January 2016

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Thursday, Jan. 28
Wrestling
Foster 36, Tyee 18
The Bulldogs scored a victory over the Totems Thursday.
Hazen 59, Kennedy 24
Kennedy absorbed a loss at the hands of Hazen.
Chief Sealth 45, Lakeside 9
The Seahawks scored a win over Lakeside in Metro League action.
Roosevelt 48, Chief Sealth 27
Chief Sealth took a loss to the Roughriders in a second match Thursday.

Boys swimming
Lindbergh 99, Kennedy 81
The Lancers lost a close one to the Eagles.
Renton 62, Evergreen 32
Renton was a winner against the Wolverines on Thursday.
Renton 69, Highline 19
The Indians also won compared to Highline.
Renton 71. Tyee 0
Renton won by shutout over the Totems at the same time Thursday.

Wednesday, Jan. 27
Girls basketball
West Seattle 44, Blanchet 30
West Seattle took sole possession of first place in the Metro League and remained undefeated at 17-0 this year with Wednesday's win.
Both teams came in undefeated, with Blanchet ranked No. 3 in the state and West Seattle No. 4.

UPDATE 3:15pm Feb 3
Seattle Police said today that as yet, no victim has come forward to file a complaint in what could be a case of criminal fraud against Tracy Dart. "You can't have a crime without a victim," the SPD media office said. Dart, who claimed to have cancer, raised money on behalf of cancer organizations but also held numerous personal fund raisers to help defray personal expenses. Until someone actually files a complaint, "detectives are waiting" to begin an investigation. If you or someone you know feels they were the victim of fraud, you can call the Seattle Police non-emergency number at (206) 625-5011 and ask to speak to a detective.

UPDATE 9:47am Feb. 1
After the West Seattle Herald broke the news about Tracy Dart, questions went out seeking comment on the matter from a variety of those affected including the prominent cancer fundraising organization Susan G. Komen Foundation.

They stated via email:

Homelessness continues to rise in Seattle and King County according to the annual One Night Count conducted by the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness. The count showed that 4,505 men, women, and children were without shelter during the three hour street count. This number is an increase of 19% over those found without shelter last year. Last year the total count came to 3,772 without shelter.

The count was done in the early hours of Friday, January 29, 2016.

The Coalition mobilized more than 1100 volunteers to count the number of men, women and children who were homeless and sleeping outdoors without shelter between 2:00 and 5:00 a.m.

From urban to suburban areas of Seattle and the county They found and tallied people sleeping in cars and tents, riding all night buses, or trying to stay warm in blankets under bridges or in doorways. That same night, staff at agencies that operate shelters and transitional housing programs recorded select information about the people staying in their programs.

Information provided by the Ballard Historical Society

As part of its Small & Simple grant from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods volunteers in safety vests are surveying all the pre-1965 structures in Ballard, from 57th NW north to 85th and east of railroad tracks to 8th NW. Throughout February you may see your own neighbors photographing structures.

So far 60 volunteers are using an open platform Fulcrum app on their phones to enter data based on visual evaluation: type of roof, outside material, significant trees on the property and general condition. This is strictly for determining what structures remain compared to earlier surveys and whether the structures may have historical significance. No personal information is being collected or shared.

Photographs will be taken from the street and/or sidewalk. The volunteers will also be determining whether houses or other buildings are part of a cluster or district. Based on surveying up to 8000 structures about 100 will be identified for more in-depth research. Love to look through archives or old property records? More volunteers appreciated.

By Katy Wilkens

I read recently that Americans throw away about 40 percent of the food they buy, and that if wasted food was its own country, it would be the third largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions in the world! That made me sad. As a gardener, I am careful with the produce I harvest because I have planted it, watered it, weeded it, and watched over it for a long time before I get to eat it. I don’t waste it since I know how much work it takes.
If you plan and cook your meals carefully and use leftovers in creative ways, you can prevent a lot of food waste. Meanwhile, you’ll save money on food – great news for the planet and for your budget. Try these planet-saving and wallet-stretching tips:

1. Plan ahead! Draft out your next week or two to see how many days you’ll be eating out and how many meals you need to fix, what’s in the fridge you need to use up, etc. A plan will help you save lots of wasted food, and wasted money.
2. Shop food sales. Look for sale flyers in your local paper on Wednesdays. Or go online to your favorite grocery store sites and sign up to get information by email.

By Pat Cashman

While recorded history stretches farther back than a yoga instructor, it does not go back far enough to tell us the name of the person who invented the yard sale. Maybe it was a Cro-Magnon man who decided to unload a bunch of spears and clubs he didn’t need anymore by staging a cave sale---or maybe he called it a “Spring Cave-Cleaning Sale.”

No, wait a minute! That has to be wrong. It must have been a Cro-Magnon woman. No man would ever get rid of perfectly good spears and clubs.

When you think about it, yard and garage sales are really just improvements on going to the dump or transfer station. Under the yard and garage sale plan, you no longer pay anyone to get rid of your garbage. Instead, someone pays YOU---and THEY haul it away.

(Indeed the word garage is only one ‘b’ shy of being the word garbage.)

The music business is hard to begin with but a new study commissioned by the Seattle musicians’ union shows that they found that local musicians are missing out on what is otherwise a powerful local economic impact.

The study found that 16,607 people are directly employed in the city’s music industry, creating $1.8 billion annually in direct economic impact. Including jobs dependent on music, the industry creates $4.3 billion in economic output, supporting 30,660 jobs.

Yet despite a 50% increase in music-related jobs in the last seven years, music payroll has risen only 12%, with payroll per employee actually decreasing by 25%. A survey of 124 working musicians found that while most earn the majority of their income through music, that music-related income averages only about $15,000 per year.

One reason for this imbalance is that freelance musicians often work without written agreements, and suffer from a variety of problems getting paid adequately for their work.

A press release from the musician's union explained:

In Norway, flowers are not only given at funerals: they are a way of life for some. Each spring flowers mark end of winter and the arrival of light. Colorful and luxurious, flowers bring joy and renewed life: they are a cause for celebration. Each special occasion calls for fresh flowers: birthdays, graduations, weddings, banquets, national holidays. For Norwegians, flowers are part of their culture, as well as a communion with nature, with love for a landscape that is both majestic and gentle, dramatic and comforting in the sunlight of spring and summer.

By Peggy Sturdivant

I wasn’t going to write a column this week. Then on Thursday, January 21, Ballard News-Tribune reporter Shane Harms asked if I could cover a one-hour meeting that started in two hours. He had to work his other job as bartender. He owes me.

To sum up seven pages of notes in three words: people are angry. It had been dark for hours with over two inches of rain but the Odd Fellows’ Ballard-Alki Lodge #170 was packed at 7 p.m. Seattle District 6 City Council member Mike O’Brien had accepted an invitation from Stop Ballard Pods Apts. to discuss micro-housing, congregate housing, Single Efficiency Dwelling Units (SEDUs), parking exceptions and impact fees.

At Ballard District Council I wondered where are all the upset residents I see online? I have my answer. They had been at a Magnolia meeting on public safety a week earlier, Wallingford Community Council meeting the night before and they were at the lodge on Thursday night.

So this is yet a report on a meeting I didn’t plan to attend in a column I didn’t plan to write (at least this week).

King County Sheriff’s detectives are asking for the public’s help identifying a man that robbed a Heritage Bank in Shoreline on January 21st. The man also had a female accomplice who stood watch as he committed the robbery.

Detectives are asking for the public’s help identifying a man and woman who robbed the Heritage Bank in the 18800 block of 8th Ave NW in Shoreline around 4pm on Thursday, January 21st.

Detectives said that a man entered the bank holding a handgun while his female accomplice stood watch at the entry door. The man pointed a gun as he entered the bank and said, “This is a robbery.” The man then demanded money from a clerk and fled with an undisclosed amount of money.

Witnesses saw and older white compact car leave the area right after the robbery. The vehicle was described as similar to an older Chevy Aveo or Nissan Versa.

The man was described as a white male, 25 to 30 years old, about 6’ tall, thin build, and was wearing a dark beanie with a Broncos emblem, a dark jacket and pants. The female is only described as wearing a dark colored jacket with fur lining around the hood, and Ugg style boots.