July 2012

Discovery Shop
4535 California Ave. S.W.
206 937 7169
We are celebrating Summer Fest in the Junction July 13th, 14th and 15th with a storewide 50% off sale, along with our annual Plant Event featuring a wide variety of indoor and outdoor plants.  All items with blue tags are still 50% off marked price through Saturday, July 21st and all men's wear is half price every Sunday.  And don't forget to bring your own bags.  Monday a.m. get double stamps on customer cards, Tuesdays seniors get 20% off and Saturdays highschoolers with student ID get 20% off.  The American Cancer Society Shop is open Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and all other days 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Bike Helmet Awareness Day - Free Community Event
Roxbury Spine & Wellness Clinic
2656 S.W. Roxbury St.
206-937-2000

By Georgie Bright Kunkel

People are curious and always have been. Just think of the early explorers in Europe who dared to sail out into the ocean hoping to find a way to China. When people thought if they sailed far enough they would drop off the earth it must have taken great courage to point a ship toward the horizon. Now instead of traveling in the flesh we can virtually go anywhere in the world with just a flick across the screen held in the hand. Yes, I know, even the mouse is now outmoded.

But the yen for exploration has never ended. Corporations that have literally spread around the world are moving workers to London, Cairo—you name it. And with all this movement comes meeting people of every persuasion. We think we are pretty independent but really we are a product of everyone who has influenced us in our lives.

I look back on my life, born just after my father died, and recall my live-in nanny who was gregarious and interested in the world around her. My mother was serious and dedicated to raising children who could become independent. With two such “mothers” how could I go wrong?

By Kyra-lin Hom

It's the age old question, 'What makes people happy?' Romantics might say love or family. Cynics and pragmatists might say money or prestige. Ask ten different people and you'll probably get ten different answers. So when newspapers publish articles like 'The 10 Happiest Places on Earth' and whatnot, what criteria are they using and how applicable is it really to you and me?

Well the old guard in the UN seems to favor two factors above all others, those being a nation's average income and their gross national product or GNP. In other words, according to the UN, money can buy happiness. The reason these two bits of data have held on for so long is that they are easy to calculate, and it does make sense that a wealthier nation should have a higher standard of living, etc. But in this age of environmental and social awareness, even the UN spokespeople are admitting that this perspective is shallow.

I am still smarting after reading that a Renton boy has been named President of Boeing and feel ashamed that I did not try harder when I might have made the grade during my 8 years working there.

While I don't know all the facts of his promotion, I can't help but wonder if I had tried harder I might have won that honor.

I was not perfect, for sure,  but I had a perfect attendance record and never played hooky and was a whiz at soldering wires together and spelling words like rhubarb.

I never dropped a bucking bar on anybody and never napped in the pilot's chair. I did hold the third shift record for racing down the tunnel of the plane on hands and knees from the navigator's chair to the tail gunners turret over the bomb bay to the back exit. Since they don't make that plane any longer, I think my record is safe.

I also did not excel at math or even attend MIT.
 
I was a beautiful reamer and only got stuck in the blacktop on the airport blacktop two times when I tried to take a shortcut while I was driving a fork lift truck during those hot days in July.

I made a few mistakes.

Neighbor to the rescue
On June 22, around 11 a.m., the owner of a home on the 1500 block of S.W. Webster St. stopped by to check in on the house he purchased six months ago and refurbished for resale. Walking in, the man realized the dishwasher, faucet and garbage disposal were missing from the kitchen and the back door was kicked in. Investigating further, he found the removed items in the garage. Stepping outside, he was approached by a neighbor who said he saw a white Volvo station wagon with a broken rear right passenger window (taped over with plastic) parked in front of the victim’s garage. Inside the vehicle were two people: a driver the witness didn’t get a good look at and a white male passenger with dirty blonde hair. Making it obvious he was watching their every action, the suspects took heed and drove away northbound on 16th Ave S.W.

Squat-n-caught

Dear Editor,

The Olmsted Brothers, who designed Seattle’s park system, would be rolling in their graves if they knew what the Seattle Parks and Recreation was considering for Lincoln Park.

A zipline course in Lincoln Park would turn a pristine, natural park into a circus, marring one of the few remaining spots in Seattle where urbanites can enjoy relative peace and quiet.

Lincoln Park is a haven for those desiring peace and quiet within the city. The park is patronized by many, including families visiting its playgrounds and picnic spots, and bicyclists, runners and walkers enjoying its trails and walkways. There is plenty of healthy vitality in Lincoln Park as it stands now.

The fact that the city is considering parceling 6-9 acres of Lincoln Park to a commercial venture that could impact the wildlife of the area is anathema to me. Not only would the crowds attending this pricey venture deter from the amenities of the park, but the whirring of the zipline would be disturbing to those wanting a quiet respite. Parking would be even more scarce than it is now, especially in the summer.

After midnight on July 9, a summer thunderstorm took about 45 minutes to pass over West Seattle, leaving a drenching rain in its wake. Starting about 12:40 approximately, the storm was visible all around Puget Sound.

Photographer David Rosen went out to capture video of the event, from a favorite vantage point close to the Myrtle Street Park.

Dear Ballard News-Tribune:

Billions of dollars in savings and added benefits for Medicare beneficiaries were preserved thanks to the Supreme Court ruling that upheld the Affordable Care Act. However, now I hear that the ACA is in jeopardy once again because the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, has decided to hold a vote on July 11th to repeal the entire law.

Apparently, some in Congress would like to take away our benefits such as closing the Medicare Part D prescription drug doughnut hole, annual wellness visits to the doctor and free disease screenings for cancer and diabetes patients. The truth is, the health care law has improved coverage and has cut out-of-pocket costs for millions of older Americans and their families.

Seniors need to call their local Representative and ask them to vote against any legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act. Members of Congress have the power to revoke the ACA, but they should remember that seniors have the power to revoke their time in Washington, DC in November.

Sincerely,
Matt Courter

For the 24 years that I’ve lived in Ballard I have struggled over where to put out-of-town guests, especially when I lived in a one-bathroom house. For all that my mother loves of almost every aspect of Ballard, she has long lamented the lack nearby hotels or motels, and that was even before the time I made my parents stay on Aurora Avenue North. (The homicide at that motel was later.)

I’d been to Christmas Bazaar at Dibble House from time to time and I’ve certainly admired the exterior of Hotel Ballard. Then about two weeks ago I suddenly noticed a sign on 32nd NW that read Sunset Hill B & B. Seven blocks from my house. How had I missed it?

When I told Martin I’d seen a Bed & Breakfast near our house, he’d commented that it certainly wouldn’t have private baths. He was soon proved wrong. When I visited I was impressed with the owners’ design abilities, in architecture and landscape, but it was the bathrooms that were unbelievable for Ballard. Lori Conzatti and Doug Nichols have found a way to remodel a 1904 Ballard Farmhouse so that it now has four bedrooms with private baths. I think Doug should start a bathroom consulting business.

After over forty years of finding himself in harm’s way, Ballard resident, author and retired Seattle Police Department Sergeant Howard A. Monta now brandishes not a gun and nightstick, but a cane and a smile.

His shirt is clean and pressed, his voice calm and soft. He introduces himself politely, but it’s not long before frenzied stories of his past career begin to fill the air, with scenes of him pursuing desperate robbery suspects at metal bending speed.

“I was always a thrill seeker. I used to drag race on the streets of New York City when I was eighteen,” he said.

Monta’s life is punctuated by a career filled with high-risk jobs. Aside from serving as a police officer for twenty-nine years before retiring as Sergeant of Seattle’s North Precinct in 1998, Monta also served in the Air Force and worked as a Seattle fireman for 5 years.

“If someone had told me then that I would grow up to be a cop, I would have slapped them – I hated cops I thought they were heartless because they were always after me. I had 7 moving violations before I was eighteen,” Monta said.