September 2011

The Salmon Bay School Playground Committee is hosting a work party this Saturday with a goal to paint the periphery lines before the fall rains come.

The Salmon Bay School Playground Committee and the Friends of Salmon Bay were recently awarded $100,000 for renovating the Salmon Bay School playground into an autism spectrum disorder-friendly playspace which also serves the needs of younger children, enhance the site so that it is a neighborhood asset, and educate the public about the importance of early intervention for children with ASD.

Leader Robin Lofstrom informs us that the committee is currently in the process of putting the equipment out for an RFI (request for information) from playground equipment manufacturers, and working with the landscape architect to develop the design and create construction documents. They're also working towards conducting outreach this fall and planning more fundraising efforts. The goal is to open the playground in the fall of 2012.

Press release:
In one month, the landscape of Seattle’s SODO neighborhood will forever change. On Friday, Oct. 21, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) will close a majority of the State Route 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct for nine days as crews begin to demolish the structure’s southern mile.

Drivers across the Puget Sound region will see increased congestion as the nearly 110,000 vehicles that use the viaduct daily look for somewhere else to go. Drivers are strongly encouraged to plan ahead, get familiar with commute options and allow extra time to reach their destinations.

“The nine-day closure of the Alaskan Way Viaduct is a big deal,” said state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond. “This will not only be the longest construction closure of a Seattle highway in history, but it also signifies a major milestone in the replacement of the viaduct. During the course of the work, we need help from drivers to keep traffic moving.”

The new Denny International Middle School, recently celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Sept. 6, is holding a community celebration for the public on Saturday, Sept. 24 starting at 10:00 am and ending at 12 noon. To see some photos of the school as it looked this summer see our coverage here.

The public, especially former students, teachers, and others are urged to attend.

The event will feature tours of the new school with the early one at 10:15 led by the lead architect Lorne McConachie, of Bassetti Architects.

Other tours start at 10:45 and 11:30.

Student entertainment will be provided though no refreshments will be served in an effort to keep costs down and keep the event more low key.

Prinicpal Jeff Clark will be on hand to answer questions at the event as well.

Despite the fact that it’s listed as an item for next week’s auction there was no “Waltzing in the Nude” at the Swedish Cultural Center on Friday night. However there was a slight breeze on the deck overlooking the sailboats on Lake Union, a friendly babble by the well-stocked bar, the smell of dinner about to be served and a newly engaged couple taking in the view. There may even have been some Swedes in the house, but it doesn’t really matter because on Friday night on Dexter Avenue everyone can be “Swedish.”

The Swedish Cultural Center in Seattle has existed for 119 years but their home: a building that seems to own the view from the west side of Lake Union, is just 50 years old. That anniversary inspired their auction theme for Saturday, September 24th – Seattle in the 60’s, a party 50 years in the making. Their theme in turn inspired a summer of gathering together after their Friday night dinners to watch episodes of “Mad Men” and better prepare for martini time and the 60’s fashions encouraged for the fundraiser.

The Women Business Owners (WBO), Puget Sound's leading organization for women entrepreneurs, has named five finalists in the 2011 Nellie Cashman Woman Business Owner of the Year Awards Competition and one of them is Ballardite Jessica Bishop.

Bishop the is co-founder and CEO of StudentPainters.net, a company that provides quality House Painting services while offering college students a paid internship opportunity to learn lifelong business and leadership skills. 

The WBO award, also known as ‘The Nellie’, recognizes and honors women business owners who have enhanced the status of women entrepreneurs through their vision, perseverance, and fearless leadership in business and the community.  To qualify a nominee must own at least 51 percent of the business, gross more than $1 million in annual revenue, and have three or more employees.

"I was nominated by one of my peers," Bishop said. "I have no idea if I'm going to win. There are some amazing women in this group [of nominees] and none of us are in the same industry. Either way I feel very honored to be among them."

By Chris Foster, Intern

On a busy Tuesday for the Ballard athletics, the Beaver volleyball team defeated the Eastlake Wolves 3 games to 1 to capture a huge victory for the young Ballard team.

Riding the momentum of an undefeated start in pre-conference practice matches, the Beavers were up 2 to 1 going into the fourth game. While Ballard was leading for the majority of the game, the Wolves kept it close, eventually tying it at 17 a piece. But the Beavers rallied and, with the support of their home crowd, beat the Wolves by a score of 25-22. They will look to pick up where they left off when they play at Redmond on Thursday.

Golf

The Ballard golf team battled Inglemoor at the Inglewood Country Club on Tuesday, finishing with 232 strokes at the par 37.

Some of the standout individual performances include Stewart MacGeorge who finished tied for 2nd with a 43, while Michael Day shot a 45 to finish 5th.

Girls Soccer:
The girls soccer team faces Eastlake for their first league game of the season last night. The Beavers lost 2 to 1.

Update 11:15 pm
The producers of the West Seattle Based The Divine Marigolds have taken hold of first place in an online video competition according to a post on their Facebook page:
"We just found out The Divine Marigolds TV Show is currently winning the NexTV competition by a slight margin! A heartfelt thanks to everyone for email, posting, getting us interviews, getting your neighbors and friends to vote! We are truely touched by the loving support you have given the show! Lets WIN this!!! Keep up the good work!!!! LOVE the Marigolds!!!"

Original Post

The West Seattle Crime Prevention Council is back to holding monthly meetings (the third Tuesday of each month) after a summer break, and with its return comes monthly crime reports from Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Pierre Davis.

“Throughout the summer months we have really had an up-and-down-type summer,” Lt. Davis said. “It hasn’t been bad, but there were times that we had spikes in burglaries and different types of youth activity and we just couldn’t really pinpoint exactly why that was.”

So the Southwest SPD went to work identifying “hot spots,” made some “really, really favorable arrests” and “put a really big dent in the car prowls, auto thefts and the burglaries,” Lt. Davis said.

He said a handful of burglars “responsible for more than half of the issues we had …” were arrested over the summer and may be headed to prison for several years thanks to the Repeat Burglar Initiative where prosecutors can go for exceptional sentences if they can prove serial criminal activity.

On September 20th officers from the Aggressive Driver Response Team issued the following citations:

 Aurora Ave N – 40 mph zone

1 at 68 mph

1 at 57 mph

3 at 56 mph

3 at 55 mph

3 No Proof of Insurance

 SW Admiral Way – 30 mph zone

2 at 47 mph

1 at 46 mph

4 at 45 mph

1 No Proof of Insurance

 Roxhill Elementary School – 20 mph zone

1 at 34 mph

2 at 33 mph

1 at 29 mph

 Arbor Heights Elementary School – 20 mph zone

1 at 33 mph

1 at 30 mph

2 at 29 mph

1 No Proof of Insurance

The Seattle Police Department encourages all motor vehicle operators and bicyclists to be familiar with and obey all local and state traffic laws and to always drive with due regard for all others on the roadway.

From the Port of Seattle:

Our Port 101 series begins Sept. 28 with the Duwamish 101 tour.

Details are on our 101 website:

http://www.portseattle.org/seaport/cargo/port101.shtml

And folks can register here:

http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e4on73ehc…

Info here:

Duwamish River 101
When: Wednesday, September 28
Where: Bell Harbor Marina, Pier 66

*Check-in: 3:45 p.m.
*Program: 4:00 - 6:30 p.m