A neighbor emails to say that between 7:15 and 8: 30 this morning her car, driveway and porch were vandalized. “Just a heads-up to neighbors:

Someone poured motor oil all over a car parked in our driveway around back; they also left a trail of oil all the way across the back porch leading up to the abandoned bottle laying in a puddle of oil. This was a seemingly random act?!

She lives at Northeast 80th Street and 17th Avenue Northeast.

Nick emails: “A girl’s bicycle (for about a 10-year-old) showed up in front of my house recently. I’d like to get it back to its owner. My number is 206-327-2037. Call to describe the bike.”

He lives at Roosevelt Way Northeast and Northeast 105th Street.

It’s 10 a.m. and snowing outside under blue skies.

Lightly.

Here’s another special weather statement from the National Weather Service:

SPOTTY LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE THROUGH THIS EVENING IN MUCH OF WESTERN WASHINGTON….

ANY WET SNOW ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD BE LIGHT…PERHAPS AN INCH OR TWO…AND THE MOST LIKELY LOCATIONS WILL BE IN AREAS AWAY FROM BODIES OF WATER AND IN HIGHER TERRAIN SUCH AS HILLS.

Hills. That would be Maple Leaf.

In fact, snow is in the forecast every day next week except Monday…and Friday.

Update 8:45 a.m.: Cliff Mass has posted on the convergence zone snow.

Snow is falling at 7:20 a.m., and the National Weather has issued a short-term forecast:

THE PUGET SOUND CONVERGENCE ZONE NEAR THE KING SNOHOMISH

COUNTY LINE IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH AT LEAST 8 A.M. THE

ZONE HAS GENERATED CONSIDERABLE SHOWER ACTIVITY INCLUDING DRIVING

THE SNOW LEVEL DOWN TO THE SURFACE ALONG A STRETCH OF INTERSTATE

405 NEAR THE CANYON PARK AREA.

The forecast is for rain most of the day, but the snow could return tonight. Little or no accumulation is expected, but note that winds gusts are forecast for up to 45 mph.

Don’t let that stop you from attending today’s spring Maple Leaf Ace Hardware bag sale - 20 percent off most everything.

A bicyclist suffered critical injuries Thursday afternoon near North Seattle Community College, and police are trying to find out how.

From Detective Jeff Kappel:

On February 23rd at approximately 3:28 p.m. officers responded to a report of a bicyclist down in the 9600 block of College Way North. Preliminary investigation indicates that a 32-year-old male was riding his bicycle northbound when, for reasons yet to be determined, he crashed causing substantial injury to his person. No other vehicles appear to be involved.

Medics responded to the scene and transported the male bicyclist to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 911 or Seattle Police and refer to this event. Anonymous tips are welcome.

With all of our pounding of the pavement around Maple Leaf, we’ve heard comments again and again about how Maple Leaf needs an art walk.

Like many neighborhoods, we’ve got plenty of obvious art businesses - like Fine Impressions Gallery, Northwest Puppet Center, Snow Goose Gallery, Between Cultures, HangFire Frame and Design, Maxine’s and Glassique - as well as others that could just as easily be involved in a neighborhood art walk - Blue Saucer, Art Tile Co., Cloud City Coffee, Early Masters, The Wandering Cafe, COA Mexican Eatery and Tequileria, and Aljoya Thornton Place, just to name a few.

What we don’t have is a convenient walking path linking all of these businesses together, which definitely increases the appeal of participating in an art walk. But that doesn’t mean it should keep the community from at least giving it a try.

We’ve put feelers out to the above businesses and others to see if we can pull this together, and it looks like it’s going to happen - assuming that you, the residents of Maple Leaf, think this is as cool an idea as we do.

Tentatively the time and date are set for 6-9 p.m. Friday, May 11, and so far all of the above-listed businesses have expressed an interest in participating. We’ve even got non-artsy businesses interested in staying open late to show art from local artists, too, including Edward Jones. We haven’t had a chance to contact all of the area businesses yet, so if you’d like to be put on the list, let us know at [email protected].

And if you’re a local artist who would love to see your works on display at said local business, we’ll try to accommodate that as well.

So, Maple Leaf, what do you think about a Maple Leaf Art Walk? Can we count on you to attend this first-of-a-kind neighborhood event?

We’ve had a couple of questions about loud helicopters overhead in the last several days.

Sal wrote: “I noticed them over my house (Northeast 98th Street and 17th Avenue Northeast ) on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday afternoons and Friday morning.

Sometimes just one, sometimes up to six, always going straight north or south (not circling/banking). I’m used to traffic helicopters and the Coast Guard ones that go by late afternoon and these are not like those. These have no TV markings and are shake-the-ground loud. I’m assuming they’re military but does anyone have details?

We don’t have details on those flights last week, but we can tell you that you may be seeing some action today.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will conduct exercise flights today as they practice intercept and identification procedures. Exercise flights will take place over the Olympic Peninsula and Puget Sound area of Washington State. Although they are scheduled for early morning, the exercise flights could be delayed due to weather concerns.

The NORAD release goes on to say fighter jets will be seen in close proximity to target aircraft. “In order to test responses, systems and equipment, NORAD continuously conducts exercises with a variety of scenarios, including airspace restriction violations, hijackings and responding to unknown aircraft.”

Occupy Seattle isn’t just downtown anymore. Lake City resident Mary Paterson is organizing a series of community meetings in Northeast Seattle to help get the word out about the Occupy movement. From the flier:

Come learn about the Occupy Movement’s work on economic justice, environmental justice, getting money out of politics, and more. Share your views.

The meetings are at:

• Saturday, Feb. 25, from 3-5 p.m., at the Northeast Branch Library, at 6801 35th Ave. N.E.
• Saturday, March 3, from 3-5 p.m., at the Lake City Library, at 12501 28th Ave. N.E.
• Saturday, April 7, from 3-5 p.m., Lake City Library

Prosecutors today charged a 21-year-old “mental and disoriented female” in connection with last week’s accident involving nine cars near Northgate Mall.

Melanie Ann Lind was charged by King County Prosecutors with possession of a stolen vehicle and attempting to elude police, both felonies, according to court documents. She was stopped after crashing on First Avenue Northeast about 4 p.m. on Feb. 15.

Lind was driving a Dodge crew-cab pickup that had been stolen from National Car Rental at the airport about an hour earlier, according to the charging papers. An employee saw a woman with no luggage drive the truck right over the road spikes that are designed to flatten the tires of any vehicle trying to leave through the parking area entrance instead of the exit.

When police spotted the truck at College Way North and Northeast 92nd Street, “both of the front tires on the suspect vehicle were completely flat and had apparently been flat for some time, as smoke was billowing from the front wheel wells,” the documents state.

Turning on their lights and siren, police thought they had stopped the truck at First Avenue Northeast and Northeast 103rd Street, according to the documents, but the driver suddenly sped away at speeds between 60-65 mph, running the red light at Northeast 107th Street.

There the truck slammed into another pickup truck leaving the mall parking lot, bounced and hit three vehicles stopped on Northeast 107th, shoving them into five more cars, the papers state. “It could not travel any further because its front wheels and suspension had broken off,” according to the court documents.

Lind was the only person in the truck and appeared to be on drugs, the court papers state. She and four other drivers were taken to hospitals for treatment.

Her description matched that of a “mental and disoriented female who had been hanging around the airport for the last few days,” according to the court documents, which say Lind also has recent convictions for theft and violation of a court order.

John says they were found at Olympic View Elementary School, 504 N.E. 95th St., around 11 a.m. today. If they’re yours, call 206-999-4426.

Aljoya Thornton Place is opening a new art show on Thursday, Feb. 23, featuring Seattle artists Z.Z. Wei and Alfredo Arreguin, including Wei’s “Palouse Shadow,” shown, and Arreguin’s “Colibris.”

June Sekiguchi, art curator at the senior living community at 450 N.E. 100th St., says in a news release that last spring’s gray skies and chilly temperatures inspired planning for this show:

“The art of Z.Z. Wei and Alfredo Arreguin is bright, with visual narratives that draw the viewer into stunning beauty,” says Sekiguchi. “The rich color in this exhibition is something we all long to see this time of year.”

Wei, originally from China, and Arreguin, from Mexico, tell the stories of being first-generation Americans through their 15 vibrant paintings that will be on display through June 26.

Both artists, who teach art and exhibit locally as well as internationally, will be at a free opening reception from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday at Aljoya Thornton Place. Advance reservations are required by calling 206-306-7920.

Students from Christ the King Catholic School in Broadview, just north of Greenwood, recently performed a flash mob at Barnes & Noble at Northgate Mall to promote the school’s upcoming production of “Grease.”

You can see a YouTube video of the flash mob here.

The students will perform “Grease” on March 29-31 at Shoreline Community College Campus Theater, 16101 Greenwood Ave. N. Tickets are $10. Call 206-364-6890.

On Thursday afternoon Holly emailed us:

I spotted this critter at about 3:30 feasting on dog biscuits at the doggie oasis. I shooed him away and screwed the lid back on the “raccoon-proof” thermos, and stepped back only to watch the raccoon climb back over the fence, lay the thermos on its side, and spin the lid off again. I shooed him away again and put the lid on even tighter. We’ll see how long that lasts.

Urban wildlife. Harrumph.

Update Friday, Feb. 17: Maria writes:

I don’t live on the block but it looked like someone had stolen mail on 95th between 12th and 15th last night. This morning many of the mailboxes were open and there was some mail scattered along the street.

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Two neighbors emailed us Wednesday with police news.

Sue just wanted to give police credit. “About once a week I see our local SPD hanging out by the school zone on Roosevelt as a watchful reminder to slow to 20 miles an hour. Great job SPD! Way to keep our kids safe!”

Thanks, Sue.

Another neighbor on Northeast 86th Street had a somewhat bizarre experience. A white van stopped in front of her door late Wednesday morning.

A man came to my door and said he was a delivery guy making his rounds, but had no uniform and no package or information with him. I have a large pit bull, and he seemed very interested in my dog and asked lots of questions about him. He then asked if we were interested in steaks, that he delivered them, and when I said we’re vegetarians, he just talked more about my dog then drove off.

The woman was suspicious. Prelude to a home invasion? A pit bull theft ring? “I called the police right away and made a report, and was very impressed when two patrol cars were in front of my house in about five minutes.

After some research, which revealed no door-to-door steak delivery companies in Seattle, I did find this post on a West Seattle blog: http://westseattleblog.com/2009/09/2-door-to-door-alerts-meat-and-meet

Just wanted to give the neighborhood a heads up.

The West Seattle Blog post recounts several such incidents from 2009, beginning with: “A young man came to my door and asked if I would like some free steaks after…as the stories goes….he had to make a ‘big delivery’ in the neighborhood, and had these ‘left over.’ It seemed very, very suspicious….”

Experience feats of brain strength tonight at Sacajawea Elementary, 9501 20th Ave. N.E., during the Maple Leaf school’s annual Math and Science Fair.

From 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, you’re invited to view the more than 150 science and math exhibits created by the students of Sacajawea, as well as exhibits from organizations including UW Neurosciences, The Audubon Society, IslandWood Outdoor Education Center, The Burke Museum and Lice Knowing You.

The event concludes with the catapult egg launch contest from 7:30-8 p.m. on the lower playground (rain or shine), which will pit Sacajawea students against one another to see whose entry (built from a standard kit of materials) can fly the farthest, while still protecting its delicate cargo.

To top it all off, Dante’s Inferno Dogs will be selling gourmet sausages, chips and drinks (cash only, please).