The King County Council has given the go-ahead for county planners to proceed with the planned redevelopment of the big juvenile and family justice center at 12th & Alder.

The council adopted staff recommendations for a “phased construction” of the new facility, which will consolidate family and juvenile court services into a single space, but only add additional courtrooms as they’re needed according to future growth.

The county will continue to refine their three options for the site, and the county council will still need to make a final decision about whether to ask the voters to approve bonds to fund the construction, appearing on the November 2010 ballot if so.

If you want to learn more, tomorrow night the 12th Avenue Stewardship Committee is hosting a public review of their design plans. It starts at 7pm at the Seattle U A&A building at 12th & Marion.

Big congratulations to our local students in the Garfield Jazz program who have been confirmed as among the top 3 finalists in this year’s Essentially Ellington competition in New York City.

They’ll have one more performance tonight at 7:30pm (EDT), followed by a decision on where they place within the top 3.

As we mentioned on Friday, Garfield has one first place 3 times, and has been in the top-3 all but twice since 2002.

The other two bands in the top-3 are:

• Dillard High School, Ft. Lauderdale FL, appearing for the first time in the competition
• Foxboro High School, Foxboro MA

That’s stiff competition. A twitterer in the audience today said that Foxboro had a “barn burner” performance. And Foxboro has appeared in the top-3 four times since 1997.

But Garfield got it’s own props from that same twitter, who said “Garfield swings so hard. Amazing solos. Set the bar high for the day!”

Stay tuned for more details once the final results are announced.

Everyone enjoy the sunny weekend? Here’s the start of a new week on the streets of Seattle’s East Precinct:

Gail Thompson, the widow of Carl Thompson Jr., has taken charge of Thompson’s Point of View due to the unexpected death of her husband last month at the age of 51.  Carl Thompson Jr. had been a fixture in the Central District community, since Thompson’s Point of View started serving up its Southern (North Louisiana) food in 1986.  Sir Mix-A-Lot, for one, called Thompsons’ Point of View one of his favorite Seattle soul food eateries.

CDNews spoke with the Ms. Thompson, who told us she had no plans to change the menu.  However, she may change the layout and design of the interior in coming months.   

Thompson’s is open 11am – 2am daily.

Mike Lindblom has a really good story today in the Seattle Times on Metro’s trolley buses and the upcoming decision on whether or not to keep them:

The timing is awkward. Hydrogen vehicles or plug-in electric buses seem promising, but Metro can’t wait until those technologies mature. That leaves other options:

• Order a trolleybus with supplementary batteries charged through overhead power and regenerative braking — so the bus can sometimes detour off-wire.

• Combine overhead power with a supplementary diesel motor, for long or short stretches off-wire.

• Travel wire-free using electric batteries and high-torque motors, to be recharged by a diesel motor running at a steady, fuel-efficient rate. Metro General Manager Kevin Desmond also hopes to research whether there’s a bus available to use overhead power in-city, then continue off-wire several miles farther out.

Or how about option #4: Buy new trolley buses that use existing technology and use them the same way that we have for the 65 previous years?

The Central District has a majority of routes that are electrified, and our informal surveys indicate that the most residents want them to stay that way.

The key question seems to be how fuel prices fit into the equation. What kind of fuel price forecast is Metro using to judge the cost of operating diesel buses in 2016 (and 2020, and 2030) vs. the relatively steady cost of electricity on the trolley routes?

And how much societal value do we gain by paying costs to local workers to maintain the trolley bus wires, vs. sending dollars overseas to pay for fuel?

Thanks to another fabulous CDLEschi neighbor !!!!!  HE is tired dirty and hungry.  Again, this neighborhood is full of wonderful people.  THanks to all we saw you are all so knd.  PAy it forward

DIEGO got spooked and ran east on yesler.   chipped, taggs, leash still around his neck.  Very timid, relatively new rescue dog please call we are frantic 206-861-5664

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/93178054.html

A gloriously sunny spring day in Seattle’s East Precinct:

The Garfield High School jazz band is embarking on a huge adventure today, flying off to New York City to participate in the annual Essentially Ellington jazz competition.

We stopped by the band room yesterday, and listened in as they practiced one of their pieces for the contest. They sounded great, and featured some amazing individual performances on trumpet and piano.

It’s an elite group they’re competing against. Only fifteen schools from across the country were invited as finalists. Many of those are dedicated art schools, such as the New York High School of Music and Performing Arts which was made famous in Fame. And it includes other Seattle area schools too, including Roosevelt High School and Edmonds-Woodway.

Garfield has an amazing history in the contest. They won last year, and have placed in the top 3 six times since 2002. In fact, in all but one of the last ten years, either Garfield or Roosevelt High School have been in the top 3 finalists.

The first of the three-part competition begins Sunday afternoon, and the whole thing wraps up on Monday evening where a winner will be announced.

Band director Clarence Acox had a few bits of advice for his students in advance of their big trip. After advising them that their casual west coast style of dress won’t cut it in Manhattan, he told them not to let the excitement of the event throw things out of whack. “We get to a point where we start to overanalyze this music. Relax. Just relax. We’re going to be fine.” 

You can read more about all three school’s competition in today’s story at The Seattle Times.

Here’s some more photos of the band practicing yesterday:

Band director Clarence Acox gives some final advice to his kids

The chilly weather makes it seem like spring, let alone summer, is still far off. But there’s plenty blooming in the Madrona Learning Garden on the south side of the school building.

If you’d like to pitch in, PTSA president Rita Sheckler is hosting open garden time the first Sunday of every month from 10am-12pm. The time and date are flexible depending on interest and availability.

The garden already has funding for a watering system and an art project to paint the shed, but they need help from volunteers to handle watering and help out during the summer months.

The plot features a butterfly garden, an herb garden, the 3rd grade’s “pizza garden” (growing ingredients for pizza), a preschool bed, a kindergarden bed and a bed by the local Girl Scout troop.

If you’re interested in helping, contact Rita at [email protected].