“The Burning House” is playing from April 29 to May 8 at Northwest Puppet Center, 9123 15th Ave. N.E. Photos courtesy Northwest Puppet Center.

Maple Leaf might not be the first neighborhood you think of when it comes to opera, but for the next two weekends, we’ve got opera PLUS marionettes.

From April 29 to May 8, Northwest Puppet Center, 9123 15th Ave. N.E., is featuring the marionette opera “The Burning House,” which was created by baroque composer Fanz Josef Haydn especially for The Royal Marionette Theater at Esterhaza Palace in Austria.

The two-week run in Seattle comes after the Carter Family Marionettes showcased the opera to sold-out crowds at Germany’s Sanssouci Palace Theatre of Frederick the Great, pictured at right.

Showtimes are at 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; and 2 p.m. Sundays. This opera is not intended for young children, and it is not part of Northwest Puppet Center’s season subscription package.

Prices are $32 for general admission, $28 for seniors and $28 for youth. Tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets.

There also is a preview performance at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 28, with tickets priced at $10 also through Brown Paper Tickets.

Flying Squirrel Pizza Co.’s original location is in Seward Park. Photo courtesy its website.

By Katie Melton

In a previous post, we dropped the news that the Flying Squirrel Pizza Co. will be arriving in Maple Leaf sometime soon. Bill Coury, the owner of the restaurant that is taking the place of A New York Pizza Place at 8310 Fifth Ave. N.E., says it may be a little later.

“This is the million-dollar question, isn’t it? I am hoping that we are open at the beginning of July,” Coury said.

Regardless of the vacant space, why open a location in Maple Leaf?

“We’ve had such success being the neighborhood restaurant here in Seward Park. Maple Leaf just reminded me a lot of our Seward Park location. Lots of families, and it’s cozy. After a year, we will all know each other. It’s just more fun that way. It seemed like the perfect spot,” Coury said.

We will keep you posted on the status of the restaurant’s opening. By the looks of it, Maple Leaf neighbors should expect to be seeing the Flying Squirrel Pizza Co. in their backyard by summer.

“It’s a cool spot, don’t you think? We’re very excited,” Coury said.

Katie Melton is the intern for Maple Leaf Life. She is a journalism student at the University of Washington.

By Katie Melton

The grand opening of Hubbard Homestead Park on Saturday boasted a bustling crowd and beautiful weather.

At 10 a.m. there was an all-ages egg hunt, followed by a performance from local musician Rodey Dean, pictured below, playing the acoustic guitar and singing a mix of old favorites and his music.

The new park features a half-court for basketball, which was broken in by players from the Seattle Storm and the former Seattle SuperSonics, alongside other park visitors.

One of the park’s artistic features is the source stone that mimics the spring that once ran through the Hubbard family’s property.

Laura Haddad and Tom Drugan, shown below, the artists behind the stone, attended the opening to talk to visitors about the symbolism and purpose of the piece.

“The water is reclaimed irrigation water,” Haddad said.

The water flows out of the stone and down a channel to the other end of the park to irrigate the park’s abundant plant life.

There is also some mythical symbolism behind the piece.

“The texture of the stone is supposed to be like beaver fur and the disk inside is mimicking beaver tail texture,” Haddad said. “The red light that glows at night commemorates the rest of the myth of the ‘Beaver Woman,’ who is believed to reside in springs.”

The artists also sprinkled gold flakes amongst the gravel near the stone to represent the fool’s gold that the Hubbard children used to find in the spring.

The water feature was a huge hit for adults and children alike.

So, what were the visitors’ thoughts on the new park? (more…)

Progress appears to be moving forward for the transition from La Bera Cafe to The Fine Diner International Cuisine, 1000 N.E. Northgate Way.

No word yet on the opening date, but between The Fine Diner, The Flying Squirrel Pizza Co. (8310 Fifth Ave. N.E.), and COA Mexican Eatery & Tequileria (7919 Roosevelt Way N.E.), we’ll soon have many more options to choose from.

All around the neighborhood eggs are being hidden and hunted.

There’s a garden work party at Olympic View Elementary School.

The tag sale for Earth Day is on at Wild Root Salon, 8814 Roosevelt Way N.E. And there’s a plant sale across the street at Maxine’s, 8811 Roosevelt Way Northeast.

And besides, it just might be the warmest day of the year!

The Maple Leaf Community Council sent an urgent email this morning about the Maple Leaf Reservoir Park.

Dear Neighbor -

We have been communicating with the Parks Department about the design process for portions of the Family Terrace – that section of the new Maple Leaf Park intended for kids. We need feedback from you and, unfortunately, we need it this weekend. Please feel free to forward this email to other parents you know who are interested in the park.

When the overall design for the new park at the Maple Leaf reservoir was created, there were multiple public meetings. The meetings held by the Parks Department were in the evenings, starting at 6 p.m. or later. There were two meetings to collect input prior to the first draft designs and two meetings for comments on the designs.

For the Family Terrace, Parks is planning a single pre-design meeting to happen between 4-6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 18. Parks came up with this time of day to coincide with the hours of operation of the Kid’s Club after-school program at Olympic View Elementary. According to the Parks Department, parents of children in the Kid’s Club arrive around 5 p.m. to pick them up. Parks has stated they are excited about being able to get input from kids on the Family Terrace play area since it is intended for kid use. Anyone can attend the meeting from 4-6p.m..

This is the only meeting Parks is intending to hold prior to draft designs being generated.

We wholeheartedly agree with the idea of getting input from kids, but we are worried the planned time (4-6 p.m.) will make it difficult for some community members to attend. More importantly, we can’t be certain ideas for the Family Terrace proposed at prior meetings will be carried forward by the Parks Department.

We need your input on the meeting time. If you could, can you specifically answer these two questions in your reply:

1. Can you attend the Wednesday, May 18 meeting at 4-6 p.m. at Olympic View Elementary?

2. If you can’t, when would be the best day of the week and time of day for you (and your kids, if you have them) to attend a single meeting to provide input prior to draft designs?

Please send us your reply by 7 p.m. this Sunday (April 24). Email to: MLCC (at) MapleLeafCommunity.org

In addition to the egg hunt planned tomorrow as the grand opening for the new Hubbard Homestead Park, another nondenominational Easter celebration a little closer to home also is taking place on Saturday.

There was fun for all ages at last year’s Carnival of Eggs.

Once again, Lakeview Free Methodist Church, 9412 15th Ave. N.E., will be holding its popular Carnival of Eggs, a free community festival that offers fun for all ages.

In addition to the games both inside and outside the church, children get the chance to hunt for eggs with their respective age groups.

The event takes place from 10 a.m. to noon., the same time as the egg hunt at Hubbard Homestead Park, which is located just north of Target at Fifth Avenue Northeast and Northeast 112th Street.

Are there any other Easter events taking place this weekend our readers should know about?

Earth Day announcement at the Maple Leaf Dog Oasis.

Thanks to our sister site My Ballard for this post.

Construction’s over and the Dog Oasis is back in full service!

Today’s turning out to be a good one for crime news - good, in the sense that criminals are getting caught.

Earlier we posted on a home invasion robber - caught! - and a bank robber - caught!

We’d also spotted another robbery on the police crime map, which looked more like a purse snatching. This evening police have released more details, including this one: Caught!

Here’s that release (click for full details):

On April 15th at 4:18 p.m. the 19-year-old female victim was walking in the area of 5th Avenue NE and NE 102nd Street, when she was confronted by an unknown adult male suspect who grabbed her purse. The victim resisted the suspect and clung on to her purse. The suspect continued to pull at her purse and the victim ended up down on the sidewalk. The suspect dragged her several feet as she clung on to her purse.

The victim was able to give descriptive information to investigating officers regarding the suspect and the suspect vehicle that was subsequently passed on to Robbery detectives. The detectives developed information during the course of their investigation that lead them to a residence in Lynnwood.

On April 20th at approximately 1:00 p.m. Seattle Police Robbery detectives contacted the two suspects (who turned out to be the actual robber and his getaway driver) at the Lynnwood residence. Both suspects were interviewed and subsequently arrested and transported back to Seattle. The primary suspect is a 28-year-old male. His accomplice and driver is a 21-year-old female.

It’s not in the release, but the actual police report says she hung onto that purse. The robber didn’t get it.

News for all the dog walkers on 12th Avenue Northeast: Comcast and Co. has spent the afternoon fixing the sidewalk at Maple Leaf’s Dog Oasis.

The result is a better sidewalk, but a blocked Dog Oasis until the concrete cures.

Don’t worry - we moved the treat jar outside the tape.

(Disclosure: A Maple Leaf Life co-editor co-owns the Dog Oasis.)

Seattle Police on Tuesday night arrested a suspect in a home invasion robbery that occurred earlier this month.

Also, new details are available on a bank robbery from last week.

The home invasion occurred April 5 in the 2200 block of Northeast 88th Street, just a block east of Lake City Way. One suspect was armed with a shotgun, another with a “crow-bar type tool.”

This morning police announced:

Following up on information developed during the investigation, detectives went to a location in Burien where they set up surveillance on a residence. At approximately 6:15 p.m. the suspect was observed leaving the house. He was arrested on the street without incident. The 43-year old-suspect was later booked into the King County Jail. Robbery detectives will have the responsibility for the follow-up investigation.

In the bank robbery, which occurred about 5 p.m. on April 14, officers were called to a bank in the 400 block of Northeast Northgate Way.

Witnesses said the female robber was wearing medical scubs, according to the police report, and officers found the suspect at Northgate and Eighth Avenue Northeast a few minutes later and took her back to the bank, where she was positively identified.

The teller told police that the woman handed him a withdrawal slip and he started to discuss her request for $4,200 when she became agitated and said something similar to “give me the money or I’ll hurt some.”

It was only then, the police report states, that the teller noticed the fine print in the top right corner of the “withdrawal” slip: “The note stated something along the lines of ‘this is a robbery.’”

Perhaps perplexed, the teller turned to tell his assistant manager they were being robbed, but when he turned back around the woman had run, the police report states.

There will be less person on the executive board ballot next week during the Maple Leaf General Community meeting, which is from 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, at Olympic View Elementary, 504 N.E. 95th St.

Earlier this month, Meg Stockbridge, who was slated to replace board member Janice Camp as treasurer of the Maple Leaf Community Council’s executive board, submitted her resignation.

“We just had philosophical differences about how the executive board should be run,” said Stockbridge, who learned she was pregnant shortly after joining the board in the fall, and now is in the midst of a risky pregnancy.

“I feel badly that I can’t represent the community,” she added. “But I have to put my family first and I think my constituents would want me to do that.” (more…)

COA Mexican Eatery & Tequileria has been rallying support for its new Maple Leaf restaurant since it first announced plans to move into the space vacated by Divine, 7919 Roosevelt Way N.E.

But now, just weeks before the new restaurant is slated to open, its taken the hype to the next level — or perhaps the next few levels.

Today, COA announced that it’s offering free tacos for life to two lucky winners who either follow COA on Twitter (@coatequileria) or “like” COA on Facebook. From the news release:

COA is urging Seattleites to “like” their Facebook page and follow their Twitter page for a chance to win a free daily dose of COA’s authentic, street-style tacos. Two “TACOS FOR LIFE” winners will be announced in June. The two winners will have a daily opportunity, during restaurant hours, to savor as many Carne Asada and Carnitas tacos their heart desires, for FREE. (more…)

Update: The New York Times has noticed Seattle’s “extraordinary year for moss!”

Our news partner The Seattle Times has a story with this telling headline: “The Seattle region’s coldest April on record is a boon for moss.”

No kidding.

On the other hand, the Times seems to like it:

Our crummy spring is a glory for that signature denizen of Seattle: moss. The glorious green yang to our gloomy gray yin, moss is reveling in all this cool, moist weather.

Me, I’d rather it wasn’t on my roof.

Got any good moss gripes or photos? Send them our way.