November 2015

By Pat Cashman
from May 15, 2008

A few years ago, my wife and I were given the task of selling her parents’ home since they had moved out to enjoy the greater ease of assisted living. But Bert, my wife’s dad, wasn’t keen on the idea at first. “I don’t want to be around a bunch of old people,” he declared. He said he preferred to hang out with younger folks---around 93 years of age like himself.

But with their house empty, Bert and his wife became intent on selling---so we met with a real estate agent to get things started. The agent seemed nice enough---except for his too eager smile and sweaty upper lip. Come to think of it, the lower lip was pretty sweaty too.
The house, nice but smallish, was valued at around $250,000. Bert wanted to set the price a bit higher at, say, $1.3 million. We found a compromise and got the process underway.

“Staging” a house is very big these days in real estate circles. It’s a good way of attracting potential customers---and creating what is known as “curb appeal.” Once you’ve got the curbs looking good, it’s time to move indoors.

By Amanda Knox

In sixth grade the best English teacher I’ve ever had—and the only one to ever make me cry—asked my class to memorize and recite Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.” He may have thought it appropriate for us newly-middle-schoolers, just coming upon the crossroads of childhood and adolescence. I remember the poem striking me at the time more because it was the first time I was asked to consume and perform—alone and center stage—language. I did not immediately realize that the poem’s message was taking root. I’ve remembered it since, or at least, I’ve remembered the first stanza:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

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By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Gandy sinks game winner for Western

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Junior forward Kiana Gandy hit the game-winning basket with less than three seconds left in the game to lift the Western Washington Vikings to a 64-62 victory over Hawai'i Pacific Friday evening in the O’ahu Women’s Basketball Thanksgiving Classic.

The Vikings went 2-0 in the O’ahu Thanksgiving Classic with wins over Chaminade (61-53) and HPU to even their season record at 3-3.

Gandy (Des Moines, WA/Mount Rainier) scored a career-high 22 points in the victory, capping an excellent trip to Hawai'i in which she scored 40 points in the two games. Her game-winning basket with 2.4 seconds left on the clock capped a big second half in which the Vikings outscored the Sharks 38-29. Gandy scored 16 of her 22 points in the second half, including 11 points in the decisive fourth quarter.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Gandy sinks game winner for Western

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Junior forward Kiana Gandy hit the game-winning basket with less than three seconds left in the game to lift the Western Washington Vikings to a 64-62 victory over Hawai'i Pacific Friday evening in the O’ahu Women’s Basketball Thanksgiving Classic.

The Vikings went 2-0 in the O’ahu Thanksgiving Classic with wins over Chaminade (61-53) and HPU to even their season record at 3-3.

Gandy (Des Moines, WA/Mount Rainier) scored a career-high 22 points in the victory, capping an excellent trip to Hawai'i in which she scored 40 points in the two games. Her game-winning basket with 2.4 seconds left on the clock capped a big second half in which the Vikings outscored the Sharks 38-29. Gandy scored 16 of her 22 points in the second half, including 11 points in the decisive fourth quarter.

The Interbay Neighborhood Association has asked the City to withdraw its permit for the transitional homeless encampment in Interbay, stating that the site is contaminated and that the city has not done its due diligence in making sure it’s safe for campers.

The encampment at 3234 17th Ave. W. is one of three city-sanctioned encampments (Ballard and SODO) that Mayor Ed Murray announced last summer in response to a growing homeless population. Since then there has been public opposition to the selection of the sites with heavy contention being from the fact that Ballard and Interbay sites were contaminated with harmful compounds.

INA bases their charge on a review conducted by SoundEarth Strategies who contend the city’s testing and sampling for contaminants at the site were not adequate. SES issued a letter last week that sates the city used the wrong methodology in testing and that the findings are not applicable for residential use.

The Ballard Smoke shop is an institution among longtime Ballardites. It’s no wonder that its staff would also have the respect and affection from fishing village residents and patrons from afar. Among the cooks, waitresses and bartenders, there is one woman who has been popping tops, pouring shots and laughing and crying with the best of them at the Smoke Shop for the last 25 years.

Darlene Kaiser said goodbye to the Ballard Smoke Shop last Thanksgiving night. After over 40 years of bartending in Ballard she decided to retire and pursue other ventures. Last Thursday Kaiser tended the Smoke Shop’s island bar amid a thirsty holiday crowd that thronged the bar three-deep in search of spirits, grog and maybe even a smile from the keeper of jubilee.

Since Kaiser announced her retirement she said there have been old friends and customers dropping by to wish her luck and to chat about the future. On the day the Ballad News-Tribune visited there were at least two bouquets of flowers for Kaiser. One was from a couple living in Brooklyn, New York. Kaiser said she used to serve them a long time ago.

West Seattle filmmaker and Antioch University instructor, B. J. Bullert (Ph.D), has made a second film that examines “the news” created during a period when the Port of Seattle was being scrutinized by the media and fishermen for their management and policy decisions.

The 23-minute film, “Fishermen’s Terminal Revisited: A Story of Survival” is a follow up to “Fishermen’s Terminal,” a film from 2005 that documents the backlash from fishermen as the Port allowed pleasure boats to moor alongside fishing boats at terminal. A main theme in both films is the news coverage of the controversy that may not have been revealed to the public had it not been for community newspapers and fishermen voicing their concern.

By Tim ClintonSPORTS EDITOR

High schools
Boys basketball
Tyee will entertain Chief Sealth for a 7 p.m. game Wednesday as Kennedy Catholic travels to West Seattle.
Highline is at home against Nathan Hale at the same time, with Evergreen hosting Interlake and Mount Rainier going on the road to Auburn-Riverside.
Evergreen will be home playing Tyee as the Seamount League season opens Friday, while Kennedy will be at Foster and Renton at Highline -- all at 7 p.m.
Mount Rainier plays host to Liberty at the same time, while at 8 p.m. Chief Sealth hosts Blanchet and West Seattle entertains Roosevelt.
Seattle Lutheran is playing in the Mount Rainier Lutheran tournament Friday and Saturday as Shorewood Christian goes to the Friday Harbor tournament.
Tyee gets a 7 p.m. visit from Mount Rainier on Monday as Foster hosts Sultan.
Seattle Lutheran entertains Taholah at 6 p.m. Tuesday and at 7:30 p.m. Chief Sealth is at Cleveland and West Seattle at Nathan Hale.

Girls basketball
Chief Sealth gets a 6:30 p.m. visit from Sultan on Wednesday and Evergreen visits Interlake at 7 p.m.

Last week there were reports from concerned citizens that a white power rally was planned to take place in Ballard on Dec. 6.

On a white supremacy forum (www.stormfront.org) there was a post that stated there would be a large party in Ballard that would attract 300 Northwest Hammerskins members. Northwest Hamerskins are a local chapter of a white supremacy hate group that represents Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and North Dakota. The post stated that the rally would start in Ballard and move to Capital Hill for after a traditional cross burning and performances by white power bands. The post also stated that the event would be a day of “comraderie(sic), music, hailing our heroes and good ol' goosestepping.” The address was not disclosed, but the post said the location of the event would be announced the same day.