All posts by Wendi Dunlap

Editor of the Beacon Hill Blog.
Local Events

Celebration of “our champion” Chuck Caddey’s life at ice cream social, July 4

Chuck Caddey. Photo courtesy of Willie Weir.
Chuck Caddey. Photo courtesy of Willie Weir.
Willie Weir writes:

On Father’s Day, June 21st, we lost a dear friend.

Chuck Caddey died on Sunday, surrounded by his family.

Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club would not be the thriving, healthy organization it is today without Chuck Caddey. He served as the club’s president from 1999 through 2007. For many of us, Chuck was our first introduction to the club–a warm handshake and a smile. Everyone felt welcome when Chuck was on the greens.

When Chuck came on as president, the club was in trouble. Membership had dwindled and many people thought the club was destined to close. But Chuck was determined to introduce a new generation to the sport and place he loved. Every Wednesday night (Fridays later on) Chuck hosted free nights open to the public. One by one he built a new core group.

Many of those people (and I am one of them) were drawn first to the spirit and kindness of Chuck, and only later embraced the sport of lawn bowling.

Chuck’s joy came from seeing “young people” out on the greens. He had the uncanny ability to teach you to bowl, convince you to join the club and ask if you’d like to be on the board… all in one night.

He wasn’t much for competition. He never played in a national championship. But he will always be our champion.

July 4th is the Chuck Caddey Independence Day Ice Cream Social & Open Bowling (7pm). Marge (Chuck’s wife) thought that would be the best time for us to honor Chuck’s life. It just so happens that Chuck and Marge met on July 4, 1952.

Come on out and celebrate the life of our president, friend, and champion.

— Willie Weir
Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club

Getting Around, Local Events

More about Link light rail opening festivities

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A Link train arrives at Othello Station in Rainier Valley. Photo by Oran Viriyincy.
A Link train arrives at Othello Station in Rainier Valley. Photo by Oran Viriyincy.
We mentioned the Link Light Rail opening weekend festivities the other day. Here’s some more information about the celebration. Opening Day is Saturday, July 18, with free rides from 10:00 am – 8:00 pm. There will also be free rides on Sunday, July 19, from 10:00 am – 6:00 pm. (After opening weekend, Link will be on its normal schedule.) There will be a Welcome Portal located on South Lander Street, just north of the station plaza. Staff will be on hand there to answer questions.

Sound Transit tells us that there will be lines, and you should be prepared to wait. They expect from 50,000 to 100,000 riders to ride Link that weekend. (To give you an idea of how big that number is — the population of Seattle is 602,000. So potentially one in six Seattleites will ride Link on opening weekend.) Because of the large crowds, South Lander Street will be closed to vehicle traffic between Beacon and 17th; it’s been closed for several years already for construction, so we should be used to it.

If you need to ride the bus somewhere during that weekend, be aware that buses will not be using the tunnel, and tunnel buses will be on their surface routes instead.

Though rides opening weekend are free, after that you will need to pay. Consider getting an ORCA Card soon. You can use the ORCA on the bus, train, and ferry. (You can still pay with cash, but you’ll have to buy tickets in the train station. There won’t be fareboxes on the trains.)

A bit of station trivia: Each station has an icon, or “pictogram” that represents the station and its area, visually. Beacon Hill Station’s pictograph is a kite, representing “a sense of light and air, as well as community spaces and summer picnics, items that play prominent roles in Beacon Hill’s neighborhood plan and history.” See more about the pictograms and their meanings in this PDF from Sound Transit.

Local Events

Piñata Party cancelled; ride Link instead

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This sign advertised the 2007 Piñata Party in Stevens Place Park. Sadly, there wont be a party this year. Photo by Laura Hadden.
This sign advertised the 2007 Piñata Party in Stevens Place Park. Sadly, there won't be a party this year. Photo by Laura Hadden.
We apologize for the lack of posts recently. We had some technical difficulties after our server move a couple of days ago. (Incidentally, if you mailed us in the last couple of days, you may need to resend.)

We wanted to mention something we missed posting about earlier. The Piñata Party, held for the last few years in Stevens Place Park (or Triangle Park) on Beacon Avenue in mid-July has been cancelled for this year. Jon Gould wrote to the mailing list:

Hi Neighbors,

We’ve decided to skip the annual Piñata Party in Triangle Park (Stevens and Beacon) this year.

We had originally planned the event for July 18th. Now that’s Link Light Rail’s first day. After thinking about it, we decided to take this year off and come back with a great party in 2010. The tentative date we set is Saturday, July 10, 2010.

If you want to help organize the 2010 Piñata Party, let me know and we’ll connect closer to the event.

Happy summer!

Jon Gould, for the Piñata Party Organizing Committee
jongould@cablespeed.com

Though there won’t be a Piñata Party that day, Sound Transit promises that “stations from Westlake to Tukwila will include a Welcome Portal and family-friendly entertainment.” Train rides will also be free. So visiting the Beacon Hill light rail station and riding to the other stations should be a fun alternative, though — as far as we know — there won’t be any piñatas there.

Getting Around

The RPZ is coming soon

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If you see this in your usual parking area, youll need to get a pass. Photo by Wendi.
If you see this in your usual parking area, you'll need to get a pass. Photo by Wendi.
In the last couple of weeks, new signs have been posted around the light rail station areas, with parking limitations “except by zone permit.” New Restricted Parking Zones (RPZs) are going into effect in July, to prevent people from using the neighborhoods immediately around each light rail station as unofficial park-and-rides. Park too long in an RPZ without the official city sticker declaring you as a resident, and you’ll get a ticket. (No, your “BeHi” sticker won’t help.)

The zones are in effect from 7:00 am until 6:00 pm on weekdays, limiting parking to two hours unless you have an RPZ pass. General information on the RPZ passes and how to apply may be found here, along with specific information for the zones at Beacon Hill, Mount Baker (McClellan), Columbia City, Othello, and Rainier Beach.

Pass fees are waived until spring 2011 for residents near the light rail stations, limited to two free resident passes and one free guest pass per household. There is a cost for additional permits.

Crime

On the BHB Forum: Burglary on Beacon Avenue

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If you haven’t browsed the Beacon Hill Blog site much, you might have missed the link to the Forum. The Forum is an area where readers of this blog can post questions, ask for recommendations, and participate in discussions.

Recently, a neighbor reported the following crime in the Open Line Time section of the Forum:

“I live at 3026 Beacon Ave. S. #101, on Beacon Ave. between Stevens and Hanford. Between 2:30 PM and 3:15 PM on Sunday, June 21st, in broad daylight, my apartment was broken into and numerous items were taken. A civilian’s camera in the back parking lot showed no activity during those times. Since one of the items taken was a large, heavy television, the burglars must have had a vehicle parked in front of the building on Beacon Ave. Did anyone see/hear anything suspicious or unusual in this area during those times?”

Please post in the Forum discussion if you can help.

Getting Around

Art underground

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Artwork by Dan Corson at the Beacon Hill light rail station. Photo courtesy of Barbara Luecke at Sound Transit.
Artwork by Dan Corson at the Beacon Hill light rail station. Photo courtesy of Barbara Luecke at Sound Transit.
What is this? Is it a microscopic view of a virus, or pollen? Nope, it’s some of the gorgeous artwork in the Beacon Hill Light Rail Station. Barbara Luecke, the art program manager for Sound Transit, has posted a series of wonderful photos of the station artwork (along with other Link light rail art) on Flickr. The Beacon Hill pictures are on page 2 of the photo set.

In other station news, the Seattle Times’ Mike Lindblom discusses Mount Baker Station just down the hill, in the latest of an ongoing series about the rail stations.

Crime

Charges filed against two attackers of Beacon Hill man

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Charges have been filed against two men accused of the recent attack on Beacon Hill resident Dawit Alemu. Kenneth Anthony Fisher Jr., 19, and Justin Lee Phillips, 20, have been charged with first-degree assault and first-degree attempted robbery, and remain in jail on $200,000 bail and $250,000 bail respectively.

Alemu suffered severe brain injuries in the June 18 attack, in which five men beat and kicked him in the 1900 block of 13th Avenue South, then ran, leaving him for dead.

The Seattle Times and Seattle P-I both have further information on this case.

Site News

BHB changing servers to reduce outages

You may have noticed periodic outages of the blog in the last couple of weeks. We do know about it, and we have been struggling trying to solve the problem. At this point we believe it is a problem with the server itself and so we are moving to a new server at our ISP. You may see some more down time while the move is occurring, but we hope that will be the last of it. Cross your fingers!

Crime

Further details emerge about last night’s assault at 13th and Holgate

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KING5 News has posted more information and a video report about the victim in last night’s attack in North Beacon Hill. 25-year-old Sudanese immigrant Dawit Alemu, who was celebrating his upcoming graduation from Seattle Central Community College, was attacked by a group of men, knocked unconscious, robbed, and left for dead on the sidewalk in broad daylight. At least one witness took photos, which led the police to two suspects, aged 19 and 20, who are being held on $200,000 and $250,000 bail on suspicion of robbery pending the filing of charges. The other attackers remain at large. Alemu would have walked in his graduation ceremony tomorrow; instead, he remains in Harborview, unconscious with life-threatening injuries.

Police currently believe the attackers did not know Alemu.

(Post edited at 7:40 pm to add additional information about the bail, the age of the attackers, and that the attackers did not know the victim.)