After one of only two candidates suddenly dropped out last week, the Seattle School Board voted unanimously on Thursday, April 12, to offer the position of superintendent of Seattle Public Schools to Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson.During a news conference following the board meeting, board director Cheryl Chow announced that Dr. Goodloe-Johnson had accepted the position, subject to final contract details being agreed upon. "We are delighted to attract such a high-caliber superintendent to Seattle," Chow said. "Dr. Goodloe-Johnson's strengths and leadership skills became crystal clear as we saw her in action here in Seattle.
Chris Franklin rests in front of his tent at Tent City 3, which is spending the month at St. Mark's Episcopal Church on 10th Ave. E. After May 5, the roving camp of up to 100 homeless adults will move to the Cherry Hill Baptist Church in the Central District.
Magnolia Theater's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic cowpoke musical 'Oklahoma!' opens Thursday, April 26, at 4 p.m. at the United Church of Christ. Two casts are splitting the workload, with the first cadre performing April 26-28 (7 p.m. shows on the 27th and 28th) and cast number two taking over May 10 through 12. United Church of Christ is at 3555 W. McGraw St. For further details, call 356-1342 or visit www.magnoliatheater.com
Photo by Eric Stern
How much are your antiques and keepsakes worth?Bayview Retirement Community in lower Queen Anne is offering a chance to have your heirlooms appraised on Saturday, April 28, from 2 to 5 p.m.Four expert appraisers will be on hand to look at Aunt Susan's vase or the painting handed down from Grandpa. The moldy mavens (not that they are themselves moldy) are Scott Singer, of Singer Galleries; Tim Maple, Omega Silversmith Inc.; Joel Poinsett, Walker-Poinsett Antiques and Fine Arts; and fine-art specialist Margaret Minnick.Bayview is located at 11 W. Aloha St. For more information, call 281-5744.
Fifty-two students from Queen Anne/Magnolia area have been named to the dean's list at the University of Washington for winter quarter 2007. To qualify for the honor, a student must have completed at least 12 graded credits and have a grade-point average of at least 3.5 (out of 4).
Seattle Parks and Recreation will host a public meeting to update the community on improvement projects at Discovery Park funded by the West Point Settlement. The meeting will be held at the Discovery Park Visitor center at 3801 W. Government Way on May 8 from 6 to 7 p.m.At the meeting Parks will discuss the removal of the Chapel Annex, the Nike Building, Building No. 653 and the North Forest Road, as well as the restoration of the Lighthouse. The Chapel Annex demolition is almost complete and efforts are underway to demolish the Nike Building and Building No. 653.
The Magnolia Cooperative Preschool marked a milestone April 20 when it celebrated its golden anniversary in the United Church of Christ. "I think we're even older than that," said Adele Anderson, a former Queen Anne resident and lead teacher at the preschool. The coop started out in private homes and was located in another church for a time, she explained.Her own children went to the preschool, and she's been a teacher for more than 27 years in a setting where the parents help out one day a week as assistant teachers, Anderson said
The city was supposed to present a draft plan for future uses of the Fort Lawton Army Reserve base last week at a community meeting in Magnolia. However, there was no draft plan, announced Linda Cannon, deputy director of the city's Office of Intergovernmental Relations.The problem, she explained, is that shortly after the April 19 meeting notices went out, the Army called the city expressing concerns about not being able to sell off as much of the property as possible to private developers. "Until we're clear on that, we're just going to pause on starting the reuse plan," Cannon said.
Secretary of State Sam Reed and Attorney General Rob McKenna urge citizens to watch out for scam artists playing off legitimate charitable efforts following the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech. Soon after the shootings, scammers began creating fraudulent charity Web sites. The Sans Internet Storm Center has warned that at least 25 new domain names have been registered. Some are legitimate, but others are likely to be fraudulent with hopes of collecting on the heels of a tragic situation. To date, no such charity scams have surfaced in Washington state.
COLUMBIA CITY - It's just one week until opening day of the Columbia City Farmer's Market (CCFM) and new Market Manager Karen Kerschner is running just a few minutes late - so far anyway. To say that she's busy would be an understatement. She has a note on the back of her hand that will hopefully remind her to pick up twist ties later; her arms are filled with a stack of market posters, newsletters and flyers that she intends to post and distribute throughout the day and her boss is starting to threaten her with forced days off.
The last of three public meetings about fixing up the Queen Anne Boulevard system wrapped up on Monday night this week, and almost three dozen problem areas have been identified.But Seattle Parks and Recreation isn't exactly rolling in rolling in the dough these days, and only a fraction of those areas will see improvements anytime soon, according to David Goldberg, a parks project manager.
Century 21 Committee considers alternate plansA second public meeting was held April 17 about the future of the Seattle Center for the next 20 years, and a series of architectural renderings showed the possibilities the 17-member Century 21 Committee is considering.The committee, which Mayor Greg Nickels appointed last November, has been charged with reviewing and updating the 1990 master plan for the campus, said Jill Crary, acting development director for the Seattle Center.
There was no sign on the door, no notice in the window. The lights were off and the locked door of Rainbow Grocery on the morning of Monday, April 23, was the only announcement that the independent, natural foods store on 15th Avenue East was closed for good.Not that the closure came as a complete surprise. The increasingly bare shelves had caused concern among the market's shoppers for some months. On Saturday, April 21, the curbside sandwich boards advertised specials and bade the Rainbow's customers farewell. One said "End of the Rainbow! We [heart] you!" and another declared the store's "Bye Bye Sale.""Yes," said a store employee. "It happened suddenly."
Celeste McDonell waits in the doorway of St. James Catholic Church prior to a Friday, April 20, memorial service for the victims of the Virginia Tech campus shootings