Judith Edwards sends a couple of event reminders to the mailing list:

Mark your calendars for two upcoming events! On Thursday, December 3, the North Beacon Hill Council will hold a potluck dinner and honoring ceremony to recognize those who have worked so hard in the past year to make our community the wonderful place it is to live, and to plan our focus for the coming year. We’ll meet at 6:30 in the Community Room of the Library. Please bring a dish to share, and your ideas for where you want the Council to focus it’s efforts in the coming year. We’ll combine eating with a ceremony to honor the NBHC Board and the others in the community who have made so much happen, followed by a business meeting at 7:30. Please plan to attend and be part of the voice that speaks for our community.

and

On Saturday, Dec. 5 at 10:00 AM Festival Street will open with a ribbon cutting ceremony! Festival Street is that block of Lander between Beacon Ave. and 17th Ave., just south of El Centro del la Raza and north of the Light Rail Station. There will be coffee and donuts donated by local merchants, tents set up in case of rain (in Seattle?), and visits from City leaders. Please come celebrate what the Pedestrian Task Force and Robert Hinrix have worked so hard to bring to fruition.

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Also via Judith, from Vinh Nguyen:

You are invited to help restore Lewis Park for the last event to it’s natural habitat this Sunday, November 22nd, 2009. Lewis Park forest stewards will be at the park between the hours of 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Tools, gloves and water is provided. Feel free to bring your own gloves if you would like.

This weekend, we are working at the three locations: The Triangle Area, North Slope, and the South end of Lewis Park. We will be mainly applying wood chips, and some planting native trees. We hope you can make it.

Please email Vinh if you’re considering helping out.

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Dee from Yoga On Beacon wrote to announce YoBe’s 3rd Annual Holiday Bazaar is this Sunday, November 22nd, from 12:30 to 5:30pm

Enjoy holiday cheer, tea and cookies, YoBe friendly faces, and cool, quality world products from Four Winds Decor on Queen Anne Hill. Items will include jewelery, pashmina shawls, hand-made soaps, knit goods, silk scarves, journals, hand bags, bamboo ware, and much more! Make your holiday shopping a breeze and have fun too!

All YoBe products will be 10% off. First 20 people will get a free YoBe Tee!

YoBe is located at 3013 Beacon Avenue South.

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A “nuisance properties” ordinance has been approved by the Seattle City Council’s public safety committee. From the P-I:

The ordinance would define “chronic nuisance properties” as places where crimes or drug dealing or other nuisance activities occur at least three times within 60 days, or seven times in a year. Offenses such as prostitution, weapon violations, assaults or gang-related activity would be included in the definition.

The police chief would be given authority to declare a property a chronic nuisance. The owner would be notified in writing and given seven days to respond. The property owner would then have 30 days to work with the police on a plan for clearing out the nuisance activity, or face penalties of up to $500 per day for not complying.

Update: from a City Council news release this afternoon:

The Council’s Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee voted this morning to amend the land use code to allow expedited demolition of derelict properties that too often become magnets for criminal behavior in neighborhoods. Council Bill 116642 provides an exception to city land use laws requiring plans and permits for replacement structures before demolition is allowed in single-family zones.

Update to the update: West Seattle Blog has more on the derelict properties measure.

Via the Trash Problems with am/pm Convenience Store in South Seattle blog.

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Java Love, Kusina Filipina, and El Quetzal received health inspection visits last week. (Remember, red-level violations are corrected even before inspectors leave.)

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Speaking of El Quetzal, Jon Gould recommends their new winter beverage on the mailing list:

Juan and Elena at El Quetzal have a new winter offering…an amazing, thick cup of hot chocolate. It is super tasty. The way they make this traditional Mexican drink is pretty cool: They start with dry corn kernels which are softened in water for a few hours. Then they blend the softened kernels with water until the consistency is silky. This is then put on the stove to cook with Mexican chocolate and fresh cinnamon – while a patient person slowly whisks the thickening drink.

The result is a smooth, rich cup of chocolatey wonder. In Spanish, this drink is called “Champurado.” If you arrive at El Quetzal and don’t remember the name just ask for the hot chocolate made with corn.

It’s awesome. Enjoy.

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Finally, Joel points out in the forums that light rail all the way to the airport starts December 19th!

Random emphasis by me. Thanks Joel, Jon, Judith, and Dee! All of the above events and more are (or shortly will be) on our event calendar for your reference.