October 2012

The Ballard District Council will be meeting tonight at 7 p.m. in the Ballard Branch Library conference room. Topics range from homeless people living in cars, combined sewer overflow and SPU's latest project and election of new officers. Don't miss out.

See below for agenda:

7:00 Introductions & Short Announcements - please hold announcements to not more than one min.

7:15 A Chat With City Councilmembers Licata & Clark
Sally Clark and Nick Licata will discuss the proposed cannabis zoning regulation along with other issues of interest from their Ballard constituents. CM Clark is President of the Seattle City Council. CM Licata chairs the Council’s HHHC (Housing, Human Services, Health & Culture) Committee. He is Vice-Chair of the Government Performance, and Finance Committee; and also serves on the Labor Relations Policy Committee and Public Safety, Civil Rights, and Technology Committee.

Note: Please review background on the cannabis zoning initiative at http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/planning/CannabisZoningRestrictions/ or read the attached FAQ.

It was the catch heard ‘round the world.

Monday, Sept. 24, Seattle Seahawks won a game against the Green Bay Packers on a controversial, last-minute call. Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate fought against Packers defensive end M.D. Jennings to catch a ball in the end zone, but it was unclear whether Tate had full possession. The ref called that he did, the touchdown went to Seahawks, and the whole nation went up in an uproar. For once, Seattle was in the spotlight, but maybe for the wrong reason.

One man took it upon himself to try and help make amends with Packers fans, who were noticeably sore afterwards. Rudy McCoy-Pantoja, Jr., a neighborhood character who is referred to as “Grandpa Rudy,” rallied several businesses together to deliver a package that would have the effect of saying, “No hard feelings,” about the game.

Greenwood will be getting a new coffee place. And a pastry place. And a sandwich and soup place. And a place to buy local produce. And a specialty item place. And a place where you can just let loose and hang out on comfy couches.

Appropriately, this new, all-in-one place is called Ampersand (located on 424 N. 85th St., Suite 1) and it hopes to be more than just your typical coffee place. It hopes to be all of the above.

It’s owned by the married couple and business duo Marisa Tanji and Daryl Waits, who own Slices, the pizza place on Alki which has become rather popular during the summer season.

Now, Tanji will be commandeering Ampersand in Greenwood when it opens next week (conveniently just 10 blocks away from her house) while her husband runs the business back in Alki.

Recently, Tanji graduated from college with a degree in Graphic Design -- a skill which is showcased in Ampersand’s logo -- and was a pastry chef at Washington Athletic Club for four years, while also working at Slices. Needless to say, she was busy, but now she is able to focus most all her attention on Ampersand.

Lewis Dickinson and his wife Anna own Spencer that Lewis describes as, "A mutt but he is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, which is a spaniel/retriever mix. I was told that when I adopted him."

Lewis got Spencer (whose original name was Peanut) from the Humane Society in Factoria, and has owned him for five years. He was considering something Canadian so the last two were Spencer and Molson (the famous Canadian beer).

"I was thinking about getting an animal and on the way home from snowboarding one day I found him and got him. I saw him and he was sitting there looking pathetic so I figured I'd get him."

This was all before he and Anna met however. "When they met," Lewis explained," He fell in love with her almost more than did, I think."

"When I first met Spencer, "Anna said,"he took the hem of my dress and pulled me around."

The Burien Brat Trot 5K and 1 mile family race has become one of Burien’s favorite local events.

All day long on Sunday, Oct. 7 revelers enjoyed an Oktoberfest style party complete with beer, great food, music and zany fun centered around the Burien Brat Trot 5K and 1 mile races.

The 5k race began promptly at 1p.m. at the corner of 10th Avenue Southwest and Southwest 152nd Street in Olde Burien.
Tyler Eidsmore of Auburn won the race. Kim Morgan was the first female to finish.

The 1-mile family race started at 1:40 p.m. at Lake Burien School Park.
Online registration closes Thursday Oct 4 at midnight.

The races benefitted two important local organizations—the Highline Schools Foundation, which gathers community resources to support the 18,000 public school students in the Highline School District, and Safe Kids King South King County under the direction of Seattle Children’s, which supports injury prevention through education and access.

The 5K race began in Olde Burien, circled Lake Burien and finished to cheering crowds in front of The Tin Room Bar and Grill.

The first nonstop flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Sea-Tac Airport is greeted after landing by a Sea-Tac Fire engine forming a rainbow arch over the plane.

Mechanical difficulties prevented the Dreamliner from returning to Japan the same day.

Craft beer lovers and brewers came together at the B-Town Brewfest Saturday, Oct. 13 at the Burien Community Center, 14700 6th Ave. S.W.

This inaugural event featured some of the area's best craft brewers and benefits the SeaTac Guild of Seattle Children’s Hospital.

In the past ten years, the Northwest craft brewing industry has literally exploded — with this exceptional growth expected to continue well into the decade. And what’s the best thing about the Northwest’s craft beer explosion? The overwhelming choice of beer of course!

There are now more than 170 craft breweries in Washington State — and each brewery has its own unique beers from traditional pilsners to seasonal, hard-to-find specialty brews that fans literally wait all year to drink again. And, according to the Washington State Beer Commission Executive Director Eric Radovich, “All current brewers within the state are working at full capacity.”

Justin Michael Kemp of Burien has joined his two older brothers, James and Jeffrey, in the rank of Eagle Scout.

For his Eagle Project, he installed a 200-ft French drain system at Midway Community Covenant Church in Des Moines.

His achievement was celebrated with parents Jim and Julie, friends, family, and Scout Troop 392 at an Eagle Court of Honor recently at John Knox Presbyterian Church.

Hundreds participated in Boy Scout Troop 360's Haunted Hike on Saturday, Oct. 13, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Girl Scout Troop 50050 also lent a hand, and a few screams.

The hike wAs at the Kiwanis Schoenwald Park, 16030 Sylvester Rd. S.W. The park is behind Burien’s Sylvester Middle School. ADMISSION WAS $2 and benefitted Highline area youth.

When Big Mike Wasik joined the armed forces in 1917, the Great War was nearly over. That did not stop Uncle Sam from sending Mike to Germany where the Kaiser was already retreating.

Mike may have helped encourage that retreat but at painful personal expense. He was wounded twice. We know he survived those wounds because he was my neighbor when I was a youth in Portland.

I was enamored with the Wasik's copper wash tub. All families got clean in those days using a large tub of some sort with the parents taking the first dip in the coziest, cleanest water. Oldest kids were next, following down the line to the youngest. The water never being changed in the process. Hence the phrase, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water." My mom and dad probably thought that the soap pretty much guaranteed that we'd be clean enough for school at the very least.