■ A colorful bouquet of Fourth of July fireworks rains down on Lake Union as thousands of spectators watch from Gas Works Park. photo/Rand Hendricks
■ The Loch Ness monster made an appearance at Seafair Milk Carton Derby on Green Lake on Saturday, July 5. Among this year's winners was the 'Heart of Phinney Ridge' entry, which received the 94.1 KMPS Award; its designers won a six-pack of CDs. photo/Bradley Enghaus
The photos showing the reopening of the North Seattle Boys & Girls Club in last week's issue were incorrectly credited to staff photographer Bradley Enghaus. Rachel Doxtater, of the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County, took the photos. They are correctly credited on-line.
With the third-annual Wedgwood Art Festival right around the corner, artists and volunteers are busy preparing activities for the big day. The festival will take place on July 19, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the HomeStreet Bank parking lot, at 8200 35th Ave. N.E.Photographers, potters, jewelers, painters, weavers and many more new and returning artists will showcase and offer their artwork for sale at this year's festival. There will be plenty of entertainment throughout the day as local musicians - including the 85th Street Big Band, Dukes and a Diva, and High Class Brass - will have everyone moving and grooving to tunes of the '30s, '40s and '50s. The event so far includes 17 artists, four bands, five children's arts-and-crafts stations and a few booths for community groups like the Wedgwood Community Council. Activities for youngsters include painting butterflies, sunvisor decorating and paper-bead making. Artist Margaret Murray will have a 1915 Model T touring car for display, and the local fire department will also stop by with its fire truck.
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is encouraging bicyclists and motorcyclists to use alternate routes this summer to avoid North Seattle streets that will be newly "chip-sealed" because of the large amount of loose gravel.Throughout July (weather permitting), SDOT crews will reseal about 39 lane miles of selected streets, including those in Cedar Park and Maple Leaf neighborhoods, near Matthews Beach. The crews will position caution signs at the entrances to these areas.The affected streets are bordered by Lake Washington to the east, North 145th Street to the north, Lake City Way Northeast on the west down to Northeast 115th Street and over to 35th Avenue Northeast, then south to Northeast 105th Street. (Go on-line to www.seattle.gov/transportation/chipseal.htm for a map of the affected areas. Or call 396-3556.)No parking is permitted on the streets or on the shoulder during the chip-sealing work. Also, upon completion, drivers are encouraged to drive 10 mph or slower to prevent any loose gravel from surfacing.The city uses chip-sealing to strengthen the roadway and to help prevent water damage, which causes potholes. During the process, an emulsion is spread on the street and then gravel is spread and pressed into the emulsion. After the gravel has had time to set (usually after a few days), the excess gravel is swept away. Extremely high temperatures will delay any sweeping. Streets that have been chip-sealed are usually resealed about every 10 years to preserve the surface.
■ Contracted by the city, Surface Cleaning Technologies' Ryan McCoy removes much of the gray paint covering the beloved mural at the North 57th Street underpass near the Woodland Park Zoo last Monday, July 7. Surface Cleaning Technologies uses a low-pressure, nontoxic cleaning system to remove graffiti and 'other accumulated grime' from degraded surfaces, which it demonstrated for the city on a small portion of the mural on June 19. As first reported in the Herald-Outlook on May 23, the city had painted over the 15-year-old mural after receiving complaints of graffiti on the artwork. photo/Bradley Enghaus
The following information was provided by the city's Department of Planning and Development. Written comments on projects should be mailed to 700 Fifth Ave., Suite 2000, P.O. Box 34019, Seattle, WA 98124-4019.Appeals are made to the Office of the Hearing Examiner, Seattle Municipal Tower, 40th Floor (SMT-40-00), 700 Fifth Ave., Suite 4000, Seattle, WA 98104. Appeals must be accompanied by a $50 filing fee in a check payable to the City of Seattle.The project number is in parentheses. For more information, call 684-8467.DETERMINATIONThe DPD is proposing to amend the Land Use Code to revise regulations that apply to the Sand Point Overlay District (Chapter 23.72). Amendments include modifications to Sand Point Overlay District development and use standards to allow adaptive reuse of buildings and the construction of a tennis center, changes to regulation of signs in the overlay and changes to the Sand Point Overlay District map. DPD has determined that the amendment described above will not have a significant adverse environmental impact and has issued a Determination of Non-Significance (no Environmental Impact Statement required).Appeals of the decision to issue a Determination of Non-Significance (DNS) must be submitted to the Office of the Hearing Examiner by 5 p.m. on Monday, July 14. Appeals should be addressed to the hearing examiner and must be accompanied by a $50 filing fee in a check payable to the City of Seattle. The appeal must be sent to City of Seattle, Hearing Examiner, P.O. Box 94729, Seattle, WA 98124-4729.Copies of the DNS and the proposed amendments may be obtained at the DPD Public Resource Center, 700 Fifth Ave., Suite 2000. Questions regarding the proposed amendments may be directed to Kevin Bergsrud at 684-5831 or via e-mail at kevin.bergsrud@seattle.gov. Questions regarding the environmental determination may be directed to Susan McLain at 684-0432 or via e-mail at susan.mclain@seattle.gov.
The following are selected reports from the Seattle Police Department's North Precinct. They represent the officers' accounts of the events described. ALERT TAXI DRIVERA cab driver pulled up to a police officer at North 36th Street and Dayton Avenue North around 10:30 p.m. on June 24, telling the officer that he was concerned about his last passenger, who seemed depressed and wanted to be dropped off at the Fremont Bridge.The officer found the woman, in her late 30s, who denied she was feeling suicidal; she claimed she wanted to go to the bridge to "clear her mind."The officer followed the victim and alerted Harbor Patrol units to be on standby under the bridge.Other officers arrived, causing the woman to walk to the middle of the bridge. She looked over the bridge, removed her headphones and jumped over the railing and into the water.The Harbor Patrol rescued the woman, who was still alive and conscious. She was taken to a waiting ambulance and brought to Harborview Medical Center.
The spirit of funky, fabulous Fremont does not depend upon one person or one event but on the whole community. That community and the events, projects and programs that create Fremont spirit often depend upon the support and advocacy of a few groups. This spring, our three primary community advocacy groups - the Fremont Arts Council (FAC), Fremont Chamber of Commerce (FCC), and Fremont Neighborhood Council (FNC) - and our "Little City Hall" welcomed new leaders. If you want to get something done in Fremont or enjoy something someone else has done here, you will probably encounter them.
Seattle prides itself on its unique collection of neighborhoods and its public park infrastructure. Together, they create a citywide sense of gratitude that is apparent whenever you overhear a fellow Seattleite describing the Emerald City to a visiting friend or stranger. We enjoy a powerful legacy of community activism and neighbor-to-neighbor involvement whenever we walk into one of Seattle's parks. It's humbling to reflect on the hard work city employees and citizen volunteers dedicate to these wonderful green spaces. Unfortunately, for a few, such reflection isn't possible, especially when they're busy tagging walls, signs and playground equipment with paint, permanent markers and stylized stickers. It's graffiti at its most base level.
Now that the members of the Seattle SuperSonics have officially become Okies with the $75 million settlement reached between the City of Seattle and team owner Clay Bennett on July 2, the question remains: Who do we blame?
With all of the good press and word-of-mouth praise that has led Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream to become so popular, customers began to fear that because of the demand, owner Molly Moon Neitzel might need to limit her flavors to meet the demand of her customers. However, Neitzel expressed that her success will in no way affect her flavor availability.
During the last 18 months, Sound Transit has been acquiring properties along the east side of Broadway south of East John Street in preparation of the start of the light-rail construction slated to begin in January 2009. In the months before demolition work begins, Sound Transit and the community were faced with the prospect of a long period of empty storefronts.
For very young children, the human brain has the natural ability to sort out languages and begin to grasp their basic components. But this ability diminishes as people get older, making it that much harder for even high-school students to learn a second language, to say nothing of the challenges adults face when trying to learn a second tongue.
Say the word sustainability and what comes to mind? Recycling, perhaps. Energy-efficient lightbulbs. Maybe reducing one's carbon footprint. With a focus of coming together and sharing ideas on the subject, Sustainable Capitol Hill formed 18 months ago with a goal of increasing community understanding.More than a rhetorical concern, the group will stage Imagine Capitol Hill: A Sustainability Festival, its first large event, on Sunday, July 20. The event, which takes place next to the Broadway Sunday Farmers Market, is expected to draw between 1,000 and 2,000 people.