We have two separate reports of gunfire in the neighborhood early this morning.

Michael emails: “Anyone else hear what sounded more like 8-9 gunshots and not fireworks at 1:41 a.m. last night?

“We live on Northeast 97th Street near 15th Avenue Northeast. It was so loud and scary we hit the deck!

“Sirens were a few minutes later (according to my wife).”

And Tim emails:

I live on Northeast 90th Street and 12th Avenue Northeast and last night around 1:45 a.m. (my 9-month-old was up) I heard about 10 gunshots to the south. I called the police and they said they had quite a few calls with the same report. Have you heard anything else about this? I haven’t been able to find anything in the news about it.

We have a call in to the police PIO.

From SPD:

Officers responded to a “shots fired” call in the area of 14th Avenue Northeast Northeast 120 Street near Pinehurst playfield. No persons or property were struck by the bullets. Several spent casings of two different calibers were recovered as evidence. None of the participants in the shooting were around when police arrived.

Maybe we’ll break 88 today, but It’s currently 87 degrees at Maple Leaf Life South.

Friday’s high, though, is forecast to plunge to 71 degrees. Then rain returns on Saturday, with a high of 59.

Update: Mama has been found! We are elated and go grateful for your help!

————————

Angie emails this morning:

My husband and I have spent all morning searching for our cat who got out last night. Her name is Mama. We live at Northeast 96th Street and Eighth Avenue Northeast, right next door to Olympic View. Her photos are attached.

Can you please put a posting up on the blog? We’re going to put fliers up around the neighborhood. Our cell #s are 206-229-5696 and 602-373-7090.

She’s an indoor cat only, so we’re afraid she’ll meet some raccoons, dogs, etc and hope to find her soon.

Update: Annie is home.

James from Doggie Style found her and called just a bit ago. This is my plug for all dog owners in the ‘hood: show James some love by getting your pup groomed at Doggie Style! #customers4life.

————————————————

Nancy emails:

Found black & white dog. Call 206-527-6174. Otherwise animal control coming in the morning - April 30th.

Separately, Jen emails that her dog is lost this morning:

Annie slipped out of our yard on Roosevelt Way Northeast and Northeast 103rd. She wasn’t feeling well and I don’t think she went far, but we can’t find her. She is a sweet, 13-year-old Australian Shepherd, but looks like a fluffy puppy (big front paws). She is blue merle, mostly salt and pepper, no tail. Again, super sweet and slightly deaf. She is chipped but not wearing a collar. Please call Jen 372-8397 if found or seen.

79 degrees and getting hotter later this week.

Shorts and sun dresses are in at the park.

Two- no, three -crime things that today have come across what would once have been our transom.

A common theme in Maple Leaf, but I mistakenly left my garage door open last night and in the morning, I noticed my car door and hood ajar in my garage. Someone stole the few items that were in the car, but I had nothing of real value other than a really old GPS unit that doesn’t really work well. It seemed like a grab and go, since items in my garage and trunk were not taken. However, it was quite brazen, since I live in a small 4 townhouse group on Northeast 94th Sgtreet and you have to walk into a driveway area that only goes to our 4 garages. A reminder to always keep everything locked.

I just wanted to let you know that there was a theft that occurred between April 11-27 on the corner of Northeast 85th Street and Fourth Avenue Northeast. I can’t tell you exactly when the theft occurred because I was on vacation when it happened. The contents inside my car’s glove box and other storage units within the vehicle were strewn about the passenger seat and floor, but only a GPS device was stolen from the car. The peculiar thing about all of this was that the car windows were not damaged. I’m not sure how the suspect broke into the car without breaking the windows or damaging the door locks. This is the 2nd theft that has occurred in the last year and a half since I moved to Maple Leaf and I know that there have been numerous other crimes occurring in the area. I hope that reporting these events will help increase awareness and boost police presence.

Hey guys,

We had a nicer fold up ladder stolen last night/this morning. It was our only access to our small roof garden.

We don’t know the brand or enough details to make a police report, but wanted to get the word out in case the community could help locate it.

Stolen from near Northeast 98th Street and 17th Avenue Northeast.

I hope someone has seen it!

Update: There is now a Sound Transit press release about this event here.

Brenda, the Tunnel Boring Machine that already bored a segment of the light rail tunnel from downtown to the University of Washington, is being given a send off this afternoon at the Maple Leaf Portal.

With speakers, ceremony and a smashed cider bottle, Brenda is on her way again from the portal across First Avenue Northeast from Silver Platters and SAS Shoes.

Two light rail tunnels will be drilled from this location to Sound Transit’s Roosevelt Station, on 12th Avenue Northeast near Northeast 65th Street.

Marcus Donner, at the Puget Sound Business Journal, has more photos here.

Olympic View Elementary School’s highly popular plant sale has been combined with its annual used book sale this year, and both are this Friday and Saturday.

Together, they’ve been rebranded Books & Blooms, and as usual will take place at the school, 504 N.E. 95th St.

Hours are:

Friday Blooms 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Books 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Saturday Books and Blooms 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

A flier about the event is here. (pdf)

Late afternoon update April 24: Metro has released new estimates of what routes will be lost or changed. The original figure of 600,000 service hours lost (17 percent of service) has been reduced to 550,000 hours (16 percent).

The revised recommendation will do the following:

Delete 72 routes (formerly 74)

Change 84 routes (formerly 107)

Leave 58 routes unchanged (formerly 33)

The new estimates are here.

Update April 24: Preliminary results from election night indicate that in the state legislative district that includes Maple Leaf (the “Fightin’ 46th, which also includes much of northeast Seattle), the vote passed roughly 59 to 41 percent.

On the other hand, turnout was only 34 percent.

Returns mailed up until the Tuesday deadline are still coming in and being counted.

Also, in comments below Tim has posted a link to the map at right, which shows election night returns. Blue is “yes,” red “no.” The full countywide map is here.

————————————

With the defeat of King County’s Proposition 1, local transit supporters have already announced an initiative, aimed at November’s ballot, to raise money locally for buses.

Seattle voters only would vote on hiking taxes only in Seattle, and the resulting buses would only serve Seattle.

The measure could raise up to $25 million a year for the next six years, enough to reverse most cuts to King County Metro routes that serve Seattle.

“Seattle will grind to a halt if we don’t act fast to save buses,” said Ben Schiendelman, founder of Friends of Transit and proponent of the ballot measure. “Seattle voters want better transit. We will not rest until we have reversed these cuts and begun making the investments we need to provide Seattle with the transit system it deserves.”

The full press release from Friends of Transit is here. The idea is to hike Seattle property taxes $22 per $100,000 of assessed value for the next six years. It thus avoids the $60 car tab fee that likely doomed Tuesday’s transit vote.

Here in Maple Leaf the toll would be something in the neighborhood of $80 to $100 annually.

Here are stories by The Seattle Times, the Stranger and seattlepi.com.

Should another bus tax make the November ballot, it will follow a vote, currently scheduled for August, on likely the largest property tax levy in Seattle history - for parks.

City Councilman Nick Licata sent an email blast this afternoon:

On Monday, April 28th, the City Council’s Select Committee on Parks Funding will meet to finalize its proposal for a Seattle Park District funding measure. It would go to voters in August and, if passed, would replace the city’s current levy process with a separate taxing authority authorized under the State’s amended Metropolitan Park Districts law.

Last month the Times’ Danny Westneat looked at that proposal here.

But the tax to pay for this would be the largest property-tax levy in city history — and not by a slight amount. At $54 million a year, it’s 35 percent bigger than the Seattle record-holder, the 2006 “Bridging the Gap” street-repair tax, which is still in effect.

The new parks tax would be more than double the last parks levy. Plus, under this plan it could be nearly doubled again without going back to the voters.

In today’s email Licata says the council’s committee has reduced that $54 million to “around $48 million.

“While some reductions to arrive at this level were technical administrative adjustments, such as staffing expense reductions, others did propose program reductions, such as reducing 25 new programs totaling $205,000 in the Recreation Opportunities for All category.”

Licata would like to restore $200,000 to the recreation category. He proposes other changes as well. His blog is here.

Seattle Police report a fight just north of Northgate Mall ended with a truck set on fire and at least one arrest.

In addition to the police press release, our news partner The Seattle Times has a story with map here.

Police said that the suspect, a man in his 20s, was arguing with the vehicle’s owner, a 28-year old man, over a woman who was part of their group. The suspect pulled a gun, poured a flammable substance into the truck, and set it on fire. The incident occurred in the 11300 block of Corliss Avenue North.

The incident occurred just before 11 p.m.

The Easter egg hunt in Maple Leaf Reservoir Park got going earlier this morning - followed by rain.

A lot of rain.

And wind. At Maple Leaf Life South, 19 mph at 11:19 a.m.

Umbrellas were blown inside out.

Actually, it appeared there were at least two hunts - the one pictured here, sponsored by Lux Communities, and one a couple hours earlier in the lower park. (Kids plus a puppy.)

As for the rest of the day, here’s what KOMO tweeted earlier:

Spring migration is here, and we’re hoping our bird list for Maple Leaf Reservoir Park grows considerably in the next few months.

This morning we spotted several Savannah Sparrows at the park’s north end, near the water tower.

It’s the 28th 29th 30th species we’ve added to the list. Red-breasted Nuthatch on April 19th! Spotted Towee on Easter 2014.

What makes it a Savannah Sparrow? From the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

Not all streaky brown birds are impossible to identify: Take a closer look at this one and you’ll see an understated but distinctive sparrow with a short tail, small head, and telltale yellow spot before the eye. Savannah Sparrows are one of the most numerous songbirds in North America, and while sometimes overlooked, are likely visitors across the continent.

Let us know what you spot. The rules are simple - you must see the bird in, or from, the park. And you must be able to identify it or tell us where and how you saw it. (If we can’t ID it, there are several Maple Leaf neighbors who can.)

We’re expecting Osprey and swallows soon. (And tomorrow, bunnies!)

Actually, another new species was spotted recently at the park, but we decided not to list it. Under birds.

On Fifth Avenue Northeast across from the Northgate branch library.

Update: A newly released Elway Poll finds that 74 percent of voters statewide surveyed last week said they supported higher local taxes for roads and 60 percent said they supported higher taxes for transit.

Note these are statewide findings, not just in King County where Prop. 1 is on the ballot.

It also seems to contradict a similar poll a year ago.

——————————————————

Ballots for or against the tax hike to fund bus service and other transportation pieces must be postmarked by midnight next Tuesday, April 22.

Earlier this week our news partner The Seattle Times ran an explainer outlining the pros and cons of the proposal.

Among other things, it delves into the questions over bus drivers’ pay.

The proposal calls for a $60 car-tab fee and a tenth-of-a-cent sales-tax increase for roads and buses.

Voters are being asked to approve Proposition 1, which calls for a sales-tax boost of 0.1 percent, or a dime per $100 purchase; plus a yearly $60 car-tab fee, to replace a $20 fee that expires this summer. Metro would get 60 percent, while the remaining 40 percent would be split among city and county street departments.

Crosscut also has two quite different takes on the election. Conservative commentator and one-time gubernatorial candidate John Carlson argues against it here. Frustrated residents of First Hill - including Tom Gibbs, Metro’s first director - argue the opposite here.

It’s worth noting that the Seattle City Council is now considering an election later this year that would double the city’s parks levy, raising the annual cost for the owner of a $400,000 home from $76 to $168.

It would both maintain existing parks and add new ones, as well as fund new programs.

Here’s a Crosscut piece on parks published April 18th.

Two Maple Leaf groups have let the community know that they are holding celebrations around the Easter holiday this weekend.

Both are happening on Saturday.

The Lakeview Free Methodist Church, at 9412 15th Ave. N.E., is holding its annual Carnival of Eggs on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. All are invited.

And a relative newcomer, Lux Communities, has planned an egg hunt in the Maple Leaf Reservoir Park.

Lux Communities and Lux Coffee Company will be sponsoring a FREE Community Egg Hunt on April 19th from 11 a.m.- 1 p.m. at the Maple Leaf Reservoir Park.

The Egg Hunt will have age graded opportunities for children 2-10 yrs. of age (roughly). It will be gathering at the Roosevelt and 85th Street side of the park. This event has been approved by the Seattle Parks Department

Memorial photo added April 22nd.

A 17-year-old woman was hit and killed by a pickup truck on Fifth Avenue Northeast this morning, police say.

It happened about 8:15 a.m. as she crossed at Northeast 115th Street, according to a police press release.

Seattle Fire Department Medics and Seattle Police responded to the collision. Medics determined that the 17-year-old female pedestrian died at the scene.

As is protocol, a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) officer responded and evaluated the adult driver of the Ford. It was determined that the driver was not impaired. The driver was released from the scene pending further investigation. Detectives from the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad responded and began their investigation. This remains an active and on-going investigation.