Update July 20: “I just wanted to you let you know that Mischa has been found! She was roaming the neighborhood near 73rd & 19th. Thank you so much for helping us get her back!” – Jessica

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Yesterday’s cat is now home safely, but Mischa is missing.

Mischa actually lives one neighborhood over, in Roosevelt at Northeast 76th Street and 17th Avenue Northeast. She’s been missing since Sunday afternoon.

Jessica emails: “She is a small, gray cat with tan marks, weighing approximately 7 lbs. She has yellow eyes and crook at the end of her tail.”

Mischa was wearing a green collar, and is is micro-chipped.

“We will give a cash reward to anyone who can find her. If anyone has her, or has seen her, they can contact me at 206.963.8592.”

Jessica says her house is close to four neighborhoods, and she has sent the information to all of them.

There’s no need to go all the way downtown for a fun festival this weekend.

On Saturday, July 23, the Roosevelt neighborhood is bringing us the seventh annual Bull Moose Festival, which begins at 11 a.m. with a family-friendly street festival on Northeast 64th Street, between Roosevelt Way Northeast and Ninth Avenue Northeast:

With an outdoor venue for entertainment throughout the day, you’ll be serenaded and impressed with local talent and a fashion show proving that Roosevelt is the chic and eclectic… place to be! Enjoy local food, fare and fun; something for everyone!

Or wait until 8 p.m. for the adults-only entertainment, including a battle of the bands with the winner receiving $500, and a pub crawl with a portion of drink sales going to the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association to fund future neighborhood events and activities. Pub crawl particpants include:

• The Scarlet Tree, 801 N.E. 65th St.
• The Atlantic Crossing Pub, 6508 Roosevelt Way N.E.
• Pies & Pints, 1215 N.E. 65th St.
• Teddy’s Tavern, 1012 N.E. 65th St.

For more information, check out the Roosevelt Seattle Facebook page and its Roosevelt Bull Moose Festival event page.

Update July 19: “I retrieved Bogie from a neighbor’s yard last night. Thanks for the support! Karri”

Karri emails:

“Our Cat Bogie snuck out of the house at 9212 8th Ave N.E. on Saturday. He is grey and white and wearing a collar with an electric fence receiver on it. If you have seen him please call Karri 206-679-3815.

“He is ill (nothing contagious) and needs medicine.”

Donna Hartmann-Miller, an executive member of the Maple Leaf Community Council, is braving the elements today until about 2 p.m. at Cloud City Coffee, 8801 Roosevelt Way N.E., to share more information with the neighborhood about the proposed designs for the new Maple Leaf Play Area.

Stop by to learn more and to share your opinion about the play area that will take the place of the current Maple Leaf Playground at 1020 N.E. 82nd St. when the new Maple Leaf Reservoir Park opens in 2013. If you can’t make it today, Hartmann-Miller plans to make the Maple Leaf cafe rounds again next weekend. We’ll have more details on times and places later this week.

Jackie emails to say she has a Beagle puppy that was found about 11:30 this morning wandering at the intersection of Northeast 92nd Street and College Way. “No collar, very friendly, very vocal. Call: (206)949-0952.”

update: dog and owner are back together.

This lost dog alert posted overnight at the Dog Oasis. (Let us know if found!)

Although it’s just a “soft opening” for now, The Fine Diner International Cuisine at 1000 N.E. Northgate Way opened its doors on Tuesday, and hungry patrons were filing through the door at dinnertime Friday.

Chef/owner Ron Chomcey is aiming for a grand opening in a couple of weeks, and in the meantime plans to continue expanding the menu by featuring more specials and adding a new menu item every week.

“Once we get a little more established, we’re going to feature a different region of the world every month,” he said. And once The Fine Diner receives its liquor license, he also plans to pair that featured region with the appropriate beer/wine/spirit.

For now, the menu includes appetizers, soups and salads; sandwiches ranging from $7.25 to $9.65; burgers ranging from $7.75 to $9.50 wraps for $8.95; fine entrees including The Rib Eye for $19.45 or Spaghetti & Meatballs for $9.89; and kids meals. There still are no alcoholic beverages, although Chomcey is hopeful they will have beer and wine in about a month.

The Fine Diner is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday; Chomcey plans to expand hours in the future and include breakfast in about three months.

On the Seattle City Council, Tim Burgess supports red light cameras and more trees. His opponent in next month’s council election, David Schraer, also backs red light cameras.

But, in a tree-tome length answer , it appears Schraer wouldn’t have backed the Maple Leaf Community Council in its successful fight to save trees at the old Waldo Hospital. He says, in part: “The current situation, where people are free to decide after-the-fact that a tree, grove, building or institution merits preservation and use that decision to disrupt the long-term plans of individuals, institutions, companies and even the entire city, must end.”

That answer is part of the community council’s election questionnaire, now posted at the council’s website.

The council’s executive board sent out the questionnaire on June 13. “Our goal was to create something to help community members be better-informed voters for the primary election,” said the board’s David Miller.

We solicited questions from the community and developed a 16-question questionnaire…..All candidates received email reminders and a phone call to the contact information listed on the Seattle Ethics & Election Committee web site. The due date for questionnaire return was July 13.

So far, it appears 12 of the 13 candidates have responded. You can read the questions and their answers here.

Primary election ballots will be mailed July 27 and must be returned via mail to King County Elections by Aug. 16. Voting is entirely by mail. You can find information from King County Elections here.

Don’t let the weather stop you from heading over to Northgate Community Center tonight for its fifth birthday celebration, from 6-8 p.m. at 10510 Fifth Ave. N.E.

Last year, Soultronic performed at Northgate Community Center’s fourth birthday.

All-ages entertainment takes place rain or shine, and will include live big band-era music from Route 66, bounce houses in the gym, crafts projects for kids, complimentary cake and hot dogs to purchase.

For more information, call the community center at 206-386-4283.

In the mood to put on your volunteer gloves this weekend? On Saturday, you’re invited to join this month’s work party at the Maple Leaf Community Garden, 529 N.E. 103rd St.

“The public park in the garden needs weeding, ” says Cyndy King, a member of the Maple Leaf’s community garden leadership committee. “It would be wonderful to get more people out there.”

The park includes plots that are part of the city’s P-Patch program, as well as a public park that anybody is invited to walk through.

“I think a lot of people don’t know it’s there or realize it’s a public park,” King said, touting the art that adorns the park and the trees in the public portion whose fruit is free for the taking.

The committee is organizing work parties on the third Saturday of every month this summer: July 16, Aug. 20 and Sept. 17. And although the scheduled time is from about 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., King adds that if you can only stay for an hour, that’s fine. At least that way you’ll know what the weeds look like, so “if you’re ever walking through the park and see a weed, you can pull it,” she says.

If you’d like to volunteer, you can just show up this weekend or on any of the other designated days, or call King for more information at 206-522-4299. All you need to bring is yourself: The group will provide work gloves and other tools, as well as refreshments.

Update July 19: Today Greg S. posted this comment on Wedgwood View’s coverage of “Martin.”

I forwarded this URL and the other one to Southwestern Home a few days ago and today received a courteous reply from their Director of Communications. They apologized the interactions have not been positive in nature. Martin is a student at the University of California at Berkeley and this is his first time selling for them. His supervisor has been made aware of the situation and corrective actions are being taken.

Let’s hope so.

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We received over 20 comments last week on the “door-to-door scammer story. Today we got an email from Greg, who lives in Maple Leaf, telling us the man most mentioned, Martin, is apparently operating in Wedgwood.

Yesterday the guest who had been at our house and lives in Wedgwood called to say Martin had just paid him a visit. He asked about “children” and when the homeowner asked to see a badge with ID Martin waved vaguely at his waist and would not show it to him. The homeowner then indicated that folks were complaining about him and he was creeping a lot of them out. At this point Martin tried to push his way into the house to look at the “website.” He was told to leave and again, stayed briefly before finally moving on.

I convinced my friend to notify the police as this is a pattern of irrational behavior at best, and potentially someone profiling for children, at worst.

Medical marijuana inhabits a legal no-man’s-land in Seattle
By Lucas Anderson and Meghan Walker
July 2011

Delta 9 cannabis dispensary at 8007 Lake City Way N.E.

Medical marijuana dispensaries are opening all over Seattle, including one on Lake City Way in Wedgwood and, apparently, another down the street in Maple Leaf.

As those shops moved to open, their legality became more of a gray area. That’s true across the city, although Seattle this week moved to try and further clarify the law.

A map of dispensaries in North Seattle

In Ballard, a modest house on a busy street is the new home of Fweedom Collective. There, Tyler Godfrey has been open for just a few months. When he opened shop, it looked as though dispensaries would soon gain protection under state law.

Fweedom serves only patients who have an authorization from their doctor. Godfrey says it’s important that patients have access. “Medical marijuana patients need a place to obtain their medicine, because if they can’t do it in a professional manner like this, they have to go to a criminal market, which then affects the community.”

This is reality for medical marijuana users, who have around 50 pot shops in Seattle that supply them with their medicine. The catch? All of them are now breaking state law. (more…)

The small crowd that gathered last night to hear the final concept design of the new Maple Leaf Play Area had few complaints about the features proposed for the Family Terrace.

The 4-acre area in the new Maple Leaf Reservoir Park is slated to include a “built area” including typical playground features such as climbing toys, slides and swings; a “children’s garden” that includes an area where kids can get dirty; and the “adventure play” area, with such features as caves and climbing walls.

With input from a community meeting a month ago, Maple Leaf Reservoir Park designers The Berger Partnership presented two concept ideas for the new play area, which will take the place of the current Maple Leaf Playground at 1020 N.E. 82nd St.

Both concepts seemed popular with the two-dozen or so attendees, who picked and chose aspects of each they’d like to see when the Family Terrace is completed.

Attendees broke up into two groups to discuss features they liked and didn’t like. Among the more popular features:

• An 80- to 90-foot zip line adjacent to the path heading east from Roosevelt Way Northeast toward the restrooms.
• Keeping access to the “ball wall,” which is a current Seattle Public Utilities building located on the south end of the playground. Option 2 had proposed hiding the building with wispy Palouse-like grasses.
• Swings for all ages.
• A mix of playground equipment that is both modern and natural-looking. One group was opposed to actually using natural wood because it tends to get wet and stay wet, but both groups still were in favor of keeping a natural feel and using natural colors.

If you missed the meeting, you still have a couple of weeks to give your feedback on the design concepts, which will be on display at Café Javasti, 8410 Fifth Ave. N.E.; Cloud City Coffee, 8801 Roosevelt Way N.E.; and Blue Saucer, 9127 Roosevelt Way N.E; as well as at the Maple Leaf Summer Social, from 6:30-9 p.m. Wednesday, July 27, where you also can provide feedback.

More information on the project also is available via the Seattle Parks and Recreation’s project information site and the Maple Leaf Community Council site. You can also watch video of last night’s meeting on the Maple Leaf Community Council’s YouTube channel.

If you’d like to add your 2 cents about the concept designs, send your comments to Seattle Parks Project Manager Kim Baldwin at [email protected].

A robbery attempt here last Friday afternoon involves the same car used in a previous robbery in June, police report.

On Friday, July 8, at about 4:15 p.m. a driver on Eighth Avenue Northeast was waiting for traffic to clear on Northeast Northgate Way when another driver pulled up alongside and asked him to pull over so she could ask him some questions, according to a police report.

“The victim thought since the suspect had an elderly female with her that they may need assistance so he pulled into the lot located at 8 Ave NE/NE Northgate Way,” the police report states.

There, the woman said “something similar to, ‘we are so embarrassed to have to do this but we need food for my grandma. She got kicked out of her home and she needs food and money.’”

The man refused, and the woman then reached down inside the car and demanded money “or I’m going to shoot you.

The victim fearing he was about to be shot quickly drove off in his car. The victim took a picture of the suspect vehicle’s license plate before leaving and stated he could definitely identify the suspect if he saw her again. The victim also stated he is pretty sure he has seen the suspect vehicle around the Northgate area on several occasions.

The police report states that the elderly woman didn’t seem aware of what was going on, and also that the same vehicle was used in another robbery the evening of June 16.

In that case, in the 1300 block of North 77th Street, a man told police “that a young mixed race male and female, driving a newer, shiny BLK Dodge Charger with chrome rims pulled up behind him, as he was bringing his wife home from the hospital.”

They told him something was wrong with his car and used a wrench to pretend to do something to the shocks, then demanded $300, police report. When he refused, they asked for $100, then stole his wallet and sped off down North 77th with the woman driving, according to that police report.

Although it will be another two years until we’re able to enjoy the new Maple Leaf Reservoir Park, the different pieces that will make up the 21-acre park are slowly coming together.

Tonight, another piece will move forward with the announcement of the final plans for expansion of the Maple Leaf Playground into the so-called Family Terrace.

One view of how the Maple Leaf Playground should look.

Join the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department and The Berger Partnership, which is designing the new park, as they present the final concept designs for the playground that were created based on input after last month’s planning meeting.

Friends for a Greater Maple Leaf Park, the volunteer group organizing community support of the park project, is encouraging people to attend the meeting and let Parks and The Berger Partnership know what you think about the design proposal:

“Is this area what you expected — what do you like about each concept — what suggestions or comments do you have?”

The meeting is from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, at the Northgate Community Center gym, with an update on the greater reservoir project scheduled from 6-6:30 p.m.