Christmas Lights #7

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Varying from our series of decorated homes, Steve took this beautiful shot of decorated boats under the moon at the Edmonds Marina.

Photo by Steven H. Robinson

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Blood Moon over Shoreline

Chad Coleman is a staff photographer for the Sound Publishing group of local newspapers and online news, most of which have the word "Reporter" in their names. Chad has a photo blog and I think he lives in Shoreline.

In any event, he picked Shoreline as the spot to doze in his car with the moon roof open to take photos of the lunar eclipse on December 20.  

Called the Blood Moon, or Hunter's Moon, the lunar eclipse began on the 20th but finished on the 21st, the Winter Solstice.

Chad's photos are spectacular and a view from our own area - if only we had been lounging in the back yard that night to see it.

He published them several places but the best shots are on his blog. Take a look - it's worth your time.

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WeatherWatcher: Last week and what's coming this week

Warmest and coldest days are based on average temperature of the entire day (starting at midnight) and averages are based on the whole week.

  • Warmest Day: 45.0°F on Friday (Christmas Eve)
  • Coldest Day: 37.2°F on Sunday the 19th.
  • Rainiest day: 1.42 inches on Thursday the 23rd.

  • Average temperature: 41.3°F
  • Weekly high temperature: 50.4°F
  • Weekly low temperature: 33.6°F
  • Total rainfall: 2.67 inches.
  • Weekly high humidity: 100%
  • Weekly low humidity: 33%
  • Average humidity: 81%
  • Weekly high pressure: 29.441 inches
  • Weekly low pressure: 28.762 inches
  • Average pressure: 29.114inches

Weather highlights for the week:
We had a fairly wet day on Thursday the 23rd, receiving over an inch of rain. Otherwise this week was pretty quiet weather wise.

Weather for the coming week:
Watch out for Wednesday night - Friday, forecasters are expecting a cold low pressure system to develop in the Golf of Alaska bringing down arctic cold air into the Puget Sound region which may result in possible snow here in Shoreline. 

This seems to be consistent through multiple forecast centers (including the National Weather Service of Seattle.) I've found in my experience that when multiple agencies are predicting the same general weather pattern that it is much more likely to occur. I'll keep you posted if any winter storm warnings, watches, or advisories pop up.

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Shorewood girls finish December Wesco 3A schedule with 1-3 record after loss to Everett

The Shorewood girls' basketball team finished the December part of its Wesco 3A schedule with a 1-3 record (2-5 overall) after a Wednesday, Dec. 22, home loss to Everett.

The Thunderbirds play non-league games Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 28, 29 and 30 against Kingco Conference opponents, playing host to Roosevelt of Seattle (2-2 Kingco 4A,  3-3 overall) Tuesday at 6 p.m. and Liberty (3-1 Kingco 3A, 5-2 overall) Wednesday at 7:45 p.m., and play at Mount Si (3-1 Kingco 3A,  4-3 overall). The Thunderbirds return to Wesco 3A play Jan. 5 at Glacier Peak.
 
In the 63-46 loss to Everett (3-1 Wesco 3A, 7-1 overall), Shorewood led 18-13 after the first quarter, but the Seagulls took a 29-25 lead at halftime and pulled away from the Thunderbirds throughout the second half. Lisa Echert led Shorewood with 14 points.)

At Shorewood H.S.
Everett                13 16 19 15 —  63
Shorewood          18   7  11 10 — 46

Shorewood Scoring
Points
Jennifer Franklin
9
Masha Shtikel
9
Kimberly Lindgren
4
Jennifer Thompson
3
Lauren Thompson
3
Erin Ellersick
2
Kenra Holley-lair
2
Lisa Echert
14
Munawara Abdula
0
Gabby Hager
0
Kassie Rasmassen
0

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Flash Mob at Third Place Commons

So it would probably help if you knew what a "flash mob" is.

You may have seen some of the stories about Flash Mobs. It's an internet phenomena where a date, place, time, and activity are posted, and anyone who wants to play shows up. A recent story on TV showed a flash mob where everyone dressed up in Santa suits and walked down the block together.

Now we have made the flash mob map. At high noon on Friday, December 24, a small - but enthusiastic - flash mob gathered at Third Place Commons in Lake Forest Park and sang the 12 Days of Christmas, complete with appropriate gestures. Before you are too impressed, you need to know that the leader brought along the words and prompted the singers. (Quick, name all seven dwarfs - Snow White doesn't count).

Of course there is a You Tube video. What's fun about it is that there are so many events and musical acts at Third Place Commons that the shoppers, diners, and book browsers at Third Place Books all took it in stride, probably thinking that it was a nice Christmas event. Many of them joined in.

You can join in too, right here. Sing as loudly as you like.

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Christmas Lights #6

Friday, December 24, 2010

Photo by Steven H. Robinson

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Merry Christmas from Vision House

The kids of Vision House

Vision House sends its Christmas Greetings with this charming card and thanks everyone for their support of homeless kids.




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Shorecrest girls drop Wesco 3A record to 2-2 with 62-54 loss at Meadowdale Wednesday

Including information from the Seattle Times

The Shorecrest girls’ basketball team dropped its Wesco 3A record to 2-2 and its overall record to 2-5 with e 62-54 loss to Meadowdale (3-1, 4-4) Wednesday, Dec. 22.
The Scots play non-league games Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 28, 29 and 30, against Kingco Conference opponents, hosting Bellevue Tuesday at 7:45 p.m. playing at Juanita Wednesday afternoon and visiting Redmond Thursday evening.
Shorecrest returns to Wesco 3A play Wednesday, Jan. 5, with a 7:30 p.m. home game against Mountlake Terrace.
In Shorecrest’s loss in the Wesco 3A showdown at Meadowdale, the Scots, led by junior Brianne Lasconia's 19 points, eight rebounds and five steals, erased a 30-27 halftime deficit in the opening moments of the second half. The Mavericks held them off with an 11-0 run and never trailed again.
Both teams went into the game with 2-1 Wesco 3A records.
The Scots were without second-leading scorer India Matheson, who was in street clothes with a splint on her right ankle. Shorecrest still battled inside, getting nine points and 13 rebounds from Mickey Greenburg and 13 points from Janie Uppinghouse. But the Scots struggled from the field, making 4 of 25 three-point shots.
Lasconia leads the Scots in season scoring with an average of 15.6 points in the Scots’ seven games. Matheson has averaged 14.2 points in the five games she has played, Also averaging in double figures are Uppinghouse with 12.3 points per game and Shannon Schachle with 11.7.
Score by Quarters:
Shorecrest      14 13 13 14 — 54
Meadowdale 12 18 17 15 — 62
Shorecrest Scoring:
Points
Mickey Greenburg
9
Melissa Ruhlman
5
Christina Jarvis
4
Allison Jones
2
Shannon Schachle
2
Brianne Lasconia
19
Janie Uppinghouse
13
Havilah Glesener
0
Addy Ibsen
0

Shorecrest Season Scoring
Player

Games
Points
P/G
Brianne Lasconia

7
109
15.6
India Matheson

5
71
14.2
Janie Uppinghouse

7
86
12.3
Shannon Schachle

7
82
11.7
Mickey Greenburg

7
29
4.1
Melissa Ruhlman

7
15
2.1
Christina Jarvis

7
12
1.7
Allison Jones

7
9
1.3
Havilah Glesener

7
0
0.0
Haley Magaoay

2
0
0.0
Keegan Monson

2
0
0.0
Addy Ibsen

1
0
0.0
Annie Schlachter

1
0
0.0

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House fire in Shoreline Friday, December 24

Shoreline Firefighters are now cleaning up after a house fire at 1233 Ballinger Place. A neighbor pounded on the door around 6:30 am Friday morning, alerting them that their home and part of their yard were on fire. The neighbor also called 911 -- and multiple fire crews arrived to discover flames and smoke pouring from several sides of the two story residence.

Two occupants of the home, a man and his elderly father, escaped -- but suffered from burns and possible smoke inhalation. They were treated at the scene and taken to local hospitals. Condition reports will not be available until the hospital releases that information.

Fire crews from Northshore and Snohomish Fire District One assisted in battling the blaze, which appears to have destroyed much of the home. There were reportedly several loud explosions during the incident, which may have been home oxygen tanks used by one of the residents. No fire crews were injured in the blaze, though much of the structure is now unstable and unoccupiable. Investigators say a preliminary cause appears to be that one of the occupants was smoking in bed, while using home oxygen for medical purposes.

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Christmas Lights #5

Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Send us a photo of your house or your favorite display.
If you click on any photo in our News, you should be able to enlarge it a couple of times for better detail.

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Last minute shopping: give a goat for Christmas

Kid with kids. Photo from Global Gift Guide.
What to get for the person who not only has everything but is trying to get rid of it? 

How about a goat?

Shoreline-based international humanitarian organization World Concern has an entire catalog of gifts you can give in someone's name. 

For $40 your person gets a heart-warming card and the goat goes to someone in great need in a third-world country where it can mean the difference between disaster and sustainable living.

"Once full-grown, goats can produce up to a gallon of nutritious milk each day. Plus, the sturdy animals can eat about anything and do well in a variety of terrains. Goat herds grow quickly, and the sale of kid goats can provide enough money to send children to school."

Solar Cooker. Photo from Global Gift Guide.
If goats don't appeal to you, try a solar cooker. If solar energy is feasible in rain-drenched Shoreline (see stories on Einstein and City Hall), imagine how effective solar would be in sun-drenched Darfur?

"For $25, you can buy a solar stove kit and provide training on how to use it. Solar cooking provides a way to benefit from the abundant, free and safe energy nature supplies so generously in an area with more than 300 sunny days a year."

Still not quite what you wanted?  Shop the rest of the Global Gift Guide.


World Concern, part of CRISTA Ministries, is a Christian humanitarian organization that helps lift people out of poverty through activities including microfinance, agriculture, disaster response and small business development. World Concern works with the poor in 22 countries, with the goal of transforming the lives of those we touch, leading them on a path to self-sustainability. Worldwide, World Concern offers life, opportunity and hope to nearly six million people.

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Paul Villanueva honored as Symetra/Seahawks Hero in the Classroom

Paul Villanueva, Hero in the Classroom. Photo courtesy Shoreline Schools.
Paul Villanueva, math teacher, activities coordinator and coach at Shorewood High School, and regular contributor to the ShorelineAreaNews, was honored as a December 19 Shoreline School District recipient of the Heroes in the Classroom program sponsored by the Seattle Seahawks and Symetra Financial.

Symetra Heroes in the Classroom is a community program that recognizes Shoreline, Renton and Seattle teachers for outstanding leadership and instructional skills during the Seattle Seahawks season. Twelve Shoreline teachers will be honored this season.

Paul was recognized prior to the December 19 Seahawks home game against the Atlanta Falcons. He received a team jersey, two tickets to the Seahawks game and on-field passes, and a $350 Office Max gift card for classroom supplies.

Shorewood staff and students nominated Paul. 
One of his colleagues wrote in part: "Paul is one of those teachers that graduated students flood back to see him and share their life experiences. He is truly an amazing role model, caring individual and an exceptional teacher. His many hours of helping, teaching and listening have richly rewarded our students."

Wrote one of the students: 
"Mr. V is better than a teacher. He's almost like a super mastermind who can solve almost every problem. And no, I don't mean just math problems - although he could probably solve every one of those, too."

Jill Owen and Paul Villanueva. Photo courtesy Shoreline Schools.
Villanueva was honored along with fellow Seahawk Hero in the Classroom and Shorewood math teacher Jill Owen at Shorewood's winter sports assembly on December 16.

At the assembly, representatives from Symetra and the Seahawks announced that Shorewood would receive the season-ending MVP Award - a $10,000 donation to support a student achievement program in mathematics at the school.

--Shoreline Schools

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Five local colleges work together to create financial efficiencies

Five-Star Consortium representatives discuss priorities at a meeting Dec. 16, 2010, at Shoreline Community College. Photo courtesy SCC.

Presidents, vice presidents and trustees from Shoreline, Cascadia, Edmonds and Everett Community Colleges and Lake Washington Technical College all gathered Thursday, December 16 at Shoreline to hear recommendations on how the five colleges can work together.

Known as the Five-Star Consortium, the group was formed in 2009 with the “goal of maximizing efficiencies and promoting institutional coordination and collaboration.” Over the past year, vice presidents and other college staff have been working to see just how that goal might be achieved.

They are focusing their efforts in four categories: instruction, administration, student services and human resources.

Topping the list for the Instruction group is the HP 3000, the state’s aging mainframe computer that is the foundation of all key student records for all colleges. “The HP is the key,” said Sandra Fowler-Hill, VP for Instruction at Everett. “It is the biggest single barrier we face.

It would also a huge expense for the State to replace, with hardware and software counted in millions of dollars. Other priorities, however, are well within grasp.

Common placement test
Four of the five schools use Compass tests while one uses Accuplacer. Besides picking one test, the colleges would also agree on common scoring for class placements. There have been talks with local high schools on how to better assess student transcripts that would perhaps allow skipping placement tests that are costly to both students and colleges.

Residency requirements
Not where students live, but the requirements for where they complete degrees are the issue. Currently, students who hop from college to college may be forced to take credits beyond the degree requirement to satisfy residency rules.

Also on Instruction’s list are:
  • Align start-stop dates for academic quarters,
  • publish a combined annual class schedule,
  • joint purchasing for textbooks
  • combined professional development efforts for all employees.
Cascadia President Eric Murray, Shoreline Vice President for Academic Affairs John Backes and Shoreline Trustee Gidget Terpstra attended the meeting. Photo courtesy SCC.

The Administration group chose one goal they feel has significant, long-term potential: implementation of a virtual desktop interface.

The idea would use centralized servers hosting content and programs for access by any Web-enabled device, from a desktop computer to a smart phone. The group’s report shows potential savings to the consortium ranging from $412,000 to $773,000 a year over five years, primarily through reduced hardware replacement and software costs.

Other items considered by the Administration group were a central warehouse for equipment purchasing, print shop and graphic design efficiencies and shared capital project management.

Student Services also discussed their frustrations with the limitations and problems with the HP 3000, but identified two top objectives which can be implemented:
  • common student identification numbers
  • shared access to student records.

Removing HP 3000 firewalls between college records would allow records to be shared, meaning that students who move between colleges would have their records move with them in a seamless manner. For ID numbers, students now get a new number each time they enroll at a different college. A common number would allow easy tracking and access for students and colleges.

The Human Resources group looked at recruiting, personnel investigations, training, mandatory direct deposit and sharing expertise in specific subjects.

--Information included from Jim Hill's SCC blog 

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City Hall parking garage - question about contaminated soil

Photo by Steven H. Robinson. Garage driveway is to the left.
A SAN reader recently made a comment about the City's lack of due diligence in failing to identify and plan for contaminated soil under the City parking garage. As I had not heard anything about this, I checked with City staff.

Public Works Operations Manager Jesus Sanchez responded that the City followed a thorough due diligence process prior to construction which included hiring the firm Geomatrix to perform a geo-technical analysis, sampling and testing the soils at the entire site of the Shoreline Civic Center, including the parking garage. No contaminated soil was found there.

They did find contaminated soil, as expected, at the site of the former dry cleaning operation which had been located at the old City Hall Annex site.

“The area that did test positive for contaminated soils (TCE), was the site of the former dry cleaning operations located at the City Hall Annex site, where a necessary, voluntary clean-up had been anticipated prior to testing. At this time, the City is conducting tests for vapor intrusions analysis post construction, which when completed will provide a final report to the Department of Ecology.


"The City may be eligible to apply for grant reimbursement of up to $200,000. The contaminated area in question was in a section of the existing driveway leading to the parking garage.
The parking garage itself or soils under it, contained no contaminated soils.” 
 --Diane Hettrick

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Car flipped upside down in McAleer Creek last Friday

Thursday, December 23, 2010

KIRO-TV has a news report and a slide show about a couple whose car went off the road and turned over, landing upside down in McAleer Creek last Friday around 2:45 am.  The accident happened on 180th.

See the story here.



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Shorewood wrestling team wins three out of four duals in Anacortes Wednesday

The Shorewood wrestling team won three out of four duals in Anacortes Wednesday.
Shorewood opened competition at the Seahawk Duals with a loss to Cedarcrest High School of Duvall. 34-42. Then the Thunderbirds outmatched their next three opponents.

The Thunderbirds downed host Anacortes, 54-22, Clover Park of the South Puget Sound League 2A conference, 66-12, and Sehome of Bellingham, 59-12.

The three victories and one loss improved Shorewood’s season record to 3-3.

Against Clover Park of Lakewood, Shorewood pinned seven Clover Park wrestlers to win 66-12. Against Sehome of the Northwest League 2A division, the T-birds jumped out to a 31-0 lead and never looked back, finishing the match with four more consecutive pins for the 59-12 win.

Cedarcrest 42, Shorewood 34

103 - Double forfeit
112 - Matthew Floresca (SW) pinned N. Warner (C)
119 - Daniel Yun (SW) won by forfeit
125 - Brandon Leach (SW) pinned Gibson L. (C)
130 - Carlos T. (C) pinned Rikio Campbell (SW)
135 - Nick D. (C) pinned Ian Ducey (SW)
140 - Kyle Floresca (SW) major decision over DJ B. (C) 16-6
145 - David Ball (SW) pinned Austin C. (C)
152 - Cody P. (C) pinned Henry Schlesinger (SW)
160 - Eli G. (C) pinned Sam Jang (SW)
171 - Mark (C) pinned Aaren Wansley (SW)
189 - Joel Smith (SW) pinned Josh D. (C)
215 - Parker D. (C) pinned Rikki Le (SW)
285 - Robbie W. (C) pinned Taylor Winsor (SW)

Shorewood 54, Anacortes 22

103 - Double forfeit
112 - Matthew Floresca (SW) won by forfeit
119 - Daniel Yun (SW) won by forfeit
125 - Brandon Leach (SW) won by forfeit
130 - Rikio Campbell (SW) pinned Collin S. (A)
135 - Griffen V. (A) major decision over Ian Ducey (SW) 12-4
140 - Kyle Floresca (SW) pinned Michael C. (A)
145 - David Ball (SW) pinned Thomas F. (A)
152 - Jordan F. (A) pinned Henry Schlesinger (SW)
160 - Sam Jang (SW) pinned Rich P. (A)
171 - Nick Teeters (SW) pinned Andrew B. (A)
189 - PJ J. (A) pinned Joel Smith (SW)
215 - Neilson C. (A) pinned Rikki Le (SW)
285 -Taylor Winsor (SW) won by forfeit

Shorewood 66, Clover Park 12

103 - Vega (CP) won by forfeit
112 - Matthew Floresca (SW) pinned Castillo (CP)
119 - Daniel Yun (SW) won by forfeit
125 - Brandon Leach (SW) won by forfeit
130 - Rikio Campbell (SW) pinned Hillman (CP)
135 - Ian Ducey (SW) pinned Ngo (CP)
140 - Kyle Floresca (SW) pinned Donahue (CP)
145 - David Ball (SW) pinned Mejia (CP)
152 - Henry Schlesinger (SW) pinned Dago Chapa (CP)
160 - Sam Jang (SW) won by Forefeit
171 - Justin Martinez (CP) pinned Aaren Wansley (SW)
189 - Double forfeit
215 - Joel Smith (SW) pinned Hernan Ramirez (CP)
285 - Taylor Winsor won by Forfeit

Shorewood 59, Sehome 12

103 - Double forfeit
112 - Matthew Floresca (SW) pinned Luke (Se)
119 - Daniel Yun (SW) major decision over Yazeies (Se) 11-3
125 - Brandon Leach (SW) pinned Dourger (Se)
130 - Rikio Campbell (SW) decision over Jose Ramirez (Se) 8-2
135 - Ian Ducey (SW) pinned Blake (Se)
140 - Kyle Floresca (SW) pinned Delobos (Se)
145 - David Ball (SW) major decision over Rupe (Se) 8-0
152 - Henry Schlesinger (SW)pinned Wygun (Se)
160 - Grikson (Se) pinned Sam Jang (SW)
171 - Boyd (Se) pinned Aaren Wansley (SW)
189 - Joel Smith (SW) major decision over Green (Se) 8-1
215 - Rikki Le (SW) pinned Bogie (Se)
285 - Taylor Winsor (SW) won by forfeit

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