Last week we had a post with the headline: “Northgate teacher Beth Brunton among nation’s best.”

Now we can delete the “among,” as far as the Simon Youth Foundation (a partner of Simon Property Group, the real-estate holding company that owns Northgate Mall) is concerned.

Today we received this press release: “The Simon Youth Foundation named Beth Brunton, a teacher at Middle College High School at the Northgate Mall, as its 2011 National Teacher of the Year.”

As we reported earlier, Brunton teaches humanities at the alternative Seattle public school located on the second floor of Northgate Mall. The award comes with a $1,000 grant.

Along with her teaching responsibilities, Brunton is credited for helping raise funds to hire a life coach and substance abuse counselor at the school, and the two additional staff members helped at-risk students learn how to set better goals and become more self-sufficient.

“Beth Brunton is an amazing woman, not just a teacher,” said Matthew Bourassa, general manager at Northgate Mall. “Beth is a leader who is as passionate and caring a person that exists in this world, and she dedicates her life to the students at our academy.”

Starting today, one of Maple Leaf’s oldest businesses is offering a 20 percent discount on dry cleaning to those who have lost their jobs.

“We have been a part of the Maple Leaf neighborhood for over 50 years. We have watched a lot of our customers lose their jobs. We want to help get people back to work by helping them look their best,” emails Gayle Solberg.

“We want to do this to help support the neighborhood. My husband Steve owns the cleaners. I recently lost my job and we started thinking about how we could help others in the same situation. Helping people look good when they go out on interviews is one way we can help.”

The discount runs through the end of the month. To get it customers are asked to bring in verification in the form of their unemployment check stub dated within two weeks.

The offer doesn’t apply to household goods, leather, bridal gowns or linens.

Several important meetings are on the neighborhood calendar, starting tonight with the school election forum from 6:30-8:30 at Olympic View Elementary School, 504 N.E. 95th St.

Candidates for four positions on the Seattle School Board are expected. Discussion of the proposed Families and Education Levy is also on the agenda.

“Meet the candidates and learn more about the issues—including pros and cons about the levy. Bring your questions!” states the sponsor, the Olympic View Parent Teacher Association. Free child care is provided.

For more information contact the PTA’s Carolyn Leith ([email protected]) or (206) 375-2441. The election is Nov. 8.

And don’t forget about the candidate forum at the Maple Leaf General Community Meeting next week, from 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, at the same location.

Also, this Saturday it’s time to put the Maple Leaf Community Garden to bed for the winter. Work party is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the garden, Fifth Avenue Northeast and Northeast 103rd Street.

A variety of tasks need doing — weeding lower levels, clearing out compost bins, weeding upper native plantings, cleaning up the entries and the street swale, and spreading another pile of mulch from the driveway

Maureen writes:

“One of our chickens has gone missing from North East 97th Street. Her name is “Emma” and she’s a young Rhode Island Red hen. We have a fenced yard and there doesn’t seem to be any sign of chicken attack so we think she may have flown over the fence. If you could post something to the blog we’d be very, very appreciative.”
The home is near 8th Avenue Northeast. You can reach Maureen and Khris at 206-526-7103

The average home in Maple Leaf is worth $351,836, and a home put up for sale here spends an average of 67 days on the market, according to Zillow, the locally based online real estate website.

Zillow has a new report that shows homes in Seattle sell faster than in any other U.S. city except San Francisco, according to the Seattle PI.com, which then asked Zillow to rank time on the market by Seattle neighborhood.

Maple Leaf is No. 9 in that ranking of how long it takes to sell a home.

No. 1 is Phinney Ridge, where the average home is worth $423,013 and would spend 53 days on the market, according to the report.

No. 2 is East Ballard, where that home is worth $374,397 and spends 55 days up for sale, according to the report.

No. 11 is Green Lake, with home value of $411,835 and 69 days on the market.

The U District is tied for 12th place. Wallingford is in 14th place, and Greenwood is No. 19.

Our neighbor to the east, Wedgwood, is in a tie for No. 17. Homes there average $386,758, and spend 74 days on the market. View Ridge is No. 16, with a home value of $489,584 and 73 days on the market, according to the report.

The data are from mid-April to mid-July of this year.

Tracy writes: “Do you happen to know if the Maple Leaf businesses will be participating in any trick or treating on Halloween afternoon/evening?

” A number of other neighborhoods do… Thanks. ”

We are just now starting to think about Halloween, to be truthful (but we still have our 8-foot posable bat. From Costco, of course).

How about it, Maple Leaf businesses? What are your plans for Halloween/Samhaim? It falls on a Monday this year….

Also, start sending us nominations for best-decorated house!

Beth Brunton, one of the two teachers at Northgate Middle College High School, has been nominated for the Simon Youth Foundation National Teacher of the Year award. From the foundation’s news release:

Simon Youth Academy teachers make it happen.

They are sages, advocates, sounding boards, motivators, caregivers, cheerleaders, mentors, and hope igniters for the at-risk students in the alternative high schools that Simon Youth Foundation sponsors with our public school partners.

Brunton teaches humanities at the alternative Seattle public school located on the second floor of Northgate Mall, and indeed, she does make it happen.

In March, she was instrumental in organizing a fundraiser for the school that raised $8,000, allowing the school to keep its part-time life coach, and pay for day-to-day needs such as school supplies, food and field trips.

According to the Simon Youth Foundation, Brunton was nominated because:

Beth raised the money needed to hire a life coach and substance abuse counselor at her academy, which has helped her at-risk students better learn goal setting and self sufficiency. Students who struggle with substance abuse also have benefited from the additional support.

Wish her luck next week at the Simon Youth Foundation National Conference Oct. 9-12, where the Teacher of the Year will be named!

Seattle Police say a quick response to a 911 call of a burglary in progress this morning led to the arrest of two men fleeing the scene in a silver Jaguar.

The call came at 5 a.m. from the 8300 block of Fifth Avenue Northeast, police say.

Officers quickly located and stopped the suspect vehicle. Both adult male suspects were removed from the vehicle and detained without incident. The complainant/witness was brought to the stop location and positively identified the suspects. The suspect vehicle appeared to contain stolen property.

The most common crimes here are breaking into or stealing cars. There was a rash of home burglaries last winter, but they had slacked off last time we looked in early August.

Here’s a look at home burglaries since, according to police reports.

• Monday, Oct. 3: 1500 block of Northeast 95th Street. Rear basement french doors shattered, televisions, computers, computer games, cash, credit cards and jewelry stolen. (more…)

People in the community affected by arthritis are invited to enjoy a free, one-hour massage at the Northgate Mall locations of Massage Envy on World Arthritis Day, Oct. 12.

All 19 Puget Sound-area locations are participating in the event, which also is its annual Healing Hands for Arthritis fundraiser. Massage Envy also will donate $10 to the Arthritis Foundation for each appointment, and it’s also taking donations to the organization until Oct. 12. Massage Envy writes in a news release:

Openings are dedicated especially for children affected with arthritis, and a parent or guardian to receive tandem,side-by-side massages. Children must be a minimum of 8 years old, and all minors 17 or younger must be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times.It being the special wish of the Northgate members to help children with arthritis, requests for the parent/child massage will be accepted fromanywhere in the Puget Sound area, until all appointments are filled.

To make an appointment, call the Northgate Massage Envy at (206) 368-3680 to schedule an appointment. Space is limited and is subject to availability.

Seattle Police are reporting that on Sunday and Monday a man exposed himself to children just to the north of Maple Leaf.

Sunday afternoon about 5 p.m. at the Pinehurst playground, in the 1200 block of 14th Avenue Northeast, two 13-year-old girls were playing on the swings when the man walked up to the them and made a comment, police say.

“When the victims turned to look at the suspect he had his genitals exposed and was masturbating. The suspect then ran away southbound on 14 Avenue,” according to Detective Renee Witt.

On Monday afternoon girls starting soccer practice about 3:30 p.m. reported that a similar man exposed himself at a soccer field in the 14000 block of 1st Avenue Northeast, police said. The suspect ran off when some of the girls screamed, and was seen getting into a vehicle parked on 1st Avenue just south of Northeast 145th Street.

The suspect is described by police as a white male, 22-39 years old, with a fair complexion, slim build and a goatee. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with a white design on the back, and black pants. There were slight differences in his description between the two instances.

The suspect was seen driving away in an older, light-colored, small four-door sedan. The first letter of the license plate may be “A”.

Anyone with information about the suspect or vehicle is asked to call 911.

We wrote in late August about a bald-faced hornet nest at 8th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 91st Street.

Here’s more information from our news partners at My Ballard.com.

When Sunset Hill resident Yvonne Nelson discovered what she thought was a bee hive in her front yard she didn’t know what to do. Should she send her husband Eric out to take care of it or call in an expert? They decided to pay the money for someone else take care of it.

When Dan the Bee Man arrived at their Sunset Hill home on a Saturday evening, he took one look at the basketball-sized nest and told the Nelsons and neighbor Mark Russoto that it wasn’t a bee hive, they had a bald-Faced hornets’ nest on their hands.

So Dan suited up, climbed the ladder and tried to get the nest down in one piece. The plan was to submerge it in a bucket of soapy water and kill the bald-faced hornets. With Dan up the ladder, half of the paper nest fell off and the hornets got angry. “That wasn’t supposed to happen,” Dan remarked behind his netted head gear. (more…)

Will the third time be the charm in the post-Seattle Crab Co. world?

On Oct. 1, the sign went up at 1000 N.E. Northgate Way that Patty’s Eggnest is taking the place of The Fine Diner, whose two-month stint was even shorter than its predecessor, La Bera Cafe.

Both tried to fill the shoes of the Seattle Crab Co., which closed abruptly after 11 years last summer.

Let’s hope that Patty’s Eggnest, which has several locations throughout the the Seattle area, can keep its doors open for longer than six months!

No word yet on when this new restaurant will open, but we’ll let you know as soon as we find out.

Update Oct. 2: So, where’s the rain?

Cliff explains, sorta, in “Sometimes a forecast goes wrong.”

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We came across these additional Giant Sunflowers this morning just as that quick rain shower swept through the area. They are just off Roosevelt Way Northeast.

Rain is predicted to start tonight and continue the next day, and the next, and the next, and that brings us to Tuesday.

For Tuesday the National Weather Service just issued a Special Weather Statement:

A STRONG WEATHER SYSTEM IS PREDICTED TO ARRIVE ABOUT TUESDAY BY

NUMERICAL MODELS. IN ADDITION TO BRINGING HEAVY RAIN TO THE COAST AND OLYMPIC MOUNTAINS…THIS SYSTEM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BRING WINDY OR BREEZY CONDITIONS TO THE AREA….

WITH MOST TREES STILL HOLDING ONTO THEIR LEAVES…ANY WIND

EVENT COULD EASILY KNOCK TREES DOWN AND CAUSE LOCAL POWER OUTAGES.

Meanwhile, we have re-posted another Giant Sunflower Photo that was eaten by a server crash early in the month.

Although there still are a few months until Maple Leaf residents can start signing up to join the solar power co-op that will make a group bid for cheaper solar panel installation in the new year (see earlier post here), you’ve got a perfect opportunity to learn more about the process this weekend.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow, Oct. 1, you’re invited to join the Tour of Solar Homes, which includes a stop at the Maple Leaf home of Jessica Raker. In addition to having 14 3.4-kilowatt solar panels on the roof of her home at 10530 11th Ave. N.E., Raker also happens to be an employee of Northwest SEED, the organization that has teamed up with Solarize Seattle to help organize residents for this initiative.

Learn more about solar panels at the Raker home, at 10530 11th Ave. N.E. in Maple Leaf, during the Tour of Solar Homes from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 1.

But don’t stop there. There are 11 Seattle homes taking part in the tour, and they’re all inviting you to take a gander at their solar panels and ask questions if anybody is home.

We’ll let you know when Solarize Seattle: Northeast gets a little closer to starting its initiative in our ZIP codes, or you can contact them for any upcoming alerts.