The Capitol Hill Blog posted an interesting reminder that the garbage strike that’s been talked about in the news lately isn’t likely affect most of us in the Central District:

http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2010/03/28/no-worries-about-garbage-strike-on-capitol-hill

The entire area between 520 and I-90 is serviced by the bright green trucks of Clean Scapes, and they’re not involved in the current labor conflict.

More from the Seattle Times:

A strike would affect about half the homes in Seattle — those that are served by Waste Management. The company also serves unincorporated King and Snohomish counties, and the cities of Auburn, Bothell, Burien, Federal Way, Kent, Newcastle, Maple Valley, Renton, Issaquah, Kirkland, Redmond, Carnation, Duvall, Mill Creek, Monroe, Arlington, Marysville, Granite Falls and Darrington.

Allied Waste serves about 100,000 homes and 8,000 commercial customers in King County.

A federal mediator has been called in to help with the negotiations Monday through Wednesday.

Update: 3:09pm – Metro says that Route 27 has returned to its normal route

We just got a note from Metro that there’s a significant temporary re-route of the #27 bus, and it’s missing the stops that lead down to the lake on Lake Dell Ave. The cause is due to a tree that has been blown down across the road on E. Alder.

It’s only making stops west of 32nd on Yesler, or south of Dearborn on Lakeside Ave S, so you’ll either have to walk up the hill or several blocks south to catch the bus if you live around Frink or Leschi parks.

Metro is waiting for SDOT and/or property owners to clean things up, so the duration of the outage is unknown.

Here’s a map of the affected area, shown in red:

View 27 Re-route in a larger map

I’ve heard some interesting things from my window near 22nd Ave. & Yesler Way before, but up until today I’ve never had a camera handy to capture any of it on video. Here’s the tail end of an exchange between a lady yelling at the Amazon Fresh guy delivering my neighbor’s groceries:

I spoke with the delivery guy afterward and he seemed to take incident in stride, said he sees all kinds of crazy stuff in this city and actually spotted the same woman earlier yelling at trees around the corner.

Some of you may have missed that Cafe Char opened last summer at 2314 East Madison and that it closed a few months after.  We are happy to report that it is once again open.  They reopened for business last Friday (3/19/10).  Photogenic Charnita, the owner’s daughter, has been replaced by friendly Teresa (business partner to owner Endanchy Girma), and the decor is a bit different (more homey, less African).  They still serve good coffee, and Teresa is currently offering $2 double shot lattes.  She has bagels and sandwiches and is trying to secure Charnita’s quiche recipe.  

Teresa is looking for feedback from neighbors on what they would like from the neighborhood cafe. Cafe Char’s hours are currently 8 am – 3 pm on weekdays and 11-5 on weekends.   As announced before, they plan on hosting monthly Ethiopian coffee ceremonies.  We will let you know when they have one scheduled.

From SeattleCrime.com:

On 3-27-10, at approximately 8:12 p.m.,  a maroon Toyota Celica, driven by a female was traveling southbound on 23rd Ave S.  At the same time a white Chevy Impala was northbound on 23rd Ave S. 

As both vehicles approached S King St the Toyota,  started to make a left turn to go eastbound on S King St.  The Toyota Celica struck the impala. 

This caused the Impala to slide out of control onto the east curb of 23rd Ave S and broadside a tree.  The impala bounced off the tree and came to rest partly on the curb and in the curb lane of 23rd Ave.     

The Seattle Fire Department responded to the scene.  The lone occupant of the Toyota and five individuals from the Impala were transported to Harborview Medical Center (HMC). 

One of the females passengers seated in the rear of the impala sustained a fractured ankle and possibly a fracture jaw.  The other female had a fractured pelvis.  All the other individuals had minor injuries.    

A DUI /Drug Recognition Officer responded to HMC and completed an evaluation of the female driver of the Toyota Celica for signs of impairment.  The Driver exhibited signs of impairment or intoxication. Charges are pending blood analysis.  

Traffic CoIlision Investigators responded and processed the scene.  

Women’s Taekwondo classes are now being offered at Yi Sport Taekwondo- located 800 23rd Ave. S.  This is a great environment for women to get in shape, learn self defense, and become more aware of their bodies.  They will become more flexible and strong, and learn a martial art in the process!!  There is stretching before and after class as well as strength exercises, suited to all levels of ability. 

Taekwondo also allows us to set individual goals and  find the joy and satisfaction of realizing them!  Women can challenge themselves physically, emotionally, and mentally in a safe group of women!

Classes are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:30-10:30 , and 11-12

There is also a children play area, so young ones are welcome!!

If you are interested please call Coach Sara at 206.291.0877

We stopped by the Valley School this morning where a group of parents and their kids were busy creating art with construction paper, colored pasta, and glue. The goal was to continue to push and hope for the school district to turn the old MLK Elementary building over to their community group to serve as a community center for the Madison Valley neighborhood.

Kimberly Larson, a parent and the Vice President of CCC@MLK, told me that the use of pasta was symbolic, as the community used to hold community-building spaghetti dinners at the MLK school before it closed down.

The timing of a decision is still uncertain, as they weigh proposals from four groups, including a large cash offer from the Bush School which occupies the properties east of MLK. Bush has proposed demolishing the old MLK school building and replacing it with athletic fields.

Larson said that they’ve received word that the school board may have additional news in a few weeks, but it’s not clear if that will be a final decision or another step in the process. An August permitting deadline is quickly approaching which would make it very difficult for any of the three groups who want to keep the building, due to required upgrades that would likely be financially infeasible. 

Citizens interested in supporting any of the options for the MLK property can contact the school board at http://www.seattleschools.org/area/board/index.dxml

Tuesday March 30, 2010 11 a.m. to Noon Garfield Community Center 2323 E Cherry St.  The purpose of the meeting is to provide an opportunity for Garfield-area seniors to talk with Seattle Parks and Recreation about how we are meeting the needs of neighbors.  Everyone is invited.  You will be able to talk with the Superintendent about your ideas for building community relationships and how we can make Parks programs and services respond best to the needs of all seniors living in the Garfield community. 

Spring is in the air in the CD, and we’ve got a fun calendar of events you can check out around the neighborhood:

• Nightly – It’s Prince week at Central Cinema (a CDNews sponsor), and you can catch showings of Purple Rain a 7pm and 9:30pm each night through next Thursday, 4/1.
• Saturday at 10am – Help your Madison Valley neighbors clean up the Alder Creek Natural Area between 10am and 2pm. Focus is on mulching, and tools will be provided.
• Saturday at 10am – The CCC@MLK folks are holding an event to give some creative flair to their campaign to turn the old MLK elementary into a community center.
• Saturday at 2 – 9pm – The Hiawatha Lofts are holding an open house. Stop by and see the artist’s work, enjoy live music in the evening, plus food and a silent auction.
• Sunday at 3pm – Soho Coffee (a CDNews sponsor) is hosting live music from Charlie and Martin. Plus they’ll have a special offer available for CDNews readers if you mention the website

Want to see your event here? Post it for free to our community calendar

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