While you are at the center, check out the new pathways that have been created at the water’s edge and in the wetlands. You can see the huge beaver lodge and many stumps where the beavers have gnawed down trees to make their lodge. The trees they have cut down have very distinct teeth marks on the top. There are other trees that the beavers gnawed on but left standing and created some interesting outdoor art for their habitat.

Submitted by Julee Neuhart 9/27/2013

An armed citizen coming to the aid of others stops a suspect who stole a boat and went on a rampage.

On September 15th at approximately 10:53 p.m. Patrol and Harbor officers responded to Portage Bay in the 2600 block of Boyer Avenue East for the report of a man who was ramming boats and the docks with a boat he was piloting.

Preliminary investigation indicates that the 22-year-old male suspect stole a 35-foot yaught in the Queen City Yaught Club (Portage Bay) and began ramming other boats and the docks. A man on the docks feared that the lives of the other boat owners and people standing on the docks were in imminent danger. He armed himself with a shotgun and fired at the suspect, striking the suspect on the head and hand. This stopped the suspect’s dangerous actions.

The suspect then began exiting the stolen boat he was piloting as responding officers arrived on scene. The suspect, who was completely naked from the waist down and believed to be high on narcotics, was taken into custody without further incident.

Fire department medics treated the suspect at the scene and subsequently transported him to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

The suspect caused extensive damage to the docks at the yaught club and also damaged multiple boats. Thankfully nobody innocent was injured during the incident. The armed citizen was interviewed by officers and released at the scene.

The suspect remains under police guard at the hospital. Upon release he will be booked into the King County Jail for boat theft and property damage, both felonies.

This remains an active and on-going investigation.

The legislation was proposed by Transportation Committee Chair Tom Rasmussen after local residents asked the city to give Montlake Elementary School teachers RPZ 1 permits, allowing them all-day access to on-street parking near the school. In recent years, as RPZ 1 has expanded throughout Montlake, school teachers were forced to park farther and farther away, or move their cars every 2 hours. To reduce the burden, some residents donated their guest parking passes to the school. This new legislation could change all of that…

This is where “under certain conditions” come into play. The new rules intend to allow permits for employees without good alternatives for parking, as determined by the director of SDOT. The Council adopted the following guidelines to inform each judgement call:

Among the criteria the Director shall consider in determining whether to grant requests for employee RPZ permits are:

1. Availability of on-street parking on non-RPZ- signed blocks that is within a reasonable walking distance of the employer;

2. Availability of alternate modes of transportation within a reasonable distance;

3. Availability of off-street parking within a reasonable distance;

4. Availability of on-street parking in the RPZ;

5. Time of day that employees work;

6. Number of permits requested by the employer;

7. Existence of other employers within the RPZ that could potentially also request employee permits; and

8. Other hardships that may exist.

For many Montlake residents the call is clear — teachers should be able to park near their school. Whether local businesses should also have the same privileges for their employees is perhaps not as clear. Implementing these new rules is now the pleasure of Seattle’s Director of Transportation.

Eight candidates for mayor attended last night’s Livable Streets Forum, squaring off in a fierce battle of friendliness. The Seattle Neighborhood Greenways sponsored event drew a crowd of about 150 people, all presumably curious to hear how each candidate plans to make our streets more walk and bike friendly. Who can argue with safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists? Well, Mary Martin can…

Notable, quotable moments from the forum:

Steinbrueck: Wants to return to a time when kids can safely ride bikes to school. Suggests folks might be able to cross through private easements, even backyards.

McGinn: Reminds crowd he built sidewalks, implemented “Complete Streets” design guidelines, put up speed cameras near schools.

Staadecker: Wants to paint wildebeests in crosswalks to appeal to kids. More seriously, encourage schools and neighborhoods to fund their own crossing guards.

Gray: A life-long bike advocate. As Mayor, would build information system to leverage existing safe-routes-to-school research.

Murray: Funded safe routes to school program as a state legislator. Supports the Bridging the Gap levy to fund local improvement projects. Is big into chicanes.

Kate Martin: A strong Neighborhood Greenways advocate. In contrast to McGinn’s “400-year plan” to fund greenways, Martin has a 10-year plan. Says McGinn hasn’t done enough.

Harrell: Important to enrich the safety around schools, not just routes to them. Would fund Community Service Officers to help walk students to school.

McGinn: Hopes to see a total transformation of city streets by the time he’s 85.

Mary Martin: The capitalist system is in collapse. Need to free “Cuban Five” political prisoners.

Staadecker: All candidates will make great promises about improving streets, but it costs money. As mayor, would work faster than McGinn.

Gray: We need extreme action to end climate change now. Supports ADA.

Murray: Once tripped on a broken sidewalk, tore rotator cuff. We need better funding and planning.

Harrell: Suggests looking at a vehicle licensing fee and really “selling” it to the voters to raise funds, improve streets.

Steinbrueck: Mother-in-law killed at a Seattle intersection a few years ago. Would like to eliminate all bicycle and pedestrian fatalities on city streets. Neighborhood Greenways is the antidote.

Moderator: How would you allocate $100 to road repair, sidewalks, bike lanes, street trees and transit service? All candidates prioritized road repair first, except Mary Martin who dismissed the premise of the question, suggesting a public jobs program instead.

McGinn: “Stop wasting money on massive new highways.” Dings Murray: Olympia failed us by not passing a transportation package this year.

While Steinbrueck and McGinn vied for shortest pledge to complete Seattle’s Pedestrian Master Plan (8 and 7 years respectively), Harrell went for the cold-hard-truth approach — 25 years — suggesting it would take many hundreds of millions of dollars to complete.

Moderator: Do you support 2015 levy to fund Seattle’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plans? All candidates: Yes, except Mary Martin, who wants jobs.

Moderator: Should kids play in the street? Staadecker: yes, if closed off.

Steinbrueck: We should prioritize our streets for pedestrians, bikes, transit and vehicles. In that order.

Moderator: What other cities inspire you? Gray likes nifty bicycle uphill assist things in Norway. Murray likes Amsterdam, Barcelona cycle tracks and Grafton Street in Dublin. Harrell: “Well, I’ve never been to Amsterdam and Barcelona, but I have been to Portland.”

Murray: McGinn criticizes Olympia — we need to work with Olympia.

Kate Martin: Retrofit the Viaduct and turn top deck into a park, watch sunsets.

Harrell: Portland has done a good job of driving pedestrian project costs down with efficiencies.

Steinbrueck: A student of cities all over the world, but likes New York City, San Francisco and Cambridge.

Mary Martin: “We can’t bike our way to power.” Envisions a Seattle that looks like Cuba. “We need a class revolution.”