July 2007

The Westwood Village Barnes & Noble heated up like a cauldron Friday night. The "Magical Madness Party" began at 6 p.m. As the witching hour approached, over 700 Harry Potter enthusiasts, about a quarter of whom were dressed in Potter-themed garb, queued up to get their copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh, and final Harry Potter book.

Customers who ordered their 795-page, $21-dollar tome in advance, in some cases, six months ago, were rewarded with a gold wrist band, and a place in the front of the line.

After a $4.6 million repaving project is completed here, it will be several years before there are any more major road repairs in West Seattle.

Paving that started on Admiral Way earlier this month will be the last major road improvement until the Seattle Department of Transportation has repaired some failed downtown streets and on-off ramps to handle the thousands of extra cars diverted that way when the Alaskan Way Viaduct is finally replaced.

State government leaders and transportation officials are scheduled to make a decision about the earthquake damaged elevated hig

As the fund-raising campaign toward a new base and plaza for Alki's Statue of Liberty restarts, there's concern about how much money has been raised and how much more needs to be.

People at a recent evening meeting held outdoors on the Alki promenade at the statue site worried when no one seemed to know how many commemorative brick pavers have been sold.

Northwest Programs for the Arts offered 6,000 commemorative bricks for sale. A small brick (4 inches by 8 inches) cost $100 and a larger, sandblasted brick (8 inches by 8 inches) has been sold for $250.

The Washington State Department of Transportation will team up with a Mukilteo contractor on repairs that could mean long delays for drivers heading north into downtown Seattle this August.

The state and Concrete Barrier Inc. will help protect drivers and extend the life of the freeway by paving more than one mile of northbound Interstate 5 and replacing failing bridge expansion joints between Spokane Street and I-90. The transportation department awarded the construction contract to Concrete Barrier Inc.

In a recent ceremony at Pier 36, West Seattle resident Chief Quartermaster Stuart Dederick retired after 30 years in the United States Coast Guard.

Dederick served on five ships (Yocona, Midgett, Blackhawk, Morganthau, and Munro) and saw action in the Persian Gulf following the first Gulf War.

Saying she was "bored," a 14-year-old girl decided to pass the time by standing at the bus stop at 35th and Thistle, and baring her buttocks to passing drivers. She got a ride to her grandmother's house from Seattle police officers and may face criminal charges.

In the Admiral Way repaving zone, an impatient man driving a gray Chevy Impala ignored a flagger's orders to stop. Instead he moved his car forward, striking the flagger in the leg. He then yelled a few obscenities and drove off.

Local teams compete in playoffs

By Dean Wong

Little league teams in the Ballard, Northwest Seattle and Magnolia were busy this month competing in the district and state playoffs, drawing large numbers of parents and fans to local fields.

For the first time in recent memory, two teams representing the Ballard Little League played for the District Eight championships in two age divisions.

A team from another Ballard league, the Northwest Little League Juniors, beat the Ballard Little League Juniors 5-0 to win the District Eight junior championship and

Ballard High School seniors Lucy Miner, Johannah Juarez, and Mikaela Winter, all 17, arrived in line 1:30 p.m. at Secret Garden Bookshop on Friday, for their copy of the final Harry Potter book. By 10 p.m., they still appeared chipper, with their trademark lightning bolt scars and owlish glasses.

Andy Tran and Kim Do walk past the future Ballard Corners Park.

Threat in a condo court ruling

By Paul Guppy

A little over two years ago, the Supreme Court handed down one of the most far-reaching decisions in a generation. In June 2005, five of the nine justices ruled in Kelo v. City of New London that an elderly citizen, Suzzette Kelo, had to sell her home of 55 years to the city, which in turn handed it over to a private developer to build shopping malls and upscale condominiums.