Queen Anne loves its street food. There’s plenty of food trucks that come and go, some stay longer than others and almost all of them bring tasty food with them.

However it’s a tough racket to run a food truck in Seattle. Restrictive city laws make it hard for many small businesses and impeded the growth of the street food scene in neighborhoods like Queen Anne.

That may be changing very soon, according to a report by The Seattle Times.

New legislation is expected to go before the City Council by the end of the month, detailing changes that would make it easier for street-food vendors to set up shop and, in the process, help bring more economic vitality to neighborhoods.

“Urban neighborhoods are where we want our growth,” said Gary Johnson, center-city coordinator for the Department of Planning and Development, which helped craft the proposal. “A street-food scene can help brand a neighborhood in a positive way.”

Outside of the sunnier months and the Seattle Center grounds, you don’t see many sidewalk vendors in Queen Anne. Right now, street cart vendors in the city of Seattle are limited to mostly selling coffee, popcorn and hot dogs. Under the new guidelines, the city would “allow everything on the push cart except raw proteins.”

The Seattle Department of Transportation also wants to designate zones where curbside vending would be allowed. Right now vendors have to work out deals with business owners, which is why you always see food trucks in parking lots or outside local companies.

The flip side of this possible change is that local restaurants could see their business decrease, especially if a like-minded food is available down the block on a food cart.

Here’s the full rundown of the proposed changes. We’ll keep an eye on how this unfolds as we hear more.

The Queen Anne real estate market continued to favor home buyers last month, said Managing Broker with John L. Scott Real Estate John Madrid.

“February was a tough month for home sellers in Queen Anne and Magnolia, with prices down significantly from February of last year,” said Madrid.

The figures given by Madrid, which were processed from Northwest Multiple Listing Service data and posted on his blog, can be compared to last month’s here.

In Queen Anne and Magnolia, the overall months of inventory is 5.7 months, which is up from 4.84 last month, according to Madrid’s figures. This makes selling homes a little more difficult, but this is still in the range of a “balanced market,” according to Madrid, which is much better than the figure from this same time last year.

“This is a big improvement from the over 9 months of inventory on the market in February 2010,” said Madrid, adding that homes are moving quicker due to more competitive house pricing. The average number of days on the market fell from 80 last year and 67 last month to 56 days in February.

Home prices were relatively flat compared to last month, with mean prices slightly down and median prices slightly up. The number of homes closed in February, 27, is down from January’s 33, but is up by two from last year’s figure.

Seattle City Light is preparing for the possibility of power outages due to the weather forecast, which is expected to bring strong winds to the Puget Sound area this afternoon.

This morning the National Weather Service issued a wind advisory, which is in effect until 9 p.m., predicting sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph, gusting up to 50 mph.

“A storm like this could cause power outages particularly since the ground is saturated and trees could fall into our lines,” City Light Superintendent Jorge Carrasco said in a statement. “Our crews are ready to respond and restore service as quickly as possible, but it is always important for all of us to be prepared.”

In preparation for potential outages, City Light advises residents to put together an emergency preparedness kit. From City Light:

A kit should include enough food and supplies to last your family for at least three days, hand-crank or battery-operated flashlight and radio, fresh batteries, a survival blanket, a first aid kit, pocket tissues and hand sanitizer wipes. For a checklist and other tips go to www.takewinterbystorm.org .

City Light also sends the following safety reminder in the event of power outages and downed lines:

• Do not go near any downed wire. Wires should always be assumed to be “live” and dangerous. If someone seeks a downed wire, they should call (206) 684-7400;
• Do not use a barbecue grill or generator inside the house or in a garage that is attached to the house. Do not use a grill or generator near a home air intake vent or near windows;
• Do not use fossil fuel burning auxiliary heating sources;
• Know how to manually override electric garage doors, security doors and gates;
• Have a land line phone or fully charged cell phone available — cordless phones won’t work when the power is out;
• Unplug electrical appliances if the power goes out so that when the power comes back on, there won’t be a surge that could damage sensitive electronic equipment;
• Use battery-powered flashlights – not candles or oil lamps;
• Close doors, windows, curtains, and unused fireplace dampers to retain heat if there is an outage.

The Queen Anne Movie Guild is screening Call+Response, a documentary film on human trafficking, this weekend, as part of its second Saturday film series.

From QAMG:

CALL+RESPONSE is a first of its kind feature documentary film that reveals the world’s 27 million dirtiest secrets: there are more slaves today than ever before in human history. CALL+RESPONSE goes deep undercover where slavery is thriving from the child brothels of Cambodia to the slave brick kilns of rural India to reveal that in 2009, Slave Traders made more money than Google, Nike and Starbucks combined.

Luminaries on the issue such as Cornel West, Madeleine Albright, Daryl Hannah, Julia Ormond, Ashley Judd, Nicholas Kristof, and many other prominent political and cultural figures offer first hand account of this 21st century trade. Performances from Grammy-winning and critically acclaimed artists including Moby, Natasha Bedingfield, Cold War Kids, Matisyahu, Imogen Heap, Talib Kweli, Five For Fighting, Switchfoot, members of Nickel Creek and Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers, Rocco Deluca move this chilling information into inspiration for stopping it.

Music is part of the movement against human slavery. Dr. Cornel West connects the music of the American slave fields to the popular music we listen to today, and offers this connection as a rallying cry for the modern abolitionist movement currently brewing.

There is a sea of change happening in human rights activism. The world’s issues cannot be solved alone by governments and non-profits, but require community-based participation. As a feature film, CALL+RESPONSE has the unique position of being not only a ground-breaking genre-bending film, but also serves as a deft tool in the hands of 21st Century Abolitionists. We provide activists with tactile strategic online and mobile tools to fight slavery everyday. We believe this is a fight that must that is won with passion, innovation, and commitment.

As always the screening will begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 12 at the Queen Anne United Methodist Church, located at 1606 5th Ave W (right next to the Queen Anne library). Moviegoers should use the Fellowship Hall entrance on W Garfield St. Coffee will be provided by Peet’s Coffee & Tea and doughnuts provided by Top Pot Doughnuts. Admission is free.

If you’ve been following the possible land swap deal between the Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Port of Seattle at Smith Cove, you may be interested in giving your input at a public meeting put on by The Magnolia Community Club (MCC) today, Thursday, March 10 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Catharine Blaine cafeteria, located at 2550 34th Ave W.

Our sister site Magnolia Voice has been covering the issue. From MagVo:

The Port of Seattle and the City of Seattle are discussing a possible land exchange and creation of a new waterfront park in the Smith Cove area. This could result in a relocated city park and
playfield with expanded shoreline access.

This is needed due to King County’s efforts to find a home for a 1.8 million-gallon combined sewer overflow tank.

For more information read the full story here.

Major crimes in the city and in the neighborhood, including robberies, are trending downward, according to 2010 numbers just released by the Seattle Police Department.

As of the end of 2010, Violent Crimes were down by 9% compared with 2009, led by a 20% decrease in robberies. Property Crimes were down by 5% across the City, with a slight increase only in vehicle thefts.

In Queen Anne the trends are pretty much the same. Here are some numbers for crime in the police precinct that most resembles the neighborhood (SPD divides Queen Anne into three beats–Q2, Q3 and D1).

Robberies: There were 36 robberies between the three beats in 2010, compared to 66 in 2009.

Burglaries: There were 352 assaults between the three beats in 2010, compared to 373 in 2009.

Car Theft: There were 227 car thefts between the three beats in 2010, compared to 203 in 2009.

Homicide: There were no homicides reported in any of the three beats in both 2010 and 2009.

Larceny: There were 1,539 larceny thefts between the three beats in 2010, compared to 2,056 in 2009.

Assault: There were 316 assaults between the three beats in 2010, compared to 373 in 2009.

To find more information about crime statistics in the neighborhood, check out SPD’s crime stats map, and general citywide crime data.

[Editor's Note: these year totals were calculated by hand based off of SPD's 2010 and 2009 crime statistics, which are divided by precinct and month.]

Seattle band Tomten, runner up in the first round of competition, won first place in the Sound Off! finals last Saturday after being voted into the wild card spot by EMP’s Youth Advisory Board from the semifinal runner-ups. The Seattle rock/pop band beat out the three other finalists to be the first wild-card winner in the nine-year history of Experience Music Project’s underage battle of the bands.

Second place went to Renton bluegrass band Northern Departure, while audience favorite went to Seattle alternative band Fit For Hounds.

As winner of the 2011 Sound Off!, Tomten will receive a performance slot at Bumbershoot 2011, a live on-air performance on 107.7 The End’s The Young and the Restless, gear from KORG, and studio time. Northern Departure, as second-place winner, will get to perform at Northwest Folklife 2011, and receive gear from KORG and studio time. All winners receive a one-on-one consultation with a prominent music industry professional, according to the Experience Music Project website.

136 bands entered Sound Off! 2011, the 10^th anniversary for the 21 and under battle of the bands.

From the Sound Off! webpage:

Sound Off! has paved the way for some of today’s freshest young talent including The Lonely Forest, Dyme Def, The Globes, New Faces, The Lonely H, Sol, Schoolyard Heroes and Brite Futures (formerly Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head.) The competition supports the local underage music scene by giving young artists from different backgrounds a unique opportunity to showcase their work, connect with the larger artistic community and perform live at some of the hottest venues in the region.

Seattle Public Schools sent the following release:

Seattle Public Schools is hosting a Family Engagement Symposium: From Cradle to College & Career on Saturday March 12, at Ballard High School. This Symposium is aimed at providing families with the information, practical strategies, and resources they need to support their students’ academic success.

The symposium, which runs from 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m., includes a Resource Fair with community resource booths and activities for children ages 4 and up. Families will learn how to support their children in the areas of early learning, math, reading and writing non-fiction, special education, parent leadership, college and career readiness, graduation requirements and four-year planning, and apprenticeships among others. A light lunch will also be provided courtesy of the Alliance for Education.

Click here for more information on the event

Last week we reported on Zaw’s month-long fundraiser for neighborhood schools called Zaw School Days, coinciding with the shop’s one-year anniversary on the hill. On every Tuesday and Wednesday through the end of the month the bake-at-home pizza place will be donating $5 to the neighborhood school or PTA funding effort of your choice for every order of $20 and up.

Just one week into the fundraiser Zaw released its donation totals so far, and Coe Elementary and Queen Anne Elementary are two schools leading the way, earning 35 percent of the donations each. From Zaw:

Our first week was a great success, the families and friends of Coe and Queen Anne Elementary came out in force, but there are still three weeks left for McClure, John Hay and St. Anne’s to give them a run for their donation dollars!

In addition to donation checks for each school, we’re spicing things up thanks to a suggestion from a Zaw School Days customer this past week! Whichever school receives the largest number of $5 donations, Zaw will gift an extremely special auction item to the winning school – an all-inclusive Ultimate Pizza Party birthday package for up to eight kids (a up to $150 value)!

Before you ask, yes, there is a publication called Seattle Beer News. They are one of The Seattle Times’ news partners, alongside us, the rest of the Next Door Media team, and and a number of other neighborhood and special interest news services in the greater Seattle area.

Although no Queen Anne pubs made Seattle Beer News’ recent list of Top 10 Seattle Beer Spots, our neighborhood is leading in a poll SBN is putting on asking Seattle-ites which neighborhood most needs a new beer bar or brewery.

So far Lower Queen Anne is leading with 16 percent of the votes, followed by Ballard, South Lake Union and Wallingford (all with 12 percent), and Magnolia and Lake City (with 11 percent). Upper Queen Anne is in tenth place, with 6 percent of the votes so far.

Think Queen Anne needs a new beer bar or brewery more than any other neighborhood? Cast your vote with Seattle Beer News here.

As the Seattle Center gears up for a six-month celebration surrounding its 50th Anniversary, the Metropolitan King County Council this week recognized the Center for “its legacy as the home of the 1962 World’s Fair.”

Seattle Center Director Robert Nellams (l) and Seattle Center Foundation Executive Director Tracy Robinson (r) are joined by the members of the King County Council.

Councilmember Larry Phillips, whose district includes Seattle Center, presented the recognition to Seattle Center Director Robert Nellams and Seattle Center Foundation Executive Director Tracy Robinson at the Council’s meeting on Monday, March 7.

“Seattle Center has a special personal connection for most King County residents, as it serves as the region’s gathering place,” said Phillips in a statement. “One of my fondest connections to the center is watching children play in the fountain that my father originally designed. The center’s 50th Anniversary commemoration is an opportunity to reminisce about the rich history of Seattle Center and the World’s Fair, as well as envision the Center’s future.” From the press release:

On April 21, 1962 the gates to Century 21 opened, and when the celebration ended on October 21, 1962, the World’s Fair had attracted 10 million visitors and introduced the Pacific Northwest to the world as the home of creative and practical solutions to our biggest challenges. Today, the 74-acre Seattle Center continues to prosper as our region’s premier urban park and cultural center. The World’s Fair and Seattle Center have brought five decades of economic, cultural, and social benefits to the region. Over 500 million people have visited the Seattle Center since 1962. Currently, Seattle Center annually welcomes 12 million visitors to nearly 500 programs and over 5,000 shows and events, generating $1.15 billion in business activity and $387 million in labor income for King County.

The center’s 50th Anniversary celebration will be focused on imagination, innovation, and involvement. As part of the commemoration, Seattle Center will be actively engaging the community in exploring, debating, and defining a collective vision for the next 50 years in eight key areas, including arts, culture, and design; sustainable futures; global health; science and technology; learning; commerce and the innovation economy; civic action; and history.

Find out more about Seattle Center’s plans for the 50th anniversary celebration, and the next 50 years here. Read more about the Center’s plans for the campus, including the Dale Chihuly glass house, outdoor green space, and KEXP studio in our past coverage here.

Taproot Theatre’s Road Company entertained at Coe Elementary last Thursday, bestowing the virtues of problem solving, empathy training, emotional management, bullying prevention to its students.

The Road Company performed its bullying-prevention play Super School to an auditorium packed with children in grades kindergarten to fifth. The young students listened and laughed as the cast of five told the story of Asteroid Academy students who begin a new year confronting challenges of social interaction, like dealing with a bully, managing anger, and the tests of honesty and friendship.

“It was awesome,” said fifth grader Makayla Johnson. “It had a very good meaning and it looks like they did a lot of hard work.”

Fellow fifth grader Melanie Lopez agreed that the play was fun and that she learned a lot.

A Q&A session at the end of the show allowed students to ask questions about the show, which mostly addressed the various props and tricks that gave the illusion of super powers. The session also gave the cast a chance to quiz the students, who had no problem articulating the finer points of the show’s message.

The bullying prevention play addresses a growing concern in schools. Previous coverage about incidents of bullying in Queen Anne schools can be found here.

From Taproot Theatre’s press release:

In the United States, 15-25% of students report being bullied, and 15-20% report bullying others, according to the “Stop Bullying Now!” website of the Health Resources and Services Administration. In some cases bullying has led to suicide. For the offenders, it can lead to suspension, expulsion or even criminal charges. In Washington, nearly 15,000 students were suspended and 442 expelled in 2008-2009, according to data published by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction last January. In King County alone, 2,231 students were suspended and 89 expelled.

In Washington, a new expanded anti-bullying law took effect in June, stating that although a law had been put in place to prohibit harassment, intimidation and bullying, the problem had failed to decline. The new law expands efforts, requiring schools to institute policies regarding harassment, intimidation and bullying, and requires each school district to appoint one individual to be the primary contact on the issue.

But the play is more than a timely statement on current social issues, said actors Solomon Davis and Laura Bannister.

“I think the message is timeless,” said Davis. “It could have run since the beginning of time because we’re talking about helping kids to understand their emotions and what they can do.”

“And it’s about how to live as part of a community,” added Bannister.

Bannister and Davis, who both have experience teaching children, said they love what they do and take seriously their obligation to impart an important message.

“This show, all of our shows, have an emotional quality to it. You notice that the students get completely silent during some of the more emotional scenes, which means they’re really engaging with the storyline and also the emotion of it,” said Davis. “I think that this is going to make it in their system and they’re going to make a note of that so that when they get into a situation that is similar they have that memory that says ‘I know how to deal with this.’”

This school year the Taproot Theatre Road Company is performing four plays. Don’t Tell Jessica… and New Girl teach junior and high school students the dangers of gossip, rumors and cyberbullying and the consequences their actions can have, while Treasure Ally and Super School are aimed at elementary school students.

From the press release:

Taproot Theatre’s Road Company has been touring dynamic social-issue plays to students throughout the Pacific Northwest since 1985. The Road Company reaches tens of thousands of students each year with productions that address relevant social issues and provide youth with safe steps to approach them.

Since June 2009, the Seattle Department of Transportation’s (SDOT) Aurora Traffic Safety Project has been working to reduce collisions on Aurora Avenue North. Comparing the time between now and then to the time between April 2005 and March 2008, collisions have been significantly reduced Here are the details:

• Total collisions on Aurora have decreased 21 percent
• Serious and fatal collisions on Aurora have decreased 22 percent
• Injury collisions on Aurora have decreased 23 percent

Street improvements such as new sidewalks, curb ramps and new crosswalks as well an increased police presence and driver awareness have all been credited with helping.

See all the details on the report over at SDOT’s blog, and general information on the project at SDOT’s website.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is holding an open house concerning changes along West Mercer Place, part of Phase II of the Mercer Corridor Project, on Tuesday, March 15 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Seattle Center Rainier Room.

For those just joining the discussion, many Uptown residents are concerned about the impact proposed plans to widen West Mercer Place and West Mercer by one lane could have on the surrounding neighborhood. These concerns include cutting into the western edge of Lower Kinnear Park (removing land and trees), and increasing Mercer’s role as a major corridor to and from I-5 for for trucks and freight vehicles.

A group of residents opposing the plan have created the West Mercer Mercer Place Facebook group, where they call neighbors to action to prevent this phase of the project. With the motto “don’t truck up our neighborhood!” the West Mercer Mercer Place group has held a letter writing rally opposing the traffic expansion, and put the issue to Mayor Mike McGinn at a town hall in Magnolia last week. Miss that meeting? Watch the video, courtesy of the Seattle Channel, below:

Read more on this ongoing debate here, here and here.

Neighborhood film buffs may want to head over to the Lower Queen Anne Blockbuster to stock up on movie titles before the store closes down for good.

The last Blockbuster in the neighborhood announced that it was following in the footsteps of its Upper Queen Anne counterpart and closing up shop just two weeks ago. Employees estimate that the store will shut its doors in about a month, on April 10.

Until then all of the store’s merchandise (including DVDs, games, posters, movie paraphernalia, etc.) is on sale at clearance prices. More information on the closure here.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is set to begin repaving Dexter Avenue N this coming Monday, March 7. The project, funded by the “Bridging the Gap” levy, will be implemented in three phases to reduce traffic impact. The repaving project is expected to help ease congestion caused by car, bus and bicyclist overlaps along Dexter from Fourth Avenue North (just south of the Fremont Bridge) to Roy Street, approximately one and a half miles.

• Phase 1 (March to April) – Fremont Avenue N (Fourth Avenue N) to McGraw Street
• Phase 2 (April to July) – McGraw Street to Garfield Street
• Phase 3 (July to September) – Garfield Street to Roy Street

From SDOT:

The project has benefits for everyone who uses the street. In accordance with Mayor Mike McGinn’s Walk, Bike Ride initiative and the city’s Complete Streets policy, the work will include improvements for motor vehicles, pedestrians, public transit, and bicyclists. When completed, Dexter will have wider, buffered bike lanes, dedicated left-turn lanes at busy intersections and in-lane bus stops.  The bus stops will have dedicated bus islands that will improve transit speed and reliability and minimize the conflicts with bikes and stopped buses. There will be dedicated load zones for businesses that need them. Sidewalks, street lighting, and drainage will also be improved.

During construction on-street parking and loading availability will be restricted. Dexter Avenue N will be open throughout construction, however traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction. During this time bicycles will have a choice of either merging with vehicle traffic, or riding on Dexter Avenue’s sidewalks, the Cheshiahud Lake Union Loop, or Westlake Avenue North.

The Queen Anne Community Council held its last board meeting at the community center Wednesday night. The council will no longer be able to meet there due to the reduced hours of operation from Parks and Recreation Department budget cuts, but it was announced that future meetings will be held inside Queen Anne Manor located at 100 Crockett St.

Fittingly, the council discussed Jim Cunningham’s membership in the Community Center Advisory Team, spearheaded by Seattle Councilmember Sally Bagshaw to find possible solutions to the financial woes of the city’s community centers. Cunningham discovered in a budgeting statement received at the last CCAT meeting that the QA Community Center looses $700,000 a year. The public has been asked to submit ideas for saving money or generating revenue for the centers. Ideas can be submitted via a link found here.

Conversely, the Parks Committee report by Don Harper announced that the Parks and Green Spaces Levy had an excess of $10 million due to the lack of inflation. The excess funds will go into the opportunity fund and can be spent on projects chosen by community groups.

The disorganization and difficulty receiving public comments at last month’s meeting was also addressed. Ideas were offered on how to do a better job in the event of a large public turnout for a contentious issue, such as: signing up to speak, giving more time to hear public comments, signs to indicate time left to speak, using a timer, giving committee reports by e-mail if time is running short.

Additional council matters:

• Two council vacancies were filled in a vote.
• Board Member Scot Baker met with the owner of the Queen Anne Avenue North 7-Eleven regarding the sale of high-octane alcohol. Council Chair Ellen Monrad said the issue is not yet resolved, but it was a good first meeting in an on-going discussion.
• In the Transportation Committee report, Glenn Avery said that SDOT will give a public presentation of the West Mercer Place portion of the project March 15 at the Seattle Center Rainier Room from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. (link). Also, SDOT is expected to attend the next council meeting.
• According to studies, the Kinnear Park forest is dying, said Harper. The plan is to cut down most of the trees and replace them with a different species. Climate change was cited as the reason.

Correction 3/7: An earlier version of this story misspelled Jim Cunningham’s last name.