“Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol” was supposed to have its world premiere last fall at Taproot Theatre. But the production was postponed after an arsonist destroyed the adjacent building and heavily damaged the theater on Oct. 23.

Now, “Sherlock Holmes” will finally premiere at Taproot in November. Tickets go on sale to the public on Oct. 5; 2010 subscribers can preorder tickets with their 2010 subscription renewal.

The original cast from the planned 2009 production returns for this world premiere. Terry Moore takes the stage as our hero, Sherlock Holmes, joined by David Dorrian, Aaron Lamb, Pam Nolte, Jesse Notehelfer, Eric Riedmann and Alex Robertson. Steve Grenley joins the cast as Watson.

These then are the facts: The year, 1894. The date, Christmas Eve. The location, 221B Baker Street. After being presumed dead for three years, a hardened Sherlock Holmes resurfaces, turning his back on the people who need him most. Three unexpected callers arrive on Christmas Eve uncovering clues from the detective’s past, present and future. Can they save Holmes and his world from a dire end? They must “do it all in one night” to accomplish the task.

Playwright John Longenbaugh and actor Terry Edward Moore. Photo by Erik Stuhaug.

Today’s Seattle Times has an in-depth article on the preparations to reopen the Green Bean Coffeehouse. The Green Bean was one of four businesses destroyed in the Oct. 23 arson. Shortly after that, the Green Bean temporarily took over coffee operations at the Greenwood Sip & Ship. Green Bean is now renovating the former McDonald’s building at 8533 Greenwood Ave. N.

The opening has been pushed back because of construction permitting delays. When I stopped in to check on construction last week, Green Bean staff said they were now aiming for a July 10 opening.

The Green Bean Coffee House had hoped to reopen inside the old McDonald’s building at 8533 Greenwood Ave. N. on Saturday, to coincide with the Greenwood Car Show. But Green Bean staff told me this morning that permitting delays mean they now plan to have their grand opening on July 10.

The building was painted green outside.

In the meantime, on Saturday the Green Bean will set up tables and chairs in the little plaza area next to what used to be the drive-thru. They’ll serve coffee and pastries to car show visitors, and a face painter will be there.

The inside of the building is still under construction, with new turquoise paint on the side wall.

The new wooden front counter is designed to look like the counter in the original location.

Local artist Nicole Stremlow-Monahan, who owns the newly opened Art on the Ridge at 8005 Greenwood Ave. N., will be painting a mural outside.

After having its original location destroyed by an arsonist last October, the Green Bean set up temporary shop inside the Greenwood Sip & Ship. Two weeks ago, they were dealt another blow when their contractor had his truck and all his tools stolen while he was working inside the coffee shop.

Then this morning, another theft. They had placed their huge three-compartment metal sink just outside the back door for cleaning. Moments later, it was gone. They put the word out to neighboring businesses, and someone soon found it behind the Baranof Restaurant, just a few doors down.

They don’t know who stole it, but Green Bean Operations Manager Emily Davis said it took four people to lift the sink to bring it back.

The homeless man who admitted to setting a string of fires in Greenwood last year was sentenced to 30 years behind bars this morning. Our newspaper partner the Seattle Times was in court when 47-year-old Kevin Swalwell took the plea deal.  Swalwell apologized and blamed his actions on mental illness.

Ten fires were set in Greenwood, including the four businesses that went up in flames on October 23. Green Bean Coffee House, C.C. Teriyaki, Szechuan Bistro and Pho Tic Tac were all housed in the Eleanor Roosevelt Building that burned.

(Photo of Kevin Swalwell courtesy of The Seattle Times.)

The Green Bean Coffeehouse folks, who are renovating the old McDonald’s building at 8553 Greenwood Ave. N, now say they’re hoping to open June 26.

They were originally aiming for Memorial Day weekend, but had to back off on that date due to delays in getting permits and some planned vacations, according to their blog.

The coffeehouse and three other businesses were destroyed by an arsonist last fall. Green Bean has been sharing space at the Greenwood Sip & Ship, which sits across the street from the former McDonald’s.

Here’s what it looks like inside. The outline of the order counter can be seen on the floor.

Visit their site if you’re interested in volunteering or contributing items that will help them open in the new space.

One day after PhinneyWood was honored with a national Society of Professional Journalists award for our coverage of the devastating Greenwood arsons, we’re proud to roll out the fourth in a series of stories partnering Next Door Media sites with the nonprofit Common Language Project and students of the University of Washington’s Entrepreneurial Journalism class.

“After the Arson” takes a closer look at what happened in the aftermath of the Greenwood fires and the people still dealing with the fallout today. In addition to the story, this student project also includes two videos.

Click here to read “After the Arson.”

The homeless man accused of setting the string of fires in Greenwood last year changed his plea this morning. Our newspaper partner the Seattle Times was in court today when 47 year old Kevin Swalwell pleaded guilty to 11 arson charges and one count of second-degree burglary.

10 fires were set in Greenwood, including the four businesses that went up in flames on October 23.  Green Bean Coffee House, C.C. Teriyaki, Szechuan Bistro and Pho Tic Tac were all housed in the Eleanor Roosevelt Building that burned.  Swalwell now faces a sentence of 30 years behind bars.

Artist John Osgood and his wife, Michelle, who own Greenwood art gallery Bherd Studios, hate graffiti in their neighborhood, even though John’s artistic style is inspired by the streets.

“It’s all about permission,” Michelle says of the difference between graffiti and urban art. “With tagging, people are just putting their name up and laying claim to a territory, seeing how many times they can do something.”

John says taggers have avoided the long mural on the safety fence next to Taproot Theatre out of what he considers respect. (John was one of three artists who created the mural after the Eleanor Roosevelt Building was destroyed in the Oct. 23 arson.)

John Osgood, Zach Bohnenkamp and Kevin “Sensei23″ Sullivan created this mural next to Taproot Theatre on North 85th Street. It was unveiled on Dec. 31, 2009, and has not been hit by taggers.

However, they did tag his painting on the outside back door of nearby Neptune Coffee. John says it’s because he added his studio’s name on that painting.

“When you put a mural up and it’s an artistic mural and it doesn’t have any names on it…people seem to respect it,” Michelle explains. “But as soon as you add a name, like a crew name, it gets tagged up.”

Artist John Osgood created this painting on the back door of Neptune Coffee. It was hit by taggers as soon as he added his studio name in the bottom right corner.

Graffiti has been a hot topic in our neighborhood and around the city lately. The Seattle Times published an in-depth feature on citywide graffiti Monday, with links to several neighborhood news partner websites (including PhinneyWood) for a micro-level look at the issue.

A few months ago, after PhinneyWood readers sent in numerous tips about fresh graffiti in the neighborhood, PhinneyWood created an interactive Graffiti Map on our home page, where people can report graffiti on public or private property, and find links to report it to the city. Once you’ve noticed that the graffiti has been cleaned up, you can go back in and mark that on the map.

John says most taggers are in their teens or early 20’s and are bored, and he definitely sees an increase in graffiti when the weather is nice and school is out. Many people automatically think that graffiti may be related to gangs, but he says that’s usually not the case. It’s just someone looking for attention.

“The person who does tagging has a crafty mind of ‘how can I not get caught?’” he says.

He and Bohnenkamp are currently working with teens at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in West Seattle’s Delridge neighborhood to create murals. He hopes that by encouraging young kids and teens to channel their artistic creativity into something productive, it can help reduce graffiti.

“I went in with a few ideas, then I had the kids sort of pick what they wanted to do,” he says. “Corralling kids to work on something is not easy. I had to make it fun and show them that it’s a sense of pride.”

This is the first mural created by students in Youngstown Cultural Center’s All Access after school program, with the help of artists John Osgood and Zach Bohnenkamp of Seattle Mural Art.

He says parents and schools always encourage art at a young age, but then seem to give up in middle school or high school because they don’t think it’s as important as other academic areas, leaving artistic kids with no outlet.

“I was always drawing,” John says of his childhood. “My parents were at the studio last night for our show, and my dad was telling people about their kids, ‘If he starts drawing and you see that he’s into it, just let him go.’”

John’s wife agrees. “There’s a whole creativity that we lose” as we get older, Michelle says. “Keeping in touch with art or music connects with something different in your brain.”

Looking at John’s artwork, one might assume he has a history of graffiti when he was younger, but that’s not the case.

“John’s background isn’t in the streets,” Michelle says. “His artwork is inspired by street art and graffiti.”

“What I’m doing is I’m trying to make a job (out of art),” John says. “The stuff that I do, the tagger or graffiti artist will like it.”

Besides his art that he sells at Bherd (pronounced “be heard,”) John creates quite a few works on commission, and also helps stage homes for sale with his art.

Michelle and John Osgood inside their Greenwood art gallery, Bherd Studios.

Osgood and Bohnenkamp’s urban art was recently recognized on an international scale. The pair were selected to show their art at Upfest, the Urban Paint Festival in Bristol, UK, in early June. Of the 200 street artists and muralists chosen for the largest urban arts festival in Europe, one-third are from Bristol, one-third from the rest of the United Kingdom, and one-third from the rest of the world. The duo are raising money for their travel expenses in part by selling these limited edition prints.

John says he would love to see a large “free wall” set up in a local park where kids can create temporary art. He says that would cut down on graffiti and give kids permission to be creative without being destructive. Someone could take pictures and document the changes on a website, so that the art lives on, at least digitally. He cites Redmond’s free wall at a skate park. “It’s been a great outlet for kids,” he says. “What a great place to have kids experiment and learn how to use spray paint. You have to learn how to hold it and how to hold your body.”

The Osgoods and others in the neighborhood are working with the Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce on a coordinated graffiti paint-out effort. Since private property owners need to give their permission for someone else to paint out graffiti, they’re hoping the Chamber can get advance permission from neighborhood business owners to paint out graffiti as soon as it pops up.

“We want to get kids involved. We’re not going to ask questions like ‘Are you a tagger? If so you can’t be involved.’” Michelle says. “We’d love to have kids be involved in a paint-out. We just want positive reinforcement.”

Timur Leno has been waiting five months to get his life back.

“I feel so obligated to get this thing going not only for myself…but for the community to be built here,” he said. “It’s just not me, it’s all of us and we are a critical part of Greenwood.”

On Nov. 9, 2009, Leno lost his restaurant, Olive You at 8516 Greenwood Ave. N., to arson. The fire was started behind the restaurant, causing an estimated $20,000 in damages. Damage was minimized by early detection from a fire patrol.

After the blaze Leno expected his restaurant to be closed for no more than 10 days. But, an insurance inspection found significant smoke damage. The restaurant was stripped of everything inside and spray sealed.

The removal of all furniture and kitchen equipment has left Leno to rebuild his restaurant almost entirely. Dealing with the insurance company for five months has left Leno feeling “lost in the process.”

“It is not easy, we just need to get this thing going…to get this place open very soon,” Leno said.

Since the arson, Leno and his loyal customers have been waiting. Leno receives calls almost every day from customers giving encouraging words and asking when the restaurant will reopen. He created an Olive You Facebook page, which has gathered over 250 fans. He uses the social media network to stay in touch with his customers.

Laura Vess, an Olive You customer of four years, said through an e-mail: “Seriously, you can’t have the food from Olive You without developing serious cravings for it. We’re terribly impatient for them to open again and plan to be among their first customers!” She added that she and her partner, Chris Witwer, “miss our Friday night lamb chops!”

Community support has helped Leno during the closing of Olive You. Leno was one of 11 business owners who received assistance from the Greenwood Fire Relief Fund after last year’s arson spree.

Steve Giliberto, president of the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce and member of the Greenwood Fire Relief Fund Board, said, “The community was clearly intent on showing their support not only of the businesses (but also) support of the neighborhood. The message goes forth that it’s a tight-knit community that isn’t just going to sit by and let people be hurt.”

Leno added, “It was symbolic. It reinforces your trust that you have friends out there. It’s not just the amount of it, but the gesture of it is just really significant.”

Leno also owns the 85th Street Café and Deli, which is less than a block away from Olive You at the corner of North 85th Street and Greenwood Avenue North. The deli serves Slum City Hot Dogs, which received the name from the movie “Slumdog Millionaire.”

Timur Leno, owner of Olive You, at his second restaurant, 85th Street Café and Deli, just a half block away.

Even with a second business Leno has felt the effects of losing Olive You, which was his primary source of income. Once the insurance process is complete Leno must rewire, paint and reinstall equipment and furniture in the restaurant. He hopes to reopen Olive You by mid-May.

“Of course I miss it, that’s my hangout, that’s my friends,” Leno said. “The people who work for me are my family. The people that come there are my family.”

(STEVEN BYEON is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.) 

The two Seattle Fire Investigators who caught suspected Greenwood arsonist Kevin Swalwell will be honored Friday night at the Seattle Fire Department Promotions and Awards Night celebration.

Fire Investigators Jim Berger and Steve Olson – Honored with a Meritorious Service Award for their role in the apprehension of a serial arsonist who terrorized the Greenwood neighborhood for months. In the early morning hours of November 13, 2009, Berger and Olson were patrolling Greenwood in an unmarked vehicle when they heard Seattle Fire units called to assist with a large fire in Shoreline. They drove towards the fire and spotted a person of interest watching the fire from a bus stop. They called in Seattle Police, who arrested the man. He later confessed to setting 10 fires in the Greenwood area.

The Green Bean Coffeehouse, which was destroyed in the Oct. 23 arson, will start construction on Monday at their new space at the old McDonald’s building on Greenwood Avenue. That’s across the street from the Greenwood Sip & Ship, where the Green Bean temporarily set up shop a few months ago.

Summer Mohrlang, manager of the Green Bean, tells us the new Green Bean should be up and running around the first part of summer.

We’ll be using an all volunteer workforce so anyone interested in helping out will be welcomed. Our foreman, John Eidson will be overseeing the efforts. He loves working with volunteers and will assign tasks based on each person’s ability level. So whether folks have years of construction experience or just want to lend a hand sweeping up debris we can use them! We really hope that this can be a community effort to transform a vacant space into a warm and cozy center of community. Anyone interested in volunteering can sign themselves up by clicking here.

And…we are in need of a licensed plumber willing to donate a little bit of time to this job. If any are out there I’d love to hear from them (manager@greenbeancoffee.org).

Rosewood Guitar, at 8402 Greenwood Ave. N., will finally reopen this Saturday after being one of the many victims of last fall’s arson spree.

On November 5, 2009 Rosewood Guitar suffered significant building damage from one of the Greenwood area arsons. All of the inventory was undamaged but building repairs totaled approximately $100,000 and took nearly 5 months. A building next to the main store, used for guitar lessons had to be demolished because of fire and smoke damage.

Established in 1975, Rosewood Guitar is a retail store specializing in classical and flamenco guitars. The store sells student through professional guitars, recordings, music and accessories. Rosewood Guitar has 8 guitar instructors offering lessons to students of all ages.

There has been much support from the local business district and the Greenwood neighborhood in wake of the Greenwood arsons. Cobblestone Used Furniture has allowed Rosewood Guitar instructors to use space in their building at no charge so that they could continue lessons. The Greenwood Fire Relief Fund also donated money raised from the local community to help with restoration expenses.