Category Archives: Beacon Bits

Beacon Bits: Did you say sushi?

In the Jefferson Park Playground. Photo by go-team in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.
A nice view nearby from Amy Watson’s new office (via Twitter).

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The Seattle Public Utilities advisory committees for Solid Waste and Water Systems are both seeking south-end volunteers. Apply before November 17th for the Solid Waste Advisory Committee, and before November 30 for the Water Systems Advisory Committee.

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UPTUN (Upping Technology for Underserved Neighbors), a broadband equality group working for central and southeast Seattle neighborhoods, hosts its third quarter meeting with Broadstripe, Reclaim the Media, and city representatives at the Central Area Senior Center, 500 30th Avenue South, on Tuesday, November 16 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm.

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The Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club can do a bit of bragging: member Jeff Covell was part of the team that achieved a first place win at the 2010 USLBA National Lawn Bowling Championships in Sun City, Arizona.

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The November episode of UW 360 on UWTV features Beacon Hill’s “Fisher House,” a residence for families of veterans being treated at the VA hospital nearby.

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Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen will be at the Beacon Hill library, 2821 Beacon Avenue South, on Saturday the 13th from 1:00 to 2:30pm to speak “informal[ly] yet meaningful[ly] about our city” with residents. He’d “like to hear people’s thoughts regarding next year’s budget, transportation issues, as well as other topics relevant to Seattleites.”

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United Way of King County is looking for tax preparation volunteers to help weekly at El Centro de la Raza. No experience is necessary and training will be provided. Spanish speakers are especially sought.

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David Schmader at The Stranger loves on Inay’s drag night. And note the remark near the end of the article: “Ernie is open to eventually hosting shows all weekend, but for now his plate is full with food. He’s joining forces with Luis Rodriguez (owner of new and already beloved Beacon Hill coffeehouse the Station) to open Taqueria Frida, situated on the same block as Inay’s and scheduled for a November opening. And he’s in perpetual talks with his friend Dave Nakamura—aka Super Dave, the sushi-chef superhero—to ‘give Beacon Hill the sushi restaurant it deserves.'”

The possibility of the sushi restauranton Beacon Hill was also mentioned briefly in The Stranger‘s Chow column.

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A couple of land use applications were recently filed: Rubberized track, lighting, parking, and a synthetic playing surface for Jefferson Playfield, and Clearwire antennas and microwave dishes to be installed atop a building at 15th and Bayview.

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Volunteer positions are open for the Seattle Design Review Board. Get your application in by December 10th.

Beacon Bits: A troubled landmark

This iconic Beacon Hill landmark is a "troubled building," unable to find a new tenant despite the best views in town. Photo by Wendi.
The Seattle Times (Beacon Hill Blog news partner) reports that the PacMed/Amazon landmark building at the north tip of Beacon Hill is a “troubled property.” No replacement for primary tenant Amazon has yet been found, though the building has been on the market for almost three years.

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The Seattle Public Library is raising fines and fees starting on Monday, November 1. Among the changes:

  • The daily fine for an overdue book, CD, or DVD will change from 15 cents a day to 25 cents a day.
  • The daily fine for an overdue interlibrary loan will change from 25 cents a day to $1 a day.

Also, all accounts with a balance of $25 will be sent to a collection agency, including accounts for children and teens.

You can find out more about the fee and fine increases at the library website.

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“Drawing the Land,” by Elizabeth Conner, is the newest and perhaps largest work of public art on Beacon HillBeacon Hill Public Art

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Angela Garbes of Seattle Weekly‘s Voracious blog notes a recent addition to MacPherson’s Fruit and Produce market (4500 15th Avenue South): day-old breads from Essential Baking Company. Yum!

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The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and City Neighborhood Council (CNC) are currently seeking input from community groups throughout Seattle as a way to find out how to support the evolution of the Neighborhood District Council system as a key avenue for civic participation in Seattle.

Please take this survey if you are interested in Seattle neighborhoods, and spread the word to anyone else who may be interested in helping strengthen civic engagement in our city. The survey will be open until November 14.

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We see on Craigslist that Salon Nouveau (2805 Beacon Avenue South) has a job opening for a salon coordinator. More information here.

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A couple of upcoming events to be aware of:

  • Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson will host a Community Coffee Chat for parents, grandparents and caregivers of SPS students on Monday, November 1 from 6:00 to 7:00 pm at Asa Mercer Middle School, 1600 South Columbian Way.
  • El Centro’s Dia de los Muertos Opening Ceremony is Monday, November 1, at 5:30 pm. More information here.
  • Election Day is Tuesday! Get those ballots in the mail now!

Don’t forget to check our Events page for other upcoming events!

Beacon Bits: Stale and crumbly

[Some quickies of varied age and interest. –Ed]

Who’s got the worst storm drain in the city? We do!Seattle P-I’s Big Blog

Chow Bio of The Station’s Luis Rodriguez in The Stranger.

Inay’s gets a visit from a Seattle Times reviewer.

Former Beaconian Roger Valdez revisits and discusses transit-oriented development and tunnels in the Daily Journal of Commerce.

Angela Garbes of the Seattle Weekly nabbed a bag of peppers from the informal farmers market near the VA.

Blue Scholars ‘mature’ with a show at The Paramount this Wednesday — Matson on Music in The Seattle Times

Beacon Bits: Halloween, Election Day, and Friday night music

It's that time of year again -- time for all little ghosties to celebrate Halloween! Photo by Paul Sapiano via Creative Commons.
Seattle Parks and Recreation is hosting Halloween events for kids at our local community centers on Beacon Hill.

Jefferson Community Center will have a Halloween Howl and Carnival on Friday, October 22 from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, with games, goodies, prizes, a haunted house, and more. Costumes are optional, but encouraged, and the event is for children of all ages. Admission is free but carnival tickets are 25 cents each. The JCC is also holding a Toddler Trick-or-Treat day on Thursday, October 21 from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm. The little ones can dress up, play games, then enjoy “tot time” in the gym. The toddler event is $2 per child. For more information, call 206-684-7481. Jefferson Community Center is located at 3801 Beacon Avenue South.

Van Asselt Community Center is hosting a Fall Harvest Festival for kids up to age 12 on Friday, October 29, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. They tell us it’s a “safe evening of games and goodies.” Kids can celebrate by wearing costumes and bringing a goodie bag or basket (optional). There is no fee for the event. Van Asselt Community Center is located at 2820 South Myrtle Street. For more information, call 206-386-1921.

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Live and local music is coming to Tasha’s Bistro Café on Friday nights, organized by Beacon Music (the folks behind this summer’s Beacon Rocks! music series).

Performances are every Friday night at 7:30 pm. Families are welcome. There is no cover charge. The first performance is October 22, with Jack LeNoir and Betty Jean playing jazz standards, eclectic rock and original music.

Performers who would like to perform at Tasha’s should contact Betty Jean at beaconrocks@gmail.com. Tasha’s Bistro Café is located at 2524 Beacon Avenue South.

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Sustainable South Seattle (S3) is hosting a Climate Co-op Workshop to share ideas about how we can work together as a community to save money, improve our neighborhood and do our part to take care of the planet for our children. Guest Speakers at the workshop include Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith, Brooks Kolb, Michael Murphy, and others.

The forum is on Wednesday, October 20, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the Southside Commons, 3518 South Edmunds Street in Columbia City, just a block and a half away from Columbia City Station. Please RSVP to climate.coop@gmail.com. If you need language assistance please say which language within the email. Childcare will be available.

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The NAMSAYIN Beacon Hill shirts sold out on Sunday at Deli. You can see some of the happy buyers here, including BHB‘s own Jason. Stay tuned to the blog for some shirt giveaways, once we come up with a good contest idea or two!

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Laura Feinstein writes,

I’m hoping you will post a request to our south end neighbors to consider applying for a position on one of the citizen advisory committees that that city hosts. I am a member of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee and I am the only member from the south end of Seattle (south of I-90). Our part of the city is very under-represented. This is a way to weigh-in on key city decisions.

Application information is here and if you miss the October 15 deadline, send your application anyway… they will likely consider late applications.

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Speaking of civic responsibility, ballots for the General Election should be arriving in your mailbox any day now. Please vote thoughtfully, and don’t forget to mail the ballot in before it’s too late!

Nice shoes! Photo by Theresa Thompson via Creative Commons.

Beacon Bits: Classes, workshops, and work parties

Starting today and running through the 15th, the Goodwill Job Training and Education Center, just below the north tip of Beacon Hill on Lane Street, will register people for free classes in the eight-week session that runs from October 18 through December 9.

Classes include a Retail and Customer Service Training Program, Community College 101, the National External Diploma Program, and Adult Basic Education classes covering English, computers, reading, writing, math, and cashiering.

Additional classes may be available. For class availability and enrollment information, call (206) 860-5791.

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The performance space at Art's on Beacon. Photo by Wendi.
ART’s on Beacon is hosting a Culture Forum Acting Workshop from October 11 through December 19, for “actors and non-actors alike focusing on the healing aspects of performance.” Workshop participants will have the opportunity to share their work in a three-night performance to be held at the ART’s on Beacon theater.

Workshop participation is limited. Workshop sessions will run Mondays through Thursdays from 6:30 through 9:30 pm. For more information, contact Michael Perrone at 206-861-6260 or email him at egodd1@msn.com.

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There are a couple of volunteer work parties scheduled on October 10 to improve local parks. We previously posted about the Maple School Natural Area Invasive Species Removal and Native Planting work party from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm on Sunday. Find out more about that event and RSVP at the website.

Elsewhere on the Hill, the Friends of Lewis Park are also holding a work party at the same time on Sunday. The work will involve planting native trees and shrubs, and removal of invasive plant species such as English Ivy and Himalayan Blackberry. Afterwards, the volunteers will gather for a celebratory party. To find out more and RSVP, see the website.

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Mark your calendar for Saturday, October 16 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm for a North Beacon Town Center Action Team meeting at Beacon Lutheran Church, to help plan the North Beacon Urban Design Framework for the Town Center. We will post more about the meeting as the information becomes available.

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Today NAMSAYIN will announce the release date, time, and location of the “Know Where You Came From” shirt we posted about the other day. Keep an eye on namsayin.com for the announcement. In the meantime, though, you might enjoy this homage to Beacon Avenue and the “ghetto limousine.”

Beacon Bits: Breakfast, Black Stax, and the budget

Last week, Laura Onstot of the Seattle Weekly’s Voracious food blog visited Beacon Hill’s Despi Delite Bakery on the way to the airport on Link, and posted about her experience there.

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The new crosswalk on Beacon Avenue in front of the library is now complete and functional. When pedestrians pass between the sensors on either side of the street, flashing lights activate in the crosswalk to alert drivers.

The lights do not seem terribly bright; they are invisible during bright daylight and even in the evening, not as bright as we expected. But they should help make evening and nighttime pedestrians a bit more safe at that intersection.

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Neighbor Ray writes: “I found this guy this morning wandering and looking lost at the corner of S. Oregon and 10th Ave. S. He has no tags and no chip. I can be reached at 206-349-3147.” Is this cute lost dog yours?

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Camp Fire groups are forming in the area, with activities for boys and girls aged 3 to Grade 12. Groups can be all boys, all girls or boys and girls together. Parents decide where, when and how often to meet. For more information contact Janelle Kitson at 206-826-8910 or by email at janellek@campfire-usa.org.

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Local hip hop group Black Stax are opening for Les Nubians just down the hill at Showbox SODO this Thursday, September 23. You may remember that Black Stax performed on the rooftop of Spoons (at 15th and Beacon) last summer.

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As the City Council works to balance the city’s 2011-2012 budget, they are seeking input from residents to develop a budget that best reflects the needs of the city. To do this, the Council is inviting everyone to participate in this year’s budget process in one of the following ways:

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The Beacon Hill P-Patch needs volunteers on October 2 for a clean-up work party. Volunteers will weed and aid in brush removal in the upper slope of the P-Patch, and afterward gather for food, drinks, and socializing.

Further information and RSVP here.

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Nearly 800 freshmen and transfer students at Seattle Pacific University will be volunteering on Beacon Hill on Saturday, September 25 as part of SPU’s “CityQuest” program. From 10:30 am until 2:30 pm, SPU student and staff volunteers will be working on an orchard and a public garden at Dr. Jose Rizal Park, helping Operation Nightwatch with a community clean-up, and clearing out invasive plants at Lewis Park.

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Because of an all-staff meeting, all locations of the Seattle Public Library will open late on Thursday, September 30. All library locations will open at 1:00 pm that day.

People waiting for the library to open in the morning. On Thursday, September 30, library patrons will have to wait a bit longer because the library will open late. Photo by Jason.

Beacon Bits: Police, playground, and planting

Click this to see a larger version of the event poster.
This Saturday you can meet your local police officers, tour the precinct building, and enjoy music, dancing, and free food at this year’s Picnic at the Precinct. All South Precinct residents are invited to this free community event, which will be held from 1:00 – 4:00 pm in the South Precinct parking lot, 3001 South Myrtle Street.

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Nearby in the South Beacon Hill area, Seattle Parks and Recreation will host a meeting for the Othello Playground Safety and Lighting Improvement project on Monday, September 20 from 7:00 – 8:30 pm at the Van Asselt Community Center, 2820 South Myrtle Street.

At this meeting, the design team will present schematic designs for the project, based on information gathered at the first meeting in May and at the August Othello Park International Music and Art Festival.

For more information, please contact Rick Nishi, Parks and Green Spaces Levy Manager at 206-733-9319 or at rick.nishi@seattle.gov, or visit the project website.

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The Beacon Hill branch of the Seattle Public Library will host a special story time for children on Saturday, October 2 at 3:30 pm featuring an actor in costume as the television character Kai-lan from Ni Hao, Kai-lan. The story time is free and registration is not required. Kai-lan will read from one of her Mandarin Chinese/English bilingual books, and giveaways and photo opportunities will be available. The story time is presented in partnership with the Seattle Theatre Group in promotion of the upcoming stage show Storytime Live! at the Paramount Theatre.

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Neighbor Julie writes, “This very friendly cat appeared at our door last night (9/8/10). It is a small, black and white, with an interesting tail. We live in the 19th Ave S. and Horton neighborhood. Please call Julie at 206-999-9231 to claim it.”

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You still have time to submit an application with the Seattle Releaf “Trees for Neighborhoods” program. The application deadline has been extended to October 4 for the program, in which participants receive free trees, training, and some supplies to get started caring for their trees. Trees may be planted along the street or in your yard. To find out more and to get your application, check out the website.

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Another way to help green-up your neighborhood is coming on October 10, with a Maple School Natural Area Invasive Species Removal and Native Planting work party. The work party is from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, followed by a social party until 6:00 pm. All you need to bring is yourself—refreshments, tools, and gloves will be provided.

The Maple School Natural Area is located at 20th Avenue South and South Lucile Street, near Cleveland High School. You can find out more about the event and RSVP at the website.

Beacon Bits: Milkshakes, coffee, and a brand-new playground

Workers taking down the fence at the Jefferson Park Play Area. Photo by Joel Lee.
The playground at Jefferson Park is open at last, and in the words of Joel Lee, “It was already mobbed by children tonight. For adults it’s a good vantage point to see the rest of the park and of course an amazing view of downtown.”

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It’s been all over the local news, but we thought we’d mention it too. Long-time Seattle institution Dick’s Drive-in is hosting a poll on their website, asking where they should build a new Dick’s—north of Seattle, South Seattle (as far south as SeaTac), or the Eastside? Now, we know that Beacon Hill itself wouldn’t be a good location for Dick’s. But we think that a new Dick’s location would fit perfectly into, say, Sodo. We would also like to point out that every single existing Dick’s location is already north of Downtown (though Broadway is only slightly north) and it’s time to give South Seattle some love—and some chocolate milkshakes. Currently we are in second place with 29%, and the north end is running away with the election. Go here to vote.

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If you prefer coffee to a Dick’s milkshake, fear not—Victrola has begun a weekly “cupping” (coffee tasting) at their Beacon Hill location, every Saturday at noon. The café is located at 3215 Beacon Avenue South. — Coffee City blog at The Seattle Times

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Jessie McKenna of ROCKiT space sent along an announcement:

Just a quick announcement that as many of you know, Suzanne Sumi will be taking over Kids’ Dance, Sing & Play. The classes are weekly on Wednesdays, will begin at 9am and are one hour sessions.

The cost is still just $5 per class, but is per family, not per child. This class is big fun for toddler/pre-school aged children and you will just LOVE Suzanne. She’s wonderful! She has 26 years of early childhood education under her belt and will share stories, songs and more with you and your children.

Hope to see you with kids in tow some Wednesday soon!

We see also on their website that ROCKiT space is offering $5 Spanish language classes for both kids and adults, beginning Saturday, September 11. Find out more on the site.

ROCKiT space is at 3315 Beacon Avenue South. Please note that they will be closed from Sunday September 5 through Sunday September 12.

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Publicola and Seattle Transit Blog recently ran articles praising Beacon Bikes! and noting that the group has been awarded $15,000 to make biking safer in the neighborhood.

Way to go, Dylan and Beacon Bikes! (Check out the Beacon Bikes! Facebook page.)

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Publicola reported a while back that loss of the city’s tree canopy is worst in Southeast Seattle, including part of Beacon Hill. The city is hosting an Urban Forestry open house on September 21 to discuss city plans and proposals to increase and enhance our urban forest. More information about the open house here.

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Have a great Labor Day weekend and enjoy what remains of our very odd summer this year!

(Melissa Jonas also contributed to writing this edition of Beacon Bits. Thanks, Melissa!)

Beacon Bits: Internet outages, slow traffic, and health inspections

(We apologize for some delay in getting this posted. Our internet was down for a bit. Oddly, it went down just as I was preparing the story below.)

Neighbor Sebastian in North Beacon writes that he’s been having some Broadstripe trouble lately:

I’ve been having intermittent to complete Internet outages for 24 days, starting on 7/30. Cable TV has been out since 8/19. I’ve called Broadstripe 20+ times to ask for updates and for someone to investigate their Network issues with less than satisfactory responses. During a third service call on 8/19/2010, a Broadstripe technician finally discovered that the source of the problem is with Broadstripe’s network and not with the equipment inside my house. Unfortunately the issue still hasn’t been resolved and my Internet and Cable TV still aren’t working.

…I’m curious if anyone else has been having issues with their Broadstripe Internet and Cable TV service? I’m getting tired of dealing with an incompotent service provider and I’m wondering if anyone has had any luck dealing with them?

Anyone else having these problems with their cable lately? And does anyone have any suggestions for Sebastian?

(Editor’s note, 5:28 pm: Sebastian tells us his service is up and working again. How about the rest of you?)

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Like Beacon Hill internet service, traffic on Rainier Avenue South will also be moving slowly for a while. Southbound traffic on Rainier will be reduced to one lane between South Forest Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way South around the clock until early September. Construction crews are upgrading drainage and electrical utilities in the roadway as part of the Rainier Transit Priority Corridor Improvements Project to create a better waiting environment for bus passengers, improve travel time for buses, and improve parking conditions for automobiles. You can read more about it here.

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“Home to some of the very best views of downtown Seatown, it’s shocking that sleepy Beacon Hill is often overlooked, said Yelp’s “Neighborhood Spotlight” feature last week. The article touts our library as “stunning,” our cuisine as “out of this world,” and concludes that there are “so many reasons to buzz about this ’hood!” Read it here.

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Speaking of our cuisine, certain local establishments received their periodic visits from the Health Department. El Centro de la Raza, Dim Sum House, Elegant Gourmet Catering, Em Engo Beacon Grocery/BBQ Deli, Golden Daisy Restaurant, Holly Park Head Start Center, Jefferson Community Center, Sharon’s Lutong Bahay, and La Bendicion all saw the inspector in the last few weeks.

Congratulations to Holly Park Head Start Center, Jefferson Community Center, and Sharon’s Lutong Bahay who all had perfect scores of zero!

Click on the establishments’ names above to see the reports of each place’s inspection. Please note that having some violation points does not necessarily mean an establishment has a serious problem. It is common for even good establishments to get some violation points now and then. The type and number of the points are what matters. Here is some more information about the Food Protection Program.

Beacon Bits: Public access, opinions, and porketarians

Workers building the Beacon Hill Reservoir in 1911, as shown in an article in Engineering and Contracting magazine.
We recently stumbled on a 1912 article in Engineering and Contracting magazine, “Methods Employed in Constructing the Beacon Hill Reservoir, Seattle, Wash., with Data on Labor Required.” It’s a bit technical but some of you might find the details of how the Jefferson Park reservoirs were built to be interesting. Among other details, the article describes how cement, sand, and gravel were bought to the reservoir site by a tramway that carried the supplies up Spokane Street from the bottom of the hill.

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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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Photo of the Beacon Hill Library by go-team in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.
The Seattle Public Library recently released the results of their recent Community Survey. 33,000 people completed the survey in May, and SPL points out that that is a number equal to 5% of the city’s population. Of those who responded to the survey, 4.4% said that they visit the Beacon Hill branch regularly, and 0.9% visit the NewHolly branch regularly. Beaconians make a bit less use of the “hold” service than average; holds are just over 20% of the total circulation of the branch, as compared to 25% for the system overall (and 34% at Wallingford).

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.