CDNews stopped by the new location of Marjorie at 14th & Union yesterday evening to verify that it had indeed opened, but found that it had not. We spoke with owner Donna Moodie, who told us that the finishing work inside the new space took longer than expected.  

But the official opening day is getting closer. They’re planning some private events this weekend for friends and family. And Moodie was confident that Marjorie will open to the public next Tuesday May 18 at 5 pm.

Found on 15th near Jefferson Wednesday morning 5-12-10.

Please call 240-5001. 

The annual Madrona Mayfair is coming up this Saturday, May 15. Activities, which include a parade, pony rides, a bake sale and more, will run from 9:30-12:30. The current forecast is for a high of 70 and mostly cloudy – not bad for festival weather.

The schedule for the morning:

9:15am: Parade line-up. Gather at Al Larkins Park (34th & Union) with your decorated bikes and trikes to line up for the parade.

9:30am: Parade Begins

9:30-12:30pm: Mayfair – Bouncy houses, pony rides, bake sale, face painting and more at the Madrona Playfield.

10:30: Deano the Clown Show at the Madrona Playfield

Volunteers and donations are still needed for the event, so if you can help with a shift for the activities, contact Nikki at [email protected]. For donations, you can donate during the event or contact Carrie at [email protected]

Our CDNews commenters have had several long discussions about the infamous “cup of sugar” scammer. His MO is to knock late at night, say he’s a neighbor from up the street, is a harmless gay man whose partner works at Microsoft, and ask if he can have a few bucks to pay a locksmith, tow-truck driver, etc.

Now we’ve come across a police report on a recent burglary that appears to make a connection between that scammer and at least two burglaries. Here’s the highly circumstantial evidence:

• Between 9pm and 10pm a man knocked on a door at 23rd & Alder, said he was gay, and asked for money to call a locksmith. A female resident gave him some cash and he left. 
• At a few minutes after midnight that house suffered a burglary while the residents were asleep, where unknown men kicked in the front door and stole a laptop that had been sitting near the front door
• A K9 unit tracked the suspects north and east to the area around 34th & Marion
• Also just after midnight, a woman at 34th & Marion reported a suspicious man to 911 who had knocked on her door and asked to come in, saying he was a neighbor.
• One responding officer referenced a similar case from January of this year, where the locksmith scammer contacted several houses in the 150 block of 16th, and then later that night one of the home’s front doors was kicked in and the interior burglarized.

Police said they attempted to contact a possible suspect in the 300 block of 22nd Avenue, but “his mother said that he was not home.”

The larger MO would appear to be for the scammer to make a few bucks on the scam itself, and use each opportunity to scout out the interior of the houses he contacts. If anything valuable and easily steal-able is seen, he gives that information to one or more others who come back later and do the smash-and-grab.

Do It At Washington Hall

Deadline: June 9, 2010 5:00pm PST

Historic Seattle and 4Culture are requesting proposals from individuals, groups, or businesses who would like to use Washington Hall, located at 153 – 14th Ave in the Central District. Here’s how you can get involved with Washington Hall:

•         Hold a one-time event, workshop, or meeting at Washington Hall

•         Apply for a Short-Term Residency (rent office space, present a workshop series or season of programming, etc)

•         Apply to be an Anchor Tenant, joining a collective who will determine space use and management as well as the fundraising

We’re providing three forms in the Request for Proposals to help organize the conversation but the bottom line is: we want to hear from you!  Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions and ideas, or if you feel there is something that doesn’t fit the form.

Read more, download the Guidelines, submit your form:

http://www.washingtonhall.org/about-2-2/community-planning

Questions or more information, contact: Sara Edwards, 206-296-8677, [email protected]

PS-  The Hall is a candidate to win significant preservation funds. There are two days left in the competition – make sure and take a few minutes to vote today and tomorrow to help it finish in the top 10!

It looks like Seattle University may need those extra offices in the historic Coca Cola building. A member of the faculty forwarded us an email announcing that the University is expecting its largest ever freshman class to start in the fall 2010 semester.

From the email written by school Provost Isiaah Crawford:

As many of you have heard, Seattle University anticipates welcoming its largest class of first-year students in its history in fall 2010.  While a number of our deposited first-year students and their families will make their final decisions about attending the university over the summer and we do not yet know what our final fall enrollment numbers will be, we estimate we will greet approximately 1,075 new first-year students this fall.

The estimate of 1,075 new freshmen in 2010 compares to 908 which started in the fall of 2009, and 4,306 current undergraduate students.

Happy 11th of May from Seattle’s East Precinct:

The art deco building at 14th & Columbia has been designated by the city council as an historic landmark, providing new controls over major alterations to the building’s exterior shell.

The original nomination for the building noted that:

• It embodies the distinctive visible characteristics of an architectural style, or period, or of a method of construction
• Because of its prominence of spatial location, contrasts of siting, age, or scale it is an easily identifiable visual feature of its neighborhood or the City and contributes to the distinctive quality or identity of such neighborhood or the City.

Originally built as a Coca Cola bottling plant, the property was used as a service warehouse by PacBell and Qwest before being bought by Seattle University back in 2007.

The building is currently used as a temporary library for the university while their main campus library goes through a major expansion and renovation. That work is scheduled to be complete in the fall, at which time all of the books will be packed up and moved back to the main campus, and the 14th & Columbia building will transition into offices for school staff.

The staff in the city’s Historic Preservation office will tell you that historic designations are about managing change, not eliminating it. In fact, historic landmarks can even be torn down. But the designation adds a new layer of process, permits, and approvals whenever changes are proposed to any of the protected features of a property.

Huge congratulations to our neighborhood high school jazz team and their director Clarence Acox for their first-place finish at the Essentially Ellington jazz competition in New York City. Garfield competed against the best high school jazz programs across the country, including two other very good ones from the Seattle area, and walked away with the top prize for the second year in a row.

This is Garfield’s fourth 1st-place win at the festival, the most of any other school in the 15 year history of the competition.

Seattle’s Roosevelt High School, which has won 3 times in previous years, got an honorable mention at this year’s event.

Nine individual musicians from Garfield also got accolades, including:

• Riley Mulherkar – The Ella Fitzgerald Outstanding Soloist Award (Trumpet)

• Evan Shay – Outstanding Alto Sax
• Graham Smith – Outstanding Alto Sax
• Carmen Rothwell – Outstanding Bass Performance
• Julian Garvue – Outstanding Piano
• Ian Zapolsky – Outstanding Piano
• Ian Frost – Outstanding Tenor Sax
• Charlie Phillips – Outstanding Tenor Sax
• Richelle Tanner – Outstanding Flute
• Willem De Koch – Honorable Mention Trombone

Although we haven’t been able to find any video or audio of the performances at the festival, we’ve uploaded several clips of the band practicing Ellington’s “Shepherd” last Thursday.

Also check out the Seattle Time’s story on Garfield’s win, where they quote the Edmonds-Woodway band director as saying “Contest judges reported that they deliberated longer than they ever have and that the level of competition was never higher.”

Awesome work for all involved!