WS miscellaneous 5525 results

Thursday midday notes: Holiday help, entertainment, and more

December 11, 2008 12:15 pm

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| How to help | West Seattle schools | WS miscellaneous

Lots of quick time-sensitive mentions before some major stories start breaking (for example, the narrowed-down list of Viaduct options will go public around 3:30, if it’s not leaked sooner, and WSB will be there for that). The following is in no particular order – lots of great stuff going on:

HOLIDAY FOOD DRIVE: Another local business has one going – Dave Newman State Farm Insurance Agency (WSB sponsor), 3435 California SW, drop off a nonperishable food donation any time they’re open, 9 am-5 pm Mondays-Fridays.

LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT: Larry Knapp sent a note to say he’s on piano at The Bohemian tonight, 6-9 pm. (Also live music tonight, as there is almost every night, at Skylark Cafe and Club [WSB sponsor], starting at 9 – Donerail, Otherwise, Lyons Mane, Skylark’s calendar page has times and links to musicians’ websites.)

PATHFINDER SCHOOL CRAFT AND GIFT SALE UPDATE: We mentioned this several hours ago. Now we have the exact time frame for today’s sale: 1-3 pm and 6:30-8:30 pm. (Here’s a map to the school.)

ANOTHER HOLIDAY DRIVE FOR PETS: We mentioned Furry Faces/Purrfect Pals/Pet Elements yesterday. Now there’s word that Stella Ruffington, which like PE is in Morgan Junction, is a dropoff spot for the Seattle Dog Daycares Association pet food/toy drive for Lifelong Aids Alliance, through the end of the year.

SCHMITZ PARK ELEMENTARY HOLIDAY DRIVE: Schmitz Park PTA co-president Julie Foster wrote with word that Schmitz Park is sponsoring a Joy of Giving holiday drive to benefit Treehouse, which she describes as “an amazing local organization helping our community’s foster kids.” Joy of Giving wish lists are available at the school and online at www.treehouseforkids.org – Julie suggests printing them out, passing them around, and then get the gifts (new, unwrapped toys, clothes or cash donations) to the school by 12/19. Contact her with questions: jul.foster@hotmail.com

“PLAID TIDINGS” SHOW ADDED: If you haven’t already seen them at ArtsWest, maybe you saw their sampler at the West Seattle Junction Tree Lighting last Saturday – the guys from Plaid Tidings are rockin’ The Junction and tickets have gone so far, ArtsWest just added two more shows: 7:30 pm the next two Sundays, December 14 and 21. Tickets are available online.

LAST BUT BY NO MEANS LEAST — WSB FORUM MEMBERS INVITE YOU TO A POTLUCK BENEFIT PARTY THIS SUNDAY!!! If you haven’t already been following this on the WSB Forums (which are celebrating their first anniversary this month), Forum members are organizing a holiday get-together this Sunday and want to invite ALL WSB’ers to be part of it. It’s a potluck and also a benefit. 3 pm Sunday 12/14 at Big Al’s Brewing in White Center – upstairs, so all ages are welcome. Read on for the full list of what to bring along, including how to join in helping folks for the holidays:Read More

Happening today/tonight: Jam-packed Thursday

December 11, 2008 6:34 am

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| WS miscellaneous

Besides the holiday edition of the West Seattle Art Walk, as mentioned in the previous post, here are some highlights for the next 16 hours or so:

ALASKAN WAY VIADUCT: The Stakeholders Advisory Committee meets again at 4:30 pm. During last week’s media briefing, reporters were told the list of 8 “scenarios” for replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct‘s Central Waterfront section would be narrowed to 2 or 3 hybrids today. That should happen when, or before, the SAC gets together for the second time this week, at City Hall.

COOPER CLOSURE? A 6:30 pm meeting is planned at Cooper Elementary, now facing the possibility its “program” will be eliminated so the building can become the new home for Pathfinder K-8 (two weeks after Arbor Heights Elementary was proposed for that role).

SOUTH DELRIDGE/WHITE CENTER COMMUNITY SAFETY COALITION: Crimefighting and safety advocacy for southeastern West Seattle and neighboring White Center, 6 pm, Boys and Girls Club @ 9800 8th SW

PARKS BOARD: Several items of West Seattle interest on the agenda tonight, including an update on the reservoir-lidding program (with a future park at Westcrest; read the briefing paper here) and a change in parks-naming policy (read the proposed policy here), 7 pm, Parks Department HQ at Denny Park downtown.

SMALL AND SIMPLE AWARDS: 6 pm, Alki Elementary, the mayor and others will honor local organizations that are receiving the Department of Neighborhoods‘ latest round of Small and Simple Awards (including basketball-court improvements at Arbor Heights).

WEST SEATTLE TRAILS WORKSHOP: As part of a larger DON grant, signs and kiosks are going up around West Seattle to help walkers and bikers find their way – and you are invited to help shape the art and information they’ll contain. Camp Long Lodge, 6:30 pm – children 6-12 welcome to come along and to enjoy a nature class about owls during the meeting.

More in the WSB Events calendar (reminder, if you have an event coming up and it’s not there or – if more appropriate – on our Holidays page, PLEASE let us know so we can add it! editor@westseattleblog.com)

Happening today/tonight: Six highlights

December 4, 2008 7:06 am

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| The Kenney | WS miscellaneous

ARBOR HEIGHTS BAZAAR: Long before they were rocked by the proposal to close their “program,” the Arbor Heights Elementary community had been getting ready for this big holiday event. Now, it packs extra punch. Go visit them and find everything from pizza to performances to presents, 4 pm-8 pm (full details here).

SCHOOL CLOSURES COMMUNITY MEETING: However they shake out, the closures/changes are on a fast track, and the district wants community suggestions ASAP. Tonight’s the next chance, 6:30-8:30 pm at Stanford Center (district HQ) in Sodo (more info here).

SANISLO ELEMENTARY CONCERT AT WEST SEATTLE HIGH SCHOOL: It’s a celebration to conclude Sanislo‘s musical residency with Joe Craven, and the community’s invited, free! 6:30 pm

COMMUNITY MEETING ON THE KENNEY’S MEGAPROJECT: Morgan Community Association and Fauntleroy Community Association have joined forces to get questions answered regarding where the project stands and what happens next, Fauntleroy Church (WSB sponsor) fellowship hall, 7 pm (previous WSB coverage of the project is archived here; the next Design Review meeting is finally on the city website, 8 pm 12/18 at Madison Middle School)

GOT YOUR OWN PROJECT IN MIND? Ventana Construction (WSB sponsor) presents its next edition of the free “Building a Better Home: Remodeling and Custom Home Workshop” tonight at Ventana offices, 5458 California Ave SW, 6:30 pm. Call 206-932-3009 to make sure there’s still room.

LATE-NIGHT SHOPPING: Another WSB sponsor, Click! Design That Fits in Admiral, has the first of its Late-Night Thursdays holiday shopping events tonight, open till 9 with “rotating specials, snacks and libations from 6 to 9 pm” each of the next three Thursdays (this week’s special, 15% off all holiday decorations and cards during the event).

More on the frequently updated WSB West Seattle Events calendar, which runs well into next year.

Bacon-mania strikes WSB Forums

November 30, 2008 6:17 pm

| 7 COMMENTS

| West Seattle online | West Seattle people | WS miscellaneous

They’ve organized fundraisers … they’ve organized knitting and book clubs … and now .. WSB Forum members are joining forces to buy bacon. See why, here.

Thanksgiving Day info: Grocery-store hours too

November 26, 2008 8:01 pm

| 4 COMMENTS

| Holidays | WS miscellaneous

Also from the WSB Holiday Happenings page, just in case you forgot something and have to rush out tomorrow to find it: Metropolitan Market will be open till 2 pm (then closing till 6 am Friday); Thriftway will be open 5 am-4 pm; QFC will be open till 6 pm (then closing until 5 am Friday); the Safeways remain open 24 hours; PCC will be closed.

Possible scam alert: Looking for a charge

November 26, 2008 8:44 am

| 12 COMMENTS

| WS miscellaneous

Forwarded by Mike Dady from the North Delridge Neighborhood Council, who was asked by a Youngstown resident to “get the word out” about a suspicious situation:Read More

Port news: Maersk switching from Tacoma to Seattle

November 25, 2008 12:34 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| WS miscellaneous

Didn’t notice this Tacoma News-Tribune story till the P-I published a short version: Maersk Line will switch its container-shipping calls from Tacoma to Seattle next spring. Doesn’t say which terminal will be used – but Seattle’s been freeing more spring/summer freighter space by clearing cruise ships out of Terminal 30 and moving them to the Magnolia side (91).

Meteorite sighting?

November 22, 2008 8:24 pm

| 6 COMMENTS

| WS miscellaneous

Just in from Jim:

Just saw a big flash over West Seattle about 8:00 from my viewpoint here in Shorewood. Of Course someone in West Seattle might have seen a big flash over the Olympics for all I know. One of the brightest I’ve seen in years.

This reminds us of a meteor clip posted on Slog today – going to go look for that. There is an annual meteor shower in the middle of November … researching that too. 8:34 PM ADDITION: The meteor shower was “Leonids,” which peaked Monday. This is the Edmonton dashcam video of a meteor sometime Thursday (as featured on Slog earlier):

Happening today/tonight: Too much to describe in this headline

November 20, 2008 6:03 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

Much happening today even before the unscheduled news starts breaking. First, two media briefings that aren’t public events, but WSB will be there to bring you the news as close to immediately as possible: There’s a City Hall briefing at 10 am about the jail-site search — the first official jail-related news in months. 11 am at Seattle Center, it’s a briefing about the Viaduct-solution search; this time, we’ll get information on projected cost of the various options — including the much-buzzed “integrated elevated,” shown above in a WSDOT rendering. The following events are all open to the public: West Seattle Democratic Women‘s monthly lunch, 11:15 @ West Seattle Golf Course, call 935-3216 by 10 am for a reservation; High Point Community Center has a free (early) Thanksgiving dinner, from turkey to door prizes, 6-8 pm; Southwest Community Center hosts its final workshop on designing a new fitness room, 6 pm; the Southwest Design Review Board looks at the revised proposal for the Admiral Safeway rebuild, 6:30 pm at West Seattle (Admiral) Library; Alki Community Council meets at Alki Community Center, 7 pm. Fun stuff tonight too, like “Girlfriends’ Night Out” at Capers in The Junction – see the Events calendar for more.

Bonus points for liveliest news release du jour

November 18, 2008 10:37 am

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle people | WS miscellaneous

George Howland, who used to handle City Council communications, does that sort of thing for the Seattle Channel now. He promised the city-run cable channel would be doing a better job of getting the word out about its eclectic programming (which has even included us). So this just landed in the inbox – yes, an energetically written city news release that even calls the mayor “Hizzoner” – although seriously, what would YOU ask him?:

Budget cuts? Youth violence? Winter floods? Do you have questions for Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels? Want to have them answered on live TV? On Wednesday, November 19, 7 pm, be sure to watch to Ask the Mayor on SEATTLE CHANNEL, Cable 21, streaming live at www.seattlechannel.org, and call 206-684-8821 to talk to the Mayor and host C.R.Douglas or e-mail your question now by writing to askthemayor@seattle.gov anytime the inspiration strikes you. If you are a journalist, an activist, or a city employee who has been trying to get access to the mayor to ask your question—now is your chance! Don’t let the opportunity to question Hizzoner pass you by! Last month, the Mayor said that the people living in the Nickelsville tent city weren’t homeless but were political activists. What will he say this month? Be sure to tune in and find out.

Last-minute reminder: Parenting talk tonight at Pathfinder K-8

November 14, 2008 1:20 pm

| 6 COMMENTS

| West Seattle schools | WS miscellaneous

Pathfinder K-8 PTSA folks say everybody’s welcome; it tackles one of the toughest topics a parent faces, in the relatively early going – when do you start talking to your kids about the “birds and the bees,” as the age-old euphemism puts it? 6:45 tonight at Pathfinder; more details online.

From the police chief: Is (public) nudity illegal in Seattle?

November 14, 2008 10:47 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle parks | West Seattle police | WS miscellaneous

Following up on the Parks Department rule proposal – which didn’t make it out of last night’s Board of Park Commissioners meeting (WSB coverage here) – SPD Blotter has posted a letter from Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske addressing the question “Is nudity illegal?” Bottom line: no easy answer.

New WSB sponsor: Honda of Seattle and Toyota of Seattle

November 14, 2008 10:30 am

| 3 COMMENTS

| WS miscellaneous

No more new-car dealerships in West Seattle – so if you want to buy, you have to go elsewhere, and two of your options have just joined the WSB sponsor team — though new-car sales is just part of what they do — Honda of Seattle and Toyota of Seattle. We always offer new sponsors a chance to tell you about their business, and here’s what they’d like you to know: “Since 1986 and 1991, Honda of Seattle and Toyota of Seattle, respectively, have been a family-owned business and an active member of the Downtown Seattle community. Our tagline says it all… we’re located ‘Close to Home. Close to Work.’ Whether online at HondaofSeattle.com or ToyotaofSeattle.com, or in person, we invite you to experience our hassle-free sales environment. As a family-owned business since 1986, we’re honored to give back to the downtown Seattle community that has supported our growth. We’re in the people business, so our sponsorships and donations benefit people of all ages – from Seattle Schools that educate our future work force, to Senior Services that cares for people in their golden years. Each year, we collect food and funds to feed hungry people in the Puget Sound region. We continue to devote a major part of our philanthropic budget to the uncompensated care program at Harborview Medical Center. We invite you to visit, have a cup of coffee, and discuss how we can satisfy your transportation and service needs.” Location and contact info for Honda of Seattle is here; location and contact info for Toyota of Seattle is here. We welcome them to the WSB sponsor team, whose support helps us bring you 24/7 West Seattle news, information, and discussion; current lineup is here, along with info on how to join!

Veterans Day tomorrow: Various notes (plus one for today)

November 10, 2008 10:03 am

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| Holidays | WS miscellaneous

Tomorrow’s Veterans Day, and it was suggested back on Columbus Day that we put up the “who’s closed” reminders a day in advance rather than waiting till the day itself. So here goes. First, a couple more notes: Even if you didn’t answer the call on Friday, Alki Elementary invites any and all local veterans to come be honored at its assembly this afternoon, 2:15 pm, school cafeteria; also, a full list of major statewide Veterans Day events can be found on this state-website page.

Again, the following is all for TOMORROW, Tuesday 11/11/08:

BANKS: Most if not all closed
MAIL: Regular delivery, no; Express Mail, yes.
SCHOOLS: Closed
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT: Most facilities closed, including community centers (and just-reopened Southwest Pool)
PARKING: Free in the Seattle spots where you’d usually pay meters/pay stations
TRANSIT: Regular (with a few exceptions, Metro info here, Sound Transit info here)
LIBRARIES: Closed
TRASH/RECYCLING PICKUP: Normal

Happening today: Swimming, art, football

November 7, 2008 9:42 am

| 1 COMMENT

| WS & Sports | WS culture/arts | WS miscellaneous

Almost 5 months after it closed for major upgrades of systems including water heating, air circulation, and electrical service, Southwest Pool reopens at noon today (here’s our preview from yesterday) … The centennial celebration at Fauntleroy Church (WSB sponsor) continues with the Fauntleroy Art Show, open to the public in the church’s fellowship hall 7:30-9 tonight and 10 am-4 pm tomorrow (long list of artists; see it here) … High-school football tonight: Chief Sealth hosts Lakeside at Southwest Athletic Complex, 7 pm (congratulations to Seattle Lutheran for a 53-0 win over Evergreen Lutheran last night; West Seattle HS plays Enumclaw @ Memorial Stadium tomorrow) … Many more events in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup, which we’ll publish later this morning.

It’s “fall back” time – with that extra step to take

November 2, 2008 2:00 am

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| Safety | WS miscellaneous

Now that it’s 2 am Sunday on time-change day, it’s really 1 am, so it’ll be 2 am again in an hour. Anyway, here we are joining the chorus of fall-back reminders, with the smoke-detector add-on: Change those batteries. Even if you have an ultravigilant smoke detector like ours, which thinks every roast is an inferno, it still needs functioning batteries to save your life. Go change ’em.

2 Friday afternoon notes

October 31, 2008 1:37 pm

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| West Seattle online | WS miscellaneous

SHARE YOUR HALLOWEEN PIX WITH YOUR WEST SEATTLE NEIGHBORS: The pumpkin pix have been great (find them all by scrolling through our Holidays coverage archive), and now, after tonight’s fun, whatever you’re up to, please send pix – we’re going to get around to as many events as we can, but we can only pedal so fast; send pix to editor@westseattleblog.com, and we’ll put together the best wrapup of West Seattle Halloween ’08, with your help! (Remember, the events are all listed here.)

FORUM FEATURES ADDED: If you haven’t been in the WSB Forums yet today, we’ve added a few features that have been in the works for a while, by members’ request; read about (and see) ’em here.

Besieged by bugs: Sudden surge of … flies?

October 28, 2008 6:26 pm

| 26 COMMENTS

| Seen around town | WS miscellaneous

So we just returned from a post-sunset neighborhood walk (hillside east of Lincoln Park), during which, clouds of tiny flies seemed to follow us every step of the way. Thought maybe it was just us. Then, as soon as we walked into the house and checked e-mail, the WSB inbox yielded this note from “DC”:

I live right near Ercolini Park and there have been a TON of nasty little flies all over the place this evening. Anybody know what causes that phenomena, and why this time of year? Seems weird.

We’ll fly into research mode – but in the meantime, maybe you’ve already got the answer? ADDED 6:55 PM: WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli wonders if these might be the culprits – he says there were “millions” in his garden this afternoon:

RIP, West Seattle Bridge hero Jeanette Williams

October 25, 2008 10:19 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| WS miscellaneous

Posted by the P-I tonight, the obituary for former five-term Seattle City Councilmember Jeanette Williams, recounting the story of how she fought for federal funding to get The Bridge built, and extensively quoting West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who got his city-government start on Ms. Williams’ staff. $60 million of the bridge’s $150 million cost came from the federal government. (April 1973 photo at left, from the Seattle Municipal Archives.)

Police call of the night: “Naked guy at the gas station”

October 21, 2008 10:32 pm

| 10 COMMENTS

| WS miscellaneous

Just heard on the scanner, while we were trying to check on a couple of fire/aid calls: “Naked guy at the gas station at SW Alaska and Fauntleroy – only thing we have … is that he is carrying a bottle of booze, and has no clothes on.” Update – an officer just caught up with “the guy … north of the 76 station.”

Incredibly handy phone list worth printing out

October 21, 2008 11:46 am

| 4 COMMENTS

| Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Council | WS miscellaneous

We see this list at every West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting we cover … and today it just turned up in e-mail, with tonight’s agenda. It’s not just about crime – it’s about safety. If you want the numbers for the graffiti hotline, abandoned vehicle hotline, Public Health rat reports, Parking Enforcement, street-light repairs, etc., all on one sheet you can tuck into your wallet or slap on the fridge – print this and snip off the agenda part. (Thanks to Seattle Neighborhood Group, which provides staff to assist groups like WSCPC.)

Three quick notes: Gas, glasses, greenery

October 16, 2008 1:06 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Fauntleroy | Gas prices | Westwood | WS miscellaneous

FIRST SIGHTING OF WEST SEATTLE REGULAR GAS IN THE $3.10s: A short time ago at Gasco (35th/Henderson), it was down to $3.19. That’s a dime drop from their price at weekend’s end.

NOT EXACTLY ROSE-COLORED GLASSES: West Seattle entrepreneur Nate Eddings sent us his press release too, but we hadn’t gotten around to digitizing the profanity on his main product. Daily Weekly is PG-13 so they are showing his glasses in their full, um, glory.

AND THE WINNER IS … Channel 7’s 5 pm news tonight is scheduled to include the announcement of who won the Cox Conserves Heroes web vote. Thanks to everybody who voted for Fauntleroy’s Judy Pickens (and therefore for EarthCorps, which gets a $5K Cox donation if Judy wins).

Happening today/tonight: Safety rally, Scouting, more …

October 7, 2008 8:10 am

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| Arbor Heights | High Point | Westwood | WS miscellaneous

Highlights from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar (besides this of course being the night of Presidential Debate #2):

PEDESTRIAN-SAFETY RALLY: As first mentioned in this report, everyone concerned about safety on West Seattle streets is invited to join a rally 3-4 pm today at 35th/Juneau in High Point (map) – that’s the intersection where a 15-year-old girl was hit last month.

SCOUTING: Another local Cub Scout pack is signing up new members tonight – the sign-up meeting for Cub Scout Pack 799 is at 7 pm tonight, Arbor Heights Elementary lunchroom. Boys 1st-5th grade are invited.

DENNY/SEALTH PROJECT DEPARTURE ADVISORY COMMITTEE: As mentioned in our report from last night, this group is reviewing the request for zoning “departures” required by the Denny/Sealth combined-campus proposal – less parking, more height. The public’s invited to tonight’s meeting, 7 pm at the Denny cafeteria (more info here).