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 the neighborhood once they are displaced from their current, aging housing units. The SHA has promised residents that everyone who wants to return will have a unit reserved.

For more background on the plans for the neighborhood and a look at what the unique neighborhood is like today, see our two-part series (part 1, part 2).

Seattle Channel’s City Inside/Out recently spoke to proponents and concerned residents about the plans and the road ahead:

Other big changes are already headed to the neighborhood. The city and Sound Transit have already begun construction on the First Hill Streetcar, which will go through the heart of Yesler Terrace with a stop at the community center at Broadway and Yesler. The streetcar should be operational in early 2014.

Here’s some data on the current make-up of the Yesler Terrace population, presented to the City Council in April:

cbriefing20120416_4

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 a pair of virtual reality goggles.

“Driving and texting is against the law. Fatalities related to distracted driving are among the highest for people under the age of 20,” said Councilmember Bruce Harrell. “Do not risk your life and the lives of others by thumbing lol, cul8r, ttyl, idk, gtg; no text message is worth the risk. Education is the answer for this national epidemic and we will work with teen drivers, families, and schools to stop this.”

This educational program is part of AT&T’s “It Can Wait” campaign, a national effort to educate the public about the dangers of texting while driving.

 

Below are some startling facts about texting and driving:

·         Slower reaction time when required to brake:

§  Unimpaired: .54 seconds to brake

§  Legally drunk: add 4 feet

§  Reading email: add 36 feet

§  Sending a text: add 70 feet

·         Texting takes your eyes off the road for an average of 5 seconds. At 55 mph, that is the equivalent of driving the length of a football field completely blind.

·         Those who send text messages while driving are 23 times more likely to be in a crash.

·         Some studies indicate that texting while driving is twenty times more dangerous than drinking and driving.

·         One in three teens sends more than 100 text messages a day, or 3000 texts a month.

·         One in three texting teens ages 16-17, say they have texted while driving.

·         48% of all teens ages 12-17 say they have been in a car when the driver was texting.

Summer registration is now open for Architecture 101 summer camp.

This is a time to learn, think, create and enjoy the process.

For more information, go to http://archforkids.blogspot.com/.

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 she said she’d heard everything about the school.”

Her friend heard things like the school doesn’t have an arts program. There’s not much recess. That advanced kids don’t get enough attention.

Richard: “And none of it was true.”

Richard started her networking in the park to set the record straight.

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, which is standard procedure in serious traffic collisions requiring extensive follow up investigation and collision reconstruction.

Traffic Collision Investigation Squad detectives responded to the scene and continue to actively investigate.

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.  He approached them and asked if they had taken his backpack.  One of the men told the victim he needed to leave.  The victim stated that one of  the men had a gun in his hand, held down at his side.  The victim stated that the suspect never pointed it at him, but did tell him to get out of the area several times.  That is when the victim went around the corner and waited for police.

Officers approached the group to investigate.  One of the males took off running as soon as he saw the officers.  The rest of the group remained at the scene.  A K9 team and additional officers responded to the scene for containment.  The dog and handler team began a track and located a silver gun hidden in the bushes in the 100 Block of 19th Avenue.  A records check later showed that it was a stolen handgun out of Port Orchard.  The gun was recovered and submitted into evidence.  The suspect who fled was not located, and the victim could not positively state that anyone from the group actually took his backpack.  The individuals at the scene were all interviewed and released.  The backpack was not recovered.

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 on Broadway on Capitol Hill and 6th Ave in the International District. USPS intends to keep retail presences at each of these locations, as well.

“If that hapens, we would make every effort to find a suitable alternate location or just keep the retail where they are if that looks like the better option,” said Swanson.

Our sister site CHS reported in March that USPS is working out a new lease to stay on Broadway. However, it’s not clear how things will change if the letter carriers currently based at the location are relocated.

USPS has significantly reduced its workforce in recent years, hiring very rarely and letting people retire or leave voluntarily. Swanson said they hope to avoid further layoffs if the consolidation occurs, but nothing is certain.

News of the potential loss of such a large employer comes as 23rd and Union has seen a burst of new economic activity. Med Mix opened in late April, and The Neighbor Lady opened earlier this week. It’s not clear what effect such a move would have on the corner.

The Japanese Cultural & Community Center in Jackson Place invites you to celebrate Kodomo no Hi with them Sunday. It’s free and all are invited for story-telling, paper sumo and toy making, and more.

Visit the JCCCW website for a schedule of events. More details about the festival:

On Sunday, May 6, 2012, from 11 am to 5 pm, the Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Washington (JCCCW) will host a free event dedicated to celebrating Children’s Day.

Kodomo no Hi, or Children’s Day, normally takes place on May 5th and is one of the most popular national holidays in Japan. Its purpose is to rejoice in the health and happiness of children, wishing them luck in the future. Traditional practices commemorating this holiday include flying carp streamers outside of houses and displaying samurai helmets and dolls as symbols of courage.

Each year, JCCCW invites the community to celebrate Komodo no Hi with a free day of family fun at the Cultural Center. A wide variety of children’s activities are available, including kamishibai (traditional Japanese story-telling), kamizumo (paper sumo) making and matches, paper kendama (traditional Japanese toy) making and competitions, a paper yoroi (samurai helmet and armor) factory, and a manga workshop. Also featured are displays of traditional boy’s and girl’s day dolls, performances of traditional Japanese folk music & taiko drumming and demonstrations of martial arts such as karate and judo.

Children’s Day is a fun and exciting introduction to the rich world of children’s culture in Japan. JCCCW welcomes families in the community to take part in the Komodo no Hi festival as an opportunity to experience multiculturalism while celebrating the health and growth of all children. It will be a colorful, musical, fantastical event to be sure!

JCCCW would like to thank its sponsors, Japanese Community Service, Hayashi Family Dental, and Dr. Stacy R. Kanda for their support and efforts in putting on Kodomo no Hi.

For more information, including a time schedule of events, please visit our website at www.jcccw.org.

In the months leading up to the May Day protests (see our coverage of the March for Immigrants and Workers), there was a big increase in graffiti promoting a proposed day-long general strike. The announcements were painted all over the neighborhood — on public and private property.

In March, a 26-year-old was arrested for allegedly painting the announcement at 23rd and Jackson, and discussion of the graffiti has been a hot button issue on CDNews ever since similar announcements for Occupy Seattle’s December Port Shutdown led a CDNews reader to post a popular open letter about the issue.

Now, police say that the prolific graffiti was a “clear” warning that there was going to be trouble at some of the May Day protests. A handful of black-clad protesters smashed several windows downtown during the May 1 day of action. Later that night, someone also threw a brick through Mayor Mike McGinn’s home window.

The CD graffiti is under investigation, and detectives urge property owners to report any recent graffiti incidents.

From SPD:

In the months leading up to Tuesday’s May Day demonstrations, Seattle Police Department Graffiti Detective Chris Young saw a dramatic uptick in “anarchist graffiti” across the city.

“There’s was a lot of [anarchist taggingi] all of a sudden in March,” Det. Young says. “They were pretty indiscriminate. They would hit anything.”

Taggers spray painted circle-As and other messages—promoting May Day demonstrations—on street signs, businesses, “people’s garages, any place,” Det. Young says.  ”They made it very clear they were going to cause trouble” on May Day.

…

Det. Young says he is still investigating eight other pre-May Day incidents—primarily in the Central District—of anarchist tagging and graffiti. The department is now also working to identify a number of suspects who vandalized businesses and cars in downtown Seattle during this week’s May Day demonstrations.

If your business or property was recently vandalized or tagged, you can file a police report online  or by calling the department’s non-emergency reporting line at (206) 625-5011.