October 2010

Both the boys and girls Ballard High School cross country teams finished third in a four-way meet against Garfield, Skyline and Roosevelt.

The boys finished with 69 points to Garfield's winning 37 in a race that featured seven of the 10 top-ranked runners in KingCo. Skyline had 39, and Roosevelt had 83.

Junior Alex Bowns placed second with a time of 15:59, setting a new personal record by nine seconds. Junior Victor Bailly came in ninth in 16:47, and senior Blair Scott was behind him for the Beavers, finishing 12th with a time of 17:01.

The girls team had 91 points, ahead of Garfield's 98 but behind Skyline with 23 and Roosevelt with 52.

The top Ballard finishers in the girls race were senior Natalie White, who placed 11th in a time of 20:57, sophomore Rachel Livengood, who placed 13th with a time of 21:02, and sophomore Anna Mirenzi, who placed 14th with a time of 21:07.

Livengood and Mirenzi set new personal records by 35 seconds and 73 seconds respectively.

Click here for complete results from the meet.

This week, Ballard's Majestic Bay Theatres is celebrating 10 years and more than 1.8 million customers.

"It's been very exciting and exhilarating to watch our business and community change in the last 10 years," said Aaron Alhadeff, president of Elttaes Theatres, whose father built and opened the Majestic Bay.

Ken Alhadeff bought the old Bay Theatre property in 1998 with the idea of a simple renovation. He ended up starting from scratch and creating a business that has been a source of a lot of pride for his entire family, Aaron Alhadeff said.

Alhadeff said the Majestic Bay has brought the community together as a source of great escape and entertainment, which was especially needed during a decade when there were a lot of "not-so-great" headlines.

The Majestic Bay has a true community feel to it, evident through the Ballard High School students it employees or the little league team it sponsors or by watching employees greet family and friends when they come to see a film, Alhadeff said.

Ballard resident Mark Hulscher and the Bike Share Group want to create the first Seattle bike share system that will support the community's long-term goals for livability by providing transportation alternatives that reduce people's environmental impact.

Hulscher plans to implement a 20-bike pilot system in Ballard by November. Ballard visitors and residents will be able to check out a bike from of the the five to 10 stations. After taking a trip, the bike is returned to a station and automatically locked at an empty dock.

The pilot program will experiment with various use and payment concepts to help create better models for future operations, according to a Groundswell NW press release.

The Bike Share Group recently received a $5,000 matching grant from Groundswell NW.

Keven Wynkoop, in the midst of his first school year as principal of Ballard High School, tells a story about his grandfather, a lifelong Ballardite, that sums up the way he feels about the neighborhood.

"I'd be willing to live anywhere," Wynkoop said his grandfather would say. "All the way to 65th or up to 15th."

Wynkoop, a lifelong Ballard resident himself and a third-generation graduate of Ballard High School, introduced himself to the community during the Oct. 13 Ballard District Council meeting. He replaced former Ballard High School principal Phil Brockman, who left after last year for a new position with Seattle Public Schools.

The first teaching job Wynkoop took was at Ballard High School in 1999. Since that time he has risen up the ranks while never once considering taking a job anywhere other than the community he grew up in. When he was promoted from assistant principal to principal, it was the realization of a goal, he said.

"There's no higher office for me," Wynkoop said. "My family thinks I've reached the top.

The Low Income Housing Institute's proposed Ballard development would include housing for families and individuals making less than 60 percent of the median King County Income as well as space for homeless families. It would also include an Urban Rest Stop.

The Low Income Housing Institute, more commonly known as LIHI, offered new details about the project at 2014 N.W. 57th St., currently a vacant lot, during the Oct. 13 Ballard District Council meeting.

The proposed development includes 40 to 60 units, including studios, one-bedroom units and two-bedroom units, for families and individuals with incomes less than $51,360 for a four-person household and $41,100 for a two-person household.

LIHI is proposing setting aside approximately 20 percent of the units for homeless families.

LIHI would also be locating an Urban Rest Stop on the first floor of the building. The Urban Rest Stop would provide free showers and laundry, as well as bathrooms, nurses, barbers, attorneys and more, for homeless individuals and families.

The large lock at the Ballard Locks will open Oct. 14 on a limited basis due to the need to manually operate it after it experienced an electrical outage from a lightning strike Oct. 11.

At this time, there will be two lockages daily - one beginning at 9 a.m. and one at 1 p.m. Both lockages will include an up and then down lockage, or vice versa, depending on the flow of the traffic, according to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers press release.

Vessels entering the Locks from Lake Washington require lowering the water. Vessels entering the Locks from Puget Sound require raising the water.

Lockages will be done on a priority basis, according to the press release. The barges and freighters on scheduled runs will get a one per lockage priority. The next priority will go to all other commercial vessels. If there are no other commercial vessels, another barge and freighter could be included.

If there is room, recreational vessels that need the large lock will be allowed to use it. All other recreational vessels will be put on standby for the small lock, according to the press release.

To get on the waiting list, boaters are asked to call the Lockmaster at 206.783.7000.

Dec. 1 is the deadline for Mayor Mike McGinn’s 2011 to 2012 proposed budget to be finalized and West Seattle hosted one of three public hearings before the deadline on Oct. 13 in the Jerry Brockey Student Center at SSCC.

Roughly 200 people showed up for the hearing, many sporting signs, t-shirts or orange scarves signifying a multitude of causes they intended to support in the face of budget cuts due to a $67 million shortfall in the city’s General Fund.

The Mayor’s proposed budget totals $3.9 billion, including the City’s $888 million General Fund that falls $67 million short of last year.

Jean Godden, chair of the Finance and Budget Committee, opened the hearing at 5:30 p.m. and one by one, citizens walked up to the microphone to speak out for protection of many different services. Over 70 people spoke at the meeting.

Orange scarves were the most common accessory of the evening, worn by those representing and supporting the Seattle Human Services Coalition.

Nicole Macri of the Seattle-King Coalition on Homelessness spoke on behalf of SHSC.

HALLOWEEN IS GHOULISHLY GOOD AT SEATTLE PARKS AND RECREATION

Alki Community Center
5817 SW Stevens St, 98116
206-684-7430
Fall Carnival
We have games, prizes, face painting and all the stuff that makes fall fun. Come join us. Volunteers will be needed to set up and take down the chairs, help set up game booths, and run game booths for this event. Four hours of community service credit is available for teen volunteers.This event is for all ages.
Fri., Oct. 29, 6-8pm
Activity Fee: Entry is free; carnival tickets 25¢ each, or $1 for 5 tickets

Delridge Community Center
4501 Delridge Way S, 98106
206-684-7423
Fall Carnival
We have games, prizes, face painting and all the stuff that makes fall fun. Come join us. Volunteers will be needed to set up and take down the chairs, help set up game booths, and run game booths for this event. Four hours of community service credit is available for teen volunteers. This event is for all ages.
Friday, Oct. 22, 6 – 8 p.m.
Activity Fee: Free

Hiawatha Community Center
2700 California Ave SW, 98116
206-684-7441
Halloween Carnival

by Idalie Muñoz Muñoz

Disasters don’t have to be cataclysmic in the isolated mountain village of Belaire in Honduras. Everyday occurrences afflicting the local population of indigenous people sound like a litany of Biblical plagues—tainted water, biting insects, poisonous reptiles, diseased livestock, skin diseases, infant mortality.

The villagers in this Central American country are poorly equipped to resist the daily onslaught of their worst enemies—poverty, ignorance, official neglect and geographic isolation. Even the country’s name of Honduras (“depths” in Spanish) is rumored to have originated with explorer Christopher Columbus’ exclamation of extreme relief upon emerging safely from the steamy depths of its forbidding jungles.

One local Federal Way charitable organization, Projecto Honduras, www.ProjectHondurasInternational.org, tackles the same insurmountable problems faced by early explorers, using a combination of chutzpah, old-fashioned “elbow grease” and community generosity to combat the social ills besetting such a remote part of the world.

This year, SeaTac City Council meetings have often turned into contentious affairs but the Oct. 12 version was harmonious with all resolutions passed by consent and the agenda wrapped up within an hour.

Lawmakers approved two routine measures relating to the Des Moines Creek basin. One authorized an agreement with King County for habitat restoration, operations maintenance and monitoring of Des Moines Creek. The other extended the agreement for a basin operations and maintenance coordinator.

Public Works director Tom Gut said expenses for the project are split between SeaTac, the Port of Seattle and Des Moines with SeaTac and the Port paying 41 percent each and Des Moines paying 18 percent.

Des Moines celebrated Oct. 6 the opening of the last link in the two-mile trail that runs from South 200th Street, across from the Tyee Valley Golf Course to Des Moines Beach Park.

Councilman Tony Anderson noted the trail is one of the area's "best kept secrets" and "an asset to the city.
"We have an active salmon-bearing creek right here in metropolitan King County," he added.