Mitsui named Herald baseball player of the year

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Trevor Mitsui
Photo by Wayne Pridemore
The Everett Herald has named Shorewood senior first baseman Trevor Mitsui its area baseball player of the year.

Herald sports reporters picked Mitsui as the top player from teams in the Wesco 4A and 3A divisions, the Cascade 2A-1A Conference and the Northwest B League.

The Herald said that Mitsui’s powerful swing and patience at the plate made him “a beast in the batter's box.”

The Herald noted that Mitsui had batted .712 during his senior season to go with 13 home runs, adding that his slugging percentage (1.635) and on base percentage (.845) were No. 1 in the nation.

The Herald also named Mitsui and Shorewood senior pitcher Blake Snell to its all-area first team, along with three players from Jackson, two from Edmonds-Woodway, and others from Kamiak, Lynnwood, Lakewood, Oak Harbor and Lake Stevens.

The Herald named Shorewood pitcher Henry McAree and designated hitter Duncan Hendrickson to its all-area second team, along with two players from Snohomish, and players from Edmonds-Woodway, Mountlake Terrace, Monroe, Everett, Mariner, Oak Harbor and Cedarcrest.

Hendrickson, Mitsui, McAree, Snell and Shorewood senior infielder Connor McKeever also won spots on the all-Wesco-3A first team along with Shorecrest junior outfielder Ted Hammond, two players each from Oak Harbor and Mountlake Terrace, and players from Meadowdale, Glacier Peak; Lynnwood and Everett.

The all-Wesco-3A second team included Shorewood senior pitcher Kevin Moriarty and junior catcher Christian Heideger, along with three players each from Mountlake Terrace and Oak Harbor, two each from Everett, Glacier Peak and Lynnwood, and one player from Meadowdale.

All-Wesco-3A honorable mention went to Ben Duncan, Jeremy Edwards, Corey Sonnego and Paul Stotts from Shorewood, Henry Dickmeyer and Tim Sullivan from Shorecrest, seven players from Glacier Peak, four from Meadowdale, three each from Everett, Mountlake Terrace and Oak Harbor, and two from Lynnwood.


See the Seattle Times story on all-league baseball teams.

Shorewood won the Wesco 3A and Northwest District 3A championships before going on to finish second in the State 3A tournament.


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New neighbor: Kermit moves in to Echo Lake back yard

A family in the Echo Lake neighborhood of Shoreline discovered a new neighbor in their back yard - a tiny tree frog.

Look closely at the photo.


Having trouble seeing him?  Try the next shot.


Nope.  That's worse.  He looks like a leaf.  Let's go in for a close-up.


He still looks like a leaf.  Hope it fools the cat.

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Power outage in parts of Shoreline and Lake Forest Park

According to Seattle City Light, there is a power outage in Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, and north Seattle leaving 5,171 customers without power. Crews are on site determining the cause and making repairs.

The boundaries are on the north: NE 185th St.; on the south, NE 120th St.; on the east, 33rd Ave NE and on the west, Corliss Ave N.

Crews on site believe they will have power back around 10 am.


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June 14: Flag Day

On August 3, 1949, President Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14th of each year as National Flag Day.  Flag Day had been celebrated in different states since the late 1800s.

Image from Wikimedia Commons


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Auditions for Missoula Children's Theatre on Monday, June 20

The Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Arts Council Presents:


Missoula Children’s Theater’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
AUDITIONS: June 20 at 3:45 pm
Shoreline Room, North End, Shoreline Center
18560 1st Ave NE, Shoreline

Auditions for the Missoula Children’s Theatre production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will be held Monday, June 20 from 4 - 6 pm in the Shoreline Room at Shoreline Center. There are roles for students currently enrolled in grades K through 12. Approximately 60 local students will be cast to appear in the show with the MCT Actor/Director. 

There is no guarantee that everyone who auditions will be cast in the play. It is a group audition - no advance preparation is necessary, but a SMILE never hurts. They should just be ready to come and have a good time!

Students wishing to audition MUST arrive by 3:45 pm to register and plan to stay for the entire two-hour audition. Due to space limitations “ACTORS ONLY” will be allowed into the audition room. Parents may wait in the lobby. Doors will be closed for the auditions at 4:02 p.m. All students cast will be charged a participant's fee of $60. This fee is payable at the audition. Some partial scholarships are available, but must be applied for in advance. Please call 206-417-4645 if you plan to audition and would need financial assistance if cast.

Download an application and find out more detailed information on the audition process and what will be required of each child.

The two performances will be held on Saturday, June 25 and will be presented in the Shoreline Center Auditorium at 1 pm and 5 pm as part of the SHORELINE ARTS FESTIVAL. All those cast MUST be available for the rehearsals and both performances. Tickets are $7, however, each student participating in the auditions will receive one complimentary ticket.

The Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Arts Council is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to nurture all of the arts in the community through programs and events, arts education, advocacy, and support for artists and arts organizations.

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Photo: What I bought at the LFP Farmers' Market

Valerie Craig shares her Sunday Market Basket from the June 12th LFP Farmers' Market.
Sunday Market Basket by Valerie Craig

Produce from the Lake Forest Park Farmers Market:
  • Wild watercress and fresh morels from Pacific Crest Foraging
  • Lettuce and radishes from Five Acre Farm
  • Strawberries from Tiny's Organic
  • Snap peas, sweet onions and fresh beets from Alvarez Organic Farms
  • Also -- potatoes, hothouse tomatoes, shallots from another local farm.
  • The greens on the far left are amaranth greens!!

Menu plans:
  • The morels have already been eaten -- sauteed in butter. My oh my.
  • Planning to make potato watercress soup.


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Sky Nursery: Customer Appreciation and Carnivorous Plants on Saturday, June 18

Saturday, June 18
All Day
Sky Nursery’s 11th Annual Customer Appreciation Day

Family fun—Sales—Refreshments! Join us for a fun filled day and let us show how much we "Appreciate You!" Sky Nursery 18528 Aurora Ave N Shoreline WA 98133 206-546-4851.


Dionaea muscipula
Saturday, June 18
11 am – 12:30 pm

Carnivorous Plants
Jerry Addington of Courting Frogs

Few plants are more spooky or fascinating than the carnivores—the plants that fight back! Let Jerry Addington introduce you to them. Sky Nursery 18528 Aurora Ave N Shoreline WA 98133 206-546-4851.

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Shorewood High School athletics awards

Shorewood students were honored with sports awards at a school assembly in June 2011.

2011 Shorewood Athletic Award winners
Photo courtesy Shorewood Athletics

Pictured, from left: 
  • Mackey Hopen, male athlete of the year
  • Kendra Holley-Lair and Mackenzie Bang, female athletes of the year
  • Colin Wilkins, male scholar athlete 
  • Joel Smith, male Cliff Gillies award
  • Kelsey Jang, female Cliff Gillies award
  • Lisa Santroch, female scholar athlete


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LFP Garden Tour Saturday, June 18 - secrets revealed

Monday, June 13, 2011

Rodger Squirrell in his LFP Studio
Photo courtesy Secret Gardens
The Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park organization has made a contribution of $35,000 to the City of Lake Forest Park for public art.

Rodger Squirrell is a Lake Forest Park resident and artist who works in metal.  His pieces range from small mushroom art, which he has in his garden, to metal sculptures eight feet tall.

He was the winner of the competition to create a “signature piece of public art” for the City’s 50th Anniversary.

Metal fern.
Photo from Secret Gardens
The piece he created for the City is a collection of five pentagonal pillars of various heights that have a water motif. 

This gift from the Garden Tour will be located on the grassy area just south of City Hall at the intersection of Ballinger and Bothell Way.

The Squirrell garden and studio are part of the Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Garden tour, Saturday, June 18.

Mushrooms in Rodger Squirrell's garden
Photo courtesy Secret Gardens of LFP
Advanced ticket sales for The Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park Garden Tour are $12. Advance tickets are on sale now online and in person at Towne Center Ace Hardware, Two Trading Tigers and Wildbirds Unlimited.

Advance tickets will be exchanged for a ticket and map on the day of the tour at the Plant Sale. Tickets are $15 the day of the tour. The proceeds of the garden tour support public art and community organizations.



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The Y partners with local churches to feed children this summer

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Evan Smith: Contests for all three Shoreline Council seats

By Evan Smith
ShorelineAreaNews Politics Writer

Each of the three Shoreline City Council positions on the fall ballot will be contested now that William Hubbell has filed to run against Councilman Chris Eggen.

Hubbell's filing Friday afternoon means that each Shoreline Council seat will have two candidates on the November 8 general-election ballot.
  
Since none of the Shoreline Council races has more than three candidates, there will be no August primary in Shoreline.
  
Here are candidates who had filed through the end of filing Friday: 

City of Lake Forest Park
Mayor
     Mary Jane Goss
     Stan Lippmann
     Dwight A. Thompson
Council Position No. 2
     Brian J. Cathcart
     Catherine Stanford
Council Position No. 4
     Jeff Johnson
     Chuck Paulsen
Council Position No. 6
     Tom French
     Ed Sterner

City of Shoreline
Council Position No. 2
     Chris Eggen 
     William Hubbell 
Council Position No. 4
     Doris McConnell
     Janet Way 
Council Position No. 6
     Robin McClelland
     Jesse Salomon

Shoreline School District No. 412
Director District No. 1
     Kyle Burleigh
     Mike Jacobs 
Director District No. 4
     Richard "Dick" Nicholson 
Director District No. 5
     Lisa Pyper
     Richard Potter

Shoreline Fire Department
Commissioner Position No. 1
     Jon Kennison
     Kim Fischer
Commissioner Position No. 4
     David Harris 

Lake Forest Park Water District
Commissioner Position No. 1
     David Hammond
     Eli Zehner 
Commissioner Position No. 3 (unexpired 4-year term)
     Bill Donahue

Shoreline Water District
Commissioner Position No. 1
     Ronald F. (Ron) Ricker

Ronald Wastewater District
Commissioner Position No. 1
     Robert L. (Bob) Ransom 
     Arnold H. (Arne) Lind 

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National Night Out Against Crime is Tuesday, August 2

Shoreline Fire visit a Night Out party in 2010
National Night Out Against Crime is designed to generate participation in Block Watch and other crime prevention programs; strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and watching out for each other.

The City of Shoreline supports residents organizing a National Night Out event in their neighborhood and wants to make it easy.

A right-of-way permit is required if you want to request a street closure for a Block Watch party or National Night Out event. The permit is free for events sponsored by formal neighborhood associations. Contact Shoreline Permit Services at (206) 801-2500 regarding Right-of-Way Special Event Permit requirements or download a National Night Out/Block Party permit application. When you apply for a permit you will receive:
  • A free National Night Out tablecloth (while supplies last).
  • An event packet with basic information about Block Watch, emergency readiness and neighborhood associations.
  • Visits from a representative of Shoreline Police, Shoreline Fire or Emergency Management (availability dependent on emergency calls).
Neighbors get to know each other at 2010 party
Events that don't require a street closure can register too, and organizers will receive an event packet and visits from City staff, police or fire. 


To register, call or email Shoreline Neighborhoods Coordinator Nora Smith at 206-801-2253.

Need ideas or more help? See “Create a Block Party” under Resources on the Neighborhoods page.



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Lake Forest Park Police Blotter May 30 to June 5, 2011 - drunken falls, warring neighbors, and baggy pants

By Diane Hettrick - categories are mine, reports are police

Hmm...
5-30 155/Bothell Wy. Young man taking photos of houses in area. Crime Watch asked him why and he said, "cause."

Panhandler
5-30 Towne Centre. Panhandler going door to door asking for money. Her story changes about why she needs the money.

Dogs
5-30 167xx Shore Dr. Barking dogs
5-30 26xx NE 184. Barking terrier.
5-31 148xx 37 NE. Woman with aggressive pit bull. It charges at other dogs with hackles raised.
6-5 174xx Ballinger. Driver nearly hit a dog in the road. Put him in car and took to police.
6-5 192xx 32 NE. Pitbull wandering. Owner took him home.

Oh dear
6-5 168xx Bothell Wy. Subjects fighting over personal property. One followed the other down Bothell Way to try to retrieve property. Each party accusing the other of reckless driving.

Intoxicated
5-30 170xx Brookside. Two intoxicated individuals. Woman fell in creek next to bridge. Officers sent them home and told them to stay there.

Hi neighbor
5-30 192xx Lago Pl NE. Neighbor complained about structure neighbor is building next to stream. Officers asked them to check with planning department to make sure the structure is legal.
5-31 36xx NE 155, apartments. Neighbor complained about noise. Not a noise violation, but officers asked them to turn it down.
6-3 190xx 21 NE. Escalating tension between neighbors over construction project, noise, dogs. Now glowering at each other, and swerving cars toward each other.

We love our parks and trees
5-31 167xx 30 NE 12:47 am. Couple "talking" in park.
5-31 174xx Brookside, 2:04 am. Two women in park after hours.
6-3 NE Perkins/NE 180. Large maple tree down across road, blocking traffic in both directions.

Burglary
5-31 183xx 28 Pl NE. Burglary. Took tools from detached garage
6-2 35xx NE 180. Vacant house burglarized

Car prowl
5-31 27xx NE 184. Took garage door opener and iPod.

Baggy pants
6-1 35xx NE 153 Subject was stopped for jaywalking across SR 522. He ran, pursued on foot by officer. They tumbled down a hill. Subject tripped in Woodlawn N parking lot because of his baggy pants. He admitted to two outstanding warrants and that is why he ran.

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Quick-Start Shoreline Business Workshop, Tuesday June 14

Quick-Start Shoreline Business Workshop Tuesday, June 14, 2011 from 12:00 to 1:30 pm at Shoreline City Hall, 17500 Midvale Ave N. Shoreline WA 98133

Quick-Start Shoreline is presented by Shoreline Community College Small Business Accelerator and the City of Shoreline. These workshops are designed to be helpful for start-up, existing or potential business owners. Sessions are free and open to the public.

“Three Perilous Phases of the Employment Relationship.”

This talk outlines potential pitfalls and risk reduction strategies for the three most often litigated phases of the employer/employee relationship: hiring, discipline, and termination. Ben will also address some of the advantages of having insurance for employment claims and discuss some of the advantages to businesses in insurance coverage disputes in Washington due to recent changes in Washington law.

Ben VandenBerghe is a Shoreline native and attended Shorewood High School. Ben and his wife live in Edmonds and are still involved in the Shoreline community both in their personal lives and through Ben's representation of local companies and individuals. Ben received his BA in History from the University of Washington in 2000 and graduated from the University of Washington School of Law in 2004.

Ben is a partner in the downtown Seattle law firm of Montgomery Purdue Blankinship & Austin PLLC, a well established general business firm of 25 attorneys in a variety of practice areas that primarily support businesses and business owners. Ben is a general business attorney with a focus on commercial and civil litigation with an emphasis on employment, construction, real estate, and insurance disputes. Ben's firm profile can be found here.

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School District honored with Golden Achievement Award for communications

The Shoreline School District has received a 2011 Golden Achievement Award from the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) for communications relating to the nationally-acclaimed Social Experiment last December at Shorecrest and Shorewood High Schools.

The NSPRA Golden Achievement Awards program is one of the most prestigious honors for education public relations. It recognizes exemplary public relations activities, programs and projects in school districts nationwide. The award judges honor outstanding achievement in the four steps of a public relations program - analysis, planning, communication and evaluation. Each entry was judged individually against these awards criteria.

This is the second consecutive year the District has received a Golden Achievement Award from NSPRA. The 2010 award was for communications related to the successful bond issue for modernization/replacement of Shorecrest and Shorewood High Schools.

In The Social Experiment, (link to student videos documenting the experience) more than 600 participating students from both schools attempted to give up their social networks for a week: no texting, online gaming, internet chat or Facebook. The experiment was the brainchild of Shorecrest and Shorewood video production teachers Trent Mitchell and Marty Ballew. Their students created funny movie trailers promoting the experiment and later a joint documentary on the outcome.

District Public Information Officer Craig Degginger coordinated the communications and media relations for The Social Experiment (link to national coverage), resulting in a front-page story in The Seattle Times, coverage on three Seattle television stations, interviews of students and teachers on MSNBC, CNBC and CNN, radio stations and news blogs.

ABC World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer did a story on the experiment and named the students and teachers of Shorecrest and Shorewood as its Persons of the Week on the Friday, December 10 national broadcast.

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For the birds: Black-headed Grosbeaks

Male Black-headed Grosbeak.
Photo by Christine Southwick.
By Christine Southwick

Once you see a male Black-headed Grosbeak, you’ll know its name is fitting. The black head and large seed-cracking conical beak cries out, “Look at me”. This starling-sized songbird with its bright orange-cinnamon body has lemon-yellow on the breast and underside of the spotted-black wings. And if that isn’t enough, it has a faster, mellow robin-like song. Actually, both males and females sing, but different songs. The female is not the looker that the male is, but she is still a distinctive bird to have at your feeder.

Seasonally monogamous, the males help incubate the 2-5 eggs, with the nest being built in trees such as willow, alder, big-leafed maple, or cottonwood. They have been known to even build their nests in dense stands of blackberries. The young usually leave the nest up to two weeks before they can fly—both parents feed their precocious offspring until they can safely fly and feed on their own.

Juvenile Black-headed Grosbeak.
Photo by Christine Southwick.
Migrating from their wintering grounds in Mexico, where they are one of the few birds that can eat the poisonous monarch butterflies, the Black-headed Grosbeaks arrive here in late spring. If they find suitable habitat they may stay and breed here, if not they will continue into British Columbia.

Suitable habitat is dense deciduous areas, with large trees and thick bushes, especially near some sort of water, such as: streamside corridors (called riparian), wetlands, lakeshores, or even a garden creek or pond. They appear to dislike dense coniferous forests, but can be found in patches of broadleafed trees and shrubs within conifer forests.

Black-headed Grosbeaks often sing from prominent perches, and their song is similar enough to the robin’s that you might just ignore them until you here their distinctive “eek” call.

During the summer they eat mainly insects, spiders, and snails, in addition to seeds. In the fall they will gladly eat any berries they find, including the highly invasive ivy and holly berries.

Female Black-headed Grosbeak.
Photo by Christine Southwick.
The female Black-headed Grosbeak is often mistaken for the locally-scarcer Rose-breasted Grosbeak, female. The Black-headed have a dark top bill and the lower bill is pale; the Rose-breasted have pale upper and lower bills. The Black-headed female has lemon-yellow wing-lining.

If you really want Black-headed Grosbeaks in your yard, provide black-oil sunflower seeds, running water, and deciduous trees or bushes. Oh, and you might try putting out a tiny dish of grape jelly near the sunflower seeds.

Christine Southwick is on the Board of the Puget Sound Bird Observatory and is their Winter Urban Color-banding Project Manager. She is a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat Steward, having completed their forty hour class. We're happy that she's sharing her expertise with us about the birds in our backyards.

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Shoreline Police Blotter May 5-17, 2011 - car prowls in parking lots - drugs and counterfeit money

Sunday, June 12, 2011

By Diane Hettrick - Categories are mine, reports are police
There were 15 car prowls this week, most of cars in public places. The next week there were only two.

Car Prowls - most from public parking lots
5-6 183xx Dayton N. 5-10 Parking lot at Fred Meyer. 5-11 Fircrest parking lot. 5-12 12xx N 166 Ct. 5-13 152xx Fremont, got wallet with IDs and credit cards. 5-13 Ronald Bog parking lot. 5-13 Bartells parking lot. 5-13 Echo Cove condo parking lot, stole vehicle registration. 5-13 13xx N 167. 5-14 Twin Ponds parking lot, got purse. 5-14 Hamlin Park, got purse. 5-15 167xx 3 NE. 5-15 Shoreline Pool. 5-16 3xx N 188. 5-16 10xxx NE 162.

Shoplifting
5-8 Fred Meyer, clothing. 5-12 North City Safeway, beer. 5-12 Fred Meyer, clothing. 5-14 Gateway liquor store, bottle of liquor. 5-15 Sears, tools. 5-15 Sears, socks.
5-15 Home Depot. Caught G going out the door with power tools. He is a heroin addict and Armed Career Criminal, who has a habit of 'merchandise run-outs' at Home Depot. Booked.

Vandalism
5-9 Grafitti in the boys bathroom at the stadium, done during a game, with green and blue markers. 5-11 Gate handle broken off public storage site on Aurora. 5-12 Member knocked over benches at Self-Relaization Fellowship.

Theft
5-10 155xx 14 NE. Lawn mower stolen from locked shed.
5-11 Brightwater portal on Ballinger. Thieves broke into fenced-in construction site and stole items.
5-11 180xx Stone N. Mail order prescription stolen from mail box.
5-12 Shoreline School maintenance yard. Someone climbed the fence to steal gas from parked vehicles.
5-12 Einstein parking lot. 12 year old left backpack next to car. It was stolen.
5-16 SCC student sitting in PUB when young, white male grabbed his cell phone and ran.
5-16 Top Foods customer got distracted and left wallet on counter, but it was gone when she went back.

Burglary
5-11 5xx N 188. Kicked in back door, stole laptop and monitor.
5-12 12xx N 167. Unlocked front door. Stole guns and gold.
5-15 155xx 25 NE. Ex boyfriend used a copied house key to gain entry in victim's house where he assaulted her, prevented her from calling 911.

Uh-oh
5-10 Someone tried to take their beer into the courthouse.
5-14 After family member was evicted from relative's home, relative found credit cards, SSN card, driver licenses and ID cards, plus drug paraphernalia under the bed.

Traffic stops that got interesting
5-11 N 165/Carlyle Hall Rd - license suspended, possession of crack and heroin.
5-17 N 182/Ashworth N. Driver with three warrants tried to elude police. Caught.

Mental illness
5-11 Drunken subject with mental health issues warned for noise violation and told to go to bed.
5-12 Therapeutic Health Services patient passed out at Dunn Lumber on his way to police station to report convoluted story about someone showing up at THS armed with a gun that he never actually witnessed.

Car talk
5-11 Housekeeper mistakenly reported car stolen.
5-12 Stolen vehicle dumped at NE 171/18 NE. 
5-13 Stolen vehicle left at Aurora Safeway parking lot.
5-13 Van abandoned at intersection of 145th and 5th NE.
5-14 Contacted vehicle that was believed to be a blocking/disabled at 161st and 5th NE. Driver arrested for DUI, vehicle impounded.

Internet scams
5-11 Elderly female apparently scammed out of $11,300 by someone claiming to be with a Canadian police agency that arrested her grandson.
5-13 Received a forged check for prepaid child care services which bounced after she made a wire transfer for $2385.

Guns and drugs, Forgery and counterfeit money.
5-11 172xx Aurora. Police executed a search warrant at the Tyee Apartments. Found meth, firearms, stolen property, and arrested occupant.
5-11 148xx Whitman N. Search of vehicle in parking lot found counterfeit cash and stolen or forged IDs. Driver booked KCJ on outstanding warrant.
5-14 Rodeway Inn on Aurora. Contacted suspicious person at Inn. Female admitted to just smoking crack in room. Male and female trespassed. Pills and pipe submitted for disposal.
5-14 Jaywalker at N 155/Meridian has paraphernalia and marijuana. Misdemeanor.
5-14 Driver arrested in 1500 block NE 170 for suspended license. In possession of methamphetamine and alprazolam. Booked into KCJ.
5-14 Drift On Inn discovered counterfeit 50 and 100 dollar bills.
5-14 Subject in motor vehicle at Twin Ponds had drug paraphernalia, which was taken for disposal.

Homeless
5-12 Highland Ice arena. Subject sleeping at business has misdemeanor warrant. Arrested.

Threats
5-12 Bus on Aurora. Arrested passenger for threatening to shoot bus passengers and attempting to open emergency door.
5-15 Goldie's Casino. Arrested driver for DUI after he nearly collided with police car. Initially cooperative, but later became violent. Made repeated racist remarks, and threatened officers and their families.


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Copper thieves are now climbing poles - sheriff's department asks for the public's help

Photo courtesy Berger Recycling
From the office of the King County Sheriff

In a new twist to the theft of copper and other metals, thieves are now climbing telephone poles to get to the copper wires.

Thieves have struck at least three times in the last five weeks, just in the King County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction alone.  

These thefts were all in south King County, but as we saw with the recent bank robberies, distance is not an issue for thieves.


Recent incidents:
  • On May 2, about 250 feet of telephone cable was cut down from poles in the 3200 block of S 162nd St in SeaTac. At least 330 telephone customers were affected.
  • On May 11, about 330 feet of cable was cut in the 23200 block of 156th Ave NE in unincorporated King County, affecting 300+ customers. The cable was 2” to 3” in diameter and included a guide wire that supported the thick cable.
  • On June 2, about 150 feet of cable was cut down in near S 128th and 12th Ave S in the city of Burien. 
According to CenturyLink (formerly Qwest), these thefts are happening frequently in the Seattle Metro area, in addition to the cases listed above.
“The cost is more than financial, as these outages impact customer service and safety”, says Sue Anderson, vice president and general manager of CenturyLink in Seattle. “Hospitals, schools, and public safety organizations are all affected as well as residential and business customers. We urge the public to call law enforcement if they see suspicious activity”.
The Sheriff's Office echoes those concerns, and is asking for the help of the public to stop these thieves.
Legitimate line workers will be driving branded vehicles and wear CenturyLink or Qwest clothing. They will also have typical safety equipment such as orange vests and hard hats. There will be flaggers if the road is blocked plus orange cones and traffic signage.
If the public sees workers without this equipment, acting suspiciously, or working at odd hours, they are asked to call 9-1-1 immediately.

Detectives believe the stolen wire is sold to metal recyclers who either aren’t asking the right questions, or are looking the other way during these transactions.

Per state law, scrap metal recyclers are required to collect records of each transaction, including the license plate and description of the vehicle used to deliver the metal, along with the current, government issued identification from the seller, along with other checks and balances.

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iPads for Shorewood students

Steve Jobs holding iPad2
The Shoreline School Board has approved a high school technology plan for 2011-12 that includes the deployment of Apple iPads to students at Shorewood High School.

The Board and District leadership have studied a range of options regarding high school technology for the 2011-12 school year, given that technology levy funds cannot support a wholesale replacement of the District's existing 1-to-1 laptop program which began five years ago.

Of the options that were reviewed, a gradual shift to lower-cost tablet devices offers the District the most benefit. The District piloted the iPads in selected English, Social Studies and Science classes at both high schools this year. 

The benefits of an iPad include longer battery life, portability, number and low cost of apps and e-Book reader.

The District expects that in many cases the devices will replace textbooks.

For 2011-12, Shorewood students would each receive an iPad, while keeping 1-to-1 laptops at Shorecrest. Surplus laptops will be on carts at Shorewood for activities not available on the iPad. Shorewood staff will receive training over the summer for the fall implementation. The District will evaluate the effectiveness of the program for potential expansion to Shorecrest High School in 2012-13.

The estimated cost is just over $1 million, from technology levy funds approved by Shoreline School District voters in February 2010.

Money approved for technology cannot be spent for any other purpose.

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Letter to the Editor: I've been harassed because of writing letters to the editor

To the Editor:

This seems like a false issue, or an anachronistic one. I’ve experienced harassment in the past as a writer of letters to the editor of a newspaper, and my bringing that experience to the attention of the paper led it to stop publishing the addresses of letter writers. That was way before the days of online anything, and the only tool available to potential harassers was the old fashioned phone book. These days anyone can be tracked down one way or another online for harassment, and any local identifier could help that search – even simply being a subscriber to the Shoreline Area News. Anonymity can be necessary for self-protection.

I read these dispatches every day, and it seems to me our editor can be trusted to distinguish between legitimate commentary that might attract harassment, and destructive personal attacks that shouldn’t be allowed anyway. That’s what editors are for. Commentaries that contain misinformation should be rejected by the editor, or rebutted by other letter-writers. Also, the internet is full of anonymous or pseudonymous commentaries anyway, so what’s the difference? And what identification do letter-writers give our editor, beyond an email address on a server somewhere in Bermuda, and a name that could be false?

Chris Nielsen
Shoreline

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Best party ever - Goat Days - June 18-22 - Horizon View Park


June 18-22, noon to 7 pm - watch 250 goats chomping down the blackberry bushes at Horizon View Park.

Part of the Lake Forest Park 50th Anniversary Celebration, Goat Days features - well, what else? goats!
When they are not eating the vines and weeds, they will be in a petting zoo (hand sanitizer available).

28 businesses (80%) in LFP are supporting Goat Days by providing coupons in a packet that will be provided to everyone for a $10 donation. The packet will also include a bar of goat soap, washable tattoos for kids, and approximately $280 worth of coupons to local merchants.

On Saturday, June 18, the site will become a huge carnival.  The City is providing free hot dogs, ice cream, and drinks - plus games for the kids. 

Goat Days is a project of the Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation.


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Evan Smith: Filings for Shoreline, Lake Forest Park offices

By Evan Smith
ShorelineAreaNews Politics Writer

As the candidate filing period ended Friday. Shoreline School Board member Maren Norton announced that she would not seek a second four-year term. ...

Here are candidates who had filed through the end of filing Friday: 

City of Lake Forest Park
Mayor
  Mary Jane Goss
  Dwight A. Thompson
Council Position No. 2
  Brian J. Cathcart
  Catherine Stanford
Council Position No. 4
  Jeff Johnson
  Chuck Paulsen
Council Position No. 6
  Tom French
  Ed Sterner

City of Shoreline
Council Position No. 2
  William Hubbell
  Chris Eggen
Council Position No. 4
  Doris McConnell
  Janet Way 
Council Position No. 6
  Robin McClelland
  Jesse Salomon

Shoreline School District No. 412
Director District No. 1
  Kyle Burleigh
  Mike Jacobs 
Director District No. 4
  Dick Nicholson 
Director District No. 5
  Lisa Pyper
  Richard Potter

Shoreline Fire Department
Commissioner Position No. 1
  Jon Kennison
  Kim Fischer
Commissioner Position No. 4
  David Harris 

Lake Forest Park Water District
Commissioner Position No. 1
  David Hammond
  Eli Zehner 
Commissioner Position No. 3 (unexpired 4-year term)
  Bill Donahue

Shoreline Water District
Commissioner Position No. 1
  Ronald F. (Ron) Ricker

Ronald Wastewater District
Commissioner Position No. 1
  Robert L. (Bob) Ransom 
  Arnold H. (Arne) Lind 

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