April 2010

Peter Hellenbrand has a physics degree but he wasn't thinking about physics on Thursday evening at Lincoln Park. He was too busy jumping on logs, on his bike. Hellenbrand who has lived here in West Seattle for about 18 months, works for Boeing and enjoys all kinds of outdoor activities but really loves this kind of biking. "Physics doesn't really apply to this stuff," he said," if you try to think about it logically it's not going to do you much good."

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He's been riding bikes since he was five years old but this kind of riding has been his passion for around ten years. His bike is called a "trials bike" and it's specifically designed for this kind of riding. It has a very low gear ratio, no seat, big tires and good brakes. "It's not designed to go for laps or just riding around," Hellenbrand said, "It's designed for this and it does that well."

It's a lot of work to leap from spot to spot on a bike Hellenbrand proved, "It's a very good work out. You're firing all your muscles as hard as you can on a lot of these moves. You are balancing and then you're exploding too."

For an estimated one thousand volunteers, this Saturday April 17 is when they will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day by gathering at 12 sites along Duwamish River to work on projects to bring the river back to health.

A noontime ceremony will be held at the North Wind's Weir work site at 2914 S. 112th St. in Tukwila where volunteers will begin at 10 a.m. planting thousands of marsh plants and spreading mulch around the sapling trees and shrubs at the newest restoration site on the river.
A ribbon cutting ceremony and a 'run of wild salmon' will celebrate the official "opening" of the North Wind's Weir Estuary Restoration Area at noon.

The fifth annual Duwamish Alive! brings together over 30 conservation groups and governmental entities to engage volunteers in weeding, planting, mulching and cleaning up the river.

These volunteer restoration projects complement government efforts to clean up the contaminated sediments at the bottom of the Duwamish River. Improvements in the health of the river will benefit people, wildlife, and runs of threatened salmon on the Green/Duwamish River.

Seattle Parks and Recreation is inviting the public to submit potential names for the new park on Ninth Avenue Northwest and the new Crown Hill School open space. Suggestions for names are due to the Park Naming Committee by June 2.

This Ninth Avenue Northwest site was purchased with 2000 Pro Parks Levy funds and now, as a result of the 2008 Parks & Greens Spaces Levy, there is funding to develop this site into a brand new park.

The public process involved three community meetings, which provided valuable design direction.

The design most preferred at the final public meeting includes a community garden at the north end, a sitting wall enclosed space to recall an old building foundation, an open lawn, a "sledding hill" and a small play area at the south end.

There is a planted buffer along the back edge with a trail for unstructured play.

Construction on the site is scheduled to begin in August 2010, with completion anticipated in spring 2011.

For more information, click here.

A valued retired member of the Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department was honored Thursday afternoon at department headquarters with a reception.
Reicher, specially trained by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms as an accelerant canine, is suffering from terminal cancer.
The black Labrador retriever worked numerous fire and arson scenes from June 13, 2001 through June 10, 2008.

After retirement, he worked the important job of being a fire station greeter.
Firefighters also honored Reicher's handler, Bill Harm.

Traveling to Burien to honor Reicher and Harm were fellow accelerant canine Wesley and handler Jennifer Norton from Yakima as well as accelerant canine Henny and handler Capt. Steve Baer from Seattle.

Elliott Snyder is a young man with artistic talent and vision.
A 17-year-old high school senior and Running Start student at Highline Community College in Des Moines, Snyder has started his own business. Called "Overcast Clothing Co.," the company designs and sells Northwest specific t-shirts, hoodies and more.
"I didn't expect it to get as popular as soon as it has...or take off as much as it has," said Snyder, who had over 90 orders for t-shirts and hoodies within a week of making his first design available.

As to why these t-shirts are so popular, the overwhelming response is that they are unique, visually striking and creative, according to Snyder.
Snyder described his idea to design t-shirts as a sudden intuitive leap of understanding.
"I'm always looking for cool t-shirts. It came to me in an epiphany that I could make better t-shirts than the ones I was looking at," said Snyder. "I made one design and a lot of people were interested. So now I'm making more.
"Ever since I was in preschool, I would doodle all the time."

The Delridge Neighborhood Development Association is seeking a Fund Development Manager. In a notice sent out by the organization Derek Birnie said the group was seeking, " just the right person to join our team and increase our effectiveness at harnessing the financial support of the individuals and businesses who know and support our work. Please help us find that person! "

The full job description follows:

Job Title: Fund Development Manager
Reports to: Executive Director
Working Conditions: Half-time position requiring occasional evenings and weekends
Salary Range: $16-$22/hr plus benefits

JOB OVERVIEW:

Work to complete the new eastbound 4th Ave S off-ramp from the S Spokane St Viaduct is ahead of schedule. Originally set to open for use by December 2010, the new ramp is likely to open in late summer or early fall. Once utility work and paving are completed, expected by early summer, eastbound lower Spokane Street will be reopened and crews can then join the new ramp to the existing elevated structure. This is the final construction step in the creation of the new off-ramp, but it will require the closure of the eastbound right-hand lane of the viaduct between 1st and 4th avenues for approximately two months.

As a reminder, the next major milestone in the South Spokane Street Viaduct Project, which began the fall of 2008, is around the corner. On May 17, 2010, crews will close the westbound 1st Ave S on-ramp and prepare it for demolition. This makes way for work to widen the upper roadway 41 feet to the north, and build a new on and off-ramp along 1st Ave S that should open in the fall of 2011.

Ballard Sunday Farmers Market
Ballard Avenue
206.781.6776
Sunday, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. (all year)

After the bars and restaurants close on Saturday night – and not very long after – those responsible for bringing us the Ballard Farmers Market roll into action.

Held on tree-lined and historic Ballard Avenue, this farmers market is by far the most scenic and pleasant neighborhood market in town. Parisian in appearance, this is the one that trumps them all.

Pretenders set up in parking lots, but the boss market dons its gay apparel in the middle of a beautiful urban street atop cobblestones and between old brick two-stories facing each other as though to say hello, Ballard style.

In addition to organic fruit and vegetable sales, the Ballard Farmers Market offers much more: free range eggs and poultry, artisan breads and cheeses, hormone-free meat, sustainable seafood, seasonal flowers, hot dogs with grilled onions, and a trace of attitude to boot.

The Ballard High School baseball team was shutout 8-0 by Skyline April 14 but played well enough that, if not for some excellent play from Skyline, the game should have been much closer.

The team hit better than the box score – zero runs, three hits – indicates, coach John Lamm said. He said the team probably had five line drive outs to the outfield where Skyline was in the right place at the right time and only struck out three times.

Lamm said Skyline played a near perfect game with excellent throws, catches and pitching.

Ballard is 3-6 in KingCo and 3-8 overall.

After beating two of the top 10 teams in the state in Newport and Redmond in the last four games, Lamm said he believes the team still has a shot at raising its record to .500 if it plays well.

"I guess right now it's kind of like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde situation," he said.

In three wins this season, including against second-ranked Newport and ninth-ranked Redmond, the Beavers are averaging 5.7 runs offensively while giving up 3.7 runs.

In eight losses, the Beavers are averaging 2.9 runs to their opponents' 9.3 runs.

Woodinville, the third-ranked team in the state, was too much for the Ballard High School softball team April 14, winning 8-1 while outhitting the Beavers 16 to three.

The Beavers, playing their third game in three days and coming off a 21-run effort against Garfield, allowed Woodinville to score four runs in the first inning before settling down and holding them to four runs over the next six.

Freshman Andrea Jewett, who had pitched a full game only two days earlier, threw eight strikeouts.

Freshman Brittney Blokker was responsible for Ballard's lone run, it's lowest single-game output this season, when she hit a triple in the sixth inning and scored on a Woodinville error.

The Beavers are 1-3 in KingCo and 5-3 overall.

Next up for Ballard is Inglemoor (6-2) at 6:30 p.m. on April 16 at Inglemoor High School.