West Seattle, Washington
14 Thursday
From the WSB inbox:
*West Seattle Neighbors for Peace and Justice Monthly Meeting/Potluck
*Alki Congregational Church
6115 S.W. HindsOn *Sunday, June 7, 2009 – 6 p.m. *meeting with open dialogue on
action items, *7 p.m. *potluck. Public is invited. Come join us at
our weekly vigils and show your opposition to the war/occupation in Iraq
and Afghanistan at the Alaska/California Junction, every Sunday from
noon to 1 p.m. and White Center at Roxbury and 15th Southwest on
Wednesdays, 3 to 4 p.m. www.groups.snowcoalition.org/westseattle/
or contact John Repp at jmrepp@comcast.net
The digging-up of the old, about-to-be-replaced pavement on Fauntleroy Way has started in earnest, we noticed today. But that’s not all that’s happening on the road. Brianna sent the photo within the past hour, explaining:
just thought i would pass these pics along of a local artist making the most of the fauntleroy street closure.
andy smith has been out on the street painting for the past hour or so working on some pollock inspired pieces.
looks great!!
We have a followup question out to ask exactly where this is happening – the construction zone currently stretches from Edmunds to Findlay.
That’s the BigBelly solar-powered trash compactor west of the Alki Bathhouse, a demonstration project of sorts for the city, which is reducing the number of trash cans in local parks (as reported this week by the Times). When the trash-can-reduction campaign came up in the WSB Forums, member Que mentioned that her 8-year-old daughter had an opinion on the matter, after deciding to practice her reading by perusing the aforementioned article. We invited Que to offer her daughter the chance to practice writing by elaborating and sharing it with us (and you). Here’s the result!
I read the newspaper and there was an article about how they were taking the trashcans away from the parks. I don’t believe that they should take the trash cans away because then people will litter. Everyone uses the parks. People use them for playing and having fun and having picnics. We need to have trashcans because people will leave all their trash in the parks. This will make the parks disgusting. Then the parks will be full of trash and bags of poop. That will make the parks not fun anymore and the Moms will not want to take their kids there for picnics because they will be gross. I don’t think that the city is going to save enough money to make it worth having yucky parks. How much money would we all give to have nice parks? The city should find a different place to save that money.
– Rosemary A.
age 8
By Jonathan Stumpf
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
In advance of this Saturday’s Seattle march and rally for health-care reform, members of the Health Care for All – Washington (HCFA-WA) organization presented a community screening of the PBS documentary “Sick Around the World” Wednesday night at Fauntleroy Church (WSB sponsor).
The hour-long Frontline documentary, hosted by former Washington Post and NPR correspondent T.R. Reid, examines the successes and problems of health care systems in five countries, looking for alternatives to what many see as a failing health-care system in America.
Twenty West Seattle residents attended the event. The discussion afterward hosted by HCFA-WA board member Chuck Rogers and committee chairs Paul and Mary Margaret Pruitt (photo above) stirred up myriad issues and concerns among attendees, ranging from emergency rooms serving as clinics for the uninsured to some residents being disgusted with insurance company’s control over America’s health-care system.
If you’ve been on Alki tonight, you might have noticed a brightly colored flyer attached to many of the “no parking” signs that are up for the “Celebrate Seattle Summer Streets” event that’s closing Alki Ave (from Harbor/California Way to Alki/63rd) 9 am-5 pm Sunday. Take a closer look, and it’s a last-minute plea for volunteer help; we got a phone call about it while en route to Alki, where we subsequently saw the flyers. We asked the caller to send us the request so we could share it with you:
NEIGHBORS NEEDED TO VOLUNTEER ON ALKI THIS SUNDAY, MAY 31.
All Volunteers will receive a Summer Streets T Shirt and Eligible to WIN Free REI Gear and a BIG Prize.Keep the streets safe by being a block watch and letting staff know of any emergencies while you enjoy the sun and meet your neighbors. You are needed for this event to happen.
BE A HERO, BE A NEIGHBOR! SHIFTS: 10:30 am – 2 pm and 1:30 pm to 5 pm.
Contact:
Kerry Bischoff
kerrybischoff@yahoo.com
425-248-9193
Here’s the city’s official page about the event; here’s our report from last night with more details on the activities and performances planned during the day, which kicks off with the first-ever West Seattle 5K Walk/Run (WSB sponsor; tomorrow’s your last chance to register online – but there’ll be registration in person Saturday and Sunday).
One month ago, we covered the training fires at the 59th SW (on the slope south of Admiral Way) house once owned by West Seattle’s legendary Ivar Haglund (yes, if you’re just joining us, THE Ivar). The owner had offered the house to the Seattle Fire Department because of its impending demolition. If you want one last look, time appears to be running out — it looks like the rest of the demolition work is not far away; we noticed the shown-above backhoe while driving by yesterday, and went back this evening for a photo (this is taken from the west side of the house). A new, larger house is planned for the property; here’s one more look at the photos sent to us last month by Seattle historian Paul Dorpat (first, the house in 2003; then, its official survey photo from the ’30s):
We’re proud to be co-sponsoring the West Seattle Summer Outdoor Movies on the Wall series again this year – and part of that means helping gather suggestions for what movies will be shown during the six-week series (Saturday nights starting July 18th, in the courtyard between Dr. Wolff and Hotwire Coffee). The decisions will be made soon, so we’re putting out one more call for suggestions, if you haven’t already made one or more – family-friendly movies, but that doesn’t mean they have to be G-rated.Here’s our original call for suggestions, which includes links to lists of the movies shown the past two years, plus suggestions already made (you can also e-mail suggestions to westseattlemovies@gmail.com – or leave a comment here – plus we’ve put the call out on our WS Blog page on Facebook). The movie series’ official site is here. Deadline for suggestions – this Sunday night.
Congratulations to Jacob Miller and Ross Monroe, from the West Seattle High School Class of ’09 and Damp Flame Design: Their redesign of the WSHS website has just gone live tonight — follow the link here to see it. Damp Flame has been in business since 2005, with other projects including redesigning the Husky Deli website. If you want to compare the new WSHS site with the old one, there’s a screengrab on the “About This Site” page on the new site, where you can read more about the project. Side note, Jacob is the son of veteran Seattle journalist Kathy Mulady, who has been reporting recently for WSB as well as for the Seattle PostGlobe.
Haven’t heard much lately on the jail-site search – aside from the City Council asking the county to reopen the issue of whether they can keep handling the misdemeanor inmates for a few more years, therefore delaying the potential need for this jail – but the process continues, and a West Seattle site (Highland Park/West Marginal Way, Google Street View above) remains on the list of six sites under regional consideration. Just got an official update late today from Katherine Schubert-Knapp, noting that new information is now available in the “scoping” process – which identifies what the Environmental Impact Statement for the project will have to look at. The announcement notes that the timeline has slid:
Based on the feedback received during the EIS Scoping period, the NEC will be adding the following items to the scope of the EIS: air quality; populations and housing; and an analysis of the possible impact of a jail on property values and public safety. These additions, along with the complexity of some of the analyses, have impacted the EIS schedule. The NEC now plans to release the Draft EIS in early December 2009, and hold Public Meetings in January 2010. The NEC plans to release the final EIS in the second quarter of 2010.
Documents including the EIS Scoping Summary are now posted on the website set up for the jail-site-search project.
CRUISE CAM: Via Facebook, Marc points out the view of West Seattle from the aft end of the Pacific Princess, currently docked in Magnolia. Ever wonder which ship’s in when? The full schedule is here.
CAPERS CONSOLIDATING: It came up first in the WSB Forums. Then, Brian sent us this photo:
We finally got to stop in at Capers in The Junction today to ask what’s up. They’re not closing – they’re consolidating; after June 1st, the store will be in the southernmost (“lower”) level, including the spot that used to be its cafe. No word so far on what will take over the space Capers is vacating, but they tell us a wall will be put up to finish enclosing the shop’s resized space.
ANOTHER DEDICATION AT MORGAN COMMUNITY FESTIVAL: Not only will Morgan Junction Park itself be dedicated during the Morgan Community Festival on June 13, so will the new sidewalk art project, “Salon,” by SuttonBeresCuller (ceremony scheduled for 10 am that day, according to an invite just in from the city’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs). The festival also will feature the “Bite of Morgan” and entertainment including the famed Bubbleman. (We’ll be reporting “live” from the festival, so looking forward to seeing you there.)
Thanks to Cathy for pointing out in comments on this story that South Seattle Community College has a wine-tasting event even sooner than the July event mentioned earlier – this one features the latest release of their own acclaimed wines – June 12-13. Here’s the full announcement:Read More
It was once the Sixth Church of Christ Scientist, built in 1929 at the corner of SW Lander and 42nd SW – what you see in the Google Street View image above is the south side, immediately across the street from Hiawatha (more photos in this Vintage Seattle post). Now, it’s an events venue called The Sanctuary at Admiral, and city landmarks coordinator Beth Chave confirms to WSB that the city has just accepted a nomination this week proposing Seattle landmark status, submitted by The Sanctuary’s owner (and months in the making), which means this is one of two West Seattle buildings currently under consideration — the other is the Seaview building at The Kenney (as noted in our coverage of the ongoing Design Review process for its proposed redevelopment). Landmark status can bring some economic benefits, like tax breaks, though it also brings restrictions – if the city Landmarks Board decides to designate the building as a landmark, that means that any changes to it (remodeling, etc.) would require their approval. Chave says neither this nomination nor that of the Seaview is listed on the city’s “current nominations” page because the applications are still being reviewed for completeness; once that’s determined, hearings will be scheduled for the board to review the proposal, and public comment will be part of the process (as explained here). You can find a list of West Seattle sites that already have landmark status by going here; meantime, here’s more on The Sanctuary’s history, from its website. The venue, by the way, hosted an event of worldwide note earlier this month – the International Food Bloggers’ Conference (podcasts available on the IFBC website).
Knowing how many people are wild about wine, this one seemed even bigger than the Announced page – a huge tasting event coming to South Seattle Community College in July, with 40 Zinfandel wineries conducting tastings at the event — read on for the details:Read More
The party is still going on at a long-vacant lot on 15th SW in White Center (map), where a blessing and a barbecue were part of the groundbreaking ceremony for White Center Square, a new shopping center that will be anchored by Vong’s Market. In addition to members of the Vong family, the ceremony included the contracting and architecture firms, the head of King County Economic Development (which helped procure a big loan for the project), a member of the family that owned the site for a century before the Vongs, and King County Council Chair Dow Constantine (whose district includes White Center). Co-owner Rika Vong told us that although construction won’t officially begin just yet – by the end of next month, if all goes well with the rest of the permitting — today was chosen for the ceremony because it has good feng shui for a groundbreaking. Tenants for the project haven’t all been announced yet, but a restaurant will be part of it too. We’ll have an expanded story shortly on our partner site White Center Now.
You’ve seen the big green banner on Nucor – now, a closer look at the building that it’s touting, as it finishes taking shape. Early Wednesday morning, we joined a rare hard-hat tour of the construction site for the High Point Neighborhood Center, which will be — among other distinctions — the biggest solar-powered social-services building in the nation, with its roof holding the biggest solar array in our state. (Construction started with groundbreaking last August; here’s our coverage.) The solar panels on its roof are not the only aspects that have the $13 million Neighborhood Center angling for LEED Gold certification, however – it’s got a geothermal component too. Note the pipe in this photo, which is a LOT more than it seems:
Also in the photo, our tour guide, Ray Li from Neighborhood House, the Seattle-based nonprofit that’s building HPNC. He explained that pipe goes 300 feet underground – where the temperature is a constant 56 degrees — as part of a “ground-source heat pump” system to keep the building’s temperature equalized. So what else is making this building a model of environmentally minded construction? Read on, and we’ll show and tell you what we saw and heard:Read More
For the complete reminder from Metro of what’s changing this time around (including downtown bus-tunnel hours), read on:Read More
POLITICS: Before summer revs to fever pitch, time to keep examining your options in this year’s crowded elections. Next chance: 11:30 am today, West Seattle Democratic Women‘s monthly luncheon, West Seattle Golf Course, with a candidates’ forum on the program. RSVP for lunch by 10 am – contact info and more details here.
EDUCATION: College Night tonight at West Seattle’s higher-education institution, South Seattle Community College. Find out more about what SSCC has to offer, 5-7:30 pm in Brockey Center; more details here.
ENTERTAINMENT: Semi-finals of Alki Idol, Bamboo Bar and Grill, 9:30 pm.
CRIME-FIGHTING: South Delridge/White Center Community Safety Coalition meets 6 pm, St. James Place, 9421 18th SW (map).
ONE MORE CRIME-FIGHTING NOTE: If you’re in the Alki area, Ken Allen has set up a Facebook group to convene those concerned about crime. Go here to join “Alki Neighborhood Watch.”
More of today and tonight’s events — and tomorrow, and the days, weeks and months into the future – on the WSB Events calendar.
The rule-change proposal noted here last week won Library Board approval last night: The story’s up at the Seattle PostGlobe, the citywide online-news organization created by former P-I journalists after the newspaper’s print edition was discontinued (the site’s got a new look as of this week, by the way).
If your car is parked along Alki tonight, you’ll likely find a flyer like that on it by morning. SDOT tells WSB they’re being distributed tonight as part of the outreach to make sure everyone knows about the Seattle Summer Streets Spectacular – sequel to Car-Free Day – on Alki this Sunday. We reported “practical details” last night, including the impending arrival of the no-parking signs, which we confirmed tonight are up now:
A few other notes, counting down to Sunday’s 9 am-5 pm shutdown from Harbor Ave/California Way to Alki Ave/63rd SW:
–The day begins, of course, with the first-ever West Seattle 5K (WSB sponsor; you can still register online)
—Cascade Bicycle Club now has its full schedule of events for the day online (including kids’ bike parades at 1 and 3 pm); see the schedule here.
—Coastal has announced its “Rockin’ Surf Stage” lineup, with a mini skate ramp and live music; see the poster, with band names and times, here.
—CoolMom will have a booth offering face painting and a puppet show
—Sustainable West Seattle will be nearby, with bike-maintenance demos and more
—Full Tilt Ice Cream tells us they’ll have a special bike out and about – one of many small surprises we expect to see on shutdown day
–Informational displays are planned too – including the King County Wastewater Treatment Division planning a display near the site of the 53rd Avenue Pump Project, with updates on how that project is going (now in its second year and scheduled for completion this fall).
We’ll keep the daily updates going through Sunday, at which time we will of course report “live” from the shutdown zone as we did last year. If there’s information you’re looking for and not finding, please write a comment (or e-mail us: editor@westseattleblog.com) – after last night’s report, for example, there was a question about how those with disabilities would be accommodated – here’s the comment, followed by the reply we obtained from the city.
After we published Kim‘s photos last weekend of a barred-owl family in Lincoln Park, Minette wrote a comment with a link to her gallery of the same owls. Tonight, she’s sharing two more recent photos, along with word that, as of a couple nights ago, they were spotted again, doing well. The photo above is the male owl and the baby; below, the baby by itself:
Here’s what the Seattle Audubon website BirdWeb has to say about barred owls.
From Arbor Heights, Suzanne e-mails to share this story – solicitor, or caser? Read on:Read More
Of all the Alki sights and sounds noted and discussed in recent weeks, this is the first report we’ve gotten of “drive-by” street preaching. Ben Hutchinson sent the photo and his account of what he saw from his apartment near Alki Bathhouse, so we’re sharing:
Just a couple minutes ago, there was this guy standing on the back of a pickup truck that went by. He was standing there with a microphone and big amplified speakers (like those used at a rock concert). And it sounded like he was preaching the Christian gospel. Now I’m a Christian myself, but I don’t think it’s right to be so disruptive. The pickup was driving slowly and holding up traffic.
Then he sent a second note, with the photo above:
Well, they came back again, so I was able to get a picture of them on their way back. This time I also was able to see a bit more too (they went right in front of my apartment this time). This time nobody was standing up (all were just sitting), and I was able to see 3 people in the back of the pickup truck this time (probably were there before, but I just had a better view this time, because it looked like only 1 the first time). When they were not preaching they were playing rap music.
Anybody know who this was?
MORE PIZZA: At partner site White Center Now, one of our fellow contributors, Ricardo from Cafe Rozella, breaks the news of more pizza heading this way: Proletariat Pizza, moving in across the street from Full Tilt Ice Cream, barely a block over the line from West Seattle. (P.S. More late-breaking White Center news: A groundbreaking ceremony is planned tomorrow for the White Center Square shopping-center development.)
REUSIES ON TV: You may have heard about ReUsies, cloth sandwich bags invented by West Seattle moms, now making a splash nationwide. KING5 has a story about them today – and the story notes that ReUsies are selling so well, they’ve “hired a manufacturer in Tukwila to help them keep up with demand.”
LOW-TIDE SIGHTS: Though the tide wasn’t as low today as yesterday, there were still sights to be seen, as evidenced by the Flickr gallery that Carrie e-mailed to share – check it out here. (She took her photos near the Alki Point lighthouse.)
| Comments Off on West Seattle Neighbors for Peace and Justice, next meeting