June 2009

About 12years ago Sara Parker heard a neighbor yelling at a stray cat. The animal was following and talking to the neighbor and Parker decided "I want that cat!"

She took the black and white female cat home and her teenage son asked to name it Klaus. She asked him 'Why a girl cat named Klaus?' but he has never given a reason. Klaus talks to Parker incessantly, but won't make a sound for days at a time if left with a house sitter or anyone else.

Klaus is both lovable and annoying, once she disappeared for nine days, only to reappear at 6:30 one morning, never telling her secret. Another time she spent three days in a neighbors basement, the neighbors thought they had a large rat and sought Parker's assistance in removing it.

Most cats like to stay around the house or their extended territories, not Klaus. When Parker heads out of the house with Loba, her female Siberian Husky, for her morning walk Klaus springs into action. There is really no stopping her. She has a cat door that lets her into the fenced yard and she easily slips between the gate and fence.

Ballard resident Robert Donat is working on learning, studying and compiling a unique and specific history of east Ballard. And, it all started with his dogs.

Donat said walking his two energetic labradors, Bali and Mercedes, caused him to become interested in the neighborhood's past because it gave him a chance to observe the houses, buildings and roads of east Ballard.

"I take these dogs for a walk and investigate around Ballard," he said.

Donat, who has lived in his east Ballard home for 10 years, is still in the information-gathering portion of his history project, and he said he is not sure what the final product will be.

He does know that he wants to concentrate on east Ballard because it has been somewhat left out in favor of the west when the history of Ballard has been covered, he said.

"I'm trying to get a snapshot of what east Ballard looked like 100 years ago," he said.

Donat said his father got him interested in genealogy when he was a teenager. He said his genealogy research is above amateur and, given the time, he would like to do it professionally.

When he moved into his Ballard home, Donat transferred that passion onto researching his house.

Former general manager of the Alki Homestead, Chris Long, has signed a five-year lease to open a new neighborhood tavern called The Ship Wreck in the Admiral District, which will employ four of the former Homestead employees.

After the Homestead, famous for its fried chicken and family atmosphere, was shut down after a fire damaged the historic landmark on Jan. 16., co-owner Tom Lin said it was his goal to find work for the 10 employees left without work.

Lin said he wanted to be clear that the new bar, to be located on the 4200 block of Southwest Admiral Way across the street from the Metropolitan Market, is a temporary venture and a way to keep the Homestead employees together until he can re-open the Homestead.

He also wanted to make clear that he had no financial interest in the maritime-themed Ship Wreck. Long will be the owner while Lin acts as his advisor.

The menu at The Ship Wreck, which won't open until this fall, is yet to be determined.

"There won't be fried chicken, that's No. 1," said Lin.

An 18-year-old faces charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and her underage brother and his three buddies face charges of minor in possession, after officers caught them exiting Schmitz Park with 29 cans of beer and four bottles of hard liquor on Friday afternoon. The booze ($90 worth according to a receipt) was discarded but the containers retained for evidence. All of the suspects were released to parents or relatives. And the same day, a little further down the road, officers drove past a home in the 3000 block of 61st Southwest, noticed a group of juveniles sitting around a case of beer. Some ran away, but six were identified and released. Officers stood by as the 17-year-old host poured all of the beer on the ground and disposed of the cans.

While driving in the 3000 block of Southwest Holden late Tuesday, an officer spotted a man walking down the sidewalk, drinking an alcoholic beverage and then tossing the can in the bushes. When the officer contacted the man, he was found to not only have bloodshot, watery eyes, but a $5,000 outstanding warrant for DUI as well. The 35-year-old West Seattle resident was booked into King County Jail.

A man returned to his car parked in the Value Village parking lot in Crown Hill and found a note on his windshield from a citizen who had seen a man keying the victim's car. The note described the suspect, and one clue will likely prove particularly valuable in identifying the culprit: He drove off in a blue ZENN electric car.

Up in Greenwood, a Comcast employee set down a piece of hand held equipment and forgot about it. He returned later to discover that the $2,000 meter had been taken. A white male, aged 22 to 29, slim, with a buzzed haircut, hooded black sweatshirt, and oversized sagging shorts, was seen hanging around the area earlier in the day.

During the day on Tuesday June 16, someone broke into an apartment in the 1400 block of Northwest 58th and stole more than $7,000 worth of goods, including camera equipment and a laptop computer containing $3,000 worth of purchased music.

Sunday afternoon, just before three, a thin Caucasian man wearing a gray hoodie displayed what might have been a gun and demanded money from an employee in the bakery department at the QFC on Northwest 85th. The suspect managed to escape northbound on Mary Avenue Northwest.

Thousands of onlookers, five to seven layers thick in places, witnessed the 21st Annual Fremont Solstice Parade Saturday, June 21.

Some in the parade were tucked inside ornate costumes, while others let it all hang out.

The parade went from 11:30 a.m. until 12:45 p.m. and crowds mingled between vending booths until 3:00 p.m.. The city expected around 17,000 to attend the event.

It started at North 39th and Leary Way heading east on 39th to Fremont Place North, south on Fremont Avenue North, east on North 34th, south on Stone Way North, east on North Northlake Way and Place ending at Gasworks Park.

According to ther Fremont Arts Council, which puts on the parade through donations each year, "nearly anything goes" at the Solstic Parade and there are just three rules:

- No printed words or logos

- No motor vehicles (except wheelchairs)

-No animals (except aid animals)

Parade organizers said it costs about $30,000 annually to produce the eclectic parade.

A 25-year-old Seattle man died after being struck by a train near Carkeek Park on the evening of Saturday, June 20.

The accident occurred around 8:45 p.m. on the tracks north of a pedestrian walkway at Carkeek Park.

Seattle police and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway officials are investigate the death.

According to a Ballard News-Tribune report last fall, there have been 13 train-related deaths during the past 10 years between Golden Gardens and Carkeek parks.

On June 20 at about 3:45 p.m. officers responded to a report of a vehicle in the water off the Atlantic City boat ramp located in the 9000 block of Seward Park Avenue South.

Seattle Police harbor and patrol units responded to the scene and determined that the submerged car had been discovered after a passing boat struck the car on the roof. Nobody was injured.

There was nobody inside the vehicle, a Dodge Neon four-door sedan. Investigation revealed that the vehicle was recently stolen in Seattle.

The vehicle was recovered from the water and towed away.

On Sunday, June 21 at about 2:17 a.m. officers responded to a 911 call of broken windows and an assault in the 900 block of North 35th Street. Investigation indicated that four suspects smashed out the windows of the house with baseball bats and then entered the residence and assaulted the people inside, who were having a party.

The victims’ injuries were relatively minor.

Responding officers noted a probable suspect vehicle speeding away from the scene. Officers stopped the vehicle and detained the suspects. Witnesses positively identified each suspect.

The suspects were booked into the King County Jail for investigation of burglary.

On Sunday, June 21 at about 11 p.m., officers were dispatched to a call of a fight disturbance in the 3600 block of Greenwood Avenue North. Upon arriving on scene, officers found the victim bleeding heavily from a stab wound.

The suspect was quickly identified and taken into custody and the knife in question was recovered.

The victim sustained a stab wound to his left armpit area. He was attended to by a team of Seattle Fire Department personnel. The victim was transported to Harborview Medical Center by medic unit. His condition was reported as very serious.

The suspect was arrested without incident and transported to the North Precinct. He was later booked into King County Jail for investigation of assault.