From the Seattle Transit Blog:

Sound Transit and the City of Seattle will be holding an open house at Seattle’s Hong Kong Building at the Summer Festival on Saturday, July 10th to discuss recent developments and the next steps involved with constructing the First Hill Streetcar line connecting the Capitol Hill and International District LINK Light Rail stations.

The Seattle City Council has approved the First Hill Streetcar with a segment along Jackson St. through the Chinatown/International District neighborhood.

The latest visualizations for the Jackson St. portion of the route will be on display at the open house for viewing and commenting by the public. City representatives will be on hand to answer any questions regarding this portion of the route as well as the line in general.

WHEN / WHERE
11:30 AM – 2:00 PM, Saturday, July 10th
Hong Kong Building
511B Maynard Avenue S., Seattle, WA 98104
For directions click here.

It seems like March’s First Thursday just happened, but time flies when you’re having fun, I guess. Tomorrow is April Fool’s Day and First Thursday and there are a lot of different things happening around the Square.

For maps, news, or more info, you can always go to First Thursday’s website.

1. April Fool’s Day & The Feast of Fools!
   6:30 – 8:30 pm, free
   Teatro ZinZanni will perform at Caffe Umbria (320 Occidental Ave S). “With a nod to an ancient tradition of reversing roles for one day a year, the Feast of Fools puts a zany twist into the Art Walk this April Fools’ Day as Teatro ZinZanni artists converge at Caffe Umbria.”
2. Caffe Vita + Pizzeria Napoletana All Day Fundraiser
   “All food and beverages are free but they’re happily accepting donations – ALL the money goes to 4culture so don’t be stingy!” (source)
   6am – 11am
   *Free drip coffee.
   11am – 4pm
   *Free small pizzas from Pizzeria Napoletana
   6pm – 8pm
   4Culture Hosts a free performance by the TARANTELLAS
   8pm – 10pm
   A series of performances by some of Seattle’s favorites Tretn (Head Like a Kite / Fresh Espresso) and New Guarders Thomas Hunter (Kay Kay / Wild Orchid Children) and Fatal Lucciauno (love that guy!). Free food, drinks and music for the 21+ crowd
3. Seattle Art Museum – Toy Box Trio
   5:30pm – 7:30pm, free
   Toy Box Trio combines concertina, toy piano and tuba to create sounds evocative of dusty music boxes and haunted carnivals.
   SAM invites the entire family to explore art and experience a variety of cultures on the first Thursday of the month, when the museum comes alive with music and activities tied to our diverse collections.
4. Elliott Bay Cafe Wine Tasting
   5pm – 8pm
   Come out to The Elliott Bay Cafe (101 South Main St.) in Pioneer Square this Thursday, to meet some of the personalities behind 509 Wines.

You can also check out Joey Veltkamp’s Guide to First Thursday Art Walk, Regina Hackett’s First Thursday Suggestions, or if you’re bold, you can go and print off the First Thursday Walking Map and explore all of your options.

Sounds like it should be a song lyric or something.

The link below is for a map given out at a public safety meeting (are you seeing the value of coming to these yet?):

bicycle route

Sergeant Paul Gracy handed these out to let people know what Bike Sergeant is responsible for what area. I’m not sure what it is with people doing ridiculously long things (see this ridiculously long acronym), but the suggested email address for the Bike Precinct guys is: SPD_West_Precinct_BikeBeats@Seattle.Gov. Sergeant Gracy pointed out that concerns sent here are not a replacement for calling 9-1-1, but suggest to use this more for general concerns you see in your area.

Pioneer Square Community Association has also set up an email address for people to report safety concerns: safety@pioneersquare.org. They will be able to take the information you send them and coordinate with local law enforcement to answer concerns.

Still, I repeat: not a replacement for calling 9-1-1.

Here are some other suggestions for safety in the city:

• Call Utilities if trees are blocking street lights
• It’s already over, so remember this for the future: vote for the right person (although I like McGinn, the police were backing Mallahan because he claimed to be stricter when it comes to enforcing laws)
• Ask Terrie to come and do a meeting with the people in your building to teach them how to dial 9-1-1 (apparently it’s still a difficult concept)
• Be a good witness if you see a crime– give 9-1-1- operator detailed information, don’t be anonymous, text, email, anything
• Don’t do drugs
• Try not to shop at Saveway — I tried it once, and I think it definitely compromises your safety.

I was really nervous about calling 9-1-1- the first time I saw someone doing drugs, but they are used to it, and just ask for where you saw it, what you saw, and a description of the person. Although they probably won’t be arrested, there will be a record that shows the trouble areas and more cops may be allocated to the area.

p.s. why did I put a picture of the firemen statue at the header? Just a reminder of another person that keeps you safe. Weren’t you feeling a little bit safer when you realized they were stationed (firmly) in P²?

The Husband and I were on our way to Costco yesterday, when we drove past the photo (above)

Not sure the origins of this, but it’s very exciting to see happening in the neighborhood (and to have it be young artists)

We’re working on coming up with a fun logo for our blog. The question now is whether or not it should be something funky, but a little abstract like “P²” or P-Squared (please no “pee-square” jokes) or some play on squares and P. I have all of those ideas floating in my head.

This is the first post. Ever. Well not ever. It’s actually a fake post. I don’t have anything to write about, I’m just changing it from the lorem ipsum text that we all hate love.