Various and sundry updates, and other news Ravenna can use

SEO be darned. Sometimes, you just gotta cram a lot of different stuff in one post.

Crime update:

Meeting updates:

Miscellaneous tidbits:

On November 20th, Eckstein will launch Saturday School, a new intervention program for students who have four or more missing assignments and a grade of D or E in a class. Teachers will refer students to Saturday School and counselors will call the student’s home to let families know that the student is expected to attend from 8:30 – 11:30 am.  Students who successfully turn in all missing work by Thursday afternoon after being referred to Saturday School will be excused from attending. The purpose of this intervention is to encourage students to take responsibility for their work and to give them additional time and support if they are stuggling to complete it.

There’s also a request for volunteer tutors during those same dates and times (November 20, and December 4 and 18). To volunteer or ask questions about Saturday School, contact Eckstein Volunteer Coordinator LauraLeigh Young at llyoung@seattleschools.org.

Arrests made, yet local burglaries continue (plus Crime Prevention meeting info)

Just two days ago, I relayed the good news that six burglars were caught in two separate acts of burglary in an area of Maple Leaf (“Three burglars caught breaking into North Seattle home this afternoon“). Great news. Perhaps the recent rash of burglaries would finally come to an end.

It seems as though any celebrating may have been premature.

A home at approximately 25th Ave NE and NE 60th St was broken into just yesterday, Thursday, November 11. A resident reported being gone from the house for only an hour and a half that morning, returning to find the back door broken into and items missing.

After the burglary was called in, police made their way through the area, alerting neighbors to the burglary and to the Crime Prevention meeting being held next Tuesday.

UPDATE (6:37 pm): Seattle Crime has a post up with more information about the arrests made in Maple Leaf on Wednesday.

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Roosiehood and I are in close contact with Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center’s Coordinator, Trevor Gregg.  We have let him know that our Crime Prevention meeting on Tuesday has the potential to get far more people wanting to attend than we originally anticipated.

We will update you tomorrow on the status of the meeting space and how many more people we will be able to accommodate. We certainly don’t want to turn anyone away, if possible.

The meeting is currently showing as “SOLD OUT” on our RSVP system, but I urge you to get on the waitlist so we can see how many more people are interested in attending.

Burglary streak continuing in November

Just received an updated residential burglary list for Ravenna from Crime Prevention Coordinator Diane Horswill at the North Precinct of the Seattle Police Department.

I wish I could report some improvement.

This first one was reported to the Ravenna Blog on the day it happened (Burglaries take a holiday, then get right back to work):

11/01  7300blk 20th NE  the victim says that the suspect(s) there a brick through the glass in his back door and rifled his wife’s jewelry box and smashed a child’s piggy bank and stole the contents (about $30)

These next three (THREE?!) are new:

11/03  6800blk Ravenna Ave NE  the victim was away all day, when he returned he found that the air conditioner was removed from a back window allowing the suspect(s) to enter, an X-Box, games, a laptop and jewelry were stolen

11/04  8000blk 19th NE  the victim was gone for a few hours during the day, when she returned she found her kitchen door kicked in, the only item taken was a digital camera

11/04  1700blk NE 75th the victim came home to find that the suspect(s) had used a brick to break out her kitchen door window and then reached inside to unlock the door, a jewelry box with some jewelry in it was stolen

Seems like a good time to plug our Crime Prevention meeting on Tuesday, November 16th again.  Go back to this post to RSVP: You’re Invited: Crime Prevention Meeting on November 16.

I wish I had better news, Ravenna, I really do.

You’re Invited: Crime Prevention Meeting on November 16

In light of recent burglaries and car prowls in the Ravenna and Roosevelt Neighborhoods, Ravennablog.com and Roosiehood.com are co-hosting an evening with North Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Diane Horswill.

The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 16th, at the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center (6535 Ravenna Avenue NE). Start time is 7:30 pm.

Come learn how you can start a block watch program on your own street, help prevent future crimes, and make our neighborhoods safer.

Anyone is welcome to attend, but seating is limited. Please RSVP so that we know how many people are coming.

Burglaries take a holiday, then get right back to work

From Jenny, via email:

Our neighbor at 73rd and 20th got robbed today [November 1] too. Just came home to find a broken glass door and missing stuff. Cops are cruising the ‘hood.

Looks like November is starting where October left off, in terms of Ravenna burglaries.

From an email from Diane Horswill, our area’s Crime Prevention Coordinator for the North Precinct of the Seattle Police Department:

[I] would say that the Ravenna burglaries in particular [compared to Roosevelt’s] are somewhat higher than is average for the neighborhood especially since many areas are experiencing lower than average rates right now.

Included in the email was a recap of residential burglaries and car prowls for  October: Our neighborhood finished up the month with 12 residential burglaries, all but one occurring on a weekday.

That’s twelve too many. And I can’t say I care much for how November’s starting out, either.

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Ravenna Blog and the Roosevelt Neighborhood Blog are working with Diane on setting up a Block Watch Program meeting some time in the next couple weeks. Our respective sites will let you know when a date and location have been found, at which point we might enlist our readers to help spread the word about the event.

Burglaries continue in the neighborhood

The Wedgwood View reported yesterday that a break-in had occurred on the 7000 block of 24th Ave NE on October 11.

From the full police report, the homeowner arrived home in the afternoon to find her front doors open, at which point she called 911.  After police arrived, it was found that someone had entered through her kitchen window (flower pots placed on the window sill had been removed).  It was not clear at the time that anything had been taken from the house.

We move now to Thursday, October 14, and 6800 block of 17th Ave NE.

Homeowner finds the south kitchen window broken and items thrown onto the floor. Missing from the home were two laptop computers, and some video games and game systems. An older video camera had been removed from its case but left in the house.

And now to this Monday, October 18, near the corner of NE 70th St and 19th Ave NE.

From homeowner Kathie (from the NE Seattle Moms group, used with Kathie’s permission):

Our house was burglarized yesterday sometime between 9:30am and 4:30pm. We live near the corner of 70th and 19th. The burglar(s) took a rock and smashed in the window of our back door, reached through, and unlocked the deadbolt. They took jewelry, electronics, savings bonds and a small amount of cash. They went straight for the master bedroom – pulling out every drawer and dumping it on the floor. They even emptied my son’s piggy bank (clearly no shame). The police said they were likely only there for 10-15 minutes.

One thing to note – the officer said that if anyone comes to your door and seems suspicious, just call 911. There are many legitimate door to door salesmen, but he just said use your instinct – if it seems shady, then report it. After this happened, I talked to my mom who recently house sat for us. She said that someone came to the door and asked her “Where would you like your newspaper delivered?” She just said, “I don’t live here, but just leave it where you typically would.” Afterwards, she said that she thought it was a bit unusual. We haven’t taken the newspaper for 3 years so it was clearly a scam.

Since yesterday, I have talked to several people with very similar stories. Be on the lookout. And – back up your hard drives – that was the one piece of sanity I had as I was driving home yesterday after learning that we’d been burglarized – I had just backed up my hard drive, so the things that mattered (my pictures) were safe. The rest is replaceable.

What is there for a homeowner to do?  I’ll leave you with a link to the Seattle Police Department’s North Precinct Crime Prevention page. There you can find tips for keeping your home secure, data when most burglaries occur, and more.

You may also want to contact our North Crime Prevention Coordinators for more help (before their jobs disappear). Their contact information is included on the North Precinct Crime Prevention site as well.