As we head into the heart of the cold and dark Seattle winter, news reports are all a-twitter (yes, pun intended) about the so-called “tridemic” of RSV, flu, and Covid. RSV has been especially hard on kids, and the flu season has already been called the most severe in 13 years. If there’s a ray of good news in any of this, it would seem to be that our region continues to show a relatively low rate of new Covid cases being reported (according to the King County Department of Health website, however, a recent data breach may have resulted …

Just in time for the holidays: the Good Shepherd Center Artists Open Studios and Sale features six artists showing—and selling!—their work. The 5th floor walk-up at Good Shepherd (with an amazing view) will be open 12 – 3pm on all Saturdays through December 17th—except Saturday, November 26th (the building will be closed during Thanksgiving weekend). The show opened on November 5, so there are still plenty of terrific items available.

The offerings include paintings, luminaries, art objects, casual profanity tea towels and dinner napkins…and much more. One of the featured artists, Mary Welch, wrote to Wallyhood and provided a little …

This is a lengthy article, but we are discussing a complex topic that does not lend itself to brief descriptions. Please bear with me!

Wallingford has experienced its share of homeless encampments and more organized communities of people without permanent shelter. For a long time, a row of RVs in varying states of functionality and decay lined Northlake Way, east of Gasworks Park. The Tiny Home Village known as Nickelsville has quietly existed across from Ivar’s Salmon House for years. Like every neighborhood where people pitch tents or construct makeshift dwellings, these places are controversial and evoke a range of …

…and no, we don’t mean the Greatest of All Time (Sue Bird, of course).  We are talking literal goats, i.e., ruminants, here. If we can convince Sue to talk to us, you’ll be the first to know.

Those of you who have ventured into lower Wallingford lately may have noticed the return of the goat herd that visits every year (except last year) around this time, in the fenced area along NE 40^th.  This is a steep and heavily vegetated piece of property that frequently hosts encampments and occasionally small wildfires. But in late summer, Rent-a-Ruminant appears on …

I apologize in advance for breaking my recent string of rather depressing articles about happenings in the neighborhood, but the Law of Averages (which may be up for repeal by the Supreme Court next year) says that every now and then, Wallyhood will post a nice, happy article.  Rest assured, we will soon be back to our normal steady fare of gloom—so don’t chuck those antidepressants, boxed wines, and other mood-altering crutches just yet.

I had seen a recent Seattle Times/Greg Gilbert photo essay on artist Norma Baum, showing her working on the restoration of Patrick Gabriel’s 1996 mural that …

We are a little short-staffed at Wallyhood during the month of August.  But it’s supposed to be a slow neighborhood news month, with summertime street fairs finished and many people out of town on end-of-the-season vacations.  With fewer off-leash dogs desecrating our parks, and fewer readers to complain or care about it, what is there to write about?  August is usually when the Mariners are completely and mathematically eliminated from the post-season (but NOT THIS YEAR) and people have shifted to football prognostications about the Huskies and Seahawks. So we sort of figured the blog would be coasting into …

Our preference here at Wallyhood would be to permanently close down the crime desk.  But unfortunately, the reality is what it is.  The Seattle Times reports that a woman was murdered at a motel in Wallingford on Aurora Avenue early on Friday morning.  From the SPD report:

At 12:46 a.m., police responded to a motel in the 4400 block of Aurora Avenue North for reports that a woman had been shot. Officers arrived and found a 33-year-old woman with a gunshot wound. Officers and Seattle Fire Department medics attempted life-saving measures, but medics declared the woman deceased at the scene.…