Despite an earlier police search for a suspect in Maple Leaf, neighbors came together for the annual National Night Out to get to know one another and organize against crime.

Neighbors on Northeast 97th Street just east of Roosevelt Way Northeast celebrate National Night Out.

Did you enjoy National Night Out with your neighbors, or did it pass you by this year? Get organized next year with help of the Seattle Police Department’s Night Out website.

Update 5:44 p.m.: Police have suspect in handcuffs at 92nd Avenue Northeast just east of Roosevelt Way Northeast.

Update 4:55 p.m.: Police on foot at Roosevelt Way Northeast and 91st Avenue Northeast.

Police at 91st Avenue Northeast just east of Roosevelt.

Maple Leaf Community Council emails:

Please be aware the Seattle Police Department is currently hunting a fugitive accused of assault in the Maple Leaf neighborhood near 12th Ave NE and NE 90th.

The description of the person is as follows:

Black man, white t-shirt, white sweat pants, 5′9″, 190 lbs, probably sweaty from running. The man is wanted for several things. The police do not believe he is armed, but if he is spotted DO NOT CONFRONT. Phone 9-1-1 right away.

Please lock your doors and windows and call 9-1-1 immediately if you see anyone matching the description or see suspicious activity. Keep a phone nearby.

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Update 4:49 p.m. David Miller emails: “Police are currently looking for an assailant accused of assault near 12th and 90th. Local biz are locking up.”

Deb posts on our Facebook page:

In my yard near 12th and 89th picking berries around 4:15 today when a policeman pops his head over the fence and scares the hell out of me. He’s looking for a male dressed in a white shirt and pants and says to call 911 if I see him.

The entire area is full of police cruisers patrolling the nearby streets right now (4:20 p.m.). We’ve put in a call, but one of the more recent times this happened it was a report of a burglary in progress, and that time they got them!

Kristine emails that she has a lost cat:

She is a shorthair brown tabby whose name is Penne (aka Penne Pasta). She fell out of our window (Monday) morning in the vicinity of 15th Ave NE & NE 95th St. She is an indoor-only kitty who has NEVER been outside. Anyone with information can call us at: 206-478-6113.

We received several comments on our post over the weekend on copper ground wires missing from local utility poles.

This afternoon Nick told us: “Well, it seems KOMO has picked up on the story. There’s a news truck on 89th.”

And we heard this back from Seattle City Light:

Thieves do steal wire for the copper. Unfortunately, this is not a rare occurrence.
We have a grounding system that keeps locations safe even if copper is removed from a pole by grounding them from pole to pole also. Even so, we want to make repairs to instances like this as soon as possible. Anyone who sees something like this should call us at 684-3000.

Scott Thomsen

In addition, our news partner at The Seattle Times have this story about serious injuries to a copper thief outside Enumclaw.

If you’re looking for expert gardening tips but have no idea where to start, look no further than the Seattle Seedling blog from Maple Leaf neighbor Stacy Brewer.

Photo of Maple Leaf resident Stacy Brewer in her 4,000-square-foot garden courtesy Jenn Ireland Photography.

Brewer, who has lived in her Maple Leaf home for nine years, is an organic gardener who not only grows berries and myriad vegetables on her 4,000-square-foot lot, but also has a chicken coop that starred in this year’s Chicken Coop & Urban Farm Tour, landing her a writeup in The Seattle Weekly’s “6 Coolest Chicken Coops” article.

“I’m trying to use whatever space I can to add more every year,” Brewer tells us.

She considers her blog similar to a journal where she shares her successes as well as her lessons, with much of it culminating in the recent post “Ask a Gardener: Sure-fire Vegetables for Beginners,” which offers tips to help the Western Washington vegetable gardener plant a plot that actually will thrive in our environment. She writes:

I want you to be successful because I know from experience, the more things grow and the more fresh vegetables you taste from your own garden, the more excited you will be about growing your own food.

Brewer recommends greens such as lettuce and kale, peas, radishes and zucchini, as opposed to the tomatoes that are so popular among Northwest gardeners despite the fact they’re “one of the most challenging vegetables you can grow this side of the Cascades,” she says. And she knows all of this because she’s actually a relative newbie to gardening herself.

Brewer started the blog just two-and-a-half years ago after reading the book “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” by Barbara Kingsolver, to share her own own journey from just dabbling in gardening into learning how to live sustainably in Maple Leaf. “That book changed my life,” Brewer says. (more…)

All of you who chatted with us at the Maple Leaf Summer Social know we were asking “Why Do You Love Maple Leaf?” and shooting instant photos of your responses. Here are a few samples. All 39 photos are now online.

In addition, here’s a link to still more photos from the Summer Social. (Thanks, Grace.)

Mai Ling hard at work at the Maple Leaf Life table. Photo: Dane Doerflinger Photography

We put up a post last week about helping the North Helpline food bank by donating at the Maple Leaf Summer Social.

Here’s an update from Lynda at North Helpline:

Thanks again very much for your article about the food bank on the Maple Leaf Life blog. Most of the people who brought us donations at the Ice Cream Social mentioned that they had read your posting—wow the power of the press!! We were able to collect 66 pounds of food, and $126.

Also, we had a great time—friendly people, great band, and delicious looking ice cream, and a good location (right next to Cloud City Coffee)—I hope we get to do it again next year.

The food bank, which serves northeast Seattle including Maple Leaf and Wedgwood, will have a table Thursday evening at Magnuson Park’s outdoor movie (this time it’s Top Gun). Seating’s at 7 p.m., movie starts at dusk.

North Helpline will be onsite at the Seattle Outdoor Movies at Magnuson Park next Thursday, August 4th, collecting food and meeting and greeting our neighbors. Look for our booth and bring a can or two of nonperishable food along if you can!

Admission is $5.00. There will be trivia, interactive games and prizes. North Helpline will also be raffling off a $50.00 gift certificate to COA Mexican Eatery & Tequileria in Maple Leaf. For every two cans of food a person brings, they will receive a raffle ticket. No limit on the tickets so bring all the cans you can! The drawing will be held Friday, August 5th and the winner will be notified by phone.

Update Sunday afternoon: After seeing the comments, below, we’ve mailed Seattle City Light to learn more. Hope to hear from them Monday.

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Nick emails: “Down the hill from the MLL Tower, some enterprising soul has snipped the copper grounding wire from the telephone/power poles on the entire block on 89th between 17th and 20th. Have any other streets been hit?”

We haven’t seen any, but assume copper thieves are taking the wire for scap value.

Any other reports?

The Blue Angels are coming to town Monday for Seafair and there’s a special military show Wednesday over Elliott Bay.

August 1: 8:10 a.m. Blue Angel no. 7 aircraft arrives
August 1: 12 and 1:30-3 p.m. Blue Angel no. 7 conducts media flights
August 2: Blue Angel team arrival along with other air show aircraft
August 3: 12 p.m. Blue Angel media flights
1:45-2:30 military aircraft fly over the Parade of Ships on Elliott Bay
August 4: Air show practice flights:
10 a.m.-12 p.m.
1:20 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
August 5: Air show practice flights:
1:30 p.m.- 3 p.m.
August 6: Air show performance: 1:30-3 p.m.
August 7: Air show performance: 1:30-3 p.m.
August 9: Mid-morning, Blue Angel team will depart

The military aircraft fly-over on Wednesday includes EA Prowlers, P3 Orion’s, and Harrier jets – all known to be loud and flying low.

Rosalie emails: “Do you have any more info about Seattle Night Out parties happening in Maple Leaf? Thanks for your work!”

Night Out is almost here - Tuesday, Aug. 2, from 6-9 p.m.

We posted on National Night Out, the neighborhood block party with a crime-fighting goal, at the beginning of the month, and gave directions to register your block online, allowing you to close your street to traffic so neighbors can safely meet and mingle.

But we haven’t heard any response. And the city’s Night Out map, as of this weekend, shows scant response here, though registering on the map is optional.

Maple Leaf, in the dozen years we’ve lived here, has generally had a lukewarm Night Out presence. In other neighborhoods street after street are closed. Not so much here.

But the blocks that ARE closed seem to be having all the fun.

Police on Friday night arrested a 22-year-old man who is suspected of an earlier armed robbery on Lake City Way Northeast, according to a police press release.

The arrest occurred about 10 p.m. on July 29th when a patrol officer spotted the suspect and his brother walking near Northeast Northgate Way and Eighth Avenue Northeast, according to police.

The robbery occurred July 23rd, when the victim was at a storage space/garage in the 10000 block of Lake City Way Northeast. According to the officer who responded at the time:

There was a male yelling for assistance and saying that he was beaten up and robbed. SFD Engine Company #40 arrived with us. I located victim in the back of the building by space # . He had obvious bruising to his face including pronounced swelling over his left cheek. His nose was bleeding. (he) seemed disoriented and was slow to answer questions.

According to the press release, the victim knew both the 22-year-old attacker and his brother, but the suspect “suddenly, without warning” attacked, punching the victim in the face with his fists and a small flashlight, then threatening him with a rubber mallet and stealing his wallet.

“The victim was later able to view photographs and pick out the suspect,” the press release states.

Update July 30: Angie emailed overnight: “Just wanted to let you know there was another car break-in to our neighbor’s car last night - near the corner of Brooklyn and 80th.”

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Don emails us: “Tuesday night of this week I had my catalytic converter sawed off of my Toyota truck on 16th Ave. N.E. just south of Maple Leaf.

“Please spread the word for folks to keep their eyes open for these punks. It cost me several hundred dollars to replace it.”

In fact, since our last report 10 days ago that thieves were stealing or breaking into more than a car a day in the neighborhood, the police map indicates nine more vehicles were pillaged. Not including Don’s.

I suppose that’s a slight reduction.

Speaking of that last report, we picked up a comment on it:

C // Jul 21, 2011 at 4:37 pm

Poster says it all, or most of it. Owner was out looking for her cat shortly after 11 a.m. today on Northeast 103rd Street and 12th Avenue Northeast.

All photos courtesy Dane Doerflinger Photography

Here, for the second year in a row, is a photo report on Wednesday night’s Maple Leaf Summer Social by Dane Doerflinger, a photographer, whitewater guide and Maple Leaf resident.

The full set of 64 71 photos can be seen here. In addition, the Maple Leaf Community Council has posted a slew of Summer Social photos on its Facebook page.

Maple Leaf Life (yours truly) shot instant photos of folks who came to our table, and had each inscribed with an answer to “Why do you love Maple Leaf?” You can see what it looked like halfway through the evening; we’re trying to figure out a way to display the individual photos.

Without further adieu, on to Dane’s photos.

Photo: Joshua Newman/Maple Leaf Community Council

Photos are starting to come in from last night’s Maple Leaf Summer Social. We’ll have a raft more of them once they are worked up.

Hundreds of neighbors streamed to the Maple Leaf Playground to enjoy music, food, balloons and, above, a cool, yellow, electric sportster from the Seattle Electric Vehicle Association. (Thanks, Joshua.)

Below, members of MKG Martial Arts offer boards to kick. Yes, the boards are recyclable. (Thanks,Kendra.)

Photo: Kendra Wagner