November 2008

(Editor's Note: The Fremont Chamber of Commerce sent this letter was sent to Grace Crunican, director, Seattle Department of Transportation and the City Council with a copy to this newspaper.)

On behalf of The Fremont Chamber of Commerce, a non-profit, business organization dedicated to enhancing the Fremont Community, I wanted to update you on the continuing discussions about the proposed paid parking plan for Fremont and highlight the frustrations we have faced in working with Seattle Department of Transportation and the City Council.

On a personal note, I have learned

alive and well

I'm responding to the article "Swedish-Finn society leaves" and the comments about Ballard not keeping up its status as a Nordic center.

Reporters love "Ain't it awful?" articles because they get more attention than "Ain't it great?" articles. But this "news" ignores some important information.

Ballard's Leif Erikson Lodge remains the largest of the 400 Sons of Norway lodges around the world.

The Seattle City Council on Monday voted to increase parking meter rates in Ballard by 50-cents, bringing the hourly rate to $2.

The Council also increased rates downtown by $1, increasing the hourly rate to $2.50.

Surprised and upset Ballard business owners and residents have recently heard the city is seriously considering increasing parking kiosk rates in different neighborhoods around Seattle including Ballard's Business district.

This increase is said to help balance the city's 2009-2010 budget.

The Ballard Chamber of Commerce and

After presenting an updated design of the Aurora Bridge suicide-prevention barrier, the Architect Review Committee favored the fence.

Still, the frame's size for the barrier was still seen as a possible obstruction to the bridge's view and historic nature.

Originally starting out with a six-inch frame and asked previously to minimize the size of the frame the Washington State Department of Transportation presented, then updated it to a width of four inches at last week's meeting.

The frame is designed to hold the vertical steel cables that would help deter jump

The Seattle Families and Education Levy provides many school-based, extended-day academic and enrichment opportunities for students.

For example, every afternoon at Denny Middle School the extended-day activities allow students to participate in academic programs in science, math and reading, as well as music and art.

College Bound provides the promise of free tuition and books at Washington colleges, universities and career or vocational schools for qualifying 7th and 8th grade, and for next year only, 9th grade students.

Last year Denny Middle School signed u

The King County Ferry District is looking at a number of possible new routes for water taxis, including one that would run from Shilshole in Ballard to downtown, for trial runs in the next two years.

The goal is to have the Ballard route ready for demonstration in summer 2009, but it may be pushed back to summer 2010 said Kjris Lund, executive director of the King County Ferry District.

Lund said the district wants to make sure everything is set up well on the land-side of the project, such as how riders will get to and from the ferry's launching point in Ballard, before

See local music for the price of a can of soup and help out the Greenwood Food Bank at a benefit concert this Friday when the owner of the Ballard Sip and Ship will host a concert at the Greenwood location, featuring Seattle indie band Ivan and Alyosha and special guests.

Diana Naramore opened the Ballard store in October 2002 and in March she expanded to Greenwood.

This is not the first time Naramore has sponsored aid for people in need.

The Ballard High School girls swim team raced their way to a fifth place finish overall in the 4A state swim championships Nov. 13-15 after placing second overall, one-point behind first-place Garfield, in districts one week earlier.

Ballard assistant coach Leo Jaeger said it was great to finish fifth at state and all the Ballard swimmers performed to expectations or better in a tough competition.

"This year's state was amazingly fast," Jaeger said.

The Magnolia Community Club is taking issue with the Business Access and Transit lanes installed on 15th Avenue West and Elliott Avenue West over the summer because it believes the lanes present safety and congestion issues for commuters using that corridor, including those from Ballard.

The Business Access and Transit designation (commonly referred to as BAT lanes) restricts the far right lane of north and southbound traffic to busses, bicycles and vehicles making right turns.

Bill Bryant, transportation team coordinator for the Seattle Department of Transportation, said

What do you get when you cross pancake batter, digital cameras, K-8 students, Fair Trade products and the Saturday before Thanksgiving?

Answer: a Fair Trade sale and pancake breakfast at Salmon Bay Elementary and Middle School on Saturday, Nov. 22. Adults are looking forward to Pura Vida coffee samples while students are already jostling over who gets to flip the pancakes.

I miss regularly mounting the grand stairways of the former James Monroe building that houses Salmon Bay School on N.W. 65th.