Burglar(s) along NE 65th Street shatter glass, take nothing (UPDATE)

UPDATE (Friday, December 9): Wedgwood Top Pot Doughnuts (6855 35th Ave NE) was hit the same night and in a similar fashion (door glass smashed in, store rifled through, little to nothing taken) as the other two break-ins, an employee of the store told us today. We were also told that the estimated cost to replace the broken, super-thick all-glass door is $3,000.

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The alarm at Bagel Oasis (2112 NE 65th St) was tripped Tuesday morning around 3 AM. When owner Peter Ryan arrived, the double-paned safety glass of one of his front doors was found scattered all the way to the bagel case at the other side of the store.

Someone had entered the store, but nothing was taken.

A couple doors down, at the Crepe Cafe (2118 NE 65th St), a pane of glass in the door was found broken, as someone had made an attempt to unlock the door from the outside.

But the door remained shut. And nothing was taken.

Cheryl Olmstead, general manager of the Crepe Cafe, didn’t seem too surprised by the burglary attempts. December turns out to be popular month to break into businesses in the area, she said, citing many examples.

But one specific Christmastime burglary attempt in particular stands out to Ryan: Five years ago, when he and his son arrived at his store to find the burglar still on the premises. They could give Phoenix Jones a run for his money, in our humble opinion.

Should anyone have information that leads “to the arrest of knucklehead who threw a rock through the front door and broke in last night,” Ryan is offering up free bagels per week for a year. Call the Seattle Police Department’s non-emergency line at: (206) 625-5011.

Ravenna’s Candy Cane Lane set to open December 10

We’ve heard from one of the homeowners on Candy Cane Lane (NE Park Rd) that their annual holiday light extravaganza is set to start on December 10 this year.

Looking festive now — Imagine what it will look like at night!

Here’s a story on the history of this annual neighborhood tradition from the Seattle Times last year.

A lost white cat appears! Is he yours? (UPDATE)

UPDATE (Tuesday, December 13): We’ve just heard the good news from Anthony (via email): “Just an update, we got in touch with the owners of the white cat last night! He is from a home around 56th and 12th. Thank you again so much for posting that on the blog!”

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Readers Anthony and Julia may have found your lost kitty (via email, emphasis ours):

We were just opening the door to leave the apartment and the crafty little guy just snuck inside! We’re on the 1300 block of NE Ravenna [Blvd], so just across from Cowen Park. He’s an all-white adult male, extremely curious and friendly to humans, which leads us to believe he might belong to someone (no collar or microchip, however). We think he may have been missing for a while because he was a bit dirty and had a minor infection around one of his eyes. I have attached a photo that we took. We had to take him into the Seattle Animal Shelter, because our lease doesn’t allow for pets, but we really want to find his owners who must miss him very much!

 

Anthony and Julia live in the neighborhood nexus of the Ravenna, Roosevelt, and University District neighborhoods, so Lost White Kitty could be from any one of those.

Art abounds in Ravenna — Check out Thrive

In the past we’ve mentioned events and workshops at Roaring Mouse Creative Arts Studio (7526 20th Ave NE), such as this weekend’s Annual Holiday Open House. *hint, hint*

And now, in the spirit of supporting all things Ravenna, we plug the other art school in the area, Thrive Art School (6329 NE 65th St).

Thrive has a couple workshops coming up that you and your offspring might be interested in taking together:

Drawing Together – A special parent and child workshop; ages 5-9 with parents

Sunday, December 11, from 1-2 PM and 2:30-3:30 PM

Local Artist Workshop – Create your own artwork inspired by Clare Johnson’s whimsical ink drawings; ages 8 and up with parents

Sunday, December 11, from 2-4 PM

Thrive Art School is located above Cafe Da Pino on the corner of Ravenna Avenue and NE 65th Street. They also have a location on E Madison Street, across the street from Cafe Flora.

Ravenna and neighboring ‘hoods win $50,000 from CleanScapes

CleanScapes, one of the city of Seattle’s waste collection providers, has announced its 2011 Neighborhood Waste Reduction Competition winner. And it’s US!

Our collection area, Tuesday North (which also includes parts of Roosevelt, Bryant and Wedgwood) has won $50,000 towards a community improvement project to be built in 2012.

From the press release:

Between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2011 the residents of these neighborhoods decreased their waste by 400 tons, a 4.7% improvement over the same period the previous year. The runner up was CleanScapes Tuesday South collection area (Queen Anne and Magnolia) with a reduction of 325 tons.

Every year CleanScapes challenges neighborhoods in the municipalities it serves to reduce their waste footprint in this annual competition. Working together, Seattle neighborhoods in CleanScapes service area lost a total of 1,226 tons in 2011: an impressive waste reduction accomplishment and a huge step toward the City of Seattle’s 2020 Carbon Neutrality and Zero Waste goals.

Congratulations, everyone! We made less waste, together.

Now, how do we spend our spoils?

Starting today [October 28, 2011] through January 31, 2012, all Seattle residents are invited to submit a project proposal for the $50,000 reward. To be eligible for consideration, projects have to meet four basic criteria: the project is a capital improvement, located in the winning neighborhood collection area, easily accessible by the public and the total cost of the project does not exceed $50,000.

That’s right: Anyone in Seattle may submit a proposal for a project to be built within the Tuesday North neighborhoods. But the proposals will be reviewed and a winner chosen by a volunteer committee representing community councils in the Tuesday North collection area.

Project proposal criteria and a proposal form can be downloaded here. Proposals are due by January 31, 2012.

Last year’s inaugural winner of the CleanScapes Neighborhood Waste Reduction Competition in Seattle was a Thursday collection area that included portions of Montlake, Madison Park, Madison Valley, Capitol Hill, First Hill and Yesler Terrace. The winning proposal built a new playground in Washington Park.

S. Germany comes to Ravenna – Heidelberg Haus menu revealed!

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We’ve been doing “drive-by tweets” of Heidelberg Haus progress (2122 NE 65th St) for a few weeks now, but today we have something even better…

…the MENU.

Heidelberg Haus menu (click to make FULL SIZE)

WE were SO excited to see the offerings that we forgot to ask about an opening date. Please forgive us. We’ll try and rectify that error tomorrow.

There is a website for the new restaurant listed on the menu (Seattle-Eats-German.com), but it’s not alive as of yet.

Say hello to new Ravenna Blog staff!

We apologize for the lag in posting lately. We’ve been adding to our staff in order to serve you, the Ravenna community, better.

This is Oskar Nelson, the newest addition to the Ravenna Blog staff. He was “hired” on Sunday, October 9.

Here he is with the publisher and the junior editor, at his first company meeting.

Everyone is doing well, although the junior editor is rather besotted with him and needs to be told to get back into his bed and stop helping already because the night shift is not his beat to cover.

Taverna MaZi, now open!

While those in West Ravenna wait for the new German restaurant to open, those in East Ravenna and Bryant can enjoy the new Greek restaurant, Taverna MaZi (3426 NE 55th St) today.

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Would you like to see the menu? Or perhaps the drink list?

Eater Seattle has a post up with more information about both the food and the people behind Taverna MaZi (click on the picture below to read it).

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A local burglary report you won’t mind reading

I just was doing my Neighborhood News Site Duty by looking at the latest property crime reports, when I see one for the 6200 block of 23rd Avenue NE on October 31st.

Oh, NOT ANOTHER ONE, I think to myself.

And then I read the report.

Here’s my summary:

Officer is dispatched to the home on Sunday, October 31st. Homeowner tells the officer that a laptop computer and two remote controls have been missing from the house since the evening of October 28th. No forced entry was found, but homeowner had been leaving a side door unlocked while repairs were being done inside.  Officer provides a case number, makes the report, and leaves.

Officer is contacted a short time later by wife of previously mentioned homeowner: Items were not stolen, but placed elsewhere in the house.

CASE CLOSED.

I thought with all the recent burglaries, we all might appreciate this particular one.

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Here’s the info on the Crime Prevention Meeting being held on Tuesday, November 16th.

On a related note, Roosiehood and the Ravenna Blog will have some news a little later about a crime prevention meeting for our neighborhoods taking place in a couple weeks. STAY TUNED.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Who says you GOTTA carve just pumpkins?