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Central Area Land Use Committee Holds First Public Forum Wednesday, July 17. Meet members and get updated information.

Details from the Central Area Land Use Review Committee (CA LURC):

The newly formed CA LURC would like to invite you to attend an Open House at Douglass Truth Library on July 17th from 6:30 – 7:45 pm where we will be getting a preview of the long awaited Colman Building to be constructed at 2203 E Union St. The project, now slated to begin construction in August, went through its Design Review process with the City in early 2008 and has since been purchased by Ian Eisenberg. Lake Union Partners will manage the development process and has offered to provide the neighborhood with a refresher on the building’s design as well as help nearby neighbors anticipate any upcoming impacts that may arise due to construction. Please note that this project has already been approved through the City’s official Design Review process and has been issued a Master Use Permit based on that design. As such, this meeting will be focused on providing residents with clarification on the current design but will not delve into potential modifications of the design.

But wait there’s more!

Immediately following the Colman Building presentation, the Central Area Land Use Review Committee (CA LURC) would like to introduce themselves to the neighborhood and tell you what they’re all about. The CA LURC is composed of residents just like you who want to take an active role in shaping development as it enters our neighborhood. We’ve spent a year getting to know people in the neighborhood, in an effort to avoid being “yet another community group” so please stick around for the second half of our meeting to hear more about what we’ve been up to and how you can get involved!
I will plan to give you a few minutes and get back to you soon.
Is anyone in you group commenting on the City Council action regarding the 23rd Avenue? I was thinking of observing. I am curious what exactly it means. I was surprised to see such short notice.

Proposed changes for Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan includes new directions for 23rd Ave

20th and Cherry house fire causes $10,000 in damage

A kitchen fire started by unattended food on the stove caused $10,000 in damage in a Central District home this morning.photo

According to the Seattle Fire Department, a caller reported smoke billowing out of the windows of a home in the 700 block of 20th Avenue at 5:52 a.m. Firefighters quickly arrived on the scene and extinguished the flames in four minutes.

The fire managed to destroy kitchen cabinets and spread smoke throughout the home. American Medical Response transported a woman in the home to the hospital as a precaution when the smoke exasperated a medical condition.

60 Books in 60 Days – Madrona K-8 online book drive

The Madrona Community Council (MCC) is teaming up with Madrona K8 to refresh their library over the summer and is kicking off the First Annual “60 Books in 60 Days” Book Drive starting on July 1. Anne Machonis, the MK8 school librarian, has created an amazon.com wish list (see link below) with a variety of new book selections to help round out their current collection. Please consider purchasing a book or two as many on the list are less than $10. Go to:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html?ie=UTF8&id=171GVW3SS5CAK&type=wishlist

Because of the community’s generous donations during Madrona Mayfair, the MCC was able to purchase a set of the 2013 Washington’s Children’s Choice Book Awards books for Madrona K-8 School to complement the book drive. The Washington’s Children’s Choice Book Awards are 20 books, selected and voted in as winners by Washington State students.

“So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, go throw your TV set away, and in its place you can install, a lovely bookshelf on the wall.”
— Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Fresh Bucks program available at Madrona Farmers Market

photo

© Megan Hill

After last year’s successful pilot, the Fresh Bucks program is returning to area farmers markets, including the Madrona Farmers Market.

The Fresh Bucks program doubles the value of SNAP electronic benefit transfer (EBT), commonly called food stamps, for produce purchases at participating farmers markets. EBT users receive a $10 match for a minimum $10 purchase with their EBT card. The program, a partnership between JPMorgan Chase, The Seattle Foundation, and the City of Seattle, runs from July through October at 17 city farmers markets.

The Fresh Bucks program helps make healthy food more available to low-income shoppers while also supporting small farmers. The Madrona Farmers Market is open on Fridays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the parking lot of Grocery Outlet on Martin Luther King Jr. Way and E. Union St. To acquire Fresh Bucks, visit the Market Information Desk.

 

Central Cinema closing in on Kickstarter goal

UPDATE: Central Cinema has surpassed its goal! Congrats!

With just three days to go to reach its $60,000 fundraising goal, Central Cinema is nearly there. As of this morning, they’d topped $58,000 in donations.

If the campaign is successful, they money will help the Central District theater convert to a Digital Cinema Package (DCP) projection system. By 2014, all major movies will be made for DCP projectors, so theaters around the country are being forced to upgrade.

More from the Central Cinema Kickstarter page:

Central Cinema’s KICKSTARTER campaign is to raise the funds to convert our theater to DCP, and we need your help to make this a reality. State of the art digital projectors are expensive, and we would have to save up for a long time to afford the equipment we need. The trouble is that we need to do this in the next six months before Hollywood shuts off the supply of non-DCP movies. If you can help us get over the hump with the new projector then we will bust our butts to make the shows that much better for you.

 

Central Cinema donors will receive swag like movie passes and tshirts.

The Central Cinema staff (photo from Central Cinema)

The Central Cinema staff (photo from Central Cinema)

Police investigating car/pedestrian collision at Yesler and Broadway

From the SPD Blotter:

Detectives are investigating a probable hit and run collision to a pedestrian that happened earlier this morning at Yesler and Broadway.

A Washington State Patrol Trooper was on Broadway when he was flagged down by a passing motorist around 4:15 this morning.  The driver told the officer that a man was lying in the middle of Yesler Way and appeared to be seriously injured.  The trooper went over to the victim’s location and found him rolling in the street with obvious injuries. The trooper contacted Seattle Police and Seattle Fire.  It appeared as if an unknown make and model vehicle ran over the victim in the 800 Block of Yesler Way.

Seattle Police and Seattle Fire immediately responded to the location.  The victim, belived to be in his 40′s, was rushed to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.  Detectives from the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad (TCIS) responded and began their investigation.  At this time, it does not appear that there are any witnesses to the actual collision.  Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact Seattle Police.

Young Urban Authors begin Seattle Book Tour

Members of the Young Urban Authors Association (YUAA) will begin their Seattle Book Tour on Sunday, July 14. Each of the members currently live in the CentrLogo JPEGal District.

The event will take place at the Central Seattle Public Library and is the second year the reading has been held. Teens in the program will read sections from their books and YUAA will give away a book signed by the author.

“This program cultivates teens through the book publishing process from concept to a published author. Our teen writers have published autobiographies, realistic fiction novellas and poetry anthologies,” says Frankie Roe, YUAA founder. To date, YUAA authors have published 16 books, which are available for sale on Amazon.com and on a limited basis at local libraries.

The event includes light refreshments and is free to the public. The next stop on the tour is the Umoja African Heritage Festival. Authors will sign books and give readings August 2 – 4.

Current YUAA members. Photo courtesy of Frankie Roe.

Current YUAA members. Photo courtesy of Frankie Roe.

East Precinct Picnic! This Saturday, 1-4pm

This Saturday, July 13th, is the annual Picnic at the Precinct! , I:00 to 4:00 PM!
Come and enjoy food, live music and learn about SPD’s specialty units, including the bomb squad, K-9, Swat and Mounted Patrol.
Please see the attached poster.

Hope to see everyone there!

East Precinct Picnic