March 2009

Michael Jaworski is the booking agent at the Sunset Tavern in Ballard. He also worked at Sonic Boom Records in Ballard and lived in the neighborhood for eight years before moving to Capitol Hill. His current band the Cops, in which he sings and plays guitar, is going on hiatus after a March 14 show at the Sunset.

Ballard News-Tribune: You used to work at Sonic Boom in Ballard and now book acts for the Sunset. What is it about Ballard that keeps you employed here?

Michael Jaworski: Some of the great amenities of Ballard include the wonderful businesses and people who live there. It was a pleasure working for Sonic Boom and working at the Sunset is probably the best job I've ever had. I think both businesses would be the same if they were in a different neighborhood. They're both run by great people who are a pleasure to work for. The fact that they're in Ballard is a coincidence. But I love being in the Ballard neighborhood on a regular basis.

BNT: How does Ballard stack up to other neighborhoods in Seattle as far as nightlife and the music scene?

As a result of the entrepreneurial spirit, society’s flexible gender roles, and yes, the struggling economy, the army of stay-at-home dads seems to be on the march.

Just ask West Seattle’s Eric Renn, who stays home with his 7-month-old son, Caden, while his fiancée, Carey Teemer, commutes to the city for her job at Vulcan. The three live together.

He said he often meets other stay-at-home dads while out running errands, and is forming a group, “SeaDaDs,” as in “Seattle Dads,” to meet weekly at 9 a.m. at the Hiawatha Park playground with tots-in-tow, both to blow off steam and to share common issues. The park is just south of the Admiral Junction.

“I’m a ‘father-preneur,’” said Renn. “I am a personal trainer in the morning, and run a Web-based business in the afternoon.”

Caden’s mom keeps regular business hours.

“I met with other dads last week about SeaDaDs at Freshy’s Coffee across the street from the park and we ran into three other stay-at-home dads there," said Renn. "There tend to be more organizations here for moms and babies to meet.”

King County Council Vice Chair Jane Hague and Council Chair Dow Constantine have introduced a motion to establish a formal, "Blue Ribbon"committee process for selecting an appointee for King County Executive.

The motion, council members say, would create a committee that would provide for broader participation in the scrutiny of potential appointees.

“It is critical that we make the right choice with this appointment,” said Hague. “By allowing a wider range of involvement in the vetting process, we will ultimately make a better selection for an interim King County Executive without any backroom deals. A more thorough process with a variety of voices will help the council appoint someone who will address the county’s budget issues, be responsive to the public and give the public confidence in the management of the office until the general election.”

“This is a critical year for King County government and we must move quickly to appoint an interim executive once a vacancy occurs,” said Constantine. “This process must be open and transparent, while bringing forward a pool of candidates who are both capable and viable.”

A booming cannon-shot welcome by the Seafair Pirates accompanied a celebratory lei cutting as the Ballard Trader Joe’s had its grand opening this morning, finding Ballardites waiting outside Ballard Blocks in near-freezing temperatures for the doors to finally open.

“I can’t wait,” said Linda Logan, resident of east Ballard. “It’s the talk of the town.”

Seafair pirates passed out stickers and Trader Joe’s employees gave away buttons to customers joining in on the festivities.

Among the crowd was Barry Martin, superintendent of Ledcor, the construction team behind Ballard Blocks. Martin, owner of the now infamous Edith Macefield's home, said everyone has been waiting for this opening.

As mothers tried to keep their pirated-enthralled children warm, Lori McSweeney, captain (store manager) of the Everett Trader Joe's, explained the turnout.

“I’ve been hearing that the community has been waiting for this for quite some time,” she said. “We all come together for the openings.”

Ballard Blocks is located at 1416 N.W. 46th St.

Not only is he a third generation Ballardite, he is a third generation “Mitchell Taylor Bowie,” pronounced like Colonel Bowie and his knife, not rocker, Ziggy Stardust. But the circles in which he moves, like the rare book world, and his tenants and pals, just call him Taylor Bowie.

He and his sister Lee Anne Bowie own the Murphy Building their grandfather purchased around World War II, on the corner of Market Street and 20th Avenue Northwest. The tidy, cream-colored three-story slice, or chunk rather, of Ballard history is a mammoth 24,000 square feet, including the basement, and turns 100 years-old this year.

He lives on the third floor that has nine other apartments. The second floor is rented by Northwest Archeological Associates, Inc., and the mezzanine unit by DCD Home Web Developement.

The Murphy building is home to three storefronts. They are occupied by John Michael Lang Fine Books, Ballard Time Shop clock repair, and, officially opening Saturday, March 14, the 4,300 square foot All The Best Pet Care. That shop will move in following major refurbishing, including enlarged windows, front doors and new tile entry.

Though you may not know his name, you've undoubtedly seen the work of Glenn Case all around West Seattle, in the windows of Bakery Nouveau or the walls of Easy Street Records.

Somewhere in the neighborhood Case can often be found atop a ladder, head phones strapped to his ears as he casually wields his paint brush to create the eye-ctching murals that stop traffic and draw customers to local businesses.

In total, Case has worked for West 5, Coffee to a Tea with Sugar, Cupcake Royale, Seattle Fish Co., Liberty Bell Printing, Bakery Nouveua, Easy Street Records and the Feedback Lounge.

Local businesses that have commissioned his art describe Case as flexible, eager to work and constantly impressive with his artistic skills.

"Glenn is a lot of fun to work with," said William Leaman, chef at Bakery Nouveau. "He's always happy to help and very available."

"He is always around, always wants to be working," said Matt Vaughan, owner of Easy Street Records.

A task force composed of five neighbors and three representatives of Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church met March 5 to discuss to potential SHARE homeless shelter to be located in the vacant Calvary Lutheran Church building.

This first meeting was an opportunity for the neighbors to present their concerns, said Rebecca Butler of Our Redeemer. The concerns they brought forward were mostly related to questions of accountability and safety surrounding the 20-man shelter, she said.

The neighbors also gathered information from the shelter's current neighbors in West Seattle with positive results, Butler said.

She said Our Redeemer used this meeting to listen to neighbors' concerns. The task force will meet again March 11 with representatives from SHARE in order to hopefully come to an agreement that will allow the shelter to move into the Calvary building by the end of the month.

"It's our hope that we will be able to work out an agreement that will allow [the shelter] to come here," Butler said.

Butler said there will be another full community meeting following the task force meetings before the shelter moves in.

The King County Council’s Physical Environment Committee will be taking public comment on Metro Transit's response to the snow and adverse weather that hit the region on Feb. 26.

Tuesday, March 10
9:30 a.m.
King County Council chambers
10th floor, King County Courthouse, 516 3rd Ave.

Committee members will receive a briefing from committee staff and will also hear from Metro Transit staff on the agency’s reaction to the morning snow.

“Metro’s response to snow weather has been unacceptable,” said Council Vice Chair Jane Hague, chair of the Physical Environment Committee. “It is time we figure out exactly what is going wrong and begin working on how to be better prepared to meet the needs of transit riders.”

The second of two design workshops for proposed changes to California Place Park in the Admiral neighborhood is this Saturday from 10:30 to noon at the Alki Community Center, 5817 S.W. Stevens St.

Design proposals will be presented by landscape architect Karen Kiest.

The area being developed is a small triangle of land on California Avenue Southwest and Southwest Hill Street.

The proposed playscape in Admiral has been met with opposition from community members who argue it is a poor use of city funds and an inappropriate location for a park. A $15,000 city Matching Fund Grant has been acquired for design work.

Friends and Neighbors of North Admiral, the group who was awarded the city grant, has the following posted on its Web site:

"We are very excited about what (Kiest) has to share. There are no plastic playstructures, no climbing walls on the church, no holes or giant sand pits and the trees are all intact! The design options are natural, open, welcoming and timeless - a perfect compliment to the Admiral neighborhood."

Ballard Blocks II, the sister project to the nearly-completed Ballard Blocks, is in need of an anchor tenant before construction will get under way. The site at 1401N.W. 46th St., just east of the Ballard Bridge, remains an empty lot filled with standing water.

Nick Carkonen, with CB Richard Ellis real estate, said they are actively marketing the space and are prepared to move forward with construction as soon as a significant tenant is found.

"With everything in place, we can move forward relatively quickly once we have a tenant," he said.

There is no deadline to find a tenant, but a few businesses have expresses some interest, Carkonen said.

The permit for the site allows for a five-story building with 25,000 square feet of retail space below 100,000 square feet of office space along with underground parking.

The warehouses that sat on the property were demolished this past fall.