October 2012

Seattle Weekly's Voracious Blog is holding its annual Snackdown tournament, where neighborhoods compete with one another in reader-voting polls to determine which place has the best grub.

Today, Ballard is squaring off against both Wallingford and Fremont. Any Ballardite knows that this shouldn't be a competition, with the food haven that is nestled within our neighborhood. We have everything from the best darned margaritas and Mexican food at Senor Moose and La Carta de Oaxaca to the simplistic-yet-wonderful chili bowls at Mike's and don't forget the oysters at the Walrus and the Carpenter. The list goes on, and it keeps growing every day it seems.

In defense of Ballard, Seattle Weekly writer Chelsea Lin writes:

The Central Ballard Residents Association (CBRA) is having their monthly meeting tonight, (Thursday, Oct. 11) at 7 p.m.

The speaker and guest of honor this month is Rob Mattson, Ballard's neighborhood district coordinator for the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. For those that don't know, Mattson is the man with all the knowledge of Ballard stored within his head and is called the unofficial mayor of the neighborhood.

"He is the go-to guy for questions on who, what, when, why, or how of happenings in our neighborhood," CBRA said in a press release. "Bring your questions."

The meeting will be held at Swedish Ballard in Conference Room A. All are welcome.

By Joshua McNichols, author of Urban Farm Handbook

When Creagh Miller moved to Seattle, she wanted to get involved with urban farming. But she lacked certain skills. How exactly does one build a chicken coop? How do you install an irrigation system? Most people would check out books from the library, or take classes through Seattle Tilth. But for Creagh, it was about more than just getting information. She wanted to be part of a community.

So Creagh created Backyard Barter. The organization hosts barter events around town. People trade jam, pickles, jewelry, knitted octopi, homebrew, salsa, goat milk soaps, homemade laundry detergent – just about anything you can make at home.

A few of her ideas didn’t take off. She’d hoped people would trade high end services too. That didn’t happen. It’s one thing to eat somebody’s jam. Relying on someone for legal advice requires more trust. Also, the website she created, where people could arrange trades in advance, failed to thrive. But when it came to good old-fashioned, face-to-face bartering of homemade preserves and crafts– that’s where things really started to happen.

By Sallie Hancock

Question: Who has four bundles of Finn Sheep Wool, one circular needle size 2, a Magic Loop, and a volume of Ole and Lena jokes?

Answer: A Norwegian Sassy Selbuvotter.

This weekend, Ballard’s Nordic Heritage Museum celebrated its fourth Nordic Knitting Conference.

More than one hundred knitters, spinners, masters and beginners, from Alaska, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Colorado, North Carolina, Indiana, Utah, Idaho, California, Calgary, Norway and more convened at the Museum on Friday morning, October 5 to learn, share and celebrate the rich and varied traditions of Nordic fiber arts.

Sissel Seierstad, a Magnolia resident and conference attender who is originally from Norway explained why the act of knitting is important in Norway. “Knitting is a comfort thing in Norway. Everyone sits and knits. It is a part of family and community life,” she said.

In fact, until recently, knitting was part of the grade school curriculum for boys and girls. Today, one of the bestselling books in Norway is a one-hundred-year-old volume of Annichen Sibbern Bohn’s instructions on knitting.

The Seattle Chinese Garden is the subject of a juried photo show now on display at West Seattle's Bakery Nouveau in the Junction through Oct. 31.

Local photographers participated in a series of August workshops at the Garden led by Vashon Island photographer Ray Pfortner which resulted in the images now on display.

Meet the photographers at Bakery Nouveau on October 11, from 6 to 8 pm, during the West Seattle Art Walk.

Bakery Nouveau is at 4737 California Avenue SW.

Update for 8 p.m., Oct. 15

From: Sergeant Cindi West

King County Sheriff's Office
Public Information Officer

30 Year old Emanuel Kozma was arrested tonight around 6:30PM in the Denny’s parking lot at South 170th and Pacific Hwy in SeaTac. He was the subject that King County Sheriff detectives chased on the 10th in the White Center area.

Detectives said he will be booked for investigation of Eluding, Assault 1, and Unlawful Possession of Firearm. The case will be forwarded to the prosecutor’s office for review.

He was caught due to persistent work from detectives!

Update for 10 a.m., Oct. 11
Kozma, a potentially armed felon police were tracking in South Delridge last night has not been arrested as of yet, according to the King County Jail Register. According to our news partner Q13 Fox, he had just gotten out of jail hours before the chase with police began.

Original post on Oct. 10
As of 8:40 p.m. this evening (Oct. 10), residents of the South Delridge area should stay indoors while police search for a known felon.

Press release:

Graham Trucking, Inc., a local trucking business that operates the largest fleet of super chassis in Washington state, has announced the relocation of its headquarters to the city of SeaTac.

The new four-acre facility, located at 18811 16th Ave South, will accommodate the company’s Seattle staff and enable further expansion for growth.

“From what we can tell the City of SeaTac is the best, most well-run city we’ve ever seen,” said Robert Graham, president of Graham Trucking, Inc. “There is no comparison between SeaTac and other municipalities we’ve worked with. We look forward to moving our business into such a thriving, economically strong community.”

Currently located in Seattle, Tacoma and Federal Way, Graham Trucking serves clients in the Pacific Northwest primarily through intermodal transport, with a variety of modes of transportation to move product across cities and states.

For nearly 30 years the company has performed the majority of their business with large retail chains, construction companies, manufacturers, produce growers in Eastern Washington and seafood companies.

Press release:

Premier chiropractic seminar and consulting company The Masters Circle (TMC) has announced that its 2012 Chiropractor of the Year is Dr. Aaron Collins of Collins Chiropractic Burien, WA.

If you want to find out more about Collins Chiropractic, please go to http://www.burienwellness.com or call 206.242.0998.

This prestigious award recognizes a doctor of chiropractic for their professionalism, integrity, clinical competence, personal growth, practice growth and outstanding achievement in the profession.

The audience which consisted of doctors of chiropractic, chiropractic assistants, nutritionists, other wellness professionals (including personal trainers, acupuncturists, physical therapists and massage therapist) chiropractic college presidents, dignitaries of the profession, his all-star team and his father, who is also a chiropractor, cheered endlessly as their colleague and friend made a gracious acceptance speech filled with passion and emotion.

King County Sheriff’s Office press release:

This morning around 9 a.m. a SeaTac Police Officer pursued and eventually apprehended a man and woman who were driving a California murder victim’s stolen car and are suspects in a crime spree in California including Escape and Attempted Murder of a police officer

The incident started just before 9 this morning when a SeaTac Officer ran the license plate of a blue Subaru station wagon that was parked near 18800 block of 32 Ave S. The plate returned stolen and as the officer attempted to contact the occupants, the vehicle took off southbound, ramming the officer’s car as it sped away.

A pursuit ensued and the car was boxed in by SeaTac police cars near S188 and Pacific Hwy. The female driver jumped into the back seat and the male passenger got into the driver’s seat. The male repeatedly rammed the police cars trying to escape in the vehicle. When the male could no longer move his car the pair was ordered out of the car by police at gun point.

In a public meeting on Sept. 24 in West Seattle, well over 30 Arbor Heights School teachers and parents spoke out against Seattle Public Schools plan to rebuild/expand the school by 2019 as part of their next round of levy priorities, asking SPS to move the timeline up for a school in dire need of an update.

You can read more about that meeting here.

According to a letter from SPS Superintendent Jose Banda on Oct. 9, it appears the Arbor Heights outcry was heard, but not implemented (as of yet).

Seattle voters will vote to renew SPS’s BEX IV and Operations Levies in February of 2013, and the district is currently formulating a wish list of projects they wish to tackle with the funds (if it passes) from 2014 to 2021. The BEX (Building Excellence) Levy funds are used to improve buildings and infrastructure.