Neighbors:

Go to: http://web1.seattle.gov/dpd/edms/

and put in the MUP # 3013612

This proposed MUP # 3013612 at 1949 Fairview Avenue E sports a White Board which cannot be seen from the street due to the fact it is behind a large parking lot which separates the White Board from Fairview Avenue E ROW. Parked cars in the parking lot obliterate the view of this board. You can see in this picture a car which is doing just that.

It appears that the due date for comments is October 19. I have asked DPD extend the comment period 30 days. It might help if others in the neighborhood did the same at:

prc@seattle.gov

Ask to be a party of record.

It appears from the DPD web site that this the new development is going to be a boat launching facility and a new pier built for Mr. Brian Tracey’s Duck Tours. His tour people, employees, their cars and his fleet of amphibious boats will be parading in and out of our neighborhood. This will be very interesting when the fleet attempts to use Fairview Avenue E.... (more)

A 40-foot paddle boat docked at Fairview Avenue E. and Fairview Avenue N. took on water Thursday (Aug. 9) night and sank.

Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Kyle Moore says firefighters were called to the dock at 11:28 p.m. Thursday after receiving reports that the boat was taking on water. Engine 22, Engine 4, ladder 4, Engine 36 and Patrol 4 went to the scene.

When firefighters arrived they found the boat partly submerged and listing 45 degrees to the port side. After 40 minutes of effort by firefighters, the boat continued to list and control of it was turned over to the Coast Guard.

Moore says the estimated dollar loss on the boat was $100,000.

A 49-year-old man who drove his SUV into a light pole at Fairview and Galer in Eastlake on Friday evening was expected to recover from his injuries, according to a Seattle Fire Department spokesperson.

The man was the only occupant of the vehicle.

According to SFD spokesperson Kyle Moore, the unnamed driver was traveling north on Fairview at about 8:35 p.m. when his vehicle swerved off the road and plowed into the pole. Two doctors from Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma who witnessed the accident stabilized the patient while they waited for SFD emergency crews to arrive.

Moore said the driver was trapped inside the vehicle under the dash, emergency brake, steering column and seat.

"The car sort of caved in around him," Moore said.

It took emergency crews an hour to cut away pieces of the car to extricate the driver. Emergency crews were able to get an IV line in the driver, who was conscious and alert the whole time, Moore said. The driver had serious head and chest injuries, which Moore characterized as "non-life threatening." 

"It looks like he'll survive," Moore said. The driver was taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment.

Moore said the Seattle Police Department will determine the cause of the crash after an investigation.

KOMO News has video showing the rescue of the driver:

UPDATE: The Seattle Times reports that the murder victim whose body parts were found under the Ship Canal Bridge is Donald S. Meyer, a 53-year-old Ballard man.
______________

The Seattle Police Department is reporting this morning that body parts found under the Ship Canal Bridge in December belong to a murder victim discovered last July.

According to the SPD, DNA tests confirm that the body parts found in the 3100 block of Fairview Ave. E. on the morning of Dec. 10, 2011, belong to a 53-year-old man whose torso was discovered at a recycling plant in Georgetown in July, 2011.

The SPD Blotter quotes Seattle Police Department Homicide Unit Lieutenant Steve Wilske as saying: 

“We’ve been able to link the two sets of remains. They are from the same person.”

The case is still being investigated, Lt. Wilske is quoted as saying, adding that detectives believe it was "not a random act."

Three volunteers from Heroes for the Homeless were checking the hillside on the morning of Dec. 10 when a volunteer stepped on a plastic bag containing a human leg. 

The Seattle P-I has more details on the case.

Our post from December is here.

A team of suspected car prowlers fled from police Tuesday morning, Dec. 20, after they were seen breaking into vehicles in the streets around Eastlake.

The manhunt fanned out across the neighborhood after the duo fled the 2800 block of Franklin where the two were allegedly breaking into cars around 6 a.m. A neighborhood resident saw the pair, yelled at them and then called police. Four cars were broken in to.

The suspects smashed into a SPD cruiser in the stolen BMW they were driving before ditching the car at Yale and Edgar and attempting to flee pursuing officers on foot on Fairview.

According to an SPD officer at the scene, police nearly took the male suspect into custody but he was able to escape an officer's grasp by wriggling out of his shirt and continuing to run. SPD radio said a female suspect wearing a grey or light colored hoodie was also seen fleeing the area on foot.

The shirtless suspect was described as a Hispanic male, 6-foot tall, with long black hair pulled back and a mustache and a goatee.

Thanks to Justin at CapitolHillSeattle.com for extensive help with this report.

Investigators from the Seattle Police Department and the King County Medical Examiner are investigating human remains found in the 3100 block of Fairview Ave. E. in Eastlake.

The Seattle Police Department says that at approximately 9:55 a.m. Saturday morning, people conducting a census of the homeless found what appeared to be a decomposing human leg bone on a wooded hillside on the east side of Fairview. The site is adjacent to the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge.

The Seattle Times quotes Heroes for the Homeless founder Tricia Lapitan as saying that three volunteers from the group were checking the area when one volunteer stepped on a plastic bag that appeared to contain human remains. 

"I guess it was from the knee down, and it was pretty decomposed," Lapitan told the Times.

The SPD reports the the King County Medical Examiner took possession of the remains. The SPD Homicide Unit is investigating the scene.

The area is marked off with police tape and investigators were seen bringing boxes of evidence down the hill and raking through leaves searching for more material. TV trucks and a police command center are set up in the area.

Eastlake residents and employees of nearby businesses were stopping by to see what was going on. 

One police officer said that investigators would probably be combing the location for evidence all night.

RELATED COVERAGE:

• Seattle Times' story is here.
• KING 5 News story is here.
• KIRO 7 has a story here.

UPDATE: This story has been updated since it was first published. New information from the Seattle Police Department has been added.

Two news items from Eastlake this morning:

Houseboat rescued: Police and fire units, including a police boat, were on the scene about 7:15 a.m. Tuesday morning in the 2800 block of Fairview Avenue E. where a houseboat was tipping and in danger of sinking. The houseboat was on the dock next to Lake Union Crew. Crews were attempting to keep the houseboat upright. The incident has been closed and appears to now be under control.

UPDATE: More details on the sinking house boat are provided by the Seattle Fire Department. The houseboat is under construction and no one was on board. Fire department crews were able to turn off water to the vessel and pump it out. After about 45 minutes it had been righted. A broken pipe is being considered as the cause for the tipping. Staff from the Department of Ecology and the Seattle Public Utilties were sent to investigate for a possible spill.

Romio's Pizza closes: The windows are papered over at Romio's Pizza & Pasta, 3242 Eastlake Ave. E., and the sign in the window says... (more)

Vanessa Ho is reporting on SeattlePI.com this morning that that City of Seattle had received a warning about a dangerous stairway before a cyclist crashed there on Aug. 30 and later died from his injuries.

Brian Fairbrother rode down the stairs at 1177 Fairview Ave. N. after missing that the bike path turns onto the street. He suffered head injuries. 

Seattle Department of Transportation spokesperson Rick Sheridan had been quoted last week in local media as saying that the city had never received a complaint about the path and stairs. The P-I is reporting that Michael Hoffman, a 31-year-old scientist at the University of Washington, wrote to the Parks Department in 2008 to complain that the stairs weren't safe for bikers.

According to the P-I article, Hoffman's Aug. 24, 2008, email said:

"It is not apparent until you are near the steps that they are actually steps rather than a ramp. I think this is dangerous currently. I would strongly recommend some warning signs here."

The P-I quotes... (more)

UPDATE: This post has been changed since it was first published. Information on repairs has been added.

2:07 p.m.: Andy Ryan, public information officer for Seattle Public Utilities, says crews are at work fixing this break:

Seattle Public Utility (SPU) crews have been working since 10 o’clock last night on the repair, which is expected to be completed within the next few hours. The crews are installing 16 feet of new 12-inch pipe.  About 25 homes have experienced low pressure or been without water, and 3 fire hydrants are affected.  There have been limited traffic impacts.  As is our standard practice, SPU crews are keeping people away from the work site for safety reasons.

Eastlake resident Phil Weiss has photos on Flickr of the break. | Update by cdmilton.

 ORIGINAL POST:

Sometime before 10pm on Wednesday, January 5th a water pipe exploded on Fairview Ave E between Newton and Boston, in front of the dock located at 2019 Fairview Ave E. The break caused considerable damage to the street, as well as massive flooding. The city sent emergency construction crews to repair the broken pipe.

At an open house in Eastlake on Wednesday evening, concerns over a project to rebuild the intersection of Fairview Avenue North and Fairview Avenue East came down to two: parking and access for large trucks.

As staff from the Seattle Department of Transporatation went over details of three proposed alternatives, representatives of businesses in the area focused on how the project might impact weekday parking in the area. They said that there is already enormous pressure on parking spaces in the block of Fairview E. between Fairview North and E. Garfield and that they were concerned the proposed designs would only make matters worse.

Fixing the intersection, which is notorious for speeding motorists and dicey pedestrian safety, has been an Eastlake community priority since the 1990s. The project's goals are to slow down motorists making high-speed turns onto Fairview E., make the intersection safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, preserve as much parking as possible, and complete the section of the Cheshiahud Loop trail that runs through the area.

While no one disputed the need to improve safety and access, owners and employees at businesses in the area worried that proposed designs would eliminate too many parking spaces. One owner, Ben Howe of Ralli Round, a car repair shop, said that any loss of parking might spell the end of his business.

George Neilson, president and COO of Lake Union Drydock, said that parking was also critical for his firm and the nine businesses who lease space at the drydock.

"Parking is a huge deal," he said, noting that none of the three alternatives presented by SDOT would work for the company.

One problem was trying to identify how many spaces might be lost in each of the three alternatives. SDOT staff said they had been "very conservative" in counting how many spaces would be allowed under each alternative. Currently, employees park in tandem, packing every available space. That might not be allowed under the redesign.

None of the three alternatives allow parking in the triangle of land next to the Washington State Employees Credit Union, something that is done now. 

"Hide and ride" bus commuters, people from other parts of the city and county, also put pressure on the area by parking there and taking transit into downtown. One speaker said she had seen homeless people living in their cars in the area. Another said he saw commuters drive up early, sleep in their cars for a while and then take transit into downtown.

Given how SDOT is counting spaces in the alternatives, it was difficult to know how many spaces would actually be lost. Estimates ranged from as few as 10 to a high of 70. 

Tim Ahlers, Eastlake Community Council secretary and a member of the stakeholders group that has been working on the alternatives, suggested that the city try to count the maximum number of cars that could be jammed in under each alternative. That would at least allow everyone to get an accurate idea of what might be lost.

Chris Leman, ECC president, said that a previous city engineer had committed to allowing the continuation of tandem parking in the area, a promise he feared was now being reneged on.

Another concern was access for large trucks that bring material to the drydock. At 75 feet long, the trucks are even bigger than Metro buses. Would trucks be able to make the turn onto Fairview E., participants wondered? Would there be space for them to park and unload? Business owners expressed concern that the designs might not have enough room.

After discussing the merits of the three proposals for almost 90 minutes, one audience member offered a suggestion: What if you closed Fairview Avenue E. where it meets Fairview Avenue North? The idea drew thoughtful comments from several in the room and seemed like it might offer new options.

George Neilson of Lake Union Drydock said after the meeting that vacating the intersection might work for his business. The main concern, he said, would be what the Seattle Fire Department thinks of the proposal. He noted that any time there is a fire call from the drydock, it gets a big response from SFD and the fire trucks usually arrive by turning off Fairview North onto Fairview East.

Particpants in the open house were asked to fill out a survey asking them what their priorities for the project were. The survey will also be available on SDOT's web page for the project. SDOT is hoping to collect the surveys within a week.

The plan is to have the stakeholders' group identify a perferred alternative in time for a second open house in January.

For more information on the project, as well as plans for the three current options, go to SDOT's website.

The Seattle Department of Transportation will sponsor an open house at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday (Oct. 27) on the Fairview Avenues East and North intersection project. The open house will be at Seward School, 2500 Franklin E., and the public is invited.

We've written about this project before on the occasion of the city approving $500,000 in Bridging the Gap funds to help meet the $750,000 cost.

The intersection in question is the point where Fairview Avenue North meets Fairview Avenue East just past ZymoGenetics. The 1998 Eastlake Neighborhood Plan took note of the intersection, asking for safety improvements.

The project's goal is to "square off" the intersection so cars going north on Fairview North won't be inclined to make a high speed turn onto Fairview East. The city would also like to finish a link here in the Cheshiahud Loop trail around Lake Union. Other improvements would be to provide sidewalks, decrease the distance pedestrians have to go to cross the street, and preserve on-street parking.

There are... (more)

UPDATE: This post has been updated since it was first published. Details about the project and an open house have been added.

A major reconstruction of the intersection of Fairview Avenue N. and Fairview Avenue E. came one step closer to realilzation Wednesday with the announcement of city funding for the project.

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn announced that the Eastlake project will be among 11 city-wide constructed through the Neighborhood Street Fund Large Project program. The Fairview intersection will receive $500,000 in voter-approved funds from the Bridging the Gap transportation levy. Total cost of the project is estimated at $750,000.

The intersection in question is at the point where Fairview North turns into Fairview East by the ZymoGenetics building (see map). According to the Seattle Department of Transportation web page on the project, Fairview East peels off of Fairview North at a 130 degree angle, causing traffic heading north to "take fast, sweeping right turns onto Fairview Ave. E. across a huge paved area. Motorists heading south on Fairview Ave N from Eastlake Ave also take fast, sweeping right turns onto Fairview Ave E across a huge paved area. Both turns endanger pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists alike."

According to the SDOT website, the idea behind the intersection project is to somehow "square off" the corner so cars will be less inclined to make a high-speed exit to Fairview Avenue E. (See attached drawing for one idea of how the intersection might look after the project is completed.)

The SDOT site says that, as part of the project, the department would like to install a pathway that would connect the intersection with a pathway that goes past Lake Union Drydock and NOAA. The idea would be to provide sidewalks at the intersection and give pedestrians shorter crossing distances as well as fill a gap in the bike/pedestrian link between downtown and the University of Washington.

Tim Ahlers, Eastlake Community Council president, is on the advisory committee for the intersection. He says in an e-mail that the drawing on the SDOT site is only an idea at this point, not a formal plan. The committe had its first meeting last week and talked about goals and brainstormed about how to meet those goals, he says. SDOT plans for the intersection may be presented at the committee's next meeting.

A public open house on the project is planned for Wednesday, Oct. 27, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Seward School, 2500 Franklin Ave. E.

More about the project can be found on SDOT's website.

UPDATE: This post has been changed since it was first published. The time for the event has been corrected and more details have been added about the event.

The program is growing for the Eastlake Community Celebration on Saturday.

The event, sponsored by the Eastlake Community Council and Wards Cove, will be from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday on the stretch of Fairview between Hamlin and the P-Patch and Fairview Park, 2900 Fairview Ave. E. The event will celebrate the completion of the new plots at the P-Patch and the beach and street renovations along Fairview.

Mayor Mike McGinn is scheduled to arrived around 2 p.m. to tour the block and cut ribbons at the P-Patch and the beach starting at 2:30 p.m. Others on the ribbon-cutting program include Laurie Ames from the Department of Neighborhoods P-Patch Program, Joel Blair from Wards Cove and a representative of the Eastlake P-Patch.

Other events on the schedule include:

• A pet parade at 1 p.m. Gather at 12:30 p.m. in the parking lot at Washington Employers Trust.
• Judging of the Eastlake walking fish decorating contest at 4:30 p.m. The winner gets at $100 gift certificate to the Eastlake business or non-profit of their choice.
• Music: A violin and cello duo (violinist is Jen Kozel; cellist is local resident Paige Stockley Lerner) performs at 1 p.m. by the P-Patch. Samba group Batucada Yemanja plays in the Wards Cove parking lot after the ribbon cutting. One member is local resident Janet Yoger.
• Classic cars organized by Fairview resident Tommy Eggleston
• Food for purchase from a local taco truck
• Booths featuring local non-profit organizations, including Feet First (PARKing Day), People for Puget Sound (info on keeping the Sound clean), Eastlake Community Council (info on Lake Union and emergency preparedness) and the Cascade Bicycle Club (fitting bike helmets for kids and adults).
• P-Patch tours and information: P-Patch volunteers will have pamphlets explaining how they did the expansion, a sign-up sheet for volunteers and hand-outs on the P-Patch and Department of Neighborhoods programs.
• A display on the history of Wards Cove and the debut of a new history of the houseboats by Historylink.org will be available as will the history display in the Wards Cove office building.
• Free water and t-shirts while they last will be available at the Wards Cove table.

For more information contact Chris Leman at cleman@oo.net or 206-322-5463.

Eastlake residents are encouraged to bring their own picnic and enjoy it in the park. Eastlake Ave. will be on the scene Saturday. See you there!

Seen with the walking fish are, from left, Clarise Coker, Lynn Howell, Carol Eychaner, Dick Arnold, Lynn Poser and Jules James. Photo date unknown.

The Eastlake Community Celebration on Aug. 14 will feature the return of the fabled walking fish. There's still time to pick up one of the fish (see the photo to see what they look like), decorate it and enter it in the contest at the event on the 14th.

The community celebration runs from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 14, on Fairview from Hamlin to Fairview Park. The street will be closed for the event.

The fish, I am told, first made an appearance in Eastlake in the 1990s and were part of an effort to draw attention to the Lake Union shoreline and push for more access points for local residents.

If you'd like to decorate a fish, contact Kathleen Wilson at 206-789-5668. She'll tell you how to pick one up. Bring the fish to the event at Fairview Park (2900 Fairview) on Saturday starting at noon to enter it.

The winning artist will receive a $100 gift certificate to the Eastlake business or non-profit of their choice.

Wilson says that several non-profit groups have signed up to attend the event, including Feet First, People for Puget Sound and the Cascade Bicycle Club. Mayor Mike McGinn will stop by around 2:30 p.m. to cut ribbons for the new P-Patch plots and the new beach and shoreline at the Wards Cove redevelopment.

There will also be classic cars, a pet parade, a local taco truck selling food and a few appetizers from at least one local resident. Bring your picnic and meet your neighbors!

We have more details about the big Eastlake community celebration event set for the afternoon of Saturday, Aug. 14. The event will celebrate the new shoreline and green street at Wards Cove and the completion of the new plots at the Eastlake P-Patch.

The event will be from noon to 5 p.m. on Fairview Avenue E. from E. Hamlin to the P-Patch and Fairview Park. That stretch of Fairview will be closed during that time.

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn will stop by about 2:30 p.m. to participate in ribbon cuttings for the beach, shoreline and street at Wards Cove and the 24 new plots at the P-Patch.

Wards Cove will be celebrating the redevelopment of its Seattle base. Gone are buildings that housed fishing equipment during the winter. In their place is an office building, a marina, new houseboat slips and a green street in the 2800 block of Fairview E. that includes the beach, new pathways and sidewalks, and natural landscaping that helps slow and clean storm runoff.

The event includes the return of the historic Eastlake "walking fish" art, this time as an art competition. Neighborhood businesses and residents are encouraged to decorate a plywood walking fish before the event and enter it. The creators of the winning fish will receive a $100 gift certificate to the Eastlake business of their choice. If you'd like to decorate a fish, contact Kathleen at 206-789-5668.

(I don't know much about the walking fish. You can see an example of the fish in a photo from the Eastlake Community Council archives that is attached to this post. If you know the history of the fish, please feel free to post it in the comments below.)

Other activities at the community celebration include:

• A pet parade (gather at 12:30 p.m. at the Washington Employers parking lot at 2940 Fairview E.)
• Live music
• Non-profit educational booths
• Antique cars and trucks
• P-Patch tours
• A display on the history of Wards Cove Packing Company

A new essay on the history of the houseboats by HistoryLink.org will be shared. Bring your own picnic lunch to enjoy in the park. There will also be food available for purchase.

Two of the bridges that feed traffic to Eastlake -- the University and Fairview Avenue bridges -- will undergo repairs starting next week, the Seattle Department of Transportation reports. The repairs will restrict traffic on the bridges during parts of the day.

• The Fairview Avenue Bridge (1300 block of Fairview, on the lake side of ZymoGenetics) will be painted begining Feb. 16. The work is expected to take three weeks. The bike lane next to the bridge railing will be narrowed during the work, so SDOT urges bike riders to be careful. Also, the contractor may reduce traffic to one lane in each direction during work hours. The full width of the bridge will be open for vehicle traffic between 6 and 9 a.m. and 4 and 6 p.m., Mondays through Fridays.
• On the University Bridge, the northbound, right-hand lane on the north approach will be closed for repairs under the bridge from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 17 and 18.

At a time when real estate development seems to be on hold everywhere, one project is moving forward: The Enclave at Wards Cove on Fairview Avenue E.

A preview of the project for brokers and potential homeowners took place Thursday evening, July 23, at the new office building and marina at Wards Cove. Nick Glant of NWG Real Estate says the project has been "well received."

Twenty one three-story townhouses will be built on the east side of Fairview, starting at the corner at Hamlin and working south. Prices are "anticipated" to start at $1.3 million, according to a press release for the project. While presales haven't begun yet, Glant says seven people did sign residential agreements this week.

One house on the site has already been removed. Glant says that was necessary to clean up soil contamination from the old Bar Mart site above. The open lot marks where the second phase of the project will be located. Construction on the first phase, which will begin at the corner of Hamlin and Fairview and will require the removal of the remaining houses between the now-vacant lot and the corner at Hamlin, is expected to start by the end of the year, he says.

Construction is down across Seattle and that has benefitted The Enclave. It has enabled Trinity Real Estate, developers of the project, to see construction cost savings of 20% to 30%, according to a press release announcing Thursday's preview event. 

Residents of The Enclave will enjoy rooftop decks, access to the new marina, a gym and a guest suite in the new office building on the site. Units will range from 2,500 square feet to more than 3,000.

Glant is presenting the property to perspective buyers. Trinity Real Estate is the developer and Atelier Jones is the architect.

Other parts of the Wards Cove redevelopment include 12 houseboat slips, a marina and a new office building. Those are being developed separately from The Enclave.

Other links:

• Our previous post on The Enclave.
• Plans for the Wards Cove redevelopent were detailed in this Seattle P-I story in April, 2006.
• The Wards Cove company web site is here.
• Details on the new marina, office building and floating home slips which have already been built are here.

A Lake Union houseboat burglary netted the thief the victim's purse and her car in a break-in earlier this month.

According to the police report, the burglar entered the houseboat moored in the 2600 block of Fairview Ave the night of July 3rd. The report states the suspect entered the house through an unlocked door, and took the purse of a 58-year-old woman staying at the residence. The purse contained keys to the victim’s car. The thief then made off with the purse and the vehicle, which the report valued at over $15,000.

The report did not provide information on what type of car was stolen. According to the report, no fingerprints were found at the scene.

Next Tuesday is Bastille Day and what better way to acknowledge French independence than with a community work party to clean up the Eastlake Bouledrome for the season?

A group of neighbors gathered Friday evening at the Bouledrome, located in the street end park at Fairview East where East Louisa would intersect (if only Louisa went through). It was a great chance to help the neighborhood and find out a little history of the park and the Bouledrome (and learn how to play petanque).

Linda Furney, Carsten Stinn and their son, Enzo (Teamenzo), were instrumental (with the help of many neighbors) in getting the project done in 2006. According to a blog post from Teamenzo in 2007, it took about six months of working with various City departments and local businesses to create the Bouledrome and petanque court.

The site had previously been parking for a dock and boat repair business. When the business was closed and the dock replaced by houseboats, the street end became available for development. Teamenzo and other neighbors sprang into action to make the park and petanque court a reality.

Dirt for the court came from Safeco Field. The special clay soil used on the pitcher's mound is rotated every two months, Carsten said, and he was able to get some for free. Granite curb stones removed from Pioneer Square were obtained from the city and form the edges of the court. Linda wrote the explanation of petanque that is on a plaque next to the court.

I'm not going to go into all the details of how you play petanque, mainly because I don't know them. You can read more about the game on the Petanque America web site (they also sell equipment).

It's the French variation on the Italian game of "bocci." In brief, the small orange ball you'll see in the photos is called the "piglet." The idea is to roll the large silver balls as close to the piglet as possible. Beyond that, you're going to have to ask Linda and Carsten.

Helping out with the clean up party Friday were Teamenzo (Linda, Carsten and Enzo), Marsh and Sue Bugge, Canek Gordillo and Kate Milenba, Tim Ahlers and yours truly.

The Bouledrome is always looking for new players and for people willing to help out. One concern is getting enough water to plants around the court. If you'd like to help out or play, wander down in the evenings and there's likely someone around who can show you the game or talk to you about volunteering. 

Check the Petanque America web site for more information, including more photos and a story about the Eastlake Bouledrome.

A man who was working on a boat in the 1500 block of Fairview Avenue E. on Friday afternoon was rescued after he fell into a hole and couldn't get out. Seattlepi.com's 911 blog has the story here.

Police report a car that was parked in the 900 block of Fairview Avenue N. was broken in to sometime between 6:15 and 9 p.m. on Thursday, April 9.

The owner parked the car and went to nearby restaurant. When he returned he found the side rear window of the car broken (damage estimate is $300) and numerous items stolen. Police are investigating.