Thanks to the Seattle Times for the report.
Rainier Valley Food Bank burglarized, Thanksgiving food stolen
Monthly Archives: November 2009
Contributions wanted for neighborhood status report
Beacon Neighbors,
It occurred to me this week we should put together a status report on our neighborhood issues, projects and forums, for Mayor-Elect McGinn. Here is a draft. I came up with a bunch of categories that we could write short summaries on. Some stuff we could pull right off the Blog. Volunteers?
Take a topic and write a short summary as a comment to this blog post. As I see them posted, I will compile into one doc. I will post the results and we can hand it out to our Mayor-Elect at the upcoming forums and also distribute to new council members. If this format works, we could do an annual or biannual report.
Game?
DRAFT North Beacon Hill Status Report to Mayor-Elect McGinn November 09
North Beacon is an active and articulate residential community. North Beacon Hill pioneered urban village planning in 1990 (North Beacon Hill Action Plan), before the City initiated the 1998 planning cycle. We are currently working on recommendations for our third neighborhood plan and have numerous other planning documents completed.
Here are the highlights of our areas of focus, projects and forums:
Primary Issues of Concern and Focus 2009 (Summaries below)
- Neighborhood planning and urban village investment
- Equitable High Speed Internet Access for local businesses and residents
- 15th Ave. S Street Project
- Public Safety
- Stevens Street Utility Poles Remediation
- Ongoing outreach to our diverse community
- Improving local schools and youth programs
Projects (Summaries below)
- Jefferson Park Reconstruction (Implementation by the City with stewardship of the community)
- Lander Festival Street (Implementation by the City with stewardship of the community)
- Beacon Rockit: Local folks initiating arts and gatherings in a storefront on Beacon Avenue
- Beacon Farmers Market: Long desired use for the new festival street
- Urban Agriculture Project: Designed for Jefferson Park by local permaculture students.
Continue reading Contributions wanted for neighborhood status report
Jungle cleanup, sidewalk flooding, and overserving among topics on the BAN list
The Beacon Hill Alliance of Neighbors (BAN) mailing list has been quite active recently, and Travis Mayfield has been all over it for KOMO:
- Update: Inside the Jungle — Craig Thompson details a recent excursion into the homeless encampment that runs along the west and north sides of the hill, alongside I-5 and I-90.
- Sidewalk ‘Pools’ Raise Pedestrian Complaints — Complaints of flooded and obstructed sidewalks are addressed by neighborhood representative Steve Louie and City Councilmember Sally Clark.
- Responding to Public Drunkeness — Tips on reporting “overserving” to the Washington State Liquor Control Board when observing evidence of public drunkeness.
Sign up for the BAN list at http://www.cityofseattle.net/ban/
Parts of Beacon Hill among nearly 5,000 without power
From the Seattle Post-Globe:
About 4,657 customers lost power at about 6:20 p.m. The cause is unknown and the estimated time of power restoral is undetermined. Affected areas include parts of Rainier Beach, Beacon Hill and Seward Park. The general boundaries of the outage are S. Alaska St. on the North, S. Norfolk St. on the South, Lake Washington on the East and Airport Way S. on the West.
Beacon Hill possibly “the test bed for a new network”
Glenn Fleishman’s latest article at Publicola deals with the broadband pariah that is Beacon Hill and the Central District and how Mayor-Elect Mike McGinn wants to address the issue by building a city-wide fiber-to-the-home network paid for by revenue bonds. A plan to “issue bonds, find contractors, and start building triple-play to the home over fiber” is deemed “likely”. This would entail “100 Mbps symmetrical broadband (like they have in Hong Kong, where it costs US$14 per month), video with high-definition channels, and unlimited voice calling.” An appealing proposition.
Beacon Bits: Potluck chocolate ribbon nuisances
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.
Derailed train causing Link light rail delays
Reports from riders so far indicate that you should allow more than 20 minutes for the delay, though this may improve as the rush hour traffic dies down. Jesse Odam reports that his usual 15 minute Link trip from the International District to Beacon Hill just after 5:00 pm expanded to nearly an hour, including being passed by a jam-packed train, and then a half-hour wait at Stadium Station.
Sound Transit warns that Link service will be temporarily suspended later, during the removal of the disabled train, because both northbound and southbound tracks will be blocked. During that time there will be a shuttle bus (Route 97), which will operate between the Stadium and Mount Baker light rail stations. We aren’t sure yet when this will happen, but Sound Transit says they’ll update this rider alert page when they are ready to remove the disabled train.
Folks on Seattle Transit Blog are discussing the derailment, its possible causes, and Sound Transit’s handling of the situation, here.
Beacon Bits: Off the rails, on the record, at the party, and eating right
KING 5 has a slideshow and story of a Link Light Rail train derailment today in SoDo.
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KOMO’s (and Beacon Hill’s) Travis Mayfield has posted an interview he conducted with Senator Patty Murray on health care. Travis also points out Mike McGinn‘s “Victory Party” taking place this Friday, November 20th, at the NewHolly Gathering Hall, to which everyone is invited.
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The Seattle Institute for Biochemical and Clinical Research located at the VA hospital is seeking a full time Research Dietitian, if you happen to know a dietitian looking for a gig.
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Supposed to get pretty windy tonight and tomorrow, like it was early this morning; make sure your garbage cans and lids and such are secure and aren’t blowing down the street.
Anyone recommend a space for a restaurant?
Spotted on Craigslist this morning, an ad headlined:
Restaurant Space Needed, South Seattle – $1 (Beacon Hill, Rainier Ave S, Columbia City)
The ad reads:
I am an experienced restaurant owner. I am looking for about 1100 to 1700 squared feet commercial space to lease with class I or II hood for my third location.
The areas I’m interested in: Beacon Hill, Columbia City, Rainer Ave S.
If you like to meet and talk, please respond to my ad.
Thank you
(Light editing and emphasis by me.)
Anyone like to help this person out? Or hazard a guess about what the other two locations might be?
Events this week: Immigration reform, free tree deadline, Van Asselt playground-in-a-day
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A few weeks ago we mentioned the ReLeaf tree giveaway program, in which EarthCorp and the City are giving free trees to residents of Beacon Hill and three other Seattle neighborhoods. The deadline to apply for your free trees is tomorrow, Monday, November 16. Applications may be downloaded here. If you need more information about the program, contact Lina Rose, EarthCorps Project Manager, lina@earthcorps.org, 206-793-2454.
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Another reminder: Thursday, November 19, is the day of the Van Asselt playground building project. Volunteers will help build the playground, along with MLS soccer players and representatives from Home Depot and KaBOOM! The MLS players are participating through MLS W.O.R.K.S., the league’s community outreach program, as part of the festivities building up to the MLS Cup next weekend at Qwest Field.
(Hat tip to Examiner.com.)
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Don’t forget to check our Events Calendar for more upcoming events on the Hill!