West Seattle, Washington
16 Wednesday
(WSB photo from last month, showing where the top of the new ramp will be ‘fused’ to the old roadway)
SDOT mentioned it during the “media tour” we covered on the new 4th Avenue offramp in May – and now, they’re sending out a reminder: When they are ready to connect that new ramp from the eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct to the existing roadway, they will have to close the right-hand eastbound lane for up to six weeks – meaning a traffic bottleneck between 99 and I-5. (On the bright side, they had said in May that it could last up to EIGHT weeks.) Read on for the advance warning SDOT sent around Tuesday night:Read More
We’re at the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, where Sgt. Jeff Durden has just presented the crime-trends update. So far this month – car prowls are down dramatically – 30 in the first 13 days of June, compared to 123 for all of last month, and 126 the month before that. Sgt. Durden wondered if that might be in part thanks to a June 1st arrest that was reported here three days later – that of now-20-year-old Ronald Thompson, charged initially with 4 car thefts (we are checking to see if any more charges have been added in the case). We’ve also just heard more details about two cases we reported here briefly last night – the robbery at the South Seattle Market at 35th/Morgan, and a burglary arrest elsewhere in West Seattle yesterday. ADDED 11:49 PM: Click ahead for details (including, added at 1:35 am, toplines from City Attorney Pete Holmes’ guest appearance):Read More
ORIGINAL 5:18 PM REPORT: We’re at Memorial Stadium downtown for the second of West Seattle’s three major high-school graduations this month – Chief Sealth International High School. Bright sunshine over the stadium, grads decked out in their light-blue and white gowns. They’ve just been congratulated by Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson. A few more notes to come as the ceremony proceeds (West Seattle High School graduates at the same time, same place, tomorrow). 5:31 PM: Staff speaker Peter Junkerman just told the grads that the move to temporary quarters at Boren two years ago proved “a school is more than a building.” (Sealth moves into its renovated permanent campus this fall.) He also has noted that the class earned $2.2 million in scholarships, between the nearly 200 grads. However – “The truth today is that, we celebrate you, and we worry about you. … Tomorrow is a new beginning. It’s the first day of the rest of your life. … (Today) is an ending, and a beginning.”
5:47 PM: School Board member Steve Sundquist is quoting Stephen Colbert, urging the grads to reject cynicism (as Colbert did in a speech), and President Obama. And he has just officially accepted the class of 2010. 6:04 PM: Diplomas are under way! Looks like this will end on time, by 6:30. Video and more photos later. ADDED 8:14 PM: After the alma mater, the grads did a “flash mob”-style dance to a medley – here’s two minutes of it:
LATE-NIGHT ADDITIONS: A quick look at the cheering crowd as grads get their diplomas:
Student speakers included student body president Mohamed Mohamed and senator Alexis Sullivan, along with Chantel Hunt and, with a style that drew cheers, Roxie Torres:
We first reported last week on the paving project between 47th and 49th on SW Genesee (map) – thanks to a WSB’er tip. The work was to be done today but got postponed because rain (which hasn’t shown up) was forecast. Now there’s word from SDOT they’re adding a couple more blocks:
Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) paving crews have been resurfacing SW Genesee Street from 47th Avenue SW to 49th Avenue SW. They recently completed grinding the old asphalt surface on these two blocks.
Today the crews have been given the “go ahead” to add two additional blocks of Genesee Street to the project, from 49th Avenue SW to 51st Avenue SW. The crews now plan to grind the old surface off of the additional blocks Wednesday (tomorrow), Thursday, and possibly also on Friday. They plan to lay the new asphalt, weather permitting, on Monday and Tuesday, June 21 and 22. One lane of traffic in each direction will remain open.
Genesee Street was not on SDOT’s original list of paving for 2010, but cost savings by the department from other paving projects have enabled SDOT to pave the street this year.
(King County rendering of future replacement South Park Bridge)
The Seattle City Council says it’s ready to back words with action in expressing support for a new South Park Bridge – with the current one shutting down forever two weeks from tomorrow. They’ve just pledged $15 million. Read on for the announcement (and, added 1:49 pm – a response to our question, not addressed in news release, of “where’s the money coming from?”):Read More
Once again this year because of budget cuts, the Seattle Public Library system will shut down for a week at summer’s end. They’ve just sent out an announcement saying the dates are August 30th-September 5th, right before Labor Day, so they won’t reopen till Tuesday 9/7. Read on for the full details:Read More
Out of the WSB inbox, from Kent:
Just reporting that the annual “school is out” graffiti has begun on Charlestown hill (and 47th). This year’s tasteless art includes a blue Swastika as well as obnoxiously large white lettering and it doesn’t end there. I really wish there was a way to thwart this! Maybe putting out the word that while we are proud of our graduates, maybe they might consider that we have to look at this graffiti in front of our homes every day now for the next few years (until it wears off). The city refuses to remove or cover it and it just invites other vandals.
We’re checking with SDOT regarding the latter contention.
ADDED 5:44 PM: From Rick Sheridan at SDOT:
SDOT does remove graffiti on streets, and takes hate, sexist, and racist graffiti seriously. Our goal is to respond to offensive graffiti on public property as soon as possible, usually within 24 hours. SDOT will work to remove the swastika from the roadway on Wednesday, June 16.
We will also assess at that time whether the other painted elements need to be addressed. SDOT recognizes that this is a standing tradition for students, one that is not typically the subject of complaints.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Though the county project manager’s first response to that demand during April’s Morgan Community Association meeting was to suggest that residents file a public-disclosure request to force the county to give up the data, some information now appears to be coming out without quite that much of an additional fight.
With a “technical information meeting” looming this Saturday in West Seattle, documents are beginning to appear on a Technical Information page that’s part of the Puget Sound CSO Control Projects website – you can see the first round of links here.
This wasn’t announced to news media – nor was the creation of a new group to participate in the feedback process – but they’re both part of the newest developments in this ongoing controversy, as was a discussion we covered at last week’s city Parks Board meeting:
Two notes from West Seattle Nursery – First, today is the deadline to apply to be part of GreenLife at West Seattle Summer Fest, coming up in The Junction July 9-10-11. We first wrote about GreenLife last month; you can get an application form here. NOTE #2: If you’ll be out and about on Father’s Day afternoon this Sunday, how about beer and hot dogs at WS Nursery? They’ve just announced another Beerfest, with beer from White Center’s Big Al Brewing. 1-4 pm. Bring food donations for the West Seattle and White Center Food Banks.
One week from today, it’s the last day of school for thousands of local kids. But for those concerned about education and where it’s going, the school year’s ending with a bang, not a whimper. Two things to mention. First, the clip above is from a documentary called “Race to Nowhere,” which will be screened at West Seattle High School at 6 pm this Friday night, with the director Vicki Abeles on hand for a discussion at 7:30. The gist, as you’ll hear in the trailer: “Our kids are pressured to perform – but not to learn.” More details here. (The screening is co-sponsored by the Washington Education Association.)
Second – the final Seattle School Board meeting of the school year is tomorrow night, 6 pm at district HQ in SODO. Here’s the agenda; one of the items is introduction of the report regarding evaluating Superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson, extending her contract and reviewing her pay. That’s why a group calling itself the “Seattle Shadow School Board” is organizing a protest outside district HQ before the meeting; it’s also been distributing information about the “no-confidence votes” that some local public-school employees (including groups at Schmitz Park and Sanislo elementaries) have taken in recent weeks (WSB reports here and here), and circulating an online petition.
Third – if you have anything you want to bring up with West Seattle’s school board rep, Steve Sundquist‘s final community chat of the school year is 11 am this Saturday, at the High Point library branch.
Write your own caption for the crab caught on cam by Edgar Riebe from Captive Eye Media, during Lafayette Elementary second-graders’ field trip to Me-Kwa-Mooks during low tide on Monday. Tide’s still low enough for good beach-roaming today – and the naturalists are out again too – see this story for more. Meantime, it’s graduation night for the Chief Sealth International High School Class of 2010, 5 pm at Memorial Stadium downtown … Support the USO by dining at Merrill Gardens-Admiral Heights (WSB sponsor) 4-6 pm (full details here) … 10 am-2 pm today, workers from pet-food company Nutro will be spiffing up Westcrest Off-Leash Dog Area (on the heels of the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle event last Saturday!) … Tonight’s marquee meeting is the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council, 7 pm at Southwest Precinct, with special guest, City Attorney Pete Holmes … Also tonight, the Tuesday night stand-up paddleboarding event is back at Alki Kayak Tours, 5-8 pm … And 6 am-6 pm, you can turn out in support of Running For Hope (read the preview here). … More on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar!
If you’re between 25 and 40 and employed – you’re invited to apply for a monthlong exchange program in Maharashtra, India. The Rotary Club of West Seattle says all costs are covered – the program’s this December, and the application deadline just changed to July 19th. It’s both a leadership-development program and a cultural-awareness program, and though the Rotary sponsors it, it’s for non-Rotarians. More details on this regional Rotary site.
(Additional details of Monday night’s meeting added 9:40 am Tuesday – scroll down)
Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
About 40 attendees from Delridge and other West Seattle neighborhoods gathered at Delridge Community Center tonight to discuss Mayor Mike McGinn‘s Walk/Bike/Ride initiative – its goals and potential effects on the area.
Here’s how the initiative is described by the mayor’s office:
Walk/Bike/Ride is a multi-year initiative that supports projects and programs making walking, biking, and riding transit the easiest ways to get around in Seattle. It serves all people, regardless of age, income, ethnicity, or ability. It uses transportation investments to create quality places and reclaims our streets for communities.
It was the third of four community meetings around the city this month (Bitter Lake and South Beacon Hill happened earlier; Northgate is next week) at which organizers are seeking answers to the question: “What needs to change in your neighborhood in order to make walking, biking, and riding transit easy?”
Tonight’s event in the Delridge CC gym kicked off with an introduction from the mayor’s transportation policy analyst Rebecca Deehr, followed by a presentation from Barbara Gray from the Seattle Department of Transportation (above), and a lively Q&A session. Read More
Alki photographer David Hutchinson sent that photo a short time ago … and we could just sit here looking at it all night. So we’re publishing it fast so you can see it too. After a surprisingly sunny day, forecasters say we should expect a gray day tomorrow, maybe even some thunderstorms. Might not even crack 60 degrees. (June 14th and we haven’t put the flannel sheets away yet.)
The empty lot on the southwest corner of 34th and Barton is closer to becoming a P-Patch after city councilmembers voted unanimously today to declare it “surplus” for Seattle Public Utilities, meaning SPU can transfer it to the Department of Neighborhoods for community-garden use. That’s been in the works for more than a year (we got first word at a Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee meeting in May 2009); next step should be a community design meeting, according to what a city rep told the Westwood Neighborhood Council in April.
(WSB photo from July 2009)
Two announcements tonight from the West Seattle Hi-Yu Summer Festival, as their biggest events of the year get closer: First, the photo above is from last year’s Junior Court Coronation – and tonight Hi-Yu is putting out the call for girls who’d like to be considered for Junior Court this year. From Hi-Yu’s Deena Mahn:
The Hi-Yu Summer Festival is fast approaching and the float will be traveling to the following communities soon: Marysville, Port Orchard and Burien, to name just a few.
Also, it’s that time of year to look for NEW JUNIOR COURT ROYALTY FOR THE 2010-2011 YEAR. The current court of royalty – Queen Kailin, Princess Isabella and Princess Kaitlin – will be crowning new girls on Friday, July 16th at the Hiawatha Fun Fest.
For an application, click here to open the document, fill it out and mail it in BY MONDAY, JULY 12. ALL INSTRUCTIONS ARE IN THE DOCUMENT. Try out to be part of Hi-Yu royalty and have fun making new friends!
A few things you might want to know before you click – age requirement is “between the ages of 8 and 11 by September 1st.” Also, girls must live or attend school in West Seattle (zip codes 98106, 98116, 98126, 98136, 98146).
LAST CALL FOR SPONSORS! Hi-Yu is putting out one last call for sponsors as they get ready to send the Summer Festival Souvenir Book to the printer. (Supporters are recognized in the front of the book.) Hi-Yu Festival president Tim Winston says, “Due to the economy, our sponsor level is down slightly, while insurance costs for the float, etc. have increased. All sponsorships help with the Float program, the Scholarship Program, and Hi-Yu events.” They’re not looking for a big commitment – the $50 and $100 levels help a lot; e-mail winstonfamily@yahoo.com if you’re interested. They don’t have online donation set up but you can send a check to West Seattle Hi-Yu Summer Festival at P.O. Box 16130, Seattle, WA 98116.
We received a few notes earlier about police activity near the 35th/Morgan market (map) and a few blocks north near the High Point library branch. Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Rasmussen tells WSB that both scenes “were related to a robbery at the (market). Three juveniles were arrested by our officers in the area of the library. No suspects outstanding.” He also says that in another incident this afternoon, police arrested a juvenile burglary suspect “who entered a woman’s house in the 9200 Block of 26th SW [map] while she was at home.” (Another reminder that if you’ve got questions/concerns about crime, precinct leadership will be at tomorrow night’s monthly meeting of the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council as usual, 7 pm; also scheduled to be there, City Attorney Pete Holmes.)
(top video added 6:39 pm – baby sunflower sea star on the move!)
Notice a lot of school buses around West Seattle today, not at the usual hours? One last low-tide field trip before school gets out for the summer. Among the volunteer beach naturalists out again today was John Smersh of Click! Design That Fits (which, like the naturalist-program-sponsoring Seattle Aquarium, is a WSB sponsor). He shared the photos and video, and reports:
A great day today with lots of kids on field trips to the beach! We will be doing another weekday beach session tomorrow from 11 am to 2 pm (low at 1:39 pm). The last photo is a Sea Lemon, which is a type of sea slug. There was one young gal from one of the schools who had picked that as “her” animal to find, and I don’t believe she ever did… by the time I found this one she had left.
You’ll find the naturalists tomorrow at Constellation Park (south of Alki Point) and Lincoln Park (near Colman Pool).
Two women running across America in a novel way – running in each of 50 states (often with local runners joining in), but not all the way across them – will be on the run in West Seattle tomorrow. John Wallace, the guy who made news here for a running milestone last December, is spreading the word about Running Hope Through America. He’s helping Lisa Smith Batchen (who’s been averaging 50 miles a state) and Sister Mary-Beth Lloyd (averaging about 20) on their quest to raise money to help orphans; Washington is their 46th state, and they’ll start the local leg from Salty’s on Alki at 6 am tomorrow. Here’s the Facebook event page. You’re welcome to join them at 6 tomorrow morning – to run part or all of the way, or “just” to cheer them on – and/or you can donate to the cause right now.
(2008 WSB photo of Delridge wading pool)
Two followups to this morning’s news about city budget cuts: First, the wading pool schedule is now available as a PDF on the Seattle Parks website. Here’s the document; the highlights –
Delridge: Thursday-Friday-Saturday noon-6:45 pm, starting June 26th
EC Hughes: Wednesday-Thursday-Friday noon-7 pm, starting June 30th
Hiawatha: Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday noon-6:45 pm, starting June 28th
Highland Park: Closed (awaiting conversion to spray park)
Lincoln Park: Every day 11 am-8 pm, starting June 26th
South Park: Sunday-Monday-Tuesday noon-7 pm, starting June 27th
That leaves eastern West Seattle with no 7-day-a-week pool, a situation that stirred some controversy two years ago (Delridge eventually got a seventh day). Also a note on the Parks budget cuts regarding maintenance — a little more insight comes from an internal memo that Acting Superintendent Christopher Williams sent to Parks employees:
We will hold three park maintenance positions vacant in each Park District for the last half of 2010. This will save about $0.3 million but will have a serious impact on our ability to maintain our parks to their current excellent standard. The Parks Division is also working on some ways to test different reduction strategies this summer to try to identify the ways that have the least impact on the public.
Again, from our earlier report, the full presentation given to councilmembers this morning can be seen here.
West Seattle Junction Association guy-of-all-trades Don told us during Sunday’s Health Fair that he would make sure Old Glory graced California SW for Flag Day today … and the promise was kept. No fluttering in the breeze so far since the air is fairly still, but if you go to The Junction, you will see the Stars and Stripes all along the way. Today is the 233rd anniversary of the day the flag was adopted by the Second Continental Congress.
(We’ll continue to update this story through the afternoon as reaction comes in – scroll down)
ORIGINAL 10:46 AM REPORT: The City Council’s special Budget Committee meeting has just begun; this will be the first official word of what cuts will be made to make up for extra red ink in the current budget year; We’ll post as it happens. It’s being pointed out that these cuts do NOT require council approval. Note: The presentation is online, according to our friends at My Green Lake – see it here. We’re reading it now.
ONGOING COVERAGE: Budget boss Beth Goldberg‘s first announcement: In light of the Fremont fire that killed five over the weekend, NO reductions in the Fire Department.
From the budget document – wading pool effects: Lincoln Park remains open 7 days a week. (Goldberg is telling the council that the decision was based on keeping the most-used wading pools fully open. Other decisions, she says, were made based on “geographic equity.”)
Wading pools open 3 Days per week (in our area – there are other 3-day schedules around the city):
Delridge, EC Hughes, Hiawatha, South Park (Goldberg says the scheduling decisions were made based on the busiest day of the week and the days on each side of that day; as of this writing, the Parks website is not updated)
Highland Park wading pool remains closed (it’s set for conversion to a spray park; Goldberg is noting during the briefing that spray features are cheaper to operate than regular wading pools; she says the city’s total wading-pool budget is just under half a million dollars a year)
ALSO FROM PARKS: No community center/swimming pool closures this year, no lifeguard cuts. The description of cuts does not mention any program cuts, but does note a 5% reduction in maintenance (no elaboration yet)
LIBRARIES: Current hours will be maintained at all locations (but there are cuts, like $500,000 cut from the collection fund)
(added 11 am) POLICE: From the document linked above:
Leaves 21 new sworn officer positions related to the neighborhood policing program vacant, saving $2.1 million
(added 11:19 am) Goldberg says there are more SDOT cuts to come – “as we go deeper, the decisions get uglier.” The document linked above goes into detail about that department’s challenges.
11:56 AM: The meeting’s over. The mayor has a media availability at 12:15 to comment on the cuts.
12:19 PM: News releases are starting to come out with reaction to the cuts. We’ll publish the ones we get – starting with, after the jump, Councilmember Jean Godden, who says she’s concerned about the 21 police jobs that won’t be hired:Read More
We’ve mentioned the City Council‘s upcoming briefing on midyear budget cuts – watch for word on that after the meeting starts at 10:30 – but there’s something else governmental to keep an eye on this morning: We know of at least two West Seattleites planning to testify at the animal-services-proposal hearing at the County Courthouse downtown – details after the jump:Read More
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