(WSB photo from July 2008 at California/Lander, where the West Seattle Grand Parade begins) By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Everybody loves a parade, it’s been said.
All you have to do is stake out your spot on the route, and it unfolds right in front of you – the honor guard, the bands, the drill teams, the floats, the royalty, the sign-wavers, the clowns … In all, more than 75 entries will travel California SW from the Admiral District to the south end of The Junction tomorrow morning (here’s the map), starting at 11 am, right after the Rotary Club of West Seattle-sponsored Kiddie Parade (all kids can join in!) strolls and rolls down the route from Genesee south.
But the West Seattle Grand Parade doesn’t just happen, much as co-coordinator Jim Edwards would try to have you believe otherwise. “It’s a juggernaut now,” he insists. “It would happen with or without us.”
He commented Monday night during a small but pivotal gathering that happens each year before the parade: The lineup meeting. At American Legion Post 160 in The Triangle – the organization that presents the parade every year (not Hi-Yu, though they’re an important participant every year) – Jim, co-coordinator Dave Vague, and parade chair Walt DeLong took two hours to finalize the parade running order.
What a great way to spend the summer – singing, dancing and acting up a storm. An acclaimed program giving West Seattle kids the chance to do exactly that is Stage Struck, a theater program that’s celebrating its 10th anniversary this summer, with a party coming up on August 14th. Stage Struck offers both summer theater camps and performances during the school year at Fauntleroy Church‘s Fellowship Hall as well as West Seattle High School.
The photos shown here (courtesy of Peggy Fine) are from past years’ performances, but TONIGHT you can see the kids in action as they present “Mary Poppins” at Fauntleroy Church at 7 pm (the past two Fridays, they performed “Cinderella” and “Oliver“). And you can also buy your tickets now for the 10th anniversary event – online at www.stagestruckseattle.com – read on for the official announcement about the celebration, which is also a fundraiser to gather scholarship funds so more kids ca be pat of the Stage Struck program:Read More
(Photo by Steve Mohundro, taken in Genesee area)
No need to move at a snail’s pace as the week comes to an end. Got a bike? Work downtown or beyond? Today’s your last chance to join City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen biking to work from Weather Watch Park on Beach Drive, 7 am (here’s our story about the Wednesday ride) … 1 pm this afternoon, join the Nature Consortium at 14th/Holly for a free guided eco-hike through part of the West Duwamish Greenbelt (here’s our feature about the restoration work there); meet at 14th/Holly … Restaurant note: Skip from Angelina’s in the Admiral District asked us to share the word that they are ending weekday lunch after today (more here) … Tonight’s highlights include more Shakespeare in the park – check the WSB West Seattle Events calendar.
Two West Seattle Crime Watchnotes this early morning: First, police are investigating an armed robbery – it happened about an hour ago at the gas station mini-mart at California/Andover (map). Scanner traffic suggests they have a potential suspect in custody – the robber was reported to have fled southbound in a white truck; numerous officers responded, and scanner traffic quickly indicated a potential suspect sighting in the SW Morgan vicinity, as well as a gun having been found in the vehicle. At last report, officers were still working to check with the victim and any potential witnesses; we probably won’t be able to confirm an arrest till later this morning. Meantime, more reported catalytic-converter thefts – coming in as comments on the one published here a week and a half ago – read on:Read More
That photo is courtesy of Erik Walum, husband of Admiral Neighborhood Association president Katy Walum, showing the big sign that’s up for the concert series starting one week from tonight – ANA’s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha (co-sponsored by WSB and more than 20 others – listed here). Every Thursday night at 6:30, bring your chairs/blankets to the east lawn of Hiawatha Community Center and get ready to enjoy free live music. The lineup’s here – kicking off next Thursday with The Starlings:
If you haven’t been to the concert site before – it’s just north of West Seattle High School, on the Walnut Avenue side (map).
In case you heard the sirens and wondered – we just checked out the scene of a house-fire call in High Point, at 34th/Juneau. Firefighters are mopping up after making quick work of a small but smoky fire inside a closet. Nobody was home at the time; nobody hurt.
“War Games” is the movie – ’80s trivia is the preshow activity – and the courtyard next to Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) is the place to be this Saturday night for the 2nd of this summer’s six West Seattle Outdoor Movies. Not only is Skylark Café and Club (WSB sponsor) co-sponsoring the evening, but Skylark proprietor Jessie SK is hosting a mini-round of ’80s trivia, and we’re supplying the prizes (WSB is another of the night’s co-sponsors, as are Nicholson Kovalchick Architects and Pagliacci Pizza, which we’re told will have some of its fabled pies on hand too). Come early – last week the courtyard was jammed long before the movie began at dusk (check the photo in this report!) – and bring money for the raffle – last week’s raffle raised more than $250 for WestSide Baby. (The full season lineup is on the official West Seattle Outdoor Movies website.)
As is usual this time of year and this time of the week, SDOT has gone public with its list of big events around the city. Included in this roundup, the American Legion Post 160-presented West Seattle Grand Parade, happening Saturday morning at 11 (check our coverage archive for all the newest previews, and past years’ coverage). Click ahead to see what else is happening where and when:Read More
As much as Seattle Police stress calling them when there’s trouble – either 911 for something urgent, or 206-625-5011 if it’s not – some say the latter number didn’t get them the response they expected. The team at the Southwest Precinct offers some advice: When you call the non-emergency number, to get a dispatcher, press option 2, and then option 8, and that’ll get you to a live person. Again – that’s for when whatever you are reporting is NOT happening now. So what about calling the precinct? Don’t call to file a report or ask that an officer be dispatched – SPD cannot dispatch “from a precinct level,” she explains – but if you need “general information,” as she puts it, 206-733-9800 is the main precinct number. Also: “Sometimes folks want to contact an officer, add follow-up information, just ask a question about something. We’re happy to answer the phones when there is a clerk available.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: We’re one of many small local-news organizations that work with the student journalists of the UW News Lab. One assignment we offered this quarter: “Go tell the story of what the West Seattle-based Nature Consortium is up to in the West Duwamish Greenbelt.” The following video/photos/story comprise the result. P.S. You can see the greenbelt for yourself tomorrow afternoon, 1 pm, in the NC’s next free monthly eco-hike – RSVP to lisa@naturec.org)
Story, video and photos by Sara N. Reardon
University of Washington News Lab
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Early on a recent Thursday morning, a score of middle-school students, retirees, office workers and court-ordered volunteers gathered on an unobtrusive corner in residential eastern West Seattle. Armed with shovels, work gloves and plenty of bug spray, they ventured into the forest on a quest to annihilate the spiny blackberry bushes and other plant species that have invaded the West Duwamish Greenbelt and to replace them with native species.
“It’s been kind of fun, it’s a good opportunity,” said Sarah Hart (above left), a middle school student with the Summer of Service program, one of many organizations that are getting youth involved in environmental issues through participation in the Nature Consortium’s restoration project.
“The sheer number of people coming out to work has snowballed in the past couple of years,” said Nancy Whitlock, Nature Consortium executive director. “It’s amazing how many groups come knock on our door wanting to work for us.”
Six days a week, anywhere from one lonely participant to more than 400 volunteers (last Earth Day) are out pulling out invasive plant species, picking up trash and planting native plants to repopulate the area. “Sometimes it’s like wrangling kittens,” said restoration director Mark “Buphalo” Tomkiewicz.
(King County rendering of future South Park Bridge)
First – the Puget Sound Regional Council has just finalized its $15 million South Park Bridge replacement-funding pledge, bringing total commitments to $98 million of the needed $130 million, according to an announcement just sent by the county. (The recommended pledge was first reported two weeks ago.) Second – at last night’s Delridge District Council meeting at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, City Council President Richard Conlin was asked by Pigeon Point’s Pete Spalding how the city will rustle up the $15 million it recently pledged to the bridge-replacement project. Conlin replied that options included adding the money to what the city borrows, delaying some Bridging the Gap programs, or perhaps a car-tab fee of up to $20. ADDED 3:46 PM: In coverage of the PSRC vote, our partners at the Seattle Times also report that demolition of the now-out-of-service bridge’s drawspans is set to start next month.
(WSB photo from 2007 Alki Art Fair)
We’re on the brink of another big summer weekend. And this afternoon, we have new details about one of the marquee events – the Alki Art Fair at the beach Saturday and Sunday – courtesy of its director, Giovannina Souers, who shared the full music lineup too! The annual fair raises money for scholarships to students of all ages for art classes offered through the Alki Community Center and Alki Bathhouse. More than 70 artists will be selling their work: “We have a wide mix of artists: pottery, paintings, photography, metal work, fused glass, jewelry, and many crafts like hand made clothing, candles, soap and much more. Many are local West Seattle artists,” says Giovannina, mentioning a few: Mary Hollister, who sells her fused-glass mobiles all over the state, and Ester Chinn, “who took her first pottery lessons at the Alki Bathhouse (and) now owns her own studio and sells every year at the fair, find her in booth #50.” Giovannina adds, “Surrounding the Statue of Liberty will be a group of artists from the Seattle League of Arts and all the way at the end of the fair you will find some of our newer artists this year including Andy Hill a metal worker who makes amazing pieces for indoors or outdoors.” For kids, a special arts/crafts booth and bouncy toy are planned; food vendors will include barbecue, hot dogs, kettle corn, shave ice, cotton candy; and 14 bands will play live music – click ahead for the lineup and a little more Alki Art Fair info:Read More
Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes today about tagging/graffiti vandalism. First, just in from a resident southwest of The Junction who wants to be anonymous, this report and photo:
Reporting multiple graffiti tags around our house at the corner of Erskine SW and SW Hudson. Garage door and “Do Not Enter” sign (west side of Erskine/Hudson intersection at one-way of SW Hudson) was marked with [five letters starting with Z, ending with R]. The tag was done with a black graffiti paint marker sometime between July 20-21, 2010. Good news is the graffiti is removed and our immediate neighbors are on the lookout. Hope this helps!
Our general rule (there’s bound to be an exception now and then, such as a request by police) is that we don’t show tags/graffiti vandalism without blurring, nor publish the full tag. Police do ask that you photograph tags before you paint them over, and there may soon be a new way to get those photos to investigators more quickly and easily: Southwest Precinct Lt. Norm James told the Delridge District Council last night that SPD is working on yet another new online reporting feature (following the launch of the reporting system mentioned here yesterday) – they’re looking at a feature that would allow citizens to upload photos. That would enable use of a new software package that detects similarities between tags/graffiti photos, so police can gather even more information to use against anyone they arrest. (Right now, though, even the new online system tells you that you must call to report this type of vandalism: 206-625-5011.)
Just two days till the American Legion Post 160-presented West Seattle Grand Parade rolls, marches, dances and glides down California SW from the Admiral District to The Junction. In the video above, we ask this year’s Grand Marshals, radio-turned-webcast personalitiesMarty Riemer and Jodi Brothers (both West Seattleites), to demonstrate the “parade wave” – and of course, the discussion veers off course. (Hopefully their parade-day convertible won’t.) More than 75 entries are set for the annual tradition, starting at 11 am – just pick a spot along the route, from the north edge of Hiawatha southward:
The purple-blue marker along the route is SW Genesee, starting point for the Rotary Club of West Seattle-presented Kiddie Parade, which all kids are invited to enter – signups start at 10 am Saturday, and the parade proceeds through The Junction right at 11, ahead of the rest of the parade (so there’s time to get back to your seat and watch everybody else!). Still more parade “sneak peeks” ahead between now and Saturday morning.
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar for today/tonight: GreenStage‘s Shakespeare in the Park makes its 2010 West Seattle debut tonight with “As You Like It,” 7 pm at Lincoln Park (follow the signs from the north parking lot) … If you prefer indoor theater, this is the second night for “Side Show” at ArtsWest, 7:30 pm … South Delridge/White Center Community Safety Coalition discusses crime and other safety-related concerns at 6 pm at the White Center DSHS office (9650 15th SW) … And you’re invited to help out with the food garden at St. James Annex (9421 18th SW) with Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle‘s next round of “drop-in gardening,” 6:30 pm. … More of today/tonight’s events here.
With the latest commute challenges this week, planned and unplanned, we noticed more people than usual were consulting the WSB Traffic page. Then we noticed some broken links, and some newer cameras that needed to be added. So we’ve added those cameras, fixed the links, and enhanced the infolinks atop the page. Check it out and let us know if there’s something else that might help.
From tonight’s Delridge District Council meeting (more to come in a separate report), a sneak peek at something that hasn’t been officially announced yet: On October 9th, Delridge will be the locale for what’s being billed as “HP3 – Healthy Parks, Healthy People, Healthy Planet – Seattle’s First Environmental Adventure Race.” According to draft handouts circulated at tonight’s meeting at Youngstown Arts Center, this will be “an environmental adventure race crisscrossing the Delridge community, designed to create awareness and foster action on environmental issues throughout Seattle.” The flyer lists “elite” and “open” divisions – with the former involving no more than 50 two-person teams, limited to people who have completed either a half or full marathon in the preceding year, and the race including multiple events over 16 miles, including “pushing a wheelbarrow full of mulch 1 mile up the Soundway Trail” and “removing 50 pounds of invasive plants at Westcrest Park.” Separate from the race, there also will be an inter-neighborhood competition component involving picking up trash, collecting recyclables, and collecting compostables. This comes from a project that won a $20,000 city “Small and Simple” grant earlier this year.
Marra Farmin South Park – which grows tons of food for donations each year – recently got hit by tool thieves, and put out a call for donated replacements. We heard about it on the e-mail list that hundreds in South Park use to get and share news, and asked if it would help to share that call here. Robin DeCook from Lettuce Link said yes, they’re still looking for 2 donations: A gas-powered lawn mower and a gas-powered weedwhacker. If you can help, call Marra Farm coordinator Sue McGann at 206-694-6746, extension 1.
(Photo by Cliff DesPeaux)
The missing word on those T-shirts is “jobs” – as in, “Got Green Jobs?” For WSB and partner site White Center Now, Cliff DesPeaux covered an event today geared at showing the media – and as a result, you – what’s up with the Got Green? training program, which currently has 14 trainees working on weatherization techniques at a White Center home that will be demolished as part of the future Strength of Place Initiative Village development. See the full story at WCN.
(Photos by Christopher Boffoli)
The date is set tonight for the return of the West Seattle Rotary Viewpoint Park totem pole: Next Wednesday morning, just under two weeks before its planned August 10 re-dedication, and almost eight months after it was stolen. Last week, we took you to the Renton headquarters of art-restoration experts Artech for a peek at the pole, post-cleaning, pre-painting (here’s that story); today, photojournalist Christopher Boffoli went to Artech on assignment for WSB, to get a look at the painting in progress. In the photo above, Phil Roach is working on the pole; in this next pole, the brush is wielded by Roger Waterhouse:
Click ahead for more of a look at what’s been done so far:Read More
When you watch the Seattle Police Motorcycle Drill Team during the American Legion Post 160-presented West Seattle Grand Parade this Saturday, here’s something you might not realize: There are West Seattleites on the team! Cynthia shares this photo of Rob Blanco(left) and Drill Master John Bernasconi. As usual, the SPD motorcycles will be at the head of the parade – after the Rotary Club of West Seattle Kiddie Parade, and before the Vancouver, B.C., motorcycle squad – which starts at 11 am this Saturday. The parade route is along California SW from SW Lander (by Lafayette/Safeway) to SW Edmunds (end of the main Junction business district) – note that several side streets are part of the staging areas, with No Parking signs having been up for days now, and some buses will be rerouted that morning and part of the afternoon, too.
Even more online-services news today from the city: Seattle Police now have an online-reporting system for certain “low-level” crime categories. Read about it here. SPD cautions that this is just for certain “low-level” crimes – it doesn’t replace calling 911 for something urgent. Here’s the home page for the new service. (We have also linked this atop the WSB Crime Watch page, in case you need to find it fast.)
Two 
Reporting multiple graffiti tags around our house at the corner of Erskine SW and SW Hudson. Garage door and “Do Not Enter” sign (west side of Erskine/Hudson intersection at one-way of SW Hudson) was marked with [five letters starting with Z, ending with R]. The tag was done with a black graffiti paint marker sometime between July 20-21, 2010. Good news is the graffiti is removed and our immediate neighbors are on the lookout. Hope this helps!
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