Northeast Seattle

Summer Story Times and more at the Northeast Branch

July 2, 2013 by Rebecca Nelson Leave a Comment

Northeast Branch Children’s Services Librarian Erica Delavan will be taking a break in mid/late July for a summer vacation, but there are a few more Story Times before she’s gone (via email):

Preschool Story Time (Geared for ages 3-5)
Tuesdays, July 2, 9 at 10:30 AM

Toddler Story Time (Geared for ages 1-3)
Thursday, July 11 at 10:15 & 11:15 AM

Pajamas & Puppets (All Ages)
Wednesday, July 10 at 7 PM (a week earlier than normal!)
Wednesday, August 21 at 7 PM

There’s also the Seattle Public Library’s Summer Reading Program to participate in:

The Summer Reading Program is in full swing, and we have prizes for all kids from 0 – 12 years old! (Yes, I even have board book prizes for infants, so read to those babies this summer.) Just come to the library to pick up a reading log, keep track of the books your child reads or that you read to your child, and after 10 books, they win a free book! We also have lots of great programs going on this summer for kids, and you can find out about everything here.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

To help fill the gap between now and fall Story Times, there are an assortment of free events for families with kids of various ages to participate in, too:

Ponte el Ritmo – Afro-Latino Rhythms! (Ages 5 and up)
Monday, July 22 at 4 PM

Roots and Branches – Music with Harmonica Pocket! (Ages 1 – 6)
Thursday, July 25 at 11 AM

Can You Dig It? with Alex Zerbe (Ages 3 and up)
Friday, August 2 at 2 PM

Storybook Science: Incredible Insects! (Ages 4 – 8)
Saturday, August 17 at 11 AM
Registration required.

Center of the Earth Tour with the Brian Waite Band (Ages 5-11)
Friday, August 23 at 11 AM
At the Meadowbrook Community Center
10517 35th Avenue NE

Make a Pop-Up Book (Ages 3 and up)
Tuesday, August 17 at 3 PM

Filed Under: Families, Kids, Music, Northeast Branch, Northeast Seattle, Story Times

Start your future together among the (pre)history of the Burke Museum

June 30, 2013 by Rebecca Nelson 1 Comment

Today, Sunday, June 30, from noon to 3 PM, the University of Washington is holding a
Campus Wedding and Special Events Fair. You can register for the event here, or learn more about Burke Museum rentals here.

The Center for Urban Horticulture and the University of Washington Club are among the event space possibilities the university offers…

…but, frankly, we think a reception at the Burke Museum would be the best choice.

Photo by Aaron Piazza

RAWR!

Staged by Cori Ready and photographed by Anne Fenton

Photo by Jenny GG Photography

All photos courtesy the Burke Museum.

Filed Under: Events, Families, Northeast Seattle, Photos, University of Washington

Outdoor movies at Magnuson Park return on July 11

June 25, 2013 by Rebecca Nelson 2 Comments

Summer in Western Washington is said to officially start after July 4. And the same goes for the Outdoor movies at Magnuson Park series. (Nobody likes soggy popcorn!)

All showings are on Thursdays, starting July 11, at Magnuson Park (7400 Sand Point Way NE). Seating opens at 7 PM, and the movies start at dusk. Cost is $5.

Also “showing” will be cirque performances (by The Cabiri), movie trivia, and food trucks. And the event is also billed as being dog friendly.

As for which movie you might want to attend, Ravenna Blog recommends ALL of them. Seriously. Look at this schedule:

July 11: Moonrise Kingdom (2012, PG-13, 94 minutes)
July 18: Singin’ in the Rain (1952, 103 minutes)
July 25: Finding Nemo (2003, G, 100 minutes)
August 1: Skyfall (2012, PG-13, 143 minutes)
August 8: The Sandlot (1993, PG, 101 minutes)
August 15: Raiders of the Last Ark (1981, PG, 115 minutes)
August 22: Singles (1992, PG-13, 99 minutes)
August 29: The Princess Bride (1987, PG, 98 minutes)

You can see information about event sponsors and which specific food trucks will be at each showing on the Movies at Magnuson homepage.

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The Ravenna Blog’s 5th birthday is also scheduled for Thursday, August 15, but from 5-7 PM. Celebrate with us, *then* go fight Nazis with Indy.

RSVP to the party here. We’d love to see you!

Filed Under: Events, Families, Food, Kids, Magnuson Park, Northeast Seattle

Wading pool season opens on Saturday! Yay!

June 17, 2013 by Rebecca Nelson Leave a Comment

It’s almost too hot right now to write this post, but I know you’re all wondering…

AND, YES, IT’S ALMOST WADING POOL TIME.

I want to go to there.

Your two Northeast Seattle wading pools for 2013 are:

Dahl Playfield (7700 25th Ave NE) open T/W/Th from noon-7 PM, June 25 through August 15
Magnuson Park (7400 Sand Point Way NE) open daily from noon-6:30 PM, June 22 through August 25

And your closest spraypark is:

Northacres Park (12800 1st Ave NE) open daily from 11 AM-8 PM, now through September 2

Wading pools are open when the temperature is forecast to be 70°F or higher. Sprayparks, however, are open daily (unless thunder and lightning are present).

You can download the full Seattle Parks and Recreation wading pool, spraypark, and swimming beach schedule here (in all its Comic Sans glory; 302 KB PDF).

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

Bicycle Master Plan Draft open house at Roosevelt High School (LIVE COVERAGE)

June 13, 2013 by Rebecca Nelson 14 Comments

On Thursday, June 13, the city will hold its last Bicycle Master Plan Draft open house at Roosevelt High School (1410 NE 66th St, in the cafeteria) from 6-7:30 PM.

We will be covering the event LIVE, right here.

There are a plethora of Bicycle Master Plan Draft pieces, and you can see them all here, on the Project Library homepage. For for Northeast Sector Map specifically, you can find that here (4.5 MB PDF).

Filed Under: Live Coverage, Meeting, Northeast Seattle, Roosevelt High School, Seattle Department of Transportation

“Tragedy of the preventable kind” — Schulte siblings and Harborview doctors speak to the press (UPDATE)

April 30, 2013 by Rebecca Nelson Leave a Comment

Members of the media clustered around Dr. Francois Aspesberro, Marilyn Schulte, and Dan Schulte (left to right) at today’s press conference at Seattle Children’s.

At Seattle Children’s Hospital this morning, members of the Schulte family spoke to the media about the current medical conditions of Karina Ulriksen-Schulte and Baby Elias, the survivors of the DUI-related tragedy that occurred at 33rd Avenue NE and NE 75th Street on Monday, March 25.

Dan Schulte, husband of Karina and father of Elias, was joined by his sister, Marilyn, and two of the doctors involved in the care of Karina and Elias.

Dan and Marilyn’s parents, Judy and Dennis Schulte, died at the scene.

While the community has been able to follow medical updates on Karina and Elias’ conditions on their CaringBridge site, this is the first time that detailed medical information on the pair has been released.

UPDATE (5:51 PM): KIRO 7 has kindly made their footage of the entire press conference available (Flash player required):

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Chef Lisa Nakamura asks us to Spread the Bucky (book signings)

April 22, 2013 by Rebecca Nelson Leave a Comment

Lisa Nakamura is local. So local, in fact, that she has two homes: One in the Sand Point area, with her husband, and another in the San Juan Islands, where Nakamura owns a restaurant (Allium on Orcas) and an ice cream shop (Lily).

Both Allium and Lily feature as local of food and ingredients as possible, like Allium Blend coffee from Local Goods Coffee roasters, greens from Maple Rock Farm, ice cream from Lopez Island Creamery.

But being part of a community, especially one as small and close-knit as those on the San Juans, means even more than just “Buy Local.”

It also means “Care Local.”

Lisa Nakamura (taken outside local coffee shop University Zoka)

In 2012, Nakamura published a little book about a dollar bill named Bucky (illustrated by graphic designer/illustrator/foodwriter/photographer Denise Sakaki). Bucky gets passed around in a local economy, and in the process does a LOT of helping: He’s used to by a book for a construction worker, groceries for a bookstore owner, and fulfill the dream of owning a day care for one couple receiving him (and other Buckys) as a micro loan. He travels the world for 14 years helping many, many people, all the while still being a humble dollar bill.

Why did a chef write a book about a dollar bill? Nakamura discusses the answer to that question on her blog, in a post where she recalls a local woman coming into her restaurant and asking for a job — NEEDING a job — when no job was available to give.

If you think you’re doing better [than this local woman] , that it’s all going to be great, think again. Your neighbors are still struggling. That trip to the locally owned store, the extra dollar you tip your server, the vegetables you buy from the farmer in the field, that’s what my book is all about.

You make a reservation and you no-show? Guess what? You just cost a small business money in labor and time. That server that was hoping for a good table and a good tip will now have to figure out some other way to make rent, to make ends meet. You decide to save a couple of dollars by shopping at a big chain store instead of the mom and pop one down the street? When that small store shuts down, you can take responsibility for it, because you helped its demise along.

Would you rather save a few bucks, and watch your local neighborhood wither away, struggle and scrape? Or would you rather spend with more thought and consideration, and watch your community flourish?

All our Buckies add up. Each one has its own story, as do the people we pass them to. Keep the cycle going.

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Nakamura will be selling and signing copies of her book, “Bucky the Dollar Bill,” at the University Village Bartell Drugs (2700 NE University Village St) today, from 3:30-5:30 PM. She’ll also be signing at the Bellevue Village Bartell Drugs (10116 NE 8th St, Bellevue) on Tuesday the 23rd, also from 3:30-5:30 PM.

One buck from each “Bucky” sale goes to support the Orcas Island Family Health Care Center, a non-profit rural health center providing access to primary healthcare and related medical services to island residents regardless of their ability to pay.

Filed Under: Events, Fundraiser, Northeast Seattle, Restaurants, University Village

“Get Your Bloom On” at the Olympic View Plant Sale

April 22, 2013 by Rebecca Nelson 1 Comment

The 12th Annual Olympic View Elementary School Plant Sale is happening this Friday and Saturday, April 26 and 27, from 9 AM-7 PM each day.

“Get growing with vegetable and fruit starts, herbs, flowering annuals, premium perennials, pottery, garden art, and more!”

All proceeds directly benefit the students of Olympic View Elementary (located at 509 NE 95th Street just south of Northgate Mall).

Special events on Saturday include crafts for kids (11 AM – 2 PM) and Peaks Frozen Custard (from noon – 5 PM)

Filed Under: Events, Families, Food, Fundraiser, Kids, Maple Leaf, Northeast Seattle, Public Schools

Lightning, thunder, hail, and power outages: Happy Saturday!

April 13, 2013 by Rebecca Nelson 1 Comment

Saturday afternoon started off exciting enough: Lots of rain. Lightning and thunder starting around 4:40 PM. Then some hail. LOTS of hail in some places.

This is from Ballard:

https://twitter.com/brucenourish/status/323222228542042112

Then the power outage reports started coming in. The first report of lights out came in at 5:53 PM, from Wallyhood:

Power outage along 45th. Traffic signals are dark.

— Wallyhood Seattle (@wallyhood) April 14, 2013

Lower Wallingford. Then SE Green Lake. Eastlake. Montlake. Ravenna and NE 65th Street. South University District.

When the Seattle City Light Outage Map finally updated, things looked like this:

Screen grab of the Seattle City Lights outage page, taken around 7 PM. Service to Green Lake and Montlake had already been restored, but nearly 15,000 other customers were still affected.

Here’s the Seattle City Light twitter feed, with the details:

Power outage in the UDist affecting about 10,000 customers caused by an equipment failure at Univ. Substation.

— Seattle City Light (@SEACityLight) April 14, 2013

Crews are working to restore power in the University District. Initial estimate for full restoration set for 1 a.m.

— Seattle City Light (@SEACityLight) April 14, 2013

@wdzimmy Thanks Drew.

— Seattle City Light (@SEACityLight) April 14, 2013

Cause of equipment failure at University Substation was a lighting strike. Damage took down the entire substation.

— Seattle City Light (@SEACityLight) April 14, 2013

Repair crews are bringing large "feeder" power lines back to service. As neighborhoods are energized, some localized problems could occur.

— Seattle City Light (@SEACityLight) April 14, 2013

Here's a look at the damage where the lightning strike hit at University Substation. pic.twitter.com/JmlIkSFd0r

— Seattle City Light (@SEACityLight) April 14, 2013

And as now (7:30 PM), power is coming back in some of the affected areas.

Quite a day. A good day to be paying attention to Twitter:

@lauralambeth @mcmahonuw @SEACityLight Ha ha! Right on. It's all cats and pictures of food, until the power goes out.

— Ravenna Blog (@RavennaBlog) April 14, 2013

Oh yeah. And apparently there was a car on fire at the Roosevelt Whole Foods:

Power out, cars are blowing up outside of Whole Foods, and it’s hailing in Seattle. This might be the end of it all, folks…

— Drew Zimmerman (@wdzimmy) April 14, 2013

Filed Under: Northeast Seattle, Power Outage, Seattle City Light

New eats and treats coming soon to Northeast Seattle (UPDATE)

April 12, 2013 by Rebecca Nelson 24 Comments

Our favorite kind of news? NEW RESTAURANT NEWS.

And we have LOTS.

…

Coming soon, to the old Pied Piper Alehouse space (2404 NE 65th St) is…

…a Patty’s Eggnest.

There are currently nine Patty’s Eggnest locations in Washington State, all of which are independently owned and operated. Patty’s specializes in breakfast. So much so that their Eggs Benedict have their OWN MENU. NINE different kinds, people.

Here’s more about their menu, from the About page:

We serve delicious, hearty meals made to order and made from scratch with fresh, choice ingredients. In a comfortable, family-friendly atmosphere, we’ll be happy to fill your table with home-cooked breakfast favorites. Fresh-squeezed orange juice, Swedish pancakes, scrumptious scrambles, and hearty chicken-fried steak are just some of the dishes that we feature on our menu at all locations. We also feature tasty lunches, like hot delicious sandwiches, big burgers with seasoned fries, and fresh salads. For several of our locations, we are open for dinner hours as well, serving fresh roasted turkey dinners and soup made-from-scratch.

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Headed into some of the new restaurant space in the new south building at University Village is a new restaurant by Beecher’s Cheese Head, Kurt Dammeier: Liam’s.

Via Eater Seattle, Dammeier says:

We’ll serve all Northwest wine and our basic food I describe as ‘upscale homestyle’ — mostly dishes that are familiar or reasonably familiar to a suburban crowd, but made better.

Dammeier is also the guy behind Pasta & Co., which already has a home at University Village.

That same Eater piece claims that “a Joey’s and a Din Tai Fung will also be moving in.” That’s a lot of restaurants. But with 24,626 sq. ft. of restaurant space available in that new building, anything is possible.

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Over in the Laurelhurst direction, Bill the Butcher is getting a new, unlikely neighbor:

Vegan bakery next to butcher. Keeping the 98105 weird – twitter.com/floraandflying…
— Nazila Merati (@floraandflying) April
11, 2013

Violet Sweet Shoppe, a vegan bakery and cafe, plans to open along NE 45th Street in May. If you’d like to help them along, financially, they’ve got a Kickstarter going.

I can’t believe it’s not butter.
(Cake picture courtesy Violet Sweet Shoppe.)

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The old Casa D’Italia location (2615 NE 65th St) has been leased again, to a business under the name “Conception Hermosillo” (according to records with the Washington State Liquor Control Board).

But this is about all we know so far. TO BE CONTINUED.

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The overlap section of a hypothetical Northeast Seattle Venn diagram of “Cloud City Coffee” and “Magnuson Park” will be excited about this last one.

Another find from the Washington State Liquor Control Board’s list of new liquor license applicants: CLOUD CITY SAND POINT.

O RLY? What’s the address? “6327 NE 74TH ST?”

View Cloud City Sand Point location? in a larger map

Hey, that’s inside Magnuson Park! What’s that address look like right now?

Oh my.

Let’s zoom out.

I don’t think it’s ready yet, do you?

Another one for the TO BE CONTINUED pile. We’ll contact Cloud City and Seattle Parks and Recreation on this one and report back.

UPDATE (5:35 PM): We’ve heard back from one of the Sand Point Tennis Center managers, Scott Marshall, who said, “Cloud City will be the cafe operator inside of our 6-court building. We are extremely excited about this partnership.”

Learn more about the Sand Point Tennis Center being built at Magnuson Park here.

Filed Under: Construction, Food, Laurelhurst, Magnuson Park, Maple Leaf, Northeast Seattle, Photos, Ravenna, Restaurants, Sand Point, University Village, Updates