June 2020

#SayTheirNamesMemorial goes up on Harbor Ave to honor black lives lost to brutality

It's easy to miss the fact that the names of black lives lost in recent times are not the only ones. Black lives have been taken by brutality, injustice and racism for literally centuries. Most of their names have been forgotten. But there are those among us now working to make us remember, and to finally and forever change for the better.

On June 19th (Juneteenth) Joy Proctor (Joy Proctor Design) in Portland Oregon decided to take action. She wrote the following on Facebook:

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Bloodworks Northwest hoping to head off a severe summer blood shortage

Blood drive now underway through July 11; If you can donate, please do

Bloodworks Northwest is bracing for a severe summer blood shortage that could limit local trauma centers access to blood, so they’re ramping up their appeal for blood donations of all blood types. Anyone who donates between June 29 – July 11 gets a $20 grocery gift card for stocking the shelves for local patients.

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LETTER: Pay essential workers what they are owed

To the editor:

My name is Bryan, I have worked in grocery for twenty years and for the last 10 years I have worked for Fred Meyer. This has been the year from Hell to put it lightly. With everything happening with the outbreak and the constant stress is getting to my fellow workers and I. 

My fellow coworkers and I are putting ourselves in harm's way everyday and gambling with our lives and our families lives every time we stock the shelves at your local supermarket. We pray and take as many precautions as we can so we do not bring home this pandemic to our families.

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He’s a big man in a little sport

by Rob Clay

Duane Swanson is a big man on the Northwest midget racing circuit. As the owner of a Legend race car, Duane can tell you about the near 30 years he has been owning, repairing, and driving around the country or the more than 800 races under his belt. Duane is a busy guy, so we'll tell you about it.

Midget race cars are smaller versions of mid-to-late '40s Ford Coupes scaled down to 5/8 of the original roadster with a Yamaha motorcycle engine, a four speed stick shift, one aluminum molded seat with a slim pad and a windscreen in place of a windshield. This will be an important point later in this story.

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New name for Washington?

By Jean Godden

Demonstrators are pulling down statues. There goes another one: Protesters in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park removed the statue of Francis Scott Key, who wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner," our national anthem.

Scott Key won't be a big loss. Despite writing "o'er the land of the free," the author once went to court to defend slavery. He wrote the words (including ones about "hirelings and slaves)," then swiped the melody from an un-singable British drinking song. Let's think about changing our anthem to something inspiring like "America the Beautiful" or Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is My Land."

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Salty's on Alki set to reopen July 2; West Seattle's biggest restaurant returns after 108 days

Salty's on Alki, West Seattle's largest and arguably most famous restaurant has been missing in action during the pandemic. Other restaurants have struggled with take out and and limited staff but Salty's owners Gerry and Kathryn Kingen chose to stay closed. The 18,000 square foot facility, with "The best view of Seattle in Seattle" has for nearly 40 years been a place for what Gerry calls, "Fun dining" which blends great food, top notch service, an upbeat atmosphere and that world class view of the Seattle skyline. That means Salty's has always been in large part about the experience.

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