Safeway - Please Help Keep Ballard Nice

Dear Safeway, we are asking, pleading, begging you to do a better job of keeping track of your shopping carts. Your carts are routinely dumped around our Ballard neighborhood. They are unsightly and tend to attract trash and other debris. A common spot for the abandoned carts is the Republic Parking lots at 2032 NW 56th St. (#105) and 2031 NW 57th St. (#139) where there are currently 9 abandoned carts. Please be a good neighbor and help us keep Ballard clean.

Urban Rest Stop Meeting Tonight

Concerned citizens and merchants are invited to a meeting tonight, Tuesday March 22 at 6:00 p.m.--Ballard Library--to discuss the Ballard Urban Rest Stop (public bathrooms, showers, & services for homeless & transients) planned for 57th street near NW Market Street.  City Council Member Nick Licata is expected to attend.  The meeting is organized by a grass roots group of Ballard parents, residents & others that are opposed to the location proposed in the heart of a Ballard neighborhood and two blocks from the primary shopping district.

Urban Rest Stop and The NW 57th Community Group

This was sent to us by the NW 57th Community Group

We'd like your help in getting the word out about a group that has formed to act on the neighborhood concerns regarding LIHI's plans to place an urban rest stop at the property they have purchases in NW 57th St.  We have already met with a city planning representative and are planning meetings with police and government officials.  Obviously the more participation we have the more seriously our concerns will be taken.

For ease of administration we have set up a Yahoo! group to manage our communications and membership. Concerned citizens and business owners who are interested in participating are encouraged to join our group:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nw57th/

Police Action on Market Street

4 Seattle Police officers from 3 different Police Cars are questioning a man on Market Street in front of Sonic Boom records. Not sure what's going on but a very big response.

Holidays in Ballard

Come out and celebrate the Holidays in Ballard. The In Ballard Merchants Association is planning 3 great events including Santa and Hay Rides at the Historic Ballard Bell Tower, a Grub 'N Pub Crawl, and a Holiday Shop Hop.

Santa at the Historic Bell Tower
Saturday Dec 4, 4-8pm
Get Photos with Santa at the Bell Tower, take FREE horse drawn hay rides down Ballard Ave. and enjoy other holiday festivities. Dante's Inferno Hot Dog Cart will be on hand!

Holiday Grub 'N Pub Crawl
Thursday Dec 16
Grab a Holiday Grub "N Pub Crawl Passport Card, eat drink & enjoy Specials at participating locations, get your card punched at 4 locations, and enter it to win gift cards to Ballard restaurants and bars.

Holiday Shop Hop
Dec 1-31
Grab a Holiday Shop Hop Passport Card, shop at participating locations throughout December, get your card punched at 4 locations, and enter it to win a Shopping Spree to Ballard shops & boutiques.

More info at inballard.com

Car Prowler near 62nd and 14th

We just received this. Could be the same prowler the van-dweller wrote about last week.

We woke up on Monday morning, November 8, 2010 to find that all three of our vehicles had been broken into! The thief(s) were well trained and used a jimmy to open the doors. They didn’t even close the doors, probably so that they did not make any noise. In talking to the neighbors, we’ve concluded the theft occurred sometime between 3-5 am. This is the 5th incident of car theft on our block in less than 6 months. Ridiculous. We live near 62nd, a few blocks from 14th ave NW, which we hear about the people camping in their cars there and then ‘scoping’ out the neighborhoods at night looking for the perfect situation. Just a heads up if you’re in that area. Lock your cars and set any alarms you may have.

Report of trash thrown at Van

Below is an account of an incident from a van-dweller:

On Friday, Nov. 5, at around 10am, a van-dweller (me) observed a yuppie driving a convertible, in excess of the speed limit, who threw an entire grocery bag full of beer bottles from the car. The bag landed on the side of the road near the van-dweller's vehicle, sending bottles rolling in all directions. Van-dwellers get really annoyed when residents litter near their vehicles, because everyone assumes that we are the ones who made the mess. The van-dweller picked up the litter and deposited it in a nearby trash can. The van-dweller was particularly impressed that this happened at 10am on a weekday morning. Don't you people ever work?

We thank the van-dweller for picking up the mess and If anyone saw this happen please contact the authorities with a description and license plate number of the vehicle.