West Seattle, Washington
22 Monday
Got room to be a host, in a way that will affect lives far beyond that of the person you play host to? Chief Sealth International High School principal John Boyd says they’re still looking for a place for their new visiting teacher from China to stay:
As you may know, Chief Sealth and Denny have hosted Chinese Guest Teachers through an exchange program with the College Board for the last three and a half years. This has been a great experience for both of our schools, led to the creation of a K-12 Mandarin Chinese program in SPS, and helped us make the connections that resulted in our schools hosting the Confucius Institute for the State of Washington.
Our current Guest Teacher, Mr. Yang Dawei, is returning to China this year after two years of service to us. We are very excited to be welcoming Ms. Xilong Zeng, who also uses the English name of Celine. Ms. Zeng has been teaching English to Chinese secondary students since 1998.
We are in need of a host family for Ms. Zeng to stay with starting on July 28. Ms. Zeng would stay with the host family for all of the 2011-2012 school year. This is a great opportunity to learn about Chinese culture and pick up some Mandarin Chinese, while doing a great service for our schools. Hosting the Guest Teacher is much like hosting an exchange student, families are responsible for providing the teachers with a room of their own, including the teachers in family meals, and providing them access to things like a washer and dryer. The teacher will receive a modest salary through the Chinese Ministry of Education and the Confucius Institute, and will be provided a insured car from the schools as transportation.
If you are interested in serving as a host family, or know of someone in West Seattle who would be interested, please have them contact principal John Boyd or Marta Sanchez at the Chief Sealth Main Office at 252-8550.
Sign-ups have just started for West Seattle In Motion – a program meant to entice you to use more transit, more human-powered transportation, a little less gas this summer. Your West Seattle co-sponsors are Sustainable West Seattle, the CoHo Team of Windermere Agents, and us here at WSB. First step: Sign up to be part of it (do that here). That gets you free membership, which in turn makes you eligible for deals (like these) and gets you tickets for free bus rides, plus you’ll be entered in drawings. Only catch – In Motion wants quick progress reports on what you do to pitch in. Took the bus/shuttle to catch the Water Taxi instead of driving? Great! Rode your bike to the store? Great! Caught a ride downtown with a friend instead of driving alone? Great! As media sponsor for West Seattle In Motion, we’ll get updates from the county on West Seattleites’ total “saved trips” and we’ll get to brag about everybody’s progress (think we can out-“motion” other participating neighborhoods?) – we’ll have a special In Motion page set up by the time we get to West Seattle Summer Fest on Friday (you’ll meet the In Motion folks there too – they’ll be in spaces 26 and 28, east side of California between Alaska and Edmunds). Again, it all starts here.
While you’re in The Junction for West Seattle Summer Fest this Friday-Saturday-Sunday, you’ll see the poster for West Seattle Outdoor Movies, which, like WSSF, we’re thrilled to be co-sponsoring again this year. Above, the official poster (by Riverbed) – you might remember the robot from last year, and now, there are two! The movie series opens Saturday, July 16th, with “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”; second week (June 23rd), it’s “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.” If you haven’t been in years past, the movies are on the big screen on the wall in the courtyard by Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor), with pre-show entertainment (movie’s at dusk, but come early!) and concessions. All free; bring your own chair/blanket, and bring a few dollars for raffles that raise money for local nonprofits. And if you’re on Facebook, “like” the West Seattle Outdoor Movies page for behind-the-scenes tidbits – find it here.
Keith Ramsey just sent word – again, via Twitter, like the first time – that SDOT, as promised, has been out to take care of the overgrowth on Delridge Way’s east-side sidewalk near the Southwest Precinct and Home Depot. If you missed the original story, he called attention to it by making a video and publishing it on YouTube, as featured in our story from last Friday. And of course, he has created a followup video – YT says it’s still processing; we’ll add it here when it’s done.
3:01 PM: The link has now gone away completely (checking with Keith on that) – but we ran over to the zone in question to photograph (albeit from across the street) the new-mown proof.
11:23 PM: Keith has published an updated video – saying that the spot where the SDOT mowing stopped was short of their property line:
We’ll check with SDOT in the morning.
ADDED MIDDAY THURSDAY: From SDOT’s Rick Sheridan: “Given landscaping needs elsewhere, work like this is sometimes spread over multiple days. Although we were not able to finish mowing yesterday, a crew should be back on site now to complete the work.”
ADDED THURSDAY AFTERNOON: Done, says Keith, tweeting this photo as proof.
Two days till The Junction is alive with festival fun as West Seattle Summer Fest 2011 takes over the streets for three days (and two nights), this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Actually – if this is your first summer here – keep in mind the streets are scheduled to close at 6 pm tomorrow (Thursday) evening for setup, so the stirrings of Summer Fest are even closer. 
The basics are on the Summer Fest website – the vendor list/map here, music schedule here, GreenLife live-demo schedule here, kids’ area info here, etc. But we’re also checking around for more preview tidbits. Here are a few:
ART DIVE! Again this year, The Junction’s own Twilight Artist Collective is organizing the tent full of artists showing and selling their work. We asked Twilight co-proprietor Mary Enslow who’s hot/new – overall, she says, “We’ve got a great lineup.” From that lineup, she mentions Lady Plume’s Hair Designs, specializing in the hot new trend of adding dyed-feather extensions to your hair. “With Lady Plume, customers will be able to customize their feather combos and get them added to their manes on-site.” Mary also says that jewelry designer Lyndsay Brown will be back with Idle Hands Designs: “Her one-of-a-kind pieces are made from sterling silver, semi-precious stones and vintage elements.” And Solstice Designs, “Twilight’s former floormate from our days in the Pike Place Market … will be selling a variety of handmade goods locally made including lots of hair embellishments.” Overall, according to Mary, “At Art Dive, patrons can meet the maker and buy paintings, clothing, jewelry, magnets, photographs and more!” Look for the tent on California SW north of SW Oregon.
WHILE YOU’RE ON THE NORTH END OF SUMMER FEST … stop by Hotwire Online Coffeehouse, WSB’s inaugural sponsor. Proprietor Lora Swift tells us she’ll have a “special Summer Fest menu,” with West Seattle-themed offerings. Hotwire is at 4410 California SW, just south of SW Genesee (with the courtyard that’s home to West Seattle Outdoor Movies, starting the weekend AFTER Summer Fest; 1st movie is Saturday night, July 16th – full schedule here!).
BUBBLEMAN IS BACK ON SUMMER FEST EVE: We confirmed with Elliott Bay Brewing today that, as has become a pre-Summer Fest tradition, the legendary Bubbleman (recently seen at the Morgan Junction Community Festival) will be in front of the restaurant/pub on Thursday night, always a treat for families enjoying wandering the shut-down streets while festival setup gets under way. This year, it’s a Shop Late Thursdays night, 6-9 pm, participants listed here – and Diminished Men will be playing outside West 5 at 7 pm, too.
If you’re a business with a Summer Fest sale, we’re collecting that info for our next preview, and you’re welcome to share a few datapoints so we can include them! editor@westseattleblog.com
The Cask Old World Ale and Wine House in the Admiral District wants you to know it’s open, despite apparent rumors to the contrary. Co-owner Dee asked us to share this photo and note:
For those who are interested in the current status of The Cask: The Cask is open and running full steam ahead. Although the owners ( Shon & Dee ) do have the Cask for sale and are in the process of transitioning to Daytona Beach, Florida, to open a similar venture there, the business is and will continue to grow and maintain its place in the Admiral community. Thank you for your support and please continue to join us at The Cask. For information on our weekly events or to contact us for more details, please call or email us at 206.650.2448, s.g.m@comcast.net. Website: thecaskseattle.com, Facebook: TheCaskSeattle
Cheers!
Washington Beer Blog first reported the sale listing a month ago, but it has NOT been closed at any point.
Thanks to Gary Jones for sharing his photo of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Shoup passing West Seattle shores this morning. It’s homeported in Everett, so it’s not far from home. Gary offers a little more of DDG 86’s local history: “Commissioned in 2002 at Seattle’s Port Terminal 37, she was part of the Seafair fleet in 2009.”
SDOT is out early with this weekend’s citywide traffic alert – and two of the big events are right here on the peninsula, West Seattle Summer Fest (with road closures starting 6 pm tomorrow) Friday-Sunday and the Seafair Pirates’ Landing on Saturday. Read on for the full list:Read More
Court documents reveal more information about the arrest reported here last week in connection with the attack on a 65-year-old Fairmount Springs woman two months ago – an attack so alarming, it led to a community meeting with a city councilmember in attendance. A neighbor of the victim, 48-year-old Monty Richardson, is charged with first-degree burglary, second-degree assault, and unlawful imprisonment. “The victim in this case easily could have died,” prosecutors write, asking for $250,000 bail and detailing the vicious attack Richardson is charged with carrying out.Read More
(June 28th photo by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
Last week, the 2010-2011 West Seattle Hi-Yu Junior Court – from left, Princess Riley, Queen Taylor, and Princess Kaitlin – reigned royally at the White Rose Reception (WSB coverage here). Next week, they will crown their successors – and interested candidates need to apply *now*. The coronation will happen during the Hiawatha Fun Fest, 1 pm on Friday, July 15th, just nine days away. The deadline for applications to be received is next Tuesday, July 12th; the application packet is here, including a full explanation of the rules (including that girls must be no younger than 7 nor older than 11 as of this September 1st).
And be on the lookout for Hi-Yu royalty and volunteers during West Seattle Summer Fest in The Junction this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (with the Sparkling Seattle float), at Alki for the Seafair Pirates’ Landing on Saturday, as well as in the West Seattle American Legion Post 160 Grand Parade on July 23rd, and the Seafair Torchlight Parade a week later (among other parades during this busy summer season).
(Fauntleroy ferry dock, fog, Vashon Island; WSB photo by Patrick Sand, added 8:39 am)
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
TRAFFIC ALERT: Tonight’s the first of three nights for lane closures on the westbound Spokane Street Viaduct, as part of the widening project. The westbound right lane will be closed 11 pm-5 am. (Also note that the entire westbound stretch will be closed 11 pm-5 am three nights NEXT week, 7/12-7/14.)
UP EARLY? The Westside Professionals business-networking group would love to meet you this morning, 8 am, The Kenney.
APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED FOR NEW HOUSING COMMUNITY: Strength of Place Village begins accepting rental applications today. This is a new low-income community in White Center at 14th Ave SW and 100th Ave SW, currently under construction. Sit down with a management rep to fill out an application for housing & ask questions. Child care, light refreshments and interpretation in Spanish, Vietnamese & Somali will be available, according to the announcement. Come to the YWCA Learning Center at Greenbridge (9720 8th SW), 3 pm – 7 pm. Download application here
SEE THE RIVER: The 2011 Summer Community Kayak Tour series by Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition starts tonight, 5:30-8:30pm: RSVP to Alki Kayak Tours (206) 953-0237. Tours cost $45 per person, we also ask for a $5 donation per person to DRCC/TAG to support our educational programs. All equipment, instructions, and guiding are provided. Children under 18 must be accompanied by parent/guardian. Some scholarship funding is available for Duwamish community members; please contact DRCC/TAG for more information. Meet at Terminal 107 Park in West Seattle (4700 West Marginal Way SW). More info
DANCE!: Dance Time with Lauren Petrie (at Bridge Park, which is at 3204 SW Morgan), 1st Wednesday of the month, 7 pm – 9 pm. Tonight’s theme: Summertime.
(added) REALITY SHOW VIEWING PARTY: At Beveridge Place Pub at 6:30 pm tonight, Ian Sutton and friends plan to gather to watch an episode of the reality-show “Bath Crashers,” featuring his firm Green Home Contractors working on a North Seattle bathroom remodel. (If you can’t make the party, the show’s at 7 on the DIY Network.)
These past few brilliantly sunny/warm afternoons, if you visited Lowman Beach north of Lincoln Park, you might have seen Tom hard at work on his canoe. We heard about him from Karl Sutter, who has been watching Tom’s progress. Karl shared the first two photos, explaining that Tom had already been out in his carved canoe – but was adding an outrigger:
Then we stopped by on the 4th of July afternoon, for a firsthand look:
The original canoe even works with a 4-to-6-horsepower motor, and at last report, he was looking for an additional one.
It’s a disease that’s difficult to talk about … but even more difficult to live with. Crohn’s Disease has no cure – but that’s not stopping a West Seattle patient, Heidi Coy, from doing what she can to help find one. She’s organized the Bowl vs. Bowel fundraising bowling event at West Seattle Bowl this Saturday night. She tells the story:
I was diagnosed with Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis April 29, 2008. After suffering chronic pain, consistent vomiting and diarrhea, fevers, fatigue, and losing more than 30 pounds in body weight, I was not able to keep any nutrients in my body. I underwent diagnostic testing revealing I have Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis.
Little is known about what causes Crohn’s Disease and there is no known cure. I am currently able to work as a full-time nanny and am a mother to an 19-month-old son. He is the light of my life and want nothing more than to be healthy for him. I will be on medicine and other treatments, as well as dealing with flare-ups for the rest of my life.
On July 9, 2011 we will be putting on a bowling fundraiser “Bowl vs. Bowel” to benefit the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. I would like to give back to this foundation (CCFA) to help raise money while I am healthy to hopefully find a cure. This fundraiser will take place at WS Bowl from 6:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. Help fund research and treatment of all Irritable Bowel Diseases. Every amount counts great or small. Cost is $20 a person. Raffle tickets $1 each or 15 for $10. There will be raffle prizes, shot calls for prizes, great music, $2 jello shots, HighStrike Grill, a helpful and welcoming staff, and a great time had by all!
You can pre-register to ensure your spot at WS Bowl; discounts if you register a team of 5. Contact Chris at ctroupe27@gmail.com – mention Crohn’s fundraiser. You don’t want to miss this! Thank you for your support!!
September 26th was set today as the trial date for Duane Starkenburg, the Gatewood man arrested in late January and charged in connection with three attacks on women in Lincoln Park. His court appearance today was a brief “status conference”; if nothing changes in the case between now and September, he will appear for a September 9th hearing to confirm whether both sides are ready to go ahead with the trial later that month. (More backstory on the case is in our previous report, from his last court appearance in May.)
Thanks to Nick for sharing the link to this newly released video by the duo Cause and Effect. Not only did we like the song (“Happiness Is Alien”), having a personal fondness for synthpop, but it’s cool to see the West Seattle backdrops that dominate the video (after the first minute or so). The scenery is what won the recommendation from Nick, who says C&E’s Rob Rowe lives here. The song is from their new multisong release “Artificial Construct II,” available July 26th.
5:11 PM: Police and medic response affecting traffic near SW Library, More shortly.
5:24 PM UPDATE: Police say this started as a fight between two people. One for some reason started jumping on nearby car roofs. That brought the police. Neither combatant, we are told, needed to be taken to the hospital. Street’s back open.
11:38 PM UPDATE: Commenters suggested circumstances different than what we initially heard from police on the scene. We followed up tonight with Southwest Precinct Lt. Alan Williams, who just shared information from the official report: “At about (4:45 pm), officers responded to a call to 911 reporting a very bloody male acting wildly and jumping on top of cars near 35/Henderson. Officers were able to take the individual, an adult male, into custody. He was treated by Seattle Fire at the scene, then transported to the hospital for further treatment and evaluation. In addition to the damage the suspect caused to the cars, he also apparently damaged the inside of a nearby apartment. The suspect was not a resident of the apartment, but is known to at least one of the apartment residents – who were not at home at the time. There is no indication at this time that the suspect sustained his injuries as the result of being assaulted.”
Caught in a fence – how to get down? When Patrick Abdo saw that little raccoon stuck in his not-at-home-at-the-time neighbor’s fence, he decided action was in order. Photos too. Six more images, and Patrick’s first-person story, explain what happened next – after the jump:Read More
Mangled, melted plastic is all that’s left of a portable restroom that caught fire early today at Bar-S Playfield on Alki Point. Unlike the one torched at Me-Kwa-Mooks Park on Beach Drive last week, this one doesn’t belong to Seattle Parks; it was rented by West Seattle Little League. That’s according to WSLL president Mark Terao, who was at the field when we went there for a photo this afternoon. But he’s not the one who told us about it – nearby resident Thom e-mailed to report seeing the fire – and putting it out:
I live on the hill overlooking the field. My gf and I heard a very loud explosion a bit after 1:30 am. When we looked off of our back deck we could see the roof of the honeybucket was gone and there were flames inside it.
We called 911. The dispatcher advised there might be a slight delay due to a structure fire call. The honeybucket was starting to go up in flames at that point so I grabbed a fire extinguisher and went down the hill to put it out. It took two extinguishers, but I got the flames out. The firetruck showed up just minutes later. There wasn’t much left but sizzling plastic goop, but I appreciate them making sure it was doused. The honeybucket sat only feet away from a storage shed that could have gone up as well.
(The structure fire was the one on Roxbury.) Thom says they had seen illegal fireworks being set off in the area earlier; WSLL president Terao confirmed their field was “trashed,” and they had to clean it up, since they are hosting a tournament, with more games coming up tonight. “It’s frustrating,” he said. We checked with Seattle Fire; spokesperson Kyle Moore says an investigator wasn’t sent (the Roxbury fire was one of two house fires SFD was dealing with in the early-morning hours), so there’s no official cause on record. (Meantime, for a vivid look at a fireworks-suspected fire in a dry field, check out this story on our White Center site.)
West Seattle Golf Course is without water at last report while plumbers try to trace the source of a leak in a pipe near a fire hydrant in the parking lot it shares with West Seattle Stadium. The stadium was affected earlier too, but Seattle Parks says its water is back. So just in case there’s golf in your near future, you might want to check before you go.
5:38 PM UPDATE: Parks says the water is back on.
So far, haven’t heard any reports that today’s big downtown event led to traffic chain reactions, so that’s good news. But WSDOT wants you to know in advance that next weekend, there’s another of those double closures – the 520 floating bridge and the Mercer offramps. “Expect region-wide congestion,” they warn. More here.
We have details now about an incident that involves both the mistaken phone call mentioned in this earlier report and an overnight situation we had briefly checked out (before detouring to a fire).
(WSB photo by Patrick Sand, taken at standoff scene, around 1:30 am)
It started about 8 pm last night with a call from the 5400 block of 21st SW. A bullet had gone through the wall of a house, through multiple rooms, and wound up shattering a bathroom light. Police found the bullet on the bathroom floor. Police determined the shot came from somewhere to the east, and below the house. While investigating, they heard shots being fired from the back yard of a home in the 5400 block of 18th SW. In that yard, they found “multiple pistol-shell casings and four spent shotgun shells around a fire pit,” according to Seattle Police media-response Det. Renee Witt. She says a resident of the house gave police verbal authority to search the backyard, where they also found a “large-caliber rifle-shell casing.” But when they tried to search inside the home, “the occupants inside locked the door” and wouldn’t even let the resident who’d allowed the yard search come back inside. So, they got a search warrant for the house and nearby vehicles. (Somewhere in that interval is when we got a tip about this, went to the scene and took the photo above, though on-scene police wouldn’t comment.)
Given the weapon involvement, the SWAT team was called in. “The occupants were safely removed,” Det. Witt says, adding that police found seven handguns, a pistol-grip shotgun, an “AK-47-type rifle hidden underneath the stairs leading to the downstairs portion of the house” and “brought the evidence to the precinct.” One person was arrested – for unrelated warrants; any further arrests will depend on results of the investigation, including the original shot-fired-into-house case.
ADDED 3:05 PM: No indication whether it might be related, but we got a call from someone about half a mile away, on Puget Ridge, who says gunshots fired from outside pierced her home too. Police found two different-caliber bullets (.45 and .40), she says; this happened early the morning of July 4th, and the resident and her husband just thought they were hearing fireworks. Nobody was hit but it was a close call – they were 12 feet away from where a bullet landed, she says.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Recycling is bigger than ever at West Seattle Summer Fest this year.
Not just because the festival zone in The Junction this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be aiming for Zero Waste … nor is it just because sustainability is in the spotlight in the GreenLife area again this year.
Recycling will also happen in the form of interactive art, via a first-time feature called Hack-cycle – which you could say puts the “cycle” in “recycling.”
“We’ll have equipment for people to dissemble and reconfigure bikes,” explains Rusty Oliver (right), a metalwork artist and instructor who’s based in South Park. But there’s a lot more to it than that.
If you know Rusty’s work, we have to say, it’ll be tamer than a lot of what he’s known for, such as art with flames:
However Hack-cycle plays out, consider it your introduction to metal art – just bring a bike, not part of a bike, but a bike you’re willing to, well, reconfigure, as part of what might be Summer Fest’s most memorable interactive activity yet … human-powered, in multiple ways.
The usual place to post lost/found on WSB is the Forum – unless it’s a pet, since they have their own page (several reunions already today!) – but two unusual reports have come in, possibly crime-related, so we’re spotlighting them here – a found safe and a missing/stolen volleyball net (whose owner is offering a reward):Read More
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