Longtime residents of Seattle will no doubt remember the radio ads for the Funny Car match races out at Seattle International Raceways, or SIR. "SATURDAY NIGHT!" they'd scream, "FUNNY CARS on Nitro! Towing in from nearby Oregon - Ed 'The Ace' McCulloch - in the Revellution Duster, racing against Seattle' own - Jerry 'The King' Ruth - in his Competition Specialties Mustang. BE THERE!"Those days have long since passed, but recently at Pacific Raceways, I had a chance to catch up with Ed McCulloch, or simply "Ace" as the 65-year-old tuning wizard is known to the drag-racing community, at the Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals.
as seen from Magnolia on a recent night.
The Queen Anne All-Stars rebounded July 10 with a 7-1 victory over North Bothell after their Sunday defeat by Woodinville West, the tournament defending champions. North Bothell scored a run in the first inning on a pair of singles and two walks before Max Bridgeman struck out the final batter for his third strikeout of the inning. North Bothell got two base runners in the second on a walk and hit batsman, but Jack Roger came in to pitch and ended the threat with a comebacker to the mound. He pitched the rest of the game, yielding no runs and only one base runner on a single in the sixth inning.
Imagine the waltz. Are you picturing prim-looking men and women dancing politely to chamber music? Many balk at the idea of such classic ballroom forms of dance because of stereotyped perceptions. One local dance enthusiast is on a mission to change that."As instructors, we are always looking for ways to make what we do more accessible and better communicated," explains Lilli Ann Carey, the bright and enthusiastic woman behind Dance For Joy!, a company that instructs and promotes partner dances.
A unique new school is opening Aug. 27 on Mercer Island. The Academy for Precision Learning (APL) is a private, inclusion-based school serving students of all needs from kindergarten through fifth grade. The school will employ a method of teaching called precision learning, wherein each student is monitored and instructed using a highly individualized curriculum. For Magnolia mom Erin Brewer, the school has been a labor of love, and a victory for families like hers who are raising young children with autism.
THOMAS STEMPELI'm concerned about the new concrete barriers that increase the weight of the bridge. Minneapolis has salt thrown on [their bridges]; I don't know if they do that here. And there was construction going on when the [Minneapolis] bridge fell - that may be a contributing factor there.
Judges last Sunday take a close look at one of the entrants in the "large black and gray" contest that was part of a three-day tattoo convention at Seattle Center's Pavilion.
Here are the winners of the Magnolia Art Show at SummerFest weekend before last:PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD - Adult Adu Jahmal with "Bebop"PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD - YouthMariam Hovhannisyan with "Self Portrait"
Tony Pella, 22, who disappeared from Ozzie's bar on West Mercer Street during a Cinco de Mayo celebration last spring, definitely died of injuries that included multiple skull fractures when he "jumped or fell or was pushed from the [Magnolia] Bridge," according to the Medical Examiner's Office.That contradicts an earlier story in one of the daily newspapers, which quoted an unnamed source in the M.E.'s Office as saying that Pella did not die from head and neck trauma. That was news to the lead M.E. investigator, who told this reporter at the time that the cause of death had not yet been determined, and that the office was waiting for the results of toxicology tests.The toxicology tests, which were due in August, are back now. The M.E.'s office declined to release the results because they had nothing to do with Pella's death, a spokesman said.
...who had several distinguished careers, loved the natural world and maintained his curiosity to the endobert Allen (Bob) Matter, a resident of Magnolia, passed away peacefully at home on Aug. 7 surrounded by family and friends.He was 90.
George Kinnear donated land for what became the Bayview-Kinnear Park in 1904, but the play area at the corner of W. Prospect and Third Ave. W. below Kerry Park had begun to show its age in recent years.Enter neighborhood residents who teamed with Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Department of Neighborhoods to fix up the space with new playground equipment and landscaping.It was a $400,000 project paid for with a combination of a Department of Neighborhoods matching grant and donated time and money from local residents, businesses and King County, among others. >The project was finally finished in time for a reopening last Saturday, Aug. 11.
Scammers and conmen have preyed upon Queen Anne and Magnolia residents for years - particularly on the elderly. One man, for example, has repeatedly talked his way into people's homes - where he steals purses and wallets - by saying his wife is having a baby and that he needs to look up the phone number for the hospital. But an elderly widow who lives in the 1600 block of 28th Ave. W. called the News on Tuesday, Aug. 7, to report that a "tall, very personable man" showed up at her door the night before with a new and very elaborate scam.The widow didn't want to be identified, but she said the man claimed to be from G.E., flashed what looked like an identification badge and said he had a free offer for her because her house was so attractive.
The new farmers market in Queen Anne Hill is doing very well a month and a half after it opened, according to a smiling George Counts, chairman of the Queen Anne Farmers Market Association. Set up on Thursdays in the McClure Middle School parking lot for the time being, the vendors are happy because neighborhood residents are buying their products, he said last week. Counts also thinks the market's business will improve even more "as the popularity and word of mouth spread."
Seattle Department of Transportation director Grace Crunican warned almost two years ago that 39 out of 105 bridges in Seattle were rated as poor and were in need of some major repairs. The warning came during a media in-spection of the Magnolia Bridge, which has been damaged by earthquakes and a landslide on the west side.Still, the recent collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis has raised even more awareness of the city's aging infrastructure. Seattle doesn't face the same level of concern raised by the Minneapolis bridge, which was built with steel trusses, according to SDOT spokesman Greg Hirakawa. "We don't have that many [steel-truss bridges]," he said.
August has crept into our lives. Yes, of course, families take vacations - see the family. Back East? Or Midwest? Or just over the mountains or down the coast. But for many, there may not be the driving need or desire or the ability to reconnect with the family; vacations can happen at a different time of the year. But, August does intrude her slow ways, whether you are on holiday or at home.August asks us stiff questions: how can one not walk the trails in any one of our mountains, so close that the trail can be reached shortly after an early breakfast in Seattle; or find the beach and plunge into the slightly icy waters, salty or otherwise; or, with some organization, create a two- or three-day trip into the outer reaches of this region without much strain.