A raft of candidates on next month’s ballot will be here Wednesday, Oct. 16th, for the Maple Leaf Community Council’s Candidates & Issues Night.

Candidates for mayor and city council and representatives for ballot measures are expected. The event runs from 7-9 p.m. at Olympic View Elementary School, 504 N.E. 95th St. Free babysitting will be provided on site.

The council has also sent mayoral and city council candidates a questionnaire. Answers can be seen here.

Those answers can range from weighty to scant. Two examples:

Q. Which Council subcommittees would you like to chair and/or be a member of? Why?

Albert Shen (first three sentences of three paragraphs).

Public Safety – We need immediate and decisive leadership on our public safety policy. With the recent stabbing of a local educator, I want to see our streets cleaned up. Recently I took my family to Macy’s in downtown Seattle and in taking my children to the bathroom, there were (2) people sitting by the bathrooms drugged out.

Edwin Fruit (entire answer).

None. I am not running to administrate the cut backs. I want to see a revolutionary change.

The Green Skunk, a marijuana dispensary formerly located in Pinehurst at 11231 Roosevelt Way N.E., has moved south into the space vacated by Maple Leaf Massage (now joined by Thrive Physical Therapy) at 9414 Roosevelt Way N.E.

We’ve received a few emails from neighbors wondering if its location just blocks from Olympic View Elementary and The Perkins School violates any laws. Indeed, according to the pot shops map we linked to last month, the Maple Leaf stretch of Roosevelt is not included in the proposed areas where dispensaries will be allowed.

However, under the new proposal to judge distance by “common path” rather than as the crow flies, which is how the rule is enforced federally, The Green Skunk appears to be legit. They might get hassled by the federal government because they’re a few feet shy of 1,000 feet from Olympic View as the crow flies, but perhaps that’s a risk they’re willing to take. (Or maybe they have a more accurate way of calculating distance than Google Maps!)

While we’re on the subject of marijuana dispensaries, we should point out that Delta 9 and MMJ Coop on Lake City Way both have relocated. According to its website, Delta 9 now is located in Sodo at 1950 First Ave. S., while a sign on MMJ says the co-op has moved a half-mile north to 10728 Lake City Way N.E.

Meanwhile, Lake City Conscious Care Cooperative has moved in across the street from MMJ at 8288 Lake City Way N.E.

Photos courtesy Dane Doerflinger

Maple Leaf photographer Dane Doerflinger sent us these photos of Sacajawea Elementary School students heading out to school in this morning’s fog.

It’s part of International Walk to School Day (you can go by bike as well).

The Sacajawea walk was supported by parent volunteers, the Blue Saucer and Trader Jo’s.

Additional photos are on Dane’s SmugMug page.

Controversial, contentious, confusing … maybe traffic calming?

The bike lanes proposed on Roosevelt Avenue Northeast are going in this morning.

Be prepared for a different afternoon commute home.

For previous comments and thought about the lanes, see our story here and more recent comments here.

In addition to closures of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the Montlake Bridge this weekend, we have a couple of lane closures closer to home that we should warn you about.

The Seattle Department of Transportation says crews will be working on landscaping the street median on Lake City Way Northeast and on Northeast Northgate Way this weekend:

On Saturday, Oct. 5 the crews plan to work on Lake City Way Northeast between Northeast Northgate Way and Northeast 125th Street. On Sunday the crews are scheduled to work on Northeast Northgate Way from First Avenue Northeast to Fifth Avenue Northeast. One inside lane in each direction will be closed from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on these streets to enable crews to safely prune shrubs, pull weeds, and add mulch.

Plan accordingly!

The buildings going up in the “empty block” in Maple Leaf’s business district on Roosevelt Way Northeast will continue pretty much as planned, after a plea filed by the Maple Leaf Community Council was dismissed.

“Unfortunately, most of our case was thrown out,” writes David Miller, council president, in the council newsletter being delivered this weekend.

The partial block at Northeast 89th Street, which includes the Snappy Dragon, burned in a three-alarm fire on Thanksgiving morning 2001. (The Snappy was saved.)

The lawsuit, filed in the spring, argued the developers got around city planning rules on technicalities that allowed building about 13 townhouses or live-work units piecemeal instead of as one project.

“We thought we had a great case, but a city attorney brought forward a surprising, and, frankly, completely unjustified interpretation of the land use code, in our opinion,” Miller writes.

Developers and the council were able to reach a deal that avoids Miller’s most eye-catching claim (in seattlepi.com):

Worst of all, on recycling day there will be 39 (yes, THIRTY NINE) recycling, trash, and food waste receptacles clogging the sidewalk on Roosevelt — right in the middle of the business district. This is absolutely unacceptable….

Now Miller writes the council has settled with developers on using dumpsters or other joint receptacles. “While not exactly a perfect outcome, we’re happy we were able to avoid the nonsense of having 39 receptacles blocking the sidewalk.”

For more details see the October-December newsletter, which should be landing on your porch soon.

Editor: Thanks for the comment below, David. For those who want more, here’s a link to the council’s March lawsuit.

Scott emails earlier today: “Any news on when the new park will open?”

Yes, thanks to Donna Hartmann-Miller.

In the Maple Leaf Community Council newsletter being delivered door-to-door now, she writes the park will open, in part, at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 27. “Exact time may be adjusted,” she says.

“There will most likely be some areas of the upper area that will remain fenced, but most of the paths, the sports court, the shelter and some of the grassy areas will be available for our use.”

For the full story see your newsletter. There are details on what’s there - including a planned crosswalk at Roosevelt Way Northeast and Northeast 83rd Street - and what’s not - including some picnic tables and grills.

Hartmann-Miller is a member of the community’s council’s Executive Committee, and chairs its parks committee.

Our earlier report on getting the park open is here.

When Seattle Public Libraries reopen after today’s shutdown, two new programs will be on tap at the Northgate branch.

Trained staff from community agencies will offer assistance in signing up for the new Affordable Care Act - Obamacare - on Wednesday afternoons beginning next week at the branch, 10548 Fifth Ave. N.E.

“Please bring your Social Security number and information about your current income,” the Library notes.

The times are 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. from Wednesday, Oct. 9 through Wednesday, Dec. 18th.

The assistance will also be offered at seven other library locations. For more information click here.

In a distinctly different program, the library is offering “Bow-wows and Books” story times for kids.

Coupling young readers and certified therapy dogs (and their humans), the program is offered at the Northgate branch on Mondays from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. No registration is necessary. For more information click here.

All branches of The Seattle Public Library will be closed Wednesday for a staff in-service day.

Regular service, including at the Northgate and Green Lake branches, will resume Thursday.

Sound Transit announced today that work building a light trail tunnel from Roosevelt to Maple Leaf will begin as soon as this week.

Once construction begins, residents, local employees and drivers through the area will notice a series of short-term and long-term changes along First Avenue Northeast between Northeast 90th and 100th streets.

The immediate work will continue until January, and will include bicycle detours and making First Avenue a one-way street. Details are here.

Trees and shrubs will be removed, and jackhammers will cut through concrete.

Long-term construction includes launching a tunnel boring machine from the Maple Leaf portal to drill two light rail tunnels to Sound Transit’s Roosevelt station, on 12th Avenue Northeast near Northeast 65th Street.

Other machines will tunnel between the underground Roosevelt station and the University District and Husky Stadium stations. North from the Maple Leaf Portal, the trains will run above ground along Interstate 5 to the Northgate station.

All this is predicted to take about four years and is the biggest chunk of the $2.1 billion Northgate Link Extension, set to fully open in 2021.

The National Weather Service in Seattle has issued a warning for “the strongest storm system in memory for September.”

It should start arriving around now (5 p.m.) and is predicted to last through much of the night.

People should prepare now for this storm! Expect damage to trees and structures, power outages, and for unsecured items (like lawn furniture and garbage cans) to be blown around.

In a wind warning earlier, the Seattle office noted “explosive development” in a low-pressure center. Cliff Mass now thinks the worst will hit Vancouver Island, but he, too, spent part of yesterday “getting my home ready for the onslaught.”

If our power stays on, the Seattle City Light map of those less fortunate is here.

The arrival of light rail isn’t the only thing that’s coming to Northgate in the next eight years.

The city is also in the process of developing the appropriate urban framework to support a new and improved transit center in the area, which means the chances it will affect Maple Leaf are about 100 percent.

Luckily, your opinion is sought on the draft of the so-called Northgate Urban Design Framework, but you only have until tomorrow, Sept. 30, to submit feedback. The draft plan:

• Identifies key design concepts for Northgate’s Urban Center to create a healthier, more livable, and denser mixed-use community with more houses and shopping opportunities
• Illustrates recommended street improvements for pedestrians, bicyclists, drivers, and transit users
• Identifies design advice for the area closest to the light rail station, where future development will add to the growing area

Goals of the plan are to: (more…)

There’s some unlikely public art in our neighborhood, though it takes a little looking to find it.

Our news partner The Seattle Times has a story today, with an interactive map citywide.

Art in Maple Leaf includes:

* The gazebo in the Maple Leaf park playground.

* Buoys in the swale at Thornton Place.

* Glass art at the Northgate Branch of The Seattle Public Library.

We received a couple of emails from readers about items lost in the past week.

Emily Irwin with North Seattle Orthopedic & Community Acupuncture, 11329 Pinehurst Way N.E., told us:

On Monday someone locked a bike up to our bike rack but has not come back to get it since. It isn’t it great shape but we were wondering if you could post something on your blog asking the owner to come pick it up? It almost seems as if it is stolen because it does not look rideable but the odd thing is that it is locked up. We have a very small bike rack and we need to be able to accommodate our patients who are cyclists. If we do not find the owner soon we will need to move the bike.

If you think the bike might be yours, call the clinic at (206) 524-6428.

Reader Tamara Oki also emailed us about a Ford key and remote lock control, shown at left, that she found Wednesday on 15th Avenue Northeast between 82nd Street and 85th Street. Email her at [email protected] for more information.

Maple Leaf Veterinary Care Center has moved from just outside the official borders of Maple Leaf into the heart of the business district at 8626 Roosevelt Way N.E., kitty corner from Cloud City Coffee.

Previously located at 1421 N.E. 80th St., workers spent the weekend moving into the new location just .6 miles away.

We’re giving them a little more time to settle in, then we should have more information about the new location. In the meantime, they pointed out that their phone number is still the same: (206) 524-2020.