August 2011

The fishing industry is one of the most dangerous industries in the world but Ballard resident Alex Reid of Ark Maritime has manufactured a device that he says, will help save lives on the high seas and make the industry safer.



At a safety demonstration at Fisherman's Terminal on Friday, July 29, Reid invited the maritime safety community to show just how his device can save lives when a person has fallen overboard.



Shawn Wruth and his professional team of Maritime Safety and Security divers conducted various rescue scenarios in which the person overboard was scooped up with Ark Maritime's recovery cage and brought safely to land.



Designed after his uncle's revolutionary device, Reid's Man Overboard Recovery Cage is unlike other safety devices in that it requires little to no participation from the person overboard.



"A lot of safety devices require the person to clutch or hold onto the recovery device but the cage can scoop you up even when you're unable to facilitate in your own recovery," Reid said.



Made of rigid aluminum, the 70-pound cage can be deployed in less than 20 seconds and is strong enough to carry two people.



By Lauren Elizabeth DiRe, UW News Lab

Seattle is home to the largest film school in the Northwest, and yet most people don’t even know it exists.

“I don’t think there’s any place like this in any part of the country,” David Shulman, director of the Seattle Film Institute, said of their school.

The Seattle Film Institute, or SFI, offers professional certificates and graduate degrees in all aspects of filmmaking.

After a recent expansion, SFI now offers six 10-month certificate programs and two master’s degrees, as well as a teen summer program and part-time and evening classes for those unable to conform to a specific schedule.

The “40-week total immersion” programs, the most popular programs at SFI, provide students with a comprehensive skill set that prepares them to enter the film industry immediately upon graduating.

Ballard is currently ranked number one in the Seattle Dept. of Transportation’s July/August Walk Bike Ride Challenge for the number of car trips saved and the number of car miles switched to walking, biking and riding.

If Ballard can maintain its lead on these stats it will win the competition.

Ballard leads the competition in the number of participants signed up and collectively, they have saved 6,108 miles of driving so far.

The WBR Challenge is part of the Seattle Department of Transportation’s Way to Go, Seattle! Program. It encourages people to walk, bike, ride transit and carpool more by offering incentives, tools and information and runs on a two month cycle. The current round is for July and August.

Once you sign up for the WBR Challenge, you become part of community making Seattle a better place to live. You receive weekly emails with tips on walking, biking and riding and can track your individual progress and the program’s collective impact online. The more trips you report, the higher the chance you have of winning.