Archives for August 2012

Shooting at NE 75th St and 15th Ave NE on Friday night (UPDATES)

August 31, 2012 by 16 Comments

UPDATE (Monday, September 10): The Seattle Police Department has released a sketch of the suspect, as well as some other additional information.

…

Shortly after two local residents reported hearing “four ‘pops’ in rapid succession” and then a “[h]elicopter overhead, sirens everywhere,” came this post on the Seattle Police Department’s Blotter:

Tonight at approximately 7:26 p.m. officers responded to the 7500 block of 15th Avenue NE for the report of multiple shots fired. Officers arrived on scene and located a male victim in his 40′s who had sustained multiple gunshot wounds.

The victim, a man in his 40s, was taken to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
View August 31 shooting in a larger map The circumstances just prior to the shooting (as well as description of the suspect and the vehicle) are not available at this time, says the Blotter post. However, a local scanner listener reports hearing talk of a “pos suspect driving a red BMW convertible.” We will update this post with any new information on the victim and/or suspect(s) as we get it.

UPDATE (9:14 PM): KING 5’s Jim Forman was at the scene at 7:55 PM and tweeted the following (click the links for photos of the scene):

UPDATE (11:46 PM): KING 5 reported in their 11 PM newscast that the shooting victim has died of his injuries. The Seattle Times has more details about the shooting here.

UPDATE (Saturday, September 1, 6:16 AM): The SPD Blotter post has been updated overnight with more information, including this description of the shooting:

Preliminary investigation indicates that the suspect pulled up next to the victim in his car and for reasons yet to be determined, fired multiple rounds at the victim, striking him several times. The suspect then fled the scene in his car and remains at large.

The suspect is described as a white male with dark hair, age 20 to 30, driving a smaller silver or grey BMW. Anyone with information about this incident (identity of the shooter and/or his vehicle) should call 911 or the Seattle Police Homicide Tip Line at (206) 233-5000. Anonymous tips are welcome.

UPDATE (Saturday, September 1, 5:56 PM): Ravenna resident Jake Z. has taken a few pictures of a growing memorial at the site of the shooting (click the links below if the images are not visible):

UPDATE (Sunday, September 2): The SPD Blotter has been updated with more information on the shooting, including a more detailed description of the suspect and his vehicle:

The suspect’s vehicle is described as a silver BMW Z4 convertible. The car may have recent body damage including a broken out passenger side window.
Several witnesses describe the suspect as a well-dressed White or Asian male in his late 20′s to 30′s with dark, slicked-back hair.

The car looks similar to this one (image from the SPD Blotter):

20120902-191012.jpg

Footage from a surveillance camera in the Roosevelt Reservoir shows the vehicle on 15th Ave NE around the time of the shooting:

It is now believed that the shooting “may have been directly related to a road rage type of traffic incident.“

Filed Under: 911, Crime, Photos, Ravenna, Roosevelt, Seattle Police Department, Updates

Everybody into the [wading] pool, before it closes!

August 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment

It’s August, and Seattle summer is chugging right along: Lots of sun, temperatures consistently in the mid- to upper-70s…this time of year is why we live here.

So, naturally, the city’s wading pools are all preparing to close for the season.

Our region of the Seattle Parks and Recreation map (the Northeast) has two wading pools and two swimming beaches open during the summer. Here are their remaining days of use:

  • Dahl Playfield Wading Pool (7700 25th Ave NE): open August 14-16, noon – 7 PM
  • Magnuson Park Wading Pool (7400 Sand Point Way NE): open daily from noon – 6:30 PM through August 26
  • Magnuson Park Summer Beach (7400 Sand Point Way NE): open through August 26
  • Matthews Beach Park Summer Beach (9500 51st Ave NE): open through September 3

At this time, NE Seattle does not have any of the unstaffed sprayparks, which tend to stay open later in the season. However, Sarah (raintea on twitter) would like us to mention the brand new spraypark at Northacres Park (12718 1st Ave NE). It’s open daily from 11 AM – 8 PM through September 3. It is technically in Seattle Parks and Recreation’s NW geographic area, but when you and the kids are too hot, who cares.

You can find the full list of Seattle’s wading pools, sprayparks, summer beaches and pools and their schedules right here (280 KB PDF; comic sans).

Filed Under: Dahl Field, Families, Kids, Magnuson Park, Northeast Seattle, Open/Closed, Seattle Parks and Recreation

Python loose in the park! But which park?

August 13, 2012 by 12 Comments

We got a voice mail from North Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Terrie Johnston this afternoon at 2:50 PM, saying, “I hope you’re not at Cowen Park playfield…uh playground. A seven-foot yellow python got loose and he’s headed for the playground.”

Now, that’s an amusing story, but Cowen Park is not in Ravenna. So I just mention the missing snake on twitter, like this:

A few minutes later, the official Seattle Police Department twitter feed says this:

Oh no! Wrong neighborhood! And wrong park! Lower case “p” or not, people are going to get confused!

But I check with Terrie Johnston again, to make sure. “61st and Brooklyn Cowen Park” is the email reply.


View Snake on the loose! in a larger map

Decidedly NOT Ravenna Park.

But the damage has been done. The SPD tweet has now been REtweeted over 300 times (probably because of that “Snakes on a Plane” movie reference being clever and all).

And, of course, someone has started a new twitter feed…FOR THE SNAKE:

Thankfully, the SPD just updated the story on their blog, and you can read it here (“Officers On Python Patrol After Snake Escapes In Ravenna Neighborhood“).

An excerpt for you:

As police officers and officials from Seattle parks department and Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife search the neighborhood and Cowen/Ravenna Park for the snake, you and your small pets should keep to the trails, and stay away from drainage ditches, thick foliage, and hollow logs, according to Seattle’s resident snake expert, Peter Miller.

Miller, reptile keeper at Woodland Park Zoo, estimates the snake is around 15-20 pounds and says it “has the potential” to be dangerous. ”These guys are ambush predators,” he says. “They find a well protected covered area and they sit and they wait.”

KING 5 news Reporter John Langeler got the location right, though:

And it looks like Seattle Parks and Recreation has put up signage.

John Langeler / KING 5

If Timid the Albino Python is found (yeah, his name is Timid), we’ll let you know here.

Filed Under: Cowen Park, Lost/Found, Ravenna, Ravenna Park, Roosevelt, Seattle Police Department Tagged With:

Mini-craft fair at Boulevard Grocery

August 12, 2012 by 1 Comment

The reincarnated Boulevard Grocery (2007 NE Ravenna Blvd) is holding their second mini-craft fair this afternoon, Sunday, August 12, from noon-3 PM, in front of the store.

A selection of vegetable portrait postcards by Chavas Garden.

Some of the vendors and their wares include:

There will also be face painting for the young (and young-at-heart).

Another great opportunity to check out the little store, too, if you haven’t already!

Filed Under: Businesses, Events, Families, Food, Kids, Ravenna, Ravenna Park, University Park Tagged With:

Four? Score! Happy birthday to us.

August 8, 2012 by 6 Comments

In August 2008, after six months of strolling an infant through the neighborhood, we decided to start the Ravenna Blog.

Four years later, and with the addition of one more staff member last October, we’re still here!

Since we started keeping track in June 2010, the Ravenna Blog has reached 61,226 unique visitors and served up 137,680 pageviews. (And that YouTube video of President Obama’s motorcade driving down NE 75th St in October 2010 has now been watched a mind-boggling 347,419 times).

And this post, this very post right here, is the 444th post.*

But this year on our birthday, instead of looking back at the biggest stories of the last year, we’d like to share with you our dreams for next year. They are three-fold:

  1. We’ll turn FIVE next year, and that deserves some kind of PARTY, don’t you think? You’re all invited, of course.
  2. Have you noticed, the Ravenna neighborhood doesn’t have a fair/art walk/bite of/festival? We need to change that. How about a family walk/run/ramble through the neighborhood? We’ve just begun to plot about it, here.
  3. We’re also thinking of putting together some kind of Ravenna Blog Pledge Drive Week, for neighbors who might like to contribute to the costs of running the site. (Tote bags would be involved, OF COURSE.)

More on all of that in the near future. STAY TUNED.

To close out this here birthday post, we’d just like to say: thank you for reading, thank you for commenting, thank you for sharing our site with your neighbors, and thank you sharing your stories with us.

See you around the neighborhood!

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* Kind of a cool coincidence, all the fours. Unless you’re Chinese. *gulp*


Filed Under: metablog

Roosevelt Moves: Sound Transit townhouse relocation (PHOTOS)

August 3, 2012 by 6 Comments

Sound Transit’s Andrew Schmid takes a picture of Nickels Bros. and other workers in front of the first townhouse, before it gets underway.

Schmid again, taking a picture of Sound Transit Project Manager Kristin Hoffman while she is interviewed on camera.

Another shot of the first townhouse prior to moving.

Hoffman again, mid-interview. Schmid said that she has worked on the townhouse portion of the Roosevelt Station project for a year and a half, culminating in the moves.

Peaks Custard supplied coffee and assorted accoutrements at the site.

A marked “oversize load” truck waits to lead the convoy to 15th Ave NE.

A scrum of utility workers, Sound Transit staff, and Nickels Bros. movers huddles around a woman leading the pre-move safety meeting.

A Seattle City Light worker adjusts an overhead line adjacent to the moving site.

Part of the crowd gathered across the street from the townhouses on 12th Ave NE, waiting for the move to begin.

A shot of the full scene along 12th Ave NE taken from up by the Roosevelt High School track.

The first townhouse now partially IN 12th Ave NE.

A Nickels Bros. worker attending the “rear” of the first townhouse as it slowly makes its way down 12th Ave NE.

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11:45 PM – Seattle City Light here now, working on the overhead wires. The truck supporting the first townhouse to be moved has crept forward a bit, testing the load.

11:04 PM – The action really starts happening at 12:01, in case you at home would like to come down.

10:50 PMstrong> – On site now. Lots of folks on hand, neighbors and Sound Transit.

8:52 PM – Setting up the live coverage post here, and adding the street closures due to the relocating townhouses (per Sound Transit):

Streets will be closed as the convoy moves through the area and reopened after the convoy has passed. Street closures include:

  • 12th Avenue Northeast—closed at the intersection of Northeast 65th Street and 12th Avenue Northeast
  • Northeast 66th Street—closed from Roosevelt Way Northeast to 15th Avenue Northeast
  • 15th Avenue Northeast—closed from Cowen Bridge to Northeast 68th Street

The route will be “east down Northeast 66th Street to final destinations on 15th Avenue Northeast just south of Northeast 65th Street.”

Our next update will be around 10:45 PM, when Sound Transit will be available to the media at the current townhouse site (NE 66th St and 12th Ave NE).

Filed Under: Events, Light Rail, Live Coverage, Photos, Roosevelt, Sound Transit, Updates

Northgate Link Extension groundbreaking and celebration scheduled for August 17

August 3, 2012 by 4 Comments

Fresh from our inbox to you, the details on Sound Transit’s Northgate Link Extension (formerly known as North Link) groundbreaking and community celebration happening on Friday, August 17:

You’re a big part of this project and we hope you can join us for a family-fun celebration to commemorate this historic milestone!

  • Ceremonial groundbreaking
  • Live music music by Roosevelt High School Jazz, Nu Klezmer Army, the Illicit Jug Cartel and the Rolling Retreads
  • Face painter, balloon artist and train-themed bouncy house for the kids
  • Link train photo booth – bring your camera or camera phone
  • Zap Gridlock, Sound Transit’s traffic fighting superhero
  • Project information booths – learn the latest on the station designs, public art, bicycle parking and access, current Sound Transit service and more

The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for 3:30-4:30 PM, with the celebration portion going until 7:30 PM.

And just where will the event be taking place?

At the Former QFC site at NE 66th Street and Roosevelt Way NE.

You are encouraged to “bike, walk or take transit to the event. Bike racks will be available. The Roosevelt neighborhood is well-served by local transit with several bus routes in the immediate area.”

Filed Under: Events, Families, Kids, Light Rail, Music, Roosevelt Tagged With:

Be a part of the Eckstein Middle School principal selection process

August 2, 2012 by Leave a Comment

In mid-July, Eckstein Middle School principal Kim Whitworth announced that she would be accepting the position of Executive Director of Schools for Seattle Public Schools’ Northeast Region (replacing Phil Brockman, who has moved on to the Director of Operations position within the district).

This means that Eckstein is currently without a principal, an issue which the district hopes to rectify by mid-August.

To that end, there is a Principal Selection Information Meeting tonight, Thursday, August 2, from 6:30-8 PM, at Eckstein Middle School (3003 NE 75th St).

Via email:

Please join us […] in the Eckstein library to learn more about Eckstein’s principal selection process and to provide input about the characteristics and qualities you would like to see in our new principal. There will also be introductions to some members of the screening and interview committees.

The Principal Selection Committee consists of Eckstein staff, parents and PTSA board members who are working closely with Phil Brockman, SPS Director of Operations. Please join us to ensure that you have an opportunity to provide input about the hiring process.

Information on the hiring process as it moves forward will be on the school’s homepage, www.ecksteinms.seattleschools.org.

Filed Under: Eckstein Middle School, Families, Meeting, Northeast Seattle

Roosevelt townhouses to move on down the road in early August

August 1, 2012 by 2 Comments

August is a tremendous month for Light Rail in North Seattle, as construction plans go into the ACTION phase.

But before Sound Transit starts any station site excavation at the Roosevelt Station location, there will occur some townhouse relocation.

Nickel Bros truck at 12th Ave NE and NE 66th St

The four townhouses on NE 66th St were purchased from Sound Transit (and thus saved from demolition), and are being moved 4 1/2 blocks away to the now former site of the Betty MacDonald house and adjoining property on 15th Ave NE.

The former location of the Betty MacDonald house, just south of the Fruit Stand at 15th Ave NE and NE 65th St.

Here’s a map showing the current (upper left) and future (lower right) locations of the townhouse buildings:


View Roosevelt townhouse move in a larger map

One of the townhouse buildings prepared for the move from NE 66th St to 15th Ave NE.

Now, just how does one move BUILDINGS through a busy neighborhood? That’s not quite our area of expertise. But we can ALL find out just how it’s done come the Friday evenings of August 3 and 10.

From Sound Transit’s Northgate Link* Extension Update newsletter (emphasis ours):

Preparations to relocate four townhouse buildings on Northeast 66th Street are in full swing. The relocation will occur late at night over two weekends starting Friday, Aug. 3. More townhouses will be moved the following weekend, Friday, Aug. 10.

We invite you to witness this monumental move on one or both weekends. Meet at the northeast corner of Northeast 66th Street and 12th Avenue Northeast around 11:45 p.m. on either of the Friday nights. Sound Transit staff will be there to answer questions. As the townhouses move east down Northeast 66th Street, we’ll walk along the sidewalk with them.

Sound Transit says that the buildings “should be on the road by midnight,” and at their new address “no later than 6 a.m. each Saturday.” Four buildings (of two units each) will be moved in total.

Ravenna Blog will be there, camera in hand, for the action this Friday night — it’s a Seafair Weekend parade we don’t wanna miss.

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* Now that the three northernmost stations in the Light Rail system have their permanent station names (“U District Station,” “Roosevelt Station,” and “Northgate Station”), the name of the extension as a whole is now “Northgate Link Extension.” Now you know.

Filed Under: Construction, Events, Light Rail, Photos, Roosevelt, Traffic Tagged With: