September 2016

As the sun sank last Sunday night the fountain at the Seattle Center was illuminated with a projector displaying bands who played at the main stage, and festival goers gathered around the blasting water under a crown of green balloons that had been strung up above the festival grounds.

This year's Bumbershoot was bigger than ever and artists like Billy Idol, Tame Impala, Death Cab for Cutie and Macklemore drew thousands of fans. Other offerings included a large group yoga session, an oyster eating contest and silent discos.

The Ballard News-Tribune checked in on the festival and captured some photos of the festival goers whooping it up and performers melting fan faces with utter rock raw power.

Yoga session under the Space Needle.

Dust off your lederhosen and get ready to put a little oompah in your day. The Ballard Oktoberfest is coming back for its second year!

On Saturday, Sept. 17, four Ballard breweries will bring a little bit of Bavaria to the Ballard corridor with a neighborhood Oktoberfest crawl!

This year, there’s one more brewery in the mix. Lucky Envelope Brewing has jumped on board to co-host with Reuben’s Brews, Stoup Brewing and Populuxe Brewing. Verity Credit Union also returns as the event’s sponsor.

“Verity Credit Union is delighted to once again to sponsor the Second Annual Ballard Oktoberfest celebration,” says Alicia Diefenbach, community relations specialist for Verity Credit Union. “Supporting the Ballard brewing community to serve up an afternoon of delicious brews, good times and oomptastic brass for our neighbors is the exactly the way we want to help the community celebrate this fun, fall tradition.”

The event will kick off in festive fashion with a traveling oompah band. The Oompah Machine will start playing at Reuben’s at 2 p.m. They will then will march revelers to Stoup Brewing at 3 p.m., Lucky Envelope at 4 p.m. and Populuxe at 5 p.m.

Friends of employees at the Ballard Walgreens are voicing concern for their friends’ safety after yet another threatening shoplifting incident on August 30.

According to Detective Patrick Michaud of Seattle Police, a male suspect and a woman were asked to leave the store after being observed shoplifting. They left but the male returned, charged an employee and knocked over a wine rack. The employee was not injured. Later police arrested the man after someone reported a male matching his description was arguing with a woman in a van some blocks away. He was booked for investigation of burglary at King County Jail.

Two weeks ago the Ballard News-Tribune reported that a local woman, Janet Calkins, urged Walgreens to assign a security guard at the store. She was especially adamant about this after last July when there was an armed robbery at the store. A suspect armed with a baseball bat threatened employees and then made off with prescription narcotics. The BNT covered the incident, and Walgreens would not reveal details about their security policy or whether they intend to implement a security officer.

Update: Arne has been found.

Original post:

Arne Hansen was reported missing on September 3. He was last seen in Ballard on 24th Avenue N.W. and N.W. 58th Street. He was wearing blue jeans and a green sweatshirt.

Please call the police or 206-604-2463 if you see Arne.

Bringing in Ballard Friday night socials connect newcomers to long-time residents to support bonds with each other and to this unique and delightful corner of the city. Each event includes potluck, speakers, crafts and opportunities to socialize and learn.

The next Bringing in Ballard event is Meet Your Ride: Getting from Here to There, on Friday, September 23 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at Cheryl Chow Court at 2014 NW 57th St in downtown Ballard. Seattle’s lead bridge tender will share experiences from the bridge towers. Hiram Chittendon Locks staff will explain how they get all those boats between Puget Sound and Lake Union. Participants can test ride one of three models of electric bikes from Rad Power Bikes to experience other fun and sustainable ways to travel. Confused about the Missing Link on the Burke Gilman, Neighborhood Greenways, or SEVA Electric Vehicles? Learn more from several organizations including Cascade Bicycle Club.

The event is free, but participants are asked to bring something for the potluck, along with canned or packaged food for the Ballard Food Bank.

For the next few weeks, Seattle Public Utilities’ contractor will install curb cuts along 26th Avenue Northwest to allow stormwater to flow into the roadside rain gardens. The contractor will also fill the roadside rain gardens with bioretention soil and mulch and conduct flow testing to make sure they are draining properly.

26TH AVENUE NW and NW 80th STREET INTERSECTION WORK PLANNED THIS WEEKEND
From 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9, through Monday, Sept. 12 at 5 a.m., the intersection of 26th Avenue Northwest and Northwest 80th Street will be closed for street improvement work. The contractor will be removing and replacing concrete street panels in addition to installing new curb bulbs, ADA curb ramps and sidewalks.

What you need to know:
· Traffic will be detoured around the work site along 32nd Avenue Northwest, Northwest 85th Street, and 24th Avenue Northwest. The approved traffic plan requires vehicles traveling on arterial streets to detour on arterials streets. Please pay attention to traffic and parking signs.

· Pedestrian access will be maintained, but people should use caution.

BNT Staff

The recent article about Samira Othman being fired from Safeway for trying to stop a vandal and shoplifter after she had worked there for 12 years stirred the Ballard News-Tribune readership. Comments were posted in the BNT website and others were sent to the office. Overwhelmingly the comments were across the board with support and criticism for Othman and Safeway’s actions. Here are some of the comments the BNT received.

By Pat Cashman

Remember that universal schoolroom nightmare?

It is the one where you show up for class one morning---and discover you have forgotten to wear any clothes. Of course once you awaken, you realize the dream is absurd. Unless you are Tim Kosebud, my long ago fourth grade classmate.

He arrived at St. Francis elementary one wintry day---and while taking off his long overcoat ---discovered he had somehow forgotten to don a pair of pants. Since St. Francis was a parochial catholic school, Kosebud was definitely not wearing the recommended uniform. A furtive call to his mother saved the day---as she soon arrived with his pair of salt-and-pepper corduroy pants.
(A few years later, Tim got himself into trouble again when he tried to sneak beer into school---and it wasn’t even good beer. Very flat. At least the nun who taught our class said so.)

I remembered episodes like those a couple of weeks ago at the 80th anniversary commemoration of that school in Bend, Oregon. Given the honor of emceeing the event, I took some time to think back on old school days, classmates and teachers. Even old food.

By Amanda Knox

I may be the oldest of all my siblings and cousins, but it’s not super often that I get to whip out my big-sister powers. Deanna’s just way better at it. She knows how to do hair and makeup, likes to go shopping at the mall, is good at keeping secrets, and isn’t insufferably analytical about everything, especially when you just want to be heard. Me, well…I’m good at helping out with homework assignments.

Sick woman’s home burglarized

The sister of a woman on medical leave discovered that her sister’s home located on the 300 block of N.W. 75th Street was burglarized on Aug. 20. The sister was checking in on things while her sister was away. When viewing the house she discovered drawers of the master bedroom were pulled out. The door to the bedroom that led outside was smashed in. Police discovered that the two floors the suspect had access to were thoroughly scoured. There were pillowcases missing as well, which indicated to police that the suspect may have used them to carry property away from the house. The sister could not discern what was taken. Police did not recover any fingerprints at the scene.

Dispute over dog boils over at convenient store in Ballard