Been listening for hours, but it’s been so quiet so far. Here’s the scoop:

It is with great enthusiasm that we invite you to visit www.flashvolunteer.org and start making a difference in your neighborhood today! Flash Volunteer gives everyone the tools they need to make their communities a better place to live. Create your own service projects, invite your friends and neighbors and start making things better today.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Go to www.flashvolunteer.org.

2. Create an account (using Google, Facebook or Yahoo sign-in).

3. Identify the neighborhoods you spend time in and your volunteer interests.

4. Create and organize volunteer events in your neighborhood, sign-up for events posted by local nonprofits, then invite your friends and neighbors to join you.

5. After the event is complete, post your pictures and add fellow volunteers to your Flash Team.

6. Repeat as necessary.

Viva Volunteerism!

Find us at Park(ing) Day 2009
The Flash Volunteer team will be promoting hyperlocal community service Friday, September 18, 2009, at Park(ing) Day 2009. Stop by, say hi and let us know how we can help you make your neighborhood better!

iPhone app on the way
We’re very excited for the release of our iPhone app, which will provide users with a real-time snapshot of volunteer opportunities based on their GPS location. Wake up on a Saturday morning with nothing to do? This is the app for you!

Tonight was the monthly meeting of the 12th Avenue Stewardship Committee, which helps guide development in the 12th Avenue Urban Village. Here’s the news on 12th:

12th & James Park – The city council has allocated $489,893 to fund creation of a long-planned park at the corner of 12th & James Ct.. The parks department is now in charge of the design, and will be planning public meetings for later in the fall to gather public input on the project.

One key element of the design is to turn the 1200 block of E. James Ct into a woonerf, lined with trees and designed around pedestrian use.

The city hopes to start construction in the spring or summer of 2010.

Seattle U Housing at 12th & Cherry – Seattle University is planning a big housing project on the corner of 12th & Cherry, just north of the park discussed above. It will be five stories tall with 240-250 additional beds for students to live on campus. The first floor will have multiple retail spaces along 12th and along Cherry, with a large restaurant space on the southwest corner of the building alongside the park.

View of 12th & Cherry, with environment cleanup in progress

The construction under way on the property right now is environmental cleanup from the Metal Laundry business that used to operate on that corner. 

Updated designs should be available in a few weeks, and a planned start of construction for spring of next year, ready for students to move in during the fall semester of 2011.

12th & Jefferson Workforce Housing – Capitol Hill Housing’s plans for a workforce-housing project at 12th & Jefferson will take a bit longer, as they’ve found that they’ll have to seek a contract rezone for the site which can take up to a year for approval. A sixty-five foot height is required to make the project pencil out on the small lot.

CHH has been meeting with neighbors about potential impacts of shading and making sure the design enhances safety around that block.

Streetcar Update – Members of the 12th Ave committee and others in the ad-hoc 12th Ave streetcar group have been meeting with public officials to discuss alignment options on the east side of First Hill, including routes that include 12th Avenue. No decisions have been made yet, and it appears that the mayoral race may push decisions out into 2010.

King County Juvenile Detention – Community members have been lobbying King County for years to better plan and operate the Juvenile Detention center at 12th & Alder. Last year there were some preliminary plans to bring in 3-4 potential partners who could develop the parking lot on the northwest corner, helping to fund a project to reconstruct the offices and courtroom building of the detention center. The economy has impacted those plans, and things seem to have gone back to square one.

Want to learn more? 12th Ave Stewardship meetings are planned to be held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at the Seattle U alumni center at 12th & Marion.

Tonight three men exchanged gunfire across 23rd Ave in the block south of Jackson. Police officers several blocks away heard the shots, and upon responding were told by witnesses that two men on the west side of the street fired handguns at a man on the east side of the street, who also returned fire.

No victims were found. However, officers did find bullet holes in the windows of the Bank of America building adjacent to the Red Apple grocery store. 

Witnesses said that the first two suspects were last seen headed westbound through the Washington Middle School playfield. They were described as two black males, 20s, both about 5’10”, with one in a white jacket with a hood and the other in a black hoodie.

The third man was last seen headed east through the Red Apple parking lot.

Police searched the area for the suspects but appear to have come up empty.

MichelleK posted a story back in January about a Harborview employee shuttle that was affecting the block where she works, with the hospital using it as a park-and-ride for employees who live out of the neighborhood.

We’ve learned from Squire Park board member Bill Zosel that the community group believed that the shuttle use was contrary to the goals of the HMC Transportation Management Plan. The group sent a letter to HMC earlier in the summer, pointing out the negative impacts of the shuttle use and asking that it stop. 

Although Squire Park never heard back from HMC, it appeared to have an effect. In the August 31st edition of the HCM newsletter, executive director Eileen Whalen says that:

The escort service is no longer available to off-campus parking areas because, as a major institution, we are held responsible by the city to mitigate any adverse impacts on our neighborhood. In this case, we are responding to complaints about taking up limited street parking when employees park in the neighborhood during work shifts.

Staff who currently park near Harborview should be considerate of our neighbors and are encouraged to take public transportation and our shuttles to Harborview. Another option is to park in a Harborview garage. In contrast to past years, we now have ample capacity.

The newsletter (attached at left) also points out that shuttle system still serves the ferry terminal and downtown light rail stations, giving employees an easy way to connect between transit and the hospital. Perhaps further proof that we should let the big First Hill institutions manage their own transportation, and design the streetcar to support residents and small businesses.

Capitol Hill Housing reminds us that tonight is the meeting of the 12th Ave Neighborhood Plan Stewardship Meeting. Your chance to get an update on:

• James Court Park
• The First Hill Streetcar
• The street furniture public art project
• CHH’s 12th & Jefferson project
• Seattle U’s 12th & Cherry project

It’s also your chance to look around inside Seattle U’s new alumni center. It all starts at 5:30pm, inside the alumni center at 12th & Marion.

Tuesday morning in First Hill Park, Mayoral candidate Mike McGinn formally announced his support of a First Hill street car. This is one of the first punches thrown in this election series, with McGinn responding to Mallahan’s “inefficient use of taxpayer money” approach to street cars. “It shows a difference in values and a difference in vision for the city of seattle,” said McGinn. Voters have already approved the funds for the First Hill street car through primarily a sales tax increase.

We’ve spent a lot of time on CDNews talking about the street car and its possible routes, such as the 12th Ave. route that hopes to revitalize that area that borders the Central District and First Hill. When asked about this route, he expressed the need to stay the course, and let the communities decide the route and did not commit to any particular alignment. McGinn’s vision for the First Hill street car was focused around separating it from traffic, making sure it had the right of way and was the quickest choice of transportation in that area. McGinn continued, saying that this was the major downfall of the South Lake Union street car. He was open to considering a street car on First Ave. as well as connecting street car routes, but said emphasized the need to choose the “right tool” for any new transit investment. 

Responding directly to Mallahan’s issue of cost, McGinn alluded back to his opposition to the deep bore tunnel, saying the First Hill street car is already fully funded with a stable financing mechanism, while the tunnel is not. Also regarding the tunnel, McGinn brought up the fact that Mallahan supports an issue that “70% of voters disapprove of” yet does not support the street car with “70% voter approval,” and mentioned this Times article as a direct example of cost overrun possibilities in tunnel construction.

McGinn claimed he had originally called the conference to join in support for the First Hill street car, but was “surprised” when Mallahan expressed his opposition. “When the voters vote for something, and fund it, we should build it. Mr. Mallahan does not seem to think that is the case,” said McGinn. 

They’re everywhere. I know they’re still falling but I probably already have a yard-waste dumpster full. Do you know someone who is reasonably priced who will come deal with this mess for me?

Hope everybody had a relaxing Labor Day while you sat inside and watched it rain. Here’s the happenings from the slightly less soggy streets of Seattle’s east precinct: