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ActiveSpace to open new location

ActivSpace, a company which rents workspaces to artists, hobbyists and entrepreneurs, will open its fifth Seattle location in May at 4817 Aurora Ave. N. near the Woodland Park Zoo. ActivSpace already has buildings in Fremont on Leary Way, as well as in Ballard, Lake City and Luna Park.

ActivSpace was founded in 1995 by husband-and-wife team Jude Siddall and Gary Romain. The company also has three branches in Portand, Ore., and plans to open facilities in Berkeley, Calif., and Boulder, Colo., in the near future.

U-District businesses increase security

In response to problems with aggressive pan-handling, drunkenness and drug-dealing on University Way NE, also known as ³The Ave,² University District businesses are taking steps to increase security.

One option they are considering is hiring a private security company to patrol the area, using funds collected via local Business Improvement Area taxes. Currently, the Greater University Chamber of Commerce uses BIA funds to hire off-duty police officers to safeguard shoppers, business people and residents.

According to Teresa Lord Hugel, executive director of the University Chamber, the Seattle Police Department also plans to reinstitute foot and bicycle patrols along the The Ave soon. For more information, on the new U-District security plan, call Hugel as 547-4417.

Finders Keepers opens in Lake City

On March 5, a new consignment clothing store opened in Lake City called Finders Keepers. The store sells both new and used womenıs, childrenıs and maternity clothing.

Owner Jan Higginbotham, a Maple Leaf resident, left a sales job in the high-tech industry to open Finderıs Keepers, which is her first business.

³I wanted to work for myself and and I enjoy working with people,² Higginbotham said, adding that one of her favorite things about the store is chatting with customers.

Finders Keepers in located at 10522 Lake City Way NE.

Miller takes over Edward Jones office in Lake City

Jack Miller is the new head of the Edward Jones investments office in Lake City. He replaces Bruce Edwards, who left in January to work for another company. Miller is assisted by branch office administrator Danielle Kolling.

Miller, 50, is a Wisconsin native who moved here in 1983 with his future wife, Julie Petterson, a Seattle-area native.

The couple, who married after settling down here, lived in the Meadowbrook community before buying their current home in the Cedar Park neighborhood six years ago. They have two sons: Jake, 12, and John Henry, 9. Petterson works as a counselor at Mountlake Terrace High School. In Wisconsin, Miller was a high school English teacher who also coached track and cross country. Unable to find a full-time teaching job here, he switched careers to work in the fitness club business. From 1984-85, he managed the Andersonıs Nautilus club near Green Lake. The following year, he changed careers again to become a stock broker. He joined the Edward Jones company last summer.

One nice thing about working in Lake City, says Miller, is that he lives so close, he can jog to work in the morning. ³Iım really happy to be here,² he says.

Green Lake resident turns personal chef

Green Lake resident Betsy Rogers is owner of Ovens to Betsy, a personal chef service that launched in December. Her company offers catering for large groups or meals prepared in clientsı homes for those who donıt know how to or are too busy to cook. While Rogers has had little formal culinary training, she has been cooking for friends and family for over 20 years. ³Just as maid services have transitioned from a luxury for the wealthy to something that regular folks now use, so, too, have personal chef services,² she says.

Reckless Video reopens

On Thanksgiving Day, a fire destroyed three Maple Leaf businesses including Reckless Video. On March 17, the store rose from the ashes in its new location at 9020 Roosevelt Way NE, a house made available by Tom and Karen Stephenson, owners of Stephenson Ace Hardware, located at 9000 Roosevelt Way NE. They are both landlords and in-laws to Reckless Videoıs owner, Mike Kelley.

In a flier he has circulated announcing the reopening of his store, Kelley said there are still about 100 unreturned rental videos that had been checked out prior to the fire. He would greatly appreciate their prompt return.

For more information, call the store at 524-4473.

Wallingford Chamber elects new president

Ron Sheck has been elected president of the Wallingford Chamber of Commerce. He succeeds Simone Andrus, owner of Wide World Books, who continues to serve on the board. While Sheck, 64, lives in Fremont, he joined the Wallingford Chamber because Wallingford is where he and his wife Marilyn do much of their shopping.

The couple moved here two years ago when Marilyn took a job as Seattle Public Libraryıs director of information technology.

Sheck was born in Wenatchee, but lived all over the country as a youth because his father was in the Air Force. After earning a Ph.D in geography from the University of Oregon, he spent 20 years as a professor, at Ohio State University and New Mexico State University, before taking a job as director of rail and transit for New Mexicoıs Department of Transportation. He later became director of intermodal research for the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida. In 1998, he left to become a transportation consultant. He currently works as a consultant for the Washington State Department of Transportation, helping to coordinate DOTıs efforts with Sound Transit.

Sheckıs goals for the chamber include increasing membership, launching a neighborhood marketing program and seeking ways to make the chamber meaningful to merchants. The chamber also looks forward to organizing a street festival to accompany the 53rd annual Wallingford Seafair Kiddies Parade on July 7.