Opinion

The Obama administration said last Monday that it would increase the pressure on banks to help troubled homeowners permanently lower mortgage payments. The government blames banks and mortgage companies for dragging their feet and, under the new…MORE

Last week I bought tickets to attend plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in October 2010, eleven months into the future. Folly or faith, I wondered, as I typed my credit card number into the computer.

One of my favorite authors, Anne…MORE

"Do you watch that show, 'The Biggest Loser?' many clients start out asking me. "Let's do what they do!"

I politely, but firmly, explain to them why that will never happen in my lifetime.

There is nothing remotely realistic about…MORE

(Editor's Note: Virginia Pearce, 96, died last week. She was the owner of Burien Books, one of Burien's oldest businesses. The Times/News will have more on her next week. Jerry Robinson, a long-time business neighbor, writes his personal memories…MORE

This past week I attended the Washington School Director’s Annual Meeting in Seattle. It was the 9th annual meeting I have attended and I learned something that shocked me and should alarm all of us. Every school board member is required to…MORE

As you and yours are in the midst of preparations for your Thanksgiving meal, I’ve assembled a few little-known Thanksgiving facts to entertain and delight you with.

Beginning from the beginning, you might be surprised to learn that the…MORE

How to contact the Ballard News-Tribune Staff:

Michael Harthorne (reporter/photographer/Web editor) 206.755.8147 michaelh@robinsonnews.com

Amanda Stanek (ad sales) 206.940.0778 amandas@robinsonnews.com

Ken Robinson (editor)…MORE

Middle school.

Those two words alone are enough to strike fear in the hearts of mortal women everywhere. It was a scary time for many of us, a time when we learned about bullying, about not fitting in.

Me, I survived it. I did OK…MORE

The memories all came flooding back.

All it took was the first sentence of Lauri Hennessey's column, printed on page 5, about her daughter's entry into middle school.

For me, it was Burien's Sylvester at the dawning of the sixties…MORE

Meet Mark and Beth Gasser

When I spotted a very tall man walking his wife and a tiny dog last week I stopped the car and asked where he got the Chihuahua.

He said that is not a Chihuahua; that is my wife and the poodle she is…MORE