April 2007

Despite construction, the Shilshole Marina is still a good place to walk your dog. A walk on the marina leads to Golden Gardens, one of the city's most popular parks year round. Dean Wong photo.

Come to the Woodland Park Zoo this weekend and see what bears can do to an unsafe campsite set up as a demonstration. Learn how to prepare for bear encounters Saturday and Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Bear Affair is free with admission. Ryan Hawk photo.

Wayland, an Australian Blue Healer cattle dog chases down a cloth Frisbee at the Ballard Commons Park. The open space provided Wayland plenty of room to run and launch himself into the air. Dean Wong photo

These salmon fry are being raised in an aquarium at Viewlands Elementary school. They hatched on Jan. 20 and 21, started feeding on March 15 and will be released into the imprint pond at Piper's Creek during the first week of April. Students can earn Salmon Steward Certificates for helping to feed the fish. Dean Wong photo.

The Swedish government announced recently that it was eliminating its property tax on houses and apartments and would soon eliminate its so-called "wealth tax" as well. That tax, implemented back in 1947, is imposed on family assets - the car, house and bank accounts - valued above $215,000 for singles and $430,000 for couples. These taxes are levied on top of Sweden's hefty income taxes, which range from 29 percent to 60 percent.

This news is particularly noteworthy because Sweden is the bastion of cradle-to-grave socialism.

Contrary to what was written by Greg Buck (Letter, April 11), I am not supporting the Sonics Arena bill.

My support had been erroneously reported in The Seattle Times on April 5th. I'd told the reporter I was undecided.

Kudos to Casie Arceneaux in the April 4 response to your March 14 article, "Better Turnover with Pay Stations," which I and others in Ballard agree was rather one sided.

The lack of parking in Ballard can be frustrating at times and with big condos going up and single family homes in lower Ballard being replaced with three family dwellings, parking will only get worse.

As for me, a 75-year resident of Ballard.

It's no secret that City of Seattle officials and Mayor Greg Nickels are urging citizens to ditch their cars for alternative modes of travel, so begs the question; "are there viable transportation options and infrastructure in place for Ballard and its future growth?"

But is riding a bike safe, or is riding a bus sexy enough?

Seattle School Board members last week maintained that they would have chosen Maria Goodloe-Johnson as Seattle school's next superintendent even if Gregory Thornton hadn't withdrawn his name for the job.

The board voted unanimously last Thursday to approach Goodloe-Johnson with salary negotiations for a three-year contract. The superintendent from Charleston County School District in South Carolina accepted the offer shortly after.

Thornton, chief academic officer at the School District of Philadelphia, had dropped out of the race earlier that morning.

A group of residents near Carkeek Park are exploring the possibility of turning the Viewlands Elementary School site into a multi-use, shared public campus after the school closes this fall.

The group, called "Viewlands Future Use Task Force," is looking to partner with the community, city and Seattle Public Schools to create a "community campus" for education and recreation purposes in an area lacking public facilities, said Kate Martin, a member of the task force.

"It would be great to think that we could take that whole idea of public use and have something for everyon