It’s springtime, and still a little cold and breezy. But it’s still a good time to get out and stretch the legs a bit, and right now it’s hard to do it in a better place than the Arboretum. We hiked through it today and found that a huge number of the plants are in bloom, including big swaths of rhododendrons, azaleas, and fruit trees.

And it’s very accessible from most of the neighborhood. It’s about a 20 minute walk from Union, or you can hop on the #8 bus and get off at the first stop on Madison. Once you’re at the park, you can spend hours discovering new spots among the many winding trails.

Here’s some samples of what you can find:

Hear that loud rumble over the neighborhood today? It’s a restored B-17 that’s in town for the weekend, offering the public rides from Boeing field. Their low flight path has taken them over the neighborhood several times so far today.

Our news partners at The Seattle Times have the details:

The Liberty Belle, one of more than 12,000 B-17s produced between 1935 and 1945, was built near the end of the war and never flown in combat, according to a news release from The Museum of Flight. It’ll be on display on the museum’s ramp.

On April 24 and 25, 30-minute flights on the “Flying Fortress” — the B-17s nickname — will be available hourly from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.: The cost is $430 for non-Liberty Foundation members and $390 for members. Flights, which can accommodate seven passengers, are on a first-come, first-served basis. To book a flight, call 918-340-0243. On those same dates, “grand tours” of the plane will be available between 4:30 and 6 p.m.

A group of neighbors and plants are coming together now in the parking lot at 20th & Union.

If you’ve got extras in your garden, drop the off. If you need some, pick some up. No quid pro quo.

Plus it’s a good chance to meet some fellow gardeners in the neighborhood and get some gardening tip.

The exchange runs until 2pm.

A Seattle teen who police say contacted a distraught couple offering a reward for their missing puppy and then robbed them at gunpoint has been arrested and charged.

Ceandrik Davis, 17, was charged as an adult with first-degree robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm. Senior Deputy Prosecutor Dana Cashman wrote in charging documents that Davis has a lengthy criminal history for multiple assaults, vehicle theft, harassment and theft charges …… “it is rare to see such a long [criminal] history in someone not yet 18 years old.”

In addition to the big 23rd & Union cleanup tomorrow, we’ve got a lot of other fun stuff on the community calendar this weekend.

The Langston Hughes African American Film Festival (CDNews sponsors) closes on Sunday. Here’s what’s on tap:

• Friday 5:30pm at Central Cinema – Double Dutch Exhibition – See the Award winning NW Double Dutch team do their thing
• Friday at 7:00pm at Central Cinema – Doubletime – Follows two jump rope teams at the championships at Harlem’s Apollo Theater
• Saturday 10:30am at NWAAM – Tales From the Dark Side – “An insiders guide to the film makers’ game”
• Saturday 1pm at Central Cinema – Burn – Documentary on the 1921 race riot in Tulsa OK
• Saturday 3pm at Central Cinema – Adera 
• Saturday 5pm at Central Cinema – Up from the Bottoms – Personal accounts of African AMericans migrating up to Michigan to work in the 1940s.
• Saturday 7pm at Central Cinema – Soundtrack for a Revolution – Connects the story of the civil rights movement to the music that went along with it
• Sunday 6pm at MOHAI – Still Bill – A special live tribute to Bill Withers

Plus more from the calendar:

• The FREE plant exchange runs from 10am – 2pm in the parking lot at 20th & Union. Pick up and/or drop off plants for your garden. Plus knowledge too: “Gardening questions welcome, You might get answers.”
• The latest exhibit on Ethiopian artists opens at NWAAM on Saturday.
• A SNAP (Seattle Neighborhoods Actively Prepare) class is being held at the Douglas-Truth Library from 10:30am – Noon. Learn how to be connected and ready during emergencies. 
• Learn the story telling and craft traditions of traditional Ethiopian culture. 1pm – 3pm at NWAAM
• Get an introduction to traditional Ethiopian dances from 2pm – 4pm, also at NWAAM

Happy Friday from the streets of Seattle’s East Precinct:

The next Central Area Cleanup is scheduled for 10 am tomorrow (4/24/10).  Meet at 21st & Union.  Bags will be provided.  Jean Tinnea, an organizer, says “Volunteers should take their own gloves and smiles.”

And check out this Earth Day episode of CityStream for two reasons:

• Segment on Central District resident Scott Behmer of Union Street Farm is featured as a model in reducing household waste
• Segment on Central Area Cleanup that features CD neighbors including Jean Tinnea, John and his son Matthew Stewart, Will Little of CD Sponsor Cortona Coffee and his son Charlie and Melissa Brown.  

Last year’s Drug Market Initiative made a serious improvement in the area around 23rd & Union last year. For six months neighbors around it marveled at how little drug dealing and associated loitering they saw in the area.

But by March there were reports of things picking up again, though at a much lower level. And at this month’s East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition, a block watch captain said that residents around 24th & Union are seeing a “constant sales presence” now, including a lot of vehicle traffic of buyers from out of the neighborhood. The activity is still lower than before DMI, but the uptrend is worrying.

Police officers in the area have noticed too. Lt. Sean O’Donnell said “We at SPD are certainly not blind to [that increase in drug activity]. We are taking appropriate actions, and rest argued that we are aware of that and we are working on it.”

Other updates from SPD:

• A big arrest was made on April 10th of some robbery suspects that had been causing problems on Capitol Hill. They’re still in jail on big bonds, and the number of robberies has gone dramatically down since they were taken off the street.
• A prolific car prowl suspect was arrested in March, and car prowls have gone down 46% since then. SPD reminds to never leave anything valuable in your car. It only takes the prowlers a few seconds to break a window and grab laptops, GPS, briefcases, or MP3 players.
• An arrest was made in a burglary case at Seattle U. The door to the dean’s office was pushed in, number of things taken including a laptop and a set of master keys. Alert cops saw a known suspect nearby at Broadway & Pike, searched him and found drugs on him and the set of master keys, which saved Seattle U a ton of money.
• Residential burglaries are up significantly from last month, but still within the average range of 2009. 50% of residential break-ins don’t involve force, but come through unlocked doors or windows. Crime prevention coordinator warns that “It’s not a lock if you don’t lock it up”
• Business burglaries are up significantly also, but within the approximate average. They spiked last month, back to average now
• Auto thefts increased near the end of last year, but SPD has seen reduction every month until last month, where there as a slight increase

Here’s what was reported by citizens at the meeting:

• Leschi – A member of a sex-offender re-entry house violated some conditions of his release, triggering a round of official notices that reminded neighbors of the house’s existence
• 14th & Jackson – Still having a big problem with tagging, but Metro has been much better at cleaning up tagging of the bus stop nearby
• 20th & Cherry – Issue with large groups of kid hanging out around a nearby residence, and evidence of them doing drugs under the stairs of a property next to that.
• 21st & Union – Some drug activity has returned to that corner, but still much lower than before DMI
• 18th & Marion – Someone dumped four huge tires that have been rolling around the block
• 800 Broadway – Seattle U has been seeing a lot of car prowls there
• 20th & Main – Issues with drug activity at Pratt Park, including in park restrooms that aren’t locked at night as they’re supposed to be

Thursday’s special meeting of the City Council’s transportation committee at First Hill’s Seattle First Baptist Church was positioned by city officials as a final opportunity for the community to provide public feedback on the planned streetcar line that will connect the International District to Capitol Hill via First Hill. Only eight people spoke, six of them spoke in favor of the plan. The meeting was over in under 40 minutes.

“There’s a lot of support for seeing this go forward,” Council member Nick Licata said, summing up the mostly quiet hearing.

The plan can now move forward to a vote. Transportation committee head Council member Tom Rasmussen said the committee will take up the resolution to approve the plan in its next session on April 27. Assuming it passes out of committee, the legislation will move to the full Council for a vote on May 3.

Once that happens, there will be plenty more to talk about including how the Council and SDOT will finalize elements of the streetcar plan such as locations for storage and maintenance facilities for the new line.

James Kelly, president of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle and co-founder of the Street Car Alliance, voiced his support for the streetcar plan but also said the Council should be working harder to make sure the city has more “shovel ready” projects planned. “I’m here to encourage the Council to consider formal support for other small extensions to the streetcar network, such as a 10-block extension to Jackson in the Central District, extension of the South Lake Union line to Eastlake and to Pike Place Market,” Kelly said. He also wins points for asking the Council to get on board the  “The Love Train” and support the extension to 23rd and Jackson.

At 730pm on 4/21 residents on 29th Avenue East and East Roy street heard a woman screaming and screaming, then begging “Help me! Someone help me!”  The African American woman, who appeared to be in her late teens or early 20’s, stated that she was not from the area, didn’t know where she was, and had been beaten by two acquaintances, then thrown from a black, newer, jeep grand cherokee.  Her face bleeding and much of her hair in the street, she lay approximately 100 feet south of her belongings, with visible drag marks on the back of her clothing.  It appeared that she’d been ejected from the car at the point where her belongings lay, then dragged 100 feet south before the car careened at high speed southbound around the corner of 29th Avenue East then westbound on Roy street.  During the flight up Roy the car swerved to avoid a parked car then nearly hit two pedestrians.  Fire then police responded to the scene.