weeding invasive species of plants.

“We want the place to be as natural and native as possible,” he said. “We want to do the least intervention so we can do the least damage.”

By Greg Whittaker

It has been a December to remember for the faithful NW ski and snowboard enthusiasts. The best powder (yes newbies we have powder) in 2 years has fallen during our holiday season, with consecutive snow cycles that lead to 9 inches on 12 inches on another 10 inches falling. After a while, you couldn’t find the bottom, and the lucky visited the white room. The white room is an expression for skiing and boarding whereas snow flies over your head to such an effect that the only color that exists is a lack of color, or white.

By Amanda Knox

I love the end of the year, if simply because there are enough holidays crammed together that many relatives and friends who are spread far and wide actually have the time off to travel and visit home. One such friend, a college buddy, now a world traveller, had lunch with me to catch up. The conversation steered towards Christmas. He got a high-tech clothes iron with 400 micro-holes. “It isn’t as fun as when we were kids,” he mused, chuckling.

“Oh, I don’t know,” I said. I got leather biking chaps. (Wee!!!)
But seriously, besides the gifts we give each other, one gift we strive to give ourselves at the end of the year is a moment to catch up. Facebook gives you the option of scrapbooking and sharing the highlights of your year. Media recaps the events that inspired the greatest followings. Individually and collectively we seek to characterize what was considered the present until so recently, the better to understand the context from which we move forward.

King County has completed the pier modifications to Seacrest Dock and crew training has been completed clearing the way for the MV Doc Maynard to begin morning service on the West Seattle route Jan 7 arriving for it's first official trip from West Seattle departing at 6:15am .

King County Marine Division Director Paul Brodeur will be on hand for the first sailing at 6:15 a.m. from Seacrest Dock and will be available until 7:45 a.m. to talk with riders.

The MV Doc Maynard will serve as the primary vessel on the West Seattle route with the Spirit of Kingston backing her up as necessary.

Water Taxi Schedule

The vessel, built by All American Marine in Bellingham, carries 278 passengers, 131 more than the Spirit of Kingston. The added capacity will offer more room as the West Seattle route continues to grow. In 2015, the West Seattle route served over 313,000 passengers, an increase of nearly 11 percent from 2014.

By Peggy Sturdivant

The day after Christmas I was in the Golden Gardens parking lot at 8:10 a.m. (late) holding my yogurt granola and an Americano. The sky was pink, hinting at the presence of a sun after the month’s record-breaking rain.

Since 1900 the Audubon Society has been conducting a Christmas Bird Count, inspired by what had been a post-Christmas bird hunt, with sides competing to get the largest pile of dead birds. I was a tag-along to Quadrant 5A, the Ballard lowlands group led by Master Birder and author Woody Wheeler (Look Up! Birds and Other Natural Wonders Just Outside Your Window). From 8 a.m. until sunset the 5A team was responsible for identifying and quantifying all bird species between Golden Gardens, the Locks and then over the Ballard Bridge.

Owner beats police to business burglary

Police were dispatched to a reported burglary in progress at a business located on the 4900 block of Leary Avenue N.W. on Dec. 19. When police arrived they found a vehicle with its lights on in the front of the building. They identified the owner of the vehicle. A large glass window had been smashed. Officers noticed a white male inside the building holding a hammer. They called to him to come out and put the hammer on the ground. The man did what they asked and told them he was the business owner. Police checked his I.D. and it matched the owner if the vehicle. The owner told police that his alarm company called him and that he rushed down to the business without calling police. He didn’t know if he would encounter the suspect and brought the hammer to protect himself. After searching the business the owner could not determine what was missing. The estimated cost of the damaged window was $700. There was no security footage of the incident.

Tools taken from construction site

By Jeanne Kohl-Welles

By the time you read this, I already will have resigned from the state Senate and taken office as an elected member of the King County Council for District 4, succeeding my dear friend, Council Chair Larry Phillips, who retired as of Dec. 31st and who so graciously supported my candidacy. It’s been a very challenging transition for me as I cherished serving my 36th Leg. District constituents for 24 years in the Legislature. While doing so has been one of the most significant experiences of my life, I am excited to take on this new challenge and am gratified the entire 36th is contained within the 4th Council District so that I can continue to serve you.

Representing Ballard has been particularly meaningful to me—being of Norwegian ancestry, sponsoring Senate floor resolutions annually for the Blessing of the Fleet (and speaking at the annual service) and Syttende Mai and walking in the parade, toasting the King and Queen of Norway at a few of the annual Syttende Mai luncheons at the Sons of Norway Hall, and escorting Queen Sonja when the royal couple was here in 1995.

West Seattle Baseball is a 100 percent volunteer organization dedicated to teaching kids the game of baseball and giving them opportunities to get out on the diamond. In addition to regular season play, all kids ages 7 and older participate in postseason tournaments. Those kids wanting to continue playing have opportunities to play baseball well into the summer in programs such as All Star for ages 8-12 years old as well as summer recreation programs including the West Seattle Crush at the Pee Wee fields.

West Seattle Baseball hosts several summer all-star tournaments in West Seattle featuring some of the top teams in Western Washington.

West Seattle Baseball welcomes players of all experience levels. West Seattle Baseball is affiliated with the national PONY Baseball organization. Its goals include teaching the fundamentals of baseball and good sportsmanship while building a sense of community among players and their families. Practices begin in March, and the West Seattle Baseball regular season runs from the beginning of April to early June. You can register today at westseattlebaseball.com.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Saturday, Jan. 2

Boys basketball
Seattle Lutheran 82, Shoreline Christian 37
Seattle Lutheran crushed Shoreline Christian in a road game Saturday.

Girls basketball
Seattle Lutheran 47, Shoreline Christian 21
The Saints scored a victory at Shoreline Christian on Saturday.

Wednesday, Dec. 30

Girls basketball
Sultan 55, Tyee 48
Tyee came close to victory in a Meridian Holiday Tournament game Wednesday.

Boys basketball
Mountlake Terrace 49, West Seattle 43
West Seattle went down to its first loss of the season in a holiday tournament game at Mountlake Terrace.
Ferndale 75, Highline 72
Highline fell three points shy in a non-league game Wednesday.
North Kitsap 72, Chief Sealth 58
Chief Sealth took a loss in action in Poulsbo.

Tuesday, Dec. 29

Boys basketball
Shorewood Christian 58, Lummi 48
Shorewood Christian defeated the Lummi Nation school in a road game Tuesday.