Neighborhood home burglarized while occupied early today, suspect arrested

View Larger Map

About 5:30 a.m. this morning a woman in our neighborhood discovered a man in her house. She confronted him and he responded “I’m in the wrong house!” and left.

The woman called police and officers found the man about a block and a half from the residence.

As the suspect was being detained, officers found some of the victims property in the man's possession. She was later able to positively identify him as the man she saw in her house.

The 48 year old man was arrested and booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Burglary.  North Precinct Burglary detectives responded to the scene and processed the scene as part of their investigation.

This is another in a string of recent burglaries of North Seattle homes that are occupied at the time of the burglary. Recently officers arrested a teenager with a long history of crime in connection with some of the occupied burglaries.

Burke-Gilman Trail to reopen today with celebration

Tuesday the popular Burke-Gilman trail will reopen after being closed since the summer of 2011. A celebration is planned in nearby Lake Forest Park from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., featuring a ribbon cutting, prizes and fun. The gathering will be at the intersection of NE 165th St and the
Burke-Gilman Trail.

The redevelopment project improved the safety of the trail by widening it to a 12-foot trail with soft surface shoulders, enhanced traffic controls and intersection and crossing treatments. The trail also features lighting, a new stormwater system, retaining walls, slope stabilization, replacement of the Lyon Creek Bridge, and installation of native vegetation.




More info can be found here: www.kingcounty.gov/burkegilmantrail.

In other two-wheeled news, Columbia City's popular Bike Works program may be coming to Lake City.

Note: You may have noticed many bicycle-related posts here on this blog recently. It is not by design, just happens that there is much going on in the neighborhood related to two wheels the last couple of days. Send us your story ideas at: douglasparkcooperative@gmail.com

Bike Works programming may be coming to Lake City soon, needs help

Bike Works began in this house that had been boarded up and has since evolved into one of Seattle's unique nonprofits empowering youth, engaging adult volunteers and running a social enterprise full-service bike shop that helps fund its programming. Bike Works has been taking its programming to off-site locations and may be coming to to Lake City.

On February 11th Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn was talking at a Town Hall-style meeting in South Seattle's Columbia City neighborhood. By design, the meeting was focused on issues in the Columbia City neighborhood and the south end. But during that meeting the discussion momentarily strayed from a south end-centric discussion.

To that South Seattle crowd gathered there, Mayor McGinn started to talk about issues and problems in Lake City and the north end. (20:16) in video

The Mayor mentioned that Seattle Police are seeing an increase in gang activity in Lake City. He talked about how the maps that show where youth violence is high, overlay perfectly with the same areas that show low income and school achievement gaps.

The Mayor mentioned Lake City's troubled schools and concentration of low-income families. He mentioned the increase in youth crime.

Also at that meeting was Deb Salls. She is a woman that six months ago took over as executive director of one of Seattle's most successful programs for low-income youth empowerment.

During his talk the Mayor said "public safety is not just about police officers and arrests, it really is about the holistic approach."

That got wheels spinning in Salls' head. She wondered what her program could do in the far Northeast corner of Seattle. "Could Bike Works make a difference?" she wondered.

A successful program that 'creates ripples'

'Bicycle leaders' work on a bike after school.

On a recent afternoon in Columbia City about 15 school-aged youngsters were turning wrenches and spinning wheels. They were diverse, enthusiastic and ranged from elementary aged kids to high-schoolers.

The telltale click, click, click of ball bearings in spinning bicycle wheels and discussions about seat posts and bar ends contributed to the buzz in the room. The smell of rubber tires, tubes and bicycle lubricants filled the air as the students worked and learned. Everyone in the room had grease under their fingernails and a smile on their face.

Other students worked in an office writing speeches for an upcoming fundraiser. They looked intense as they perfectly crafted their words about an organization that has made a difference in their lives. 

Welcome to Bike Works, a unique and innovative non-profit in Seattle's Columbia City neighborhood.

"We are a program that creates ripples," said Davey Oil, Bike Works adult programs and volunteer coordinator.

The program started in 1996 as a bike share program in Columbia City. The organization, then known as the Free Ride Zone, teamed up with John Muir Elementary School to offer bikes to low-income students.

The popularity of the program in the low-income neighborhood surged. Soon they moved into a neighborhood house and set up shop. The house had attatched retail space that used to be a shoe shop in the '40s but had fallen into disrepair and was boarded up. They went from one staff member to more than 15 that now run the bike shop and programs.

Since those beginnings, the program has helped thousands of youth and adults learn to maintain a bicycle and in most cases, they have walked out the door with their own bike, helmet, and an understanding of the mechanics of the machines after completing one of the various programs offered.

Bike Works mission statement is to build sustainable communities by educating youth and promoting bicycling. They also work with adults. They primarily operate in under-served neighborhoods that lack easily accessible community programs and safe public spaces.

Their time-intensive after-school mentoring programs reach out to youth who are not attracted to traditional enrichment activities. Participants build confidence, critical thinking skills, self esteem, and life skills. They also learn what it means to give back to their community as they log community service hours toward earning their own bicycle.

Along the way they discover they have valuable skills to offer others in need. But probably most importantly, participants "realize their own self-worth in a community that will support, encourage, and strengthen them."

After the February Town Hall with Mayor Mike McGinn, interest in bringing the hugely-popular and successful program across town to Lake City was sparked.

Why Lake City?

Lake City has long been known as car city. The main drag is lined with car lots selling everything from Mini Coopers to giant box vans. In fact one of the only bike shops that pop up in a Google search of "bike shops" or "bicycles" in our corner of town is for Cooper Bikes, a bicycle designed by a division of the Mini Cooper car company and sold in their car showroom.

But the irony is that in Lake City most homes have a bike or two in the garage. A look at the exteriors of some of the condo and apartment complexes in the Lake City neighborhood show lots of bikes stored on the balconies. The mostly residential 25th Avenue NE sees dozens of bike commuters headed south in the mornings.

And if you can find the route, the Burke Gilman Trail (reopening today, March 13) is an easy pedal from our commercial and civic core.

Our neighborhood also has its share of social and economic issues.

Groups of teens regularly wander neighborhood streets, seemingly with nowhere to go. Our community center is minimal. There are few basketball courts and no skatepark. Graffiti seems to be everywhere; recreation nowhere.

A serial burglar that unnerved much of North Seattle in recent weeks may turn out to be a teenager from our part of town. A suspect was arrested just days ago.

We are a lower-income neighborhood with a neighborhood elementary school where 70% of the students are enrolled in the free and reduced lunch program.

No one can argue that the need isn't there.

Bike Works in Lake City


"The easiest way for us to start up there is with a partnership," Bike Works Executive Director Deb Salls said during a recent tour as she explained the group's interest in coming north.

She said the program is working with off-site programs in areas such as White Center and South Lake Union and would hope to partner with a school to initially bring the program to Lake City.

They would also need a place in Lake City to store a bunch bikes, stands and tools. "We would need a storage area to store bikes and tools for the duration of the partnership," she said.

The group could offer a suite of programs that are flexible, she said. But there are two programs they would most likely offer now in Lake City.

The first is the "UGottaGetABike" program which is designed for low-income youth who do not have a bike. This program teaches the youth some basic bike repair skills, road safety skills and each youth leaves the program with a bike and a helmet.

The second program is the "ABC: Adult Basic Class." This class teaches adults basic mechanic skills over six weeks of instruction and hands on training.

Once a location for the classes is figured out, Bike Works staff hopes to pay a visit to Lake City. 

Note: If you know of youth that would benefit from this program, if you like turning wrenches or have skills that can help Bike Works come to Lake City, contact us at douglasparkcooperative@gmail.com

City asks Kaffeklatsch to remove bike rack

The bike rack in front of Kaffeeklatsch on Lake City Way.

When Kaffeklatch owner Annette Heide-Jessen asked the City of Seattle for a bike rack to be installed near her bakery and coffee shop, the City's response was that the funding for the racks was unavailable at that time.

So she got creative.

Heide-Jessen asked the folks at Coyote Central, an art program that teaches creative arts to kids ages 10 to 14, to come up with something with personality for the sidewalk on Lake City Way in the business core.

She said the requirement the city gave her was that the rack they created not be a permanent structure and be able to be rolled into the building at night.

$400 dollars later the creation above was wheeled onto the stretch of sidewalk not previously known as a place where creativity is on display.

But during a recent visit by a city inspector she was told the structure was not to code and would have to be removed.

An overhead view of the rack.

According to the inspector, the structure must be 5 feet from the nearby fire hydrant. With a bike slipped into the rack, that 5 foot rule was being broken, he said.

He also told her that the rack needed to be 5 feet from the building and 3 feet from the curb. The rack appears to leave plenty of room for pedestrians on the sidewalk, however it only gives about one foot of clearance on the curb side.

Fortunately the structure is not permanently fixed to the ground and can be moved farther from the hydrant. But the width may not be so easy to deal with.

The City of Seattle has recently restored funding for bike racks and may be able to install a replacement near the business. However, the City's replacement would likely not have as much character as the the funky rack created by the artists at Coyote Central.

"We are going to try and make it work," Heide-Jessen said.

Meet your new mail carrier

Mail carrier Elizabeth Breen on her new route.

We recently reported here on the Douglas Park Cooperative website that our mail carrier of 25 years, Mike Rexroad, was being relocated to a new area south of NE 125th Street.

Neighbors threw the longtime mail carrier a surprise going away party on his last day.

Part of his former route is now an auxiliary route, meaning that homes in that route will not have the same mail carrier every day and delivery times may fluctuate.

But for those south of 130th, you have been assigned a new carrier.

Meet Elizabeth Breen.

Elizabeth has worked for the U.S. Postal Service for 17 years. Previously her route was south of 125th but when Mike shifted to the south, she shifted north.

She will deliver all those important papers and packages to residents living between 125th Street and 130th Street,  and 23rd Avenue to 30th Avenue.

So if you are lucky enough to have her as your mail carrier, stop for a moment and welcome her to our neighborhood.

Input from residents, property owners within 1,000 feet of Old 39 requested by City

The City of Seattle is asking for input from property owners and residents within 1,000 feet of the Old 39. The fire station is currently being utilized by the Union Gosepel Mission as a temporary winter homeless shelter.

Many residents inside and outside of that 1,000 foot boundary have expressed strong opinions about the use of the old property as other possible uses for the property have also been discussed —and laid out in the Lake City Comprehensive neighborhood plan.

In the late-1990s the Lake City Comprehensive plan was a document crafted and agreed upon by members of the Lake City community and the City of Seattle. It envisioned changes in the neighborhood through 2014. The document outlines uses for the property once the new fire station was built.

The City's Department of Finance and Administrative Services has determined the property to be excess and is looking for input from residents.

The issue of the use of the site has been hotly debated as many feel the Lake City neighborhood has reached a saturation point with low-income services and housing. Some in the neighborhood have also discussed the passive way issues appear to be dealt with in the neighborhood instead of active programs that offer empowerment to low-income residents.

Below is the notice from the City of Seattle asking for input from those within 1,000 feet of the Old 39.




You may write or send a fax with your comments to

Department of Finance and Administrative Services
Attn: Richard Gholaghong
PO Box 94689, Seattle, WA
98124-4689

Richard Gholaghong at (206) 684-062

Email:
richard.gholaghong@seattle.gov

Fax (206) 684-0525


Comments are due by April 4, 2012 

Survey- the future of the old 39

Please take some time to help us with this important survey. The City office of Finance and Administrative Services is doing an evaluation of the property to determine if it should be repurposed or sold. They are collecting public comments as part of this process. The comments will be accepted up to April 4th. You can send your comments directly to them also. Be aware that these will be published and will be publicly available.

The Report and Recommendations will be submitted to City Council and Council will then authorize a plan of action ( repurpose or sale or sale with stipulations ).

We need to speak up about what we want done with that space. It is currently a publicly owned space and can be repurposed to Parks and Rec for much a needed Senior and Youth Activities Center and / or Job Bank. We can also stipulate terms of the sale and lobby Council to make an exception to the condition that the proceeds go back into the Fire Levy and instead be earmarked for the design and construction of a Skate Park.

The Lake City Comprehensive Plan does include requests for services for those with addictions and mental health problems ( which this community has done a fantastic job of putting in place and supporting ), but it also is clear about other community needs and the process of securing them.

Body removed from bushes on 125th and 35th

A body was discovered Wednesday night, behind bushes near the intersection of NE 125th Street and 35th Avenue NE, under the window of an office building.

At 10:33 the Seattle Fire Department's Engine 39, Engine 40, and Medic 31 were dispatched to the area after the body was discovered.

The deceased person was removed by a Seattle Police officer and a member of the King County Medical Examiner's office. Homicide detectives were not called to the scene, leading to the assumption that foul play was not suspected to be involved.

We will post more info if it becomes available.


View Larger Map

Douglas Park Meeting - Thursday, March 15th

Douglas Park Cooperative will be meeting at KaffeeKlatsch next Thursday, March 15th at 7:00 pm. Our guest speaker will be Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith. He will be speaking on the topic of liquor control and specifically about a new policy that the Mayor's office has been working on to either replace or augment the current Alcohol Impact Area concept.

If there is time after this discussion, Darryl may be able to answer more in depth questions about the future of the Old 39.

At the previous Douglas Park Cooperative meeting, the full meeting was a discussion about how to deal with Chronic Public Inebriety and the negative effects it is having on our neighborhood. We resolved to pursue an Alcohol Impact Area for Lake City to try to curb the sales of specific brands of alcoholic beverages that are preferred by people suffering from Chronic Public Inebriety.

A request was sent to Richard Conlin, who spoke out in support of the AIA concept at the February North District Council meeting, along with a map showing the location of off premises licensees and the requested boundary. He submitted the request to Bob Scales, the lawyer who reviews the requests at the city, to review the idea and report back to Council with an assessment of how to proceed. The boundaries are to be established by City Council Resolution before we can make a request to the Liquor Control Board.

Another component of establishing an AIA is to provide stats. Part of this requires collecting and documenting empties. We have collected nearly 300 empty high alcohol by volume beverages in the last month. This data is used for making a before / after comparison to verify the AIA is working.

Below is the map that was part of the request sent to Richard Conlin on February 8th.

Skatepark proposed for Lake City Playfield

A proposal is in the works to bring a skatepark to the Lake City neighborhood.

Douglas Park Cooperative member and area resident Kevin Hilman —a skateboarder himself— has spearheaded a project to have a 'SkateSpot' built at the Lake City Playfield, now known as Virgil Flaim Park. Other neighbors are on board with the plan and after meetings and discussion among residents a conceptual drawing for the park has been created.

Lower-priced homes in our neighborhood are attracting more families to the area in recent years. The children and teens often have to travel outside of our neighborhood for activities and entertainment. One goal of the park would be to provide a place for youth to be active and have outdoor recreation in our own neighborhood.

"It gives youth and teens something to keep them from being bored or destructive," said Hilman

The nearest skateparks are at Dahl Playfield in the Wedgewood neighborhood and in Shoreline at Paramount Skatepark.

Residents that discussed the skatepark agreed that the largely underutilized park would be an ideal location. Use of a park is also known to discourage nuisance behaviors. The northeast corner of the park is sometimes a loitering spot for chronic inebriates when it is not being used for soccer games or other community activities. Part of the plan would be to discourage this behavior by having a regularly occupied and utilized park. "It would be the most continually used feature of that park," Hilman said.

The Lake City Comprehensive Plan, a fascinating neighborhood plan for our community written over a decade ago for goals from 1999 - 2014 requested a skatepark under Goal 11/ Strategy 3/ Action E.

Provide youth with lawful, constructive activities:

Develop a family-oriented skateboard park, modeled after the one in Ellensburg, with picnic benches, artwork and other public amenities, near the Civic Core.

The Citywide Skatepark Plan also has the Lake City Playfield, now known as Virgil Flaim Park, designated as a preferred candidate for a "SkateSpot," a skatepark that is fewer than 10,000 square feet.

The Citywide Skatepark Plan lists the cost for a SkateSpot at roughly $640k - a pretty steep price tag. However, there are funding sources such as grants for park improvements.

In April of 2011 Lake City Live reported about efforts to have a skatepark built in our neighborhood.

From that 2011 story:

A skatepark in some form has long been on the wish list for the neighborhood, so the project has strong support from various local businesses and community groups such as the Lake City Chamber of Commerce and the Lake City Development Council.  However, while the project has strong support, it needs more people to get to the next level.

What is currently needed is a core group of volunteers to drive the project forward. 

- designing, distributing flyers

- ongoing outreach to neighbors, local business, youth organizations

- grant writing

- exploring other fund raising opportunities 

If you live in NE Seattle, or know some skaters or skater parents that do, please let them know about this project, and encourage them show their support, or even better, to get involved. 

Above is a conceptual sketch of how a 10,000 square foot SkateSpot could potentially look in the Lake City Playfield. The drawing is for siting and for discussion purposes. The final design would possibly be different and public reviews would discuss the siting and features of the park. But wouldn't that owl look cool on Google Maps?

If you are interested in helping with this project, please contact Douglas Park Cooperative to find out how you can help.