January 2010

On Jan. 13, the Ballard District Council voted to approve the neighborhood's top three projects – all of which would create Crown Hill sidewalks – for consideration under the Bridging the Gap Levy's Large Project Fund, as well as a source for all leftover funding.

In November, the council appointed a review committee to look at 12 project proposals – eight old and four new – and rank the top three to send to the Seattle Department of Transportation for possible funding.

The Bridging the Gap Large Project Fund operates in a three-year cycle funding transportation infrastructure projects that cost more than $20,000. In 2007, Ballard received $350,000 for the recent repairs to Ballard Avenue sidewalks.

The following is the list of projects the Ballard District Council review committee considered:

• Sidewalks on 13th Avenue Northwest from Northwest 85th Street to Northwest 100th Street.
• Sidewalks on Northwest 90th Street from 12th Avenue Northwest to Holman Road.
• A new traffic signal on Leary Avenue at 20th Avenue Northwest.
• Construction of medians on Holman Road.

The Ballard High School boys swim team took a 98-88 victory over Juanita Jan. 14.

The Beavers won seven of the days 12 events, and Caleb Jaeger and Alex Larson accounted for a part of each victory but one.

Jaeger took first in the 100-meter fly, with a time of 1:01.91, and the 100-meter breaststroke, with a time of 1:09.33.

Larson placed first in the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-meter freestyle in 25.22 and 54.14 respectively.

Jaeger and larson, along with Andrew McMuldroch and Sam Hall, were part of Ballard's winning 200-meter medley relay team. They were also in on the first-place 400-meter freestyle relay team, with Hall and Corey Metzner.

McMuldroch added the Beavers' other individual victory in the 500-meter freestyle in a time of 6:06.01.

Ballard's next meet is at 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 19 at Juanita Pool against Bellevue.

The Ballard High School gymnastics team topped Inglemoor but couldn't quite reach Wooodinville in its Jan. 14 meet. The Beavers finished with 166.8 points to Woodinville's 175.9 and Inglemoor's 163.75.

Ballard's Taylor Stern placed first all-around, as she has most of the year, with a score of 36.95. Woodinville's Mary McIntosh and Hailey Wells came in second and third.

Stern was named Seattle Times Star of the Week and WIAA/Seattle Times Athlete of the Week earlier this week.

Stern was in the top three of every event except the beam. She took second in vault with a score of 9.4, first on the bars with 9.3 and third in the floor routines with 9.2.

Erica Redman was the only other Beaver to crack the top three in any event, tying for third on the beam with a score of 9.2.

Coach Stephanie Gundel said she was pleased with the outcome of the meet as Inglemoor handed Ballard its only loss earlier in the season.

"Taylor had another great meet," coach Stephanie Gundel said. "It was exciting to win over Inglemoor, who had beaten us at home at the start of the season."

WSDOT will reopen two lanes of westbound State Route 18 near Auburn by 5 a.m., Tuesday, Jan. 19. Two landslides closed the westbound lanes of SR 18 the evening of January 14.

WSDOT contractor crews worked through the weekend to:

stabilize the steep hillside above the roadway by removing trees and loose debris
remove debris from the roadway
install drainage systems to handle stormwater run-off from the hillside
build a temporary wall in the westbound truck climbing lane designed to catch any remaining small debris that may fall.
construct a barrier in front of the wall
restripe the roadway
“Our crews took advantage of every dry bit of weather this weekend.” said WSDOT Regional Administrator Lorena Eng. “The temporary fix allowed us to reopen one lane of westbound SR 18, which is a critical route for freight and commuters. WSDOT engineers will now focus their attention on designing a permanent fix for the hillside.”

For photos of the slide visit the WSDOT Flickr site at: www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/4274285385/.

Keeping traffic moving

Birds near airports are a serious safety issue and SeaTac Airport has a new approach to handling them. In partnership with University of Illinois researchers and the FAA, SeaTac is the first airport in the nation to use a new advanced bird tracking system that permits real time displays of bird activity in approximately a 2 mile radius around the airport.

The system uses three radar dishes, each assigned to a set of altitudes, two atop the Airport office building and one mobile unit. Steve Osmek is in charge of wildlife abatement at SeaTac and he can monitor the system with a laptop computer.

If birds are found to be too close they use pyrotechnics from a gun.

Osmek is also charged with keeping coyotes off the runway and they've installed a fence that is buried 12 feet deep and at an angle to discourage burrowing under it.

Coyote burrows can be up to 30 feet long and they have been known to dig under other fences as deep as ten feet.

The avian radar system is primarily monitored from a new system in the office building day and night.

Seattle Parks and Recreation is planning a new and unique community park on the top of the West Seattle Reservoir at Westcrest Park.
They are seeking ideas and creative thoughts for this public meeting. The West Seattle Reservoir is located at 9000 8th Ave SW. This park project is funded by the Parks and Green Spaces Levy approved by Seattle voters in November 2008.
The meeting is being held February 6, 2010 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Southwest Community Center 2801 SW Thistle St, Seattle, WA.
For additional information please visit:
http://seattle.gov/parks/projects/west_seattle_reservoir/ or contact Susanne Friedman
800 Maynard Ave S. Suite 300 Seattle, WA 98134
206-684-0902,
susanne.friedman@seattle.gov

Turnovers turned into deadly darts of destruction in a close 39-37 Evergreen Lutheran Class 2B SeaTac League South division boys basketball loss to visiting Crosspoint Academy (Bremerton) on Saturday, January 9, in Des Moines.

Crosspoint took the top of the South rankings at 3-1 and improved to 5-4 overall. Despite the hard work, Evergreen Lutheran dropped to fourth at 1-2 and 2-8 overall.

"Our inexperience caused us to turn the ball over too much," was Eagle head coach Dave Habeck's concise observation.

Trailing 39-33 with just more than four minutes left in the fourth quarter EL missed numerous opportunities to close in further despite tough defense on their part.

Wyatt Weimer finally cashed in for Evergreen Lutheran by stealing the ball in the Warrior back court and driving home a lay in to ignite the last-ditch rally with 1:35 left. Crosspoint tried to run off clock time, but Weimer again pilfered the ball in Warrior territory and streaked to another lay in as 31.7 seconds showed on the scoreboard clock.

Lights-out defense midway through the third quarter changed the boys basketball game's direction as the unranked Todd Beamer Titans went on a 26-9 run in that frame for a come-from-behind, 70-63, win over their bright, shining, state ranked No. 9 visiting rival Decatur Gators.

Both now share second place in the South Puget Sound League South Division after Tuesday's action.

"Transitions, turnovers all over the place," said Gators head coach Kevin Olson, who's done a fine job coaching this team to a sixth place 4A state finish two years ago and last year making it to state, too.

That is exactly what the Gators (6-2 league, 8-3 overall) needed to do -- stop the press. And they didn't.

Leading the Titans, 35-29, after the first and second quarters ended on a Napa Mefi three-pointer to end the half for what gave the Titans (6-2, 8-3) good hope of otherwise being down nine.

"It swung the momentum," said Kevin Davis, the 6-foot, 8-inch star center for the Titans, who played gracefully and powerfully for 30 points, 17 rebounds, and nine blocks in this big time match.

Then the third quarter came, and the press...

Want to learn about being a police officer? What is CSI? What does I & R stand for? What’s a DOA? The Seattle Police Department is now taking applications for the spring Community Police Academy that begins Thursday, March 18, 2010. Classes are held once a week for 10 weeks from 5:30 p.m. to 9:15 p.m.

The Community Police Academy is designed to provide Seattle residents with an opportunity to learn firsthand about the job of a police officer and how the Seattle Police Department works. Classes focus on patrol procedures and operations, internal investigations, the criminal justice process, crime scene investigation, bias crimes, narcotics, SWAT, use of force, defensive tactics, firearms/mock scenes, domestic violence, elder abuse, and arrest procedures.

Graduates receive a program certificate upon completion of the course. Additionally, they benefit by gaining knowledge and an understanding of the realities and best practices of policing.

Space is limited, so all are encouraged to apply early. The deadline to submit your application is Friday, January 29, 2010. To apply, go to:

The King County Library System's director proposed Jan. 14 an analytical process to determine library sites in the Highline area, but a White Center activist countered that a library's importance to a community cannot be dispassionately measured.

"Metrics don't mean anything without community," White Center Library Guild president Rachel Levine declared.
Library director Bill Ptacek also reported that with the transfer of Puget Sound Park to Burien, efforts to construct a library at the park site are dead.
"That issue is over with," Ptacek said.

In addressing the library system's planning committee at the Burien Library on Jan. 14. Levine said White Center guild members campaigned for passage of a library levy so a new 10,000 square foot library would be constructed at the current library's site.
She said the White Center and Greenbridge libraries in White Center along with the Burien and Boulevard Park libraries are doing a great job for their communities.

Levine cited the importance of current library programs for low-income White center residents.