May 2017

The Ballard High School Viking Robotics team made school history last month by taking top honors at the FIRST Robotics world championship competition in Houston, Texas, marking the first time the school or any team from the Pacific Northwest secured a trophy.

The competition was held on April 20 -22 and 400 teams were invited from all over the world, which included Canada, China, Israel, Mexico, and Turkey.

The competition is known as “Varsity Sport of the Mind™,” for students grade nine through 12. During a six-week period teams raise funds and engineer a robot to performs a series of tasks; Teams have limited resources and time to organize their own “brand” of robot with the capability to perform the competition tasks.

FIRST Washington reported that the average cost for a robotics team is $24,000 and team sizes are between 15-150 with not limit to member size.

In a main competition of the event robots compete in a game much like basketball or soccer while students operate them remotely.

By Lindsay Peyton

The dogs had a field day at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Tuesday, May 9.

“It’s just like hide-and-seek, what we do all day long with the dogs,” Port of Seattle K9 officer David Irons said.

While the day’s training session may have seemed like a game for the bomb-sniffing canines, the important work they were doing could save lives one day.
There were multiple drills planned at the airport, all as a way for the dogs to practice finding explosives in a crowded space.

Officers from various units around the state were invited to attend, with their canine companions, to train alongside travelers at the airport, finding real explosives in a real-world environment.

The airport was just one of a handful of sites, where more than 120 K9 teams trained during the day.

In the baggage area, dogs searched until they found bags, which officers had planted on-site.

In the ticketing area, the four-legged security guards practiced identifying a moving target, using a technique that Port of Seattle officer Hannah Minnehan said is also used in the Pentagon.

By Lindsay Peyton

The dogs had a field day at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Tuesday, May 9.

“It’s just like hide-and-seek, what we do all day long with the dogs,” Port of Seattle K9 officer David Irons said.

While the day’s training session may have seemed like a game for the bomb-sniffing canines, the important work they were doing could save lives one day.
There were multiple drills planned at the airport, all as a way for the dogs to practice finding explosives in a crowded space.

Officers from various units around the state were invited to attend, with their canine companions, to train alongside travelers at the airport, finding real explosives in a real-world environment.

The airport was just one of a handful of sites, where more than 120 K9 teams trained during the day.

In the baggage area, dogs searched until they found bags, which officers had planted on-site.

In the ticketing area, the four-legged security guards practiced identifying a moving target, using a technique that Port of Seattle officer Hannah Minnehan said is also used in the Pentagon.

By Lindsay Peyton

The dogs had a field day at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Tuesday, May 9.

“It’s just like hide-and-seek, what we do all day long with the dogs,” Port of Seattle K9 officer David Irons said.

While the day’s training session may have seemed like a game for the bomb-sniffing canines, the important work they were doing could save lives one day.

There were multiple drills planned at the airport, all as a way for the dogs to practice finding explosives in a crowded space.

Officers from various units around the state were invited to attend, with their canine companions, to train alongside travelers at the airport, finding real explosives in a real-world environment.

The airport was just one of a handful of sites, where more than 120 K9 teams trained during the day.

In the baggage area, dogs searched until they found bags, which officers had planted on-site.

In the ticketing area, the four-legged security guards practiced identifying a moving target, using a technique that Port of Seattle officer Hannah Minnehan said is also used in the Pentagon.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

High schools
Baseball
Highline advances in the West Central District 2A tournament to a 12:30 p.m. semifinal against Eatonville Saturday at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds.
The winner plays for first and second place on the same diamond at 3 p.m. and the loser plays for third and fourth at 3:30 p.m. at nearby Legion Field in Bremerton.

Fastpitch softball
Highline visits Federal Way for a 4 p.m. non-league game Wednesday and Seattle Christian hosts Lindbergh at the same time Thursday before visiting Fife at 6 p.m. Friday.
Chief Sealth, meanwhile, will entertain Seattle Prep at 3 p.m. Thursday.
The North Puget Sound League tournament is being held at the Kent Service fields Thursday and Friday.

Boys soccer
Mount Rainier faces a 5:30 p.m. Thursday playoff against an opponent to be determined at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.
The tournament, which also includes Kennedy, concludes Saturday.

Track and field
Chief Sealth and Franklin are hosting the Metro League meet starting at 4 p.m. Wednesday and Friday.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray chose the Alki Bath House to make his announcement on May 9 that he would not seek re-election as mayor. Murray has been plagued by numerous claims of paying for sex with a minor during the 1980's in the past few weeks, claims he steadfastly has denied. Backed and surrounded by the heads of Seattle's government Murray cited the distraction that the scandal would cause but noted his achievements.

Details about the events leading up to a woman being stabbed to death in Ballard have surfaced and paint a picture of homelessness and hope amid a transient lifestyle.

29-year-old Kirstyn Outen was found outside the Jack in the Box and 7-Eleven on the 900 block of Northwest Leary Way around 3 a.m. on April 28. She later died at Harborview Medical Center. The King County Medical Examiner confirmed Outen died from penetrating sharp force trauma to the torso.

By Lori Ann Reinhall
Seattle-Bergen Sister City Association

It was a summer afternoon in his hometown Bellingham when pianist Angelo Rondello ran into some friends who had recently returned from a trip aboard to Japan. He was intrigued to hear that they had been there to run in a marathon that we sponsored by the Bellingham-Tateyama Sister City Association. Angelo was curious about sister cities: what were they and what did they do? His friends explained that the basic purpose was to set up exchange programs between “twinned” cities across various disciplines—sports, education, industry, technology, the arts—the possibilities were endless. The goal was always the same: to bring people from different places and culture for mutual enrichment and understanding.

Ballard will close the streets on July 7th, 8th and 9th, 2017 and open the largest celebration of all things seafood, craft beer and music. Strand of Oaks will fire up the MainStage Saturday night as the headliner act at north Seattle’s largest and longest running free concert of the summer.

“We are excited to offer a fantastic lineup of musical artists for 2017 and we are proud to continue producing the Ballard SeafoodFest as a free event for the greater Seattle community,” said Mike Stewart, Executive Director of the Ballard Alliance.

Friday, JULY 7: Nite Wave, #All4Doras.
Saturday, JULY 8: Strand of Oaks, La Luz, Dude York, Hobosexual, Bread and Butter, Honcho Poncho
Sunday, JULY 9: The Dip, Lil Smokies, Vaudeville Etiquette, Warren G. Hardings, Evening Bell, School of Rock

New in 2017, the Ballard SeafoodFest will kick off with a Friday night concert with NiteWave, the Beer Garden featuring a selection of Ballard’s craft beers, and a variety of food trucks.