Seattle Met ran a profile of 20/20 Cycles earlier this week as part of their “Meet the Shopkeeper” series. Here’s an excerpt:

Shop Talk: What song or album is playing on your store’s sound system right now?

Kostelnik: I play Journey Into the Satchidananda by Alice Coltrane, Dead Moon, A Fist Full Of Film Music, and the Sonics. If Scott is working you will undoubtedly hear Broken Spindles and in the mornings, Chris rocks beautiful organ music by Terry Riley.

What was your first job? How does it compare to your job now?

I was a dishwasher at the Hearthstone, a Greenlake rest home. Now, 30 years later, I don’t work for a singular boss, I work for all my customers. It’s harder for them to get me in trouble now!

What’s your favorite thing in the store right now?

The Sealth, our own hand made touring and commuting bike. It’s built with union-made, Mississippi-manufactured U.S. steel and then hand-assembled here in Seattle. It’s named after the famous Seattle ferry boat which, in turn, was named after Chief Sealth.

Trick-or-treaters and drivers should beware tonight: children are twice as likely to be hit by a car on Halloween.

Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) reports that “the chance of a child being hit by a car on Halloween is nearly double that of any other night of the year.” Factors include an increase in pedestrian activity, more drivers operating a vehicle while impaired, and darkness.

SDOT wants to pass along the following tips for safe driving:

1. Take personal responsibility out there [‘Make good decisions when you walk, bike , or drive’]
Taking personal responsibility on our streets means not driving impaired—which remains the single biggest contributing factor to fatalities—or driving distracted, a contributing factor that is growing at an alarming rate. Distractions include texting and driving, eating, adjusting your Halloween costume, miniature ghouls and goblins, grooming or changing the radio station. Distraction or inattention is the second-leading contributing cause of collisions in Seattle. More than 1,000 crashes are caused by inattention every year; crashes that are completely preventable.

2. Plan ahead
Plan your trip and allow enough time to get where you’re going. Speeding—which contributes to one-third of all collisions—along with distracted and aggressive driving are all related to feeling rushed on the road. No matter how you travel, make sure you have the time to give your full attention to the road.

3. Know the rules of the road
“Did not grant right-of-way” to vehicles or pedestrians is the most commonly cited factor for collisions year after year in Seattle. This contributing factor can be noted in many different collision scenarios but generally indicates that a driver, pedestrian or person on a bicycle has stopped a fellow traveler from continuing on their legal path. An example of a “did not grant right-of-way” collision occurs when a left turning driver initiates a turn without allowing enough space to complete the movement. Pedestrian collisions sometimes occur when a driver fails to stop for a pedestrian in a legal crosswalk.

4. Never assume you’re safe
As pedestrians, we should never assume that we are safe just because we are crossing the street in a marked crosswalk. In fact, most pedestrian-involved collisions occur in marked crosswalks. It’s crucial to pay attention when crossing any street. Wear bright or light-colored clothing or reflective gear in the evening time and early morning so drivers can spot you.

5. Remember—we’re all in this together
In a rush to get to work, or to get home and unwind after a long day at the office, patience often runs thin and blood pressure sometimes rises. It’s important to remind ourselves that we are sharing the road with fellow Seattleites who also just want to get to point B safely. Let’s look out for each other.

Happy Halloween from Central District News!

Tensions — and general confusion — arose at a Seattle Public Schools Operations Committee meeting on Monday night regarding the status of the Horace Mann building.

The Nova Alternative High School is set to open in the E Cherry Mann building next year, but groups operating under the More 4 Mann coalition have been using the space for various activities, including outdoor movie events, mentoring programs, vocational training, and other programs.

The groups were told to vacate by Aug. 15, then Aug. 30, and most recently by Sept. 18 so renovations could begin to stay on track for a Nova return next fall. More 4 Mann continues to operate out of the building, which has raised the hackles of some in the community.

The issue arose at the Operations Committee meeting, and though the meeting minutes

Reader submitted photo

haven’t been published yet, we have a (admittedly one-sided) recap from the Seattle Schools Community Forum Blog. The site asserts that “the district has no idea who is in the building or what they are doing” and that “It is STILL unclear when anyone will leave the Mann building.” Meanwhile, signs and a makeshift barricade have appeared along the chain-link fence at the Horace Mann building.

Reader submitted photo

The blog entry further explains that “[General Counsel] Ron English admitted [thecontinued building use by More 4 Mann] is costing the district in construction delays, about $1,000 a day (and [School Board Member Michael] DeBell called that low).”

The More 4 Mann folks have been mum on the topic with us, despite our best efforts to find out their side of the story. One of More 4 Mann’s leaders, Wyking Garrett of Umojafest PEACE Center, told us in an email that “Educational programs are in transition to an interim space.” This is perhaps in reference to a portable unit offered to the groups by the district, but we have no further details on this from More 4 Mann.

Recent tweets from the More 4 Mann Twitter feed read “Forces on school board trying tostop More4Mann,” and “More 4 Mann is about More than Mann bldg. It’s about justice for African American children and families being abused by Seattle Schools.”

We’ll continue following these developments closely.

Lotus Thai

The Central District has a Thai restaurant! As of a couple of weeks ago, Lotus Thai is open next to Catfish Corner at Cherry and MLK. I indulged my peanut sauce obsession there last week, and give it two thumbs up. Two words: Food coma.

Reviews from the neighborhood are positive, too, as several readers have written in saying they enjoyed their meal. Portions are generous, prices are low, and the menu is extensive. Lotus Thai offers take-out, or you can dine in the lime-and-tangerine restaurant. The kitchen is open, so you can watch the owner-chefs whip up your meal. I had hoped to interview them for a feature piece, but they indicated they’re swamped (understandably) with their new restaurant and hope to have more time to talk in a month.

Thanks to everyone who wrote in letting us know about Lotus Thai!

In other food news, we have an update on the long-awaited next step for the space formally occupied by Restaurant Bea on 34th Avenue in Madrona. Two words: Ethan Stowell.

The restauranteur behind the luminous Anchovies and Olives, Bar Cotto, and How to Cook a Wolf is opening not one but two restaurants in the space. Seattle Met has more details:

So here’s where it gets interesting. The main restaurant space will be known as Red Cow. And according to the official announcement, it will be a brasserie with emphasis on steak frites, plus plenty of classic bistro fare with Northwest overtones.

And tucked into the adjacent space behind Red Cow: a wholly separate, fine dining restaurant called Noyer, containing just four tables (and four counter seats). This little spot will do nothing but tasting menus—a luxe parade of tiny, artful bites as you see in major temples of dining like French Laundry. If you book a table, you can arrive whenever you want. It’s yours for the entire night; this will not be a meal to rush through.

“We want to do the fanciest food we’ve ever done,” says Stowell. Some of the words that came out of his mouth included truffle, caviar, geoduck, and wagyu. And he’s also excited to do some mind-blowing beverage pairings.

Noyer (the name means “walnut” in French, in homage to the big walnut tree outside) will also recreate some of the spirit of Union, Stowell’s original downtown restaurant that’s still sorely missed by many.

Red Cow is due to open after the new year, with Noyer coming sometime in spring. Yum.