Long-term lane closure coming to southbound SR 99/Aurora Avenue North

Drivers face increased congestion for the next six weeks on southbound State Route 99/Aurora Avenue North approaching downtown Seattle. Anticipated backups begin March 6 when crews building the SR 99 tunnel narrow southbound Aurora from three lanes to two between Republican and John streets, just north of the Battery Street Tunnel.

The lane closure is scheduled to last through at least mid-April and will give crews space to relocate utilities buried up to 15 feet beneath the westernmost lane of the roadway. Relocating the utilities will allow crews to begin building the SR 99 tunnel’s north portal, which will be located near Harrison Street between Sixth Avenue North and Aurora.

As a result of the lane closure, King County Metro Transit will begin detouring buses that use this section of southbound SR 99/Aurora Avenue North at 9 p.m. Monday, March 5. More information will be available soon at King County Metro’s Alert Center.

Drivers can find regularly updated traffic closure information for downtown Seattle on the construction traffic update.

Hunger Action Week

Are you interested in learning more about hunger in our community? United Way of King County has put together a great selection of educational and advocacy events to raise awareness of hunger issues in the greater Seattle area. Click the Hunger Action Week link above for more information. To get involved right here at the PNA, check out our Hot Meal Program or contact us about providing food for a local women's shelter.

Five Minutes Could Mean $1 Million

Exciting and unexpected news! The PNA still might have a chance at the $1 million grant from the Heritage Capital Project Fund that we didn’t get last year. We just got word that the Senate included the PNA’s renovation project in the Senate Capital Budget – 2012 Supplemental –along with 14 other projects. Here’s the link (see page 21 for projects) http://leap.leg.wa.gov/leap/Budget/Detail/2012/SCOverviewProjLists0228.pdf This was absolutely unexpected, given where the state budget is at.

Now we need to convince the Senate to keep it in the budget AND encourage the House to add it to their budget, which had nothing in it. Over the next few days, the Senate and the House will be “horse trading” and your action now will help to make sure we do not get traded out of the final budget.

Is it a long shot? YES

Do we need the $1 million? YES

With this funding we could complete our current project and explore other projects, like an elevator for the Brick Building.

Is it worth 5 minutes of your time to potentially get $1 million? YES

CALL TO ACTION
Please call your state representatives and senators by Friday March 2. Calling is better than emailing. Current indications are that the legislative session will end as scheduled next week – and we understand that much will be decided this weekend. So if you’re going to call, you really need to do it in the next couple of days – the sooner the better!

If you need the phone numbers for your representatives, here is link: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx
MESSAGES
To Your Senators
• Thank you for funding the Phinney Neighborhood Association project through the Heritage Capital Projects Fund in the Senate Capital Budget.
• Thank you for your support of heritage preservation and the jobs it creates in our district. (remember, construction starts this summer!)
• Please “hold the line” at the $5.9M mark in their negotiations with the House in the next few days.

To Your Representatives
• Thank you for your support of the Phinney Neighborhood Association project and the Heritage Capital Projects Fund as you begin discussions with the Senate.
• Please support funding for the Fund at the level recommended in the Senate Capital Budget ($5.9M).
• Would you be willing to tell Hans Dunshee and Judy Warnick that your constituents are in support of the Heritage Capital Projects Fund?

Thank you for helping the PNA!

Ellies Paul - Noted Songwriter in concert this Saturday (March 3rd)

At the time of writing, tickets are still available for the March 3rd concert 
- Ellis Paul, one of the leading voices in American songwriting. Opening for Ellis 
will be Charlottesville-based singer/songwriter Peyton Tochterman.

Ellis Paul is a critically-acclaimed singer/songwriter, poet, guitarist, pianist and 
troubadour originally hailing from a potato farming family in northern Maine and now 
living in Charlottesville, VA. Ellis was a principle leader in the wave of musicians 
that emerged from the Boston folk scene, creating a movement that revitalized the 
national acoustic circuit and helped ignite the folk revival of the 1990's with a 
literate, introspective, and intimate folk-pop style.
Advance tickets for Saturday, March 3rd through Brown Paper Tickets:
 http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/219969 or by phone 24/7 at 1-800-838-3006.
General Admission: $16, $2 off for SFS & PNA members and seniors, kids $8
Check for day-of-show availability at the door at 
http://www.seafolklore.org/folksche.html
Sponsored by the Seattle Folklore Society

PNA Village Volunteer Kick-Off a Great Success!

The community spirit of the PNA was present in an inspiring and humbling way on Sunday, February 26, when more than 55 people gathered in the PNC Community Hall to learn about how to participate as a volunteer with the PNA Village.

The PNA Village, PNA’s newest program, aims to help people to remain in their homes and neighborhoods while staying active and engaged as they age. Volunteers are the heart and soul of this program. A network of volunteers will provide services to Village members, including transportation, handy work around the house and yard, social activities, and more. The vision, developed over the last three years by a dedicated Village Advisory Board and the Volunteer Committee, is to foster a culture of interdependence between members and volunteers. The abundant excitement about the Village volunteer program indicates that this vision of a mutually supportive, caring community is one that resonates strongly with people; it is this resonance upon which the Village will grow and thrive.

If you missed the Volunteer Kick-Off but are still interested in getting involved, no worries! You can email village@phinneycenter.org or call 206.789.1217 to get more information and begin the application process. Many Village members are also volunteers, but you do not need to be a member in order to volunteer.

Thanks to all those who made this event possible…

Marie Adan, Kristin Diestelhorst, Janice Dilworth, Kayla Down, Alex Eckardt, Carol Flannigan, Beth de la Fuente, Trudy James, Cecily Kaplan, Lea Ann Miyagawa, Jacqueline Sorgen, Cristal Weber, Joanna Wright, and all those on the Village Advisory Board and Committees, as well as the PNA Staff, who have supported the Village and brought us to this point!

From hot meals in Phinney Ridge to a health screenings in Zambia..and back again!

Dr. Ken Elam frequently joins the PNA Hot Meal Program team to help provide for the basic needs of community members in Seattle. We recently learned that he is also working with a group of grassroots volunteers in Zambia who also aim to provide basic needs such as education and medical care for residents of Ng'ombe, an overcrowded zone of Lusaka which lacks safe drinking water or adequate sanitation, but not the organization and drive to provide a create a better future.

Ken writes about the project:
I first visited this area in 2008 while participating in HIV testing for children, and became aware of Needs Care Day Centre, a program in one area of Ng'ombe where local residents have already organized to provide free schooling at the elementary level, and have trained 50-60 health outreach workers to regularly visit at risk homes- those beset by HIV and TB.

I asked the leader of that effort, Esther Mandakawire, a woman of phenomenal energy and compassion, how help could be given. She mentioned that her outreach workers could use bicycles to get to clients. My wife and I persuaded cycling friends in Seattle to donate enough money for 15 bicycles made in Zambia. After two subsequent visits, we have become more engaged with this committed group, and raised funds for shoes, school supplies, cooking pots and teacher stipends for the school of about 500 children, and more bicycles for the outreach workers. In 2010, we started a small medical clinic at the school location where nurses currently see patients without charge twice per month. We have trained the outreach workers to take blood pressures, and this past summer I spent two weeks working with the nurses in the clinic. I was greatly impressed with their caring and skill. One major health focus we have is the detection and treatment of hypertension and diabetes, conditions that often take a back seat to HIV, malaria and TB and so cause silent chronic damage to productive adults.

Ken just returned from another visit to the Needs Care Day Center, where he celebrated Martin Luther King Day with the children at the school. After teaching them about the U.S. tradition of celebrating the life of this social justice leader with a day of service, Ken helped serve birthday cake and ice cream while the children sang Happy Birthday to Dr. King.

To learn more about the Needs Care Day Center, visit their Facebook page.

Tickets available for Ellis Paul (March 3rd), Red Molly (March 10th)

March 3rd, 7:30 PM -(PNA Community Hall) - Ellis Paul: troubadour, singer/songwriter, folkie, storyteller -- all fair labels for this artist, but they don't tell the whole story. The tattoo of Woody Guthrie worn proudly on his arm is a good place to start, for Ellis hails from Woody's tradition. With an acoustic guitar in hand, he weaves intimate, provocative, and romantic tales of our lives. We expect this concert to sell out, so don't postpone getting your tickets. We will not be taking reservations for this show, tickets only. Tickets can be purchased through Brown Paper Tickets online at www.brownpapertickets.com… or by phone 24/7 at 1-800-838-3006.  Peyton Tochterman will open with a short set. 
General Admission $16 , $2 off for SFS & PNA members and seniors, kids $8
Concert sponsored by Seattle Folklore Society  http://www.seafolklore.org/folksche.html

March 10th, 7:30 PM (PNA Community Hall) -If one word describes the new Red Molly CD, Light in the Sky, that word is joyous. Once again Red Molly triumphs with gorgeous a cappella ballads, bluegrass-tinged folk and a touch of jazzy western swing, all done up in Red Molly's trademark three-part harmonies, signature dobro licks and inventive arrangements. Don't delay - advance tickets available at www.brownpapertickets.com…
General Admission $16 , $2 off for SFS & PNA members and seniors, kids $8
Concert sponsored by Seattle Folklore Society   http://www.seafolklore.org/folksche.html

Great Concert This Weekend!

This Saturday (February 11th) in the PNA Community Hall


Hank Cramer

Phinney Neighborhood Center (Brick Building), 7:30PM
General Admission: $15
$2 off for SFS & PNA members and seniors, kids half price

Hank Cramer is one of the best-loved folksingers in the Pacific Northwest.He is widely known for his booming bass voice, smooth picking on a vintageflat-top guitar, and his wry sense of humor. He has a wide repertoire of bothmodern and traditional songs, spanning the genres of maritime, celtic, Appalachian,maritime, cowboy, and plain old folk music. Hank has a discography of 19 albums,and has been selected to receive the Humanities Washington Award for 2011. Joining Hank for this concert will be David Lange on piano and accordionand Mark Iler on guitar and harmonica.

A co-production between Northwest Seaport and the Seattle Folklore Society

Reserve online, or by calling 206.528.8523.

The dish ran away with the spoon!

Do you have odd flatware accumulating in your drawers or camping box? The PNA Hot Meal Program can always use your donations of spoons, forks, or knives (but especially forks). Not a hoarder? Maybe this is the excuse you need to stop by your favorite thrift store and purchase a handful of cutlery! We don't use disposable items, so we can't accept plastic/picnic flatware. Donations of items on our wish list can be dropped off anytime during the Phinney Center's open hours at 6532 Phinney Ave N (9-10 weekdays and 9-3 Saturdays).
We appreciate your support.

Group Portraiture Show at the Phinney Center Gallery

Please join us for the Group Portraiture Show in the Phinney Center Gallery this month. The show includes portraits by local artists John Breitweiser, Carrie Bunkley, Susan Radant and David Regal. The gallery is open during all open hours of the PNA. The opening reception will be Friday, February 10th from 7:00-9:00 pm.