September 2012

You’ve seen the new fancy-schmancy red and yellow bus. You’ve met the LED-sunglass-and-cape-wearing RapidRide man. And you’ve heard both the boasting and the mocking of what the new bus line will do (or not do) for the Ballard neighborhood.

Well, now it’s time to see what it can do. Because RapidRide, as of Saturday, Sept. 29, is in action. Ballard will be getting service from the RapidRide D Line, to be specific.

The bus line promises to be fast and reliable, offering service every ten minutes during rush hour, every 15 minutes off peak and travel through the most used transit corridors. In the D Line’s case, this means the bus will be coming from downtown and cutting all the way down 15th Ave NW, stopping at key points such as NW Market St, NW Leary Way, NW 65 St and NW 85 St (see map for details).

By Christopher Duclos

Homecoming spirit was very much alive at Memorial Stadium. Beaver fans came out in full force for Friday night’s homecoming matchup against the Newport Knights, filling up most of the ample bleachers at the stadium in a sea of red, white and black.

Nate Rauda led the team in tackles with 8.5 on Defense. Other notable defensive performances include tackling totals by Jordan McColloch (4.5), Justin Simon (3.5), Kyle ward (3.5) and Nathan Leapai (3.5).

The Newport defense was stout and stingy, making the night difficult for the Ballard offense to put up points. Hopeful passes were knocked down, and rushes were stopped short. The lone score of the night came in the second quarter when Johnny Verduin completed a 15-yard pass to receiver Nate Rauda. Dominique Smith rushed for a total 69 yards on 7 carries, averaging 9.9 yards per carry.

The boys fought hard during the game in hopes of giving their fans a homecoming win. Unfortunately their efforts fell short, resulting in a 48-7 loss.

As the BNT reported last week, King County Metro has decided to move ahead with reducing the number of stops Route 44 takes along NW Market St in order to make bus service faster and more reliable.

Officials from King County Metro have stated that quarter-mile spacing between stops is the industry standard. Currently, many stops in Ballard are much closer together, so they are trying to increase the spacing in order to make transit more efficient.

Though King County Metro states that they received comment primarily on the pair of stops located at 5th and 6th Ave NW (which have been restored), Ballard community members have in the past expressed concern with other stops.

As early as May of 2010, the Ballard District Council sent a joint letter enumerating several problems. The most controversial of stop removals are those at 14th Ave NW and 17th Ave NW.

By Elizabeth Wang

Ballard resident Joe Handelman starts his mornings off as many other people do; he wakes up, grabs a cup of coffee and reads the newspaper. But thirty minutes later, not everyone can say they feel as refreshed and uplifted as Handelman does.

Now that the Autumnal Equinox has passed, shorter days and longer nights are among us. Not letting the looming gloomy weather bring him down, Handelman simply turns on his light box during his morning routine, instantly brightening up his day.

Handelman, who originally came from sunny Philadelphia, has what is known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, a condition that causes feelings of depression that have been linked to the change in length of day throughout the year.

When he moved to Washington in August of 1999, he was glad to get out of the dry heat of the east and was welcomed into the best weather of the year in Seattle.

This column is by Adam and Grace Robbings, founders of Reuben’s Brews

Brewing is a local industry at its heart. Before the advent of the automobile, breweries used locally available ingredients to make beers for their local customers, and regional brews were the norm.

Stout was brewed in Dublin because the hard water in the city provided the right water profile to brew a roasty ale. The soft water of Pilsen in the Czech Republic was best suited for brewing lighter beers. Without the ability to transport beer easily, most communities were close to a brewery -- there were 4,000 breweries in the United States in 1870, double what we have today and with one eighth of the population at the time!

A man is in custody after attempting to abduct a boy from the bathroom at Albertson's on 1st Ave S. in Burien today, the King County Sheriff's Office said.

The Sheriff’s office says an 11-year-old boy was in the store with his parents and siblings and went inside the bathroom where a man attacked and choked him.

The boy screamed and fought to get away. Store employees heard the struggle and ran to help and found the boy’s fingers in the door as he tried to escape. Employees shoved the door open and the boy escaped.
The man was partially undressed. Store employees tackled him and held him until police arrived. He was arrested.

The state has informed a for-profit California company that it is illegally operating homes for mentally ill adults in Normandy Park.

The Seattle Times reported Sept. 29 the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) hand-delivered a letter to Hanbleceya, operators of the homes, informing the company it must obtain a license and adhere to state regulations for adult family homes.

The department also is seeking entrance to the homes so it can check on the care the residents are receiving.

The Times reported Hanbleceya officials have replied they will cooperate with DSHS.

Hanbleceya obtained five homes in Normandy Park in addition to opening a treatment clinic at Normandy Park Towne Center.

A Hanbleceya official told the Highline Times it does not plan to open similar facilities in other Highline cities.
Normandy Park residents expressed concern and the city formed a task force after learning about two suicide attempts at the homes. They also say the company has been secretive about its operations.

SLIDESHOW: Click on photo for more

The Senior Center of West Seattle was rockin' & rollin' Friday night with "An Evening with Elvis!", a dinner fundraiser to help the center. West Seattle's very own award-winning Elvis impersonator, architect Bret Wiggins, made his second appearance at the center. As we reported here, Wiggins won first place last Jan. 14 when he beat 18 other Elvi in tough competition at the 15th Annual Elvis Invitationals at the EMP Museum downtown with "Suspicious Minds". He placed 2nd the prior two years. West Seattle resident Jim Dever of KING5 hosted that extravaganza.

Senior Center's movie activities director, Terry Holm, sponsored the event.

By David Rosen

The Seattle Fire Department quickly responded to a two car accident on Fauntleroy Way SW and SW Avalon Way around 1:00 pm on Saturday, September 29. One of the vehicles involved ran the light at the intersection and got hit. The woman driver had to be extricated out of the vehicle and was transported to the hospital with unknown injuries.

The RapidRide C Line began in West Seattle Sept. 29 with, as expected, light ridership. It replaces portions of routes 54 and 55 between Westwood Village and downtown Seattle via the Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal and Alaska Junction. It will operate via SW Barton St, Fauntleroy Way SW, California Ave SW, SW Avalon Way, SW Spokane St and the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Weekend service is every 15 minutes, weekday service is every 10 minutes.

Victor Obeso, who as Manager of Service Development handles all the route planning for Metro acknowledged on this first day of service that the ORCA cards and the bus stop next bus notification readers were not working. "We hope to have that corrected by Monday," he said.