Comments on: Employee stabbed inside Ballard bar

By: Bank Jobs Dubai

Bank Jobs Dubai — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 06:25:02 +0000

Ouch that hurts, good thing the bartender was fine after the stabbing.. what the hell are inside people's minds nowadays. A lot of crime has been up lately..

By: BallardMan99

BallardMan99 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:06:23 +0000

That's a really low thing to say to someone who knows what's going on in his own neighborhood. I am not a drug user or dealer and I can back Cynic up on this. I live more up towards Crown Hill (which isn't as nice or crime-free as other parts of Ballard) where these kind of people and craziness is just unavoidable. Up here on 85th and 15th, we have had stabbings, shootings, SWAT team incidents, registered sex offenders, White Supremacists, and East African – Somali drug dealers – I am familiar with this because I see it everyday from my home/business here…My guess is your are a spoiled, upper-income Condo-dwelling yuppie spared of these ugly things/people and laugh at anyone who brings you evidence to contradict the fairy land fantasy world you live in. If only we were all so lucky.

By: thevikingman

thevikingman — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:43:10 +0000

dont drag the bit into this you retard!!! the bit has been there since before your dumass was born. you are a deuche!!

By: Silver

Silver — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:27:01 +0000

Just found this: http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2009/10/11/man-st...

By: SPG

SPG — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:02:53 +0000

I've always been surprised at that attitude around here as well. When somebody steps out of line around me I'm not shy about telling them so. Usually the bystanders are more shocked that I would tell someone off then about what the offender did.

By: SPG

SPG — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:00:23 +0000

yet somehow…

By: BallardDINK

BallardDINK — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:25:54 +0000

With a name like that, are you sure you didn't move here from Tibet?

Anyway, it is an interesting perspective. And one that, as another transplant from the midwest (Michigan), I can back up.

The "somebody else's problem" / "I don't want to get involved" thing seems to me like an extension of the legendary Seattle Freeze.

By: TenzingNorgay

TenzingNorgay — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:17:37 +0000

Interesting discussion. Here's my two bits: I moved here from a small midwest town. We had drugs, booze, and all the ingredients for bad things to happen. The big difference was that, there, if someone started trouble there'd be action on the part of the bystanders. If someone started getting belligerent or out of line there'd be at least 5-10 men step up and set the instigator straight. It seems like in Seattle everybody values their anynomity so much that not many people want to make a move to stop the trouble. And the cops (or lack of) get blamed. Not that either way is totally right, but its just an interesting difference.

By: motorrad

motorrad — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:11:17 +0000

It ain't rocket science.

By: Ernie_98107

Ernie_98107 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:35:54 +0000

Jules, your example is a perfect illustration of how PEOPLE change as much as the times change.

When I first moved to Ballard one of my favorite haunts was Valhalla, I had just turned 21 and I can assure you that my friends and I stayed WELL past 7:00PM. Nowadays the OP is my favorite place to meet the wife for a beer after work. The funny thing is that now that we're “old” we seldom stay past 7:00PM. So who has changed more, me or the Valhalla?

By: SPG

SPG — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:25:11 +0000

In a tense situation seconds feel like minutes, and a couple minutes feel like 20.
I'm always surprised that Downtown Ballard and Downtown Fremont don't have a few cops hanging around when the bars are full on the weekends. We all know that there are going to be a few troublemakers and d bags that can't handle their alcohol and having a couple cops around will do wonders in keeping things from escalating. How many drunks are likely to climb behind the wheel while the cop is watching? How many frat boys are going to take that first punch when the cop is right there?
I know the Police are understaffed, but wouldn't it make sense to have a couple where the crimes are happening instead of where they aren't?

By: SPG

SPG — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:18:36 +0000

Jules, I don't really want to rehash the tired old "Old vs New" argument here, but you have to realize that EVERYWHERE has changed. You should broaden your horizons a bit and actually experience a bit of the world, heck even a bit of this country, and you'll realize that most places have changed dramatically over the past few decades.
I'm not old enough to comment on the 50's or 60's or even the 70's, but I will say that I like the new Ballard more than the one I saw through the 80's and 90's. People take care of their yards now, there's things to do around here now, there's a vibrant downtown (even if you feel that you're priced out of it).
Yes, it is getting a bit more crowded, some of the bar patrons on weekends are a bit annoying, but the crime that we're seeing is a city wide uptick as the police force hasn't kept pace with the population growth.
I'll readily admit things have changed, a lot for the better, some for the worse, but it's not just your precious time capsule of Ballard, it's the whole world.

By: Silver

Silver — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:22:21 +0000

No, or I wouldn't have one!

By: Name

Name — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:08:33 +0000

Quite a narrow assumption on your part to believe that you heard more of the witnesses rendition of what happened then anyone else who reads this blog……. you never know who is on the other side of the computer. Haha, you'd be rather surprised, I believe. Especially since I know for a fact that it didn't take 20 minutes for SPD to arrive. Lots of different people read and participate in this blog, don't assume buddy.

By: Jules

Jules — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:46:40 +0000

The Sunset was a Chinese restaurant. The Old Peculiar was the Valhalla…and it was empty after about 7 at night, when all the old fishermen went home. All those taverns you mention? Beside's Hattie's, most of those places showed up in the 1970s. We have always had bars here, though…but mostly taverns, that only sold beer and wine. (Oh, and Mike's has been around forever- my Dad used to stop by on the way home and get us chili.)

I've lived here my entire life, as have my parents…and my mom's 87. I think you'll find that there are actually quite a few of us around the hood who have been here a while.

The difference is that previously the neighborhood taverns catered to the fishermen and mill workers who worked and lived here…now it is a destination drinking area.

By: BallardDINK

BallardDINK — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:49:08 +0000

So, describe the guy. In detail. And a name.

Seriously! If you have info on this violent person, info that could warn us away from contact with him, then you should tell us. And the police, of course.

By: correction

correction — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:21:36 +0000

*ads

By: sweetrose

sweetrose — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:07:30 +0000

Did anyone actually BUY a condo in Ballard? All I see is rent signs and adds from the developers.

By: sweetrose

sweetrose — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:05:59 +0000

DO be aware mom that in the places you name it was hard to find more than 5 people after about 7pm.

Stories mom? I was at a wake a few years ago where an old Ballard boy was telling us all about how he went to such a rough school…Crown Hill Elementary. : 0

The key of course is “story.”

By: Kat

Kat — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:50:38 +0000

My Grandmother owned a bar in Ballard in the 1950's (which was across the street from another bar) and my father owned a bar in late 70's early 80's. There has ALWAYS been bars in Ballard.
My mom grew up in Ballard in the 50's and said that there were SO many kids in Ballard back in the day (at least a kid to every house) and that they ruled the streets on their bikes! Well at least they thought they did.

By: Cynic

Cynic — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:42:50 +0000

Let me clarify. I have a close connection to the witnesses and have heard more witnesses redition of what happened ANYONE who reads this. SO I thank you for your asinine comments.

The police were called and took 20 minutes to respond to a call. Not blaming them, I'm sure they were busy. BUT the guy got away because it took that long.

Not blaming the police, but just calling for more enforcement to get these guys off the street. THEY CAUSE PROBLEMS.

The individual in question has been seen by me and my friends who are frequently in Ballard. Doesnt take much but some common sense to see who does what on the streets.

By: Ballardmom

Ballardmom — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:57:51 +0000

I'd imagine that Cynic knows this info because Cynic is a customer of “known drug dealer”.

By: Ballardmom

Ballardmom — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:56:17 +0000

Yeah, downtown Ballard was so much nicer before all these new drinking establishments went in like: the Sunset, the Tractor, Hattie's Hat, the Old Pequliar, Connor Byrne, Lock & Keel, Mike's Chili Parlor, the Bit Saloon. Too bad all those new taverns have shown up in the new Ballard in the last couple years.

As for the gangs in the 50's – I wasn't even born yet. You'd have to take it up with the older butcher at QFC's meat department on 15th – if you can find out where he was transferred to when they closed. He told me all sorts of interesting stories of growing up here that are quite different from yours. Maybe he was lying? I really don't know.

By: Name

Name — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:19:02 +0000

Cynic! Yaaaay congrats you're the first to “blame the police.” It's always the SPD's fault when people are violent towards each other. And wow…. “Attacker was a know drug dealer who didnt want to pay up his full bill.” Damn, do you ever have the info! Let me guess, known drug dealer because he's Hispanic right ? FOOL.

By: 98119

98119 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:44:27 +0000

Do you really need to be high paid these days to own a Ballard condo?

By: ballardrocksnow

ballardrocksnow — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:19:52 +0000

Yes because in old ballard the mariners always promoted world peace when they went drinking.

By: Jules

Jules — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:47:14 +0000

Ballard full of gangs in the 1950s? Yah, sure you betcha, we had roving gangs of Icelanders and Norwegians attacking each other with frozen herring. Not.
I wasn't around in the 1940s, but my parents were...and the 1920s and 1930s as well. We have NEVER had this kind of crime. And I have 100 years of old Ballard newspapers to prove it.

What they did have in the 1940s and 1950s were lots of "Single Room Occupancy" rooms down on Ballard Avenue for the mill workers and fishermen, and lots of taverns. So, while it might have been a rough area of Ballard, we didn't have the kind of crime we have today.

What causes this sort of crime? When you move from a neighborhood business district to a destination drinking district, this is what you get.

By: Cynic

Cynic — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:14:23 +0000

ACTUALLY-

This is due to the drug problem in Ballard. Attacker was a know drug dealer who didnt want to pay up his full bill.

Not condos, not yuppies, not bars either. BLAME THE LACK OF DRUG ENFORCEMENT and the inability of SPD to take direction from witness. This guy is probably out of the state since they dont know north from south when it comes to 15th Ave.

By: Mondoman

Mondoman — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:57:27 +0000

I figure if their “name” is really just an all-caps version of what Bill the Cat might say, it's probably not worth reading the associated comment.

By: Mondoman

Mondoman — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:52:23 +0000

Methinks it has more to do with social and family structures than with population per se.