West Seattle, Washington
04 Thursday
Following up on our weekend report that Westside School has reached a lease agreement with Seattle Public Schools to move into the former EC Hughes building in Sunrise Heights, we have updates on three other “closed” schools in West Seattle: First, SPS communications 
manager Patti Spencer says the district did not receive any lease proposals for either the former Genesee Hill or former Fairmount Park elementary campuses, which were offered in the same round as Hughes; Fairmount has been vacant since summer 2007 (photo left). As for the Westside lease terms at Hughes, in its second year of vacancy after two years of temporarily housing South Lake High School, Spencer says they’ll be made public when the agreement is signed and finalized. Meantime, we also asked about the Boren building‘s status once Chief Sealth High School moves out at the end of this school year – will anyone be moving in this fall? Nothing planned, but this is the future vision for the site, she says:
We are asking the School Board to designate BOREN as our Essential – Interim / Emergency building for the district – in case of a catastrophic failure at any secondary school (larger K-8 also) that we could move into with minimal costs.
The board’s next meeting is April 7th, but the agenda’s not posted yet.
Just in from WestSide Baby‘s Nancy Woodland – who will be honored next week as the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s Community Hero of the Year – these photos and the following report came with the subject line, “A good thing happened in White Center today too!”
While helicopters were hovering overhead, WestSide Baby was receiving a generous donation from Huggies! A truck loaded up with 288 bottles of Huggies Body Wash AND 158 New Baby Gift Baskets arrived at our facility this morning. WestSide Baby receives hundreds of requests each week and we can’t wait to provide brand new items to local kids. The Huggies Body Wash is particularly great because the older children we serve (up to size 12), rarely have anything here in that category. The Huggies Gift Baskets have diapers, lotion, wipes and wash too. We were even lucky enough to have a volunteer services offered for the truck!
If you happen to be a family with boys… Our shelves for both Size 8 and Size 10 boys clothes are completely empty for order fillers volunteering tomorrow. We’re open 9-1pm if you have time for a quick cleanout and drop off!!
WestSide Baby is at 10032 15th SW.
That’s Rebecca Hall, assistant coordinator at High Point Community Center, getting ready to give the starting signal to dozens of little ones (and parents) during the week’s 1st West Seattle egg hunt, part of the annual Toddler Eggstravaganza. So what did it look like when the toddlers (and parents) descended?
More egg hunts are coming up starting Friday (nighttime events for tweens/teens) and Saturday – see the list on our West Seattle Easter page.
ORIGINAL 11:19 A REPORT: We’ve received a few calls about the chopper over SE West Seattle/White Center. Officers are after a woman described on the scanner as having a shotgun; it started in the 10700 block of 18th. More to come. NOON UPDATE: We’ve just talked at the scene with King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. John Urquhart. He tells us this began when residents interrupted a burglary in progress. They’re OK but three suspects — including the aforementioned armed woman – are being sought. 12:45 PM UPDATE: Our video of Sgt. Urquhart’s media briefing is back in house; uploading now, but in the meantime, the newest details – one suspect was caught, two on the loose. He says all three are believed to be teenagers. (added) Here’s the video (you can hear the helicopter/s in the background):
ADDED 11:14 PM: Two more suspects have been arrested, after a raid on a South Seattle motel, according to this KING 5 report.
Just a quick note to say that we will open registration for West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day at 8 am this Thursday, and it’ll be open for three weeks, till April 22nd. The big day is Saturday, May 8, second Saturday in May as usual, 9 am-3 pm – if you haven’t heard about this before, it’s one day with individual, group, organization sales all over the peninsula – last year we set a record with almost 200! The event was founded in the mid-’00s by a nonprofit called Megawatt; when they disbanded, they looked for someone to take over their most successful creations – we took on West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, and Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association took on Gathering of Neighbors (which is set for November this year). Stand by for full details about WSCGSD registration – just wanted to let you know Thursday’s Day 1. (A few eager garage-salers have already tried to sign up through last year’s form – please don’t, we’ll have a brand-new one Thursday. Thanks!)
TODDLER EGGSTRAVAGANZA: From the WSB Easter page: The first egg hunt of the pre-Easter week is for toddlers, during this morning’s Spring Eggstravaganza at High Point Community Center (map). Activities at 10 am, egg hunt at 11 am, activity fee $5.
PREVENTING CRIME: 6:30 tonight at Hiawatha Community Center (map), the Admiral Neighborhood Association-organized Crime Prevention Summit. Here’s our preview from last night.
FUN FOREST FUTURE: Not West Seattle-specific, but City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw mentioned it when Seattle Center‘s future – specifically, whether a Dale Chihuly museum might take over part of the phasing-out Fun Forest – came up at Delridge District Council earlier this month: The facility’s future is the topic of a public meeting tonight at 6:30 at Seattle Center House.
BREW DEBUT: Before tonight’s regular weekly 6 pm “Spin Your Wax” open turntables at Skylark Cafe and Club (WSB sponsor), Northwest brewery Ninkasi will be at Skylark at 5 pm to debut a new brew (details here).
That’s the official venue map, organizer David Stern tells us, for the West Seattle leg of HONK Fest West, the marching-band festival that will toot, honk and, well, march its way around the city April 9-10-11. The final day is when it’ll be here on the peninsula, with multiple venues in The Junction noon-5 pm Sunday 4/11, as the map shows – here’s the full schedule in text form (or click a marker on the map, and you’ll see the full slate for that particular venue). Part of California SW will be closed for the occasion.
On this second day of spring break (for most), hundreds of students are no doubt still buzzing about last weekend’s FIRST Robotics regional competition at KeyArena. West Seattleite Jim Edwards was there both days, Friday and Saturday, and provided these photos and info; he was there as proud dad to Kyle Edwards, an Aviation High School student who led the systems-integration team for Skunkworks, which competed:
Jim says Kyle “designed the scouting system for this year’s game.” The game, he explained, is not disclosed by FIRST until six weeks before the competition – that’s how long teams have to design and build their robot: “Once built, the robot is crated up and travels to events the team specifies. Other than limited pit times at regional events, no further work can be done on the robots.” This is animation of the game they had to play this year:
The competition’s workings are pretty complicated, but it all started with 66 teams playing 96 qualification matches all day Friday and early Saturday, Jim says; then Aviation was chosen to be part of the finals – as was the one West Seattle-based team that was there, Seattle Lutheran High School:
The Saints had a great run, making it to the semifinals, Jim reports; Aviation, meantime, got the prestigious Regional Chairman’s Award:
AHS also is going to the finals in Atlanta next month and was featured in this article from our citywide-news partners at the Seattle Times. And watch closely for an orange-shirted Seattle Lutheran team member’s soundbite in this KING5 story:
FIRST’s Washington chapter has a website too – see it here.
KING 5 broke the story tonight: An assistant manager at the Admiral Jack in the Box is now charged with robbery in connection with the early-morning holdup at the restaurant last February. The station reports that police say 33-year-old Michelle Miesner confessed to having the robbery staged but claimed the “robbers” then made off with all the money, though she reportedly admitted she’d stolen more than $2,000 from the restaurant before. According to the King County Jail Register, Miesner was arrested last Tuesday afternoon and released from jail 25 hours later. (Thanks to Diane for the tip about the KING story.) ADDED 8:56 AM TUESDAY: We have the charging documents now. Read on for a few more details: Read More
Last fall, we reported that the city was moving toward an official planning process for the West Seattle area east of The Junction known as The Triangle, bounded by Fauntleroy/35th/Alaska. A senior planner is now assigned to the project and an advisory group has been assembled, with its first meeting planned this Wednesday, 6 pm, at the Senior Center of West Seattle. According to the meeting information sent by planner Susan McLain, the first gathering will include an introduction to the project and discussion of “land uses, connections, public-realm designs.” This is the first major city-facilitated Triangle discussion since the one at Merrill Gardens-West Seattle (WSB sponsor) in November 2008 (WSB coverage here). The Triangle planning process has a city webpage, which also includes notes from that November 2008 meeting. A lot has changed in The Triangle since then, including the start of construction on Link and the arrival of new businesses including Mountain to Sound Outfitters (WSB sponsor), Cycle University, 37th Shoe Repair, and The Wax Bar. But it hasn’t been an idle time – last fall, leaders of the neighboring Fairmount Community Association led walking tours of the area, including this one we covered in November with City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen. Meantime, the new advisory group is expected to meet at least four times between now and June.
The Admiral Neighborhood Association has just sent out one more reminder about its Crime Prevention Summit tomorrow night, with two Southwest Precinct reps in attendance – Community Police Team Officer Adonis Topacio and Crime Prevention Coordinator Benjamin Kinlow. In preparation for the meeting, ANA president Katy Walum has just sent out a document police sent in advance – a list of notable crimes in the area so far this year (through March 15th). Here’s that document; as for what area it covers, here’s a map. Tomorrow night’s event is at 6:30 pm at Hiawatha Community Center (map).
Northbound West Marginal Way SW near Terminal 107 Park should be clear soon, now that a tow truck is moving that wrecked semi cab. Police tell us the semi hit a utility pole. Its driver has been taken to the hospital.
With so much support having come from West Seattle, we thought you’d like to know that the official signing ceremony for HB 1679 – the “Jason McKissack Act” – is now set. Law-enforcement advocate Renee Maher sent word that it will be one of more than a dozen public-safety-related bills that Governor Gregoire will sign at Lakewood (Pierce County) Police HQ starting at 3 pm Wednesday. A version of the bill stalled in the Legislature last year, but this year, it was renamed for, and supported by, the former West Seattle police officer who was seriously injured in an attack while on duty in June 2008 but lost his (and his family’s) health coverage when the city ended his employment. He testified before the House Ways and Means Committee in January (WSB video coverage here), as did his wife Kim McKissack, who then testified again when the bill was heard in the same Senate committee four weeks later (here’s our story). We are told the bill’s provisions will cover the McKissack family, as well as a Seattle firefighter critically injured on the job several years ago.
From the King County Ferry District, which runs the Water Taxi (whose West Seattle-to-downtown run resumes a week from today, April 5, with a celebration on April 11) – a new KCFD executive director has been chosen. Read on for the official announcement:Read More
A new list has just arrived from SDOT; we’re sharing since so many West Seattleites go through SODO – read on:Read More
(Photo courtesy Shirley Enebrad)
If you know someone who’s been procrastinating about applying for the Miss West Seattle Hi-Yu Scholarship Program – tell her it’s now or never! Just two days till the deadline, which is coming up this Wednesday. Scholarship money for the Queen is $2,000, and $1,000 for each Princess – plus you get to hang out with pirates, mingle at events, ride on a float, representing West Seattle around the region … a one-of-a-kind role, since no other Seattle community has its own traveling parade float any more:
(West Seattle Grand Parade 2009 Hi-Yu Float photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Miss Hi-Yu eligibility is outlined in our original publication of the announcement, which also includes links to the application form (see the announcement, with links, here), but if you have a question, you can e-mail misswestseattle@hiyu.com.
Deborah sent that photo with the explanation:
Just wanted to let you know that we are aware that our Tollycraft 26 broke loose from its mooring in the high winds this morning and ended up on the beach just south of Lincoln Park. We are working on a solution to get it back in the water.
We’re checking to see if they’ve had any luck yet. Meanwhile, the latest forecast says it’ll continue to be blustery into the evening, still with a chance of thunderstorms. 12:21 PM UPDATE: Deborah says they’re hoping to be able to get it back in the water with the next high tide at 5:30 pm.
7:52 PM UPDATE: With Coast Guard Vessel Assist help, the boat is back out at sea again (warning, video as choppy as the sea):
We’ll be adding more services and brunches, but since the first egg hunt is tomorrow morning (Toddler Eggstravaganza at High Point Community Center), version 1.0 of the West Seattle Easter page is now up and running, with the updated list of egg hunts from tomorrow through Saturday. You can find it here (or from its own tab under the sunset header). Got something to add? Please send it (or comment here) – thanks!
As forecasters warned, heavy rain is now teaming with gusty wind. The forecast revision from early this morning now says gusts could pass 40 mph; they were at 33 mph when the 5 am reading was taken at Alki Point (K91S on this hourly table). There’s a chance of thunderstorms later this morning, too. We’ll be watching as usual for any reports of power, road or other problems; let us know if you have info to share.
Two more video views of the gray whale that amazed West Seattle whale-watchers on Saturday (no sightings today, although grays were spotted in other areas of central Puget Sound, including off north Seattle shores, and this one could have been among them): First, nighttime views from photojournalist Cliff DesPeaux, who spent several hours at Jack Block Park late last night/early this morning, the last West Seattle sightings before whale-watchers called it quits for the night. Next, from John at Gypsy Soul Productions, who shot this video as the gray whale meandered around the shore by Harbor West (the condos built on pilings over the water):
If you’re interested in whale sightings and not already on the Orca Network e-mail list, sign up here – they send a daily/nightly roundup of sighting reports, often with photos, not just orcas – you’ll often see news about grays and humpbacks, too.
Before the weekend ends, a few photos of events previewed in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup: First, those are the West Seattle Camp Fire Girls who sold baked goods outside CAPERS in The Junction on Saturday to raise money for the fight against hunger. Next, auction-browsing at Saturday night’s benefit for the West Seattle High School baseball and fastpitch teams:
And from Greg Whittaker at Mountain to Sound Outfitters (WSB sponsor) – the grand-prize winner in the raffle to raise money for the new West Seattle Snowsports Council, as the M2S three-day sidewalk sale wrapped up this afternoon – Leo Morales won the Atomic Sugar Daddy raffle:
Other winners listed by Greg, who added a special thank-you:
Salomon Shoes: Lauren Grosskopf
Burn Helmet and Pow Gloves #1: Chad McCollum
Burn Helmet and Pow Gloves #2: Jesse Nokez
Giro Helmet and Uvex Goggles: Nancy Minoms
Smith Helmet and Smith Goggles: Kiel Winslow
Salomon Fish Jr Skis: Cory Brown.Thanks for all the participation and support of the West Seattle Snowsports Council!
Thanks to WSB Forums member “String Cheese” for the indirect tip on this, via what started as an inquiry about a “rumor.” Not a rumor, turns out: According to the website for local independent Westside School, it’s reached a deal to lease and move into the vacant Hughes School property in Sunrise Heights (map). Westside’s current campus is on Highline Public Schools-owned property on 28th SW, a few blocks south of the city/county border. Even before learning about this, we’d had an inquiry out to Seattle Public Schools to ask about future plans for Hughes – which is in its second school year of vacancy, after 2 years as temporary home to South Lake High School – and Genesee Hill, in its first school year of vacancy after Pathfinder K-8 moved to Cooper. Turns out the district had a request for proposals out earlier this year (all due March 3rd) for leasing not only Hughes and Genesee Hill, but also Fairmount Park, in its second year of vacancy. Both Westside and Seattle Public Schools are out for spring break this week, but we’ll be seeking to follow up with both, including finding out whether the district received lease proposals for the other two vacant schools. Meantime, the Westside website says they’re hoping to move into the new location this fall.
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