West Seattle, Washington
30 Tuesday
A recent note asked whether we knew why work crews like that one appeared to be drilling around Roxhill Elementary School. We took the question to Seattle Public Schools‘ communications team what they could tell us, and they finally got to the bottom of it, so to speak: The crews are checking whether any gasoline from tanks at the recently reopened “Ruxbury” gas station across the street seeped into the water table. David Tucker from the school district says they’re only working on weekends, and whatever they find, it’s no danger to the school or its students/staff because water used there doesn’t come from the site. We’ll be checking further on the extent of the investigation. Meantime, at another gas station a couple miles north, a new price milestone:
Gas prices are truly falling, in more ways than one, at Delridge Arco, first West Seattle spot where we’ve sighted a price in the $2.20s. Will we see sub-$2 gas? Any bets? Tomorrow night, by the way, we’ll be making the rounds for our usual Sunday night price survey of all West Seattle gas stations (here’s last week’s – Arco has dropped 20 cents since then).
The Seattle Lutheran HS girls’ soccer team plays Life Christian at 2 pm today (at Sammamish), for the district championship. SLHS’s volleyball team is playing Rainier Christian this morning and a win would send them to the state tournament. In football, 7:45 tonight at Memorial Stadium downtown, the West Seattle High Wildcats face Enumclaw in a playoff game (WSB will be there to cover it, including live Twitter updates at twitter.com/wsbbizdev). Last night at SWAC, Chief Sealth lost to Lakeside, 20-7.
That’s West Seattle milliner Izzie Lewis, showing and selling “women’s and men’s hats, expertly blocked and finished” at the Fauntleroy Art Show, which continues 10 am-4 pm today in the fellowship hall of Fauntleroy Church (WSB sponsor), as part of the church’s centennial celebration. More than 20 area artists working in a variety of media are participating, including “tribute artists” – they’ve left this plane of existence, but their work lives on, and was loaned for the show. They include carver/sculptor Frank Evans:
Other tribute artists at the Fauntleroy Art Show include Moses “Moe” Beerman, best known for the Murals of West Seattle (read about them in this West Seattle 101 on WSB feature), but celebrated here for his caricatures. Meantime, fabric art also is part of the show – including Ruth Leonard‘s batik designs:
Admission is free if you just want to browse:
Fauntleroy Church is across from the old schoolhouse, about half a mile uphill from the ferry dock, at 9140 California SW; here’s a map and directions.
That’s one of the beaver ponds in the Delridge Natural Area, across from the temporary home of Chief Sealth High School (map). It’s one of 4 West Seattle greenspaces that would love to have your help tomorrow for Green Seattle Day. They’re in our West Seattle Weekend Lineup but one more shoutout seemed like the thing to do – a whole lot of planting’s going to be happening, rain or shine, and EVERY pair of hands is a gift: Orchard Street Ravine, 9 am-1 pm; Camp Long, 10 am-1 pm; Delridge Natural Area, 10 am-2 pm; West Duwamish Greenbelt, 10 am-2 pm. (P.S. One more place you can help out tomorrow – North Delridge Adopt-A-Street cleanup, meet at Delridge Community Center at 10 am.)
Another update tonight from West Seattleite Lila Tran, the sister of 30-year-old Duy Tran, pulled from almost 100 feet of water near Seacrest after a diving accident last Saturday: Lila says Duy died last night. She has posted about it on her blog, along with a thanks to the man who “literally risked his life” to rescue Duy after something went wrong, and she also thanks WSB readers for the kindness they have shown in the comments on our three previous reports since the Saturday tragedy. The family photos on her site include one with her, her brother, and their siblings while they were growing up in Vietnam, and the observation:
Looking at this picture, I realize that death has taught me to respect and treasure every moment that is spent with those you love because one day they may pass away and you will never get that chance to tell them how much you really love them.
Also in her post, a PayPal link for anyone who wishes to help with the medical bills of the past week as well as funeral costs (here’s a direct link). Mr. Tran is the second diver to die after an accident in that area this year; the first was Josh Magee in January.
Seattle Public Schools has gone public tonight with its timeline for a new round of school closures; the proposed list of buildings to be closed will be released two days before Thanksgiving:
• November 12: School Board meeting, vote on motion to amend policy on notice for public hearings
• November 25: Superintendent’s preliminary recommendation
• December 3: School Board meeting – discussion of recommendation
• December 15, 16, 18: Public hearings at affected buildings
• December 17: School Board meeting
• January 6: Superintendent’s final recommendation
• January 7: Recommendation introduced at School Board meeting
• January 21: School Board meeting
• January 22: Final public hearing
• January 29: Board vote on recommendation
No specific schools anywhere in the city have been listed as likely candidates for closure so far, but West Seattleites are watching particularly warily for reasons including the fact the north end is struggling with overcrowding, and the fact a district manager has mentioned at meetings regarding the Denny Middle School site’s future that an elementary school might be built on that site in the future, as a replacement for “three closures.” Meantime, the news release in which this timeline is laid out also invites public comment on “capacity management,” which includes forthcoming closure proposals — e-mail schoolboard@seattleschools.org. Also: For more context, including some interpretation from citywide PTSA leaders, check out this post on the always-excellent saveseattleschools.blogspot.com site.
That’s one of the photos Fauntleroy resident Chris Porter sent us for his story published here about being an Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August. Chris has a lot of natural enthusiasm, to say the least — on Election Day morning this past Tuesday, we found him with cheering sign-wavers atop the Fauntleroy overpass:
Hours later, after an early stop at the state Democrats’ party downtown — which he was just leaving when the projected Obama victory was announced at 8 pm — Chris went home, “giddy, tearful, and excited,” to host his own party. Now he’s looking ahead to a trip to D.C. for the inauguration; we sat down to chat with him on Thursday and ask what he thinks as the country comes down from the high spirits of a history-making night and starts looking ahead to what “change” might really mean:Read More
We first read about it on the Seattle Lutheran High School website this morning – students working on a tight deadline to put together care packages for troops, after finding out that an SLHS (civilian) mom was heading for Kuwait with deploying troops:
When we sent a note seeking more info, turned out Bil Hood at SLHS was already rustling up those photos and more information — and he subsequently sent us this article by Kayla, SLHS senior and Key Club vice president:
As Miss Sacha Mann, a Math Teacher and Key Club faculty advisor at Seattle Lutheran High School, was counting money for UNICEF, Mr. Adair Hinds, Head of Seattle Lutheran, approached her with a great opportunity for the school.
A parent of one of the sophomores, who works in the airline industry, will be taking 400 soldiers to Kuwait, and Miss Mann was asked that Key Club put together packages of items that would be donated by students and their families. “I was impressed with the overwhelming generosity and involvement by our students and their families to bring in the donations and write thoughtful cards in such short notice,” said Miss Mann, referring to the very short 2-day timeline the school was given. Key Club not only packaged these gift bags, but also supplied cellophane bags and granola bars for the packages.
The student body helped write thank-you notes to the soldiers and signed a banner that reads, “Seattle Lutheran High School supports our troops.” (top photo) Some students wrote short stories and jokes as well as thank you notes on their cards. “It feels good to know that we’re making a difference in a soldier’s life!” said senior Emily Meyer, Key Club president, as she was writing a thank-you card.
With a very short deadline from Tuesday to Thursday, the school was able to put together more than 350 packages. In an effort to continue to support our troops, we have a Soldier’s Angels Club that is sponsoring 2 Marines who have been deployed to Iraq, and anyone interested in donating items for the care packages can bring them to the school office with a note for the Soldier’s Angels Club. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Seattle Lutheran High School is on Genesee between 41st and 42nd; here’s a map.
Two big names on the roster tonight. Frances Farmer’s Revenge (read our in-depth preview here) at the Admiral, and Twelfth Night Productions‘ “Bullshot Crummond” (WSB sponsor) opening night. Then tomorrow is Green Seattle Day and there are ways you can help (yes you can!) – a cat adopt-a-thon at Southwest Community Center too … Those are part of the 41 West Seattle events, from live music to work parties to a FREE dinner (with just one catch), on our handy list ahead:Read More
Alki Elementary is having a Veterans Day assembly on Monday (no school Tuesday) and we just heard from Diane Fields, who is trying to find veterans to be part of the assembly. You’d have to be available in time to get to the school by 2 pm Monday. If you can do it – or if you have a question first – please e-mail or call Diane ASAP, dianefields47@comcast.net or 206/954-1505.
Last week, we shot that video of West Seattle resident and South Seattle Community College faculty member Mike Hickey reading during one of the two forums for Seattle Poet Populist candidates, and we invited you again to vote. Just checked the Poet Populist website for word of results – and we discovered that Mike won! Congratulations! Here are the final vote totals. A celebration is set for 7 pm next Friday @ Hugo House. ADDED 2:56 PM FRIDAY: Publishing this story reminded us that we had video of King County’s Poet Laureate, Dr. Mona Lake Jones, from a White Center event earlier this week, and hadn’t posted it. She spoke during the YWCA Learning Center/King County Library branch ribboncutting at Greenbridge, on 8th SW just south of Roxbury, and she was fabulous. Click ahead to see our clip of her entire 6-minute poem/speech – or just check out the start to at least see what she’s all about:
Just in from SDOT: “There is a report of an accident northbound on the Alaskan Way Viaduct approaching Seneca Street that is blocking the two right-hand lanes. Traffic is very slow from approximately South Royal Brougham Way.”
When we got the first tips last month that November 7th would be the long-anticipated closing day for the Jefferson Square Starbucks, company PR would only confirm “end of October” — but we just stopped in to check, and today is indeed its final day. 7 pm, doors close, leaving West Seattle with Alki, Admiral, Triangle, Morgan Junction, Westwood Village Starbucks (not counting the supermarket/bookstore stands). The Jefferson Square SBUX closes two days short of what would have been its first anniversary.
Trouble in the Triangle. Sort of. Read the whole tale in this WSB Forums post.
Almost 5 months after it closed for major upgrades of systems including water heating, air circulation, and electrical service, Southwest Pool reopens at noon today (here’s our preview from yesterday) … The centennial celebration at Fauntleroy Church (WSB sponsor) continues with the Fauntleroy Art Show, open to the public in the church’s fellowship hall 7:30-9 tonight and 10 am-4 pm tomorrow (long list of artists; see it here) … High-school football tonight: Chief Sealth hosts Lakeside at Southwest Athletic Complex, 7 pm (congratulations to Seattle Lutheran for a 53-0 win over Evergreen Lutheran last night; West Seattle HS plays Enumclaw @ Memorial Stadium tomorrow) … Many more events in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup, which we’ll publish later this morning.
By the time the first official city-organized meeting — not the first public meeting — about possible changes to California Place Park had ended, one Friends and Neighbors of North Admiral co-chair was fiercely defending the process she and other group members had gone through to get their idea to what amounts to the official starting line. And park-change opponents were just as fierce in their opposition. The person who’s accountable for the final decision on what, if anything, will happen at the park, Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher, opened the meeting — what he said, and what else was said, declared, argued, proclaimed — plus what’s next — just ahead:Read More
We couldn’t make it to GET YR FASH ON at Mission last night — meetings to cover, news to report. As terminally unfashionable as we are, who knows if they even would have let us in. But never fear – for anyone else who missed it but wondered what transpired on the runway — actually the Mission bar — Urban Fashion Network has photos (with a link to more).
Tonight’s Fairmount Community Association meeting was the first neighborhood-council gathering at which BlueStar Management has publicly discussed its plan to acquire yet another piece of Junction/Triangle real estate: the Huling Chrysler site just east of the 76 station at Fauntleroy/Alaska. It’s immediately across Fauntleroy from one of the projects BlueStar already has on the drawing board, Gateway Center (the old Huling Buick site), which in turn is across 39th from BlueStar’s Fauntleroy Place (Whole Foods). Shown in the photo above, from tonight’s meeting in the Providence Mount St. Vincent chapel, is BlueStar’s Easton Craft; read on to see what he had to say about the new proposal and the seemingly endless questions about whether the Whole Foods project is really going forward, plus other notes from the meeting (including Harbor Properties‘ presentation):Read More
This information has been emerging in the comments section on our followup to last Saturday’s diver rescue near Seacrest (original WSB report here; followup here), as well as in e-mail exchanges with the diver’s sister, but since many people wouldn’t normally check back on a days-old story, we want to publish an update here: According to West Seattle resident Lila Tran, sister of the rescued diver Duy Tran (shown at left in a photo she shared), “After some tests, the doctors told us that there is zero hope for recovery. At this point, the machine is keeping him breathing but his brain is completely gone.” She added that her mother is still holding onto hope of a miracle, and so was planning to move Duy — a 30-year-old father of two — to a “long-term care facility.” We had asked Lila if there was anything the community could do to help, and after a few days’ thought she told us they may indeed need help with medical bills; we are waiting to hear information on either a fund to which people can contribute, or a PayPal link, and will let you know when we get that information. Meantime, the most recent comment on our previous update comes from a contractor for whom Duy had worked; he writes, “I would like to say that ‘Lou’..as I know him by, is a very great man, and I’m DEEPLY saddened by this. I am a General Contractor and Lou is our hardwood floor installer, and is a very honorable man who I have gotten to know well over the past couple years. It hit me hard on Monday when Lou didn’t show up for the job…I knew something happened because he has never missed a deadline, and then I spoke with his brother and it broke my heart to hear this.” Seattle Police divers were investigating immediately after the accident on Saturday morning; some accounts of what happened have been posted on this Northwest Dive Club forum thread.
In the “no news is good news” vein, we did want to let you know that so far we haven’t heard of any major problems around West Seattle, though the rain is steady and the night is young. If you have to go out, don’t just drive carefully, also walk carefully, since so many wet slippery leaves are on sidewalks, parking strips, gutters, etc. All of King County remains under an “urban and small stream flood advisory” from the National Weather Service till early tomorrow morning; that’s detailed here. Meantime, the county has activated its Flood Warning Center because of some river trouble – you can watch for alerts on that and other regional emergency-related news at rpin.org. We’ll keep watch on into the night and starting early for the morning commute too, since that’s when these kind of conditions can lead to the most trouble.
We’re at Hiawatha Community Center for the first city-organized meeting on the proposal to add a “playscape” to California Place Park. About 100 people here – biggest turnout we’ve seen at a public meeting in a while. The “no change” crowd seems to have the most vocal representation so far. City Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher (at left in the photo above) addressed the crowd at the start of the meeting. Full report later. 7:48 PM NOTE: It’s been contentious at times – emotional at times – this is the first of four meetings – no dates for the future meetings are set yet. We will let you know the moment they are. Full details to come.
You’d probably have to be a real Southwest Pool devotee to notice what is NOT in that picture 
we took this afternoon, during a tour of the work that’s been done since the pool closed — thanks to project manager Garrett Farrell, who gave us a guided preview tour just before the mid-June shutdown (see it here), then sent word today that he could squeeze in a pre-reopening tour if we were interested. That, despite his work zone still being a hive of activity, with contractors, pool staffers, painters, and inspectors – note all the permit paperwork on the front window, shown at left. (Give up on the top photo guess yet? The pool’s old, stained waterslide is no more.) But there’s a lot more you won’t see which constitutes the infrastructure improvements and upgrades that the project was really all about. For example, take a look at the blue structure that’s been added on to the northeast side of the pool building:
Unless you are a staffer or contractor, you’ll never see the air-circulation equipment that’s inside – but we got to climb a ladder for a sneak peek (that’s Farrell, surveying the work):
We’re processing video and pix to add to this report, along with more information on the power, energy-saving, and water-treatment features that have been added (plus one effect poolgoers will notice from the new air-circulation system). But we wanted to get this first part out fast enough to let you know, it’s confirmed — after a couple delays along the way, and what turned out to be almost five months of work, Southwest Pool — West Seattle’s only city-run indoor pool — WILL reopen at noon tomorrow. ADDED THURSDAY EVENING: More on the improvements resulting from the months of work and installation of new equipment, including the energy-efficiency specifics:Read More
From the city’s latest semiweekly Land Use Information Bulletin: Formal applications have been deemed “complete” for for the two buildings that Conner Homes proposes in The Junction, California/Alaska and Alaska/42nd. That means the formal comment period is open — for the next 13 days. You can send those comments through Nov. 19th via the city’s online form, by clicking “comment on application” on this page for the California/Alaska building and on this page for the Alaska/42nd building. The city pages now describe both as 7-story buildings, with 72 residential units in the California building and 126 in the 42nd building, plus the 307-space underground garage (requiring a subterranean “alley vacation” that needs City Council approval). P.S. Today’s LUIB also included a reminder of the next Design Review meeting for the Admiral Safeway project; as we first told you a week ago, that meeting will be at 6:30 pm 11/20, West Seattle (Admiral) Library branch.
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