Finally A Place To Sip In Maple Valley

The wine industry is growing rapidly in Washington state and now right here in Maple Valley, there is a place that you can to unwind after work or entertain friends on the weekend. Da Vine has opened up in the Wilderness Village shopping center next to the Tahoma Athletic Club. It features wine from across the state and all over the world. There is also a selection of Microbrewed beers.

We tried Da Vine last night, we sat on the sofa by the fire. Not only was the atmosphere inviting we were helped with our selection by co-owner Cheryl who told about the bar's short history. Da Vine is located at 23836 222nd Place SE Suite 106 Maple Valley, WA 98038. It is closed on Monday, but open until 9pm from Tuesday though Thursday and open to 11pm on Friday and Saturday. Sunday it is open until 8pm.

Mariners Tap RJ For First Pitch

Seattle baseball fans are happy to learn that newly retired pitching great Randy Johnson will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the 2010 Mariner home opener. Relations between Johnson and the Mariner organization have, at times, been strained since he forced a trade in 1998. However, much like bringing Ken Griffey, Jr back to the club last year, it looks like both sides are willing to let bygones be bygones.

Barers Of Maple Valley Attend The Hutch Award Luncheon

I attended the annual Fred Hutchison award luncheon for the first time today. The award (commonly known as the Hutch Award) is presented in honor of Fred Hutchison, a Seattle native and former major league player and manager who passed away from cancer. This year's award went to Chicago White Sox infieler Mark Teahen (in video above). Channel 13 Anchor Bill Wixey also spoke of his cancer battle. The keynote speaker was Dave Dravecky, a major league pitcher whose struggle with cancer caused him to lose his pitching arm during the prime of his career. The luncheon was attended by most of the area's sports VIPs. Some of those in attendence were Mariner GM Jack Zduriencik, Mariner Manager Don Wakamatsu,former Mariner pitcher Jamie Moyer, and radio voices Rick Riccz and Dave Niehaus. TV news anchor Steve Raible and afternoon radio personality Mike Gastineau were co-hosts. I asked Dave Niehaus how he could get up for games even when the team is having a bad year. Dave's reply (paraphasing) was that every game has something unique about it.

Maple Valley Seeks To Fill City Council Vacancy

The "Voice Of The Valley" Maple Valley's weekly newspaper, reports that the City is taking applications to fill the city council position vacated by Laure Idding's resignation. To be considered for the position, state law requires applicants to be a citizen of the United States and a registered Washington voter, in addition an applicant must have resided in the city limits of Maple Valley for at least a year.

Applicants are asked to submit a resume and a cover letter to the city clerk. The address is...

City Clerk

City Hall

PO Box 320

Maple Valley, WA 98038

For more information, call City Clerk Irvalene Moril at 425-413-8800. Application materials must be submitted by 5 pm Friday January 29th.

Thank to "The Voice" for information used in this article.

Saints vs Colts In Super Bowl XLIV

The New Orleans Saints will take on the Indianapolis Colts in this years Super Bowl. It will be the first apearance for the Saints.

Cruise Ship Visits To Labadee Stir Controvery

We have all been shaken by the devastation in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake. It reminds me of our short visit in August of '06 to Labadee, which is on Haiti's northern coast. At that time of course, the country had just endured Hurricane Ernesto, although you could find no sign of it at the time. The only sign of the people's strife were the locals, who would ride up in rowboats to try and sell jewelry as we were jet skiing. Royal Caribbean's decision to continue to dock there has caused considerable controversy.

5th District Democrats Endorse Delbene

The 5th district Democrats of Washington have endorsed Suzan Delbene to represent the 8th district in the U.S. House Of Representatives. The seat is currently held by Republican Dave Reichert, a former King County Sherrif.

Strong Winds Hit The Area

The Maple Valley area had strong wind gust earlier this week. This fence surrounding the Belmont Woods stormwater run off pond was damaged by falling trees.

Music To Our Ears--King Felix To Stay Awhile

Seattle sports fans have been saved a summer of anxiety when word got out that Ace Pitcher Felix Hernandez is in the process of working out a five-year deal with the Seattle Mariners. This is the latest in what seems to be a series of well thought out moves this season by the Mariner management. Under the direction of first year GM Jack Zduriencik, the M's went from a 100 loss season in 2008 to a winning season in 2009. Nothing is guarenteed for 2010, the outlook is bright.

Tracy Taylor Begins New Career

Tracy Taylor can be seen intermittenly from 5-7am on KING5 and from 7-9am on KONG 6/16 with traffic reports. Here she is in a toss with anchor Joyce Taylor (no relation). Tracy is in her first week at KING after doing traffic reports for 3 and a half years on sports radio station KJR.

Celebrating Martin Luther King's Birthday

Jan Curran's Novel Published

Jan Curran, my cousin and inspiration for this blog, has written her latest novel, Active Senior Living, a humorous fictionalized account of a Southern California writer and newspaper reporter, whose battle with cancer forces her to move into an assisted living facility. You can order Jan's book by clicking here.

David Spring Will Run In 5th District

North Bend teacher David Spring has announced that he will make his second run for the Washington State Legislature. Spring says that he will for the 5th District House seat now held by Republican Glenn Anderson. Spring is a Democrat. Sammamish telecom consultant Dean Willard, also a Democrat, has also declared his candidacy for that position.

Our Hearts Go Out To The People Of Haiti

If you want to help with the rescue efforts, text the word h-a-i-t-i to 90999, and a ten dollar donation will apear on your telephone bill.

Thank You Readers!

Barer's Of Maple Valley had it's 40,000th hit. This is the funnest project that I've done. Thank you!

Old Mustang Commercial

I'll shift gears with a commercial from our childhood.

Not All College Coaches Have Failed In The Pros

Two coaches were plucked from out of the college ranks to become outstanding NFL coaches. Jimmy Johnson replaced Tom Landry as coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 1989. Landry was an institution both in Dallas and in the NFL. As a matter of fact, up to that point, he was the only man to coach the Cowboys. Jimmy Johnson was coach of the Miami Hurricanes. He lead the Cowboys to two Super Bowl wins.

Bill Walsh, was coach at Stanford when the San Francisco 49ers named him as coach. Walsh created a football powerhouse in the bay area, winning three Super Bowls. Walsh would later go back to coach at Stanford.

Unfortunately, we remember such failures as Steve Spurrier and Dennis Erickson both coaches very successful at the college level but failures in the NFL.

Sources Say Carroll Will Replace Fired Seahawk Coach

There is an old saying" never replace the legend" and that proved to be true when former Seattle Seahawk Coach Mike Holmgren's successor Jim Mora found himself in hot water as the team suffered a 5 win, 11 loss season. Some of the black marks were the teams 4 consecutive losses at season's end, Mora's off the cuff rants about his kicker and the KJR radio disaster when wide receivers TJ Houshmandzadeh, Deion Branch, and Nate Burleson took shots at the Seattle media and failed to put their money where their mouth's were. Today it was announced that Mora will no longer coach the 'Hawks becoming only the 8th NFL coach since 1990 to be fired after one season. Speculation is rampant that USC head coach Pete Carroll will return to the NFL as head coach and president. Seattle Times columnist Steve Kelley wrote about his misgivings with the potential hire.

Original Sonic Announcer Bob Blackburn Dies

Bob Blackburn, the original radio announcer for the Seattle Supersonics passed away today. Blackburn voice could be heard on stations throughout the Northwest broadcasting what was at one time, the only local taste Washingtonians had of local major-league sports.

I remember working at KTEL which carried the Seattle Super Sonics broadcasts in Walla Walla and being on the board when the Supes won the NBA title.

I also remember meeting Blackburn years later as he was auctioneering charity golf function. Bob Blackburn was 85.

BOMV Sets Record

Many of the blogs that I read get thousands of hits every day. I am always happy to get over 30. This blog however set a record yesterday of over 200 hits. Today looks like it could possibly break that record. Most people have come over to read about KJR's Tracy Taylor quitting the station as reported in the last post.

Tracy Taylor Leaving KJR

KJR Sportsradio morning personality Tracy Taylor will be leaving the station soon for a new opportunity. Taylor says on her facebook page that she will be doing traffic for KING 5 TV. Taylor was doing her second tour of duty with KJR, she has also worked in Spokane and on the East coast.

Hawks In It But Don't Win It

The Seattle Seahawks suffered their 4th loss in row. The 17-13 defeat at the hands of the Tennessee Titans gives this season a sour conclusion, proving a close loss just as depressing as a blow-out. For the 4th week in row, John Carlson scored the 'Hawks only touchdown, a six yard throw from Matt Hasselbeck. Second year Titan Chris Johnson rushed for 134 yards to become the sixth player in NFL history to gain 2000 yards in a season. Johnson also scored each of the Titans 2 touchdowns.

Barers Of Maple Valley--2009 In Review

Because my Cousin Jan told me to write more in my blog, I'm going to do the year in review differently than in years past. Rather than just show a few highlight pictures, I'm going to write the year in one article, at least try. Hopefully, I won't leave too much out.

January, New Years day began on a high note when my brother, Steve called to announce his engagement to Dawn. We were in the middle of a terrible winter and flooding hit Maple Valley, fortunately none of it hit the high ground where we live. Senator Barack Obama was sworn in as the first African-American president.

February, we made a trip to Seaside, Oregon, unfortunately, snowy weather hit us both on the way over and the way back. We made it safely both ways, but not without some white knuckles.

March, the winter that would not quit dumped more snow on Maple Valley.

April, A great trip to Oceanside, California. No, we did not have any snow. We actually were able to spend sometime poolside.

May, Dog Rusty showed us how good a watchdog he was when he went head to head with a possum in the yard. The month concluded with Steve and Dawn's wedding.

June, The world lost two super celebs in one day, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.

July, My birthday on the 19th, very hot summer, and we get our new pet bird Goldie.

August, A trip to the Oregon Coast.

September, We celebrate Deb's Grandma's 90th birthday and my Dad's 80th

October, On October 31st, Officers Tim Brenton and Britt Sweeny were shot while sitting in their patrol car. Brenton died and Sweeny recovered, it was the first of three incidents in the Seattle area where police where shot at. All three occurred on or near holidays and on or near, the end of the last three months of the year.

November, An espresso stand with bikini-clad baristas opens in the Crossroads area of Bellevue, about 2 blocks East of The UPS Store. Also, in Lakewood, WA, 5 police officers were gunned down in a coffee shop.

December, It looks like the Mariners are taking steps to finally be a contending team. Free agent Chone Figgins signs with the team and a separate deal brings in Pitcher Cliff Lee.

So there you have it, the year in a nutshell.

How Seattle Celebrates The New Year