“Can food be free, fresh and easily accessible? That’s the bold question that the city of Seattle is hoping to answer with a new experimental farm not far from the city’s downtown that will have fruits and vegetables for anyone to harvest this fall.”
All Beacon Hill neighbors are invited to celebrate at El Centro de la Raza’s 8th Annual Cinco de Mayo Celebration this Saturday, May 4, from 1-5 p.m. at El Centro, 2524 16th Ave S., and on Roberto Maestas Festival Street next to Beacon Hill Station in North Beacon Hill. Admission and parking are free for this event celebrating Mexican heritage with music, prizes, children’s activities, craft and informational booths and traditional Mexican foods for sale.
This year’s live entertainment features performances by Ce Atl Tonalli Danza Azteca, Chief Sealth MEChLA Dance Group, the Seattle Fandango Project and a desfile cultural by the José Martà Child Development Center showcasing cultural attire.
See the event page on Facebook here.
I am posting this for my neighbor Steve, who has lost his male cat Raul. He last saw him on April 21st at 13th and Stevens.
Cat Features:
Raul is a tabby cat, male, white paws and face. About 8 years old.If you have seen him or have him, please call Steve at 206.999.9662! There are also some fliers up around Beacon Hill.
Thanks!
Can you help Raul get home?
If your spring cleaning efforts have turned up some old computers, cell phones, refrigerators or the like, you might want to make your way to the Rainier Community Center’s northeast parking lot at 4600 38th Ave. S. on Saturday, April 27, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., for free electronic recycling and paper shredding.
Items accepted for recycling include appliances, electronics, lawn equipment, bikes (to be donated to BikeWorks), metals, batteries, and more. See the official flyer for details and a list of restricted items. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Windermere Foundation and the Rainier Community Center’s youth scholarship program. Donation receipts will be available.
KCTS9 featured Beacon Hill residents and bicycle explorers Willie Weir and Kat Marriner in this week’s travel-centric episode of PIE. Here’s their segment of the show:
As the Seattle Times reported on Monday, the plan for Seattle Central Community College to move programs into the Pac Med building is in no way a done deal.
For the move to take place, the state Senate and House much must reach a budget deal to fund renovations to the landmark building, now officially called Pacific Tower and mostly vacant since Amazon moved out in 2011. The House capital budget allocates money for the project, but the Senate does not have a matching measure. Time is running out — the legislative session ends on Sunday.
If the plan falls through, the Times reports that a developer has proposed converting the building to high-priced apartments. Either way, the building’s owner, the Pacific Hospital Preservation and Development Authority (PDA), needs to get a tenant in there sooner, rather than later. The PDA normally uses income from leasing the building to provide grants to nonprofit organizations providing charity health services.
If you feel strongly either way about the college leasing Pac Med, now is the time to contact your State legislators who represent Beacon Hill:
Adam Kline, Senate, 37th District; Bob Hasegawa, Senate, 11th District; Sharon Tomiko Santos, House, 37th District; Eric Pettigrew, House, 37th District; Zack Hudgins, House, 11th District; Steve Bergquist, House, 11th District.
Barring rainy weather, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is planning to work on South Spokane Street between 16th Avenue South and 19th Avenue South this Sunday, April 28. During the work, from about 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., the street will be restricted to a single lane in each direction. there will be a traffic officer on site to guide travelers through the busy intersection of South Spokane Street and Beacon Avenue South.
SDOT will restripe the roadway to install left turn lanes at the Beacon and Spokane intersection, to improve traffic efficiency as well as to allow for safety improvements and better connections for the neighborhood to Jefferson Park.
In the future, SDOT and Seattle Parks will improve the intersection of Spokane Street and Lafayette Avenue South, adding a pedestrian crossing island, crosswalks, curb ramps, a stairway and a path to access Jefferson Park. These improvements are part of the Beacon Hill Neighborhood Greenway project to improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists.
This Thursday, April 25, Lifelong AIDS Alliance’s Dining Out For Life returns to raise money to fight illness and hunger in our community. During the event, when you dine at a participating restaurant on Beacon Hill or elsewhere, a portion of your bill will be donated to Lifelong.
Restaurants in the Beacon Hill/Columbia City/Mount Baker neighborhoods that are participating include:
Besides the benefit of contributing to your community, if you dine at one of these establishments you’ll also be entered to win two domestic airline tickets from Alaska Airlines. Tweet photos of yourself participating, and you’ll have a chance to win a Dining Out For Life prize package.
See the restaurant locations in this interactive map:
In this week’s Stranger, Mudede takes his complaints to print, in “I Hate the Beacon Hill Library, and You Should Too: A Journey to Seattle’s Heart of Darkness“:
“What was this really about? The fact that Beacon Hill is diverse, and the conflicting fact that the power structures in Seattle are not. These two facts generate tension. So it is not implausible that the white architects Donald Carlson, Mark Withrow, and Jim Hanford attempted to resolve it by designing a building that’s all over the place, that has a little of everything, that has no center, no gravity, that is restless, bold, and creative, like powerless immigrants. The exact same thing that’s wrong with the Beacon Hill Branch is wrong with City Hall, which was designed by Peter Bohlin, the man behind Bill Gates’s high-tech Xanadu. Both are cut from the same bad intention: inspired multiculturalism. It’s architecture trying to heal. Architecture as a hospital for social ills.”
Mudede goes on to compare the branch’s ship-like structure to “the inside of an old cargo ship,” specifically, the hull of a slave ship.
As with the previous Slog posts about the library, this article triggered some pretty strong discussion in the comments, but commenter JF wins the prize: “When old enough to date, I hope Mudede’s daughter walks into the living room one evening and says ‘Dad, I want you to meet my boyfriend’ as the Beacon Hill library reaches out to shake Charles’ hand.”
What do you think? Does Charles Mudede have a point? Is the Beacon Hill Library an awkward, patronizing example of quirkiness trying to be multiculturalism? Or is it an interesting and well-designed building that both serves the community and reflects the character of North Beacon Hill? Or something else entirely?
Vocalist Elnah Jordan performed the role of the legendary Bessie Smith in San Francisco for 2-1/2 years in The Evolution of the Blues, and later starred in Street Dreams, an Off-Broadway musical drama. She has since built a reputation as a powerful singer in jazz, R&B, gospel and blues. Pianist Eric Verlinde‘s fifth CD, Firewalker, collects some of his more than 150 compositions ranging “from Latin jazz to swinging hard-bop.” Jazz guitarist Tom McElroy will open the show.
Before the show begins, Beacon Bento will be available with meals delivered to your table from Inay’s Kitchen and Travelers Thali House for $10 or less per meal.
For more info, see the website.