April 2016

After damage from a fire forced St. Paul's United Church of Christ (6512 12th Ave. N.W) to close, Alcoholics Anonymous members and 12-step group members will be meeting at other locations in the area.

St. Paul's has been a site for Alcoholics Anonymous and addiction treatment groups for over 40 years. According to Reverend Tim Devine, Pastor of St. Paul's United Church of Christ, the church has been supporting AA groups since the late 1970s, when the congregation decided to offer their location for the purpose of helping addicts. Devine said that around 1800 people from the area visit the church every week. Devine also reported that the groups who meet there offer support for not only alcoholics and drug users, but also people with addictions to food, sex and debt.

“It has really built up over time and something people have felt comfortable having there,” said Devine.

But after an early morning fire last week the church closed its doors and will remain closed the the next three months while its repaired.

Information provided by Ballard High School

Five short films by sixteen students in the Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking Program have been named Official Selections of the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY).  This competitive, international festival showcases outstanding work by filmmakers age 24 and younger. NFFTY is a rare opportunity for high school students to share the spotlight with college students from our nation’s best undergraduate and graduate film schools. This year NFFTY will feature 227 films from 24 countries and 33 states. NFFTY opens at the Seattle Cinerama Theater on Thursday, April 28 and continues through Sunday, May 1 at the Seattle Center. 

These short films by Ballard High School film students have been selected for screening.

“Big Coat” by Jaya Flanary, Duncan Gowdy & Leo Pfeifer

“Climate Change” by Leo Pfeifer & Meagen Tajalle

“Hologram” by Miles Andersen, Emily Black, Sophie DeGreen, Jesse Romero & Sho Schrock

“Today” by Coleman Andersen, PJ Hase & Bergen Johnson

“Voices” by Jonathan Bowers, Aurore Bouriot, Brian Cropp & Jake Rehfeldt

By Pat Cashman

I showed up for an afternoon meeting a few weeks ago and immediately apologized. “Sorry I’m late,” I told the other five people sitting around the table. I was 25 minutes late for the 1:30 meeting. I tried to blame Siri.
“No problem,” said the guy who had called the meeting. “It’s actually a 2 o’clock meeting---we just told YOU that it was a 1:30 meeting.” That hurt---but that’s the way it is. I am the late Pat Cashman.

I was born almost three weeks past my due date, and have been trying to catch up ever since. My mom said, “Frankly, by the time you finally showed up, your dad and I had pretty much lost interest. We had a really nice name all picked out for you, but forgot what was by the time you were finally born.”(What a lucky break for me---I found out later the name was Tiffany.)
I was so late in fact, that by the time of my birth I had sideburns.
I began crawling within weeks, was walking at six months, starting skipping at ten months---and then went back to crawling until I started school---late, naturally.

By Amanda Knox

While cataloging new inventory at the bookstore, I’m consistently surprised by the market value of individual books. Sure, textbooks tend to be expensive, mass market paperbacks tend to be cheap. Most of the time, I’m dealing with titles somewhere in the middle—paperbacks going for $7-15, hardcovers going from $15-25, depending on the condition, the author, the publishing house, the date of publication, the earlier or later the printing, the popularity. But there are a surprising number of surprises. A dusty hardcover in frayed dust jacket going for at least $200. A pristine art tome coming in at a penny.

People are so much more complicated than books, very much thanks to our ability to discern meaning from pattern. But there’s a fine line between discerning meaning and injecting it, and I’m so sensitive about it. Even making inaccurate assumptions about the market value of a book reminds me that I’m ever confronted by situations where I discover people, including me, making this same mistake.

Seattle Public Utilities will start construction on the Ballard Natural Drainage Systems project on April 18 and we want to make sure you have the opportunity to meet our project team. This project will construct rain gardens in the planting strip along several blocks in the Loyal Heights neighborhood of Ballard.

The project team will be hosting a neighborhood drop-in session from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 16. Stop by and meet the project’s Resident Engineer Robert Case, learn more about the work on-site and ask any questions you may have about work near your home. We will meet at the intersection of Northwest 75th Street and 21st Avenue Northwest (near Loyal Heights Playfield) on the sidewalk.

If work is planned adjacent to your home, you would have been previously contacted by our project team.

The Department of Labor announced its final fiduciary rule last week, which requires financial advisers offering advice on retirement investments to put their clients’ interests first.

The Ballard News-Tribune caught up with seniors at the Ballard Senior Center to hear their opinion of the rule after Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) announced that she applauded the move by the Department of Labor.

“Families these days have enough to worry about, and questioning the advice they get for their retirement savings shouldn’t have to be one of them,” said Murray. ”Unfortunately, year after year, workers have lost money out of their retirement accounts because financial advisers aren’t obligated to act in their clients’ best interests and far too many have steered them toward investments and products with higher fees for themselves and the firms they work for. This is simply wrong, it needed to change, and I am very glad that this new rule will put families and seniors before the financial industry and their profits.

Murray is the top Democrat on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

Home burglarized after mother rushed to hospital

A burglary occurred at a home located on the 6700 block of Fifth Avenue N.W. on March 31 after the resident took her mother to the emergency room. The complainant told police that she returned home to find her front door open. She looked in the house and found a few jewelry boxes opened land ying on the floor of her mother’s room. Police checked the basement door and found that it had been kicked in; police observed the doorframe was damaged. There were no fingerprints recovered from the scene. Police estimate the value of the stolen items to be near $500.

Suspect arrested after taking decoy booty and checks

Former Burien resident and current King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove is running for Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands.

A week after Peter Goldmark announced he would not seek reelection, King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove threw his hat into the ring for that seat.

Formerly a member of the state House of Representatives representing the 33rd legislative district, Upthegrove was elected to King County Council, representing District 5, in 2013 following the retirement of Julia Patterson.
“Voters expect the Commissioner of Public Lands to be an environmental champion,” Upthegrove said in a statement. “I am excited to be that champion and continue the work I’ve done to combat climate change, support responsible conservation and protect Puget Sound.”

Former Burien resident and current King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove is running for Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands.

A week after Peter Goldmark announced he would not seek reelection, King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove threw his hat into the ring for that seat.

Formerly a member of the state House of Representatives representing the 33rd legislative district, Upthegrove was elected to King County Council, representing District 5, in 2013 following the retirement of Julia Patterson.

“Voters expect the Commissioner of Public Lands to be an environmental champion,” Upthegrove said in a statement. “I am excited to be that champion and continue the work I’ve done to combat climate change, support responsible conservation and protect Puget Sound.”

Sunset of the week 4-4-16

If you would like to obtain some well considered financial advice, contact Sarah Cecil 206-938-6017.

Brought to you by Sarah Cecil Financial Advisor with Edwards Jones Investments.

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