Ballard residents and business owners are speaking out against state, city and county officials' plan to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a deep-bored tunnel.
"I don't think it's the best decision for the public in the long term," said Warren Aakervik, owner of Ballard Oil and a member of the North Seattle Industrial Association Board. "The tunnel doesn't make it.
The Ballard High School gym was packed to the rafters with students and community members Jan. 16 to honor Ballard graduate and basketball standout Kim Stewart, who had his jersey retired to the Ballard High School hall of fame.
Stewart, class of 1974, averaged 25.3 points per game during his senior season, setting a Metro league record.
That season he became the only player from the west coast to be selected for the McDonald's All-American Game.
Stewart was a three-year starter at the University of Washington and helped the school earn its first NCAA Tournament berth in 23 seasons.
As a Husky senior, he led the team in both scoring and rebounding.
He went on to teach and coach all over the Seattle area, including at his alma matter, Ballard High School.
Stewart is the second inductee into the Ballard High School hall of fame, after Michael Johnson, class of 1997.
The celebration preceded the Ballard boys basketball team's game against Roosevelt, and the team honored Stewart in their own way, with a 58-51 victory over the Rough Riders.
Ballard High School alumnus George Westberg compiled a laundry list of accolades in the school's video production program by the time he graduated in 2006. Now at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, he's hoping to start a new list, post-high school.
This summer, Westberg returned to Seattle to direct a 20-minute short film titiled "Time Keeps on Skippin'" with a crew of current Ballard students.
After 20 years in Ballard and a half-mile move I'm the "new kid" again. I have never liked being new. As I learned in elementary school when I was the only 4th grader affected by changing the town boundaries, a half a mile can make a huge difference. At least I have distant moving experience whereas the cat has only known one home since leaving Seattle Animal Shelter.
At Abraxus you won't find espresso machines and People magazine.
The Year in Review
By Patricia Devine and Jim Anderson
2008 brought a lot of food action to Ballard, which sometimes seemed to mostly involve pizza. Veraci, Ristorante Piccolinos, and a host of competitors (Snoose Junction, Via
Verde, Zaw, Madame K's, Sopranos, the Pagliacci chain, Pizza Time, 206) fight it out as Ballard contends for the "Seattle neighborhood with the most pizza per capita" award.
Who is eating all of this pizza? Are the condo dwellers actually that pizza-crazy?
I was reading a magazine in bed last night and my wife was reading some pulp fiction . It was about 10 thirty and I needed a pencil to mark a paragraph I wanted to pass on to our kids so I asked her if she had a pencil. It is a harmless habit some men acquire who have accommodating wives. She usually has a knack of knowing where everything is, in the car, in the rec room, or even in my shop. I am a little spoiled.
(This letter was sent to Reuven Carlyle, (D-36th District) and Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-36th District), with a copy enclosed to our office.)
Dear Representative (Elect) Reuven Carlyle, 36th District, and Senator Kohl-Welles, 36th District,
To you who want to replace the Viaduct, I want you to tell me, were you born here? I was born to a family of nine and I liked Seattle the way it was. You have let everyone take away buildings, woods, re-routed our waterways. Overbuilding taking land belonging to the animals. Look what money does to a wonderful city.
I am writing to you regarding the article "Ballard Thief Arrested" (1/7/09 issue) because as a concerned citizen and Ballard resident, I see all the crime as mentioned in the article AND MORE. One day I called the police because an elderly man was in front of my building with his pants down. No response. And I won't even get into it about the bar crowd! The Eagles Club was hit with graffiti this month after volunteers spent hours painting last summer. In the article they mentioned that some Ballard business owners suggested pitching-in for a security guard to patrol at night.
Plans to develop an eight-story, 260-unit condo at the old Denny's site on the corner of Market and 15th has been put on hold due to recent economic troubles, according to a representative of the developers, Rhapsody Partners.
Louis Richmond, a spokesperson for the developers, said financing is still being sought and there is still a desire to move ahead with the project.
