Ruth Williams with the Thornton Creek Alliance recently sent out an update on Thornton Creek with several notable items.

First and foremost, the invasive snail species found recently in Thornton Creek means that it’s imperative people and pets stay out of the creek:

New Zealand Mud Snails are definitely entrenched at the mouth of Thornton Creek. Please be very careful not to encourage their spread. This means keeping yourselves, children, and pets out of the creek. Anything that has been exposed to these tiny invasives must be scrubbed and thoroughly dried in order to keep them from spreading to other waterways.

Since the tiny snails already have taken over Capitol Lake in Olympia, it’s clear there’s little regular citizens can do to keep them out of waterways they’re already in. But your efforts can at least prevent them from spreading their reach.

There’s even more ways to help Thornton Creek coming up. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, you’re invited to the Beaver Pond Natural Area Fall Work Party, which is taking place at Maple Leaf’s Thornton Creek Park No. 6.

When: Sunday, Sept. 25th; 10:00-1:00
Where: 8th Ave. NE and NE 106th St. (at the beaver pond)
Jobs: Weeding, mulching, and establishing clear places for new plants when planting season arrives
Please bring: yourself, friends, family, and a water bottle
Attire: dress for the weather; old sturdy shoes.
You’ll find on site: snacks, tools, gloves, good company, and useful work

For more information, email Williams at [email protected] or call 206-930-8965.

Lastly but also most timely, the Thornton Creek Alliance, in cooperation with the Meadowbrook Community Center, 10517 35th Ave. N.E., is holding a public talk from 7-8:30 tonight called “Gourmet Gardening or Urban Farming? Tomatoes, Chickens & Bees!”

Have you even tasted local honey? How about a really fresh egg? Hear about neighbors’ adventures and learn of community resources at this fall program from the Thornton Creek Alliance in cooperation with Meadowbrook Community Center. Speakers include Becca Fong from Parks Urban Food Systems, Stephanie Seliga from The Just Garden Project and Sheila Stickel from Seattle Community Solar and more. For more information, call Judy Olson, education vice president for the Thornton Creek Alliance, at (206) 523-4384.

If you’ve thought about adding solar panels to your home but have been intimidated by the cost or knowledge needed to take advantage of the renewable energy source, Solarize Seattle is ready to help.

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.

Solarize Seattle, a program of Northwest SEED, has teamed up with Sustainable Northeast Seattle to help area residents learn more about solar energy, and is helping them add solar more affordably through a program specifically for residents of Northeast Seattle. From the Solarize Seattle website:

“Solarize Seattle: Northeast will guide you through the process, joining you with your neighbors to realize cost savings through the group purchase of solar panels. And the best part — it’s easy to understand and easy to participate in!”

Interested residents in the 98105, 98115, and 98125 ZIP codes will be asked to register at the start of the new year, but there are plenty of opportunities to learn more about solar power in the interim:

• Solarize Seattle: Magnolia Workshop, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Magnolia Library: Join us to learn more about solar energy, the Solarize Seattle program, and how you can participate!
• Tour of Solar Homes, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 1 at Umpqua Bank: Magnolia Branch and your neighborhood: Join energy enthusiasts across the country — take a free tour of the solar and energy efficient homes in your neighborhood!
• Solarize Seattle: Magnolia Workshop, 7-8:30 p.m. Oct. 20 at Discovery Park Environmental Learning Center,

Maple Leaf also has the added bonus of having an employee of Northwest SEED in the neighborhood: Jessica Raker, whose solarized home at 10530 11th Ave. N.E. (pictured at top of post) will be a part of the Oct. 1 Tour of Solar Homes. Although she may be working elsewhere that day, she says somebody will be there to talk about their solar panels and answer any questions during the tour. (more…)

Another medical professional has moved to the neighborhood,enhancing the medical “district” that’s growing around Northwest Hospital & Medical Center.

Welcome to Dr. Elizabeth Smoots, who is opening her new medical practice in the North Seattle Professional Center located two blocks south of Northgate Mall at 9730 3rd Ave. N.E., Suite 202.

From her release:

As a board-certified family physician, she has many years of family practice experience in medical clinics around the Seattle area. She has developed special interests in women’s health, skin conditions, sports medicine, fitness and nutrition. Also, as an integrative medicine physician, she incorporates into her practice alternative therapies and advice about herbal remedies, dietary supplements, chiropractic manipulation, acupuncture and massage therapy, among others.

Dr. Smoots received her M.D. from the University of Arizona College of Medicine. Her interest in integrative medicine later led to her participation in a fellowship at the University of Arizona’s world-renowned Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine.

She schedules her patients for longer visits than average.

“I believe that spending more time with my patients is essential to providing good medical care. I provide an alternative to high-production, hamster-wheel-style practices.”

Dr. Smoots can be reached at 206-525-5576 or www.drsmoots.com.

Update 1 p.m.: Owners found, too. (See comments.)

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Heidi emails (and posted on our Facebook page):

“Found: small white dog at 15th NE & NE 98th.”

Let’s get him home!

Do you remember this photo from Maple Leaf resident Dan Mortensen from February?

Back then, we first noticed that the city had installed some of its new LED streetlights in the neighborhood, with the one pictured above at Northeast 96th Street, between 12th and 15th avenues northeast.

It appears that since then, the lights have spread, with reader Michael Meyers recently pointing out that Northeast 97th Street also recently had the new LED lights installed.

“Hey, how do you like all the new LED street lights going up?” he asked us, pointing out that he just noticed them on 97th a couple of weeks ago.

Have the new LED lights come to your block yet? Thumbs up or down?

Saturday morning was the end-of-summer work party at the Maple Leaf Community Garden.

And it didn’t rain!

And a lot of bags full of weeds were collected.

Also on Saturday, we spotted this sign at 8th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 97th Street:

For those who were following our post on “Sidewalks, streets: Debate over $60 car tab hike on November’s ballot,” first, our apologies.

Our server on Saturday had a hissy fit, otherwise known as a “kernel panic,” and ate several posts, including that one. We’ve re-posted the original and, with some help from Jen, the 18 or so comments it had generated.

The gist is that Seattle voters in November will decide whether to hike vehicle license fees by $60 to pay for some still-unknown list of transit, cycling and pedestrian projects.

Now Publicola has a piece on a debate Wednesday between Seattle City Councilman Nick Licata, who’s for the hike, and opponents Maple Leaf resident David Miller (of Sidewalks and Streets for Seattle) and John Fox of the Seattle Displacement Coalition.

Miller is quoted as saying he personally thinks: “Kids walking in the middle of the street in North and South Seattle” because there are no sidewalks is “more important than bike parking.”

Licata says “if you believe that transit should improve in Seattle, I think it’s something you should support.”

In addition to that Publicola post, there’s an ongoing debate here.

We must have heard now from a half-dozen or more folks who all have a question similar to Susan’s:

“”Italian Spaghetti House on Lake City Way has a big fence around it. Anyone know what is up?”

We’ve looked around, and still don’t know the answer. But we’re betting one of our readers does.

The Italian Spaghetti House & Pizzeria closed earlier this year after 55 years in the same location, 9824 Lake City Way N.E. The owner told The Seattle Times she hoped to reopen, but it’s never happened.

There’s no permit activity for the address visible on the city’s website, and the property doesn’t appear to be actively for sale or lease.

Who can help figure this out?

Update Sept. 14: Police today confirmed the suspect arrested here on Tuesday was wanted for a home invasion robbery that occurred on Aug. 31st in the 400 block of East Union Street.

At approximately 7 p.m. on that day, a known female suspect and the male suspect (yesterday’s arrest) came to the victim’s door. Both were armed with handguns. The suspects forced their way into the victim’s apartment and demanded money and drugs from the victim. They then left after robbing the victim. Detectives were able to track down and arrest the female suspect in West Seattle on September 6th. Information developed during the investigation identified the male suspect, and a bulletin was sent out to officers. Yesterday, while on patrol, two alert officers observed the suspect in the car in North Seattle.

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A suspect in an earlier home invasion robbery was arrested just north of Maple Leaf this afternoon after a crash and a short police chase, officers said.

The incident took place just before 1:30 p.m. when patrol officers spotted a wanted robbery suspect driving near Northeast 107th Street and 15th Avenue Northeast, police said.

After the officers spotted the suspect, the suspect began speeding away from the patrol car and collided into an occupied moving motor vehicle (it is unknown at this time if the officers had attempted to initiate a vehicle stop prior to the suspect fleeing).

The occupant of the victim vehicle was not injured. Immediately after the collision, the suspect fled the crash scene on foot.

Officers engaged in a foot pursuit while additional officers converged on the area. The suspect was located and taken into custody.

Officers said the home invasion robbery occurred in the city within the last few weeks.

According to emails and comments on our Facebook page, the arrest involved multiple sirens, overhead helicopters (possibly news crews) and a half-dozen officers with drawn weapons.

Publicola is reporting the home invasion robbery took place on Capitol Hill last month.

Last month officers crashed through neighborhood backyards several times in pursuit of suspects. Our stories are here and here.

Benjamin Bunny (who is in actual fact a cat) is back in his familiar lawn at Seattle Creative Kids Preschool.

He headed out on Sunday, Sept. 4, apparently to find adventure.

A week later Sheila, from the school at 9221 12th Ave. N.E., emails:

Thank you for your help with finding Benjamin - he has been found. Apparently he made his way down to 100th and moved in with a nice woman who gave him food and shelter. She called as soon as she found out where he belonged and we were reunited.

However, the very next day she called to let me know he was back at her house. (He is back home now.)

Again, thanks for your assistance in getting him home. Lots of people called and stopped by to give me tips/leads and express their concern.

Grab your gardening gloves and pitch in at the monthly volunteer work party at the Maple Leaf Community Garden this weekend.

Mojo supervises Shannon Collins at the Feb. 12 work party.

Stop by 529 N.E. 103rd St. anytime between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, to lend a hand. From the Maple Leaf Community Council:

We need many volunteers to pitch in to really make a difference! No gardening expertise required. A variety of tasks for all abilities need doing — weeding lower levels, clearing out compost bins, weeding upper native plantings, cleaning up the entries and the street swale, and spreading the pile of mulch from the driveway. Bring your gardening gloves; hand tools will be provided.

Coffee, beverages, and light refreshments will also be provided to give us strength. Feel free to bring something to share also — too much zucchini bread, or whatever you wish.

If you can’t make it this weekend, the next work party is Saturday, Oct. 15.

We just stumbled across this raving review in the Seattle Weekly of the scones at Cafe Javasti, 8410 Fifth Ave. N.E., and had to share it with the Maple Leaf Life community (even though it’s — egads — four months old!):

Bite into a Javasti scone — the café’s hallmark pastry — and you’ll be ravished by the light, buttery and flaky dough. Standard scone textures lean toward dense, but the Javasti version tastes more cake-like. Still, it doesn’t cross the line. The crust and flakiness remind you that this is still a scone we’re talking about here.

Got any other favorite treats at Javasti worth touting?

Editor’s note: A system problem on Saturday reset the site to Sept. 7. We’re re-posting this as a significant number of commentators had chimed in. So far, though, I haven’t figured out a way to restore the comments.

Sidewalks and Streets.org. Red indicates lack of paved sidewalks.

Few issues have generated as much interest since we started Maple Leaf Life as – sidewalks. (And you thought I was going to say “strip clubs.” Or “crime.” Or, gasp, “bike lanes.”)

Turns out sidewalks – or the lack thereof – are indeed a major issue here. Safety aside, at the Maple Leaf Summer Social we had a Realtor tell us sidewalks are a big consideration for home buyers.

Much of Maple Leaf, north of about Northeast 92nd Street, lacks paved sidewalks. That’s also true of much of north Seattle.

Sidewalks may turn out to be a key issue in new moves making it more expensive to license a car here, by a potential total of $80 per vehicle.

Last month car license fees were raised $20 by the King County Council to pay for additional transit. No public vote was taken.

A little later in August, the Seattle City Council voted to add an additional $60 to the tabs, and put that hike on the November public ballot. That money is aimed at transit, cycling and pedestrian projects, but none of them are specified, as our news partner The Seattle Times pointed out in its thoughtful piece “Seattle’s $60 car tab fee: where it could go.” The official release from the council, acting as something called the Seattle Transportation Benefit District, is here.

That Seattle Times story quotes David Miller, an active member of the Maple Leaf Community Council and longtime sidewalk advocate, as saying: “Seattle taxpayers deserve more specifics for their $20 million a year.”

Miller is working with one of two groups opposing the fee hike this time around. His group, Sidewalks and Streets for Seattle, points out:

Elementary school children across much of north and southeast Seattle have to walk in the middle of the street to get to school because of a lack of sidewalks. Sidewalks deserve a higher priority than this measure gives them.

In comments on an earlier Maple Leaf Life post on the issue, Miller wrote in part: “The consistent message I get from Maple Leaf residents is sidewalks and transit, sidewalks and transit.”

The other opposition group is Citizens Against Raising Car Tabs.

The Seattle P-I.com’s Joel Connelly has written a piece pointing out that Proposition 1, as the Seattle car tab hike is called, “is going to see an actual campaign with real-life opposition, unlike many other taxes and levies promoted in recent years by the city’s activist interest groups and political elites.”

The election is Nov. 8. The original ballot title, saying Prop. 1 would fund “transportation facilities and services benefiting the City of Seattle, including: street and bridge repairs,” has been changed after opponents noted none of the money is earmarked for bridges, according to this story in the Times.

On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, neighbors are invited to come together to reflect on the 10th anniversary of the attacks during “A Day of Remembrance and Service to Others” all day Sunday at Meadowbrook Pond, Northeast 107th Street and 35th Avenue Northeast.

Presented by the Meadowbrook Advisory Council and Seattle Parks and Recreation, the public is invited to Meadowbrook Pond any time on Sunday, from dawn to dusk, to walk the paths, find a place for quiet contemplation or meet neighbors. From a Parks news release:

There will be several interactive displays and thoughtful prompts to help people reflect and also look to the future. It has been said that the best way to remember those who died on 911 is to “Live, love and laugh in their honor.”

Meadowbrook Pond offers a beautiful setting that will allow people to remember the tragedy and how we can live our lives in the best way possible from here on.

Another way to honor people is to use this day as a day to do something for others-something for the community or the environment on this day that is also known as Patriot Day.

For other ideas on how to remember, visit familiesofseptember11.org.