March 2016

By Pat Cashman

Many years ago, my pop decided to take my brothers and me to a big, organized Easter egg hunt. Colored eggs had been hidden all over a city park in our small town---including one gold egg. The kid that found it was to receive a fabulous prize---perhaps candy for life. Plus a gift certificate for unlimited orthodontia.
The huge throng of kids, including my brothers and me, were lined up on various starting lines. Everyone was staggered several feet apart so that the littlest kids would get a head start over bigger ones. That meant the youngest kids---say, under a foot high---were placed in front, while the older kids---say, those with beards and tattoos---were placed in the back.

But when the starting whistle was blown, the big kids ferociously bounded past the tiny ones---like sharks elbowing their way through a school of minnows. (If sharks had elbows, the preceding simile would have been brilliant.)

The scene was straight out of “Lord of the Flies.” Kids were crying, rolling, screaming, kicking, wailing and punching---in perfect imitation of their parents.

Bicycle lost, blood found

Seattle police responded to a burglary at the 2400 block of N.W. 61st St. on March 13. A young woman called police after she realized her bike had been stolen. She lives at the residence with two other female roommates. Only one was there for the burglary. The complainant said that she had left her residence for a few hours. When she returned she found drops of blood in her room and on some of her clothing. Also, it looked like her room had been rifled through. She checked the rest of the house and found the basement in disarray. One of the two locks on the basement door had been disengaged. Her bicycle was taken from the garage. By the time the police arrived the roommate who was there during the burglary had left. The complainant said she was a new roommate, and she did not have her phone number. There were no fingerprints found at the scene.

Knife-wielding suspect unfazed by rock to face

By Lindsay Peyton

A group of West Seattle residents are making sure films with a golden message find their way onto the silver screen.

West Seattle Meaningful Movies offers screenings the first Saturday of each month at the Highpoint Community Center Neighborhood House, 6400 Sylvan Way SW. The events are free and open to the public – but donations are accepted to cover associated costs.

Guests arrive at 6:30 p.m. for refreshments donated by Great Harvest Bread Company and Chaco Canyon Café. Screenings start at 7 p.m. and attendees often stick around afterward for a discussion.

The movies selected have one thing in common.

“They’re always about social justice,” Jay Heyman said.

He coordinates each event with a dedicated crew – Corey Elliott, Denis Martynowych and sisters Katie and Lisa Kauffman.

The group usually meets in Lisa’s home, gathered around her kitchen table to select the titles.

Heyman said the inspiration came from Rick and Diane Turner, who started Meaningful Movies in Wallingford more than 10 years ago.

Walking away from attempted robbery

Police responded to a call at 11:15 p.m. on Fri., March 25 from a pedestrian walking westbound on Trenton Street The victim was found near the intersection of 28th Avenue S.W.

The victim reported that while walking on the 8800 block of Delridge Way S.W., in the alley to the east of the roadway, two Latino males approached him, demanding him to drop everything.

One suspect was in his 20s, about 5’10” with a stocky build, wearing a Seattle Mariners hat and blue jeans and armed with a black semi-automatic handgun. The second suspect was about the same age and height, also wearing jeans but had a thin build.

The first suspect pointed the handgun to the victim’s head. Still, the victim refused to give up his belongings.

The suspect kicked the victim in the right calf and tried to force him to the ground, but he was able to escape and started walking away on S.W. Trenton Street, where he found and picked up a steel pipe and carried it for protection along the way.

The pizza restaurant, Slices on Alki at 2600 Marine Ave SW,, owned by Marisa Tanji and Daryl Waits, who also own and operate Ampersand Coffee is about to change owners. In a letter from Marisa to the West Seattle community she and Drew Locke, owner of West Seattle Brewing Company the new owner, explained the transition.

Dear West Seattle Community,

After 7 remarkable years, we have decided to sell Slices and simplify our lives. It has been an honor and pleasure getting to know all of you and your families. We have enjoyed watching your kids grow up and we are now having a blast with our little Eleanor!

Thank you for all of your friendship, support and of course, your business. We wish you all the best and though we will miss seeing you for pizza we will be next door at Ampersand Cafe, so stop by and say hello!

By Amanda Knox

A memory can be visceral. It can feel heavy, like the lead capes dentists drape over you when they’re taking X-rays. It can make your tongue feel thick and pasty, like you could choke on it. It can make your neck feel constricted, like you’re drowning. It can feel like a thunderstorm in your brain—sluggish and angry cumulonimbus dragging through each other, lightning striking.

That’s how I feel. On the first anniversary of my definitive acquittal, what first comes to mind isn’t the moment of watching the tiny live-streaming window on my laptop and hearing the incredulous correspondent report the good news from immediately outside the Italian Supreme Court. It isn’t the way my family and friends cried out in relief and surprise and joy for the end of persecution, the end of pain.

What comes to mind, instead, is the memory of one of my cellmates, we’ll call her Bernadette, sitting on her bunk across from me, tearing out page after page of my journal and shredding them, until there was nothing left.

Former NFL quarterback Jack Thompson returned to his Alma Mater, Evergreen High School in White Center on Friday, March 25, to present the student body with a golden football from the National Football League. The NFL, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Super Bowl, gifted a golden football to the high school of every NFL player who has ever played in any Super Bowl.

Jack, a Vice President at Umpqua Bank in Seattle, was a standout quarterback at Evergreen. He went on to play at Washington State University (WSU), where he became the most prolific passer in NCAA history. Jack threw for 7,818 yards and set PAC-10 records for most attempts, most completions, and most TD passes. He also completed a bachelor degree (BA) in Business Administration while at WSU.

The annual White Center 5k took place on March 26 under sunny skies with a literally healthy turnout of several hundred runners/walkers and others taking part in the race with a Super Hero theme.

The event, sponsored by US Bank, EquityMattersnw.com, Cherry Creek Mortgage Company, The Charter Schools Association, benefiting YES! Foundation, WCCDA, and the White Center Food Bank, took place at White Center Heights Park.

The WCCDA gave the Herald's Patrick Robinson an award in keeping with the theme as a Community Super Hero for "amplifying the news and voices of White Center,"

Here are the winners and times.

Male
0-6: Layne Bennett – 28.34
7-18: William Falcone – 28.00
19-35: Samuel Bradley – 18.44
36-55: Jon Hall – 20.51
56+: Bob Baugher – 27.16

Female
0-6: Nico Youngs – 40.22
7-18: Vanessa Vasquez – 34.40
19-35: Lauren Martin – 24.31
36-55: Patricia Ruiz – 28.34
56+: Linda Burt – 28.27

West Seattle Thriftway beat their old record for Easter Eggs this year, offering some 30,000 eggs for kids to find all throughout the store, Saturday morning, March, 26.

Goodies and prizes were inside the eggs found everywhere you could look.

Kids and parents streamed into the store beginning at 9am and collected as many as their baskets could hold.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Collier contributes for UW

Seattle Christian graduate Katie Collier played a role in helping the University of Washington women's basketball team into this weekend's "Sweet Sixteen" NCAA tournament action.
Collier had five points, five rebounds and one block as the Huskies won their second round game at Maryland, 74-65, after tossing in six points, hauling down eight rebounds and coming through with three blocks, three steals and two assists in an opening 65-53 victory over Pennsylvania.

McPhee helping Cardinal

Mount Rainier graduate Brittany McPhee scored two points and had one rebound as the Stanford women's basketball team posted a 66-65 victory over South Dakota State on Monday after scoring eight points, hauling down six rebounds and coming through with two assists in an opening 85-58 win over San Francisco.

Kela tosses another inning

Chief Sealth graduate Keone Kela threw his second inning of relief for the Texas Rangers for spring training.