August 2013

Did you ever just want to frolick out in the streets without the pesky nuisance of possibly getting hit by a car?

Well, this is your lucky weekend. On Friday, Aug. 9 and Saturday, Aug. 10, Greenwood Ave N between N 67th and N 88th streets will be closed off to traffic.

What will take place on the street instead? A huge family friendly party called PhinneyWood Summer Streets.

This year, the event is coinciding with the monthly artwalk. Festivities include:

• Flotsam Jetsam — art from the sea — at TASTY
• The 4th Annual Art ‘n’ Craft Fair;
• Naked City Brewery's second annual soccer tournament, a fund raiser for Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
• A pre-tournament party
• Detective Cookie will have chess games for the kids
• Phinney Farmers Market's Zucchini 500 car races
• Ayron Jones playing soulful music at Valentine’s Seattle
• Maryhill Ratz are bringing skateboarding fun
• A portable planetarium setup by 826 Seattle and the UW Astronomy Department

information from King County

Crews completed removal of hazardous materials in three of the buildings on site at the Murray CSO Control Facility from August 1-3, and will finish up removal work on the remaining buildings over the next week.

Tree protection was installed around the cluster of large trees along the site’s eastern border on August 6. Crews also began deconstructing the cleaned buildings and salvaging reusable materials from them. Some of the salvaged materials will be used in the project art. The deconstruction work requires trucks and containers, so parking access on the Murray Avenue Southwest right of way will be limited through the end of September. Demolition of the remaining structures will occur after the hazardous material and salvage work is complete.

Air quality monitoring will continue throughout the project.

The existing structures must be removed before construction of the new storage facility begins in late 2013. The facility will protect Puget Sound by storing sewage and polluted stormwater during storms to prevent overflows out of the regional sewer system into the water off of Lowman Beach Park.

Early results from the Aug. 6 King County primary election are in, and it appears incumbent Mayor Mike McGinn will battle Ed Murray for the top Seattle job in November.

Murray edged out McGinn in early totals, garnering 30.3 percent to McGinn’s 27.2 percent. Challengers Bruce A. Harrell and Peter Steinbrueck were the closest next two candidates, with 15.5 and 16.3 percent respectively.

For Seattle City Council Position 2, it appears incumbent Richard Conlin (49.2 percent) will take on challenger Kshama Sawant (33 percent).

For Seattle City Council Position 8, position holder Mike O’Brien (57.4 percent) will battle Albert Shen (35.3 percent).

King County Executive and West Seattle resident Dow Constantine dominated his primary, garnering 75.6 percent of the votes. His closest competitor, Alan E. Lobdell, came in at 12.3 percent.

From Seattle Department of Transportation

Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) crews will reseal approximately 36 lane miles of residential streets this summer on selected streets in the Crown Hill/Greenwood neighborhood (area bounded on the north by NW 110th Street, on the south by NW85th Street, on the west by 15th Avenue NW, and on the east by Greenwood Avenue N) with a process called chip sealing. The crews are beginning today, August 7, and weather permitting, will complete the work by August 30, not including final sweeping. The work requires warm, dry conditions.

Renewing the chip-seal surface preserves the condition of the streets, creating a highly skid-resistant surface that prevents water from penetrating the roadway subsurface, thereby limiting damage such as potholes. Approximately 25 percent of Seattle’s residential streets have chip-sealed surfaces. Preparation began this spring when crews repaired cracks and other roadway damage in the streets scheduled for resurfacing.

One bicyclist is headed to the hospital after losing consciousness in a collision with another cyclist at the intersection of E. Marginal Way S. and S. Spokane St., according to the Seattle Fire Department.

The accident was reported shortly after 8 a.m. on Aug. 7.

Both men were wearing helmets, according to SFD, and the second person involved did not require medical treatment.

More details will be posted when available. Seattle police are investigating.

By Peggy Sturdivant

Nineteen-eighteen. Roger Miller was born at home along with his identical twin brother Rodney at 910 West 62nd; what’s now written as NW 62nd. Twelve years later their father purchased Ballard Transfer Co., still a four-generation business today.

Roger, aka “Papa No-No,” Miller doesn’t get to the office on Market Street as often as he used to. “Maybe every couple of weeks.” But he speaks of the day-to-day aspects of the hauling business as though still maintaining a spreadsheet. “Diesel at $4.00/gallon,” he said. “No way you can cover costs on some trips.”

Miller still lives in the house that his parents owned and that he inherited along with his sister over 45 years ago. It’s north of Sunset Hill Park. “When we moved in we had a 180 degree view,” he said. “From West Point to Point-No-Point.” The trees below have grown but the view of Puget Sound is still magnificent, reminding Miller of the fishing derby days. On the wall just behind his recliner hangs a black-and-white baby photo of him and his brother, probably circa 1919. “Two peas in a pod,” he said.

Neighbors all over Ballard took to the streets last night and raised awareness about crime the only way they knew how -- by partying and having a good time.

From Shilshole Bay Marina to Phinney Ridge to Crown Hill (as well as the rest of Seattle), neighbors blocked off roads everywhere. Residents ate barbecue, listened to music, played games, had their faces painted, met pirates and filled the air with chatter.

But Night Out isn't all just about fun and games. (Just mostly.) It's about meeting neighbors and preventing crime. And while Ballard is safe as far as violent crimes go, it does have a high rate of property crime, with a steady stream of burglaries and attempted burglaries happening every week. Robberies, assaults and even sexual assaults also happen occasionally.

One of the best ways to prevent crime is by getting to know your neighbor, making new friends, and keeping an eye out on each other.

The Ballard News-Tribune took part in a couple festivities, hitting up the Shilshole Bay Marina and the East Ballard Night Outs -- which have grown to be two of the biggest celebrations. Click on the main picture above or the thumbnails below.

By Jeremy Martin

West Seattle and the Highline area were well represented Tuesday afternoon at the 2013 Seattle All City Swim Meet. Several area athletes, ranging in age from six to 18 years, representing; Arbor Heights, Gregory Seahurst, Olympic View and Normandy Park ventured north to Sand Point Country Club to compete in the end of the season event.
All four neighborhood teams brought a competitive spirit to the event and it started with the Gregory Seahurst’s four man team of Logan O’Neil (7), Leo Benevedes (8), Henry Heater (8) and Ethan Reed (8), who clocked an all city best time of 1:18.56 in the 8 and under boys 100 yard medley relay.
“We’re kind of rebuilding. We’re building back up and starting with these eight year olds. They’re pretty excited; they broke a record from 1991,” Gregory Seahurst head coach Mike Fosberg said.

Fosberg, who is in his second stint as head coach, was at the helm for 16 years in the 80’s and 90’s when the team was able to rattle of six consecutive All-City championships.

The win helped Seahurst rack up 110.0 points, which was good for seventh overall out of a total of 15 teams.

At dozens of neighborhood gatherings around West Seattle, that echoed the National Night Out people came with pot luck preparations, and got to know one another some for the first time, others reigniting dormant relationships. The purpose of the gathering was just that, to let people get better acquainted to help fight crime.

Many parties had block watch sign up sheets, disaster preparedness information and other information to share.

At one of the bigger gatherings at 48th SW and SW Dawson they focused on recycling, and even had a live band play for the nearly 100 people in attendance.

On Henderson Street SW near the Fauntleroy Ferry dock it was a truly multi-generational event with everyone from babies to a 101 year old woman who has lived there since 1949.

Elsewhere the party atmosphere prevailed but the purpose was served. People who know each other tend to watch out for each other and can more readily come to someone's aid should they need it. The community, in fact all communities that function as a network of friends have been shown to have a marked effect on reducing crime.

In celebration of National Night Out on Aug. 6, the community of White Center put their business core's best on display and offered a dizzying array of food options at only $2 a pop.

The mission statement for National Night Out is to bolster public safety in communities and neighborhoods, bringing folks together with law enforcement to meet, greet and, ideally, make pacts to watch out for one another and maybe even form a formal block watch.

It's also simply about having a good time, and White Center made that happen.

Eighteen restaurants, bars and breweries created $2 specials for the night and families flooded 16th Ave. S.W. (and the surrounding area) to take advantage. Included in that list were:

Triangle Pub
3.14 Bakery
Uncle Mike's Superlicious BBQ
Full Tilt Ice Cream
White Center Market
Queen's Deli
Proletariat Pizza
Caffe Delia
Zippy's Giant Burgers
Crawfish House
Bahn 88
La Fondita
Company
DK Cafe
El Salvadorean Bakery
Big Al (Beer garden)
El Paisano Rosticeria y Cocina
Super Charge (snow cones)