Archives for April 2013

RBCA community meeting on crime/NE 75th Street (LIVE COVERAGE)

Our live coverage of the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association Spring Community Meeting will be posted below starting around 6:30 PM on Tuesday, April 2.

You may download the agenda here (62 KB Microsoft Word document). Or refer to the abridged version posted below:

7:00 PM:  Moment of silence (Lead by Virginia Gunby, RBCA Board Member, Transportation Committee Chair)

7:05: Welcome (Sarah Swanberg, Outgoing RBCA President)

March 25 vehicle/pedestrian double fatality collision on NE 75th Street

7:10: Traffic & pedestrian safety, DUI enforcement & prosecution

  • Seattle Police Department
    • Captain Robin Clark, North Precinct
    • Sergeant Don Smith and Officer Eric Michl
  • Seattle City Attorney’s Office
    • John Schochet, Deputy Chief of Staff
    • Rachel Cormier Anderson, Criminal Division Attorney
    • Jana Jorgensen, North Precinct Liaison

 7:30: Report from Harborview

  • Eileen Whalen, Executive Director, Harborview Medical Center
  • Dr. Beth Ebel, Director, Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center

7:50: NE 75th Street improvements

  • Dongho Chang, Chief Traffic Engineer, Seattle Department of Transportation
  • Peter Hahn, Director of Transportation

 8:20: RBCA business

  • Sub-committees to address traffic, safety, DUI issues in Ravenna-Bryant
  • Election of RBCA officers

8:40: Q and A with local leaders

City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen
Rebecca Deehr, Mayor’s Office
Senator David Frockt

Meeting between city, neighborhood representatives yields NE 75th St improvement plan

In the early afternoon of Monday, April 1, before the Memorial Walk for the Schulte family, neighborhood groups, pedestrian/bicycle safety advocates, and staff from Eckstein Middle School, gathered at Eckstein (3003 NE 75th St). They met with representatives from the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), the Mayor’s Office, and the Seattle Police Department and discussed plans to improve the safety of NE 75th Street.

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The Mayor’s Office met with SDOT several times throughout the last week, and developed a list of planned improvements and actions for NE 75th Street (4 KB PDF; presented to the assembled groups that afternoon), including:

• Installing a flashing school zone beacon on Northeast 75th Street in front of the school

• SDOT will begin the process of evaluating and potentially installing a school zone speed camera on Northeast 75th Street

• The crosswalk at Northeast 68th Street and 25th Avenue Northeast will be remarked with fresh and highly visible paint

• The intersection of Northeast 68th Street and 25th Ave Northeast will be evaluated for a traffic signal

• SDOT will install new pedestrian countdown heads [crosswalk signs with timers] at 75th Street Northeast and Northeast 31st Street

• SDOT has already installed pedestrian countdown heads at 75th Street Northeast and Northeast 35th Street

The timeline for these improvements shows a tentative completion date of August 2013 (just before Seattle Public Schools are back in session for the 2013-1014 school year).

Read more about the planned street safety improvements on the Mayor’s blog, here.

Hundreds walk to remember, honor the Schulte family (PHOTOS)

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Walkers gathered under the swaying palms of the Wedgwood Top Pot before setting out.

Seattle Police Department officers wait to escort everyone down local streets. Local traffic was blocked as the group walked to and the memorial site.

Seattle Police Department officers and their rides wait to escort everyone down local streets. Local traffic was blocked as the group walked to and the memorial site.

 

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Pedestrian and cyclists, young and old, the sighted and the blind all participated, and fueled up with coffee and doughnuts beforehand, provided by Top Pot.

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This walker in orange was one of three I noticed walking with a white cane. She is pictured with her ASL interpreter (the woman in orange is Deaf-Blind).

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The walkers spread out to cover 35th Avenue NE on the way to the memorial site (1 of 6).

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The walkers spread out to cover 35th Avenue NE on the way to the memorial site (2 of 6).

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The walkers spread out to cover 35th Avenue NE on the way to the memorial site (3 of 6).

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The walkers spread out to cover 35th Avenue NE on the way to the memorial site (4 of 6).

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The walkers spread out to cover 35th Avenue NE on the way to the memorial site (5 of 6).

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The walkers spread out to cover 35th Avenue NE on the way to the memorial site (6 of 6).

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A cameraman films the start of the walk on 35th Avenue NE.

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The group walks west on NE 73rd Street, after turning off 35th Avenue NE.

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Seattle Mayor Michael McGinn (center, light blue shirt) walks with Schulte family members down NE 73rd Street.

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More walkers heading down NE 73rd Street.

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Here the group is shown walking north on 33rd Avenue NE, taking the approximate route the family took on Monday, March 25. On the left side, Lacia Lynne Bailey, Judy’s Truffle (the baby goat), and some Schulte family members and friends stand where Bailey chatted with the Schultes one week ago. She was the last person to speak to the family before they attempted to cross NE 75th Street.

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More walkers heading up 33rd Avenue NE, to the memorial site.

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33rd Avenue NE and NE 75th Street. Some family members stand together on the right, behind the main crowd.

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Bailey talks to Dan Schulte, husband of Karina and father to Elias, who are both still at Harborview Medical Center. They are flanked by a female neighbor from the immediate area and two of Dan’s cousins.

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Members of the Schulte family, gathered in front of the memorial. Hundreds of neighbors and complete strangers have stopped by throughout the week to pay their respects, Bailey told us. She has been tending the site daily ever since people started leaving flowers, notes, or other tokens after the tragedy.

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One of the Seattle Police Department officers who escorted the walkers to and from the memorial site looks on.

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“Look out for pedestrians.”

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After spending some time at the memorial, the walk heads back to the starting point, heading east on NE 75th Street, before heading south down 35th Avenue NE.

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Mayor McGinn talks with Dongho Chang,(Chief Traffic Engineer for the Seattle Department of Transportation) at 33rd Avenue NE and NE 75th Street.

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Before starting down NE 75th Street with his family, this dad said to his small son, “This is the one time we’re walking in the street, buddy.”

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Mayor McGinn with Bailey, and Judy’s Truffle. Bailey has added to the baby goat’s original name in remembrance of Judy Schulte.

My thoughts, from Sunday, March 31:

More on this story on Ravenna Blog:

Memorial service in Indiana for Judy and Dennis Schulte (last updated on Thursday, April 11)

Arraignment of NE 75th Street DUI homicides suspect on Thursday (last updated on Thursday, April 11)

Timeout to say THANK YOU, on behalf of the Schulte family (last updated on Sunday, April 7)

Prayer Vigil for mother and child this Thursday night (PHOTOS) (last updated on Friday, March 29)

Memorial to the family at NE 75th St grows (PHOTOS) (last updated on Sunday, March 31)

Memorial and medical funds set up for victims of Monday’s traffic tragedy (last updated on Thursday, March 28)

Suspect in Monday’s traffic fatalities no stranger to DUIs (last updated on Sunday, March 31)

Multiple casualty incident on NE 75th St near Eckstein Middle School (PHOTOS) (last updated on Wednesday, March 27)