The Seattle Public Library is increasing the number of downloadable books and media that you can place on hold and check out. You can now place a hold on 25 items (up from 10) and check out 25 items (up from 20).

The Library’s digital OverDrive collection has grown from 1,878 items to over 43,000 digital, downloadable e-book, audiobook, music and video titles. Items can be downloaded to a PC or Mac, and transferred to portable listening, viewing and reading devices. Checked-out items are returned automatically after 21 days, so no due dates or late fees to worry about!

To browse and download digital e-books, audiobooks, music and videos available via OverDrive, go to www.spl.org and click on “Library Collection,” then select “Digital Books & Media.” A Library card and PIN number are required to download items.

Former Greenwood resident Mike Allende is writing a Seattle guide book on activities for fathers to do with their children (up to the age of 10). The book, by WonderDads, will be broken down into neighborhoods, including Greenwood-Phinney. He’s looking for suggestions on restaurants, activities, stores, parks and recreation, things to do on a rainy day/hot day, full-day activities, splurges, etc.

If you’ve got ideas, please email him.

John sent us a note to say that a little league team of neighborhood kids is playing in its championship game tonight in Ballard.

The North Central Little League Majors division (11- and 12-year-olds) champion Ken’s Market team has reached the final game of North Seattle’s Little League Tournament of Champions after edging two excellent teams from R.U.G. and Ballard Little Leagues. The championship game is tonight, Tuesday 6/22, vs. the Richmond Little League champs at 6:00 PM at Gilman Park in Ballard: NW 54th St & 9th Ave NW. It should be a terrific duel of remarkable young pitchers and hitters!

Photo by Bill Kuper.

We’re thrilled to report that Next Door Media, which owns PhinneyWood and eight other hyperlocal news websites in North Seattle, is now partnering with MyGreenLake.com. Editor Amy Duncan says she was inspired to create My Green Lake last year after being a regular reader of PhinneyWood. Amy is a master at social media, re-tweeting and Facebooking stories from many other hyperlocal websites around town. (And she’s a darn nice person, to boot!)

My Green Lake is still owned by Amy and not Next Door Media, but we’ll now be joining forces editorially and through our ad sales network. Each NDM site is edited by experienced journalists living in each neighborhood. We are able to help each other out on major stories, and share stories that impact adjoining neighborhoods.

This is NDM’s first partnership with an existing neighborhood blog. Earlier this year, NDM launched UDistrictDaily.com in collaboration with the University of Washington’s The Daily newspaper.

With the addition of My Green Lake, Next Door Media’s network now includes 10 neighborhood blogs spanning the majority of North Seattle, from the Space Needle to Northgate Mall and Elliott Bay to Lake Washington: My Ballard, My Wallingford, Fremont Universe, Magnolia Voice, Queen Anne View, Maple Leaf Life, Wedgwood View, U District Daily, and PhinneyWood.

We love it when PhinneyWood readers send us photos of neighbors doing nice things around the neighborhood. Marie sent us this photo of 89-year-old Jean Berg (third from the left) helping to spruce up the traffic circle at 1st Avenue NW and NW 52nd St.  Marie says Jean also volunteers in the West Woodland Elementary School library.

Please send us your photos of neighbors helping to clean up the neighborhood.

Update: Simon has been adopted.

This week’s PAWS Cat City Pet of the Week is Simon.

Simon is a big ol’ bear cub with a stubby little tail and a cool Rorschach pattern on his face. He is friendly, gentle, and loves catnip. With some regular laser pointer time and portion control, this pudgy fella will be back to his fighting weight in no time! He has lived with both cats and dogs in his 6 years.

Simon is waiting to charm you at PAWS Cat City (8503 Greenwood in Seattle). He is neutered, microchipped, litter box trained, and up-to-date on his vaccines. During June (Adopt a Shelter Cat Month), his adoption fee is only $50! Cat City is open Tue, Wed & Fri noon – 6 pm, Thu noon – 7 pm and Sat – Sun 11 am – 5 pm.

Applications for the Neighborhood Matching Fund Small and Simple grant program are due by 5 p.m. July 12th – that’s three weeks away.

Under the program, which first started in 1988, award recipients will receive up to $20,000 for their projects. Each award is matched by the communities’ volunteer labor, donated materials, donated professional services or cash. To be eligible, an entrant must prove that their project will improve their neighborhood and community.

Resources:

Dikka Ballantine created SewUpSeattle to promote recycling of fabric, especially those little ones that you just don’t know what to do with. Sew Up Seattle’s motto is “No scrap is too small!”

The group’s latest effort is the The Great scrapCoat Challenge of 2010. Pick up a packet of fabric scraps anytime after June 25 and create a coat to show off at the Greenwood Seafair Parade on July 28. You don’t need to be an experienced sewer; anyone is invited to give it a whirl.

If you were around for the Flash Fashion Challenge last summer you know how much fun we had creating smashing garments out of scraps and remnants. If you weren’t around last summer, you really should come find out how much fun these challenges are.

This time we want to see Coats: long or short, collar or none, pockets (who doesn’t want a pocket?), fancy, plain, sleek, sweeping, glamorous or to wear out to the barn…it’s between you and your imagination, starting with a SewUpSeattle CoatKit.

The SewUpSeattle Ironing-it-out Board has been gathering, gleaning and setting aside donated fabric all winter and spring to make into kits to get you going on your coat. You’ll get a goodly amount of not-too-lightweight fabrics and other decorative elements and maybe a silly surprise or two. Feel free to add scraps and embellishments from your own stash, but please use the kit for most of your creation. We know that’s a challenge, but this IS a challenge!

Kits are free, and there is no fee to participate. We ask that you fill out a simple entry form so we have an idea what to expect on parade day. Meet under the SewUpSeattle banner at 5PM on July 28 at the parade starting point: North 95th and Greenwood Avenue North.

Pick up your packet of fabric scraps at Goods for the Planet, 525 Dexter Ave. N. in downtown Seattle.

Here’s what’s coming up this week in the neighborhood.

Join the discussion of the importance of happiness at 7 p.m. Monday at St. Johns United Lutheran Church.

Hank and Cathy play Eastern European cabaret music at Gaspare Ristorante and Bar at 7 p.m. Monday, 6705 Greenwood Ave. N.

The NW District Council meets from 7-9 p.m. Wednesday at the Neighborhood Service Center at 8515 Greenwood Ave. N. On the agenda is a discussion of the results from the Neighborhood Matching Fund review process.

Open mic night at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Couth Buzzard Books Espresso Buono Café.

In the Red Wine Bar at 6510 Phinney Ave. N. will have its soft opening Thursday, June 24 and Saturday, June 26, then will open for full service on June 28. Check out their Facebook page for details. Here are owners Brian Folino and Chad Campbell taking a break from setting up their new kitchen. (Thanks to Mike Veitenhans for the photo.)

Weekly wine tasting at Picnic 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, 6801 Greenwood Ave. N.

The Green Lake wading pool opens Saturday, June 26. It will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week through Labor Day.

The mammoth Greenwood Car Show takes over Greenwood/Phinney avenues on Saturday, June 26. Hundreds of classic cars will be on display, plus there’s live music and kids activities.

More World Cup action at the Phinney Neighborhood Center every day during the week. Check out the full schedule.

For more events in the neighborhood, check our out events calendar.

As we previously reported, the city will take public feedback on a proposal to rezone areas surrounding the Greenwood Town Center (Fred Meyer, Greenwood Market, Top Ten Toys, the Sedges apartments, etc.) at a meeting from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 29 at the Greenwood Library.

But, if you can’t attend the meeting, you can take an online survey here.

The Greenwood Community Council and a sister-group, the Greater Greenwood Development Design and Advocacy Group proprosed upzoning areas surrounding the site, increasing allowable building heights, so that the urban village would blend better with the neighborhood. The GCC and GGDDAG, after much public input, later decided not to propose the upzoning, but the city decided to go ahead with a public meeting on the issue to solicit more public feedback.

You can see an overview of the proposal here.

Plenty to do in the neighborhood this weekend.

The weekly Phinney Farmers Market is from 3-7 p.m. Friday, 6532 Phinney Ave. N., in the lower parking lot. Click here to see what’s fresh at farmers markets this week.

Tens of thousands of people will attend the Fremont Fair and Saturday’s Solstice Parade, and get an eyeful of the naked bicyclists.

Whitman Middle School students will be busking at Ballard’s Bergen Place Park on Saturday afternoon to raise money for the family of their classmate, 13-year-old Joseph Gebregiorgis, who died in last weekend’s fatal fire in Fremont.

Catch live World Cup action on the big screen at the Phinney Neighborhood Center at 7 a.m. Saturday as Ghana takes on Australia. Doors open at 6:30. Then it’s Denmark vs. Cameroon at 11: 30 a.m. On Sunday, it’s Brazil vs. Ivory Coast at 2 p.m. Suggested donation of $3 for adults and $2 for children. Food and face painting available.

Seattle Parks and Recreation is holding a life jacket sale at Green Lake’s Evans Pool from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. All sizes from youth to adult will be available for $20.

Saturday is the Monthly Community Cabaret at Couth Buzzard Books Espresso Buono Cafe at 8310 Greenwood Ave. N., from 7:30-10:30 p.m. For mature audiences.

For more events in the neighborhood, check out our new and improved events calendar.

Here’s what’s making headlines in nearby neighborhoods.

A public memorial will be held at 11 a.m. today for victims of the fatal Fremont fire last weekend.

Dozens of recruiters will be at a job fair at Daybreak Star in Magnolia until 2:30 today.

The ship Ocean Watch returns to Ballard after more than a year at sea, documenting environmental changes around the globe.

Could a mural under the U-District bridge stop graffiti?

Spooner Farms berry stand now open in Wedgwood.

Neighborhood sees final design for Maple Leaf Reservoir Park.