West Seattle, Washington
30 Tuesday
West Seattle has one official off-leash area for dogs. Go off-leash at any other park, and you’re running a costly risk. When WSB Forum members noticed a city crackdown at Lincoln Park (photo above from park’s southeast entrance), University of Washington News Lab reporter Monique Vague saw the opportunity for a news story. Not only did she find out more about the LP crackdown, but she also discovered the city’s future enforcement-expansion plans:Read More
That’s barely half the line as of about 20 minutes ago stretching southward on 39th toward Fauntleroy Way from Eastridge Christian Assembly, which is again this year giving away hundreds of turkeys (along with other groceries). As Eastridge’s website puts it, they’re doing this “to bless families who need a little extra help for Thanksgiving.” They are giving away 500 each at their West Seattle and Issaquah campuses, till noon or till they run out. (If you’d like to extend holiday help to local families in need, you can do it any time through online $ donations to the West Seattle [click here] and White Center [click here] Food Banks.)
From the West Seattle Weekend Lineup: Lots going on – starting with hundreds of turkeys to be given away 9 am-noon by, and at, Eastridge Christian Assembly (across 39th from West Seattle Bowl; here’s a map). 10 am, learn how to make wreaths, at Camp Long Lodge (here’s a map); 1 pm, Seattle Free School brings “Stocks 101” to High Point Library (here’s a map). To see what else is up today/tonight, click here to hop directly to the Saturday section of the Weekend Lineup.
Those are three of the four glass ornaments that West Seattle Hi-Yu is selling in its annual holiday-time fundraiser – designed and hand-blown by Glass Eye Studio, $25 each, proceeds supporting Hi-Yu (including all the fun summer events Hi-Yu presents, and the float its volunteers create this year to represent West Seattle in parades near and far). You can buy them from any Hi-Yu member, or be on the lookout for ornament-sellers around West Seattle — this Sunday, you will find them at the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle booth on the east side of the West Seattle Farmers’ Market (10 am-2 pm) and you’ll also find Queen Zoe and Princess Elyse from the Hi-Yu Junior Court selling ornaments Sunday, 11 am-2 pm, at West Seattle Thriftway in Morgan Junction. Another big event coming up where you’ll be able to buy them: The Kiwanis Club’s big Pancake Breakfast (which itself sounds like a great deal — all the pancakes and ham you can eat, 7 am-11 am December 6th at the Masonic Hall [map], $6 adults/$3 kids 12 and under; Santa’ll be there too – here’s the flyer). The Hi-Yu ornaments are available through Christmas — if they don’t sell out sooner!
Nasty night and more trouble on the roads – this time, a pickup truck flipped on Genesee near Avalon, blocking Genesee just east of Avalon (map) – the driver survived and is talking with police right now, while a towing crew figures out how to handle the truck. We’ll have a picture in a bit. ADDED 9:54 PM: Our short video clip shows the tow truck starting to work to get the overturned pickup off the top of that steep section of road (we had to stop rolling to get out of the truck’s way).
Found this on the High Point Neighborhood Association website, though the P-Patch will be in the Junction area — a new one next year on a site donated by West Seattle Christian Church (which is already gardening to help neighbors in need, as we reported last July). If you’re interested in the P-Patch, Here’s how to get involved. West Seattle currently has six P-Patches, per this map.
Thanks to “gatekrasher” for posting an eyewitness report and photo in the WSB Forums about an accident of some sort on Barton between 16th/17th (map). This call was on 911 as “medic response” and we don’t automatically roll on those; heading out now to see if police are still at the scene and if so, to see what we can find out. 7:16 PM UPDATE: Talked to Officer Jeff Kappel in the Seattle Police media unit; his info says it was indeed a pedestrian-vehicle accident and one person was taken to Harborview Medical Center, but that’s it for details.
Next Tuesday, Seattle Public Schools leaders are scheduled to present their proposal for the next round of school closures. We’re watching this closely because South and West Seattle have the most likelihood of finding schools on this list, since the north end has been dealing with overcrowding, but these areas have not. We don’t know yet if a media briefing is planned earlier that day, but we do know the recommendations will be formally presented to the School Board at a 6 pm workshop at District HQ, and whichever buildings are scheduled for closure will get on-site public hearings during the week of 12/15. Before that, the district has just announced two “workshops” 12/4 and 12/6 to discuss the recommendations before those hearings – read on for full details:Read More
First, the getting – We caught that quick video clip in The Junction this afternoon, as festive boxes (decorated by Swee Swee Paperie) arrived at merchants participating in the big $5,000 Giveaway – go to a participating West Seattle Junction (WSB sponsor) merchant (full list on the 2nd page of this flyer) any time starting NOW to enter (free!) the raffle for Junction gift certificates totaling $5,000. There will be three raffle drawings, starting with one at the Christmas Tree Lighting at 5 pm December 6th (44th/Alaska).
Two more Junction notes: Husky Deli has its holiday open house 5-9 TONIGHT, and also — this just in via Twitter — just launched its updated website (see it here).
Also from the “getting” file: Lora Lewis at Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) sends word of bonus Internet access hours:
Are you an early riser and like to get your Internet surfing done in the mornings? Then come into Hotwire and with a drink purchase you receive a full hour of Internet surfing in the mornings from open till 10 am. More of a night owl? Then we have surfing for you too! Purchase a drink and sign in between 4 pm and close and you also receive a full hour of surfing. Between those times you still get 15 minutes of Internet surfing with a beverage too. Hotwire has computers loaded with the full MS Office suite, a printer and super high-speed connection. We’re also a great place to do any online holiday shopping too with our double firewall secure connection. Have a laptop? FREE lifetime wireless is at your fingertips.
Also from West Seattle coffee land, in addition to the Java Bean food drive we mentioned yesterday, C and P Coffee sends word that through the end of December, if you bring in a “food or diaper item” to donate to its Food and Diaper Drive, you get a free drink. One last coffee note – the other day, we mentioned that Xconomy Seattle seemed to be slighting West Seattle in its post about innovators’ favorite coffee hangouts; it heard the call and has updated the list, a bit. P.S. We are starting to assemble our annual holiday “which coffee shops are open and which aren’t” lists – if you are a WS coffee provider, e-mail us with your Thanksgiving hours! Thanks!
Not in West Seattle but with all the city-owned parkland etc. around here, certainly relevant – the city’s just set a public hearing for the proposed rule restricting guns on city-owned property – read on for the full announcement (including a new webpage through which you can send written comments):Read More
Wanted to spotlight a reader report that a Gatewood resident just posted as a comment on a Crime Watch report from last weekend — sounds like this may be a new door-to-door ruse:Read More
A side note to the Fauntleroy Way lane-reconfiguration proposal, which as we reported last week will be discussed at an open house December 1st (now that the prerequisite repaving project’s a go despite city budget woes): Cindi Barker‘s latest bulletin to the Morgan Community Association includes background on the last time something similar officially came up – voted down by Morgan Junction “stakeholders” in the neighborhood-plan process exactly 10 years ago today, as it turns out – here’s the excerpt from what Cindi sent out:
Brief history of “ Fauntleroy Way SW Boulevard” proposal as part of the Morgan Junction Neighborhood Plan process.
As part of the process to create and adopt the Morgan Junction Neighborhood Plan, the MoCA Transportation Sub-committee proposed a series of improvements. One of those recommendations was for Fauntleroy Way SW to be studied for reconfiguration into a boulevard concept. Below is the text of the draft recommendation that was presented to the public at a Validation Event on Nov 21, 1998, at which Morgan Junction stakeholders voted on all the elements of the proposed plan. There were 222 ballots returned, 79 supported the Boulevard concept, 123 opposed the concept and 20 ballots were blank for this element. (104 of the votes were cast at the event, the rest were mailed in or submitted at the town hall drop box). In addition, a “straw poll” was conducted on the day of the event by a group associated with Neighborhood Rights, which was a group in opposition with the Urban Village and Neighborhood Plan concept. The results of their straw poll was that 12 people supported the Boulevard Concept and 56 opposed the concept.
To see the exact text of what was voted down on that date, read on:Read More
When we brought you some SDOT information earlier this week about the project that’s been tearing up roads in Fauntleroy (primarily Barton toward 35th) and now has moved east of 35th, we mentioned that we hadn’t heard back from Puget Sound Energy, whose gas line is at the heart of the work. We subsequently got a call from a PSE media person who couldn’t find our phone message but did read the WSB post – so she in turn connected us to another PSE person who had more details on the project. We have lots of new details now about what turns out to be work to replace almost two miles of old metal gas piping with plastic (as shown above) – read on for more about what’s happening, where, why, when (and how come there was no general announcement sent to news sources like us, to share with you):Read More
Both from the WSB Forums: A rave for a dog rescuer, and one for a thoughtful act of neighborliness.
We’ve been tracking the county budget crunch here and on White Center Now; many components of the county budget affect far more than those in unincorporated areas — it also affects public-safety and other services provided for everyone in King County. Council leaders just announced they’ve found a way to save some of the services that were on the chopping block – here’s the entirety of their (long) announcement (P.S., you can send comments online by going here):Read More
Holiday merriment, of course, continues to gear up — free turkeys, wreath-making, the Log House Museum‘s annual gala — but this edition of the West Seattle Weekend Lineup has eclectic offerings too: Seattle Free School brings a timely class to West Seattle (Stocks 101); the Point of Order Parliamentary Law Unit welcomes you to its monthly gathering; Chief Sealth and West Seattle High Schools both have theater productions; that’s all among 38 West Seattle and WS-linked events on our handy list ahead:Read More
From the Events calendar: At 10 am, the West Seattle Garden Club meets – topic, “Winterize Your Garden,” bring your lunch, the club provides dessert and beverage, $5 donation, Alki Congregational Church, 6115 SW Hinds (map). At 1 pm, the Nature Consortium‘s free monthly guided hike through a part of the West Duwamish Greenbelt you might not have known existed – it’s a fairly easy walk, fun, and fascinating, meet at the trailhead at 14th/Holly (map); call 923-0853 if you want more info first.
When we showed you images this morning from the presentation to be made at tonight’s second “early design guidance” meeting for the Admiral Safeway redevelopment proposal, we wondered aloud if there was much difference between the applicants’ “preferred alternative” from round 1, and the “preferred alternative” this time around (rendering above). Short answer: No, except for an “alley vacation” transformed into an “alley relocation.” And the lack of change did not go over well with most of the board members – though before the meeting was over, it became an interesting case of what happens when design philosophy clashes with economic reality – read on:Read More
From tonight’s Alki Community Council meeting: Crime prevention was the major topic on the agenda, as the ACC held its last scheduled meeting of the year. Southwest Precinct crime-prevention coordinator Benjamin Kinlow had been invited to speak as a followup to a meeting last month with neighbors in the 1500 through 1700 blocks of Alki SW. That in turn was a followup to a late summer wave of break-ins in those two blocks (which spawned this WSB reader report at the time). Kinlow gave an abbreviated version of his standard Block Watch presentation, saying he hoped to return with more detailed information tailored to both the neighborhood and the residences involved. He said the security issues involved in a condo building are very different than those of single-family residences, noting that the neighborhood had both. Also he encouraged the Council to have an informal meeting prior to Night Out next August so that neighbors could meet and share information about what they see going on in their neighborhoods. ALSO: The ACC gave out recognition awards to former board members of their board. Receiving personalized coffee mugs and gift certificates to the Phoenician restaurant were Jackie Ramels, Gary Ogden, Peter Stekel, and Don Wahl.
Thanks for the tips that Delridge Arco, at $2.09 just last night, has dropped a dime since then and is now the first $1.99 gas spotted in West Seattle. (We cut the photo short but in case you’re wondering, midgrade is $2.19, premium $2.29.) ADDED FRIDAY: By this morning, at least two other stations were down to $1.99, including “Ruxbury” Gasoline – thanks to Sky for sharing this pic:
Before night finishes falling, a quick note about some of what’s happening in The Junction tonight as holiday-shopping season really starts to rev up: We’ve mentioned the Capers “Girlfriends’ Night Out” event (see the Holiday Happenings page for full details), and we’ve also received word of an event at Windermere in The Junction (4526 California SW): “Jewelry, scarves, glassware, holiday items galore! Hosted by Kim Tingley and Barb Ogden of Flutter and No Wire Hangers, an upstart boutique, soon to open in West Seattle. 5:30-8:30. Bevs and snacks served while you shop. % of proceeds to help fight Lou Gehrig’s disease!” Tomorrow, meantime, you’ll be able to start entering the holiday gift-certificate raffles being offered by participating merchants in the West Seattle Junction Association (WSB sponsor) – thousands of dollars in gift certificates will be raffled off next month, at events including the West Seattle Christmas Tree Lighting (5 pm 12/6). (More on Friday-Sunday events coming up in tomorrow’s West Seattle Weekend Lineup; also, Junction merchants have more holiday events listed on the WSJA website – we’ll be adding those to Holiday Happenings ASAP.)
The city Parks Department says a bid’s been awarded for Dakota Place Park construction (we published an update just before bids were due last month), and that the work will start December 1st and continue till February. WS Contractor Inc. is to deliver an “exterior package” including “a plaza with integrated artwork, ADA access, site lighting, multiple seating elements,
refurbishing existing historic elements, automated irrigation, and extensive community-provided landscaping.” From the official city webpage for the site (a former substation), here’s the schematic design for the park:
(added 4:56 pm – the streetscape level envisioned at California/Alaska, looking across from Easy Street)
Technically, the Seattle Design Commission is reviewing the proposal for an underground “alley vacation” – required for the two Conner Homes buildings at California/42nd/Alaska to have one underground garage – but the hearing that just wrapped up also yielded new information on where the project’s design is going overall, and new imagery that’s been provided to us by the architect (as shown at this meeting). The action from the meeting: Conner and its architects did not get final signoff – they will have to return to the Design Commission to answer a variety of concerns – the commission has to sign off on the proposal before SDOT can finish reviewing it, and the SDOT rep who handles such matters told the commission that her agency has its own concerns. Meantime, the project itself has one more Design Review meeting ahead – the architects tell us that will likely be in January, but no date is set yet. Stand by for more, including the new imagery – we’ll be in transit for a bit (heading back to HQ after three major events downtown today – this one’s at City Hall, which also was the scene of this morning’s jail briefing, with the Seattle Center Viaduct briefing between them) before we can add it here. ADDED 6:08 PM: Here’s another image, the massing (NOT the final design proposal with finishes etc., just basically the shapes) of the two buildings, looking south at them from Cupcake Royale vicinity):
More to come. The entire presentation document is way too big to link here but we’ll see if we can break it into chunks.
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