The Seattle Department of Transportation announced today that there will be lane closures on both the Aurora Bridge and Alaskan Way Viaduct tomorrow, Tuesday, September 22.

The two center lanes (one northbound and one southbound) on the Aurora Bridge will be closed down from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. tomorrow while crews repair the expansion joints. Two lanes will remain open in each direction.

The northbound right curb lane on the Alaskan Way Viaduct at Massachusetts Street will be closed down from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. so that crews may finish installing a temporary post and railing that was damaged last Saturday in a vehicle accident. Permanent repairs at this location are scheduled to take place next month during an Alaskan Way Viaduct construction closure.

The Girl Scouts of Western Washington will be having an informational event tomorrow, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the Queen Anne Library for girls interested in joining the troupe. Girl Scout coordinator Ilana wrote,

Attention all girls everywhere…Do you want to share and explore new things with your friends? Sing and make s’mores around the campfire? Build a rocket? Go horseback riding? Ever wondered what it would be like to grow up and be a veterinarian, baker, scientist, banker, or artist – you can learn, try, and experience all these things in the Girl Scouts. If you can think it, you can do it! Its all about what YOU like!

The Girl Scouts of Western Washington, which is a 99 percent volunteer-led organization, is also looking for adult volunteers to help coordinate and lead troupes.

For more information, stop by the Queen Anne Library event tomorrow, email JoinUs@girlscoutsww.org or call 800-767-6845.

The Upper Queen Anne Blockbuster has been having a price-slashing closing sale for almost a month now, and we’re entering the final days.

I stopped by last week to confirm their final closing date, which will be this Saturday, September 26 (not yesterday, September 20 as originally reported).

Many of the inner isles at the store have been cleaned out, creating a massive pile of metal shelves and sale signs in the center of the store. The shelves that boarder the perimeter of the store still have a lot of stock, along with several tables of previously viewed DVDs.

I bought a handful of DVDs and didn’t pay more than $6 for a single used title. So if you’re still hankering for a good deal on movies, viewing snacks (they still have shelves full of candy and popcorn on massive markdown), and paraphernalia (posters, toys and character bobble heads – the Joker goes for $2.50), then don’t forget to stop by before Saturday.

Mike Lewis, the former PI columnist who wrote “Under the Needle,” is soon to be the one of the new owners of the Streamline, a lower Queen Anne bar where he has worked as a bartender part time for five years.

Reported by Monica Guzman at the PI, and Mike Seely at Seattle Weekly, word is Lewis and a few partners have purchased the bar and will assume ownership once the paperwork goes through. And they have new plans for this neighborhood pub, located at 121 W Mercer St; Lewis and his partners have applied for a new liquor license, changing the spot from tavern to bar.

A section of West Bertona Street will be closed off for repairs on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. According to the Seattle Department of Transportation, maintenance crews will be replacing a concrete panel on Bertona between 3rd Ave W and Nickerson Street, next to the Seattle Pacific University campus. The small block will be closed to traffic from 7 a.m. on Wednesday, September 23 to 6 p.m. Thursday, September 24.

One of our readers, virtualized, wrote in our forum yesterday that they saw a stranger leaving their backyard in the middle of the night. They wrote,

In the early morning hours (4 am) of 9/18 I caught a glimpse of someone just leaving my fenced backyard. Later that morning when walking my dog I noticed that almost all of the gates along the alley into my neighbors’ yards were open so I think someone was casing the neighborhood. This happened in the 3400 block of 12th and 13th Ave W. It’s time to be vigilant!

According to the Seattle Police Department, there are hundreds of Block Watch groups on Queen Anne. See our crime prevention story for more information on how to get involved.

If you have more information on this sighting, or have experienced a similar situation, leave a comment, participate in the forum, or email us at tips@queenanneview.com.

A would-be robber tried to steal an elderly woman’s purse outside Metropolitan Market on Upper Queen Anne last night. That is, until two good samaritans arrived. According to Seattle Police, the suspect approached the woman just before 10:30 p.m. and yanked at her purse, eventually knocking her down. The suspect then said, “Give it up lady.” Two witnesses driving by saw the crime and held the suspect until police could arrive. The victim didn’t suffer significant injuries. The suspect was booked for robbery.

Heather Davis has been writing for years. Back at her Uptown home she has five finished manuscripts that have never been published. And three years ago, at the brink of huge change in her life, she was given every writers’ dream come true: one of her books was sold to a publisher. Now, three years later, Never Cry Werewolf, her first published novel for young adults 12 and up, is finally on bookstore shelves.

Tonight she will be having a launch party (equipped with a reading, signing and cookies shaped like paws) at Queen Anne Books starting 6:30 p.m. Never Cry Werewolf is the story about a young girl, rebellious girl who is sent away to “brat camp by her sort of evil step mom.” And at this camp full of troubled teens, she meets a boy who seems to be teenage royalty. He’s also happens to be a werewolf.

Never Cry Werewolf is coming out amidst a surge in paranormal genre fiction, but Heather says she’s been writing this beat much longer.

“I totally did not write this book because of Twilight. I was writing paranormal way before that, so it’s kind of interesting that it’s so popular,” she said. “When I was in high school, I was reading Anne Rice!”

After years of substitute teaching in Skagic Valley and writing on the side, she got the idea to write young adult fiction from the kids she taught.

“I thought, maybe I should write something for the kids that I worked with,” she said. And she did. She wrote a few chapters that have since not been published, and tested them out on one of her sixth grade students, Emily, who is going to be at the signing tonight. It was a huge hit.

“She was stopping me at the crosswalk asking me if I’d finished the next chapter of the book,” Heather laughed.

And then everything sort of fell into place. She got an agent, finished Never Cry Werewolf, the result of six years of work and weekly meetings with a genre writing critique group. And the night before Heather moved to Queen Anne three years ago, she got a sign – the call that her book had sold.

And now, three years later, she is officially a published author (her book was released September 1, and she’s been bombarded with emails and Facebook messages from friends who’ve snapped pics of her books in stores all around the county). But despite her new status, she still works at Midori, a ribbon and paper company based in the neighborhood, as a sales and marketing coordinator and doesn’t plan on leaving.

“I think Queen Anne is the best place to be,” she said, reminiscing on the fact that she works, lives and loves the neighborhood and can walk practically anywhere.

Up next for Heather, another young adult book, The Clearing, which she says is “a bit more serious” and for an older age group (14 and up) to be published in April 2010. And maybe, just maybe, a sequel to Werewolf.

The Fremont Oktoberfest starts tonight, and our sister site Fremont Universe has put together a preview of the weekend festivities.

There is a long lineup of events and over 35 breweries will be pouring, including the new neighborhood addition, Fremont Brewery. The three-day party kicks off at 7 p.m. tonight with a main stage concert to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons.

Other don’t miss Oktoberfest staples: the Miss Buxom Contest, the Texas Chainsaw Pumpkin Carving, the Brew HA-HA 5k and Street Scramble.

Read the full preview here.

Don’t be alarmed if you see a mob of slow-moving bar-hoppers covered in fake blood and looking sickly roaming around Uptown tonight. Today is the second annual Seattle Zombie Pub Crawl, and it’s taking place in none other than our very own Lower Queen Anne.

The 2009 Revenant Zombie Pub Crawl is being put on by Revenant Magazine, the dedicated literary distributor of all things undead based right here in Seattle, in an attempt to raise awareness of the 2009 Revenant Film Festival.

(Photo courtesy of Geoff Bough and Revenant Magazine).

“Revenant Magazine is a publication that delivers all sorts of exclusive news and content on zombies and the undead – from film, comics and games to fiction and some great original articles. If you’re a fan of zombies, you will definitely enjoy our magazine,” said Geoff Bough, Revenant Magazine Editor in Chief. “We organize the event each year to have a blast with all of the hardcore Seattle zombie fans and to promote our zombie film festival, the Revenant Film Festival.”

The crawl begins at McMennamins (200 Roy St, between N 2nd Ave & N 3rd Ave) at 7 p.m., where the zombie troupe will have a few drinks before heading down to the SIFF theater (321 Mercer St. & 3^rd Ave) for a special screening of Kerry Prior’s “The Revenant” at 8 p.m., in conjunction with the Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival (MIFFF). The show starts at 8:30 p.m. at McCaw Hall. Tickets are $10. And then the post-screening crawl will commence. And there’s no telling how big the crawl will be!

“Organizing a zombie pub crawl in Seattle is like announcing that there are free doughnuts in the break room. Everyone just kinda shows up and instead of eating doughnuts or longing for that one with the pink frosting on it, we drink, laugh and have an amazing time,” Geoff said. “It’s like a High School reunion with guts and sticky fake blood caked on everything. I hope we have doughnuts this year though.”

Usually the zombie pub crawl happens in Fremont, but Revenant wanted to coordinate with MIFFF, which will be showing sci-fi, horror, fantasy and animation films all weekend. Ticket information here.

Anyone 21 and over is welcome to attend, though it’s recommended you deck out in zombie gear. And if you miss the crawl tonight, don’t worry, the 3^rd Annual Revenant Film Festival is next Saturday, September 26 at MOHAI. The Revenant will also be debuting their first ever print edition at the film festival, so look out for that (they’ve been online-only since the early 2000’s). More info on next week’s Revenant Film Festival here.

Today is  global PARK(ing) Day, sponsored locally by Feet First, an event where parking spaces around town are transformed into into temporary public parks. Check out this map of all the temporary parks popping up  around Seattle (.pdf map here).  There aren’t any new parks in Queen Anne, but there are two Downtown, on Westlake, and one over in Ballard.

More on what (PARK)ing Day is, where it began and how you can get involved, here.

Next Thursday, September 24, is Dish Up Literacy day in Seattle, an event put on by Page Ahead, a non-profit organization that works to increase and develop literacy programs for children. And Dish Up Literacy is making it easy to give – you can help raise money simply by eating out!

On Thursday restaurants participating in Dish Up Literacy have agreed to donate a portion of their proceeds to Page Ahead, meaning the more people who eat out on the 24th, the more money will go toward literacy services, books and supplies for kids.

“We provide new books for kids, story times for younger children and family workshops with the proceeds,” said Tara, a Page Ahead volunteer. “Hope to see you dining out on September 24th.”

In Queen Anne both Julia’s and Ten Mercer will be donating 20 percent of their profits on the day to the program. The Signature is also participating. But if you’re not in the neighborhood next Thursday, check out other participating restaurants in the Seattle area.

The Bank of America Charitable Foundation has awarded Successful Schools in Action, an educational non-profit organization formed in 2003 as part of a grassroots effort to improve neighborhood schools, with a $5,000 grant to support the organization’s Math Assistance for Public Schools (MAPS) program.

SSIA is located in Queen Anne and is made up of the six public schools in Queen Anne and Magnolia, serving over 3,000 ethnically, economically and racially diverse students and families throughout Seattle.

(Photo courtesy of SSIA Executive Director Lisa Moore)

Through SSIA, school communities work together to reduce eduction costs, bolster successful practices and maximize resources. The organization received the grant from Bank of America in July, but waited until the start of the school year to announce the award.

According to Executive Director Lisa Moore, “The grant will go directly to providing trained math tutors to work with individual or small groups of students who are struggling with math.”

Due to decreased budgets, increased class sizes and programming cuts in public schools, Moore says the value of individualized tutors “cannot be overstated.”

This program, she writes,

Will ensure that any student struggling with mathematics will have access to a trained math tutor. Individualized instruction is critical to assisting students who are falling behind their peers, and in many cases the help – as well as the relationship -  can make the difference between success and failure at school overall.

The six schools currently part of SSIA are Coe, John Hay, and Lawton elementary, Blaine K-8, McClure middle, and The Center School. This is the fifth year SSIA has provided tutoring programs, and the second for the MAPS program, which began in 2008, to meet a increasing demand for trained and dedicated math tutors. According to Moore, 23 students participated in the first year of MAPS, with tutors providing 25 hours of instruction each week.

Past donors to SSIA include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the City of Seattle, Department of Neighborhoods. See the full list here.

We have good news from the Seattle Police Department regarding the string of recent robberies in Queen Anne and Magnolia. SPD Crime Prevention Coordinator Terrie Johnston, who spoke with me on Tuesday as part of our crime prevention story, emailed me today with an update. She writes,

First I wanted to let you know that per the Robbery Detective assigned the most recent string of robberies; the suspects were identified and have been arrested.  This is good news for those Magnolians who were unnerved by the robbery which occurred on Magnolia Blvd. in the early morning hours last week.

I have also learned from some of your e-mails, that there have been sightings of suspicious persons walking around Magnolia in the late night, early morning hours looking into cars, paying close attention to homes.  When confronted by a block watcher, the group ran away.  This certainly warrants a 9-1-1 call.  Anyone trying door handles of parked cars, going up into the yards of homes, studying the contents of vehicles, though not illegal, is suspicious.  We need you to report suspicious activity to 9-1-1.  Try to get good descriptions of any cars that may be involved, and the direction headed. Many SPD Police Commanders live on Queen Anne and Magnolia, and even if you know them well enough to call them at home w/reports of neighborhood suspicions, the first number to call is 9-1-1 so a Queen Sector car can be dispatched.

Lastly, I wanted to say thank you to the Block Captains and Contacts who share the e-mails we send to you from the Crime Prevention office of SPD’s West Precinct.   I appreciate your efforts.

Read the original story here.

With only three more Queen Anne Farmers Markets left, don’t miss Kids’ Day!

From 3:30-6 p.m. Space to Create, a Ballard organization that offers arts and crafts classes for kids and adults, will be hosting a crafts table where you can make food-related prints. ‘Food literacy’ publisher and bookseller Readers to Eaters will also be at the market. Enjoy a chef demo with Anthony Hubbard from Chow Foods from 4-5 p.m. Enjoy a piece of the Queen Anne Artwalk while at the market with original oil paintings by James Gerlitz from 5-7 p.m. Gerlitz will also be performing live Italian arias and accordion tunes from 4-5 p.m. From 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. catch a Brown Bag Lunch demo with All Things Chill blogger Herschell Taghap, formerly from The Slanted Door. Don’t miss live violin and flute folk tunes by Pity the Floor from 5-7 p.m.

As the QA Farmers Market season is coming to an end, here’s a reminder of another chance to have some last minute foodie fun:

Next week on Thursday, September 24, the market will be having its First Annual Blue Ribbon Pie Contest. The deadline to RSVP for the contest is in just a few days, on Monday, September 21. To enter, email volunteer Chef Event Manager Jenise Silva at jenisesilva@yahoo.com, and include your name, phone number, and email. Only one pie is allowed per contestant, and due to space and time constraints, only the first 20 pie-makers to RSVP will be entered.

All pies must be made with season fruit (no creams or meringues), and the crusts must be made from scratch. The winner – or “Best of Show” – will receive a $100 gift certificate to Betty, but there will also be categories for “youngest pie maker,” “prettiest pie,” “best vents,” and so on determined by the expert pie judges. More details on the pie contest here.

The Queen Anne Farmers Market is a non-profit, community-run market. Want to support the QA market? Click here to find out how!

We just got an email from one of our readers, Jonathan, informing us of a big power outage in Uptown today. He writes,

Just heard from my girlfriend at home in lower Q.A. – I guess there’s a power outage affecting about 7000 customers right now. The area is 2nd N and 11th W. between Harrison and W Barrett.  No idea what caused it.

We’re looking into it! Stay tuned for updates. If anyone has any information on the power outage, email us at tips@queenanneview.com, or post a comment.

Thanks to Jonathan for the tip!

Update 1:53 p.m. – According to Seattle City Light,at approximately 1:03 p.m. this afternoon power went out for an estimated 6, 656 Queen Anne residents and businesses on the south and west sides of the hill and a small portion of Uptown.

City Council held a meeting yesterday to determine the fate of Fire Station #20 on Queen Anne — whether to move it from its current location at 13th Avenue West and West Dravus Street on the north side of the hill to 15^th Avenue West and West Armour Street, or the rebuild the existing station.

According to Christa Dumpys, from the Queen Anne/Magnolia Neighborhood Service Center, the Public Safety, Human Services and Education Committee has asked the Council staff to prepare legislation designating the site at 15^th Ave W. and W. Armour St. as the future location of the fire station, just a few blocks away from the current site. This report will be presented before the committee on Wednesday, October 7 for a vote, and will be voted on by the full council on Monday, October 12.

The October 7 meeting will be held at the City Council Chambers inside City Hall, at 600 4^th Avenue at 9:30 a.m.  More information here. The October 12 meeting before the full council will be at 2 p.m. More information on that here.

Follow Fire Station #20 on the City Council website, or view the meeting cablecasts live on Seattle Channel 21.

Say goodbye to the final days of summer with the Queen Anne Artwalk, put on by the Upper Queen Anne Merchants Association, tomorrow night, Thursday, September 17. The event will host local artists exhibitions, refreshments, and special events and talks scheduled at participating Queen Anne businesses at the top of the hill, beginning at 3 p.m. until the stores close.

Click here for a working list of participating merchants here. (Clue: It includes Queen Anne Frame, Skookum, Julia’s, Hilltop Yarn, Eat Local, Blue Highway Games, Chocolopolis, Lily’s Pampering Salon, Urban Kids Play, Fountainhead Gallery, Queen Anne Dispatch and Queen Anne Books itself). Or check out the event Facebook page.

Thanks to the Upper Queen Anne Merchants Association, Scott Ward and Heidi Kappes Belinsky for the graphic! Heidi, a local artist and scarfing extraordinaire, will be doing a demonstration for the art walk at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow at Hilltop Yarn. View some of her work here.

Other exhibits:

Queen Anne Frame will host Philip Amdal, Joan Webster, Sarah Brooking, Angela Salvadalena and Francesca Lohmann starting at 4 p.m. Patsy’s Pottery will be at Skookum at 4:30. Seattle portrait photographer Davis Freeman will be at Julia’s at 5. Artist Elara Tanguy will be at Queen Anne Books at 5:30. Paper-cut artist Nikki McClure will be at Eat Local at 7. Scott Heffernan will be at Blue Highway Games at 7:30. Scott Ward will be at Chocolopolis at 8 (Scott’s the one who created the QA Artwalk poster). Sean Watson will be at Lily’s Pampering Salon, Kate Endle will be at Urban Kids Play, Michael Ferguson will be at Fountainhead Gallery and Queen Anne Dispatch will host Russ Morgan Chandeliers and Penny Eversole from Pinkerton Design (times unconfirmed).

Update 7:13 p.m. – According to Tegan, from Queen Anne Books, participating merchants should have orange and turquoise balloons to help art-walkers locate them. Although store times vary, all are open until at least 6 p.m. You can pick up an art walk “passport” at any of the participating businesses. There’s a prize drawing for art walk attendees (prizes provided by the Upper Queen Anne Merchants Association). All you have to do is get the passport stamped/initialed at all the locations and drop it off at Chocolopolis when you’re done. Be sure to write your name and contact information on the passport so you can be reached if you win (and don’t worry, your personal info won’t be shared or get you put on a mailing list).

The Queen Anne/Magnolia Design Review Board is meeting tonight at the Queen Anne Community Center at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the proposed building of a 7-story mixed use development at 901 Dexter Ave N, the current site of Korry Electronics.

The plan would demolish the current building and replace it with a 7-story complex, approximately 65 feet high, with an estimated 270 residential units, 10,000 square feet of retail, and an underground parking lot for 250 vehicles.

Download the design proposal here, or read up on past recommendations.

Drop by the Queen Anne Community Council annual elections after the design review board meeting, also held at the Queen Anne Community Center, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

All Queen Anne residents and/or stakeholders interested in attending are welcome participate and vote for up to 12 candidates.