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"The Off Hours" is heading to Sundance. The Seattle Times reports the film will screen in the Next category at the film festival in Park City, Utah, in January. The independently produced film shot scenes at the Eastlake Zoo last April. Seattle filmmaker Megan Griffiths wrote and directed the movie. When the crew was shooting at the Zoo, we described the plot this way:
The Times says Griffiths and Todd Rohal, writer/director of another local production headed to Sundance, "The Cathechism Cataclysm," both tried for years to get financing for their films but finally decided to reduce their budgets and go local. The Times quotes Griffiths as saying:
One of the stars of "The Off Hours," Scott McNairy, has been winning kudos for his performance in the independently financed alien-invasion thriller, "Monsters." Read more about the shoot at the Zoo, see more photos and read about the cast in our previous post. Check out the website for "The Off Hours" here. 
The TOPS@Seward School Site Council, a group of parents and educators of students who attend the Eastlake school, has voted to endorse a proposed geographic zone for the school that would include Eastlake and the Roanoke Park area. The Site Council did not endorse, nor did it reject, a school district proposal to include an area west of 10th Avenue E. in the geographic zone. Janis White, president of the Site Council, reported the vote in an e-mail on Wednesday.
The geographic zone is a new tiebreaker the district will use in determining which students can attend the school. The other tiebreakers are whether a sibling already attends the school and a lottery. TOPS@Seward is an option school that draws students from many parts of the city, not just Eastlake. Neighborhood parents and activitsts have been trying for years to find a way to allow more Eastlake children to attend the school. Eastlake activisits were cautiously optimistic last night that the long effort to improve access for neighborhood students was nearing an end. The Seattle School Board will be voting on the 2011 Enrollment Plan, which the geographic zone is a part of, in January. Michelle Buetow, one of the Eastlake residents working on the issue, said: "We are tantalizing close to the finish." She also singled our Jules James for his 23 years of work on the issue, and Janis White, the TOPS@Seward Site Council president. "She (White) has been gracious and very helpful in bringing this issue to closure," Buetow said. "We can't thank her enough." Check our previous post for more details on the geographic zone and the Site Council's discussion of the issue at an October meeting.
It's fall (almost winter) and time to gather once again with friends and neighbors at Louisa's Cafe Bakery. The Eastlake Community Council and Louisa's are sponsoring their second annual Fall Gathering at Louisa's, 7-10 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 9. Last year's event packed the restaurant with Eastlake neighbors meeting old friends and making new ones. (Check out our coverage of the 2009 event here.) Like last year, Louisa's owner Alcena Plum is putting out a selection of seasonal appetizers on the house. There will be $5 glasses of wine all evening. You'll also be able to order food and beverages off Louisa's menu (but you'll have to pay for those items). Mary Hansen, Eastlake's poster artist extraordinaire, has done the honors again this year (see the attached photo). She's also helping to organize the event. "This is an opportunity to meet new neighbors and business owners in the neighborhood," she says. "Last year was a lot of fun and we are looking forward to celebrating ourselves again this year." Eastlake Ave. will be there to take pictures for the blog. Hope to see you there! This week's Eastlake police reports has a number of auto accidents, presumably related to last week's snow:
To see the complete map, go to SeattleCrime.com. The Eastlake Community Council is sponsoring a Wellness Fair at TOPS@Seward School, 2500 Franklin E., 7-9 p.m. Tuesday. The focus will be on diet, exercise and staying healthy. Staff from local hospitals, health-related instutitions and businesses will be on hand to answer questions, provide information and help you stay healthy and feel good. The health institutions that will be attending include:
If you'd like to post a question in advance to one of the groups attending, e-mail it to wellness@eastlakeseattle.org. 
Thousands of runners participating in the Seattle Marathon made their way along streets at the edge of the Eastlake neighborhood this morning. At 9 a.m., the corner of Roanoke and Boylston was crowded with runners making the turn onto the last stretch of the course. At that hour, runners were half-marathoners, I was told. Family and friends of runners were standing and sitting at the intersections on Boylston, holding signs, waving balloons and shouting encouragement to the runners. Eastlake residents Jim Davenport and Dave and Erin Miner were waiting for Jim's wife, Sarah, and her dad, Steve Miner, at the corner of Roanoke and Boylston. Also present was Steve's wife and Sarah's mom, Kathy. They'd been there about a half hour and were scanning the crowd, looking for Sarah in the sea of faces. (You can see them in the attached short video.) From Eastlake, runners headed up over Lakeview Boulevard, then down to the southern end of Eastlake in the Cascade neighborhood before returning to the finish line at Seattle Center. Check the Seattle Marathon's website for information on finishing times. Listen to this AudioBoo for the sounds of the race:
The Seattle Marathon will take over parts of two Eastlake streets on Sunday morning (Nov. 28) and into early afternoon. The race begins and ends at Seattle Center. A total of 14,000 particpants are expected. The full marathon begins at 7:15 a.m. and the half-marathon at 7:30 a.m. The course is open until 2:15 p.m. I'm guessing the first runners (the half-marathoners) might arrive in Eastlake around 8 a.m., but that's just a guess. Streets that will be affected are Delmar Drive, Roanoke E. to the corner of Boylston, and then Boylston south onto Lakeview. The sourthern end of Eastlake in the Cascade neighborhood will also be affected. A PDF of affected streets is attached to this post. Delmar Drive will be closed from 8:15 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. One side of Boylston and Lakeview will be closed from 8:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Lakeview exit from northbound I-5 will also be closed. The best advice is to not try to drive on these streets. Head down to Eastlake Ave. or go around to Fuhrman if you need to get to Portage Bay. Need to get to Capitol Hill? You should be able to go around the south end of Lake Union and then, maybe, find a way to cross the course in South Lake Union and head up Denny. Maybe. It's fun to go out along Boylston and cheer the runners as they go by. For more info on the race, go to the official Seattle Marathon website. UPDATE at 3:48 p.m.: Meant to post this sooner. Traffic moving fine on Eastlake Avenue E. It seems to be bare and mostly dry. Side streets still icy and tricky. Roanoke E. isn't closed at Boylston but the sign says it's restricted to "Local Access." You can get through but take it slow! UPDATE at 7 a.m.: It's 24 degrees on my deck in Eastlake. Seattle Schools are closed again today. After saying it would be open, the UW changed course and will be closed again. The city won't be picking up garbage today. If your garbage wasn't picked up Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, you'll be collected on those days next week. You will be able to put out twice the usual garbage. There's no pick up on Thanksgiving day either. Add your weather related observations in the comments. We also accept reader photos! Send them to curtmilton (at) comcast.net. Thanks and stay warm! Thanksgiving is quiet in Eastlake. Not many businesses are planning on being open. Here's a few that will be open:
Metro bus service: Buses will be on a Sunday schedule on Thanksgiving (fewer trips, lower fares) and on a reduced weekday schedule (fewer trips on some routes, regular fares) on Friday. Eastlake routes with some trip cancellations on Friday include the 49 and the 70. For more information on holiday bus service, visit Metro's website. Solid waste collection: There will be no garbage, food, yard waste or recycling collections...
3:22 p.m. UPDATE: Metro has sent alerts for most of the bus routes that go through Eastlake, saying that they are still on snow routes and warning: "It is not possible to know when it (a bus) will arrive at a specific location. Use regularly published timetables as a guide, then be prepared for delays." Eastlake routes that are on snow routes are 25, 49, 66, 70, 72 and 73. Check Metro's storm alert web page for more information. 1:26 p.m. UPDATE: Looks like the wrecked truck is still there at Eastlake and Newton. See the photos provided by reader Kate Dulemba. The truck apparently came down the hill, slid off to the side, hit an embankment and rolled on its side. No word on how the driver is doing. (Thanks for sharing the pix, Kate!) 12:20 p.m. UPDATE: Eastlake Avenue is bare and wet at this point and traffic is moving along with no problems. It appears that the city's plan to de-ice the main routes has worked so far. The side streets in Eastlake, especially those with a hill, are another story. Roanoke E. is closed at the Boylston intersection although the stretch from Franklin to Eastlake is open. Two cars that embraced in a way they hadn't intended are stuck in the driveway to the TOPS@Seward School parking lot. There are another two cars that slid into each other at the top of Louisa. I've heard reports of an expensive SUV that was on its side by Serafina Monday night but, if it was there, it's gone now. Also heard of a multiple fender bender last night at the top of Lynn where it meets Boylston. There are numerous cars parked in places they wouldn't ordinarily be. Looks like most businesses in Eastlake are open. I didn't see a single closed sign. Looks like many people took the advice from Metro and the SPD and stayed home. Voxx Coffee was packed with people working on their laptops. Kids are sliding on a few of the hills and Rogers Playfield was active with kids, parents and dogs. Temperature on my deck is 26 degrees with snow drifts. 9:50 a.m. UPDATE: Christina says Nettletown is open today 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and they're selling special Thanksgiving retail items and wild mushrooms. Also, Jaxx Boutique is open until 5 p.m. 9:21 a.m. UPDATE: Ed Wyse Beauty Supply is open on Eastlake Ave. E. 8:28 a.m. UPDATE: Alcena says Louisa's is "open for now." Also open: Voxx Coffee (regular hours, until 10 p.m.) and 14 Carrot Cafe (also regular hours ... "Nothing stops us!"). 8:10 a.m. UPDATE: Seattle Public Utilities says garbage collections scheduled for today are CANCELLED. Garbage that was supposed to be picked up today will be picked up NEXT Tuesday, Nov. 30. Metro says all buses are on snow routes this morning. They're advising people to stay off the roads and stay home if they can. You can check what's up with each bus route by going to Metro's website. All University of Washington campuses are closed today. What's up on your street? Put news in the comments or e-mail me at curtmilton (at) comcast.net. Several car prowls and an apartment fire on Lakeview highlight this week's Seattle Police reports for Eastlake:
To see the complete map, go to SeattleCrime.com. The snow fell and then stopped and then fell again on Eastlake today. Here are a few photos taken during a short and very cold walk about the neighborhood in mid-afternoon. UPDATE: Seattle Fire Department has just reported that the cause was "combustibles too close to the base board heater." Lost is estimated at $70,000 to the building and $20,000 to the contents. __________________ Several news organizations are reporting on a fire at a Lakeview Boulevard apartment earlier this morning. A top-floor unit in the building at 1034 Lakeview Blvd. E. caught fire. CapitolHillSeattle.com reports that "SFD tells us the fire was contained to one unit but that there is extensive smoke and water damage to the building -- and a big hole was cut in the roof to fight the flames. No word on how many residents displaced."
CHS has more information and a photo. As a clarification: Some news reports are saying that the fire was in Eastlake, although we generally consider Lakeview to be on Capitol Hill. 
UPDATE at 4:09 p.m.: Bob Payne from the Seattle Times says traffic is gridlocked on Fairview Ave. at the Mercer I-5 on-ramps. Expect Route 70 delays unless it clears up, he says. UPDATE at 3:43 p.m.: Metro says that all buses will stay on snow routes through Monday evening. Metro will evaluate this evening to determine if snow routes will be continued on Tuesday. UPDATE: This post has been updated since it was first published. Photos of the snow have been added. Cool panorama photo of Eastlake snow has been posted on Intersect by local resident Kristi Waite. Check it out here. ______________________ It's snowing! Snow was falling this morning in Eastlake with more expected as the day goes on. Buses may be running late and it's cold so bundle up. If you have information about the snow or just want to tell us what it looks like at your place, add to the comments. If you have snow photos you'd like to see on the blog, send them to me and I'll publish them: curtmilton (at) comcast.net. _____________________ ORIGINAL POST: There's snow in the forecast for tonight and Monday morning. Metro has announced they won't be taking any chances with bus service. They're going to start service Monday morning with buses in all areas on snow routes. Snow routes remove buses from hilly streets and put them out onto arterials "that are more likely to be plowed," according to a Metro brochure. Eastlake Avenue E. is a snow route for the buses that go along it. What happens after those buses leave Eastlake may be another story. You can look to see what the snow routes are for any Metro route by going to their snow web page. You can also see transit alerts on this page and you can sign up for transit alerts via e-mail. Metro will be using a new color-coded map to indicate the status of service on a route: Green means buses are running normally; yellow means some but not all routes in an area are on snow routes; and red means all routes in an area are on snow routes. Metro's rationale for going to snow routes early is explained in an e-mail:
A few brave snowflakes fell in Eastlake in the late morning and early afternoon, but nothing has come down since. Still, it's cold out there (the sandwich board in front of Louisa's this morning said simply: "BRRRR!") and the forecast is calling for a low of 28 tonight and possible snow showers in the morning. Metro advises you to be patient if there is snow and dress warmly, which is good advice. Be prepared! 
The University District Food Bank, which serves Eastlake as well as a big chunk of the north end, is launching a new home dellivery service in November. [Full disclosure: I volunteer with the University District Food Bank.] The program is looking for low-income seniors who need food but are homebound due to a mental or physical condition and are unable to get to the food bank. Food will be delivered on Wednesdays and those who receive it will be able to customize their order. The service is free, as are all of the food bank's services. They're also looking for volunteer drivers to deliver food. If you are a homebound, low-income senior, or if you know someone who is, you can arrange for food delivery by contacting Evan Miller at the food bank at 206-523-7060 or e-mailing him at evan@udistrictfoodbank.org. Thanksgiving is next week. We'll be publishing a list of businesses that are open on Thanksgiving. Will your business be open on Thanksgiving? Will you be open the day after Thanksgiving? Let us know! Either put your hours in the comments to this post or e-mail me at curtmilton (at) comcast.net. Happy Thanksgiving! UPDATE: This post has been updated since it was first published. Details on street closures have been added. The UW Huskies will be playing a rare weekday evening game when they take to the field during the height of rush hour on Thursday. Kickoff for the game against UCLA is at 5 p.m. Traffic impacts are expected in the University District, Montlake and beyond. We'll probably be feeling some of it in Eastlake. Montlake Boulevard will be closed from NE Pacific to NE 44th from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Montlake Bridge will be closed to marine traffic (it won't open to let boats through) from 3 to 7 p.m. and 8 to 10 p.m. The University Bridge will also be closed to marine traffic from 3 to 7 p.m. Metro will be rerouting some buses that go through the UDistrict and Montlake, starting at 2:30 p.m. Thursday. To find out more details or check what's up with your bus route, go to Metro's website. Metro will also be running a temporary shuttle from 2:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday that will loop through the UW campus and...
A commercial burglary on Eastlake Avenue E. highlights this week's neighborhood police reports:
The Eastlake Community Council has three public meetings coming up in the next few weeks on a variety of topics. All meetings are from 7 to 9 p.m. at TOPS@Seward School, 2500 Franklin Ave. E. The meeting topics are: Ecology of Lake Union, Nov. 16: Naturalist and retired science teacher Craig MacGowan will offer his insight and knowledge about Lake Union's natural world and how industrialization and population growth has changed it. For more information, contact him at cmacgowan@comcast.net. Wellness Fair, Nov. 30: Local hospitals, health institutions and businesses will be on hand to help you get healthy, provide information and answer your questions. Scheduled to attend at this time are Bastyr, Seattle Children's, Aesthetica Dentistry, Accupuncture Eastlake, Swedish Midwives and Eastlake Massage. Others are expected. Topics expected to be covered include diet, exercise, health monitoring, accident prevention and more. For more information or to post a question in advance, e-mail wellness@eastlakeseattle.org<...
Members of the TOPS@Seward Site Council decided Wednesday evening to poll parents of students at the school about a proposed geographic zone for the school. The Seattle School Board posted a proposed geographic zone on its website earlier in the week that would include all of Eastlake as well as the Roanoke Park area and part of north Capitol Hill west of 10th Avenue E. and north of E. Galer. The site council's poll, which might be completed within two or three weeks, will ask parents if they A) prefer to not endorse the school district's proposed zone, or B) would endorse a zone that would include Eastlake and Roanoke Park. An option to endorse the school board's proposed zone was dropped from the poll.
The zone would be one of the tie breakers (along with whether a sibling attends the school and a lottery) used by the Seattle School District in determining which students attend the Eastlake school. Option schools like TOPS draw students from all over the city and the tie breakers help determine who will get in. Eastlake activists have sought for years to find a way to allow more local students to attend TOPS. When the geographic zone was first discussed last year, the Eastlake Community Council had proposed that all of Eastlake from I-5 west to the houseboats and north from E. Galer to the University Bridge be included in the zone. The district ran out of time to set the zone for 2010-2011 and continued a policy already in place to allow a number of kindergarten slots at the school to be set aside for Eastlake children. Jules James, a neighborhood activist who has been working on the attendance question for TOPS@Seward for 23 years, said he was adopting a stance of "not smaller than." The idea, he said, was that the minimum size for the zone should be defined so that local residents would have some predictability about their children's chances of attending the school. Without a minimum size, he told the site council, the zone might flex too much year-to-year to allow that predictability. One of the draws for TOPS for many parents is the school's diversity. Some on the site council worried that increasing the size of the geographic zone might threaten that diversity because more children from the less-diverse Eastlake and Roanoke Park neighborhoods would be able to attend. James noted that 80 percent of the residents of Eastlake are tenants and "that's a type of diversity, too." He also noted the diversity of lifestyles in the neighborhood. Also threatening the school's diversity is a school district plan to eliminate money to transport children from other parts of the city to the school. Sity council members had hoped to see transportation for current students continued for five years, but the district has yet to commit to that. Although James urged members of the site council to endorse a geographic zone plan soon so as to get their voice out in front of the school board at the start of the debate, most members of the site council felt they needed to know more about the plans and how the school's community might feel about them before casting a vote. Janis White of the site council noted that while there was value in reaching out to the school's community to find out what parents think about the proposed geographic zone, "we should take those views with a grain of salt" because many people may not be familiar with the issues involved. The site council hopes to have a web-based survey ready by the weekend. To see a map of the district's proposed geographic zone, see our previous post. 
UPDATE: This post has been changed since it was first published. An explanation of the school ranking scale was added as was the ranking for Montlake Elementary. Two items about TOPS@Seward K-8 School were reported Tuesday:
School ranking: On Tuesday, the Seattle School District released reports on 82 schools in the district for the first time. The reports rank schools on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the highest) based on test scores and how well students at the school are improving. The rankings also look at how well students who qualify for free lunches are doing compared to students who don't qualify for them. TOPS@Seward, Eastlake's neighborhood school, ranked at level 4. It had high achievement scores but the gap between those who qualify for free lunches and those who don't was too high to make it to level 5. Montlake Elementary, which is the school Eastlake kids attend if they don't get into TOPS, was also rated at a level 4 by the district (see attached PDF). We've attached the district's reports on TOPS and Montlake, which provides more breakdown on student scores as well survey results from families and staff. Among the survey findings, only 40 percent of the staff at the school feel positive about the school leadership compared with 66 percent district-wide in grades K-5 and 57 percent district-wide in grades 6-8. Seventy five percent of families with students in grades K-5 are satisifed with the school (86 percent district-wide) while 84 percent in grades 6-8 feel the same (82 percent district-wide). To see more about the report, go to the Seattle School's website. Our news partner, the Seattle Times, also has an article on the report, looking at results across the city. CapitolHillSeattle.com reports on how schools on the Hill ranked. Geographic zone: The district has posted a draft of a new geographic zone for TOPS@Seward on its website (see attached image). The zone, which is used as a tiebreaker in determining which students can attend TOPS, is much bigger than the previous zone which encompassed only a handful of blocks around the school and didn't allow many Eastlake children to attend the school. The school board's proposed geographic zone would encompass all of Eastlake south to Galer as well as the Roanoke Park neighborhood and north Capitol Hill from 10th Avenue E. west to I-5. Last December, the Eastlake Community Council had proposed a geographic zone that would have covered everything from I-5 west to the houseboats and from Galer north to the University Bridge. The ECC had hoped to make a joint proposal of its plan with the TOPS Site Council. But the Site Council tied in voting on the proposal and the geographic zone was postponed for a year. The new geographic zone is still only a draft proposal and is subject to approval by the school board. The TOPS Site Council is meeting on Wednesday and will reportedly be asked to consider a motion on the geographic zone. A rash of identity thefts in the Capitol Hill and Eastlake neighborhoods appears to be continuing. There were three such cases in the Eastlake area and another six on the north end of Capitol Hill alone in the last week. CapitolHillSeattle.com reports that these financial fraud cases appear to be the result of a "flash attack," where someone tampers with credit card point-of-sale equipment at a business and then harvests card data. That data is then used to make fradulent purchases. CHS reports 320 cases of financial fraud in Seattle in the last 15 days, versus about 90 for a typical period. There are no suspects and no arrests have been made. Here are the week's police reports for Eastlake:
It's autumn all over Eastlake and trees are putting on the last spectacular splash of the fall show. Leaves are falling and, when the sun comes out, the colors are dazzling. Enjoy this short trip around Eastlake's fall foliage! 
Parents and students from TOPS@Seward School were busy Saturday with their fall clean up and planting project on the school grounds. The parents and students usually gather twice a year to help beautify the school grounds. Last April, they were spreading bark. On Saturday, they were cleaning up planters around the north courtyard and putting in newspaper and bark to help control weeds. Others were raking and cleaning out planting beds. Thanks to these volunteers for helping to keep the school looking great! The week in Eastlake Seattle Police reports includes several cases of fraud involving credit cards or identity theft. A rash of similar cases on Capitol Hill is being investigated by the Secret Service and it appears the Eastlake cases may be related. See this post from CapitolHillSeattle.com for more information:
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