NE Seattle YARNPOLCALYPSE is nigh (UPDATES)

March 5, 2014 by 5 Comments

Knit one, purl two, REPENT: For Northeast Seattle may be losing two independent yarn stores.

Acorn Street Shop, 2818 NE 55th St

Current Acorn Street Shop owner Karen Aho is retiring, and selling the shop. They’ve had some nibbles, says the shop on twitter, but as of this writing, there are no official takers. May might be the store’s last month if no buyers come forward.

Interested in owning your very own yarn store?* Contact Karen at acornstreet@msn.com.

Acorn Street Shop in early 2012.

Acorn Street Shop in early 2012.

More about the store from the Acorn Street Shop “About Us” page:

Acorn Street Shop was established in 1979 and began as a New England country store in nearby University Village Shopping Center. Soon the needlework department took over and Acorn Street became a full-fledged needlework shop. The shop has been under current ownership since 1986. In 1992, the business moved to its present location, just north of the U-Village, and the needlework merchandise has expanded to fill the old building up to its 15 foot ceilings!

Weaving Works, 4717 Brooklyn Ave NE

“Oh, if Acorn Street Shop closes, it will be sad. But there’s always Weaving Works down in the University District.” BUT FOR HOW LONG. The Weaving Works building is to be torn down and redeveloped into “a seven-story, 56 unit apartment building with 3,600 sq. ft. of retail commercial space at grade.”

There is no date set yet for the demolition, but the permit was filed on January 30, 2014.

weaving_works_future

Rendering of the proposed development at 4717 Brooklyn Ave NE. Click the image to download the entire proposal (8.2 MB PDF).

The most recent design proposal for the site (available above) was presented to the Northeast Design Review Board on July 15, 2013. It was passed unanimously. You can read the board’s full report from the meeting here (249 KB PDF).

We’ve contacted The Weaving Works for more information about the store’s future, and will post a reply here if/when we know more.

UPDATE (Wednesday, 7 PM): Good news about the future of The Weaving Works, via their twitter account:

UPDATE (Monday, March 17): In the latest Weaving Works newsletter (PDF), the store announces that their annual Mother’s Day sale will be more of a Moving sale (to help make the move easier); however, they’re still keeping the new location under wraps.

Acorn Street Shop also holds an annual Mother’s Day sale.

____________

*Best possible place to work, in the event of an earthquake.

Filed Under: Businesses, Construction, Northeast Seattle, Ravenna, Real Estate, University District, Updates

Design Review Board meeting on the old Fruit Stand blocks (LIVE COVERAGE)

February 3, 2014 by 7 Comments

Tonight, Monday, February 3, the Northeast Design Review Board will meet to decide the next steps for the development of the “old Fruit Stand block” just south of Roosevelt High School.

The meeting takes place at 6:30 PM at the University Heights Community Center (5031 University Way NE, Room 209). There is a public comment period during the meeting, but it is only 20 minutes in length and not for Q&A-style discussions.

Ravenna Blog will be in attendance and providing LIVE COVERAGE below, starting around 6:30 PM.

Page 12 from the Roosevelt Development Group's Design Review Recommendation presentation. Click the image to download the entire presentation (17 MB PDF)

Page 12 from the Roosevelt Development Group’s Design Review Recommendation presentation. Click the image to download the entire presentation (17 MB PDF)

The Roosevelt Development Group will be presenting their preferred project design (by Seattle architecture firm GGLO) for 6505 15th Avenue NE (Project #3013244) to the Northeast Design Review Board at tonight’s meeting.

Three different design schemes were presented during the early design guidance meeting on August 6, 2012. (You can find the notes from that meeting here.) Tonight’s recommendation phase design is the third of those three designs and features:

    • Approximately 221 dwelling units, in a mix of multi- and groun- level configurations;
    • 7,500-square-feet of ground-level commercial space;
    • 175 parking stalls, accessed from 14th Avenue NE;
    • Overall height of 7-stories (building heights ranging from 55 to 75 feet, depending on the slope of the property)

Jim O’Halloran, past Roosevelt Neighborhood Association Land Use Chair, had this to say about tonight’s meeting and the current design plans:

“Now that a zoning decision for the high school blocks has been made, and that a reasonably attractive building has been designed for the site with some engagement from the Community, let’s get on with it; build the building.  If for any reason the project will be further delayed, then it is important that the existing decrepit building structures be removed without further delay.  Allowing this sore spot to fester without near term improvement would surely undermine RDG’s relationship with the Community.”

Filed Under: Construction, Department of Planning and Development, Live Coverage, Meeting, Ravenna, Ravenna-Bryant Community Association, Real Estate, Roosevelt, Roosevelt High School, Roosevelt Neighborhood Association

Dozens of guns stolen from home near Roosevelt High School

January 14, 2014 by 23 Comments

A resident of the 6800 block of 15th Avenue NE, just northeast of Roosevelt High School, reported a robbery at his residence on Friday, January 10, while he was at work. Among the stolen items were “20-25 handguns and 20 rifles and shotguns.”


View Burglary on Friday, January 10 in a larger map

In the police report narrative for the incident, the victim states that he left for work at 9 AM and returned around 2 PM and “found someone had gone through his house and stolen multiple items.” The victim had locked the house upon leaving in the morning, but had not set the alarm as he is in the process of moving. No forced entry into the house was found; however, the garage door can be opened by hand. This is how the victim believes the burglar both gained access and left.

Among the stolen items reported by the victim were near a dozen watches, cash in various places around the house as well as larger amounts in two small bags in the kitchen, and dozens of guns:

He said he had about 20-25 handguns and 20 rifles and shotguns. He could not name all the makes and models of the guns but said he would get them and send them in on a victim follow up. He stated that many of the handguns were from his Dad and Granddad and were from World War I and II. He said missing were a Colt .45, Webbly .357, Colt Huntsman .22, Luger, Walther, several Smith and Wesson to name a few. He stated he also had an AR-15 for one of the long guns. All the guns and handguns were in a closet in the bedroom or in drawers in a built in closet.

Also reported missing were 5-7 gym bags.

____________________

Thank you to Michael Hawthorne of KOMO News for bringing this incident to our attention.

Filed Under: Crime, Ravenna, Roosevelt, Roosevelt High School, Seattle Police Department

Upcoming Design Review Board meetings of note (LIVE COVERAGE)

January 13, 2014 by 6 Comments

Two large development projects on NE 65th Street may before the Northeast Design Review Board in the next three weeks: The old Children’s Home Society of Washington land up at 33rd Avenue NE (recently sold to Polygon Northwest), and the old Fruit Stand block at 15th Avenue NE (owned by Hugh Sisley and leased to the Roosevelt Development Group).

Northeast Design Review Board meetings are held at the University Heights Community Center (5031 University Way NE, Room #209). You can see all upcoming meetings (and the links to their respective project information) at this Design Review Meetings page at seattle.gov.

For more information on these two particular projects (including links to design documents and their respective Department of Planning and Development permit pages), click on the map below.

View Jan/Feb 2014 NE Design Review Board meeting topics in a larger map

Ravenna Blog plans on attending both meetings and providing live coverage at ravennablog.com:

  • LIVE COVERAGE of the Monday, January 13 meeting (CHS of WA/Polygon Northwest) begins below around 6:30 PM.
  • LIVE COVERAGE of the (tentative-at-this-time) Monday, February 3 meeting (old Fruit Stand block/Sisley/Roosevelt Development Group) will be posted to a page-to-be-named-later.
Filed Under: Construction, Department of Planning and Development, Live Coverage, Meeting, Ravenna, Ravenna-Bryant Community Association, Real Estate, Roosevelt, Roosevelt Neighborhood Association

Latest school boundary proposals for NE Seattle could spell big changes for local students (UPDATES)

November 4, 2013 by 27 Comments

The latest round of potential school boundary changes drawn up by the Seattle School District will be presented to School Board members this Wednesday, November 6. And for many Northeast Seattle families, there are some big differences to be spotlighted:

  • Under these new changes, if accepted by the School Board on November 20, students across the street from Eckstein Middle School would no longer be attending there. Instead, all students currently attending Wedgwood Elementary would begin attending Jane Addams Middle School.
  • North Seattle Accelerated Progress Program (APP) middle school students would be moved from Lincoln Hamilton into Eckstein.
Proposed Northeast Seattle middle school boundaries. If accepted, most of these changes would be implemented in 2015.

Proposed Northeast Seattle middle school boundaries. If accepted, these changes would be implemented in the next two years.

The documents outlining these proposed changes were last updated on October 31, and released the next day, at 7 PM. On a Friday night. So many families in the affected areas may just be hearing about them.

Wedgwood Elementary PTA President Terri Green has weighed in about these proposed changes, in a message that started circulating over the weekend. It reads, in part:

SPS boundary changes as they impact the Wedgwood community

On Friday, November 1 at 7 pm, SPS released a third iteration of their plan they think may be final to address growth boundaries. There are major modifications which will significantly impact your children and our community in two ways:

  1. Starting next school year, ALL Wedgwood students would be assigned to the new (as yet unopened) Jane Adams Middle School (6-8), even kids who live across the street from Eckstein.
  2. Former Wedgwood students currently attending Eckstein will be moved to the new Jane Adams Middle School for 7th and 8th grade. (Part of the Northend APP middle school program is proposed to move into Eckstein.)

A full copy with details of the plan is available on-line here. This plan was devised after community feedback to the previous October 16 proposal. No major changes were proposed for our school at that time and thus there was no call to action. Now our community needs to respond quickly if we wish to impact this process before it is too late.

Green goes on to say a Call to Action meeting is being held at 6:30 tonight, Monday, November 4th, in Wedgwood Elementary School’s library. (We will be attending, and will provide LIVE COVERAGE below, if possible.)

Green will also be attending Wednesday’s School Board meeting (4:15 PM at the John Stanford Center, 2445 3rd Ave S), but families should contact School Board members themselves before then. The Seattle School District is divided into seven parts, each one represented by an elected member. The representatives whose areas are affected by these changes in North/Northeast Seattle are:

In addition to expressing thoughts/concerns to School Board members, parents should also email feedback to GrowthBoundaries@seattleschools.org, the official Seattle School District boundary plan address. Put your school or issue in the subject line.

For the full list of information about these proposed changes (including the data used to create them), visit the Seattle Public Schools — Growth Boundaries page.

UPDATE (12:09 PM): Thanks to some commenters on Facebook, we have learned the APP @ Lincoln PTA’s official stance on the proposed changes to their program:

PTA Responds to New Boundary Proposal

On Friday evening, the Seattle Public School district released their latest proposals for updating school boundaries. The district will present this proposal to the Seattle School Board on Wednesday, November 6th. If you would like to speak directly to the board regarding this proposal at the meeting, you may, but you must call the district and sign up on Monday (11/4) morning.

The SNAPP PTA maintains its position that splitting the APP Middle School and co-housing with attendance area schools is not in the best interest of our community or helpful with the overcrowding in the north end. Although many APP MS students come from the Whitman and Eckstein reference area, putting APP in these schools would only serve to further crowd them and keep reference area kids out.

You can read the entire APP @ Lincoln PTA statement here.

UPDATE (Tuesday, November 5, 7:52 AM): Correction/Clarification from elementary school APP parent and Roosevelt resident Elena Waite :

Current APP middle school students do NOT attend Lincoln- in the North, they go to Hamilton and will continue at Hamilton in the proposed plan, for now, as well as Eckstein and then Whitman. I would also like to note that APP has advocated for its own Middle School site – at Wilson Pacific and never advocated to be at Eckstein as we know that school is already crowded as a neighborhood school.

UPDATE (Tuesday, November 5, 7:03 PM): Those that emailed Seattle School Board Member Harium Martin-Morris received the following email in return, outlining an amendment Martin-Morris plans to introduce at Wednesday’s meeting.

I am writing in response to your email regarding the November 1st version on the Growth Boundary Plan. As written, I do not support the plan and along with Director De Bell will be offer an amendment that will go back to the previous version of the plan with the following changes:

* Assign NE APP students to the new James Addams Middle School starting in 2014
* Have a maximum of 3 classes per grade level at James Addams Middle School
* Assign others APP to Hamilton until Wilson Pacific Middle School is online. At that point Hamilton would also go to the 3 classroom per grade and all others go to Wilson Pacific

That would mean that the middle school and elementary attendance areas in the NE would go back to October 16th revision with some minor changes basis on community input.

Regards,

Harium Martin-Morris

————————-

NOTE: While most local residents probably assume (correctly so) that most Ravenna neighborhood students attend Bryant Elementary, many in the North Ravenna area (including those here at Ravenna Blog Headquarters) are located within the Wedgwood Elementary attendance area. In fact, the boundary for Wedgwood itself is planned to expand further into Ravenna in the coming years (reflected in the image above).

APP students are scattered throughout neighborhoods, and all currently attend school at old Lincoln High School in Wallingford (see Elena Waite’s note above). Lincoln was closed in 1981, and is used as an interim location for Seattle schools and programs.

Filed Under: Civic Envolvement, Eckstein Middle School, Families, Kids, Live Coverage, Meeting, Northeast Seattle, Ravenna, Updates, Wedgwood, Wedgwood Elementary School

Water main breaks between University Village and the NE 45th Street viaduct (UPDATE)

October 8, 2013 by 2 Comments

Updates appear at the bottom of the Storify window — hit the blue “Read next page” button below to view them.

Filed Under: 911, Laurelhurst, Open/Closed, Photos, Ravenna, Seattle Department of Transportation, Seattle Fire Department, Seattle Public Utilities, Traffic, University District, University Village

Car veers off NE 75th St, 83-year-old driver injured (UPDATE)

September 24, 2013 by 1 Comment

Just after 11 AM on Tuesday, September 24, the Seattle Fire Department responded to a heavy rescue call on NE 75th Street just east of 26th Avenue NE.

20130924-130400.jpg

Seattle Post-Intelligencer photojournalist Josh Trujillo (left) takes a picture at the scene.

A vehicle was traveling *eastbound* [corrected] on NE 75th Street when it left the roadway, struck and disassembled a road sign (pictured above), and came to rest on a cement embankment on the side of a nearby home’s driveway.

20130924-130238.jpg

After leaving the roadway, the vehicle drove through parts of two yards before coming to rest on the embankment of a raised driveway.

The driver, an 83-year-old woman, was taken to Harborview Medical Center by Seattle Fire staff. She was transported in stable condition, said Seattle Fire.

20130924-130332.jpg

View looking dowhill (west) along NE 75th St at emergency and police vehicles at the scene.

Eastbound NE 75th Street was blocked for a time for emergency vehicles, after which Seattle Police officers directed traffic past the scene using the new left turn lane. The sidewalk on the south side was closed while police investigated the scene.

 

UPDATE (2:30 PM): A little more info from a Seattle Police Department Blotter post up just now:

Preliminary investigation indicates that an 83-year-old woman was driving her Honda Element eastbound on NE 75th Street.  Just after crossing 26thAvenue NE, for reasons yet to be determined, she left the roadway and drove over the south sidewalk, up an embankment and crashed into a house.

There were people inside the house at the time of the collision however, nobody inside the house was injured.

The driver of the Honda (and sole occupant of the vehicle) sustained serious injuries in the collision and was transported to Harborview Medical Center by fire department medics.

Traffic Collision Investigation Squad detectives responded to the scene and continue to actively investigate.

SPD estimates that NE 75th Street should be fully reopened around 3 PM today..

 

 

Filed Under: 911, Photos, Ravenna, Seattle Fire Department, Seattle Police Department, Updates

Teenager falls through skylight at Eckstein Middle School

September 21, 2013 by 6 Comments

At approximately 5:11 PM on Saturday, September 21, the Seattle Fire Department responded to a 911 call regarding a teenage boy who had fallen through a skylight on top of Eckstein Middle School.

Seattle schools security and Seattle Police Department officers also responded to the call, according to Seattle Fire PIO Kyle Moore and the SPD twitter feed.

A 13-year-old male was reported to have been climbing on the roof of the school with two other kids when he went through a skylight and fell 15-20 feet, according to the SPD.

The boy had loss of consciousness after the fall, but was transported by Seattle Fire Department personnel to a hospital in an alert and stable condition.

If/When we know more about the boy’s injuries and condition, we will update this post.

Filed Under: 911, Eckstein Middle School, Ravenna, Seattle Fire Department, Seattle Police Department, Wedgwood

AM Shooting at NE 55th Street and 26th Avenue NE (UPDATES)

September 10, 2013 by 1 Comment

On Tuesday at 8:35 AM, Seattle Police and Fire units responded to a shooting at approximately 26th Avenue NE and NE 55th Street.


View AM shooting at NE 55th St and 26th Ave NE in a larger map

Above: Tweet by KOMO News Radio reporter Jon Repp from near the scene of the shooting (looking east down NE 55th Street).

A man was shot in the wrist and femur (per scanner), and transported to Harborview Medical Center. His condition is unknown at this time.

There was some confusion early on about the make and model of the suspects’ vehicle, but SPD is now calling it a “newer black Toyota Corolla,” per scanner.

We’re awaiting word from SPD on descriptions of the suspects.

Nearby Bryant Elementary School went into “shelter-in-place” mode: Students were allowed inside and school continued as usual.

Assumption-St. Bridget is in “modified lockdown at this time.

Metro routes using NE 55th Street (30 and 74) are affected:

https://twitter.com/kcmetrobus/status/377469645298880512

UPDATE (9:52 AM): Some more information from media at the scene:

We’re expecting homicide detectives to be at the scene for some time, and that parts of NE 55th St and 26th Ave NE will also be closed for some time.

The Seattle Fire Department has said over twitter that their medics transported “an approx 30yo male from 2610 Ne 55th St to HMC with 2 gunshot wounds. Patient critical with life threatening injuries.”

UPDATE (10:05 AM): The Seattle Times has more information on this morning’s shooting from SPD’s Sgt. Sean Whitcomb, including:

  • Victim (now said to be in his 50s) was “apparently targeted.”
  • Victim was shot at from a dark sedan occupied by what were described by witnesses as “two African-American men in their late teens or early 20s.”

KIRO reporter Natasha Chen (above) took some video of Sgt. Whitcomb speaking near the incident site:

UPDATE (11:20 AM): Picture of the scene from the Seattle Police Department:

UPDATE (1:14 PM): The Seattle Times is reporting that the victim works at Manning & Son Upholstery (2610 NE 55th Street). He and is son (recently brought on to learn the trade, reports Alexa Vaughn) were on their way into the upholstery shop when the shooting occured.

Joel Moreno, a reporter at KOMO News, is reporting that the victim is in surgery.

UPDATE (2:33 PM): KING 5’s Elisa Hahn reports via twitter that the victim is out of surgery and in ICU. His condition is listed as serious.

Filed Under: 911, Bryant Elementary School, Crime, Ravenna, Seattle Fire Department, Seattle Police Department, Updates

NE 75th Street Makeover Update: It’s DONE (UPDATES, PHOTOS)

August 23, 2013 by 53 Comments

The Seattle Department of Transportation crew that had been laying down “proto-lanes” on NE 75th Street finished up their work today. And it was not long after they’d put away their paint can that the SDOT Painting Truck Convoy rolled in to finish the job*.

NE75th_done

Above is a picture of NE 75th Street at about 23rd Avenue NE, taken at 10:15 PM on Friday night. It’s done.

NE75th_done_2

Here we’re looking west down NE 75th Street, from the same location.

NE75th_no_parking

Additionally, the no-parking-during-commutes parking signs were replaced with these no parking signs.

…

The “Wild West” has been tamed…or has it?

Drive around/Walk around/Bike around on it a bit, everyone, then let’s meet back here in the comments to talk about our experiences.

…

*UPDATE (Saturday morning): The roadway improvements are not *completely* finished, but the new lanes had been laid down as of last night. The era of driving two-by-two is over. This morning, a crew was spotted adding reflectors to the sides of the new left turn lane.

Early Saturday morning, an SDOT crew walks down NE 75th Street placing reflectors along the sides of the new left turn lane. Photo by Adelina Starace.

Early Saturday morning, an SDOT crew walks down NE 75th Street placing reflectors along the sides of the new left turn lane. Photo by Adelina Starace.

UPDATE (Saturday afternoon): A truck/machine/thing was seen grinding the old yellow stripes off the middle of the road, east of 25th Avenue NE. Did not continue west of 25th, however. Monday’s job, perhaps.

UPDATE (Saturday evening): Valarie Bunn, Wedgwood historian extraordinaire, sent us some photos of the old lane lines being ground off the road earlier today.

Grinder erases dashes at 75th and 25th.8.24.2013

We’ll know for sure when the rest of the lane erasing is done in a couple days (and I’ll be sure to run out there with my camera and get some video), but it looks like the work is done by HAND.   Grinding out center line on 75th at 25th

The only female SDOT worker I’ve seen working on the improvements, and this is the job she’s doing. As my ancestors would say, “Uff da.”

Grind then smooth on 75th at 33rd with Schulte memorial

  And I believe the machine pictured above cleans up after the grinding equipment has done its job.

Grinding the dashes on 75th near 25th on 8.24.2013

UPDATE (Sunday morning): OMG they’re back at it again already.

Workers, cones, and signs were spotted near 20th Avenue NE around 7 AM. And around 9 AM, the grinding gear was spotted in the same location:

https://twitter.com/Starace1919/status/371665527036317696

Filed Under: Eckstein Middle School, Photos, Ravenna, Roosevelt, Seattle Department of Transportation, Traffic, Updates, Wedgwood
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