June 2011

A rather high-profile Ballard tree has been cut down over the weekend, which came as a surprise to the surrounding businesses, Ballard District Council member, Rob Mattson and even Seattle City arborist, Nolan Rundquist, who usually handles cases like this.

"Looks like a case of vandalism. I doubt that we can identify a responsible party," Rundquist said.

A little tree stood beside the brick monument on the plaza on the corner of NW Market St and Ballard Avenue but this morning, nothing but a bare shrub remained in its place.

Mattson said that the tree had been looking rather sickly for a while but that he was unaware that it had already been taken down.

Mary Wood, an employee at the plaza's neighboring business said she immediately noticed it was an act of vandalism.

"It looks like someone snapped it off partway up the trunk and left the debris lying on the sidewalk," she said.
"It was not cut with a saw or other tool, the tree was bent and broken off."

press release:
Mayor Mike McGinn and representatives from Seattle City Light and Parks will mark the summer solstice June 21 by announcing the launch of a new opportunity for City Light customers to buy solar energy even if they can’t install solar panels at their home or business.

Some of the residents who have been waiting for this option will be on hand to sign up for the program as solar pioneers.

The project will also enhance picnic options at the park and provide opportunities for visitors to learn about solar energy.

WHAT: Solar energy announcement
WHERE: Jefferson Park in Beacon Hill, 3801 Beacon Ave. S
WHEN: 4:15 p.m.
WHO: Mayor Mike McGinn, Acting Deputy Parks Superintendent Eric Friedli, City Light Conservation Resources Director Glenn Atwood, City Light customers.

“Neighborhood residents have sought picnic shelters for Jefferson Park for 10 years, so we were happy to find a creative way to make that happen as an added bonus to the Community Solar project,” Acting Parks Deputy Superintendent Eric Friedli said.

To the West Seattle Herald editor

I am writing this letter to urge the voters to reject the tunnel and refurbish the viaduct. The Mayor and City Council have the duty to look after the people of the City of Seattle. After all, it’s our City and the citizens have a right and duty to see that they do that. Personally as a resident of West Seattle I enjoy using the viaduct and the Broad St. tunnel both as a highway thru town and as an access to town on its ramps. I also enjoy the view of Seattle’s harbor from the viaduct. It’s a neat way to avoid the freeway and it makes our city unique. It also bypasses all the ferry traffic from across the sound. Stick to your guns Mayor McGinn and the voters are watching your Mr. City Council.

I am urging the voters to reject the tunnel again as you voted on this subject previously. With the tunnel the Seattleites are getting a bum deal. The following are my reasons to refurbish and keep the viaduct:
The tunnel allows no access to downtown Seattle from State Highway 99. This is a bum deal for downtown businesses and shoppers.

press release:
Seattle Public Schools has been awarded $300,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to expand a program that provides a fresh fruit or vegetable snack to every student nearly every day. The money will go to 14 elementary schools where 70 percent or more of students receive a free or reduced-price lunch.

The goal of the USDA’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program is to create healthier school environments by providing more healthy food choices.

“We are delighted to receive funding for this program,” said SPS Nutrition Services Manager Eric Boutin. “It not only expands the variety of fruits and vegetables children experience but also assists in combating childhood obesity by helping children learn more healthful eating habits.”

Five schools participated in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program during this school year -- Bailey Gatzert, Concord, Emerson, Northgate and Van Asselt – and they will be joined by nine additional schools in 2011-12. Those schools are Dearborn Park, Dunlap, Hawthorne, Highland Park, Madrona, Martin Luther King Jr., Roxhill, West Seattle and Wing Luke.

Discovery Shop
4535 California Ave S.W.
206 937 7169
50% OFF Men’s wear every Sunday in June. 50% OFF pink -tagged items now thru Monday, June 20, and only $1 Tuesday, June 21 thru Thursday, June 30. Summer Book Event begins Monday, June 20th through Sunday, July 3rd. Great books at greater prices. The American Cancer Society Discovery Shop is open Sundays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m, All other days 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m

“Taste for Life” Wine & Beer Tasting Event
SAM Sculpture Park
2901 Western Ave.
June 23, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Support the Puget Sound Blood Center by attending “Taste for Life.” Tickets $35. www.psbc.org/taste/

‘Funny or Die’ at Youngstown Cultural Center
4408 Delridge Way S.W.
Friday, June 24, 7-9 p.m. “Laughter is the best medicine.” We’re making our own medicine with our own version of the TV series based on the UTube Channel: Funny or Die. Come enjoy episodes with new content by local funny people and MC’d by Phill Arensberg of the Jet City Improv. Be still and take your medicine!

4th Annual SW Historical Society Bike Tour
Log House Museum
3003 61st Ave. S.W.

A woman on the 4000 block of 44th Ave S.W. received a call from her alarm company around 10 a.m. on June 14. The alarm rep asked if she wanted police called and she declined, saying she would check it out on her own. Someone had broken a small pane of basement door glass with a rock, likely triggering the alarm which likely triggered a scared thief to scurry away. By the time police arrived, the woman had left little in the way of detective work. She pointed out to police that the thief appeared to stand on an alley garbage can, gaining enough altitude to pull themselves over the fence and into the property by grabbing onto a garage rain gutter (that was now dented). No usable prints were detected.

Note: The 3rd annual Sustainable Ballard Edible Garden Tour takes place June 25, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., beginning at Ballard Community Center, 6020 – 28th Ave. NW; tickets are $10 per person (kids are free) and can be purchased day-of (tickets are a Google map that includes some detail about the gardens). The tour encompasses 14 SE Ballard gardens and the new Thyme P-Patch; most are within walking or cycling distance from the community center.

As luck (or contacts) would have it, ours was one of the featured gardens on Sustainable Ballard’s first Edible Garden Tour when they featured Ballard’s NW quadrant. Talk about incentive! We had a good start on an edible garden, but there was much work to be done to make it “visitor friendly.”

With yard space to spare, my partner Forrest and I started our ‘community garden’ earlier that year. A neighbor had gardened here for years, but even with his continual expansion, there was room for more. With five new gardeners, the invitation to participate came with excitement, but also a giant sense of urgency for some intensive yard maintenance.

The Port of Seattle is holding a very special celebration Friday, June 24 to open the beach at Jack Block Park.
The event, set to take place from 5:00pm - 7:30 pm will feature a ribbon cutting and native canoe launch at 6:00 pm plus a Salmon BBQ and hosted beer, wine. It is not open to the public. It is meant as a thank you to the organizers and those who helped get the beach and park prepared. It is by invitation only.

Jack Block Park is located on the Pacific Sound Resources Superfund Site, a former creosote wood treating facility that operated from the turn of the century.

During its course of operation, until listed on the EPA National Priorities List, the wood treating facility released hazardous contaminants into the soil, intertidal and deeper marine area.

The Port of Seattle purchased the upland portion of the site as part of the redevelopment and expansion of the Terminal 5 cargo-handling facility and implemented cleanup actions for the uplands under EPA oversight.

Please click the photo above for more pictures taken by Tim Robinson.

By David Rosen

A special Father’s Day event took place at Avalon Glassworks today featuring glass artist Richard Lowrie.

Richard comes down only twice a year from his hometown in Hamilton, WA. Lowrie never stops moving; the soft glass won’t allow that. He dipped into the crucible within a 2,200-degree furnace and pulled out a molten glob of glass on the end of a blow pipe - a hollow metal tube about 6 feet long - and begins to create another work of art: a jellyfish this time.

When it comes to creating a glass piece, Lowrie said “ There are no boundaries, we don’t sit here and think about what I can’t do. It’s about imagination and intuition. When I make each piece, I do it in an environment filled with positive energy.”

Shannon Felix, owner of Avalon Glassworks said, “ I love having Rich Lowrie in the studio because he’s so passionate about the glass and he’s really able to communicate his enthusiasm to the public and he is always willing to answer questions, he loves talking about the process and really sharing his knowledge of glass with anybody.”