September 2007

The late afternoon is when rowing classes take place on Green Lake. Rowers in boats of various sizes take their turns on the water.

This 108' boat at Fisherman's Terminal has "Free Ballard" painted on the wheelhouse which refers to the fact Ballard should have remained an independent city and not have joined Seattle 100 years ago. The longliner "Blue Ballard" will fish in Dutch Harbor, in Alaska's Aleutian Islands, for two months with a crew of 18, then return to Ballard.

We suppose we should be politically correct and laud the arrival of "sharrows," but we think they are an expensive waste of time and tax dollars.

"Sharrows" are those things you can see painted on several streets around the city.

Schools are failing to educate our youth

By Mathew Manweller

Thomas Jefferson was blunt when he talked about the role of education in a free society.

He said, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Because Americans, in general, accept Jefferson's admonition, we invest considerable time, effort, and money in our system of public education.

On our city streets, bicycles pedaled by human power and weighing a few pounds must maneuver among speeding cars, trucks and buses, so the city has introduced lane markings called sharrows, reminding drivers to share the streets with bikes.

The sharrows (shared lane pavement arrows) are indicated by a bike symbol and two directional arrows on the streets.

"Sharrows do not change the rules of the road for cyclists or drivers.

Sid and Hilda Andrews prefer to remain low key about their volunteer work, but their efforts to feed the hungry have earned them a Foss Home and Village Senior Appreciation Award.

Five days a week, Sid drives to grocery stores and food outlets to pick up donations. He delivers the surplus food to the Greenwood Food Bank, Ballard Food Bank, Compass Cascade Women's Shelter and the Calvary Lutheran Church's Soup Kitchen.

Last week Sid drove as far as Mill Creek and Renton to pick up meat, potatoes and frozen food.

"We don't care for slaps on the back.

After 78 years of providing care a frail elderly population, Foss Home and Village is testing the waters for a new senior living concept called The Skandia.

The Skandia will feature 176 apartments for adults 62 years or older not yet ready for assisted living or nursing home care, who can still live independently with some limited services.

"The direction of senior care is back towards community based services," said The Skandia's Chief Executive Officer, David A.

On display in the window of the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co.

Two bills passed by the Seattle City Council last month to reduce overcrowding and violence around nightclubs did not earn Mayor Greg Nickels approval and the legislation was returned unsigned.

The council is currently working on a proposal that would require nightclubs to obtain a nightlife license in order to operate. A vote is expected toward the middle of the month.

The two bills support funding a nightlife enforcement team that could issue fines and respond to resident complaints and allows the city to penalize businesses that continually exceed occupancy limits.

Eighty-five HSBC Group employees from Seattle to Wenatchee converged at Phinney Community Center to make a two-day investment last week.

The employees volunteered through a collaboration between the Phinney Neighborhood Association and Rebuilding Together Seattle, the local affiliate of a national organization that improves under-financed homes, schools, and centers for low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled.

The volunteers shed their banking attire for white t-shirts and blue jeans to paint, garden, and make repairs at the Community Center, the Greenwood Seni