East Ballard

How does Ballard stack up in residential burglaries?

Guest — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:36:38 +0000

Guest (not verified) Mon, 06/17/2013 - 12:36pm

Every week we pull police reports from the Seattle Police Department, and without fail, there are always multiple instances of burglaries in the Ballard area. It has some neighbors crying out that the neighborhood has, excuse the language, gone to hell in a handbasket. But how does Ballard really stack up in burglary ratios compared to the rest of the city?

The Seattle P-I put together a nifty slideshow detailing the top 52 neighborhoods in burglaries. While Ballard isn't No. 1 on the list -- that honor goes to the Laurelhurst/View Ridge area in the L3 beat with 722 residential burglaries in the past five years -- it might be fair to say that we get an honorable mention.

Here's the breakdown of the Ballard neighborhoods that made the list. You can correlate the them with the precinct map above.

35. N2: This Greenwood-neighborhood beat saw 225 residential burglaries reported in the past five years.
33. N3: This Northgate-neighborhood beat saw 252 residential burglaries reported in the past five years.
31. J2: This Ballard beat (Ballard Ave, industrial Ballard, Frelard) saw 268 residential burglaries reported in the past five years.
30 B2: This Ballard beat (Sunset Hill, Central Ballard) saw 274 residential burglaries reported in the past five years.
21. B3: This Ballard beat (East Ballard) saw 346 residential burglaries reported in the past five years.
5. B1: This Northwest Seattle beat (Crown Hill, Loyal Heights, Blue ridge and beyond) saw 551 residential burglaries reported in the past five years.

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crime

Seattle Police Department

Seattle news

Zachariah Bryan

Seattle Post Intelligencer

$1.5 million for a Park Boulevard on 14th Avenue NW

amrook — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 22:27:24 +0000

amrook Tue, 12/14/2010 - 2:27pm

The Seattle Parks Levy Oversight Committee has allocated $1.5 million for the Park Boulevard on 14th Ave NW Project.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Peter Locke of the East Ballard Community Association. When Locke moved into his house on 61 street and 14th Avenue NW in 1998 he realized there was some underutilized space and, being an architect by training, started sketching.

“We were lacking green space,” he said. “We can’t access green space without crossing a major arterial.”

Zack Thomas, WASLA landscape architect said Locke became interested in the “what if” and got ideas flowing.

After various studies, community meetings and bouncing around of ideas, the East Ballard Community Association came up with the idea of narrowing 14th Avenue between 59th and 61st street and turn the underutilized space into a Street Boulevard.

“We applied for funds from the Parks Levy targeted at urban village areas which are underserved in park space,” Thomas said.

Similar to the Bell Street project in Belltown, money from the 2008 Parks and Green Spaces Levy Acquisition Fund were redirected as a development fund because the property is in the right-of-way, Thomas said.
"But our project is much simpler than the Bell Street one. Ours is not a Bus or fire lane," he added.

Locke said the vision is a one-mile stretch of Street Boulevard and that the two block stretch is the first step.

“That’s the twenty years vision, right now we’re focused on getting those two blocks in,” Thomas said.

Still, it will be a while before the public will see any green space along those two blocks on 14th Avenue.
“There still are lots of hurdles to go through,” said Locke.

“First it needs to be approved by the city council. Then, we’ll hold city meetings to determine what we’re going to do with the space. We’ll get the public’s input whether they want playgrounds, an open lawn, a dog park, etc.”

Thomas said that in addition to the public’s opinion, there will be the necessary talks with Seattle City Light and utilities companies before there will be any designs drawn in earnest.

“It will be the end of 2012, before people will see anything green,” Locke said.

In January, the project funding recommendations will go to the mayor and City Council and will be up for approval in March.

14th Ave NW Park Boulevard Project

East Ballard

Robinson Papers

West Woodland improvements please students, the environment

michaelh — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 18:04:26 +0000

michaelh Wed, 10/27/2010 - 11:04am

A West Woodland student gives a token of the school's appreciation to Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith during the Oct. 27 dedication of a new playground, track and rain garden.

Michael Harthorne

Gabe, a fifth-grader at West Woodland Elementary, is not a fan of running the mile in gym class, especially not on grass, which makes the task even more difficult. Luckily for Gabe, on Oct. 27 West Woodland dedicated a new track as part of a handful of school improvements, including a new playground and rain garden.

The projects – playground improvements, library upgrades, new flooring and energy efficiency improvements – were started in June with a budget of $363,750 funded through Seattle Public School's Business, Technology and Academics Levy and a $67,750 matching grant from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.

West Woodland Principal Marilyn Loveness said one of the messages the school staff tries to impart on its students is they are part of a caring community. She said these projects, which were made possible through contributions from all areas of city government and the community, are the epitome of that message.

Jodi Freeman, a parent volunteer who chaired the grant committee and helped coordinate volunteers, estimated about 850 people, including neighbors who have no relation to the school located at 5601 Fourth Ave. N.W., donated their time during the past two years.

Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith said the new playground, track and rain garden are truly a great project for the whole neighborhood.

Henry, another West Woodland fifth-grader, said the old playground used to break down a lot. He said the new playground is great, especially its spinning toys, and its colors match the school's colors.

Research shows play is important to learning and is one of the biggest correlations to academic achievement, said Bree Dusseault, Seattle Public Schools' executive director of schools for the northwest region.

In addition to bettering students' opportunity for play, the projects dedicated Oct. 27 underscore West Woodland's commitment to environmental sustainability, according to the school.

The track is made of porous asphalt, which reduces rainwater runoff, and the rain garden, which was donated by Seattle Public Utilities, will divert runoff from the school's roof and prevent it from entering Puget Sound untreated. It will be used as an educational tool by fourth and fifth-graders.

The projects, which also include new heating and insulation, show the school is doing its part to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, said Seattle School Board member Michael DeBell, whose three children went to West Woodland.

"It's a very happy day to make an improvement like this for West Woodland," he said.

West Woodland Elementary

East Ballard

Public Schools

Robinson Papers

More trees coming to 4th Ave. N.W. this weekend

michaelh — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:22:35 +0000

michaelh Thu, 10/07/2010 - 11:22am

After a tree-planing presentation and demonstration, residents of Fourth Avenue Northwest will plant more than 30 trees on both sides of the street near Northwest 60th Street Oct. 9.

East Ballard's trees are part of 276 being planted in 19 neighborhoods as part of the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods' 2010 Tree Fund.

As part of the Tree Fund program, more than 50 community members will attend a tree planting workshop and participate in planting. Department of Neighborhoods staff and City Arborist Nolan Rundquist will lead the workshop.

From 9:30 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. Oct. 9, there will be a presentation and training at Grace Fellowship Church, located at 410 N.W. 62nd St. From 11 a.m. to noon, there will be a hands-on demonstration at 6027 Fourth Ave. N.W.

After noon, Fourth Avenue neighbors will continue planting the trees.

Community members applied for the Tree Fund, which provides free trees for groups of neighbors from at least five households. This year, 19 projects were awarded. Along with trees for common areas, such as parking strips, each household was eligible for a free fruit tree for their yard.

On Oct. 22 and Oct. 29, nearly 240 trees will be delivered to the other neighborhood locations that received Tree Fund awards.

This is the 15th year that Seattle Department of Neighborhoods has provided free trees through the Neighborhood Matching Fund’s Tree Fund program. Through the fund, Seattle residents have planted more than 20,000 trees, helping the city’s tree cover and the environment.

Update on 14th Ave. Planter Project

michaelh — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:37:58 +0000

michaelh Fri, 10/01/2010 - 12:37pm

Volunteers install planters along 14th Avenue Northwest in April. The project is continuing with an upcoming cleanup event and involvement from Ballard High School and St. Alphonsus.

Michael Harthorne

The beautification of 14th Avenue Northwest using city-donated planters, which were installed last spring, is continuing to build steam with an upcoming cleanup events and recent commitments from nearby schools.

Older students from St. Alphonsus School are adopting the intersection of Northwest 58th Street and 14th Avenue Northwest. Younger students from the school will be installing their artwork in the planters using fixtures donated from the RE Store. And, St. Alphonsus fourth graders, who started a school garden last year, will be growing starts for the planters.

In addition, India Carlson, the horticulture teacher at Ballard High School, has committed her students to growing replacement and enhancement plants for the project and to adopt a number of the planters.

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 16, the East Ballard Community Association is hosting the 14th Avenue Adopt-A-Street Cleanup, one of its twice yearly events to clean up the street. Volunteers will be picking up trash and taking care of the planters. Cass Turnbull from PlantAmnesty will be conducting a hands-on clinic for weeding and pruning.

Before that, on Oct. 14, Turnbull will be providing a clinic on weeding and pruning. The presentation will be open to the public and will include wine and snacks.

Shannon Dunn of the East Ballard Community Association said it is important for neighbors to attend the clinic because in order for the planter project to succeed, the neighborhood needs people who want to adopt them and know how to care for them

Turnbull's clinic will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 14 in the St. Alphonsus cafeteria. located at 5816 15th Ave. N.W. The cost is $5 or free if you adopt a planter.

"All of this community partnering is a major reason that the vision to turn 14th Avenue Northwest into a park boulevard is becoming reality," Dunn said.

Seattle Parks and Recreation has recommended 14th 14th Avenue Northwest as the Ballard urban village project slated for acquisition funds from the Parks & Green Spaces Levy, Dunn said.

14th Avenue Northwest Visioning Project

East Ballard Planter Project

East Ballard

Bicyclists/Pedestrians

Gardening

Robinson Papers

Pulling the strings with Ballard's puppet master

michaelh — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:51:21 +0000

michaelh Fri, 08/13/2010 - 9:51am

Ballard resident and puppeteer Mark Saltzman with some of his friends and coworkers at Kiwuppet Studios.

Michael Harthorne

When "American "Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert played Seattle in July, Ballard resident Mark Saltzman's friend was desperate to meet him, and Saltzman knew just how to do it. Make a puppet.

When Adam Lambert the singer took the stage, Adam Lambert the puppet, complete with top hat, makeup and rippling felt abs, was in the front row performing along.

Afterward, Puppet Adam Lambert made it back stage and was played with by Lambert's brother and signed by Lambert himself. Mission accomplished.

Saltzman is the founder of Kiwuppet Studios, currently being run out of his East Ballard garage. He has made more than 75 puppets and is working to expand and share his love of the art form with children and adults alike.

As an actor in the early 2000s, was a human actor alongside puppet costars in "Bear in the Big Blue House". Watching expert puppeteers every night rekindled a childhood love of puppets.

"I think we've all been fascinated by puppets at one time in our life," he said. "Seeing the magic of bringing those objects to life is even more difficult than most people realize."

When Saltzman left "Bear in the Big Blue House" in 2003, he decided to start creating his own puppets.

He said here aren't many resources readily available for aspiring puppeteers looking to make their own creations.

"It's really your own creativity and what you can think of," he said.

Saltzman doesn't just take his inspiration for his creations from popular singers his friends would like to meet. Lately, he has been building puppet versions of Ballard's Henry murals.

Saltzman is creating puppets at the moment to tell the story of a moose and a bear from one mural trying to catch a fish, which leads them to an underwater scene and a giant octopus from another mural.

He said he wants to perform a mural-inspired play at one of Ryan Henry Ward's future gallery openings.

Saltzman's garage/workshop is a jumble of materials, complete puppets and half-finished creations. A tray of potential eyeballs sits next to the foam skull of what will one day be a moose.

"I love coming out to the garage and tinkering," he said. "It starts as nothing. From there seeing, 'What is this going to look like?'"

Saltzman uses a lot of found and donated materials to create his puppets. He is also experimenting with new materials, such as deflated balloons for hair, to find what works and what doesn't.

One lesson he learned while building a giant dog was to never work with fur if if can be avoided.

"It gets everywhere," he said. "I didn't know you were supposed to wear a respirator. I just had a bandana tied around my face."

Saltzman has taught puppetry at dance studios and elsewhere.

Most actors can't work with puppets; they want to be the star, he said. He said a really good performer can get the audience to focus on the puppet and make themselves disappear, even if they are still standing in plain view.

Saltzman said puppeteering is about making something that is not real come to life. Achieving that goal is a bit like trying to do eight things at once while also working out.

For a standard, Muppet-style puppet, puppeteers have to get the right posture for the puppet, which is done by keeping the arm straight and the wrist flexed down. They also have to make sure the puppet is maintaining eye contact with whatever puppet or actor is speaking.

When a puppet speaks, it moves its mouth for every syllable not every word, and only the lower jaw moves, which means the puppeteers thumb has to move independently of the rest of the hand.

While all that is going on, the puppeteer has to keep the puppets head moving in a natural, lifelike way by flexing his or her wrist while operating the puppets arms with one hand using two rods, chopsticks style.

This entire process is usually done while the puppeteer is crouched out of view and holding his or her arm and the increasingly heavy puppet as high and straight over head as possible.

"When you write (a show), you want to keep it short enough to keep your arm straight," Saltzman said. "Songs will kill you."

Though he is still working mostly with the well-known Muppet-style puppet, Saltzman is hoping to expand into other forms of puppetry, such as hand rod, shadow, bunraku and marionettes, he witnessed while attending the O'Neill Puppetry Conference in Connecticut and Puppet-O-Rama in Seattle this summer.

Saltzman has completed a play to perform at children's birthday parties for boys and is working on one for girls. He also wants to do more work for television in the coming year and would love for Kiwuppet Studios to turn into a full-time job.

"I want to keep entertaining," Saltzman said. "Once you find your joy, you have to follow it. Find your joy, and if it makes you happy, keep playing with dolls in your garage. But, hopefully you come out occasionally to share what you've been working on."

Ballard Big Picture: F is for...

michaelh — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 20:04:39 +0000

michaelh Fri, 06/11/2010 - 1:04pm

Artists Pam Gray and Anne Baumgartner install the F panel, which includes a finch, the flag of Finland, footprints and flowers, of their "On the Fence" project June 10. CLICK IMAGE TO SEE MORE PANELS.

Michael Harthorne

Local artists Pam Gray and Anne Baumgartner snuck in the installation of more panels for their "On the Fence" project at the Avalon Ballard site June 10 before the rains set in.

"On the Fence" is a series of collage panels, each inspired by a different letter of the alphabet, that will decorate the fence surrounding the vacant lot on the corner Market Street and 14th Avenue Northwest where the Sunset Bowl once stood.

In the first few days "On the Fence" panels have been up, Gray and Baumgartner have already learned a handful of lessons.

For example, what goes up on the fence may not stay on the fence. The beaver from the B panel was stolen soon after the panel was put up.

Also, cardboard does not withstand rain well. Baumgartner and Gray will be moving forward with waxed cardboard and plastic parts donated from a nearby sign shop to combat the weather.

The artists eventually plan to install a panel for all 26 letters of the alphabet.

Ballard Big Picture is a column of scenes from around the neighborhood. If you would like to submit a photo for use on this site and in the Ballard News-Tribune, please send it to Michael Harthorne at michaelh@robinsonnews.com. Be sure to include your name and information about your photo.

West Woodland wraps up centennial year

michaelh — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 23:40:20 +0000

michaelh Wed, 06/09/2010 - 4:40pm

Edna Schaefers, great-grandmother of two West Woodland Elementary students, shares a laugh during a June 9 celebration of West Woodland's 100th anniversary. Though not an alumni, Schaefers recently celebrated her centennial as well.

Michael Harthorne

Ballard's West Woodland Elementary capped its centennial year with an all-school assembly and reception for past faculty and alumni.

While current students finished their classes, former West Woodland students snacked in the cafeteria and shared memories from their time at the school.

Margaret Melver Dakan graduated from the school in 1935. She said she loves coming back to her old school and likes the new library full of natural light. (She also expressed a deep appreciation for the buffet after a lunch-less afternoon.)

Dakan said she was impressed with how well-behaved the students were during the assembly, though she admitted her class may have have been even better behaved.

"We were always scared spitless," she said.

Student behavior wasn't the only thing that had changed at the school in the past century.

In the library, there was a makeshift museum of artifacts from West Woodland's history – a record player, an old-fashioned compass and protractor, a disciplinary paddle – that may have puzzled current students. Two students took turns trying out a typewriter by typing their names.

Bob Hansen, class of 1935, showed off a photo he had saved of his West Woodland soccer team, which held opponents scoreless for an entire season. Many of his teammates were lost in World War II, he said.

Emma Nilsen Vatn, 94. graduated from West Woodland in 1928 and was the oldest alumni in attendance.

She said she thinks it's neat that the school has been able to keep itself together for 100 years. West Woodland has great support within the community, she said.

West Woodland students, young and old alike, seemed pleased to see the school reach the century mark.

"We think it's great," said alumnus Bebe Willman Dyer. "Why wouldn't we? We're almost 100 ourselves."

West Woodland Elementary, located at 5601 Fourth Ave. N.W., will be publishing a centennial anthology in the near future. It will include pieces written by current students from interviews they conducted with alumni and past faculty.

West Woodland Elementary

East Ballard

Public Schools

Robinson Papers

Weather delays vacant lot art installation

michaelh — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:15:26 +0000

michaelh Thu, 06/03/2010 - 9:15am

Ballard artists installed a test panel for their piece "On the Fence" at the vacant lot at 1400 N.W. Market St. on April 29. The June 1 installation of the project has been delayed due to weather.

Courtesy of Anne Baumgartner/Pam Gray

The recent inclement weather has forced local artists to delay the installation of their piece "On the Fence" at the vacant lot on the corner of Market Street and 14th Avenue Northwest.

Anne Baumgartner and Pam Gray originally planned to begin installing the collage panels, each one representing a letter, on the fence surrounding the lot June 1. Because of the rain, Baumgartner said they will now wait until next week.

In the first wave of installation, Baumgartner and Gray will be installing four or five panels. They said they hope to eventually have panels for all 26 letters.

The lot, the former home of Sunset Bowl, is owned by AvalonBay Communities. The six-story, 271-unit, mixed-use Avalon Ballard development passed final reviews in November 2009, allowing construction to begin at any time, but there is no set timeline for development of the site.

9th Ave. Park will participate in Sustainable Sites Initiative

michaelh — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:20:48 +0000

michaelh Thu, 05/27/2010 - 8:20am

The future Ninth Avenue Park, seen here in sketches, has been chosen to participate in the Sustainable Sites Initiative.

Courtesy of Site Workshop

The Sustainable Sites Initiative announced the selection of Ballard's forthcoming Ninth Avenue Park as one of the first sites to participate in a new program testing the nation’s first rating system for green landscape design, construction and maintenance.

The Ninth Avenue Park, which will be located on Ninth Avenue Northwest between Northwest 70th Street and Northwest 73rd Street, will join more than 150 other projects from 34 states and from Canada, Iceland and Spain as part of an international pilot project program to evaluate the new Sustainable Sites Initiative rating system for sustainable landscapes.

Sustainable landscapes can clean water, reduce pollution and restore habitats while providing significant economic and social benefits to land owners and municipalities, according to a Seattle Parks and Recreation press release.

The Sustainable Sites Initiative selected the Ninth Avenue Park
based on its extensive environmentally friendly elements, including preservation and restoration of soil conditions, management of storm water on site, use of native vegetation, creation of community food gardens and use of recycled content and regional materials.

The future Ninth Avenue Park was designed by Site Workshop and developed through three community workshops. The one-acre site lies mid-block and is surrounded on three sides by single family residences. Originally, this site was home to a church group, and the compound sat vacant prior to acquisition by Parks, who opened it up for public use.

A community garden will continue the site’s history of food production, while many site relics will be reused within the park design.

At the street edge, unnecessary paving is reclaimed for use as rain gardens. These gardens will buffer the park from the road and clean and store stormwater taken directly from the street. This will benefit King County’s combined sewer system, which will improve Puget Sound water quality, according to the Parks press release.

Like the other pilot projects, this site will test the point system for achieving different levels of site sustainability on a 250-point scale, and the performance benchmarks associated with specific credits within the Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks 2009.

The Sustainable Sites Initiative will use feedback from this and the other selected projects during the pilot phase, which runs through June 2012, to revise the final rating system and reference guide by early 2013.

Ninth Avenue Park

East Ballard

Environment

Parks/Open Space/Trails

Robinson Papers