Friends, family, fishermen and fans of the Discovery Channel show Deadliest Catch gathered at the Smith Cove Cruise Terminal in Magnolia this evening to pay their respects to the late Captain Phil Harris. Harris, 53, died in February after suffering a stroke while offloading crab in Alaska. Harris got his start at Fishermen’s Terminal, becoming captain at 21 years old.

“He was business in the front and party in the back,” said son Josh Harris on stage with his brother Jake. “This is a day to remember, and instead of being sad, it’s time to celebrate the mullet and think of good memories.”

“He gave everybody a lot. Sure you all know what I mean. I miss the guy like crazy,” said an emotional Dan Mittman, Harris’s best friend for 36 years. “He was a great guy. I wish you had all known him as I had.”

The memorial service was streamed live on the Discovery Channel’s website, and it’s available to watch on demand here (it starts about 18 minutes in.) Discovery.com will also stream live from CatchCon, the show’s annual convention, on Saturday beginning at noon, featuring captains Sig Hansen, Johnathan & Andy Hillstrand and Keith Colburn.

Here are a few things for you to check out this weekend:

Public memorial for ‘Deadlist Catch’ captain
Friday evening is the first public memorial for the late Captain Phil Harris, star of Discovery’s “Deadliest Catch.” The memorial will be held at the Smith Cove Cruise Terminal Pier 91 at 6:30 p.m. Only the first 2,000 people will be let in. Parking opens at 4 p.m. Each car is $8. Discovery will be streaming the service live. Harris died in February after suffering a stroke.

Magnolia Tech Outlet Grand Opening Party
The newest store in the Magnolia Village will host a grand opening event on Saturday from 11a.m. to 7p.m. at 3315 West McGraw.  Owned by Magnolia native Ed Guinasso, the store will sell TVs, computers and electronics. The grand opening party will feature hot dogs and beer and lots of demos.

The Magnolia Rotary benefit at Daybreak Star
The Salmon Bake & Community Fundraiser for Catharine Blaine School’s Families in Need Fund runs Saturday from 3-6p.m. at Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center at Discovery Park.  It will include a family style Salmon Bake Dinner, art displays, a silent auction, wine bar and story telling and activities for children.  There will also be a performance by Haida Heritage Dance Group and a special performance by renowned flautist Gary Stroutsos.  Tickets are still available by calling Peoples Bank at 206-352-5690.  Admission is $40 per adult, $15 per child or $90 for a family (up to four members).  One hundred percent of Rotary fundraising proceeds benefit community programs.

Magnolia Chorale
This is concert weekend at Magnolia Lutheran Church.  The Magnolia Chorale is set for Saturday at 7:30pm. and Sunday at 2p.m. at 414 31st Avenue West.  The theme of this performance is “Voices Across Borders.” Tickets at $10 in advance and $12 at the door.

Taco Bar and Dessert Auction
Everyone is invited to Magnolia Mission Youth’s annual all ages Cinco de Mayo Taco Bar and Dessert Auction on Sunday from 6 to 8:30p.m. at the corner of 31^st and McGraw.  There will be a 16-foot-long taco bar and lots of great auction items.   Proceeds from the event go towards the travel expenses of the high school kids weeklong volunteer service trip this summer.  Advance purchase tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for kids six and up and no charge for kids five and under. Ticket prices go up if you buy them at the door. Call Sandy Nielsen at 283-2187 to buy advance tickets.

One of the census workers who will be in Magnolia wanted us to pass this note along to readers so you will know what they are up to in the next few weeks.

I wanted to let you know that a group of Census workers, including myself, just started working in Magnolia on Wednesday, April 28th.  You’ll see us in the neighborhood over the next several weeks.  We all carry US Department of Commerce/Census badges with our names and ID numbers.  If anyone wants to verify our employment before speaking to us, they can call the Seattle Local Census Office at 206-501-4141.   

The name of our operation is "Non-Response Follow-Up." The Census Bureau mailed forms to all US households about six weeks ago, and about 75% were completed and returned.  We’ll be calling on the households whose forms have not yet been received.  We’re a friendly and efficient group, and only need an average of ten minutes to complete an in-person interview.  If we stop by when no one is home, we’ll leave a small paper notice near your door with contact information.  We can then complete the interview by phone or in person. 

The Census has taken place every ten years since 1790.  The US Constitution (Article I, Section 2) mandates it to determine how many seats each state has in the US House of Representatives.  Local, state and federal government agencies use it to distribute $400 billion in programs – that’s our taxes coming back to us for services we need, from education to transportation.

All personal information is kept confidential and is not shared with any other group or government agency.  Census workers can be imprisoned for 5 years and fined $250,000 for disclosure.  If asked, please take a few minutes to help Census workers complete this important work.  Thank you, Valerie Hogan

Some of you dropped us emails asking about the police activity this morning around Magnolia Village.  We received this report from Paula:

Two police vehicles (one car, one unmarked black suv) lights on, no sirens, just sped past me as I approached the village this morning around 8:25.  They pulled into the lot at Bella Cleaners.  One officer got out of the marked car w/a shotgun and with another walked across the street to Key Bank.

Seattle Police tell us they were responding to an alarm at the bank.  Turns out it was a false alarm and everything was fine.

Seattle Police detectives are looking for the identify of a man who broke into a home in Magnolia earlier this month and then used the credits cards he stole from the home at a convenience store in Ballard.

On April 7th the man broke into a home in the 3000 block of 44th Avenue West.  The homeowner was asleep inside at the time.  The home was burglarized and a purse containing her credit cards and the keys to the victim’s car were taken.  The suspect also stole her car, which was recovered in downtown Seattle one week later.

Just about two hours after the burglary, the suspect used the victim’s credit cards at a grocery store in Ballard. These images were captured on the store’s video surveillance camera.  Police are asking anyone with any information on the possible identity of this person to call Seattle Police Detective Gaedcke at (206) 684-5730.

Seattle’s homeless population stretches far beyond downtown. North Seattle residents and businesses are also struggling to deal with the issue. To see how the community is trying to find a balance, we take you to the streets of Ballard for a raw and compelling look at the problem.

The Homeless Neighbor is the third in a series of stories partnering Next Door Media sites with the nonprofit Common Language Project and students of University of Washington’s Entrepreneurial Journalism class. One of the authors of this story is Christian Caple, the editor of our newest neighborhood site U District Daily. We invite you to take a look.

A new business is opening in the Magnolia Village.  Magnolia Tech Outlet will be located at 3315 West McGraw Street.  This is the space formerly occupied by Blue Papillion.  That store closed up shop last January.

According to the store’s facebook page, (no website yet) Magnolia Tech Outlet will be selling internet service along with TV’s, computers and electronics at 20-30% under the big box store prices.  They will also have a service department. 

The store is still under wraps now but all will be revealed at the grand opening on Saturday (5/1) starting at 11a.m. 

With tough budget decisions looming for the city of Seattle, concern is growing that the Discovery Park Visitor Center could be at risk of closure. 

The Visitor Center, officially known as the Discovery Park Environmental Learning Center, could be closed and the staff laid off as early as July based on Parks and Recreation scenarios for addressing the budget shortfalls. 

The director of Seattle Parks and Recreation, Tim Gallagher,  announced his resignation this week in part due to his frustration over the budget cuts facing his department.  The department faces $10 million in cuts for 2011.  

That could mean the termination of programs at Discovery Park, including classes for school groups and the public, Nature Day Camp, and habitat restoration programs.

Jeff Rahlmann, a Docent volunteer at Discovery Park says: In this time of tough budget decisions, people should know that the Discovery Park ELC is cost-effective.  The paid Naturalists are supplemented by over 50 volunteer docent naturalists who in 2009 donated 1,974 hours. Park naturalists and docents teach programs for toddlers, preschoolers, and public school students as well as the general public and families. They also lead work parties for habitat restoration volunteers. Under their supervision, families and students in 2009 donated 3,536 hours to stewardship and restoration in the park. 

Rahlmann warns that closing the center will cost money in the long run. He says the damage and deterioration that occur in an unsupervised park will be costly to repair and restore and that staff and volunteers provide a presence that serves safety, maintenance, and educational purposes. 

There is a public hearing on the 2011 City of Seattle budget set for Tuesday, May 4 at North Seattle Community College with sign in for testimony starting at 5p.m.  The meeting starts at 5:30p.m. in the cafeteria. 

This summer, Seattle Department of Transportation crews will paint one half of the Ballard Bridge, affecting pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

Rick Sheridan with SDOT tells us that pedestrian access on either the east or west side of the bridge will be shut down entirely during the painting. The other side of the bridge will remain open. No word on when painting will start or which side of the bridge crews will work on first. The side that isn’t painted this year will be painted next year.

Magnolia Mission Youth (MMY) is having its annual all-ages Cinco de Mayo Taco Bar and Dessert Auction on Sunday (5/2) from 6:00 to 8:30pm at the corner of 31^st and McGraw. 

There will be a 16-foot-long taco bar and lots of great auction items.   The auction includes Mariners tickets, an official Seahawks 2005 NFC Championship leather coat and a massage by Magnolia practitioner Lindsay Butler.  You can also bid on youth labor from the Magnolia Mission Youth high school students. Proceeds from the event go towards the travel expenses of the high school kids weeklong volunteer service trip this summer. 

Advance purchase tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for kids six and up and no charge for kids five and under. Ticket prices go up if you buy them at the door. Call Sandy Nielsen at 283-2187 to buy advance tickets, or make a gift card or dessert donation.

MMY is an interdenominational youth group supported by four local churches (Church of the Ascension, Magnolia Lutheran Church, Magnolia Presbyterian Church, and Magnolia United Church of Christ).  MMY welcomes all  students between sixth and twelfth grades.

Work has started at the former Navy Capehart Housing complex in Discovery Park.  The first step is to remove hazardous materials, including asbestos, from the homes.  They also plan to use the homes for fire and police department training exercises before they are demolished.  The work is expected to continue through this summer. 

After demolition, the 22 acres currently used for housing by the Navy will be returned to the park.  The plan is to create habitat that is typical of Discovery Park, with a variety of meadows, forest thickets, and vegetation.

The budget for the project is $1.5 million.  More details from Seattle Parks and Recreation here.

The Seattle Department of Transportation sent out the following release:

Tuesday and Wednesday, April 27 and 28, Seattle Department of Transportation crews will make repairs to the lighting on the Ballard Bridge. Tomorrow, the right lane northbound on the bridge will be closed for the repair work from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, during the same work hours, the right lane will be closed southbound on the bridge. Motorists should plan on possible delays resulting during the lane closures.

For the residents living near Commodore Park, the graffiti is a never ending problem. 

When we posted word that we were working on a collaborative project with the Seattle Times and its news partners on how graffiti has impacted different neighborhoods around the city, we heard from a number of frustrated residents in that area.

The Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad bridge that runs past the neighborhood near the Ballard Locks is constantly covered in graffiti and it seems like there is nothing being done to get rid of the mess.  One Magnolia Voice reader says he has called BNSF on a number of occasions to ask them to remove the graffiti but he has not gotten anywhere. The problem has gone on for years.

This is a seemingly unlikely area for graffiti, with high end view homes near the Magnolia entrance to the Ballard Locks.  It is also an area that  attracts lots of visitors and buses full of tourists who come to see one of the top attractions in Seattle.

So why doesn’t the owner of the property, BNSF, just clean up the graffiti? Gus Melonas from BNSF says it’s not that simple.  BNSF does have its own police department that regularly issues citations for graffiti, which result in a minimum $250 fine. 

"We aggressively patrol our property and issue citations for graffiti,"says Melonas. 

However, the railroad has thousands of bridges to monitor and the problem is that the graffiti often goes right back up the minute they paint over it.  Plus, Melonas says the railroad does not have the resources to constantly respond to graffiti.  Unless it is an eyesore in a very visible area, railroad crews remove graffiti only during regularly scheduled maintenance of the bridges.  Melonas admits, however, that it can sometimes be several years in between maintenance.

Which is little comfort to the people living nearby or the visitors to the Locks.

Magnolia Voice reader Linda asked us to post this lost and found notice.

A dark blue twin stroller has appeared at the corner of Dravus and 39th West, and several of us are concerned that it may have been “borrowed” from someone’s porch and moved to this location as a prank.

Linda says the stroller was on the corner at 6am Sunday morning and was still there Sunday evening.