You know that bridge above from the way it is on the left. There was a time not too long ago, however, when it looked a lot more like the image on the right. If you’re a regular reader of Seattle Times Sunday magazine, you’re used to seeing Paul Dorpat’s popular ‘Now And Then’ column, featuring the contrasting images of old and new Seattle like this one.

This past weekend, the Museum of History and Industry unveiled a “Now and Then” exhibit, styled after Dorpat’s column. The exhibit include the work of Jean Sherrard and Berangere Lomont and features photos of four locales: Seattle, Washington State, the Wallingford neighborhood and Paris.

The exhibit runs through June 3, 2012. Now and Then tours at the University of Washington are scheduled for April 17, May 15 and May 18. Check the MOHAI calendar for more information.

H/T: SeattlePI.com

Newly engaged Seattle couple Kate Donahue, 25, and Jesus Sanchez, 28, were killed from injuries sustained in a New Year’s Day attack while visiting family in Puerto Rico, according to the Seattle Times.

Jesus Sanchez and Kate Donahue

According to family and friends, Donahue, a popular nurse at Group Health, and Sanchez, a Boeing engineer, lived together with Sanchez’s roommate Rob McMurray, 25, in a condo in the Queen Anne neighborhood.

Donahue and Sanchez were severely injured in an incident on New Year’s Day at a celebratory family dinner. The two were in Puerto Rico to meet Sanchez’s family when, according to the Seattle Times report, Sanchez’s uncle, Justino Sanchez Diaz, doused the family with propane and torched the gathering. From the Times:

According to friends, the uncle had purportedly planned the gathering to mark the new year, two family members’ birthdays and the couple’s engagement. As the dinner got under way, he set the party ablaze with kerosene and a 20-pound propane tank, police said.

Police report that before the family gathering, Sanchez Diaz had covered the walls with gasoline and set canisters of fuel under nearby furniture, including the dining room table.

As the group sat down to eat, he came out with a tank of propane gas, doused the people with kerosene and set them on fire with a homemade torch.

Sanchez passed away Tuesday, January 4. At that time three other victims—Sanchez’s grandmother, cousin, and younger sister—had also passed. On Tuesday Donahue was airlifted in critical condition from Puerto Rico to the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Burn Center, where she passed away peacefully on Thursday, according to family members. Donahue had sustained burns on more than 80 percent of her body and was in a medically induced coma when her organs began to fail Thursday.

“She did go peacefully,” Donahue’s aunt Patrice Moore told the Times. “She was still unconscious … she was in no pain.”

The couple had planned to get married in Kerry Park this summer, according to KOMO News. “From what I’ve heard, he [Sanchez Diaz] did have some mental issues. I’m not sure what they were, but he’d never been aggressive before,” Moore told KOMO.

“It was something nobody expected,” local police Lt. Francisco Rosado told the Times. “We haven’t even had five murders in the last decade.”

Family members have not speculated on a motive, and police say Sanchez Diaz has kept silent and refused to eat since his arrest.

Read the full Seattle Times story here.

A PayPal account has been set up to gather donations to help cover the costs of medical care, transportation and funeral arrangements for Donahue and Sanchez. It is accessible through the “Support for Kate Donahue and Jesus Sanchez” Facebook page. As of 10:45 a.m. Friday $2,800 had already been raised.

A Wells Fargo bank account has also been set up to help with medical and funeral expenses. To make a donation, go to any Wells Fargo branch and ask to contribute to the Kate Donahue and Jesus Sanchez fund, or account #6174877891.

Donahue and Sanchez were regulars at the popular Lower Queen Anne dueling piano bar Chopstix. In fact the couple met there, and later got engaged there just a few months ago. You can watch the video of Sanchez’s proposal here.

Chopstix, located at 11 Roy Street, will be hosting a fundraiser to help raise money for Donahue’s and Sanchez’s families next week, at at 6 p.m. on Thursday, January 13. The piano players will be donating all of their tips to the Wells Fargo account set up for the families, and Chopstix will be donating a portion of their sales that night to the fund.

Photos courtesy of the “Support for Kate Donahue and Jesus Sanchez” Facebook page.

Potholes seems to be cropping up at an exponential rate lately. Just last week we reported a way for your to report problem potholes to the city for repair. In the meantime, however, the Seattle Times has created a map where community members can report potholes they’ve encountered.

As you can see from the above map, quite a few have been reported in Queen Anne already. In the parallel story, the Times reports that the Seattle Department of Transportation will be increasing its number of“Pothole Rangers” crews from the usual two or three, to nine to deal with the backlog of potholes citywide.

Check out the full map here. You can report potholes directly to the city online or by phone at 206-684-ROAD.

It’s a sad day for neighborhood film buffs. This morning Seattle Times moviegoing musings writer Moira Macdonald broke the news that Queen Anne’s Uptown Theatre (AMC Uptown 3) will be closing its doors for good come November 28.

An AMC representative confirmed the closure with Macdonald, adding that the company systematically updates its theatres by upgrading and adding new screens, and “disposing of older screens through closures and sales.” The representative added:

Unfortunately, the AMC Uptown 3 has been identified as a theatre that no longer competes effectively in the marketplace and will close at the end of business on Nov. 28.

“Losing the theater is a real loss to the neighborhood. Any word if a buyer will keep it a movie theater?” Queen Anne-er John Carter told QueenAnneView this morning. He hopes that another local organization will get involved to save the historic theatre, which originally opened with a single screen (with two more added later) in 1926.

“Maybe SIFF would get involved?” Carter wrote. “Even though SIFF has that downstairs theater I know they want more (no money of course) Maybe Vera Project? (no money of course)…Mayor’s Office of Film & Music comes to mind… Save the Uptown!”

I contacted SIFF to see if they, indeed, would be interested and have the resources necessary to take over the Uptown. I received a response almost immediately.

“It really is unfortunate that Uptown theater is closing. I used to go there many times and even when I was growing up so personally it’s a shame that it is closing,” SIFF representative Tod Steward wrote. “Maybe Paul Allen or someone like him would finance it to stay open…just like what he did with Cinerama.” Unfortunately Steward says that SIFF currently is not in a position to take over the theatre.

Although the Uptown plans to close in ten days, what will become of the landmark theatre with the quirky pink marquee is still up in the air. A note to AMC asking about its plans for the property was answered as follows:

“The landlord may be able to answer your questions and/or provide information about the future plans or use of the theatre space,” wrote AMC representative Justin Scott.

We haven’t been able to reach the landlord of the Uptown yet, but will keep you posted as we hear more.

With little time until closing day, some in the community are hoping to find a suitor to not only save the building, but keep it in the business of screening films. Since the news broke this morning Carter has been busy posting notes all over Facebook—on the walls of the Office of Film and Music, Community Cinema, Seattle Area Filmmakers, and others—asking community members to gather in support of the theatre and voice their opinions in our forum and in the comments to this post.

Mayor Mike McGinn last night revealed a “Seattle Nightlife Initiative” that includes 8 major points:

1. Code compliance enforcement
2. Flexible liquor service hours
3. Noise ordinance enforcement
4. Security training requirements
5. Precinct community outreach
6. Professional development
7. Late-night transportation alternatives
8. Targeting public nuisances

The Streamline, located on Mercer Street in Lower Queen Anne.

Of these priorities, the “flexible hours” may be the most dramatic, with bars being able to stay open later than 2 a.m., with the argument that the present system “which by unintended consequence encourages overindulgence while simultaneously pushing thousands of patrons on the streets with limited resources to effectively manage the activity.” In other words, too many inebriated people at one time overwhelm law enforcement, alternative and public transportation, drive home drunk causing accidents, etc.

You can read more about it in the Seattle Times, and you can comment directly on a survey the city has put out seeking feedback about it. Or, please comment here!

[Editor’s note: For the sake of reporting on graffiti in Queen Anne we have included some photos of vandalism in the neighborhood. However, in an effort to not endorse or encourage vandalism, we have chosen photos that are blurred or show only part of a tag).

Two months ago Queen Anne residents woke up to find graffiti 15 feet tall sprawled across both walls of Counterbalance Park, at the corner of Queen Anne Ave N and Roy St. The next day Alex Braun, the manager of both buildings adjacent to the park’s walls–The Willis condominiums and the Barclay Court retail building–set to work to wash the paint away.

The first eleven feet of the wall had been sealed, and so the paint easily lifted off the concrete. However, the concrete above the 11-foot mark was unprotected, causing the paint to soak in. It took several weeks before the clean-up was complete and the tag entirely removed.

Although graffiti in any urban environment is not uncommon, the size and nature of this particular incident sparked discussion in the Queen Anne community. Some residents claimed vandalism had increased in recent years, while others said graffiti always had been and always would be part of the neighborhood landscape.

Braun has personally cleaned graffiti off the walls and buildings near Counterbalance Park “countless times” in the 11 years he’s been living and working next to this Lower Queen Anne corner. “It’s always been the same at my building,” he said.

“Last week alone I had–and you have to understand that I also clean up the traffic signs and parking signs that are right outside my building–so those included, last Tuesday I had two big graffities on the building–big like three feet long and a foot wide–and two on signs. So that’s a total of four on Tuesday. And then on Friday morning I had three more, so that’s seven just last week,” he said.

According to Braun, this incident was the second largest he’d ever encountered. The first was back in the early 2000s, and resembled a similar pattern, however this time the lettering was eight feet high and spanned across the entirety of just one of the walls. And though tags of this kind are infrequent, he says in his experience graffiti around the neighborhood has always been prevalent.

“Over the years, quite frankly I’ve lost track of it,” he said. “I only keep track of the really big ones.”

We called Seattle Public Utilities, the department responsible for cleaning up vandalism on public property, to find out if the number of reported incidences had in fact gone up in recent years. After weeks of back and forth, we discovered that SPU does not keep records of the numbers of incidences reported at a given address, in a specific neighborhood or citywide.

“We can give you the last date a report was called in at a specific address,” a SPU representative said. “But that’s it.”

The frequency of incidents citywide means SPU resources are often spread thin, and it is frequently left to the residents–like Braun–to decide how to handle vandalism on both public and private property. Two weekends ago the Uptown Alliance sponsored a graffiti clean-up at Counterbalance Park. Volunteers spent the day painting the top half of the wall, above the 11-foot mark, with primer and another coat of paint to better protect it against a repeat attack.

“The Parks Department could not spend the money to have the wall repainted. So the Parks Department provided us with paint and primer, and then the Uptown Alliance organized a community effort to have those walls painted from the 11-feet up to the very top,” Braun said.

Still, many in the neighborhood disagree over what the best course of action should be. Some suggest the city should hire artists to paint murals over large public walls to deter tagging.

“Personally I think they should open up those walls and allow people to actually put up awesome art. When some of those graffiti guys get time they can make big intricate pieces that would look more unique and interesting than any other city park, especially at night when they were lit up by those lights,” reader Macrus wrote.

However these projects are often targets for even more vandalism, as was the mural at Dexter underpass last year.

“I would not even dignify that aberration by calling it a tag or it’s creator a tagger. He is a petty vandal, through and through,” Rodstewart wrote of the Counterbalance graffiti. “Let’s not kid ourselves here. Real tagging requires planning, skill, technique, and patience.”

After the vandalism of Counterbalance Park, we decided to put the question of how to handle graffiti to the community. Here are some of the responses we got:

Nate wrote,

I frequently take my child to the various parks on top of Queen Anne and am a Queen Anne resident. The playground equipment is nearly always covered in graffiti, sometime vulgar. Stop signs, news paperboxes etc… often have graffiti on them as well. Something needs to be done to clean up the streets, remove this graffiti as soon as it appears and arrest those responsible. Seems we are tolerating it and should not be.

Carol E. wrote,

I am from Chicago, and when I moved to lower Queen Anne I was shocked at the amount of graffiti. In my Chicago neighborhood it gets removed ASAP. The Chicago city council outlawed the sale of spray paint within city limits, which I always thought was ridiculous since they could buy it in the suburbs. But maybe it did make a difference.

Amyalayne wrote,

How about increase funding to the Seattle PD so we can have more patrols in the area? I agree with Carol in that when I lived in CA, graffiti was removed right away and the city just doesn’t seem to care here. In a lot of cases the business owners should also be responsible for cleaning up or coordinating w/the city for removal too. The graffiti has been horrible in the three years I’ve been in lower QA. I think there also needs to be more street lights. There are many dark areas of lower QA (and upper for that matter) that just don’t make it that safe to walk around in anymore. Another idea would be to grow some ivy that covers those walls. If it’s happened once it will happen again I am sure.

Although Braun agrees that this will not be the last time graffiti is seen at Counterbalance Park, he still believes the best way to tackle the tags is to continue to clean or cover them as soon as possible.

“If they tag us again, which I know they will, we’ll just paint over it,” Braun said. “The best thing is to paint over it or remove it, and yes they will come back, but you know, they’re only going to come back two or three times and then that’s it. In my case, with my  building, I noticed that when I first started there we had a lot of graffiti from a lot of famous taggers. And I was right on top of it and just had it removed the day after, as soon as I was able to,”  Braun said.

And as summer approaches, Braun says vandalism will only increase with the warmer weather, when paint sticks more easily. “If you have a rainy cold day, there’s very few taggers out there because they know the paint doesn’t stick very well on a wet surface,” he said.

Still, in the hopes of deterring potential vandals, Braun advises community members continue to remove graffiti as quickly as possible.

“Yes they’re going to come back, but once they see that you’ve removed it, they realize that you’re on top of things and they’re not going to go there anymore because they know that you’ll just erase it–you make their soup sour, which is what they don’t like. It’s been working for me in my building, and I’m going to continue taking them off as soon as they come up,” he said.

A community group called “Neighbors Working Together for a Clean and Safe Queen Anne” has taken a Block Watch approach to deterring vandalism, posting fliers around the neighborhood warning that the area is patrolled by Graffiti Watch Volunteers.

To report vandalism to Seattle Public Utilities, call the graffiti line at 206-684-7587. Get tips on how to prevent and remove graffiti here.

Around 400 people attended the public meeting at Seattle Center last night to discuss what will become of the 5 acres of open space that used to be home to the Fun Forest, according to our news partners the Seattle Times.

(Image by Studio 216 for Owen Richards Architects, courtesy of both).

One proposal outlines plans for a 44,000-square-foot “glass house” that would include an outdoor public garden, plaza, bookstore with cafe and retail space, and a 3,800-square-foot space for permanent a Dale Chihuly exhibit. The project, expected to cost an estimated $15 million, would be financed by the Wright family, the original builders and owners of the Space Needle. Many estimate the paid-admission venue would bring in hefty revenue for the Center, which funds 67 percent of its budget on its own.

The Times reported that there were voices of both support and opposition represented at the meeting last night. From the Times:

“It’s a smart addition to the Center and an amazing opportunity for Seattle,” said Deborah Person, managing director for the Seattle International Film Festival, which uses Seattle Center as a venue.

Ron Sevart, CEO of the Space Needle, talked about how the project would bring scores of family-wage construction jobs.

Many who oppose the project argue that the city should take advantage of 5 acres of open space in the middle of town, while others say alternative options should be considered before a decision is made. From the Times:

Iain Robertson, a landscape architect, called himself a “grass-roots supporter of grass.” He said Seattle Center is not the right location for a glass exhibit and that the city would be foolish to give up nearly 2 acres of open space.

“For us as a city to replace that [open space] in the future would cost an enormous amount of money,” he said. “You just don’t get a chance at this much open space in the center of the city.”

In response to the outcry of opinions around the proposal, the Seattle Center announced last week that it would be accepting public bids to compete with the “glass house” project. Read the Seattle Times’ coverage of last night’s meeting here.

Wondering what will become of Seattle Center’s Memorial Stadium and former Fun Forest space? So far there have been proposals for an outdoor amphitheater as well as a 44,000-square-foot “glass house” that would include open space, retail, outdoor gardens and a Dale Chihuly museum. The city has set up a meeting to discuss the future of Seattle Center’s open space on Tuesday, March 30. But in the meantime if you want to brush up on the issue, our news partner the Seattle Times published a comprehensive overview of the Seattle Center master plan, idea proposals, the funding behind it, and community reaction in yesterday’s paper. Read it here.

Although graffiti has not been as big of an issue in Queen Anne in the past as it has in some neighborhoods, the vandalism of Counterbalance Park last week rattled many in the community. It was one of the largest acts of vandalism the hill has seen since the mural at the Dexter Ave underpass was graffitied last year. And since then several other tags have popped up around the neighborhood.

We have started working on a collaborative project with the Seattle Times and its news partners, on how graffiti has impacted different neighborhoods around the city. Although we’re not yet sure what shape this project will take, we thought we’d start by posing some questions to the neighborhood: What are your thoughts on graffiti in Queen Anne? Have you noticed any particular areas where vandalism is often targeted? Have you noticed if incidences of graffiti have increased or decreased in the area? Do you see graffiti as a growing concern? What do you think can or should be done to stop taggers? Post your thoughts in the comments below or email us at tips@queenanneview.com.

Queen Anne View, along with the rest of the Next Door Media family, which includes My Ballard, PhinneyWood, Magnolia Voice and Fremont Universe, is thrilled to announce a new partnership with the Seattle Times.

Originating with a grant by American University’s J-Lab, an organization dedicated to bolstering innovations in journalism in the digital age, the Times is one of five news organizations around the country who will be working with hyper-local community news sites (that’s us!) for the year-long partnership.

Through the partnership we will be exploring new ways to work together. A component of this includes the Times and Queen Anne View linking to each other, something you may have already noticed. Other community sites who are part of this new partnership include our friends at the West Seattle Blog, Capitol Hill Seattle, and the Rainier Valley Post.

Thank you, readers, advertisers, contributors and tip-senders! Queen Anne View is a news site for the community, powered by the community. So much of our content comes from you, and it is all geared toward the neighborhood. Our site, and the others at Next Door Media, couldn’t do this without you! As a truly neighborhood-based local news service, we’re very excited to have the support of the Times and all of you!

For more information on this partnership, see the post on My Ballard, which includes the press release published by the Seattle Times this morning.

According to the Seattle Times, Queen Anne Ave is “one of the city’s best-kept secrets for happy hour.”

According to the Times, the top of the hill drag from Galer Street to Boston Street is no longer known just for the coffee shops – Upper Queen Anne is also one of the hippest places to be for cheap cocktails, good eats, and a great time.

Read the whole story here.