Neighborhood Walking Ambassadors lead walks around their neighborhood that are inspirational and informative. These neighborhood walks are themed, interpretive events that bring neighbors together to share with them the experience of walking in their own neighborhood. Some examples of walks include: a walk to visit a new park or pathway, a walk to an event, a nighttime holiday walk, a fitness walk, or a nature walk.

For more information about the Neighborhood Walking Ambassador Program, contact Kirk Hovenkotter by email or at 206-652-2310.

Tickets are $25 for PNA members and $30 for the general public. Designated driver tickets are $10. Tickets are available at the Phinney Neighborhood Center or online.

Brewers at the event include: Alpine, Baron, Big Al, Boulevard, Deschutes, Diamond Knot, Elysian, Fremont, Fish, Georgetown, Gilligan’s, Hale’s, Harmon, Issaquah, Maritime Pacific, Pike, The Ram, Snoqualmie Falls, Trade Route and Two Beers.

The beer taste is sponsored by Barking Dog Alehouse, Park Pub and Prost! Must be 21 or older to attend.

Last Thursday’s community meeting at the Phinney Center brought out about 100 people who grilled the developers about their plans. While many people liked certain aspects of the plan, there were a lot of concerns about traffic, potentially empty retail storefronts, public spaces, the huge number of parking spaces (more than 800), walkability, and the store’s giant footprint.

Here’s the complete site plan:

And here’s the view from 1st Ave. NW, looking northwest. The red stripe in the middle is the sign for the single entrance to Fred Meyer. The building on the right is residential on top of a parking garage.

And here’s what the townhomes along 3rd Ave. NW may look like (keep in mind these are very preliminary drawings and simply show what might be there):

Tonight’s meeting of the five-person volunteer Design Review Board is the best way to get neighborhood concerns into the public record. Greater Greenwood Design and Development Advocacy Group (GG.DDAG) has been working with the developer to address neighborhood concerns. Click here for a pdf of their major points of concern, and suggestions.

GG.DDAG is also working on getting the entire site rezoned to Neighborhood Commercial from the current C1-40 commercial zoning that is car-oriented and, in many people’s opinions, out of date and contrary to Greenwood-Phinney’s designation as an Urban Village. Click here for a pdf showing their very thorough proposal for a legislative rezone.

“Make The Cut” happens at Steven Cole Salon at 8408 Greenwood Ave. N. on Monday, July 14. Book a cut or color - 206-783-8900 -from 4-9 p.m. or just stop in to enjoy hors d’oeuvres (by Olive You and The Upper Crust) and bid on the silent auction gift baskets, with items donated by numerous local businesses. 100 percent of the proceeds go to the Boys & Girls Club for their new arts education summer camp.

Next Monday, July 20, “Make the Cut” moves to the Greenwood Academy of Hair on the corner of Greenwood and 85th St. Book a cut or color - 206-782-0220 - or skin care, or just stop in.

There are even door prizes and a youth photography contest at The Green Bean Coffee House.

My favorite was this cheeky one:

You’ll have a chance to see more of the Seafair Clowns July 22 during the Greenwood Seafair Parade. The parade starts at 6 p.m. at 95th Street and Greenwood Avenue North, heading south to North 85th, where it turns right and heads west on 85th to 6th Avenue NW.

The remodeling included installing a new bar along the east wall of the main dining area. “It’s really rich colors, and it will seat about 12,” she said. Their secluded outdoor patio remains open for the summer.

And addressing rumors that the restaurant was for sale, Mary said emphatically not! “Why would we sell now after doing all this work? We’re just getting bigger and better,” she said.

The Seattle Police Department’s North Precinct held its 4th annual picnic in Northgate today (Saturday), drawing curious neighbors in beautiful weather.

“The turnout’s been great. We usually count by the hot dogs,” says Captain Mike Washburn. “We just like to say thanks to the community.” The north precinct is the city’s largest, covering everything north of the Ship Canal to the city limits.

The bomb squad maneuvered robots for the kids, always a popular attraction.

And so are the horses from the mounted patrol and the K9 units.

People could ask officers questions as well as talk to a few of the community groups at the picnic. “I’ve learned throughout my career that we don’t accomplish anything long-term unless we have community involvement,” Washburn said, urging residents to not hesitate to call police if they notice their neighborhood is changing for the worse. “That’s when they should start talking to us,” he said. “They shouldn’t wait until it’s a problem.”

Location! Location! Location! 8104 Greenwood Ave N This Teriyaki & Hamburger,Chinese Restaurant is located next to Libruary and well established market. It is surrounded by other businesses, apartments, residential with lots of foot traffic. The demographics of the area insure the success of this business. It also has numerous community activities… please call 206 383-8949 for more information.

I tried calling Manna today to confirm, but they’re closed on Sunday and it never went to voicemail. We’ll try to follow up on Monday. Thanks for the tip, Coral!

The store features a range of jewelry including Egyptian and South American pieces, as well as some home decor items. Before opening in Greenwood, Lotus Jewelry & Gift was located at Northgate Mall, according to Ahmed, the owner.

The store also does jewelry and watch repair and is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday-Saturday.

Twig, you may remember, is moving its business online-only.

Here are muralists Kristine and Ron Henshaw offering portraits outside SPACE: A Design Build Collective. And the Quixotic Classical Trio provided entertainment outside Strut.

And several businesses featured decorated birds from the March of the Penguins, including this one in the window at the Phinney Market.

Maybe it’s just us, but it seemed like there were fewer people out than usual last night. One artist and three young ladies who made the trek from Ballard and Capitol Hill noted as much too. Maybe there were too many other options on a perfect Seattle evening?

Anyway, the art walk is always the second Friday of the month. Maybe we’ll see you at the next one on Aug. 14.

Master canner/food preserver Jessica Dally will discuss and demonstrate home canning and food preservation. She’ll explain the safe way to get your food from the garden into a jar and help preserve the fresh bounty of summer into the darker days of winter. Thursday, July 16, 7-9:30 p.m. Greenwood Senior Center; 525 N 85th St. Suggested donation: $5. Sign up by emailing brookedoyle@yahoo.com.

“I’ve started an awful lot of speeches lately with, ‘We’re in tough times’ and I hate to do that, but…” Nickels said right off the bat.

The mayor gave a broad overview of how the city is handling the global financial crisis. He said the city is not having to make severe cuts like some other governmental entities, but it did have to dip into its $30 million Rainy Day Fund to the tune of $5 million. “But, we still have $25 million to buffer whatever may happen this year,” he said. “Tough times, but we’re moving forward and we’re going to be okay.”

Nickels said the entire city will be seeing a lot of street construction this year as it catches up on maintenance, thanks to the Bridging the Gap measure approved by voters.

He was most excited about transportation issues. “In seven days, 23 hours and 23 minutes, we’re going to be opening up the light rail,” he said with a laugh. After spending the last 21 years working on transit issues at various levels of government, he’s happy the day is almost here. “It’s been a very, very long time. Fifteen years from now we’ll have a mass transit system that will be capable of moving one million people a day.”

He was aware of the proposed Fred Meyer redevelopment that is garnering so much neighborhood attention, and said he was excited for a mixed use development that would bring more people to live and work in downtown Greenwood. “We want to make sure we get something very special in that development,” he said.

Chamber President Steve Giliberto asked about the possibility of the city somehow encouraging businesses that are office-based rather than retail to locate in neighborhoods outside of downtown. He expressed concern that a number of retail spots in newer mixed-used developments are still vacant, and could be filled by offices. “We’d be interested in seeing that,” Nickels said. “If you can live and work in one place, our transportation issues will be much better.”

Nickels also stressed the importance of creating “green” jobs. “We are fundamentally changing our economy from one of conspicuous consumption to one of conspicuous conservation,” he said.

He expressed the hope that Seattle could become “branded” as the Green Building Capital of the U.S., explaining that Seattle will be one of the first markets for Nissan’s new electric cars in 2010, and the city will make it easier to get permits for 220 outlets for electric vehicles.

Three people jumped out of the car and police quickly arrested a woman and found one man a short time later, according to KING 5 TV. Because there was a gun found in the car, police feared the third suspect was armed as well, hence the heavy police presence - including a circling helicopter - which Patrick and Lise tipped us about in e-mail.

There’s more information on the SPD Blotter.

Thanks, Patrick and Lise. If you have a news tip, send it to us at tips@phinneywood.com.

Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce President Steve Giliberto moderated the meeting, and opened by saying that we need to make sure we’re looking at this project from a long-term perspective. “This project will affect the neighborhood for the next few generations,” he said.

As we previously reported when FM first presented its proposal to a Chamber meeting last month, the $77 million project – covering more than eight acres from 85th to 87th and 1st to 3rd – will include a huge, one-story Fred Meyer; an 800-stall, three-story parking garage with three stories of residential on top (along 87th St.); 40-50 parking spots on the roof next to the garden center, (this space is also “programmable,” meaning it could be closed to parking and opened up to a community event like a farmers market); two stories of residential units along 85th and 3rd; about 20,000 square feet of retail space for tenants other than FM; open space near the main entrance along 1st Ave. NW. and a tiny pocket park adjacent to the bus stop on 85th.

This is the proposed main entrance to Fred Meyer along 1st Ave., with open space, ground level retail and residential on top.

Tom Gibbons, director of real estate development for Fred Meyer, said he has been working on this project since 1997, the longest he has ever worked on a single project. He said when Fred Meyer builds a new store, it usually takes far less time and money than this project has, which has brought out numerous voices from the neighborhood as Greenwood grapples with its urban village designation and problematic zoning. “Kroger says they could build six Kroger stores for the cost of this one Fred Meyer site,” Gibbons said of FM’s parent company.

Members of the Greenwood Community Council (GCC) and the Greater Greenwood Design and Development Advocacy Group (GG.DDAG) are trying to have more of a symbiotic relationship with the FM design team. They’re not only meeting with FM on a regular basis to try to get Fred Meyer to design the project more to the neighborhood’s needs and wants, but they’re also working on getting the city council to rezone the entire site. The problem is that the site is currently zoned C1-40 - that’s a commercial designation that encourages big box stores that are 40 feet high. The GCC wants it rezoned as Neighborhood Commercial with a 65 foot height limit. NC zoning requires density, walkability – and a whole lot more character.

For example, when Fred Meyer presented its first plan, it was simply a great big box. The building “turned its back on the neighborhood” with 25-foot-high walls with no windows and just one entrance, GG.DDAG Chair Evan Bourquard said. “We’ve come a long way from where we were six months ago,” he said, but added that his group still has quite a few concerns.

As did a number of people in the audience. “We have a place for big box retail. It’s called Aurora,” one man said.

GGLO Architect Ted Panton said he understands the neighborhood’s concerns and is not just professionally attached to the project. “Like all of you, I have skin in the game here. It’s my neighborhood, too.”

Several people, including Greenwood business owners, expressed concern about the other retail space, wondering whether it was the size and configuration that a storefront business needs, and worried that it would simply add to the empty retail spots at several new developments in the neighborhood. Gibbons responded that Fred Meyer has a number of national retail clients who follow them into all their developments because they do well there. That then prompted concerns about national retailers pushing out local retailers.

Some people said they wanted the development to be less than 65 feet high, but developer Bruce Lorig said that would reduce the amount of residential units, making the project unfeasible. (Only the back portion of the development with the parking garage and residential units would be close to 65 feet high. The southwest corner would be closer to 30 feet high.)

GG.DDAG is actually advocating for even more density, which Bourquard said would support all Greenwood businesses by bringing more shoppers and clients right to their door.

Another man suggested integrating the housing more with the urban plaza in the center of the space. He wanted “more eyes on these spaces” at all times. “How do you activate this, how do you keep this alive at all hours of the day?”

A member of the audience explains his ideas for open space to the GGLO architects.

One complicating factor is the peat bog that much of downtown Greenwood is built on. A number of people at the meeting expressed serious concern that their houses would be damaged if the water table is affected by building in the peat bog, as happened when the Safeway on Greenwood and 87th was built several years ago. FM has hired consultants to help them work through that process with the city.

Former Greenwood Community Council President Kate Martin said she’s very concerned about sinking the parking garage 15 feet into the bog. “Let’s respect the bog,” she said.

“This area is spongy,” Giliberto added with a laugh. “We’re putting a lot of concrete onto this spongy area.”

Lorig explained that the bog extends partially under the northeast side of the project, but that the majority of the project site is actually sand.

GGLO Principal Chris Libby, Developer Bruce Lorig, GGLO Project Manager Ted Panton and Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce President Steve Giliberto.

One nearby homeowner said he was assured his house would be fine when the Safeway was built. “I’m saying ‘bull.’ I had to spend quite a bit of money fixing my house,” he said. He wanted to know who was financially accountable if something happened to his house because the groundwater level in the bog was affected.

Giliberto ended the meeting by saying that he hoped 50 years from now, future generations of Greenwood residents would say, “They did the right thing.”

Fred Meyer’s next step is to present its proposal to the city’s Design Review Board at its Early Design Guidance Meeting Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Ballard High School.

SARA is calling for the Zoo to end its elephant breeding program. Two years ago, six-year old Asian elephant, Hansa, died at the Zoo from an elephant herpes virus. Experts believed she caught the virus from one of the Zoo’s other elephants. Zoo records have now confirmed that its African elephant, Watoto, is infected with the same virus that killed Hansa, EEHV3. There is no cure for herpes so Watoto can infect other vulnerable elephants. Captive Asian elephants under 10 years old are the most likely to get sick and die from these viruses. “Woodland Park Zoo is a herpes-exposed facility,” says Nancy Farnam, SARA’s Director. “Bringing another Asian elephant calf into this infected environment is begging for another tragic death to occur”, she added.

The protest is from 5-6:30 p.m. outside the North Entrance at N. 59th St. and Evanston Ave. N., and SARA invites anyone to join them.

We’re inviting neighborhood families to join us in celebrating science education, the Greenwood community, and of course, Seafair! Hitch a ride with us on our PEMCO Bus, part of our program in collaboration with PEMCO Mutual Insurance Co. that provides free transportation to the Science Center for Seattle students. Participants will also receive a Thank You Gift from us! If you would like to smile, wave and cheer for the crowd with us on Wednesday, July 22, please contact Megan Nelson, Education Marketing Coordinator at 206-443-3657 or megan_nelson@pacsci.org for information.

The first hour will be an open house where people can see design renderings up close and speak one-on-one with members of the project team: Fred Meyer; its design firm, GGLO; and housing developer Lorig & Associates.

The $77 million project will demolish the current Fred Meyer and Greenwood Market, and build a 170,000-square-foot super store, which would include groceries. About 20,00 square feet will be available to other tenants, and the project includes 200-300 apartments.

If you’re interested, you can find a complete job description and information about applying on the PNA site.

Know of any other job openings in the neighborhood? Post info in comments, or send us a tip.

At the end of their migration, the penguins will be auctioned off to benefit Woodland Park Zoo’s field conservation program, including the Humboldt Penguin Conservation Center at Punta San Juan. Auctions will be at Woodland Park Zoo’s Jungle Party (invitation only) on Friday, at The Greenwood Collective (open to public) on Aug. 14, and at Piper Village’s Grand Opening (open to the public) sometime in September.

About two dozen businesses in Greenwood/Phinney will stay open from 6-9 p.m. to host various artists and musicians. Here’s a map of participating businesses, and a list of details on each location.