Power outage along NE 65th St blamed on crow

July 10, 2012 by 4 Comments

Shortly before 1:00 PM this afternoon, sections of seven Northeast Seattle neighborhoods lost power. At peak, approximately 3,800 customers were affected.

Screen capture of the outage at its peak taken from Seattle City Light’s System Status webpage.

Parts of Roosevelt, Ravenna, Bryant, Wedgwood, View Ridge, and Sand Point all took a hit along NE 65th St, while nearly all of Windermere went down. The estimated time of restoration was listed at 3 PM, but many customers are seeing their lights coming back on ahead of that time.

Last week’s outage was blamed on a tree (and the high winds helped, we imagine). But what’s to blame this time?

A crow. Nature is out to get us, apparently.

Filed Under: Bryant, Northeast Seattle, Ravenna, Roosevelt, Sand Point, Seattle City Light, View Ridge, Wedgwood, Windermere

Two blown transformers heard to be blamed for NE Seattle power outage (UPDATES)

July 3, 2012 by 3 Comments

UPDATE (2:58 PM): A quick check of the outage map reveals everything back to normal.

UPDATE (2:08 PM): Outage down to approximately 1,200 customers now.

UPDATE (1:03 PM): outage is down to approximately 1,800 customers Mostly in the Matthews Beach/View Ridge area of the map below affected.

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No, it’s not a comment on any Michael Bay movies — it’s a power outage.

Seattle City Light outage map screen grab from 12:45 PM.

More info on the Seattle City Light’s Power Lines blog:

Seattle City Light crews were responding to a power outage Tuesday that affected about 3,600 homes and businesses in the Ravenna, Roosevelt, View Ridge and Wedgwood neighborhoods of northeast Seattle.

The outage started about 11:20 a.m. A cause was not immediately known. An initial estimate for restoration of service was set for 3 p.m.

The general boundaries of the outage were NE 94th Street on the north, NE 65th Street on the south, Roosevelt Way NE on the west and Lake Washington on the east.

As of this posting, the cause is listed as “tree,” and the restoration time is estimated at 3:00 PM.

As we were calling the North Precinct about the dangerous traffic conditions at 15th Ave NE and NE 75th St — signals are out and many drivers on NE 75th St are not noticing and treating as a four-way stop — the officer on the other end of the phone blamed the outage on two transformers lost from the tops of poles, but we haven’t had confirmation of the exact cause from Seattle City Light.

Filed Under: Bryant, Maple Leaf, Northeast Seattle, Power Outage, Ravenna, Roosevelt, Seattle City Light, Seattle Police Department, Traffic, Updates, View Ridge, Wedgwood

Sunday evening Cafe Racer/shootings events, and beyond (UPDATE)

June 3, 2012 by 2 Comments

You can’t throw a rock these days without hitting a memorial or benefit for victims of last week’s/this year’s violence, and that is exactly how it should be: So much love and support in the community right now, the very air is thick with it.

Tonight there are a number of events around town that we mention below. For events beyond this weekend, we urge you to bookmark this post on Roosiehood (“Benefits and fundraisers for victims of Cafe Racer shootings”), and/or join the Cafe Racer Benefit Facebook group.

UPDATE: There is also the newly started website, Cafe Racer Love, keeping track of events and benefits.

Interfaith Prayer and Procession for Healing
Saint Mark’s Cathedral (1245 10th Ave E)
6 PM
Service begins at the Cathedral Nave

The Church Council of Greater Seattle, Saint Mark’s Cathedral, and St. James Cathedral invite you to an Interfaith Prayer and Procession for Healing. The service will begin at Saint Mark’s Cathedral at 6 p.m. We will then proceed in a peaceful procession to St. James Cathedral (9th Ave. and Marion St. – downtown Seattle), where the service will continue and conclude shortly after 8 pm.
We invite all to come to join in prayer, song and community for any part of this gathering. Please bring a candle which will mark the light of hope in which we walk.

Sunday Night Folk Review
Pies and Pints (1215 NE 65th St)
8 PM

Tonight’s regular Sunday Night Folk Review will also be a benefit for the victims and families of the shootings.

Racer Sessions
Alley behind Cafe Racer (5828 Roosevelt Way NE)
8 PM

About the Racer Sessions (website):

We collectively organize weekly sessions for new, experimental music. The purpose is to give musicians of all ages and backgrounds the opportunity to interact and inspire each other, while establishing a community-accessible home for our music, which would otherwise only exist in classrooms, basements, outer space etc.

Every Sunday, at Cafe Racer, the curator of the week will debut a piece of new music, which will be followed by a free improv session based mostly, partially, or not at all on the music that was presented.

No curator this week, but the Sessions go on.

Filed Under: Events, Restaurants, Roosevelt, University District

Video and impressions of Thursday night’s “Walk for Love”

June 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment

We were able to catch a bit of last night’s “Walk for Love,” organized by Lucia Neare’s Theatrical Wonders. Below is video of the walk as it traveled down 12th Ave NE from the starting point at Cowen Park (5849 15th Ave NE), and a bit of the music heard in one section of the walk (“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in the style of Israel Kamakawiwo’ole).

As we joined the walk, we took to twitter to share the walk route, pictures, and our impressions. (Forgive us our misnaming the event occasionally.) Seattle P-I photojournalist Josh Trujillo was also present, and we have included some of his pictures as well.

Filed Under: Cowen Park, Events, Restaurants, Roosevelt, University District, Video

“Walk for Love” this evening, starting at Cowen Park

May 31, 2012 by 1 Comment

Jens Wazel and Lucia Neare of Lucia Neare’s Theatrical Wonders are organizing a “Walk for Love” tonight, starting at 8:30 PM, at Cowen Park (5849 15th Ave NE).

For people who didn’t have a chance to pay their respects at Cafe Racer last night, here is another chance to gather with friends and neighbors.

Via email from Jens and Lucia:

We are all deeply saddened by the recent tragic events in our city. Please join us tonight, Thursday, May 31, for an evening walk through the Ravenna and U-District neighborhoods. Let’s gather and bring our love and light to these neighborhoods and the entire city.

Please meet us at 8:30 pm on the ball field at Cowen Park, 5849 15th Ave NE, from where we will start the walk.

Come as you are. If you like, we invite you to wear white and bring a light, bell, or rose.

Love to all.

You can RSVP to the event on facebook here.

You can read about their mission here.

Filed Under: Cowen Park, Events, Ravenna, Roosevelt, University District

Cafe Racer community remembers, and celebrates (PHOTOS)

May 31, 2012 by 3 Comments

Last night, as people started to gather at Cafe Racer (5828 Roosevelt Way NE) to mourn and to celebrate, we asked one of our Ravenna neighbors, Steve Sorbo, if he wouldn’t mind heading over there to take some pictures and share the experience. (Steve also worked with us on the Steve Jobs tribute posts last October.)

We are leaving his photo collection here for the neighbors and friends of Cafe Racer who could not be there last night, and to honor those whose lives were lost.

Peace be to their memory.

Filed Under: Events, Photos, Restaurants, Roosevelt Tagged With: , ,

Shooting at Cafe Racer in Roosevelt (UPDATES)

May 30, 2012 by 5 Comments

UPDATE (Thursday, May 31): Around 10 PM last night, the suspect and a fourth victim at Cafe Racer were reported to have both died of their injuries. Here is the AP story.

As of this morning, the only survivor of the shootings at Cafe Racer, Leonard Meuse, has had his condition upgraded from critical to serious. He is expected to recover.

UPDATE (5:46 PM): Many news outlets, including this one, had erroneously reported that the suspect had died of his injuries. He is, in fact, alive and continuing to receive treatment at Harborview (via the Seattle Police twitter feed).

UPDATE (5:02 PM): Seattle Police has confirmed that the suspect in the Cafe Racer shootings has died from his self-inflicted gunshot wound. Reported in error.

And they also confirm that the shooting at 8th and Seneca this morning is connected to the suspect.

More on all of that in the Seattle Times (“Suspect in Seattle slayings kills himself”).

And also at the Seattle Times, some good news: The chef at Cafe Racer, who was among those shot this morning, is doing well.

UPDATE (4:34 PM): Just as we were receiving reports of officers arresting someone in the vicinity of 47th Ave NE and Roosevelt Way NE, there are now reports that the suspect in the Roosevelt shootings was found in West Seattle. When approached by officers, he then turned the gun on himself. Police are saying that this individual was suspected in the shootings in Cafe Racer, but are not commenting on his condition at this time.

More detail from the tail end of the Mayor’s news conference by Assistant Chief James Pugel: Plain closed officers in West Seattle recieved images of the suspect as they were patrolling. One officer identified the suspect and called in uniformed officers to assist. Suspect saw the uniformed officers closing in, knelt down in the street, and shot himself in the head.

Our friends at the West Seattle Blog will have more information on this latest shooting (37th Ave SW and Raymond St) at their website.

UPDATE (4:12 PM)Assistant Chief of the Seattle Police Department, James Pugel, spoke during the Mayor’s live conference this afternoon. Below is the summary:

Just before 11 AM, two 911 call came in: One saying shots fired at 59th and roosevelt, the other transferred to fire, “Dual distpatch” occurs, and both police and fire are dispatched to the scene, arriving at the same time. Police find five people down inside, and no suspect on scene. Two victims were dead at the scene, the others were triaged and transferred to Harborview. Dectectives, gang units, homicide and robbery, UW police, SPD officers on loan to the FBI all showed up to the scene. The area was canvassed, and a K-9 unit was called in. Evidence recovery is ongoing. Pictures from the scene have now been release. He has not been positively identified yet. The 8th and Seneca shooting call comes in around a half hour later.

UPDATE (2:42 PM):Seattle Police department reports that another of the shooting victims has died. Speculation online is that the victims are members of the band God’s Favorite Beefcake, but this is unconfirmed at this time.

UPDATE (12:56 PM):More to add to suspect’s description (via Casey McNerthney’s twitter feed):”New detail about North Seattle shooter: police say his black and white has a white collar. Has dark shirt over it.”

UPDATE (12:30 PM): Vis Casey McNerthney’s twitter feed: “Police telling Ravenna residents to stay inside, not open their doors as search for shooter is nearing second hour.”

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Seattle Fire and police responded to a shooting at Cafe Racer (5828 Roosevelt Way NE) right around 11 AM.

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GREG GILBERT / Photo courtesy THE SEATTLE TIMES

Two of the five shooting victims have died, both male. Three other victims include a woman, all of whom have been transported to Harborview Medical Center. The Associated Press reports that all three are in critical condition (12:37 PM, via twitter).

Suspect is still at large. His description is “Suspect is a wht man, 6’1, very thin, curly light brn hair, wearing a white & brn plaid shirt, a long sleeve shirt, and dark pants” via the Seattle Police Department Twitter feed.

Area schools and community centers are on lockdown or operating normally with doors locked.

Updates can be found at the links below, and on our twitter feed, as news develops:

Filed Under: 911, Bryant Elementary School, Crime, Eckstein Middle School, Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center, Roosevelt, Roosevelt High School, Seattle Fire Department, Seattle Police Department, Updates

Author’s old Roosevelt residence to make way for apartments (UPDATES)

May 16, 2012 by 11 Comments

UPDATE (Sunday, May 20): We received an email from Paula Becker who wrote both the HistoryLink.org and Seattle Press essays on Betty MacDonald, and she has clarified the timeline for us:

Betty’s mother bought the house at 6317 15th Avenue NE around 1930.  Prior to that, the family had been living in Chimacum — Betty with her husband Robert Hackett and two young daughters Anne and Joan, her mother and other family members nearby — those are the years described in The Egg And I.  Betty left her marriage in ca. 1931 and moved in with her mother and other family members.  The following years are those described in Anybody Can Do Anything.  It was in this house that Betty was living when she was diagnosed with tuberculosis and entered Firland Sanatorium for treatment during 1938-1939.  Her daughters stayed with her mother in the house.  The family lived in the house until ca. 1942, when Betty married Don MacDonald and her mother apparently sold the house — at any rate, they moved out.

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The Roosevelt home of author Betty MacDonald (“The Egg and I,” “Mrs. Piggle Wiggle,” and more) will be removed should the city’s Department of Planning and Development approve plans for apartments in its place.

Author Betty MacDonald resided here at 6317 15th Ave NE between 1931 and 1938 (correction).

The large white Notice of Proposed Land Use Action sign describes Project # 3013282 as “Land Use Application to allow four three unit apartments (12 units). Existing single family residence (6313 15th Ave NE) to remain; existing single family residences (6317 & 6321 15th Ave NE) to be removed. For a total of 13 residential units.”

6313 15th Avenue NE (left, light green) will remain

The house was built in 1910. A picture of the residence taken in 1939 is included in the HistoryLink.org slideshow of the King County homes of Betty MacDonald and her sister, Mary Bard.

Betty MacDonald (1908-1958) was the author of ten books, many of which were autobiographies detailing her humorous and adventurous life in Washington state. The best known of these, “The Egg and I,” published in 1945, was based on her experiences running a chicken farm with her husband on the Olympic Penninsula. A film loosely based on the book came out in 1947, and starred Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray.

From the self-guided walking tour of MacDonald’s 1933 Roosevelt: “Time Traveling in the Roosevelt District with Betty MacDonald” (via the Internet Archive):

Elsie (Sydney) Bard, Betty’s mother, was widowed when Betty was twelve years old. Left with five children, Sydney lived on in the big house in Laurelhurst she and her husband had purchased in 1919. By 1924, reduced funds and the desire to be closer to the new Roosevelt High School, which opened its doors in 1922, brought the Bard family to 15th Avenue NE. Sydney and various of her children lived in the house, number 6317, for almost twenty years.

MacDonald describes the house at the time her family resided there in her 1950 book, “Anybody Can Do Anything:”

According to real estate standards Mother’s eight-room, brown-shingled house in the University district was just a modest dwelling in a respectable neighbourhood, near good schools and adequate for an ordinary family. To me […] that shabby house with its broad welcoming porch, dark woodwork, cluttered dining room plate rail, large fragrant kitchen, easy book-filled firelit living room, four elastic bedrooms–one of them always ice-cold–roomy old-fashioned bathrooms and huge cluttered basement, represents the ultimate in charm, warmth and luxury.

UPDATE (2:35 PM): The notice on the property lists a comment period ending May 16, but could be extended to May 30. Comments can be sent to PRC@seattle.gov or call (206) 684-8467. Be sure to mention the project number: 3013282.

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Filed Under: Construction, Government, History, Laurelhurst, Photos, Roosevelt, Roosevelt High School, Updates

North Link Light Rail Update: QFC closing, Brooklyn Station naming, street greening

April 26, 2012 by 15 Comments

Roosevelt Station updates

Signs of impending light rail construction are bittersweet, aren’t they? The FUTURE is coming, but the neighborhood has to make room for it first.

Case in point, the Roosevelt QFC’s last day is Saturday, May 12. Roosiehood reports that the store’s staff will be transferred to other local QFC stores. According to the Seattle Times, the Roosevelt QFC was the first in the chain, opening in 1955.

The other recent sign of the impending FUTURE is the Standard Radio building being dismantled. Sound Transit’s contractor has removed the Vitrolite glass tiles from the building’s exterior. In May, the curved canopy and its neon lettering will be removed, and stored for later use in the station.

And one last bit of Roosevelt Station-related news: The stretch of NE 66th St (from I-5 to 15th Ave NE) identified by the Seattle City Council as a “Green Street”* is getting a planning committee (made up of Sound Transit and “neighborhood representatives and city staff”). For more on “Green Streets,” visit the City of Seattle’s website here.

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In other North Link Light Rail news, there are some upcoming events for Brooklyn Station (or whatever you choose call it) that you might be interested in…

Brooklyn Station Construction Open House

Tuesday, May 1, from 6-8:30 PM, at the Neptune Theatre (1303 NE 45th St). Presentation starts at 6:30.

Agenda items include:

  • Revised construction schedule
  • Updated street, sidewalk and parking restriction plans
  • Construction noise and the nighttime noise variance process
  • Potential construction mitigation measures
  • Station naming

Brooklyn Station 60% Design Open House

Wednesday, May 23, from 6-8:30 PM, at the Neptune Theatre. Presentation starts at 6:30.

Agenda items include:

  • Design plans for Brooklyn Station
  • Initial concepts for station art
  • Station naming

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* Not the same as a “Greenway,” by the way. Here’s a Seattle Department of Transportation page on “Greenways.”

Filed Under: Businesses, City Council, Construction, History, Light Rail, Meeting, Photos, Roosevelt, Seattle Department of Transportation, University District

Roosevelt Station 60% Design Open House (LIVE COVERAGE)

April 10, 2012 by 2 Comments

This Wednesday, April 11 finds Sound Transit staff back in the Roosevelt High School Commons (1410 NE 66th St) for the Roosevelt Station 60% Design Open House. The open house runs from 6-8:30 PM, with the presentation portion starting at 6:30 PM.

A fun bonus to this particular Sound Transit open house is that the initial concepts for station art will also be revealed. (You may recall that the Meet the Artists event schedule for January 20 was postponed due to snow.)

The Roosevelt Neighborhood Blog has a good overview of the artists selected for the Roosevelt Station.

For those of you who can’t make the event (and/or want to read about it later), we will once again be providing LIVE COVERAGE: Just head on back to this very post to follow along live (and/or read about it later).

Filed Under: Light Rail, Live Coverage, Meeting, Roosevelt, Roosevelt High School
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