December 2010

Press Release:
Seattle Department of Neighborhoods announces the 2011 program for the nationally recognized Neighborhood Matching Fund (NMF). Updated application forms, program guidelines, and application deadlines are available for its three funding programs - Large Projects Fund, Small and Simple Fund, and Small Sparks Fund.

There have been several changes and impacts to the Neighborhood Matching Fund for 2011. To provide more opportunities for smaller projects, the Small and Simple Fund now has three application rounds in 2011. The deadline for the first round is January 18, 2011. The Tree Fund will no longer reside in Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, however, funding was transferred to Seattle Public Utilities for Citywide coordination of all tree giving programs in 2011.

At 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec 15, a blond-haired woman broke a window in the back of Cugini, crawled into the coffee shop and started looking for money.

"She was there for about five minutes, reached and grabbed the till, and went through all my cupboards and drawers," said Kylee Harris, owner of the Ballard Avenue coffee shop.

In the footage from the security cameras, the woman is seen crawling in from the back of the store (seen in camera 4). She then crawls behind the counter (Camera 1 and 2) where she stays low and reaches out for the till and rummages through cupboards.

Harris said the thief walked away with only $20 as nothing but change is kept in the till overnight.

"It’s surprising that she decided to do it at that time because that's usually the time the bars get out on Ballard Ave," Harris said.

Harris added that her shop was broken into during this time of year two years ago by a repeat offender who made his way through various shops in the area.

"He was finally caught on New Years Eve," she said, adding that by informing the public about this break-in, she hopes her fellow shop owners will be extra careful in the following weeks.

By Micah Summers
This week at The West Seattle Tool Library, I unearth one of carpentry's oldest (and most useful) modern tools, the jack plane, which is a general-purpose bench plane. This particular plane, the Stanley No. 5 ¼, predates World War II but has been fully refurbished and cleaned for use. The term jack refers to the 'jack of all trades' saying, in that this plane can perform the duties of both smoothing and jointing planes.

Smoothing refers to a means of finishing a flat wood surface by shaving off thin slices. Done to perfection, this method can actually produce a finished surface of higher quality than any created by sandpaper. Jointing, on the other hand, is the process of straightening an edge of a piece of wood, usually with the intent of jointing it to another equally straightened piece. As you might imagine, a smoothing plane is actually the best plane for smoothing and a jointer plane, or try plane, is the best for jointing. The jack plane, however, is the workhouse, and often the most used plane in a woodworker’s collection.

Rain didn't stop a couple hundred community members from heading out to the Ballard Locks to see the Argosy Christmas Ship and listen to the 20-minute performance by The Northwest Girl Choir.

The crowd performed cozy and dry inside the Argosy ship while the crowd huddled underneath umbrellas, sipped on hot cocoa and enjoyed the concert over speakers.

The Christmas Ship started at Shilshole at 7 p.m. and performed at the Locks and Golden Gardens. The Christmas Ship and holiday choir performances has been a Seattle holiday tradition for over six decades.

(Click on photo to start slideshow)

The Ballard Beavers hosted the Inglemoor Vikings last night for the third league game.

The Vikings got ahead by ten points in the first quarter and the Ballard girls were unable to catch up throughout the game.

At the beginning of the last quarter the Beavers were behind 23 to 40 and the buzzer ended the game with a final score of 34 to 54.

The girls basketball teams is now 1 for 2 in the league and have an overall record of 1 to 3.

The next game is Friday evening at Woodinville.

There was a good chance White Center’s first community Christmas tree wouldn't have power in time to light up “The Triangle” for the holidays.

Located at the convergence of Delridge Way s.w., 16th Ave s.w. and s.w. Roxbury, The Triangle is a small, well ... triangle of green space that’s home to a flag pole flying Old Glory, a few trees, shrubs and flowers when the season allows and the “Baskets of Prosperity” signifying the multicultural community that is White Center.

One thing The Triangle didn’t have until Dec. 13 was power to light up the newly installed 25 foot Christmas tree.

On Dec. 13 a crew of three from Seattle City Light came out and rigged the pole with an electrical outlet, prompted by an email from White Center Chamber of Commerce president Mark Ufkes.

The story leading up to that email from Ufkes, however, goes back five years when Mac’s Triangle Pub owner Mac McElroy purchased the corner bar that faces the Triangle.

Furry Faces Foundation is staging four "wrapping events" beginning Dec. 18 in which gifts will be wrapped in style in exchange for a donation to help them help animals.

The events are as follows:
1. Dec 18th, 1 -6 pm, at the Rocksport, 4209 SW Alaska
2. Dec 19th, 1 - 5 pm at the Beveridge Place Pub, 6413 California Ave SW (During the Speciality Bottle Sale)
3. Dec 23rd, 4 -8 pm, at the Rocksport, 4209 SW Alaska
4. Dec 24th, 2 - 7 pm at the Beveridge Place Pub, 6413 California Ave SW
More Information: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Furry-Faces-Foundation/119492341396607?v=…

http://www.furryfaces.org/

The elves of F3 and A.A.R.F*. are just waiting to wrap your gifts in splendor and uniqueness! They have gift wrap, bows, tape, ribbon, garland, pinecones, pipe cleaners, name tags, and more. It’s up to you how much you would like to donate for the gift wrapping and 100% of donations go directly to helping animals.

Sit back, enjoy a beverage and/or nibble, and watch them dazzle you with their brilliant smiles and big hearts.

By a 4-3 vote, the SeaTac City Council passed Dec. 14 a $28.8 million general operating budget for 2011 that includes staff layoffs.
Expenditures are estimated to exceed revenue in the general fund by $14,701. That leaves a general fund balance of $7.5 million, which meets the council goal of having three months of operating expenses in reserves.
For all funds, expenditures are set at $52 million with expected revenue of $49.3 million. The 2011 year-end fund balance is estimated at $46.3 million, down from $49 million on Jan. 1, 2011.
In a statement that came with the budget proposal, interim city manager Todd Cutts said the budget "was developed in the challenging climate of balancing ever increasing costs with slow or declining revenue sources.
"While it's very painful to lay off quality workers, especially when jobs are so scarce, we're very thankful that we will be able to preserve most positions in this budget due to the efforts made by departments to reduce expenditures over the past two years."

The Chief Sealth International High School's Honor Choir has been invited to New York City to sing at the historic Carnegie Hall this spring. They will be part of an ensemble performing John Rutter's Gloria and Claudio Monteverdi's Gloria on Easter Sunday.

The students have been working very hard this school year, not only to learn this advanced music but also to raise the funds to pay for this trip. The cost of the trip is approximately $33,000 and time is short to raise the required funds. So far the group has raised only a little over $10,000.

The students are very excited about the opportunity. Tiffany Tomcal said, "This means a lot to me because I've never been, pretty much anywhere. It's just really important to me to travel and to be with people that I know, and this is going to sound really corny, but that I love." " When I joined my sophomore year it was like being introduced to a whole new family. I love this group so much. We are closer than I think anybody else in the school could be. I've been looking forward to this since it's been mentioned which was my sophomore year."

Seattle Parks and Recreation will close Seaview Place NW at the intersection of Seaview Avenue NW, and the lower portion of Golden Gardens Drive NW on Thursday, Dec 16 to make emergency repairs.

An asphalt culvert that runs along Seaview Place NW has cracked allowing water to migrate under the road. The culvert must be cleaned, have emergency repairs made, and be assessed for possible further repairs.

The road will be closed to all traffic from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.

During the closure, Golden Gardens Park will be accessible from Seaview Avenue NW. The dog off-leash area on Golden Gardens Drive may not be reached from the bottom of the hill.