Those signs outside The Hall at Fauntleroy are a hint at what’s happening inside tonight … the 34th District Democrats‘ second-to-last meeting before the general election. We’re here to find out what the area’s largest political organization is up to – one promised presentation will include the Democrats’ presidential-campaign strategy “precinct by precinct,” according to a gentleman putting together a projected presentation – that should be interesting, given how things are playing out on a national level right now. Any major news that emerges, we’ll post as/when it happens; otherwise, look for a roundup later. Meantime, we’re also still working on a story that emerged from today’s monthly West Seattle Chamber of Commerce luncheon meeting — the four developers responsible for eight major projects in the Junction area all presented updates — with some info you may not have heard before — that’s coming up later tonight.
In hopes of a little extra heads-up, we ran down tonight’s highlights as the week began (transportation forum, neighborhood-group meetings, Seal Sitters training, here’s the full preview for tonight). So now, a few words about Wednesday and Thursday highlights:
THURSDAY: The monthly West Seattle Second Thursday Art Walk, 6-9 pm. Haven’t been lately? It’s not just The Junction any more — participants all over West Seattle; full lineup here. The High Point Neighborhood Association‘s having its quarterly meeting at 6 pm at the Commons Park Amphltheater (pedestrian-safety issues may come up, given what happened last week, but that would be after 7 pm – from 6-7, as noted in comments below, the meeting will include a program about Somali/East African culture). And the Design Review Board meeting for BlueStar‘s Spring Hill mixed-use building at 5020 California (new design previewed here) is at 6:30 pm at Hiawatha.
Both from the P-I’s “Big Blog“: #1 – A West Seattle woman digs up photos from the beauty pageant in which she and Sarah Palin were both contestants. (Our own weird Palin side note is that someone anonymously sent the WSB mailbox a “Sarah Palin for Vice President” bumper sticker many MONTHS ago; specifically, it said MOTHERS AGAINST GOV’T CORRUPTION/GOV’T SARAH PALIN FOR VP/(smaller type) JOHN MCCAIN FOR PRESIDENT. We gave it to a friend. Next time someone sends us something random, we will remind ourselves that anything could become a collector’s item someday.) #2 – If you’re inclined to go downtown tomorrow night, we’re on a P-I-moderated panel about the neighborhood-blogging biz. Among our fellow panelists, the just-decloaked “Geeky Swedes” of MyBallard.com. (We have a side note on that one too; Cory Bergman and I both held the same management job at KCPQ TV, a few years apart — TR)
Not too long ago, Elise wrote with a question/concern about a van parked in her neighborhood and whether it had the right to be parked the way it was frequently parked. We made a suggestion or two in e-mail; some of her questions had to do with the rules about Residential Parking Zones (city webpage here), and as Elise proceeded to do some research, she thought you might benefit from what she found out:
1) Even if you have a zone permit (or guest permit) you must move your car every 72 hours. Basically, having the permit does not exempt you from those rules. But, you are allowed to park anywhere in your zone as long as you
have your permit.
2) The city is considering changing the rules on the # of permits that can be issued per/household to only 2. I asked when this would be in effect and she said she did not know. City Councilwoman Jan Drago chairs the Transportation Committee, so she would be a good person to contact in order to express support of this proposal (jan.drago@seattle.gov).
3) If you have complaints about habitual “junk” motor vehicles in the neighborhood it’s best to still call the abandoned vehicle hotline at 206-684-8763. This creates an electronic track record of the car(s) movements. Like the guy in our neighborhood with 8 cars – they refer to those people as “car ranchers” (anyone with between 5-30 cars) who constantly move their cars around on city streets to avoid getting tickets. The only way to have the city do anything about them is by creating the electronic track record. The person I spoke with at the Citizen Service Bureau (206-684-8811) also said the UW School of Law offers a free “Mediation Clinic” to help resolve issues between neighbors (obviously for extreme situations), but their # is 206-685-4140.
(classic 1939 trailer for “Wizard of Oz”)
If you’re going through outdoor-movie withdrawal after the end of the West Seattle Movies on the Wall series last Saturday, you might want to be at High Point Community Center tonight, where Thursday night Family Night activities continue, with “The Wizard of Oz” showing just after 6 pm. As for something else a lot of people will be watching tonight – we haven’t heard of any major West Seattle viewing parties for Sen. Barack Obama’s acceptance speech BUT the 34th District Democrats were promoting the 11th District Democrats‘ viewing party in Tukwila – here’s the info on that. If you’re in south West Seattle or White Center, tonight’s the monthly South Delridge/White Center Community Safety meeting, 6 pm at St. James Place (9421 18th SW; map) – with an excellent agenda item, best practices for when and how to call 911. LOTS of other events tonight, and you can find them on the frequently updated WSB Events calendar page.
OK, a little spooky to get these after coming home from “Ghostbusters”(see previous post). On the other hand, it’s the full moon, so who knows. But we’ve received two notes about this already, so we’re throwing it out for discussion (and also looking around to see if there are similar reports from any other neighborhoods, or any other explanation, such as meteors, or fireworks, or …) – here’s one of the notes:
Around 9:30 this evening many neighbors between 55th and 57th Ave SW (close to the beach) noticed numerous orange glowing lights in the sky. There were at least 8 – 10 of them, all perfectly round and perfectly spaced apart and in the form of an arc. They didn’t move very much from the formation they made, but others said they saw one or two appeared to cool slightly and then fall out of the sky. We were worried about where they fell and whether they might start a fire. I walked a 4 square block radius trying to find someone shooting off flares or perhaps they were might be embers from a house fire or something similar that would explain the glowing lights. Nothing. By the time I got back to my home they had disappeared. Any ideas on what they could be? One neighbor’s theory is that they might have been some type of paper lantern with candles that were released into the sky as some type of memorial…
The second note was similar, though shorter. (By the way, speaking of lights in the sky, there’s a fireworks show scheduled on Elliott Bay next Thursday night in connection with a sailing race; we saw it on the routine Coast Guard “local notice for mariners,” and have messages out to try to find out exactly where on the bay.)
I just had a rehearsal dinner for my wedding this past Friday at Lincoln Park right on the water (closest to the Vashon ferry, shelter #3) .
A close family member of mine believes she has lost the most precious objects she owns there. It’s a gold Medic Alert bracelet. Her son passed away in 2001, and she had his bracelet saved and remade for her. She has worn it for the past 7 years day and night. She’s convinced that it has fallen off at the park during this dinner. We have looked in the area and have been unsuccessful. It’s a very unique piece and had some custom engraving on it (In memory of you, Josh 10-19-79 to 5-31-01). I’ve attached pictures that approximates what it looks like. We plan on going to local pawn shops to inquire about it as well. Just thought it may be worth it to check with any WSB readers.
If you have any idea where it is, please e-mail or call us (all the options are on our Contact page) and we will put you in touch with Libbe and her relative. We usually invite people with lost/found items to post in the WSB Forum (except for pets, for whom we have a separate page) but this one’s a special case; hope someone in WSB-land can help.
FIRST: A “public auction” sign is now up at the closed-last-month (WSB coverage here) Corner Inn (auction’s next Tuesday; here’s the item list, on the James G. Murphy auctioneers site) … SECOND: Illusions Hair Design (WSB sponsor) has sent an e-mail alert to customers that sidewalk work outside their business and others (west side of California SW between Juneau and Findlay) will start Monday, last three weeks, and affect parking. THIRD: Pink notes like this are on doors at Denny Middle School:
Thanks to the WSB’er who tipped us that Seattle Public Schools posted notices that it’s treating Denny with pesticide today. The notices say they’re doing it in the lunch room and bathrooms, and the pesticide is Onslaught.
CLOSURES:Southwest Community Center, all week (maybe a little longer), related to the renovations at adjacent Southwest Pool … West Seattle Driver Licensing office, reopening Wednesday.
Though a couple citywide-media articles implied police wouldn’t really go around dealing with fireworks calls, what we’re hearing on the scanner is a different story- plenty of them around the city, and it sounds like officers are being dispatched in some cases. Fire crews are busy too; Engine 37 (from 35th SW) just went to an “illegal burn” call at California/Willow south of Morgan Junction, reportedly “guys drinking and having a bonfire in the front yard.” We drove Harbor/Alki Aves just after dusk, noting the RVs setting up in prime streetside viewing spots in advance of tomorrow, and seeing bottle rockets bursting in air from the neighborhoods south of the beach. Here’s the live 911 link if you don’t already have it bookmarked and want to check what you’re hearing.
(USCG Eagle, photographed from Duwamish Head viewpoint, added 4:49 pm)
We are continuing to update the “West Seattle bank robbery leads to downtown gunfire” story. Also, we are at Duwamish Head watching for the Coast Guard tall ship to come into view. (3:45 PM UPDATE: Looks like it’s coming around Magnolia now; 4:24 PM UPDATE, well in view now – though its sails aren’t up – and fireboat is out too.) But we are working on other news too, starting, in this post, with the big news from Starbucks – 600 company-operated stores to close this year. So far, NO LIST AVAILABLE – but this “message from Howard” just posted at starbucks.com after a 2:30 pm conference call says that all stores will know “by mid-July” if they are staying open or closing. (A commenter at starbucksgossip.com claims word’s due tomorrow.) The earlier news release says more than two-thirds of those that will close are stores that have opened in the past couple years.
You’re always welcome to post a lost/found report in the WSB Forums, or to send us pet lost/found info/pix for the Pets page; once in a while we mention unusual cases here on the news page too, and this is one: Karene-mailed that she is desperately searching for the camera with photos from her mom’s NINETIETH birthday celebration – actually, she just wants the disc back:
I am so sick at heart. While leaving on an anticipated trip on Sunday I inadverntley left my camera on the steps of our front porch. We live near the Junction Hardware. It’s gone. The camera scan card holds photos of my mother’s 90th birthday party. If the “finder†wants to come back I’ll just hand over the camera bag, lenses and accessories in exchange for the disk.
If you have info, Karen’s number is 206.935.1915; she says it’s a black camera with extension and sun hood.
More than a few e-mails this morning asking about a helicopter flying around northeastern West Seattle around 5:30 am – checked with Sgt. Jeff Durden at Southwest Precinct and it doesn’t seem to have been associated with police activity. We’ll see if we can find out anything from aviation-related sources.
The whole WSB team is back from the rest of tonight’s events – most of which ran longer than expected — we are processing photos, video, info, all that. But here are the toplines, or bottom lines if you will:
—Fauntleroy Place groundbreaking: Seafair Pirates were there. So were the Hulings. And the various dignitaries mentioned earlier.
—Design Review Board meeting on 3811 Charlestown: New design with preservation element pronounced “99% successful.” Co-publisher Patrick, who covered Design Review this time, insists KING 5’s Jim Forman was there. Having worked 20-plus years in TV and never known a TV reporter to turn up for something as neighborhood-level as a Design Review meeting, I won’t believe it till I see it, on TV or online (no time to check yet). UPDATE: Here’s the clip.
–Design Review Board meeting on 4532 42nd: Not so glowing, needs more work.
More details on all of the above as soon as we can put it all together (along with more details from the Parks Board). Plus pix of tonight’s second graduation (Seattle Lutheran) are coming up momentarily.
We mentioned last week that one of the agenda items at the monthly meeting of the West Seattle Community Safety Partnership (previous report here) was an update on the proposal to rename the group. Some have wondered if its current name is a clear-enough reflection of the group’s mission; once upon a time, it was the West Seattle Anti-Crime Council. We thought we’d share the potential new names here to see what you think:Read More
CITY JOB FAIR: 10 am-6 pm at the Joint Training Facility on Myers Way; map and more info in this post from last week.
DELRIDGE DISTRICT COUNCIL: This is the monthly meeting of reps from neighborhood groups and other organizations in the eastern West Seattle area the city considers the “Delridge District.” Public always welcome. 7 pm, Southwest Precinct meeting room.
We’ll keep updating the item below on the 31st SW standoff as info/pix become available. Sometimes these things go on a long time, however, so two other things to share in the meantime: First, a reader report that the third suspect in this morning’s Admiral burglary-suspect case (original report here) has apparently just been apprehended; will work to confirm with police. Second, Robin Williams is coming back to Seattle and will again donate “artist’s proceeds” from one show to the West Seattle Food Bank; more information here. (He did the same thing around this time last year; WSB report here.)
Potentially of interest if there’s a high-school senior in your house — or anybody else heading for college (hey, my mom went at 40!): In today’s Washington Post, West Seattle author Anne Crossman co-authors an article debunking 5 myths that the college-bound might fear are truths. Read it here. She also co-authored the recently published book “Getting the Best Out of College.”
CONGRATULATIONS!Southwest Youth and Family Services, based in North Delridge, just got word today that it’s the winner of the city’s 2008 Seattle Human Services Coalition Outstanding Organization Award. SWYFS will be honored at City Hall on June 5th.
FASHION, ANYONE? The West Seattle-based organization Northwest Hope and Healing, which helps newly diagnosed breast-cancer patients with some of the practicalities of life, still has tickets available for its gala fashion show at Showbox SoDo tomorrow night. Not only is NW H & H based in WS (its founder, Christine Smith, is a West Seattle mom and breast cancer survivor), but most of the fashion-show models are from West Seattle, and local boutiques are participating including Clementine, Sweetie,Carmilia’s, and Coastal. You can find out more about the show, including how to get tickes, at the NW H & H website.
RUMMAGE SALES THIS WEEKEND: Want to get in the mood for West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day on May 10? We just heard about another big rummage sale this weekend, Highland Park Elementary, 9 am-3 pm Saturday. The school explains that “proceeds will go towards buying a cargo container for the school’s Emergency Supplies to keep Highland Park students safe In the event of a natural disaster.” (If you have anything to donate, drop it off at the school by 3 pm Friday; 206/252-8240 if you have questions.) The rummage sale at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church continues this weekend too, Friday and Saturday.
SPEAKING OF WSCGSD: Turns out that WSCGSD, May 10, is also the day of the big food drive you can participate in without leaving your house – the National Association of Letter Carriers “Stamp Out Hunger” door-to-door food drive, where all you have to do is put a bag of nonperishable food out by your mailbox (or door if you get your mail there), and your letter carrier will pick it up. All donations stay local.
SPEAKING OF FOOD DONATIONS: One more mention, tomorrow night (6 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy) is also the first-ever “Instruments of Change” fundraiser for the West Seattle Food Bank. Find out more at the WSFB website. (4:10 PM UPDATE: Eve Holt at WSFB tells us the event’s sold out and they’re thankful to everyone for their support!)
FILM CREW AT WESTWOOD VILLAGE: In case you see it over by Eats Market and you’re wondering what’s up (thanks to Kristen for the tip and the follow-up info), they’re shooting a commercial for Sleep Country USA, till about 1 pm.
PHOTOGRAPHERS’ RIGHTS: We get lots of great pix from photographers both professional and nonprofessional around West Seattle, so when WS-based lawyer and WSB reader Venkat Balasubramani told us about this, we thought some of them might want to know: Tonight at Photographic Center Northwest (900 12th Ave, map), 6:15 pm, he’s discussing the legal rights of photographers who take photographs in public places. To register (discount in advance), go here.
CONCERT ON THE WATER IN WEST SEATTLE: Jennifer Kallen, the promoter for Firefly Concert Series, says the venue for this has changed to a waterfront residence in WS and there are a few tickets left: Rebecca Riots, 8 pm Saturday (after a 7 pm potluck). More info and tickets available here.
GO FISH!!!! Also Saturday — the first Hi-Yu event of the year is earlier than ever this time around, and while it’s on our Events page, we also wanted to give it a special advance shout-out as you plan your weekend: The West Seattle Sportsmen’s Club presents the annual Kids’ Fishing Derby at Seacrest, 8 am-11 am Saturday. Here’s a pic from a previous derby:
As Karen Haynes-Palmquist explains:
It is FREE to kids under age 14. Poles, bait, etc. are all supplied to fish for trout with, along with the expert help of the Sportsmen. The West Seattle Hi-Yu junior and senior court and candidates will also be there. A pond is set up with more than 100 fish, and goodie bags are distributed to all participants whether they catch a fish or not. Kids get to keep their catch. Information on the Sportsmen can be found at www.wssportsmen.org.
We wanted to know why a neighborhood flag was half-lowered, so of course, we asked “The Google.” 
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