At least two Maple Leaf neighbors on Northeast 97th Street between Roosevelt Way and Eighth Avenue Northeast woke up to a smashed windows Friday morning.

The neighbor we spoke with said nothing was taken and that the door wasn’t even unlocked, which she said was actually more frustrating since it appears to simply be a random act of violence. There’s also the possibility somebody spooked the would-be prowlers, but regardless, it’s a good reminder to always remove valuables from your vehicle.

The neighbor also noted that she had just lowered her deductible to zero, which might be a good thing for Maple Leafers who park on our neighborhood streets to consider.

Paul emails this afternoon:

I was wondering if you could do a quick post on the recent string of burglaries in Maple Leaf. My house was broken into in the last week in the area between 15th Avenue Northeast and Lake City Way. I’m starting to guess that it was during the day, but I was gone for 24 hours, so I’m not 100% sure.

I’ve been following the SPD blotter and it seems like there have been daily (as in, every day, during the day) burglaries working their way south from Northgate Way, down to 75th, and now working their way east towards Wedgwood since last Saturday.

In roughly a month since we last wrote about home burglaries, there have been right at 13 residential break-ins reported in Maple Leaf, according to the police crime map.

In one that occurred on May 16 in the 500 block of Northeast 86th Street, the resident arrived home mid-afternoon to find a woman holding open his screen door.

He yelled at her and she ran to a compact vehicle in his driveway, joined by a man from inside the house, according to the police report. The resident stood in front of the vehicle in an attempt to stop it, but it lurched around him, the report states, and the burglars drove “recklessly” east on N.E. 86th.

On the afternoon of May 10, in the 800 of Northeast 80th Street, the resident came out of an upstairs shower to discover a burglar had taken computers and electronic games, a TV, a digital camera and a backpack.

According to the police report the resident “stated that the suspect climbed through the kitchen doggy door with his very large Rottweiler wandering around inside the house.”

The doggy door was slight bent. The dog never barked, according to the report.

Paul continues:

I don’t know if home alarms or any security devices will help (they seemed to move very quickly through my house due to the lack of items stolen), but fellow neighbors being aware of suspicious individuals, potentially ones going door to door looking for unoccupied houses, will surely help.

Before this happened, I would keep an eye on the blotter every now and then and I feel like this area between 15th, Lake City Way, and Thornton Creek is very safe and crime free. I’d hate to see this change, especially at the beginning of what might be a beautiful Seattle summer in a great neighborhood.

Since Sound Transit’s update May 23 on the Northgate Link Extension, the agency has announced that it received six bids below its $594 estimate for the 3.4-miles of tunnels from Husky Stadium to Northgate Station.

The bids ranged from $440 million to $517 million for the twin tunnels, which are the largest single piece of work on the $2.1 billion Northgate Link Extension project. According to the news release:

The winning contractor will launch two tunnel boring machines from the Roosevelt Station site to excavate the tunnels to the U District Station and on to the University of Washington Station at Husky Stadium. A third tunnel boring machine will be launched from the Maple Leaf Portal near NE 94th Street and will bore two tunnels, one after the other, to the Roosevelt station. The work is scheduled to begin late this year and last just over four years.

Also, if you missed that meeting but still want to add your 2 cents to the project’s progress, you can catch all of the information that was available at the open house on the Northgate Link Extension project archive.

The Red Crossbills that arrived in Maple Leaf nearly two months ago are still here on the morning of June 1st.

This is, um, unusual. (From the Sibley Guide to Birds, Red Crossbills are “uncommon and very irregular.”)

In comments on an earlier post, Elizabeth noted that crossbills, a type of finch, would likely leave for the mountains around now.

But we have over a half-dozen in the yard this morning. They are quite bossy around the feeders, chasing other birds away. Earlier in the week they even tangled with an Anna’s Hummingbird at our water feature.

Books for all ages will abound tomorrow at Olympic View Elementary School, where Day 2 of their Summer Soar Used Book Sale continues from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the school’s auditorium at 504 N.E. 95th St.

Near closing of the kickoff event Friday, these were the titles that greeted customers at the door.

Photo courtesy Aiko Schaefer.

But there also were plenty or genres beyond popular fiction, including children’s books, books on travel, animals or cooking, DVDs, audiobooks for all ages and more.

Best of all, there’s nothing to feel guilty about since books you buy at this fundraiser will not only benefit your bookshelf, but also the students at Olympic View Elementary.

Don’t worry if you miss the May 31-June 1 book sale. Aiko Schaefer with the Olympic View PTA says the event could very likely become an annual event to kick off summer in Maple Leaf after this year’s generous donation of books. Start saving books to donate now!

Just in case you missed the news a couple of days ago (Watch out! Maple Leaf is “increasingly popular“), Yelp’s Neighborhood Spotlight is now shining on us.

“Hidden away north of downtown, Maple Leaf is home to lots of lucky locals,” says the article, which spotlights several local restaurants.

“Teeming with Tudor-style and bungalow homes, those recent remodels and renovations also came to include some of Seatown’s most sought-after supper spots.”

The Kona Kitchen, shown at right, is called out, as are Cafe Piccolo, the Maple Leaf Grill, Cloud City Coffee and Flying Squirrel Pizza.

Comments from neighbors have added in the Blue Saucer and the Snappy Dragon.

We have a new, free, lending library at the corner of Northeast 88th Street and Eighth Avenue Northeast.

(We first saw it on Cloud City’s Coffee’s Facebook page.)

Speaking of books, today is the last day to drop off donated books for Olympic View Elementary School’s Summer Book Sale, which is this Friday and Saturday.

Drop-off locations include (perks noted in italics):

• Maple Leaf Ace Hardware, 9000 Roosevelt Way N.E.
• Blue Saucer Coffee, 9127 Roosevelt Way N.E.; get a free drip or kid hot cocoa for 3+ items
• Cloud City Coffee, 8801 Roosevelt Way N.E.; get a free drip for 3+ items
• Diva Espresso, 8014 Lake City Way N.E.; get a free drip or a kid cocoa for 3+
• Northgate Community Center, 10510 Fifth Ave. N.E.
• Olympic View Elementary, 504 N.E. 95th St.; drop box in front of the school

At 8:30 this morning traffic was still backed up on Roosevelt Way Northeast from the Interstate 5 entrance back to Northeast 97th Street.

Other arterials weren’t much better after the early morning crash of a FedEx truck blocked all southbound lanes of the mainline I-5.

In a recent slideshow on SeattlePI.com, Maple Leaf got something better than just a photo.

The slideshow, called “Where is that home, really?” includes the description: “Home listings often claim a neighborhood that’s not their own.”

It begins with what you would expect, a claim that if a listing says a home is in Green Lake, you should probably assume the home is not within a stone’s throw of the lake - it could even be as far as North Seattle Community College!

But Green Lake isn’t the only neighborhood that’s misidentified. Apparently, Maple Leaf is also a trendy label these days. According to slide 5:

It seems even fewer sellers want to identify as being in the Roosevelt neighborhood. Homes there often claim Ravenna or increasingly popular Maple Leaf.

Just for the record, here is the Maple Leaf Community Council’s official map of Maple Leaf, which runs from Northeast 75th Street to Northgate Way and from I-5 to Lake City Way (but minus Northgate Mall and Victory Heights).

Move over Green Lake, here comes Maple Leaf!

The upcoming long weekend might be the perfect opportunity for you to do a little spring cleaning not only for your own benefit, but also for Maple Leaf’s Olympic View Elementary School.

The school at 504 N.E. 95th St. is holding its Summer Soar Used Book Sale from 4-7 p.m. Friday, May 31, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 1, but first, it needs community members to donate a few of their gently used books, CDs and DVDs for all ages.

Maple Leaf businesses are making it worth your while by offering not only drop-off locations, but also special perks for donors. Drop-off locations include (perks noted in italics):

• Maple Leaf Ace Hardware, 9000 Roosevelt Way N.E.
• Blue Saucer Coffee, 9127 Roosevelt Way N.E.; get a free drip or kid hot cocoa for 3+ items
• Cloud City Coffee, 8801 Roosevelt Way N.E.; get a free drip for 3+ items
• Diva Espresso, 8014 Lake City Way N.E.; get a free drip or a kid cocoa for 3+
• Northgate Community Center, 10510 Fifth Ave. N.E.
• Olympic View Elementary, 504 N.E. 95th St.; drop box in front of the school

But it’s really time to get spring cleaning, because items must be dropped off by Wednesday, May 29. If you have questions or are unable to bring your donation to a location, contact Aiko Schaefer at 206-941-4817 or [email protected].

COA Mexican Eatery & Tequileria may have new owners, but it’s still hoping to keep its customers with deals like today’s on Groupon:

For $22, you’ll get a tequila tasting and appetizers for two, or a margarita pitcher and appetizers for four, which is regularly priced at $66.

There’s lots of fine print, so be sure to read up before you click!

On Thursday night, you have two opportunities to make your voice heard on community happenings.

From 6-8 p.m. at Olympic View Elementary School, 504 N.E. 95th St., Sound Transit is inviting you to an open house to learn about Northgate Station design and access update.

The light rail project is part of the agency’s Northgate Link Extension, which is scheduled to open in 2021.

The presentation portion of the meeting begins at 6:30 p.m., covering topics including:

• Refinements to station and plaza design.
• Preliminary results of Northgate Station Area Access Study (pedestrian and bike improvements).
• King County Metro’s transit center and transit-oriented development plans.
• City of Seattle’s 1st Ave NE cycle track and I-5 pedestrian bridge.

For more information, contact the Northgate Link Extension project team at 206-398-5300 or [email protected].

Also on Thursday, May 23, you’re invited to a Town Hall Meeting with King County Councilman Rod Dembowski and State Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who also is a Maple Leaf resident.

Dembowski, who spoke at last month’s Maple Leaf General Community meeting, states on his homepage:

I am committed to listening and learning from you, so that county government can be as accountable, efficient, and responsive to you as possible. For that reason I will be hosting a series of Town Halls, in every community across District 1 this year, so I can hear firsthand what issues are most important to you

The Town Hall is from 7-8:30 p.m. at Northgate Community Center, 10510 Fifth Ave. N.E.

Which will you choose?

After looking through the fence at the playground that has been under construction all winter, the Maple Leaf Family Terrace welcomed possibly hundreds of neighborhood children and their families at a grand opening celebration this morning.

The presentation included plenty of thank-yous for the countless hours put in by volunteers Donna Hartmann-Miller and Scott and Jessica Bishop.

Hartmann-Miller, who heads the volunteer Friends for a Greater Maple Leaf Park, also thanked the many volunteers who helped build parts of the playground at a work party in early April that ended in a torrential downpour, in addition to the many local businesses that donated food that day, including Cloud City Coffee, Blue Saucer, Maple Leaf Grill and COA Mexican Eatery & Tequileria.

“I wish I was a kid again because I would be playing in this park endlessly,” added Hartmann-Miller, who also is a member of the Maple Leaf Community Council Executive Board.

Of course, the zipline was a huge hit.

The playground at 1020 N.E. 82nd St. is now open to the public, although there still are areas that are fenced off as new grass continues to grow in. There will be more fun for all ages when the remainder of Maple Leaf Reservoir Park opens in late summer or early fall, adding 16 acres of green space to the neighborhood that previously were closed off to the public.

Catherine emails this morning:

Last night between the hrs of 12:30-8 a.m. our family and business car was stolen from right out front of our house.

This is a travesty for us as we own & operate a small family pickling business and it is our only vehicle to make deliveries of our product to our restaurant accounts throughout the city. Tomorrow is our delivery day so we are pretty upset about what has happened as you can imagine.

To make matters worse we had just purchased $300 worth of pickling jars and put $50 worth of gas in it.

They live at 12th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 100th Street. The license plate is ALC7551.

The car is a 1999 Black Subaru Outback, Limited edition with 2 sunroofs but a few little dings on the right front panel. I have attached the best pic I have of it.

There is a bright red bumper sticker on the back that say’s “Cape Flattery” in white letters that makes it very distinguishable and as I mentioned, the back was completely full of cases of pickling jars as of last night.

Of course the police have been notified and it is not in any impound so it could be anywhere at this point though the police just told me that they are finding many of them near the Children’s Hospital area.

It did not have an alarm or tracking system in it.

Thank you for your help in advance.

According to the police crime map, nine other vehicles have been stolen or prowled in the neighborhood since we last wrote about these crimes.

A bit of good news: Patricia emailed earlier this week to say a stolen adult bike was dumped in her yard and she’d like to get it back to the owner .

Found at 114th and Roosevelt:

Some shady dude ditched a sweet blue Italian bike in our flower bed. We called SPD but they wouldn’t take it because it hadn’t been reported. It has a word lock that is still wrapped around the frame and a tire kit. If you think it’s yours just send me the word. Sure hope we can reunite this beauty with its owner.

Waving for donations. On behalf of the Maple Leaf Community Council, member Donna Hartmann-Miller works the morning commute for GiveBIG contributions.

Today is GiveBIG day, the day to donate to your favorite nonprofit charities, and have your dollars “stretched” by The Seattle Foundation.

Grow your gift! All credit card donations* made through The Seattle Foundation’s website TODAY, May 15 between midnight and midnight (Pacific Time) will be stretched thanks to $850,000 in support for GiveBIG from The Seattle Foundation and GiveBIG sponsors.

* We will “stretch” all donations up to $25,000 per donor, per organization.

To donate, go here. Or act on any of the many emails you’ve probably received this week from nonprofits.