Ballard girls lose in basketball quarterfinals

This just in from the Tacoma Dome: Pasco 55, Ballard 45. It was a hard-fought game with six lead changes. If I’m reading the bracket correctly, the best they can do now is 4th place. But really, this is the first time the Ballard girls have gone to state in the 4A division, so way …

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Free parking disappearing fast

It goes without saying that it’s getting harder and harder to find free parking in Ballard. Or any parking for that matter, especially around the center of town, at Market and Ballard Ave. (Especially now that the QFC lot is gone.) Over the last few years, the city has installed 1,500 pay parking stations in …

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Effort to save Sunset Bowl intensifies

We’ve written about avid bowler Jim Bristow and his efforts to save Sunset Bowl by circulating petitions and organizing a group of investors. Now he’s launching a new site, SaveSunsetBowl.com, with the goal to “require the new property owners, Avalon Bay Communities Inc., to include a bowling facility in their new proposed mutli-use development.” Not …

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Ballard girls win first game at state tourney

Ballard High’s girls basketball team, which is on a record-setting run, just won the first game of the state tournament at the Tacoma Dome. The Beavers beat Rogers, 48-39. They’ll play Pasco in the second round, Thursday at 8:30 p.m. You can follow the latest scores with the tournament bracket here.

New bumper sticker: ‘Flee Ballard’

We’ve all seen the “Free Ballard” bumper stickers. And now the Mysterious Traveler spotted an alteration to the theme on the back of a Suburu: “Flee Ballard” (full photo). Looks like some nifty artwork swapping that “R” for an “L.” As we posted last week, Archie McPhee recently added a new sticker, “Ballard Welcomes Our …

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Shilshole’s missing sea serpent

No, there’s not a big sea serpent swimming around off Golden Gardens (although that was a fascination years ago), but Kim from Seattle Daily Photo noticed that the metal sea serpent sculpture is missing from the Shilshole jetty. “There are only jagged pieces sticking up in the places it was anchored into the jetty,” she …

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Big wine taste Saturday on The Ridge

The Phinney Neighborhood Association is putting on its big annual wine taste Saturday evening at 730 p.m. If you like vino, this event is a great one with 10 tastes and catered food. Purchase tickets online to get a break on the rate, ranging from $22 beforehand for PNA members, to $30 at the door …

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Could Denny’s help save Memorial Stadium?

Seattle PI columnist Robert Jamieson doesn’t mince words about the Ballard Denny’s. “The Denny’s site is run-down, a nostalgic eyesore,” he writes. “It carries little historical heft and has debatable architectural import compared with… Memorial Stadium at Seattle Center.” With planners considering replacing the stadium with a giant parking venue or an amphitheater, stadium supporters …

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Vintage photos of Manning’s Cafeteria

Anne Forestieri, who helped lead the effort to landmark the Denny’s building, sent us these photos from 1983 of the Ballard Manning’s before it was converted to the Denny’s. Anne asked that we post the photos “so that people don’t keep seeing the tired photo of the building being boarded up, thus contributing to the …

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Skillings: ‘I was just helping her’

Joseph Skillings, the Adams Elementary teacher who’s recovering from that vicious attack in January, spoke to the media for the first time (watch KOMO video). “I was just helping her,” he said of the attack, when he intervened to help a woman who was being accosted at a Capitol Hill bus stop. Skillings has made …

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Ballard evokes envy in tournament draw

The brackets for the 16 teams in the state girls basketball tournament are determined by a draw, and the Ballard Beavers are in a good spot. In fact, their first opponent has a losing record (Rogers of Puyallup). And the opponents in the next round are both unranked (Pasco or Graham-Kapowsin). “She should be happy,” …

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Overheard at Woodland Park Zoo

We decided to drive up the hill to visit Woodland Park Zoo. The rare Sumatran tiger was feeling restless, darting back and forth, giving the crowd a good show. That’s when we heard a woman sitting on the bench behind us say to herself, “Jump, tiger!” She smiled, but we really couldn’t tell if she …

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