May 2011

Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe, recently opened at the corner of Alaska & 38th or 3770 s.w. Alaska Street has just acquired their license to sell beer and wine.

They are now serving Certified Organic wine from Badger Mountain. This brand is in keeping with the company's mission of using environmentally sensitive products. They are made with USDA Certified Organic grapes using no chemical insecticides, herbicides, fungicides or synthetic fertilizers.

Coming to their menu soon is West Seattle's Elliott Bay organic beer. Elliott Bay Brewing is the first brewer of Certified Organic beer in King County. Chaco Canyon will have two Elliott Bay beers on tap by this weekend.

Next week the cafe will be serving gluten-free Bard's Tale Ale in the bottle and organic Sake from SakeOne. SakeOne is a craft sake brewer and importer located in Forest Grove, Oregon, and are also the only Certified Organic Sake brewer in the United States.

The company also promises permanent outdoor seating soon, to be in place by July.

Every generation has its icons. My generation had the talented Norman Rockwell of Saturday Evening Post fame. Not one week went by without the Post being delivered in the mail to my mother through the late twenties, thirties, and forties of the last century. Those were the days of family togetherness— no radio, no TV, no cell phones, no Ipods--simply my seven brothers and sisters, still at home, around the table with me in the high chair. Yes, my mother would take out the Post and read Scattergood Baines stories to us from its oversized pages. As she held up the Post, we could usually see a Rockwell cover with a typical scene from the era—a little boy getting a haircut, a teen sitting at the drug store soda fountain or mother offering up a Thanksgiving turkey at the large family gathering.

Changes are coming to the Alaskan Way Viaduct this weekend and consequently to the route Ballardites might take to get to the airport or West Seattle.

As part of the ongoing effort to replace the aging structure, WSDOT will close the Alaskan Way Viaduct starting at 11 p.m. on Friday, May 13, and reduce the number of lanes between the West Seattle Bridge and the Seattle stadiums from three to two in each direction.

SR 99 will remain a four-lane highway through SODO through 2013 and possibly longer, until the central waterfront portion of the viaduct is replaced.

During the closure WSDOT will conduct a second full-system test of the Automated Viaduct Closure System, which is expected to be fully operational by the end of May.

WSDOT has invested $125 million to help drivers avoid congestion in alternative routes, transit service and traveler information to prepare for this work.

“We ask drivers to plan ahead and make use of the investments we’ve made in transit, alternative routes, and traveler information to prepare for this construction.”  said Ron Paananen, WSDOT Administrator for the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Program

Ballard will be the place to be on Friday, May 20th as both, the Bike to Work Day After-party and KEXP's Hood to Hood event come to Ballard.

May 20th is Bike to Work Day and around 20,000 people will be biking to work. A Bike to Work commute station will be located where 8th Avenue N.W and the Burke Gilman Trail connect. Sponsored by the Friends of the Burke Gilman Trail and Bikesport, the station will be open from 6 a.m. until 9 a.m. to offer free water bottles, bike assistance and information.

Later in the day, from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m., Cascade Bicycle Club and the City of Seattle are turning the streets of downtown Ballard into one massive bike block party with food and drink, entertainment, bike servicing and more.
The Bike to Work After Party takes place at Ballard’s Bergen Place Park on 22nd Street N.W. between N.W. Market St. and Ballard Avenue.

May 20th is also KEXP's Ballard Day.

Press release from King County:

King County employees participated in the rescue of a distressed scuba diver Tuesday morning (May 10) as the Rachel Marie water taxi pulled away from the Seacrest Dock for their regularly scheduled 11 a.m. sailing. Several passengers witnessed the rescue operation.

"This rescue is yet another example of our county employees' deep commitment to public service and their instinct to go beyond the call of duty," said King County Executive Dow Constantine. "I thank the crew of the Rachel Marie for their good work, and I wish the diver a speedy recovery."

Shortly into the trip across Elliott Bay, the ship's crew noticed a diver who appeared to be in distress. The boat captain, Neal Amaral, maneuvered the vessel close to the diver as he called for assistance over the radio. Crew member Aaron Barnett, quickly dressed in an onboard rescue suit, jumped into the water, and assisted the diver. Barnett was in the water for about 10 minutes while the diver was maneuvered into a sling.

Interviewee: Chuck Ayers
Occupation: Executive director of Cascade Bicycle Club
Riding style: Commuting; recreational
His ride: A K2 cyclocross bike. “I bought it off a friend to do cyclocross with. It turned into a great commuter,” Ayers said. Ayers said cyclocross "is the most fun I have had on a bike in a long time.”

In recognition of National Bike Month, I biked with Chuck Ayers, Executive director of Cascade Bicycle Club, on a grey Friday morning as he commuted to a meeting in downtown Seattle. The dark sky threatened to rain but the commute stayed dry.
Cascade Bicycle Club is the largest bicycling club in the U.S. and during the month of May they celebrate Bike Month with activities, competitions and encouragement to motivate new riders and inspire experienced cyclists to get out and commute on bike.

“It’s been great being out here riding, particularly downtown, and see how many people are out riding,” Ayers said.

The Missile Defense Agency's Sea-Based X-band Radar (SBX) diesel vessel, 250-feet high, cruised along Elliott Bay poking the Seattle skyline Tuesday night, and pulling into the Vigor Shipyards (formerly Todd Pacific Shipyards), just after midnight Wednesday.

A press conference this morning unveiled some facts about our new neighbor that will remain for repairs through the summer. Steve Welch, former CEO of Todd Shipyards, a 95-year company, acquired by Vigor about 10 weeks ago, opened things up. He is now president of Vigor.

You can view our slideshow of the radar entering Seattle and docking last night here:

http://www.westseattleherald.com/2011/05/10/news/slideshow-update-3-sea…

The Ballard softball team played Issaquah last night in a make-up game and saw another win. The Lady Beavers beat Issaquah 3 to 2 in a tight game.

With nine hits, Issaquah was definitely fighting but just couldn't get passed Ballard's defense.

Issaquah was first to put a run on the scoreboard but Ballard quickly followed in the second inning. At the start of the fourth inning, Ballard was ahead three to one but didn't score again for the remainder of the game. Issaquah scored again in the fifth inning.

Jamie Thelen hit another homerun for Ballard and Bernie Cardon hit a 2 RBI double. 

At the moment, Ballard is the number 2 seed in the crown division for playoffs. (see bracket)

LAX:

The Ballard girls lacrosse team is currently tied for third with lake Sammamish in the Northeast league of Division II.

Ballard boys lax team is currently ranked 5th in its Metro league and played Roosevelt last night.

The fish ladder at the Chittenden Locks in Ballard will be closed for annual maintenance from May 16 until May 27. Most of the fish ladder plaza area and the ramp to the viewing room will be closed to the public.

North-south pedestrian and bicycle traffic will not be affected.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District conducts maintenance work on the fish ladder every spring prior to the time when adult salmon begin migrating upstream to spawn.

The fish ladder annually allows tens of thousands of salmon to migrate safely into the fresh water of Lakes Union and Washington. Last year approximately 161,417 sockeye, 10,565 chinook and 3,608 coho adult salmon were counted in the fish ladder on their way upstream.

For current information about activities at the Locks, visit the Locks’ Web site.

This is a love story involving a couple, a Latin dance revolution, a village in Spain and the Syttende Mai parade. Then again isn’t every Syttende Mai parade really a love song to Ballard?

Jenny Uribe Baird teaches aerobics at Ballard Health Club and has been the Aerobics Director at the club for a year. She arrived in Ballard by way of Colombian parents, Hong Kong, St. Louis, Taiwan and a visit to a village in Spain where she decided to wanted to be married someday. Fifteen years later, one year ago, that’s exactly where she got married.

Now that Jenny has decided that the Ballard Health Club should participate for the first time in the Syttende Mai parade with a continuous Zumba dance be assured that she will likewise make it so.