August 2013

West Seattle's Nicole Hardy was 35 years old, and a virgin. Not because she was unattractive, or had health problems or had no sexual feelings.

She was a practicing Mormon and Mormon's remain celibate until marriage.

In the Mormon faith, doctrine decrees that the family unit means women must have children. Hardy chose not to have them. But the conflict she felt about her faith and her celibacy kept her in a kind of frozen adolescence, aging out of the church's "singles ward" and led her to write an essay, published in the New York Times.

The Chelan Cafe, founded in 1938 celebrated 75 years in business on Aug. 10 with a party for more than 200 of their friends and family. The owners Mary Manning-Smith and "Smitty" Smith, were there to say hello and share memories and hugs with everyone who stopped by to say hello.

Mary arrived in 1974 when her father bought the cafe. "Now we're third generation in the Chelan because my son Scott works here also. My grampa owned the J & M Cafe, he's the M in the name. They opened that in the 30's and my dad went to work for him and stayed in the restaurant business for 55 years."

"There are so many memories in this place," Mary said but maybe the most significant was, " I met my husband here. We had our wedding reception here."

The Chelan has been the scene of birthday parties, retirement parties, wakes, fundraisers, wedding receptions and "Just a lot of fantastic people over the years," Mary said.

"I never wanted to be in the restaurant business," Mary explained. "I had a design business with my cousin Linda but my Dad got sick and he asked if I would come and help him. I had to think about it, but I've been here 30 years."

While most of us were asleep, David Rosen was out capturing the bolts of lightning that accompanied an intense thunderstorm that passed over Seattle in the early morning hours of Aug. 10.

Between 1am and 2am the lighting was especially strong and was followed by a heavy rain.

No power outages or damage were reported.

Only open since March 20, the attempt at fusion cuisine that was Bada Bistro at 2738 Alki Ave SW is closed and in its place this fall will be the national chain Fatburger/ Buffalo’s Express.

The California based company is more than 60 years old and a company spokesperson provided some information about the new restaurant. They said it will feature "a contemporary design and ambience" and that they serve gourmet, homemade, custom-built burgers."

The Fatburger will be co-branded with another chain from the company, Buffalo's Express (a version of the larger Buffalo’s Café).

The store will be 2300 square feet and have roughly 15-20 employees. The location is slated to open in late fall of 2013. This will be the first full-service, co-branded location for Fatburger and Buffalo's.

Have you been meaning to meet Gael Tarleton, the 36th District's latest representative who lives right here in Ballard? Well, you'll get your chance this summer.

Tarleton is hosting three community get togethers around the 36th District to meet with her constituents. As a freshman this year, Tarleton hasn't been able to make huge decisions and has been getting a hang of the ropes, but she is gearing up to do more next legislative session.

One bill she did create and pass was HB 1647, which requires landlords to safely secure spare and master keys to rental units. Tarleton was inspired by the story of Dana Widrig, who was beaten and raped in her own apartment three years ago as a result of a maintenance worker getting ahold of the spare keys.

She has also signed on with Rep. Reuven Carlyle (D-Queen Anne) in the fight against coal, demanding a wider scoping process, and she has made funding higher ed -- something she has experience with -- one of her top priorities.

Here are a list of meeting times:

Tuesday, August 13: 9 – 10:30 AM

Update Aug. 10
One day of amazing art, music and performances complete the Arts in Nature Festival comes back on Sunday Aug. 11 with more.
The festival got off to a rollicking start with Caspar Babypants entertaining everyone from little kids to adults and closed with a standing room only and more performance from Cloud Cult who thrilled the crowd with acoustic and even some acapella music. Numerous other performers were found in The Meadow, The Pond, The Glacier and The Lodge performance areas. Cloud Cult returns on Sunday at 2pm

Bringing Saturday to a dramatic close was the fire dance troupe Pyrosutra who amazed the crowd not only with their use of fire but with intricate dance moves that brought them close to the fiery torches they wielded and even doing some fire breathing.

Original Post

Information from King County

Wondering if a rain garden or cistern is right for you? Stop by the Green Zone at the Delridge Day Festival to meet gardening experts and get tips on managing stormwater runoff at home.

The free community event is set for Saturday, Aug. 17, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Delridge Community Center and Park, 4501 Delridge Way S.W., Seattle.

King County and City of Seattle are sponsoring this year’s Green Zone to share information about the RainWise Program, which offers rebates to cover up to 100 percent of the cost to install cisterns and rain gardens on eligible properties in the Delridge, South Park, Highland Park and the Barton/Fauntleroy neighborhoods in West Seattle.

Rain gardens are more than just beautiful to look at; they help solve one of the largest sources of pollution problems for Puget Sound and local waterways. King County is working with neighbors to battle stormwater pollution and prevent heavy rains from overwhelming the sewer system and carrying pollution into area waterways.

Friday, August 9

Emerald Contra Dance

What: All dances taught. No partner necessary. Please, no cologne, perfume or other scented products. $8 General Admission; $7 Seniors, PNA
members, SFS members; $5 Students.

Where: Phinney Neighborhood Association Community Hall-lower brick building (6532 Phinney Ave N)
When: Beginner’s workshop 7 p.m., dance 7:30-10 p.m.

More info: 206-440-9839 or emeraldcitycontra@pobox.com

Comedy Sportz

What: ComedySportz is improv comedy played as a sport. The show pits two teams of comedians against each other in a variety of games, in which they compete for audience laughter.

Where: Ballard Underground (2220 NW Market St)

When: 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

More info: http://comedysportzseattle.com/

Sustainable Ballard Knitters for the Homeless

What: Come join us on 2nd Friday of the month. Knitting instruction and yarn provided.
Donated yarn welcome!

Where: Aster Cafe (5615 24th Ave NW)

When: 7-9 p.m.

More info: Contact Jody Grage at (253) 718-1529 or jodytgrage@gmail.com.

Salmon Bay Eagles Music

By Rev. Judith Laxer

I’ve waited till twilight when the bees are gone to harvest my lavender. I don’t want to disturb their pollen gathering and I don’t want to get stung as I gather mine. My arms are full as I walk to the table in my garden and set down the purple flower heads on their strong stalks. Their perfume, sweet but not cloying, smooth but not dull, fresh but not young, always signals harvest time to me.

August must be the gardener’s favorite month! All the planning and planting, tending and weeding, all the watering and watching now comes to fruition. This is what all that labor of love was for. Now my salad bowl holds cucumber, tomato and carrot as well as lettuce, herbs and flowers. There is patty pan and zucchini squash for the grill, green beans in the steamer. A few small but sturdy ears of corn lean away from their petioles as if to say, “Hey! Don’t forget about me!” I’ve already spent one full day canning apple sauce, and now I peer at the pears growing heavy on their boughs. Soon…chutney!

A full decade ago, in 2003, the Seattle City Council adopted a plan to close the Missing Link, the nonexistent section of the Burke-Gilman Trail stretching from the Ballard Fred Meyer on 11th Ave NW and 45th to the Ballard Locks on 30th Ave NW.

Now, in August of 2013 -- after much debate, a traffic study and litigation -- the city is going through with a full environmental impact study. The EIS will have a much larger scope than the previous study, which only looked at traffic, reviewing the full gamut of impacts: transportation, land and shoreline use, environmental, historic and cultural, economical and others based on comments received.

Last night, the Seattle Department of Transportation held an open house for the scoping process of the EIS. While some complained that there was too little notice for the open house -- information about it went out just earlier this week -- there was still a fair mix of opinion in the less-than-a-hundred crowd.