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Next best thing to time travel: TWO “shape the future” chances
July 26, 2009 12:31 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   Development | How to help | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Oh sorry, we meant time travel AHEAD, not back – but the Municipal Archives are full of so many cool old photos, we had to put one up (1930, Youngstown area of North Delridge). Now, as for those two chances to shape THE FUTURE: Tuesday night is the REALLY big one – 6 pm, Delridge Community Center,, your long-awaited opportunity to join in “status checks” for the Neighborhood Plans (see them on the right sidebar here) created a decade ago — the plans that are referred to hundreds of times a year – they’re why The Junction, for example, has areas set for high-rise growth and some other neighborhoods don’t. Do the plans created a decade ago still make sense? How do you want to see your neighborhood grow? For your advance review before joining in Tuesday’s discussions, you can see the draft status “overviews” for the 5 West Seattle areas with NPs, published in preparation for the meeting, here:
Admiral
Delridge
Highland Park/Westwood Village
The Junction
Morgan Junction
Georgetown (here’s its “overview”) also will be discussed at the Delridge CC gathering; each of these neighborhoods will have its own “table” with facilitators; Spanish, Vietnamese and Tagalog translation will be available as well. There are even more documents you can review, grouped by neighborhood, linked from the city page about the meeting, the last of five citywide; this page shows you how to comment online if you absolutely can’t be there in person – but facilitators, which include local community leaders, stress it’ll be two hours well-spent – here’s what one of them, Sharonn Meeks, tells WSB:

West Seattle in particular is experiencing growing pains. There are transportation, parking and land use issues that your readers consistently respond to from your news reporting. I want to encourage all apartment residents, homeowners and businesses to bring those same comments to this Open House so they can be included in the discussions and decisions that lay ahead as we formalize our next 10 years of community.

We really aren’t exaggerating to say it’s something like “speak now or for another decade hold your peace.”

Meantime, a big discussion of where King County goes from here also is happening in West Seattle next week — your chance to suggest your “vision for the future and (to) help develop a countywide strategic plan that better aligns county functions and services.” The meeting (which will include “small group discussions”) is Thursday night, 6:30 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy, one of four this month around the county. Read more about it here.

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West Seattle Sunday highlights: Art Fair day 2, Farmers’ Market …
July 26, 2009 7:02 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Fun stuff to do | West Seattle Farmers' Market | West Seattle news

ALKI ART FAIR, DAY 2: 10 am-5 pm on the promenade. Here are a few scenes from Day 1.

WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm in The Junction. Here’s the “Ripe ‘n’ Ready” list.

FREE SUNDAY YOGA: 11 am-12:15 pm at SoundYoga (WSB sponsor).

AUTHOR EVENT AT CAPERS: Judy Lane and Robert Maughan will read from and sign their new book Keiko & the Crow, noon-2 pm.

HIGHLAND PARK COMMUNITY BARBECUE AND KICKBALL: 2-6 pm, Highland Park playfield, presented by Highland Park Improvement Club.

That’s just part of it – the full Sunday slate is in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup.

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West Seattle Little League 11-12 All-Stars win first state game
July 26, 2009 1:59 am
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | WS & Sports

Quick update: The West Seattle Little League 11-12 All-Stars play their second game in the state tournament tonight, 7:30 pm, Art Mikelson Field in Port Orchard – after beating Centralia 13-5 Saturday afternoon.

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West Seattle Hi-Yu at Torchlight: Float award and Seafair princess!
July 25, 2009 10:13 pm
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival | West Seattle news

The West Seattle Hi-Yu Float was fairly early in the running order at the Seafair Torchlight Parade (which hasn’t ended yet – at least not for those of us on the southern end of 4th Avenue), and it was preceded by a banner announcing it’s the winner of the Princess Award. Last year’s float won a Torchlight Parade award too – the Smile Award. We’ll add video of the float in tonight’s parade when we’re back at HQ. ADDED 11:15 PM: Also congratulations to Sivona Lingle, who represented Hi-Yu in the Miss Seafair competition – she came in third runner-up. “West Seattle Hi-Yu is very proud of her!” Carol Winston tells WSB. ADDED 12:20 AM: Float video. A few more parade visuals to come, as we check our cameras – sorry we don’t have video/pix of Sivona and Alki Community rep Keili Geller in the pre-parade Miss Seafair competition, but will add links to any we find. ADDED 1:26 AM: Here’s the KIRO video of the Miss Seafair announcement – starting with Sivona being announced as Third Princess. (Full results are listed on the Seafair website.) And our clip of the kids (including a West Seattle boy – though we have to find out from his mom if he’s visible in our video) who won the wooden-hydro contest, dragging them behind their bikes:

KIRO has the :30 clip of this from the parade contest online; see it here.

ADDED SUNDAY AFTERNOON: From David, dad of Zachary, the local hydro-contest winner, a couple photos (by the way, that’s him about seven seconds into our video, his mom Lisa says):

From a note he shared, which was also going to friends and family:

We built the hydros from 1″ plywood; these kids were randomly selected from 100+ entries. 10 kids (including Zach) won free bikes, which were donated by the Seafair Clowns and some other funding source (I heard mixed answers…McLendon’s? Boeing?). We assembled at 5:30, got our rides set up, waited on Broad St. for around an hour, and then merged into the fair, right behind Teatro ZinZanni.

… I have one suggestion for any Seattle resident: FIND SOME WAY TO GET IN THIS PARADE. It’s an amazing experience to walk through the thousands of people and realize how many you never get to know, and they’re living their lives in the same town, and they’re the same as you, and they’re very, very different. It grounds you in the community, and makes you feel more connected to this city, than any civic event I’ve ever attended.

We didn’t get a good photo of West Seattle’s Most Famous Politician in the parade, but David (also mentioning that even the dignitaries were accessible and friendly) did – just before the parade, anyway (the mayor was in a rain jacket by the time his car passed us):

One last note – one of the parade’s most stirring sights each year is a huge U.S. flag carried by Coast Guardsmen and Coast Guard Auxiliary members. They’ve put up a YouTube clip:

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Update: “Outdoor Movie” moving indoors because of the rain
July 25, 2009 8:21 pm
|    Comments Off on Update: “Outdoor Movie” moving indoors because of the rain
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle Outdoor Movies | West Seattle weather

(photos added 2 am)
Just in: Tonight’s Outdoor Movies on the Wall presentation is moving to the backup indoor location at West Seattle Christian Church‘s new activity center. Just yards to the east of the Hotwire courtyard – it’s on the east side of 42nd, south of Genesee. Movie will start around 9, preshow activities starting shortly. ADDED EARLY SUNDAY: Not only did the weather force a change in venues, tonight’s movie changed at the last minute too … what was supposed to be the 1933 “King Kong” was discovered instead to be the most recent “King Kong,” way too long for Movies on the Wall, so “The Sandlot” was substituted at the last minute. Next week, it’s “Footloose,” which should be lots of fun on a big screen. Meantime, a couple sweet shots from Saturday night – Coffee to a Tea cupcakes honoring the intended theme of the night:

And the pre-movie contest – which turned out to involve banana splits, playing off primates’ alleged love of bananas.

Read more about the rest of the series here.

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West Seattle Helpline backpack drive: Another business signs up
July 25, 2009 7:31 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle Helpline backpack drive: Another business signs up
 |   How to help | West Seattle news | WS beverages

We told you earlier this week about the West Seattle Helpline backpack drive, under way now – one of the ways you can help local kids who can’t afford school supplies. And now Coffee at the Heights (WSB sponsor) has joined Capers in The Junction and Helpline HQ (35th/Morgan) as a dropoff spot for the backpack(s) you buy to donate. Paul from Coffee at the Heights explains their other business is participating too, regarding the backpacks Helpline buys on behalf of those who choose to donate money instead:

If anyone brings in either school supplies, a back pack, or funds to go towards purchasing a backpack or school supplies to Coffee At The Heights, we will give you $1.00 off your beverage! This goes on for the duration of the collection, through August 4th. We will deliver all funds, back packs, and supplies to Helpline.

The second part of our announcement is that PB&J Textiles will be extending our wholesale pricing to Helpline so that they can buy the backpacks at wholesale! We will not be taking any proceeds at all and we will be delivering the backpacks direct to Helpline. This will allow Helpline to get even more backpacks than they normally can, as they have to buy the bags and hope that the stores will give them a discount. So, open up your wallets and stop buy with supplies, money, backpacks, or all three and get a discount on your next beverage!

Coffee at the Heights is at 7349 35th; it’s open 6:30 am – 7 pm weekdays, 7 am to 7 pm Saturdays-Sundays.

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Seafair Parade stakeout, and the West Seattleites we’ll see
July 25, 2009 5:07 pm
|    Comments Off on Seafair Parade stakeout, and the West Seattleites we’ll see
 |   Fun stuff to do | Not WS but we're mentioning it anyway

(Seafair Pirates passing City Hall – without invading it! – parade-bound at 5 pm)
If you’re thinking about going downtown for the Seafair Torchlight Parade, better hurry. We drove most of 4th Avenue from Westlake south and curbside space doesn’t open up till City Hall at 4th/James. You can of course watch on TV (channel 7, 7:30 pm) or online (kirotv.com). Remember that The Viaduct closes its northbound lanes approximately 5:30-7:30 pm for the Torchlight Run, which precedes the parade; 5:30 is also when 4th Avenue closes, according to the citywide weekend-events traffic alert, and that’s from Seattle Center all the way to the International District, where the parade ends. We’ve learned of at least one more West Seattleite in the parade — Delridge resident Lisa Keith‘s son Zachary is one of the winners of a Boeing contest to choose kids to ride their bikes in the parade, pulling wooden hydros (which they had to build) like kids did way back when (Seafair is celebrating its 60th anniversary and that means extra nostalgia). The major West Seattle representation comes from the Hi-Yu float, royalty and accompanying volunteers; it’s fairly high up in the parade order this year, according to the lineup published on KIRO’s website. And of course there are West Seattleites in the Seafair Pirates, Seafair Commodores and Seafair Clowns organizations. West Seattle has two reps in the Miss Seafair competition pre-parade, as we noted here on Friday; and the mayor plans to ride in the parade this year, so there’s another well-known West Seattleite. We’ll be taking pix of the West Seattle parade participants to publish later (and we’ll add the Miss Seafair winner to this post – unless it’s a West Seattleite, in which case we’ll publish something separate)! Meantime, we’re staked out watching parade participants head toward the start of the route – the photo above shows the Pirates going by a few minutes ago; the Chinese Community Girls Drill Team passed just before them, in their yellow school bus. Again, whether you’re watching in person or at home, here’s the published parade order. 7:48 PM UPDATE: Jacqueline Saarenas was just chosen Miss Seafair – she’s a Seattle University student representing the Seattle Filipino Community.

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Happening now: Alki Art Fair, day 1
July 25, 2009 3:08 pm
|    Comments Off on Happening now: Alki Art Fair, day 1
 |   Fun stuff to do | West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

Not only does every picture tell a story, every artist tells a story. June Anderson Evanoff is one of the painters exhibiting/selling at this weekend’s Alki Art Fair, and she can tell you about the work she has at the Smithsonian — a demonstration painting she was creating on the Mall in Washington, D.C., during the Bicentennial celebration in 1976, on behalf of the Swedish-American community. She lives on Mercer Island and what you see behind her in our photo is just some of her work – she’s set up just east of the Statue of Liberty Plaza. (By the way, the Smithsonian has a West Seattle link – Patty Stonesifer, who lives part of the time in West Seattle with writer husband Michael Kinsley, chairs its board.) A little further west, you’ll find Amanda Askren and her bags:

She says she’s been told she’s the only person selling tote/handbags at the fair this year (we didn’t see any others, but forgive us if we missed someone). The one behind her is just one of many brightly printed bags she’s selling for $35, along with other items such as cardholders for $5. And just west of the last (or first, if you’re walking east) booth, around 64th, we found this sign:

It’s not an official part of the fair, but Joy Anderson, who’s continuing to pursue a legal challenge to the closure of Cooper Elementary (where the district is moving Pathfinder K-8), is tabling with kids’ crafts and free drinks, plus a donation jar for their legal fund. Meantime, as for the official part of the fair, there’s entertainment in the Bathhouse area – and it all continues till 7 tonight, and again 10 am-5 pm tomorrow.

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$10 million bail set for South Park murder suspect
July 25, 2009 2:06 pm
|      22 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | South Park | West Seattle news

Just talked with King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Dan Donohoe, who says bail has just been set at $10 million for 23-year-old Isaiah Kalebu, arrested last night in connection with the South Park burglary/attack that killed 36-year-old Teresa Butz and injured her partner. We expect to get some legal documents in the case shortly and will add new information here once they’re in. ADDED 2:35 PM: A few details from those documents, including the major evidence they have against Kalebu (and added early Sunday – a link to a followup article with more on how police figured out who they were looking for):Read More

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Happening now: Highland Park Improvement Club rummage sale
July 25, 2009 2:04 pm
|    Comments Off on Happening now: Highland Park Improvement Club rummage sale
 |   Fun stuff to do | Highland Park | West Seattle news

You never know what you’ll find at a rummage sale. Highland Park Improvement Club‘s parking lot is full of sale tables till 3 pm, and we noticed that box of rubber ducks at Highland Park Action Committee chair Dan Mullins‘ table. Or, you can buy some belly-dancing accessories from Dina Johnson, posing here with husband Blair Johnson:

Many outdoor events have live music, but this is the first one we’ve been to in a while that had an accordion serenade:

12th/Holden till 3 pm. Then tomorrow, HPIC’s having its annual neighborhood barbecue and kickball extravaganza, 2-6 pm at Highland Park playfield.

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Rotary Club selling berries today – and dealing with a theft
July 25, 2009 11:17 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Crime | Rotary Club of West Seattle | West Seattle news

The Rotary Club of West Seattle is selling Skagit County-grown blueberries today till 3 pm in the south parking lot of Admiral Safeway, raising money for the Rotary Kids Holiday Shopping Spree – but without their signature canopy, shown at left in a photo from our coverage of their strawberry sale last month. Just got a note from Sue Lindblom of Illusions Hair Design (WSB sponsor):

Someone took the canopy that we have been using for our berry sales. We are in the parking lot behind Admiral Safeway and it went missing last night. (If you’ve seen it …) Call Sue at 300-3668.

And of course, you can alert police too (206/625-5011 is the non-emergency number).

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West Seattle Crime Watch: 6 reports from north to south
July 25, 2009 11:05 am
|      16 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

We often publish West Seattle Crime Watch reports individually as they come in – this time, six have stacked up during the busy past day-plus, so we now have several to share, from burglary to bike theft to “casing” – all in the following roundup – read on (and p.s., sign up by Friday to strengthen your neighborhood with a Night Out block party on August 4!):Read More

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Also today/tonight: Art Fair, Movies on the Wall, big sales…
July 25, 2009 9:36 am
|    Comments Off on Also today/tonight: Art Fair, Movies on the Wall, big sales…
 |   Admiral Theater | Fun stuff to do | West Seattle news | West Seattle Outdoor Movies

ALKI ART FAIR: We’ll be heading down in a bit for an early look at who and what you’ll find there this year. On the boardwalk and by the Bathhouse, 10 am-7 pm today, 10 am-5 pm tomorrow.

OUTDOOR MOVIES ON THE WALL: Tonight, the second of six outdoor movies in this summer’s series, presented by the West Seattle Junction Association and co-sponsored by local businesses including WSB: The featured presentation is the 1933 version of “King Kong,” on the big screen in the courtyard between Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) and Dr. Wolff. The movie starts at dusk but the preshow fun starts around 8:30 – “Save Barbie” – don’t miss it. B/Y/O chair/blanket – doors open at 7 and there was quite a crowd last week (photo above), so you might want to stake out your spot early and then go wander around The Junction for a while. Free, but bring a few $ for concessions and raffles, proceeds benefiting local nonprofits. See the full series lineup here.

BIG SALES – PLUS, YARD SALES LISTED ON WSB: Two huge rummage sales today – Community School of West Seattle till 5 pm (and again 9-5 tomorrow), Highland Park Improvement Club one day only (10 am-3 pm). And some other yard/rummage sales are listed in the WSB Forums, where you can list your sale in the Freebies, Deals, Sales category any time FREE: Here’s a moving sale; an “everything must go” sale; and a “cleaning house” sale.

“THE LISTENING ROOM” AT ADMIRAL THEATER TONIGHT: It’s the latest installment in a unique series of performances – live music, spoken word, and art, all happening in the show. Read all about it, and sample the musicians’ work, by going here.

That’s just a sample of what’s happening … the West Seattle Weekend Lineup has lots more.

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Video: Band Jam in West Seattle, on Torchlight Parade eve
July 25, 2009 6:03 am
|      7 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle people | West Seattle video

That’s the Seattle Schools All-City Band – students from all over the city, including more than a few from West Seattle (which is also home base to ACB director Marcus Pimpleton, leader of the Denny Middle School music program) – performing Friday night at Southwest Athletic Complex during the first-ever Band Jam. You could say they were warming up for tonight’s Seafair Torchlight Parade downtown, and two of the other groups joining them last night are on the parade lineup too (which we just found here) – the Rainbow City Band and the Cranbrook (BC) Girls’ Bugle Band. (For more on tonight’s parade, beyond the lineup, go here; West Seattle will have plenty of representation in addition to ACB members – there’s also the mayor, the West Seattle Hi-Yu float/royalty, West Seattle members in parade staples like the Seafair Pirates, Seafair Commodores and Seafair Clowns, and 2 princesses in the running for Miss Seafair right before the parade … if you can’t be there in person, KIRO shows it live on channel 7 and online at kirotv.com … if you are going, remember there’s an extra King County Water Taxi run at 11:30.)

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Update: Missing woman found safe, unharmed
July 25, 2009 12:10 am
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle people

3:45 AM UPDATE: Just got word via phone and e-mail that Myrna Hauck has been found safe and unharmed. Her family’s still “sorting out” what happened but wanted to share the news that she’s OK.

(Original report follows)

That’s Myrna Hauck, mother of 8 daughters, grandma to many grandchildren. Myrna is missing, so her daughter, West Seattleite Michelle Dightman, is trying to get the word out any way she can. She says her mom is 5’3” and about 150 pounds and was last seen between 3 and 3:30 Friday afternoon, dropping off a relative at the La Quinta Inn and Suites in Lakewood (11751 Pacific Hwy SW; map) Michelle says Myrna “was expected in West Seattle at 5 pm and was driving a 1991 Aqua Blue Honda Accord, license number 429 SAX.” Michelle says, “We’re just so scared – this is so highly unusual.” This has been reported to police, so if you think you’ve seen her, call 911; the primary agency handling this is the police department in Lakewood, but Michelle says Seattle Police have been contacted too.

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Details: How police found the South Park murder suspect
July 24, 2009 8:29 pm
|      32 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | South Park | West Seattle news

We have more details now directly from Seattle Police regarding how they found and arrested the South Park murder suspect tonight, within hours of publicly identifying him as 23-year-old Isaiah M.K. Kalebu and publicizing photos. The updated news release we just received says:

Preliminary reports indicate that a Metro Bus operator who had knowledge of the suspect description contacted the Seattle Police Communications Center with a possible suspect sighting at NE 65th Street and Sandpoint Way in North Seattle. This occurred at around 6:30 p.m. North Precinct patrol officers saturated the area and searched for the suspect. Officers located the suspect and his dog in Magnuson Park. The suspect surrendered to officers without incident. He is in custody and en route to Seattle Police Headquarters for questioning. He will ultimately be booked into King County Jail for Investigation of Murder. The suspect was with his pit bull at the time of apprehension. The dog has been released to the care of Seattle Animal Control.

These photos of the dog were also made public by police earlier:

It’s been less than a week since 39-year-old Teresa Butz was stabbed to death after a man – allegedly Kalebu – broke into her home where she and her partner were asleep and attacked them; Butz’s partner survived and is out of the hospital. Just last night, hundreds of friends and neighbors gathered for a candlelight memorial at South Park Community Center, close to Butz’s home. We do not yet know how police have tied Kalebu to the crime but we will be adding more information as we get it; we’ll be checking into court records and any other background, too. He may have West Seattle ties – commenter Cheriberri, in the comment section of our previous report, says he was a classmate at Denny Middle School in the mid-’90s. ADDED 8:47 PM: The system we use to get court documents is down for the weekend but the top-level state online records are available round the clock and we have found a King County case in which Kalebu was due in court earlier this week, on a case dating back to April, with charges listed as including domestic violence and harassment. (Update: Slog has details of that case – the victim was Kalebu’s mother.) That’s one of 13 court cases listed for him dating back as far as five years ago. There is also a Pierce County case filed this month in which a domestic-violence protection order was sought against him (by the aunt who died in this fire days later; at least one media source says Kalebu will be questioned again in that case). Most of the other cases against him listed in the top-level statewide court records were also from Pierce County. 12:22 AM UPDATE: Kalebu was booked into King County Jail at 10:35 pm. He’s being held for investigation of five potential charges, including murder and attempted murder.

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Update: South Park murder suspect in custody
July 24, 2009 6:28 pm
|      14 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

8:16 PM UPDATE: Police have issued the official announcement confirming the suspect’s arrest. We’ll be publishing a separate item next.

UPDATE: 6:57pm: We’re working to confirm a report that the South Park murder suspect has been arrested.  This comes about an hour after the Seattle Police sent these photos and this press release.

Those photos and this news release just in from the Seattle Police.

SEATTLE – Seattle Police homicide detectives have identified a suspect in the July 19th South Park murder/attempted murder case. Probable cause exists for police officers to arrest Isaiah M.K. Kalebu (DOB: August 1, 1985) for Murder. Kalebu is six feet tall with a slim build. Detectives and officers are searching for him at this moment.

Kalebu is believed to be armed with knives and is considered extremely dangerous. Citizens recognizing Kalebu should call 911 immediately. He may or may not be accompanied by the dog pictured. Kalebu is the same individual captured by surveillance video that was distributed earlier today. There are no other suspects wanted in this investigation.

Here again is the video release from earlier today.

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Another Admiral restaurant-in-progress update: Brickyard BBQ
July 24, 2009 6:25 pm
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

The question came up in the WSB Forums this week – when is Brickyard BBQ opening in Admiral (2310 California)? We brought you first word of the planned restaurant back in mid-April. To answer the WSBF question, we checked back with co-owner Don Kriley, who says that – like nearby Porterhouse – they’re hesitant to set an exact date, because they’ve still got some inspections to go through, but they’re hoping to open in “two, three weeks” or so. Another Forum question: What style of barbecue? Answer: Texas. Hours will be 11 am-10 pm for the restaurant, lounge open later. No website to point you to yet, but it’s “in development.”

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Seattle City Light says it’s stepped up streetlight replacement
July 24, 2009 4:06 pm
|      7 COMMENTS
 |   Utilities | West Seattle news

Last February, we reported on the “burnout backlog” – thousands of Seattle City Light streetlights awaiting repair. In February, there was word of a plan to speed it up by moving up some spending. Now, a progress report – read on:Read More

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West Seattle Weekend Lineup: Hot stuff ahead
July 24, 2009 3:48 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Fun stuff to do | WS culture/arts | WS Weekend Lineup

(Thursday night photo by David Hutchinson)
Not the weather so much – the forecast for the weekend is downgraded to “warm” from “sizzling” (that’s still expected early next week) – but hot events aplenty. The original “King Kong” is the second West Seattle Junction Outdoor Movies on the Wall presentation Saturday night – last week’s debut was a hot (free!) ticket so arrive early; the Alki Art Fair hits the beach all weekend; outdoor music at Alki this afternoon, Cafe Rozella tonight, Highland Park Improvement Club‘s big rummage sale and a free showing of “Wizard of Oz” near Westwood Village on Saturday afternoon — plus remember if you’re going downtown for tomorrow night’s parade, there’s an extra Water Taxi run back to West Seattle at 11:30 pm … more than 50 events in all, ahead in this edition of the West Seattle Weekend Lineup, brought to you by Skylark Cafe and Club … here goes!Read More

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City says West Seattle needs more trees – want some?
July 24, 2009 3:25 pm
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   Environment | West Seattle news

nolanandtrees.jpg

(October 2008 photo of trees-in-waiting at city yard in West Seattle)
From the Department of Neighborhoods, via Junction-based Southwest District coordinator Stan Lock:

Did you know that West Seattle is one of the areas in the city with the barest residential and street tree densities? Seattle Department of Neighborhoods’ (DoN) Neighborhood Matching Fund (NMF) is currently accepting applications for this year’s Tree Fund*. All it takes is organizing a group of your neighbors to plant street trees in your neighborhood together. You put in the volunteer time; DoN provides the trees!

Wait, there’s more! To increase local food security and expand the tree canopy on private properties, we are testing a pilot expansion this year. All NMF Tree Fund participants who plant street trees with their neighbors have the bonus option of selecting one free cherry or apple tree to plant on their private properties. You can help bring more trees to West Seattle streets and private yards!

For more information on the Tree Fund and to download an application, visit our website at: www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/nmf/treefund.htm. But act soon! DoN is accepting applications through August 21.

* NMF Tree Fund works in partnership with Seattle Department of Transportation, Office of Sustainability & Environment, and local community organizations.

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New West Seattle dads’ group forms, first meeting August 4
July 24, 2009 3:06 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Announcements

Just announced:

Announcing a group for new dads in West Seattle (old dads are welcome, too). You’re invited to come meet other new dads to talk about kids or parenting, swap tips and war stories, or just grab a beer and meet new people. This is totally informal. No agenda or affiliation, no particular structure just yet.

First meeting: Zeek’s Pizza in Morgan Junction, Tuesday, August 4 from 7pm-9pm. Come for dinner or just stop by to say hi. No kids this time, please! We can talk about ideas for involving kids and spouses later on. RSVP to Andrew at heyotwell@gmail.com

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WSB Followup: Cost of redoing leaky waterproofing at
Myrtle and Beacon Reservoirs — $4.1 million
July 24, 2009 1:34 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   Utilities | West Seattle news

When WSB broke the story July 13 about hundreds of leaks in the waterproofing “membranes” atop the new concrete covers at Myrtle Reservoir in West Seattle and Beacon Hill Reservoir, Seattle Public Utilities told us they had not yet calculated the cost of redoing those membranes. They stressed that they expect the cost eventually will be someone else’s responsibility – depending on where the fault is found to lie – but in the meantime, the city has to front the money to get the work redone. The faulty membranes are being removed now, and a “hot asphalt” process will be used instead. SPU’s Andy Ryan has just sent us the information on the costs, as he had promised they would do as soon as “change orders” were complete:

We now have an estimate on the cost of removing and replacing the waterproof membranes at the Beacon and Myrtle reservoirs — about $4.1 million.

As you reported last week, once liability for the waterproofing problem has been established, Seattle Public Utilities will be seeking recovery of costs from our vendors.

We have not yet established the cause of the breaches in the waterproofing material, nor have we fixed responsibility for the problem. As we told you last week, that determination will likely be part of a lengthy legal discussion between SPU, the project designer and the contractor. To reiterate what we said last week, we do not believe SPU is responsible for any of these problems.

Overall, Seattle’s $150 million reservoir covering program is about $15 million under budget.

Please allow us to emphasize, again, that the water in the reservoirs is safe. We have a comprehensive water quality testing program, regulated by Washington State Department of Health, that confirms that there are no water quality impacts from the waterproofing problem. In fact, at Beacon and Myrtle the water is much better protected, and the water quality even higher, than in Seattle’s old, uncovered reservoirs. The state Department of Health is fully informed of these issues and believes our water is safe.

Construction work on the Beacon and Myrtle Reservoirs is expected to be completed by the end of November. Until the work is completed, the two reservoirs will remain fenced off, as has been the case with our open reservoirs.

Our first priority is getting the waterproofing done right on these projects, which will be serving Seattleites — as reservoirs and parks — for at least the next 100 years.

Our original story on the waterproofing leaks stemmed from neighbors’ e-mails to WSB, asking why the project – which they had thought to be complete – “was being dug up again.” (We also published a followup later in the week.) Earlier this week, we asked SPU why we hadn’t seen activity at the site for several days; Ryan and reservoir project manager Stephanie Murphy explained that the crews are removing the membrane material at Beacon right now and scheduled to resume work at Myrtle in early August.

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