West Seattle, Washington
03 Tuesday
Just in case you hadn’t heard, it’s the first debate in this fall’s Chris Gregoire vs. Dino Rossi rematch. 9 pm, channel 4, or live online. If you want to discuss it afterward, there’s a governor’s-race topic in the WSB Forums’ 2008 Election section (or start a new topic!).
In the Alki area and saw some police/fire activity a little while ago? WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli checked it out, and sent the photos that accompany this post. At first, a “water rescue” call went out on 911, with the typically large response; then all but one engine was canceled. Witnesses who were having a party under tents at the beach (photo below) told him a fully clothed man had gone into the water and looked to be in danger/trouble, so someone called 911, and when fire/police started to arrive, he ran out of the water, soaking wet, and took off into the residential neighborhood to the east. When a new emergency response showed up a few minutes later, Christopher investigated that, and discovered the man — still sopping — turned up near Alki Community Center, was checked out by paramedics from Engine 29 and turned out to be OK. Christopher adds, “He was quoted as saying the temperature of the water ‘surprised him.’ Police transported him home.”
Thanks to Diane for spotting this: Seattle Condo Blog reports that West Water, the Morgan Junction condo conversion chronicled here last year during its inescapable marketing blitz, has taken its remaining for-sale units off the market. Nothing to independently verify that but listings at both its addresses (6960 and 6970 California SW) that came up in G-searches are marked “unavailable.” We first reported last November that some of the units were up for rent,
Missed getting this one in this week’s West Seattle Weekend Lineup, sorry about that. But the results and details from today’s Sundodger Invitational cross-country track meet at Lincoln Park are already up on the UW Athletics website; certainly the weather conditions lived up to the race name today (here’s the course map if you’re interested).
Almost since their start 9 months ago, the WSB Forums — with more than 28,000 posts in nearly 2,000 topics, to date — have been a place for West Seattleites to help each other, as well as a place to discuss myriad topics (sometimes cheerily, sometimes crabbily, seldom boringly). Help comes in many forms, from the official sections such as Reader Recommendations (where’s the best place to … who’s the best person to …) and Jobs Offered (businesses can post “help wanted” listings FREE), to individual discussions/events such as the fundraiser that helped an arson-damaged business recover (our report here), and many other smaller efforts in which people have come together to lend a hand. So the current economic jitters have inspired a new section: Freebies, Deals, Sales. Fairly self-explanatory (sales includes yard/garage/rummage sales, but can also include major business sales, like “annual half off everything”) – rather than set too many guidelines at the start, we’re going to watch first to see how YOU choose to use it. We just put it up a few hours ago and already, two people have posted freebies. West Seattle/White Center vicinity only, please; and, when your freebie is gone, or your sale is over, come back to post that too, so we can keep the area current. We prefer that the posts come from those who are offering the freebie/deal/sale, but if you spot something good you want to share, it’s OK to post that too – we reserve the right to delete anything suspicious, though (so this kind of thing doesn’t happen). Anyway: The new section’s here.
That’s Tai, and he’s one of more than 350 volunteers who are toiling — rain? what rain? — at Camp Long right now, for a huge work party organized by NAIOP (National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, a trade association for real-estate and development companies) as one of its “community enhancement projects.” We wandered the park at midmorning to see what was going on – first, the logistics center in the lodge:
Next, out into the park. NAIOP had a map to various work sites, labeled by area and by priority. One big priority, fixing up the fire ring toward the south end of the “Parade Grounds” meadow:
All along the trails, groups were restoring and rebuilding, including another huge priority – the big bridge down the trail leading north toward the golf course – lots of work alongside cabins and picnic shelters too:
And of course, the front entrance was getting some love too:
As we left after a while (we’re going back later to see how it all turned out), we ran into someone who spent LAST Saturday on a big cleanup/restoration project – Nancy Driver, co-organizer of the West Seattle Gateway Cleanup, walking by with pruning saw in hand. She explained that some NAIOP members such as Harbor Properties and Excel were major contributors (manpower as well as $power) to the work that went into the Gateway Cleanup, and she wanted to do something to reciprocate. You can lend a hand in West Seattle greenspaces just about any Saturday, by the way – the regular volunteer work parties are always in our West Seattle Weekend Lineups published every Friday, and they’re also listed at greenseattle.org.
One week from tomorrow, it’s your chance to multitask in the best of ways: Enjoy an invigorating 5K run/walk along Alki, while raising money for a West Seattle-based organization that helps women fighting breast cancer. The Northwest Hope and Healing Foundation sponsored its fundraiser run through Lincoln Park last year (see photo above), but this year it’s along Alki, from the Bathhouse to Anchor/Luna Park and back. When NWHH joined the WSB sponsor team earlier this month to provide a continuous reminder of the upcoming Alki Beach Run, we wrote here about all the work they do – it’s different from the organizations that are researching treatments and cures; Northwest Hope and Healing provides services to help patients cope with the immediate needs in their lives once they have been diagnosed … and sadly, there still are plenty of people who need that help (read more on this NWHH webpage). It all starts a week from tomorrow, 9 am Sunday 9/28; you can register online here, right now — or if you can’t do the run/walk but would like to contribute to Northwest Hope and Healing anyway, you can do that here.
(photos added 11:16 am)
The all-church sale happening today at Fauntleroy Church quite decidedly has “indoor” in its official name, so that’s one place you can go to stay dry till we get a break in the showers. The sale’s under way 9 am-3 pm today; the church is at 9140 California SW (map). Then, Wednesday night is your next chance to see the new Fauntleroy documentary on a big screen – here’s a preview from Judy Pickens:
The Fauntleroy neighborhood, past and present, will hit the silver screen on Wednesday, September 24, when The Fauntleroy Story: 100 Years of Community premieres at 7 p.m. in Fellowship Hall at Fauntleroy Church. The 35-minute documentary explores the neighborhood from its founding at the end of the streetcar line to present-day challenges of sustaining community.
The project originated as an idea for the church centennial and soon grew into a profile of the whole neighborhood. The steering committee has wide representation from the community and the Southwest Seattle Historical Society. Residents, businesses, and the church pitched in to help fund the $30,000 project and match a $15,000 grant from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.
The screening will include a Q&A with the production team. Take-home copies of the DVD will be available by donation.
If you miss the premiere, DVDs will be available starting Sept. 25 at The Original Bakery, church office, and Loghouse Museum gift shop. The next local screening will be during the Fauntleroy Fall Festival on Oct. 19.
We attended a preview of the semifinal cut back in July; here’s that report.
Southwest Community Center needs your help designing a new fitness room to replace the current workout zone next to the pool (which has been closed 3 months, 1 1/2 to go, for renovation work). To help, join in three workshops set for 6-8 pm 9/25, 10/16, 11/20. Want to know more? E-mail Kellee Jones, kellee.jones@seattle.gov.
Just in from our correspondent at West Seattle Stadium: The big game just ended, and West Seattle High School‘s football team has beaten O’Dea, 21-6. We shot video of the game-end celebration and we’ll put it up when it comes into WSB HQ a bit later. This is big because WSHS has NEVER before beaten the football squad from O’Dea, which the Times noted here has won the Metro League 12 of the past 14 seasons. ADDED 10:32 PM: The end-of-game video, starting a few seconds before the clock ran out. Note that we did NOT go to shoot the game itself, so we don’t have highlights – we went to the stadium late in the game to make sure we’d be able to share the score fast if they won (last year we learned it’s almost impossible to find out the score any other way), and since WSHS did win, we shot the fans going wild (more so than the players). Congratulations! (P.S. Anyone interested in sending pix/video and/or texting or phoning in the score after any local schools’ games, we’d love to share more of this; let us know if you can help.)
Left to right, that’s JanS, JoB, and Kat near Mars Hill Church-West Seattle tonight, in a vigil/protest that grew out of a vigorous discussion in the WSB Forum and elsewhere this past week. It began with first word that MH was sponsoring a two-day seminar with parenting author Tedd Tripp, whose teachings include an advocacy of corporal punishment and say it may even be merited for babies. Opponents decided to gather tonight outside MH-Ballard, where Tripp is speaking, and MH-West Seattle, one of several MH branches where the seminar is being broadcast live. As families arrived, the West Seattle trio stood on the corner across from the church’s south side and offered their thoughts to those who walked by, as well as offering flyers.
Some accepted flyers, some didn’t; one person was heard to suggest that the protesters go inside to listen for themselves. To that point, we should note that a Mars Hill representative, in logo T-shirt and name tag, offered us and the other media reps the chance to go inside and observe the seminar. We didn’t take him up on it; the controversial topic itself comes up late tomorrow morning. Meantime, we’ve received a photo of the concurrent Ballard protest tonight:
That photo is courtesy of our friends at MyBallard.com; you can see their coverage here.
Gotta love a festival with a 20-foot-high inflatable pig over the barbecue stand. Lots of food options at the West Fest Fall Family Festival (WSB sponsor), happening now through 10 pm, then again tomorrow 10 am-10 pm, at Holy Rosary (42nd/Genesee – look for all the activity NORTH of Genesee), and much dining was under way when we dropped in briefly:
There are also games, bouncy rides, and indoor offerings too — bingo in the gym, with coffee and other autumnal beverages available for purchase. Despite the clouds, it was relatively pleasant during our passthrough. Live music should be under way by now; the schedule is listed in this WSB preview.
The major decisions in the controversial campus-combining project may be in the history books, but there is other work under way now, with public involvement/comment encouraged, and we want to make sure you know it’s happening: First, what is currently being called the “School Design Team for Future Redevelopment of the Former Denny Middle School Site” is about to meet for the first time – in two sessions two weeks apart, the first one next Monday afternoon – here’s the official announcement:
The first meeting is planned for September 22nd at 3 pm at Denny Middle School with a repeat meeting to take place on October 8th at 7 pm at Denny Middle School for parents, neighbors and community members not able to attend the meeting on the 22nd. The SDT process allows a set number of volunteers from the school, parks, businesses and the surrounding neighborhood to attend the meetings to develop the project needs and requirements. The entire community is invited to attend these meetings and voice their opinion and desires regarding the design and use of the former Denny Middle School site. A number of people from the community volunteered to be a part of the design team. At this time the available seats have been filled. However, we may need optional members in the case that any of the team members are unable to keep their commitment for the full length of time. If anyone is still interested in volunteering to be a part of the design team, please fill out the volunteer form.
The first meeting will familiarize everyone with the school design team process and begin the process of deciding together the best use of the space. The intent is to have all stakeholders be able to express their interests.
The second group that’s meeting is the Sealth/Denny School Departure Advisory Committee. Its first meeting actually happened earlier this week, but we didn’t get an announcement ahead of time and we don’t see evidence much of anyone else did, either — we’re thankful that one of the participants called us the next day in hopes we’d shine a little more light on the process. This is a group the city is required to convene because the Denny/Sealth project calls for zoning “departures” – regarding parking and height. The Departure Advisory Committee’s next meeting is 7 pm October 7, also at Denny.
As we first reported here last month, the state liquor store in Morgan Junction is closing for good tomorrow, after losing its lease. Nearby Aaron’s Bicycle Shop is moving into the space. When the state announced the liquor-store closure, the Liquor Control Board said it was seeking another location in the area; we called Olympia today to see if they’ve found one yet — answer, no. So the stores in The Junction and White Center are your nearest options TFN, after the MJ store shuts its doors for good at 8 pm tomorrow.
On the national/world front, a rough week, scary week. If you need a little distraction, the West Seattle Weekend Lineup has lots of it, including comedy tonight and tomorrow as the Admiral Theater‘s “Ladies of Laughter” series continues. This afternoon, we caught up briefly with headliner Carrie Snow, who managed to tie yoga and comedy together:
Snow says Seattle comedy star Peggy Platt will appear with her at The Admiral tonight. Meantime, you can read more about Snow here; tickets are $20, with $5 going to the Susan G. Komen breast-cancer-fighting fund.
We dropped by the Seattle Parks Foundation‘s “park” in The Junction thinking it was a quick photo op – and instead, we found out a lot of new information that answers a question asked every time we show the site of Junction Plaza Park (northwest corner of 42nd/Alaska): “When is it going to be done and how much more money do they need?” Read on for details plus the latest park plan:Read More
We just stopped at the White Center “PARK(ing) Day” (backstory here) park and are en route momentarily to the West Seattle version set up by KeyBank in The Junction. At the one in WC (more pix on partner site White Center Now), Sopha Danh of White Center Community Development Association and Richard Brown from Technology Access Foundation are going high-tech and low-tech – with laptops and produce – the latter, to help spark the dream of reviving a WC Farmers’ Market. The WC “park” will be on the west side of 16th SW, half a block south of Roxbury, in front of Full Tilt, till 3; the West Seattle one is scheduled to be in place till 4 – we’ll add pix here as soon as we get ’em.
Fall officially begins Monday. So this is it (today’s weather seems to have jumped the gun). Clouds or sun, summer’s going out in style – with the West Fest Fall Family Festival (WSB sponsor; ’07 photo at left) at Holy Rosary tonight and tomorrow, the first-ever West Seattle Junction Car Show (co-sponsored by WSB) on Sunday, two live theater options (final performances of “In the Sawtooths” by Burnt Studio Productions [WSB sponsor] at Youngstown Arts Center, and the ongoing “The Vertical Hour” at ArtsWest), 46 events ahead – first, a big shoutout to Skylark Club and Cafe, the brand-new sponsor of the Weekend Lineup (live music, food, and more):Read More
TODAY: TEMP PARKS: We just checked and the soggy weather’s not stopping the local plans for PARKing Day, a nationwide event with temporary “parks” set up – often in onstreet parking spaces – to demonstrate the importance of greenspace in urban areas. One was planned for Alaska/California 9 am-4 pm today (as of 9:08 am, they’re setting it up), and another in the 9600 block of 16th SW in White Center, 10 am-3 pm in front of Full Tilt Ice Cream.
TONIGHT: PUNISHMENT PROTEST: A demonstration is planned outside Mars Hill Church-West Seattle at 6 pm tonight by people who are upset about the parenting-book author whose Mars Hill-Ballard seminars are going to be broadcast there live tonight and tomorrow, Tedd Tripp, because his advocacy of corporal punishment includes the suggestion parents may need to hit children starting in infancy. This Times story today takes a thorough look at the controversy, including a statement from MH; the genesis of the demonstration was in this WSB Forum thread, followed by this one specifically about the protest plan (check it if you are interested in participating in the protest; meantime, MH’s seminar schedule is here – the “physical discipline” discussion is tomorrow morning).
Got a note inviting us to a briefing next week where a Florida man will try to get traction for his idea to replace the Central Waterfront section of the Alaskan Way Viaduct without having to tear down the old one first: The rendering you see above is from the website for the “Seattle Skyway” (which, a few pages in, also proposes an alternative replacement for the 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington); its proponent, Jim Powers, says the 70-foot-high “Skyway” could be built for less than a billion dollars. No cost estimates yet on the 8 Viaduct “scenarios” currently officially under consideration; Powers says his idea is really just a variation on “Option D,” officially sketched by the state as follows:
Powers’ briefing is next Wednesday night, the day before the next meeting of the Stakeholders Advisory Committee (4 pm Thursday 9/25, City Hall) that’s helping evaluate possibilities as state/city/county leaders move closer to a Central Waterfront decision.
(click to see larger version of the photo)
From WSB contributing photojournalist Matt Durham: “Medic 32‘s Mark Colley strolls back and forth along the rear bay of Station 32 on SW Alaska St. as he exercises his pipes. Seattle Firefighters Pipes and Drums’ newest member was kilted at the annual 9/11 police and fire get-together at the Red Door this year. The group plays at memorial and ceremonial events associated with fire and police.” Prints of Matt’s WSB photos and his other work are available at his site, mattdurhamphotography.com.
(view from the northeast – if you were looking down from a helicopter high over Admiral Starbucks – click for larger version)
Even before tonight’s community meeting, the folks at Safeway cautioned that what they are showing tonight is more their “vision” for the sight than what they will take to the Design Review Board next week — since there’s a set procedure for those meetings, reviewing three options for general size, shape, layout, etc. But nonetheless, it’s our first look at what they are hoping to build on their current store site that takes up the southern half-plus of the block fronting California and 42nd between Admiral and Lander: a bigger new store, plus more than 30 residential units, and a separate small retail building on the northwest corner of the lot. Just ahead, three more views (all four are courtesy Fuller/Sears Architects), plus Safeway’s description of its hopes and dreams (followed by our bullet points from tonight’s meeting:Read More
(click image to see full three-page document with city’s “final design”)
First update from tonight’s Alki Community Council meeting: Issues are still simmering with the city plan to finish the sidewalk on the north side of Alki Sw, from 63rd SW west to the other side of Alki Point. What you see above – difficult as it may be to decipher (even if you click on the image to see the full three-page document) – is what’s described on the city’s webpage for the project as “the final design,” and labeled on the document as “100% review” (dated tomorrow, by the way). At one point, the ACC had hoped that city project manager “Sam” Woods would be at tonight’s meeting; instead, she has been going door-to-door through the affected area this week to talk with residents. Just one problem, said a few attendees at tonight’s meeting: The letter from SDOT director Grace Crunican (read it here) says those visits were happening yesterday and today – but some didn’t even get the letter till today. They say they still have safety concerns about the plan and would like to see it presented one last time (the previous, contentious community meeting was this one in April) – with safety details highlighted (beyond the two raised crosswalks, at 64th and at Alki/Beach, as reported here in July) — before it’s finalized prior to construction (which Crunican’s letter says will start early next year). ACC secretary Larry Carpenter says he’s certain that such a meeting is already in the city’s plans; we’ll check with SDOT tomorrow, and we’ll also be asking about a report tonight that the project is $150,000 over the original budget.
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