March 2011

A bike racer from Ballard's Second Ascent team came home to his Ravenna house this afternoon to find that his garage, which had full of hanging frames and bikes this morning, had been burglarized.

He asks that people will be on the lookout for the following items:

-60cm white/black Salsa Campeon road frameset, little darth vader sticker on head tube, FSA stem/bar.
-59cm green/black Bianchi Cross-Concept frameset
-58cm white Klein frameset with some single speed parts hanging on it.
-Powertap Pro+ built on a Mavic Open Pro, matching front wheel has an Ultegra hub. 32h, 3cross.
-25mm Continental 4season GrandPrix tires on both.

The loss he said he's most upset about is his wife's bike, a 52cm red Gunnar Sport with a painted-to -match carbon fork, Shimano 10spd drivetrain, debadged Easton Orion II wheelset (straight pull spokes, 24/28h), 25mm Panaracer T-Serv reflective tires, debadged 27.2mm carbon seatpost, and women's Terry saddle.

UPDATE 2:

For those who missed last night's event at Alki Tavern, and for those fans who attended, here is a heads-up on CatchCon 2011, April 9 downtown. Discovery Channel reports there is a waiting list:

CatchCon, the ultimate DEADLIEST CATCH fan festival drops anchor Saturday, April 9, 2011 at Seattle's Bell Harbor Conference Center from 12 noon – 6pm. Fans will have the chance to meet the captains, tour the actual boats that brave the frigid Bering Sea, go behind-the-scenes into the extreme lives of Alaskan crab fishermen and catch an advanced preview of the new season of DEADLIEST CATCH premiering Tuesday, April 12 at 9pm e/p on Discovery Channel. This is the first time CatchCon falls before the premiere of the new season, giving the event added exclusivity for fans attending. CatchCon 2011 also marks the public debut of the series’ newest captains: Scott Campbell Jr. (F/V Seabrooke) and Elliot Neese (F/V Ramblin’ Rose).

The initial 1500 tickets made available to the public on March 10 have all been claimed, but there's a wait list that offers the best chance of still getting a spot.

For more information:

SSCC Press Release:

South’s Garden Center Opens!
Get ready for spring gardening!

The first sale of the year to feature student-propagated shrubs, groundcovers, small trees, and edibles including chard, asparagus, horseradish, strawberries, blueberries and rhubarb! Parking is available in the Nursery parking lot (North Lot entrance) and the sales are open to the general public.

South Seattle Community College
6000 16th Ave. SW, Seattle, WA 98106-1499
206 934-5323 (nursery) / 206 934-6790 (program office)

Thursdays, April 7, May 5 & 19, June 2
Saturdays, May 7 & 21, June 4
11 am – 4 pm

After studying the effects and ramifications of drug and alcohol abuse fifth graders in the Tukwila School District proudly accepted their D.A.R.E. graduation certificates at Foster High School Performing Arts Center on March 18.

D.A.R.E. is the acronym for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. Taught by city police officers, students learn to "just say no" and how to help friends and family to overcome or prevent addiction to drugs and alcohol.

All fifth grade classes from each elementary school in Tukwila, (Cascade View, Thorndyke and Tukwila,) participated in the program. Officer Ted Rutt ran the program for Thorndyke students while Officer Rory Mettlin ran the program for Tukwila and Cascade View students.

Officials of the Tukwila community attended the ceremony, including Mayor Jim Haggerton, City Councilman Joe Duffie, Tukwila Schools Superintendent Ethelda Burke and school board president Mary Fertakis.
The ceremony began with the Pledge of Allegiance and was followed by a performance by Officer Reid Lancaster, who played the bagpipes.

Foster High School Vice Principal Darryl Wright spoke on how important the D.A.R.E. program is.

The Environmental Protection Agency is seeking public input about its plans to clean up the bed and banks of a part of the Duwamish River corridor known as “Boeing Plant 2,” approximately two miles upstream of the West Seattle Bridge. The cleanup options offered would either remove the sediments and then backfill with clean material, or place a thick cap to isolate the contamination.

Under EPA’s recommended alternative, roughly 200,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediments will be removed -- down to a depth of 20 feet below the surface – along with PCBs, metals, phthalates and cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (cPAH). Boeing will conduct the cleanup under EPA oversight.

According to Agency officials, Plant 2 sediments have among the largest volumes of PCBs in the Lower Duwamish Waterway. The PCB-laden sediments slated for clean up cover 15 acres along nearly a mile long stretch of the River. Cleanup options for the Plant 2 “upland” areas (the rest of the Plant 2 site) are expected to be issued in 2012.

Addressing Health Risks

The National Film Festival for Talented Youth released a trailer for the 2011 film festival, "United by Film: Future by NFFTY" this week. The teaser features 30 of the 225 films accepted into this year's festival. Ten of the 225 films come from Ballard High School's Video Production Program.

The film festival, to be held April 28 through May 1st, received a record-breaking 700 submissions. The festival will feature 225 films from over 15 countries and 30 states, 40% of them directed by young women. The festival will offer something for everyone as all genres including drama, horror, kid friendly, animation, music videos, experimental, action, and sports are represented.

NFFTY's "Traveling Seats" volunteers will be out promoting the festival at the Ballard Farmer's Market this Sunday.

NFFTY is the brainchild of Ballard High School alum Jesse Harris. In 2003, Harris became the youngest American ever to write and direct a feature film that was theatrically released and featured internationally on HBO.

For more information, visit http://nffty.org.

Mayor Mike McGinn and representatives from various City departments will be in Ballard for a town hall meeting on Wednesday, April 6, at the Ballard High School commons.

Starting at 5:30 p.m. City departments and community groups, including the mayor's Service Plan partners, will have information tables and volunteer opportunities.

At 6:30 p.m. a youth group will give a short performance after which there will be an open discussion with the mayor until 8 p.m.

Here is your chance to ask Mayor McGinn those burning questions or give him a piece of your mind.

Ballard High School is located at 1418 NW 65th St.

Storytellers JOHNNY MOSES, ROGER FERNANDES, EVA ABRAM, and JOURDAN KEITH will share their work at the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center, April 17 at 2:00 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Department of Neighborhoods.

The event is called "EARTH DAY STORIES, First Nations, All Nations". The event is open to the public. This event is Sponsored by a Rock the Regions 2011 grant from National Storytelling Network and a Small Sparks Fund grant from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. This event is free (donations are welcome).

The viaduct  over the railroad tracks near our ancient  house in north Portland was only three blocks away and adjoined a dense forested  acreage  just a block away. It was a place for exploring just like Africa.
That offered ample  choices for adventure for boys when I was a lad.

The woods offered trees to climb, hazelnuts to crack and eat and plenty of mystery, like trampled places for sleep and rest for many hobos passing through on railroad trains under the viaduct.

Like other boys we built, bartered with other boys and raced our homemade speeders. And then we rolled them at breakneck speed down the steep hill over the railroad tracks good for  about a quarter mile at speeds of at least a hunnert miles an hour. The raceway exists  to this day but kids prolly don't use it.

They all have bikes. Nobody on our street had a bike except  Melvin Amsterdam and it had a huge front wheel and a tiny rear wheel and clincher tires about an inch wide. I could never climb on to it.

We did a lot of summer days hiking along the tracks gathering  what  our Mom called Brock. It was similar to dandelion greens and we ate it as salad. Remember, this was the great depression.

The band Hotels, with members from West Seattle, has been invited to participate in Billboard.Com's Battle of the Bands, along with two other Seattle Artists. The Hotels told the West Seattle Herald, "It's a pretty big deal for a local band from West Seattle to get noticed by Billboard. Hotels is incredibly excited but we need help to get there.

"Right now people can go online to:

http://fb.me/YSklTlDG

and help the WS band make it to the second phase of the contest by voting for them. The winner will receive a trip to Las Vegas for the second round of Battle of the Bands. The final prize is a performance on live television at the Billboard Music Awards. Hotels has a real shot at winning and we'd love to have their community's support."

Hotels website: http://www.hotelsmusic.com/