Friday Pre-Party: The Main Stage Beer Garden and Redhook Main Stage opens Friday night at 4pm. Celebrate the Solstice until the sun goes down while you quench your thirst on your favorite summer brews and listen to live music on the Redhook Main Stage. The Redhook Main Stage and the Main Stage Beer Garden also stay open late on Saturday. Friday night is just the kick-off of an entire weekend of live music from 40 bands on four stages and two beverage gardens serving up beer, wine and spirits.

Saturday Solstice Parade at 3pm: Celebrate the free-spirited community of Fremont in the whimsical Solstice Parade, produced by the Fremont Arts Council, on Saturday, June 22 at 3pm. A non-motorized display of mobile art, the Solstice Parade annually draws over 50,000 spectators to the heart of the Fremont neighborhood.

Pre- and post-parade, guests flock through the Fair for the beer garden, shopping, eats, live music, and more.

Sunday Dog Day: On Sunday, June 23, the Fremont Fair hosts its 3rd annual pup parade paralleling its human counter part, the Solstice Parade. Fairgoers are invited to bring their four-legged friends to participate in this artful Dog Day Parade. Costumes encouraged. For the yogis, beginners or experts can strike a down dog pose during Solstice Yoga at 10am Sunday. Arts & Shopping

All Weekend: Fremont Fair also features the Seattle Art Car Blowout with more than 50 funky decorate art cars on display, the Fremont Abbey Arts for All Area (a hands-on art exhibit), and over 300 pop up shops featuring imports, handmade crafts, funky jewelry, organic clothing, and more. Funds raised at the Fremont Fair benefit a number of area non-profits including the Fremont Chamber of Commerce and Solid Ground, a local poverty-focused non-profit who originated and produced the Fair for nearly 40 years.

For more information, visit www.fremontfair.org.

For NW Seattle, including Ballard, Fremont, Green Lake, Phinney and Wallingford) there continues to be only about a 1 month supply of single-family home inventory. This tight inventory can be attributed to continued low interest rates, robust Puget Sound area hiring and a generally improved economy including significant gains in the stock market. Whether the market will become more “balanced” (defined as a 3-6 month supply of homes) will hinge on many more listings hitting the market over the coming months.

Of NW Seattle homes closed in April the average sale price was almost 103% of the most recent list price.  This indicates continued multiple offer situations.

Prospective buyers also should think in terms of at least a minimum of 3-5+ year home ownership horizon and preferably maintain the option to hold onto their home through future downturns in the market. Home seller costs (excise tax, title/escrow fees, sale commissions) of approximately 9% of the sales price should also be factored into any decision to purchase.

Click here for more stats on other Seattle neighborhoods. John Madrid is a Managing Broker with John L. Scott Real Estate – University Village and is a 2005-2012 Seattle Magazine “Five Star” Agent. His clients include both home buyers and sellers. He can be reached at 206-498-1880, john@live206.com or www.live206.com.

Statistics are deemed reliable but are not guaranteed.  All information should be verified to the users own satisfaction.

At  12:20 a.m. a person climbing a Seattle City Light Transmission tower near 3^rd Ave. NW and NW Leary Way  came in contact with the 120 kV line.   Seattle City Light, Seattle Fire Department and Seattle Police all responded to the site after an initial report of a fire.  Police on scene said witnesses told them a man was seen climbing the tower and they saw a large flash and an explosion.  This would be consistent with an object causing a short circuit on a high voltage line.  The tower is 200 feet tall, and the man was seen to fall to a platform on the tower’s 150 ft. level.  Police determined that the man was dead.

Seattle City Light crews rerouted power and then de-energized all the circuits on the tower, so fire rescue could safely recover the body.  Only one customer lost power during this period.  City Light crews found no evidence of damage to the tower or the high voltage line.

Seattle City Light is reviewing how an unauthorized person could climb the tower.  There are no ladders on the tower near the ground level. Police are investigating this as a trespass and accidental death.

Power was restored at 7 a.m. to the customer that lost power during the recovery operation.

To nominate a teacher, students 14 years of age or younger can visit any Puget Sound area Ivar’s or Kidd Valley location (excluding stadiums and Eastern Washington stores) to complete an official entry form, or go online to Ivar’s Teacher of the Year or to Kidd Valley Teacher of the Year. In addition to the entry form, students may also submit optional artwork or photo as “extra credit” that best represents their appreciation. All entries must be received by May 27, 2013. The official Teacher of the Year rules can be found on Ivar’s and Kidd Valley websites. In addition to the two Teacher of the Year grand prizes, the contest will also award four teachers a first prize of a $150 gift card for school supplies, and 30 teachers will receive second prize of a $25 Ivar’s or Kidd Valley gift card.

 

 

By Laura at our sister site Queen Anne View

The Seattle Pacific University Biology Club is hosting a Bone Marrow Registration Drive on Friday, April 12th. The registration process is simple and pain-free – you just fill out some paperwork and submit a cheek swab. And, if you’re a match, you can save someone’s life. Last year, SPU registered 266 people and to date have had 4 matches.

If you register and are found to be a match, you’ll be notified and it’s up to you whether you’d like to donate bone marrow at the time. Bone marrow can cure some forms of cancer such as leukemia and lymphoma, and save lives. For more info on the donation process, check out the National Marrow Donation Program site on the steps involved.

The drive runs from 10am-5pm in SUB Gazebo Room – the orange building #24 on the map – and all are welcome to stop by and register.

At a workshop last January, King County sought community input on the design of a new facility that will be built in Fremont as part of a project to replace aging sewer lines beneath the Lake Washington Ship Canal.  Project staff will present two design options for the Fremont site and discuss how community input shaped concepts around landscaping, architecture and other site elements. People are invited to share their views on the new design options. Staff will also be available to answer questions and talk about other project-related plans and schedules.

The Fremont Siphon Replacement project is currently in design, with construction expected to start around mid-2014.

King County also operates the Ballard and Montlake Siphons, which run beneath the Ship Canal and convey waste water from North Seattle to the West Point Treatment Plant in Discovery Park. For more info click here, or to arrange accommodations for people with disabilities at the open house, please contact Adair Muth at 206-263-7319 or 711 TTY Relay.

The Fremont PCC Natural Market has an Easter event planned for Saturday, March 23, from 9 am to noon. Bring your kids in to make crafts, earn prizes by guessing the number of jelly beans, and enjoy a free treat. The Easter Bunny himself will also be making an appearance and will be available for pictures. The event is free for children twelve and under.

It continues to be a seller’s market in Northwest Seattle including Ballard, Fremont, Greenwood, Phinney and Wallingford neighborhoods where there is a little over one a month supply of single-family home inventory. If you are a fortunate home seller expect to see a lot of open house traffic, buyer “love letters” and possibly multiple offers if your home is located in a popular neighborhood and is competitively priced.

And what to do if you are a home buyer? First, get your financial ducks in-a-row by getting preapproved by a local lender who is available in the evenings and on weekends.  Second, try to get out to see homes before the weekend which will give you more time to line-up pre-inspections if offers aren’t being reviewed for a few days.  Third, reduce the number of contingencies within your comfort level. Finally, write that love letter even if it’s just a short paragraph in addition to a summary of your offers terms. Don’t go overboard but in this market it just may help you stand out from the pack.

More info on other Seattle neighborhoods can be found at http://www.live206.com/seattle-area-market-update-c21537.html

John Madrid is a Managing Broker with John L. Scott Real Estate – University Village and is a 2005-2012 Seattle Magazine “Five Star” Agent. His clients include both home buyers and sellers. He can be reached at 206-498-1880, john@live206.com or www.live206.com.

Statistics are deemed reliable but are not guaranteed. All information should be verified to the users own satisfaction.

UW News Lab

Use of Seattle’s pre-paid parking program to prevent drunk driving, sometimes referred to as the “liquor sticker,” has continued to increase, said Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn at a press conference last Wednesday at Spitfire, a sports bar in Belltown.

“We launched the pre-paid parking program in April, 2011 and when we did that we had 600 purchases in that month for pre-paid parking,” said McGinn. Now the program is averaging 2,500 uses per month and has a total of more than 45,000 uses.

The program, part of McGinn’s Seattle Nightlife Initiative, allows people to pay starting at 10 p.m. for two hours of parking for the next morning. By doing so, people can ensure they get home safely by taking a cab or public transit, then pick their car up before 10 a.m. the next day. The liquor sticker is available at any parking meter in the city.

“We’ve been working really hard in the city to give you options so that if you want to go out and have a good time and enjoy yourself, you don’t need to drive home,” said McGinn.

“We’re super thrilled about how well it’s been used, how well it’s been received,” said Jerry Everard, the owner of Spitfire.

Mike Nolan, captain of the Seattle Police Department, also spoke in praise of the program.

“This sticker program not only is an educational outreach, it’s a proactive prevention that is where ultimately we want to be,” he said. “It encourages people not to get behind the wheel of any kind of a vehicle when they’re impaired.”

The event also served as a warning to people not to drink and drive during the St. Patrick’s Day holiday weekend. McGinn said that there will be additional DUI patrols over the weekend.

“People love having a good time on St. Patrick’s Day,” he said. “We really care about people driving while impaired. We don’t want them to do it.”

More information about McGinn’s Nightlife Initiative and safe ways to get home this holiday weekend can be found at seattle.gov/mayor/nightlife

(SIMON THWAITS  is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.)