West Seattle, Washington
15 Saturday
(Video from inside Zippy’s kitchen last month, by Deanie Schwarz for WSB)
Some new information tonight, more than a month after our first report about the unsettled situation at the Highland Park corner that is home to Zippy’s Giant Burgers. You may recall that, after the 16th/Holden building was foreclosed on, forcing its owner to close his store SeaMart last month, followed by the shutdown of neighboring JoJo’s Fine Espresso, leaving Zippy’s as the last business open at the site.
After hinting today in the WSB Forums that a breakthrough may be near, Zippy’s owner Blaine Cook confirmed to WSB contributor Deanie Schwarz that they’re working on a deal for a new “turnkey” location. They should know by the end of the week if it’ll work out. Otherwise, he explained, negotiations for a potential new lease at the current location are not yielding a “reasonable” solution, and talks about a possible purchase aren’t advancing at all. So where’s the potential new spot? Somewhere in the general West Seattle area – that’s as specific as he’ll get right now. One important note for customers in the meantime: Zippy’s will be CLOSED ON MONDAYS starting tomorrow and continuing through February (they’ll also be closed next Sunday, 2/6).
(Click photo to see larger version)
New photos in from Guy Smith, Alki wildlife watcher, who reports:
This am we saw 2 parent eagles and their yearling, fishing just off our stretch of beach. We noticed that the seagulls didn’t harass them as they normally do. We are guessing that when there is only one eagle, they can harass it from the back without fear. But with two other eagles close by, the gulls or crows become fair game themselves.
(Click photo to see larger version)
The eagles swooped down many times but never attempted to get a fish. Finally they made their way toward the bathhouse.
Among those crossing The Bridge to get to Saturday’s open house at Seattle City Hall – Holli Margell and Amanda Leonard from the North Delridge Neighborhood Council. Holli gave us permission to share her photos. Above, the aerial view of West Seattle’s own Caspar Babypants performing in City Hall’s huge open-space lobby; next, visitors gathered to hear Mayor McGinn speak – Holli says he told the crowd, “We need you to help us meet our vision for the city,” and urged everyone to be engaged:
And his office upstairs was open for tours, too – this is Amanda next to a whiteboard where visitors were encouraged to leave messages:
To the mayor’s theme of getting engaged – if you live in North Delridge, check out the NDNC meeting on Monday, February 14th, 6:30 pm at Delridge Library – here’s the agenda, from Holli:
The Feb. 14th NDNC meeting will provide free cookies! Our meeting will start promptly without the usual introductions to accommodate a presentation from the Fire Station 36 – looking at their Seismic and Expansion upgrades. This presentation is timely since our March meeting will focus on Emergency Preparedness.
The February meeting agenda will also include:
– A short discussion by Co-Secretary Kirsten looking at the Delridge Neighborhood District Council’s goals
– Discussion by neighbor Connie on “What Makes a Community”
– Reports from Chairs
NDNC is online at ndnc.org.
ADDED EARLY MONDAY: Holli has written more about their City Hall visit here.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports from the WSB inbox today. First, what appears to be a random case of car vandalism (though the victim’s wondering if it happened to anyone else in the area); second, a report of garage break-ins. Both after the jump – plus a third report that *might* involve a stolen car:Read More
Changes for softball at West Seattle High School, with details from parent volunteer Denise Liftin:
With the departure of Coach Carrie Burr at the beginning of the school year to take on other opportunities as Athletic Director and Activities Coordinator at Ballard High School , WSHS Wildcats Fastpitch had to say goodbye to their very successful coaching staff (also including Chuck Albany, Gordon Hessel and Alicia Hill, who had assisted Coach Burr).
Although the former staff will be missed, the team is excited that stepping in to take over the Wildcat Fastpitch tradition are new Head Coach Jim Perkins and Assistant Coach Deavonnie Spadoni, both of whom were involved with John F. Kennedy High School Fastpitch (Deavonnie as a catcher and Jim as an Assistant Coach)
Photos, and some words from the new coach, as Denise’s report continues after the jump:Read More
The city has just put up its brand-new info-page about a road project that’s been in the works for a while but hasn’t been discussed much lately: Seismic retrofitting for the Fauntleroy Expressway, which is the southwest end of the West Seattle Bridge. Some earthquake-safetyproofing work was done in 1994; 17 years later, this is the followup. (This section of the bridge itself was built in 1963.) SDOT says work will start this spring; here’s how it’ll affect traffic:
The project is expected to be advertised for competitive bids in the spring 2011. The seismic work will largely require occasional lane closures to traffic, bicycles, and pedestrians during construction.
During the installation of the new bearing pads, traffic is expected to be impacted on some nights and weekends. Closure of the Expressway will occur intermittently and detour routes around the work will go into effect. For traffic going Fauntleroy Way SW to West Seattle the detour will be to SW Avalon Way either by the Delridge Way SW ramp or Harbor Ave SW/SW Avalon Way ramp. Traffic from SW Admiral Way is expected to be detoured either thru 38th Ave SW or further north.
The project cost is estimated at $2.7 million.
Holy Rosary‘s preschool teachers shared that photo along with an invitation to interested families to check out their open house today, 10 am-1 pm, northeast corner of 42nd and Genesee. And another preschool open house today is literally steps away – West Seattle Christian Preschool, right across Genesee, 1-3 pm. Also today: The first week of “Emilie” at ArtsWest continues with a 3 pm performance (tickets available online) … And one more event in The Junction: The West Seattle Farmers’ Market, 10 am-2 pm as always, 44th/Alaska (here’s what market managers say you’ll find) … Two remembrance events today: The celebration of life for Christy Tyson (see this WSB story), 3-6 pm at Camp Long Lodge (5200 35th SW), and the Jeremy Peck memorial and benefit potluck dinner, Chelan Café, 6-10 pm (3527 Chelan SW; more information on this Facebook event invite page).
Remember all the talk about “backyard cottages”? Now that they’re legal in Seattle – this city webpage explains the concept – local builders are starting to add them to their repertoire. In the photo above, you see the first one built by West Seattle-based NCompass Cottage Company. The cottage is in Ballard, but NCompass is West Seattle’s first specialist. And today, they are one of three WSB sponsors participating in an event that’s a must-visit for anyone considering not only a cottage but any other type of home project, even though the event’s not happening in West Seattle: It’s the 14th annual Home Design and Remodel Fair at the Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6532 Phinney Avenue North (here’s a map), 10 am-4 pm. The three WSB sponsors among the 90 exhibitors are NCompass Cottage Company and Ventana Construction, as well as the landscape specialists of WEdesign. Detailed information is available here, including full lists of exhibitors and workshops (WEdesign is presenting a workshop on sustainable landscaping at 2:20 pm). There is a $9 adult admission fee.
Two sports notes from Seattle Lutheran High School:
(November 2010 photo courtesy Bil Hood)
First, belated congratulations to the SLHS soccer program for more honors following their state-championship season: In statewide voting, coach Jeff Norton (above) was chosen State Girls’ Soccer Coach of the Year (2B/1B), Ashley Shaw won Player of the Year and All-State First Team selection, and Sam Depew and Natalie Pimblett were chosen for All-State Second Team.
Second – our coverage of Saturday night’s varsity basketball games with Seattle Lutheran hosting Bear Creek, ahead:Read More
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
It’s been a busy week for real-time coverage, so this week’s WSBeat publication is a bit delayed. But there are still a few things to share from reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*Followup to a case reported on WSB earlier this week: Administrators say that a 16-year-old student suspected of setting two fires on Monday, several hours apart, in two West Seattle High School bathrooms, will be placed on long-term suspension.
Five more summaries ahead:Read More
In case the sirens woke you up: Scanner traffic indicates this fire call in the 2600 block of 47th SW (map) involves an electrical problem in an appliance, and crews have not so far detected “extension” into the house itself; part of the initial full response has been canceled. A medic crew is treating one person for what was described as a problem “not believed to be related to smoke inhalation.”
Most of what we showed you in our earlier reports from today’s Special Olympics/Washington-benefiting Polar Plunge (co-sponsored by WSB) was from the sands of Alki Beach – or the festivities atop the pavement and grass by Alki Bathhouse. Above, shot and edited by photojournalist Cliff DesPeaux for WSB, are highlights including the water-level spirit of the Polar Plunge, in two and a half minutes – also including City Councilmember Bruce Harrell‘s early running dive into Puget Sound, an interview with Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen and his boss, a West Seattleite whose friend came all the way from Snohomish County for this, and watch for the Special Olympics board members in pink-tutu “swimsuits” (as previewed here). P.S. Even if you weren’t at the plunge, you can donate to Special Olympics/Washington by going here.
Remember the saga of the attacking owl on Bonair, in upper Alki, last month? Henry e-mailed to say it’s also happened to him:
I’ve been attacked by an owl on Bonair 4 times over the past few weeks. The first time was a flyover; the next time he took my wool hat off my head; the next time I wore a construction hard hat and heard a thunk. The owl was stunned after the collision and flew off. The next day, Friday the 28th, I wore the hard hat and brought a flash light. The owl came from his usual perch and I happened to turn and shine the light on him. He put on the brakes and flew away; it’s a pretty big owl. All the attacks occur at dawn on my way to work out on the Alki stairs. Is this a crazy owl or what! I see I’m not alone. This could get serious so what should be done?
We’ve also heard a couple other scattered reports since the last one published here in December. For information about Seattle’s owl population, check out this Audubon website.
You might have heard those rumblings about a bit of snow possibly on the way. The National Weather Service has escalated the rumbling to “Special Weather Statement” status (see the brand-new version here). But they caution it isn’t likely to be much, and isn’t expected to arrive before very late tonight/early tomorrow.
7:20 AM SUNDAY: The chance appears to have evaporated – the “special weather statement” is no longer in effect.
The latest edition of the Seattle Channel show “CityStream” (which you can watch above in its entirety) showcases a whole lot of sustainability-minded West Seattleites – the first story is about Sustainable West Seattle (including the West Seattle Tool Library) and the final one is about “green cleaning,” with the spotlight on CoolMom. (By the way, have you seen their new website at coolmom.org?)
(Our preview report with pre-Plunge photos can be seen here)
(Photo courtesy Shauna Causey)
Today’s Polar Plunge at Alki wasn’t just any old “jump in the water in the winter” event. It raised money for Special Olympics/Washington – and drew special law-enforcement attention and participation, because of the Law Enforcement Torch Run. The Seattle Police personnel in the water (announced temperature: 46 degrees) the longest today were the divers – like the one in the top photo – who held an uncrossable line offshore to keep participants safe. Once it was time to get in the water, law enforcers were the first group in – here’s our video tracking Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen and Lt. Pierre Davis:
(video no longer available due to blip.tv shutdown)
Pre-Plunge, Capt. Paulsen posed with his pooch (her name is Lola):
SPD Chief John Diaz was there again this year too, as were representatives from other departments – and former King County Sheriff turned Congressmember Dave Reichert even showed up. Another politician went in a bit early:
City Councilmember Bruce Harrell had to get over to the City Hall open house, which started at 11. Military presence at the Polar Plunge too – from the U.S. Marine Corps:
No, they’re not from the Jefferson Square Marine-recruiting office – rather, the one in Tukwila. The nearly 200 preregistered participants also included, again this year, the Chief Sealth International High School delegation – here’s their pre-Plunge pose, followed by video of the big moment:
(video no longer available due to blip.tv shutdown)
And to get the blood pumping before the chilly jump, the Seahawks’ Blue Thunder drum line:
(video no longer available due to blip.tv shutdown)
Emceeing today’s event, anchor David Rose from KCPQ-TV:
KCPQ was among the co-sponsors of today’s event, as was WSB (for the 2nd consecutive year). We have a second report coming up later today, including a comprehensive video report on today’s Polar Plunge, the fourth of seven that SOWA is presenting around the state this winter. If you weren’t there but want to donate to Special Olympics, here’s how to do it online. And if you’re looking for info on Special Olympics events – this year’s calendar is here.
As reported here last month, Liberty Bell Printing has closed its Junction storefront, while staying in business without a retail store, via online/phone orders. But they still have “35 years of extra stuff” to get rid of – and in this WSB Forums post, they’re inviting you to come down and check it out, 2-4 pm today and 1-3 pm tomorrow (Sunday), 4736 California SW.
Still time to get to Alki Bathhouse and sign up for the Polar Plunge at noon, to help raise money for Special Olympics/Washington. Above, SOWA board member Norm Smith, dad of Special Olympics athlete Zach Smith, getting ready to jump in – he and the other board members decided to “take the plunge” wearing tutus. Also spotted in costume – the Polar Plunge mascot:
And even if you don’t want to jump in, you can join the Chicken Coop – contribute without getting in the water:
Back to “who’s plunging” – a couple more we just caught up with:
Lots of law enforcement here too, since the Law Enforcement Torch Run is an important part of Special Olympics/Washington – we’ve seen Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen already. More coverage to come.
We are at Corner Café on First Hill along with about 40 people who came for a coffee conversation with City Councilmembers Sally Bagshaw and Sally Clark – many of them from youth-sports groups furious about the major fee increase they have to pay because of the new city budget. Among them, West Seattle Little League president Mark Terao, who sounded the alarm citywide recently and was unhappy to hear Councilmember Bagshaw tell him flat-out, there’s nothing they can do about the fee increases this year – they’re in the 2011 budget to stay, but they can certainly talk about next year’s budget, although they couldn’t guarantee cuts next year – only that there won’t be another increase for 2012. She also said that leagues having trouble paying the fees should contact her. Seattle Lutheran High School and West Seattle Soccer Club are other West Seattle concerns that have been mentioned. And youth-sports reps from all over the city have pointed out, as has WSLL, that they put major amounts of their own money and volunteer time into field prep, upkeep and improvements, which should be taken into consideration, instead of charging them the same increases as other types of organizations. Bagshaw acknowledged, and apologized, that the teams did not get clear advance notice of how things were going to change: “This did not go well, that you didn’t know.”
We’ll add video later; this isn’t the only topic of the councilmembers’ meeting, which was announced as open to all – they’ve also heard concerns about human-services cuts and the Department of Neighborhoods changes/cuts – Bagshaw described the latter as “just nuts,” but also said, it’s nuts to cut other services too, and notes “nobody wants anything cut,” so, “when things get better, we’re going back.” And what they heard included a message from one attendee: “We want to be part of the process.” (Also among the attendees from West Seattle, City Council candidate Michael Taylor-Judd.) More later.
ADDED: Video of Seattle Lutheran High School athletic director Bob Dowding explaining their concerns to the councilmembers:
That photo by Lisa came along with her beautiful photo of low-tide beach life shown here last night – just imagine warm sunshine as you join the Polar Plunge at Alki Beach at noon today, to raise money for Special Olympics/Washington. If you’re not already signed up, you can register any time after 9 am, at the Alki Bathhouse. WSB is proud to co-sponsor this event again this year, and we hope to see you there! Also from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar, including a few of interest off-peninsula:
DUWAMISH LONGHOUSE ANNIVERSARY: 10 am-3 pm today, the Duwamish Tribe invites you to celebrate the second anniversary of its West Seattle longhouse (4705 West Marginal Way SW).
MERRILL GARDENS-ADMIRAL HEIGHTS ANNIVERSARY: At 2:30 pm, you’re invited to 2326 California SW for music and refreshments to mark its 10th anniversary.
CITY HALL OPEN HOUSE: 11 am-2 pm, you’re invited to tour the headquarters of city government with the schedule including a performance by West Seattle’s Caspar Babypants at 12:45 pm. 5th and Cherry downtown.
CITY COUNCILMEMBERS’ COFFEE CHAT: As mentioned here last night – this isn’t in West Seattle but local youth-sports advocates are going to the Corner Café on First Hill, 9 am-11 am, to take their concerns about park/playfield fees to City Councilmembers Sally Clark and Sally Bagshaw.
LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION: The Chinatown-International District Business Association has been advertising this event here and elsewhere around the city to be sure to get the word out that everyone’s invited – 11 am-4 pm at Hing Hay Park, 423 Maynard Avenue S. (map). Full details here.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
High Point homeowners got a high-level apology last night.
Tom Tierney, executive director of the Seattle Housing Authority, faced a meeting of the HP Homeowners’ Association “with some apology and a little embarrassment that I let stress grow in this community to a point where you all feel like you need to come out on a Thursday night.”
That stress had spawned a list of concerns that frustrated homeowners wanted to see addressed. It also clearly had sparked some changes already, with new faces in on-site management, such as property manager Terry Hirata, who took over a few months ago.
Top of last night’s list was a change in plan for a prominently vacant High Point corner, a change first made public in a story here on WSB exactly one month ago: The new plan for about 90 townhouse units at 35th and Graham instead of the mixed-use apartment/retail building that had been under review in 2008.
(Updated Saturday and Sunday with comments from filmmaker, principal)
This just landed in the WSB inbox. We don’t know the backstory (yet) but we recognize the team at Denny International Middle School (even principal Jeff Clark), and this one’s going viral – it’s been on YouTube for a day and already has 1,000+ views. (P.S. The end credit attributes the lyrics to math teacher Gary Lai, who’s prominent in the video – note the scooter; we looked him up in WSB archives and found our story on the extra studying getting done at Denny during midwinter break back in 2008.)
ADDED SATURDAY AFTERNOON: Will Braden, who produced the video, answered our note asking for a little backstory:
The video was shot a couple weeks ago; it only took us one four-hour session and one follow up hour long session to get all the shots.
Gary Lai, who is a math and science teacher at Denny, wrote the lyrics. He and I went to high school together (at Garfield) and are old friends. I do videography and filmmaking, and he asked me to shoot it for him. We came up with a lot of the ideas and settings on the fly, just using whatever we could find. I’ve done some video stuff before as a favor, just to support Denny (and Gary) but this was definitely a more ambitious undertaking!
Gary has a real passion for teaching, and I know he relishes being the “cool” teacher, so I knew this was right up his alley.
We’re hoping to do more of these, since people seem to be responding positively to this one!
ADDED SUNDAY AFTERNOON: A comment from Denny principal Jeff Clark, among those featured in the video:
Thanks to the efforts of Denny staff and an outstanding volunteer, Will Braden, Denny International has our second motivational video filmed and posted online. The goal is to continue to connect our students to their studies and the plan of college graduation in ways that are relevant to them. I would like to thank Mr. Lai, Mr. Braden, Ms. Oatis, Ms. Whited, Mr. Kimball, all of our dancers and everyone else who helped – thank you!
Go Dolphins!
Before the Lincoln Park jogger-attacks case even came to light earlier this week, we had already been planning to visit the King County Jail courtrooms this afternoon. On the docket, a “sentence-revocation hearing” for 20-year-old Skyelar Hailey, the repeat offender sentenced to prison for burglary and theft in fall 2009 (WSB coverage here). He had been in jail since police picked him up in West Seattle on a warrant January 20th. Read More
| 54 COMMENTS