Archives for March 2020

With the “What we know is closed and why” post getting long and seemingly unending (but we’ll keep updating it, don’t worry), it’s definitely time to start a “What we CAN do” post.

We start with the BIG TWO that will continue to head up this list no matter what:

Wash your hands.

If you haven’t in a while, just do it again anyway. Soap literally rips viruses apart.

Stay at home.

If we stay put there is less risk of being exposed and/or exposing others. It is crucial to not overburden our medical resources even more.

Many people are very contagious and not sick. This may be you. Act as if it is. Stay home.

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School Lunches for Students

On Monday, March 16^th across the district, lunches will be provided to any Seattle Public Schools student from 11 am to 1 pm, Monday through Friday.  The closest food distribution sites to Ravenna are:

• Eckstein Middle School (Google map)
  3003 NE 75th St Seattle, WA 98115
• Nathan Hale High School (Google map)
  10750 30th Ave NE Seattle, WA 98125
• Olympic Hills Elementary (Google map)
  13018 20th Ave NE Seattle, WA 98125

Here is the link to all the district’s student lunch sites. And here is where to find updates from Seattle Public Schools on everything.

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Go to a park.

While many Seattle Parks and Recreation facilities are closed, most parks, trails, and other open spaces are not. The caveat is that parks cannot be used for congregating in. Keep group sizes within public health department parameters and follow the guidelines, or just go solo. Outside feels real good these days, just stay away from others.

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Shop local.

For local businesses to survive (and for those same local businesses to continue to employ their workers who also need to survive), we need to spend money at those businesses.

If you’re able, call ahead and order something to be picked up later. If you don’t need anything, buy a gift card for later. Tip well if you are able. Don’t stay in the establishment long.

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More ideas? Let us know below.

Dr. Chetan Seshadri works for UW Medicine. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy & Infectious Diseases; Adjunct Professor in the Department of Pathology; and Affiliate Investigator in the Vaccine & Infectious Diseases Division (VIDD) at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

He is also the parent of three children at Wedgwood Elementary School, and has been joining Wedgwood principal Stephen Liu for Q&A sessions on the Coronavirus disease.

These Q&A sessions are streamed live to the Wedgwood Elementary Families Facebook Group (private) and on the school’s twitter feed (public). Two have been held so far (watch below), and we will post others here should they occur.

Thursday, March 12 Q&A:

https://t.co/SQUMoBgvCw

— Wedgwood Elementary School (@WedgwoodElem) March 13, 2020

Friday, March 6 Q&A:

https://t.co/tyGww03029

— Wedgwood Elementary School (@WedgwoodElem) March 6, 2020

New additions (added March 14):

• Bistro Shirlee (3600 NE 45th St): This Renee Erickson restaurant (formerly the St. Helens Cafe) is “Temporarily closed until further notice.” (source)
• Junebaby SOON, PLANNED BREAK (2122 NE 65th St): Restaurant will close for its annual spring break from Monday, March 16 through Wednesday, March 25. (source and details)
• University District Farmers Market (University Way NE and NE 50th St): All farmers markets city wide are closed through April 14 as all city-permitted events have been suspended. We have heard some vendors may still be meeting in the area on Saturdays regardless. (source and details)

New additions (added March 13):

• University Village REDUCED HOURS (2623 NE University Village St): The upscale outdoor shopping mall is now allowing businesses within the complex to make the decision to limit their hours of operation. Contact specific businesses for their hours before visiting. (via email)

New additions (added March 12):

• Arena Sports (7751 63rd Ave NE): Arena Sports is closing most operations until at least Friday, April 24. Magnuson Athletic Club will remain open “as activities are non-contact and customers can manage their own surroundings.” (details and source)
• Assumption-St. Bridget School (6220 32nd Ave NE): No school for students starting Friday, March 13. Staff in-service day on Friday, March 13 for finalizing digital learning plans and ensuring all systems are in place for digital start on Monday, March 16. (source and details)
• Burke Museum (4300 45th Ave NE): Closed from Thursday, March 12 though Tuesday, March 31 based on recommendations from the State of Washington and King County health officials pertaining to gathering spaces for >250 people. (source and details)
• Community Centers and Pools (city-wide): Except for preschool programs or hygiene services, Seattle Parks and Recreation will cancel all programming, rentals, and permitted events, and will close all community centers, pools, and environmental learning centers on Friday, March 13 at 6:00 pm, until at least Monday, April 13. (source and details)
• Off the Rez Cafe (inside the Burke Museum at 4300 45th Ave NE): As the museum that houses the cafe is closed, the cafe is also closed; however, the original Off the Rez food truck is still in operation and making stops at the Stoup and Optimism breweries. (source and details)
• Old Navy Northgate (401 Ne Northgate Way): Store is closed for cleaning for a “suspected but unconfirmed case” of Coronavirus. Employees have been told to not come to work until further notice. (via private Twitter DM)
• Our Lady of the Lake Catholic School (3520 NE 89th St): School buildings closed starting Monday, March 16 through Monday, March 30 “to support public health efforts regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19).” (source and details)
• Seattle Public Libraries, including our Northeast Branch (6801 35th Ave NE: All libraries are closing today Thursday, March 12, at 6:00 pm due to staffing shortages. (source) Also at this time, and through the month of March, all programs, events, meeting room bookings, outreach activities and Bookmobile services are cancelled based on guidance from public health officials. (source and details) Branches will be open one more day (Friday, March 13 until 6:00 pm) before closing until at least Monday, April 13. (source and details)

Previously mentioned:

• Arriba Cantina (2316 NE 65th St #101): Restaurant closed, citing decreased business due to COVID-19. Last day of service was Friday, March 13. (source and details)
• Green Lake Aurora PCC REOPENED (7504 Aurora Avenue North): Staff member tested positive for COVID-19. Store was closed until Friday, March 13, resumed regular hours on Saturday, March 14. Kitchen and deli will be closed for 14 days, through March 26. (source and details)
• Salare CLOSED, PLANNED BREAK (2404 NE 65th St): Closed Monday, March 9 through Tuesday, March 17 for their annual spring cleaning of the restaurant. (source and details)
• Seattle Public Schools: No school for all students through Friday, April 24. All school building activities including school day instruction, childcare, health services, enrichment, etc. are canceled until further notice. On-grounds play spaces also closed. (source and details)
• UW Medicine hospitals LIMITED ACCESS, various campuses: All routine visiting is being suspended until the transmission of COVID-19 is no longer a threat to patients, staff and community. (source and details)

Let us know in the comments below, via Twitter, or by email if you notice any closures near you. Or, better yet, let us know of any local businesses that need help BEFORE they end up on this list.

Well, shit.

We wanted to come back way earlier than this. We meant to come back three whole years ago. And, somehow, in the aftermath of the 2016 election combined with the vitriol we saw happening around the 35th Avenue NE street redesign (leaving fireworks on the work equipment, WTF?), we felt our personal mental health could use some distance from local happenings for a while.

We also left a job, played a *lot* of Breath of the Wild to recover from that job, got another job, and renovated a house.

We took to Twitter now and then to share power outage news or restaurant openings or “Here’s why that helicopter is over our houses” or whatever, but live reports from public meetings and such stopped. (Honestly, so did those meetings in a way — changed to open house formats to keep Q&A sessions from being overrun again and again by The Loudest People.)

But now we’re one of the epicenters of a pandemic. This is wa-a-a-a-ay different than public meetings where people moan about parking spots. This is our lives.

And if our prior experience during the missing years can teach any of us anything, it’s that helping feels GOOD. It’s one of the few things that does when things get awful.

So we’re dragging the Ravenna Blog out of its trunk in the attic, brushing off the cobwebs and dust, updating WordPress about a dozen times, and we’re gonna start to do what we can again to be repository of local and reasonably up-to-date info again. At least in terms of COVID-19 information.

It’s gonna look rough here for a while. And we’re not going to be able to cover all the things we want to. But here are our priorities at the moment, in no particular order:

• information about helping out local businesses
• closure information (on whatever closes)
• list of King County Public Health resources
• whatever else makes sense — it’s our first pandemic

So. Leave some comments, send us your emails (and for the love of the god-of-your-choice, cite your sources), and let’s help each other.

And if you’ve come here to complain about parking spots, you can fuck right off, right now.

–RB