Appeal halts new Queen Anne Metropolitan Market development

Appeal halts new Queen Anne Metropolitan Market development

The Queen Anne Metropolitan Market and the Elfreida apartment building are staying put – for now – after an appeal was filed to stop the development of a four-story mixed-use building at 1900 Queen Anne Ave. N.

The development – 110 residential units, underground parking and a brand-new Metropolitan Market – is the final stage in Emerald Bay Equity’s four-project redevelopment of Queen Anne Avenue, which will bring 250 new units of housing and 64,000 square feet of retail to a one-block area.

The appeal, announced Jan. 26, challenges the city’s approval of the project’s design and its environmental impacts in December.

As the project moved forward, neighbors expressed concern over everything from the project’s size and potential impacts on views to increased traffic and noise coming from Metropolitan Market’s future delivery dock in the alley behind the store.

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Drivers, business owners bracing for 'Mercer Mess' changes

Drivers, business owners bracing for 'Mercer Mess' changes

SEATTLE -- Seattle's infamous "Mercer Mess" is about to get even worse for the drivers who use it and the business owners who count on its traffic.

While it only stretches a half mile, the Mercer Mess already causes a lot of grief for the more than 35,000 drivers who use it every day.

"It usually takes me 10 minutes to get home and sometimes it takes 45 minutes because it bottlenecks so bad," said Erin Dodge, who works at the Guitar Center on Westlake Avenue.

Weather permitting, on Monday the traffic pattern will move a bit as the city pushes forward on its project to transform Mercer Street to a two-way thoroughfare.

That means all eastbound traffic will shift over onto newly-laid pavement and the number of lanes will be reduced from four to three.

"We've got a chance to get things right in our city and that involves change and it's right here," said Mike McQuaid of the South Lake Union Community Council.

That change, however, may be difficult for some businesses located south of Mercer.

Starting Monday, drivers will no longer be able to turn right onto Mercer from Westlake, Terry or Boren avenues, creating three dead ends.

Beard & Stache Fest 2012: Gentlemen, start your growing

Beard & Stache Fest 2012: Gentlemen, start your growing

Sure, you can grow a big, smelly beard or mustache anytime of the year. But for the next few months, you’ll be able to tell any complaining significant-others/employers/busybodies that you’re doing it for the kids.

The fourth annual Beard & Stache Festival returns in February. But first, organizers of the fundraiser need willing hirsute gentlemen to come down to the High Dive in Fremont Sunday to get their photo taken.

Those photos will adorn up to 125 cans placed around the city to collect donations for Treehouse, which supports King County foster children. Whoever’s facial hair earns them the most donations will earn prizes and the grudging respect of lesser beards and mustaches.

Photos will be taken from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 29 at the High Dive, located at 513 N. 36th St. If you can’t make it – or need a few more days of facial-hair-growing time – there will be a second photo shoot from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Feb. 9 at Bluebird Ice Cream, located at 1205 E. Pike St. (but only if the 125 spaces aren’t filled up at the first shoot).

Whats Gates Foundation up to? Something charitable, no doubt

Whats Gates Foundation up to? Something charitable, no doubt

Lower Queen Anne’s Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Jan. 26 in Switzerland it would be giving $750 million to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

“These are tough economic times, but that is no excuse for cutting aid to the world’s poorest,” Bill Gates said in a press release.

And, if you need further reasons to feel insufficiently charitable, the Gates Foundation released its 2012 Annual Letter from Bill Gates this month.

It’s 26 pages of looking at the good the foundation is doing in the world – from innovations in agriculture to global health to U.S. education.

“Throughout my careers in software and philanthropy – and in each of my annual letters – a recurring theme has been that innovation is the key to improving the world,” Gates writes in his letter. “When innovators work on urgent problems and deliver solutions to people in need, the results can be magical.”

Read the whole thing here.

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Police: Group attacks driver with snowballs, pit bull, bottle on 15th Ave.

Police: Group attacks driver with snowballs, pit bull, bottle on 15th Ave.

A group of people on 15th Avenue were pelting passing cars with snowballs and sicced their pit bull on one driver who pulled over to confront them last week, according to the Seattle Police Department.

The driver was travelling north in the 3200 block of 15th Avenue West around 3:48 p.m. Jan. 18 when his car was struck by several snowballs just after passing the Dravus Street overpass, according to the police report for the incident.

The driver told police he saw a group of people – six men and one woman – in their 20s throwing snowballs at passing cars while standing outside a 1970s El Dorado, or some similar car.

According to the report, the driver stopped his car, got out and tried to ask the group why they were throwing snowballs. In response, the group threw more snowballs at the his face and covered up their license plate with snow, according to the report.

The woman in the group, who had two pit bulls with her, sent one of the dogs after the driver, according to the report. The driver told police the dog bit him on the back of his ankle as he got back into his car but let go when he slammed it in the car door.

Large street sign down on Queen Anne Ave.

Large street sign down on Queen Anne Ave.

Anyone looking for Harrison Street this morning needs to keep an eye out for "N" street instead.

Sometime overnight, the large Harrison Street sign on Queen Anne Avenue was broken off. As of 6 a.m., the majority of the sign was sitting on the sidewalk.

Police: Artwork worth up to $100,000 stolen from Interbay storage unit

Police: Artwork worth up to $100,000 stolen from Interbay storage unit

A man lost up to $100,000 worth of artwork when his Interbay storage unit was burglarized earlier this month, according to the Seattle Police Department.

The thief broke into the storage unit in the 2600 block of 15th Avenue West sometime between Dec. 29 and Jan. 17, stealing several pieces of artwork, according to the police report for the incident. The man told officers the most valuable piece missing is worth $1,600.

According to the report, there was no evidence of forced entry into the storage unit, and the lock was secure when the man arrived. The man pointed out screws holding the storage unit’s door in place, but there was no evidence they had been removed, according to the report.

The man told officers the only person who knew what was in his unit was the former manager of the storage facility.