Here’s a peek at what’s happening in the neighborhood this weekend. Check out our Events calendar any time for more.

Jim Page in concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Couth Buzzard Books Espresso Buono Café, 8310 Greenwood Ave. N. Free; food and drink available for purchase. On Saturday, Couth Buzzard welcomes Pint & Dale performing “Music of the Blue Divide” starting at 7:30 p.m. And on Sunday, listen to the OneFourFive Georgian Polyphonic Choir at 7 p.m.

Dr. Richard Kimball & the Fugitive perform at 8:30 p.m. Friday at Tim’s Tavern, 602 N. 105th St.

Seattle City Hall Open House, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, 601 5th Ave., downtown. The city is providing local music and food. Meet your elected officials, tour city offices, have a Q&A session with the mayor, and learn more about city resources.

Seattle Public Library rescheduled its Jan. 18 meeting at the Ballard Library to tomorrow (Saturday) from 2-4 p.m. at the Northeast Branch, 6801 35th Ave. N.E. SPL is hosting community meetings to ask for input on library services.

World Languages Story Time in Spanish at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Greenwood Library, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N.

The 4th Annual Beatles Sing-along Benefit for Elizabeth Gregory Home is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Egan Hall at St. John’s School, 123 N. 79th St.

Bill Evans performs a Banjo in America concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Phinney Neighborhood Association, in Community Hall in the Brick Building.

The PNA’s annual Home Design & Remodel Fair is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Meet with dozens of contractors, architects, designers, and more, plus City of Seattle permitting specialists will be available to answer questions. Admission is $6 for PNA members, $10 general; children 12 and under are free.

Looking ahead to next week, the Phinney Neighborhood Association’s Cultural Engagement Film Series is hosting a Queer Youth Film Event with a special screening of “Put This on the Map” from 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1. The screening will be in Community Hall, in the lower level of the Brick Building. Free.

Join us for a screening of this award-winning local film, featuring 26 queer youth sharing their thoughts and feelings about gender and sexuality. These remarkable teens are from Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland and other Eastside communities. In this affecting 35-minute film they raise issues of identity and questions of belonging, while expressing their essential humanity.

Following the movie, there will be an opportunity for sharing and discussion, facilitated by the Safe Schools Coalition. PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and Teen Link will also be on hand to share resources, along with the filmmakers.

Munch fresh popcorn, enjoy a soda and get the chance to win a free night out at the Majestic Bay Theater! Whether you identify yourself as straight or queer or prefer no label at all, whether you are 14 years old, 84 years young or “ageless,” you are welcome at this event.

The major repaving project on N/NW 85th Street was put on hold for several days last week because of the snow and ice. Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) resumed work this week. Here’s an update on current work.

Work continues in Phase 1 between 15th Ave NW and 8th Ave NW. Work activities impacted by the snow are currently being rescheduled. We will continue to update you on how the weather delay may impact anticipated work activities over the next couple weeks.

Construction activities anticipated this week include:

• Continued roadway removal and excavation between:

1. Mary Ave NW and 14th Ave NW (north side)
2. 14th Ave NW and 12th Ave NW (north side)
3. 11th Ave NW and 10th Ave NW (north side)
4. Dibble Ave NW and 8th Ave NW (south side)

• Installation of drainage facilities at the intersection of 14th Ave NW and NW 85th St
• Concrete paving throughout the project area (as weather allows)
• Opening of 12th Ave NW and closing of 11th Ave NW – Side streets can be closed for up to 30 days total, however the days are not required to be consecutive. This means streets may be opened and closed as needed.
• Closure of Dibble Avenue south of NW 85th St for installation of drainage facilities and roadway removal, excavation and concrete panel replacement.
• Westbound traffic continues to be maintained through Phase 1 primarily on the south side of the street.

Stay tuned for more details on upcoming construction activities via email and our project website early next week.

826 Seattle was thrilled today to learn that two custom-made and hand-painted bass guitars were sold at auction for $8,501 each, with all the proceeds going to the non-profit tutoring and writing center.

Jeff Ament, bassist for Pearl Jam, asked his favorite guitar maker, Mike Lull, to build the guitars, then Ament painted them. They were each valued at $5,500. Below is the guitar Ament called “Green Noise.”

The guitars were auctioned through the CharityBuzz website. As soon as the auction ended this afternoon, 826 Seattle sent out this tweet:

THANK YOU to everyone who helped support today’s auction. You’re ALL rockstars to us. Final bids? $17,000. Holy. Moly. We are SO GRATEFUL.

826 Seattle later told us each guitar sold for $8,501, for a total of $17,002.

North Seattle Fives Cooperative School, a pre-kindergarten program in Phinney Ridge right across from the Woodland Park Zoo, is hosting an open house from 2-3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4, for prospective families for the 2012-13 school year. Children are welcome at the open house.

The 2012-13 school year is for children who will already be 5 years old by the start of school, but need a little more time before being ready for kindergarten, as well as children who will turn 5 years old by Mar 31, 2013.

North Seattle Fives is located inside St. John’s United Lutheran Church, 5515 Phinney Ave. N. School is from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., four days a week: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Lifelong Recreation Sound Steps program is offering training for people to get in shape for a 5K, 10K or half-marathon walk. It’s open to all ages, but is designed especially for people “50 and better.”

One of the kick-off events is from 1-3 p.m. next Wednesday at the Greenwood Senior Center, 525 N 85th St.

Each participant will receive a training packet, discounts on walking shoes, and information about staying healthy while training. Training begins at 9 a.m. on Sat., Feb. 4 with free, volunteer-led group walks from Jefferson Community Center (3801 Beacon Ave. S), Ballard Senior Center (5429 32nd Ave. NW), or Ravenna Eckstein Community Center (6535 Ravenna Ave. NE).

To participate and to get more information, please call Mari Becker at 206-684-4664 or email her at sound.steps@seattle.gov.

A Greenwood resident wanted to pass along information about several attempted break-ins at his apartment over the last few months. He’s hoping someone saw or heard something, and he’s warning others to be vigilant.

My two roommates and I live on 92nd, between Stone and Aurora. A series of break-ins or attempted break-ins over the past few months has us feeling deeply violated, shaken and worst of all, fearful of staying in our home.

(S)omeone kicked through the back door and entered our ground floor bedroom. He rummaged through one room before swiping a MacBook and an iPhone, then moved upstairs and stole a laptop and my work netbook. The most disturbing part was that my two roommates were gone for only 20 minutes when the break-in took place, meaning that someone was waiting for us to clear out. The police officer who responded to our call says that an apartment building nearby was also hit, on the same street.

On Christmas Day or Christmas Eve (we weren’t home so we can’t be sure), someone tried to kick down our front door. We know this because the door frame was damaged and there was a large footprint near the bottom handle.

Early last October, while one of my roommates was asleep on the bottom floor, someone walked in (the front door must have been unlocked) and proceeded to steal a number of valuable items, including laptops, my checkbooks and my $500 iPad.

Shortly after the October break-in, I came home to find our mailbox wide open, though we weren’t entirely sure whether anything had been taken.

Has anyone else in that area had a similar break-in?

Whittier Elementary will not be getting a fourth Kindergarten class next school year, but could get one additional homeroom for a different grade, if needed. The Seattle School Board is looking at options to ease overcrowding in the school district and one of the options included adding a fourth Kindergarten class – an option that was opposed by the PTA.

In a letter sent to parents on Tuesday, Pegi McEvoy the Assistant Superintendent for Operations for SPS writes,

Our preliminary enrollment projections indicate we may need to add one additional homeroom at Whittier next year. The additional homeroom would NOT be for a fourth kindergarten class – we are still planning for three kindergarten classes. The potential need for an additional homeroom is based primarily on enrollment distribution across the grades. If enrollment is not as high as anticipated, we will not add an additional homeroom. However, we need to be prepared in case this need arises . We are looking at options in the building, given the fact we cannot place a portable on the Whittier site.

The school board is voting tonight on the Short-Term Capacity Management and the New Student Assignment Plan: Transition Plan for 2012-13. The Board will not vote specifically on adding a new classroom at Whittier. Placement decisions – moving or adding a new program to a school – will be made by the Superintendent. If a new homeroom is added, it is unknown which grade would get the additional class.

“These decisions are made prior to open enrollment to ensure that families can review their options for the next school year,” the letter states. “The Superintendent seeks guidance for these decisions from staff and community groups, such as the Special Education Advisory and Advocacy Council (SEAAC) and the Advanced Learning Task Force to provide input to inform these decisions.”

According to the letter, no changes in the Spectrum program or the Phinney Neighborhood Association programs are being considered at this time.

Individuals can email suggestions to: programplacement@seattleschools.org.

An East Coast health care company is shooting a commercial at Carmelita vegetarian restaurant at 7314 Greenwood Ave. N. today.

Here’s the equipment being set up outside.

And here’s a scene from inside, where the commercial is about a man proposing to a his girlfriend inside a nice restaurant.

Thanks to James and Linn for the tips, and to Kathryn at Carmelita for the photos!

The North Seattle French School is getting off the ground and will hold an informational open house from 1-3 p.m. Saturday at the Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6532 Phinney Ave. N., Room 2 in the Blue Building.

North Seattle French School is a new elementary school dedicated to bilingual education through excellent academics, creative learning and outdoor activities while promoting a rich multicultural environment.

The curriculum will be in both French and English with a strong majority in French.

NSFS is still finalizing its location, but it will most likely be in Phinney-Greenwood, Green Lake or Ballard. It plans to open in the fall.

According to the website, tuition will be $10,000 for the 2012-13 school year, and they plan to offer an after-school program for parents who need childcare. The first class will have around 15 students. The school plans to begin with one kindergarten-first grade class, then add a grade each year until it offers kindergarten through fifth grade.

Storyteller Susy Irwin of Have Story Will Travel is bringing her band of “Wild Puppets!” to the Phinney Center at 10:30 a.m. Saturday for stories and songs.

This family program has something for everyone: Adventure, with tall and true bear stories; Humor, with original pourquoi {why} stories written about the how and why of Puget Sound and its inhabitants; and Action in an interactive program of stories, songs, and maybe even a little dancing. Program recommended for ages 3+ however we won’t be checking I. D.’s.

Have Story Will Travel, is dedicated to broadening our awareness of various cultures, wildlife and environments through the sharing of stories.

Admission is $4 at the door, at Community Hall inside the PNA’s Brick Building, 6615 Dayton Ave. N.

The NW District Council will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Greenwood Senior Center, 525 N. 85th St. The meeting is open to all.

On the agenda:

• Chat with City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw, who chairs the newly established Council committee on Parks & Neighborhoods.
• Sara Wysocki, from the City’s Office of Sustainability & Environment, who will provide a briefing on the Draft Climate Action Plan. Other staff from OSE will be on hand to describe the recently launched Community Power Works initiative.
• Update on the 2012 Neighborhood Projects Fund
• Update on the Neighborhood Matching Fund program
• Update on the 2012 District Council Enhancement Fund
• Update on the impact of legislative redistricting on neighborhoods in the Northwest district

Made Sewing Studio at 8408 Greenwood Ave. N. is one of the many places hosting a worldwide “Craftsy” party on Thursday night. Craftsy is on online crafting community which hosts classes and neighborhood gatherings in hundreds of cities.

Made Sewing Studio Owner Carisa Brunner says she’s expecting more than 40 people at her shop from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday. Everyone is encouraged to bring along their current projects, along with samples or pictures of recently completed projects. Any kind of crafting, from sewing to knitting or jewelry making, is welcome. Feel free to bring a snack or beverage to share with the group.