July 2011

If it weren't for the bullies of northern White Center, young Earl Cruzen might not have become the fastest kid on Webster Street.

Earl was a smallish lad who would rather write than fight. He learned to high-tail it away from bigger boys bent on "pantsing" him or doing him harm.

White Center was a labor town in the 1930s, too blue collar for a bright young son of W.E. Cruzen (well known Seattle auto parts king for many years).

Earl grew up in Highland Park, just off 12th S.W. near the top of Boeing Hill. Through grade school he gained his fleet feet while selling magazine subscriptions to residents and businesses in downtown White Center.
Earl was too small for sports.

"I saw how big those guys were," he said, so he turned to writing about the athletes. He didn't golf but admitted that he and friends once snuck onto the 9th green of the old Garrett Lake (Hick's Lake) golf course before he was shooed away by local players.

By high school Earl began writing for the West Seattle High Chinook (school newspaper) eventually getting some stories published in the West Seattle Herald. A budding journalist he wasn't. His heart was in the company biz.

Three arrested in burglary of dead man

King County detectives have arrested three men in the theft case of a man who lay dead on the floor as his house was ransacked. Investigators made the arrests after spotting Leonard Werner's missing PT Cruiser under a tarp on a property in South Park. A search of the property turned up some of the items that had been taken from Werner's home, investigators said. Detectives were told of a storage warehouse at South 178th and Des Moines where they found Werner's other missing car, a 2002 Dodge Ram. A family member discovered Werner's remains in the basement of his home. Werner, 69, lay dead under a blanket someone had put over him. Investigators suspect Werner's next-door neighbors of ransacking the home, stealing everything from a washer and dryer to crystal ornaments. They believe the suspects stole the items over several nights, using the backyard to stay out of view and moving items underneath the chain link fence. A number of stolen items were recovered at the neighbors' home, police said. Detectives say they've served several warrants on the neighbor's home over the years, but would not say why.

press release:
The contractor working for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to widen the Spokane Street Viaduct will close First Avenue South from S Spokane to S Horton streets every night from July 8 to July 15, and potentially through the end of the month. Crews will normally begin work at 9 p.m. and wrap up by 5 a.m. the next morning. When the Mariners are playing at night, crews will begin work at 11 p.m.

To complete necessary construction the upper roadway will also be impacted as follows:

· Westbound Spokane Viaduct Right Lane Closed July 6-8, 11 p.m. – 5 a.m.
· Westbound Spokane Viaduct Closed Completely July 12-14, 11 p.m. – 5 a.m.

See www.seattle.gov/spokane for more details on this project.

On Friday, the Ballard Chamber of Commerce and Friends will host the third annual Ballard SeafoodFest Kick-Off BBQ to benefit the Seattle Fishermen's Memorial.

It’s an important event for the Chamber, as well as the community, to honor the industry that made Ballard what it is today. As a charitable non-profit organization, the Seattle Fishermen’s Memorial is devoted to promoting safety in the fishing fleets and easing the emotional and financial burden of surviving family members of fishermen lost at sea.

Established in 1985, the SFM Board is directed by 15 industry volunteers. Since the completion of the monument down at Fisherman’s Terminal, the mission has expanded. They now address grief support, safety training and the fostering of community around those in need.

The SFM Board holds monthly meetings to ensure advancement of the mission through the year. In addition, (and probably the biggest reason to give) the SFM provides financial scholarships to the children of the people who have been lost at sea. Currently the Seattle Fishermen's Memorial are putting 10 children through college and they need all the support they can get.

Numerous students from the Ballard area have been named to the Dean's List at the University of Washington for Spring Quarter.

To qualify for the Dean's List, a student must have completed at least 12 graded credits and have a grade
point average of at least 3.50 (out of 4).

The students are:

Jennifer Jean Abbott
Clayton Eugene Anderson
Kelsey Ann Anderson
Lilia Arturovna Asriyants
Ornella Elsa Bardinelli
Peter Martin Beasley
Christopher Allen Berg
Allyssa Karrynne Berger
Munish Kumar Bharti
Enina K Bogdani
Yekaterina Aleksandrovna Borisenko
Naida Alexandria Boyer
Nathan William Bright
Jessica Elaine Brodland
Paige Frances Brooks
Gavin Blair Calkins
Caitlin Johnson Campbell
Jonathan Robert Carver
Maximillian Wiley Chauhan
Hilary Michele Cohen
Esra Comert-Morishige
Angelo Camacho Cruz
Leif Petter Danielsen
Austin D Dean
Drew Fitzgerald Duggan
Joel Kenneth Dunkelberg
Neil Arthur II Eddington
Samantha Erin Ellis
Ahmad Khamis Elshenawy
Christopher Lucien Engler
Nils Bertrand Finholt
Casey Marcus Pittman Fischer
Ariella Mihi Fish
Jane Catherine Fleck
Charlotte Elizabeth Franklin
Kelly Marie French
Rebecca M Gannon

On Tuesday, July 5 at approximately 1:07 p.m. officers responded to the 500 block of North 84th Street for a report of a man with a gun.

Preliminary investigation indicates that the suspect and victim (both adult males) are known to each other via a landlord/tenant relationship. The victim was renting space in the suspect’s home and was being evicted. The victim arrived at the house to pick up some of his belongings.

The suspect called the victim on his cell phone and asked the victim to come to an area in the the suspect’s portion of the house.

The victim appeared in the suspect’s portion of the house at which point the suspect pointed a shotgun at the victim and threatened him. The victim pleaded with the suspect not to shoot him as he backed out of the house. Once outside, the victim called 911.

Responding patrol officers surrounded the house and were quickly joined by on-duty SWAT team officers. They called the suspect on his phone and convinced him to surrender peacefully. The suspect exited the residence unarmed and was taken into custody.

There's another busy summer weekend coming up and in addition to the Ballard SeafoodFest, motorist should be aware of the following traffic-congesting events:

STP:

Drivers should leave themselves extra time July 9 and 10 as 10,000 cyclists use Washington’s state and local roads for the 2011 Group Health Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic (STP).

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) asks local drivers to share the road and prepare for traffic delays and reminds bicyclists of their responsibility to follow Washington’s rules of the road.

The biggest traffic impacts are typically:

· Early morning Saturday, July 9, on SR 7 in Pierce County.
· Midmorning to afternoon on SR 507 in Thurston and Lewis counties.
· Early Sunday, July 10, on SR 411 from Castle Rock to Kelso.
· All day Sunday near the SR 432 Lewis and Clark Bridge.

Ever wonder what Ballardites are jamming to on their iPods, in their cars or in their homes this summer?

Here's the Top 25 albums sold at Ballard's Sonic Boom Records last week compiled by owner, Jason Hughes.

Top 25 Albums at Sonic Boom Records for June 27 - July 3, 2011:

1. Shabazz Palaces “Black Up” (Subpop)
2. Bon Iver “Bon Iver” (Jagjaguwar)
3. Gillian Welch “Harrow & the Harvest” (Acony)
4. Handsome Furs “Sound Kapital” (Subpop)
5. Fleet Foxes “Helplessness Blues” (Subpop)
6. Thievery Corporation “Culture of Fear” (ESL)
7. Head & The Heart “Head & The Heart” (Subpop)
8. Blue Scholars “Cinemetropolis” (self released)
9. My Morning Jacket “Circuital” (ATO)
10. Death Cab For Cutie “Codes & Keys” (Atlantic)
11. Various Artists “Rave On Buddy Holly” (Hear Music)
12. Eddie Vedder “Ukulele Songs” (Monkeywrench)
13. Cults “Cults” (Columbia)
14. Adele “21” (Columbia)
15. Foster the People “Torches” (Columbia)
16. Joy Formidable “Big Roar” (Atlantic)
17. David Bazan “Strange Negotiations” (Barsuk)
18. Mumford & Sons “Sigh No More” (Glassnote)
19. Madeleine Peyroux “Standing On The Rooftop” (Decca)
20. Helms Alee “Weatherhead” (Hydra Head)

They moved to Ballard back when co-workers still asked, “Where?” Don had been recruited from Spokane. His wife Cindy hailed from rural Idaho and wanted to be part of community where everyone knew one another. The year was 1987, yet whenever they found a house they liked there were already multiple offers, even in Ballard.

Finally a co-worker said to Don Black, “I don’t think anybody wants to buy my aunt’s house.” They took flashlights and went to peer from the outside by night. Even if Cindy hadn’t been an architect they could see the house had the potential to become what they would consider it for the next 23 years: the prettiest house on the block. So it was that the original family, the Greens, sold the 1903 home to the Blacks.

For a very long time Don and Cindy Black thought they would live there until they died. The street, just a few blocks north of where the Ballard Library and Ballard Commons now sit, provided everything they wanted in a neighborhood. Or perhaps it was partly the Blacks who made it the kind of block where neighbors gathered by their outdoor fireplace on October nights or burned their Christmas trees together on New Year’s Eve.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and the Ballard Terminal Railroad worked on a section of the Burke-Gilman Trail located between NW 40th and NW 41st streets last week to improve a railroad tracks crossing that proved to be dangerous for cyclists.

At that crossing, the trail meets the train tracks at a 45 degree angle and the rubber mat that was installed in order to prevent cyclists from catching their tires in between the trail pavement and the track rails, appeared to be hazardous in wet weather and caused multiple accidents.

As the Ballard Terminal Railroad is responsible for crossings of its tracks, SDOT partnered with the railroad to realign the crossing. The mat material has been removed and the crossing has been realigned so that it is closer to 90 degrees.

The mat has been replaced with smooth asphalts and the angle of the crossing should prevent any cyclist from getting his or her tire caught in the tracks.