New Affordable Housing Opens in Central District: After 40 years of neglect, a contaminated lot in the Central District has been transformed into much needed, low-income housing in the Central District, which opens today.

Change Those Fire Alarm Batteries, Plz: The Seattle Fire Department responded to a call in Greenwood last Sunday morning to find a burning duplex and a man dead on the bottom floor. According to the neighborhood blog, PhinneyWood, the bottom floor didn't have a working smoke detector and the battery had been taken out of the upper floor detector.

Central District Middle Schools Reopening: Central District News reports that Seattle Public Schools plans to reopen Meany Middle School by 2017 and move NOVA back into the renovated Horace Mann building (on 24th and Cherry) by 2014. Parents, mark this day on your calendars to reference during the next round of school closures.

West Seattle School Outlaws Fun: West Seattle Blog reports that Lafayette Elementary will not allow students to dress up in Halloween costumes on Wednesday the 31st, because the costumes make students "distracted."

Do You Want a Contractor to Build You a "Rain Garden" for Free? The city gives out free money to people who landscape their yards in ways that optimally collect and filter contaminated stormwater (thereby keeping it out of Lake Washington). They're called rain gardens. The neighborhood of Laurelhurst recently completed its first "Rain Garden" project and there's a Seattle contractor who's willing to inspect and landscape a rain garden for you, for free, reports the Laurelhurst Blog.