BH in the News

Wall along trail is “graffiti hotspot”

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Publicola reports that the retaining wall along the Mountains to Sound Trail at the north tip of Beacon Hill has become a big graffiti headache, requiring heavy maintenance from Seattle Public Utilities’ Graffiti Rangers:

“‘We check it every day, and we’ve been painting it over every other day for the last two weeks,’ Stoltzfus says. ‘There are other [graffiti hot spots] in the city, but not one that has been covered as frequently and to such an extent.'”

The graffiti issue was discussed at last week’s North Beacon Hill Council meeting. Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith mentioned that a mural on the site to deter taggers is a possibility, but current city rules state that a permit is needed to install a mural, with an agreement to maintain the artwork on an ongoing basis. Whoever steps up to install a mural or other artwork needs to be able to meet this responsibility.

Clean and Green, Education

Chicks, bikes, and weeds: self-reliance classes coming to Beacon Hill

Want to raise chickens like this one? There's a class for that. Photo by Wendi.
[Edited at 4:06 p.m. to note that registration is required for the bicycle workshop. –Ed.]

The Seattle Public Library is hosting a series of “Urban Self-Reliance” workshops, including several here at the Beacon Hill Library branch. The workshops are free and open to the public, and registration is not required unless noted in the class description below.

These are the classes scheduled for the Beacon Hill Library (2821 Beacon Ave. S.):

“Bicycle Maintenance”: Basic bike maintenance techniques taught by instructors from The Bikery, a non-profit community bike project. Registration is required for this workshop; call 206-684-4711 to sign up. (1-3 p.m., Sunday, October 2.)

“Keeping Chickens in the City”: The basics of keeping chickens in the city, including starting with chicks, feeding and housing requirements, and more. (6-7:30 p.m., Monday, October 10.)

“Finding Edible Weeds in Your Garden and Lawn”: Local author and expert forager Langdon Cook will talk about how to use your backyard as an exotic produce aisle. (6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 26.)

Classes offered at other library branches include “DIY Seismic Home Retrofitting,” “Apartment Gardening with Amy Pennington,” “Introduction to Bike Commuting,” “Simple Sewing (Bags/Pillows/Potholders),” and more. For more information about the classes offered throughout the rest of the city, see the SPL website.

Arts

Get Off the Hill: Blue Scholars, World on a Wire

This is the first of an occasional series of “Get Off the Hill” posts, in which the BHB will mention some entertainment options that aren’t in the neighborhood. We love spending time on Beacon Hill, but we can’t spend all our time here. Occasionally it’s worth leaving the hill for a good movie or a concert.

* * *

Beacon Hill hip-hop duo Blue Scholars have just started their first nationwide tour and will be playing in front of the hometown crowd in an all-ages show at the Showbox at the Market, Saturday night, September 17. The tour will take them all the way to New York City, where they’ll wrap up the whole shebang on November 11.

The Showbox show is sold out. We hope you have tickets. If not, perhaps you can catch them in Portland, Olympia, or Bellingham. (Tickets are cheaper there anyway.)

In the meantime, check out this discussion between Sabzi of Blue Scholars and Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes of Tarboo Inc., and enjoy this song:

Continue reading Get Off the Hill: Blue Scholars, World on a Wire →

Clean and Green, Local Events

Neighbors invited to celebrate Beacon Food Forest final design

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Beacon Food Forest organizers are hosting a final design celebration next Tuesday, September 20, from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Jefferson Community Center (3801 Beacon Ave. S.). Those who attend can see the final schematic design, enjoy free food, tour the garden site by flashlight, and celebrate the end of this phase of the project.

Nearly 100 community members and other local advocates of urban agriculture worked together with the Harrison Design Team on a design for up to 7 acres of land located directly west of Jefferson Park. The Food Forest will include a variety of crops, a community gathering space, and a children’s area.

The Food Forest organizers have a Facebook page with further information about the project.

Crime

Cars rifled through on S. Forest St.

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Neighbor Kimberly wrote this weekend:

“Just wanted to report some weird activity on Forest near the Red Apple. For the last two nights our car parked on the street, which doesn’t lock all the way, has been searched in the middle of the night. They opened the trunk, pulled everything out of the glove box and left it, but took nothing. There was some loose change and an iPod car converter that were not touched. Last night the same thing happened to our neighbor’s car, with the same result, nothing taken.

“Seems like whoever is doing it is looking for something specific, but not finding it on our street yet!”

Any ideas what might be happening here? And has anyone else in the area noticed similar activity?

Arts

Songwriters’ Circle tonight

Working on a song? The Songwriters' Circle welcomes you. Photo by Delwin Steven Campbell via Creative Commons.
If the recent musical activity of Beacon Rocks! and the NEPO 5K Don’t Run inspired you, you may want to attend tonight’s monthly installment of the Beacon Hill Songwriters’ Circle. It’s a casual group for songwriters at all levels to get feedback and support from other songwriters.

The Songwriters’ Circle is held at 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month (including tonight, September 13), at Betty Jean and Jay’s house, 5919 Shaffer Ave. S. There is a $5 suggested donation, free to members of ROCKiT space.

For more information, contact beaconrocks@gmail.com, or call Paul at 206-658-3622.

Arts, Local Events

Don’t Run fun on Saturday night

The NEPO 5K Don’t Run brought a lot of activity to North Beacon Hill on Saturday night. Melissa Jonas took some photos of the event and added them to the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr. You can also see more of her photos in this Flickr set.

Other photographers capturing the event included Ella Dorband and Dan Bennett. Dan in particular posted an extensive set of pictures, including photos of the Bavarian Village Band at the German Garden, performers at The Station’s hip-hop show, and colorful projections on the outside of NEPO House.

ROCKiT space volunteers brought "Horus the Hawk" to life.

Estela Ortega included Roberto Maestas' lovingly-maintained Mercedes in the car show organized by The Station.
Crime

Arsonist burns cars at 14th and Nevada

An arsonist torched multiple cars on 14th Ave. S. just west of Jefferson Park early Sunday morning.

Beacon Hill Blog news partner KOMO reported yesterday:

Seattle Police spokesman Mark Jamieson said that officers and firefighters were called to the 4100 block of 14th Avenue South, just north of Nevada, around 5:15 a.m. on a report of a car fire. As they arrived, they learned of a second fire near 14th and Nevada.

As firefighters were putting those fires out, a third vehicle fire was reported on Nevada, near 16th. Jamieson said a resident with a garden hose quickly put that fire out.

Jamieson said that two other cars were targeted by the arsonist. One had burned papers inside, but it never spread beyond that. The fifth car had its doors open, was ransacked inside, but it was never ignited.

SPD’s Arson/Bomb Squad has taken over the investigation, Jamieson said. There were no injuries reported.

The KOMO report also includes photos and video.

Neighbor George V. Reilly also took some photos of the damaged vehicles. You can see them here.