Maple Leaf business Beadworld is officially twice its former size this morning, opening in a new space two doors north of its previous store.

“We are officially open!!! We are now greater Seattle’s biggest bead store! We didn’t move far! Just next door at 9524 Roosevelt Way Northeast,” the store posted on its Facebook page.

The store, which has been around now for over two decades, is celebrating with holiday snacks today.

Late last summer it closed a sister store in Kirkland, saying the parking there was unfixable, before doubling in size here.

On what we understand is now known as Blackout Wednesday (that’s today, or rather tonight) the city has announced that the construction that’s jammed Northeast Northgate Way is finished in time for the holidays.

“The Seattle Department of Transportation will open all lanes of traffic tonight– just in time for Thanksgiving travel and holiday shoppers. The intersection will remain clear of construction activities through the holiday season,” the department’s Laura LaBissoniere emails this morning.

The construction has been centered around Northgate and Fifth Avenue Northeast. Areas of the sidewalk that are unfinished will wait until January, when crews return to install new street light and signal poles and complete the sidewalks.

This project will ease congestion and improve pedestrian safety. Specifically, the project:

• Built an additional left-turn lane from westbound Northgate Way onto southbound Fifth.
• Extended the right turn lane from northbound Fifth onto eastbound NorthgateWay.

• Added a landscaped median with trees on Northgate Way just west of the intersectio.
  • Created decorative crosswalks on all four sides of the intersectio.
  • Installed a new signal system and improved drainage and water qualit.

For more background visit the department’s Northgate page.

There are plenty of ways to help out this holiday season, but at least one food drive will also help Maple Leaf youngsters understand the importance of giving back.

Seventh- and eighth-graders collect food for “Three Weeks of Giving”/Courtesy St. Catherine Parish School

Stephanie Gravenkemper, development director at St. Catherine Parish School, explains the service project the Maple Leaf school’s K-8 students are now in the midst of:

Currently we are working on our “Three Weeks of Giving” campaign together with St. Vincent de Paul to help feed the homeless and less fortunate on Thanksgiving. Each class is assigned an item to bring in and it changes every week, for 3 weeks. (For example 2nd grade is bringing in cream of mushroom soup this week, boxed mashed potatoes next week). Throughout all grades, we are able to assemble packages for the less fortunate to create full Thanksgiving dinners and we deliver them. We also collect toiletries items as well; toothbrushes, toothpaste, lotion, band aids, shampoo, etc to give away at the same time.

We are proud of how we give back to our community!

Want to help out? Just drop your contributions off at the front office of the school of 8524 Eighth Ave. N.E. Gravenkemper adds:

I would love to thank them personally if I am there! So if they ask for me that would be great!

What better way to enjoy this weekend’s rainy weather than by getting your hands a little dirty?

You’re invited to help out from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18, at Kingfisher Natural Area (formerly known as Park No. 6) on Thornton Creek just southeast of Beaver Pond Natural Area.

Frank Backus with the Thornton Creek Alliance tells us:

As you may know, early winter is the best time for planting. Kingfisher and Licorice Fern Natural Areas have 100’s of beautiful native plants that need to get into the ground ASAP. Your help is needed. This is a lot of plants, but we, and the local native creatures, will greatly enjoy the outcome of this work. Don’t forget your raingear. Please bundle up in layers and head out to help out!

To join in the Kingfisher event, meet at 17th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 104th Street. Backus advises that you approach 17th from Northeast 98th Street because of the dead end streets in the neighborhood. A map can be seen on the preregistration website. Preregistration is not required, but it saves time at the event, Backus says. (more…)

Inside the reservoir almost a year ago. Photo courtesy Dane Doerflinger Photography

The city is concerned that faulty calculations were used when considering earthquake readiness for its four underground drinking water reservoirs, including the one just being finished in Maple Leaf.

Our news partner The Seattle Times has the story here.

City officials say there’s no threat to water quality or public safety and the reservoirs are working as designed. But Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) has spent almost $1 million in the past 18 months to analyze the problem and could spend even more if the four giant underground vaults that hold the city’s drinking water need seismic retrofitting.

Work on the reservoir here has completed; the current construction is to build the playground and park that will sit atop the buried water supply.

The concern is that the initial seismic calculations used were for construction of above-ground reservoirs, not underground ones, according to Times.

Maple Leaf Life led a public tour inside the reservoir, before it was flooded, almost exactly a year ago. The park is scheduled to open next spring.

Kick off your holidays with festivities for the whole family at “Santa’s Holiday Spectacular,” featuring a live performance by Caspar Babypants starting at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

All ages are welcome, and there will be treats and other surprises for children 10 and younger.

The festivities continue at noon with Radio Disney, plus Kidgets Club members will be able to make gingerbread houses. Kids can sign up the club at Guest Services for $5 per year.

Maple Leaf Life reader “a dude” had it right back in May when he said the old Northgate liquor store would be reopening as a BevMo!

According to Seattle Weekly’s Voracious newsletter, the alcohol warehouse is opening Friday at 10700 Fifth Ave. N.E., making it the first BevMo! in Seattle and fifth in the state since liquor sales moved into the public sector. Doors open at 9 a.m., and the first 500 people in line will receive a complimentary gift bag valued at more than $50 each.

Voracious says the liquor store will offer thousands of wines, spirits and beers in the 10,750-square-foot location.

Here’s a seasonal plea: “We need your turkeys!”

Last Thanksgiving North Helpline, the food bank that serves northeast Seattle, including Maple Leaf, Wedgwood and View Ridge, served over 6,500 needy neighbors in the weeks leading up to Turkey Day.

They were helped by the Lake City Fred Meyer, which hosted a Turkey Drive last year and will do so again this weekend. They are across the street from the food bank, whose address is 13000 Lake City Way N.E.

This year’s drive is this weekend.

Be sure to take advantage of our collaboration with Lake City Fred Meyer for a “fill the truck” turkey drive on Friday November 16, Saturday November 17, and Sunday November 18th.

Drive hours are are Friday 12 noon to 5:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 11a.m. to 4.m. Get a coupon from a food bank volunteer at Fred Meyer and get a free turkey if you purchase $150 worth of goods, or a reduced price on a turkey if you purchase $100 worth or $50.

You can also drop donated turkeys off at the food bank Tuesday – Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. or on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

We also need funds! With our local economy struggling, donations of all kinds have been extremely low. Your contribution can make a huge difference for those in need. Donations can be made via our website.

In addition to our coveted elementary schools, Maple Leaf also boasts a couple of sought-after private schools, including St. Catherine of Siena Parish School, 8524 Eighth Ave. N.E.

Have you been wanting to learn more about the K-8 Catholic school and whether it would be a good fit for your child? You’ve got two opportunities coming up, starting with the Kindergarten Open House tonight starting at 7. Babysitting is provided, and reservations are requested by emailing [email protected].

If your kids are older or if you just can’t make it tonight, mark your calendars for the All-School Open House, which begins after the 10:30 a.m. mass on Sunday, Jan. 27.

We had a slew of comments last month when the city turned on school zone speeding cameras outside Olympic View Elementary School.

So far only warning tickets have been sent.

But today our news partner The Seattle Times is reporting that real tickets will begin Monday, Nov. 26. To the tune of $189 a pop.

Starting Monday, Nov. 26, $189 tickets will be automatically mailed to registered owners of vehicles caught speeding past cameras installed in four Seattle school zones. Those zones are near Broadview-Thomson K-8 School, Thurgood Marshall Elementary, Olympic View Elementary and Gatewood Elementary.

The local cameras are on Fifth Avenue Northeast, just west of the school at 504 N.E. 95th St. The city says they will only photograph speeders’ license plates when warning lights are flashing.

Read the full Times story here.

The music is pumping and the line is growing for the grand opening of the new Nordstrom Rack at Northgate Mall, located on the south end of the mall in the space formerly occupied by Toys ‘R’ Us.

As of 7:30 a.m., hundreds of people were already waiting for the doors to open at 9 a.m. You’ve still got time to enter your name into the $2,000 “Race Through the Rack” shopping spree; the drawing will be held at 8:30 a.m.

Since Flying Squirrel Pizza Co. opened up in Maple Leaf a year ago, its patrons have been asking when they’ll start delivering pizzas. But like their other locations in Seward Park and Ballard, delivery just wasn’t an option. Until now. And only in Maple Leaf.

Starting tonight, the Flying Squirrel website started accepting orders for delivery for the 9,000 households that are within about a 1-mile radius of the Maple Leaf location at 8310 Fifth Ave. N.E..

“We’ve never done delivery so we wanted to focus on a small area to make sure we could do it,” said co-owner Brian Vescovi. The orders can only be placed online, where you must pay by credit card in advance to get your pizza delivered.

If the sudden change has taken you surprise, don’t feel like you missed out on some big announcement. At the end of Day 1, a total of zero orders had been placed on the new system, which was just how they liked it for their “soft opening” that was only announced on Facebook, Vescovi said.

Once they’re sure the system is working properly, he said they plan to send out postcards in the delivery zone announcing the change, along with a $5 off coupon.

Roughly, the delivery zone is the same as the Maple Leaf neighborhood: Lake City to the east, Northgate Way to the north, Interstate 5 to the west, then south barely into the Green Lake neighborhood.

“We want to make sure we do this the best that we can do,” said co-owner Bill Coury.

If the delivery “test” in Maple Leaf is successful, Vescovi said they hope to add delivery to their other locations as well.

Update 4 p.m.: Peggy Sue is back with her owner.

Now we have Peggy Sue, a Golden Retriever found in a backyard (not hers) this afternoon near Roosevelt Avenue Northeast and Northeast 84th Street.

Please let us know if you know Peggy Sue.

Update 5:30 p.m.: Freddy is home!

Kasey emails overnight:

Hi Maple Leaf neighbors ~ I am hoping for your help in finding my kitty, Freddy. Freddy was last seen Saturday morning September 15th. He lives near Roosevelt and 96th.

Freddy is very shy and hesitant, so I am hoping for any “sightings” to send me his direction. He is micro chipped. Many of you have already been on the look out and I sure appreciate it, so does Freddy.

Note: We first posted about Freddy in September.