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Having a Field Day

Students at St. Anne's had a 'field day' at the Big Howe ball fields Friday, May 30. Groups of students represented different countries and competed in events including the fish toss (no rubber fish were harmed), tug of war, obstacle course relay, the egg toss. At right, Team Italy heaves a rubber fish out of a parachute and into the pool of water.

The Wing Luke Asian Museum opens doors to new digs

Aaron Ta, 3, pets a lion costume during the grand opening ceremonies of the Wing Luke Asian Museum's new space at 719 S. King St. in the International District.

Assistance scholarships go to McClure students

The Assistance League of Seattle has awarded $500 scholarships to McClure Middle School eighth graders Kevin Chu and Zhong Ming Yu for the summer academic program of their choice.

Creamed in Magnolia

There's a new indulgence in the Village and it's called Cocoa & Cream. Opened in April by Heather and Mark Lakefish, with help from their 13-month-old daughter, Lucy, it looks like a great addition to the Magnolia Village shopping area.

QA/Magnolia News wins awards

The Queen Anne News/Magnolia News took first place for spot news in the Society of Professional Journalists' Excellence in Journalism contest on Saturday, May 31.

Polish-palooza

The parish St. Margaret of Scotland near Interbay is largely Polish and several of the masses are held in Polish. The festival is very Polish, from the food to traditional costumes of Poland to the abundance of Polish spoken throughout the daylong event. The festival is 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, June 7 at church grounds at 1408 W. Dravus St.

Pacific Publishing newspapers garner top awards

Pacific Publishing garnered top awards at the Society of Professional Journalists' Excellence in Journalism contest on Saturday, May 31.

Long time Beacon Hill resident dies

Angie P. Carlone Cristofaro passed away peacefully on May 27 in her home of 53 years after a noble fight with cancer.

SCHOOL NOTES | Party poopers

■ The Department of Ecology's Sinang Lee (left) holds up a map of Fauntleroy Creek in West Seattle that students of KapKa Cooperative Primary School, 4918 Linden Ave. N., helped to protect by conducting field studies of pet waste, which were mostly found off-trail. The ecology department recognized their efforts with an award (on table). photo/Bradley Enghaus

Wallingford resident opens artisan chocolate shop

There's chocolate, and then there's chocolate, according to Lauren Adler, a Wallingford resident who has launched a specialty candy business called Chocolopolis. She had a website up and running for the business in May, and Adler had a grand opening for the store of the same name in mid-July on Upper Queen Anne Hill, at 1527 Queen Anne Ave. N.Using the same kinds of terms a connoisseur uses to describe wine, Adler said she only sells "artisan" chocolates, a rarified kind of confection that depends as much on science as it does art to make.

A workout on the way to work

As gas prices rise, traffic becomes increasingly congested and the Earth continues to heat up, many people are beginning to look for alternative methods of transportation. Seattle's buses are fuller than ever, and many commuters anticipate the light-rail system scheduled to operate next year. But some people are recognizing that even though hybrid vehicles may appease the conscience, there is a much simpler, cheaper, cleaner and efficient form of energy with an endless supply: kinetic. Nancy Burns has been burning calories to get to work for almost 20 years now. Her bike commute takes her from her Northgate home to Providence Elder Place in South Seattle four days a week. The 30-mile round-trip takes her through the University of Washington campus, over the Montlake Bridge and along Lake Washington."It's absolutely stunning," Burns said. "I get to see Mount Rainier most days, and the lake is just gorgeous. You miss most of that when you're in a car."

A musical trip through the Northwest

As musical terms go, "andante" is pretty well known. Italian for "walking," andante is not about style but about speed, or rather lack thereof. It's a walking pace, moving right along, but not so fast that you miss the little things, like those tiny, blooming ground covers pedestrians delight in.It's that season, here in the Northwest, when andante is just the right speed. There's a show along every neighborhood sidewalk: purple-tipped vines creep over concrete, plump baby cactus stars crowd the cracks in walls and everywhere the eager morning glory unrolls powerful new lassoes. Nobody's in a hurry, out on those walks. For background music, double choirs of robins and their contemporaries trade refrains. They remind me of how important such walks have been to the music I love.

A cautionary guide to voice-mail dating

A single friend sent me an MP3 recording by e-mail. I rarely open forwarded e-mail attachments, but she swore it would be worth my time.It was.If ever I needed a definitive recording of what not to say on voice mail when trying to get a date, this was it.

Local farmers, local meat

Over the years, more and more of the meat Washington residents consume is traveling farther and farther to reach our plates. Small farms have great difficulties getting their meat processed locally. They hit a barrier to market entry because only a few big processors now dominate. Also, they are located a considerable distance away from local consumers. As a result, the meats that most local retailers and restaurants offer are not locally grown. The consequence of economies of scale and increased regulation to meet food-safety requirements pose a greater challenge for small meat operations than for large operations.These are two factors that have led to an increase in the concentration of the meat-processing industry and the loss of smaller, local meat processors. In a time where "buy local, think global" is becoming a way of life for many Washingtonians, there has been an effort to expose and re-examine how local our industries really are.

It's time to bag it

I'll admit it: My first thought, upon hearing of Mayor-for-Life Greg Nickels' new tax on plastic grocery bags was, I am not putting my dog's poop in a reusable cloth bag.