The SPD Blotter reports this incident from early on Sunday:

On September 13th at 2:00 a.m. the victim, a male in his 20’s, was walking northbound on Boren Avenue near Broadway Avenue when the suspect confronted him, displayed a knife and demanded the victim’s cell phone and cash. After the victim gave up his cell phone and cash, the suspect fled southbound on Boren, then turned eastbound near East Fir Street.

The suspect was described as a black male in his early 20’s, wearing a red baseball cap, dark sweater and blue jeans. The suspect was armed with a knife with an approximately three-inch long blade.

The suspect was not found. Anyone who saw the incident of has other information on the crime should call 911.

Community meetings are often the source of a wealth of local trivia. For example, at last week’s 12th Ave meeting I learned that the art-containing grassy corner at 14th & Remington Ct. is not a city park, but a complete county-owned work of art.

Created in 1993 by Alaskan artist Marvin Oliver, the native-themed bronze and glass orca fin is paired with the nearby rock and the wave-like patterns in the earth that surrounds it.

That makes the whole property a work of art, and is said to be protected from any alterations that don’t have the approval of the artist. It’s owned and theoretically maintained by 4Culture, the King County cultural services agency. But neighbors at last week’s meeting said that it’s been a long-term challenge to get regular lawn service for the property, and the lights for the sculpture are currently broken, with no immediate plans for repairs.

The county ownership means that it can be harder to get traction on issues on the property than would be so with a city park. Maintenance issues should be taken up with 4Culture, and neighbors that have issues with criminal activity should call 911 whenever they see problems. 

Otherwise, it’s a nice place to spend a few minutes on a sunny day. Maybe you can even work it into your trip to explore the Seattle U campus.

There was a good turnout today for the community cleanup at 23rd & Union, where citizens got together to follow up the initial success of the Drug Market Initiative with some sprucing up of the public space around the area.

Officials from the East Precinct even organized a BBQ for the participants after the cleanup.

Here’s some community service action shots:

Laurie Hanowell finds a forty

Jean Tinnea and Scott Amick team up in front of the gas station

Carolyn Walden tackles 24th behind the post office

Nancy Penrose scores a mini-liquor bottle

Phillip Soares cleans up in front of the former Philly’s

It’s supposed to be a lovely weekend, with sun and highs in the 70s-80s. So after you help out with the work parties, how about a relaxing urban hike?

I’m surprised how many people I talk to have never walked around the Seattle U campus. It’s open to everyone, and there’s several really nice spots.

Here’s one, the campus quandrangle & fountain, created in 1989 to honor the centennial of the institution.

It’s quiet, green, and scenic on the weekends. A perfect place to take a book and soak in the last bits of summer.

To get there, head east to 12th & Madison. Walk westbound on Marion two blocks, and look left.

Here’s some other spots to check out while you’re in the area:

• Cafe Presse
• Kokeb Ethiopian Cuisine
• Stumptown Coffee
• Lark
• Ginger Lime Vietnamese Cuisine
• Ti Amo Pizza & Pasta

Here’s a full list of 12th Ave area businesses

Here’s a pictorial view of all the stuff you can find at the Mad-mad market in the Grocery Outlet parking lot until 7pm today:

Here’s the scoop from the streets of Seattle’s East Precinct on the 8th anniversary of 9/11:

The unique effort in neighborhood education has its first list of classes. Project organizer Richard Wells has posted an update to his forum thread:

Find these six classes as nhoodu.blogspot.com

• Baking for Kids
• Neighborhood Marimba
• Neighborhood Sing-a-Long Rise Up Singing
• Teahouse Tap
• Success Story: Creating a Plan for Success
• Urban Sustainability

and, if you’d like to offer a learning opportunity to the n’hood, please check out the format above, and get the info to me [email protected], and I’ll make sure it gets posted at our blog site.

Also in the forums:

• Request for leaf-cleanup service recommendations
• Neighborhood Free Exchange

Our nice weather is now definitely time-limited. Here’s a few ideas from our community calendar to help you get out in the sun with your neighbors:

Friday & Saturday 10am – 3pm: The Clean Greens Market will be open for business at 116 21st Ave., a half block north of Yesler, with all sorts of organic veggies for your weekend feasts.

Friday 3pm – 7pm: There’s only a few weeks left in the summer market season, so take advantage of the Madison-Madrona market at MLK & Union, in the Grocery Outlet parking lot. Every friday they’ve got farm produce, bread, cheese, flowers, and more.

Friday & Saturday 7pm & 10pm: Central Cinema (a CDNews sponsor) is hosting the Michael Jackson Sing-a-Long Tribute. Have a beer & a bite and sing along to your favorite Jackson hits on the big screen. Tickets are $9

Saturday 9:30am – 3pm: Pitch in to help the Madison Valley community spruce up the grounds of the future community center at 32nd E. & E. Harrison. Bring a few yard tools if you’ve got ’em

Saturday 9am – 12pm: Neighbors north of Madison are also holding a work party for the Alder Creek natural area at 26th E. & E. Helen. “Bring water, bring your neighbors, bring good cheer.”

Saturday 10am – 1pm: Help continue the recent improvements at 23rd & Union with the Community clean-up and BBQ 

Sunday & 7pm: The Crazy About Swayze double feature starts at Central Cinema (a CDNews sponsor), starting with Dirty Dancing at 7pm and following with Road House at 9:30pm. 

Want to see your event appear here? Add it for free to our community calendar.

(Seattle Parks Dept. Press Release. Please see & distribute the attached flyer, or see the Miller blog. )

GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION FOR RENOVATED MILLER PLAYFIELD

Seattle Parks and Recreation, the Capitol Hill community and sports field users are celebrating the renovated Miller Playfield on Saturday, September 19, 2009 from 6:30 – 10 p.m.  The evening will include an ice-cream social to welcome Nova High School and the Secondary Bilingual Orientation Center to the neighborhood, a soccer clinic by Seattle University Men’s Soccer, a lacrosse clinic by Northwest Women’s Lacrosse Association (NWWLA), and time for community pick-up games.   

The clinics and ice cream social are scheduled from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. and from 8:30 – 10 p.m. will be pick-up games on the field. The field is located at 330 19^th Ave E.

“Between the renovated playfield and the two new schools, there is a new vibrancy in the Miller community,” said Parks and Recreation Superintendent Tim Gallagher. “Young athletes, students, and parents are rightly excited about these improvements, which help create community and make this campus the true heart of the neighborhood.”

 This project located next to the Miller Community Center replaces the existing sand/silt field with synthetic turf and accommodates for men and women’s lacrosse, adult soccer and softball. The renovation was requested by the community through the Community Capital Suggestion Process. 

 The event is co-sponsored by Seattle Parks and Recreation, Bluebird Homemade Ice Cream & Tea Room, capitolhillseattle.comand the Design Kompany. To see Seattle University (SU) Men’s Soccer skills in action earlier in the day attend the SU Redhawks game against Oregon State at 12:30 p.m. on SU Championship Field.

 For more information, please contact Parks Project Manager Ted Holden at (206) 684-7201; e-mail [email protected] or visithttp://seattle.gov/parks/maintenance/millerplayfield.htm

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I (Andrew) note that the efforts to involve the two new schools at Meany (Nova High School and the Secondary Bilingual Education Program) are going well, so I hope many neighbors will be available to welcome the schools to our neighborhood AND to try out the new playfield.  Soccer, baseball and lacrosse were being practiced simultaneously there this evening!

Please share the attached poster with your friends and neighbors.

There was a small crowd of onlookers in the 1900 block of Cherry tonight for an additional neighborhood shoot of The Details, starring Tobey Maguire (of Spiderman fame). A crew of about 25-30 were milling about, hauling gear in and out, setting up for a scene inside the first floor apartment on the east side of the building. There was also activity in the western apartment, but the windows were blacked so that part is a mystery.

There were no confirmed star sightings, but my fellow onlookers thought they spotted Maguire at one point.

Not everyone was glad to see the production, with some neighbors flooded with diesel fumes from the generators