May 2010

The New York Times picked out two local businesses in a travel story about Seattle Sweet Shops by writer Sara Dickerman Saturday May 15.
Bakery Nouveau, the french bakery in the heart of the West Seattle Junction and Full Tilt Ice Cream in White Center are highlighted in both the text and a slide show. You can read the story here Sweet Shops In Seattle

Dear Editor,
Personally, I think the only bad part about Mr. Ahroni winning the $1.7 million against Sears, Roebuck & co. and advertising giant Young & Rubicam, Inc is that the amount wasn't about TEN times greater or more.
He proved in a court of law he invented the product and did you also note HE MADE IT IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA...............NOT, I REPEAT NOT, IN CHINA AS SEARS ROEBUCK AND YOUNG AND RUBICAM DID.
Congratulations, Mr. Ahroni for fighting for what you knew was right and shame on Sears, Roebuck and Young and Rubicam .

Harriet Benjamin

Early Friday morning three top Seattle seafood chefs had a copper salmon cookoff, cooking the very first copper salmon to be delivered from Alaska.

The plane landed just before 7 a.m., carrying 22,000 pounds of fresh Alaska Copper River Salmon. As soon as the plane touched down the red carpet was rolled out for the salmon to become the main course, which was carried off of the plane by the pilot.

With grills and ingredients ready, chefs John Howie- from Seastar Restaurant, Peter Levine- from Waterfront Grill and Pat Donahue from Anthony's Restaurants, had half an hour to cook the fresh 43 pound salmon.

Celebrity Judges Jay Buhner, Mike Fourtner- of Discovery Channels Deadliest Catch, Washington State University Head Football Coach Paul Wulff and Alaska Airlines President Brad Tilden sampled the three salmon dishes, all agreeing it was hard to choose a winner.

Pat Donahue, from Anthony's Home Port Restaurants was chosen as the winner of the cookoff.

Empty lots in downtown Des Moines are going to remain vacant for the time being after city officials reported Water District 54 essentially backed out of plans to upgrade the water system downtown.

Des Moines Planning and Building Director Grant Fredericks said any construction built downtown today would have to be a steel or concrete building. Alternatively, property owners would need to upgrade their water system to meet the current fire code.

If a developer did decide to pay to upgrade the system, future developments would have to pay a latecomers fee to the original developer. However, Mayor Bob Sheckler said the upgrade costs are astronomical. So much so it is not reasonable to wait or expect a developer to come in and upgrade the system.

The water district and the city held a joint meeting last month, discussing an almost $2 million project to put a 12-inch water main underneath Des Moines Memorial Drive from South 216 Street to South 227 Street. The project would also tie in water lines at each of the intersections along Marine View Drive into the water main.

The Ballard Boys and Girls Club, located at 1767 N.W. 64th St., is hosting summer basketball camps for boys and girls ages 8 to 12.

The boys camp runs from Aug. 9 to Aug. 13. The girls camp runs from Aug. 23 to Aug. 27. Each day lasts from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with extended morning and afternoon supervision available.

Each camp session costs $135.

Campers are asked to bring basketball shorts and shoes, water and lunch.

Visit www.ballard.positiveplace.org to register, or call 206.783.5775 for more information.

This month, Swedish Medical Center launches the Employer Medical Assistance program designed specifically for companies in heavy manufacturing, construction, marine services, fishing, transportation, firefighting, aviation and related industries. It is the first of its kind in the region.

Located on the Swedish/Ballard campus at 5300 Tallman Ave. N.W., the new service is a logical outgrowth of the nonprofit health system’s Maritime Medical Management practice, which started in the summer of 2009.

The Employer Medical Assistance program incorporates specialty care, diagnostics, emergency services and needed medical solutions for a broader range of injured or ill workers – all tied to the recently updated Swedish Business Health Link employee drug/alcohol testing service and a soon-to-be-added occupational health component.

“Through EMA, employers can get expedited access to the extensive Swedish provider network and have their key people back to work quicker and healthier than in the past,” Rayburn Lewis, executive director of Swedish/Ballard, said in a press release.

The day after wrapping up a winless regular season, two Ballard High School girls tennis players, Anna Brokhaug and Jimena Diaz, won their doubles match on the first day of the District Tournament May 13 to move on to the second day.

Diaz and Brokhaug won five straight games after falling behind 1-6 and 0-3 to defeat Summer Than and Sherry Tran from Garfield.

"Needless to say, I was very impressed in the way they bounced back to win the match," coach Charles Brenner said. "They were down but never gave up."

Ballard's Stephanie Loo and Sara Gilmore competed in singles matches in the District Tournment, both drawing tough match-ups, Brenner said.

Gilmore lost to Dayna Bennett from Issaquah High School 3-6 and 2-6. Loo lost to Kelly Song from Eastlake High School 2-6 and 4-6.

"Both played above and beyond what was anticipated and lost in much closer matches than they were supposed to be," Brenner said.

Cami Herk and Nicole Frederick also participated in a doubles match in the tournament for the Beavers, losing to a Lake Washington team.

Diaz and Brokhaug compete in the second day of the tournament at 4:15 p.m. on May 14 at Skyline High School.

“Delibertus Quirkus” – the freedom to be peculiar – is the unofficial motto of Fremont, and at no other time does the sentiment play out more prominently than at the annual Fremont Fair, set to take place the weekend of June 19 and 20.

Produced by the Fremont Chamber of Commerce and held annually near the calendar Summer Solstice, the weekend festival draws families, freewheelers, young, old and everyone in between, all coming together to celebrate summer and Fremont and its unconventional culture.

As is tradition, the event will coincide with the much-loved Solstice Parade, organized by the Fremont Arts Council. The parade – famous for its wild and whimsical floats and spectacles – kicks off at noon on June 19 starting at North 36th Street and Leary Way and flowing through the heart of Fremont to end at Gasworks Park.

Highlights for this year’s Fremont Fair activities include:

• More than 300 shopping booths featuring colorful world imports and novel handmade creations, plus boutique shopping throughout the streets.

The goat first showed signs that she was going into labor at 10:30 p.m. She expelled a certain kind of discharge, similar to when a woman’s water breaks. She nickered during contractions. And of the estimated 145 to 155 days of a goat’s gestation period, this was day 148.

All of this meant one thing to Ingela Wanerstrand: She wasn’t sleeping inside that night.

Wanerstrand dragged a sleeping bag into her Ballard backyard, where pregnant Noni lives in a custom-built barn. She curled onto a pad on top of the hay, shutting the door between the barn and the milking shed to allow Noni some privacy.

“She’s kind of a shy goat,” Wanerstrand said. “I thought, ‘I’ll just let her do it herself, and if she needs me, I’m nearby.’”

A yelp woke Wanerstrand from her makeshift bed at 3:30 a.m. Anxious, she checked on her pet. Noni had just given birth to two females.

Sunset Hill's Ristorante Picolinos debuted its new 25-foot-tall, patio-covering tent, the first of its kind in Seattle, May 11.

Picolinos owner Tom Bailiff said that kind of tent has not been done before in the city, and Teatro Zinzanni has the only other structure that comes close to it.

Bailiff said the uniqueness of the tent, which covers the backyard garden, dining area and pizza oven for the restaurant located at 6415 32nd Ave. N.W., made the city very cautious, leading to a year-long permitting process.

The green-and-white stripped tent is anchored by a 30-foot-pole. Bailiff said despite its size, the tent can be opened and closed by him and two bus boys and is easy to take down to repair and clean.

He said the climate in Seattle is good but it rains too much, and a series of small table umbrellas would not cut it.

The tent has a height that umbrellas can't match and can withstand hurricane-force winds, Bailiff said.

He said customers have mostly been very happy with the new tent, and he has several parties already scheduled to eat under it.