March 2009

The Phinney Neighborhood Association can now say they are the proud owners of the former John B. Allen School, after they received a check of $650,000 from the state.

The two buildings that make up the school were deemed surplus last year by former owner the Seattle School District. Phinney has been leasing the old school for the past 27 years.

The state check was part of a $4.3 million dollar appropriation in 2008 to help with the purchase and improvement of community schools.

“We closed the final closing on the purchase of the school on Feb. 27 but the check was moved into escrow on the 25th of February,” executive director of the Phinney Association Ed Medeiros said.

Speaker of the house, Frank Chop and Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson handed over the check to the Phinney Association during a small ceremony.

“We’re excited to know that we finally have closed” Medeiros said. “And of course we also got the balance amount from the city of Seattle and we own the building free and clear.”

The full council unanimously approved $2.5 million to go toward helping Phinney purchase and renovate the two buildings last October.

The Full Seattle City Council today unanimously approved two bills to allow Mayor Greg Nickels to spend city and levy dollars to acquire the right of way on Northwest 54th Street between 26th and 28th avenues northwest to complete the last section of the Burke Gilman Trail, or the "missing link."

The Seattle City Council Transportation Committee voted the bills through last week.

The property acquisition will complete the multi-purpose trail from 11th Avenue Northwest to the Ballard Locks. The city is in negotiations to buy the property from the Nordic Heritage Museum, which plans to build a new facility on the 2600 block of Northwest Market Street, and B Box LLC, which owns the westerly portion of the two block area.

"This is the last piece between Golden Gardens and Issaquah, basically," said Kirk Jones, project manager of the Burke Gilman Trail project for the Seattle Department of Transportation.

He spoke to council members at a March 3 Transportation Committee meeting.

The city hopes to start construction this year and funding has been secured through city funds and money from the $365 million Bridging the Gap levy, passed by voters in 2006.

We love our microbrews. We love tasty bar food. There’s a one stop shop by the name of Jolly Roger Taproom.

Jolly Roger is the restaurant associated with Ballard’s Maritime Pacific Brewing Company, founded in 1990 by Ballard resident George Hancock.

He and his wife lived on a sailboat at Shilshole for 14 years. No surprise that he named his brewery “Maritime” to reflect Seattle – people coming to Seattle by way of the water. He runs the brewery, and she does the bookkeeping. It’s a true "ma and pa" business.

Although Hancock used to do all the brewing himself, the demands of his booming business call for a handful of brewers. But one thing’s for sure – he is just as passionate about beer as when he first started in the industry, home brewing in the 1970s.

His beer knowledge is wide-ranging. When asked to give a basic rundown of the brewing process, he was eager to explain exclaiming, “It’s not just a science. It’s an art.”

But he broke brewing down to a science. It is surprisingly complex. One gets drawn into his passion, scientific descriptions, and explanations down to the minutia.

In today’s economy it can be difficult to find quality entertainment with a tight budget, but this weekend the intriguing sounds of jazz act the Katie Voss Trio will be playing a free, all ages show at Easy Street Records.

The trio includes Katie Voss's vocals accompanied by Jacob Lakatua on tenor and soprano sax and Jeff Siamas on bass. For the Easy Street show, the trio will also have special guest drummer Greg Fields.

Voss herself described the band’s songs as very traditional standards, but still with hints of their own personalities. The songs are very accessible to all listeners, particularly due largely to Voss's incredibly likeable sweet and smooth vocals. Their songs vary from thick and sultry to lively and cute.

Voss has studied under Greta Matassa while Lakatua has Seattle native jazz instrumentalist Jay Thomas. All three members say they are constantly listening to jazz and enjoy being part of that thriving music community.

The band has been together for a year and a half but just started playing live shows in November, including one at West Seattle's Shadowland restaurant and bar. Already, Voss says they have begun to attract loyal listeners.

The Seattle Department of Transportation has canceled work announced yesterday to repair Holman Road Northwest between Greenwood Avenue North and Third Avenue Norhtwest on Saturday, March 7.

The plan was changed to keep lanes open for traffic seeking alternate routes during construction on I-5. The work will be rescheduled.

Scream Barbershop decided to close their Ballard doors March 1 due to leasing complications and its not so customer-friendly location, according to the owner.

The barbershop was located at 5512 20th Ave. N.W.

“They’re (the building owners) selling the building," said Eva Szijj, owner of Scream. "The print shop has been vacant for almost a year and the bar next door wasn’t very good for business. I just feel with no lease for a year it caused complications and issues.”

They will be focusing business and directing customers to their Capitol Hill location, 819 E. Thomas St.

Thursday, March 12 the Chief Sealth High School Parent Teacher Student Association will host a "Multicultural Night," with doors opening at 5:45 p.m.

President Leslie Menstell made the announcement recently and said the event will include a buffet-style dinner of "ethnic dishes"

Some groups scheduled to perform are breakdancing, Filipino, krump/stomp, Latino Dance, poetry, Polynesian, Mariachi, Vietnamese. There will be a silent auction and cash raffle.

Native or cultural attire is suggested. Also, learn about international programs for students. 

Tickets are $7 per person and free for Chief Sealth students, families and children under 7. Tickets are limited and cost $10 at the door.

Chief Sealth is located at 5950 Delridge Way S.W.

Call the ticket hotline at 1-800-838-3006. For more information email president@chiefsealthptsa.org.

One major challenge for the residents of Seattle was driven by the numerous breakdowns in communication between Metro and the Seattle Department of Transportation.

It appears that neither the transportation department nor Metro leadership knew what was actually occurring on the streets, i.e. whether they were being plowed or cleared or how the buses were functioning.

Citizens testified that the roads that the transportation department leadership thought were plowed were not. We heard that Metro's "on-line route status updates" on their adverse weather page were incorrect. Metro could not be relied upon for correct information. In many cases drivers and passengers were left to fend for themselves. 

The city council and the county council are demanding a clear plan for coordination and improvement from both departments. Metro is dependent upon several city departments including the Seattle Police Department to make sure the roads are cleared and safe.

The National Wildlife Federation has a program that is becoming quite popular in our region. The Backyard Habitat Certification Program encourages development and maintenance of natural habitats on private property, public facilities and business sites. Several local cities and neighborhoods including Alki in West Seattle, are participating.

Natural habitats can be created by replacing grass lawns with native wildflowers, shrubs, and trees to provide a refuge for wildlife which may attract songbirds, butterflies and frogs.

To educate communities on how easy and beneficial these habitats can be, Kara Whittaker and Greg Whittaker who are the owners of Alki Kayak along with organizers from the Alki Wildlife Habitat Project have initiated a project to certify Seacrest Park in West Seattle as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat and Demonstration Garden. Seattle Parks and Recreation Department is co-sponsoring this effort. 

Both Concord Elementary School and Denny Middle School celebrated their diverse student bodies and new international curriculum at Concord this morning.

At 10 a.m. first grade students, both native Spanish-speakers and those new to the language, took a math class entirely taught in Spanish, as a part of the school’s dual-language immersion program. Meanwhile, upstairs in Concord’s media center elementary students enjoyed watching Denny Middle School’s steel drum band and saw their own class mates perform a native Cuban dance.

Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson and West Seattle School Board director Steve Sundquist were on hand to offer their congratulations to both Denny and Concord.

“We are committed to making ‘Excellence for All’ the standard across the district,” said Goodloe-Johnson. “It is important to understand cultural diversity so that our students might graduate to be competitive globally.”

Denny and Concord will both see changes in their curriculum this fall.