April 2009

At its third design review, developers of Avalon Ballard were given the green light to apply for a master use permit with the city after the Northwest Design Review Board approved the six-story development set to replace the shuttered Sunset Bowl at 1400 N.W. Market St.

In past reviews, the biggest issue the board had was the scale of the development and treatment of the north and west walls.

While the board members, all architects, said they liked the overall design of the building, they took issue with the design element of a blank wall portion of the west facade.

"It's so different than anything else," said board member Mark Brands.

Board member Bill Singer said special attention should be paid to that side of the development since it would be so visible from Market Street.

"There's an opportunity to do something very contrasting that wouldn't feel out of place," said Singer.

They said the current design is too loud and dominates that side of the building.

The mixed-use building will contain 233 apartments and about 13,000 square feet of retail, as well as parking for 277 vehicles.

At Sustainable Ballard's monthly meeting April 27, nearly 50 community members came together to barter, donate and advise to help each other get through these tough modern times.

The meeting featured a raffle for services and items from local businesses, a community resource board, advice from featured speakers, and a table of free items, such as old audio tapes, self-help books and winter hats.

"These are difficult times and we have a lot to share with each other," Sustainable Ballard founder Vic Opperman said to the crowd, as Angelo Boscolo gave out free hair cuts on the other side of the room.

Featured speakers for the evening gave advice on how to mentally deal with adversity and how to get involved in a community and responded to questions and comments from the audience.

The Seattle City Council voted unanimously today to pass legislation that will require every city department to adopt “culture of compliance” best practices for managing and responding to public records requests.

The legislation was developed by the council’s "special committee on open government" and calls for the city to implement state auditor and attorney general recommendations for managing its public records process, and requires all departments to adopt model rules for complying with the Public Records Act that have been in place in the council’s legislative department for the last two
years.

Richard Conlin, chair of the special committee, said, “Public records belong to the public, and this will make it easier to ensure that. This ordinance not only complies fully with the letter of the Public Records Act, but with the spirit. All departments
must be responsive to the people's right to know.”

The model rules mandated by the legislation include:

- Adopting applicable records retention policies;
- Adoption of a form for submitting records requests;
- Establishing a systematic process for promptly responding to all records requests;

Actor/comedian Lily Tomlin is helping in an effort sponsored by the Friends of Woodland Park Zoo to get the zoo's three elephants, Watoto, Bamboo and Chai, transferred to an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee so the animals can live out their remaining years in the sanctuary’s 2,700 acres.

The elephants current home at the zoo is about one acre.

At a press conference this morning, April 27, at the Phinney Neighborhood Center, Tomlin said her concern and interest in the elephant's well-being did not grow overnight.

“I began to want to help and inform the public of elephants in zoos and my advocacy resulted from reading and educating myself on the needs of elephants,” Tomlin said. “I began to realize that zoos cannot meet those needs and they could never meet those needs, simply for lack of space."

Alyene Fortgang, co-founder of Friends of Elephants, expressed the negative affects Woodland Park Zoo’s habitat has on the elephants held in captivity.

So, what is detox? Detox is short for detoxification; it’s the body's natural, process of neutralizing or eliminating toxins from the body. Toxins (anything that can potentially harm body tissue) are transformed into less harmful compounds and excreted.

Sources of toxins include those produced in the body during normal functions, such as the ammonia produced during the breakdown of protein, and chemicals such as pesticides, household cleaners, food additives, drugs, pollution, cigarette smoke, and heavy metals like lead that enter the body when we ingest or inhale them.

Although detox is primarily thought of as a treatment for alcohol or drug dependence, the term is also used to refer to diets, herbs, and other methods of removing environmental and dietary toxins from the body for health.

Researchers suggest that many of the chemicals we ingest daily through food, water, and air can become deposited in fat cells in our bodies. A diet that lacks certain nutrients may also impair our natural ability to detoxify chemicals, which further leads to their build-up in the body.

Zeeks Pizza's newest location in the Morgan Junction is looking very close to complete. With a new store front and the final signage being added over the next few days.

Chief operating and marketing officer Dan Black has confirmed that the restaurant will open this Friday, May 1. However instead of opening their doors at 11 a.m. they will open at 4 p.m.

"We're very excited to be a part of the Morgan Junction and West Seattle community," said Black.

Black also mentioned that, while Zeeks is planning to offer the same menu as their other locations, they are willing to consider a special "West Seattle" recipe.

The pizza place is planned for the Morgan Junction at the spot where the Corner Inn used to be before it closed last year.

Like other Zeeks locations, McClure said the kitchen will be fully exposed so that families can watch their pizza being made. The majority of the restaurant will have booth-style seating, but there will also be a bar section serving beer and wine with flat screen television entertainment.

The vice president used to live in West Seattle himself and expects this will be a great location for Zeeks newest location.

A Ballard real-estate agent visited a vacant home he has listed and was surprised to discover that someone had stolen a chandelier from the premises. There were no signs of forced entry to the residence.

At the skateboard park early Thursday evening, a young man struck another in the head with a skateboard and rifled through the victim's pockets as he lay on the ground. The suspect is a black male, aged 18-20, about 5'10. He wore a black hat and glasses.

Suspicious activities have occurred in the checking and savings accounts and in the safety-deposit box of a local elderly resident. Some items have disappeared, and family recently went to her home (she is currently in a care facility) and discovered furniture moved around and some of it tagged, as if for an estate sale. One relative is known to have a house key and access to accounts but had not been permission to sell or liquidate possessions. Family members have now changed the locks in the house, and the victim has retained an attorney.

Technology caught up with a local 13-year-old who stole money from his mother, shoved a computer off a table onto her leg, and then threated to kill her in her sleep and burn down the house. Told he might be heading to Bremerton, a West Seattle officer faxed a photo of the boy to State Patrol officers patrolling the ferry docks and alerted them that there was probably cause to make an arrest. A short time later, the boy was taken into custody at the pier. He was booked into the Youth Service Center for investigation of domestic violence/threats to kill.

An 18-year-old wanted on two outstanding felony warrants for theft and a $5,000 warrant for domestic violence was picked up Wednesday evening after an officer spotted him going into an Admiral convenience store.

Two concerned women searched for their elderly neighbor and found her on the bathroom floor, disoriented and dehydrated. Medics estimated that she had been there for three days. She was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church is hosting a benefit dinner in conjunction with the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community on Saturday, May 16 at 7 p.m.  The menu is traditional Pakistani food prepared by members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
 
All proceeds will go to benefit the Children of Peace Foundation, which serves children and families of all faiths traumatized by the violence in the Holy Land.  There will be a presentation by Khaled Jaraysa, the founder of the Children of Peace Foundation describing the ongoing work of the organization.
 
Ticket prices are $25.00 for an individual or $45.00 a couple.  Please reserve tickets by e-mailing to office@ourredeemers.net; or by calling Mark Buening at 789-2307.

Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church is located at 2400 N.W. 85th St.

The news this week focusing on swine flu is quite concerning to many. In Mexico, people have died, there have been cases in the U.S. (although none in Washington, as of this writing).

It’s disturbing to think that whatever disease we “knock out," another one comes along. Aren’t there vaccines for this sort of thing? How can we prevent catching and spreading it? What do we do with any old cold or flu if we’ve got it? How can we best prepare our immune systems?

First off, there are simple ideas we learned back in grade school that are actually the front line of defense.

Cover your mouth when you sneeze (try sneezing into the crook of your elbow instead of your hand).

Wash your hands frequently. After going to the bathroom, before preparing food, before eating, before and after playing with children (EVERYTHING goes in their mouths at a young age).

Try this step- when washing your hands, scrub for the length of time it takes to sing “Happy Birthday” or the “ABCs." Remember to turn off the water while you lather to minimize waste. If you’re in a public restroom, use a paper towel to open the door- this prevents re-contamination.