The Seattle Department of Transportation started working on the crosswalk at the offset intersection of NW 73rd Street and 8th Avenue Northwest at the west edge of Phinney Ridge five weeks ago. They created the new curb cuts on either side of 8th, but then nothing happened for several weeks.

Finally, on Thursday morning, they painted the crosswalk and installed the bright yellow crosswalk marking signs.

Neighbors had long complained about the dangerous crossing at the busy intersection with bus stops on both sides.

Someone stole a more than 400-pound giant pumpkin from in front of Greenwood Market last week. The pumpkin was on top of a stack of pallets in the middle of the huge pumpkin display in front of the store at 85th and 3rd.

A store employee, who didn’t want to be identified, says the theft is disappointing, not only to the store, but to the farmer who grew it.

“We always return those pumpkins to the farmers, because they need the seeds and use them to grow them next year,” she said. “In all the years we’ve been doing this, we’ve never had this happen.”

She said the pumpkin is an unusual shape. “It kind of looks like a bean bag chair; it’s kind of weird,” she said.

If you see a giant pumpkin fitting that description, please call Greenwood Market at 206-782-1610. And if you happen to have taken a picture of the pumpkin before it was stolen, please email us so we can add it to the post.

Thanks to Matt for the tip!

The Sensory Garden Advisory Committee is holding a meeting on Saturday to start developing a sensory garden next to the Woodland Park Zoo. A sensory garden is a broad term for an area that can be therapeutic for the deaf, blind or those with autism. For example, it may have flowers with strong scents, highly textured plants, a rain garden or a reflexology path.

The Woodland Park sensory garden will be a public park to the northeast of the Woodland Park Rose Garden, in an undeveloped area between the rose garden and the zoo.

Community involvement and design meetings will take place this fall, with construction documents prepared by next spring, and the garden’s completion and dedication planned for late next summer.

The meeting is from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Norse Home, 5311 Phinney Ave. N. For more information, email Briar Bates or Karen Ko, or call Ko at 206-999-8370.

The Woodland Park Zoo reports that one of its adult flamingos and two newborn flamingo chicks have died. The chicks hatched on Oct. 3 and 9.

From the zoo’s press release:

The older of the chicks was found dead this morning in the exhibit, and the younger of the chicks was discovered missing Sunday night.

Both parents of flamingos are involved in rearing their young, and this year’s chicks were being raised under the care of their parents, not by the zoo staff. The younger chick was left in a vulnerable position under the sole care of its mother following the unexpected death of her mate last Friday. A necropsy revealed that this adult bird died of a fractured vertebra and internal health issues. The cause of the injury has not been determined.

The older chick was thriving under the care of its attentive parents and was showing increased signs of mobility and natural flamingo behavior. It is not known what led to its death.

One of the flamingo chicks eating last week. Photo by Dennis Dow, Woodland Park Zoo.

Three flamingo eggs remain in nests at the exhibit, and are expected to hatch soon.

That helicopter over east Phinney and west Green Lake at 5:30 p.m. was a news chopper capturing the scene of a rollover accident on Woodland Place, just south of North 65th Street.

The car came off southbound Aurora Avenue and flipped three times after hitting the embankment, said Otis Hopkins, who was standing at a nearby bus stop when the accident happened.

“I heard this screech and I saw this car coming off the embankment,” he said. The car rolled, then hit a tree. ”It went head over heels.”

Hopkins rushed over to see the passenger hanging upside-down and having a seizure. He and the driver got the man out. The passenger was biting down on his tongue, so Hopkins pushed down on the man’s chin, opening his airway. The man made a sharp inhalation and soon regained consciousness.

Paramedics arrived a short time later and traffic was rerouted around the scene. Both men were taken to area hospitals. The car can be seen in the background, along with Hopkins, who is holding his bike.

Based on tire tracks in the grass and the demolished Blue Star Memorial Highway sign (which had recently been restored), it appears the car came off southbound Aurora Avenue.

Officers at the scene would not speculate on the cause of the accident.

Rising Stars at 7321 Greenwood Ave. N. has a few free passes left to a screening tonight of the new Disney movie “Tangled.”

Rising Stars is open until 6 p.m. The movie starts at 7 p.m. at Pacific Place downtown. “Tangled” opens in theaters on Nov. 24.

Couth Buzzard Books Espresso Buono Cafe at 8310 Greenwood Ave. N. is hosting a Cabaret for Peace Saturday night, as a fundraiser for the Greenwood Food Bank. Admission is free with a non-perishable food item.

Host and performer Kate Smith will be joined by poet Larry Crist, Linda Khandro on Celtic harp, Thomas Hubbard on guitar, Theo Dzielak and Kenny Mandell with “words and sounds,” and Elisa Gamel will bellydance.

The Cabaret for Peace starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Greenwood Streetscapes is holding its third workshop Thursday night to discuss how to add sidewalks to Evanston Avenue North from North 90th to North 92nd streets. Interested neighbors should meet at Dave Lipe’s House, 9022 Evanston Ave. N., from 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Neighbors and volunteer professionals will join together at the workshop to study a map of their block, learn about their street right-of-way and visualize streetscape possibilities so that a preliminary block plan can be developed.

This region includes the N-S oriented long blocks between Phinney Ave N and Dayton Ave N, Dayton Ave N and Evanston Ave N, Evanston Ave N and Fremont Ave N between N 90th St and N 92nd St. including the around the block areas on N 90th and N 92nd.

The next workshop will be Oct. 28 to discuss the blocks of North 101st to North 103rd streets, and Greenwood Avenue North to Dayton Avenue North.

The Woodland Park Zoo’s annual Pumpkin Bash is set for Oct. 30-31, with special treats for the animals, live entertainment and daytime trick-or-treating. But the annual three-day, nighttime Pumpkin Prowl has been canceled because it didn’t raise enough money to cover costs.

According to the zoo, some of the Pumpkin Prowl activities, such as the trick-or-treating, are being rolled into the Pumpkin Bash.

Pumpkin Bash features: a repertoire of animal behavior as hippos, bears, elephants, birds, and other animals crunch, smash or stomp on the orange gourds; trick or treating in the zoo’s West Plaza; “Thriller” dance performances by Roosevelt High School (Sunday only); demonstrations by Alpha Martial Arts (Saturday only); imaginative and fun presentations by Killer Science; face painting (additional fee); up-close animal encounters; meet ‘n’ greets with the zoo’s penguin and meerkat mascots; programs in Zoomazium’s indoor nature play space; and discovery stations to explore animal life.

Photo by Lori Veres, Woodland Park Zoo.

Pumpkin Bash is from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 30, and Sunday, Oct. 31. Click here for a full schedule of when each animal gets their Halloween treats. Pumpkin Bash is included in zoo admission. Special discount for this event: one child 12 and under in costume is admitted free with a paid adult. Bring your own trick-or-treat bags. The zoo’s current winter hours are 9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. daily.

You may want to pass this along to the computer newbies in your life. The Greenwood Library at 8016 Greenwood Ave. N. is once again offering free computer classes for people with little or no experience with computers.

Classes are free and open to the public. Registration is not required, but seating may be limited. For more information call 206-386-4636.

• Computer Basics 1 – Learn how to use a computer keyboard and mouse; 6-7:30 p.m., Wed., Nov. 3.
• Computer Basics 2 – Learn how to use basic features of the Windows software operating system, including toolbars, scroll bar and text boxes; 6-7:30 p.m., Wed., Nov. 10.
• Internet Basics 1 – Learn how to navigate a Web page and how to use browsers and search engines; 6–7:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 2.
• Internet Basics 2 – Learn how to find information using Web directories and search engines; 6-7:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 9.

The Seattle Department of Transportation is warning drivers of street closures and traffic slowdowns due to President Obama’s visit to Seattle today and tomorrow.

Unfortunately, for security reasons, they can’t say which streets will be closed or when.

Seattleites should be prepared today and tomorrow for occasional street closures or traffic slowdowns as President Obama arrives at a local airport, travels to various events, and departs on Thursday. Little information on the routes and times of his movements are announced for security reasons.

The President arrives tonight, so travelers can expect a possibility of rolling closures on the freeway or major arterials leading from a local airport. There will be street closures to provide security near the Westin Hotel tonight and tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning there will likely be closures on local streets as the president attends an event at a private residence, and then attends an event at 11 a.m. at the Edmundson Pavilion on Montlake Boulevard NE next to Husky Stadium.

Rolling closures are again likely on the freeway or major arterials as the President travels to an airport when leaving the city after the event at the Edmundson Pavilion.

The Greenwood Senior Center at 525 N. 85th St. turns into a casino once again for its annual fundraiser.

On Saturday November 6, the chips will be flying when casino entertainment comes to the Greenwood Senior Center. Blackjack, craps, roulette–all done up Vegas-style with dealers, a piano bar and cocktail lounge featuring a Martini Luge (think vodka cascading through a mountain of ice with your glass waiting at the finish line: olive or a twist?).

Admission is $25; you’ll get hors d’oeurves and play money to get started. Purchase tickets in advance through the Senior Center’s website.