Sometime between Saturday, Sept 5 noon and Sunday, Sept 6 6.00 PM someone stole a small Japanese maple tree from our driveway. We have a common/shared driveway not visible from the street.
And last night, Destiny near 14th and Spokane had a bicycle stolen, and it wasn’t even hers:
My husband just got back from Burning Man, and washed off the bike we borrowed from a friend: a Maroon Trek mountain bike. He set it on the side of our town house to dry, and someone STOLE it our of our little yard while it was drying last night. Now we own my best friend $700.
Please be on the lookout for a maroon Trek Mountain bike with straight handlebars. It’s a few years old but in great condition.
Details for the September 8th meeting at the Jefferson Park community centerTonight, in just over half an hour, Seattle Parks and Recreation and Seattle Public Utilities are hosting a meeting to learn about state and federal funding (through the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program) that the city intends to apply for, plus updates on the construction at Jefferson Park.
We’re not able to make this meeting, but we’d love to publish your accounts and impressions. Send us your write-up, or feel free to add your comments here.
Update: A writeup of the FEMA portion of the meeting is in the comments from Adam Ganz. Thanks Adam!
$60,000 from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods’ Large Project fund was awarded to the Kimball Elementary PTSA “to create a global learning community by fostering inclusion and support, leadership development, and providing programs and classes for parents.”
The awarded funds will be matched by a portion of an additional $1.9 million in community matching (cash, volunteer labor, donated professional services, and donated materials).
Some program background from the news release:
The Department of Neighborhoods’ Large Projects Fund annually provides cash awards of up to $100,000 to neighborhood organizations committed to building a better community. The funding is matched by locally raised money, donated materials, and volunteer labor. The 2009 awards range from $28,000 to $100,000 and communities have pledged to match the city’s $1.3 million contribution with resources valued at nearly $1.9 million.
. . .
Since the program was created 21 years ago, the Neighborhood Matching Fund has awarded over $42 million with a community match of more than $64 million. Projects have involved nearly 65,000 volunteers who have donated over 400,000 work hours.
Keyunda Wilson at Van Asselt is trying to get a Neighborhood Grant to bring a play structure to Van Asselt Elementary @ the African American Academy.
To be eligible for the grant and to bring a community playground to this area we need 25% of the pledges to come directly from the neighborhood! I need to have pledged commitments by Friday the 28th.
Time is short: the 28th is tomorrow!
Ways you can pledge to help:
With your time: join the Playground Committee, attend a planning meeting, help design the playground
With materials: lending or buying tools and equipment, providing snacks for the builders
With labor: paint or assemble the play structure
With organizing: contact and recruit other people in the community who may be interested in the project
If you’d like to help, email Keyunda at krwilson@seattleschools.org or pwfowler@seattleschools.org with your name, address, phone number, and the number of hours you are willing to pledge and/or kinds of volunteer activities or items you can pledge. Or call 206-252-7500.
Luckily, during this period, fines will not accrue and items will not come due. The crazy part is that even the functions that don’t require staff will be inaccessible for the week. This includes the spl.org website and book drops at branches — keep your books until they re-open after the 7th. Also, there will be no library-hosted meetings.
This last item impacts the September North Beacon Hill Council meeting, which will have to be moved and/or rescheduled. (We’ve not yet seen official notice of when or where, and the NBHC website does not say. The usual alternate location is the Beacon Hill Lutheran church at 18th and Forest. The official time, location, and agenda will be posted as soon as it’s available.)
State Representative Bob Hasegawa. Photo from www.leg.wa.govSome upcoming events of interest:
If you’re followingthe plight of our neighbors on the far-west side of the Hill with a portion of their view now interfered with by new power lines, or if you’d just like to have a word with State Rep. Bob Hasegawa, this note from Nick Papini (by way of Doug) may be of interest:
State Representative, Bob Hasegawa is going to tour our neighborhood this Friday, Aug 28th, at 1:00PM.
We have asked Bob to come to see first-hand what City Light and ST have done regarding the massive power lines on Stevens St, and along 14th Ave.
We are going to meet at my house (3017 12th Ave S) at 1:00PM. If anyone would like to attend, and either meet Bob for the first time, or get a chance to catch up with him, this is a good opportunity.
* * *
Craig Thompson is looking for a couple of neighbors to help wrangle a large number of expected volunteers working at Jose Rizal Park on Friday, September 11th:
Hi! September 11 is the fall King County United Way Day of Caring. For the past two years, large groups of employees from Microsoft and other businesses have come to Dr. Jose Rizal Park and other sites to improve our common spaces.
This year, we may have between 70 and 100 people volunteer at Dr. Jose Rizal Park, and so for the first time, I’ve got to admit I’m challenged. The two neighbors who’ve helped out so much in the past around this event have moved from Beacon Hill and aren’t available.
Is there someone out there who could help get a couple of groups started on projects in the off-leash area? It would be great if a few neighbors turned out to help. I’d like to begin setting up at 9 AM that Friday morning, Sept. 11 – the event runs from 10 AM to 2 PM.
The volunteers do the heavy lifting; most of what’s involved is laying out the tools, which we’ve purchased with grants, plus we’ll have some on loan. We’ll be making improvements to the entrance of the off-leash area terracing the slope along the east side of the park with materials already on site – the terraces will be planted later in the month by a smaller crew of volunteers.
At the meeting learn about funding through the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program that the city intends to apply for and get an update on the construction at Jefferson Park.
The first part of the meeting will be dedicated to Jefferson Park construction update and the second half will discuss the application for federal and state funding.
The damage left behind when the Cherokee rammed its way out. Photo by Rob.Rob near 15th and Spokane writes about what had to be a dramatic and brazen daylight burglary (emphasis mine):
Our house was burglarized Tuesday some time around mid-day. They appear to have entered through a window we thought was too high from the ground, or even a ladder, to make possible. They took two laptops, and our 32″ LCD TV in the living room (probably peeked through front door / window blinds and saw that, motivating the break-in). To top the whole thing off, they then stole my silver ’01 Jeep Cherokee out of the locked garage, ramming it through the closed garage door. Fortunately nobody was home or hurt, but we are very shaken up.
That sort of exit had to attract some attention. If you have any information about this break-in that could be helpful, if you were in the area of 15th and Spokane and saw anything yesterday, please contact the Seattle Police Department. Also, keep an eye out for a silver Jeep Cherokee with 60th anniversary edition badges and 5-spoke alloy wheels, plate number A58145Z; when found, it may be useful for collecting fingerprint evidence. I’d imagine there’d also have to be a bit of scratching-up on it, having driven through a garage door.
Nearly half the front page is devoted to the Risses' plum tree. From the Seattle Times front page PDF.Heidi Risse pointed out their plum tree’s front-page appearance on today’s issue of the Seattle Times. The Risses’ tree, with a bumper crop of plums this year, is featured in an article about City Fruit (previously mentioned here), an organization formed earlier this year to not only help harvest urban crops, but to assist and educate tree owners in pest control, pruning and processing. Check out City Fruit’s calendar for classes on canning and more.
Photo courtesty cityofseattle.netYou may have noticed some red and white “no parking” signs on or near Beacon Avenue south of the library recently. City workers are trimming the trees along that stretch today and tomorrow, ensuring that they don’t interfere with electrical or other utility lines.
Shoddy phone picture by Jason
A tragedy on the extreme southern tip of Beacon Hill, in the 9000 block of 39th Avenue South, just off of Beacon Avenue before it doubles back as Carkeek Drive. Very early this morning, a bit after 2am, a man, high on PCP, shot and killed his 50-year-old father. Details in the SPD Blotter and at the Rainier Valley Post.
