August 2009

The Aug. 13 West Seattle Art Walk saw a wide variety of artists take over the neighborhood.

Self-taught artist Kerry Smith talked with Art Walk-er Mark Megale about the style he developed called “Dollopism.” He laughed and said he might be the leading Dollopist.

Smith said he starts with four-inch square canvases, paints checkerboards, then diagonals, then swirls and finally adds the dollops.

“Not the fastest way to paint, but it keeps me out of trouble,” said Smith, a Burien resident.

Local artist Janet Ramble discussed the techniques and locations of her paintings at Wild Rose’s Antiques and Gifts.

Leann Davis, owner of Wild Rose’s, said Ramble is so popular she sold almost her entire collection last April.

Erika Helsing and Christopher Reitmaier repurposed leftover flowers into a street installation in front of Twilight Artist Collective.

Inside the Collective, they showed bottle cap pendents they made from found objects.

One of the Humboldt penguins in Woodland Park Zoo’s new exhibit has died after a brief illness related to the ingestion of a sealant material used in a concealed pipe in the exhibit’s pool.

Dr. Darin Collins, the zoo’s director of animal health, said the 18-year-old male penguin had not regained a normal appetite following its normal molting period and was receiving intensive medical care for a suspected intestinal blockage.

Pathology results are expected within one to two weeks to aid in the cause of death determination, according to the zoo.

Zoo staff located the source of the material and removed it. There have been ongoing inspections to locate any loose pieces of the sealant in portions of the exhibit’s pool, according to the zoo.

The penguin, named Chiquito, arrived in March from Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. He was part of a newly-established colony of 20 penguins for the zoo’s new penguin exhibit, which opened in May.

Dear Editor,

It was with interest that I read your article in the Aug. 12 Ballard News-Tribune.

I owned a house in Ballard for 13-plus years, which backed onto Gilman Park, right next to the tennis courts, the lot to the east.

The area right behind my fence was very dark, due to a large oak tree, the tennis court fence and no lighting. I called police many times, every spring, summer and fall because transients camped there, defecated there, drank there, fought, swore, shouted, lit fires, and in one instance climbed over the 10 foot chain link fence into my yard.

I finally succeeded in getting (someone from) the Parks Department management to look at the area, begged him to put in an overhead light or bushes or something to dissuade the transients from coming to that dark area.

The Parks Department manager refused and said there was nothing he could do. One of the guys with him told me that a "bad element" was being chased out of downtown Ballard, and had come over there.

I gave up, sold my home three years ago and moved to Wedgwood. I drove by the area the other day, and sure enough, there were blankets back there. All I can say is, good luck.

Based on a survey done by the Seattle Department of Planning and Development, the public's concerns about the impacts of backyard cottages don't seem to be playing out in southeast Seattle where they are currently allowed.

The Seattle City Council Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee had its first discussion of legislation to allow backyard cottages citywide on Wednesday, Aug. 12.

The backyard cottages were described by Anrea Petzel from the Department of Planning and Development as an accessory “dwelling unit separate from the main home but on the same lot as that primary home.” They are often referred to as "mother-in-law" units.

This type of accessory dwelling unit (ADU) has been permitted in southeast Seattle since 2006. They differ from attached AUD’s, such as above a garage or in a basement, which are already permitted citywide.

Since ADU's are already permitted citywide, this is not an issue of re-zoning, explained Petzol. The reasoning behind the cottages is to provide affordable housing in singe-family neighborhoods and a place for extended family or caregivers to stay.

The Youngstown Cultural Arts Center has been selected as one of three locations to host traditional Fandango training. Fandango goes beyond a typical fiesta with music, dance, singing and even cooking. And boy will this party cook. It lasts through the night until daybreak.

There is no audience at a traditional Fandango, only participants. Dancers male and female hop onto a wooden box called the "tarima" and dance in a style evocative of flamenco and tap. The box has air holes carved around its side transforming this mini-stage into a crude but effective percussion instrument.

The Fandango Project is sponsored by the American Music Partnership of Seattle, a collaboration between UW Women’s Studies, School of Music, Dance Department, KEXP, and EMP, funded by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, El Centro De La Raza, The Vera Project, Office of Arts and Culture.

Many area residents know Shirley Enebrad through her involvement with the West Seattle Hi-Yu organization and its court of young queens and princesses. Soon they may also know Shirley as the mother of her little prince, Cory, the subject of her newly released book, “Over the Rainbow Bridge.”

Cory, her only son, was diagnosed with leukemia at age 3 and died just after his ninth birthday in 1985. In her 325-page, self-published softcover, Enebrad guides us through her son’s journey. But, unlike the story of the Titanic, Cory’s ship does not seem to sink. Heart breaking, yes, and the reader pulls for the tyke even when all is lost, but Cory does some heavy lifting in many chapters to entice the reader into his joy-filled world.

I.Q. tests placed him in the genius level beginning at age 4, when he was admitted to the University Childhood Development School. According to the book, it was not just reading, writing and arithmetic, but also his uncanny ability to put two and two together to accept and be at peace with his diagnosis of cancer. He reassured his mother, his younger sister Brie and other family members and friends that things would be OK after he died.

Fifteenth Avenue Northwest, the seven-lane main drag that connects downtown to north Seattle via Ballard and Crown Hill, is known to be one of the neighborhood's less scenic areas.

Parts of the street are lined by shuttered businesses and houses, vacant lots and graffiti.

But, new businesses have popped up on 15th Avenue in the past months, bringing new life to the street and hoping to draw customers from Ballard's downtown business core.

Anna Riensuwarn, owner of The Blue Dog Coffeehouse, said the business vacancies and turnover on 15th are not because of the location. The location is great, it is up to the product and operation to make it work, she said.

Riensuwarn said The Blue Dog, which opened four months ago at 5905 15th Ave. N.W., is situated in an area of Ballard that has a lot of potential for growth.

The combination of being located in a true neighborhood, unlike their University District location, and on a street with heavy traffic that can make use of their drive-through has worked out excellently for the coffeehouse.

"It's been awesome," she said. "The community is really welcoming us."

The schedule for closing the southbound lanes on First Avenue South between South King Street and Railroad Way has changed. The lanes
will now be closed on Monday through Wednesday, Aug. 17 through 19, and possibly also Thursday, Aug. 20, if needed, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The sidewalk on the western side of First Avenue South will also be closed.

A detour will be provided to South King Street and then to Railroad Way, back to First Avenue South. (Please note that Railroad Way is divided by a median, so traffic turning left from King Street to head south on Railroad Way must stay to the right of the median.)

The closure is needed for the operation of a large crane working on a private building.

The Seattle Department of Planning and Development today approved dock improvements permits for the King County Water Taxi.

The permits granted allow the replacement of a timber floating dock (2,686 square feet), with a concrete dock (2,470 square feet) and to replace 11 steel piles. The project also includes installation of three kayak finger piers (195 square feet).

View the decision here.

Construction permits for the project have yet to be approved. Work on this project is scheduled to start this fall.

This decision is appealable to the Washington State Shoreline Hearings Board until at least Sept. 3.

Plans to make the King County Water Taxi a year-round service starting next year are still in the works.

According to the city's decision:

"The floating dock is proposed to be replaced with a dock that meets updated design and safety standards.

Representatives from the Seattle Department of Transportation introduced its Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program on Aug. 12 to the Ballard community.

The two-phase plan includes implementing a number of methods to stop speeding within residential neighborhoods before having to install physical traffic calming devices, such as speed bumps.

Luke Korpi and Jane Rebelowski from the city's transportation department hosted the public meeting at the Ballard Public Library.

Korpi said the focus of the program would be on neighborhood concerns and preventing traffic speeds, easing traffic volumes and cut-through traffic.

The program would start by trying to make drivers aware of how fast they are going through neighborhood streets, said Korpi

He explained that many drivers are encouraged to speed on wide open streets with no parking on either side, but are less likely to speed in more narrow streets.

In Phase 1 of the program, the city will be focusing on educating and involving the neighborhoods, conducting traffic studies to understand the problem in a particular neighborhood and developing ideas from additional education and enforcement.