April 2011

Thomas Qualls, the man shot in the stomach by police on Sept. 3, 2010, after stepping out the back door of his Admiral Way home armed with an assault rifle, was sentenced to a little over two years for second-degree attempted assault.

Originally charged with three counts of second-degree assault, Qualls, 59, plead guilty earlier this month and Judge Bruce Keller sentenced him on April 22 for only one count (as part of his plea bargain).

The Seattle Times reports that although police originally said Qualls had fired shots at three officers before they returned fire, no shell casings were recovered at the scene to prove he discharged his weapon.

In his plea agreement from April 8, Qualls plead guilty to one count of second degree attempted assault with a firearm enhancement. His statement read “I took a substantial step towards intentionally placing (the three SPD officers) in immediate and reasonable fear of an assault with a deadly weapon when I came out of my house with a rifle and the rifle was lowered.”

Monster Costume, the West Seattle based software development company which has grown from five employees to 17 in the last year is about to introduce the new version of their best selling iPad software title and launch a new retail business on Alki.

Last year, Monter Costume became high profile when the produced an interactive children's iPad title called Bartleby's Book of Buttons Vol 1 The Faraway Island. It swiftly became the top selling children's title on iTunes and remained there for weeks. For a short time, into early June that first title is being offered FREE. Once version 2 arrives in mid-June, officially titled,"Bartleby's Book of Buttons Vol.2 The Button At the Bottom of the Sea," Vol. 1 will go back to being a paid title. In three months Volume 3 will arrive and shortly thereafter iPhone versions will be available. There's also an update in the works for Vol.1.

By David Rosen
Volunteers swarmed and worked, cut and carried, grabbed and gathered garbage and invasive species of plants to help restore the Duwamish Green Belt today April, 22, Earth Day.

This year, Earth Day is themed “A Billion Acts of Green” - a people-powered campaign to generate a billion acts of environmental service and advocacy before Rio +20 the United Nations conference on Sustainable Development.

EarthCorps, Nature Consortium, The Green Seattle Partnership and the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation celebrated Earth Day by restoring the largest contiguous greenbelt in Seattle on the West Duwamish.

The greenbelt is home to a diverse population of wildlife and provides an important corridor for migrating birds. EarthCorps led 50 volunteers to perform restoration site maintenance (invasive plant removal, weeding and mulching) on this 5 acre restoration site just north of South Seattle Community College.

On May 13 and 14, 70 Phinneywood neighborhood businesses will become art galleries for the weekend as the neighborhood celebrates its BIG neighborhood art walk.

Originally the neighborhood’s only art walk, The BIG One has now become the “centerpiece” of monthly Art Up art walks and will launch the art walk’s new theme: Art Up Chow Down, celebrating the diversity of the neighborhood’s food and art venues.

Designed to promote the arts and businesses in the neighborhood, the BIG Art Walk is a popular neighborhood party and this year features more than 150 jury and venue selected artists in 70 businesses along Greenwood and Phinney Avenues between 58th and 87th Streets.

Friday night artwalkers will have an opportunity to “meet the artists” and there’ll be a variety of entertainment as well including musical performances in participating businesses and churches and chalk art for children.

The Jurors’ Top Picks will be featured at the Phinney Center Gallery (6532 Phinney Ave N) during the ArtWalk and will continue to be featured through May 27.

By Cassandra Baker, Intern

1:00 p.m. on April 18th. 97th block of 12th Ave. N.W.

A man returned home on the afternoon of April 18th to find a burglar walking out of his basement. The victim chased the suspect, who turned and pointed a large screwdriver at the victim but then dropped it and put his hands in the air. The suspect then attempted to run away, but the victim chased him and grabbed the suspect’s backpack, which fell to the ground. A bystander saw what was happening and took several high quality pictures of the suspect. Police discovered that the suspect’s backpack had a checkbook with his name on it. There was also a crowbar, which was likely used to break into the victim’s home. The suspect has been linked to another crime but has not yet been apprehended.

1:04 a.m. on April 18th. 83rd block of Greenwood Ave. N.

For this interview, Karoline Morrison invited the Ballard News-Tribune into her office at the top of three flights of creaking stairs in the Old Carnegie Library. How much longer she will claim this office as her own is unclear. She has put the 107-year-old historic building up for sale with a three-million-dollar-pricetag and interest has been high, she said.

"I've been here for over 40 years," Morrison said. "But I'm in no hurry to leave."

Morrison started leasing space in the building in 1963 and bought the building in 1979.

She said she feels proud to have, in part, saved the building. "I bought this at a time when people didn't care much about old buildings and were tearing them down," she said.

Morrison requires the new owner(s) to care for the building just as she has. The building is listed on the National and State historic register and Morrison would like to see the building preserved.

Morrison said it's time for someone new to take over and for her, to concentrate on some new and exciting things, starting with a memoir.

State Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson

Allowing people to fall back into the abyss of untreated mental illness is cruel, wasteful and sometimes extremely dangerous. But this is the inevitable result of state budget cuts that are shredding our mental-health safety net.

This situation is not looming somewhere on the horizon. It’s here now. Washington has already slashed more than $85 million from vital mental-health services and the consequences are being felt across our state.

The Washington chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI WA) is rightly sounding alarms: thousands of vulnerable citizens are suffering catastrophic consequences as budget cuts drive more mentally-ill persons into our streets, emergency rooms and jails.

Besides NAMI, hospitals, social workers, prosecutors, police, and many others are seeing the ugly results of slashing treatment and support for people who are struggling to keep their mental illness under control. They’re scared it will soon get worse, because the state budget crisis may soon cause even deeper reductions.

But there is an alternative.

Update for May 3
The tallies are in for the April 30 Drug Take Back Day in Seattle. According to a Seattle Police Department press release, 286.12 pounds of prescription drugs were dropped off throughout the city. A precinct-by-precinct breakdown was also provided:

North Precinct 54.55 pounds
East Precinct 37.35 pounds
West Precinct 19.45 pounds
South Precinct 94.29 pounds
Southwest Precinct 80.50 pounds

Original Story
Note: This story is broken into two parts. First, the press release from Take Back Your Meds, followed by information from Margaret Shield, policy liaison for King County’s Hazardous Waste Management Program on the need for a year-round take back program and the difficulties Take Back Your Meds has run into making one a reality.

Drop off locations on April 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m (unless otherwise noted)

Ballard: Shilshole Bay Marina at 7001 Seaview Avenue n.w.

West Seattle: Belvedere Viewpoint at 3600 Admiral Way s.w. or the Seattle Police Southwest Precinct at 2300 s.w. Webster St

Looking for a place to go Easter egg hunting this weekend? Check out the following options in and around Ballard:

The Ballard Community Center will be hosting an Spring Egg Hunt on Saturday at 10 a.m. sharp, rain or shine.
Participants are encouraged to bring their own bag or basket for collecting. Non perishable food donations gladly accepted.

The Ballard Community Center is located at 
6020 28th Ave. N.W.

The Woodland Park Zoo is hosting their annual Bunny Bounce. The Zoo will host a hunt for kids and Easter treats for the animals.

The annual event offers egg hunts for children ages 1 to 8, crafts, bunny encounters, entertainment and eggs-citing zoo programs throughout the day.

Space for egg hunts might be limited and is open on a first-come, first-served basis.
Children are encouraged to bring their own egg hunt basket or reusable bag.

For the health and well being of zoo animals, candy will not be placed inside the eggs – egg hunt participants will receive their treats as they exit the zoo.

The Bunny Bounce takes place from 9:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

Two ballot measures regarding the proposed deep-bore tunnel have gathered enough signatures to qualify for a vote this fall. Referendum 1 seeks to undo the recent tunnel agreements between the City of Seattle and the State of Washington. Initiative 101 would prohibit the use of any city rights-of-way for tunnel construction or operation. Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes has challenged both measures’ legality in court.

Tonight at 7 p.m., City Inside/Out with C.R. Douglas examines the legal battle over Referendum 1 and Initiative 101. Will the courts rule on the ballot measures’ legality before or after a vote by the people? Can the state’s tunnel be stopped by Seattle voters? How much of the tunnel project can go forward before the final environmental-impact statement is completed this summer?

City Inside/Out examines the points-of-view of Governor Chris Gregoire, Referendum 1 spokesperson Drew Paxton, City Council President Richard Conlin, Initiative 101 sponsor Elizabeth Campbell, Environmental Attorney David Bricklin and others.

City Inside/Out airs at 7 p.m., April 22, on the Seattle Channel, Cable 21.

Visit www.seattlechannel.org for more information.