Yesterday, Saturday, February 27, Parks and Recreation crews removed the last of the graffiti sprawled over the concrete walls at Counterbalance Park almost three weeks ago.

Reader Cliff Cooper sent in these photos. He wrote,

It looks as though the left side is completely clean, but there clearly having difficulty removing from the corrugated siding.

Through most of the graffiti is gone, there is still a faint indication of the paint on the metal siding. The majority of the tags were removed the day after the vandalism took place, however because the concrete walls were only sealed up to 11 feet high, it has taken this long to remove the remainder.

(Thanks to Cliff Cooper for the pictures and tip!)

At around 4:30 p.m. today, Friday, February 26, we received an email from a reader informing us of some traffic issues on Bertona. Charlie writes,

My bosses husband just called and said that cars were getting stuck going up Bertona. Apparently a slick substance spilled on the road way and it is making it difficult for cars to make it up the hill.

We’re not sure if the scene has been cleared yet (I’m out of town or I’d go check), so if you’re driving on or near Bertona, keep on the look out for traffic. If you have more information on the rumored spill, please comment below or email us at tips@queenanneview.com.

Publicola published an interesting story yesterday that raised the question of whether or not Seattle should extend the current closing time from 2 to 4 a.m. across the board, or stagger times throughout the city in an attempt to improve public safety. From Publicola,

The theory is that by encouraging staggered closing times, the thousands of customers who roll out onto the street at  am would be dispersed over the night. This would take pressure off of SPD, allowing them to do better, more focused enforcement. It would also help curb drunk driving (at 2 am there is little taxi cab availability due to the spiked demand for cabs with everyone settling up at the same time.) There would also be less concentration of noise on the streets at 2am solving one of the most frequent complaints from downtown residents. And of course with an increase in operating hours comes an increase in revenue (and jobs) for bars, and in turn, more revenue to the State and City.

Many cities across the country have started extending liquor service to 3 and 4 a.m., while a few have tried 24-hour service, including Birmingham, Alabama, Atlantic City, Memphis and the entire states of Nevada and Louisiana. Read Publicola’s full story here.

Since both Lower and Upper Queen Anne have a large bar and lounge presence, there’s no doubt the hill would be greatly affected by any change to the city’s current closing time. So, Queen Anne, what do you think? Should Seattle keep closing time at 2 a.m., extend it, or stagger it? Do you think this would improve safety in the neighborhood?

Toulouse Petit has just announced its extended happy hour times and menu. After running $5 meals on weekday mornings through January in celebration of its new breakfast service, the New Orleans French Quarter restaurant decided to make what they call the “breakfast happy hour” a permanent fixture, offering almost anything on the menu for $6 between 9 and 11 a.m.

In addition, their two afternoon and evening happy hours, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., have been expanded to include drink specials, over 50 menu items, and the entire dessert menu for $5 or less.

For more info, check out Toulouse Petit’s Facebook page.

Looking for something fun to do over this drizzly weekend? Wrap up and head down to the Pacific Science Center for Polar Science Weekend, now through Sunday, February 28. The Science Center has teamed up with the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory to bring four days of demonstrations, exhibits and talks for families, kids and citizen scientists interested in learning more about the poles.

The Science Center touts that the weekend’s events are “a rare opportunity to dive head first into the mysterious and somewhat unknown world of polar science featuring interactive exhibits and a chance to talk with some of the nation’s top polar scientists.”

Demonstrations and lectures include, Ice Under Fire; The Sky Tonight with Feature Focus on the Poles; Polar Bears and Beluga Whales of the Arctic with Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium.

The Polar Ice Weekend exhibit at the Pacific Science Center opens at 10 a.m. daily. For more information, check out their website.

This is the final weekend to enjoy the Night Exhibit at the Woodland Park Zoo.

(Photo by Ryan Hawk, Woodland Park Zoo.)

The zoo announced earlier this year that they must close the exhibit as a cost-cutting measure.

“The exhibit’s final closure date will be March 1, 2010,” the zoo website states. Some animals will be transferred to other exhibits at Woodland Park, others will be sent to other zoos.

(Editor’s Note: Nick Feldman is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.)

On Thursday night, nearly 60 landscape architects, parks department officials and Queen Anne residents convened at the Bayview Retirement Community to give feedback on the potential options for the rejuvenation of Lower Kinnear Park. The second of three meetings followed a gathering of 40 people on Jan. 19 in which neighbors voiced their concerns to community planning group FOLKpark and architecture firm Hough Beck and Baird.

Using large maps with overlays of the proposed changes, Dean Koonts and his team of architects took turns explaining the three “preliminary drafts” they created based on input from community members at the previous meeting and from the online survey, to which there were 88 responses.

Of the 59 attendees, 27 chose to discuss the development of an off-leash area (OLA) for dogs as the meeting split into discussion groups. After an hour of dialogue, the group relayed their suggested area size (5,300 sq. feet) and their desire to integrate it into the park’s landscape.

“It would be a great asset to the neighborhood to have an off leash park considering how far away every other off leash area is,” Brad Weinberg wrote on FOLKpark’s Facebook page. “To have a designated area for off leash play would open up the rest of the park for those people who aren’t dog owners [and] would limit people from using the rest of the park as an off leash area.”

While there are 11 OLAs in Seattle, none exist in the Queen Anne neighborhood, and in 2006 the Park Department Superintendent designated Lower Kinnear Park as the best site for that purpose. However, according to Parks and Green Spaces Levy manager Rick Nishi, the allocated funding source doesn’t allow for off-leash projects until later years.

The three large draft plans were fundamentally different, but the two major components that each concept shared were increased compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and a reestablished linkage to the waterfront via the “North Trail Link,” (.pdf) one of the ideas from the previous meeting that Koonts said “came through loud and clear.”

“Plan A” (.pdf) primarily focused on the northeast slope, re-engineering the hillside and easing the grade to make it more easy to navigate. While the cost of that effort was a concern for many of the community members in attendance, there was a general consensus in support of the plan’s expanded plaza on Mercer Street. Koonts also mentioned that this option best fits a designated OLA.

The most notable feature of “Plan B” (.pdf) was its elevated trail and boardwalk, as well as refurbished and redesigned tennis courts—ideas that drew mixed responses from community members based more on cost effectiveness than the design itself.

Focusing more directly on safety and sustainability, “Plan C” (.pdf) featured popular ideas such as rain gardens and other stormwater solutions as well as less popular ones such as a connecting set of hill-climb stairs near West Mercer Place.

HBB now plans to adjust their drafts in order to create an action plan and cost estimate, taking into account the feedback from the most recent discussion. With that plan, FOLKpark plans to apply to the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Opportunity Fund in early April seeking an amount likely near $700,000. They then plan to hold the third and final community meeting on April 8 at 7 p.m., also at the Bayview, to establish a community consensus on the preferred plan.

FOLKpark initiated a rejuvenation of the five-acre urban forest after winning a $15,000 grant from the city’s Department of Neighborhoods last year. They chose HBB based on the firm’s history with sustainable green design and crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED).

Update 2/26/2010: Camille wrote in our comments,

I wanted to give you all an update. I found out two important things last night. The first, chivalry is not as dead as we thought. Apparently a man ran out of his building holding an axe to come and help me but he didn’t arrive until the attacker ran off and I was already inside. The second, a gardener found my bag. It was in Gerard Schwarz’s (the man who runs the Seattle Symphony) yard over on Highland. That’s a mile and a half away, which clearly indicates that they had a car. This makes me certain that the car I saw before the attack (black celica or ford probe with rust around he windows) was involved. Thank you to everyone for your concern, please be careful.

At 11:45 p.m. on Tuesday, February 23 Camille parked on the block of her Lower Queen Anne apartment, near W Roy St. and 3rd Ave W. As she was walking home, a man walking the opposite direction grabbed her, pushed her down, and kicked her in the face and chest repeatedly, before running off with her purse.

She wrote to us wanting to share her story and help warn other people in the area, particularly young women, of similar attacks. Camille wrote,

I got out of my car onto the sidewalk less than a block from my building. I immediately saw a man walking slowly towards me. He was probably 5′7″, relatively thin, a light-skinned black man or a Hispanic man, was wearing a fitted tan or brown hoodie and had a beanie with a hood on. He wasn’t disheveled or homeless looking but he was very creepy. I didn’t want to be judgmental and like a lot of white people felt that being scared of him in some way made me racist. So, instead of trusting my instincts and getting back into my car and locking the doors, or even simply crossing the street I walked towards him.

We passed one another under the awning to the Iris Apartments which are surrounded by bushes and have no street lights. Right as I passed him he turned and grabbed me. I instinctually tried to get away, he grabbed harder, I started screaming. Eventually he knocked me onto the ground and kicked me in my face down by my mouth and in my chest. I don’t really remember what happened next but eventually he ripped my bag off of me and ran off. I’m pretty certain I was screaming the entire time. I kept thinking someone would come outside or start yelling but no one did. How can no one hear me right now I thought. I was surrounded by hundreds of people all hidden in their apartments. As he ran off I was still standing there screaming and crying help but no one did.

Despite the fact that the stretch from Roy and 3rd Ave W to the entrance of Kinnear Park is always “very very very dark,” Camille said she’s never felt unsafe walking there before midnight, until Tuesday.

Camille happened to have had her keys in her hand during the attack, and was able to get into the building and use Skype on her computer to call her boyfriend. She sat in the lobby of her apartment and spotted a police officer walk by outside. He had her cellphone, which had fallen out of her bag during the attack. The officer told her that they had received several calls about her screaming, though no one came outside to help. Camille wrote,

I filed the report but don’t feel like that will do anything. Since the incident I’ve instead been warning as many people as possible. Last night when I got home from dinner at 10:30pm I didn’t see any police patrolling.

Other than having a sore back and neck, Camille says she is doing pretty well. Luckily there was nothing too valuable in her bag and she was able to cancel all her credit cards before they were used. Still, she says the attack was a frightening and emotional experience, so much so that she wrote to her anonymous attacker in a “missed connections” ad on Craigslist.

Camille doesn’t have any clues as to who the assailant might be. While she was parking her car that night she remembered seeing a black car “with oxidation and rust around the tinted windows” stop when she appeared.

It seemed weird. I’m not sure if they stopped simply because they were being cautious with a car coming around the corner, but it did seem odd.

If anyone has any further information about the incident, please comment below. Although Camille would like to retrieve her items, she’s more concerned with the safety of other women who could be thrust into similar situations. She wrote,

I have numerous friends living in Queen Anne who are young women that live alone. I’m worried for them. I’m worried for anyone who ever thought they could simply walk 50 feet to their door without being kicked in the face.

City crews will be closing down the eastbound and westbound lanes of Mercer Street under SR 99 one at a time on Saturday, February 27 between 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. so that Seattle Public Utility Graffiti Rangers can remove vandalism. Keep this in mind when traveling off the hill this weekend, as added delays are expected.

The Ballard High School PTSA invites the community to “2010 A BASH ODYSSEY,” the auction fundraiser for the high school. The BASH will be held next Saturday, March 6th at the Lake Union Armory on South Lake Union. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Individual ticket prices are $50 per person which includes a buffet dinner and one drink ticket at the door. Sponsor a table of 8 for $450 and get the dinner plus 2 bottles of wine for your table.

Auction items include a Holland America 7-day cruise, gift certificates, tickets to sporting events and other items. You can go through the entire rundown of auction items, purchase tickets, make a cash donation and get more information on the event here.

Proceeds from the auction fundraiser support academic programs at Ballard High School.

Starting this Saturday, February 27, Yogalife, will be offering a free weekly Sivananda community class with instructor Mandi Grover.

Sivananda is a style of hatha yoga and is a good balance of breathing (pranayama), postures (asana) and relaxation (savasana). The class can be seen as a moving meditation where you slowly move through holding steady postures, allowing yourself to focus your energy and attention inward.

Yogalife in Queen Anne is located at located at 8 Boston St. The Saturday classes will be help every Saturday from 2:15 to 3:30 p.m. through Saturday, March 27.

Yesterday the Washington State House Transportation Committee passed through SB 6345, a new bill that would further prohibit cellphone use while driving, making having a phone in your hand a primary offense subject to traffic stops and a $124 fine, with the sole exception of emergency use only.

In July 2008 legislators made the use of handheld devices while driving a secondary offense, meaning police could only dock you for it if they see another violation before initiating a traffic stop. If passed, this law would make Washington the fifth state to elevate holding a cellphone while driving to a primary offense, alongside the District of Columbia.

36th District Rep. Reuven Carlyle (D), who is behind companion bill HB 2635 that would make texting while driving specifically a primary offense, has thrown his support behind SB 6345.

“I am excited that the House Transportation Committee has passed this bill. Parents and other volunteer citizen activists worked incredibly hard along with Sen. Eide and me for many, many months, and I look forward to doing all that I can to get this bill through the House,” Carlyle said in a written statement yesterday.

“We want drivers, and especially teenagers, to know they are not just operating a car, they are behind the wheel of a 3,000-pound weapon, and they have a moral and public obligation to operate them safely. No one likes overregulation, but this is a matter of public safety and we could all do worse than to get on board with Oprah Winfrey’s cause.”

SB 6345 would be even stricter for those with driver’s permits and intermediate licenses, disallowing the use of hands free devices such as headsets and even the speakerphone feature.

Our news partner, the Seattle Times, is reporting that opinions are divided on the regulation of the new bill, and the severity of the penalties. Though proponents cite studies indicating that using a cellphone while driving produces results on par to driving drunk, others believe the act is no more of a distraction than a number of other inappropriate–and unregulated–behind the wheel activities, such as eating, applying makeup and smoking.

Aside from using cellphones as a scapegoat for a lack personal responsibility, many opponents also believe the bill is way for the state to collect more in taxes. From the Seattle Times:

Washington could stand to bring in a lot of revenue. In New York, the first state to make holding a cellphone reason enough for a traffic stop, police from 2001 to 2008 handed out 1.28 million tickets.

“I just think that it is an inappropriate use of police powers to pull people over and invade their privacy because they chose to talk on the phone while driving a car,” said Benton. “You cannot legislate responsibility. Citizens need to be responsible for themselves.”

Read the full Times story here. And tell us, what do you think? Are you for or against making handing a phone while driving a primary offense? (Disclosure: Rep. Reuven Carlyle is a sponsor of Queen Anne View.)

Blue Highway Games is participating in Lawton Elementary’s Math Night, a free family event meant to get kids excited about math through games, interactive presentations that illustrate the practical, everyday application of math, and even a Math Olympiad for 4th and 5th graders!

Math Night is being held tomorrow, Thursday, February 25, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lawton, located at 4000 27th Ave W.

Blue Highway Games will be selling games (especially those related to math!) at the event. A percentage of their proceeds will be going to the Lawton PTA.

Interested in volunteering? Email Amy Burton at aburton927@comcast.net for more information.

Zaw artisan pizza will be the newest chow spot to join the ranks of rookie restaurants on the top of the hill, set to open at 1635 Queen Anne Ave. N., on the corner of Queen Anne Ave N. and W Blaine St., the previous site of a Bank of American Home Loans branch.

Zaw makes custom bake-at-home pizzas and salads for pickup and delivery, along with selling Northwest wines and microbrews out of their stores. Word got out when the restaurant, which already has locations in Ballard, South Lake Union and Capitol Hill, applied for a liquor license at the beginning of the month.

When tipster Mark Taylor heard Zaw was coming to Queen Anne, he did some investigating himself,

I sent mail to the manager and he said that with luck they hope to open by the end of March.

(Thanks to Mark for the tip!)

Join “Underneath It All” co-author and owner of Fremont’s Bellefleur Lingerie, Jennifer Carroll, for a saucy talk on all things undergarments at 6:30 p.m. this Thursday, Febraury 25 at Queen Anne Books.

Let’s be honest– have you tugged at your bra today?  Yanked your panties?  Do you love looking in your underwear drawer, or does it leave you less-than-inspired?  If you could use some new ideas or a few pointers on getting great fit and function from your lingerie, block off Thursday evening! Jennifer Carroll has just what you need.

Jennifer will be signing books, and sharing “insider knowledge on how to find the underthings that love you back,” and how to feel your best underneath everything! There will also be a Q&A session, chocolate snacks and a giveaway prize (we don’t know what, but we hear it will be “something fabulous”)!

This is definitely not going to be a run-of-the-mill book-signing! It’s your chance to get a professional opinion about the one-size-fits-all thong, what to look for in a strapless bra, and more.

More information here.

SDOT crews will be closing down the northbound right-hand lane on the Ballard Bridge from the north end of the bridge where the road crosses over NW Leary from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 25 for emergency repairs to an expansion joint. If crews are not able to finish the work in one day, they will return from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Friday, February 26 as well. Though the left northbound lane will be open to traffic, commuters are advised to allow for extra travel time due to delays.

This Thursday, February 25, FOLKpark will be holding the second in a series of three community meetings on the enhancement and development of Lower Kinnear Park, where HBB Landscape Architecture will be presenting three alternative conceptual park improvement plans, as well as a fourth concerning the north trail link.

FOLKpark held its first planning meeting back in January, asking participants to tell them what they wanted out of Lower Kinnear Park. The alternative plans were drafted based on ideas and input from community members. Now FOLKpark is asking those interested to come back and give their thoughts on what the architects have brought to the table.

“There will be lots of opportunity that evening for the community to comment on what they like and what they see as challenges. The three plans each have different elements that came out of the January community meeting and the public survey (that had 88 responses!) that emphasized expanded and improved trails, connection to the waterfront and a stronger connection to Mercer Place,” said FOLKpark chair Debi Frausto.

Here is an overview of what each of the conceptual plans will entail:

• Plan A:  Reworking the drainage and slope; gentler trail connection to Upper Queen Anne; replanting the slope with native urban forest vegetation, providing several “activity” nodes/viewpoints; strong Mercer Pl. connection. Download map here (.pdf).
• Plan B:  Increasing connection with upper Queen Anne; tree house lookout; vertical stair climbs; walking trail/elevated boardwalk through the trees; ADA accessible routes; restore/replant tennis court area. Download map here (.pdf).
• Plan C:  Relocating tennis court to trailside and interior of park; grassy hill to roll down; connecting stairs; Roy street entrance planting area provides transition into the urban forest with “rain gardens” and sustainable stormwater solutions. Download map here (.pdf).
• North Trail Link: Extending a trail to an SDOT right-of-way directly across from the Helix Bridge allowing for greater public access to the waterfront. Download map here (.pdf).

In addition to the draft plans, FOLKpark and HBB will be presenting comments and ideas from PROView (a review board of the parks department), and the Landmarks Preservation Board at Thursday’s meeting. The Department of Parks and Recreation will also give the community an update on the proposed off-leash area in Lower Kinnear Park.

The redevelopment of Lower Kinnear Park is being funded by a $15,000 grant from the city’s Department of Neighborhoods, awarded to FOLKpark last year.

Thursday’s meeting will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Bayview Retirement Community, located at 11 W. Aloha St.

Emma Roscoe has been designing colorful handmade and custom bags through her line, Red Delicious, for seven years. Two years ago Lynn Rosskamp left a job in social work to create funky fun fleece hats through her business PingiHats. Both are Queen Anne residents and vendors at Pike Place Market. And as of today, Tuesday, February 23, they are Queen Anne’s newest shop owners!

Absolutely Fabulous (whose website is still in the works), located at 6 W Howe St Suite #2 (on the second floor) just off Queen Anne Ave N., is the brain child of Lynn and Emma, who decided to open the joint studio and retail space together, though they admit to having very different styles.

“Our work matches because it’s very different,” Emma said, noting that both love to splash lots of color into their work. “It comes from the same place in our hearts–a love for design.”

Emma’s handbags are crafted with designs and colors she selects to fit her style. You won’t find plain old black and white bags with boring lining here. Everything she makes is bright and cheery, sprinkled with upbeat colors and patterns. Why? “Life is too short to have boring bags,” she said.

“I hadn’t sewn in about 20 years when I started making bags. I was looking for the perfect bag and I couldn’t find it,” Emma said. “I’ve never used a pattern–I design bags to suit me, and if it suits me, it suits a lot of other women.”

(Red Delicious bags range in price from $12 to $100. Customers may choose from one of Emma’s designs, or have their own custom-made).

Lynn brings the same unique design to her hats, which range from colorful adult winter-wear, to customized hats designed to look like your pet (just bring in a picture!), and even a Halloween-themed zombie with a detachable ear (for realism, of course). Everything is made out of polar fleece, which Lynn has dubbed “the play dough of fabric,” because it’s fun and easy to mold into interested shapes and styles. (PingiHats vary from $22 to $34 each).

If you want something a little less eye-catching, Lynn says “You can go to Old Navy or Fred Meyer. I dare you to find a zombie with a removable ear!”

“It definitely assures people that they get something they won’t find anywhere else,” Emma said.

And though their styles often draw in different crowds, the pair say they share a lot of the same customer base. “There are people who buy both,” Lynn said.

Lynn and Emma held a soft opening at their new shop on Saturday, where they showcased their own work and that of a few other market artists who will have displays in the store, including Kim Sun Designs.

Both Lynn and Emma will be splitting their time between Pike Place Market, where their main clientele are tourists visiting the popular city landmark, and the new Queen Anne store, which they hope to make their more permanent, local crafting home base. Though opening up shop in the current economy was certainly a risk, both agreed that the chance to connect to Seattle and the local Queen Anne community was an opportunity they couldn’t pass up.

“The market is a business incubator for homemade crafts people,” Lynn said.”People in Seattle get that if you buy local, everything stays local.”

“If you look up and down Queen Anne Avenue, you can see the community is very supportive,” Emma said.

What’s most important is that it gives both of them the time and space to move out of their home offices and expand their businesses. Up until this point, Lynn has been using her attic as a craft room, while Emma’s been working within the confines of a small closet.

“This is a chance to move my work out of my house and make my cats less sad,” Lynn laughed.

Absolutely Fabulous will be open from noon to 6 p.m. today, Tuesday, February 23. Because Lynn and Emma have irregular schedules due to the market, the shop will not have definite hours each week. Check their website, Facebook page, and the sign post outside for an up to date schedule.