All posts by Jason

Education, Volunteering and Giving

Education roundup: Open houses and more

Photo by Doug Wilson.
The STEM Open House and recruiting fair is happening at Cleveland High School on Saturday, January 23rd from 10am to noon. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, and is a curriculum with where students may choose from two academies: Life Science and Global Health or Engineering and Technology. See the PDF flyer. More information on the program at seattleschools.org.

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Jerrod Gonzales, the Director of Childcare at Jefferson Community Center, shares:

[O]ur After-School program was lucky enough to receive a $3,000 grant from School’s Out Washington for quality improvement. We are very excited for the opportunity to add new reading and homework materials to our site to help our kids succeed!

The community center currently has openings in their after-school program — contact Jerrod if you’d like more information.

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Romina Rivera, Volunteer Coordinator for Youth Programs for Neighborhood House, writes:

WANTED: Mentors for Middle School Students

January is National Mentoring Month. To celebrate, Neighborhood House is launching the Recruit-A-Mentor Challenge. We’re trying to double the number of our CASASTART volunteer mentors for our middle school students.

Mentors are an important component of CASASTART. Each month, mentors join our students in various activities during after-school hours. These activities range from educational to simply hanging out. By being present each month, mentors become positive adult role models to our students which they may not otherwise have if it were not for the CASASTART program. The time commitment is two hours per month with the students plus some planning time with the other mentors. We ask that mentors commit at least six months to the program.

If you (or anyone you know) are interested in becoming a mentor, please e-mail RominaR@nhwa.org for more information on how to get started as a mentor.

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Lissa Munger, a teacher at Van Asselt Elementary, writes concerning an Open House there on Thursday, January 28th from 6:30-8:30pm:

We want to welcome community members, not just current Van Asselt families. At the open house, neighbors can:

  • Learn more about the Student Assignment Plan
  • Find out which schools your family is assigned to
  • See our facilities
  • Meet current Van Asselt staff and families (and district officials)
  • Hear about Van Asselt’s programs
  • Participate in a parent meeting

Please plan to join us!

Beacon Bits

Beacon Bits: Antennas, art, and advice

3 Comments
A Land Use Application has been filed by Clearwire to mount three panel antennas and a microwave dish antenna on the Seattle City Light transmission tower and install supporting communications equipment at grade within the foot print of the transmission tower at “4999 P BEACON AVE S”.

Comments may be submitted through January 20th.

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The bust of Dr. Jose Rizal on the north tip of Beacon Hill (in the park of the same name) is one of many around the world. The one in Washington, D.C. has gone missing.

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Art galleries on Beacon Hill have been few and far between, but Klara Glosova wants to change that. In November, she opened her house in North Beacon for one night as an experimental gallery space, the home_page.project. The current issue of City Arts has an article about Glosova and the home_page.project, and you can see a slide show here.

Glosova is putting together another open house; you can keep up with the plans at the home_page.project page.

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Free healthcare counseling sessions will be held from 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm on the first Thursday of every month at the Beacon Hill Library branch, starting Thursday, February 4. The sessions are open to all, with no registration required. A volunteer counselor, who speaks Mandarin, Cantonese and English, will provide one-on-one counseling on topics such as healthcare options, medical billing and Medicare.

The library is located at 2821 Beacon Avenue South, at the corner of Beacon Avenue South and South Forest Street. It is one block south of Beacon Hill Station, and right on the #36 bus line. There is free parking in the lot behind the building. For more information, call the branch at 206-684-4711.

Thanks to the Seattle Medium for this notice..

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Lastly, something I’m sorry we didn’t know about in time to see or promote — ’30s jazz and art inspired by classic cars? Sounds like a fun time. Here’s how the event went.

NAMSAYIN tweeted:

What happens when a guy from Beacon Hill combines art and classic cars together? You get this…

Getting Around

RPZ changes coming citywide

Photo by Wendi
The city is introducing changes to the neighborhood Residential Parking Zone program this year. Come March, it will be easier to check if you need a parking permit on your block and apply for a permit online. Newly issued decals include the registered vehicle’s plate number, assisting in parking enforcement. (Existing permits will continue to be valid through their expiration date.) Which vehicles must be registered, the number of single-day guest permits, and the number of permits allowed per address are changing as well. No permit will be required for motorcycles and scooters, but a couple of challenging restrictions are coming: no more than four permits per address, and vehicles must be parked within six blocks of the registered address. More information on the 2010 RPZ program changes is available from seattle.gov.

Education, Volunteering and Giving

ROCKiT space roundup

ROCKiT space logo
Image courtesy rockitspace.org
ROCKiT space music classes for kids and teens, hosted by Marc Smason and Stephanie Hughes, have started as of Monday this week. For kids ages 6 to 11, classes are held on Mondays Thursdays from 4:00 to 5:30 pm. Kids from 12 to 18 can attend the Tuesday classes, also from 4:00 to 5:30 pm. Topics covered include rhythm, songs, videos, movement, etc. Classes are $10 per session or $35 for an entire month. Call at 206-323-7115 or email rockitspace@gmail.com for more information or to sign up.

Updated Thursday to reflect the revised day of classes for 6-11 year olds and to list additional instructor Stephanie Hughes.

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ROCKiT space is also seeking “creative types with good people skills” to volunteer their time for daily tasks at the space in return for rehearsal time or art space at the ROCKiT facility. Contact Jessie McKenna at 206-323-7115 for more info.

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And if you know about screen printing, ROCKiT space would love to hear from you. From Craigslist:

ROCKiT space on Beacon Hill (a community art and music space) is looking for artists to host/facilitate or co-facilitate a workshop or series of workshops on silkscreening/screen printing. We have some supplies and a neat space to work/teach in. This is a money-making opportunity for someone who can help a group of folks to learn and apply the basics of the silkscreening process.

We already know how to make stencils and tape them to screens and scrape ink across them. We need something a little more in depth than that, someone who can teach photo emulsion techniques etc. You don’t have to be an expert! But good people skills and some moderate to mad silk screen printing skills are a must.

Again, contact Jessie at 206-323-7115 with interest or offers.

Crime, Uncategorized

Crime notes: Burglaries and poor pizza drivers

Yellow B's: burglaries, Orange: casing, Blue: vehicle theft
Burglary and theft “highlights” from bhnw.org:

  • 1/5, 5:30pm near 38th and Myrtle — Resident arrived home but just before going in saw a light come on inside when no one should be inside. Police caught one suspect behind the building, four more uninvited guests held within.
  • 1/7, 11:00am near 28th and Juneau — A U-Haul truck pulled up and two men went inside a house where normally the occupants are away during the day. One of the men let himself in through a window.
  • 1/8, 1pm near 24th and Walker — Beige Volvo stolen.
  • 1/8, 4:30pm near 17th and Spokane — Silent burglar alarm.
  • 1/11, 8:30pm near 19th and Lucile — Owner confronted a burglar in his backyard.
  • 1/12, 12:30pm near 18th and Bennett — Someone apparently casing homes.
  • 1/12, 1:45pm near 37th and Austin — Resident came home to apparent forced-entry burglary.
  • 1/13, 11:30am near 19th and Hanford– Burglar alarm, back window broken out. Suspects apprehended at the library.

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Pity our poor Dominos drivers: The Unluckiest Delivery Driver in Seattle — SeattleCrime.com

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Cari wrote hoping someone might be able to help track down whomever busted into their house earlier this week:

My husband David and I moved to the area in October — love the neighborhood and how quiet it seemed around here…
[Monday] between 1pm and 8pm someone threw a rock through our back door and tore the house apart looking for cash. If anyone saw anyone coming or going from our house (bright orange house on SW corner of 19th and Waite) between those hours please call me or comment back to the blog. The police said there’s been an increase in this type of crime in the area lately, so obviously we’re not the only ones with this misfortune.

Also, I work from home several days each week and walk my dog, and keep an eye on the area — if others are home during the day and want to organize a daytime blockwatch, please let me know.

Looking forward to seeing people again when the weather gets better – the block party in October was fun.

As Cari said, you can leave your information here, or call her directly at 206-234-5102.

Crime

Mobile masturbator strikes again

2 Comments

A man has been exposing himself from his vehicle in broad daylight, apparently targeting lone women near the light rail station.

Alice wrote to the mailing list:

Last Friday afternoon 1/8/10 around 2:30pm, I was walking my dog on the corner of 18th and Lander Street. A single male driving a dark green Ford was following me and eventually opened his car door to expose himself to me and masturbated. I turned away at first but then decided to catch his license plate but unfortunately he had it covered with a black plastic bag or cloth. I believe he’s done this before and takes measures not to get caught. I would describe him as Mexican in his mid to late 30s.

If it’s the same individual, he’s also been seen driving a blue pickup truck in November. There was also a similar report logged at bhnw.org last June.

Update: Chongsun posted a description his wife, Laura, gave of someone back in December that seems strikingly similar. In her case, the man did not actually expose himself, but it sure sounds like he was about to:

A man drove up to my wife as she was walking near the corner of Holgate and 20th. After making a right turn, he stopped in the middle of the street and surveyed the area to see if anyone else was around. He then got out of the truck, approached her and began to unzip his pants. When she spoke firmly, demanding to know what he was doing, he mumbled something and got back in his truck. As she kept walking up the hill, he circled the block twice in his truck, making eye contact each time.

The man was medium height, wearing a blue baseball cap, light skinned and a dark brown mustache. He wore a blue jacket and blue pants. The truck was a newer model, dark blue pickup truck.

And, she saw him again the same day as Alice:

At 9:15 AM last Friday (January 8th) at the corner of 20th and Holgate, I had an alarming interaction with a man in a dark green car. The man was wearing a camouflage baseball cap (sand/green spotted) and a black jacket that went past his waist. He had light-colored work boots on. He had a moustache. There was something black sticking out of the trunk near the license plate area, which sounds like it might be the plastic bag Alice mentioned the guy used to cover his license plate.

I remembered this man as the one who was about to expose himself to me back in December.

She was able to get a license plate number off the vehicle, and also has an incident number on file with the police department from the December episode. If you also have an incident number or details of a similar encounter that might be helpful, please comment here, or email us privately and we’ll put you in touch with Laura to consolidate information for the police.

Urban Planning

Neighborhood plan updates posted

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North Beacon Hill neighborhood plan update cover
Cover of the North Beacon Hill neighborhood plan update from DPD

The Department of Planning and Development has posted the North Beacon Hill Neighborhood Plan Update, the outcome of meetings from March, May, and September.

The goals presented in the report are split into two categories. The goals for Creating Choices for Living, Working and Play are:

  1. A well defined mixed-use residential neighborhood where the lives of Beacon Hill residents are enhanced, in part, through affordable and diverse housing options available throughout the neighborhood. (NBH-G1 amended)
  2. A vibrant mix of housing close to the light rail station.
  3. An urban village with a strengthened overall business district image and identity that is home to a variety of commercial services, including a grocery store and a mix of small, local and ethnic businesses. (NBH-G9 amended)
  4. A range of well-maintained parks, community and open spaces in the urban village core with programs that accommodate a variety of uses and diversity of users.
  5. North Beacon Hill is an active and safe neighborhood for a diversity of people, throughout the day and evening.

and for Shaping a Transit Oriented Town Center:

  1. A civic gathering space appropriate and flexible for the diversity of cultures living in the neighborhood.
  2. Higher density development surrounds the light rail station and is responsive to the neighborhood context at a variety of scales, from single family houses to multistory buildings.
  3. A redevelopment of El Centro de la Raza that builds on the site’s history and serves as a defining civic element of the Town Center.
  4. The future urban form of the town center carefully and successfully transitions from denser development at the town center core to less dense and single family residential neighborhoods in a manner that is responsive to the context and character of the North Beacon Hill neighborhood.
  5. An urban village that is a pleasant place to walk, with good access to alternative transportation; where lively, friendly and safe streetscapes encourage pedestrians and bicyclists and where roadways are seen as public access for walkers, bicycles, and buses as well as cars. (NBH-G3 amended)

Check out the attractively laid-out PDF report which adds maps plus discussion, policies, and strategies for implementation of these goals. There’s also a version formatted more for printing.

Clean and Green, Crime

What do you do about graffiti?

1 Comment
Graffiti
Photo by Jason
Perhaps you’ve noticed a burst of graffiti vandalism around the neighborhood lately. Hazel gives some very sound advice on dealing with it on the mailing list:

Be sure to call the graffiti hotline, especially if it is on public property. The number is 206-684-7587 and they are very responsive. The faster you get it off the more effective. If it is public property, the city will arrange to have it removed. If it is on private property, you should also take a photo of it and send to the police department and the city.

Thanks Hazel!

Meetings

Clarity on McGinn’s inaugural reception

Apparently there has been some confusion about the McGinn reception. Passed along via the NBHC is some clarification:

To set the record straight, in addition to the private reception at the Showbox SODO, there will be two inaugural events tomorrow that are free and open to the public: an open house at City Hall (600 4th Ave) from 1 to 5 pm, and a party at 8:00 at the Showbox SODO (1700 1st Ave S), featuring the Maldives, Wheedle’s Groove, and Hey Marseilles. Local food vendors including Marination Mobile, Kao Samai Thai, and Gert’s BBQ will be parked outside selling their refreshments.

Please join us if you can.

-McGinn for Mayor Campaign

Thanks Amy & Judith.

Meetings, Urban Planning

Thursday’s NBHC meeting agenda

Via Judith Edwards, here’s the agenda for Thursday’s North Beacon Hill Council meeting at the Beacon Hill Library:

7:00 – Welcomes, agenda, introductions
7:05 – Lewis Park request for Council to act as fiscal sponsors for two grant applications — vote required
7:15 – Focus for 2010 — A number of issues came forward in our December meeting. We will need to form committees for each, so come prepared to volunteer your time and energy. Most committees meet once per month, and your total time expenditure should not be more than 4-6 hours monthly, perhaps less.

  • Revision of Neighborhood Development Guidelines to include specific verbage on new construction set-backs
  • Festival Street usage, Seattle Dep’t. of Transportation requirements
  • Continued development of Neighborhood Plan, which includes expansion towards Jefferson Park
  • Business development in Urban Core, with emphasis on monitoring plans for expansion around the Light Rail Station
  • Improved internet access
  • Amendment of city zoning codes to better accomodate home businesses
  • Historic preservation of Craftsman homes

8:00 – Neighborhood concerns, reports from standing committees/sub-committees
8:30 – Close

See you there at 7.