“Mostly sunny, with a high near 67 degrees.” That’s today’s official forecast from the National Weather Bureau, but we don’t believe it.

We say it’s going to break 70 degrees here today, for the first time since Noah built his ark in 199 days.

Our news partners at The Seattle Times seem to agree.

Heck, it broke 70 degrees in Olympia on Thursday.

Today’s our day.

If you missed the North Link open house earlier this week, Sound Transit has posted the entire presentation and all of the displays and the maps from the Tuesday meeting on its North Link Documents Library page.

Check it out and let us know what you think!

Although the new Maple Leaf restaurant COA Mexican Eatery & Tequileria planned to open tomorrow, May 20, its Facebook page now says the restaurant located at 7919 Roosevelt Way N.E. will be opening the following Friday, May 27. Eater Seattle has the scoop:

While owner Edgar Carreon has already opened the restaurant up for several events, including a Cinco de Mayo celebration, street food patio event and family night, a tequilaria isn’t much good without a liquor license, which is still pending.

Indeed, COA first opened its doors on Cinco de Mayo (photo at right from that night’s tequila-dinner pairing), and last weekend featured some of its “street-style tacos“ and had a Family Night.

The countdown is on.

We’re a little late spreading the word, but still wanted to let you know that the Meadowbrook Pool is closed temporarily due to emergency repairs of the wiring and circulation pump.

Seattle Parks and Recreation expects the work to be finished later today or sometime Friday, May 20. The pool is located at 10515 35th Ave. N.E.

Here’s some (relatively) good transportation news: Gas in the neighborhood dropped below $4 a gallon. For regular. For now.

Nationally, the Associated Press is reporting that gasoline prices are dropping across the country, for a national average around $3.93 a gallon. Here, KOMO-TV quotes AAA this week as saying Seattle-Everett prices hover right at $4 a gallon.

That’s still roughly a dollar a gallon higher than a year ago, though.

You can find local gas prices through AAA’s tool here.

What’s the cheapest you’ve paid for gas this week? (Tip: The Shoreline Costco’s price for a gallon of regular this morning was $3.899.)

Commute cyclists - who seem to be all over the news currently (here’s today’s column by Danny Westneat in The Seattle Times) - will be out in force Friday.

May is National Bike to School Month, and this Friday is our local Bike to Work/School Day, sponsored by the Cascade Bicycle Club.

Among those participating is Olympic View Elementary, 504 N.E. 95th St., which will up the ante with special guests from the Seattle Fire Department and the Seattle Police Department, plus an emergency response vehicle featured at the school.

The bike club is hosting 41 cycle commuter stations around the area, although the closest to Maple Leaf are at North Seattle Community College and Green Lake. There’s an interactive map here.

Remember to give Maple Leaf cyclists extra credit, as they commute up the third highest hill in Seattle!

Anybody have plans for bicycling on Friday?

(PS: No, the photos are not from here. They are from a recent trip to Italy, where practically everybody seems to ride a bike. When they aren’t riding scooters or Smart Cars.)

Burglars continue to strike neighborhood homes, though not as regularly as they were last winter.

In recent weeks police report:

• Two homes and a business were broken into on May 13. Police report the business, listed as “1000 block of Lake City Way Northeast The Pet Pros,” was broken into by kicking open the office door. The safe was open and money stolen. The same day burglars hit a home in the 500 block of Northeast 103rd Street and one in the 8500 block of Fourth Avenue Northeast

• A home in the 8200 block of Latona Avenue Northeast was broken into on May 12.
• Burglars on May 10 broke into a home in the 9700 block of 15th Avenue Northeast by prying open a front living room window.
• Two businesses in the 9500 block of First Avenue Northeast were burglarized between May 9 and May 10 by a thief who pried open a side door deadbolt, then cut a hole through the drywall into the adjacent business.
• A home in the 9400 block of First Avenue Northeast was burglarized May 7 by someone who broke through the back door and took a handgun, iPod, camera and two computers.
• Burglars on May 5 hit a home in the 1400 block of 17th Avenue Northeast and stole a computer and iPod.
• A home in the 800 block of Northeast 100th Street was burglarized on May 3 though a basement window and antique jewelry stolen.

There was a full house at tonight’s North Link light rail open house at Olympic View Elementary School, 504 N.E. 95th St., but little in the way of new information about the Northgate Station. (Read our earlier post for details.)

With 15 percent of the station design completed, Sound Transit remains on time and on schedule, with plans to present a clearer picture when the design completion is at 30 percent in the fall, at which time they’ll also delve deeper into the issue of public art at the transit center.

Officials were a little vague about how Maple Leaf buses will be affected when the station opens in 2020, only saying that the 41 express from the current Northgate Transit Center to downtown Seattle would go away, but that the 41 service linking Northgate to Lake City and other northerly stops likely would actually increase.

Parking is another sticky subject. Yes, the current plan does call for replacing the parking lot with residential/retail space between Thornton Place and the Northgate Station, which will be located just east of First Avenue Northeast, with its north entrance in the Northgate Mall parking lot, and its south entrance at the transit center.

But the plan also calls for increased access for pedestrians and bicyclists, and for a growth in bus service to accommodate the predicted 15,000 daily boarding at the Northgate Station.

There also was plenty of concern about property values from residents who live near the proposed light rail line, which rises above ground at Northeast 85th Street and eventually continues to rise to a level of 45 feet above the street when it reaches the Northgate Station. However, Sound Transit says it doesn’t have any information as to how property values so far have been affected by areas with light rail, except to say that it’s led to an increase in development in the Rainier Valley.

Have more questions you’d like addressed? There are two more North Link open houses coming up:

• May 26, 6-8:30 p.m., about the Roosevelt Station at Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center Gymnasium, 6535 Ravenna Ave. N.E.
• June 9, 6-8:30 p.m., about the Brooklyn Station at the Hotel Deca Grand Ballroom, 4507 Brooklyn Ave. N.E.

With the cost of food going up, one group of Seattleites has figured out how to eat every meal for free. They call themselves “freegans,” more commonly known to outsiders as “dumpster divers.” As one freegan says, “People think that food that goes in the garbage is bad.” They disagree. But it’s not just about sifting through garbage, they also forage for food in urban areas.

Students from the UW Entrepreneurial Journalism class, taught by our partners at the Common Language Project, talk with these freegans who say they “eat like kings” on a daily basis.

Continue reading Codes to Dive By

Our last post on the North Link rail station open house here drew so many comments that we wanted to remind folks they can attend the meeting tonight.

The Northgate station will be sandwiched between Interstate 5 and Metro’s Transit Center, just about where the express lanes now exit the freeway. It will span Northeast 103rd Street just east of First Avenue, with entrances on Northgate Mall property and near the transit center.

Tonight’s open house runs from 6-8:30 p.m. at Olympic View Elementary School, 504 N.E. 95th St.

Seattle Beer Week is coming up quick, so we wanted to be sure you knew about the Maple Leaf locales participating in this year’s celebration from Thursday, May 19, to Sunday, May 29.

Cooper’s Alehouse, 8065 Lake City Way N.E., is planning multiple events, but throughout it all just know that it’s “Locals Only @ Coopers” — that is, 23 taps of Seattle-based brews only. Later on in the week, you’ll get to know a couple of these brewers much better, with Georgetown Brewers Nite from 6-9 Monday, May 23, and a brewer’s night featuring Hale’s Ales from 6-9 Wednesday, May 25, starring eight beers including Pepper Saison.

Hudson New American Public House, 8014 15th Ave. N.E., also is participating for its second consecutive year, again with a Brett Brunch Beer Breakfast from 12:30-3 p.m. Saturday, May 28.

If you haven’t put your feet first yet, Chas Redmond certainly hopes you do soon, and that you take one of the Feet First maps with your on your excursion around the city.

Redmond, a Feet First board of directors member, passed around pedestrian-friendly maps of Northeast Seattle at last month’s Maple Leaf General Community Meeting, reminding Maple Leaf residents of the myraid gems that are hidden right in our backyards (see our own post “Scenes from the ‘urban trail’ to Matthews Beach“).

The maps do more than connect walkers from one place to the next through scenic neighborhoods and urban trails. They also offer suggested walks, including “The Maple Leaf Playground Loop,” which circles Maple Leaf Park and the reservoir, as well as “Two Reservoir Walk,” which takes pedestrian from that loop down to Froula Playground and Roosevelt Reservoir.

If you don’t have a map, they’re usually available at community centers and Seattle Public Libraries, and Redmond urges people to please let him know at [email protected] if they find any discrepancies between what has been printed in the map and what is actually reality. Although it might take some time for the change to be made in the printed maps, he said they will be made quickly on the electronic version.

By the way, what do you think about these “wayfinding stations”? The one pictured above is a Feet First map made into art located in West Seattle, and Feet First is hoping to bring them to Northeast Seattle as well. Let them know if you like the idea (they would be funded by grants) and where you think they would best serve pedestrians in Northeast Seattle.

The new restaurant on Roosevelt is serving a limited menu this afternoon and early evening before it officially opens next weekend.

COA Mexican Eatery & Tequileria, 7919 Roosevelt Way N.E., is serving “street style” tacos until 7 p.m. Here you see carnitas tacos, a ceviche tostada and red and green hot sauce. Total: $7.60.

There’s more on Sunday. The restaurant is having “family night” from 4-8 p.m. where kids under 10 eat for free off a special kids’ menu.

Did you get your Stamp Out Hunger bag from your postal carrier last week? Tomorrow, May 14, is the big day, so don’t forget to put out a bag of nonperishable foods if you’re able.

And remember, only donate items like canned meats, fish, soup, vegetables; bottled juice, pasta, cereal and rice that do not require refrigeration. Please do not include items that have expired or are in glass containers.

COA Mexican Eatery & Tequileria doesn’t plan to officially open until May 20, but it’s got a few events planned this weekend to give you a taste of what’s to come.

According to the COA website, it’s planning a Tacos for Life Street Fair from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 14:

COA has decided to open up its doors for an opportunity to taste some of its DE LA CALLE (Street Style Food)!

COA’s “Tacos For Life” Street fair will be offering the following menu items:

• Street Style Tacos (Carne Asada, Carnitas)
• Gorditas
• Nachitos
• Ceviche Tostadas

BONUS! Sign in to enter yourself for one of 4 $25 Gift Certificates!

As well as a Family Night on Sunday:

In an effort to meet the neighborhood, COA is offering a pre-opening Family Night on Sunday, May 15th to show off some of its new menu items. Additionally, kids under 10 years old will eat for free off of a kids menu!

New Menu Items:

• Chile Relleno
• Fajitas
• Camarones Diablo
• Arroz y Pollo
• Gorditas