Next week, a popular all-women fitness center gets booted from Leschi location. The club's well loved owner has fallen on hard times. As more than 150 paid members (Capitol Hill, the Central Area & Madison Park) hustle to find new digs, panic is mounting. Suitable space to lease is needed by May 25!  Yikes. That's soon! Being tossed out, members are in fear of breaking exercise habit, not seeing long-time friends, losing muscle tone and hello weight gain.  New space must haves: min. 1200 sq. ft., parking, bathroom, reasonable rent, neighbors not bothered by loud music starting at 6:30 AM & ending at 7 PM, must be available by end of May. Temporary is okay. Contact 206-322-8613 or atbier@msn.com

Anyone know what happened?  Beginning about 20 minutes ago, racing police cars, racing police boat and helicopter overhead.  Reminding me of the Clemmons event.

EDITOR'S UPDATE: According to Seattle Fire, a teenager is in serious condition after nearly drowning:

We responded to the pier at 102 Lakeside Avenue for reports of a child in the water who could not swim. Engine 6 arrived to find citizens had pulled the teenage male out of the water and began CPR efforts. Firefighters found the patient had a pulse but was unconscious and unresponsive. Paramedics transported the patient to Harborview Medical Center with life threatening injuries.

A dog was found near Garfield High School on Wednesday morning.  If you lost a dog in this area please call me so we can talk.  Please be ready to give information about the dog - description, gender, breed, etc., so that I can verify it belongs to you.  Thanks!

Kris  206-252-2362 

Our neighborhood youth swim club, the Central Area Aquatics Team, is offering a chance for neighborhood youth to try the team free this month.  CAAT offers a variety of programming for children five and older, with practice at the Medgar Evers and Seattle University pools.  

"Get Wet" FREE kids' swim team experience!

The Central Area Aquatics Team (CAAT) has a great opportunity for you. It's called "Get Wet" and it's a great way to learn more about swimteam.  Even better it's fun and FREE at the Medgar Evers pool Thursdays and Fridays in May.

JUST SHOW UP AND SWIM* program

May 17, 18, 24 & 25 - 4:10-5:00
Medgar Evers Pool

CAAT offers topnotch coaching and gives young swimmers at taste of swim team. No tryouts needed; you just must be able to swim across the shallow pool to join. Many scholarships are available so that everyone who wants to swim can.

*Parents will need to sign a waiver form similar to that required for school sports.  Registration forms must be completed prior...

The water from some of the 12th and Alder Youth Services Center drinking fountains is truly nasty. Also, the place smells. Really bad.

The County Council recently decided to place a $210 million levy on the November ballot for public approval. If it passes, the area bounded by 12th, 14th, Remington Ct and Spruce St could see some dramatic changes as new areas open for private development and public space. The plans would replace both the detention and judicial facilities.

The levy would cost the average homeowner $25 per year for the next nine years.

Seattle Channel's City Inside/Out recently dove into the debate over the center, and several people involved with it made the case for a new facility:

The program gives a look inside the failing facility, with it's uncontrollable heating system, brown and gray water and lack of spaces for private family consultations. The panel attempts to make the case that even repairing the building's biggest problems, which could cost as much as $40 million, the center... (more)

After winning two fights at the Women's World Championship Tournament in Qinhuangdao, China, Garfield alumna Queen Underwood lost by one point to Norway’s Ingrid Egner. The tournament is also the 2012 London Olympics qualifier, so Underwood's chances of making it to the games are now slimmer.

Underwood must now wait to see if the Olympic Tripartite Commission will grant her a spot in the games. (UPDATE: Emmanuelle Moreau at the International Olympic Committee says the Tripartite Commission will meet "sometime in June.")

Girlboxing reports that the Queen of the Ring lost the bout 26-25 after a big fourth round comeback. After losing the first two rounds 6:4 and 8:5, Queen tied the third 6:6. Then she had a thunderous comeback in the fourth, scoring 6:10, just one point shy of tying the bout.

The Queen has been training hard with her eyes on the prize for years. Training at Cappy's Boxing Gym at 22nd and Union, Underwood fought her way to the number 1 spot in the country, a position she still holds five... (more)

I wanted to let everyone know that my brother had some high end cycling

equipment stolen out of his condo storage unit up on the Sammamish plateau

recently. I'm passing the word on as there is a large cycling community here in

Seattle and so I'm hoping someone has suggestions or can at least keep an eye

out for any of the following items:

1. Zipp 900 Carbon Fiber Disc-wheel

2. Davidson Custom Built-Track Bike (Blue fade to blue with name painted on

frame)

3. Cannondale R600 Road Bike (Purple and black, 1995, Shimano Integra parts,

speedplay sticker on frame)

4. Set of Mavic Cosmic Carbon Fiber Hybrid Road Wheels (Shimano Ultegra

cassette)

5. Set of Specialized Carbon-Fiber Tri-Spoke Race wheels (Track hubs)

My brother used to compete so there is a lot of sentimental value attached for

him as well. We are really hoping that it will show up in a pawn shop or

someone will recognize that this likely doesn't belong to those trying to sell

it. If by any chance someone recognizes these bikes, my email is

leanneprince@...

 and phone... (more)

Bernard Mustafa III had an estimated $200,000 worth of suspected Fentanyl, loads of cash and a rifle attached to a tripod on the kitchen table aimed at the street below his 18th and Spruce apartment, according to court documents posted by Seattle Weekly. He was arrested April 19 and is now facing drug and weapon charges in US District Court.

DEA agents say they found about 20 grams of Fentanyl in Mustafa's apartment. While that may not sound like much, Fentanyl is an extremely potent narcotic — 80 to 100 times the strength of morphine — and is typically measured in micrograms. One gram can make about 4 ounces of sellable mix, and each ounce of mix can go for $1,000 on the street, the documents say (an excellent 2011 story by the Stranger notes a much lower selling point).

Though Fentanyl is still rare in comparison to herion, it is sometimes cut into heroin. This can have deadly results because the strength of hits can vary dramatically depending on how much Fentanyl is in each one.

In addition to the rifle pointed... (more)

The Tenth Central District Garden Tour (GT12) will be from 11 am to 4 pm on June 9, 2012. Our theme is urban gardens, community/kids’ edible gardening and public art. The CD is one of Seattle’s oldest neighborhoods, and many unique, community-friendly happenings are quietly sprouting and thriving in our midst. We will publicize some of these by listing them as “Check It Out” features. One is Green Plate Special (GPS), an independent garden-to-table pilot program, designed for at-risk and under-served youth, grades 6-8. The initial pilot program is located in the Madrona-Central district, on the corner of East Union Street and Martin Luther King Junior Way. “Our mission is to be part of a movement that provides access to and tools for our low income Seattle youth to become the healthiest next generation, breaking the cycle that surrounds inadequate diet, poor eating habits, and the lack of access to and knowledge of healthy whole foods.”

GT12 HQ plaza at 23rd & Union will be lively with local performing art including... (more)

You really couldn't ask for a better day for a neighborhood fair. Hundreds of families showed up for Saturday's Madrona Mayfair, which kicked off in the morning with a kids bike and tricycle parade down 34th Ave.

Festivities at Madrona Playfield continue until the evening. See our previous post for a schedule of events.

Attached are some photos from the fair. Feel free to add yours in the comments!

Middle and high school students need to register by June 1 if they want to take Hollow Earth Radio's August radio play and circuit bending classes.

Registration is $100, but there are some scholarship opportunities.

Details, from Hollow Earth Radio:

Hollow Earth Radio will facilitate Around the Bend, a Circuit Bending Camp on August 6-10th 1-4pm for high school aged youth. Around the Bend Circuit Bending Camp will explore this electronic art by giving youth opportunities to experiment with bending circuits on battery-powered toys to make their own musical instruments. Circuit bending is an electronic art that explores short-circuiting electronic devices, often children's toys, to create new musical instruments and sound generators. Youth will do hands-on experimentation and will learn about basic components of electronic design, soldering techniques, visual & interface design theories, and tactile manipulation of electronically produced audio. This camp will provide youth with knowledge and experience to venture further into this art-form on their own. The registration fee is $100, and there are a few scholarships available. To register for this camp, email info@hollowearthradio.org by June 1st.

Hollow Earth Radio will facilitate On the Air, a Radio Play Camp on August 13-17th, 9am-12pm for middle school aged youth. On the Air Radio Play Camp will give youth the opportunity to learn about the history of radio drama, making sound effects, writing radio plays and acting out their own creations. Youth will work together in groups to produce their own radio plays that will be broadcast on HER. The registration fee is $100, and there are a few scholarships available. To  register for this camp, email info@hollowearthradio.org by June 1st.

Both Camps will take places at Hollow Earth Radio (2018A East Union Street) in the Central District of Seattle!

Saturday, May 12 – Family Fun Day, Pier 66 and Bell Harbor Marina

• U.S. Oil & Refining Seattle Tugboat Race Championships, Noon - 3pm 

27

The races:

   Class C Limited Tug Race                                                2:00 pm

   Class B Harbor Tug Race                                                2:30 pm

Related events:

   Fire... (more)

Ambitious plans to redevelop Yesler Terrace are set to go before the City Council this summer as residents and planners prepare for the sweeping changes to the neighborhood.

In order to fund the creation of new subsidized housing units, the Seattle Housing Authority ("SHA") intends to sell some of the land it owns in the neighborhood to private developers. The full redevelopment is anticipated to take 10-20 years.

The plan includes 661 "extremely" low-income units to replace the 561 currently in the neighborhood as well as 290 "very" low-income units and 850 "workforce" units. In addition, the plan calls for 3,199 market-rate units, mostly in high-rise condo and apartment buildings.

The changes will likely mean that Yesler Terrace will shift from being one of the lowest-income neighborhoods in the city to having an affluent majority. Residents will also lose the front yards that adorn the current homes.

One sticky issue with many current residents is fear that they will not be able to return to... (more)

Fresh from endorsing marriage equality and ensuring the same-sex marriage debate will be an even more significant element in the 2012 election, President Barack Obama returns to Seattle on Thursday for a day of fundraising. His stops include a private fundraiser at a Madrona/Denny Blaine home on Lake Washington and another appearance at the Paramount Theater that will likely snarl afternoon traffic.

Obama's morning destination is the home of Bruce Blume, head of commercial real estate firm The Blume Company. Blume's Madrona/Denny Blaine waterfront home can be seen in this KING 5 post. Seats at the private fundraiser cost $35,800.

KING 5 reports Obama's first stop will be a fundraiser at a home in Madrona before an afternoon event at the Paramount Theater that will include a performance by Dave Matthews. 

Obama also held an event at the Paramount in his September visit to Seattle.

As reported late last month, the President's Seattle reelection campaign this year will be based in Jackson Place. That... (more)

This post was submitted by Joe Lang of Pacific University.

FOREST GROVE, Ore. -- Sean Mills, a senior double majoring in political science and economics at Pacific University, has earned a Fulbright scholarship to study and teach in India.

Texting while driving is extremely dangerous. Yet, even though it is illegal, it is remarkably common, especially among young people.

But some Garfield High students had the chance to see how distracting texting behind the wheel can be Wednesday morning. Councilmember Bruce Harrell gave a talk, and students had the chance to use a driving simulator that demonstrates first hand how texting slows response times significantly.

From Councilmember Harrell's office:

In an effort to raise awareness of the dangers of texting and driving, Councilmember Bruce Harrell, chair of the Seattle City Council’s Public Safety, Civil Rights and Technology Committee, met with students at Garfield High School this morning to discuss the issue. 

The Peer Awareness Foundation and AT&T made available a driving simulator on campus to demonstrate how dangerous it is to text and drive. Students had the opportunity to sit behind the wheel of a real car and experience the dangerous impact of texting while driving through...

Give Candidates What They Deserve

Every year, a committed group of Municipal League volunteers meet directly with our local candidates for public office to answer a fundamental question for voters: “how well could the candidate do the job?”

The Municipal League’s candidate evaluation process is a valuable resource for King County voters. In an era of unbridled partisanship, the Municipal League strives to be non-partisan and focuses on competence. To determine a candidate’s fitness for office, this year’s volunteers will spend three Saturdays in June interviewing, researching and ultimately rating candidates based on four criteria: Knowledge, Effectiveness, Character, and Involvement.    

The Municipal League’s process is a unique experience that provides our volunteers with an up close look at the people, issues, and ideas that will shape our community’s future. The Municipal League process has been described as a “boot-camp for citizens” and is as engaging for our volunteers as... (more)

Wanna spend time on a farm this weekend? Well, CD-based Clean Greens is taking a van of people out to their farm in Duvall Saturday to help plant seedlings.

From Clean Greens:

This weekend is supposed to be gorgeous, and our greenhouse is overflowing with seedlings to plant! Please come help us out on the farm this Saturday, the van is leaving the CG office at 9am, 116 21st Ave @ Yesler. Hope to see y'all there!

The food justice organization and farm runs a summer CSA that starts in July. They have also been working to renovate a house across the street from New Hope Baptist Church with plans to turn it into a community space with a commercial kitchen and green building techniques. The G.R.E.A.N. House could be completed as early as late summer.

Madrona K-8 enrollment peaked six years ago. Today, the student body has declined by 160 students.

Much of the enrollment decline is due to parents sending their children to other private and public schools. Due to continually poor test results, students within the Madrona K-8 area can enroll in other SPS schools. But some of the troubles also stem from racial tension at the 15-percent-white school, KUOW reports.

Below is an excerpt of the radio story. You can listen to the full story on KUOW's website.

From KUOW:

The school principal suggests low test scores scare some parents away. She admits those need to improve. Also, the school fails to meet federal requirements for yearly progress. So, students assigned here can pick a different school if they want.

Besides all that, Karin Richard sees another possible reason for low enrollment. Something she calls "playground chatter."

Richard: "I had a friend who said she'd moved to Madrona and within the first three weeks of being here at the playground...

A man crossing Rainier Ave at Dearborn was hit by an 18-year-old driver Tuesday morning. He was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

From SPD:

On May 8th at approximately 11:05 a.m. officers responded to a vehicle/pedestrian collision with injuries.  Preliminary investigation indicates that a black Subaru Impreza was travelling southbound on Rainier Avenue South approaching South Dearborn Street.  At the same time, a male pedestrian was crossing Rainier Avenue South at South Dearborn Street in the north crosswalk, walking west to east when he was struck by the Subaru.

SFD medics responded and treated the 24-year-old male pedestrian at the scene.  He was then transported to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

Officers evaluated the 18-year-old female driver of the Subaru for signs of being under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.  No signs were detected. 

There were no citations issued at the scene,...

A man waiting for a bus at 18th and Yesler Monday night noticed his bag was missing from where he set it on the ground, so he went to ask a group of people nearby if they had taken it. When he did, he told police that one member of the group help a gun by his side and told the victim to leave.

The victim called police, who were able to recover the gun. The backpack and suspect were not located.

From SPD:

On May 7th,  just before 10:00 pm, East Precinct officers responded to a report of an armed robbery in the 1900 Block of East Yesler.  The victim stated that he had been robbed at gunpoint by four people, who were still in the area.  Officers arrived and met with the victim.  He stated that he was waiting for a bus at 18th and Yesler and had left his backpack on the ground.  Two men  walked by and that is when the victim noticed that his backpack was missing.  He followed the men to 19th and found four people  standing around a car talking.&...

Thanks to community support in partnership with Parks and Rec, Powell Barnett Wading Pool was open Saturdays during the summer of 2011.

2012 Update: Sadly, there is no news of the city re-allocating their wading pool funding to open pools that have been closed for the last 3 years. However, Powell Barnett Wading Pool (and hopefully other Seattle wading pools) will be potentially be open Saturdays again this summer thanks to sponsorship by ask.com! I am awaiting confirmation of the specific details re: Powell Barnett from Parks and Rec, but in the meantime...visit http://seattleasks.com/ before May 15 and vote for ask.com to fund wading pools in Seattle this summer! I know, I know, its a marketing campaign, but it is also an opportunity to get wading pools back in the spotlight as a necessary amenity in Seattle.

Visit the PB Wading Pool Facebook page for more info, links and updates!

Hello all! My neighbor's cat fell off  the balcony of his town home and now has a broken leg. The cat will need to be kept in a kennel for the next two months while it's leg heals. Just wondering if anyone out there has a large enough kennel for sleep, food, and litter box that he can use for the next two months. If so please contact me @ 206-551-2434. Text are OK! Thank you, Nichole

Hamlin's Got Talent! Join the students and families of Hamlin Robinson School for an evening showcasing the 2D, 3D, Drama & Music talents of the HRS students! Take a stroll through the building and enjoy the diverse artwork, sculpture, video, drama and music arts.

Free event for the community! Register online here!

The Program for the evening includes: 

• 6:30 pm Welcome by the Drama Club
• 7:10 Poetry Jam
• 7:30 Music Performances
• 6:30-7:30 LEGO Robotics demonstration
• 6:30-7:30 Book Fair
• 6:30-8:00 Videos
• 6:30-8:00 Visual art displays

The US Postal Service is in serious financial trouble, and those woes could hit the CD as the future of the 23rd and Union post office hangs from a string. Without action for the US Congress, the carriers based out of the 23rd and Union office will likely be consolidated to a USPS facility at 4th and Lander.

"We've pretty much agree to wait and see what the House of Representatives does" before making the decision, said Seattle USPS spokesperson Ernie Swanson. The Senate has already passed a bill that would prevent consolidations like the one facing 23rd and Union, but the bill the House is currently considering is very different from the Senate version. It's not clear what the legislative outcome will be.

If the consolidation does happen, USPS is interested in keeping a retail presence in the area. Though the letter carriers and the vehicle fleet would move, residents should still be able to do their mail needs either in the current space or a nearby spot, said Swanson.

The same goes for nearby post offices... (more)