day : 14/05/2010 11 results

From Bil Hood at Seattle Lutheran High School:

The Seattle Lutheran Saints Track Team had a great showing in yesterday’s League Championship meet at West Seattle Stadium. Senior Lucas Driscoll won the Shot Put and the 100 meter dash. He broke his school
record in the shot with a put of 49′ 7″. Senior Elyssa Watford won the long jump.

The following athletes have qualified for the Tri-District Championships next week at the Southwest Athletic Complex.

Girls District Qualifiers : Alina Yovetich 200 and 400
Hannah Jacobs – High Jump and Javelin
Elyssa Watford – Long Jump, Triple Jump, Shot Put
Jillian Smith – Long Jump and Pole Vault
Jillian Burkett – Discus
Mackenzie Bartell – Shot Put
Kelli Mosely – Discus

Boys District Qualifiers
Lucas Driscoll – 100, Shot, Javelin, Discus
Jake Nigon – 400, Shot, Pole Vault, Long Jump
Gordy Mueller – 800, Javelin
Jared Stefanoff – 3200,
Dylan Heckett – Discus
Thor Winters – Javelin
Colin O’Brien – 4×100 relay
Tru Petrilli – 4×100 relay
Trevor Forsell – 4×100 relay
Justin Smith – 4×100 relay

2 West Seattle elementary schools see/hear Killer Whale Tales

May 14, 2010 10:53 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle people | Wildlife

Many of the orca sightings we’ve shared here in recent months have started with a tip from Jeff Hogan. We often identify him as an “orca expert” for brevity’s sake – but here’s the long version: What he’s best known for is the environmental-education program Killer Whale Tales. Over the past decade, thousands of local students have seen Killer Whale Tales presentations, and the number grew this week with two more in West Seattle – Lafayette Elementary on Monday, and Sanislo Elementary on Tuesday, where we stopped in. We talked with Jeff before the presentation, and he explained what he was going to talk about – as well as the story behind one of his most popular audio/visual aids:

The program is explained further on the Killer Whale Tales website. When not in the classroom, Jeff is often in the field observing and photographing whales – not just orcas; before this week, we last encountered him one month ago today at Arroyo Beach, when he was first to tell us about the death of the gray whale that stranded there (see the video interview in our report from the scene that afternoon).

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Potter Construction joining again in tomorrow’s “Rampathon”

May 14, 2010 10:12 pm

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| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

(2009 Rampathon photo courtesy Potter Construction)
Tomorrow’s the annual “Rampathon” by the Master Builders Care Foundation in King and Snohomish Counties, and West Seattle’s Potter Construction (WSB sponsor) will be part of it again this year. Staff volunteers “will set one Highland Park grandmother free when they build a wheelchair-accessible ramp to her front door,” according to the announcement. The project is getting financial assistance from the Rotary Club of West Seattle, which donated $3,500 to support construction of the ramp. Across the region, Rampathon has resulted in almost 300 ramps built since 1993, supported by donations to the MBC Foundation; Potter’s Highland Park project is one of 20 scheduled in the region tomorrow.

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West Seattle Weekend Lineup: Starting to feel summery

May 14, 2010 5:45 pm

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| Fun stuff to do | WS culture/arts | WS Weekend Lineup

(Friday afternoon Lincoln Park photo by Chas Redmond)
Late afternoon-early evening, and with 70-plus temps in the sunshine, we know you’re probably most focused on enjoying the outdoors right now. But the West Seattle Weekend Lineup has indoor suggestions for later AND a big slate of activities for the rest of the weekend – take a minute to check out the list and see! The WSWL is sponsored by Skylark Cafe and Club, where you’ll find FREE live music, bodacious brunches, plus lunch ‘n’ dinner:Read More

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West Seattle/Fauntleroy YMCA recognizes Volunteers of the Year

May 14, 2010 4:39 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle people

From the West Seattle Family YMCA (WSB sponsor), which also shared the photo:

Last night, the West Seattle & Fauntleroy YMCA recognized our Volunteers of the Year: The YMCA Dolphins Swim Team Parent Club (at the club’s monthly meeting at Merrill Gardens). These parents give so much of themselves to support their swimmers, the team, and the YMCA. They organize and staff swim meets, raise funds, chaperone events and trips, and much more. The program literally could not happen without these dedicated volunteers and their thousands of hours of service. The Volunteer of the Year award recognizes those who stood out from our already amazing field of volunteers at the YMCA in the past year, and this group is particularly deserving. Congratulations to our Swim Team Parent Club!

In the photo, from left, it’s Head Coach Rod Rombauer (staff), Club President Trisha Montemayor (volunteer), Associate Executive Samantha Bowes (staff), Meet Director Laurie Robbins (volunteer), Partners With Youth Campaign Division Leader for Aquatics Earl Long (volunteer).

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Seen at Seacrest: Parking alert; Hi-Yu Fishing Derby preps

May 14, 2010 2:47 pm

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| Transportation | West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival | West Seattle news

Thanks to those who e-mailed about parking restrictions at and around Seacrest tomorrow afternoon-evening – the signs are up throughout the parking lot and along the north side of Harbor for about a block on either side of Seacrest. All of those areas are marked “no parking” for 3-10 pm tomorrow (Saturday). One tipster said it’s for a film crew, though we haven’t confirmed that. (2:55 pm update, SDOT confirms it) Good news, though, that time frame will NOT affect a big event at Seacrest tomorrow morning:

The fish have just arrived for the West Seattle Sportsmen’s Club Hi-Yu Kids’ Fishing Derby. It’s free to the first 150 kids, who will be provided bamboo fishing poles to borrow, and goodie bags to keep:

That’s club recording secretary (and 22-year member) Roz Mascio, part of the crew putting together the goodie bags at the pier right now. Club members will also be keeping round-the-clock watch on the “fish pond” till the derby’s over – it’s scheduled for 8 am to 11 am tomorrow.

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3 days to 1st Ave. S. onramp closure: SDOT tour reveals other news

May 14, 2010 1:02 pm

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| Spokane St. Viaduct project | West Seattle news

With three days till the 1st Avenue South ramp to the westbound West Seattle Bridge closes, SDOT invited the media to come see the other side of the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project this morning.

As we tweeted while on the tour, which took us and 4 regional-media crews up the new 4th Avenue offramp from the eastbound side, that ramp is now running at least five months ahead of schedule and is likely to open in September. The ramp is complete enough that we were able to walk all the way up; the next major stage is the “closure” to fuse it with the existing structure – and that will cause some eastbound headaches during an up-to-8-week period this summer, because it means that stretch of the eastbound path to I-5 and Columbian Way will be down to one lane. Here’s the section of the ramp that will be fused to the existing bridge – the view is westward toward West Seattle, against traffic:

And if you really want to see the ramp in all its glory, we pointed the camera forward while walking back down (sorry we can’t speed it up to something approximating a car’s pace):

In the meantime, concurrent with Monday’s closure of the 1st Ave. South ramp on the westbound side – slated to be replaced over the next 16 months with a new onramp which will actually be entered from 1st, a ways north of the bridge – we were told during today’s tour that a section of lower eastbound Spokane Street is about to REOPEN: By Monday morning, project managers say, the lower eastbound Spokane Street will reopen from East Marginal to 1st. (That means the questions about “why can’t we turn right from the 1st Avenue South ramp?” are about to be moot.)

Something else that’s happening next week – a stoplight will be installed on 4th Avenue South, where the new ramp ends – while it starts as one lane off the eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct, it becomes two lanes midway down, and then splits into three at the end.

So to review:
*1st Avenue South onramp to the westbound West Seattle (high) Bridge closes permanently as of Monday (first thing in the morning).
*It will be demolished and replaced by a new onramp, but that will take an estimated 16 months to build. In the meantime, traffic will be detoured to the low bridge – here’s the detour map again:

*SDOT is expecting advance warning of bridge openings for marine traffic, and will put that on dynamic-messaging signage in the area, and will also send it out via Twitter (follow them at @seattledot – even if you are not a Twitter user, you can use that link to see their updates online).
*Other road projects, of course, continue too (while on our way to the tour, we had to get off on 1st to get to 4th – which will change as of Monday – and then got stuck first in construction slowdowns on 1st north of the bridge, then behind a train while taking an east-west street to cut over to 4th). They’re listed here.

If you plan to follow the low-bridge detour while coming home on Monday, we’d love to hear about your experience – tweet, FB, e-mail us, whatever, with the story of how it worked out.

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Seattle Parks Board: Budget-cut update; Gallagher’s parting words

May 14, 2010 9:40 am

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Minutes before Seattle Parks‘ finance director told the Parks Board the midyear budget cut would be almost twice as big as she’d estimated, her former boss got up and shared his budget-crisis thoughts.

It’s not every day a high-ranking city official quits, and then returns to his ex-department shortly thereafter to offer advice as a private citizen.

But that’s exactly what ex-Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher did last night, criticizing “elected officials” who “haven’t stepped forward to solve the problems we have today.”

So, he suggested, the Parks Board needs to step up and make sure its “advisory” role goes beyond his old job.

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West Seattle Summer Movies on the Wall: 1 more needed!

May 14, 2010 8:32 am

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| Fun stuff to do | West Seattle news | West Seattle Outdoor Movies

(WSB photo from 2008 Movies on the Wall series)
The slate for this year’s West Seattle Summer Outdoor Movies on the Wall in The Junction – (Saturday nights 7/17-8/21 in the Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) courtyard) is ALMOST set, but organizers need one last movie idea. So far, the movies on the schedule are “Mamma Mia,” “Star Trek,” “War Games,” “Wayne’s World” and “Up” – the dates aren’t 100 percent final yet so we’re just mentioning the titles. One more movie is needed and the thought is “family-friendly,” G or PG. (Can’t be a Disney movie, for date-related licensing reasons, so “Up” is the only one from the House of Mouse that you’ll see this year.) Suggestions are being taken today only – please post one in the comment section if you’ve got an idea, and the Movies on the Wall team thanks you for the earlier nominations!

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West Seattle Friday — from Alki anniversary to Chief Sealth play

May 14, 2010 7:26 am

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| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

A few highlights before we get to the West Seattle Weekend Lineup, all from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar: This morning on Alki, you’re likely to see a bigger Stroller Strides exercise group than usual, as they’re celebrating a combination anniversary/season opening with a free class (here’s the post in the WSB Forums’ Freebies/Deals/Sales/etc. section) … Also this morning, Nature Consortium has a midday work party at College Place Ravine in honor of “King County Executive Dow Constantine‘s half-birthday,” 10 am-1 pm, volunteers welcome, here’s a map … As noted here yesterday, the lowest daytime tides of the year so far are happening through Sunday – today’s low tide is -2.1 just before noon … Tonight (and tomorrow night) at 7, $5 gets you into “You Can’t Take It With You,” presented by the Chief Sealth International High School Drama Department – here’s the poster … Other entertainment tonight includes Bells of the Sound with “A Night at the Movies” and Rainbow Bingo at the Senior Center of West Seattle … More on the calendar!

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West Seattle Bookshelf, mid-May edition

May 14, 2010 4:00 am

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| West Seattle books | West Seattle news

Lists courtesy of Square One Books

Looking for something to read, and/or wondering what’s hot? Every week, courtesy of Gretchen Montgomery @ Square One Books (WSB sponsor), we bring you her independent West Seattle bookstore’s 5 best-sellers in each of 4 key categories:

Hardcover:
1. Dead in the Family: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel by Charlaine Harris
2. Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre
3. Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes
4. Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth
5. Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

Paperback:
1. All Other Nights by Dara Horn
2. Tinkers (Pulitzer Prize Winner) by Paul Harding
3. Tide Guide 2010 by Evergreen Pacific
4. Coop: A Family, a Farm, and the Pursuit of One Good Egg by Michael Perry
5. Tideflats to Tomorrow: The History of Seattle’s SoDo by Dan Raley

Children/Young Adult:
1. The Stink Books by Megan McDonald
2. The 13th Reality Vol. 1 by James Dashner
3. Bear in the Attic by Susan Meyers
4. The Moomintrolls Series by Tove Jansson
5. The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

Teen:
1. Whisper by Phoebe Kitanidis
2. Mistwood by Leah Cypess
3. The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell
4. Max by James Patterson
5. The Cirque du Freak Series by Darren Shan

By the way, Square One just announced a reading/autograph event with two Seattle teen authors — Phoebe Kitanidis, author of “Whisper,” and Kimberly Derting, author of “The Body Finder” – at 6:30 pm June 24th at the Southwest Branch Library. Square One will sell books at the event; admission is free.

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