Tonight’s meeting to discuss the rash of arsons in Greenwood has been changed from the Upper Crust Catering at 85th and Greenwood to Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church, 7500 Greenwood Ave. N.
The church is ADA accessible and can handle a larger crowd than Upper Crust. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The Fire Department will continue its arson patrols around the neighborhood during the meeting.
PhinneyWood will cover the meeting and have a full report later tonight.
If anyone out there can videotape the meeting and then post it online for people who couldn’t attend, please let us know in comments and provide a link. Thanks!
27 responses so far ↓
1 HL // Nov 10, 2009 at 10:49 am
This will certainly make some people happy. Much better venue. Reason prevails.
2 Iron City Mike // Nov 10, 2009 at 11:00 am
as long as everyone bothers to check the blog today and gets the word of the change… hopefully at least someone will leave a sign on the door of Upper Crust
3 Rain // Nov 10, 2009 at 11:24 am
Someone should put a sign on the street level door for Upper Crust because there are people who will go there and not know about the change. I’ve personally told some who will not be checking the blog.
4 Christopher // Nov 10, 2009 at 11:29 am
Not sure where to post this thought….
It seems like it would be wise for those of us in the neighborhood who have garbage and recycling pickup tommorrow to not set them out tonight.
I prefer to set it out the night before so I don’t have another thing to do when I wake up. But I think its worth the hassle to bring them out in the morning so as not to provide our arsonist with easy access to more fuel at night. Just a thought.
5 Crispy // Nov 10, 2009 at 11:31 am
Yesterday morning at ~7:55 a.m. on Greenwood Ave., N, at cross-street ~N. 79th St (i.e., ~10-15 minutes after the Quick Stop fire report, of which I was unaware of at the time), I saw a Caucasian male, late 20s/early 30s, ~5’ 11”
Short-trimmed, straight hair (e.g., 1-2 inches) maybe brownish hair
Stocky thick body (~190 pounds?)
Roundish face (i.e., not sharp-featured)
Clothes were a bit dirty, jeans, 2-layers of shirts (T-shirt, plus a thin button up second shirt or thin cardigan-type sweater). Bluish color theme.
He was on foot walking west on 79th (I’m not sure I have the correct cross street) coming up to Greenwood Ave. I greeted him but he ignored me. He seemed to furtively look up and down the street before quickly crossing Greenwood Ave. into the residential side-street west of Greenwood Ave.
He looked out of place because his clothes were relatively dirty, he did not have any coat or rain protection that would’ve been appropriate for the weather, and he wasn’t carrying anything (most people at that time of the day are carrying things on their way to work). He looked homeless.
I reported this to the police, who they describe as a person of interest.
6 Kij // Nov 10, 2009 at 11:36 am
Can someone make sure there’s contact info or a schedule for arson watch, for those of us who can’t make it? Thx–
7 StuS // Nov 10, 2009 at 11:53 am
I must admit to being a little freaked this morning when, at the west side of Aurora and N 86th by the motel, I spotted a plastic Jerrycan sitting by its lonesome at the corner of the building. A quick scout showed nothing.
8 Barb // Nov 10, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Good idea about not leaving recycling out tonight! I am worried for all of our businesses and homes!
I am concerned about videotaping the meeting for several reasons: 1) people might not speak their mind freely if it is known that it is being taped; 2) if it is taped, it should be known to all parties before being taped that it is being tape and will be posted; 3) if the arsonist watches the tape (of course he/she might be at the meeting) then s/he has people’s faces and/or business names in mind. News people might also be there taping.
I can’t go to the meeting but I hope someone will represent this viewpoint there to help protect us all.
9 redfoxtrot2 // Nov 10, 2009 at 12:19 pm
The events calendar on this blog needs to be updated to reflect the meeting location change.
And yes, let’s hope the Upper Crust puts a note on their door about this change. I have a feeling a lot of people will not have heard about the new location.
10 anon // Nov 10, 2009 at 12:23 pm
If we don’t leave out our recycling, the terrorists will have already won.
11 outside the box // Nov 10, 2009 at 12:34 pm
I had a different thought about MY recycling…I am inclined to LEAVE it out on the curb so there isn’t a bg green box of flammables right next to the side of my house. Just wondering what the BEST option is!
12 Mike Veitenhans // Nov 10, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I’m amazed at the number of comments by people who, though they raise legitimate concerns like the accessibility issue regarding tonight’s community meeting, choose to remain anonymous and rant through this blog rather than step forward to do the hard work that makes positive things like the community meeting happen. Thanks to those at the Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce and others who have done the grunt work!
13 Anne // Nov 10, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Thanks for covering this meeting. I look forward to hearing the report.
Of course it has to be during the only shift I work between Saturday and Thursday! grumble grumble
14 Rain // Nov 10, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Perhaps they can video only the fire department spokespeople and not the faces of the rest of the crowd.
15 Doree // Nov 10, 2009 at 1:14 pm
redfoxtrot2 - Thanks for the reminder to change the location in the calendar! I just changed it.
16 Iron City Mike // Nov 10, 2009 at 1:17 pm
@Mike V: The Blog IS the place for anonymous rants, in my opinion - thats not to say people are not contributing in other ways at the same time. I will be at the meeting tonight, but that does not mean I have to identify myself in this forum.
17 john walker // Nov 10, 2009 at 1:41 pm
maybe we should wear name tags with our user names so everyone could get to know us. but wait, that would almost be like identifying ourselves.
18 outside the box // Nov 10, 2009 at 2:31 pm
And maybe we should all ARM OURSELVES like John Walker protects his auto repair shop…yeah RIGHT!
19 MadChops // Nov 10, 2009 at 3:00 pm
outside_the_box: Why the sarcasm? What’s wrong with how John Walker chooses to protect his shop? If someone has worked very hard to build a small business in this community, he/she should have every right to protect it with reasonable force as necessary. If someone sets your business on fire with you in it, then I’d say that meets the requirements of “immediate danger of death or serious injury”, and then even lethal force is justified.
20 Honey Bucket // Nov 10, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Wow, I could sure use $25k for Christmas.
21 john walker // Nov 10, 2009 at 3:58 pm
you don’t know if i arm myself. my sign says so. but that may or may not be true. and what’s wrong with that anyway? we can’t all be pussies these days.
22 Sally Cote -- PlayMatters // Nov 10, 2009 at 4:00 pm
I am not sure if I can make it tonight. But I would like info if I can’t go. Thanks to everyone trying to keep us safe. This meeting is a great idea!
23 Gwoodgrrl // Nov 10, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Oh, the mayor-elect is planning to attend.
24 john walker // Nov 10, 2009 at 4:15 pm
“Wow, I could sure use $25k for Christmas”
well, i for one, would not feel good about keeping that reward and i would donate it to the victim fund, if i were lucky enough to help catch the guy. i ain’t rich, but that’s ill gotten gains.
25 HL // Nov 10, 2009 at 4:38 pm
John Walker just picked up a new future customer. I like his attitude.
And those worried about videotaping should probably stay home. It’s highly likely that all four TV stations will have camera crews and reporters there, in addition to the real local media (Phinneywood, SeattleCrime, etc.)
26 Andi // Nov 10, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Mike V - what exactly where we supposed to do when we hard about the meeting after it was scheduled. What kind of work would you have us do? Why do you assume we DON’T contributed to our community. And btw as one who was upset, I was not anonymous but registered on this page the second I could. But so what? Why does your having my name now change my opinions?
Oh yeah, and I spent 2 hours this morning on the phone and internet working with people to discuss how to ensure we did not have a recurrence, discussing moving the meeting, and posting about the change of venue. The grunt work as you call it was done by volunteers in the community and people paid to keep people safe.
And john Walker. Please don’t be offensive. Ok, sure you have a right to free speech but that’s plain ugly language. But then, I never intend to be a customer so I probably don’t matter anyway.
I’m SURE Upper Crust will put up signs and maybe even the SFD will post a person or two to inform folks of the change of venue. I would offer to do it but a) it will take me a while to get to the church and b) oh baby, it’s cold outside!
27 Dave // Nov 10, 2009 at 5:23 pm
As someone who cannot attend tonight’s meeting, I would be grateful if it were videotaped — or if that really makes people uncomfortable, perhaps just an audio recording could be made available. Local media are certainly going to be there, so anyone who does not want to be seen would have that to contend with anyway.
Phinneywood… you guys have done a fantastic job disseminating all of this information. Thank you!
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