Atlas Clothing celebrates the one year anniversary of the new location for its Capitol Hill store on November 11 at  Sole Repair.  It will be a Free "Mad Men"-themed party and fashion show between 8 and 11 pm.  "We invite the Capitol Hill community to join us" says Holly Ricciardi, an Atlas Sales Representative.  

photo by Julie Harmsen

An unexpected scene for a new business gearing up for their opening -- the freshly painted sign for Roy Street Coffee is being painted back over this afternoon by the same man we saw creating the large white letters earlier this week. Not sure what was behind the paint over. The marketing folks were excited by the sign. Perhaps the coffee giant is changing its mind about opening its second Stealthbucks on the Hill. More likely, somebody in corporate didn't like the look. We'll probably have to wait for a leaked memo to find out.

Viper Creek Club is hosting a music video shoot tomorrow (11/14) at 7 pm.  Here are the details from Brandon Jensen, Viper Creek Club's guitarist: "757 Broadway E. 7pm, 21+. We'll have a keg, but byob as well. House party video shoot!"  Seattle Show Gal has a full length interview with both Jensen and lead singer, Mat Wisner and some more information regarding the video shoot.  They will be filming a video for their single Eliza.

Artist ELITE, whose work was featured at Throwbacks NW this month, spotted at Featherston Gallery admiring the works of fellow artist Elizabeth Jameson (Photo: Lucas Anderson/Neighborlogs.com)

Observing "Post-Bellum" by Elizabeth Jameson at the Featherston Gallery (Photo: Lucas Anderson/Neighborlogs.com)

Guitarist Reji LeFleuer plays on the steps at Retail Therapy, adding sound to the paintings by featured artist Jenna Colby (Photo: Lucas Anderson/Neighborlogs.com)

Babeland's Plastic Porn (Photo: Lucas Anderson/Neighborlogs.com)

Listeners in Steampunk attire listen to Cherie Priest read her similarly themed Sci-Fi novel, "Boneshaker" at 15th Ave Coffee & Tea (Photo: Lucas Anderson/Neighborlogs.com)

capitol hill fixie, originally uploaded by banter.

Like my dad used to follow me from room to room turning the lights out behind me, the city's parks department is pinching pennies this winter by turning out the lights on Seattle's tennis courts. Luckily for Capitol Hill, Cal Anderson's courts will be one of five in the city that remain lighted through winter. Earn it, fixie bike stunt guy. Earn it.

MOST PARKS TENNIS COURT LIGHTS GO OFF FOR THE WINTER TO SAVE ENERGY

As an energy-saving measure, for the winter months Seattle Parks and Recreation lights the tennis courts only at five major locations:

• Lower Woodland Park, Aurora Avenue N and N 59th Street, 10 courts

• Bobby Morris Playfield at Cal Anderson Park, corner of 11th Avenue E and E Pine Street, two courts

• Rainier Playfield, 3700 S Alaska, four courts

• Solstice Park (formerly Lincoln Park Annex, 7400 Fauntleroy Way SW, six courts

• Meadowbrook Playfield, 10533 35th Avenue NE, six courts

Lights will return to all lighted courts when Daylight Savings Time returns on Sunday, March 14, 2010.

Parks offers indoor courts at the Amy Yee Tennis Center, 2000 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S, from 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Please call 206-684-4764 to make reservations, or visit the web at http://www.seattle.gov/parks/Athletics/Tennisct.htm for information about the Tennis Center.

Parking meter, 1951,
originally uploaded by Seattle Municipal Archives.

I stumbled onto this fascinating essay about life on Capitol Hill in the 1950s inspired by the writer's discovery of the "I grew up on Capitol Hill' Facebook group. The names and the stories have so much color -- it's a good lesson to go find out the names of those people in the world around you so you can write quality history later. The essay is also a lesson in how quickly the Hill's culture has changed while providing prologue for the family-friendliness of today's northern Capitol Hill with its mommy and daddies and daddies and daddies and mommies and mommies. There is also a taste of the clubbiness that still can pervade some Capitol Hill streets.

From Growing up on "the hill"

We did a lot of the things our classmates did: bought penny candy at the same mom-and-pop stores, took 25 cents to the Roycroft Theater every Saturday afternoon for a program that included a serial, a newsreel, a cartoon and a feature film; built wooden hydroplanes and tied them to the back of our bikes for our own versions of the Gold Cup Races run on Lake Washington.  We sometimes went to the original Red Mill on Friday night with our aunt and uncle so we could have fish and chips and not have to go home to a kitchen that smelled like fried fish.

We went to the Friday night social dancing classes when we were in seventh and eight grades, and stood on one side of the hall while the St. Joe's boys were on the other. I can still remember a couple of Jack Reilly's sequence of steps and calls from that 7th-grade square dance class where they partnered us up with the boys by marching us in intersecting lines.

more...

Wednesday night's early design guidance meeting for the 230 Broadway project revealed a Brix-like apartment and retail complex that left the Capitol Hill Design board wanting more specific details.

The 7-story mixed use development will house 235 residential spaces (47 units of affordable housing), room for 24,000 sq. ft. of retail, have space for neighborhood offices and will stretch from Thomas St. all the way to Castle and the tanning salon; replacing the space for the farmers market as well as a multitude other businesses. (If you need to brush up your memory on the guts of the project, a link to the architects proposal can be found here.) As with any project of this size landing on the uniformly two-story area on and around Broadway, concerns surrounding its mass, looks, and function as a community space topped the issue list for the review board.

While it received the most praise in our previous coverage of the development, the proposed courtyard and community room became clouded in confusion after the board began looking into the function, placement, and use of the space. As a whole, the board felt the design left too many questions about whether the courtyard, located in the center of the building, was open to the public or restricted only to the tenants. According to lead architect Brian Runberg, street access would be restricted at night in parallel with a community room hours by way of a "welcoming" gate, but the board felt the current design, which has no visual or physical access to Broadway, lacked character as an effective public space. "For a space that is supposed be a community space, it's pretty impoverished," said Bryan Cavanaugh, the business owner representative on the design review board. This brought up questions of possible relocation of the community room or rearrangement of entrances, but ultimately resulted in the board wanting more clarity.

As a brand new yet lasting face of Broadway, community members and board members wanted to ensure the facade would reflect the culture and historical precedence created by the current retail stretch on the street. Runberg's goal with the Broadway facade was to create a "strong urban edge" -- reinforcing the vibrant night life, creating wider sidewalks, and allowing retail businesses to create unique storefronts. The board praised these efforts, but without a solid decision on the look and setback of the front, they demanded a strong, clear, and simple front that would be made interesting by the individual store owners.

The final board recommendations also called for more definition on the how the building turns the corner at 10th & Thomas, and a clear design on what turned out to be a controversial service alley on the south end of the building.

Despite the criticisms, the review board did commend the architects and developer for their analysis of the history of Capitol Hill developments as well as the new building's aesthetic fit into environment of Broadway. One went so far as to call the design "elegant."

Taking the advice of the board and community with them, the next step for the developers, according to project planner Lisa Rutzick, will be applying for a master use permit. After more zoning and environmental assessments, the group will come back to the design review board for more community input.

puddle, originally
uploaded by zenobia_joy.

Seattle Department of Transportation is gathering community feedback on their proposals to introduce paid parking on Broadway after 6 PM and add two-sided street parking to side streets in the area -- the last day to send in your comment is Monday.

You, however, can deliver your feedback in person Thursday night by attending the Capitol Hill Community Council's November public meeting. An SDOT official is on the agenda and will be ready and willing to gather your input on the updated Broadway parking plan. Oh, and you'll also get to feast on some yummy community potluck chow as the Council celebrates the harvest with an autumn meal. Bring something to share.

Capitol Hill Community Council

November General Meeting Agenda & Fall Potluck

Cal Anderson Shelter House

Cal Anderson Park

7-9pm on November 19, 2009

 

• Officer Introductions & Welcome
•  Open Floor & 1st Helpings
•  September Meeting Minutes/Finance Report
•  Committee Reports
  - Community Events
  - Policy & Planning
  - Open Space
•  Discussion Topics
•  Guest Speaker: Harper, Seattle Department of Transportation
  Discussion of community parking plan for Capitol Hill.
•  Mingling & 2nd Helpings
•  Close

Went to Volunteer Park a little before sunset on Saturday night.

I was just telling someone last week that even though I've read here on the blog that jet noise is a problem for some people on the hill, I've never really noticed it. Well I definitely noticed it today and it really is pretty loud, as you can hear in the video.

This is the sixth of my weekly series of ambient shots around Capitol Hill. Every week I'll pick a different spot and stay for about 10 minutes to create a 'snapshot' of that location at that moment.

RECENT SNAPSHOTS

#5 - Bellevue & Belmont

#4 - Olive between John and Summit

#3 - Broadway across from Dicks

#2 - Thomas St P-Patch

Artwork at Capitol Hill Library,
originally uploaded by javacolleen.

The Friends of Seattle Libraries group is documenting the impact of today's City Council vote approving a plan that will allow the city's library system to maintain service levels despite a citywide budget crunch:

Central:

    •    Hours remain at the current seven day, 62 hour weekly schedule

Ballard, Beacon Hill, Broadview, Capitol Hill, Douglass-Truth, Greenwood, Lake City, Northeast, Rainier Beach, Southwest and West Seattle:

    •    Open 7 Days per week (60 hours per week):

    •    Monday – Thursday, 10 am – 8 pm;

    •    Friday – Saturday, 10 am – 6 pm;

    •    Sunday 1 pm – 5 pm

Columbia, Delridge, Fremont, Green Lake, High Point, International District/Chinatown, Madrona-Sally Goldmark, Magnolia, Montlake, NewHolly, Northgate, Queen Anne, South Park, University and Wallingford:

    •    Open 5 Days per week (35 hours per week, closed Friday and Sunday):

    •    Monday – Tuesday, 1 pm – 8 pm;

    •    Wednesday – Thursday, 11 am – 6 pm;

    •    Friday:  CLOSED;

    •    Saturday 10 am – 6 pm;

    •    Sunday:  CLOSED

You'll note that the plan actually calls for the hours at the Capitol Hill branch to be increased -- the Harvard Ave facility currently doesn't open until 1 PM on Mondays and Tuesdays. Other areas of the city -- West Seattle, for example -- saw service at some branches reduced to 5 days per week.

The City Council earlier today approved a 13.8% increase in electricity rates to help offset the city's budget issues.

Over the past few months it has become somewhat of a ritual for my girlfriend and I to take a late afternoon stroll down Broadway; gazing upon the familiar, and the not-so-familiar faces that make the street one of the most lively in Seattle. The destination of our walks is always Bailey/Coy where we stop out front and my girlfriend records Bailey/Coy's quote of the day in her journal. When we learned here on CHS that Bailey/Coy would be no more, it was devastating.

As a way to honor Bailey/Coy's presence in our lives, my girlfriend decided to assemble 40 of her favorite quotes into a short story. Remember, every single sentence below is the beginning of a different book, and graced Bailey/Coy's sandwich board at some time in the last 6 months. So Bailey/Coy, this one is for you; you will truly be missed.

Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy.  My legal name is Alexander Perchov.  When I was six I saw a magnificent picture in a book about the jungle, called true stories.  We tell ourselves stories in order to live.  Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.  Dr. Weiss, at the age of forty, knew that her life had been ruined by literature.  There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.

My name was salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie.  I was born with water on the brain. 

Air-conditioned, odorless, illuminated by buzzing florescent tubes, the American supermarket doesn’t present itself as having very much to do with nature.  Once there was a tree…and she loved a little boy.  All children, except one, grow up.  There was once a boy named Milo who didn’t know what to do with himself-not just sometimes, but always. 

Harriet was trying to explain to Sport how to play town.  In a city called Stonetown, near a port called Stonetown Harbor, a boy named Reynie Muldoon was preparing to take an important test.

1801-I have just returned from a visit to my landlord-the solitary neighbor that I shall be troubled with.  Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically.  “Marx has completely changed the way I view the world,” declared the Pallieres boy this morning, although ordinarily he says nary a word to me.  Claire: it’s hard being left behind.  Horselover Fat’s nervous breakdown began the day he got a phone call from Gloria asking if he had any Nembutals.  Mr. Jones, of the manor farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the popholes.  “It’s a pretty good 200,” said young Gerald McGrew, “and the fellow who runs it seems pretty proud of it, too.”  

A is for Amy who fell down the stairs.  When he was nearly 13, my brother Jim got his arm badly broken at the elbow.

In fairy tales, witches always wear silly black hats and black coats, and they ride on broomsticks, but this is not a fairy tale, this is about real witches.  True!-nervous-very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?  Don’t get me wrong: I love the restaurant business.  The human head is of the same approximate size and weight as a roasted chicken.  I’d been waiting for the vampire for years when he walked into the bar.  The “red death” had long devastated the country.  In Paris we eat brains every night. 

Are you there God? It’s me; Margaret.  I wish Giovanni would kiss me. 

There were ninety-seven New York advertising men in the hotel, and, the way they were monopolizing the lines, the girl in 507 had to wait from noon till almost two-thirty to get her call through.  Two boys stood in the Prince Consort Gallery and looked down on a third.  124 was spiteful.  No one is staring at you.  It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.  Then there was the bad weather.  It was a pleasure to burn.   

The Stranger's Lineout blog -- where they still write about things Seattle -- reports that Sonic Boom's new location down on Melrose isn't going to be ready in time for its planned mid-November opening. SB says in its latest e-mail newsletter that it is now targeting a December 7th opening. Sonic Boom recently closed shop on 15th Ave after six years. We reported back in June that the move would both make way for Olympia Pizza to expand into the Sonic Boom space and allow SB owner Jason Hughes to be neighbors with his girlfriend Tes de Luna's also-soon-to--open shop on Melrose, Velouria.

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Call Your Mom, She Worries,
originally uploaded by avitania.

Capitol Hill do-gooders -- that's you, right? -- have two options to contribute to society tonight.

One is easy, one is hard:

• Easy first. Sustainable Capitol Hill presents Greendrinks tonight. It's your opportunity to network with young, sexy types who enjoy recycling, bicycling and every kind of cycling you can possibly think of.

We will feature Sierra Nevada beer, a result of our having raised the most money of all the neighborhood Greendrinks in the last event in January. We'll also have some tasty snacks from Madison Market and some special treats from Bluebird Ice Cream! That's right, there's free ice cream as well.

As with all Greendrinks events, we'd appreciate it if you can help keep this a low-impact event by bringing your own glass for beer or other beverages and, since we have ice cream, a spoon as well.

5:30-9:00 PM at CHS partner OfficeNomads (Boylston at Pine)

• And now hard. Results from this survey and meeting process from the summer will be examined and discussed tonight as the city's planning commission takes steps toward leading Seattle neighborhoods to develop new 10-year plans.

During June and July, many neighbors joined in meetings and many other hundreds participated in on line questionnaires to review the Draft Neighborhood Status Reports and comment on changes— good, bad, and unexpected —that have occurred since Seattle’s Neighborhood Plans were written in the late 90's. We explored growth, transportation, housing, economic development, utilities, neighborhood character, open space and parks, public services, public safety. The Planning Commission’s reports on comments can be reviewed at http://www.seattle.gov/planningcommission/

The Neighborhood Plan Advisory Committee (NPAC) and the Seattle Planning Commission want to report back to you on the trends that emerged so far and to get your help to identify the continuing priorities and new issues that should be emphasized in the final Status Reports and a State of the Neighborhood Report that will be presented to the City Council and Mayor. These reports will contribute to policy decisions including decisions about whether or how to updates neighborhood plans. Your input will also be important as NPAC shapes its recommendations on conducting, prioritizing and funding updates to the neighborhood plans listed below.

Tuesday, November 10th/ Seattle Central Community College, 1701 Broadway – Room BE 1110/11 6-8 PM Directions http://seattlecentral.edu/maps/

• Queen Anne
• Uptown
• Belltown
• Pike/Pine
• First Hill
• Eastlake
• Capitol Hill

Central Area

Three days after police shot and arrested Christopher J Monfort for allegedly murdering officer Timothy Brenton on Halloween, police appear to know who did it, how the attack was carried out, where Monfort spent his days leading up to and after the shooting, and when his plans started to take shape. But it still appears that police don’t know precisely why it happened.

At a press conference at SPD headquarters this afternoon, the department released a flurry of information about their suspect, and showed a video of the last known encounter between Seattle police and Christopher Monfort, two weeks before he allegedly pulled up alongside of Officer Brenton and Officer Britt Sweeney’s patrol car on Halloween, and opened fire.

In the video, recorded on a patrol car dash cam, police follow Monfort—driving a green Crown Victoria, possibly a decommissioned law enforcement vehicle—through the Central District on October 15th, a half-dozen blocks from where Officer Brenton was shot and killed...

Stranded Buses on Broadway - Originally uploaded by mvbseattle

One thing is certain -- Seattle's next mayor (next results drop: 4:30 PM!) won't have the same old King County Metro snow plan to drag him down. Metro officials have unveiled two more components of an Emergency Service Route Network designed to show people that they did something keep buses moving this winter if our snowy, icy weather trends continue.

• The first is Metro's new emergency routes.

  Route 90 - Download PDF

  
  
  Here's what Seattle Transit Blog had to say about the plan:
  
  

  The 70 routes are basically a core set of Metro’s most important routes, minus some that are obviously impassable in severe weather.  However, there are interesting tidbits for armchair planners, like a new Route 90 that serves as Capitol Hill/First Hill/Downtown Circulator, and a modified Route 39 that is truncated to run between Seward Park and the two nearest light rail stations.

• The second component is a new alerts system that will post route updates on the Metro homepage and send updates on your bus routes to your e-mail or phone. You can sign up for the service here.

These initiatives plus the city's revamped snow plowing strategy -- check out which streets get cleared, which don't -- address a lot of the issues and ideas raised here when we went through a CHS groupthink on Metro's snow problems while the failures were still fresh in mind.

And, if all of this doesn't work, there's always checking in with your friends and sharing information.

You've already seen some of the Hill-oween pictures we gathered and took during the fun last Saturday -- but there are so many new shots flying around the Internet in the days since that it would be a shame not to share those too. Thanks for dropping these treats into our CHS flickr pool plastic pumpkin. Special thanks to flickrite sea turtle who, once again, captured so many great images from Halloween on Broadway.

You'll see a lot of sea turtle's work in this slideshow of images from "capitol hill seattle" sorted by flickr's "most interesting" ranking from this year. Enjoy.

Urban Wildlife - Uploaded by: sea turtle

Richie Tenenbaum and Max Fischer, originally uploaded by pam sattler.

You are never to old to trick or treat!, originally uploaded by ERIK98122.

, originally uploaded by chelsey [ r ] scheffe.

Wedded Bliss, originally uploaded by sea turtle.

spooky house, originally uploaded by jillbertini.

Halloween on Broadway, originally uploaded by sea turtle.

Essex Property Trust Inc, the developer for Joule, an apartment building currently in construction across from the Brix, just announced a sculpture competition for local artists to submit sculptures to be featured on the development.  Here are the details:

Essex Property Trust Inc., is developing a new mixed-use, six-story building at the north end of Broadway on Capitol Hill named Joule. Joule aims to bring back energy and vitality to the north end of Broadway that has been missing for decades. With a mix of retail on the street level and apartments above, Joule occupies an entire block and will be a lively and iconic addition to Capitol Hill.

In an effort to include the community and showcase local talent, Seattle sculpture artists are invited to participate in a design competition to create two winning sculptures for the project site. The Grand Prize winning sculpture will be placed at Joule’s main entry along Broadway, while the Second Place winning entry will be part of a rooftop deck landscape plan.

The development name, Joule, was chosen for its definition as a unit used to measure energy/heat. Artists should consider this definition and create designs that embody the themes of heat, energy and movement. Entries should be visually appealing and portray a modern aesthetic.

DESIGN

Sculpture designs should be self supporting. Base must be no larger than 5 feet in circumference and overall height of sculpture should not exceed 10 feet.

Sculptures should be designed from materials such as metal, wood, stone, and any other permanent, weatherproof and vandal-resistant mediums. Light pieces, neon, and other energy works may also be considered.

Fabrication is the responsiblity of the selected winners and must be completed by April 8, 2010.

Designs must be the original work of the entrant.

ENTRIES

Entries must be submitted via email in pdf format no later than January 8, 2010. Entries may take the form of sketches, 3D renderings or photographed models. Please include your name, phone number and an explanation of your design concept along with your entry. Send entries to: ryan@alloypartnership.com

Costs incurred in the preparation of entries are the responsibility of the entrant.

Judging will take place the week of January 11. Judging will be based on overall visual appeal and relevence to theme. Winners will be notified by January 15, 2010.

PRIZES

(1) Grand Prize in the amount of $3,000 and (1) Second Prize in the amount of $1,500 will be awarded. Half of the prize will be awarded at time of selection and the remaining half will awarded upon completion of fabrication. ADDITIONALLY, up to $7,500 will be provided to each winner to cover fabrication costs.

OTHER

Essex Property Trust, Inc. reserves the right to cancel this competition at any time and for any reason. By entering this competition, participants agree to hold Essex Property Trust, Inc. and Alloy Partnership harmless from and against any and all claims and liability arising out of or in any way connected with the operation of this competition and use of a prize.

APPLY

Please email: ryan@alloypartnership.com to request creative brief and full details. No phone calls please.

New management at PIke Street Fish Fry means more freebies for you.  If you haven't been to Pike Street Fish Fry in a while, give their new french fries a try.  The $2 Fat Tires & Mothership Wit (my favorite in the New Belgium lineup) should be a draw too.  Let us know how the fries are in a review.  CHS apologizes  for the goof last month - hours for the free giveaway are most definitely 5 to 7 this Friday (11/20).  

A few hundred Capitol Hill residents spent this morning in the dark. According to Seattle City Light, 328 customers were without service starting around 5:24 AM this morning when a tree branch damaged lines. Traffic lights were out on 10th Ave north between Mercer and Roanoke according to a text we received from a reader this morning. That power is now restored. Overnight winds reached 25 miles per hour at the NOAA station down on Lake Washington and more than 30 miles per hour in West Seattle. Meteorologist Cliff Mass says there is a chance that Seattle is about to get pounded by an even larger windstorm this week.

Just received a copy of this from the good folks at Seattle Gay News . You can join the celebration by attending the rally in Westlake starting at noon.

It's a federal holiday -- enjoy the free parking.

• Most government offices and banks are closed but the liquor stores, thanks to gosh, are open
• Metro is running many routes on a reduced weekday schedule
• Washington State turns 120
• And, yeah, the parking is free

Also, it's my little sweetie's second birthday. Happy birthday, buddy. Let's go play.

McGinn celebrates at campaign headquarters (Photo: Jeff Romeo special to CHS)

It's over. Mike McGinn is Seattle's new mayor. In the latest batch of nearly 20,000 ballots released today, McGinn took 56.5% of the count giving the candidate an insurmountable lead over Joe Mallahan. City Council president Richard Conlin this afternoon sent out an e-mail congratulating McGinn. The Mallahan camp has called a press conference this evening. Update: The Mallahan camp concedes.

Today's update:

• Mike McGinn          96,514 (+11,098), 50.88%
• Joe Mallahan         91,575, (+8,543), 48.28%

 95% of votes based on King County's expected turnout are now tallied.

McGinn's campaign was grassroots and 'open' format -- and very Capitol Hill. This news site spoke with him many times and received near-daily updates from his all-volunteer campaign team from the very first moments of the race.

Here is CHS coverage of McGinn's announcement of his candidacy at Piecora's from back in March. McGinn also celebrated his victory in the primary and last week's election night on the Hill. The candidate also received the CHS endorsement voted on by members of this site.

The McGinn Campaign from David Albright on Vimeo.

The Mallahan camp, meanwhile, ran a more traditional campaign and used tools like Twitter to lob taunts and criticism at their opponent.

McGinn will inherit a city facing budget cuts as departments scramble to cover a $70 million budget gap due to falling tax revenues caused by the economic slowdown.

Many of the flowers from Tim Brenton's Friday memorial were moved over the weekend to his East Precinct headquarters at 12th and Pine. It's an odd little memorial, crowded and haphazardly stuffed into the lobby of the precinct HQ but it's also a very human display. The memorial that had grown on the sidewalk near where Brenton was gunned down Halloween night has been removed. Meanwhile the drama from the capture of Chris Monfort -- the alleged 'domestic terrorist' and a 'person of interest,' not a 'suspect' -- has settled somewhat. Latest reports have Monfort in serious but stable condition at Harborview on First Hill.

(Photo: Lucas Anderson/Neighborlogs.com)

Through rain and shine -- and even more rain -- volunteers for Saturday's Green Seattle Day fought through the elements maintaining and restoring Seattle's parklands.

While this job is a year-round commitment, Green Seattle Day is a day out of that year for hordes of community members to join in and aid in the conservation. Over at the St. Mark's Greenbelt, City Trail Specialist Jacobo Jimenez and Parishioner Robert Hayden were organizing the nearly 20 volunteers not scared off by the rain.

Jacobo stands next to one of the covered slopes. The covers are made from hemp, bamboo and birch, and will biodegrade once the plant life takes over. (Photo: Lucas Anderson/Neighborlogs.com)

The goal for that day, Jimenez said, was to stabilize the slopes above the trails running through St. Mark's, laying ground cover and planting native trees to hold the soil in place. "It's on the hurtin' end," Jimenez said with smile. He has been working on the trails here long before Green Seattle was involved. 

Hayden, who has been helping maintain the space for about 4 years, was directing volunteers at the bottom of greenbelt. "We really have changed this place," he said. According to Hayden, the first trails through the area were laid in the late 90s when it was owned entirely by St. Mark's Cathedral. Now jointly owned with Seattle Parks, the area has played part in the Green Seattle Event for the last 4 years. Hayden took great pride in all the work they had done, pointing out all the trees volunteers had planted over the years. "I hope to come out here in 30 years and see them all - a forest."

A small sapling Hayden said was planted the year before. The area is littered with trees given to them through the city. (Photo: Lucas Anderson/Neighborlogs.com)

 Green Seattle is a partnership between the City of Seattle and the Cascade Land Conservancy that is "Creating a sustainable network of healthy forested parklands throughout Seattle, supported by an aware, engaged community."

• Tuesday 11/17/09, 6PM at Miller Community Center: Join former Mayor Norm Rice for the kick-off of a major update to Seattle's Comprehensive Plan "Seattle 2030 and Beyond". 6 - 8 PM, presentation at 6:30. Mayor Rice introduced the "urban village" idea to Seattle, back in the 90's.
• Most of you sensibly avoided going out last Tuesday to the "Neighborhood Plan Status Check" presentation. After an introduction by Sally Clark, the 30 or so of us Queen Anne/Belltown/Pike-Pine/First Hill/Eastlake/Cap Hill/Centralites were treated to a brief Powerpoint presentation, and then broke into our separate areas (I attended the Central Area one). We discussed minutae, voted on priorities via sticky dots, then decided we couldn't even read the accursed neighborhood planning matrix in the time available, let alone comment sensibly on it.
• YOU can achieve much more, from the comfort of your couch, by reading the summaries of discussions and answers to questionnaires for the Capitol Hill area (attached here, more at Planning Commission...