March 2012

The weather may not seem like it but spring season is here. For student-athletes at Ballard High School this means spring sports have started.

Softball:

Coming off one of the greatest seasons in BHS history, the BHS softball team has high hopes for the 2012 season.

"We were one game from State and for the first time in our school's history we won a playoff game, we actually won three," said head coach Kyle Grey.

"What we learned last year is that "State" is absolutely something this program can accomplish and should always set its goals for every season. Just a few years ago that would have been laughed at but now teams need to take Ballard as one of the top teams."
After losing five valuable senior players, Grey had some big spots to fill but said they've been working hard in the past years to build up a strong JV team.

"We are going to have some holes to fill and get girls ready to go quickly because we have scheduled a tougher non-league schedule this year to help prepare us for big games in the future," he said.  

Burien is pulling its red-light cameras in May but SeaTac is sticking with theirs for, at least, two more years.

SeaTac council members voted 5-1 March 14 to request a two-year extension of its contract with Redflex Traffic Systems, the same company providing Burien’s red-light cameras. Councilman Rick Forschler was the lone dissenting vote.

Burien lawmakers were told in February that Burien had spent about $85,000 in district court costs over the past three years for the photo enforcement program. SeaTac has its own municipal court.

Although Burien does not pay Redflex more than revenues received from tickets, finance director Kim Krause reported over a three-year period, there was an $18,973 deficit between costs billed by Redflex and ticket revenues.

Detailed financial statistics are not available in SeaTac but police chief Jim Graddon said the presence of the cameras have changed drivers’ behavior.

He told council members that in 2008, the first full year of the camera program, the city issued about 6,700 infractions at the three intersections with cameras. In 2011, the number dropped to about 3,100.

Six short films by students in the Ballard High School Video Production Program have been selected for the upcoming National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY).

This competitive festival showcases outstanding work by filmmakers age 22 and younger, and is a rare opportunity for high school students to share the spotlight with college students from our nation’s best film schools.

NFFTY itself is the brainchild of Ballard High School video alumnus Jesse Harris (’04). Harris made history in 2004 when Living Life, the feature film he had written and directed as a senior project, was purchased by FilmMates and given a theatrical release. The festival was co-founded by Harris, Kyle Seago (’07) – also a Ballard High School Video alumnus - and Jocelyn RC (Bellevue High School, ’07). A growing list of sponsors and partners, such as Bing, Volvo, Xbox 360, Expedia, and Vitaminwater have paved the way for this sixth annual event.

UPDATE 3:15 pm
The outage is now resolved.

UPDATE 2:00 pm 3/15
The power outage is down to 23 customers, limited to the Seola Lane but power is expected to be restored by this afternoon.

Original Post
A power outage near Seola Park has affected 107 customers. Caused by a tree fall the outage is estimated to be repaired by 1:18 pm.

The outage is along 35th s.w. just shy of s.w. 112th Street at the north end extending down to Marine View Drive, along 34th Street s.w. and down Seola Beach Drive s.w. to s.w. Seola Lane.

You can check on the system status of city light by visiting their web page for this purpose http://www.seattle.gov/light/sysstat/

Frelard's Ravioli Station Trainwreck on 4620 Leary Avenue NW is adding a sidewalks cafe. An application submitted to the Seattle Department of Transportation was approved with modifications.

The approved dimensions are 6.5 feet by 20 fee. plus trapezoid of roughly 11 feet by 13 feet for a total occupation of 273 square feet.

Any person may request a review or reconsideration of a decision made by SDOT. The request must be in writing and sent within 10 days of the decision posting to the Director of Transportation. The request must identify the application number, grounds for objecting to the decision based on City standards and the specific remedy being proposed.

Visit http://www.seattle.gov/dpd for more information.

UPDATE: The wait is over. Po Dog Ballard opened its door at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 23rd, after fans have been waiting for the gourmet hot dog joint to open for months.

----Previous story:------

Ballard Po Dog slated for opening late next week
March 14, 2012

After some delays, it looks like Po Dog Ballard is slated for opening late next
week, according to the Po Dog Facebook page.

A creation of power couple Chris Pardo and Laura Olson. Po Dog is a wildly popular gourmet hot dog joint that already has locations in Capitol Hill and the University District. Initial plans called for a December opening of the Ballard location and foodies have been waiting patiently for the eatery to open.

Po Dog is one of five projects the couple has planned for Ballard. Pardo and Olsen are working to turn the upper level of the Market Street building into a small events space with local DJ's on Friday and Saturday nights, and the lower level is going to be a wine cellar/speakeasy.

A longtime source of concern for White Center business owners and citizens is the population of chronic, often homeless, inebriates living in or frequenting the area who, in many cases, starting to drink as soon as local convenience stores open their doors in the morning.

The alcohol of choice is usually “tall boys” of malt liquor with a powerful alcohol punch compared to regular beer, or fortified wine, such as MD 20/20. The price is low and the buzz is significant.

A new plan has been finalized to encourage White Center businesses to hold off on the sale of alcoholic malt beverages and fortified wine from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m., according to White Center Storefront Deputy BJ Myers. Update for 3/15: The voluntary ban will only apply to businesses selling alcohol for "off premise" use. In other words, "bars, restaurants, and sales of non-fortified wine are not part of the ban," Myers said.

Myers said three distributors (Columbia, K&L and Odom) will contact their customers (the resellers) over the next week to ask for their participation.

Ballard will be hosting its first annual Ballard Saint Patrick's Day Festival on Saturday, celebrating the color green in all its meanings.

This fun-filled day will benefit various Ballard non-profits, in particular Sustainable Ballard,

"We're planning on this becoming an annual Spring fundraiser for Sustainable Ballard," said Ricky Gene Powell, Executive Director of the Ballard Saint Patrick's Day Festival.

A kick-off event for the recently-founded Celebration Arts Foundation, the event is billed as "a family-friendly celebration of the history and legacy of Saint Patrick's Day, and it's impact on America".

Powell, a well-known organizer in the celebration arts world, is also the driving force behind Tacoma First Night,  the largest family-friendly New Years Eve Celebration in the Puget Sound region.

Rosie is a "pound pup from Montana," said her owner Tahmina Ringer, and Rosie who is now ten years old came into Ringer's life eight years ago. Ringer thinks she's a border collie or looks and acts like one in any case. "I just know that she's unusually cute and has fuzzy toes," she said.

Ringer decided it was time to get a dog that day and didn't actually find one but, "When I was on my way out I saw her, all sad looking in the corner and I had to take her home with me."

Ringer, who works at the Flower Lab (formerly Linda's Flowers and Gifts in the Admiral District) brought Rosie to work and she fit right in. Now she's the official shop dog at the Flower Lab.

Her best friend is Ringer's cat Kiwi. They sleep on the same bed together.

Rosie loves to fetch, and has a few toys for that purpose including one that they have to hide from her at the shop when she gets into the the fetch and bring it mode.

She's known to be quite beguiling Ringer said because, "When she's in trouble she smiles. She will show a lot of teeth."

On Monday, March 12, Pastor Erik R. Wilson Weiberg of Ballard First Lutheran Church made a trip down to the state Capitol in Olympia to give the Washington State Senate prayer.

Pastor Weiberg gave thanks for the beauty of Washington and the natural resources it offers. He acknowledged the state's successful industries, health care facilities, Grand Coulee Dam, and "a Space Needle that points to the sky as a sign of hope for the future and a reminder of the creativity and ingenuity that prevail here".

He prayed for "a spirit of inventiveness" as the state strive to educate people, and bring industry, work, and a sense of purpose to the unemployed.