West Seattle, Washington
05 Friday
Continuing our West Seattle Christmas lights showcase: If you drive the Fauntleroy side of the west end of The Bridge at night, you’ll notice several well-lit homes — including the one you see above in the 4000 block – this year, the row of houses looks brighter than ever. It’s a little tricky to reach – the turn is off 35th, north of where the main stretch of Fauntleroy becomes The Bridge – here’s a map. Got a brightly lit home or street to share with us and other West Seattle holiday-light lovers? Let us know – editor@westseattleblog.com. The archive of lights we’ve featured so far is here, including video of the Helmstetler Family’s set-to-music display by the Charlestown water tower and the Menashe Family home on Beach Drive, and homes from past years (this one, in fact, we showed two years ago – though you can tell there’ve been many additions!). Lots more holiday activities, sights and sounds on the West Seattle Holidays page (including the Christmas Ship schedule for this weekend!).
(Icy patch at Cloverdale/Fauntleroy Place)
Latest forecast calls for “chance of snow” Friday night. But in the meantime, we still have a frosty week to deal with – the next three nights could drop into the teens, and tomorrow’s high may not even break freezing. If you want to look at it as frozen cup-half-full, this has its benefits: The sky remains mostly clear, and West Seattle astro-expert extraordinaire Alice Enevoldsen is planning to be at Solstice Park (upslope from the tennis courts north of Lincoln Park) by 5-ish to stargaze with anyone interested. (Full details on her Alice’s Astro Info website.)
Before the weekend, we mentioned the sign project that closed part of I-5 south of West Seattle last weekend and was scheduled to expand northward this weekend. Just got word from WSDOT that will include closing a ramp from The Bridge to I-5 – read on:Read More
Tomorrow, the suspects charged with murder in the February 1st West Seattle shooting death of Steve Bushaw are expected in court. The case has been much-discussed since we first reported the 4 arrests last week, then details of the charges. According to court documents, the suspects believed the victim was responsible for a crime for which he was never charged; the documents include no evidence of his involvement in that crime. The Bushaw family has declined requests for comment as the 10-month investigation proceeded, but the victim’s sister, Tanya Bushaw, asked if we would publish something she wanted to say on her brother’s behalf – here is her statement in its entirety:
Over the past ten months my family has decided to keep our comments to ourselves regarding the killing of my brother, Stevie Bushaw. We didn’t know any details as the detectives could not tell us anything due to it being an active, on-going investigation. However, on Tuesday when we found out police had arrested 4 men who were involved in his murder we were so relieved, excited, and sad all at the same time. We finally had some sort of resolution to this situation and more insight as to what happened that night. Despite these arrests, it is still an on-going investigation and we only know what has been written in the charging documents.
You cannot imagine how hard it is to hear your son/brother say “Bye, I’ll be back. I’m going to have a beer with Bryce” and then 15 minutes later he is dead and you have no idea why or how it happened. You only know he will not be back…ever!
Before this I only saw my dad cry twice, maybe three times in my life and now he cries everyday. My mother, in addition to all her tears, was sure her heart shrunk because her chest felt sunken after this happened. My daughter, 4, has had to learn about death, guns, and “bad guys” that use guns to kill people. Too many nights I had to hold her and calm her down from crying so hard because she missed her Uncle Stevie. As a whole we are all very sensitive to each other’s well being in fear that we might lose another member of this family.
(Editor’s note: That is Tanya’s daughter, Ava, held by Steve Bushaw in the photo above, shared earlier this year by the family. Tanya’s statement continues after the jump.)Read More
From Mayor-elect Mike McGinn‘s transition team: They’re “restarting” the search for a new police chief and have announced the co-chairs of their search committee: Downtown Seattle Association President Kate Joncas and Charles Rolland, who leads Community and Parents for Public Schools of Seattle. The announcement says they’re talking to Mayor Greg Nickels‘ search-committee appointees “to see which of them wish to continue to serve with the new administration.” The search will resume with an organizational meeting next month; a recommendation is expected by May, by which time Acting Chief John Diaz will have served in the interim role for a full year.
Over the past three months (starting again in September), we have reported more incidences of vandalism involving profane anti-gay slurs, usually appearing on business and park property in Morgan Junction and north of Lincoln Park. 
This morning, we have received reports indicating that the vandalism happened again multiple times overnight: Jim e-mailed to report the word “pedophile” (misspelled) painted on a business window south of Morgan Junction, which relates to the theme of the unprintable slur that has appeared most often. And we just received a report of vandalism on a private residence’s garage door along 42nd SW northeast of Morgan Junction, and that victim tells us the investigating officer confirmed multiple reports. To recap, the man who was arrested for this same type of vandalism earlier this year was charged, but the charges were dropped when he was found not competent to stand trial; while there’s been no declaration that he is definitely responsible for the latest incidents in the past few months, police have said they continue looking for him – no permanent address, apparently – to question him about what’s happened. At last month’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting (WSB coverage here), police were asked for a description; acting Community Police Team Sgt. Adonis Topacio said “white male, late 20s, early 30s, always looks stressed out” and an attendee said he was known to wear hoodies. Police also have reiterated that their best hope is for someone to see the vandalism as it happens and to call 911. We’re checking with the precinct again today to see if there’s anything new to share from their standpoint.
We’ve noticed work resuming on several projects around West Seattle. 2 examples: Several people have e-mailed to point out that crews are back at 35th/Avalon (whether just to weatherproof or something more, we haven’t confirmed), and framing has gone up at a townhouse site north of Morgan Junction where work began in spring but then idled, among others. And now there’s word from a neighbor that a once-controversial proposal across from Alki Elementary School has reactivated as well.
The site at 59th/Stevens (Google Street View above) is the subject of a “revised application” – a two-week comment period that opened with it was listed as closing the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but the sign says that it could be extended to December 13th, so the neighbor who contacted us has put in that request. The original application was filed in early 2008; it proposed two single-family homes and three townhouse units replacing the house that currently occupies the lot. Among the concerns neighbors had raised were parking; the project calls for 8 spaces for the 5 units, and street parking in the area has long been tight (some restriping happened last year, as reported here). They also contended that three-story units putting neighboring Alki Playfield in the shade. They discussed those issues during a meeting with developers and city planners in May of last year (WSB coverage here). The DPD page listing all applications for this proposal (no permits finalized yet) is here; comments on the project go to city planner Holly Godard, holly.godard@seattle.gov.
TRAFFIC ALERT TODAY: SDOT is closing the southbound right-hand lane on the Alaskan Way Viaduct for railing repairs, 8 am-3:30 pm today, tomorrow and Wednesday, between South Massachusetts Street and South Holgate Street (a short stretch south of the stadiums, parallel to what’s marked on this map).
THIS MORNING: The four finalists for appointment to the King County Council seat that represents West Seattle – held by Dow Constantine until he became County Executive — are scheduled to be interviewed by councilmembers today, during their Committee of the Whole meeting, starting at 9:30 am. More here.
TONIGHT: West Seattle Hi-Yu‘s meeting will not only feature the group’s holiday celebration, but also the general-membership meeting that’s scheduled to choose the theme of next year’s festival. 6:30 pm, St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church (3050 California SW).
HOLIDAYS: Ongoing holiday events, giving opportunities, etc. – all on the West Seattle Holidays page.
Thanks to Alison Jeffries for sharing the story of the West Seattle Yacht Club’s adventure Sunday in the Seafair Special People’s Holiday Cruise – it’s the area’s biggest parade of decorated boats, whose owners volunteer to take developmentally disabled people along for the cruise of Seattle’s inland waters. Alison says almost 400 boats were in it today, including:
Seven of us from the West Seattle Yacht Club participated today, joining together on one boat, Ohana, owned by Bob & Linda Schrader. Also on board were Joy & Guy Smith (of the Joy Smith Wildlife Raft fame), Kevin and Alison Jeffries and daughter Kirsten (who goes to Denny Middle School). All 7 of us live in West Seattle. We hosted 3 special people and two chaperones from Sunnyside, WA in eastern WA. The special people were delighted by things large and small – a deck of cards, lights on a boat, being on a boat! One of our guests danced and skipped down the dock to the boat as he was so excited! While the event was to create a wonderful experience for the special people, it was truly the 7 of us who had the best experience. Our three special people reminded us of the joy of being on the water in Seattle, and the excitement of small and special moments. I am so thankful to these three for sharing their lives with us today. What a wonderful way to start the holiday season
Here’s a bit of the excitement, followed by the Santa sighting:
We haven’t mentioned the WSYC here in a while, but Alison adds some info for those who haven’t heard of it before:
West Seattle Yacht Club is a low-key, fun group that meets monthly at the Masonic Hall in West Seattle. The club goes on 10-12 cruises a year all around the Sound and spends a lot of time playing and laughing! The club’s members have all kinds of boats – power and sail, large and small. Many members live in West Seattle but some do live outside of our fabulous part of the city. Anyone with a boat can join, dues are low and reciprocal benefits around Puget Sound are fantastic.
More at westseattleyachtclub.com.
We’ve got a lot of checking to do when our Parks and Police contacts are back in the office tomorrow, but in the meantime, for late-night news checkers, a short update on this weekend’s developments in the case of the missing totem pole.
Background: After a WSB’er e-mailed us Wednesday morning to ask where the West Seattle Rotary Viewpoint Park totem pole (photo at left used with Rotary’s permission) had gone, we quickly put in an inquiry with the Parks Department, then went over to check the scene (35th/Alaska, overlooking the West Seattle Golf Course), taking the photos you see in this story we published Thursday morning, after Parks spokesperson Dewey Potter confirmed to WSB that they hadn’t authorized anyone to remove it and would report it as stolen. After reading our story, WSB commenters reported seeing trucks at the scene Monday evening – a tow truck assisting a stuck crane truck. A few longtime Rotary Club of West Seattle members also have been investigating, as we mentioned in our Friday followup – the club donated the park and pole in 1976 and isn’t taking this lightly. On Saturday, we followed along as they tried to track the trail. Read on:Read More
ORIGINAL 7:52 PM REPORT ON DELRIDGE ONRAMP BEING BLOCKED OFF: Thanks to those who’ve texted and e-mailed. According to the area’s Adopt-A-Drain steward Rose Feliciano, it’s a flooding situation involving a fire hydrant having been hit at 22nd SW/Andover [map], and 22nd has some flooding too. We’ll be heading out shortly to investigate – in the meantime, a good area to avoid, and we’ll be watching for morning effects given, as Rose points out, the road hazards related to below-freezing temperatures. Rose adds that a de-icing truck is expected – and also shared the photos we’ve added to this story.
9:22 PM UPDATE: Just back from the scene. A sanding truck went over it several times, and police have reopened the ramp. We have heard via e-mail that some Pigeon Point residents lost water service because of this; we didn’t see any Seattle Public Utilities crews while looking around the area, but will check to see if we can find out anything more.
That’s a short behind-the-scenes peek at the Westside Symphonette, as one of the West Seattle community orchestra’s newest co-conductors, Rob Duisberg, showed the musicians how he’d like them to handle a Beethoven piece that’s on the program for their holiday concert. We caught up with them at last week’s rehearsal, and now it’s almost concert time – this Tuesday night at West Seattle High School Theater – strings and junior orchestra at 6:30, senior orchestra at 7:30. In addition to classics by Beethoven, Bizet, Holst, Schubert and Ravel, there’ll also be a traditional holiday singalong, from “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” to “Hallelujah Chorus.” – Admission is just $1 (though they’ll be thrilled to accept donations above and beyond that). (Yet more West Seattle holiday highlights – music, plays, bazaars, trees, etc. – here.)
The lights are low, the holiday music is low-key, and – there’s wine! at the St. Nicholas Faire under way now at First Lutheran Church of West Seattle (just north of The Junction at 4105 California SW), till 8 tonight. The state’s Winery of the Year (per WinePress NW), Maryhill Winery, is represented by Rich Marshall – brother of the church’s Pastor Ron Marshall. (Next to his wine-tasting table, there’s also a “wine toss” – think “ring toss.”) Also at the Faire – unique crafts, like these icons by Bert Apman, based on centuries-old images:
We also noted pottery, baked goods, and of course Christmas items – like these “Fidget Trees”:
There’s an admission charge for the St. Nicholas Faire (details here) – reduced if you bring nonperishable food for the West Seattle Food Bank, which along with West Seattle Helpline benefits from the Faire’s proceeds.
Just out of the WSB inbox from Marc in Highland Park:
Neighbors’ house was broken into on Friday, they kicked the door down. I was home early and called the police when I noticed it. Their dog seems to have spooked the burglar and as a result the theft was not too bad, but this was bold. Broad daylight, front door kicked in. Other neighbors reported seeing a light green van in the area that may have been involved, but no license plate. We’re up near 13th and Trenton [map], keep your eyes open!
If you couldn’t make it to last night’s Hometown Holidays Tree Lighting in The Junction (co-sponsored by WSB), our 2nd report begins with the high-definition five-and-a-half-minute video version – a little monologuing from emcee Marty Riemer, more music from the Endolyne Children’s Choir (featured briefly in our first report last night), a bit of West Seattle Christian Church Pastor Dan Jacobs‘ holiday message about light, and of course, The Tree (including the literally crowd-sourced switch-flipper).
We also wanted to make special note of the West Seattle Volunteer Recognition honorees – Cindi Barker and Erica Karlovits took the stage on behalf of Southwest District Council (which co-sponsors the recognition program along with Delridge Neighborhoods District Council and WSB). With photos of the recipients, the blocked-in-blue text below shows what was read about them at last night’s event:
As noted in our earlier announcement of the WSVR honorees, Providence Mount St. Vincent has more than 200 volunteers of all ages – this group represented them onstage last night to accept the first Group award.
… there are 200 active volunteers ranging in age from 14 to 92 – this represents five generations working together under one roof to help support The Mount. In 2008, those volunteers donated over 25,000 hours of time and talent, which equates to a half a million dollars of gifted time. Over 65 volunteers have been active there for more than 5 years and several dozen have been active for over 10 years.
The majority of Mount volunteers are involved with supporting the recreation programs at The Mount, those activities include leading group recreation programs; working on teams with staff to bring residents on field trips into the community; and providing one-on-one visits to residents. Other volunteers run their own departments such as the thrift boutique; the Sewing Shop, and the Auxiliary fundraising department. Volunteers of many faiths also serve in the Spiritual Care department and there are several teen and adult volunteers who work with the children in the Intergenerational Learning Center at The Mount. Volunteers also help staff the Gift Shop, escort residents to and from the Hair Salon, assist the art teacher and other valuable services.
These volunteers are absolutely essential to the vitality, diversity and compassion that makes The Mount such an special place and to share their time with our senior citizens represents a true gift to the community. Again, the Volunteers of Providence Mt Saint Vincent.
The other six awards were for individuals:
With Erica Karlovits, that’s Chas Redmond, one of two Community honorees:
Chas is on the board of Sustainable West Seattle, the Morgan Community Association, the Southwest District Council and is a key member of Feet First. As an advocate for walking and public transportation and all things sustainable, he impacts West Seattle from so many angles, from political to social. Chas is always present and willing to help out, drawing on his many skill sets to support in virtually every way imaginable. He is opinionated, and all his opinions are in behalf of the community. The best line from the nomination form reads “I really don’t know his length of service, but if you count the number of organizations and his impact in each – its a lifetime of any normal volunteer/activist/community member.”
The other Community honoree, Pete Spalding, couldn’t be there in person, but we’ve certainly photographed him a few times – at right, one from a Viaduct meeting in West Seattle:
Pete is a tireless advocate for his community. He has a long list of past activities, but most recently been involved in the Delridge Neighborhood District Council and Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council, served on the Alaskan Way Viaduct Stakeholders Advisory Committee, worked on the 2008 Parks and Green Space Levy, and is now on the Levy Citizens Advisory Committee, is President of the board of the West Seattle Food Bank and chair of the Southwest Precinct Citizens Advisory Council. Is tireless not the right word? As a community leader and civic representative, Pete has done an outstanding job. He listens well, considers carefully, and advocates accordingly. If the world is run by the people that “show up”, then we’re lucky to have Pete on the team.
Next, the Environment awards, starting with Judy Pickens. We’ve shown you many of her amazing activities with Fauntleroy Creek – most recently, yet another educational visit by local kids, and the annual drumming event to call the salmon home (there’s a salmon watch wrapup on the Fauntleroy Community Association website). Here’s what was read about Judy last night:
Judy Pickens has been the driving force for over 20 years for the stewardship of the Fauntleroy Watershed. She and her husband Phil donate endless time to ensuring the health of the creek ecosystem, including the salmon ladder that she successfully advocated to have built adjacent to their property. She co-founded the Fauntleroy Watershed Council and organizes events such as salmon releases by schoolchildren and restoration of the reach the beach. She uses these different opportunities to educate our community, especially the youth, about the importance of our watershed systems and how to help improve the water quality. The nominations specifically mentions the “famous dog poop study” conducted by the kids, so anyone who can invent such a creative way to grab attention of children truly is amazing.
(Editor’s note: Errors in the description of Judy’s work have been corrected since this story was originally published.)
Also honored, Jay Mirro, though he wasn’t at the ceremony (the photo at left is from a North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting this fall):
Jay Mirro is a Longfellow Creek Steward and participant in the Longfellow Creek Watershed Council and is also a co-chair of the North Delridge Neighborhood Council. The Longfellow Watershed Council organizes and facilitates creek trail, stream side habitat and water quality improvements. Jay’s commitment to the work of removing invasive plants and the planting of NW native plants at the Brandon Street Natural Area of Longfellow Creek have made this section of the Longfellow Creek Legacy Trail a true pleasure to explore and wander. Jay has sought and obtained extensions to the trail network at Brandon Street and without his dedication this area would not be where it is today. West Seattle nature lovers, walkers, joggers, the creatures and even the plants themselves have all benefited from Jay’s hard work.
Next, the Youth volunteer category honorees, starting with Janet Hillier from the Chief Sealth High School PTSA:
Janet Hillier is a volunteer with the Chief Sealth PTSA, which could be a surprise to some since she doesn’t even have a child that attends Chief Sealth. But she’s a firm believer in what the PTSA does towards creating world class futures for Chief Sealth students. She created and runs the PTSA website, and this past November, she was the backbone of the their dinner and auction. She is behind many great ideas, shows up at almost every event and meeting and her planning and followup efforts are greatly appreciated by the Chief Sealth community.
And at right, the president of Southwest Seattle Pony Baseball, Paul Leonardo:
Paul Leonardo is described as the go-to guy for the Southwest Seattle PONY Baseball league. This is a youth baseball league for kids 11 to 18 years old that serves West Seattle and White Center. Paul has been president of the League for the past 4 years, and, similar to the story of Janet, Paul does this as a service to the community; he doesn’t even have a child involved in the league. Paul has a board of directors to work with, but he’s the guy doing the daily decisions, and attending to all the details that keep a league running. And while the nomination didn’t specifically say it, but we all should remember that Paul gets to deal with the parents, so our hats are off to him!
Again, this was the second group of West Seattle Volunteer Recognition honorees – the first group was honored at the West Seattle Hi-Yu Concert in the Park last July – we’ll let you know as soon as nominations open for the third round! Thanks to everyone who took the time to contribute a nomination.
One other component of last night’s event – the first drawings in the Hometown Holidays $6,500 giveaway – more drawings to come; you can enter at participating Junction merchants – listed here – no purchase necessary. Marty Riemer and West Seattle Junction Association executive director Susan Melrose announced the first round of winners:
Lots more happening in The Junction throughout the holiday season – if you see this before 4, check out our Hometown Holidays Sunday story, still time to go jump into the special events – and Thursday night, the West Seattle Art Walk (6-9 pm) is also a Shop Late event in The Junction – official Art Walk site here, official (recently remodeled) Junction site here.
That’s one of two sites in the heart of The Junction where you can tap into Hometown Holidays activities till 4 pm today (and again noon-4 the next two Sundays) – HH HQ at California/Alaska in front of KeyBank. There you’ll find info and items on sale including Junction T-shirts and wreaths and candy on behalf of Pathfinder K-8 – sixth graders Stella and Shea are selling “Chocolate for China” to help pay for the class trip next summer:
Also from that spot, you can hop aboard the mule-drawn carriage – the mules are getting a lot of love:
From there, venture northeast across Walk-All-Ways to the storefront east of Cupcake Royale, where you’ll find Santa – posing here with West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival Junior Court Princess Kaitlin:
There’s a suggested $10 donation for Santa pix taken by professional photographer Donna Ryan (goes to local nonprofits). They’d taken about 30 photos in the first hour today but there was no wait when we went by. If you need someplace to get out of the cold, there’s a corner with kids’ crafts:
And the business that used to inhabit the storefront, Swee Swee Paperie (alive and well online!), is hosting a gift-wrap stand there too – gorgeous gift wrap’s free with a $50+ purchase from participating Junction businesses:
Again, this is all happening in The Junction till 4 today, noon-4 pm the next two Sundays (except the mules are skipping next Sunday); many stores have special events too – at CAPERS till 3 pm today, for example, celeb chef Kathy Casey is signing her latest book “Sips and Apps.” Next Hometown Holidays event: Thursday night’s West Seattle Art Walk, 6-9 pm, is also a Shop Late event – we’ll have details as the week goes on. (The Art Walk, as always, stretches to venues all over West Seattle as well – full list here.)
Just out of the WSB inbox:
West Seattle members of the League of Women Voters of Seattle will host a public conversation with the three 34th District legislators: Sen Joe McDermott, Rep. Sharon Nelson and Rep Eileen Cody. The event will be held at 7pm on Tuesday, Dec 8th in Fellowship Hall at Fauntleroy UCC church at 9140 California Ave. The Legislators will meet in January, so now is the time to talk to your legislators about important issues facing the people of this state. The public is welcome and coffee and cookies will be served. For more information, contact Lucy Gaskill-Gaddis at 938-3040.
January 11 is the start date of the legislative session – follow along at the state’s official site. Meantime, Sen. McDermott and Rep. Nelson are in the “final four” for the County Council seat that County Executive Dow Constantine left; council members interview all 4 tomorrow.
(Thanks to JayDee for sharing the vivid sunrise shot from over Alki.) For the next several sunrises, it’s going to be well below freezing, according to the latest forecast. Maybe even into the teens. Weather expert Cliff Mass dives into the details here.
In an update to local drivers who e-mailed SDOT with complaints about signal-timing changes leading to backups at Admiral/California (previous reports Oct. 7, Oct. 9, Nov. 14 and Nov. 17), the city says it believes the problem is fixed now, and reveals it’s looking at “removing” parking on the southwest side of the intersection. We’ll follow up with the city to find out exactly which/how many spaces they’re talking about, but for now, Laura shares this e-mail she received, signed by SDOT’s Chris Faulkner:
Thank you for your recent communication to the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) regarding the timing of the traffic signal light at California Avenue SW and SW Admiral Way. We received quite a few letters and emails from concerned residents, and I want to share with all of you what has been taken place at this intersection.
Initially, new timing was put into place at this intersection and several others on the corridor. This new timing took into account current traffic volumes and provided a balance that better served all users of the intersection.
We began receiving complaints almost immediately, mainly from motorists travelling eastbound on Admiral Way. I made several site visits to the location to see if I could determine where an adjustment needed to be made, but every time I was at the location, traffic was progressing well, as I had planned. After complaints continued to come in, I went to the site again, and this time I found what others had been experiencing – the signal was skipping phases and causing traffic backups.
When the new timing plan was implemented, a new controller was also installed at this intersection. Unfortunately, there was a compatibility issue between the new controller and the timing program, which caused problems to occur sporadically. When a problem is intermittent, it is almost impossible to diagnose what is not working unless you happen to be there at the time it happens. Once I was able to observe what was occurring, I was able to work towards correcting the problem.
The correction was made on November 17; I have been in the field many times since, at all times of day, to observe traffic conditions. I am now confident that everything is working as planned. The number of complaints received has slowed to a trickle, and the focus of these complaints is the weekend timing plan.
The timing favors east- and westbound movements because of the higher traffic volumes in these directions. On weekend timing, east- and westbound is still favored, but the green time is more closely split with the north- and southbound movement. This is due to increased north- and southbound volumes on weekends. If the north- and southbound traffic “gaps out,” the unused green time is given to the east- and westbound movement. With this timing, I believe we are providing a balance that best suits the needs of all users of the intersection.
Additionally, our Arterial Operations section is working with nearby business owners to explore removing parking eastbound on Admiral, approaching California. We believe this would help improve traffic flow.
I appreciate the patience from the community while we worked to resolve this problem. If you have additional questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at traffic.signals@seattle.gov. Thank you for your input.
Before the WSB reports we linked above, discussion of the problem first surfaced in this WSB Forums thread.
Forecasters say we’ll see a sunny afternoon – albeit chilly; couldn’t be more perfect for the first Hometown Holidays Sunday in The Junction, where the day will start with the weekly West Seattle Farmers’ Market 10 am-2 pm (here’s the weekly Ripe ‘n’ Ready fresh sheet), 
then gets mega-spirited with Santa photos and gift wrapping at HH Headquarters (4218 SW Alaska, around the corner from Cupcake Royale), plus mule-drawn carriage rides (climb on board by KeyBank at California/Alaska). While you’re in The Junction, you’re just a few blocks away from the Alki Masonic Lodge Christmas Party, all welcome, including – busy guy! – Santa photos and other all-ages fun, 2-4 pm. Outside The Junction, Santa photos also continue noon-4 pm today at Westwood Village (Santa’s House is across the breezeway from 24 Hour Fitness), and at Cafe Revo (WSB sponsor), from 1-3, kids lunching at the restaurant can get their photo taken with “Nonno (Babbo) Natale” and hear Christmas stories from Italy. Then after all those events are over – the fundraising St. Nicholas Faire (read all about it here) begins at 4 pm at First Lutheran Church of West Seattle. MUCH more – including holiday art sales continuing today – on the West Seattle Holidays page.
Many talented artists/craftspeople have been showing and selling their wares around West Seattle this weekend, as holiday shopping season intensifies – but none in a location as beautiful as the almost-one-year-old Duwamish Tribe Longhouse. The native art gift fair/sale there continues today, 10 am-5 pm. Here are some of the artists we met on a brief visit late Saturday:
Ron Alphonse‘s work includes carved cedar paddles; Margie Morris, at right, incorporated tribal symbols into holiday items such as stockings, hats, and angel dolls like this one:
One common theme for what Lisa Anderson is offering – animals:
Carryable creations are available from Gin Gin Designs, crafted by Virginia Nelson:
And the creativity extends into edibles – Veronica Ramirez is selling fry bread and baking mix at the door:
The longhouse, dedicated 11 months ago, is at 4705 West Marginal Way; here’s a map. According to the tribe’s fall newsletter, 10 percent of the gift fair’s proceeds are benefiting the tribe.
First, from Bil Hood at Seattle Lutheran High School:
Congratulations to the Seattle Lutheran Saints boys and girls varsity basketball teams. They are both coming home tomorrow with the first place trophies from the Portland Lutheran Basketball Tournament. After winning blow-outs against the Portland Lutheran High teams yesterday the Saints both matched up against Mt. Rainier Lutheran High today. The girls won a close one 35-34 and the boys walked away with a 65-55 win.
Second, from proud grandma Ginger Brewer, reporting on the Short Course National Championships for swimmers, being held at Federal Way:
The grandson of Ginger & Glenn of Alki, Nicholas Thoman, won two gold medals at last night’s meet. The 100 back stroke 52.07 ( the meet record timing) and the 200 relay 1:26:02 with swimmers Westby, Jones & Skuba. There are seven of the elete swimmers group Club SwimMac Carolina here to compete. The Brewer fan club are on board every night to cheer them on. Tonight he will swim the 200 back stroke. More excitement in store.
Ginger sent that report this morning, so it looks like we have an update since then — if we’re interpreting the online results correctly, it appears Ginger and Glenn’s grandson came in second in that competition tonight.
8:39 PM: First flakes of the year reported. Got ’em where you are?
10:30 PM UPDATE: As noted in the comments, looks like it’s over for now. We just drove back from downtown – there’d been some snow reported on the other side of the bay – nary a flake. Newest forecast update says there’s still a chance of “snow showers” overnight – breezy too (we felt the wind starting to pick up) – and cold for pretty much the entire week (though mostly dry) – some nights going below 20. By the way, did you catch tonight’s sunset? Got this photo from Colby – showing a bit of the amazing pink that swept across the sky.
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