April 2007

Back in 1988 I got a speeding ticket at Leary Way and 41st NW. I'd stopped at the original Redhook Brewery on the way to work to return a keg and tap from the house-warming party. I made a southbound left onto Leary Way, underestimating the speed of traffic and had to shift fast on the Chevy Chevette. Moments later I was parked just off of Leary eating dry granola while a very pleasant motorcycle cop wrote me a speeding ticket.

Last week I called the Mayor of Goldendale, Wash., to discuss my speeding ticket, among other items.

For the past three years, I have been the chair of the Metropolitan King County Council. Now that my term as chair has ended, the aspect of my job I am most excited about is having more time to focus on the people, communities, and businesses of Council District 4.

District 4 is a diverse community encompassing the neighborhoods of Belltown, the Denny Triangle, South Lake Union, Eastlake, Uptown, Queen Anne, Interbay, Magnolia, Ballard, Crown Hill, and the western portions of Fremont, Phinney Ridge, Greenwood, Broadview, First Hill and Capitol Hill.

As if to show the Loyal Heights troublemakers once and for all "who's the boss," (the Seattle) Parks (Department) has capped their "Victory at Loyal Heights" tour with a final flourish, defying residents with the placement of 16 red oaks along the perimeter of the park where neighbors cling to the one thing they have left after the pillage of the park, which is their Olympic view.

Without so much as a phone call, parks planted the trees directly in front of homes of three of the four parties who stalled the project with a hearing examiner appeal in late 2005.

It has been reported that Jeanne Kohl-Welles, state senator from the 36th Legislative District in Seattle, is supporting the bill in the state legislature to use King County tax revenues to build a new arena for the Sonics in Renton. This despite a recent election in Seattle which showed that 74 percent of Seattle voters are opposed to tax subsidies for professional sports.

King County would have to pay off $300 million of the bonds for the new arena.

The Ballard High School Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to funding school programs like music and sports, will celebrate its tenth anniversary later this month with a benefit concert steeped with Ballard High alumni and community history.

Lifelong Ballard resident and founder of the foundation, C.

Speed will be a key to success for the Ballard Beavers this year as they seek to make an impact in KingCo baseball.

League opponents are taking notice with Juanita absorbing a 19-9 loss and Eastlake coming out on the losing end 7-2 in mid-March. The Beavers have also defeated Bothell 8-7, Franklin 5-4 and Garfield 10-0.

Ballard's win-loss record is 5-4 after their April 2 game against Inglemoor that ended in a 10-1 loss.

"We have decent depth. We can play fairly fast.

In pre-season training camp, Ballard Beaver Head Coach Gary Hunter said a late March game against the tough Garfield Bulldogs would be a test for his veteran team. The Beavers passed that exam with flying colors and four goals while limiting the Bulldogs to just one.

The win gave Ballard a 3-0 record in KingCo and a new sense of optimism after years of seeking the winning formula in one of the best soccer leagues in the state. Ballard has also beaten Redmond 2-1, trouncing Franklin 7-0 and beating Eastlake 1-0 .

So sunny, so nice, so Elsbeth offered to ride with me if I wanted to go out for nine holes of hit-and-hunt golf. The winter has been so long I was pretty excited.

The sign said "Carts Stay on Paths," so there was a lot of walking and the course was wonderful but the rough was very deep. If you bent one too much you often could not find it.

My first game in a year was not pretty but I got a lot of exercise.

We did have to call the clubhouse only once.

After a sterling drive that accidentally hit a limb my ball dove into knee-deep grass.