PBS is filming at the Interbay P-Patch this afternoon for its new garden series “Growing A Greener World.” The P-Patch, located at 2451 15th Ave W, is a 132-plot, 43,000-square-foot urban garden managed by the Department of Neighborhoods.

They will be interviewing volunteers about the history of Interbay, its development, the community it has created and about the gardeners who are devoted to community gardening.

PBS’s gardening/eco-friendly living show will air nationwide beginning on May 15. The segment highlighting the Interbay P-Patch is set to air in the fall.  This is a big week for the P-Patch, yesterday it celebrated the opening of its own food bank garden.

Update:  Here is the photo of the injured cat.

The Phinney Ridge Animal Shelter just posted information about an injured cat from Magnolia.

A long haired, female, calico cat was found injured in Magnolia and taken to the Seattle Animal Shelter yesterday. Due to its injuries, the cat was brought to us here at Phinney Ridge Animal Hospital for treatment. She’s an adult, probably around 10 years or more. We’ve taken custody of her and are treating her injuries but would love to try to find her owners if they are out there. We’ll post a photo of her later today but wanted to get the post out there as soon as we could. Feel free to contact us if you have more questions or might know where her kinfolk are!  206.784.9200

Interbay Golf Center is celebrating its grand re-opening on Saturday April 3rd. Food and beverage specials will be available all day along with free range bucket upgrades, discounts on merchandise, drawings for prizes, a special half-hour lesson rate of $25 (available Saturday and Sunday), and $2 well-drinks and hotdogs.

There will also be a tent sale, a Callaway/Odyssey demo and live music with Ambience from  12p.m. until 3p.m. and DJ Asia spinning from 6pm to 9pm. the Golf Center recently underwent a five-week, $1.1million renovation that included new clubhouse pain, new turf for the range and two new ball dispensers.  For the $25 lesson rate, make a reservation by calling  206-838-4549.

Our sister site MyBallard has some great video of two grey whales near the Locks this weekend.  After a sailing trip, Diana Lind grabbed her video camera and captured this on Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday DDF wrote in the MyBallard forum, “Was just at the beach, and a whale swam by very close to the shore. It wasn’t an orca (no dorsal fin), so I guess it must have been a grey whale. It slowly made it’s way toward Carkeek. Pretty cool!”

The state Court of Appeals upheld a lower-court ruling Monday, saying the city of Seattle’s plan to redevelop the Fort Lawton base with more than 200 housing units must undergo a state environmental review before moving forward.

The court heard arguments this month from the city and the Magnolia Neighborhood Planning Council about whether the development should be subjected to review under the state Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).

Our news partner The Seattle Times reports that Gwendolyn Payton, the neighborhood council’s attorney, argued that the plan to build a mixed-use subdivision threatens a colony of great blue herons and other wildlife and habitats at the 29-acre site next to Discovery Park.  On Monday, Payton said the city wanted to bypass SEPA "because, in my opinion, it’s very clear … that there’s no way (the plan) could have passed environmental muster."

The city can file a motion for reconsideration with the Court of Appeals in 20 days or take the matter to the state Supreme Court.

Kathy Mulady, spokeswoman for the City Attorney’s Office, told The Times there’s been no decision on potential next steps.

Fort Lawton was flagged for closure in 2005, and in 2008 the city signed off a plan to redevelop it with 108 to 125 market-rate units, 85 units for the homeless and six Habitat for Humanity units.

Read the full decision by the court here.

Check your mailbox this week for a coupon for a free “Green Kitchen Kit” which should arrive in your CurbWaste and Conserve newsletter. The kits, which feature an EcoSafe Kitchen Collector (shown at right) and compostable bags for storing food scraps, a food scraper, a CFL light bulb and a reusable shopping bag can be picked up starting April 15th at the Ballard Neighborhood Service Center (5604 22nd Ave NW).

“Green Kit giveaways are part of Compost Days, April 15 – May 30, when Seattle Public Utilities, Cedar Grove and Seattle City Light and our community partners are making these special offers to Seattle residents to say ‘thank you’ for helping make our city even better through your recycling and composting efforts,” the Seattle Public Utilitie’s website states.

Update 9:45 a.m.: Seattle City Light estimates that all customers will have their power restored by noon today. So far they have power back on to all but 127 customers.

There is no estimated time for more than 4,000 Magnolia residents to get their power back. According to Seattle City Light, 4,085 customers lost power Monday morning just before 7:30 a.m. The rough boundaries are W. Fort St to the north, W Marina Pl to the south, 15th Ave W on the east and Puget Sound to the west. City Light says that some people within this area may not have lost power.

There are  some good options for cooking classes in Magnolia coming up in the next few weeks.  At Dish It Up!  Thailand native Chef Pranee Khruasanit-Halvorsen will demystify Thai cooking on March 31 at 6pm. The class is $70 and will include a variety of Thai specialities including Phad Kee Me (Drunken noodles, a stir-fried fresh rice noodles with pork and Chinese broccoli).  Chef Jason Wilson, owner and executive Chef of Crush, will do a demonstration class on April 12 at 6p.m.  The two hour class will focus on the preparation of Herb Roasted Halibut with Stinging Nettles and Mussels Saffron & Clams.  The class is $75.  On April 13 at 6p.m. the class will focus on how to use and cafe for Wusthof Knives.  The $60 class includes a free paring knife valued at $30.

At La Mondellino owner Corino Bonjrada will teach a Spring  Primavera Class on March 30 at 6;30pm with Crab Crostini, Fettuccine Primavera, Pollo Cartoccio & Housemade Strawberry Gelato.  A Seafood Paella class is set for April 13th, Ricotta Class on April 20 and Seafood Class on April 27.  Classes are $65 per person and include a four course meal with wine pairings.  Call 206-282-4423 to sign up.  They are also holding a wine tasting class on April 1 at 6;30p.m. that will explore the wines from Sicily.  Cost is $25 for five wines and there will be discounts on purchases made that night.

The Magnolia dog that has been eluding capture for six days is now safe at home with her owner.

Polly the dog has been spotted all over Magnolia since she escaped from her backyard.  Her owner, Whitney Mason, says Polly has been on the run since last Saturday.  We first reported on Polly’s disappearance last Monday.  A reader saw her running near Discovery Park where she was almost hit by a number of cars.  He and others tried to catch her but she ran away.  There were other reports of Polly sightings all week but she would not let anyone close enough to identify her by her tags or chip.

Mason was out of town when Polly got loose and was frantic to get her back.  Her pet sitter along with friends and relatives searched for Polly to no avail. When Mason returned to Seattle last night (Friday) she began the search for Polly and finally found her and brought her home.  She is very grateful to everyone who tried to help Polly.

Mason adopted Polly seven months ago after she was rescued from a puppy mill in Eastern Washington.  Polly had been living in a cage for six years as a breeder at the puppy mill. 

Mason writes:  Thank you all so much for your kindness and willingness to help get her. She is very sweet, and seems to be very happy to be back home. And needless to say, I am very, very relieved and thankful.

We snapped these photos this morning of Polly back home with Mason.

If you want to catch a fireworks show over Elliott Bay tonight (3/27) grab a good lookout spot around 8:30pm.  General Construction is celebrating its centennial with fireworks expected to go off from Pier 66.  Its a private party for the company but it should be visible from lots of locations in Magnolia. 

A Magnolia Voice reader sent us these pictures that he took recently of a number of road signs with what appear to be bullet holes in them.  

He says that he has seen the signs with the holes in both Magnolia and Interbay.

I’ve noticed a number of road signs with bullet holes in them recently…thought this might be worth posting.  As a state certified firearms instructor, this sort of behavior is very disturbing to me and needs to be handled as aggressively as possible by law enforcement.

If anyone has any more information about this, please let us know in comments below.

Next Monday and Tuesday (3/29 and 30) there will be lane closures on the Ballard Bridge in order for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to install conduit under the structure.  From 8a.m. to 2:30 p.m. each day, SDOT crews will first close the right lane northbound and then re-open the lane before closing the southbound right lane, if necessary.  The city says that due to budget constraints and for safety reasons, this work must be performed during these hours.  Motorists are advised to expect possible traffic delays and use extra caution when traveling through the work zone.

We’re happy to officially announce the launch of three new neighborhood news sites in our community network here in North Seattle: Maple Leaf Life, Wedgwood View and My Wallingford. This is Next Door Media’s first expansion since the network grew from My Ballard to a total of five sites a little more than a year ago.

Just like MagnoliaVoice, each of the new sites is edited by journalists who live in their respective neighborhoods: Mai Ling Slaughter and Mike Ullmann in Maple Leaf, Wayne Wurzer in Wedgwood and View Ridge, and Marina Gordon in Wallingford. And each share the vision of a community-powered approach to neighborhood news.

If you know someone who lives in the new neighborhoods that might be interested in checking out the new sites, please let ‘em know!

The developer who owns the home and land at 2200 32nd Ave West has put it up for sale, effectively killing the plan to put townhomes on the site. 

Neighbors with homes bordering the property next to Bartells were concerned about the impact of having ten three story townhomes so close to their backyards.  In 2008 they gathered petition signatures to keep the city from rezoning the property to multi-family use.  A hearing officer agreed with their appeal to keep the area zoned for single family homes.  

The listing agent says developer Meridian Greenfield decided to sell the property instead of pursuing the townhome plan.  The 21,406 square foot lot includes mature trees, a carriage house, garage with loft, 2 large stone fireplaces, hardwoods, and cherry cabinets plus a $50,000 allowance to finish the remodel to the buyers specifications.  The property can be sub-divided into four or five lots by a new owner.

It is interesting to note that the property sold for $921,500 in 2003, was sold again in 2006 sold for $1,600,000 and is on the market now for $1,499,950.