June 2010

SDOT is reporting "Seattle Public Utilities crews have completed repairing a broken water main at First Avenue South and South King Street. Paving crews from the Seattle Department of Transportation are now restoring the pavement.

They expect to complete the work, including time for the new pavement to harden, by 2:30 p.m. today, and at that time will open all lanes to traffic. Currently First Avenue South is open to traffic with some lane restrictions at South King Street."

Federal Way and Thomas Jefferson high schools both made it onto Newsweek’s annual list of America’s Best High Schools for 2010. Federal Way ranked 428 and Thomas Jefferson ranked 793.

Thirty-two schools in Washington made Newsweek’s list. Of those schools, Federal Way was ranked 7th and Thomas Jefferson was ranked 12th. Federal Way had the highest percentage of students among the Washington schools who qualify for free or reduced lunch with 59 percent. Thomas Jefferson was among the highest with 43 percent. Both schools placed among perennial high achievers such as Mercer Island, Newport and Interlake high schools.

According to the Newsweek article, public schools are ranked according to a formula that takes the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school and divides that by the number of graduating seniors. All of the 1623 schools on the Newsweek list are in the top six percent of public schools measured this way.

A dozen Ballardites braved the early morning hours and celebrated the United States' impressive comeback against Slovenia in the second match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup July 18 at Wingmasters Sports Bar on 24th Avenue Northwest.

Slovenia went into halftime with a 2-0 lead, but the United States was able to turn things around early in the second half with Landon Donovan's goal in the 48th minute.

Michael Bradley tied the match at two apiece, sealing an improbable one-point tie for the United States, with a goal in the 82nd minute, sending the Wingmasters crowd into a frenzy.

A third U.S. goal a few minutes later was called off by the referee for a foul, a call that was met with outrage by players, announcers and Ballardites alike.

Wingmasters will be opening early for all U.S. World Cup matches.

Ballard Big Picture is a column of scenes from around the neighborhood. If you would like to submit a photo for use on this site and in the Ballard News-Tribune, please send it to Michael Harthorne at michaelh@robinsonnews.com. Be sure to include your name and information about your photo.

Sunset Hill resident Adam Davis won the first-ever Ballard Fitness Fest, hosted by EDGE Personal Training, by losing 11.9 percent of his body fat, essentially cutting in in half.

EDGE owner Erik Hroncich created the Ballard Fitness Fest as a way to give back to the community. For a $10 entry fee, Ballard residents and workers had a shot at $650 worth of prizes. Winners were determined by who lost the most body fat, inches and weight during a three-month period.

Davis lost 29.5 pounds of body fat and 18 pounds total, meaning he gained 11.5 pounds of muscle.

Davis said he has struggled with losing weight for his entire life because he had a hard time staying motivated for dieting or exercise.

"The Fitness Fest just seemed doable," Davis said. "Even if I didn't win, I would have proved something to myself."

Except for near-daily beer consumption, Davis followed a strict diet of lots of fruits and vegetables while cutting out all pasta, bread and processed foods.

The Purple Cow
6301 Seaview Ave. N.W.
206.784.1417
Weekdays, 7 a.m.-5 p.m. (Closed Tuedsay)
Saturday, 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

Named after the subject of the 1895 poem by Gelett Burgess, The Purple Cow is a welcome sight for neighborhood walkers, liveaboards and anyone looking for good coffee on their way to the beach.

Although it's one of the last chances for espresso on the way to Golden Gardens, Purple Cow is as much cafe as it is coffee house. Serving breakfast and lunch six days a week, the Cow is as cozy as a friend's living room

While the place has changed hands a few times in recent years, our visits have been noted by smooth(ie) sailing and warm and delicious BLTs.

The breakfast smoothies are a cool, creamy and usually healthy way to start the day – healthier than milkshakes, anyway! All come with berries, peanut butter or banana and juice with frozen yogurt. Whether you choose from the Shilshole Sunset (strawberry and OJ), the namesake Purple Cow (blueberry, strawberry, cranberry juice), or the SS Minnow (pear, banana, strawberry and OJ), you'll pay about $5, and it will be worth it.

The audience laughed heartily during Schmitz Park Elementary School's production of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, Thursday night, June 17. The performers, and director and other behind-the-scenes crew were from Craig Parsley's fifth grade class. In the play, a man and his slave become mistaken for another man and his slave as both are identical twins. The four meet at the end and the confusion is cleared up. While the slave-owner actors, Vincent Paddon and Ryan Kimsey resembled each other, their slaves are real-life twins, Anna and Lea Zuckerman, a nice dramatic touch.

Marine Biologist John Calambokidis spoke at the Duwamish Longhouse at 4705 W Marginal Way Southwest on Thursday June 17 on "Gray Whales and Other Whales of the Pacific Northwest." He is the biologist who performed the necropsy on the gray whale that recently stranded on The Arroyos Beach and among his findings was that the contents of the whale's stomach was "the largest amount of trash ever recorded in a stranded whale in the Puget Sound," though this did not cause the death of this whale and that the death of Gray Whales in their range is not uncommon. Their report is here.

The 34th District Democrats' official nominated and endorsed candidate Marcee Stone threw a party at West Seattle resident Art Wolfe's photo studio in SODO, 1944 1st Avenue S. on Thursday, June 17 to officially kick off her campaign. She is a Democrat running for 34th District State Representative. She was joined by supporters, including her daughter, Claire Donehue, 22, and 34th District Chair, Tim Nuse, who introduced her.

"She has the strongest roots out of all the candidates," said Donehue, who just graduated Evergreen College. She is referring to her mother's upbringing in White Center and other areas of West Seattle. "She's probably overqualified for the position. I'm just surprised it took her so long to get politically active like this. I'm really happy she's going to be able to get back to the community."

The 2010 FIFA World Cup got underway June 11, and even thought the global soccer tournament is taking place thousands of miles away in South Africa, people here in Ballard are getting fired up for competition.

World Cup soccer has the magical ability to drag people from all over the world and all walks of life out of bed at ridiculous hours of the morning just to watch a game, said Ballard resident Chris Bodan. The deli he works at downtown opened at 4 a.m. just to show a match.

"What else does that?" he said. "I don't know how else to describe it other than a reason to get out of bed in the morning."

Bodan was spending his Friday morning watching a replay of Mexico vs. South Africa at the Market Arms, Ballard's newest pub, which opened this week at the southwest corner of Market Street and 24th Avenue Northwest.

The Market Arms is owned by John Bayliss, owner of Fremont's George & Dragon Pub, which has long been a Seattle soccer mecca.

At 10 a.m. on June 11, there were about 15 people watching the Market Arms' multiple screens (all tuned to the World Cup, naturally).

Seattle Parks and Recreation and Site Workshops will present the preferred schematic design of the West Seattle Reservoir Park project at Westcrest Saturday, June 26, 2010 at the Southwest Community Center, 2801 Thistle Street S.W. David Boyer, the artist retained to create the park sculptures will also be on hand to present his design concepts. His work was initially presented at a meeting last month and covered by the Herald here.

Over the last year the community has participated in the design process for this new park space and Parks is encouraging people to come to this meeting, see the design and provide final input. Project Manager Susanne Friedman said, "This is the final schematic. From here we go into Design Development."

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.

For more information or if you require special accommodations: