March 2012

Professional actor, Brian Sutherland, who portrays a superhero on a web TV series, chased a purse snatcher for a mile today and retrieved the item, belonging to woman in her late 60's. Sutherland, a former West Seattle resident, stars as a soldier in the just-completed, and West Seattle-produced "All My Presidents", filmed here on North Admiral.

He also happens to portray a superhero named "Super Star" in The Collectibles, a satirical web TV series scheduled to be launched in April. Many in its cast and crew live in West Seattle.

Sutherland was heading back from an audition on Queen Anne with some fellow actors from "All My Presidents" when he witnessed a man in his 30's stealing a woman's purse.

The business association at the top of West Seattle, the Admiral District met again Monday March, 12 and moved a little farther down the road in developing their marketing message and identity.

A new logo, nautically themed with a porthole and anchor, designed by Bluez of Royal Blue Tattoo was selected from a few that were developed and will be finished for use in a variety of marketing materials.

The group tossed around ideas for slogans and will narrow down the fifteen or so being considered for a vote to be held at the next meeting.

From the Events Committee – Danni Orne offered some event ideas: Wine walk, which would involve walking from restaurant to restaurant possibly combining it with outdoor art such as a sidewalk chalk contest.

The group was informed that the annual Easter egg hunt has been canceled at Hiawatha ~ but will continue at Life Care Center.

A group of about 30 people gathered in the West Seattle Junction amid snow flurries at around 4pm on March, 13 to begin a march up to Chase Bank at the corner of California Ave. s.w. and s.w. Oregon. This was the first public display of West Seattle's very own local chapter of the Occupy movement.

The group has been holding meetings, getting organized and chose today and Chase Bank specifically because it's the birthday of its President Jamie Dimon.

CLICK THE PHOTO ABOVE TO SEE MORE

They were equipped with the requisite signs but also balloons, whistles and displayed an attitude substantially more upbeat and less threatening than was displayed by Occupy Seattle when they closed part of the Port of Seattle this past December. That incident was witness to violence and injuries. This version of Occupy was much more mild.

The University of Washington School of Public Health is teaming up with the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition and Just Health Action to study health issues affecting people who live near or use the Duwamish River ahead of the EPA’s final cleanup plan expected later this year, according to a University of Washington press release.

The Duwamish Health Impact Assessment project is funded by a grant from the Health Impact Project, “a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts.”

BJ Cummings, community health projects manager for DRCC/Technical Advisory Group, is part of the study and explained the questions they hope to answer:

“What does it mean to have a cleanup that doesn’t actually help people who are fishing … and how can we minimize that lasting health impact, how can we maximize the health benefit available to the fishing community and how to reduce any health disparities for those communities … compared to surrounding communities?,” she said.

Kathleen Anne Nickels of Seattle passed away on March 11, 2012 after a heroic 15-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Born July 15, 1929 in Dixon, Illinois she was the third of five children born to George Jerome McKenney and Helen Bernice Ryan. George worked for the Illinois Central Railroad and Helen was a public schoolteacher.

After graduating from Dixon High School, Kathleen attended St. Anthony College of Nursing in Rockford and did her residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. While in Chicago she met Robert Nickels and they were married January 23, 1954 in Dixon.

The couple lived first in Chicago, where their first child, Gregory James, was born. In early 1956 they moved to Erie, Pennsylvania where three additional children were born: John Mark, Peter Robert and Amy Beth. Kathleen was very active in church activities in Erie.

UPDATE 3:PM

Sergeant Cindi West of the King County Sheriff Department just told the Highline TImes:

At about 11:20 (a.m.) today, an 80 year-old man pulled into his driveway in the 500 block of South 158th. When he got to his driveway he saw that his garage door was open with his wife's car in the drive and there was also 'an older red Jeep Cherokee'. He was confronted by a white male with a shotgun. The suspect pointed the shotgun at him and told him to 'get on the f***ing ground' or he was going to 'fu**ing'' kill him and told him that numerous times.

Apparently he wasn't moving fast enough so the suspect took the butt of the shotgun and struck him in the face, and struck him once in each knee with the shotgun. The suspect got into the Jeep Cherokee. The victim saw another suspect run from the back of his house to the front and he kept running away.

Officers arrived and set up perimeters. K9 was called. K9 tracked and located a jacket, then hat and gloves, and then found the suspect who had been running, hiding in the bushes near 509 and 162nd. That suspect has been arrested. The other suspect in the vehicle is still (not found.)

On Monday, Port of Seattle Commission President Gael Tarleton announced that she is seeking the 36th District House seat to be vacated by State Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, D-Seattle.

With her announcement, Tarleton became the second Ballardite in the race, next to Progressive Party member Linde Knighton.

Rep. Dickerson represented the 36th District, which includes parts of Ballard, Queen Anne, Magnolia, Phinney Ridge, Fremont and Belltown, for 18 years and announced her retirement earlier this month.

Nick Cail and John Burbank also announced bids to run for the 36th District House seat.

The Ballard District Council is convening for its monthly meeting tonight and topics on the agenda for the evening include projects for the 2012 Neighborhood Projects Fund, RapidRide D Line, and the future of public transit services.

As usual, the meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Library 5614 22nd N.W.

AGENDA:

7 p.m. - Introductions & Short Announcements

7:15 p.m. - 2012 Neighborhood Projects Fund, Rob Mattson

Ballard couple Eric Thomas and Alexandra Salmon are opening up their net-zero-energy home for a free tour and talk on Wednesday, March 14.

Last year the couple envisioned building a spacious home with big windows that would not only be highly efficient, but also produce more energy than it uses. And they were going to do it all on a budget.

In November, 2011 they moved into their new home, which was built for less than the price of a townhouse in the Ballard area.

At tomorrow's event, the couple is hosting guest speakers Aaron Fairchild and Sam Lai of Green Canopy Homes to share with people how to get the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to investing in the efficiency of your home.

Titled “Get the Biggest Bang for Your Green Remodeling Buck”, the talk is the first of the B-GREEN Ballard Green Building Talks series presented by Sustainable Ballard.

Fairchild and Lai are veterans of the green renovation and real estate industries and will point you toward the green retrofits that yield the biggest payback—both in energy savings and long-term home value.

The annual Norwegian Heritage Day and Taste of Norway celebration is coming up on March 24 at Ballard's Leif Erikson Lodge.

The festivities will begin with a 5k Leif-to-Leif Fun run/walk, which takes participants from the Leif Erikson Lodge to the Leif Erikson statue at Shilshole and back. All participants get waffles and a Norwegian flag, and winners will be celebrated.

The Norwegian Heritage Day and Taste of Norway will take place at the lodge from 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. and festivities will include Norwegian handicrafts, live music, and dance performances.

An array of traditional Norwegian food will be offered such as lapskaus, rømmergrøt, krumkake, lefse, vafler, and smørbrød.

There will also be a genealogy table where people with Norwegian ancestry can find out more about their family roots.

At 3:00 p.m. there will be a bunad parade with men, women and children wearing traditional Norwegian clothing.

Lodge admission is free and open to the public. Run/Walk is $10 for adults, $5 for students.

Registration for the run/walk starts at 8:00 a.m. registration. Race starts at 9:00 a.m.