The long awaited move of the Rancho Bravo taco truck into the old Winchell’s building is complete (or at least Phase 1 complete).

As of last week, you can walk up to one of the two windows at the building and order your taco from the same menu you’ve enjoyed truck-side.

The eating area has migrated from the far side of the parking lot over to the building. Freddy Rivas, the owner, installed a concrete pad next to the building with a carport-style tent over it (the tarps that you see today are temporary).

The menu will see one addition, however: beer. Freddy plans to cordon off the eating area, open another window from the building into it and serve beer. Burrito and beer on a hot day, what’s there to complain about? If all goes as planned (when does it ever?), the beer should be flowing in about a month, in time for the hot days of summer.

For those of you sick of the eyesore of the Winchell’s building, it’s on its way to cleaned up, as well. It got a fresh coat of paint a month or so back, and workers scraped the aging Winchell’s decals off. The front windows still have shelves of food stacked in front of them, but Freddy tells me the plan is to move those elsewhere and let people have a clean view into the kitchen area. (Whether you think that viewing a fast food kitchen is the best view to offer 45th or not, you’ve got to admit it’s a step up from the dilapidation that has plagued that corner to date.)

The serving area will get a larger overhang for rainy days and even the old Winchell’s sign is up for refresh: they’ve upgraded the electrical and plan to swap out the sign for a Rancho Bravo logo.

And what becomes of the old taco truck? Pinky’s, the BBQ joint that has been living across the street, has moved in, and they’ll share the eating area.

And maybe, just maybe, the place will even get some music: “I’d love to set up a bandstand in the parking lot there maybe one day a month, have some music while people eat. It would be a nice way to thank the community and give back,” Freddy tells me.

Ariba!

Katie Townsend from First Book Seattle sent along this announcement. While the event itself isn’t until May 31, tickets are a bit cheaper if you buy them before May 1st.

First Book-Seattle will hold its third annual Seattle Story Time on Saturday, May 31st at Green Lake’s Bathhouse theater. 

Prominent local figures will read their favorite childhood books in an all-ages story time celebrating the power of a child’s first book. The fundraiser is part of First book-Seattle’s mission to end illiteracy by providing new books to children living below the poverty line in King County.

Last year’s event was part of a series of fundraisers which raised over $20,000 for new books for kids who need them. Ross Fletcher, voice of the Sounders, hosted an eclectic group of Seattle celebrities which included a Sounder, Husky, Seahawk, Chef, Breakdancer and Ride the Duck Captain. This year’s event will be hosted by Ride the Duck Captain Bjorn Toorun and will feature among others, children’s authors, sports stars, Molly Moon, a Kirkland firefighter and Duane Chase from The Sound of Music. More readers will be announced over the coming weeks.

Tickets are $15 until 5/1, $20 after 5/1. Each ticket includes a new book. Tickets are available at www.firstbook.org/seattle

First Book-Seattle is the local chapter of a national non –profit and works with Title 1 schools and social service organizations to get books to kids who need them. In King County, 66,126 kids live below the poverty line and many have no age-appropriate books at home. Through First Book-Seattle $15 buys a starter library of 6 books for a child.  The organization’s goal for 2014 is to put 16,000 books in the hands of 2,700 children who need them most.

Join us on May 31^st between 10:00am and noon at The Bathhouse Theater at Green Lake, 7312 West Green Lake Dr. N to hear the stories that local celebrities remember falling in love. The readers will be available to meet fans and sign copies of the book they choose to read.

Today, Tuesday, April 22nd, is the deadline for getting your ballots in for the Proposition 1 election. Do it do it do it.

Wallyhood encourages you to vote yes.

Proposition 1 would increase the cost of tabs from $40 to $60 and increase sales tax by one tenth of one percent, to help fund our public transit system. If it fails to pass, Metro will be forced to eliminate 74 bus routes entirely and reduce hours on many others, for a total reduction of over a half million hours per year.

Among those facing elimination is Wallingford’s 26, but please don’t approve of it for that reason. Yes, losing that route and seeing other routes that run through our neighborhood reduced will hurt us, but more important, the thousands of low income people who rely on the bus system to get to work every day will be impacted, while other people who might otherwise take the bus will opt to take cars, exacerbating our traffic problems, air pollution problems and accelerating climate change.

Bus cuts are all around bad.

The “No on Prop 1″ folks spin a tale about how they oppose the bill because it’s regressive (sales taxes and car tabs impact the poor more than the wealthy), and it’s true: it’s imperfect. But marking “no” on Prop 1 doesn’t magically cause a progressive solution to manifest, it just means that even worse things happen to the poor (i.e., reduction in affordable transportation options).

And why isn’t there a more progressive option on the table, like a motor vehicle excise tax (MVET) on the value of people’s cars, so that those who pay less for their cars would also pay less for their car tabs? The Republican legislature in Olympia eliminated it. So, now you have them eliminating progressive taxes, then pretending that the only reason they oppose Prop 1 is because it’s NOT progressive.

(Photo by Elena Acin)

Erika Bigelow from the Wallingford Community Council sent along this announcement:

LOCAL LOGO CONTEST – $100 PRIZE!
The Wallingford Community Council is blasting into the 21st century but our lack of logo is holding us back. Our current bank of bungalows, while quaint, won’t fit in a profile pic on FB (or work on a poster). We need your help. Calling all designers, we are offering fame and fortune, for a new WCC logo. (Read: Fame = your name in Wallyhood and accolades given at the WCC June meeting. Fortune = $100)

Requirements:

• Black & White
• The words: Wallingford Community Council
• A bungalow (or suggestion of a bungalow) or two – reminiscent of our old logo would be nice, but not a make or break. We do need something to suggest neighborhood and/or Wallingford (view bungalows here: )
• All entries to be submitted by April 30, 2014 to [email protected] Winner to be announced mid-May.

A silver Subaru Impreza driver struck a bicyclist on Wallingford Ave near 40th Monday, according to Janice’s posting on the Wallyhood Forums:

My husband was riding his bike on 40th and Wallingford where he got hit on his bike and the person that hit him ran we need to find this person. My husband has a broken arm and stitches in his head I hope we can get help finding this person.

According to the report Neal DeWitt, the bicyclist, gave to KOMO and the police, the driver struck DeWitt on purpose:

“The car comes up kind behind and beside me, and the light changes, and he goes and I go, and it’s like he’s trying to get by me … and I’m like, ‘What’s the hurry?’”

Those words apparently angered the driver in the car, described as a Subaru Impreza. According to police, the driver hit DeWitt and then drove away.

“Next thing I know I’m laying on the ground going ‘Ahhh!’ and somebody’s moving my arm, my arm, my arm, my arm – it hurts,” DeWitt says.

The hit broke DeWitt’s arm and left bruises on his face.The police are seeking the driver for investigation of hit and run and felony vehicular assault.

(Thanks Jeff Dubrule for the tip)

The city recently announced a new “Parklet” program, partnering with local businesses to convert small areas, typically one or two parking spaces, into public enjoyment space, and Molly Moon’s on 45th and in Madrona are on the pilot program list.

The concept began in San Francisco, where the ReBar, an art studio, launched the first parklet in in 2005. It was open for just two hours, but it launched PARK(ing) Day, a nation-wide temporary parklet program. .

Emilia Arnold, Parklet project manager for MM’s, says:

We’ll be constructing a parklet outside of our Wallingford shop on 45th where we hope ice cream eaters and their friends (four-legged & otherwise) will use the space to have a seat, chat & basically just enjoy the neighborhood.

We’re hoping to have both parklets open by June, subject to the program’s timeline. One of our main goals here at Molly Moon’s is to create a great community gathering place with each of our shops, and we’re hoping our parklet will extend our community space to the street in a way that can benefit the entire neighborhood. We’re still finalizing the design, but we plan to incorporate some fun, playful elements & greenery.

The pilot program launched in summer 2013 with the opening of the first parklet at Montana Bar in Capitol Hill. Two additional parklets, hosted by Chinatown/International District Business Improvement Area and City Hostel in Belltown, were permitted during the first phase of the program and will be installed this spring.

The program is an experiment. The city expects to complete evaluations and make recommendations about whether to proceed with a formal program by the end of 2014.

(Photo of design for Seattle International District parklet)

Do your fruit trees drop more fruit on the ground than into your hands? Do you seek the secret to growing apples organically – without worms? Would you like to help harvest surplus fruit in your neighborhood and get it to those who need it most?

City Fruit, a Seattle non-profit that supports care and harvest of local tree fruit, will be expanding into the Wallingford, Fremont, and Ballard neighborhoods this summer to harvest fruit that would normally go to waste. This fruit is then donated to food banks, shelters, and feeding programs.

In the past, Solid Ground’s Community Fruit Tree Harvest organized volunteers to pick this fruit. Due to funding cuts, Solid Ground will no longer conduct community harvests, so City Fruit will manage the harvest in the north end neighborhoods. City Fruit already collects fruit in West Seattle, South Seattle / Beacon Hill, and Phinney / Greenwood.

Want to learn more about City Fruit? Stop by the “Beautification Wallingford” event this Saturday, April 19, at Wallingford Center, and chat with City Fruit staffers and volunteers. You can sign up to have your fruit tree harvested or to volunteer to help with the harvest.

And while at Wallingford Center, lend a hand to take care of the street trees along 45th. Volunteers will be cleaning up garbage, grass, and weeds around the trees. Tools, gloves, and instructions will be provided.

Meet at Wallingford Center starting at 10 am. Rev up your volunteer engines with coffee and donuts at 10 am, and pizza at noon. A limited number of special gifts from the Dept. of Neighborhoods will be available to those who show up early.

Questions? Email: [email protected] Or check out City Fruit’s website.