Seattle Public Utilities is mailing yellow reminder cards to 280,000 residences and business this month, reminding them how to opt out of getting phone books delivered to their front door.

Since May, the Phone Books Opt-Out Registry website registered more than 36,000 addresses that declined delivery of more than 227,000 phone books this year.

“Preventing waste by choosing the phone books you don’t want is a good example of what sustainability means,” Timothy Croll, SPU’s director of solid waste, said in a press release. “Last year, the average Seattle household got six phone books weighing more than 11 pounds. So opting out saves tons of paper — more than 200 tons per year already — and cuts down on greenhouse gas generation.”

Seattle residents and businesses can also use the website to stop much unwanted junk mail. Croll acknowledged the irony of sending out mail to encourage people to stop junk mail but he pointed out that the mailer, which will use four tons of paper, is expected to help 28,000 more households and businesses stop 168,000 phone book deliveries, saving 150 tons of paper.

The stop phone books card also provides a phone number, (206) 504-3066. The mailer and phone number can only be used for addresses within the City of Seattle. However, from the www.seattle.gov/stopphonebooks website, those outside the city can also access the CatalogChoice website and stop both phone books and junk mail. King County is expected to add access to the CatalogChoice service from its website later this summer.

The Phone Books Opt-Out Registry is funded by a fee charged to yellow pages publishers. Publishers can be fined when they don’t honor requests through the city’s opt-out program.

The Second Annual StandUp For Kids Charity Chowdown is happening this Wednesday, July 13 from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. at McMenamins Queen Anne, located at 200 Roy Street.

StandUp For Kids is a 100 percent donation-driven, all-volunteer-run non-profit organization that works to help homeless and at-risk youth in cities across the country. McMenamin’s hosted the first Charity Chowdown with the Seattle chapter of StandUp last year, with huge success – the inaugural event raised $2,500 from raffle and McMenamins contributions. This year the group hopes to raise $3,500. To help reach this goal, McMenamins will be donating 50 percent of all proceeds from food and beverage sales during the event to StandUp For Kids – Seattle.

Event information:

Along with the great food and drinks, there will also be a lot of raffle prizes to be won! StandUp For Kids – Seattle has partnered with several businesses, including our biggest supporters, Rosemary for Remembrance Spa and Red Mango, to provide LOTS of great raffle prizes for fans of StandUp for Kids – Seattle.

This year, we have an event goal of raising $3,500. The proceeds from raffle ticket sales will go towards the outreach efforts of StandUp For Kids – Seattle and the administrative costs that come with running a non-profit. StandUp For Kids – Seattle is a 100% donation-driven, all-volunteer run non-profit organization.

In addition to Rosemary for Remembrance Spa and Red Mango, we have fun and exciting prizes donated by the following businesses: Lindsey Lee Photography, Gregg’s Cycles, Woodland Park Zoo, Ride the Ducks, Groupon and Pandora Radio.

Bonus chances to win prizes go out to everyone who comes out to the event! Yup, the prize wheel is back!! Big thanks go out to FunRent.com for donating the use of the prize wheel for a second year in a row!

Raffle prize winners will also have a chance to win prizes donated by individual donors, which include manicure and spa gift certificates and StandUp For Kids – Seattle swag!

Five dollars gets you six raffle tickets, which can be purchased in advance through Brown Paper Tickets here. Check out scenes from last year’s StandUp For Kids Charity Chowdown at the Seattle chapter’s Facebook page.

“Why is there a helicopter flying low over my neighborhood?”

That’s the headline in a state Department of Health FAQ letting folks know that, starting Monday, a helicopter will buzz overheard.

But not far overhead. About 300 feet, to be exact. That’s about the height of a 30-story building.

The chopper is measuring background radiation levels for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Remote Sensing Laboratory Aerial Measurement System. (Whew.)

The FAQ answers the obvious question:

This project isn’t related to the disaster in Japan. It began in September 2009, well before the earthquake in Fukushima. The helicopter flyover is part of a multi-phase project to improve our state readiness to respond to radiation emergencies.

This project is looking for radioactive material that exists in our environment. The survey isn’t focused on radioactive material from Japan. The amount of material from Japan was extremely low and will not be detected by equipment on the helicopter.

The helicopter’s equipment can detect the presence of radioactive materials that emit gamma radiation such as cesium and radioactive iodine. The baseline would be used in the event of a radiation emergency to compare radioactive contamination to the normal levels found during this study.

More information is available here. The flights start July 11 in the Seattle-Bellevue area and continue through July 28 in other areas of King and Pierce counties, according to Seattle/Local Heath Guide.

The Seattle Public Library system will be closing down for the week before Labor Day weekend, from Monday, August 29 through Sunday, September 4 due to citywide budget cuts. All libraries will be closed for the Labor Day holiday Monday, September 5. Regular Library operations will resume Tuesday, September 6.

Most Library services will be unavailable during the one-week closure and will have the following impacts:

No materials will be due and no fines will be charged.

The last day to check out Library items before the closure is Sunday, August 28. The Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., will be open until 6 p.m. that day and another 11 branches will be open until 5 p.m. Visit www.spl.org or call 206-386-4636 for more information on Library locations and hours.

No book drops will be open. The Central Library book drops will close at 8 p.m. Sunday, August 28 and will reopen at 6 a.m. Tuesday, September 6.

If you’re desperate for library access, the Lake City Neighborhood Service Center and parking garage will remain open. It is co-located with the Lake City Branch, but has a separate entrance. The Ballard Neighborhood Service Center, which is co-located with the Ballard Branch, will stay open as well.

August 29 through September 4 was the week selected for the closure because general Library use at that time is not as high as other times during the year, school is not in session and there are fewer Library programs scheduled.

For more info, visit the Seattle Library site.

Good thing there’s decent weather on the horizon because this weekend is packed with fun outdoor events in and around Queen Anne. There are not just one, but two opportunities to run through the neighborhood – one for charity, the other for kicks. Plus Seattle’s biggest outdoor yoga event, and the annual Queen Anne Sidewalk Sale. Check out Queen Anne’s weekend calendar:

Saturday, July 9

• Crown of Queen Anne Fun Run – Help support the Queen Anne Helpline by participating in the annual QA Fun Run. The 5k (3.3 mile) run/walk of beautiful streets on Queen Anne hill kicks off at 8 a.m. (walkers) and 8:20 a.m. (runners). If you haven’t yet registered, you may do so between 6:45 and 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. Day of registration is $35. Participants should gather at the Queen Anne Lutheran Church, located at 2400 8th Ave West. The Fun Run/walk will start at 5th and Halladay, and finish at Coe Elementary School. After the run/walk participants should reassemble at the Queen Anne Lutheran Church for awards, coffee, water, snacks and random drawings for prizes. Details here.
• 3rd Annual Yoga for Hope Event – Join hundreds of other yogis at the International Fountain North Lawn at Seattle Center for the city’s annual outdoor yoga event for charity: Yoga for Hope is an outdoor yoga event for yoga beginners and experts alike to bring awareness to the benefits of yoga practice for patients with life-threatening illnesses. Four of Seattle’s top yoga instructors will lead hundreds of participants in a two-hour class at the Seattle Center. The proceeds from the event will benefit research, treatment and education programs at City of Hope, aiding the treatment and research center’s efforts to expand awareness of the importance of the mind-body-spirit connection when battling cancer, diabetes or HIV/AIDS. The Yoga for Hope event was born out of City of Hope’s efforts to expand awareness of the importance of the mind-body-spirit connection and the hospital’s unique approach to utilizing complimentary and integrative therapies such as yoga and meditation in the patient treatment programs. Instructors from Queen Anne’s own Haute Yoga will be joining other teachers at the event this year. Registration $35 if done online by midnight tonight (register here), or $45 day of. Registration and vendor booths open at 9 a.m., with classes taking place between 10:30 a.m. and noon. Details here.
  
• 2nd Annual Queen Anne Running of the Bulls – In case walking/running it out over 3.3 miles of Queen Anne streets during the Fun Run isn’t enough, Queen Anne’s own self-proclaimed “division of the Queen Anne mafia,” The Comstock Commission, is putting on the second neighborhood Running of the Bulls on the very same day. Swing by Paragon Bar & Grill at 1 p.m. to join in the fun or just watch it unfold. And don’t forget to wear the Comstock uniform–white shirts and pants, a red scarf and “fast shoes”. Details here.
• Queen Anne Sidewalk Sale – If you feel like shopping in the sunshine, don’t miss Queen Anne’s annual summer Sidewalk Sale, which will be happening all day at stores up and down Queen Anne Ave N. We don’t have a full list of participating vendors, but many stores have planned sales and special events in years past. Many vendors also often extend the sales for the whole weekend, so if you can’t make it Saturday, you’ll have another chance on Sunday, July 9. Just look for balloons and big crowds!

Know of more events happening on the hill this weekend? Email us at tips@queenanneview.com or comment below and we’ll add the event to our weekend calendar.

One of our readers, Audrey, spotted ABC News’ David Muir filming a segment at Queen Anne’s own Kerry Park earlier today and got the scoop on the story from David himself.

Muir pictured with a fellow ABC “Made in America” rep Sharyn Alfonsi on July 7 at Kerry Park in Queen Anne. Photo by Audrey Wennblom.

According to Audrey, David is in Seattle “on his nationwide quest to find manufactured goods made in the US” as part of an ongoing series called “Made in America” on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, which airs weeknights at at 5:30 p.m., on Channel 4 here in Seattle.

“Tonight he will be previewing what he found in Seattle, and this coming Monday through Wednesday he will be showing what he unearthed in making the rounds of Seattle stores and other places, which he told me include a clothing store that sells stuff made only locally and a bike clothing store that sells apparel made only in Seattle. ABC photographers were shooting David and friend riding in Kerry Park, up and down W. Highland Drive (you will recognize the houses when it airs), and in many other locales across the city. After watching him interview protestors in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and on the streets of Libya’s Benghazi, it was quite a shock to find him in front of Kerry Park this afternoon, I must admit. He is very sweet, very smart, and not a bad biker!” Audrey writes.

Can’t wait to check out what Seattle-made items made the “Made in America” list!

Metro Transit is asking the King County Council for a temporary $20 annual surcharge on licensed vehicles for two years as a stop-gap measure to maintain bus service. If the Metropolitan King County Council doesn’t approve the “congestion reduction charge,” Metro says it will have to cut up to 600,000 service hours – or 17 percent of current bus routes – in 2012 and 2013. According to Metro, these cuts would affect the vast majority of bus riders, and could be detrimental to the area’s overall transit service.

“If Metro does not receive additional revenue for the 2012-2013 budget, it must begin cutting service as soon as February 2012. Without more funds, a total of 600,000 hours of transit service would need to be eliminated over the next two years. This is about 17 percent of Metro’s entire system, but it would affect up to 80 percent of bus riders. That means as many as four out of five people will have to walk further, wait longer, make an extra transfer, stand in the aisle, or stand on the curb and see fully loaded buses pass them by. And it will force tens of thousands of people back into cars, worsening congestion for everyone,” Metro wrote in a document entitled “What will happen if the congestion reduction charge is not approved?” Download this document here (.pdf) to view all routes on the chopping block for elimination, reduction and revision.

According to Metro’s proposal these cuts would hit Queen Anne riders even harder than the previous reduction scenario Metro released back in May. Under Metro’s current scenario route 2 north of downtown would be eliminated entirely, as would routes 4, 15EX, 18, 26, 28, 45, 81 and 82. On top of that, a number of other routes in the neighborhood would be reduced and/or revised, including routes 1, 2EX, 3, 8, 13, 15, 16, 17 (regular and EX), 18EX, 24, 26EX, 28EX, 30, 31 and 33. In the above map the routes in red indicate those which would be eliminated, the routes in yellow represent routes that would see service reductions, and the green represents routes where service would be revised for efficiency. You can take a look at the full preliminary Metro cuts and route changes example map for Northwest Seattle/North King County here (.pdf).

The state Legislature already has approved the temporary $20 surcharge, but Transportation for Washington says the bill still needs the support of two more King County Council members to pass.

Metro is urging riders to get involved and weigh in on both the proposed congestion reduction charge, as well as the potential service cuts and changes proposed should the surcharge be rejected. The county has set up three public meetings on the issue, including one at 6 p.m. tonight at the Kirkland City Council Chambers, located at 123 Fifth Ave. The other two meetings will be held at 6 p.m. next Tuesday, July 12, at the King County Courthouse, Council Chambers, located 516 Third Ave. in Seattle, and at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 21, at the Burien City Council Chambers, located at 400 SW 152nd St.

If you can’t make it to one of the public hearings, you can submit your comments directly to the King County Council online. Transportation for Washington also has a form letter you can fill out in support of the congestion reduction charge.

Click here for a complete list of all routes (.pdf) and whether the proposal calls for them to be eliminated, reduced or remain unchanged. Click here for a map (.pdf) of all affected routes in Northwest Seattle.

Check out what’s happening at our two neighborhood farmers markets this week.

At the Queen Anne Farmers Market:

• 4 p.m. – Cooking demonstration with Seif Chirchi from Joule and Revel
• 5:15 p.m. – Local knife sharpener Donna Gerhart shares tips on knives and knife care
• 5:30 p.m. – Knife skills demonstration with Noah from Wild Salmon Seafood Market who will demonstrate how to fillet a whole salmon, then provide cooking tips and show how to grill fish
• 5 to 7 p.m. – Musical performance by award-winning virtuoso guitarist Andre Feriante, with his bold but fluid musical fusion, featuring music from Bach to Leonard Cohen, flamenco improvisation to jazz standards, and even poetry by Federico Garcia Lorca, Rumi and Feriante himself
• Check what’s fresh at the market this week here

At the Interbay Farmers Market:

• 4 to 5 p.m. – Cooking demonstration with Chef Tara Ayers of Ocho
• Check what’s fresh at the market this week here

As always the Queen Anne Farmers Market is happening from 3 to 7:30 p.m. at W Crockett Street and Queen Anne Ave N. The Interbay Farmers Market is taking place from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Interbay Urban Center, located at 1819 15th Ave. W.

During these closures, the I-5 on-ramp at University Street will be concurrently closed to provide more efficient traffic flow around the closed Mercer Street exit lane. Fairview Avenue N will also be closed between Mercer Street and Valley Street, and Mercer Street will be closed to through traffic between Westlake Avenue N and Fairview Avenue N. All detour routes will be clearly marked.

The Washington State Department of Transportation will be concurrently closing all lanes on SR 520 from 11:00 p.m. Friday, July 8, to 5:00 a.m. Monday, July 11, between Montlake Boulevard in Seattle and Interstate 405 in Bellevue. SR 520 from I-5 to Montlake Boulevard will remain open to traffic. Details of the closure and detour maps are available at: www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR520Bridge/WeekendClosures.htm.

Travelers are encouraged to carpool and use alternate modes of transportation. Transit information can be found at:

• King County Metro at www.kingcounty.gov/metro or by calling 206-553-3000
• Sound Transit at www.soundtransit.org
• Community Transit at www.commtrans.org

Notice all those chickens around the neighborhood lately? You could meet a few this Saturday at Seattle Tilth’s annual tour of backyard chickens and urban farms.

Seattle Tilth has been organizing this community event for over a decade, originally to encourage people to raise chickens in the city. Since then, the event has expanded in both topic and turf to include urban and suburban sites, as well as a wide variety of animals and agricultural practices. Tour participants get face time with ducks, mini dairy goats, honey bees, geese and a couple sheep with (hopefully) new born lambs, even a cow and horse.

This year there are more than 50 sites (the map here only shows the ones in north Seattle), and two in Queen Anne (one located on Etruria, and the other on Warren). The tour runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tickets are $12 each. A group or family up to seven can pay $35. There are discounts for Seattle Tilth members.

They can be purchased online here, or at Walt’s Organic Fertilizer (1528 N.W. Leary W). Tickets are also available at City People’s Mercantile in Sand Point, 5440 Sand Point Way N.E.; City People’s Garden Store in Madrona, 2939 E. Madison St.; Portage Bay Grange in the U-District; 4110 Roosevelt Ave. N.E.

Or buy yours at the Seattle Tilth offices at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford, Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; 4649 Sunnyside Ave N. #100.

Seattle’s Department of Transportation is encouraging people to walk, bike or ride public transit in July and August to get in shape, reduce greenhouse gases, and save money on gas and car repairs.

Enter the Walk Bike Ride Challenge, switch at least two car trips per week to walking, biking or riding transit, and be entered to win one of the following:

• Electric bike from e-Moto
• Apple iPad
• Pan Pacific Hotel stay
• Zipcar $250 gift card
• REI $100 gift card
• Nordstrom’s $100 gift card (supplied by Commute Seattle)
• $100 gift card good at seven farmers’ markets

“Summer is a great time to try walking, biking or riding transit to work, to get to know your neighborhood and to start lifetime habits that keep you healthy,” Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen said in a press release.

Those entering the challenge get weekly emails with tips on walking, biking and riding and can track their individual progress and the program’s collective impact online. The more trips one reports, the higher the chance they have of winning.

The WBR Challenge is part of the Seattle Department of Transportation’s Way to Go, Seattle! program. It encourages people to walk, bike, ride transit and carpool more by offering incentives, tools and information and runs on a two month cycle. The current cycle is for July and August.

Click here to sign up for the Walk Bike Ride Challenge.

There are going to be added congestion and possible traffic delays around Queen Anne over the next few days due to some construction work at two different sites in the neighborhood.

On Thursday, July 7 and Friday, July 8 Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) crews will be grinding and removing existing asphalt on Dexter Ave N between McGraw and Garfield streets, as part of the Dexter repaving project. There will be one lane of travel in each direction, and parking and loading zone restrictions near the work zone, with periodic cross-street and driveway interruptions. SDOT will have uniformed police officers on site to direct traffic. From SDOT:

Drivers should reduce speeds when traveling through the area. Bicyclist should consider utilizing sidewalks or alternate routes. When riding on Dexter Avenue North, bicyclists will share a lane with motor vehicles and should expect grooved pavement and loose asphalt as well as raised utility casting and man holes in the street. There will be increased construction truck traffic.

Once the asphalt removal is complete, crews will begin to repair Dexter Ave’s base pavement and repave the street, which is scheduled to take place later this month. After repaving, SDOT will continue the Dexter Ave N street channelization, installing bus islands, a buffered bike lane, applying new traffic markings and other finals steps.

On Thursday, July 7 SDOT crews will also be performing maintenance work along the eastbound ramp of the Emerson Street Viaduct Bridge to Nickerson Street. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday traffic flaggers will be on hand to help direct traffic as crews repair expansion joints on the bridge. Commuters should be mindful of the work and allow extra time during their regular commutes.

The Queen Anne Community Council‘s monthly meeting is happening tonight, Wednesday, July 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Queen Anne Manor, at 100 Crockett Street. There is no scheduled guest for tonight, so the meeting should conclude earlier than usual. Take a look at what’s on the agenda this month:

• 7:30 p.m. – Adoption of Agenda, Approval of Minutes, Treasurer’s Report
• 7:35 p.m. – Open Forum – Comments
• 7:40 p.m. – NAC letter – Kirk
• 7:45 p.m. – Community Center report – Jim Cunningham
• 8 p.m. – Committee Reports

1. Election – Nicole Pastarnack
2. Transportation – Glenn Avery
3. LURC/Planning – Craig Hanway
4. Parks – Don Harper
5. Communication – Michael Lapin
6. District Council – Mike Warren
7. NAC – Kirk Robbins, Jim Smith, Glenn Avery, Don Harper
8. Social Issues – Kirk Robbins
9. Police & Crime – Allen Panich

• 9 p.m. – New Business
• 9:30 p.m. – Adjournment

Here’s a list of upcoming meetings happening in the community:

• Queen Anne/Magnolia District Council: July 11, 7 to 9 p.m. – Interbay P-Patch
• Parks Committee: July 12 7:30 p.m. – Queen Anne Manor
• LURC/Planning Committee: July 18, 7 p.m. – Queen Anne Manor
• NAC Committee: July 20, 4:30 p.m. – Port Headquarters
• Transportation Committee: July 27, 7:30 p.m. – Queen Anne Manor
• QACC: Sept 7, 7:30 p.m. – Queen Anne Manor
• QACC Election/Annual Meeting: Sept 21 – Queen Anne Manor

As usual, tonight’s meeting will be taking place in the social room at the Manor. Attendees are reminded to please sign in at the front door upon arrival, and exit the building as quickly as possible after the meeting concludes so as not to disturb the residents. To get to the social room, take the elevator at the end of the hall down to the basement. The room will be at the left end of the hallway.

Emerald Bay Equity has broken ground on the Seven Hills development at 1919 Queen Anne Ave. N., beginning with the tearing down of two existing structures long standing vacant in anticipation of the project.

The much-delayed project is the third piece of the four-part mixed-use retail/residential development group on the top of the hill called The Commons, which includes the finished Sweetbrier and Eden Hill buildings next door and down the block from the Seven Hills site, and the forthcoming Met Market redevelopment directly across the street.

Just last week Emerald Bay Equity, which had been attempting to sell all four properties in The Commons since April 2010, opted to break up the group and sold the completed Sweetbrier and Eden Hill buildings to affiliates of RREFF, a real-estate subsidiary of Deutsche Bank, for $44 million.

Despite the sale, Emerald Bay Equity has continued construction plans with the remaining two developments, securing approval from the Department of Planning and Development to move forward with the Seven Hills project back in May, with plans to begin construction last month. The Met Market redevelopment project is expected to break ground in 2012.

The completed Seven Hills development will be a four-story mixed-use building with 57 residential units, 8,180 square feet of ground-level retail and underground parking for 68 vehicles. For more information on this project, take a look at the DPD’s decision here (.pdf), the design review proposal here (.pdf), and our past coverage.

Whether you were braving the crowds at Gas Works Park last night, watching the view from your favorite hidden peak on Queen Anne, or snuggling up on your couch to watch the celebrations on TV, the Fourth of July Lake Union fireworks were quite a sight to see. Check out some of the pictures–and headlines–collected from this year’s Independence Day.

• SeattlePI has a whole bunch of photos from the festivities.

• The Lake Union fireworks made the Washington Post’s collection of fireworks displays from around the country.

• MyWallingford has a great photo from the evening.

• One Queen Anne teen lost a finger in a fireworks accident.

A teenage boy lost a finger late Monday night after a homemade explosive blew up in his hand at the West Queen Anne Playfield, according to the Seattle Fire Department. The boy told SFD officials that he was hanging out in the park with other teens at approximately 11:30 p.m., when he found the explosive on the ground. From the SFD:

The boy says he picked the up device and it exploded, causing the severe injuries to the teenager. The force of the explosion knocked the teen out, and caused him to lose one of his fingers. The teen also had his hair singed and his leg burned.

Medics responded and immediately transported the teenager to Harborview Medical Center. At the time he was in stable condition, breathing, conscious and talking.

SFD crews say they found several teenagers in the Queen Anne Playfield setting off fireworks, and that residual fireworks were scattered around the park, as was a blown up trash can. The Seattle Police Department is currently investigating the case. From the SFD:

Fireworks are illegal in the city of Seattle. Every year the fire department responds to dozens of injuries and fires caused by these illegal items. These injuries and fires can be prevented.

According to KIRO TV, the teen was 18 years old, and paramedics were unable to locate the finger.