February 2017

Mayor Ed Murray will be temporarily activating the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to accelerate and coordinate our response to the homelessness crisis in Seattle.

Led by Director of City Operations Fred Podesta, activating the EOC will utilize a successful model to manage coordination of both internal departments and external partners to more urgently provide services and lower barriers to housing for people living on our streets. While work at the EOC will be centered around accelerating the work of Pathways Home and getting individualized services to people living outside, the collaborative model will also foster innovative ideas to address this crisis. Work at the EOC will include:

Accelerating the implementation of Pathways Home, the City’s plan to address homelessness and the guiding principles of getting individualized services to people living unsheltered and getting them inside quickly.

$10,000 of jewelry taken from home

A burglary that occurred on Feb. 9 at a home on N.W. 63rd Street has left a Ballard couple missing a cache of jewelry valued at $10,000. Police were called after the complainant came home from work to find his sliding back door broken through. Glass littered the scene. He discovered that the majority of his home was undisturbed but that the master bedroom was a mess. His wife’s jewelry box was opened, emptied. His reading glasses, valued at $300, were also taken. A search of the house revealed a set of car keys and some change were also gone. The couple reported that their neighbor’s house was burglarized within the last two months. They also believed that the suspect must have known their schedule because the complainant’s wife is home during the day, except on Thursdays, the day the burglary occurred. Police advised the couple to change their locks.

Thief takes gold and silver, leaves prints on cigar box

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Friday, Feb. 17

Boys basketball
Kennedy 63, Bellarmine 59
Next up for the Lancers is state regional Class 4A action following Friday's West Central District victory over the Lions at the Stadium High School gymnasium.

Wednesday, Feb. 15

Boys basketball
Kennedy 60, Emerald Ridge 42
The Lancers kept their season alive with Wednesday's West Central District win over Emerald Ridge at Mount Tahoma.
Kentridge 49, Mt. Rainier 44
Mount Rainier was edged out of West Central District 4A tournament action with Wednesday's defeat at the hands of Kentridge at Rogers.

Tuesday, Feb. 14

Boys basketball
River Ridge 56, Highline 42
River Ridge bumped the Pirates from West Central District 2A tournament play on Tuesday in a game that took place at Curtis High School.

Courtesy article by Gerardo Bolong

TACOMA - After dropping a 41-35 1A West Central District III basketball game to Vashon Island, Seattle Christian boys basketball head coach MIcheal Watts was searching for a way to make his team more offensive to its foes.

Taking a cue from the Warrior girls district champions, Watts incorporated the quick passing, ball movement tactics into the boys repertoire, resulting in much improved results.

On Sat., Feb. 18, at Bellarmine Prep High School, the offense was a prime mover in a winner-to-regional, loser-out 47-40 win against the Olympic League regular season champion Port Townsend Redhawks. Seattle Christian (13-10) will face Cascade Christian for the third time this season on Feb. 24 or Feb. 25 in a nearby regional site at time to be determined.

"We added the offense the girls played in a long, four-hour practice," he said. "The ball movement also got us more rebounds for more chances at the basket."

Other than a third quarter plagued by turnovers, SC executed the strategy well."

Courtesy Article by Gerardo Bolong

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

High schools

Boys basketball
Seattle Christian and Kennedy will both will see state regional action Friday.
JFK will play Kentridge in an 8 p.m. at Rogers as the Warriors rake on Cascade Christian at Puyallup.
West Seattle waits until 2 p.m. Saturday to play Timberline at Bellevue College when Seattle Lutheran goes to W.F. West in Chehalis to play Napavine.

Girls basketball
West Seattle plays a 12 p.m. game Saturday at Bellevue College against a foe to be determined.
Seattle Christian goes on the road to Pasco to take on Columbia in a 2 p.m. game that day at Chiawana High School.

Pros

Mariners
Seattle launches into its preseason schedule Saturday, playing the San Diego Padres in a 12:10 p.m. game in Peoria, Ariz.
The Mariners play the same team at the same time and place Sunday, before entertaining the Kansas City Royals at 12:10 p.m. Monday in Peoria.
They visit the Chicago White Sox at 12:05 p.m. Tuesday.

Thunderbirds

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

High schools

Boys basketball
Seattle Christian and Kennedy will both will see state regional action Friday.
JFK will play Kentridge in an 8 p.m. at Rogers as the Warriors rake on Cascade Christian at Puyallup.
West Seattle waits until 2 p.m. Saturday to play Timberline at Bellevue College when Seattle Lutheran goes to W.F. West in Chehalis to play Napavine.

Girls basketball
West Seattle plays a 12 p.m. game Saturday at Bellevue College against a foe to be determined.
Seattle Christian goes on the road to Pasco to take on Columbia in a 2 p.m. game that day at Chiawana High School.

Pros

Mariners
Seattle launches into its preseason schedule Saturday, playing the San Diego Padres in a 12:10 p.m. game in Peoria, Ariz.
The Mariners play the same team at the same time and place Sunday, before entertaining the Kansas City Royals at 12:10 p.m. Monday in Peoria.
They visit the Chicago White Sox at 12:05 p.m. Tuesday.

Thunderbirds

By Pat Cashman

I sat in the general manger’s cluttered office nervously wringing my hands---my first-ever job interview was underway. There was an opening for a spot on the assembly line at my hometown’s major builder of mobile homes---and I was vying for it.

“Do you have any experience?” asked the G.M.

“Of course I had experience,” I thought, but did not speak. “Everyone has experience of some kind.” But I knew what he meant: Carpentry experience. I nodded vaguely, hoping that would be enough of an answer.

“Let me be more specific,” he said. “Have you ever used a power saw?” I thought about fibbing---and even bent my index finger down and under so that it appeared I might be missing part of it. But I finally answered truthfully, “Not really. But I’m a quick learner.” What was I going to say: “I’m a slow learner?”

“Never mind,” said the boss gruffly. “We can teach you what you need to know, But what we really insist upon around here is that you follow the rules.”
“What are the rules?” I asked helpfully.

By Amanda Knox

This week Chris and I learned the shim sham. Without getting technical, I’d describe it as a social line dance combining tap-style stomping, gliding, kicking, wiggle-walking, and swagger. The shim sham is what our instructors Mark and Katie K. call the seventh inning stretch of every social dance—at least on swing nights at the Century Ballroom. It’s the one time we shed our roles as leader or follower and synchronize instead with the whole room full of other individual dancers.

You can feel the difference. Your mind shifts from honing in on your partner to honing in on both yourself and the entire group, from “couple” to “individual + collective.” So, though I adore partner dancing, I was excited to finally also participate in the shim sham, for the same reason that I love participating in a choir or a theatre chorus or a flash mob. It’s magical when individuals come together and the resulting organism is greater than the sum of its parts—like a flock of birds.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Naleia Gomes and Karissa Saelee of Mount Rainier High School both enjoyed banner days as state gymnastics action at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall concluded Saturday.

Both were competing in the individual event finals for Class 4A.

Gomes captured first place in the beam competition for the Rams, scoring a 9.475.

She also took second in the bars competition with a score of 9.375.

Saelee broke into the top seven in all four events.

She finished fourth in the vault with a 9.45 and tied for fifth place in the floor exercise with another 9.45.

Saelee snagged seventh place in the bars with a 9.0 and seventh in the beam with an 8.975.

Saelee was coming off a second place finish in the 4A all-around the day before, when she came through with a total score of 37.950.

Gomes placed ninth all-around with a 36.550.

Mount Rainier took eighth place as a team with a score of 160.675.

Summer Kramer of West Seattle also fared well at the meet in the 1A/2A/3A portion.