March 2009

Do you have a plant on your favorites list that you can never get to grow for you? For me, it’s the Juncus effuses ‘Unicorn,' or Corkscrew Rush.

It is so fun that I want to grow it. It sounds low maintenance enough that I should be able to grow it. I’ve tried to grow it. I’m gosh, darn it all, going to learn how to grow it!

With a name like Two Green Thumbs, you’d think I could grow just about anything. But, alas, the name implies an instinct, I’m not one of those walking encyclopedias – I just know what I grow, and I’d love to know that Corkscrew Rush a lot better!

I’m going to try again. After seeing a sweet picture of it recently, I really need to try again. It comes in several different varieties, including variegated, and the leaves just spiral up like little tendrils on a grape vine. The wee flowers appear along the blades just so. I wonder if anyone else has a problem with it?

It’s interesting to note that this has happened to a couple of my customers. There was one woman that just loved the little tree that came in her miniature garden, but she didn’t water it and it died.

The late season March 15th Sunday morning snowfall accumulated deepest near the High Point water towers at 35th and Myrtle street. Snow accumulations on Sunday morning near the towers were near two inches while near Lincoln park there was only a trace amount.

The Ballard High School springs sports season opened with a bang as the Beaver baseball team beat Oak Harbor 11-9 March 13.

Coach John Lamm said the team hit well, but struggled in its pitching, largely due to having little to know preparation time.

The bus arrived at Oak Harbor only 15 minutes before the game.

"It was quite an adventure for my first game," said first-year coach Lamm.

Lamm said the Beavers have a good pitching staff and the pitchers who had more time to prepare were able to throw strikes.

The team did a good job being patient at the plate, but he said he wants the players to make sure they are staying ahead in the count in coming games.

The Beavers face Roosevelt at 3:30 p.m., March 16 at Lower Woodland.

Nearly 100 members of the 36th District gathered in the Phinney Ridge Community Association community hall March 14 for a town hall meeting with their state legislators.

Democrats Reuven Carlyle and Mary Lou Dickerson discussed their progress thus far in the legislative session and fielded questions from the audience. As expected, the main topic on both sides was how to continue to press progressive issues while working with an $8.5 million state deficit.

Many community members implored the legislators to not let the deficit affect funding for education and public health.

Carlyle said he understands the need to keep funding for public health and to reform the state’s healthcare system, but there is a need to see where the federal government is going before making large structural changes.

“If we fixed healthcare, we would have so much money freed up,” he said. “That’s what’s sucking us dry.”

Two women brought up the need for a graduated income tax, “so we are not dependent on the lowest income people to keep buying things they don’t need to keep the government running," which garnered hoots and applause.

On Tuesday, March 10 the Port of Seattle held a public meeting at the Nordic Heritage Museum. There were three items on the agenda that were of importance to Ballard’s present and future. I attended this meeting because I not only wanted to take some of my own advice about being more involved in the community by going to meetings but I also wanted to blog about it from the perspective of a Ballard resident.

I got first hand facts about issues that I am interested in as well as a crash course on the importance of the Port of Seattle.

The first item on the meeting agenda was about the large vacant area at Shilsole Bay Marina. The Port of Seattle had hoped to put a restaurant there but since they pulled out the lot will remain empty for the next three to five years. The Port's plan is to temporarily landscape and pave this 25,000-square-foot lot until they can find a tenant was passed unanimously.

The second item on the agenda was Fisherman’s Terminal. Commissioner Bill Bryant reiterated several times that the Port of Seattle is committed to a working waterfront and to supporting the North Pacific fishing fleet.

These youngsters attend the Alki Kid's Place after school program, located on the lower level of the Alki United Church of Christ, 6115 S.W. Hinds St.

"The attendance is down somewhat because of the economy," said Cheryl Snyder, director. "If one parent loses a job, the kids will be home with them after school."

The school is offering a day camp March 20 with arts and crafts and the beach, and Tae Kwon Do Camp March 30-April 3.

For more information, call Cheryl Snyder at (206) 938-0145

This showoff gets to run wild throughout Woodland Park Zoo. The peacock is either searching for a tasty morsel, a date with a peahen, or both.

Mayor Greg Nickels announced today that he has informed more than 100 senior city executives that they will have their salaries frozen at or rolled back to 2008 levels.

Also four executive offices have been directed to begin instituting furloughs for their employees.

“With the continued turmoil in the economy nationwide, we will face some difficult decisions to reduce our city budget and it is important that our executives lead by example,” said Nickels in a statement.

Department directors and executives, including the mayor, will forgo the 2009 cost-ofliving adjustment of 4.5 percent, and their salaries will be frozen at 2008 levels.

The mayor also announced that four executive offices will begin furloughs for employees whose salaries are not frozen. With the exception of clerical employees, workers in the mayor’s office, Finance Department, Office of Policy Management and Office of Intergovernmental Relations will take seven days without pay in 2009.

The furloughs and wage freezes are expected to save about $675,000 in 2009, helping to minimize the number of layoffs that may be required, according to the release.

During a long downturn in the financial markets, it’s hard for some people to be cheerful about their prospects for investment success. And that’s not surprising, because a daily diet of bad news can take its toll on investors’ outlooks. Yet if you look beyond the headlines, you can actually find some reasons to believe that brighter days lie ahead.

Here are five of these potential causes for optimism:

Recovery may be near.
The financial markets obviously are connected to the overall U.S. economy, so it makes sense to keep an eye on how the economy is doing. As you know, we’ve been in the grip of a long and painful recession — but that may change fairly soon. In fact, the recession is likely to end in the second half of 2009, according to a majority of the economists surveyed by the influential National Association for Business Economics. And since the stock market has historically anticipated an economic recovery by about six months — and begun responding favorably — now may not be the time to abandon your long-term investment strategy. Of course, past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Market rallies can happen quickly.

The top section of Golden Gardens Drive Northwest will be resurfaced Saturday, March 28, weather permitting, according to the city transportation department.

Crews will start at the end of recent landslide repair and will pave to
the top of the hill, toward the intersection of Northwest 85th Street and 32nd
Avenue Northwest.

The road will be closed to all traffic from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. During the closure, Golden Gardens Park will be accessible from Seaview Avenue Northwest. Also, the off-leash dog area on Golden Gardens Drive may be reached from the bottom of the hill, off of Seaview Avenue in Golden Gardens Park.

Golden Gardens Drive was shut down in December of 2007 after record-breaking rainfall saturated the region and caused a section of the roadway to collapse. It reopened earlier this year.