West Seattle, Washington
01 Thursday
Last warning — 7 pm tonight, The Hall at Fauntleroy, our West Seattle rep on the King County Council, Dow Constantine, brings the entire council to WS to look back at our windstorm woes, and look ahead to how to avoid similar trouble next time. Councilmember Constantine’s office tells us this will NOT be televised live on public access, so if you wanna know, you gotta go. (It will be taped for broadcast online and on the air tomorrow.)
Highlighting here because you’d miss ’em unless you happen to check back on certain comment threads: First, the closure of El Chalan (ex-Ezell’s, ex-Wendy’s, south of White Center) is explained in a new comment on this post; second, those late-night half-closures on the WS Bridge are demystified by a commenter here. (Regarding the El Chalan site, records from the King County Parcel Viewer confirm the “Nickels Brothers Partnership” ownership — and an entry on this page from King County court records suggests some sort of recent court action was involved, elaborated on somewhat here.)
OK, we are completely aware this is a gimmick cooked up by Metroblogging Seattle to try to get more readers, by conning other blogs into a link, though we wouldn’t have known they were running a “Best Blog in Seattle” contest except for the fact one lone person followed a link from there to here. NONETHELESS — we don’t suppose it would do any harm if you drop by MS to vote for us on Monday. Seems the preliminary round is one day only (like those olden-days sales at Bon Marche Bon Macy’s). Even more important on Monday, don’t forget about this (we’ll be there too).
We wondered for a few weeks why our site logs showed a couple people every day finding WSB while searching for “Rolf Neslund.” We knew the name — in case you don’t, he’s the ship pilot you can thank for the West Seattle high bridge; he helped smash a freighter into the old WS bridge in 1978, accelerating the process of getting a new one (which sounds like it was as tangled a process, till then, as the current viaduct mess). Then Neslund gained double infamy as a murder victim whose body was never found. We eventually learned he’s back in the news, so to speak, because his tale is at the heart of Ann Rule’s latest true-crime book, which was on the bestseller lists till a few weeks back. (The author lives not all that far south of West Seattle, we understand; also we discovered she keeps a lively blog.)
We were going to post this a little while earlier, with a couple snarky comments, then thought better of it. But now we’ve reconsidered, thanks to a thoughtful reader who passed it along. And since our power hasn’t gone off YET, we might as well post more while we still can. So, we present, the city’s “alert,” which warns, “We know there will be outages.” (Tip #6 makes us chuckle ruefully, remembering the vague SCL web info from previous outages. Perhaps they are truly prepared for detailed info this time?)
Since we’ve been keeping an eye on WS this whole year, our 2006 WSYIR will be way meatier than our 2005 WSYIR, which was our 13th post (viewed on 1/1/06 by a grand total of 0 visitors, since this blog had existed, fanfarelessly, for all of eight days at that point).
Enough about us. Here they are, the year’s top 10 WS “stories” (as we see ’em, anyway):
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Old news to some, since apparently this has been out there for a few weeks, but we just happened onto it while making a periodic check of the site for the Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association, the organization behind a variety of community improvements including most famously in the past year the Youngstown Arts Center transformation: DNDA’s longtime executive director Paul Fischburg is leaving, and they’re looking for somebody new. (We wrote to ask what he’s moving on to; he forwarded us a copy of his announcement memo, which mentioned that he’s leaving after 10 years with no particular plans, but will enjoy some down time while mulling the future.)
-Tonight is the 47th/Admiral pedestrian-safety meeting.
-The White Center Food Bank told us they appreciate all the pre-Thanksgiving help and would be happy to take donations as they get ready for a pre-Christmas distribution this Wednesday. More turkeys! Here’s where to find the WCFB.
Almost forgot to mention this before leaving our home away from home (thank God for Hotwire’s computers!) — The city has opened four shelters for people without power to “spend the night someplace warm,” and two of them are here in West Seattle, at the Delridge and Southwest Community Centers. Full info is on the same city page as all the updates on the power outages.
Usually we just bring you pre-weekend “here’s what’s happening” blurbs. But so much is going on this week before the weekend, besides basic holiday stuff, so here goes:
–TUESDAY NIGHT: An e-mail tipster reports that West Seattle’s own Mac “Santa Mac” Macdonald is producing “Rock ‘n’ Roll Christmas,” a benefit show at 7:30 pm @ McCaw Hall, and promises it’s “the most fun to be had this holiday season.”
–WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Cafe Rozella hosts author Layne Maheu @ 7 pm, reading from his book “Song of the Crow.”
–THURSDAY NIGHT: The next Junction Art Walk, 6-8 pm, starting at Divina, with 12 participating locations (we’ll post artist specifics by Thursday). Then get involved in civics and meander over to the Southwest Precinct at 8 pm as the city Design Review Board makes its pronouncement on the huge Fauntleroy Place development.
-Just back from our first official drive in search of WS’s best Christmas lights. Will post our findings sometime tomorrow. To generalize wildly — so far, the north side of WS appears to have many more lavish displays than the south side.
-Sorry if this is old news to Morgan Junctionites; just noticed the big CLOSED FOR REMODELING, REOPENING FALL 2007 signs in the windows of Washington Federal Savings at Cali & Fauntleroy. Somehow you gotta wonder, will they really reopen as a bank? That corner is so incredibly prime … you’d think those “mixed-use” developers would be clamoring for it.
-Earlier this fall, when we posted a few times about best-selling author Terry Brooks (who lives in WS at least part of the time), someone wrote to say that other best-selling authors live in WS, including a couple, Skye Moody & G.M. Ford. If that’s so, apparently they won’t be here much longer, according to her MySpace page, which mentions they’re moving to the Oregon Coast next month.
Update on The Junction’s new “raised crosswalks”: Junction Dave (see comments on our complaint post below) was right. The city not only was “on it,” sometime in the past 24 hours or so, they got crews out to put the first round of striping on the bumps. After “Molson” (also from comments on the same post below) reported a striping sighting last night, we checked it out this morning, and indeed, each side of each “raised crosswalk” has a pair of triangular stripes, pointing up and ahead.
-Big banners at the Farmers’ Market today reveal that it’s only taking a holiday hiatus — after the Dec. 17 finale-for-the-year, it will return Jan. 7 as the “Winter Farmers’ Market,” 10 am-1 pm.
-The ever-busier section of Harbor Ave near the tow yards, Verge, ActivSpace, etc., is now even busier, as Budget Trucks seems to have set up a rental business there, with many of its offerings parked on the street. Best to avoid driving RVs and Oversize Load Tractor-Trailers through that stretch. Bicyclists may not be safe either.
-Also more-lined-with-parked-cars-than-ever, Thistle between 35th and Delridge, during the Mars Hill services, which apparently won’t move to their new ex-Doxa home before next month. We cruised by just to see if any protesters were there, since the demonstration outside MH-Ballard got called off. Nope. (If you don’t recall why somebody wanted to protest MH in the first place, here’s a refresher, plus the church leader’s latest musings on the subject, and a pointed deconstruction of said musings.)
-Looks like a whole lot of WS folks out buying Christmas trees. If you’re not sure about your options, remember to check the list at the bottom of our Holiday Stuff page.
Tonight’s weather radar pictures show a Big Blob of stormy something coming this way. But its true nature may not be revealed till after you tuck yourself beneath three layers of comforters (down from four last night, when Seattle set a for-this-date record low of 18 degrees). One thing seems to be for sure … by this time tomorrow night, we should be able to stop worrying about the weather for a while. Good thing, too, since three interesting events are happening in West Seattle tomorrow (Thursday) night — we’ll post about them first thing in the morning.
Among many other blessings, we are thankful for you taking the time to stop by this site and see what’s up. (Otherwise, we’d be talking to ourselves, and heaven knows, we’ve done enough of that in our time on this planet so far.) We are also thankful to still be here in wondrous West Seattle … where you can see sunsets like this (photo by Lisa) and this (photo by Michelle) … where you can go for a summer swim at a pool like this … where you can find community groups like this and this, spending their “spare time” to nurture our neighborhoods … others banding together to caretake precious bits of urban wildness between the condos and the concrete … yet others who do what they can to share with those in need … We could go on all day, but we’ve got other things to do and so do you. Again — thanks.
-Junction road work’s almost done – just a few finishing touches left around the edges of the “raised crosswalks.” They don’t seem to do much as speed bumps; hanging out in The Junction on Saturday, we saw people zoom right over them, none the worse for wear.
-The official sign is now unveiled at West Seattle’s first drive-thru Starbucks, though the rest of the ex-Rainier Roaster renovation seems to have a ways to go:
An eagle-eyed reader alerts us to news about what she/he aptly describes as “a West Seattle Farmers’ Market fave” — the bakery Sugar (no relation to “Coffee to a Tea with …”) is raising money to help owner Stephanie’s husband fight cancer. $20 per pie, pumpkin or apple streudel, order online by Sunday night, pick up your pie the day before Thanksgiving, right here in West Seattle.
Before we get back to focusing on West Seattle’s present & future … one more bit about the past … which also involves an event coming up this weekend. Ever heard of the SS Dix disaster? Till moments ago, neither had we; but the tale makes “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” sound mild. This Saturday, a boat full of folks will be out off Alki Point commemorating the Dix disaster’s centennial, and the Log House Museum (among others) says you’re invited. (Found a few more details on the museum’s site; this cruise follows the annual meeting of the SW Historical Society, at which a new exhibit about West Seattle’s maritime history will be previewed.)
Cool feature in my favorite part of the Sunday Times (Now & Then): a whimsical structure that once stood in the back yard of a north-of-Admiral WS home, when it belonged to the founder of the downtown waterfront’s legendary Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. (As they say … who knew?)
Thanks to the tipster who reminds us, Nov. 13 is the anniversary of the day in 1851 that the schooner Exact brought the rest of the Denny Party to Alki, several weeks after their scouts discovered our little bit of heaven. HistoryLink has the true tale.
-The Seattle Weekly has two tales of West Seattle nightlife in its latest edition. One is a straightforward “Club Pick” piece about Skylark; the other is a fantastical journey into an alleged Beach Drive scene that you might actually start to believe, until the later paragraphs. (Kudos to the writer for quite an imagination. Best civically minded satire since Exit133.com took on Carl’s Jr.)
-Wonder if the rain will keep the Initiative 937 campaigners off the Fauntleroy walkover today. They’ve been up there sign-waving for two recent commutes … immediately causing me to feel excruciating guilt for being alone in my car (at least it’s a gas-thrifty little-bitty car, honest). But at least we’re not driving a big yellow truck like the McG crew (it was back in Yasuko’s north lot yesterday morning, with the addition of a guy having his own tailgating party outside it).
-Have you seen the bear under The Bridge yet?
All along just a few blocks of Fauntleroy, including the last stretch of The Bridge:
-The Walking on Logs peeps in spooky garb, including jack-o-lantern heads
-A spooky (well, spooky if you’re a Dem) yellow truck idling near Walking on Logs, with huge Mike McGavick campaign signs all over it (the same one was haunting the parking lot on the north side of Yasuko’s this morning)
-The former Rainier Roaster finally has a “Starbucks, Coming Soon” banner draped over the old RR sign
No trick-or-treaters yet in our neighborhood. Boo.
We mentioned a few days ago that the West Seattle shoreline would be headquarters to some participants in Seattle Wireless Field Day. Just found an interesting blogpost with details on what it was really all about, including a cool photo of the blogger’s setup at Don Armeni.
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