August 2016

Seattle’s homeless may be wondering where their encampments are going since City of Seattle started hiring a private company to remove them, and some of those removals have happened in Ballard.

Last May the Stranger ran a story about the City of Seattle privatizing the ”clean-up’” and removal of unauthorized homeless encampments.

According to Katherine Bush Jolly, Director of External Relations with the Seattle Human Services Department, there were 13 clean-ups in Seattle from last February to May, amounting to $80,869.05 in service payments to private contractors. The crews disposed of 19.6 of “material,” which sometimes included possessions medications, clothing and bedding. It also included drugs, alcohol and unsanitary materials.

“Department of Corrections (DOC) is the principal provider of clean-up services, private contractors are secondary and on-demand only. We engage private contractors when there is insufficient DOC capacity to meet the demand. Many of the cleanups involve removal of tons of hazardous debris, including needles and human waste,” Jolly wrote to the Ballard News-Tribune.

For the next few weeks, the majority of work will take place near Loyal Heights Elementary School on Northwest 77th Street and along 26th Avenue Northwest between Northwest 77th Street and Northwest 83rd Street.

The crew will be installing silva cells and sidewalks along 26th Avenue Northwest. Additionally, improved roadway panels, curb ramps and sidewalks will installed at the intersections of:
· 26th Avenue Northwest and Northwest 77th Street

· 25th Avenue Northwest and Northwest 77th Street

PROJECT INFORMATION AND CONTACT
Please forward these updates to others who may be interested in the project. We always encourage people to sign up directly at: http://www.seattle.gov/lists/ballard_natural_drainage.htm.

Grace Manzano, Project Manager, (206) 233-1534 or grace.manzano@seattle.gov
Robert Case, Resident Engineer, (206) 512-7044 or robert.case@seattle.gov

Or visit the project website at www.seattle.gov/cso/ballard.

There’s rising concern among nightlife workers and Seattle Police Department that people drugging drinks are happening more often, especially in Capital Hill venues.

According to SPD, members of the nightlife scene recently informed detectives that there may be unreported cases of drinks being spiked. At this time there have been no specific cases related to drugged drinks or any particular venue, however detectives are actively looking for information pertaining to unreported cases.

So what is a spiked drink?

There was a sharp contrast between the Republican and Democratic Conventions.
It is no mystery Donald Trump has been able to influence a sufficient number of sympathizers to support his nomination and cause. Probably due to their all of the same mentality.

The Republicans Convention was just a place for more of the sam. It was fear based, dark and very toxic. Trumps demagoguery and fascism takes on a cult like movement, which embraces their fear religiously.

Trumps followers are >>>>>>>>>>>> and held in bondage by Trump, to fear everything. They want to believe about America and the rest if the world. It was a twisted, unconventional convention. The entire event was Trumpetized. On the other hand, the Democratic Convention, It was an upbeat universal conscious of strength, hope and confidence to move America and more prosperous and forward. The president and Michele Obama were extremely charismatic and inspiring.

The personal testimonies from people expressing their gratitude for the hand of Hillary reaching out to them in their time of need.

For about the price of a matinee movie theater ticket, you can see two brand-new plays from the creative minds of local playwrights during the Seattle Playwrights Studio Showcase in August at Burien Actors Theatre.

The Showcase offers performances from Aug. 19 through 21 of four new shows written by playwrights from the greater Seattle area.

Tickets are just $10, and each ticket includes admission to a perfomance of two plays. 

THE PLAYS
In the hush-hush world of the undocumented, a brush with police spins out of control in Undocumented, written by Margaret O’Donnell. Performed on Aug. 19 and 21.

A mother fiercely fights the painful heritage of racism to ensure a better life for her daughter, and finds how much it can divide--or unite—in Andrea, written by Mari Salinas and directed by Roi Martin-Brown. Performed on Aug. 19.

What’s a woman to do when her date picks an ex-brothel for their first meeting? Anywhere but Auschwitz, written by Bruce Firestone and directed by Geoff Little, is an often wry look at the serious side of a building’s history. Performed on Aug. 19 and 20.

Information from King County Sheriff

The Burien Police Department recently issued officers a Naloxone nasal-spray to treat opioid overdose victims. When someone overdoses on an opioid it can be difficult to wake the person and breathing may stop, leading to death. Naloxone spray, also referred to as Narcan, is F.D.A. approved and is known for its ability to quickly counter overdose effects.

On Wednesday around 7pm Burien officers responded to the 400 block of SW152 for a man that was not breathing. When they arrived they saw two employees doing CPR on the man. A friend of the man’s told police that that he had overdosed on heroin. An officer administered Naloxone nasal-spray and the man quickly started breathing. Within minutes he was conscious and taken to the hospital.

Naloxone nasal-spray is sprayed into one nostril of an overdose victim and results are usually evident within two minutes.

By Amanda Knox
 
About a fortnight ago, some friends and I decided to watch The Maltese Falcon together. Seeing as Who Framed Roger Rabbit? has always been one of my favorites, I thought I would like it. Instead, I ended up storming out of the living room. It turned out I couldn’t stomach sitting through this moment:

Brigid: It's more than I can ever offer you if I have to bid for your loyalty.

Spade: That's good coming from you. What have you ever given me beside money? Have you ever given me any of your confidence, any of the truth? Haven't you tried to buy my loyalty with money and nothing else?

Brigid: What else is there I can buy you with?

[Spade kisses her roughly]

Surely you have things you believe fervently.

Me too.

I believe those supposedly healthful magnetic wrist bracelets do not do anything except set off airport metal detectors. I believe the main reason people wear the bracelets is because they look cool. Which they do, by the way. I believe Wonder Woman wears something like them---but I’m certainly not going to tell her my opinion.

I believe that astrology has about as much to with real science as pixie dust. I believe a Virgo is just as likely to behave like a Sagittarius. A Pisces is not demonstrably different than an Aquarius. And a Taurus would not be a thrilling car even if it were called a Leo.

I believe that there is no way to successfully eat a meatball sandwich---which by design is intended to squirt meatball bullets out all sides.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

There was a reason for all that screaming that echoed through the woods and houses surrounding the Normandy Park Swim Club pool Tuesday night.

Athletes from all 16 clubs in the Seattle Summer Swim League converged on the site for the annual All-City meet, including four teams from the Highline area.

Aside from the host Normandy Park club, there were also athletes from the crosstown Olympic View pool that hosted the Southern Division championships the Thursday before.

Competitors from the Gregory Seahurst pool in Burien also made the trip down as did the Arbor Heights team from the West Seattle and White Center area.

Tuesday's meet marked the end of another season of outdoor swimming competition -- and a load of fun and education that began in late June

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

High schools

Football
Tryouts for the upcoming fall high school football season will get underway across the state of Washington on Wednesday, Aug. 17.
Contact respective schools for more information.

Pros

Mariners
Seattle wraps up its series against the Detroit Tigers with a 7:10 p.m. Wednesday game at Safeco Field, then goes on the road for three in Oakland.
The M's take on the A's at 7:05 p.m. Friday, 6:05 p.m. Saturday and 1:05 p.m. Sunday.
Then its on to Anaheim for four against the Los Angeles Angels, starting with 7:05 p.m. games Monday and Tuesday.
All Mariners games can be seen on the ROOT Sports cable television network.

Rainiers
Tacoma concludes its series against Federal Way High School graduate Travis Ishikawa and the Sacramento Rivercats at 11:35 a.m. Wednesday at Cheney Stadium.
The Rainiers go to Memphis to play the Redbirds at 5:05 p.m. Friday, 4:35 p.m. Saturday, 4:05 p.m. Sunday and 4:35 p.m. Monday.