August 2009

Sail Transport Company teamed up with Sustainable Ballard on Saturday, Aug. 22 as they hosted Sail Transport’s docking and produce delivery program at Kick-it Boots and Stompwear on Northwest Market Street.

Established in January, the collaboration between the two groups organizes and leads a team of volunteers who haul an array of organic produce and food from Kitsap County Farmers to the public via Ballard’s Shilshole Bay Marina.

At this weekend’s drop-off point event Ballardites were not only able to pick up fresh produce but were also given the opportunity to learn more about the petroleum-free delivery of organic produce via sailboat from Sequim to Shilshole.

There was also live entertainment from local swing band musicians Casy MacGill’s Blue 4 Trio.

The program’s concept is to mitigate peak oil and climate change. The mission of the company is “natural transport for the local economy and community.”

After a chase through yards in the 2600 block of 41st, officers arrested a 19-year-old who is well-known to West Seattle victims of burglary and theft. In this case, he had stolen a purse (containing car keys, ID, an Ipod and cell phone) from a counter at West Seattle High School. He initially got away, but was recognized when he returned to the area. He also had items belonging to a friend's father which had been stolen earlier that day. He was booked into King County Jail for investigation of burglary. His girlfriend/accomplice, a 17-year-old girl from Black Diamond, was booked into the Youth Service Center.

In Arbor Heights, a 30-year-old man choked his wife and started hallucinating, telling her that she “had to get the sausages out of the tree.” After a trip to Harborview, he was diagnosed with psychotic depression and medicated. That night he jumped out of bed, yelling “Get down! Get down!” and tried to remove the bedroom light fixture, saying that someone was inside. He refused to go back to the hospital, so the family called 911. He was later booked into King County Jail for investigation of assault.

Stoli is a small 3.5-year-old poodle, named after the vodka, "Because we wanted a cute Russian name, we have Russian in our blood," explained his owner Maria Johnson.

Johnson works with children as a choir director for the Northwest Boy Choir, as well as the Endolyne Children's Choir. Johnson said Stoli is very calm and likes to socialize with kids.

"He comes to the rehearsals he likes to sit on top of the piano as I'm directing, it's quite cute," said Johnson.

They now rehearse at St. John's Church where Johnson has an office. He likes to sit on her desk.

"He's called a desk mat or a paper weight and he sits as I type away at the desk and he's known by everyone," said Johnson.

He recently got his canine good citizen certificate.

"We took some classes and he likes obedience training so we did the test and he got his little medal for that," said his owner.

He's a smart dog, as are most poodles, and does some tricks, too.

"He can turn around in circles if you hold a piece of food up and does other tricks," said Johnson. When he's really excited about seeing someone he "Does a cute little howl."

Hundreds of people turned out and the traffic continued to build, overflowing the parking lot at Camp Long for the first day of the Nature Consortium's Arts in Nature Festival, Saturday, Aug. 22.

"I think about this all year long and do planning for it," Nancy Whitlock, founder of the Nature Consortium said.

The event, which continues on Sunday, features live music, printmaking, aerialists, face painting, 'Museum of Sound' art installations, experimental music and interactive art, as well.

The Nature Consortium is a grassroots, community based organization whose mission is to teach environmental lessons through the creative arts.

They perform a large number of community services, such as cleaning up area greenbelts but do so in a unique way inviting musicians to come with them for these efforts and keep the workers entertained and motivated.

Click photo for a slideshow of the event.

Teri Ensley, of Furry Faces Foundation holds Nahla, a chocolate lab at Saturday's babecue benefit for the foundation put on by West Seattle Thriftway at 4201 S.W. Morgan St.

Ensley is being served by deli manager Todd Smith.

The store holds barbecue benefits every weekend from late may through late September. Furry Faces is holding its annual Catsino event coming up soon.

Earlier this week, I decided to take advantage of a gorgeous summer day to do something I have never done before: bike along the "Missing Link."

Taking this bike ride gave me a much different perspective to this long-standing issue of contention in the Ballard community. After biking it, I realized that even though it is not the perfect solution, if it is built the way it is currently being proposed, it could end up being a tourist attraction for Ballard.

Because of where I live in Ballard, I have never really needed to bike along the Missing Link. If I want to go to Golden Gardens, I ride to the end of Northwest 61st Street and pick up the Burke-Gilman Trail down there.

If I want to go somewhere on the rest of the Burke-Gilman, I bike down to Fred Meyer. On this day, however, I pretended like I was a random biker who had to bike from where the trail ends currently by Fred Meyer at 11th Avenue Northwest and rode along Shilsole to the Locks, and then back down along Ballard Avenue to Shilshole.

The Missing Link is planned to run along Shilshole Avenue, Ballard Avenue and possibly Market Street.

Mayor Greg Nickels has announced the city of Seattle is awarding $4.3 million in federal and local funding to 10 agencies, for a total of 13 programs, to prevent more than 1,600 low-income households from becoming homeless over the next two years.

Another $1.1 million will help more than 100 homeless families move from shelters and the street into affordable housing, according to the mayor's office.

“Especially in these difficult economic times, it is important that we help provide stable housing for our most vulnerable individuals and families," said Nickels in a statement. "This funding will also help quickly move homeless families into permanent housing, supporting our efforts to end the cycle of homelessness."

The funding, much of it from the federal stimulus, will support a variety of programs providing short- and medium-term financial assistance to those who might otherwise become homeless. This includes short-term rental assistance (up to three months), medium-term rental assistance (up to 12 months), security deposits, utility deposits, utility payments, and help with moving costs.

I met Marie through the Northwest Flower and Garden Show here in Seattle about eight years ago. But, it was a couple of years later when she came up with the idea of creating a miniature garden with a Wizard of Oz theme in the parking strip in front of her house.

Looking for a place to start, I began by watching the movie.

I had to watch it from start to finish, just enjoy it first and then I was able to watch it again for the props, scenery and landmarks that could be worked into the garden. By going through the movie twice, it really let me focus the second time, as I wouldn’t get distracted by the wonderful story line and forget to scrutinize the props and the settings.

I went back to Marie and her garden plot and we decided to block off sections of the movie to create the garden as the story unfolded. It did help that the garden was one long plot – 6 feet wide by 20 feet long, perfect for any storyboard idea.

Here are the sections we came up with and the major components that made up each section:

The Munchkin Village – Dorothy’s landing.

While the the mayoral race in in the Aug. 18 primary remains incredibly close between the top three candidates, one thing is now certain: Greg Nickels will not be Seattle's next mayor.

The two-term incumbent, who remained in third place after three days of ballot counting, conceded Friday morning, sending Joe Mallahan and Mike McGinn to November's general election.

"At some point the math gets too difficult," said McGinn, a former Sierra Club chair and president of the Greenwood Community Council. "All the elected candidates are entitled to decide when it has been enough."

McGinn said, without Nickels, the general election becomes a chance for the candidates to debate the tough choices ahead in Seattle's future and not concentrate on Nickels' record.

At a press conference Friday morning to announce his bowing out of the race, Nickels said he had called both McGinn and Mallahan to congratulate their win in the primary.

"One of them will be Seattle's next mayor and I wish them both well," Nickels said, adding he would work with the winner to ensure a smooth transition.

On Aug. 22 and 23, the Nature Consortium will spotlight numerous artists from around the area with their 11th Annual Arts in Nature Festival at Camp Long in West Seattle.

The festival will bring in wandering performers, string quartets, dance troupes, fire performers, even an outdoor Museum of Sound, all with the goal of exposing people from all walks of life and ages to eclectic, creative art in all forms in a beautiful natural setting. The event is also a
fundraiser for Nature Consortium, which works to teach environmental lessons through the creative arts and hands-on conservation projects.

Read the schedule of events here.

Camp Long’s rustic cabins will house the Museum of Sound where artists will take up residency for the weekend creating multidisciplinary installations blending sound, auditory arts, music and visual arts inside the park's rustic cabins. Wandering musicians, characters and dancers will also infiltrate the forested landscape between the cabins.