West Seattle, Washington
23 Wednesday
Two weeks ago, we stopped by Arbor Heights Elementary School as students battled it out in the Global Reading Challenge school finals. Today, the winning team, a group of 5th graders calling themselves Da Peeps, went downtown for the semifinals – and after scoring 110 out of 120 points, according to an AH parent volunteer, advanced to the all-city finals! (7 pm March 22nd) From left in the photo above (also courtesy of the parent volunteer) are Chase, Dylan, Stone, Siobhan, Ayden, Steph, and Ruby.
Thanks to Tim Ewings at Alki Community Center for the tip on this: Sign-ups have just begun for spring classes and programs at Seattle Parks community centers, plus Camp Long and Southwest Pool. Here’s the spring brochure. You can register online – start here.
If there’s just one brunch for which you make reservations this year – this is the one. West Seattle-based Nature Consortium – which works to protect and restore the West Duwamish Greenbelt (right), Seattle’s largest contiguous forest – is saving a seat for you at its annual benefit brunch April 1st at The Hall at Fauntleroy. But you need to RSVP ASAP. You don’t even need to pay ahead of time (though they’re suggesting a minimum $50 donation at the event – proceeds support NC arts and environmental education programs all over the county. Brunch will start with mimosas and jazz/blues music by Billy and The Bouncers at 11:30 am, continuing at noon with a gourmet brunch menu (see the right sidebar), youth music and dance performances, and awards for volunteers and community partners. You can RSVP online right now. (There’s even free child care if you need it.) P.S. WSB is proud to co-sponsor this event again this year.
(September 2009 photo courtesy of Schmitz Park Elementary parent Erik)
His grandparents figured prominently in West Seattle history – and he often volunteered his time to educate others about it. Alan Schmitz – shown above in a WSB reader photo from 2009, talking with students at Schmitz Park Elementary – has died at the age of 77. Mr. Schmitz’s obituary was circulated by the Rotary Club of West Seattle, which granted our request for permission to publish it:
Alan Schmitz was the grandson of West Seattle pioneers Ferdinand and Emma Schmitz, and the son of Dietrich and Peggy Schmitz. Alan was born on 11-25-1934 at Swedish Hospital, and he died in West Seattle on March 9, 2012, of a bone-marrow disorder. Alan was a lifelong West Seattle resident.
Alan attended Alki Elementary, Madison Junior High, and West Seattle High School class of 1953. Alan graduated from the University of Washington in 1957 and belonged to Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. Alan achieved the rank of Eagle Scout with the Boy Scouts of America, Alki Troop 283; he later became a Scoutmaster with Troop 281.
Alan skippered his family’s sailboat, the schooner SUVA, for many years.
Alan’s career began in banking, investments and small businesses; in his later years, he became an aerobics and fitness instructor for senior citizens at community centers. Alan was very involved with the West Seattle Rotary for over 30 years, and had been a member of the Seattle Yacht Club and the Rainier Club.
Alan is survived by his daughter, Julie Schmitz and her fiancé Dr. Grant Broker, of Houston, Texas; his son Dietrich Schmitz and wife Mary Howland Schmitz, grandchildren Ilse Schmitz and Gunnar Schmitz of West Seattle; his sister Gloria S. Brinton Davis of West Seattle, many nieces/nephews/cousins, and his former wife Vicki Schmitz Block.
The family is extremely grateful to all of his physicians, nurses and caregivers at the Providence Mt. St. Vincent Center, and to Dr. William Hammond and staff at the Minor & James Medical Clinic.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 17th at 4 pm, at Alki UCC Church, 6115 SW Hinds.
(WSB publishes obituaries at no charge; send text and photo to editor@westseattleblog.com)
Though we apologize for not having heard about it while it was happening (not everything’s on the scanner, so your text/call to 206-293-6302 is always helpful!), we DO now know why a sizable police response spent a while on Pigeon Point yesterday afternoon: Seattle Police media-relations Det. Mark Jamieson looked it up for us. Someone reported a suspicious item in a mailbox in the 4100 block of 20th SW (map). The police report says it was described as a plastic milk container with a screw top and foil, and it appeared “burnt.” Officers called in Arson/Bomb Squad specialists to have a look. The eventual determination, according to Det. Jamieson: It was “a device used to smoke marijuana.”
From the almost-out-of-its-cocoon WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
JOB SEARCH HELP/NETWORKING: “Notes from the Job Search” continues to meet weekly at C & P Coffee Company (5612 California Ave SW; WSB sponsor), 11 am.
ORCHARD TOUR: Tuesday’s the day for Health and Harvest Tours at Community Orchard of West Seattle (north side of South Seattle Community College campus), 2-4 pm on Tuesdays, details here
FREE SWIMMING LESSONS: Southwest Pool and Southwest Teen Life Center offers FREE lessons for ages 11-19. Every Tuesday, 3-4 pm. Call 206-684-4115 to check if there’s room.
‘OCCUPY WEST SEATTLE’ RALLY: We published the announcement early yesterday, and a lively (to say the least) discussion ensued. The group says it’ll start at California/Alaska at 4 pm.
TELL THE MAYOR WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND – PLUS, MEET YOUR NEIGHBORS: Mayor McGinn‘s back in West Seattle for a Town Hall at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 5:30-8 pm, details here. Starts with a community information fair (find out about neighborhood groups) till 6:30; then, a breakdancing performance till 6:40, at which time the mayor takes the mike (and there’ll be one for you too).
MEET THE PRINCIPAL: Your first chance to meet Dr. Shannon McKinney, announced last month as the principal for West Seattle’s new school K-5 STEM at Boren. Meet-and-greet starts at Madison Middle School, 6:30 pm. (Here’s our Monday report on the new school’s Design Team; here’s our interview with Dr. McKinney after the announcement of her appointment.)
NO ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION MEETING, BUT… Admiral Neighborhood Association president Katy Walum says tonight’s regular monthly meeting is OFF, but she invites ANA members to come to the group’s table at the information fair preceding the mayoral town hall (see above).
FAUNTLEROY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION MEETING: FCA *is* having its regular meeting, 7 pm at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse (9131 California SW).
DENNY PTSA MEETING: Denny International Middle School PTSA meets tonight in the school library, 7 pm.
NIGHTLIFE: Skylark Café and Club acoustic open mic night, starts 7 pm … Rock music/pop culture trivia at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 8 pm … “Geeks Who Drink” pub quiz at The Wing Dome in The Junction, 8 pm … Trivia at The Bridge, $2 registration beginning at 8 pm and play starting at 8:30 pm. … Free pool at Beveridge Place Pub, plus discounts on bottled Belgian beer … Starlight songwriter showcase at Shadowland, 9 pm.
(The requisite “proof it snowed” video, shot at 9:30 am)
ORIGINAL 6:33 AM REPORT: Spring officially arrives next Monday night. Winter isn’t giving up without a fight. A little more snow dusted the area overnight; we’ve had reports via Facebook and Twitter, from Admiral to Arbor Heights, and beyond. Let us know if there’s any actually on the ground where you are; it apparently snowed a little more heavily in points south and east. A “special weather statement” is in effect and warning that some snow and/or hail is still possible during what the National Weather Service calls “a showery, cool day” ahead.
9:04 AM UPDATE: Getting a notable snow shower here in Upper Fauntleroy at the moment.
Almost missed the chance to mention that it’s coming up fast … two months from today – May 12, 2012 – it’s the 8th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, 9 am-3 pm. If you’re new to the area, it’s not one big garage sale, but instead, many sales all over West Seattle (more than 200 last year), all on one day, which means almost everyone has one within walking distance – great chance to meet friends/neighbors old and new. Or, you can grab the map and see how many you can hit in the course of the day. We’ll be opening registration in three weeks, on Monday, April 2nd. If you want to see what past Garage Sale Days were like, you can browse the archives on our “official” WSCGSD site, westseattlegaragesale.com.
Tonight’s West Seattle Crime Watch roundup starts with two court notes:
COURT-CASE UPDATES: No definite date yet for the start of Duane Starkenburg‘s imminent trial on indecent-liberties charges for the 2010-2011 Lincoln Park attacks – the prosecutor’s still busy finishing another trial. We’ll keep you updated. … Meantime, the trial date for Angelo Felice, charged with murdering vaudeville entertainer Hokum W. Jeebs in Fauntleroy last year, has been pushed back five months to September, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office tells WSB, as the result of a hearing last week.
READER REPORTS: A theft report from VCA:
Thought I would let people know that there are probably metal/copper thieves combing the alleys etc. near Alki. I just had two large copper pots (planters) stolen this morning. One was on my porch right next to my door which is on the alley side. I was only gone for 1 hour, and one of my cars was parked in alley, with my blinds open! Checked in with one of my neighbors across the alley and she did not see anything.
More reader reports ahead:Read More
Long past the Christmas season, the holiday spirit carries on at Holy Rosary School – it’s just finished distributing a share of the 
2011 Christmas Tree Lot proceeds to four charitable organizations in West Seattle: The WS Helpline, WS Food Bank, Salvation Army’s Hickman House, and the Kingston Foundation. “Holy Rosary School is proud to give back to our community,” says Refawne Acarregui, a Holy Rosary parent and tree-lot organizer who’s at right in our photo, along with Father John Madigan, parent/volunteer Currie Baker, and principal Michael Cantu. We caught up with them at the recent meeting of the Holy Rosary Parents’ Club. The 15 percent share of tree-lot proceeds equaled $5625.44, of which the four organizations each received $1406.36. (You might recall one other donation – after the lot closed, unsold trees were given away.)
A West Seattleite has just been announced as director of the new Governor’s Aerospace Office, created “to enhance Washington state’s competitiveness in the global aerospace industry”: He is Alex Pietsch, who has worked for the City of Renton since 2001 and leads its economic-development efforts. Here’s the news release announcing his new state-government role and explaining what it entails, including chairing the Washington Council on Aerospace and serving as executive director of the Washington Aerospace Partnership.
Today we welcome a new WSB sponsor – IHeartWestSeattle.com, the collaborative team of real-estate brokers Roger Steiner & Dale Wampler. Here’s what they’d like you to know about their business:
Roger and Dale describe themselves as “West Seattle residents, enthusiasts, and “hyper-local” real-estate professionals. What does that mean? While we’re definitely tuned in to Seattle real estate in general, we spend most of our time checking the pulse of West Seattle’s real estate market, seeing just about every new property that comes on the market, and carefully tracking what’s selling (and what isn’t). We believe there’s a better way for consumers to buy & sell, and that technology has changed the role agents play in the real estate process. So we’ve taken the best elements of traditional brokerages, and aligned them with all the advantages and conveniences that technology has opened up to our industry. The result is that we’re able to lower our overhead without sacrificing an ounce of customer service, and we then pass along the savings to you, our customer. We’re able to do this because of a few basics:
• Our partnership with RSVP Real Estate: RSVP is a locally owned real-estate brokerage with no parent corporation, no franchised offices, no investors looking for a return. At RSVP we take full advantage of today’s technologies, and just focus on satisfying our clients.
• Geographic specialization: Rather than run all over Puget Sound, we are focused on the West Seattle peninsula- this saves us time and money spent on the road (the Prius and the Vespa help too)!
• Efficiency: Being geographically focused saves us time in another way: When you contact us about buying, we won’t take that as a cue to start rushing around ‘getting to know’ what’s out there- chances are we’ll already know of a few homes on the market that might suit your needs. If you’re thinking of selling, we’ve seen several homes in your value range which have sold over the past 6 months, so we don’t start from scratch. Please visit our website to learn more about our unique fee structure, and look for us around the neighborhood!”
We thank IHeartWestSeattle.com for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
As promised, Seattle Public Schools has announced its design team for the new school it’s opening in West Seattle this fall, K-5 STEM at Boren. They’ve also confirmed that the team – whose job will be to start working out details for the new school’s operations – will have its first meeting 6 pm this Wednesday; that meeting will be at district HQ in SODO. We asked the district today who was on the team, and here’s what we received:Read More
(April 2011 photo by Kathy Mulady for WSB)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Almost one full year after the “closed forever” sign went up on the Charlestown Street Café‘s door – a new sign is up on the property at 3800 California SW:
We noticed the sign over the weekend, as did others (two WSB’ers sent us notes – THANKS!), and this morning we spoke with John Wunder at Associates West, the West Seattle brokerage handling the just-launched search for someone new to lease the property.
Wunder confirms that the most recent development proposal for the site (reported here shortly after the restaurant’s closure last April) fell through, though he doesn’t know why, since his firm was not involved with it.
No daily preview today because of the morning’s breaking news, but there are two meetings to note: Admiral District merchants meet today at 4 pm at the Benbow Room (agenda here); North Delridge Neighborhood Council meets tonight at 6:30, Delridge Library (agenda here). Meantime, the Admiral Neighborhood Association has a CHANGE OF PLAN for tomorrow night. Instead of its regular meeting, ANA is tabling at 5:30 pm tomorrow before Mayor McGinn‘s 6:30 pm Town Hall at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (agenda here).
(Scroll down for updates, including video interview with new information from police)
ORIGINAL 8:18 AM REPORT: A body has just been recovered from the water off the 3700 block of Beach Drive – near Cormorant Cove Park and Harbor West Apartments (the complex that juts out on pilings) – is under investigation right now. No word on identity or how the person died. We have a crew at the scene finding out more.
(Photos by WSB’s Patrick Sand unless otherwise credited)
8:24 AM UPDATE: We’re told the body was found about 100 yards offshore, but don’t know yet who spotted it or how. Adding a photo of some of the emergency response at the scene. Police have put up yellow tape to cordon off the area where the body was placed, until the Medical Examiner arrives.
(This photo courtesy area resident who didn’t want to be identified)
9:14 AM UPDATE: Seattle Police have shared a bit more information via SPD Blotter:
On 3/12/12, at approximately 7:30 a.m., officers responded with Seattle Fire Department to the 3800 block of Beach Dr SW., to a report of a body floating in the water approximately 100 feet off shore.
The victim is a white female, 30-50 years-old. The cause of death is unknown at this time. Homicide Detectives have responded to the scene out of an abundance of caution. This is all the information available at the time. Additional updates may be added as more information becomes available.
10 AM UPDATE: Just talked to SPD spokesperson Det. Renée Witt at the scene in a video interview we will upload here when our crew’s back in house. She says they’re considering the death “suspicious,” until and unless proven otherwise, so the area remains sealed off while detectives investigate. (added) Here’s the video; she also told us the woman hadn’t been in the water for long:
About six weeks after its first official meeting, the first rally/protest involving Occupy West Seattle has just been officially announced. The group says it will target Chase Bank in The Junction tomorrow (Tuesday, March 13th), in connection with other rallies/protests nationwide. Read on for the news release we received via e-mail this morning:Read More
6:14 AM UPDATE: If you look at the regional map on the National Weather Service‘s Seattle home page, you’ll notice various types of weather alerts are in effect almost everywhere – but NOT here in the city. Nonetheless, the newest forecast says it’ll be very windy, to say the least (and you might already have heard evidence of that in the very early morning hours). As always, we’ll keep watch through the day, with updates if things go beyond general blusteriness. (And if you have anything to report – 206-293-6302, any time, text or voice; thank you!)
8:37 AM UPDATE: As commenter/meteorologist Patrick notes, a wind advisory is now up for our area. See it here.
9:08 PM UPDATE: The wind advisory expired this afternoon without anything serious happening. But the weather is still unsettled, and some snow might be mixed in with overnight/morning showers. Here’s the newest forecast.
One more cleanup to note before the weekend’s out – this one, underwater. After weeks of bringing up old batteries (as featured on TV this past week), West Seattle diver/photographer Laura James and friends have moved on to plastic sheets/tarps that Laura says are littering the sea floor.
She’s not sure if plastics recyclers will be able to take the sheets, but she plans to check.
Next Sunday (March 18th) at Alki UCC, family and friends will gather to celebrate the life of Robert (Bob) Hallberg Sr., a longtime West Seattleite gone the day before what would have been his 89th birthday. Mr. Hallberg’s family shares this remembrance:
On February 29, 2012, we said goodbye to Bob Hallberg, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend. Born in Tacoma on March 1, 1923 to Lucyle Nick and Robert Hallberg, Bob spent his childhood near Puget Sound. His deep love for the natural world stemmed from his early years with his Boy Scout family, especially at Camp Parsons on Hood Canal.
Eventually his family settled in West Seattle, where he met Ada Woodhouse, his Alki girl and future wife. Bob graduated from West Seattle High School, University of Washington and then Kings Point Merchant Marine Academy. He served in WWII.
Bob and Ada were married in 1948 and spent a short time away in Iowa and California with National Civil Defense. He was present for the atomic bomb test in the Nevada desert. Within a few years they returned to “God’s country”: Alki and Puget Sound.
The first signed, benched, and delivered RapidRide C Line stops in West Seattle are on both sides of California SW by the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse. Street and sidewalk work to facilitate the stops and stations for the new bus service, set to launch this fall, has been under way for 4 weeks, but these are the first signs we’ve seen. (The sign and bench are the basic amenities for a RapidRide stop; other stops/stations will have shelters and real-time bus schedule information.) The stop in our photo is on the east side of the street, just steps from Fauntleroy Church, where we spotted it after stopping for a photo of today’s Toxic-Free Kids’ Fair:
The fair, previewed here on Saturday, was a presentation of the church’s Green Committee, which has another of its always-busy Recycle Roundups coming up on April 29th – save your electronics and other items to bring by, 9 am-3 pm that day (the church website will eventually have a list of what they’ll take and what they won’t).
You’ve seen her photos here on WSB and elsewhere (including her own site), and last night Trileigh Tucker contributed some of her work (with her in the photo, an image of Snoqualmie Falls) to the gala/auction for West Seattle Community Orchestras. This was the second year WSCO held a gala, and the first time at Highland Park Improvement Club, where of course, there was music – including Elliot Reid‘s guitar performance:
WSCO’s fundraising helps make sure more young musicians can participate in their programs. They’re usually looking for new members, and their groups practice on Tuesdays – check out their website at wscorchestras.org for the latest info. From their Facebook page, we’ve gathered listings for upcoming appearances – the Symphony Orchestra at 7 pm March 20th at Bridge Park, the Debut and Intermediate Orchestras at 6:30 pm March 27 at Highland Park Elementary and at 6:30 pm May 8th at Chief Sealth International High School, and the Symphony Orchestra at 7 pm May 15th, also at CSIHS.
One more West Seattle school fundraising auction to be sure you know about – the 18th annual Pathfinder K-8 auction, at South Seattle Community College‘s Brockey Center, next Saturday (March 17th). The theme: “On this side of the rainbow, we make dreams come true!” The price of making dreams come true? $35 a ticket, and you can buy yours online by going here. From organizers:
Parents love supporting businesses that help support our school. We have an incredible lineup of donations from AWESOME local businesses including Cactus, Breathe Yoga, West 5, West Seattle Junction Association, Farmers’ Market, West Seattle Thriftway, Sound Physical Therapy, Hotwire Online Coffeehouse, and Southgate Roller Rink, just to name a few.
Whether you’re going or not, there’s a twist this year: An online auction is under way, and you can bid right now.
| 6 COMMENTS