West Seattle, Washington
15 Tuesday
(Photo provided by The Whale Trail; photographer: Todd Chandler of Cascadia Research)
A local whale expert who recently made worldwide news is speaking next week at the Duwamish Longhouse. Donna Sandstrom of The Whale Trail sends word that her organization is presenting Cascadia Research founder John Calambokidis‘ talk “Gray Whales and Other Large Whales of the Pacific Northwest” Thursday, June 17th, at 7 pm. Calambokidis led the necropsy on the gray whale that stranded and died at Arroyo Beach in April – that’s the necropsy that made international headlines because of the plastic trash found inside the whale. He will discuss grays as well as humpbacks and other large whales found in NW waters, with an introduction by People for Puget Sound‘s Kathy Fletcher, providing an update on “the health of Puget Sound and efforts toward its recovery,” according to the announcement. Tickets are $5 (suggested donation) and on sale online right now – go here. (And find out more about The Whale Trail by going here.)
One day after our latest Admiral Safeway project update, you can hear from point people on the project in person during tonight’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting at Admiral UCC Church, 7 pm … that’s also meeting time for the Fauntleroy Community Association, at The Hall at Fauntleroy … Want to be sure you’re ready for anything? As first noted during Disaster Preparedness Month coverage, tonight’s the next free Seattle Neighborhoods Actively Prepare class in West Seattle, 6:30 pm at Delridge Library (full info here) … more on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar!
The mentioned-earlier Community School of West Seattle auction isn’t the only school fundraiser coming up this weekend – first previewed here in mid-May, the Chief Sealth International High School Jazz Band-benefiting Evening of Jazz and Wine Tasting is coming up this Friday night – 7-9 pm at EB Foote Winery in Burien – here’s the (updated!) flyer, with information on how to get tickets.
As far as we can tell, Community School of West Seattle likely gets the designation “last school auction of the year” with its Flooring ’20s event this Saturday (so named because they’re blending a flapper theme with the fact they need to raise at least $20,000 to redo the school’s flooring). Items listed for live and silent auction include a private performance by Caspar Babypants (aka West Seattle-residing rocker Chris Ballew), plus, looking at the online list of items, we see it includes offerings from WSB sponsors including Fauntleroy Chiropractic and Scratch and Peck … and tons more … it’s a VERY long list. The event’s 6:30-10 pm this Saturday at the school (22nd SW and Roxbury); it’s free, with hors d’oeuvres and desserts plus a no-host bar. You can RSVP and even buy raffle tickets right on the auction site.
(Photos by Kellie Moeller)
Look closely at the top-left section of that photo, and you’ll see what 96-year-old Fordie Ross was throwing at last Saturday’s Northwest Senior Games Track and Field events at West Seattle Stadium. Kellie Moeller from Merrill Gardens – sponsor of Saturday’s competition, and also a WSB sponsor – shared some photos, which can certainly inspire us all. Also in the shot put, 64-year-old Peggy Anderson from Bellevue:
And check out 69-year-old Fred Zapf of Issaquah in the pole vault!
Kellie adds:
These events are taking place all around the Seattle area during the month of June. These events give seniors across the state the opportunity to compete in athletic events of all disciplines. Winners will go on to compete on a national level.
The NW Senior Games website doesn’t have this year’s results up yet, but taking a peek at the 2009 list, we see Ross and Anderson both took their age divisions in shot put!
Monday was the first day of the official “filing week” for anyone who wants to be on the August 17th primary-election ballot. Candidates have been able to postal-mail their forms since May 21st, but online and in-person filing didn’t open till this morning. 
For the West Seattle (and surrounding areas)-specific races, here’s who’s filed so far: In the 34th Legislative District (map), Rep. Sharon Nelson has filed for State Senate, listing her affiliation as “Prefers Democrat Party”; for the State House Position 2 spot she’s leaving, Marcee Stone and Mike Heavey (who tweeted a photo of his online-filing moment) both filed Monday, both listing their affiliation as “Prefers Democratic Party.” (Remember, we’re in the “Top Two” primary mode now, meaning the top two vote-getters in each race advance to the Nov. 2 general election, regardless of affiliation.) The state list of “who’s filed so far” can be seen here; the King County list is here – no filings yet for the County Council District 8 seat, though at least three people have said they intend to run. We’ll update the filings nightly as the week goes on; you can also expect to hear more about this year’s elections at Wednesday night’s meeting of our area’s biggest political group, the 34th District Democrats (whose endorsements are here), 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy, with the agenda so far including Mayor Mike McGinn, Council President Richard Conlin, and Councilmember Bruce Harrell.
Darren in Arbor Heights e-mailed to share this:
We had a solicitor come to our house tonight about 7:45p to tell us that he was working with SPD to let people know about some burglaries off of 35th. He said he wasn’t trying to sell us anything but wanted us to put an ADT sign in our window. We have a no soliciting sign on our gate, but he still cam in. He didn’t have an ADT shirt on. It was some other logo. I asked him for a card and he said he wasn’t selling anything and that he didn’t have one.
It’s a simple way to get healthier, and to get around … just walk. But sometimes people need a little encouragement. Think you’re the person to cheer them on? Feet First invites you to free “Neighborhood Walking Ambassador” training at the Alki Bathhouse this Saturday (June 12), 10 am-noon. Here’s more about the program (on Feet First’s recently upgraded website!). If you’re interested, RSVP to yoyo@feetfirst.info or 206-652-2310.
If you haven’t had your daily dose of cuteness … there you go … though what you see in that clip is also very serious business! Ruth Oldham of West Seattle See Dogs invited us to drop by the Seattle Police Mounted Patrol‘s headquarters at Westcrest Park on Sunday afternoon as her group and two others from around the region had a special visit. They brought guide-dogs-in-training to get a good look at, and sniff of, Tiger the SPD horse. As we learned while listening to the discussion, future guide dogs need to be exposed to all sorts of circumstances and characters, because you never know what they will have to help their people deal with.
Ruth explains, “Once a month or more, in addition to our regular meetings, puppy-raising clubs have an “outing” to provide their puppies with new experiences. Working guide dogs may encounter mounted police and horse-drawn carriages in the course of their day and so the Seattle Police Department has been generous in providing the opportunity over the years for our puppies to go ‘nose to nose; and greet their horses and to answer questions.”
The puppy-raising clubs that joined WS See Dogs on Sunday are Guide Puppies of Seattle and Bellevue-based For Your Eyes Only. Interested in volunteering to raise a guide puppy for a year? West Seattle See Dogs’ next meeting is one week from tonight, Monday, June 14, at Merrill Gardens-Admiral Heights (WSB sponsor), 6:30 pm, just show up!
Jeff Gilbert of the Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) is a longtime humorist as well as rock ‘n’ roller, entrepreneur, etc., and mashed that scenario up in honor of the all-day wake he’s holding for the South Park Bridge starting at 6 pm June 30, an hour before it closes forever, with no concrete commitments yet for full funding of a new bridge. (At the Feedback that night, they’ll supply the materials, you help build the symbolic replacement!) The people of South Park are still hashing out their plans for C-Day – the South Park Yahoo! group has been abuzz with ideas. And for the businesses of South Park, who suddenly will no longer have people walking, riding and driving across the bridge to dine and shop, they’ve got a big brainstorming session ahead this Wednesday – city reps from departments including the Office of Economic Development will be at the SP Community Center on 8th South at 6:30 pm (here’s a flyer in English/Spanish/Vietnamese). MONDAY NIGHT UPDATE: SDOT has announced sharrow-painting ahead in South Park – read on:Read More
Tomorrow morning’s presidential Town Hall addressing health reform and seniors will be viewed at senior-serving facilities across the country, including Providence Mount St. Vincent here in West Seattle. The Mount’s Arlene Carter sends word that Susan Johnson, the Health and Human Services regional director for Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Idaho, will be at the Mount for the event, starting at 8 tomorrow morning. The National Council on Aging is sponsoring “satellite town halls” like the one in WS to try to get questions answered about health-reform changes. (If you can’t get to The Mount, the event itself, led by President Obama and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius from a Maryland senior center, will be streamed on whitehouse.gov and healthreform.gov, 8:15 am-9:45 am our time tomorrow.)
This afternoon, we have two reports from the Lincoln Park area – one from a man who e-mailed to report he was chased through nearby Solstice Park last night; the other was a robbery/attack reported in LP last week, published on the new SPD online-report website. Read on for both:Read More
With dozens of students running alongside, that’s Pathfinder K-8 P-E teacher Lou Cutler scoring a strong finish to his annual birthday run this mornin – one lap around the school playfield for each year of his life, raising money for Make-A-Wish Foundation. This is the seventh time Lou’s done this, but a few things were different this year – for one, it’s the first time around the field at Pathfinder’s new Pigeon Point campus; for two, he tacked on an extra lap – 59th birthday, 60 laps. We’ll check later on the fundraising total; you can donate online here.
When last we updated the Admiral Safeway project – with this report that the smaller retail building on the northwest side of the current parking lot would not be built first, after all, and the interim pharmacy will instead be in a trailer – Safeway’s Sara Corn said the next milestone was City Council consideration of the “contract rezone” they’ve requested. As she had projected at the time, the rezoning proposal is indeed on a Council agenda this week – the Committee on the Built Environment will consider it Wednesday at 9:30 am at City Hall downtown. Here’s the agenda; here’s the actual Council Bill they’re voting on. According to the agenda, public comment will not be taken at the meeting (though certainly you can e-mail committee chair Sally Clark, vice chair Tim Burgess and/or member Sally Bagshaw before then – contact info is here). The rezone doesn’t change the height limit for any part of the site – it’s listed as 40 feet now, and will remain that – but would change the allowable business size on the section of the site where the store itself will be built, and will change one currently residential section of the site’s south side to commercial zoning. Approval by the full council is required after the committee vote, and the project still needs approval for the north-side “alley vacation.” Once that vote is scheduled, Corn told us last month, Safeway will finalize a construction schedule for the project.
At the federal courthouse downtown, trial is scheduled to begin today for DeVaughn Dorsey, charged with a long list of federal crimes including the May 2008 shooting of a mother and her 10-year-old son at their Delridge home. We reported the indictments in January 2009, including the allegation that the 2008 shooting was a case of attempted witness intimidation (both victims survived) in a car theft/”chop shop” case involving multiple locations (one in West Seattle). Starting today, Chief Judge Robert Lasnik presides over Dorsey’s trial; last September, investigators made one last neighborhood sweep – as we noted here – for evidence and witnesses, before going to trial.
(Weekend photo taken at Jack Block Park in West Seattle by David Hutchinson)
Today’s buzz: At Pathfinder K-8 (1901 SW Genesee on Pigeon Point), P-E teacher Lou Cutler raises money for Make-A-Wish with his annual birthday run – starting at 8:45 am – go cheer him on (you can pledge online too) … At 9 am, all around the state, it’s the official start of online/in-person candidate-filing week for the August primary; if you’re thinking of running for something, info’s here … Tonight at 6 at West Seattle Golf Course, as part of the current city-spearheaded Triangle planning process, everyone who’s interested is invited to take a look at, and get an overview of, Triangle park facilities, including WSGC … Tonight at 6:30 at Hiawatha Community Center, it’s the second crime-prevention forum presented by the Admiral Neighborhood Association … At 6:45, the evening book group at Southwest Library discusses Thomas Friedman‘s “From Beirut to Jerusalem.”
To see more of what’s up, check the WSB West Seattle Events calendar any time!
By Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
“Imagine the worst flu you’ve ever had — aches, fever, stomach illness, and feeling like you want to die. Now imagine that lasting for a year.”
This is how Val Mallinson, author of “The Dog Lover’s Companion…” books for the Pacific Northwest, describes the effects of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), which she has been struggling with since 1987. Val’s particular type of CFS comes in waves of relapse and remission, and it was during times of remission that she and the “Wonder Wieners” (Cooper and Isis, her rescued miniature Dachshunds) did the research for her travel books.
Her most recent relapse began in March of 2009; as of July, she says, her part-time employer, PCC in West Seattle (WSB sponsor), found her an easier job to do while she dealt with the effects of CFS. However, the physical impact of this particular relapse has continued so long and so severely, that she hasn’t been able to work since December.
Unable to continue in her job at PCC — Val and her husband Steve are quick to note that PCC was very supportive of Val and provided her with medical benefits for as long as they could — Val applied for disability benefits through her insurance company. Her application was denied, she says, because many insurance companies don’t recognize CFS as a legitimate disability.
Her disability claim is being appealed with the help of a lawyer through the organization Advocacy for Patients with Chronic Illness, but in the meantime, the medical bills are accumulating. Friends suggested a fundraising party, which Val initially balked at – but now, it’s on.
Who will get shares of the first $7 million? Thanks to Pete Spalding from the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee, we have details on the meeting a week from tonight during which West Seattleites who proposed Opportunity Fund projects will get to make their pitches. It’s Monday, June 14th, at Magnuson Park‘s Workshop & View Ridge Room (7400 Sand Point Way; here’s a map). It starts at 4:45, when applicants will set up displays and sign up for presentations; 5:15-6:15 is their open-house opportunity to show them off; then 6:30-8:45, applicants get 2 minutes each to pitch their projects. (In addition to the West Seattle projects, this meeting also is for those from the Northwest and Northeast parts of the city; other parts of the city get a pitch session 6/28.) Pete stresses one thing: Even if your project didn’t rank highly in the recently revealed Parks staff ratings, you’ve still got a chance, if you’re ready to fight for it – those ratings are only part of what committee members will decide in their recommendations, and even the lowest-staff-rated proposal has a chance, if a good enough case is made! Here’s the official agenda; here’s the citywide list of projects and staff ratings.
(Photos by Cori Roed)
When you’re talking Seafair Pirates (who invade Alki on July 10th) and parades, you know it’s summer, rain or shine. These photos are from last weekend but just came in, courtesy of Cori Roed, who explains:
At a parade in New Westminster, BC, Canada, on Saturday, May 29th, the Denny International MS Marching Band, under the command of Band Director Dr. Marcus Pimpleton, stormed and took over the ship of Seattle’s own Seafair Pirates. (To be fair, it was early and the pirates didn’t put up that much of a fight.)
The Denny music program has its own website here, and of course the Pirates sail the online seas here.
WEST SEATTLE TOOL LIBRARY GRAND OPENING COMING UP: On this showery Sunday, no rest for some of the stalwart volunteers from Sustainable West Seattle. We photographed Chas Redmond and Bill Reiswig at the WS Farmers’ Market, just one day after their group put on its 3rd annual festival – part of ReFRESH Southwest this time around. Today, they were promoting next Saturday’s West Seattle Tool Library grand opening (9 am-2 pm, north side of South Seattle Community College), and continuing to collect tool donations. As ReFRESH SW ended Saturday, we had asked Gene Homicki what the Tool Library still REALLY needs; his reply, the one thing they’re still hoping to get donated – an electric pressure washer! If you can donate one of those, here’s the contact info. Meantime, get a sneak peek at the tools in the system by searching this database (300 or so now, 100 more to be catalogued, Gene tells us).
MORGAN JUNCTION FESTIVAL UPDATE: Also next Saturday, it’s the southernmost West Seattle neighborhood to have its own major festival – Morgan Junction! 11 am-6 pm next Saturday (6/12), you’ll find live music next to Beveridge Place Pub and other entertainment (lineup here) in year-old Morgan Junction Park, booths (come say hi, we’re #17) behind Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) and Zeeks Pizza, and the Bite of Morgan food samples (be sure to pick up a free ‘ticket’ book) at not only Feedback and Zeeks, but also Kokoras Greek Grill, Abbondanza and Domino’s. (Plus the legendary Bubbleman at 5:15 pm!)
WEST SEATTLE JUNCTION HEALTH FAIR: Brand-new event this year (info here) – gathering The Junction’s health-related businesses together for an expo to show their stuff. Among them are WSB sponsors Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, Westside Dermatology, 8 Limbs Yoga, Fitness Together; they’ll join more than a dozen-other health/wellness specialists for demonstrations, raffles, freebies, and there’ll even be a mobile blood drive, plus police, firefighters and disaster-preparedness experts. This’ll all happen 10 am-2 pm in the Wells Fargo parking lot, conveniently across from the West Seattle Farmers’ Market during those same hours, next Sunday!
Will June showers mean July flowers? If so, it’ll be the best year yet for the West Seattle Garden Tour. Just might be, no matter what! WSB is pleased to be among the West Seattle Garden Tour sponsors this year for the first time; 
we just got word from organizers that the $15 tickets (kids under 12 are free) go on sale this week at Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor), West Seattle Nursery, ArtsWest and Junction TrueValue – or you can buy yours online right now. The tour is on July 18th. Organizers hope to sell 1,000 tickets this year to match what they’ve received in sponsorships – the proceeds this year will benefit Highland Park Elementary, the Duwamish Longhouse‘s Rain Gardens, Seattle Tilth, the ArtsWest education program, and the South Seattle Community College Arboretum (WSGT photo at left), which this year is one of 8 WSGT stops. SSCC is also where ticketholders will see a noon edible-gardening lecture by West Seattle’s own Willi Galloway of DigginFood.com, followed by wine, cheese and confections tasting courtesy of SSCC. The July 18 tour is self-guided, 9 am-5 pm.
(Photos courtesy Tim Hinthorn)
A few days ago, Susan G. Komen for the Cure volunteer Meg Paynor e-mailed WSB to share the story of a Holy Rosary School class running in the Race for the Cure today to honor their beloved teacher, who’s fighting breast cancer. She explained that they were chosen to start the Kids’ Race because of their touching story; we published that report on Friday night. This morning, they ran in the rain – and Tim Hinthorn just sent a note to share photos along with this report:
Over twenty students and their families from Holy Rosary School didn’t let summer rain drown their spirits as they participated in the Susan G Komen “Race for the Cure” this morning.
The students wore “Running for Robel” t-shirts to express their love and support for Second Grade teacher Karen Robel. Willie McGaughey, Cory Hinthorn, and Ethan Grassley finished the kids’ race first, second, and third respectively, and all participants finished the race with enthusiasm, love, and hope that Mrs. Robel recovers soon!
Though the race is over, the Komen organization accepts online donations year-round – go here.
The date’s official, as announced on the card distributed at the Camp Long table during Saturday’s ReFRESH Southwest festival in Delridge (WSB coverage here and here) – 5 months after the Camp Long Lodge closed for a $1 million renovation project, funded by the Parks and Green Spaces Levy, its grand-reopening party is set for 4-7 pm July 31st: “Tours, activities, cake,” promises the card. The celebration will precede one of GreenStage‘s free “Shakespeare in the Park” shows (their full season calendar is here – thanks to JanS for that tip). If you haven’t been to Camp Long lately, please note that the park itself remains open, and its trademark environmental-learning programs are still happening (see the latest list here) – only the main lodge is closed.
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