February 2012

Mayor Mike McGinn visited Ballard on Tuesday, February 28th, to visit some of the local businesses and hear from the owners before attending a public Town Hall meeting at The Ballard Landmark.

"I like getting out into the community. I like hearing from you and learning about our neighborhoods," said McGinn, who is a Greenwood resident.

The Mayor's Walk started at the Tom Miller Memorial on NW Market & Ballard Ave NW and wandered down Ballard Avenue. The mayor was joined by various representatives of the community including North Precinct police officers, Beth Miller from the Ballard Chamber of Commerce, Michael Kahrs from the newly formed Central Ballard Residents Association, Laura Cooper from the Ballard Historical Society, and Rob Mattson from the Department of Neighborhoods.

The first stop of the tour was at the historic City Hall Bell where McGinn was educated about its history and a group of Pacific Crest fourth-graders performed a bell song for him before letting the bell toll. The Bell is tolling again thanks to a Department of Neighborhoods Matching Fund grant.

As part of the Seattle Jobs Plan, Mayor Mike McGinn announced a $1.1 million investment in neighborhood business districts on Tuesday, February 28, part of which will benefit the forming of a Ballard Business Improvement Area.

"Our neighborhood business districts are a critical economic asset. Their diversity and strength is a part of what makes our city special," said Mayor McGinn in a statement. "The dollars that the city invests support projects that make an immediate impact in our neighborhoods, and they also serve as catalysts that bring neighborhood business district leaders together to organize and create a shared vision for long-term revitalization strategies, which will help our city's overall economic recovery."

Happy Leap Day! You were given one extra day this year, so carpe diem!

Here are some fun facts about Leap Day.

- February 29th happens only every four years:

A leap day was added to the calendar to account for the added time it takes the earth to complete its orbit around the sun every fourth year.
Every fourth year , the astronomical year is approximately 365.25 days, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, which is why as early as 46 bc, with the establishment of the Julian calendar, and extra day was added to make up for this weird quarter day.

- According to DidYouKnow.Org, the chance of being born on Leap Day in the Gregorian calendar (our current calendar) is about 1 in 1470. Which means around 4 million people (out of a world population of 7 billion) have Leap Day birthdays, whereas on average approximately 19 million people share a birthday every day other than Leap Day.

Update for March 3

King County Prosecutors charge Deaundre Dillard, 18, Julian Holiwell, 19, and Zakee Woodard, 17, for the Burien Pawn X-Change ordeal.

Update for Feb. 29
The third suspect in an armed robbery turned shootout with police at a Burien pawn shop was arrested on Feb. 29.

The 19-year-old male from South Park escaped the scene of the crime last night.

Update for 10:30pm Feb. 28

The situation is now over but one suspect remains at large. More details on this crime will be posted as they are made available.

Update for 9:30pm, Feb. 28
According to a KOMO News briefing with King County Sheriffs, the hostage situation at Pawn XChange in Burien started with three armed robbers holding the store up. The robbers and police exchanged gunfire and employees locked themselves inside a room. Two have been arrested and one robber is at large, possibly still inside the store.

No injuries from the gunfight have been confirmed by KCSO.

Update for 9pm, Feb. 28

Residents and staff at Park West, the assisted living facility at 1703 California Ave SW, about a half mile north of West Seattle High School, were treated today to the honky tonk blues singer and piano man Eric "Two Scoops" Moore of West Seattle. Donning a bright purple sport jacket and black derby, the Boston-born showman performed Elvis, Hank Williams, Sr., a frolicking "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue (Has Anybody Seen My Girl?)", and some of his own compositions, like "Big Buffet Combo Platter" and "Fat Daddy".

Described on his website as "An amazing keyboard and vocal hybrid of Fats Domino and Randy Newman", he toured and recorded with the late Chicago blues harpmaster, "Earring" George Mayweather and Muddy Waters guitarist, Grammy and Handy award winner, Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson.

"Two Scoops" refers to the large portions of food he enjoys, and refers to, in one of his songs.

Discover Burien Press Release:

Discover Burien will be hosting their 2012 Annual Awards Dinner and Silent Auction
Fundraiser March 2, 2012 at the Burien Community Center (14700 6th Ave SW, Burien) from 6 – 10 pm.

Tickets can be purchased for $35 in advance or $50 at the door.

The 2012 Leadership awards were selected from nominations from the community and voted upon by
the Discover Burien Board of Directors. The award recipients are as follows (in no particular order).

 Business Leader of the Year – Dan House, Tin Room/Tin Theater
 Student Leader of the Year – Elliott Newsom, Highline High School
 Discover Burien Volunteer of the Year – Margie Gibb
 Team Clean Sweep Recognition of the Year – Doug Query
 Non-Profit Leader of the Year – Highline Schools Foundation

Asked during a press conference Feb. 28, why she chose Highline, the school district’s new superintendent, Susan Enfield pointed to the board, staff and people she had met here.

It just felt right,” Enfield declared.

Enfield said she looks forward to becoming a part of the community. Enfield and her husband have been living in different cities and she declared she can’t wait” for them to live together in Highline.

At the start of the press conference, board president Angelica Alvarez announced Enfield had been offered the job and had accepted.

Enfield added that her reasons for choosing Highline were both personal and professional. She said she wanted to stay in the area but work in a smaller district than Seattle. She has been serving as interim superintendent in Seattle but indicated earlier she did not want to take the permanent position there.

She was also a serious candidate for the Bellevue superintendent position. The Bellevue board just this week set up a public process to search for a new schools chief.

One of S.W. Avalon Way’s last nooks of residential housing is slated for demolition in June to make way for a six-story, 120-unit apartment complex.

The $13 million project is backed by developer David Meissner and designed by Nicholson Kovalchick Architects, a West Seattle company located above Easy Street Records in the Junction.

Four residential homes will be demolished (at or near 3261 S.W. Avalon Way) and the H-shaped, residential-only complex will take their place. According to Department of Planning and Development documents, current tenants can be aided in their relocation under Seattle’s Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance.

NK Architects project manager Steve Fischer said a guiding principle in the design was to take advantage of the views, with north-facing, south-facing and rooftop terraces.

“We are taking advantage of the views towards downtown Seattle and Mt. Rainier and the golf course and football stadium,” he said.

press release:
Today Mayor Mike McGinn joined neighborhood business district leaders and local business owners at Big Time Brewery & Alehouse in Seattle’s University District to announce a $1.1 million investment in 19 neighborhood business districts as part of the Seattle Jobs Plan.

“Our neighborhood business districts are a critical economic asset. Their diversity and strength is a part of what makes our city special,” said Mayor McGinn. “The dollars that the city invests support projects that make an immediate impact in our neighborhoods, and they also serve as catalysts that bring neighborhood business district leaders together to organize and create a shared vision for long-term revitalization strategies, which will help our city’s overall economic recovery.”

Small businesses employ 72 percent of Seattle’s workforce and contribute 35 percent of the city’s business tax revenues, totaling $55.4 million. Our local neighborhood business districts serve as the location and incubators for many of the city’s small businesses. The Seattle Jobs Plan specifically targets investment in Seattle’s neighborhood business districts.

By Breanna Lai, UW News Lab

Dozens of Ballardites are stepping up to challenge their bodies and way of life by participating in the third annual Ballard Fitness Fest hosted by Edge Personal Training.

The competition kicked off on February 20th, and over the next three months, participants will compete for better health, and a prize of a $250 gift card to a Ballard business of his or her choice and three free training sessions at Edge for the person with the most improved overall fitness.

The competition is open to all who live or work in Ballard and its surrounding areas, and it's not too late to join. Participants receive an initial fitness assessment that consists of a body composition test, circumference measurements and body weight assessment. Contestants will then exercise for three months either at Edge or on their own and will return to the gym for retesting between May 19 and 25 to determine how much their overall fitness has improved.