Seattle Department of Transportation crews plan to shift traffic lanes, keeping one lane open in each direction in the 5400 block of Leary Way Northwest on Wednesday, April 22, and again on Friday, April 24, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Sidewalks will remain open.
Crews are repairing pavement that was previously excavated for work on underground utilities.
Newport jumped all over the Ballard High School softball team April 20, scoring five runs in the first inning. The Beavers couldn't mount a comeback and fell 8-1.
Ballard gave up 13 hits to Newport while managing just one of their own, a triple by Sophie Overlock-Pauley in the sixth inning.
The April 20 matchup was the first time the Beavers had scored in the past four games.
Ballard is 1-7 overall and 1-6 in the conference. The team plays Issaquah at 4 p.m., April 22 at Lower Woodland.
(Editor's note: The following article appears originally in Seattle City Council member Tim Burgess' newsletter "City View.")
Stopping Youth Violence
Last week I sat down with four young people in a medical school classroom at the University of Washington for a discussion about youth violence, a pressing and continuing challenge in our city. Just before our meeting, the room had been used for a class on cardiology, apropos for a discussion about the heartbreaking reality of street violence involving our children.
Each of the young “reporters”—three men and one woman—described their own histories with violence. Listening for about 90 minutes to these good people was extremely informative. They chose to be vulnerable and their comments were raw, tragic, and piercing; I’d like to share a few of the more poignant comments from my notes. I’ve blended statements from all four of the youth to provide a sense of the breadth and impact of their personal experiences.
Twenty high school juniors, 10 each from Chief Sealth and West Seattle, were chosen as Alki Masonic Lodge's outstanding students.
A ceremony was held April 20 at the lodge to award the top male and female junior from each school for its 31st Annual School Awards Program. The Chief Sealth musicians jazz band also celebrated, playing the hit "Mambo No. 5" and other songs.
"The final four winners were chosen based on 12 catagories," explained Scott Wells, an Alki Mason and the event host. " It includes everything, not just their GPA. We look at their involvement in the community, where they are now, their future plans, involvemen in sports, and other areas of interest."
Imidiately following the awards each finalist stood up and introduced his or her family and friends who attended.
Krystal Cortese and Andrea Ramirez recently opened the brand new Coffee at the Heights at 7439 35th Ave. S.W.
The area has been lacking a coffee shop since Caraselo Coffee closed more than a year ago. The shop is owned by Paul Binder and Dave Robertson who also own P.B. & J. Textiles. This is their second coffee shop.
They also own Cafe Luce in the University District.
The way to solve increasing homelessness, and it can be solved, will come through community organization and sacrifice, not through government policies or practices, according to two local homeless advocates.
Tim Harris, executive director of Real Change, and Rev. Craig Rennebohm, who has worked with people living on the streets of Seattle for more than 20 years, talked and answered questions about why homelessness is the problem that it is and what can be done about it at an April 19 forum hosted by Ballard's Trinity United Methodist Church.
Harris said members of the community need to build an infrastructure that will allow for organization across classes to help those living on the streets.
Rennebohm said Ballard needs a community organization that includes those community members who are living on the streets.
The neighborhood needs a grassroots, mobile outreach team with background in nursing, mental health and social work that can engage with those people who are most troubled, he said.
"I guess what I'm asking is to really take hold of our communities and organize block by block," Rennebohm said.
This May, the summer season kicks off at Woodland Park Zoo with a new penguin exhibit, interactive experiences, numerous animal additions, and important changes to the zoo’s food, parking and ticketing services.
“For fun, engaging encounters that the whole family will enjoy, there’s no place like Woodland Park Zoo in summer 2009,” according to Dr. Deborah Jensen, the zoo’s president and chief executive officer.
Among the most anticipated summer highlights is the return of penguins to Seattle. Humboldt penguins will debut on May 2 in their all-new, 17,000-square-foot exhibit that recreates the rocky shores of Peru’s desert coast.
Visitors can get nose-to-beak with the penguins through dramatic underwater views, and see the birds preen, porpoise and squabble over territory. The sustainable exhibit features a filtration system that will save 3 million gallons of water each year, and a special design to catch all stormwater runoff, preventing the pollution of local water sources. Geothermal wells will heat and cool the penguins’ pool, greatly reducing electricity costs.
ArtsWest After Hours presents the homespun musical fun of MotherFolk in a benefit concert Sunday, April 26, at 7:30 p.m. All proceeds will benefit the artistic programming at ArtsWest.
“It’s going to be a fun night of music and entertainment in support of a great community cause,” said MotherFolk singer Katya Spielberg. “And if our last gig at Kenyon Hall was any indication, there might even be dancing!”
Featuring rich harmonies from lead singers/guitar players Spielberg and Sheelagh Hunt, MotherFolk offers a broad range of original and cover tunes which seamlessly cross the folk, country, blues, and jazz genres.
“We are so lucky to have MotherFolk back on the ArtsWest stage,” said After Hours Director Dennis Fish “They are a terrific example of the talent that West Seattle generates.”
Joining Katya and Sheelagh on April 26 will be Mark Webb on lead guitar/mandolin, Bob Smith on bass, Greg Fields on drums, and Richard Polishuk on vocals, electric ukulele and slide guitar. Special guest appearance by Sasha Friedrich, singer and violinist. A crowd pleaser for all ages, MotherFolk plays the kind of music that warms the heart and touches the soul.
While walking near 15th and Northwest 87th Thursday evening, a man and his female friend were accosted by two men in their twenties—one white and one Hispanic. The suspects—strangers to the victims—starting calling names and challenging the male victim to fight. The two pummeled the man and hit him in the head with a rock, causing a severe gash. The woman threw a cup of coffee on the combatants, which allowed the victims a moment to escape and seek treatment at a hospital, where they called 911.
After losing 10 doses of prescribed anxiety meds, a couple of beers, and an antique glass—but without any signs of forced entry to her apartment—a Ballard woman suspects that the new building maintenance worker has sticky fingers.
Around 8 p.m. Thursday, a man walked into the Greenwood Walgreens and demanded the pain reliever oxycontin from pharmacy technician, who did not have a key to access the supply of the drug. The would-be robber fled southbound on Greenwood Avenue.
Local artist, Ryan Henry Ward, known for the number of murals he’s painted in several Seattle neighborhoods, is teaming up with a Fremont art gallery in effort to save wild snow leopards.
A benefit art show and reception at the Orange Splot Gallery, located at the corner of Fremont Place North and Evanston Avenue North, will be hosting the event for the Snow Leopard Trust.
Based in Wallingford, the trust is a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of the 3,500 endangered snow leopard’s remaining in the wild.
“Originally I was attracted to to snow leopards when I saw them in India where they had a snow leopard refuge,” Ward said. “I really like wildlife, I’m an environmentalist and I just think it’s a good thing, I like to be part of helping out animals.”
Ward’s work will be accompanied by the works of 15 other artists and photographers who have contributed their work. Ward will make a guest appearance during the reception.
The fundraiser event takes place this Saturday, April 25 from 7 to 10 p.m. and the exhibit will be on display through May 16.
