Piper’s Creek gets its start in the north end of Greenwood and flows to Puget Sound through Carkeek Park. Learn more about how you can do your part to improve the creek and protect the Sound at Summer Sundays In The Piper’s Creek Watershed.

Bill Malatinsky leads the outing this Sunday and Aug. 24 from 1:30-3:30 p.m. Meet at the Carkeek Park Environmental Learning Center, 950 Carkeek Park Rd. There will be a walk along Piper’s Creek down to the beach, with a discussion of historic and current issues affecting the 1,835 acre watershed.

Bring a hat, water, and sturdy shoes. RSVP by calling 684-0877.

Updated: More than a dozen fire units responded to a fully-involved house fire on 5511 2nd Ave. NW on Phinney Ridge at 7:40 p.m. Friday evening.

As I drove to the scene from Ballard, I could see smoke billowing up from over a mile away. (Photo by My Ballard reader Nina.)

Flames were shooting out the back of the home, which was hard to see from the street. It appeared the fire was contained to the first floor.

Over a hundred neighbors around the home watched the firefighters at work. A next door neighbor quickly climbed onto his roof with a garden hose.

Medic units checked out one patient, presumably the homeowner, who has minor injuries. A little less than an hour after the call the fire was out. No word on the cause, and we’ll update as we learn more.

Update: The Seattle Fire Department says the cause appears to be accidental: “discarded smoking materials” that caught fire. The homeowner was in the backyard at the time of the fire, and there are no official injuries. No word on a damage estimate, although to my untrained eye the house is a total loss.

Earlier this month: House fire on 2nd Ave. NW and 52nd St.

This just in: Divers have found at least 10 more metal spikes in Green Lake. Volunteer divers from Virginia Mason Center for Hyperbaric  Medicine found the spikes a short time ago. Crimestoppers of Puget Sound are now offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the perp(s).

By our count, this brings it to a total of more than 50 spikes found in the lake. Bizarre. And sad.

Our neighbors to the west in Crown Hill are holding a big rummage sale this Saturday. More than 30 households are set to participate in the event organized by the Crown Hill Neighborhood Association.

The sale runs 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Here’s a map and list of locations with details about what you’ll find at each stop.

Added bonus: This one will probably have better weather than the Greenwood Garage Sale Day which had some really unfortunate conditions in April.

This is bizarre. Just a few days after a monkey died at the Woodland Park Zoo from congestive heart failure, there’s word that a 7-year-old gazelle died after being attacked by another animal inside the popular African Savanna exhibit. “The accidental death of the gazelle is an unfortunate incident and is uncommon and rare in zoos,” said Zoo Curator Martin Ramirez. The gazelle was sharing the exhibit with three other gazelles, a giraffe, zebras, oryx and ostrich. No word on which animal was responsible for the attack.

The life expectancy of gazelles is 12 to 14 years. (Woodland Park Zoo photo)

While the parade got off to a little bit of a late start, a crowd of thousands lining Greenwood Avenue and 85th patiently waited to see this annual Seafair tradition. It started off with the kids parade:

Followed by the Seattle Police Motorcycle Drill Team, which gets the crowd riled up, including one kid who tried to get a high-five from one of the officers before his dad pulled him to the side.

The Navy Band Northwest was all precision:

And of course, what parade would be complete without the Seafair Clowns?

Nice herbal wreath, dude.

Update: Lots more photos from Seattle Daily Photo on Flickr here.

Billing themselves as “everything dog,” Zak & Zoe is moving into the space formerly occupied by the consignment portion of Rising Stars children’s store on the corner of Greenwood Avenue and NW 74th St.

A clerk at Rising Stars told us that an increase in rent led them to give up that space, so they moved consignment items into the regular space and rearranged everything. They still have their great playroom with the incredible tree house and a rocking chair for tired parents or nursing moms.

Zak & Zoe has paper over all the windows so we can’t tell you what it will look like, but they are advertising for a dog lover to work part-time: info@zakandzoe.com. Their website says the dog boutique will be a place “where dog lovers can find a wide selection of unique dog-themed art, gifts, books and premium quality dog foods and supplies.”

UPDATE: The owners of Zak & Zoe (who also own the dog-walking service Rain City Pets and live nearby in Ballard) tell us they’re hoping to open the first week or two of August, with a Grand Opening in September. They will carry high-end dog foods such as Ziwi Peak, Pet Curean and Evo Innova, and they’ll have a free delivery service. They’ll also have a Kitty Korner with food, treats, designer litter boxes and scratching posts, plus a Kids Korner with books and toys.

Greenwood resident Andrea Okomski and neighborhood activist Kate Martin took Seattle Transportation to task on its efforts so far on pedestrian safety Tuesday night.

Okomski’s son Joe was hit by a car four years ago when he crossed a four-lane road. Joe, 19, is permanently disabled as a result. Martin is a vocal community activist from Phinney Ridge who is involved in a range of quality-of-life issues, including parks concerns.

Both gave city officials an earful about pedestrian safety taking a backseat to car and bus movement.

The full Seattle City Council is expected to vote Monday on a proposal to charge shoppers 20 cents for paper or plastic bags. If it’s enacted, Seattle would become one of the first large cities to push the use of reusable bags.

The proposal also includes a ban on plastic foam food containers and cups.

There would be a 90-day education program before the fees take effect at grocery, convenience and drug stores Jan. 1, 2009. More details here and here.

A big stretch of Greenwood Avenue and NW 85th St. will be closed to traffic Wednesday night for the Greenwood Seafair Parade. The parade starts at 105th and heads south to 85th, then turns west along 85th until 6th Ave. NW.

“No parking” from 4-9 p.m. signs have started going up on the parade route and on streets neighboring the finish area:

The parade starts at 6 p.m. It’ll take about two hours for all the floats, drill teams, royalty in cool cars and Seafair Pirates to parade through.

The fence around the building has been removed, I’m guessing on Monday as it was pretty early this morning when this picture was taken:

Original word was that it was going to be torn down, but then work started on upgrading the roof and painting over the graffiti. Now if only they could do something about that eyesore of a space where the play area used to reside:

JM also notes in comments on the previous post that the uneven sidewalk out front could use some work as well.

Councilmember Nick Licata is co-sponsoring a forum tonight with Safe Walks, a coalition of citizens, neighborhoods and advocacy groups. Safe Walks is seeking safe pedestrian passageways throughout the city, especially in neighborhoods such as Greenwood. For example, a piece of sidewalk is going in on 90th at Dayton, connecting a break in a very thin network there:

The forum will help identify sidewalk needs citywide and start to identify funding for those needs. Representatives from the Seattle Department of Transportation, Feet First, and neighborhoods around Seattle will be attending the event.

This is a great opportunity for anyone concerned about the lack of sidewalks north of 85th Street, as well as safe pedestrian crossings. Licata is also soliciting feedback on “critical crossings” important to people’s safety (Greenwood and 105th is on the list).

The forum is being held at Seattle City Hall, 600 First Ave., in the Bertha Knight Landes Room on the First Floor.