January 2009

Today (Jan.

Sunday, Feb. 1 Metro bus fares will increase by 25 cents for adults.

Prices for Access Pass and FlexPass will also increase. Youth and senior/disabled fares will not change.

Off-peak cash fares will increase from $1.50 to $1.75. Peak cash fares will increase from $1.75 to $2 for one zone and from $2.25 to $2.50 for two zones.

The regional Day Pass (good on Saturday, Sunday and holidays only) will increase from $3.50 to $4.

Slumdog Millionaire

Dir. Danny Boyle

120 min., R

"Slumdog Millionaire," directed by Danny Boyle ("Trainspotting," "28 Days Later"), is your typical love story - boy meets girl, boy looses girl, boy must get girl back. But, because this is Danny Boyle, it's more like boy meets girl, boy narrowly avoids intentional blinding, boy swindles fat tourists, boy gets mixed up with local gangsters, boy is tortured by police, then boy must get girl back.

This play, author Lisa Kron says, is not about my mother.

Well. Let's see. Even as the playwright walks onto the stage, the audience has already met the sleeping form of her mother, who is snoring in an easy chair, her body covered in an afghan and her feet snuggled in puffy pink house-shoes. The actress playing the playwright tries to explain: this play is not about my mother and me; it is an exploration of certain themes, a place for discussion about why some people get sick and stay sick, and some people get well.

In 1974, at 18, Nancy Jerominski, had a bright future. She was a good student, winning academic accolades. She started her own business at 22. Success seemed a given except for a sideways turn at 26.

"I drank like all young people," Nancy said. "But not so much in high school," she added.

She was driven. Her fitness industry business was doing well. Nancy was making money and getting high on life. At 26 she began to drink more. A lot more. She smoked and began using cocaine. She slid downward for eight years, ultimately losing her business at 34.

That didn't stop the behavior. She drank more, snorted more and continued the downward spiral for seven more years. Then came a big change. Like some people, the light bulb went on.

"I was a walking dead person a 41," she said. Her destructive lifestyle caught up with her. She knew she'd lose everything, including her life, if she didn't change. She checked herself into rehab.

She quit drugs and alcohol. The rehab was working. At 45 she sustained a nasty back injury that sidelined a courier career. Finally, she quit cigarettes and decided to go back into fitness.

The phone rang at a little after six this morning. My husband grumbled and started to complain as we heard a voice trickle into the bedroom. I reminded him, "Sweetie, she's probably on the East Coast, awake, and ready to go."

Sure enough, she was.

My new-found friend is taking a horticultural course and wanted to get one of my miniature garden kits as a project for her final for the class. It was wonderful talking to her. We laughed and joked like old friends.

Provided by Jon Gerhardt

If you have a 401(k) plan, you’ve got a very good retirement-savings vehicle that’s probably had a rough year. However, while you might have been tempted to toss your statements without looking at them, you don’t want to throw away the opportunity to continue contributing to your 401(k), and now you can contribute even more.

To be specific, the contribution limit for 401(k) plans will increase from $15,500 in 2008 to $16,500 in 2009. And if you're 50 or older, you can put in an extra $5,500 in 2009, up from $5,000 in 2008. (Your 401(k) plan may also allow Roth contributions, which are made with after-tax dollars, although withdrawals, including earnings, are tax-free in retirement.)

Of course, higher contribution limits won't mean much to you if you're questioning whether you should put anything into your plan, given the results of the past year. How can you reassure yourself that you're making the right move by continuing to fund your 401(k) or other employer-sponsored retirement plan, such as a 403(b) or 457(b)?

Here are a few suggestions:

Know your risk tolerance.

After extensive effort, a 55-year-old man was arrested and forcibly removed from an Alki apartment that he had managed to move into without permission and without signing a rental contract. He had barricaded himself inside and had repeatedly ignored and rebuffed contact from the elderly owner. The man is suspected of having a history of fraudulent activity, as records of several court judgments against him were discovered. Later in the week he was suspected of squatting in yet another Alki apartment after expressing interest in renting it. Neighbors will be calling the police if the man appears in the area again.

A woman returned home from shopping at the West Seattle Farmer's Market and discovered that her pocket had been "picked."

Police nabbed a man running a juvenile prostitution ring after he brought two 15-year-old girls to meet with a "john" at a local motel. The john was, of course, an undercover officer. When officers stopped the suspect, he had a 16-year-old Tacoma runaway in his car as well. She was returned to her mother. The other girls, who were from Lynnwood and Tacoma, were booked into the Youth Service Center.

In the midst of the current economic crisis, which does not have a catchy name yet, where we choose to spend our money will have a large effect on what businesses will survive.

The best way to keep the Ballard economy strong is by supporting our local businesses.

Among the many reasons that I love living in Ballard is that it is a walkable neighborhood. There are a variety of interesting independent businesses as well as several larger chain stores all within walking distance of downtown Ballard.

Together, all of the businesses provide a level of convenience to the point that if you really wanted to, you don't really have to leave Ballard in order to go shopping or have a good time. There are a lot of other neighborhoods in Seattle that have most of one kind of business and little of the other. Ballard's mix has always seemed be just right.

In order to get through, all of these businesses will need your help. Yes, even the big chain stores.

The Northwest Design Review Board is still unsatisfied with how the design of a new condo treats an iconic corner in Ballard.

Kirkland-based developers Rhapsody Partners plan to build Market Street Landing, a five to eight story building at the corner of Northwest Market Street and 15th Avenue Northwest, where the once historic Manning's/Denny's building stood.

This corner is seen by many in the community as the "gateway to Ballard," so the board, all Ballard residents, is paying special attention to what is developed there.

The News-Tribune recently reported that the project was on hold due to lack of funding. But Arthur Chang, the architect for the project, said the financing situation has been "blown out of proportion," and that not having funding is typical at this point in the development process, before master-use and construction permits have been obtained.

"I think people are just nervous and they want to see something at that corner, and so do we," said Chang, with Freiheit and Ho Architects. "We are moving forward with this project."

It had been about a year since the project had been before the design review board.