Election 2009: See the candidates in the Video Voters’ Guide

checkbox.jpgPlanning to vote early, now that ballots are arriving for the biggest election King County’s ever conducted entirely by mail (which is how they’ll all be done from now on)? If you’d like to see and hear the candidates in key races, the county-produced Video Voters’ Guide has King County Executive candidates here ; and Seattle city races (plus bag-fee Referendum 1) here.

West Seattle Farmers’ Market today, plus a Skillet note

August 2, 2009 7:48 am
|    Comments Off on West Seattle Farmers’ Market today, plus a Skillet note
 |   West Seattle Farmers' Market | West Seattle news

10 am-2 pm, 44th and Alaska, the West Seattle Farmers’ Market rolls into August; peppers and potatoes are on the “what’s new” list within the Ripe and Ready rundown (see it here). Via Twitter, we also learn that Loki Fish Company plans to bring newly arrived whole fish; there are often other sightings, close to market time, tweeted by Farmers’ Market management at @NFMASeattle. Meantime – for anyone planning on checking out the Skillet street-food trailer while visiting the Farmers’ Market – not only won’t it be there today, as noted on its website, but Skillet may not be back in West Seattle any time soon, at least not according to an e-mail exchange shared by John L, in which Skillet proprietor Josh Henderson told him they were going to concentrate on their weekend catering business for now; we have sent Henderson a note asking for confirmation, no reply yet.

Blue Angels “behind the scenes”: Boeing Field, and more

Those are the Seafair-provided Corvette convertibles that Blue Angels pilots and entourage use to get around while they’re in Seattle each summer, leaving downtown – with police escort – Saturday morning. The video is from former Blue Angels pilot Len Anderson, who traveled to Seattle with the team on Thursday and has been sharing behind-the-scenes photos, video and observations via his Twitter account (@lead_solo) all along the way (here’s a link to his photo of the pilots in the parking garage, pre-Corvettes, and a photo of the SPD motorcycles awaiting them). But you don’t have to be an ex-pilot to get “behind the scenes” to some degree; that’s the feeling we always get when watching the Blue Angels’ arrivals, takeoffs and landings at the Museum of Flight, including the crew preps before the pilots show up:

To get any closer, you’d practically have to be flying yourself, which might provide a view like this one that David Hutchinson shared, after taking photos from Ruby Chow Park on the north end of Boeing Field:

For the timeline of this year’s Boeing Field/Museum of Flight viewing (from our experience so far), and more photos, read on:Read More

West Seattle weekend scenes: “Ivy Out Day”; floating fog

Saturday morning, members and neighbors of St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church got to work clearing an area south of the church, along SW Hanford (map), that they’re hoping will become a “park-like space” for the neighborhood. Among the helpers, Charlie the Bichon Frise:

“He’s the boss!” one of the volunteers told our photojournalist. For the human volunteers, next step is planting drought-resistant native plants later this summer. Not a bad idea, given our dry weather, which took a turn for the foggy this morning:

Greg Wright shared that look at the downtown skyline seemingly floating over the fog. The forecast does not mention a rerun for this morning; another weather note, famous forecaster Cliff Maas says the stats show that last Wednesday wasn’t the only recordsetter – the entire month of July goes on record as Seattle’s hottest July ever.

Crowd gets “Footloose” at tonight’s Movies on the Wall event

We’ll add video later, but in the short run, that photo should give you an idea of the exuberant preshow fun at tonight’s West Seattle Outdoor Movies on the Wall event, before the crowd hooted and hollered their way through the ’80s classic “Footloose.” In the back of the photo, by the speaker, that’s Jackie Helton from Fusion Studio (WSB sponsor), and her fellow “go-go dancers” — boots and all! — were the crew from one of tonight’s sponsors, The Body Bar in The Junction (which also offered chair massages before the movie, while another sponsor, Stella Ruffington’s, handed out dog treats). [Here’s our video, added Sunday morning – note the young moviegoers joining in, about a minute into the clip]

As with Princess Bride” two weeks ago (last week was an anomaly, with a last-minute movie change, and a sudden shower forcing moviegoers to the nearby indoor backup at West Seattle Christian), the courtyard was jampacked. Next week, it’s a big-screen journey back into the ’70s, for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”:

Every series co-sponsor got to pick a particular movie to attach themselves to, and this one is “ours” – preshow activities include tinfoil-hat-making and a crowd singalong to the famous five-note theme. Doors open 7 pm – b/y/o chair and/or blanket – the preshow fun will start at or shortly before 8:30, with the movie at dusk.

2 West Seattle cases coming up on the Hearing Examiner’s docket

Checking what’s in the works for the city Hearing Examiner, who hears cases in the Municipal Tower downtown (same floor as the Landmarks Board, which also has 2 West Seattle items ahead this month), we find:


View Larger Map

DELRIDGE VACUUM AND TV OPERATOR’S APPEAL: Stoyan Tanev is challenging the city’s notice of license revocation for his business at 5214 Delridge (Google Street View, above) and has an appeal hearing scheduled for 9 am August 11th. According to city Municipal Court records, Tanev was scheduled to go to trial in April on charges of “receiving stolen property” but the case was dismissed because of an agreement in another case against him, reported here on April 21 after assistant city attorney Beth Gappert briefed the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council, involving charges of not having the proper license and not retaining used goods for the required 30 days before selling them.

CHALLENGING DECISION ON CLOSED SCHOOL PROPERTIES: The following day, at 9 am August 12th, the Hearing Examiner is scheduled to take up an appeal case filed by the Seattle Committee to Save Schools, Joanna Cullen and Bonnie Wilson, who are challenging a decision reported here in June. In it, the city Department of Planning and Development declared that 8 closed school properties around the city, including E.C. Hughes, Genesee Hill and Fairmount Park here in West Seattle, could be repurposed to certain other uses without convening a School Use Advisory Committee.

Hearing Examiner proceedings are open to the public; the hearing room is on the 40th floor of the Muni Tower at 700 5th Avenue downtown.

Girls on the Run: Expanding in West Seattle, searching for coaches

That’s a photo we shared this year when first word came in that Girls on the Run was expanding into West Seattle. Now, in its second year, it’s adding a new site – Pathfinder K-8 – as well as Hiawatha Community Center. As Amber Swim explains it, “Girls on the Run operates an afterschool prevention program that uses the power of running to educate and prepare preteen girls for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living. … Our program is facilitated by female volunteer coaches. Girls on the Run coaches do NOT need to be elite runners. Any woman who lives a healthy lifestyle and is committed to improving the lives of girls can be a GOTR coach.” Find out how to volunteer as a coach by going here. They’re accepting coaching applications until September 4th. The program sites will start twice-weekly sessions for girls (and coaches!) the week of September 28th, running through the New Balance Girls on the Run 5K on December 12th. For more info about participating, girlsrun.org is the place to go.

Didn’t sign up for “Night Out” yet? Reminder – deadline extended

We mentioned this on Thursday, but now that it’s the weekend and maybe you have a few more minutes to mull the idea, here’s a reminder – Seattle Police extended the deadline for signing up to close your street for a Night Out block party this Tuesday, so you have till Monday morning to register online (do it here; then go here to print out collateral including neighborhood flyers if you need/want it). And if you ARE having a party and wouldn’t mind being photographed for WSB, please send us a note – editor@westseattleblog.com – we’ll be covering the night again this year as it unfolds.

Happening now: West Seattle Edible Garden Tour

That’s “The Bee Keeper’s Yard” at 6750 35th SW – one of 10 stops on the West Seattle Edible Garden Tour, free and self-guided, happening till 4 this afternoon. Those boxes you see are for the bees – no, they don’t live in the iconic conical “hives.” Beekeeper and gardener here is Brian Allen:

You may also know Brian as secretary of Sustainable West Seattle. Visit his garden and any or all of the 9 others till 4 pm today – find the addresses and a downloadable map at ediblewestseattle.org.

Church cleanup, Edible Garden Tour today; “Footloose” tonight

August 1, 2009 7:20 am
|    Comments Off on Church cleanup, Edible Garden Tour today; “Footloose” tonight
 |   Gardening | How to help | West Seattle news | West Seattle Outdoor Movies

Highlights from the West Seattle Weekend Lineup: Work parties today include a one-of-a-kind event – St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Admiral invites neighbors as well as parishioners to an “Ivy Out Day” to clear a spot along SW Hanford that will become a “park-like” space for the whole neighborhood – 9 am to noon with a free barbecue to follow. Also: You can take the FREE West Seattle Edible Garden Tour today, self-guided, 10 am-4 pm, get your map here. Then tonight – everybody gets “Footloose” at West Seattle Outdoor Movies on the Wall, doors open 7 pm in the courtyard by Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor), preshow fun at 8:30, movie at dusk, bring $ for concessions and raffles to benefit local nonprofits.

Blue Angels weekend: Another Boeing Field place to watch

Continuing our 4th annual collection of reports from Temporary WSB HQ East, aka Boeing Field during the Blue Angels‘ appearances at Seafair: If you are thinking about going to see them today, but not necessarily determined to watch from Lake Washington, we happened onto another option for watching their takeoff, landing, and significant Angels-glimpsing inbetween. On Friday, since we didn’t extricate ourselves from the desk soon enough to go hang out “on the fence” (explained here) at the Museum of Flight, we had to find an alternative spot along the Boeing Field runway. A turn opportunity presented itself just north of the Boeing Field tower, and we wound up here:

The turn is at South 81st Place and East Marginal (map). It’s a small Boeing lot but as with the Boeing lots closer to the Museum of Flight, nobody seemed to be checking credentials. Drawbacks: A road parallels the runway-boundary fence, so you need to stand on or behind the fairly short concrete barrier. Advantages: You’re right there as the Angels go wheels up – and you get the Fat Albert (C-130T support plane) flyby, too:

Not to mention the multiple Blue Angels sightings during the show:

These folks ON the runway (across from “our” spot) had an even-better view, but somehow we doubt that spot’s publicly accessible:

The Blue Angels took off just before 1:30 on Friday, with a ground-shaking opening act from other airshow performers, particularly the F-15E Strike Eagles. Today, we’re hoping to get to the Museum of Flight in time to wait “on the fence” and see the walkdown, the synchronized crew moves, etc. And remember, the I-90 floating bridge closes 12:45-2:40 pm.

Election 2009 closeup coverage: Council candidate Thomas Tobin

checkbox.jpgBallots have started arriving for the August 18 primary. WSB continues offering close-up looks at — asking the same 3 West Seattle-specific questions — candidates in races including the three Seattle City Council contests you’ll find on the primary ballot. Previous stories are in the WSB Politics archive.

By Kathy Mulady
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

City Council Position 4 candidate Thomas Tobin lives on Capitol Hill, where he was born, grew up and plans to stay. He said he rarely has a chance to visit West Seattle, but when he does, Alki Beach is his favorite place.

“My grandma used to love to go to Spud’s,” he said.

This is Tobin’s second time running for city council. In 1997 he was in the race with Richard Conlin, who is now city council president.

Tobin is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and a small business owner providing Internet service. “Being from here, I have watched the city deteriorate,” he said.

Read More

West Seattle Crime Watch: 5 notes, from shots to thefts

Two of these 5 incidents happened early this morning. First, in the Westcrest Park area, multiple police units answered a call of a disturbance, followed minutes later by a report that five gunshots were heard. No report of anyone having actually been shot, but police pulled over a car at 8th/Trenton (map) and reported finding a shotgun in possession of one of the passengers. Second incident just happened – police raced to an assault report in the 2800 block of Alki (map), with a suspect reportedly running away, but found an “uncooperative victim,” and the call was canceled (but in case you saw/heard all those officers, that’s what it was about). Now, to three reports received earlier, from purported solicitors using a ruse to get into a man’s apartment and steal from him, to a bike theft and stereo theft – read on:Read More

Details: Shellfish diggers confronted at Weather Watch Park

(photo by Brenda Peterson)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Digging for shellfish at most – if not all – West Seattle beaches is unsafe and unlawful.

Not everyone knows that. It seemed to be news to three men confronted this morning while digging along Beach Drive, before they agreed to put the clams – a cooler full of them, as you see in the photo above — back.

This all began when Brenda Peterson, a West Seattle author and wildlife advocate, was out walking on the beach this morning, as she does most mornings as the founder of Seal Sitters, the local group that watches for baby seals this time of year, and, when one is found, assigns volunteers to guard it from human/animal disturbance till its mom comes back for it.

Peterson spotted three men going back and forth along a sizable stretch of Beach Drive shore, where the tide was somewhat out this morning, digging big holes, and filling a blue and white cooler.

She tried calling wildlife agents and got only voice mail. She also called WSB.

Read More

Door-to-door alert: Crew says they’re here for a month

Matt sent in the latest door-to-door alert – don’t know if they’re legitimate or bogus but there’s been some power in people discussing solicitor sightings so we’re sharing them. (Also note this online article from the Better Business Bureau.) Read on for Matt’s report:Read More

Local food bank needs help, and not in the usual way

We mentioned this earlier on partner site White Center Now – but as we frequently note, White Center Food Bank serves a significant part of southern West Seattle as well, so we all have a stake in the WC and West Seattle Food Banks. Next Saturday and Wednesday, August 8 and 12, WCFB needs help emptying and refilling the warehouse so floor work can be done. This item on the WCFB website gives you multiple ways to volunteer.

West Seattle Weekend Lineup: Edible Garden Tour, lots more

Tomorrow’s the day for a new West Seattle tradition, in its second year – the Edible Garden Tour (free!) presented by wswllicon3.pngCommunity Harvest of Southwest Seattle. And of course it’s Seafair weekend, which means Blue Angels sightings, bridge closures, etc. … West Seattle Outdoor Movies on the Wall gets “Footloose” on Saturday night … help clear off a park-like section of land on Saturday morning with St. John’s Episcopal Church (one of several work parties you can join that day) … And on street-food watch, note that Skillet is NOT scheduled for The Junction this Sunday, but Marination Mobile will be back at High Point on Saturday … more than four dozen events, ahead in this edition of the West Seattle Weekend Lineup, brought to you by Skylark Cafe and Club … here goes!Read More

Heat wave casualty: West Seattle’s most famous crow

crows1.jpg

Just yesterday, we mentioned that unusually colored crow – “leucistic” is the term – in our story about Gatewood author Lyanda Lynn Haupt‘s new book (from which she is reading at Elliott Bay Books, 7:30 tonight). This morning, on our way out to cover a story, we saw one of our neighbors here in the Gatewood/Upper Fauntleroy area where “Leucy” has hung out for years – and she told us she found “Leucy,” aka the “brown crow,” dead in Wednesday’s historic heat. No sign of blood or injury – just dead. Neighbor Jane thinks “Leucy” was female, and had noticed her “showing off her babies” this past season. No way to tell how old “Leucy” was; Lyanda told us crows can live longer than a decade in optimum conditions.

Quick alert if you’re near the beach

Full story on this coming up later but wanted to post a quick alert now. We were just out covering three men digging clams up along Beach Drive, which is (a) illegal and (b) dangerous – the beaches are closed to shellfish harvesting for health reasons, explained here (and most of it wouldn’t be open anyway – either parkland or private property). Confronted by a local wildlife advocate, they claimed it was for personal use, claimed they had no idea about the health risks etc., and returned the 100-plus clams to the beach. But in case they just packed up and moved somewhere else, be on the lookout – copper/gold Suburban-type SUV with plate starting with 861, blue and white cooler. More later!

Update: Memorial, fund for West Seattle hero mom Arden Balyeat

July 31, 2009 9:08 am
|    Comments Off on Update: Memorial, fund for West Seattle hero mom Arden Balyeat
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle people

The time and place of this Sunday’s memorial are now set for Arden Balyeat, the 48-year-old West Seattle mom who died earlier this week after saving her 7-year-old son when they got into trouble in the Skykomish River (here’s our Tuesday night story). It’s at West Seattle Christian Church, 4 pm Saturday, with an “open house wake” at her home afterward, 4008 46th SW. Friend Cori Myka says those who want to bring food/drink to share at the wake are invited to, but perishable leftovers will need to be taken home afterward. They will have a guestbook and video camera for sharing memories. There’s now an online obituary with a comment area and maps to the memorial/wake locations; find it here. And Cori says there’s a benevolent fund in Arden’s name at BECU, with donations to be used for her son; checks designating the fund can be taken to any branch or mailed to BECU, she says (here’s the location-finder). Cori added in an open letter, “Thank you for all the thoughts, condolences and memories that have been given thus far.”

Seafair today: Blue Angels’ practice show, and where to watch

(photo taken from south side of Boeing Field before yesterday afternoon’s practice takeoff)
If you’re not interested in watching those six bright-blue jets tear through the sky, the main effect of today’s practice that you’ll want to know about is the 12:45-2:20 pm I-90 bridge closure (tomorrow and Sunday too). If you are, today’s what we dubbed “Free Day” – you can go to Lake Washington and watch the air show (the Blue Angels are the stars but other acts perform) and hydro time trials without paying admission, unless you want to sit in the grandstands. (We wrote in 2006 about how to get to the lake shore.) For other Blue Angels-watching options, our preferred option remains the Museum of Flight, where you can arrive early for a spot on the fence to watch the “walkdown” (here’s our “on the fence” story from 2007) before the ground-rumbling takeoff; always hard to tell how the fence crowd will be, but we wouldn’t advise getting there later than noon. You can also watch the takeoff from other vantage points around Boeing Field – cars line the frontage road on its east side, and yesterday we wound up on its south side. Our fellow independent-neighborhood-news-site operators at Central District News have published not-so-well-known free viewing options in their “Blue Angels bonus” report. Also part of Seafair: Fleet tours continue today.

Can you be a Homework Helper? Library system puts out the call

July 31, 2009 6:07 am
|    Comments Off on Can you be a Homework Helper? Library system puts out the call
 |   West Seattle news

From the Seattle Public Library – a call for volunteer “Homework Helpers” for the school year that starts in just six weeks:

Homework Helpers assist elementary, middle and high school students with understanding homework assignments, developing study skills and learning approaches for solving math problems. English is a second language for the majority of the students. Homework Helpers are asked to assist students for two hours per week throughout the school year. Please read the attached volunteer service description for more information.

There are volunteer openings at the following branches in central and south Seattle:

Beacon Hill Branch 2821 Beacon Avenue South
Homework Help Hours: Monday – Thursday, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Columbia Branch 4721 Rainier Avenue South
Homework Help Hours: Monday – Thursday, 5 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.

Delridge Branch 5423 Delridge Way SW
Homework Help Hours: Monday – Thursday, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

International District-Chinatown Branch 713 Eighth Avenue South
Homework Help Hours: Monday – Thursday, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

NewHolly Branch 7058 – 32nd Avenue South
Homework Help Hours: Monday – Wednesday, 5:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.

Rainier Beach Branch 9125 Rainier Avenue South
Homework Help Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

South Park Branch 8604 Eighth Avenue South
Homework Help Hours: Monday – Thursday, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Please see http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=branch for a map of branch locations.

To request volunteer application materials, please contact Anne Vedella, Volunteer Services Coordinator, at anne.vedella@spl.org by Friday, August 14. Interviews will take place in August. Thank you!

Election 2009 closeup coverage: Council candidate Mike O’Brien

July 31, 2009 1:58 am
|    Comments Off on Election 2009 closeup coverage: Council candidate Mike O’Brien
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

checkbox.jpgKing County has mailed the ballots for the August 18 primary. WSB continues offering close-up looks at — asking the same 3 West Seattle-specific questions — candidates in races including the three Seattle City Council contests you’ll find on the primary ballot. Previous stories are in the WSB Politics archive.

By Kathy Mulady
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Mike O’Brien’s background is in finance and economics; his passion is the outdoors and protecting the earth.

The 41-year-old Fremont resident is running for Seattle City Council Position 8 with the hope that he can use his experience as the former chief financial officer of a Seattle law firm to help the city create more housing, better transportation, and develop policies that will make Seattle vibrant economically and environmentally.

“I’m a numbers guy, I’m not a political beast by nature,” he said.

That started to change about nine years ago when O’Brien got involved with the Sierra Club.

Read More