A very mixed bag of tweets this week: The grand opening of the University Village Microsoft Store, increasing signs of life at new German restaurant Heidelberg Haus, and the sudden and unexpected death of 46th District State Senator Scott White.
Freaky Fall Festival this Friday at the RECC
October 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment
How much fall family fun can be had for just three dollars a person?
Find out Friday, October 21, as the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center (6535 Ravenna Ave NE) holds its Fourth Annual Freaky Fall Festival.
Halloween's still a couple weeks off, but that doesn't mean you can't try out your costume early.
From the event description:
It’s that spooky time of year again! Join us for this annual evening of treats and a few tricks. Come in costume and enjoy carnival style games, crafts, a jumpy toy, and more! Meet your neighbors, let your kids loose in the gym and have fun!
The event runs from 6-8PM. After that, you’ll have to find somewhere else to haunt.
Those spiders look serious.
University Village Microsoft Store opens this Thursday
October 19, 2011 by 1 Comment
Tomorrow, Thursday, October 20, the new University Village Microsoft Store (2624 NE University Village St) holds its grand opening, with more events spilling over into the following two days.
Opening week events include playing Kinect with newly-retired Kasey Keller and less-newly-retired Edgar Martinez, and rocking out in the parking lot to the musical stylings of The Black Keys and OneRepublic.
Here’s the schedule of events:
Thursday, October 20
9 AM Grand Opening Ceremony with Microsoft corporate vice president Rich Kaplan, and more than $1 million in software grants awarded to local organizations (based on how members of the local community voted on the Microsoft Store Facebook page).
9:30 AM Ribbon cutting and doors open
5 PM Play Kinect with Seattle Sounders and USA goalkeeping great Kasey Keller
7 PM Play Kinect with legendary Seattle Mariners slugger Edgar Martinez
Friday, October 21
7:00 PM The Black Keys perform
Saturday, October 22
2:30 PM OneRepublic performs
Tickets to both concerts are free, and available at the Grand Opening (while supplies last).
The University Village Microsoft Store is 1 of 14 for the company, and the 2nd for Washington state.
For a more in-depth look at the business of Microsoft Stores, see today’s article in the Seattle Times (“U-Village store fits Microsoft consumer strategy”).
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We wish store manager (and Ravenna resident), Melinda George, a smooth and problem-free opening. And much less rain than the forecast is predicting.
The Return of the Weekly Ravenna Blog Twitter Round-Up
October 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Once again we welcome back the weekly round-up of notable tweets from the Ravenna Blog twitter feed from the past week.
This week’s selection includes some archival photos of Wedgwood Elementary from the Seattle Public Schools Flickr account, a town hall with Mayor McGinn at Nathan Hale High School, and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of fines upheld against a certain Roosevelt-area landlord.
City Council Candidates Forum coming to Magnuson Park
October 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment
The Northeast District Council invites you to a City Council Candidates Forum on Monday, October 17, from 7-9 PM. The forum is being held at Magnuson Park Building 406 (The Brig).
Confirmed candidates as of October 4th are as follows (names linked to campaign sites; “I” stands for “incumbent”):
Position 1: Bobby Forch and Jean Godden (I)
Position 3: Bruce Harrell (I) and Brad Meacham
Position 5: Dale Pusey and Tom Rasmussen (I)
Position 7: David Schraer
Position 9: Sally Clark (I) and Dian Ferguson
The King County General Election date is November 8, 2011 (when mail-in ballots are due). Statements from all candidates are available at the King County Elections website.
Your Busy Weekend in the Ravenna Neighborhood (updated)
October 1, 2011 by 1 Comment
Here is a smattering of events happening today (Saturday) and next week.
Saturday, October 1
- Help out our neighborhood and its community organization by delivering copies of the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association’s Fall 2011 Newsletter to your part of the neighborhood. No delivery area too small. Please contact RBCA Land Use Committee Chair Andrew Miller for more information.
- Ad partner UW Medicine is holding an open house at their new Ravenna Clinic location (4915 25th Ave NE #300) from 1-4 PM. Tour the new facilities, listen to and meet members of the UW Husky Marching Band (from 1-1:30 PM), meet UW mascot Harry the Husky (1-2 PM), enter to win gift certificates to University Village, and more. More information about this new UW Medicine primary care clinic and today’s open house can be found here.
- Ravenna Community Garden hosts a Harvest celebration dinner this Saturday Oct. 1 from 5:30-7:00 PM at the Ravenna Eckstein Community Center (6535 Ravenna Ave NE). Pasta, salad bread and dessert on the menu. Donations happily accepted: $5.00 individual, $10.00 family.
- Candy Cane Lane holds its annual yard sale (weather permitting) on Saturday, October 1, from 8AM-1PM, at 2132 Park Rd (the corner house at the bend on Ravenna Blvd, closest to the Ravenna playground and parking lot). It is a multi-family sale put together by the Candy Cane Lane families, and we use the proceeds to buy all the paint, plywood, lights, decorations, etc for the yearly holiday display, as well as to pay the electric bill to run the revolving carousel. This year we will have some furniture, including two children’s rolltop desks, some outdoor items, plus lots of toys, books, children’s clothing, baby items, kitchen items, and household goods such as lamps, curtains, rugs, etc. We never know what the neighbors bring out until the day of the sale, and every year we have some lovely treasures.
And into Next Week
- Join other Eckstein Middle School parents at a gardening work party
in the raised beds in the back courtyard every Monday and Wednesday from 9-10 AM (weather permitting). Please bring gloves and weeding tools if you have them. For more information or to make a donation please contact Gretchen Bauer at
urbandingo@gmail.com. - Ravenna-Bryant Community Association’s fall community-wide meeting takes place next Tuesday night, October 4th, at the Ravenna Eckstein Community Center (6535 Ravenna Ave NE), from 7-9 PM. Agenda and more information available here.
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Local residents and business owners: Have an event going on for or in the greater Ravenna neighborhood that you’d like to share? The email inbox is always open for you: rebecca@ravennablog.com.
Public Hearing on the Roosevelt Neighborhood Rezone, Monday, Sept. 19 (UPDATES)
September 19, 2011 by Leave a Comment
UPDATE (Monday, September 26): You can now watch the entire Roosevelt Rezone Public Hearing here, on the Seattle Channel’s website.
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Tonight at the Roosevelt High School Auditorium (1410 NE 66th St), the Seattle City Council’s Committee on the Built Environment (COBE) is holding a public hearing about the Roosevelt Neighborhood Rezone.
Photo by Steve Ringman/The Seattle Times. Used with permission.
This is everyone’s chance to speak his/her thoughts and concerns to members of the City Council directly (for two minutes); however, written comments can be sent to Councilmembers up until the vote is taken (late this year, or early 2012).
And rumor has it all nine Councilmembers will be in attendance.
This public hearing starts at 6 PM, with sign-up for speakers opening at 5:30 PM.
For those of you who cannot attend, you have three live-tweeters to choose from: Us (@RavennaBlog), the Roosevelt Neighborhood Blog (@Roosiehood), and one of Seattle Transit Blog’s writers, Bruce Nourish (@brucenourish).
If you ARE attending tonight’s hearing and would like to contribute to the Twitter conversation, we’ll be using the hashtag #RRzone. Folks at home can follow along here.
More information about the Roosevelt Neighborhood Rezone
Today’s edition of the Seattle Times included a piece about the rezone, primarily from the neighborhood’s point of view: Neighborhood embraces change — but fights to save a view
Seattle Transit Blog also posted a piece today, detailing density proponents’ frustrations with the neighborhood’s plan: Roosevelt rezones up for discussion tonight
UPDATE: The Roosevelt Neighborhood Association has two a final document detailing their latest wishes for the rezone: “Sustainable, Livable Roosevelt”
The Chair of the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association, Andrew Miller, has laid out the RBCA’s position on the Roosevelt Neighborhood Rezone.*
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*Full disclosure: I am the Chair of the RBCA’s Communications Committee, which means I update the association’s website and assist with the newsletter. You can find the full list of Board Members and Committee Chairs here.
Achtung! Heidelberg House is hiring!
September 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment
We happened to be cruising through the Ravenna craigslist postings the other day, as we are want to do, when we came along “Now Hiring All Positions Fine German Food & Spirits (Ravenna).”
We think it’s safe to assume that this posting is for Heidelberg Haus, the German restaurant replacing Bernu’s at 2122 NE 65th St.
Here’s the rest of the craigslist posting, which hints at what the owners have planned for the menu.
We are now accepting applications for all FOH and BOH positions:
PANTRY/PREP COOK
SOUS CHEF
DISHWASHER
BUS BOY
WAITSTAFF
AST. MANAGER
KITCHEN MANAGER
BEER MAIDEN [!!]
Prior fine dining and high volume experience a plus.
Knowledge of Southern German Food, Wine, and Beer preferred.
Knowledge of the German Language a huge plus.
Professional, Outgoing and Upbeat applicants should reply with the following;
A brief cover letter including your contact info and basic information about you.
Resume
Availability and Questions.
Interviews start tomorrow.
Wages and Compensation is based on work and experience.
Busy weekend for police at the northern Ravenna/Roosevelt boundary (Update of Saturday incidents)
September 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment
UPDATE (Tuesday, September 20): The word on those three incidents on Saturday, September 17, from North Precinct Officer Thomas (via email; emphasis mine):
The first two incidents you mention are the same looking at the event #. In this incident a male was almost home when he was approached by three subjects. One pointed what looked like a gun at the victim and asked him “what he had.” The others told him to put the “heater” away. They were not located. The other incident was a [domestic violence] assault with an arrest. Incident #2011-307248.
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It’s been a busy couple of days for police officers in the area just north of the NE 65th St and 15th Ave NE intersection.
Here are three FOUR police-related incidents we’re currently working on.
Friday
Ravenna and Roosevelt residents in the area of 15th Avenue NE between NE 65th St and NE 75th St may have woken up a bit on the early side on Friday morning, September 16.
Two residents reported hearing two loud bangs/explosions just after 5 AM that morning. Several others remarked about a hovering helicopter in the area. Metro bus routes 72 and 73 (northbound only) were rerouted around the area during this time, “due to an incident.”
Local resident Sue went so far as to call the Seattle Police Department (at, we assume, their public information number) and was told (per her email to us), “[T]he helicopters might be related to a Bellevue police search for someone on an arrest warrant.”
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ADDED Saturday, 10:24 PM: The editor over at Roosiehood emailed over the following from area resident Kelly (written on Roosiehood’s Facebook page):
I called the police Friday AM and they told me the explosions were some sort of compression bombs that were launched by the Bellevue police to flush someone they had a search warrant for out of one of the Sisley properties. Seattle police were aware of the situation. It really frightened me!
Reminder: At this time, I do not have confirmation of an address or block that the Bellevue Police were targeting that morning.
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We were able to confirm through SPD Officer Brian Thomas (the Community Police Team member for the area) that the Bellevue Police had been in the area, but he had no further information on the activity.
Our call to the Bellevue Police Department Public Information Officer on Friday has gone unanswered, thus far.
If/When we learn more information about this activity, we will update this post.
Saturday
[Recent update for this section is at the top of this post.]
There have been two three events in the area so far today:
- This morning at 1:12 AM, an armed robbery took place on the 6800 block of 16th Ave NE.
- This morning at 4 AM, an armed burglary (with a gun) was reported in the 1500 block of 68th Avenue NE.
- At approximately 10 AM, Ravenna resident Sarah reported (via text) “Cops all over 65 n 15th now!” and, when asked about which kind of police (Seattle or Bellevue), she said, “Spd they were arresting[.]”
We will get in touch with Officer Thomas tomorrow (Sunday) and see if he can provide any more information on these two three incidents. Updates will be posted below.
Now, let’s all have a quiet Sunday, shall we?
“Safer Roadways” press conference taking place in U-District Thursday morning
September 14, 2011 by Leave a Comment
The average total of bicyclist fatalities in Washington State per year is 10.
This year, that number has already hit 12, the most recent of which — Vivace Espresso general manager, Brian Fairbrother (from a fall), and Jimmy John’s sandwich-delivery man, Robert Townsend (bike vs. vehicle collision) — have occurred in the last week.
Ghost Bike placed at the scene of Saturday's accident in the University District (Photo courtesy M.J. Kelly)
In response to these fatalities, on Thursday, September 15th, from 9:30-10:30 AM, the Cascade Bicycle Club is holding a press conference calling for safer roadways for all.
Speakers include Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen (Chair, Transportation Committee), King County Councilmember Joe McDermott (Chair, King County Board of Health), and Cascade Bicycle Club Director of Communications (and fellow Northeast Seattleite) M.J. Kelly.
The press conference will take place in public space located on the median of NE Campus Parkway, located between 15th Ave NE and University Way N (map).
From Tuesday’s press release:
Following a spate of recent traffic fatalities, we invite the community to come together, hear from community leaders, and learn how we can address the issues.
The bottom line: We can – and must – do better.
More and more people are walking, biking and using transit to navigate the streets of Seattle. In our dense, urban environment, the public right-of-way is shared by all of us — drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists. It is our shared responsibility to create a safe environment and to look out for each other. No traffic fatality is acceptable. We can do better.
Our call to action to you is to tackle these problems in two ways: through better behavior and through better infrastructure. Please join us.
To bring home the need for safer streets in our own neighborhood, we point you to our post from August 27th, when a girl crossing NE 65th St at 23rd Ave NE was struck by a car and injured.
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