The Beacon Merchants Association will be meeting next Friday, August 27, at 10:00 am. The location is Victrola Coffee, 3215 Beacon Avenue South.
Items on the agenda include discussion and possible approval of the new logo, discussion of the walking map and continued bylaw and board development.
15th Avenue South between South Bradford Street and South Oregon Street (the red line on the map below) currently consists of four travel lanes with parking restricted at the morning and evening peak rush hour. Motor vehicles often travel significantly faster through this corridor than the speed limit of 30 mph. SDOT is proposing to remove on-street parking from both sides of the street, remove one northbound travel lane, widen the travel lanes and install dedicated bike lanes in both directions.
15th Avenue South between South Oregon Street and Swift Avenue South (the green line on the map) currently consists of one travel lane in each direction with parking on both sides of the street. There are marked school crosswalks at South Dawson Street and South Shelton Street for Maple Elementary School and St. George School as well as a school speed zone for Cleveland High School. SDOT is proposing a combination of a bicycle lanes where the road is uphill and sharrows where the road is flat or downhill. On-street parking would be removed from the east side of the street between South Lucile Street and South Dawson Street, and from the west side between South Dawson Street and South Angeline Street. Removing street parking in this alternating fashion will provide some traffic calming at the school crosswalks.
South Columbian Way between Beacon Avenue South and South Alaska Street (the blue line on the map) currently consists of four travel lanes. SDOT is proposing to remove one downhill lane and install dedicated bicycle lanes in both directions.
These proposals, when completed, will create continuous bike facilities from downtown Seattle and North Beacon to Mercer Middle School, Cleveland High School, Mid-Beacon Hill and Columbia City. If approved, these changes would be implemented in 2010. This project is funded by the “Bridging the Gap” transportation levy approved by Seattle voters in 2006.
You are invited to stop by the Open House and view project plans, provide feedback and chat with the project team. The event is Tuesday, August 24 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm at the Jefferson Community Center Meeting Room, 3801 Beacon Avenue South. You may also email your comments to walkandbike@seattle.gov or call 206-684-7583.
(Much of this article is adapted from SDOT’s press release describing the project. Thanks to Peg Nielsen for sending it along.)
View “Complete Streets” changes in Mid-Beacon Hill in a larger map
Two loud booms just before 2:00 pm startled people throughout a large part of Western Washington today. BHB news partner The Seattle Times reports that they were sonic booms, caused by two F-15 jets that were scrambled in response to a violation of the temporary airspace restrictions put in place for President Obama’s visit today.
Here at the BHB the booms felt (and sounded) as if something had slammed into the south wall of the building. The cats freaked out a bit.
Twitter lit up with reports from people who heard the booms and wondered what happened. According to Travis Mayfield at KOMO, people have reported hearing the booms from Chehalis in the south all the way north to Edmonds.
Did you hear the booms? Tell us about it in the comments here.
(Ed. Note: Post updated at 2:59 to reflect that they were F-15s, not F-16s.)
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Want to be a TV producer? Seattle’s public access TV station, SCANTV (Comcast 77/Broadstripe 23) is holding an orientation session on Beacon Hill for those interested in producing programs for SCANTV. The orientation is Wednesday, August 25, from 6:30-7:30 pm at the Beacon Hill Library, 2821 Beacon Avenue South. It is free and open to all, but you need to register in advance by contacting Rita Meher, Community Media Educator, at ritam@scantv.org or 206-522-4758 x104.
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A neighbor tweeted us, concerned about seeing a “creepy older white male in black parked jaguar on street w/kids”. Be careful out there, everyone.
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The survey asked questions such as “If you had $10 to invest in Library resources, how much would you spend on each of the following? Books and Other Print Resources, Audio-Visual Resources, Online Resources” and “When would you like the Library to offer programming?” The results are interesting. You can download the whole report here.
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Speaking of studies, Knowledge as Power, a non-profit based in Seattle, is running a usability study about the seattle.gov city website. They need participants from Beacon Hill who are willing to sit in a room and let them take notes as you browse for information on seattle.gov. Participants will get $20 in Tippr credit. (Tippr.com is a local “neighborhood deal” company similar to Groupon or LivingSocial.)
They are currently seeking two specific groups of people for the survey: 1) People who use or have used seattle.gov for a business purpose and 2) Ordinary citizens at every level of computer competency. If you are interested, you can sign up here.
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The Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club will host the US National Lawn Bowling Championships here in Seattle in August 2011, so they are hosting a Swine and Wine Sunset Dinner at the Greens fundraiser for the championships on Saturday, September 4, from 6:00 – 10:00pm. Guest chef (and Beacon Hill neighbor) Nick Musser from icon Grill will prepare a 4-course “porketarian” dinner “paired with wines, the best sunset in the city, and a side of lawn bowling.”
The event is at the Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club, 4103 Beacon Avenue South. Tickets are $75.00 per person if you buy before August 21 ($40 of which is a tax deductible donation), but the price goes up to $85 afterward. Tickets are available online from Brown Paper Tickets. More info at the seattlebowls.org website.
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Neighbor Leslie writes,
“I live two doors down from where the family was burned out of their house on 17th. Today I went to the bank to try to contribute money to their fund, and it was extremely difficult. So difficult I doubt that many people have been able to do it. Apparently the information in the paper/blog is only partly right. First of all, the account name is Alexandra Sarmiento, not Urrea. But even more unfortunately, without a published account number, because a trust or charitable account was not set up, it isn’t actually possible to contribute money to the family’s account. I was able to do it only because I spent so much time at the bank that they took pity on me.”
We apologize for the mistaken information. If donating through Chase won’t work, our understanding is that donations can also be made via the KOMO Problem Solvers fund, but when you give, you need to say in the instructions that your donation is for the Sarmiento/Urrea family.
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A trivial note, but… we noticed today that Google Maps has a new satellite view of North Beacon Hill. The old one, until recently, still featured a giant hole in the ground surrounded by a construction site at Beacon and Lander. The new one shows both the light rail station and the Lander Festival street completed. It looks as if the satellite was flying over our heads earlier this summer or late spring.
Todd, a neighbor who lives at 14th and College, wrote to tell us that on Wednesday his security camera recorded a plaid-shirted guy who was trespassing on his property and peering at his yard. This was near the time that a garden hose was stolen from his next-door neighbor’s yard, so Todd told us “I am tagging this as ‘the plaid prowler.'” Unfortunately, the camera didn’t record the theft and it is unclear whether the plaid-clad man was involved or just coincidentally caught on camera.
This is the same area that has had trouble in the last couple of years with theft of plants. Last year some neighbors managed to catch at least one plant thief in action.
Jefferson Community Center’s Kiddie Kampus preschool program is starting up soon for the new school year. The program provides preparation for kindergarten, focusing on all aspects of development: social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and language.
According to the folks at JCC, the philosophy behind Kiddie Kampus is:
“To provide children with a safe and healthy learning environment. Also, to provide children with planned activities that will promote opportunities for friendship, skill development, self-esteem, values, self-discipline, respect for others, and appreciation for nature through positive habits, attitudes, behavior, and choices.”
Classes begin September 14. To attend, your child must be toilet trained and three years old by August 31. For more information, please call Jefferson Community Center at 206-684-7481.
The Second Annual Rizal Park Music and Arts Fest is this Sunday, August 15, 12:00 noon, at Dr. Jose Rizal Park on the north tip of Beacon Hill. The festival’s website describes the event as “a community event organized to bring awareness to the Dr. Jose Rizal Park and Bridge (the first bridge in the Nation to be named after a Filipino National Hero). This is a day event that will showcase local talent in music and fine arts.”
Performers include Bob Antolin/Killerbees, Grooveline Hawaii, Shannon Lei, D&M, Josh Kain, Paul Cabrera, Salsa Praise/Gospel Jazz w/ HL Stein, Browned Out Band, Klyntel Band, Tony Mamon and Ray Baldwin, and Bottomline. There will also be food vendors specializing in ethnic cuisine from the Pacific Islands.
Volunteers are still needed for the event. If you would like to volunteer, please contact: Tess at 206-819-TESS (8377).
We’ve had a couple of reports of found pets on the Hill lately. (Maybe they got away from home during the noise of Blue Angels weekend?)
Kyla reports: “There is a lost dog at my house. No collar. 20th and College.” The dog is pictured at the bottom of this post. You can reach Kyla at kylackie@gmail.com.
(We’ve removed the report about the other found pet, a kitten, at the poster’s request. — Ed.)
The public is invited to attend the meeting and make comments. It’s scheduled for Wednesday, September 1 at 3:30 p.m. in the Seattle Municipal Tower, 700 Fifth Avenue, 40th Floor, Room 4060.
Written comments should be received by the Landmarks Preservation Board at the following address by 5:00 pm on August 31: Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board, Dept. of Neighborhoods, P.O. Box 94649, Seattle WA 98124-4649.
Copies of the landmark nomination are available for public review at the Beacon Hill Branch Library, 2821 Beacon Avenue South.  The nomination is also posted on the Department of Neighborhoods website.
As SeattleCrime.com reports, a man forced his way into a Beacon Hill home and stole a laptop on August 1. When one of the residents chased him, the man pulled out a handgun. The victims told police they recognized the man (white male, 30-35 years old, with short blond hair and stubble)Â and believe he lives nearby.
Be careful when you answer the door, neighbors.