Monday, August 24, 2009

A Blogger We Like

We were reading the Seattle P.I.'s police blotter blog and came across this item about our neighbors to the North. We just wanted to share it with you because we read it quite often and find the writers hilarious.

Teens catch break after being caught with booze on Aurora

Four teens who were boozing on the roof of an Aurora Avenue North strip mall caught a break after being caught by police last week.

About 1:20 a.m. Tuesday, police were called to people partying in the 9900 block of Aurora Avenue North. An officer saw a long ladder attached by a chain to the north end of the building, and while investigating another found a half empty 1.75-liter bottle of Pancho Villa Tequila.

"At first the group said they saw the ladder and decided they were just going to explore," officer Marcus Inouye wrote in his report. "When the liquor was brought up (one of the young women) said she had brought it and carried it up the 30-40 foot ladder, such that the other individuals knew that it was there."

The teens – two young men, a woman and a girl – were released after police dumped the alcohol on the ground. The report does not detail why they were released.

It's presumed they warned the teens about the dangers of drinking, though it's not clear if they were reprimanded for their taste in tequila.

Bravo to those sassy mouthed staff writers! Keep the zingers coming. Oh, and we would have lectured them about the hazards of cheap tequila as well. Teens have to learn it somewhere!

Friday, August 21, 2009

Ballard Rejects Nickels

How'd We Vote?

Well, we like Nickels less than the rest of the city. While he managed to get 25.6% of the citywide vote, according to King County's preliminary web results, only 21% of Ballard voters picked Nickels. Actually, our district includes Queen Anne, Magnolia, Fremont, Greenwood and Belltown but close enough. Here's how our district voted by our rough calculations.

McGinn - 28%
Mallahan - 27%
Nickels - 21%

So now that he has conceded, who do you think should be our next mayor? And what should they do for Ballard? Here is our list.

  1. Synchronize traffic lights along Market Street from 8th to 24th.
  2. Stop or reduce development of multi-family dwellings (condos!).
  3. Fix the Missing Link.
What do you think?

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Nickels 86'd?

It's not looking good for old Nickels. He's trailing McGinn and Mallahan but it's very close. In fact, so close there will most likely be an automatic recount.

The bag fee is failing which just goes to show you that big chemical companies still have the power to overturn grassroots campaigns! Well, at least we can count on something these days.

Which brings us to another topic. As we're busy picking Seattle's mayor we should consider who we would like as the Mayor of Ballard. Thoughts?! Perhaps we should do a poll.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Please Remember to Vote Today!

Please remember to 86 Nickels today. It's the last day to mail in your primary ballot. We know you have it sitting at home on your coffee table, so get that thing filled out!

We approve of these folks:

King County Executive
Dow Constantine

Port of Seattle
Rob Holland
Max Vekich

Mayor
Mike McGinn!

We're thinking of voting against the bag fee. We think it's a regressive tax that will impact the poor more than the rich. And seriously, what will we scoop poop with? On the other hand, plastic bag pollution is out of control. Hmmm. It's really out of control. Okay, maybe we'll vote for it. Plus, we have really cute shopping bags.

We just can't talk about the election without talking about the Goodspaceguy. Seriously, this guy is running for King County Executive and that's his name. Check your ballot. "Goodspaceguy requests that you think of yourselves as crew members of Spaceship Earth. Goodspaceguy wants you to help solve world problems by example: How high can you help to raise knowledge and the quality of living in King County?" Wow!

Here are some links to other endorsements and information:

Progressive Voter's Guide (don't pay attention to the part where they endorse Nickels. Remember the snow storm fiasco? Just to name one of his f*ck ups)

The Stranger We like their endorsement of McGinn, "He's mayor-shaped."

King County Elections

League of Women Voters

We also wanted to let you know you can drop off your ballot without postage at the ballot drop box in Ballard at the Seattle Neighborhood Service Center - 5604 22nd Ave NW. It's at the library in case you aren't familiar with it.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Strange noises in the night?

We received an interesting email from a reader about strange noises in Ballard last night. Devin was wondering if anyone else living around 15th was sleepless. It sort of sounds like a small remote control plane to us. What do you think? Here's what he says:

I live at 15th and Ballard and couldn’t sleep last night, and started to fall asleep at around 2:15am. As I was trying to fall asleep I heard to me what sounded like a very loud leaf blower, turning on at full force, and then relaxing. Went on for about 40 minutes and bugged the hell out of me.

A buddy I work with lives in Greenwood actually heard the same noise. He claims it sounded like a plane overheard, and reported the same intervals of coming on strong and then relaxing.

Have you heard anything else from peeps in Ballard about what the hell this was?

We looked at the 911 dispatch list for last night and didn't see anything around 2 a.m. that would make a bunch of noise. Very curious! Maybe they're spraying for moths in the dark of night again. We, unfortunately, have been suffering from insomnia lately and have earplugs and a fan to help us sleep so we didn't hear a thing. That we remember anyway.

Monday, August 3, 2009

I Want My MTV!

Be on MTV this afternoon at the Tractor Tavern! According to their Facebook page, MTV is shooting The Maldives at the Tractor. Here's what they say:

Who wants to be on MTV? Who want to be on MTV with The Maldives? MTV is shooting an episode of “$5 Cover” feat. The Maldives this afternoon at the Tractor. If you or someone you know wants to be an extra come on down. It’s from 3pm to 9pm. Dress as you normally would, BUT no white, no corporate logos, no images of real people etc. and you must be over 21 so leave the kids at home, sorry.

In case you're not familiar with the Maldives, they're a local alt-country band. All you pretty people of Ballard who happen to be not working on a Monday afternoon better get on down there.