In the last couple of years Seattle has become home to a unique population of indie neighborhood news sites. Capitol Hill Seattle and West Seattle Blog were the first (and still probably the best), and we think our October 2007 launch makes us #4, after Blogging Georgetown. And since then, we’ve used our Neighborlogs platform to create a network of a dozen different sites in neighborhoods across Seattle.

They’ve all been growing wildly in traffic and attention. This site alone clocked a record 156,000 page views in July, and our Neighborlogs network had 79,000 unique visitors. That kind of traffic tends to get attention, and the big corporate media outlets have taken notice. The Seattle PI (owned by the Hearst corp) launched their first neighborhood blog last month on Queen Anne, and today KOMO TV launched a series of neighborhood sites citywide, including one here in the CD.

The new competition validates the long hours we’ve spent building this platform. The attempt to duplicate our features is especially flattering. But unlike these centrally-driven groups, we actually live in the communities we cover. We hear when sirens go flying down 23rd Ave, get out and go to neighborhood meetings, and discover local news when we’re just out walking around with the Newshound. And we’ll probably understand that a south Seattle shooting and a SODO gas leak aren’t actually in the Central District. (Update: those posts were removed from their front page after we pointed them out)

TV has a long history of regurgitating stories they find elsewhere, often without attribution. And so far, it looks like the online efforts will be no different. But we’ll still be here with detailed, timely, original coverage of the things that are important to our neighborhood.

And remember that advertising is what keeps your favorite indie site in business. Anyone can advertise on CDNews, and reach thousands of people right near them, for as low as $2.50 a day. So if you happen to notice that your favorite business is not an advertiser, or see a local business advertising on a corporate site, be sure and ask them to support CDNews the next time you’re in their shop.

The area around CDNews World HQ had been marvelously free of dumped household goods for years. But in the last few weeks we’ve seen a number of abandoned couches suddenly appear on the parking strips.

What surprised us the most was how easy it was to get them cleaned up. All of the parking strips between the sidewalk and the street is city property, and Seattle Public Utilities takes ownership of cleaning up anything that’s dumped there.

Just call SPU’s illegal dumping line at 206-684-7587 and they’ll send a crew out to pick up any dumped items. In our recent experience, they’ve been out there to clean things up within three or four days.

The CD Scanner is back in action, covering all of the excitement of Seattle’s East Precinct:

This city never ceases to amaze.

At about 7 p.m. Sunday evening, our car was struck by a raptor (bird of prey), edit:  apparently a Cooper’s hawk, at 23rd & E Columbia. I was able to track it into a driveway on 23rd and keep an eye on it while my husband looked for info on who to call for a rescue, but after a little while it got spooked and ran off towards E Marion. It turned up a driveway just before Marion and disappeared into greenery and we were unable to find it again.

The bird is injured; its left wing doesn’t work properly (there’s a good chance it’s broken) and it can’t fly. It’s mottled brown and cream along the head, has a brown back, tail, and wings, with a mostly-cream breast. It has a very sharp yellow-brown beak and brownish legs. There are bands on both its legs, and the band on the left leg is blue. The bands indicate that someone is tracking it.

If anyone has any information on this bird or on who to contact in a situation like this, please let us know. And please keep an eye out. While I fear the most likely outcome for this little guy is to be caught by another predator, there’s always a chance we can get it some help.

Edit: We were able to find the number for Sarvey and have left a message with them. Thank you to everyone for your help.

It’s a lovely day for a walk, so I took the Newshound through Madison Valley today to get an update on what’s going on down there.

First up, the expansion of the drainage pond at 30th & Denny has made a lot of progress. The new walking paths are now sculpted into the north end of the property, and excavation continues on the south side. Construction workers have told me that they hauled away as much as fourteen dump trucks of dirt in a single day. They’re working hard to get the construction done before the rain returns in the fall.

The houses that were moved from Madrona last month have also made a lot of progress. Foundations are poured for both, and it looks like it won’t be long until they’re lowered down and fixed to their new locations.

Finally, although this isn’t quite Madison Valley, it was on our way home. Sawdust is flying at the Bottleneck where they’re removing a wall and expanding into the old barbershop space to the west:

Here is a zoning map of the Central Area for your reference:

I live close to the Douglass-Truth library. My roommate says that during the heat wave last week, an older caucasian man called “Brian Donahue” came by to talk about organizing neighborhood watches and was collecting email addresses from people that were interested. Anyone else had a visitor like that? If you’re Brian and reading this, please say hi :)

Richard Conlin will be speaking at the grand opening of the Clean Greens Market on August 15th. Conlin’s speech will be part of the festivities which will start with a fund-raising walk at 9:30am from Spruce Park. 21st Avenue will be closed between Yesler and Fir, and there will be a free community picnic in the park after the walk at 11am.

The market will be open until 4pm with fresh vegetables from the Clean Greens farm along with other vendors. Come out and help support this community based project, working to bring affordable pesticide-free food to the Central District.

Join the Leschi Community Council in celebrating the Leschi Park Centennial

11:00 a.m.

• Tree Walk led by Arthur Lee Jacobson
• Juggling performed by Andy Demetre
• Strolling Banjo Player

12:00 noon

• All City Marching Band conducted by Marcus Pimpleton

1:00 p.m.

• Offficial Program Opening with a Welcome by Thurston Muskelly, LCC President Emeritus 
• The History of Leschi told by Author and Historian Juius Rochester
• The Story of Chief Leschi told by Chief of the Nisqually Tribe, Cynthia Iyall
• Welcoming Words from Mayor Nichols and Tim Gallagher, Leschi Historian
• Recognition of Phil Sanders, Leschi Park Gardener & Wade Vaugh by Richard Conlin
• Introduction of the Centennial Committee by Sharon Sobers, LCC President

2:00 p.m.

• Music of the Era performed by The Sedentary Sousa Band

3:00 p.m.

• Vintage Clothing Show narrated by Lynn Gough

4:00 p.m.

• The Labor History of the Period told in story and song by the Seattle Labor Chorus

5:30 p.m.

• Cornucopia Concert Band

7:00 p.m.

• Silent Movie:  The Goldrush

Ongoing attractions:

• History Tent
• Dragon Boat rides from Leschi Dock 12-4 p.m.
• Antique Car Show 1-3 p.m.

This event was made possible by the generous grants from the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs and the Department of Neighborhoods Outreach Funds and the donation of Leschi residents and businesses.

Just saw big police and ambulance response at 12th and Alder around 10:40ish, so I jumped on the scanner and heard that someone was shot in the hip? and that 2 suspects, 1 black male and 1 black female in a white Chevy Impala (2002ish) were last seen heading East on Jefferson.

Update by scott – from the SPD blotter:

On August 14th at approximately 10:30 a.m., Seattle Police officers responded to a call of shots fired and a victim down in the parking lot of the Youth Services Center. Officers responded along with Seattle Fire and located a male with a non life-threatening gunshot wound. The victim was transported to Harborview Medical Center for his injury. Preliminary witness accounts indicate that there may have been two or three suspects who fled in a white Chevrolet from the scene following the shooting. Detectives from the Gang Unit, Homicide and CSI all responded to investigate and process the scene. This is an active and on-going investigation.