March 2008

A new city has taken root in Ballard with their own elected officials, laws, housing regulations and a group of citizens looking to better their lives.

Tent City 3, a homeless encampment moved to Our Redeemer Lutheran Church's parking lot and will stay during the months of March and April.

There are 90 residents, both men and women, in this current version of Tent City. The residents are glad to be pitching their tents on concrete.

After three years of building the Ballard Beavers girl's basketball team into a state playoff contender, head coach Karen Blair has resigned.

Blair had been critical of the school administration for not providing her team with a room for team meetings. The boy's basketball team had a room remodeled for their use.

Last season, the team had been meeting in the varsity girl's locker room with two of their male assistant coaches in attendance. A girl on the wrestling team was uncomfortable with the two men in the locker room.

Team will lean on its pitching

By Dean Wong

Last season the Ballard Beavers baseball team became the first Seattle high school to make the KingCo playoffs and their success earned Kevin Miller Coach of the Year honors in KingCo.

The Beavers finished the season with a 13-10 record. They beat Lake Washington in the playoffs to earn fourth place in the league. The Kangeroos were favored and went down 9-7 to the Beavers.

In the first game of the season, Ballard lost to Juanita 4-3.

Team off to rocky start

By Dean Wong

A roster full of seniors will lead the Ballard Beavers this season as they take on the best fast-pitch softball teams in KingCo once again.

Unfortunately, the Beavers opened the regular season last week with a 10-0 loss to perennial softball power Woodinville.

Last year the team battled to a .500 record and made the league playoffs.

Robert Brownlee, a sixth grade student at Whitman Middle School won the Elks Club's Regional "Hoop Shoot" competition to in Portland on Mar. 1 and is advancing to the nationals in Springfield, Mass., on April 26.

Brownlee traveled to the regionals where he faced the top shooters representing Alaska, Idaho and Oregon.

Brownlee made 23 of 25 free throws. He was the last shooter and needed one more shot to beat the next best competitor.

"It is a pleasure and honor for Kim Nesselquist, Consul of Norway, to announce that His Majesty the King of Norway on January 7, 2008 has bestowed upon Marianne Forssblad the Medal of St. Olav for her outstanding service of Norwegian and Nordic interests during her 27 years of service as the Director of the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle.

I think the people of the Ballard community are thrilled to see that the owners of Olympic Athletic Club are fighting to preserve this reminder of "Old Ballard" to accentuate their upcoming hotel.

This community is rapidly being over populated with modern condominiums and real estate moguls changing and distorting the old world charm of Ballard.

It's so refreshing to read an article of a family business fighting to restore the spirit of this wonderful community.

If the Manning's/Denny's building at 15th and Market can be saved, I hope that it will have a grand re-opening as a restaurant, one of the popular established chains in Seattle, such as Denny's and House of Pancakes.

Then this landmark building will rise again as a happy, useful gathering place not only for visitors to Ballard but from the many new condo owners in the surrounding area.

This is not the impossible dream.

Lorraine B. Norden

Ballard

Today, there is an unavoidable urge to let government engineer our lives in the name of climate change.

For example, under legislation passed this year in Olympia, lawmakers decided to limit the number of miles we drive in order to curb greenhouse gases. Despite business appeals to her to veto that section of the broad climate change bill, Gov. Chris Gregoire signed the legislation without striking the limits on miles traveled.

If the goal is to reduce carbon dioxide, why monkey around with people's driving habits?

They went at this issue backwards.

As the city of Seattle deals with the homeless issue by kicking them out of their makeshift camp sites under freeways, bridges and greenbelts, two Ballard churches are welcoming them and there have been no major problems.

On Mar. 1, Tent City 3, the roving camp for the homeless moved into the parking lot at Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church.