First Hill’s Jim Erickson writes,

“In a recent conversation with my son we recalled stupid things that we each did as young adults. There is something about an immature mind inhabiting an adult body. I said that my worst fear was that he would be arrested and be locked up as a lone innocent among hardened criminals. For the first time, now that his son entered college in August, he understands my fears.

In this morning’s Seattle Times there is a report that two men, age 20 and 21, purchased some spray paint in an Art Store and proceeded to paint the City blue. The two men were booked into King County Jail. I feel the pain of the families who are learning about these arrests.

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2021859427_spraypaintingxml.html?prmid=4939

“Yesterday, I was one of a hundred people who formed a circle in the Garfield Community Center and began to learn about Restorative Justice. This was an Experimental Workshop & Planning Session for an East Precinct Pilot Project. Our convening questions were: How will a community/police restorative justice program as an alternative approach to crime, conflict and accountability foster resilient, empowered, safe and connected communities? How can we co-create this in the East Precinct of Seattle? How do you want to play?

Tony Marshall explains that “Restorative justice is a process whereby the parties with a stake in a particular offense come together to resolve collectively how to deal with the aftermath of the offense and its implications for the future.”

How can citizens of the East Precinct utilize the Restorative Justice practices?  Is it possible to establish and restore right relationships among a community harmed by crime and the person/s causing the harm?

Andrea Brenneke, East Precinct resident and Director of the newly established City of Seattle Restorative Justice Initiative, will be our guest presenter at this Thursday’s EastPAC (East Precinct Advisory Council) meeting. Plan to attend and hear about this practice.  It may be the solution you need to decrease the chronic nuisance crime on your neighborhood!

 East Precinct Advisory Council Community Meeting

Thursday, September 26^th, 6:30 to 8:00 PM

Seattle University, Chardin Hall, Room 144

1020 East Jefferson

Enter campus at 11^th and East Jefferson – Park free in the lot in front of the building

Thank you to Seattle University for their partnership

and generous donation of our meeting space!

Major Changes are Proposed for the some Central District Area Students.  Don’t be shy about offering suggestions to the district via the information below.

The Seattle School District staff presented the first draft of proposed boundary changes for student assignment on Tuesday, September 17 during a Board Work Session.  The draft will be updated again after a series of community meetings noted below.  The proposal will then be an introductory item on the Board agenda for October 16, and presented for a final vote at the November 20, 2013 Board Meeting.

Many families especially in  the Squire Park area  will be affected by the Seattle School District’s proposed changes to student assignment at both the elementary and middle school levels.  No students south of E. Madison will be allowed to attend Stevens Elementary and  a second middle school will mean major changes to those assignment patterns as well. So far the proposed boundaries have been presented with no data regarding the projected number of resident students or enrollment at the schools. Committees and parent groups are requesting that information.

Elementary students currently assigned to Stevens  west of  19th, between E. Madison and Cherry  would be assigned to Lowell and those east of 19th to Madrona.  A portion of the current Gatzert area will also be  reassigned and split between Thurgood Marshall and Madrona.  The Stevens boundary will be extended north just north of the school itself.

The new proposal would shift a  vast majority of all middle school student assignments in the Central District.   Students from Stevens, Lowell,  Gatzert, Madrona (K-8), McGilvra, and Montlake would be assigned to  Meany Middle School.  Currently, they all all feed into Washington Middle School.  Only Muir, Leschi and Thurgood Marshall would feed into  Washington.

The District encourages all to give feedback and not to be shy about making suggestions either online or at the community meetings.Email: [email protected]

The following Seattle Schools Community Meetings are from 6:30 to 8:00 PM:

• Monday, Sept. 23, Mercer Middle School, 1600 South Columbian Way;
• Tuesday, Sept. 24, Nathan Hale High School Commons, 10750 – 30th Ave NE;
• Wednesday, Sept. 25, West Seattle High School Commons, 3000 California Ave SW;
• Monday, Sept. 30, Meany Middle School, 300 – 20th Ave E;
• Tuesday, Oct. 1, Ballard High School Commons,1418 NW 65th St.

Maps and further information, along with where  students can walk or can not walk to school can be found: http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/cms/pages.phtml?sessionid=585edd3785215fed3ab8351025e32feb&pageid=294923&sessionid=585edd3785215fed3ab8351025e32feb

If you value this coverage and want to support the continued independence of Central District News, please subscribe today for as little as $5/month — DRIVE ENDS SEPTEMBER 30.

Central District nonprofit Green Plate Special is moving its garden from its current location at MLK Jr. Way and E Union Street to a new spot at 2115 25^th Avenue South, at S. Walker Street.

Image via Green Plate Special

Green Plate Special teaches middle-school youth about the importance of growing, cooking, and eating healthy food. They’ve offered classroom and after-school programs since 2011.

The nonprofit’s new garden space was funded by The Mark and Susan Torrance Foundation and Thistledown LLC provided the property. A building on the property will serve as Green Plate Special’s kitchen classroom, though they’ll need to raise capital funds to outfit the space. Other new elements will include a shed and greenhouse, bees and chickens, an outdoor wood-burning oven, covered and uncovered gathering spaces, bird baths, fruit trees, raised beds, vertical growing space, lights, and irrigation. The move is scheduled for this fall.

Green Plate Special is hosting a party on Sunday from 2pm to 5pm to celebrate its next chapter. The party is open to the pubic; learn more here.

If you value this coverage and want to support the continued independence of Central District News, please subscribe today for as little as $5/month — DRIVE ENDS SEPTEMBER 30.

If you value this coverage and want to support the continued independence of Central District News, please subscribe today for as little as $5/month — DRIVE ENDS SEPTEMBER 30.

The city’s Bridging the Gap Oversight Committee recently completed a review of 38 potential Neighborhood Street Fund projects. They’re passing 12 to Mayor McGinn and City Council for final approval, including two in the Central District.

The projects include $115,000 of multi-modal safety improvements at Dearborn & Rainier and $235,000 of pedestrian improvements at 19th Avenue at E Union Street and 19th Avenue at E Pike Street. Once approved, these projects will undergo a design phase in 2014 for construction in 2015.

According to project plans, “The proposed project will construct a pedestrian refuge island in the two-way left turn lane for the east crossing of E Union Street at 19th Avenue and provide striped crosswalk markings across E Union Street. Existing curb ramps will be upgraded at all four corners of this intersection.”

19th and Union plans

Further, “At the crossing location at 19th Avenue and the E Pike Street stairs curb bulbs will be constructed on both sides of 19th Avenue. At this time there are not sufficient existing pedestrian crossing volumes at this location to install crosswalk pavement markings at the crossing. To increase pedestrian visibility with the dense tree cover at the E Pike Street stairs, one pedestrian scale luminaire will be installed on the west curb bulb. This project will be required to implement Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) to the maximum extent feasible. GSI features will likely consist of tree retention and potentially a raingarden at the new curb bulbs adjacent to the E Pike Street Stairs.”

At Dearborn and Rainier, pedestrian improvements are slated for the northeast crosswalk and sidewalk area, including “widening the sidewalk on the east side of Rainier at the south end to at least the standard width at the north end, signage explaining how to trigger the westbound light as a bicyclist, and re-aligning the Rainier crossing.”

You can find more detailed plans for these sites on the Neighborhood Street Fund website.

If you value this coverage and want to support the continued independence of Central District News, please subscribe today for as little as $5/month — DRIVE ENDS SEPTEMBER 30.