Beacon Hill Blog

Halloween Beacon Bits: BRAAAAINS… and Jamie Moyer

• This Halloween, it is very important to Know Your Zombies and keep your brain safe from zombie attack! Southeast Seattle residents Lee and Sachi LeFever made a great little video explaining Zombies in Plain English — Columbia City Blog
• The SPD has safety tips for trick-or-treaters and those of us who give out the candy (including suggesting that kids only go out in the daytime if they aren’t accompanied by an adult — does anyone actually do that? Often no one’s home to give out the candy then!) — Rainier Valley Post
• Again in the RVP, a great column about the value in Halloween’s “hokey rituals” — Rainier Valley Post
• Not Halloweeny, but this made me smile: a heartwarming post and screen capture, at least for us Mariners fans — Seattlest

Tags: baseball, halloween, jamie moyer, trick-or-treating, video, zombies

Time to prepare for Old Man Winter

Seattle Public Utilities would like us to remind you that, despite the gorgeous weather we’ve had lately, the winter weather is on its way, and everyone needs to do a few things to keep safe and sound:

• keep your storm drains clear of leaf debris
• build an emergency supply kit (including water, radio and light)
• create a family disaster plan (and practice)

For more information about wintertime safety, please visit
Take Winter by Storm, Seattle.gov’s Emergency Resources page, and SDOT’s Winter Storm Information page.

Tags: emergency preparedness, storms, winter

Light rail = increased home values on North Beacon?

According to the Denver Post, homes near light rail stations on the new Southeast line there have increased in value by nearly 4 percent since the line opened, even while homes in the rest of the Denver market declined by an average of 7.5 percent. The closer the home is to the station, the more the value increased, with those less than half a mile from the station increasing by an average of 17.6 percent.

The article mentions a similar effect in other markets, with single-family home values showing increases ranging from 2 percent in San Diego to a blistering 32 percent in St. Louis. The article also suggests that it is not just station location that causes the biggest increases, but transit-oriented development (TOD) that adds to the attractiveness of the area. North Beacon and Mount Baker (Rainier and McClellan) will have their stations soon, but will the TOD follow? Will we see a similar increase in housing value here on Beacon Hill? The Othello and Columbia City stations are already seeing some development, but there hasn’t been much up on top of the Hill or at the foot of McClellan.

Thanks to Seattlest!

Tags: home values, light rail, mount baker, north beacon, rainier ave, stations

Haunted Brew House Tour continues this weekend

This is the second (and last) weekend of the Haunted Brew House Tour at the Rainier Cold Storage Brew-House, just down the hill in Georgetown. The 1903 brewery, once the sixth largest beer-producer in the world, will come to life with members of Ensemble Sub Masa and Annex Theatre bringing the spooky fun. Tickets and info here. The Brew-House is at 5900 Airport Way South.

Tags: brew-house, georgetown, halloween, haunted house

Get Out The Vote Rally, 11/2

Jon Gould reports that there will be a Get Out The Vote rally this Sunday on Beacon Hill, with Howard Dean, Governor Chris Gregoire, Senator Patty Murray, Senator Maria Cantwell, Congressman Jay Inslee, Peter Goldmark, and John Ladenburg. The event is November 2, 10:30 am, at the Van Asselt Community Center, 2820 South Myrtle Street. RSVP to Michelle Gregoire, 360 556 5323 or mgregoire@chrisgregoire.com.

Thanks, Jon!

Tags: democrats, politics, rally

What are some things you’d like to improve on Beacon Hill?

A while ago we asked you “what are five things you love about Beacon Hill?” There were a lot of great answers describing the wonderful things to be found on the Hill. But now it’s time to go the other direction. What are some things you wish could be improved on Beacon Hill?

Here are a couple of mine, in no particular order, to get you started. They don’t have to be issues of huge importance, though those are fine, too. Some of mine are a bit frivolous, but that’s OK:

• We could use a few more restaurants, particularly pizza, and a good brewpub. (And can you get breakfasts on the Hill?)
• Speaking of pizza, Pagliacci is one company that will not deliver to us or open a store in Southeast Seattle; our delivery options are fairly limited, compared to other neighborhoods.
• I love our local coffee shops, but wish they’d stay open a bit later; there’s no real gathering place for people in the evenings other than the few bars.
• I would like to see the Hill be a bit more self-contained, so we can avoid driving our cars more, though the light rail will help quite a bit. There used to be a drugstore up here, and a movie theater. Wouldn’t it be great to have those again? How about a book shop or newsstand?
• I really, really want to see a regularly-scheduled street market up here on the hill. Not even necessarily a Farmer’s Market, though that would be wonderful, of course — but one that has things besides food. Art and crafts, maybe? Or collectibles? Why not give people from outside the area a reason to come up to Beacon Hill once the train is running? Maybe then they will spend money elsewhere on the Hill, too.

Tags: room for improvement, things we don't love, wish lists

Beacon Bits: Camp Fire, Comet Lodge, and Déjà Vu

It’s a slow news week on the Hill (I think everyone’s enjoying our late October sunshine) but there are a few things we wanted to mention:

• As an ex-Camp Fire Girl myself, I must pass this on: Families with children three years of age or older are invited to a Camp Fire USA Information Night on November 5 at the Douglass-Truth Library on 23rd and Yesler. More info here. Camp Fire is not just girls any more, and it is lots of fun — Rainier Valley Post
• A Déjà Vu strip club is proposed for a Sodo location just 400 feet from Safeco Field… and the Mariners aren’t happy. If this opens, I believe this would become the closest strip club to Beacon Hill, wouldn’t it? — Seattle Times
• KUOW ran a story on the Comet Lodge Cemetery today, which you can hear on their website if you missed it earlier — Mid Beacon Hill

Tags: camp fire, comet lodge cemetery, déjà vu, kids, mariners, safeco field, sodo, strip club

Metro meeting to discuss transit changes tonight

We mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Metro is surveying Southeast Seattle residents on potential changes to the bus routes in our area. We should have mentioned that there is a meeting scheduled to discuss the changes — tonight. (Apologies; I thought we had.) The meeting is tonight, October 28, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, at Jefferson Community Center (Hasselberg Hall), 3801 Beacon Avenue South. Details are here. Thanks to the North Beacon Hill Council for the reminder!

Tags: bus, meeting, metro

Daylight break-ins and a safety warning

Kam Yee wrote to tell us:

Our neighbor’s and our house both got broken into last week. I wanted this group to know because both houses were robbed midday when we stay at home moms took our baby out for errands. Our homes are near Macpherson’s Fruit Stand and Maple School. I don’t want to be a fear mongerer, but thought I should warn you as the robbers seem to target during broad daylight when you take baby out for a few hours. During the couple of hours we were out, they have broke in through the basement window and effectively stole our electronics and jewelry. We suspect multiple accomplices watching until we left the house and had a lookout waiting for our return. Luckily we were not hurt.

The police reminded us the if you have any reasons to believe you have or had intruders to get out of the house and call 911. Wait outside or at a neighbor’s even if it takes the officers a long time to arrive. You should never search your house without an armed officer.

This safety warning is a good thing to keep in mind. I admit that if I came home to signs of a break-in I’d be tempted to go in and look around the house, but this is a Bad Idea. Call 911 first.

Kam, thanks for emailing us; we are sorry your house was broken into, but very glad no one was hurt.

Tags: break-in, safety

What we love about the Hill

The other day we asked “what are five things you love about Beacon Hill?” The results are an interesting snapshot of the reasons many of us live here.

The most common answer was “convenience.” Our location has “convenient access to just about anywhere (except perhaps Ballard),” and it’s particularly convenient if you like to visit Georgetown (two people mentioned our neighbors to the southwest). The light rail — and the access it will soon give to Sounders FC games — are something a couple of us are excited about as well.

Many people mentioned particular Beacon Hill businesses that they love. Most loved were the Red Apple, El Quetzal, and Victrola (ex-Galaxie), but Yoga on Beacon, Kusina Filipina, MacPherson’s Fruit and Produce, El Delicioso inside the ABC Supermarket, and Culinary Communion also got some love.

For being so close to Downtown and industrial SODO, Beacon Hill has a lot of nature to enjoy, and quite a few of you mentioned that. From “watching raptors over the greenbelt with my daughter from our front window” to “cloud-watching from my back porch” to enjoying “the fall colors along Beacon Avenue south of Columbian Way,” we get a lot of nature enjoyment from our perch above the city. And for that matter, we have some views, too. “The winter view of the Olympics” and “the stunning view of the Seattle skyline coming off of Beacon” are something we get to see all the time — don’t you feel lucky?

Views and buildings and even businesses are not all that make up a neighborhood, however, and so several people included their neighbors in their list of what they love about Beacon Hill. Some neighbors have Obama/Biden signs. Some “don’t mind when my other daughter plays her fiddle in the front yard.” And some are just amazing friends who are “not allowed to move away, ever.” The diversity of our neighbors is another thing we like: “going to the bank and hearing Cantonese, Spanish, and a bit of English.”

You can read all of the answers people gave and see who said what on the original post, and add your own comments if you like. Thanks to all those who answered so far!

I’ll post another question soon.

Tags: places we love, stuff we love

Wreath and Swag Workshop at Garden House, 11/15

The lovely Garden House on 15th Avenue South (it’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the oldest house on Beacon Hill!) is the site of a Wreath and Swag Workshop on Saturday, November 15, from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. Tickets are $20, and you will leave the workshop with either a swag or a wreath. Materials are included. More details and ticket purchase information are here. The Garden House is located at 2336 15th Ave South.

Tags: christmas, crafts, garden house, holiday, workshops

Enjoy the falling leaves with your kids at Jefferson Park

Seattle Parks and Recreation have scheduled a parent and child nature activity for next month, meeting at Jefferson Community Center. Here’s their press release:

Share nature with your child in your neighborhood park! Join one of our Naturalists for a fun filled hour and learn about the world outside your door. Please arrive 10 minutes before class time and wear weatherproof clothing. Up to two children can be registered with one adult. No strollers please. Pre-registration required. Call 684-7481 to register.

Ages: 3 – 5 years (accompanied by a parent)
Location: Jefferson Community Center, Hasselberg Hall, 3801 Beacon Ave. S
Date: Monday, November 17, 12:30 – 1:30 pm
Fee: $7 for one adult with one child; $3.50 for each additional person

Tags: children, jefferson community center, jefferson park, parks

Beacon Bits: Georgetown Morgue controversy, Ken Mochizuki, and gun bloggers

• The other day we expressed skepticism about the Georgetown Morgue story; Benjamin Lukoff has done the homework to explain why — Examiner.com
• …but A.M. Moscoso thinks Benjamin, by debunking the story, “didn’t prove anything other then the only story he could come up with was the deconstructing of another writer’s work.” (I disagree, but decide for yourself.) — Anita’s Owl Creek Bridge

  (Edited at 1:08 pm on 10/27 to add the following: Since we linked to Anita’s Owl Creek Bridge last night, she has changed her post to remove the link to the Examiner entirely, changing it to a KUBE promotional link, and also to remove her link to the Beacon Hill Blog. See the cached version on Google, for as long as it lasts.)

• Beacon Hill native Ken Mochizuki, author of Beacon Hill Boys, gave a couple of interesting online interviews last month: here and here — Flamingnet Young Adult Book Blog and ALSC Blog
• A “gun blogger” meet-up is planned at La Cabaña at 6:00 pm on November 9 – The View from North Central Idaho

Tags: georgetown morgue, guns, ken mochizuki

Cleveland students create mural

Correction:The original post had the correct date, but incorrect day.

The Rainier Valley Post reports that Cleveland High School students are currently involved in a project to design and create a 9 x 31 foot mural for the school’s entryway, with help from SEED’s Public Art Program and Urban Artworks. You can see the mural and celebrate the achievement at a community celebration of the completed work on Saturday Thursday, November 20, from 3:30 to 4:30 pm at Cleveland. More information, including photos, at the Rainier Valley Post.

Tags: art, cleveland hs, seed, urban artworks

Beacon Bits: Blog love, salad love, touchdown!

Beacon Bits are collections of useful or interesting links or other tidbits that we’ll post periodically.

• Columbia City hearts Mid Beacon Hill — Columbia City Blog
• Grown Folks Coffee has “the best spinach salad… in Seattle, and it costs only $4.95” — Seattle P-I
• The Times buried their “‘Beacon Hill Groper’ released” story deeply within their “Local Digest” while headlining a Totem Lake story on that digest page instead; this is one of the reasons I prefer the P-I — Seattle Times
• In a Rainier Valley high school football battle for the ages, Franklin beat Rainier Beach 22-21 on a last second touchdown pass, ensuring that both teams (along with, ahem, my alma mater Nathan Hale) will play a mini-tiebreaker next week for Metro playoff berths. — Seattle P-I

Tags: beacon hill groper, blogs, coffee, football, franklin hs, grown folks, rainier beach hs, restaurants

What are five things you love about Beacon Hill?

The Ms. Adventures in Italy blog had a post the other day, “Five Things I Love About San Francisco.” She invited readers to post their own “Five Things I Love About _______” lists on their own blogs. I started thinking about what I love about Seattle, and then thought “hey, why not Beacon Hill?”

So I ask you all, what are the five things you love about Beacon Hill? Please post in the comments. If you have photos, please email them to us or put them in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool at Flickr.

I’ll get things started with my list. I live in North Beacon so this might be biased toward that area:

• The light rail that will be serving us in less than a year!
• The lovely old Craftsman bungalows that haven’t been “remuddled” beyond all recognition
• The tasty food and drink available on Beacon Avenue these days (particularly El Quetzal and Victrola)
• The new library: beautiful, and full of the best things in the world: books!
• The sound of the gospel singing from the Baptist Church across from the Library, echoing through the evening air in summer when the windows are open

So what are your five?

Next week I may ask for the five things you’d like to improve about the Hill, but for now, we’ll stay on the positive side.

Tags: bungalows, church, library, light rail, places we love, restaurants

New Holly playground completed in one day

You’ll remember a few days ago, when we published an appeal for volunteers to help build a playground for New Holly’s 2,500 children in six hours. The day was yesterday, and the playground was completed on time with the help of many volunteers. The Seattle Times has a nice story about it, including video (but I wish they’d have shown more video of the playground — anyone out there take any photos at the event?).

Tags: new holly, playground

Accused “Beacon Hill Groper” freed

The man suspected of being the “Beacon Hill Groper” is being freed on probation, after the victim best able to identify her attacker chose not to testify.

Darin L. Bolar, 42, was sentenced to five months in King County Jail for first degree theft and misdemeanor assault against a man who reportedly witnessed Bolar groping a woman on Rainier Avenue earlier this year. However, the woman refused to testify, and without such testimony, police are unable to link Bolar to any of the 25 sexual assaults that occurred in the Beacon Hill and Rainier Valley areas, beginning in 2006. None of the other victims were able to identify Bolar.

Bolar, a registered Level 1 sex offender, was given credit for the time already served and will be freed on two years’ probation, under condition that he completes a sexual deviancy evaluation and treatment program and stays out of trouble.

The “Beacon Hill Groper” cases involved the assault of 25 ethnically Asian girls and women, typically walking down the street or waiting at bus stops. The attacks became bolder and more aggressive over time, and caused substantial fear among Southeast Seattle residents.

For more, see the coverage at KOMO and the P-I.

Tags: beacon hill groper

Community forum on breaking down housing barriers

“Breaking Down Housing Barriers” is a two part anti-racism community forum to be held on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 6:00 to 9:00 pm, and on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 6:00 to 9:00 pm.

The first part is an education and awareness panel and discussion, which will “focus on issues that prevent people from finding housing including mortgage default, eviction records and criminal histories… (and) also discuss the underlying role racism plays and how it affects people of color trying to secure stable housing in Seattle/King County.”

The second part is an advocacy and action panel, which will “focus on actions community members can take to help make stable housing more accessible to communities of color.”

Both sessions will be at the Eritrean Community Center, at the foot of Beacon Hill and just off Rainier Avenue at 1954 South Massachusetts.

Find more information at the Solid Ground website.

Thanks to Liz Reed Hawk on the BAN list.

Tags: activism, anti-racism, discussion, eritrean community center, forum, housing

17th and Beacon intersection work status

If you are like us, you’ve been wondering what the heck is going on with the intersection at 17th/Beacon/Forest, across from the library, that’s been closed since September. Allison Delong took the initiative to call SDOT to find out.

Apparently, the hold-up is that they need to grind some asphalt to finish the work, and the grinder is in the shop! They hope to have the intersection open again in the next few weeks, one way or another.

Thanks, Allison, for posting to the Beacon Hill list!

Tags: 17th avenue s, beacon avenue s, s forest, street repair