Registration is now open for summer workshops at The Greater Seattle Bureau of Fearless Ideas, Greenwood’s nonprofit tutoring and writing center.
From secret codes and songwriting to dystopian fiction, Star Wars poetry, and college essay composition, we have weekday workshops to appeal to everyone ages 7 to 18. Find the full summer workshop schedule and sign-up forms right here.
The Cookie Counter, a vegan bakery and ice cream shop that’s trying to open at 7415 Greenwood Ave. N., is looking for a new plumber to finish work on their shop after their former plumber took them for a ride. If anyone is a local plumber, or can recommend someone who can finish up the work that should only take a couple of days, please contact Chelsea at [email protected] In the meantime, they’re using a borrowed kitchen and will have regular pop-up hours at their front window starting later this week (3-9 p.m. most weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays; they’ll also be open during this Saturday’s Pride Rainbow Hop.) They’ll be serving cookies, ice cream and Anchorhead coffee, plus hand pies on Sundays. See their online Calendar.
This Saturday is National Trails Day. Seattle Parks and Recreation has partnered with mobile app Totago, which helps people get outdoors without a vehicle. Check out the details for a special hike through Carkeek Park.
Just a reminder that package theft is prevalent in our neighborhood. Anne tells us someone stole a package off her porch on NW 88th between 6th and 8th last Friday afternoon. If ordering from Amazon, it’s a good idea to use an Amazon locker, which are located at several spots in our neighborhood, including a new one at Ken’s Market.
Burglars broke into Bjarko Serra Architects at the corner of NW 70th Street and 3rd Avenue NW early last Thursday morning. Surveillance video from the business next door, Adorn/Renate Ruby, shows the two men at the window at 4:40 a.m., shortly before the break-in next door. The burglars broke through a back window and stole an old computer (all the other computers are chained to the walls).
Coyote sightings have been fairly frequent in our neighborhood lately, but Mandy tells us that last week her husband saw one walking down the middle of the street by the pocket park at NW 76th Street and 6th Avenue NW with what looked like a cat in its mouth. Pet owners may want to think twice about letting their cats outside.
The American Lung Association provides free in-home air quality assessments for Seattle residents. It’s especially helpful for families with children, people with allergies and asthma, older adults, and anybody concerned about the quality of their indoor environment. Contact the Master Home Environmentalist Program at 206-512-3280.
The City of Seattle is looking for contractors for outreach work to underrepresented communities.
Seattle Department of Neighborhoods is seeking individuals to do part-time outreach work to underrepresented communities in Seattle’s neighborhoods. Known as Public Outreach and Engagement Liaisons (POELs), these contractors must be connected to their respective cultures, fluent in the languages, and bi-cultural and bi-lingual. The main tasks of a POEL are to provide:
- Quality translations.
- Fair and equitable facilitation (in native language) to culturally specific community groups.
- Simultaneous interpretation.
- Feedback and expertise on cultural concerns and barriers.
- Planning and execution of community workshops and events that parallel larger City-hosted meetings.
POELs are compensated independent contractors. The positions are generally flexible with any type of schedule and include either daytime or evening hours as well as some weekends. The applicants much have extensive experience organizing and facilitating community meetings, and must be fluent and able to interpret and translate in at least one other language. The languages we are presently seeking include Vietnamese, Chinese (both Mandarin and Cantonese), Spanish, Korean, and Somali. The applicants must live or work in the following neighborhoods:
- North End: Especially Lake City and Northgate
- University District
- West Seattle
If interested, please send a resume or a short biography, plus two references to: [email protected] or Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, POEL Program, P.O. Box 94649, Seattle, WA 98124.
For more information about the POEL program, visit seattle.gov/neighborhoods/programs-and-services/outreach-and-engagement.
Seattle Parks has a QuickStart Tennis League for Beginning Youth at 14 community centers across the city for kids with little or no tennis experience. The league runs from June 27 to Aug. 17.
QuickStart tennis is an introductory program developed by the United States Tennis Association designed to get youth playing tennis, quickly. Visit their websitewww.10andundertennis.com to learn more about the concept. In six years, SPR has used the program to introduce more than 1,500 kids to the game of tennis in a fun learning environment with the help of more than 100 volunteers. Sitting at home is not as much fun as getting out and playing!
The QuickStart league will consist of two age brackets: seven-eight year olds playing on a 36’ court (standard court is 78’ long) and nine-10 year olds playing on a 60’ court. All equipment and supplies will be provided. The league fee is $40 per player for the eight-week program. Partial scholarships are available to youth who cannot afford the program.
Practices and matches will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays between 6 and 8 p.m., depending on age. Sign up in person by visiting a community center or online using a SPARC account. Parent participation is HIGHLY encouraged, as this is a family game!
For more information, or to sign up to be a volunteer, please contact Carl Bergquist at 206-684-4764 or [email protected].
United Way is hiring 100 Summer Corps members for the Fuel Your Future Summer Corps team to work at summer meal sites.
Our goal this year is to serve 750,000 meals to hungry kids, and we need 100 people to do that! We are looking for self-starters who are passionate about improving their community. People who have experience with kids, are outgoing and have strong verbal communication will be successful in this position. To be eligible for this program, you must be at least 18 years of age. Benefits include a monthly stipend, an Education Award of roughly $1,200, ORCA transportation to and from work, and school credit is available!
For details about our program, highlights of the day-to-day work, benefits and application, please visit our website at www.uwkc.org/ServeUpSummer.
The King County Department of Assessments has begun sending out annual property valuation notices to property owners. Notices will continue arriving through early September.
In many areas of the county, property values are up again this year. Higher valuations, however, do not necessarily translate into higher property taxes. Increasing prices for properties when sold, voter approved tax measures, and improvements to properties all may contribute to increased taxes. These will vary by neighborhood and by any given property.
This year, Assessor John Wilson is encouraging property owners to sign up for a new program to receive their annual property valuation notice via email instead of through the USPS. This new electronic valuation notice program will save money for the Department of Assessments, and is environmentally friendly. Check this out at www.kingcounty.gov/assessor and click on the “Go Paperless” window for details. Paperless notifications saves taxpayer dollars in staff time, materials and postage.
Property owners who believe their assessment may be incorrect, can appeal to the Board of Equalization (BOE). This must be done within 60 days of receipt of the 2016 valuation notice. Details are available at the Department of Assessments website www.kingcounty.gov/assessor or the BOE at https://www.kingcounty.gov/independent/board-of-appeals/about.aspx.
Seattle Department of Neighborhoods is providing Small Sparks Fund matching funds to support neighborhood Night Out activities. The 32nd annual Night Out is on Aug. 2.
The Small Sparks Fund provides funding for neighborhood-initiated projects that promote community engagement and relationship building. Community groups can request up to $1000 to help fund Night Out activities such as outreach materials, cultural entertainment, music, food, and kids’ activities, to name a few. The deadline for applications is Friday, July 1 at 5:00 p.m., but you must register first in our web-based application system to apply.
For information on the application process, visit seattle.gov/neighborhoods/nmf/smallsparks.htm or call 206-733-9916. The Small Sparks Fund is open to applications year-round for such activities as block parties, neighborhood sports tournaments, community picnics, and emergency preparation training, just to name a few.
Night Out is a national crime prevention event designed to heighten crime prevention awareness, increase neighborhood support in anti-crime efforts, and unite communities. To learn more or to register for Night Out, visit www.seattle.gov/police/Nightout/.
