March 2008

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.

Housing advocates are celebrating the approval of legislation passed by the Washington Legislature that strengthens protections for tenants displaced by apartment-to-condominium conversions.

The Senate passed the legislation on March 6 and was later approved by the House on March 8.

The new law will increase the ability of local jurisdictions to help low-income renters with the costs of moving.

One step at a time, members of Calvary Lutheran carried their worship items to Our Redeemer's Lutheran during a Sunday morning march to officially begin a merger between the two churches.

Members of both churches had been discussing the merger since early last year.

"As Ballard has changed, the church attendance waned," said Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church head pastor Kathy Hawks.

Over the years, declining attendance at Calvary had its members looking for another church to join.

Calvary members were looking at four churches in the Ballard and Phinney

Boaters and liveaboards at the Shilshole Bay Marina finally have a place to store and park their bicycles.

There are now 30 bike lockers in five locations throughout the marina that are leased to boaters for $12 a month.

There are films that draw their audience based on the strength of a single actor. Tom Cruise rises and falls on the marquee power of his name - and often not much else.

Photo Gallery

The magical road to a 4A State Championship may have come to an end for the Federal Way Eagles, but the journey - not the destination - will leave this young team with a lifetime of memories of one of the greatest underdog stories in Federal Way sports history.

Click here for a photo gallery by Federal Way News photographer Seth Bynum from the semi-final and championship games.

Who are the responsible parties for the dismal state of our children's education?

Moving on from teachers we need to take a look at the teacher's association/union.

In a recent article in Education Week detailing some of the reasons for the excellence of Finnish education, considered the best in the world by many, one of the major differences noted between teachers in Finland and here was the level of academic achievement and concentration of training that Finnish teachers have attained.

All were in the top 10 percent of their class in University and had master

Photo Gallery by Seth Bynum

Don't expect the first meet of the season to produce any record-setting times or distances.

Not only were the Eagles limited by a limited number of days of practice, a steady downpour that lasted the entire meet last Thursday kept the fields muddy and the track slick.

Federal Way hosted Kentwood at Memorial Stadium March 13, marking the first contest for both schools during the three-month track and field season.

Photographer Seth Bynum has posted an