The rash of recent car break-ins seem quite clustered, spreading out north and east from a point near 17th and College (the yellow marker).
A large number of car break-ins and smashed windows have been reported on the mailing list lately, mostly running along Waite Street and also along 18th Avenue South.
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Mike Cheney reports good progress in his efforts to establish a block watch through the federal Project Safe Neighborhoods program on South Beacon Hill. Contact Mike to learn more and help out.
Will we see a sign like this more often at the Beacon Hill library? Photo by Jasoon.Travis at KOMO reports that the Beacon Hill library branch could see a fairly drastic reduction of hours under the mayor’s 2010 budget proposal, including closing entirely on Fridays and Sundays. The proposal would also include another week-long closure like the one this summer. If you have concerns about this, now is the time to contact your city council representatives.
Also via KOMO, a story about Jay Park, who grew up attending a Beacon Hill church, then gained fame in a Korean boy band, then resigned from his band to return to Seattle, where his fans have been sending supportive gifts and letters — even spending money to hire an airplane to tow a sign to let him know how they feel. Unfortunately, the KOMO blog story seems to have offended fans of the band, who have left 171 comments so far expressing their anger. (Update: and over 1000 more comments on the same article spread among the KOMO sites it appeared on, like the Edmonds KOMO site. Yikes!)
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The Girl Scouts of Western Washington have two information nights coming up in Southeast Seattle for girls and adults interested in learning more about Girl Scouts. The meetings are Monday, October 5, 6:30 pm-7:30 pm at the Beacon Hill library, and Tuesday, October 6, 6:30pm-7:30pm at the Columbia City library. Potential members and volunteers are welcome. No registration is required; if you have questions, contact JoinUs@girlscoutsww.org or call 800-767-6845.
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Martin H. Duke has an editorial in Seattle Transit Blog discussing tonight’s County Council Town Hall meeting at the Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club and responses to residents’ concerns about Southeast Seattle transit cuts.
He writes,
“There are sins on all sides in Metro debates, but let’s not conflate the addition of a transfer, especially when one route runs every 8 minutes, with a total loss of service.”
As posted earlier, there is a Town Hall Meeting of the Metropolitan King County Council in Southeast Seattle tomorrow, September 30. The topics of the meeting are the impact light rail will have on the regional transit system, and the fiscal challenges facing Metro Transit, which is facing a deficit of $213 million for 2010-2011. Presenters will take questions from the audience and Councilmembers will take public testimony on any issue at the end of the program.
The meeting will be held at the Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club, 4520 Martin Luther King Jr. Way South. The site is only one block north of Columbia City Station. The public is invited to meet with Councilmembers at an informal reception starting at 6:00 p.m. The Town Hall will begin at 6:30 p.m.
This is an opportunity to meet with both officials from Metro Transit and the members of the County Council, including Larry Gossett, the Councilmember who represents the Beacon Hill and Rainier Valley communities on the County Council.
Here’s a video invitation from Bob Ferguson and Larry Gossett with more information about the town hall meeting:
Unfortunately this does conflict with the Neighborhood Plan Update Open House which is scheduled from 6:00 – 8:00 pm, but the site of that open house is just up the street, at the Asian Counseling and Referral Service, 3639 Martin Luther King Jr Way South, so it may be possible to stop in at both if you need to.
Illustrations of potential North Beacon rezoning are surrounded by Beaconians' comments on sticky notes at Sunday's DPD open house. Photo by Wendi.The first DPD Neighborhood Plan Update Open House was on Sunday afternoon at the Asian Counseling and Referral Service building on MLK Way South. Neighbors had the chance to see the current draft proposals and comment on them. There is one more open house, this Wednesday evening from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, at the same site. If you’re interested in the future of North Beacon Hill (or North Rainier, or Othello, both of which will also have draft proposals featured at the open house), this is an important chance to give your opinion on the various proposals.
(Our unscientific, quick impression from looking at the posted comments at the open house on Sunday: North Rainier residents seem to strongly favor redevelopment and density around the pedestrian wasteland that is Mount Baker Station. Othello residents are unhappy about planned new density in their neighborhood. Beacon Hill residents seemed to be somewhere in the middle — wanting improvements but skittish about some of the possible changes, particularly the “tower” zoning option.)
The NBHC meeting this Thursday brings a couple of guests with presentations in addition to regular business. Remember: if you live in the neighborhood and you’ve been to even one NBHC meeting before, you’ve got a vote.
North Beacon Hill Council Agenda
Thursday, October 1, 2009, 7:00 PM Beacon Hill Library Community Room
Please join us in making decisions that affect our community. All are welcome!
7:00 Introductions and hellos
7:10 Superintendent Jorge Carrasco, Seattle City Light; presentation on placement of sight-line obstructivepoles on West Beacon Hill in 12th Ave. neighborhood with Q&A afterward
7:25 Brian Dougherty, Seattle Department of Transportation; presentation on proposed parking changes for 15th Ave. S.; presentation with Q&A afterward
7:55 Community reports and council business:
Seattle Police Department
Neighborhood Planning Ad Hoc Committee (vote needed, quorum required); if motion is passed, formation of committee to draft a grant for ongoing neighborhood planning work
Other: Matthew Stubbs as NBHC representative to GDDC – vote required; announcements from Steve Louie, Neighborhood Coordinator; other announcements and any concerns from the community
This missing bagpipes have been found! Somebody tossed them in a trash bin, but they were found before it was emptied.
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Denise Louie Education Center is looking for a board member.
Leadership Opportunity – Become a Board Member
As a board member of Denise Louie Education Center, you can apply your professional experience to improving the lives of low income children and families. Our goal is to prepare children for success in school and in life, through pre-school, parent involvement, family support, healthy development, and parent leadership.
Board members provide strategic direction to the organization using information from our community assessment, program data and self assessment. They are responsible for ensuring quality service delivery and the fulfillment of the agency mission.
Board members are also volunteers working at implementation level, especially when there are fundraising events. We would love your help in achieving our goal of continuing to prepare low-income, culturally/linguistically diverse children and families for school and success. This is a leadership level position.
Requirements:
Attend board meetings (8 of 11 required);
Participate on at least one board committee (fundraising, board development or planning and service delivery);
Participate in the board’s annual retreat Make a personal financial gift at a leadership level;
Volunteer at least one time per year in the classroom, field trip, parent meeting or other activity involving DLEC children and/or families;
Help solicit other contributions to the organization or assist with a fund raising event/activity;
Participate in the evaluation of the Executive Director Recruit other board members or volunteers; and
Speak or represent DLEC at a community event.
How to find out more:
Please contact Janice Deguchi, Executive Director at (206) 792-9972 or via email at jdeguchi@deniselouie.org or Frances Lin, Director of Development at (206) 621-7880 or via email at flin@deniselouie.org.
Those were the questions the North Beacon Hill Planning Advisory committee tried to answer Thursday night. We looked at the drawings and carefully read the Draft Goals and Strategies. We talked about the street design. Here is what we concluded in the very short period of time we have before the meeting this weekend:
There are a lot of things missing that were discussed several times in our big meetings with DPD in May and March. The document is pretty scanty, considering how much has been talked about. We are worried that all the good ideas aren’t going to get captured, organized, and analyzed. Please go look for yourself and see if you think it is complete.
Public Safety:
In spite of the fact that public safety was mentioned numerous times in meetings, there is no public safety component. Specific strategies for improving safety that have been voiced are:
Extend the Alcohol Impact Area to Beacon Hill (bans sale of cheap high-alcohol content beverages), add Parks Rangers to Beacon Hill playground/park near Beacon Hill Elementary School and Jefferson Park (the Parks Superintendent supports this recommendation and has stated so in meetings), and support legislation from Councilmember Burgess to ban aggressive panhandling, specifically at: grocery stores, gas stations, and near schools, and at arterial intersections. Continue reading Planning Advisory Committee discusses draft neighborhood plan→
This lost kitty was last seen Friday, September 18, on the corner of 13th and Hill Street. She is very friendly and is a loud talker. Her name is Nauney, but she also goes by Pretty Kitty. She is a gray tabby with green/yellow colored eyes.
Please call Rosie at 701-610-4555 or Seth at 206-914-0557 with any info.
The squeaks, screeches, squeals, and thumps Sound Transit’s light rail trains make as they round the bend and enter the Beacon Hill tunnel apparently exceed federal noise limit standards, so yesterday the agency’s Board of Directors approved emergency funding of up to $1 million to address the problem — Seattle P-I
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Beacon Hill’s bandwidthproblem was mentioned by mayoral candidate Mike McGinn at a recent town hall meeting. Glenn Fleishman delves into McGinn’s Internet platform plank in an interview at Publicola.
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Craig Thompson is wrangling a number of SPU “CityQuest” community service volunteers (as well as willing neighbors!) this Saturday the 26th, living out SPU’s mission of “engaging the culture and changing world.” For details about the projects spanning the hill from Lewis and Jose Rizal Parks to El Centro to the Cheasty Greenspace and how you can help out, read Craig’s posting at Beacon Lights.
Giddens School, where I work and my daughter attends school, is offering child CPR and First Aid training and certification for parents and caregivers this Saturday (9/26), 9 am – 1 pm. The class fee is $35 per person and there are still a few spots open. Giddens is located at 20th South and S. Lane Street in Judkins Park. Contact me directly at my work phone or address if interested: 324-4847 ext. 37 or sburney-jones@giddensschool.org.
