The best thing that most people can say about the new transit lanes on 15th Ave is that they are confusing. We can’t really print the worst things that people have said about them.  And now the city says they plan to ticket drivers who are not following the rules.

Now you have a chance to tell the people who came up with the Business Access and Transit Lanes (the city calls them BAT) lanes exactly what you think of them.

The Magnolia Community Club is devoting its November General Meeting to a presentation from the Seattle Department of Transportation to the BAT lanes and how they are impacting commuters.  The meeting will include time for plenty of quesions from affected drivers. 

“We want the city to explain these BAT lanes. The vast majority of people I talk to believe the signage makes no sense.  We need to know where the idea for these lanes came from and what problem is being solved with them.  We just see them creating problems.  We need to let the city know how they are impacting drivers,” says Nancy Rogers, Magnolia Community Club president.

Rogers says the Magnolia Community Club has been working with the city since the signs were first posted to seek logical access for Magnolia commuters.  The city has indicated a desire to wait until the project was complete to further discuss whether the designs and lane restrictions make sense or create additional traffic congestion.  Rogers says now is that time.  

The meeting is set for Thursday, November 13 from 7pm to 9pm at Catherine Blaine School Cafeteria and the public is invited.   

The Village Pub’s new owners are celebraing a grand reopening on Monday with a new menu and a spiffed up restaurant. 

Owner Kevin Chung and his fiancee Sujin Pang have been busy doing lots of cleaning and painting and they brought in new tables, chairs and barstools.  Chung is a Cougar graduate but he has toned down the Cougar motif a little bit, keeping just the best memorabilia on the walls.

The biggest change is the new menu.  Its much larger than the previous menu with more choices in all sections.  The food is still pub style with lots of burgers, sandwiches, wraps and salads.  They have also added lots of chicken burgers and some larger dinner items like steak, pork loin, clam fettuccini and chicken alfredo.

Chung stuck with the sports theme on the menu with everything from Kobe Bryant Beef Sliders to Thai Ger Woods Prawns.  Prices on the new menu are in the same range as the previous menu  and there is also a special Pub Grub menu with all items just $5 from 3:30pm to 6:30pm and 9:30pm to 11pm during the daily happy hours.  There is even a nod to the Huskies with Mini Corn Dawgs along with Buffalo Bills Wingers and Texas Ranger Chili Cheese Fries.

Chung says he is excited for Magnolia residents to come try the new menu and let them know what you think. 

A perfect fall day at the Magnolia Farmer’s Market with sunny skies and tasty treats.

The last Farmer’s Market of the year will be next Saturday, October 25.  Don’t miss your last opportunity to get fresh flowers and produce.

This has been a good year for the market which draws a big crowd each Saturday.

If you heard sirens and saw lots of police activity around 25th Place West yesterday around 11am, we now know what happaned. Police are looking for five suspects in a strong arm robbery at an apartment building on Magnolia’s east side.

The victim told police that five suspects kicked in the door of his apartment and stole a number of items before fleeing on foot. A number of police units were dispatched and did a sweep of the area but did not find the suspects. The victim, who had been struck with the gun, was taken to the hospital. Detectives are now conducting the follow up investigation.

A Magnolia couple was left shaken and fearful after a terrifying encounter earlier this month according to a story from this week’s Magnolia News.

John and Eva Mitchell say they’d always felt safe in their Magnolia home but they’re not sure anymore following an invasion at their home on 28th Ave West when a man kicked in their locked front door and threatened to kill them. 

Eva Mitchell was in the living room and her husband and their 2-year-old grandson were napping when someone started knocking on the front door.  She saw Jordan Donovan Kingbird, 36, who demanded to be let inside.  She told him to go away but he insisted he be let in or he was going to “kill you all,” she said. 

Mitchell called 911 and was still on the line when she saw Kingbird walk away, turn and start running at the house.  Her husband woke up to the sound of the door breaking. “I hear this banging and swearing,” said John Mitchell, who rushed into the living room.  

Kingbird grabbed a bunch of keys from a rack by the front door, walked outside and tried to start the family’s car without any luck.  

Eva Mitchell was able to run to a neighbor’s house and stop a passing motorist who picked her and her crying grandson up and drove them down the street.

“They’re all dead now, man,” John Mitchell quoted Kingbird as saying, explaining that Kingbird thought Mitchell’s wife had the plague.

When police arrived Kingbird gave up.  Court documents indicate he has been arrested 31 times in the past ten years for crimes including rape, burglary, drugs, theft, car prowling, assault and failure to register as a sex offender.  Kingbird, who is homeless, is being held on $25,000 bail. He’s scheduled to be arraigned next week. 

As promised, the Magnolia Neighborhood Planning Council has filed suit against the city of Seattle in King County Superior Court, challenging its plan to redevelop the former Fort Lawton Army Reserve Base for housing.  Earlier this month we reported the group was raising money to retain an attorney.

The Planning Council alleges that in designating the reserve base for housing, the city did not follow state — or its own — environmental regulations.  They also allege that the city’s plan conflicts with the Discovery Park master plan.

The city’s proposal calls for a new mixed-income neighborhood, with up to 216 units of housing on the 34-acre site. An estimated 144 to 161 single-family houses and duplex townhomes would be built, as well as a 55-unit apartment building. Eighty-five units would be set aside for homeless families and single seniors.   Six self-help home ownership units would be developed by Habitat for Humanity.

The city’s law department is reviewing the case and did not comment on the lawsuit. 

The redevelopment plan was passed last month by the council and submitted Monday to the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

We have reported a number of times on the confusing new Business Access and Transit Lanes (the city calls them BAT) on 15th Ave West.  Now the city has just issued a media release letting us know they will begin ticketing drivers who do not follow the BAT lane restrictions.  

The city says now that the contractor is completing work along Elliott and 15th, police officers will begin enforcement of the corridor’s BAT lanes.  That means you will get a ticket if you don’t follow the rules.

As anyone who drives to Magnolia knows, the problem is that the rules are confusing.  Here is how the city explains it:

Buses and bicycles have full use of the lanes only during peak traffic periods, and other drivers may enter the BAT lanes to access businesses along the corridor. During off-peak hours, the lanes are available for use by all and for parking. Only buses and bicycles can travel continuously along the curb lane as other drivers are still limited by the right turn restrictions that are in force at all times. Signs indicate that drivers in the curb lanes except buses and bicycles  must turn right at marked intersections. 

The city department of transportation says the large majority of drivers along the corridor have been observing the restrictions, but some have not. Drivers violating the BAT lanes will now be ticketed.

Consider yourself warned.

The school district has posted some recommendations in advance of the board meeting tonight to address the overcrowding issues in Magnolia and north end schools.  They say that no currently closed buildings will be reopened for the 2009-10 school year to address the capacity shortfalls.    

They did follow up on suggestions from community meetings like the one held at Blaine.  One idea was to  use community center space but they found the centers are fully programmed and have no room for student classes.  The district also looked into renting commercial space for classrooms but found it cost prohibitive. 

The meeting is at 6pm tonight at district headquarters and a number of people from Magnolia have signed up to testify. 

A bill that President Bush just signed will mean back pay plus interest to families of 28 soldiers wrongly implicated in a 1944 riot and lynching of an Italian POW at Fort Lawton on Magnolia.

That bill, passed after the truth about the lynching was revealed in a book by Magnolia author Jack Hamann, could give each of the families – and the one surviving soldier — at least $80,000.

Last October, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records ruled that the 28 black soldiers had been denied fundamental fairness during the largest court-martial of World War II.  The Army issued checks at that time for the pay they would have earned, about $725.

In a ceremony held in July in Discovery Park the Army apologized to the soldiers and their families.

Another development in the struggle between Whole Foods and TRF Pacific, the developer of the shopping center on 15th Ave West.  As we originally reported, TRF is sueing Whole Foods claiming that the grocery store terminated its lease one week before they were scheduled to turn over the building shell.

This is what the Whole Foods store was supposed to look like but now the company has removed the Interbay store from its company website.  Until now it has been listed as a store in development in Washington State but now the only development store listed in our state is the West Seattle location currently under construction.

TRF says the Interbay Whole Foods was configured and custom built based on Whole Foods’ specifications and they want Whole Foods to honor the commitments it has made.  Whole Foods has said they are hopeful that they can resolve their differences with TRF. 

The store is currently boarded up and the construction crews are gone.  (Thanks Darcy for the tip!)

A Ballard neighborhood association hosted a debate tonight between Reuven Carlyle and John Burbank, two Democrats running against each other for the open legislative seat in the 36th District, which includes Magnolia.

The majority of the 45-minute debate featured both candidates agreeing with each other, more or less, on critical issues such as transportation, low income housing, health care, education and the troubled economy. But the last question asked what are the top differences between Burbank and Carlyle. “Number one, I don’t take corporate contributions,” Burbank said, pointing out that Carlyle didn’t go along with his proposal to limit campaign contributions in the race. “The idea that I am somehow in the pocket of those organizations whereas 80 plus percent of my money comes from individuals, so for a small amount of money, is simply silly,” Carlyle responded.

As for policy issues, Burbank emphasized his work on the minimum wage initiative, which guarantees automatic cost of living raises, as well as his contributions on family leave insurance. “The core issue here is who is the real change agent,” Burbank said. “We can talk about change, we can talk about dialogue, or we can take action. If you look at my record, I have taken action.”

Carlyle underlined his work on a bill that guaranteed a chance at a college education for foster kids, and he emphasized his experience as a wireless and software entrepreneur and a volunteer citizen activist. “The fundamental question is, do you believe in the concept of a citizen legislature,” he said, explaining that public policy has been Burbank’s job for 25 years. “I like to listen, I like to learn, and I embrace failure as well as success,” Carlyle said.

We should have a better idea as to what the future holds for Blaine and Lawton this week when the Seattle School Board takes on overcrowding at its meeting Wednesday, October 15. 

The board will review the initial recommendations from staff members aimed at solving the problem of too many students and not enought space affecting Magnolia, Queen Anne and north end schools.  This comes after community meetings like the one held at Blaine last month.

Blaine principal Heather Swanson says for the 2009-2010 school year the estimate is Blaine will be short four to six classrooms and for 2010-2011 it will be short another two to four classrooms. 

The School Board was presented with a list of possible strategies for addressing this issue that include adding classroom space to Blaine or re-commissioning the school from a K-8 into a K-5 and sending the middle school students to McClure on Queen Anne.  The board is expected to take action at the November 12th meeting.

Swanson says after the recommendation is presented this week, the Blaine community can formulate a plan. She says she is not opposed to “growing” Blaine but she wants to make sure the school is strategic in setting any growth plan. 

She wll be attending this week’s meeting and invites anyone interested to join her.  Following the meeting, she expects that concerned parents and teachers should be ready to speak out about the proposed action.

The meeting is at district headquarters, 2445 3rd Ave. S, starting at 6pm.

Lawton School is 100 years old and the centennial celebration will include a fundraising auction this year.  Organizers are asking alumni of the school  to share their favorite memories. 

Lawton School’s original location was on 25th Avenue West, just north of Elmore Street and the school moved to it’s current site in 1913.  The auction called Memories and Milestones will celebrate the school’s  long standing place in the Magnolia community.

The auction will be held on November 15th at Bell Harbor Conference Center. 

If you are a Lawton alumni you are asked to send an email to lawton.memories@yahoo.com with your favorite Lawton memory.  The committee is also inviting Lawton alumni to attend the auction. Contact Kimball Mullins at the email above or call her at 206-321-1418 if you would like to be a part of the alumni table. 

All proceeds from the auction go directly to school programs such as arts enrichment, world cultures curriculum, tutoring, equipment, curriculum enhancements and support of other PTA and school programs.

There have been lots of comments and opinions about Nickelsville while the tent city of homeless people stayed in Discovery Park.  The group stayed in the park for nine nights and left this morning for a church parking lot in the University District. 

Now that they have left the Magnolia area, it will be up to other news organizations to follow their plight since Magnolia Voice is really focused on news that happens in our neighborhood.

We have some final pictures from moving day taken by contributing photographer Daniel Grayson. (Thanks Daniel!)