August 2009

West Side Presbyterian’s semi-retired pastor Ron Rice is dedicated to giving a lift, both spiritually and physically, to Nigerians afflicted with polio, a paralyzing non-curable disease. Nigeria has half the population of America, and more polio cases than any other nation.

With the encouragement, and donations, from his congregants and others, Rice has organized the Nigerian Wheelchair Ministry. A ministry, perhaps, but his operation seems to be more of a bicycle shop on the surface. It is located in Jos, a city of over half a million in Northern Nigeria. There, 20 paid workers reconfigure bicycle parts shipped from India with steel tubing they weld on site into what some might call hand-cranked three-wheeled bicycles. The operator both peddles and steers by hand. Rice simply calls them wheelchairs, as they enable polio victims to bike to school who otherwise barely walk.

Monty, a young tabby, leaps to a tree as his roommate, Pie, looks on.

Several Seattle firefighters scattered between the Admiral Junction traffic Friday afternoon to ask commuters to fill their boots with donations for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Firefighters are collecting to fight the disease nationwide.

Seattle Department of Transportation crews will construct a missing portion of sidewalk on Third Avenue Northwest between Northwest 85th and Northwest 86th streets beginning Wednesday, Aug. 12.

One lane of traffic will be maintained in each direction. No on-street parking will be allowed in the construction area.

The crews expect to complete this work in approximately two weeks

Twelfth Night Productions (TNP) is pleased to announce it’s next offering Meredith Wilson’s ode to Americana, "The Music Man," running Aug. 7 through 23.

An affectionate tribute to small town USA of a bygone era, "The Music Man" follows a fast talking traveling sales man, Harold Hill as he cons the people of River City, Iowa into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys’ band he vows to organize, despite the fact that he doesn’t know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans to skip town with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian the librarian, who transforms him into a respectable citizen by curtain’s fall.

TNP is excited to partner with the All City Band for this cherished musical. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the All City Band.

TNP is a non-profit performing arts organization located at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. This production features several artists from the West Seattle community as well as the greater Seattle area.

The Music Man runs in a special limited engagement at the West Seattle High School, 3000 California Ave. S.W.

With an increase in demand as high as 35 percent this year and a sharp drop in donations of baby food and formula, food banks across the city are desperate for donations. Solid Ground is hoping a three-day initiative starting Aug. 19 by local junk removal company 1-800 RID-OF-IT Junk Removal will help the troubling situation.  

Trish Twomey, Hunger Action Center Manager for Solid Ground, said there is always an increased demand for food items in the summer because school is out and children no longer have access to breakfast or lunch programs.  However, this summer the situation is markedly worse, she said.

“Families in our community are hungry, and the food banks are not able to cope with the increasing need,” said Twomey.  “Working families are faced with tough decisions and choices, and they are turning to food banks to cover some of their food costs.  This food drive is a great way to help families feed their kids.” 

Food and monetary donations are significantly lower this year, while demand is up on average 35 percent across Seattle, according to Solid Ground.  Stocks of formula and baby food are also down significantly.   

The hosts of the Ninth Annual Ballard High School Golf Classic had to battle a bad economy and unseasonably cool weather, but the Aug. 4 fundraiser came off without a hitch.

"It was a huge success," said Mary Wong, the event's chair. "Everyone had a great time. The courses were good, dinner was great and the auction was exciting and fun."

Wong said there were a few setbacks this year. Only 190 golfers signed up, 50 short of the goal, and a number of sponsors had to cut back due to the economy, she said.

Still, after all expenses are paid, the Ballard High School Foundation hopes to have about $60,000 to distribute between sports and music programs at the high school, Wong said.

Ballard Principal Phil Brockman said it was a great day for the classic and the 59-degree weather at the Golf Club at Newcastle was a welcome change from the recent heat wave.

"It's a great community event for Ballard High School," he said. "And all to benefit our students.

Brockman said he wasn't optimistic about his chances on the course though.

"I'm not very good at all," he said. "But, I'm going to have a lot of fun."

The Ballard Bowl in Ballard Commons Park has been the site of an increasing amount of graffiti in the past weeks, according to a neighborhood woman.

She said the graffiti, which includes strong language and sexual images, had been building up since Aug. 3.

The graffiti in the bowl reached a peak Aug. 5. It was removed the following evening, Aug. 6.

Aaron Bert, resource manager for north Seattle parks, said the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department has a 24-hour removal goal for graffiti that contains foul, racist or sexist language or images.

For graffiti that does not include those elements, the goal is to get it removed within one week, Bert said.

The graffiti was removed close to 24 hours after the Ballard News-Tribune was made aware of it. It is unclear whether the strong language or sexual elements where there any earlier.

Dear Editor,

Judicial elections are quite controversial.  Should judges be appointed or elected? 

Judges cannot really campaign on any particular platform because they would be accused of prejudging particular issues.  In the absence of this sort of information, how do you know who to choose?  If the name sounds good, vote for that person?   

I have often thought of running for a judicial position myself because my last name is so conducive to a positive response.   Many of us simply don’t vote for any candidate for lack of information. 
 
While I often do not know more than anyone else about the candidates, occasionally I do have a strong opinion.  In the upcoming election, Anne Ellington is running for reelection to another term on the Court of Appeals. 

I know that Anne Ellington is a truly remarkable woman and a truly remarkable judge.   She served as a trial judge for 10 years and was elected by the other trial judges to be the King County Presiding Judge.  She then ran for a position on the Court of Appeals and was elected. 

The Seattle Parks and Recreation Department will be rolling out a few changes to downtown Ballard's three parks in the coming months in the hopes of increasing safety and allaying the concerns of neighbors.

At an Aug. 6 park safety meeting in Ballard, Dan Iverson, the department's recreation program coordinator, announced that Bergen Place and Marvin's Garden will soon have new tenants.

Last month, the city issued a permit for a hotdog vendor to set up in Bergen Place. Iverson said the hotdog cart will ideally open Aug. 8.

Thaiku, the restaurant adjacent to Marvin's Garden, will be opening a takeout window and setting up chairs and tables in the park for use by the public, Iverson said.

He said there will be more events in the parks, such as the band Tre Norske performing with dancers Aug. 11 in Bergen Place and a dog festival Aug. 23 in Ballard Commons.

The Parks and Recreation Department is working with the city's technology department to set up wireless internet in Bergen Place and Marvin's Garden, Iverson said.