January 2014

Elizabeth (Sinness) KOHL

Elizabeth, 97, died peacefully December 30, 2013 in Seattle, WA. Born February 13, 1916 to Torger and Isabel Sinness in Minnewauken, ND, Elizabeth graduated from Devils Lake High School in 1934 and received a BA from the University of Wisconsin in 1938. She married Lloyd Kohl in 1941. They lived in Madison, WI, before relocating to Southern California in 1952.

Elizabeth was a public school teacher, master/demonstration teacher, librarian, and President of North Hollywood Rotary Anns and Sherman Oaks Woman’s Club, and officer in the California Federation of Women's Clubs. She was a playwright, directing students in performing her adaptations of Greek tragedies. She loved reading, bridge and crossword puzzles. Her baking was renowned, especially her cinnamon rolls! She also loved traveling abroad with her beloved husband.

A young woman, her boyfriend and her son were displaced, at least temporarily Jan. 2 when the boy accidentally lit a curtain and bed on fire while playing with a lighter. The fire happened about 5:40pm in the 3000 block of Avalon Way S.W.

"When he told me there was a fire he was hysterical,'Mommy, Mommy there's a fire! There's a fire!' So I dropped everything i was doing and I ran but I fell down and when I got up I went to the bedroom and the curtain was on fire and I saw patches of the bed on fire so I grabbed the curtain and I threw it outside and I heard a knock on the door and I opened it and told everybody 'There's a fire!' and I ran to the kitchen to get some water to put it out but it was bigger when I went back in so I called 911."

The curtain, bed, and window frame were damaged but there were no injuries.

Traffic on Avalon Way was blocked for about an hour as crews responded and checked for any hot spots or other damage.

Earlier this morning the Department of Planning and Development reported there are four new land use applications for land action in locations around Ballard.

Two applications were submitted by the same owner for subdividing (short subdivision) two properties (7721 15th Avenue N.W. and 7719 15th Avenue N.W.) to make both into two parcel properties with two unit lots for the purpose of allowing sale or lease of the lots. The lots are zoned as neighborhood commercial 2-40 foot, meaning structures built there could be mix-use with commercial use on bottom and residential on top not exceeding 40 foot in height.

The final day for the Highline Historical Society’s popular “Hope in Hard Times” exhibit about the Great Depression will be Saturday, January 4. The exhibit of Depression-era artifacts has been open since mid-October at a pop-up museum location at 216 SW 153rd Street in Burien.

The traveling portion of the exhibit, sponsored by Humanities Washington, will move to its next venue in Walla Walla. The majority of the artifacts, however, belong to the Highline Historical Society, and will be returned to the Society’s collections facility, which is open by appointment only.

Cyndi Upthegrove, managing director of the Highline Historical Society, noted that this temporary pop-up museum has been a good opportunity to display examples of the Historical Society’s diverse holdings. She was particularly pleased with the field trips the Society hosted during the exhibit, the visits by residents from several retirement living centers, and the exhibit’s ability to accommodate performances of the Burien Actors Theatre’s holiday show after that group lost its regular venue to an arson fire.

With New Year bells chiming, some Ballard readers might be thinking of their own mortality. How many years will we amble about in occupied splendored haze thinking about the job, global warming, commerce, Facebook, smartphones, play-dough, and the Seahawks? Some questions are better left unanswered, but dreams may hold some insight.

This may have been the point found in an article called “Peculiar Dream Story” from a March 1913 edition of the Ballard News.

The article cites Horace G. Hutchinson, who reported in Longman’s Magazine that a woman was having dreams of a house. She discovered every detail of the house in her dreams. She told her husband about the house, and it was a “very pleasant fancy” indeed.

However, one day the couple found that same home while perusing the countryside for a summer rental. They pulled up to the home and immediately knew it was the house from her dream. They rented the house for the summer.

Apparently the home had a reputation for ghosts. Before the new tenants, every one was afraid of the house and the ghosts within.

Space heater and CD’s taken from basement
Dec. 22 at the 900 block of 74th Street offices responded to a residential burglary. The complainant explained his detached basement had been broken into. The only entryway into the basement was a door secured by a padlock. The suspect cut the lock. Boxes had been rifled through and a space heater and compact discs were taken. No fingerprints were found.

Door saves cannabis at MMJ co-op, suffered gunshots

As 2014 arrives there are still many things left open in the cannabis industry and pending to be resolved. The Ballard News Tribune opted for a prognosis of loose ends, especially after a study was released Dec. 28 that determines the implementation of I-502 on the local level.

“I-502 Local Implementation” was conducted by CASP, the Center for the Study of Cannabis and Social policy. The study examines the current status of implementing recreational cannabis in Washington State. The study stated that, “Cities and counties were given authority to pass additional zoning regulations. Cities have final authority granting licensing for marijuana businesses, following state approval.”
They sampled the top 75 most populated cities in Washington - Seattle with the most with Cheney with the least.

They categorized cities into four statuses: Zoned, Moratorium, Banned, and No Action.

Zoned was defined as the city council passing legislation that declared areas where marijuana businesses could apply or updated the Municipal Code recognizing recreational marijuana.

A Land Use Application has been filed by planner Bradley Wilburn with the Seattle Department of Planning and Development to allow 18 single family dwelling units and the removal of 10 exceptional trees in an environmentally critical area located at 2646 S.W. Holden Street, extending between Holden and Webster Streets S.W.

Parking will be located within attached two-car garages (36 parking spaces total). The existing structure is to be demolished. The environmental Review includes future full unit lot subdivision.

A SEPA Environmental Determination has not yet been made and a demolition and building permit are still in process.

The project would be between existing homes, and the Navos mental health solutions location on S.W. Holden.

You can file comments on this proposed project here on project number 3013915.

Two words come to mind to describe police officer Eric Michl: dedicated and loyal.

Michl has had a long career with the Seattle Police Department and he is trusted as a voice of reason when it comes to driving under the influence.

He recently spoke to over 500 Ballard High School students about the life changing implications of impaired diving. What spurred the talk was the University of Washington’s star tight end, Austin Seferian-Jenkins wanting to talk to students about the dangers of impaired driving after his DUI arrest earlier last year. Michl was the arresting officer.

Michl has been with the SPD for 33 years. Of those 33 years he has dedicated his service to North Seattle, and especially Ballard – the place he was born and lived for most of his life.

“I like to live in the community I work … I lived around the city for most of my career, but I’m most comfortable living in North Seattle,” said Michl.

Born at Ballard Hospital, Michl grew up with service in mind. His father was a firefighter with the North Seattle station for almost 30 years.

By Peggy Sturdivant

To make a long story short: a Ballard family responded to a column I wrote entitled “Dear Santa” and this led to many good things.

The family enjoyed a delicious pancake breakfast and what seemed excessive appreciation when they told the Ballard Senior Center volunteer collecting funds to ‘keep the change.’

Then it got even better when the mother said on the way out, “Why don’t we collect for the Ballard Senior Center at our Christmas party this year?”

And what happened next became one of the most memorable gifts I’ve had since I started writing this column about a hundred years ago (okay, January 2007, I had to Google it).

The long version dates back to the birth of my blog, At Large in Ballard in 2006. I would get lovely comments and emails from a certain “Joel,” also known as Reader #3 in my ranking system of regular readers. Future husband tied up the Reader #1 title.