July 2009

After an anonymous complaint from a citizen, Restaurante Michoacan, a family mexican restaurant on 15th Avenue Northwest, will have to paint over the happy face next to its sign, leaving the owners and some community members upset.

“It’s been a part of the building before the owners of Michoacan, (8311 15th Ave. N.W.), moved in,” Rudy McCoy-Pantoja, manger of the Ballard/Fremont Clean Streets Program said. “We had graffiti here yesterday (on the mural) and we took it off.”

Michoacan received a call from Seattle Public Utilities and were told to paint over the happy face by Aug. 1, or they would be fined $75 a day until it was painted over, McCoy-Pantoja said, who often helps the owners of Michoacan communicate in English.

“It’s the dumbest thing,” he said. “ We have people dropping litter, shooting people, breaking into houses, stealing cars and we got a happy face at a mexican restaurant to try and make people happy.”

When a group of maritime and industrial trade associations and businesses filed a lawsuit June 15 in King County Superior Court to halt the completion of the Missing Link of the Burke-Gilman Trail, the Ballard Chamber of Commerce joined them.

The inclusion of the chamber in the suit, which challenges that the city did not properly complete a State Environmental Protection Act review on the stretch of road from 11th Avenue Northwest to the Ballard Locks, has created a tough spot for some bicycle-minded neighborhood businesses and residents.

Second Ascent is an outdoor and cycling shop on Ballard Avenue and a member of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce. Owner Greg Shaw said the chamber's involvement in the lawsuit could have a negative impact on his business.

"It's a touchy situation," he said.

Michael Snyder, a Ballard resident and bicycle commuter, said the suit will probably affect where he takes his business. But, he said he will first have conversations with the businesses because they were not given a vote in the chamber's involvement in the lawsuit.

By King County Council member Kathy Lambert and Division Director of King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division Christie True

Most people are busy and need to fit their housework into crowded schedules. It’s no surprise that cleaning products are increasingly marketed to consumers eager to get the job done as quickly as possible.

Supermarket shelves are teeming with products that beckon shoppers with the promise of ease and convenience, including a new product that’s become wildly popular in the past few years – disposable cleaning wipes.

According to a recent report in The Seattle Times, North American consumers bought nearly 83,000 tons of disposable wipes in 2004, which is enough to fill about 9,000 semi-truck trailers. MarketResearch.com reports that 60 percent of adults have used household cleaning wipes, and sales are expected to reach the $2 billion mark by 2010.

However, convenience has its price.

While some products boast the added convenience of being flushable and safe for sewers and septic systems, the people who maintain and operate our local and regional wastewater utilities disagree.

(Editor's note: This letter from the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce is addressed to acting King County Executive Kurt Triplett and was copied to this newspaper)
 
Dear Mr. Triplett,
 
The West Seattle Chamber of Commerce is very concerned about reports we are hearing that plans for ferry operations may be cancelled, which might include cancelling the King County Water Taxi which serves West Seattle. 

We wholeheartedly appreciate the county council's work that resulted in its approval and formation of the King County Ferry District. That planning and approval constitute an obligation to which we wish to hold the council . 

Creation of the King County Ferry District was insightful and serves a number of regions that are not so readily served by King County¹s Metro  and light rail -  transit systems.  Residents of King County who do not have to deal with water barriers would, no doubt, be more supportive of the ferry system were they surrounded by water with essentially only a single bridge to connect a large population to jobs and required services.  

When I saw the notice above the water fountain I knew the event was going to draw an overflow crowd. After working undercover for three weeks, several women billing themselves as MJ’s Fan Club had revealed they were going to celebrate MJ’s upcoming nuptials after her Tuesday morning Yoga Basics class.

All you really need to know is MJ Daniels is Yoga Director and teacher at Ballard Health Club, and that everyone loves her.

MJ’s morning classes are full year round with ages 18-80 all waiting for her guidance on their mats. In order to crash the Tuesday event I went to stake a place 20 minutes before the start of class.

All around men and women were chatting from their mats, reminiscing about how many years they had been taking classes with MJ. How they had found her. Scary experiences with other teachers. Sure enough MJ had to turn away people at the door; the class has a limit of 30 people.

Continuity of new building designs, transportation and community involvement were the primary concerns at the West Seattle neighborhood plan status check meeting Wednesday, July 28.

These status report update meetings, which have occurred all over the city this and last month, serve as a way to check in with the neighborhoods on their growth and improvements; both achieved and still needed, since the creation of the original plans between 1995 and 1999.

The meetings are hosted by the Seattle Planning Commission and Neighborhood Plan Advisory Committee.

“The plans identify actions that the city, the neighborhood and other agencies can take to ensure that each neighborhood will continue to thrive and improve as Seattle grows,” according to a statement from the draft Neighborhood Plan Status Reports brochure.

After a brief introduction on the background of the plans and the goals of the status checks, there were group discussions between community members in each neighborhood.

Almost all of the neighborhoods saw positive changes with the increased number of parks and green space.

With high priority needs like the $200 million shortfall in Metro Transit’s budget, Metropolitan King County Council members Larry Phillips has called on the chair of the King County Ferry District to convene a special meeting for immediate action to stop the bleeding by reprioritizing Ferry District funds.

“The Ferry District shouldn’t be heading into recess while the people of King County are worrying about whether they will have a bus to ride,” said Phillips. “There is mounting consensus that passenger ferry service is an extra King County can no longer afford when basic high-priority services need funding.”

Last week, Phillips called for a halt to the collection of Ferry District taxes in order to use the revenues to offset potential cuts to Metro bus service.

Members of the King County Council who sit as the Ferry District Board are on summer recess for the first two weeks of August, and the next regular Ferry District meeting is not scheduled until November.

Meet WNBA Seattle Storm stars Ashley Robinson and Janell Burse as they get swimming tips from the penguin residents at Woodland Park Zoo’s new Humboldt penguin exhibit, feed Australian parrots at Willawong Station, and end the hour with autographs under the Storm tent on the North Meadow on Sunday, Aug. 2.

The event, free with regular admission to the zoo, is from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

For being a zoo and Storm fan, get half off tickets for “Zoo Night” as the Storm faces off with Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 7 p.m.

Visit  http://www.ticketmaster.com/promo/ucgsjq to purchase regularly-priced $34 seats for just $17. Be sure to visit the Penguin Wagon and zoo table on the West Plaza before the game and say hi to zoo staff.

Enter Woodland Park Zoo through the south entrance at North 50th Street and Fremont Avenue North. The west entrance is at North 55th Street and Phinney Avenue North or the north entrance off North 59th Street and Phinney Avenue North.
 

It was with surprise that I read of the death of Merce Cunningham, 90, the dancer who changed the world of dance and art as well. For some reason those who have risen above the mundane seem to have everlasting life and we don't expect to hear of their death.

I had kept up on his many accomplishments through the years and whenever he came to Seattle it brought me back to my childhood when I had brief contact with this talented fellow.

He was born just a couple of years before I was Centralia, Washington just four miles from my home in Chehalis. One of my five older brothers worked on the railroad in the railroad center in Centralia and I loved spending the weekend with him as my niece Betty and I were pals in those days. We would go out in back of their house into the woods and play for hours until we dropped.

Squirrel is rustling in the bushes behind me, while her babies squeak in the cedar hedge. Crow is on the roof eyeing the birdfeeder and her mate stands guard.

Puppy, my cat is mousing in the corner and has been for three days now. There is a small invasion of Bush Tits flying from the Hawthorn to the Larch tree and back. Sparrow has landed on the handle of the barbecue.

Possum and the cat had a staring contest earlier today (Possum lost) and the raccoons were dancing on the roof last night.

I need one of those “Backyard Wildlife Preserve” signs. You just can’t buy this stuff .

(My husband said the squirrel wants to stay close to me because I rescued it from the furnace duct in the middle of the winter. I, however, don’t want to put too much human-ness on such a little guy. Not to mention giving that pea-sized brain cognitive thinking skills too. Find nut. Eat nut…)