Note from the Citywide Web Team: Link to City Weather News Release. News includes:

Three severe weather shelters remain open at least through Monday night: City Hall, Frye Hotel, and Seattle Center Pavilion B. Shelter beds are still available. Last night, 143 people stayed at the three shelters. During the day, Seattle residents can find warm, public space at Parks Department community centers and the Seattle Center. The following community centers will be open on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.: Garfield Community Center, Rainier Beach Community Center, South Park Community Center, Rainier Community Center and Hiawatha Community Center.

Snow started while we were shopping at ~ 3 PM. Great lines of customers, few carts available, all checkouts working (and all very efficient), lots of people with backpacks. More people than I’ve ever seen there.

Other stores:

• Trader Joe’s busy but very short lines
• Madison Market: busier than TJ’s but fine
• 15th Ave Safeway: busy, but less so than the Madison Safeway.

Addendum (9 PM):

• Trader Joe’s: about 1 customer and several people stocking shelves
• Madison Market: closed
• 23 & Madison Safeway: very, very quiet. Good time to shop!

About an inch of new snow over the icy sidewalk makes for generally easy walking, though the underlying ice occasionally makes itself known. Cars are sparse, well-spaced and all seem to be coping OK with Pike, Pine, 15th & Madison.

Saw several #11’s in a row going towards downtown at around 17th & Madison. One was coming up Olive to Madison. We suspect they’re turning round at 23rd & Madison, rather than going down the steep part of Madison. Several cars made it up that section while we watched.

We here at Seattle Public Utilities are gearing up for the fast moving winter storm that is approaching. Please take a moment to share the attached press release with your constituents. The extremely cold weather will swoop in around midnight Saturday possible dropping into the low teens. This arctic weather could last up to 14 days. So please, get you, your home, your work and your car’s emergency prepared kits together.

Patricia (Pat) O’Brien

Strategic Advisor 2

Seattle Public Utilities

Freezing Weather, Snow is in the Weekend Forecast — Get Ready for it Now

Seattle Public Utilities Advises Protect Pipes, Outside Faucets with Insulated Coverings

SEATTLE — With the National Weather Service forecasting freezing weather moving into Seattle late this weekend, Seattle Public Utilities is advising residents of actions they can take to prevent burst pipes and costly repairs.

Seattle Public Utilities says freezing temperatures often results in broken pipes, flooding and damage to private property. That can mean huge repair bills for property owners, well beyond the cost of a plumber’s visit.

And, while that leak is being repaired at your own expense, you might have to go for a while without water.

Here is a list of tips that can help prevent costly damage and repairs to your home—and keep you safe on the streets:

• Prepare your water pipes for cold weather, ahead of time. Shut off outside faucets, drain the water and protect them by insulating them with rags or foam covers. Pipes in exposed or unheated areas (attics, basements and garages) should be wrapped with tape and insulating materials, available at local hardware stores. Drain and remove all outdoor hoses, and shut off and drain in-ground sprinkler systems.

• Once it drops below freezing, protect indoor sink pipes that are against exterior walls, by opening under-sink cabinet doors, allowing heat to circulate. During severe cold, allow the faucet farthest from your front door to slowly drip cold water. Set your thermostat no lower than 55 degrees Fahrenheit, day or night (even if you are away).

• Do not leave water running in unoccupied buildings.

• Please don’t use hair dryers to thaw frozen pipes!

• If a water pipe breaks, immediately close the main shut-off valve to stop excessive flooding. If you cannot turn off the main shut-off valve, SPU customers can call (206) 386-1800 and a crew will turn off the water at the meter for a standard service charge.

• In the event of snow, residents are asked to help keep street drains clear by removing snow and other debris — if it can be done safely. As the snow melts, blockages in the gutters or drains will hinder runoff, increase the risk of flooding, and make the morning commute more difficult.

• If an inlet or street drain appears to be blocked by snow or debris, try to safely clear a channel to provide a path for the runoff. If the drain cannot be cleared, or if the cause of the blockage or flooding is uncertain, call Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) at (206) 386-1800.

Heavy rain following closely after heavy snowfall can increase the chance of landslides due to soil saturation that reduces slope stability. Property owners on slopes are advised to clear both drains on their buildings and storm drains near their property. If a landslide damages your property and you have an immediate concern for your safety, leave the premises and call 9-1-1.

Seattle property owners with structures affected by or endangered by a landslide may contact the Department of Planning and Development at 206-684-7899, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., for a rapid evaluation of damage. Such evaluations are not meant to provide a comprehensive assessment, which will need to be completed by a private structural or geotechnical engineer.

Learn more at http://www.seattle.gov/util/

• Jim Mueller is having an information meeting about his “Deano’s” project on Thursday December 11th from 6:30 PM till 8 in multipurpose room 2 at Miller Community Center. A new rendering of the project will be available at the meeting. There will be food.
• Results of my previous Madison Street Business Survey
• A new Madison Street business survey, to refine our views of what we need (and can communicate to developers). Survey closes after the 16th.

Many thanks, Andrew Taylor

As I’m sure you know the Meany Middle School program is on the block suddenly this year. This is a program that is growing in vitality and faster year to year. I hope you had a chance to attend the Jaguar Arts Festival. More and more families from the neighbourhood are banking on Meany being there for their kids for middle school as a viable option to the overcrowded Washington Middle School.

I don’t know how the community feels about Meany really, I know there are some strong supporters, but if you know of people who are supporters could you PLEASE have them write all of the board members and the superintendent IMMEDIATELY. This process is moving very quickly, and if anybody out there is still unclear about how Darwinianism works, they need only to watch what is happening in child/school distribution.

Meany is a vital place for many diverse children and happens to be a safe haven for many at risk kids. We can’t all save everyone all of the time, and some of us don’t, but Meany has a personal eye on a lot of kids who would otherwise disappear, and probably not make it to 20. If these kids get randomly dispersed, the CD will have a lost a program that is literally saving lives at a time when an unprecedented number of youth are killing one another. It’s as easy to buy a gun as it is to buy candy.

Meany has the only arts coach in the district, it has an orchestra that has grown from 13-53 in 5 years under the tutelage of Fred Strom, a full time volunteer retiree of the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra. It has nurtured the growth and huge success of some low income students who would otherwise never have been introduced to music at a serious level. There is one child who is now receiving 3 hours of private lessons donated by members of a chamber group at Seattle University.

We have a student in 7th grade who was awarded one the most outstanding students awards of the year last year. She comes from a very at risk background.

Quietly, Meany is turning the lives of many at risk students around.

Our PTSA is very energetic ( I am co VP ), but we are few, and we are very tired. We could use all of the help any of the Miller Community can offer.

Time is of the essence. The board is voting in January – we were given notice the night before Thanksgiving. I just thought of you this morning as a possible ally.

Can you help, and how?

Please go to www.seattleschools.org website for school board member addresses (they actually read their emails), write to the paper, send out notices to your community and whatever else you can think of. (If you write on their behalf, send a copy to [email protected] . Thanks, Andrew)

We are working fast and hard to come up with viable fiscal options to fill the seats at Meany – a marriage with TT Minor, a marriage with the SBOC from Queen Anne? Summit K-12 with Meany? Any ideas? Right now the school board is suggesting simply dispersing the kids into whatever seats are available, and there actually aren’t any in the CD…140 kids from the reference area, and 34 from the 98122 and 98112 zip codes alone.. you don’t have to have a PhD to know the numbers don’t work. Washington is full, and Madrona not considered a reference school because it’s a K-8 – apart from the fact that 100 families left there last year….

Thanks,

Sandy Hirsch, MS CCC

206.718.4387

[email protected]

www.givevoice.com

Councilmember Tim Burgess, a former Police Officer, is chair of the City Council “Public Safety, Human Services and Education” Committee.

His latest newsletter “Stop Youth Violence” can be found on his blog, and contains many sensible suggestions. Note especially: 

Later this week, on Friday, the City Council will discuss the Mayor’s proposed Youth Violence Prevention Initiative.  We are likely to approve elements of the Mayor’s plan, accelerate some parts, and slow down other parts until more details are known. 

Budget meetings on Friday are 9:30 a.m. – noon & 2 p.m. – 5 p.m

Nest Wednesday [6:30PM, Miller] the Parks Department will hold a meeting to talk about their plans for a synthetic playing surface (like that at Bobby Morris) at Miller Playfield, 330 – 19th Ave. E.. Details on Miller blog

There I also present 3 ideas to make life better for everyone when the renovated playfield opens:

• Free time on the field for pickup games. 
• Helping players find off-street parking.
• Keeping the outdoor bathrooms available.

I’d like your support for those ideas at the meeting (assuming you agree). 

Getting a significant chunk of unscheduled time on the field for pick-up games will surely be the most difficult. If there’s a core group of you interested in pick-up games I’d encourage you to get together and come to the meeting as an organized group. All the ball teams have large organizations and we can expect them there in force.