A new BECU branch just moved into the neighborhood, and already they’re making friends with the locals.
Aiko Schaefer with the Olympic View Elementary School PTA tells us that at the location’s grand opening ceremony Thursday, BECU donated family season passes to ZooTunes that the PTA will auction at its annual fundraiser, the Red Carpet Stars OV School Auction on March 31. (She adds that BECU also made a donation to Northgate Elementary.)
Pictured left to right: Aiko Schaefer, OVPTA President, BECU Northgate Branch Manager, Elisa Miller and Joy Strechowski, OVPTA Auction procurement chair/photo courtesy the Olympic View PTA
In place of a discussion of crime and public safety, which drew police officials, City Council members and scores of neighborhood residents to the meeting in 2010 and 2011, the agenda started with a discussion of emergency preparedness.
That was followed by an overview and partial update on the Maple Leaf Reservoir Park, which opens next year, with many more details promised at a meeting in April. (Spoiler: the proposed 90-foot zip line appears to have been replaced by a “hill slide.”) Update Jan. 26: We get to KEEP the zip line! See comment below from Donna Hartmann-Miller, chair of the parks committee and Wednesday night’s presenter on this issue. We apologize for misunderstanding.
Of particular interest are changes in bus service when LINK light rail opens in 2021. The direct bus service from Maple Leaf to downtown will be largely replaced by light rail from Northgate.
We’ll be circling back on some of these issues in coming weeks.
Tonight’s meeting is almost over (we posted briefly, below, when it started) but the community council is also looking for direction from residents on the development and light rail issues, and on what other issues the council should emphasize. You can join their community email lists here.
This summer, plenty of Maple Leaf neighbors gathered for National Night Out, but you don’t have to wait until summer for another reason to get together with your neighbors.
Feb. 11 is Seattle’s 18th annual Neighbor Appreciation Day, a special day to reach out to neighbors, create new friends, and express thanks to those who help make your neighborhood a great place to live.
The city suggests several ways to participate:
Plan an activity for your neighborhood such as a block party, potluck, or work party. The city’s Neighbor Appreciation Day website provides ideas, tools, resources and templates to help community members organize an activity. Once organized, the event can be posted to the online calendar (the submission can be made public or private).
Send out Neighbor Appreciation Day greeting e-cards to your neighbors. The selection of e-cards feature artwork from past winners of the Neighbor Appreciation Day Student Art Contest.
Share a story or two about your favorite neighbors. Community members can visit the Neighbor Appreciation Day website to post stories about great neighbors or their neighborhood.
Attend one of the many community activities listed on the online calendar. Seattle Fire stations, Seattle Parks and Recreation community centers and pools, and other organizations have special Neighbor Appreciation Day events and work parties planned.
We’ve been getting emails since 3 a.m. about police activity near St. Catherine of Siena, including one from a woman who believes somebody tried to break into her home.
Last night around 2:45 a.m. my husband and I heard a loud banging on a window in our house. My husband got up to see what was going on and there were multiple cops outside our house with a search dog. They were chasing someone who tried to break into our house.
The suspect was apparently fleeing police officers, who had arrived in response to a 911 call at 1:30 a.m. That call came from a man who was watching an SUV cruising in the 500 block of Northeast 85th Street with its lights off, said Detective Mark Jamieson.
As the man was on the phone to 911, he saw the SUV stop almost directly in front of his house and a suspect get out and start to rifle a parked car, Jamieson said.
With police on the way, the suspect started running north through neighbor’s yards, hopping fences, Jamieson said.
“We brought in a bunch of officers for containment and had a K-9 brought in,” Jamieson said.
By then it was 3 a.m., and another neighbor was emailing Maple Leaf Life: “Two to three squad cars are zooming up and down my block (88th between 5th and 8th) and neighboring blocks, blipping their siren, spot lighting between houses, etc.
“OK, now they’re on foot, search yards close to 5th on the south side of 88th.”
Jamieson said officers were in the area for about two hours, and that another neighbor called to report the suspect was in the back yard. The arrest was made in the 500 block of Northeast 88th Street, he said.
“We had a lot of people calling in and giving us updates, and that was great.”
The 29-year-old suspect was booked into King County Jail on suspicion of two car prowls, he said.
Overnight car prowlers were also arrested in the area last August.
Update 1:30 p.m.: The community council has just emailed an agenda. No mention of public safety/crime, although it was on the list in this month’s council newsletter.
1. Introductions & Announcements
2. Emergency Preparedness and Maple Leaf Neighborhood Disaster Response
3. Maple Leaf Reservoir Park update
4. Northgate density and transportation changes
5. Community Q&A/Guidance – Tell us what you want us to work on in 2012
————————————-
The January general meeting of the Maple Leaf Community Council has, in the past two years, put a spotlight on crime in the neighborhood.
The second big issue has been the development of the Maple Leaf Park. (Is there really going to be a 90-foot zip line there?)
For Wednesday night’s meeting, add development at Northgate.
In the community council’s newsletter, which came out earlier this month, the emphasis is placed on Northgate, where apartments are expected to bring thousands of new residents in addition to the redevelopment that’s coming with LINK light rail.
“If the development is done poorly, it will mean the beginning of the end for livability and quality of life in the Maple Leaf neighborhood,” David Miller, chair of the council’s Transportation and Land Use Committee, writes in the newsletter and at a special online page the council has created.
We’ve known for years that we have some of the city’s best coffee shops (and Chinese restaurants!), but it appears that the rest of Seattle is starting to catch on.
That wind overnight gusted to 33.3 mph here in Maple Leaf, between 4 and 5 a.m.
As it happens, that’s exactly the wind gusts predicted here for Sunday evening – steady south-southeast wind at 18 mph with gusts to 33 mph. And a 90% chance of rain.
The last time we remember winds of that speed was last March, when they came with the added attraction of hail.
PS: 2 1/2 inches in the Maple Leaf Life rain gauge this a.m.
Apparently snow, ice and below-freezing temperatures are good influences on criminals.
At right is the police crime map for the past week, since snow started falling last Saturday, Jan. 14.
That’s a home burglary and a commercial burglary in the middle, a couple of shopliftings at the top, and a car prowl at the bottom.
By comparison, the map for the previous week is below.
This also happened in November of 2010, when we wrote “it appears nobody wants to be a burglar when it’s 20 degrees out and very easy to track your footsteps in the snow.”
The map comparison isn’t exact. It can take a while for police reports to show up on the map, so there are almost certainly crimes that we’re not aware of.
One we do know about, and don’t see on either map, is an apartment break-in near Northeast 88th Street and Roosevelt Way.
It occurred on Friday, January 13, probably between 8 a.m and noon. The front door was damaged.
There was also a scary moment on Wednesday night, January 11, when a home owner in the 900o block of Fifth Avenue Northeast called 911 to report finding an unknown man inside his home.
According to the police report:
He arrived home around1230 hrs today and got into the shower. Shortly after starting his shower he heard a loud crashing sound, he got out to investigate. He stepped outside the bathroom, as he glanced towards the kitchen he saw an unknown W/M standing in middle of the kitchen. The male was described as possibly white or mixed race (olive complexion), 6′2″ tall, clean shaven, around 200lbs, wearing blue jeans, blue jacket, and had on white tennis shoes.
The homeowner yelled at the man, who ran out his kitchen door and into the backyard, shouting “I’m going to kill you,” according to the report. The suspect then got into a gray 1990s Honda Accord and drove off down an alley, police said.
The Maple Leaf Brewery is not to be, at least, not now.
You remember the Maple Leaf Brewery? Buried now under several feet of snow posts, last week’s community discussion of the possible brewery generated 91 comments. So far.
Comment No. 91 is from the potential owners/brewers, Monica and Kevin:
Thanks, all, for your great feedback and support. After a lot of thought and hard number-crunching, we decided against leasing the warehouse space at 94th and Roosevelt. It was a difficult decision given the overwhelming positive commentary from the neighborhood, and given our dream of building Maple Leaf’s first brewery and community beer garden.
We are still very much interested in creating, or co-creating, the Maple Leaf Brewery and tasting room, and will be on the lookout for properties that make financial sense for this, as well as people who might be willing to partner with us to make this happen in some form.
It’s 34 degrees outside at 8 a.m., and rising through the day. In fact, there are no freezing temperatures in the National Weather Service forecast.
It’s still a mess out there, though. The arterials are pretty good – but the snow on sidewalks and side streets is compacted and slipperier than Thursday. There’s a community council road report here.
No residential garbage collection today and only limited commercial service.
Road conditions permitting, garbage, recycling, and food/yard waste service will resume tomorrow — with customers scheduled for pickup today collected Saturday.
If your materials are not picked up, please put them out on your next regularly scheduled pickup day. Missed customers will be allowed to set out double their normal amount of garbage, recycling and yard waste at no additional charge.
Oh, and the city wants YOUR help clearing storm drains. Video here.
Noon: We now have a half-inch of new snow atop the ice atop the old snow.
Cliff Mass has posted: “Well folks, this is not my profession’s finest hour.”
Roosevelt Way Northeast at Northeast 88th Street at noon.
Traffic is light, but moving readily on both arterials and side streets. The Maple Leaf Community Council, though, has posted on Facebook that roads are in the worst condition since the the snow started.
KIRO-TV has set up shop at 15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 95th Street and is using the snow on the hood of Kristine’s Honda Civic to show conditions. (Thanks for the photo, Kristine!)
Igloo at Roosevelt Way Northeast and Northeast 94th Street, by Café Piccolo.
9:30 a.m.: Maple Leaf has a quarter-inch of ice on top of a half-foot of old snow. And it’s now snowing steadily.
Icy limbs over power lines.
8:45 a.m.: Local road update on the Maple Leaf Community Council’s Facebook page. Bottom line – ice.
Maple Leaf Ace Hardware: “We are CURRENTLY CLOSED due to the extraordinarily icy conditions. We are waiting to see how things develop before deciding whether to open.”
11 a.m.: One Two Sea-Tac runways now open. But massive delays.
5:45 a.m. The three runways at Sea-Tac airport are closed because of the icy conditions.
The National Weather Service has issued an ice storm warning until noon 2 p.m.:
ICE ACCUMULATIONS…ICE ACCUMULATIONS TWO TO FOUR TENTHS OF AN
INCH THIS MORNING. MAIN IMPACT…TRAVEL WILL BE SEVERELY IMPACTED.
POWER OUTAGES ARE LIKELY.
Seattle Public Libraries are closed today due to the extreme weather conditions.
Metro continues on weather routes. Check this sitefor changes to your bus route.
Garbage collection has been postponed by at least a day.
From Cliff Mass this morning: “Over the past day and particularly this morning, something relatively unusual and, quite frankly, dangerous is going on outside–a freezing rain/sleet storm.”
This Maple Leaf Life co-editor’s car is staying in the garage today, but a trek down to Northgate found that for many of the area’s retail and food establishments, it’s business as usual. If you can get there.
The journey begins on a snowy Roosevelt Way Northeast, with just a Porsche (seriously?) braving the road on my watch.
Although many of Maple Leaf’s side roads are too snowy for cars, they’re perfect for sledders!
Hardly a tire track or a footprint on Northeast 98th Street (heading toward Fifth Avenue Northeast) at 9:15 a.m.
But plenty of cars and buses were braving the hills (with success) on Fifth Avenue.
And amid all of the snowy chaos is beauty. Even the “Bad Buoys“ in Thornton Creek are covered in snow!
Update 12:20 p.m.: A.W. Hoss & Son and COA Mexican Eatery & Tequileria have checked in on our Facebook page. Susie Hoss says they are one of the few places open on Roosevelt Way Northeast, and Edgar Carreon says COA will open at 4 p.m.
Also, the mail just arrived!
11:30 a.m.: New snow now reaching 4 inches for this morning, giving us a half-foot of snow on the ground.
City plows have been through in the last hour, temporarily making it easier to get around on arterials. (Map shows plowed and sanded streets in red.)
Potentially more useful are the city’s real-time traffic cameras. Go to that website and hover over the camera icons and see what the streets are like now.
On its Facebook page, the Maple Leaf Community Council is attempting to track road conditions. Among its reports: Lots of folks standing at bus stops, but few buses. The council also Tweeted that the fire department is dealing with wires down at 2733 N.E. 92nd St.
The Maple Leaf Community Council plans to monitor local road conditions on its Facebook page.
At 8:15 David Miller wrote:
All arterials in Maple Leaf are slick and covered with snow. SDOT is plowing our arterials, most recently southbound 15th Ave NE, but snowfall is largely erasing their work within 15-20 minutes. Side streets are in worse shape than yesterday. There are a number of pedestrians out and about, so please be especially careful out there.
9:15 a.m.: We’re hitting the 3-inch mark. That’s as much as the National Weather Service said we’d get all day.
8:15 a.m.: New snow total up to 2 inches.
7 a.m.: Right at an additional inch of snow since last night, and rising.
Arterials NOT bare.
No garbage pickup today.
Public libraries only open 1-5 p.m.
From KOMO:
Snow will continue to increase in coverage and intensity through the morning hours, tapering off in the early afternoon, and wrapping up by this evening. It is cold enough outside for snow to accumulate quickly on area roads, and there will be no change to rain today. The milder air will not arrive until Thursday morning.
Phil and Katy sent us the following video, adding: “I expect we will be out again with McKay and the toboggan.”
Dark: Great sunset, temperatures dropping toward freezing. Atop the Official Maple Leaf Life Snow Measuring Car, 2 3/4 inches. Forecast for Wednesday, somewhere between 2 and 8 inches more. Seattle schools take the day (Wednesday) off.
3:45 p.m.: Arterials are clear and wet. Side streets mostly passable.
2:20 p.m.: Sunshine!
1:20 p.m.: Steady snow.
12:30 p.m.: Brighter outside, with light snow.
11 a.m: Heavy snow coating side streets. 15th Avenue Northeast and Roosevelt Way Northeast fine; Fifth Avenue less so.
Snowing heavily on Lake City Way.
Regional snow reports collected by the Seattle Times and its new partners (including us) here.
With snow falling for the third day in a row and counting, it might seem like a weird time to learn about an initiative to educate Northeast Seattle residents about solar panels, and help them install the energy-saving systems more affordably.
But you’ve got some time to mull the details about the Solarize Seattle: Northeast project, which invites residents of the 98105, 98115 and 98125 ZIP codes to begin registering for the project starting tomorrow, Jan. 17. Registration, which allows residents to learn more information about adding solar panels but doesn’t require you to take any action, ends April 23.
With more snow in this afternoon’s forecast, and and a possible major storm arriving Tuesday night into Wednesday, here are two tools that could help commuters.
Live traffic cams are being tested by the Seattle Department of Transportation, including several in Maple Leaf.
Hover over the camera and get a live view of road conditions.
Cliff Mass and the University of Washington have unveiled a “SnowWatch” tool that gives both estimated and predicted snowfall for the area.
As to that major storm, here’s KOMO’s prediction: “All of the greater Puget Sound lowlands will likely see at least 6 inches of snow by late Wednesday morning.”
And here’s the current Special Weather Statement from the National Weather Service’s Seattle office.
A POTENT PACIFIC STORM WILL IMPACT ALL OF WESTERN WASHINGTON
LATE TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. THIS SYSTEM HAS THE
POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS ON BOTH
THE MOUNTAINS AND LOWLANDS. THIS COULD RESULT IN POWER OUTAGES
AND HAZARDOUS WINTER DRIVING CONDITIONS...ESPECIALLY ON THE
LOWLANDS. AT THIS TIME... EXACTLY HOW MUCH SNOW WILL FALL
AND EXACTLY WHEN THE SNOW WILL CHANGE OVER TO RAIN ON THE
LOWLANDS WERE STILL UNCERTAIN.
And this, in the NWS forecast discussion:
VERY HIGH IMPACT WINTER WEATHER IS EXPECTED
THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT OR THURSDAY.
SNOWFALL AMOUNTS AT SEATAC COULD EXCEED
ANYTHING SEEN SINCE NOVEMBER 1985...
A TOP 5 RECORD 24 HOUR SNOWFALL AMOUNT.
King County Metro Transit is operating all bus routes on designated snow routes until further notice.
From Metro:
If your bus does not have a pre-planned snow route, it will operate its regular route, however service may be delayed due to weather and road conditions. Transit customers are advised to wait for buses at posted bus stops on flat portions of cleared arterials or at major transfer points, such as park-and-ride lots and transit centers where there may be multiple service options.
It is not possible to know when a bus will arrive at a specific location, or to provide service updates at the individual trip or stop level.
Use regularly published timetables as a guide, check Metro’s online snow page for route updates, be aware of conditions in your area and be prepared for delays.
Up to 6 inches of snow has fallen near Maple Leaf (think, Lake Forest Park) but we saw not quite half that here by early afternoon, as shown on the Official Maple Leaf Life Snow Measuring Car.
The forecast, though, is for more – quite a bit more.
KOMO and Cliff Mass are calling for a break tonight, but considerably heavier snow for Monday into Tuesday. KOMO thinks we might get a region-wide snowstorm with 6-plus inches by Tuesday afternoon.
In the meantime, though, enjoy the weather. And the photos!
We also heard from Donna Hartmann-Miller, of the Maple Leaf Community Council, who sent us the final photo below this afternoon, saying: “We just returned after driving down the (at that point) unplowed 15th Avenue Northeast. Ran into three stuck Metro buses. The one at the bottom had a bunch of people on it.”
The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has lifted the burn ban that was issued for King County on Wednesday. This means you can burn fires in your fireplaces and wood stoves. “Agency forecasters were tracking a new weather system expected to arrive last night. Winds from that system are now dispersing the air pollution that built up across the Puget Sound over the past week,” according to a release by the agency.
