For more live music, check out the calendars for Tractor Tavern, Sunset Tavern, Picolinos, The Bit Saloon, Conor Byrne and Egan’s Ballard Jam House. As always, check out our events calendar. And if you have an event to add, just email us at tips@myballard.com.

Inside this nondescript building on NW 49th Street hides a surprising new addition to an industrial part of Ballard: a new winery called Domanico Cellars.

Jason and Jill Domanico are a husband and wife team who are passionate about three things: family, wine and Ballard. They have a four-year-old daughter, both have full-time jobs and now a winery in a neighborhood not known for wine. “We’ve always been pretty community-centric and we’re pretty proud of Ballard,” Jason says about their decision to open here. As far as they know, Animale is the only other winery in the neighborhood.

The Domanicos use grapes that come from three different vineyards in eastern Washington, and the couple is very hands-on during harvest. “It’s exhausting,” Jason says. They’ve been making wine since 2003, and their first commercial vintage is the 2006. “We are very excited to finally see this dream come to fruition,” Jill says. They make a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Merlot, “Mesa Rojo” or red table wine and a Riesling. Wine Advocate’s Robert Parker gave their Le Monstre (the Cab) a score of 90 points (outstanding.) “I walked on air for a couple of days” after hearing about the rating.

The tasting room at 825 NW 49th St. is open during the holidays on Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. This weekend they’re holding a food and item drive for the Ballard Food Bank. Bring in two items and get 10% off your wine purchase. If you’re looking for a Thanksgiving wine, Jason says their Riesling, which is drier than most, would be perfect with turkey.

More than 50 people joined in last night’s conversation to brainstorm ideas for the new 39,000 square foot park on 9th Ave NW between 70th & 73rd.

The larger group broke into smaller groups and were told two things: there will not be a wading pool or an off-leash dog park. With that, the groups formulated ideas. Some brought up playground equipment for different ages, walking paths around the park, picnic areas, garden areas and “skate dots,” which are skateable benches or ledges. There was also discussion about adding a “nature play” feature that uses rocks or other earthworks for kids to play. Jacqueline, one of the neighbors at the meeting, tells us that there were a lot of creative ideas presented. “It was a great meeting!” she says.

The design group, Site Workshop, will work with Seattle Parks & Rec to come up with three plans before the next meeting on December 17th.

Construction is slated to start in August of 2010 with a completion date in the spring of 2011.

It will be all jazz all the time in downtown Ballard tonight.

The Ballard Jazz Walk starts at 7 p.m. and boasts 18 bands and 12 venues. Here is a schedule (.pdf) for the night. Although it’s too late to buy advance tickets, you can still buy tickets for $25 at Sonic Boom, New York Fashion Academy (starting at 5 p.m.) and Egan’s Ballard Jam House (starting at 6 p.m.). One ticket pays gets you in to all the shows.

Update 10 p.m.: Officers say they arrested the man after a long standoff, and it’s taking some time for officers to wrap up the investigation. A man matching the name of the suspect has a long rap sheet ranging from car theft to burglary, according to SeattleCrime.com. We’ll be checking for an official update in the morning. (Thanks Silver for the updates!)

Earlier: A large number of police units along with a SWAT team converged at 8th and Leary this evening, and officers have closed Leary just west of 8th Ave. Seattle Police Detective Jeff Kappel tells us its an ongoing investigation and officers are serving a warrant. Given that this is an active investigation, he says that he doesn’t have any other information.

My Ballard reader Silver sent in this photo that she snapped from Bernie’s Automotive across the street from the standoff, and she says two people have been handcuffed and placed in the back of an unmarked vehicle.

The armored SWAT vehicle (above) drove up to the front of the building. Silver says that officers are still yelling for at least one more person to come out. She has also heard quite a bit of breaking glass and several “flash bangs,” and she’s posting continuous updates in comments below…

The Bank of America branch at Fishermen’s Terminal is closing.

MagnoliaVoice is reporting that the bank sent letters to its customers saying the branch will close February 26th. Current customers are being directed to the branch in Ballard, although there is also a B of A in the Magnolia Village.

Top Banana, on the corner of 15th & 65th, is closing for the season.

Owner Jimmy Wild tells us that everything is 25 percent off today and will be discounted even more tomorrow. His plan is to lock up tomorrow afternoon.

His Christmas tree lot will open for business the day after Thanksgiving. (Thanks Beth for the tip!)

Tonight is your opportunity to share ideas for the new park on 9th Ave NW between NW 70th & NW 73rd.

Seattle Parks and Recreation is hosting the meeting at Whittier Elementary (1320 NW 75th St) from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Parks will gather ideas from the community and will start formulating some plans. Another meeting is scheduled for December 17th when the design team will present initial design concepts and the community can provide further input and direction. At a third meeting in early 2010, the team will present a preferred design developed from community input.

Just after 11 p.m., the Seattle School Board unanimously approved the new boundary maps assigning which schools Seattle children will attend for years to come. The vote stretched into the night as directors added amendments to the plan, slightly adjusting boundaries here and there. For the Ballard area, the boundaries for Whittier Elementary/West Woodland and Loyal Heights Elementary/Adams Elementary were shifted slightly from last round of changes. The updated maps and address look-up tool will be available here by next week.

Above is a look at the new Loyal Heights/Adams Elementary boundary change. According to the Omnibus Amendment (.pdf), “Based upon current data, it is believed that moving the southern boundary for the Loyal Heights atttendence area from Northwest 75th Street to Northwest 73rd Street starting at 32nd Avenue Northwest running east to 24th Avenue Northwest, following the jog south in Northwest 73rd Ave at 28th Avenue Northwest to 24th Ave Northwest will result in a projections of 19 students shifting from Adams to Loyal Heights. This results in the projected enrollment at Adams moving from 13 in excess of functional capacity to 20 under functional capacity. Following the streets in this manner also ensures that the students who move into the Loyal Heights atttendence area are within the Loyal Heights walk zone.”

The southern boundary for Whittier Heights Elementary was adjusted from NW 67th to NW 65th St. Students north of 65th will go to Whittier, while students south of 65th will go to West Woodland.

The biggest remaining controversy was the dividing line between Ballard High School to the south with Ingraham High School to the north.

“Many families would’ve liked to have seen the boundary for Ballard to be further north than 85th St., especially those communities, North Beach, Blue Ridge, Olympic Manor, which now largely attend Ballard High School,” explained Seattle Schools Director Peter Maier. “I wish it would’ve been possible… but there simply isn’t the capacity at Ballard High School to do that while we’re serving the entire city.”

From here, a transitional plan will be developed, taking into consideration sibling grandfathering, transportation and educational programs for schools that will reopen. Viewlands Elementary is slated to reopen in 2011.

A new business is opening on the corner of 20th & Market, leaving one less vacant space at the nearly empty intersection.

Work is underway behind the plastic to transform the former All the Kings Flags space into “Sustainable.” We spoke with Wanna, the owner of the new shop, who tells us she’ll sell recycled furniture, lighting and artwork. Now seemed like the perfect time to follow her dream, “Hopefully I can turn crisis into opportunity,” she says, referring to the economy. All the Kings Flags closed at the beginning of the year followed by Ballard Camera and Epilogue Books, leaving All the Best Pet Care as the lone business at the intersection. Wanna hopes to have Sustainable open in the next week.