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 …

You only have until Wednesday (8/31) midnight to apply for a street side electric car charger at an electric pole near your house. City Light has funds to install 30 street side chargers in Seattle. They are now accepting applications but it closes on August 31. So you need to get moving right now.

The chargers are being installed on or near existing power poles. The charger would be a Level 2, which means you can get 30 miles of range for most cars in one hour of charging. It will cost you $0.20/kilowatt-hour. For most cars this would be …

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.…

After years of decline, speculation, and tagging; and weeks of neighborhood wondering what’s next with that big backhoe out in front, demolition of the old Guild 45^th theaters has begun.  I went up to have a look this morning in the hope that I might catch the work crew in action to see if they would provide any clues as to what comes next for the site, but no one was around.  We at Wallyhood have long been curious about what comes next at the site.  I reached out to the contracting company with their banner on the front …