West Seattle, Washington
30 Tuesday
Big raucous crowd here at Skylark Cafe and Club (WSB sponsor). The place is packed, and it’s almost as loud as if you were at a candidate rally. CNN is on the big screen, and every time they project a state for one candidate or another, loud reaction — pretty much, cheers for Obama, boos for McCain. CNN just called Ohio for Obama and a prolonged ovation has broken out. It’s close to standing-room-only in here. 7 PM UPDATE: The big screen’s gone over to Jon Stewart. 7:10 PM: It’s officially SRO here – people are standing against the front wall, by the door. 7:27 PM: More cool West Seattle pix from today at the Incremental Updates blog. 7:45 PM UPDATE: Oh thank heavens, we’re back to CNN. As amusing as Jon Stewart is, it doesn’t seem right for our memory of a potentially historic moment is for him to be calling the presidential race. (Spoke too soon, minutes later, he’s baack!) 7:49 PM UPDATE: Well, maybe not so bad; an interviewee just said “There are two skinny guys from Illinois who made a difference – Abraham Lincoln, and Barack Obama.” 8:03 PM UPDATE: Jon Stewart and company just announced CNN projects Sen. Obama is now President-Elect Obama. The place erupts. Prolonged ovation. Got it on video, will add when we get back to home base. OK, maybe it was better to watch Jon Stewart tell the story. Now, on to the state and local results — for the rest of the night there’s a lot to watch, including the governor’s race and ballot measures such as Sound Transit Prop 1, Seattle’s Pike Place Market (Prop 1) and Parks (Prop 2) levies, and statewide initiatives. All King County results will be available here once the first counts come in (usually 8:15-ish); statewide results (statewide offices such as governor, plus I-1000, I-985, I-1029) will be here.
We are back from our stroll up the hill to vote in person, apparently one last time, at Peace Lutheran Church. 300 people already had voted there by the time we left, and the supervisor smiled that it was a “really strong turnout,” as she gave us our stickers – yes, the “Farewell to Polls” part made me cry. Here’s our photo of the polling-place door, for posterity’s sake (and by the way, there’s a little bake sale in the Peace Lutheran hallway too, so if that’s your polling place, bring $, we forgot to):
King County Elections‘ latest media update includes the reminder that if you are in line at 8 pm, your polling place will NOT close till you have voted – so don’t worry that you might miss out. Meantime, we made it back to High Point Community Center to speak with poll worker Joan O’Brien, who e-mailed an invite earlier today to drop by. So what’s it like being a poll worker (apparently) one last time?
Now, the vote-counting: As for how we’re going to let you know what’s happening in the actual vote-counting: We will keep moving the national-results widget up to whatever is the top post on the page (unless we have to interrupt with non-election news, which of course you can count on us to do IF something major happens). Then when we are close to 8 pm, we will add links to the local and state results, to be included as we chronicle Election Night. As for where we will be procuring photos and video, we’re still planning to be at Skylark Cafe and Club (WSB sponsor) for the early going, 5ish through 8ish, and then moving on to some other spots including a visit to the White Center party at Big Al Brewing (remember, it’s a potluck). If you’re at another venue that turns out to have a big election-viewing party rolling later, either planned or unplanned, e-mail us – we’re remaining flexible enough to go where the news, and the people, are. (NOTE: The national-results widget that was previously here is now beneath the newest post atopthe page.)
Thanks to Leighellen for sharing that photo of a car parked on 49th “near the Schmitz Park voting center.” We’ve also heard from Brian Judd at High Point Community Center, saying things are fairly quiet right now, if you still need to vote and have the opportunity to get it done sometime soon. Here’s a pic he sent:
(4:19 PM NOTE: The national-results widget that previously was here is now beneath the newest post, and will keep floating up that way throughout Election Night.)
TONY’S SEASONAL CLOSURE: Sorry if we’re the last ones to know – but we’re mentioning this in case you hadn’t heard it yet either. While heading over to Fauntleroy via 35th, we noticed Tony’s Produce has started its traditional shutdown before the changeover to Christmas trees.
BLACKBIRD SPACE: More than a month after Blackbird Bistro closed, we’ve continued to look for information on who was supposed to be moving in — indications immediately afterward were that somebody already was lined up (the note on the window mentioned redecoration and “new food”) – but we’d have expected a liquor-license application by now (nothing so far). Suddenly, however, there’s a big BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY brokerage sign in the ex-Blackbird window. We will be checking further. (Wednesday morning update – thanks to David for calling our attention to this CL ad. We have sent an inquiry to the listing agent looking for more info.)
Speaking of opportunities:
FREE REMODELING INFO: Ventana Construction (WSB sponsor) has a few spots left in its workshop on remodeling and custom homes, 5 pm this Thursday. Here’s the info:
If you are a homeowner considering remodeling your home or building a new custom home, this workshop is an invaluable first step in the process. Learn from experienced professionals about how to get started, what to expect, and the steps you can take to make your project successful. Speakers include Kim Goforth of Goforth-Gill Architects and Clarence Higuera of Ventana Construction. This 1-½ hour workshop is open to the public and seating is limited. Call 206-932-3009 to reserve your space.
It’s at Ventana’s offices, northeast corner of California/Findlay (map).
Thanks to RLV for sending that pic of the Alki Elementary PTA Election Day bake sale outside Alki Community Center – we haven’t made it over there just yet. (There’s another Alki pic on the county blog.) Seems voting can rustle up quite an appetite; Morgan Junction Starbucks told us they’d had a run on pastries to go with the free drip coffee. We’ll add Fauntleroy Church (WSB sponsor) soup lunch/bake sale pix here after we’re back from there. (Any other Election Day treats to share?) Side note: If you want to see what’s up in other Puget Sound ‘hoods, here are some links from some of our fellow neighborhood-news sites: Ballard voting lines, via MyBallard.com; Capitol Hill notes from CapitolHillSeattle.com; Central District voting lines via CentralDistrictNews.com; Tacoma open thread at Exit133.com. Also interesting to check: The Twitter stream of King County Elections – it’s NOT official, it’s little bits and blurbs from various polling places – follow kcvotes on Twitter or just browse it on the Web at twitter.com/kcvotes.
ADDED 1:57 PM: Here are those promised pix from Fauntleroy Church — first, the bake sale (you can’t have the pumpkin bread at lower right, we bought it, yum):
Here’s the crew that was serving soup during the lunch hour:
Some of the crafts on sale during the bazaar (even if you don’t vote at Fauntleroy, it’s worth a stop, there’s a LOT of stuff on sale):
And pardon us for getting misty all day long, because we just can’t believe we’ll never see signs like this again:
Next stop – We’re going back to our polling place, to REALLY get misty-eyed as we do the in-person voting thing one last time (we were there earlier but just to get pix/video of the first voters in line), plus we’re heading over to High Point – though we’ve just gotten some advance pix (thanks! keep sending yours, all day and all night, we’ll be frequently updating till at least oh 2 am or so, and we’ll add results info/links once the polls start closing) …
That’s one minute of video, three corners of Fauntleroy/California (sorry about the passing trucks), as fourth and fifth graders from Gatewood Elementary School‘s “Team Earth Peeps” spent some time in the past hour waving signs to get out the vote. Go, kids, go! (Thanks to Gatewood teacher Darren Radu for letting us know!) (Added later) Here are a couple pix, too:
Earlier, WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli roamed The Junction and sends these pix:
That’s Cupcake Royale in The Junction, giving away free “babycakes” in honor of Election Day. Next, voting at the Senior Center, where Christopher reports workers told him the “polling place has been very busy today. Much more volume than usual. That was reflected by the crowd when I was there around 8:30.”
More to come – we’ll be heading out to more spots including Fauntleroy Church (WSB sponsor), where the traditional Election Day Fall Bazaar promises baked goods, crafts, and a “soup lunch.”
Foreground at right, that’s Fauntleroy resident Chris Porter, who was an Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention (here’s his first-person report published on WSB afterward) – we found him with other signwavers on the Fauntleroy overpass about half an hour ago. All Democrats, except for two Lakeside School students who came with a get-out-the-vote sign; we talked to them on video – (added later) here’s the clip (tough to do a coherent interview over a near-freeway):
And here’s a video clip of Chris and company – most notable for the sound of traffic, and honking, going by:
By the way, the view looking east from the overpass:
And on the way to the overpass (added later), just one lone signwaver at 35th/Fauntleroy – but our video view, as we pass, shows a couple other campaign sights:
A bit to the southeast, Neil sends this photo, with a note that there was no wait to vote at Delridge Community Center around 9:30:
And if anyone wants to harken back to the last time a Democratic candidate won a first term … we found this bumper sticker on a car in front of Salon 08 on the north edge of The Junction:
We’re just steps away from Salon 08 at the moment, posting from Hotwire Coffee, WSB’s inaugural advertiser as of one year ago tomorrow — proprietor Lora Lewis is here serving up the “Election Specials” we mentioned last night – have overheard three “Obama for Change” orders in 15 minutes, in fact.
That’s the result of our short chat with Mayor Nickels and wife Sharon Nickels just outside Admiral Church, where they arrived to vote at 7:30 – we asked him (a) his thoughts on the end of the in-person voting era in King County, and (b) if he had any predictions. If you somehow hadn’t heard this before, he reconfirmed he’ll be on the ballot in a year. Meantime, we’ve also heard from The Junction, where someone texted us that 20 people were in line at Tibbetts United Methodist Church by 7 am, and here’s what we got at our polling place, Peace Lutheran Church in Gatewood — we talked briefly with Charles Exe, who was first in line to vote:
Peace Lutheran had two chairs at the head of the line – Charles got one, and Sandy Essene, second in line, got the other:
Another West Seattle-related tidbit — as the TV and Web political pundits prattle on through the day, there’s online speculation that an Obama Administration might consider former Senator Tom Daschle as White House Chief of Staff; Sen. Daschle was here just last month at the big breakfast event for Delridge-based Southwest Youth and Family Services, which is run by 
his brother Steve Daschle. ADDED 8:39 AM: Distant shot at left of the helicopter you may have seen buzzing The Junction and Admiral. We saw it while at Admiral Church in the 7 am hour – definitely a news chopper, though I couldn’t tell whether it was 4 or 7 – likely covering voting, since nothing else newsworthy was up at that time. Thanks again to Cami for that shot and for this one of voters at Schmitz Park Elementary around 7:30 am:
We’re heading back out to see what else is up in the early going. Meantime, in addition to comments on our home-page reports like this one, there’s also Election ’08 chat going on in the ever-hoppin’ WSB Forums (with newly added features – chosen your avatar yet?).
That’s the lineup under the overhang outside Admiral Congregational Church, minutes before voting began at 7 am. In the foreground with a coffee cup, longtime Admiral community activist Dennis Ross, who said he’s going to miss the in-person voting experience (as are we) in future elections. We’re here because in a little while, it’ll be the traditional official Election Day photo-op of the mayor, who votes here (Channel 7 is doing its election-morning live shots from here as a result) . More pix of that, plus the pre-voting scene at the WSB team’s home precinct on the other end of West Seattle, in a bit. We know there were lines elsewhere – driving northbound on California, we saw one (lots of umbrellas in view; the rain hasn’t let up yet) outside the Senior Center in The Junction. (Remember, your pix are welcome throughout the day and evening, editor@westseattleblog.com, as we’ll be chronicling Election Day — and Night — as it happens.) ADDED 7:19 AM: Alki News Beacon editor Cami MacNamara sends this shot of the line that had already formed inside the Alki Community Center lobby by quarter till 7:
First: As Election Day begins, remember how Election Season began:
Scenes from the precinct caucuses, almost nine months ago, February 9 – this was the Democratic crowd at Arbor Heights Elementary (photographed that day by Tim):
And this WSB shot captured the lined-up Republican caucus crowd that day at Southwest Community Center:
Now – we will set out shortly to see if lines are greeting poll workers for their last major election (as devoted in-person voters, we will have to bring Kleenex when we go cast our votes). King County Votes is collecting photos and stories about in-person voting, too, so we will probably share ours.
Here are some info-links that may help as we begin Election Day:
If you vote in person: 7 am-8 pm. Where, you ask? Doublecheck here.
If you vote by mail but haven’t sent your ballot in yet, get it postmarked by 8 pm or drop it off at the nearest polling place (list here).
Still dithering over some hot races/issues? Background links on the WSB Election page, where we’ll also have results links tonight as spillover from the home page.
Not sure what to do with the “downticket” races like judges? The 34th District Democrats (WSB sponsor) have a full list of endorsements here; countywide Republicans, here; nonpartisan Muni League‘s list, here.
Election Night parties? Discussed in this WSB Forums thread.
Coverage here? All day and all night. And we’d love to have you be part of it. Send us pix, video links, leave comments, call with tips, whatever, so we can chronicle as much of West Seattle Election Day ’08 (and night) as possible.
All those sticky notes, and dozens more, represent the latest progress toward figuring out what will happen at the Denny Middle School site after the new school opens on the Chief Sealth campus. Even though that’s more than two years away, Seattle Public Schools managers want a final design in place within the next few months, and that’s why Design Team meetings are under way. Last time, we reported on a meeting for which few showed up; tonight, a better turnout, and as SPS manager Don Gillmore put it, this was the end of the “abstract” part of the process — read on for more on what happened and what’s next:Read More
Earlier, we showed you a nonpartisan exhortation to vote, and a Republican signwaving stronghold. Now, a couple signs from the D side — the one atop this post is from Jason in Fauntleroy; the next one is from Highland Park‘s Dina Johnson, who says this banner will be in her yard on Election Day next to a “big flag”:
Another sign of the times is the drink-special roster at Hotwire Coffee (which by the way became WSB’s first-ever sponsor as of exactly one year ago this Wednesday):
(Click to see the full-size flyer)
Hotwire is one of many places we expect to visit as we roam West Seattle tomorrow chronicling Election Day (and Night) ’08 — we’ll have one more round of voting-info links up in the early morning, then our coverage starts with the opening of polling places at 7 am — we’ll be at a couple places when the doors open, but we also would love to get pix from you, cameraphone or whatever, of your polling place or anything else election-related — editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!
As reported here after a King County Superior Court jury exonerated an Alki 18-year-old on Friday in the 10/13/07 deadly shooting inside a car at 59th/Admiral, the trial had one more phase: Since the teen’s legal team had filed a request, as allowed under state law, for compensation for what he’s gone through if it was found that this was justifiable homicide — the jury cleared him on the grounds of self-defense — the jury needed to convene again to consider that part of the case. That took all day today, after which both jurors and the teen’s mother had something to say — read on for our courtroom correspondent’s report:Read More
That’s the West Duwamish Greenbelt trailhead at 14th SW/SW Holly (map), where toddlers, preschoolers, and the grownups caring for them are invited to meet at 10 am Wednesday for a child-friendly tree-planting event. Lisa Corbin from the Nature Consortium elaborates:
Join us for a toddler and preschool age-friendly tree planting in the West Duwamish Greenbelt, Seattle’s largest remaining forest. We will plant (and name!) tree saplings in an area recently cleared of invasive blackberries, discover other hidden treasures of this amazing natural wonder, and hear about the history and the future of the forest from Mark (buphalo) Tomkiewicz, Forest Restoration Director for Nature Consortium. We provide tools (for adults) and will be accommodating of the little ones! Feel free to bring kid-sized shovels. Dress for the weather, and wear appropriate footwear (some parts of the trail are muddy) Extreme rain cancels. Be ready for inspiration! Call 206/923-0853 or e-mail Lisa@naturec.org to reserve your spot. RSVP today!
Lisa says the tree-planting should run from 10 am-noon.
Coming back from downtown, we were a few cars back at the Fauntleroy/35th stoplight when those sign-wavers outside the strip mall caught our eye – and we managed to fish out the video camera in time to snag that short clip. What you don’t see are the Obama signwavers just offscreen to the left; light turned green, and the steer-with-left-hand, shoot-with-right-hand maneuver doesn’t work so well in the rain. Remember – send us your Election Day pix/clips, all day and night tomorrow – Election Eve stuff welcome tonight too, we’ll post more later. (Election side note – we have mentioned a couple of these here already, but the fabulous Monica @ the P-I’s Big Blog has compiled the “7 Election Day Freebies” list.) ADDED 6:40 PM: Went back to 35th/Fauntleroy so we could get out of the car for a better shot (and audio, given all the hooting and hollering of the Obama signwavers) of the scene. Discovered the biggest Republican sign had been swapped out while we were away – the one with the hammer and sickle wasn’t there when we passed by earlier:
If you’re wondering about the Beren sign – he’s the Republican challenging Seattle’s incumbent Congressman Jim McDermott. More Election Eve coverage to come!
Ordering pizza tonight after a rough Monday? Tomorrow, as part of an Election Night event? You might find some info to savor in The 1st WSB West Seattle Pizza Taste Test, organized by WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli, with volunteer help. They didn’t hit every pizza place in West Seattle, but a good sampling – read on to learn more about this beloved food and to see which of the ones they tried came out on top(ping)!Read More
We’re at the County Courthouse downtown (again), where the King County Ferry District public hearing drew … zero testimony from West Seattle. Spectators in the gallery, but nobody who wanted to speak. (Not exactly a convenient time, we know.) King County Councilmember Dow Constantine‘s office does report more than 30 e-mails have come in, supporting the Elliott Bay Water Taxi and the Ferry District (which runs the EBWT and the Vashon passenger ferry), and you still have time to send yours, before a vote expected later this month on whether to reauthorize the Ferry District — not a slam-dunk deal — send e-mail to info@kingcountyferries.org.
(photo added Tuesday morning — Wally said he had a mossed-over roof gutter and we asked for a pic!)
The forecast summaries don’t look too apocalyptic but Wally sent a note pointing us to the forecast “discussion” for Thursday-Friday – the possibility of heavy rain and breezy weather resulted in this note from the National Weather Service:
COULD ALSO SEE SOME LOCALLY HEAVY ACCUMULATIONS OVER THE LOWLANDS…FALL LEAVES CLOGGING DRAINS COULD EXACERBATE THE PROBLEM…SO THE SWING SHIFT SENT A SPS HIGH-LIGHTING THE POTENTIAL FOR MOUNTAIN AND LOWLAND LEAF CLOGGED DRAIN FLOODING.
Bottom line, check those drains again in the next day or two – those colorful leaves are beautiful but once they’re down, they can cause big trouble if they wind up blocking your drains, private and public property.
That sign in a Gatewood apartment window says it all. Still need info – where to go, what to do, who’s on the ballot? County Elections’ online HQ here; WSB Elections page here. If you take pix or video of voting/election-related happenings tomorrow, or have something else to say, please send it – all day and all night, we will be chronicling Election Day ’08 in West Seattle, with words and pictures (and results after 8 pm), as it happens.
From Chief Sealth High School, we get word the student newspaper is available online for the first time; see it here! (West Seattle HS‘s latest paper is online too.) Also, the CSHS daily e-mail update brings word that the Sealth girls’ soccer team is in the playoffs, starting with a game at 8 pm tonight at Memorial Stadium. (Added later: Just got WSHS e-mail, its girls soccer team is in the playoffs, #1 seed, playing 7 pm tonight at Southwest Athletic Complex.) Speaking of playoffs, Bil Hood sends word from Seattle Lutheran High School that the Saints football team has “clinched the Sea-Tac B League title, automatically qualifying them for the state tournament.” The Saints beat Sultan 29-6 at West Seattle Stadium on Friday night and finish the regular season with a game this Thursday at Evergreen Lutheran. Bil also reports:”Saints runners Gordy Mueller and Blake Wulf both qualified for the Washington State High School Cross-Country Championships this coming Saturday in Pasco.” Got school news – sports, academics, volunteering, whatever? Send it to WSB to share with your West Seattle neighbors!
Just got word from Southwest Precinct Lt. Steve Paulsen that 51-year-old Daniel P. Ward, wanted in the October 17th stabbing of a woman at the Stewart Manor complex in High Point, has been arrested. SWP officers took him into custody last night. According to the King County Jail Register, he was booked just before 9:30 pm, and is being held not only for investigation of assault, but also for “failure to appear” on a previous domestic-violence assault charge.
A week and a half ago, we reported from the courthouse as King County Superior Court Judge Suzanne Barnett announced the latest decision in the fight over what, if anything, will be built on the lawn of the landmark Satterlee House (aka the “Painted Lady” of Beach Drive). She ruled against Satterlee House owner William Conner in his appeal of a decision made last April by the city Hearing Examiner (WSB coverage here). That decision in turn had affirmed a vote last year by the city Landmarks Board, denying Conner permission to build three 3,000-square-foot-average homes — not denying permission to build ANYTHING on the lawn, just rejecting this specific proposal as potentially marring the characteristics that led to the property being designated in the early ’80s as a city landmark. After Judge Barnett’s ruling on October 24th, Conner’s lawyer Richard Hill told WSB they would “digest” the ruling before deciding whether to continue the challenge; we checked back with Hill this morning to see if a decision had been made, and he replied, “Yes, Mr. Conner intends to appeal.” Next stop, the state Court of Appeals; we will continue to cover this, every step of the way.
2 major meetings on the WSB Events calendar: 1:30 pm at the King County Council Chambers, it’s the King County Ferry District public hearing we’ve been telling you about – if you can possibly break away to go voice your support for the Elliott Bay Water Taxi, it could mean a lot to the service’s future; if you can’t be there, send a WT support note to info@kingcountyferries.org … 7 pm tonight @ Denny Middle School, it’s the next session for the Design Team plotting the Denny site’s future, once the school itself moves to a new building on the Chief Sealth campus (here’s our report on the last meeting).
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