April 2009

Like the Starship Enterprise itself, the life of West Seattle writer Mark Bourne achieved lift-off by a variety of coalescing components. And like the fabled spaceship, movies have played a major role in Bourne’s identity.

A professional science writer, and reviewer for the hugely popular website film.com, and former reviewer of the now-archived DVD Journal.com, he is a member of the Seattle Astronomical Society. Bourne was steeped in Star Trek when he was hired in 1992 to produce a show that originated at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry’s Kendall Planetarium. The production, green-lighted by Paramount, was based on “The Next Generation.”

Bourne did the research, then scripted the show's story and dialogue.

“The audience members were called ‘cadets,’ and sat beneath the 60-foot dome as (helmsman) Geordi La Forge narrated, jumping them through wormholes in space to rendezvous with the Starship Enterprise,” said the 47 year-old long-time Trekkie. Captain (Jean-Luc) Picard greeted the cadets when they arrived.

Anna W from Seattle asks:

Q: My husband is now homebound with early onset dementia. He sits in front of the TV all day, watching one news show after another, and ends up afraid to go out. How can I help him?

A: Your hubby's not unusual. When most of what comes into his mind is fearful, it's no wonder that he gets scared.

Can you call on other family members, his friends, and his church community, for instance, to think about ways to enlarge his world?

* Get him involved in a project that turns the TV off.

* Offer a subscription to YES! magazine, favorite activity or hobby.

* Employ the "parental control" option with your TV to limit the shows that can be watched.

* Get him a membership with Netflicks or a different service that will deliver uplifting videos to him at home.

If Anna's approach widens her husband's view, and he begins to think of positive ways people can interact with each other; he'll be more inclined to go out.

Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church in Ballard will hold a congregation-only vote May 7 to decide whether or not they will allow a SHARE shelter at the vacant Calvary Lutheran Church building.

When Our Redeemer's plan to move SHARE's 20-man Calvary Lutheran Shelter from its home in West Seattle to Ballard was announced, many neighbors expressed concern.

In response to neighborhood concerns, Our Redeemer asked SHARE to conduct warrant and sex offender checks on shelter residents. SHARE refused.

Despite the refusal, both SHARE and Our Redeemer expressed interest in continuing talks about a possible Ballard shelter.

Our Redeemer spokesperson Rebecca Butler said Our Redeemer will release a statement on the shelter after the May 7 vote is held.

The shelter would house up to 20 homeless men between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. and would be located in Ballard for up to one year.

Mayor Greg Nickels announced his proposal today in Wallingford to renew the Seattle Housing Levy, which expires at the end of 2009.

“Seattle voters have always voted to help house our most vulnerable neighbors," said Nickels in a statement. "This levy renewal will ensure struggling families, seniors and other vulnerable people keep a roof over their heads."

Nickels said that more than half of the proposed seven-year, $145 million levy will be dedicated to families and individuals earning mimumum wage or less -including retail, restaurant and hotel workers, as well as seniors living on fixed incomes. For the average homeowner, the property tax would cost $79 annually - about $6.60 a month.

A recent survey showed that 73 percent of Seattle residents surveyed believed that, in this economic downturn, it’s more important than ever to keep investing in low-income housing programs and assistance.

Yesterday I took a day off from my garden business to go see a bunch of flowers and to visit a garden center. Is that a day off? Shouldn’t I be playing Scrabble at the local coffee shop?

It was promising rain and clouds when we left Seattle, but by the time we got to Mount Vernon, the sun was shining and the air was warming up. We turned off the I-5 early and headed west towards La Conner, where we stumbled upon the tulip fields from the backside of the tour loop. They were gorgeous by volume.

We paid the $4 to park and went frolicking through the fields. I haven’t been there for about 10 years, and I had forgotten just how much the huge swaths of color seem so out of place in the landscape. We fully accept, and expect, any shade of green or brown, but when it’s purple, coral and red, it really looks surreal. I want to go to Holland now.

But, I have a garden business at home. I deal with plants, gardening and garden accessories everyday. Why am I trudging through someone’s field to look at flowers on my day off? Shouldn’t I have my nose stuck in a book at the beach?

After a three-game winning streak, the Ballard High School soccer team has gone 0-1-1. But, the Beaver offense appears to have gotten on track.

Ballard tied Redmond 2-2 in overtime during an April 27 make-up game.

Kentaro Bowzewski put the Beavers on the board in the 21st minute, but Redmond sent the game into overtime with a goal in the 50th.

Sofien El-Mehrik scored off a Balin Larson assist three minutes into the extra period, but Redmond answered once again four minutes later.

Skyline handed Ballard its first loss in five games April 28.

Skyline scored in the 33rd minute and would hold that lead for almost the whole game.

Greg Testa evened the score off a Nick Christie assist with two minutes left to play, seemingly securing the tie. But, Skyline was able to sneak one last goal in before the final whistle blew.

The Beavers are 5-5-2 overall and 3-4-2 in the conference with two matches left to play, and their offense is looking better than it has all season.

In the first seven games of the season, Ballard scored five goals total and went 2-4-1.

In the five games since, the Beavers have nine goals and a 3-1-1 record.

First-place Mercer Island was too much for the Ballard High School girls lacrosse team and handed the Beavers their 10th loss in a row 18-7 April 28.

Ballard shot a higher percentage then Mercer Island – 78 percent to 72 percent – but only had nine shots on goal compared to Mercer Island's 25.

That shot total, combined with a season-low seven saves by goalie Hannah Breton, was too much for Ballard to overcome.

Maddie Soukup scored three goals for the Beavers and leads the team with 13 on the season.

Things won't get much easier for Ballard (1-10) when they face third-place Kennedy at 5:30 p.m., May 1 at Ballard High School.

Beginning this morning, April 28, the state transportation department will be demolishing two large buildings on state property near Qwest Field. The removal of the buildings will create space for a number of construction projects that will replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Crews will demolish, a 40,000-square-foot warehouse and a 10,000 -square-foot-office building located on the west side of First Avenue South between South Royal Brougham Way and South Dearborn Street. From 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. demolition work will occur on weekdays and will last through June.

Crews will be spending the rest of 2009 relocating utilities taken between South Holgate Street and South King Street, to prepare for construction of the viaduct’s south end replacement, which will begin in early 2010.

The South Holgate Street to South King Street project will connect the bored tunnel that will replace the central waterfront portion of the viaduct. The bored tunnel will include a new waterfront surface street, transit investments, and downtown waterfront and city street improvements. The central waterfront seawall will also be replaced.

One of the most prominent buildings in the Morgan Junction has received a major facelift over the past few months. On the northwest corner of California Avenue Southwest and Fauntleroy Way Southwest, the new home of Zeeks Pizza and The Feedback Lounge reflects more of its historical aesthetics than it has in years.

The historic building, now owned by the Mike McMurray family, was built in 1928. It was originally home to the Bodwin Hospital until 1938 when it transitioned to commercial use. A hardware store, grocery store, and various other retail businesses occupied the building through the 1950’s.

Eventually, in 1964 the New Deal Tavern moved in, and ever since the building has housed different taverns and restaurants.

Mike McMurray, whose father Sandy, bought the building in 1963, asked his most recent tenants to upgrade the building, ideally with consideration of its history.

Zeeks Pizza took that request to heart, maintaining the building’s original “bones” and restoring the tradition open storefront with new large windows.

Bellevue High School cruised to a 9-0 victory over the Ballard High School girls tennis team April 28.

It was the Beavers' fifth shutout loss in eight matches this season.

The bright spot of the day for Ballard was Anna Brokhaug, who took her opponent to three sets.

In worse news for the Beavers, Natasha Noltimier-Strauss was forced to forfeit her match when she suffered a back injury.

Ballard (0-8) takes on Mercer Island at 3:45 p.m., April 30 at Mercer Island.