Mariner's President Armstrong Steps Down

Chuck Armstrong, who many hold as the reason for the team's continued on-field woes, has stepped down from his position as President of the Seattle Mariners.  Armstrong has been running the organization since 1993 when a group of prominent local business leaders along with the Nintendo Corp Of America (headquartered in Redmond) bought the team to prevent it's relocation.  Armstrong also served as president when California real estate developer George Argyros owned the team in the early 1980s.  When Indianapolis businessman Jeff Smulyan purchased the team, Armstrong stepped down. 
Armstrong ran the organization when the team set the one season win record at 116 and during the  miracle run of 1995, however, many blogs and sports talk show hosts have vilified him for not doing enough to pull the team out of a twelve year slump.  
He is also credited with the team drafting Ken Griffey, Jr,  universally agreed to be the best Mariner of all time.

Go Cougs!

The Washington State Cougars take on the Washington Huskies tonight in the 2013 Apple Cup.

Happy Thanksgivukkah

The Jewish Holiday that usually comes up close to Christmas is this year occuring on the same day with Thanksgiving.

Cougs Earn Bowl Eligibility

For the first time since 2006, the Washington State Cougars became bowl eligible with a 49-37 win over the Utah Utes.  Although a bowl invitation is not guaranteed, a team cannot play in a bowl game unless it has 6 or more wins.  This season with more Pac 12 schools  attaining bowl eligibility than available bowl games, it is imparitive for the Cougs to be Washington in this year's Apple Cup.  The annual cross state rivalry will be played Friday in Seattle.

Barers Of Maple Valley Dispense Shipping Wisdom

For the third time this year and 4th time overall, we were on KING5's New Day Northwest with Margaret Larson. This time we spoke about holiday shipping.. A big Thank You to Margaret, Producer Su Ring and Intern Marty, for helping our presentation run smoothly.

Meeghan Black Leaving KING 5

The Seatac Media blog has announced that Meegan Black will be leaving the KING 5 week day feature show Evening Margazine as well as the station.  Black has been with the station since 2000.  She did weather at first, then became the morning traffic reporter in 2006.  Her last show will be Wednesday. 

50th Anniversary--The Kennedy Assassination

More World News from ABC


 

The first president that I can remember was John F. Kennedy, he was young, vibrant, and represented a look to the future.  I have very fuzzy memories of some of his speeches. 
I also remember the dark day when he was shot.  I was real little, we lived on Leonard Street in Walla Walla.  My mom said the president had been shot.  When I got to school I remember kids saying "the President has been shot, I think he's dead"  I remember the TV stations showing round the clock coverage and the general dark mood of the nation.  Then a couple of days later, the man who was accused of shooting the President was also shot.  My parents told me not to celebrate, because it was a case of someone taking the law into his own hands.  I remember Jackie Kennedy being a symbol of beauty and fashion, which she remained being after the president's death. 
Three other assassination attempts on presidents, thank God, have been unsuccessful.  Gerald Ford was the target of two, both by women.  Ronald Reagan was actually hit and somehow survived. 
President Kennedy's brother Bobby was assassinated in his attempt to be elected president.
Bobby was attempting to continue, what seemed to be an unfinished chapter in American history.  As more information would come out about the Kennedys, America love affair waned a little, especially those who opposed them politically. Ted Kennedy made an attempt, but was never able to shake the image of Chappaquiddick.   Instead he made his mark as an effective U.S. Senator. The president's Caroline Kennedy is now Ambassador to Japan.  John F, Jr was killed in a plane crash in 1999.

Kaci Aitchison Voted Top Local TV Personality

A survey by KING 5 TV of the best local TV Personalities in Western Washington, has turned up a winner from a rival station.  Q-13's morning co-anchor Kaci Aitchison finished first in that portion of the annual competition, which features, businesses, personalities, and institutions primarily of the Seattle area.  Aitchison is a U-W graduate and a native of the Northwest.  She has been with Q-13 since 2009.

Ex Seahawk Coach And GM Mike McCormack Dies

Mike McCormack, a football guy who helped build two NFL expansion franchises, has  died.  Although not on the tip of the tongue of most Seahawk fans, McCormack was General Manager during some of the Seahawk's greatest years.  The Seahawks went to the play-offs 4 times during his run. He coached the 'Hawks after original coach Jack Patera was fired.   He had previously coached at Philadelphia and Baltimore (Colts).
When Ken Behring bought the team in 1989, he fired GM McCormack in favor of bringing in his own football people, a decision that  most fans would consider a disaster as the organization would hit some of it's lowest points. 
McCormack would go on to serve as president and general manager of the expansion Carolina Panthers.  He retired in 1997.   In his playing days, McCormack was a lineman for the Cleveland Browns.  He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame in 1984

KIRO Evening Voice Leaves

Andrew Walsh, a former producer for Dave Ross who was given his own evening show about a year ago,  has left the station for a new gig. A plain spoken amiable everyman, Walsh described himself as a Liberal, but did not seem to be grounded in ideology.  Over the air, he seemed like a young man who had constructed a station in his garage and was having lots of fun.  He related well to his producers Nick and Sean.  For a while, he was teamed up with John Curley, but that ended when Curley was given a daytime spot.  He was fun to listen to and we wish him well in his new endeavors.

Barers Of Maple Valley Finishes 15th

Barers Of Maple Valley finished 15th out of 62 blogs in the category of "Best Neighborhood Blog" for KING 5 TV's "Best Of Western Washington". The winner of best neighborhood blog was "West Seattle Blog".  For  a list of winners in your favorite catagories, click here.

The UPS Store To Make Another Appearance

Deb and I will be back on New Day Northwest on KING 5, representing The UPS Stores in the Seattle area.  It will be our third appearance on the show this year and 4th overall.  We will give advise on how to make shipping easier during the holidays. Our segment will air on Monday November 25th. sometime between 11am and noon on channel 5 and 105 in the Seattle area.  Margaret Larson is the host. 

Veterans Day

Mazel Tov Cousin!

We traveled to Olympia for my Cousin B's Bat Mitzvah.  This is the Olympia Temple.  A reception was held afterwards at the local country club.

McGinn Concedes

Mayor McGinn has conceded defeat in his attempt to win a second term as Seattle mayor.

Vintage Walla Walla Picture

My parents bought their Palouse Street house from Mr. Garred in the mid 1960s.  Mr Garred's son Bob was a well known broadcaster.

New Mariner Skipper Named

On the same day that Seattle has picked a new mayor, Seattle's baseball team has picked Lloyd McClendon to guide it through the 2014 season and beyond.  McClendon most recently has been the hitting coach for the Detroit Tigers.  He also managed the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2001 to 2005, one of Baseball's most hapless teams at the time. 

Old Walla Walla Radio Remembered Part 2

When thought of as a radio market, the city of Walla Walla is not only mostly overlooked, it can be the subject of ridicule  However, a closer look at radio history for the town reveals an impressive roster of talent, some who grew up there and some who used their experience at the area's stations as a stepping stone to bigger things.
At the head of the list is Walter Brattain, whom is  co credited with the invention of the transistor. Transistor radios were definitely the rage in the 60s and 70s.  Brattain was a professor of physics at Whitman College in the town.  Bill Yeend, Burl Barer (my cousin), Dale Unruh, and Bob Larson were Walla Wallans who succeeded in the Seattle market.  Kent Phillips was a Whitman Student who spent his out of class hours spinning wax at KUJ, before becoming one of Seattle's longest running morning jocks at 101.5.  Dana Wagner had just graduated WSU when he took a $400 a month gig at XT-97 on his way to being a Las Vegas morning weatherman . Danny Murphy was on KTEL before becoming a children's show TV host on Spokane's KXLY. Bill Anderson would leave his name behind and become Adam West, Television's iconic Batman.   
Walla Walla native Edward P. Morgan was an ABC radio news anchor from 1955-1969, winning the George Foster Peabody award.  I remember listening to Morgan while at the family dinner  table and being shocked to find out he was from the town that I had lived in.
Last, but not least, national reporter Bob Garred grew up in Walla Walla.  He is pictured in the article above.  He grew up in the Palouse Street house that his parents sold to mine in the mid 1960s.  I can not find out much about him, but heard that he died at a very young age.  I had thought that he worked at Mutual Radio, however, all that I could find from the few articles on the Internet was that he worked for CBS. His father was the owner of Walla Walla Drug.   I want to thank Joe Drazan for the information on Mr. Garred.  He also found out the correct way to spell his name.   Joe also has this poster on his blog from the late 1970s version of KUJ

This became a pretty big hit on facebook.   I was also inspired by Sara Van Donge's article in the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.

Original Pancake House Open In Maple Valley

The Original Pancake House is open at Four Corners in the spot where the Washington Liquor Store and before that, Hollywood Video was located.  The actual address is 26820  Maple Valley Black Diamond Road SE in Maple Valley.  It offers breakfast type fare exclusively.  The owners, Blake Williams and Ryan Medford also have the franchise in Puyallup.   We had dinner last weekend and found the food and service excellent.  One of the area's newest restaurants, it is a great addition.

Dasher On The Tube

We sent Dasher's picture in to Q-13's pick a pet contest (where viewers can vote for their favorite pet from pictures on the web site),  he didn't win, but they used his picture to promo the next week's contest.  Here we are watching Dasher's picture come up on MJ McDermott's weather forecast.

Deli Patron Serves Baloney

Our family was on a long drive from LA to the Bay Area to visit family when we decided to grab lunch in a roadside deli.  This was the early 1980s so the details in my mind are a little sketchy.  A portly man with a beard was holding court inside.  We sat near him and he said that he was John Black, a TV writer who had penned many movies, as well as episodes of Star Trek and Bonanza.  My brother Danny is a huge Star Trek fan, and we were excited to meet a Hollywood insider.
Mr. Black said that he was a Jewish Holocaust survivor, who changed his name when he entered the U.S.  He also dished stories about well known Hollywood figures.
Fast forward to a few months ago,  my brother, Danny who now lives in LA went to a lecture by John DF Black, who did write episodes for Star Trek.  He said the man that we met some 30 years ago was not John Black but an impostor.  He had done this many times and had irked the real Black.  In 30 some years, we accepted his stories as the truth and many turned out to be.  It provided context for the actors that he spoke about.  In reality, we stopped in for lunch and was served a baloney sandwich.