The Ballard Locks’ biggest fan

If you spend a lot of time at the Locks, you’ve probably seen an eccentric character named Richard Lewis. He’s there every weekday between 3:30 and 4:50 p.m. — for the last two decades — watching the tugboats with sincere interest. Turns out, he’s a “walking encyclopedia of the tugboat industry,” as this Seattle Times profile explains. “He’s one of the flavors of Ballard,” said Scott Diehl, a lock and dam lead operator at Locks. (Photo by Seattle Times’ Ken Lambert, larger version and more here.)