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West Seattle’s transit future: Metro shows off first RapidRide bus
May 4, 2009 12:59 pm
|      29 COMMENTS
 |   Transportation | West Seattle news

(WSB photos by Jonathan Stumpf)
Metro showed off its first RapidRide bus this morning – the type that will be serving West Seattle in two years — and announced new federal funding. Here’s the shelter prototype that also was shown off:

And here’s County Executive Ron Sims at the podium, in one of his last appearances before leaving that job, photographed along with two of the candidates to succeed him (County Council Chair Dow Constantine at left, County Councilmember Larry Phillips at right, inbetween them is County Councilmember Julia Patterson):

(edited 2:50 pm) Jonathan Stumpf was there for WSB; he took the photos you see, and also reports:

County Executive Ron Sims, County Council Members Larry Phillips and Dow Constantine, and various other transit and federal officials were on hand at 6th and Lenora Avenues as King County Metro displayed prototypes of RapidRide’s new hybrid diesel-electric bus, shelter and fare station.

The 60-foot, three-door bus will provide seating for 48 passengers, LED-displays with upcoming stop information, wi-fi and pay-as-you-board fare collection, with some pre-pay options available at certain stations. County Executive Sims called it a bus people will want to get on, a good day for the suburbs and said that people can now throw away the bus schedule, referring to frequency the busses will run. Metro Transit anticipates them running every 10 minutes during peak commute hours and every 15 minutes during non-peak hours.

Bus shelters will include passenger-activated lights to signal the bus, interior shelter lighting, bike racks and real-time information signs displaying the number of minutes until the next bus arrives.

Funding for this project is estimated at about $180 million. It is a combination of the Transit Now sales tax revenue, partnerships with cities and support from state and federal grants. The Federal Transit Administration announced today that it is releasing $14 million in new federal grant money to help fund the acquisition of the new black, red and yellow bus fleet.

As we noted earlier, we also have the county’s detailed news release about today’s announcement/display has just come in; read on for that:Read More

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Meet your legislators: 34th District legislators set town meeting
May 4, 2009 11:46 am
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle politics | White Center

(WSB photo from December 2008 – from left, Rep. Sharon Nelson, Sen. Joe McDermott, Rep. Eileen Cody)
The two state representatives and one state senator who represent West Seattle, White Center, Vashon and vicinity in the State Legislature are inviting you to a town-hall meeting a week from Saturday – here’s the announcement we just received:

All three lawmakers from the 34th District will host a town hall meeting to talk about the 2009 session and what future steps our state should take.

“This wasn’t an easy session,” said Sen. Joe McDermott, D-West Seattle. “The budget cuts will be hard on everyone, and I know people were already worried about losing their job or their home. But this won’t last forever. It will take all of us, working together, to bring our state back to prosperity.”

The meeting is set for 10 a.m. May 16 at the Jim Wiley Community Center, 9800 Eighth Avenue SW (White Center).

“There’s nothing more important than hearing from the citizens we represent,” said Rep. Eileen Cody, D-West Seattle. “It’s nice to be back home and talking to real people at the grocery store or the coffee shop.”

The lawmakers returned home after the end of the Legislature’s 105-day session. The Legislature passed a balanced budget, but left a handful of bills uncompleted that might require a short special session.

“While the budget got all the attention, we did pass some tough reforms,” said Rep. Sharon Nelson, D-Vashon Island. “I am happy to report that the payday lending law that I sponsored passed and is heading to the governor’s desk. As a former banker, I cared about this issue because far too many young people and working families fall into an endless trap of debt when they start taking out payday loans. This law will help.”

Here’s a map to the town-hall meeting’s location.

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From land-use land: 1 West Seattle decision in, 1 appealed
May 4, 2009 11:25 am
|      12 COMMENTS
 |   Development | West Seattle news

From the city’s latest Land Use Information Bulletin: Four months after the final Design Review Board meeting for 4502 42nd – the seven-story, 89-unit mixed-use building proposed for the corner of 42nd/Oregon (map)- its design review and “non-significance” status are final; read the decision here. The deadline for an appeal is May 18; this notice page explains how to appeal. Which is exactly what’s been done in the case of this project:

That’s the medical/office building proposed for 2743 California SW, just north of PCC. Its design review/DNS decisions have been appealed and – according to this notice – a hearing is set before the city Hearing Examiner (usually the 40th floor of the Municipal Tower downtown) at 1:30 pm May 27th.

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New Delridge playground: Date set, sponsor revealed, $ needed
May 4, 2009 10:43 am
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   Delridge | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

Another big development this morning in the Delridge Playground saga. As reported here last week, Delridge Community Center has a chance to get a new, safer playground for a dramatically reduced cost. Community volunteers jumped in — and this morning Betsy Hoffmeister reports, a date is set and a sponsor has come forward for the project involving an organization called KaBoom that, with volunteer and sponsor help, builds new playgrounds in a day. Here’s what we just received from her, including more on the help that’s still needed from the community right now:

I am thrilled to be the one to report that Delridge Community Center will be getting a new playground on JULY 17. The project sponsor is Bank of America! Thank you, Bank of America. Volunteers from BOA will be there on July 17 to help our whole community build our new playground.

Important dates:

On May 6 or so, we will be getting many more details on the scope of the project.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, MAY 12, a playground designer will be at the Community Center to meet with children and their parents to choose design elements for the playground. The kids who will get the most priority in participating in the design will be kids from the community, especially kids from the Community Center’s own preschool and after school care, as well as any kids from the SWY&FS preschool. I am not sure how many people there will be physical room for. The parents will have time to give input, as well. There will be translators.

After one week, KaBoom will send us three playground designs to choose from. After the Parks Department swiftly confirms that all three designs are safe and appropriate for our space, there will be significant public process to do that selection and make sure everyone is on board with the design.

What we need to accomplish in the next few weeks is raising $4000 extra to cover some extra bits. If you have volunteered to help with the playground, now is the time to contact me to get serious!

Very excited!
Betsy Hoffmeister
North Delridge Neighborhood Council

You can reach Betsy at betsy (at) hoffmeisters (dot) com.

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Alki shooting followup: A few new details
May 4, 2009 8:48 am
|      34 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

We just checked with the Seattle Police media unit, which is handling all information on Friday night’s Alki shooting (WSB coverage, plus extensive comment thread, here). A few new details, according to Sgt. Sean Whitcomb: For starters, the victim is 19 years old and is in “stable” condition. No further details on suspect descriptions or what exactly happened and why, but Sgt. Whitcomb did say: “We don’t believe this is a ‘stranger’ crime” and added that the Seattle Police Gang Unit is “lead” on the investigation (as reported Friday night, both the Gang and Homicide Units are involved). Watch for more followup information later.

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Happening tonight: 1st look at The Kenney’s newest design
May 4, 2009 6:30 am
|    Comments Off on Happening tonight: 1st look at The Kenney’s newest design
 |   Development | Fauntleroy | The Kenney | West Seattle news

kenneycupola.jpgYou heard it here three weeks ago: The Kenney‘s redevelopment project no longer calls for demolition of the iconic, century-old Seaview building. So what WILL the latest version of the $150 million project look like? Tonight – your chance to be among the first to see the revised design proposal, as the Morgan Community Association and Fauntleroy Community Association invite you to a gathering (as announced here) to take a look, and share your thoughts, before the project’s next Southwest Design Review Board meeting on May 14. Tonight’s meeting is at 7:30 pm, Fauntleroy Church (here’s a map).

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Sustainable West Seattle Festival report #2: Video, more photos
May 4, 2009 4:56 am
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Environment | Sustainable West Seattle | West Seattle festivals

(our first SWS Festival report, with as-it-happened coverage and photos, can be seen here)

The second annual Sustainable West Seattle Festival closed Sunday afternoon with a singalong chorus of “This Land Is Your Land,” mostly in honor of folk-music legend Pete Seeger‘s 90th birthday (celebrated a short time later at the Admiral Theater a few miles north), but also as a reminder of what the festival was all about: This peninsula is your peninsula — and while it may still be a place where many people leave to go to work, ultimately we need to keep building a self-sustaining, resilient West Seattle economy and ecosystem. SWS president Bill Reiswig expounded on that theme in his opening remarks Sunday morning:

WSB was among the co-sponsors of the festival, which included more than 75 organizations as well as dozens of speakers and musicians, even Green Living Workshops at the nearby Senior Center of West Seattle. Back on the festival grounds, a “green living” theme even extended to real estate, with GreenWorks Realty‘s Wendy Hughes-Jelen (and CityDog Magazine cover dog Sophia) on hand:

More photos and video from the festival – just ahead:Read More

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Neighborhood alert: Plants damaged by unsolicited yard work
May 4, 2009 2:24 am
|      20 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | Gardening | West Seattle news

This is one of the oddest cases we’ve heard about lately, and J & A – who e-mailed to tell the story – fully acknowledge it pales in comparison to some of what we’ve had to report on recently. Nonetheless, they do want to put out the alert about someone who came into their yard and did work without permission – damaging work at that – read on:Read More

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Mariners honor West Seattle Little League (and counterparts)
May 3, 2009 11:52 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle people | WS & Sports

West Seattle photojournalist Matt Durham – who also is assistant coach for West Seattle Little League‘s Diamondbacks and Stingers – shares those photos from the Mariners’ Little League Day at Safeco Field today:

(Clockwise from upper left) 1: West Seattle youth honor the flag during the National Anthem.
2: Cheers accompanied West Seattle’s recognition on the megatron.
3: Young baseball players were able to parade on field during before the game.
4: 15 innings didn’t deter West Seattle’s Diamondback Jack from rooting on his team.
5: West Seattle players turn their hats inside out to rally the Mariners batters.
The Mariners beat the A’s in the bottom of the 15th inning, 8-7.

You can find out more about West Seattle Little League at westseattlelittleleague.com (also via Twitter at @wslittleleague).

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West Seattle coyotes: Admiral-area sighting
May 3, 2009 10:28 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Coyotes | West Seattle news | Wildlife

As at least one group in attendance at today’s Sustainable West Seattle Festival reminded, the preferred philosophy for dealing with coyotes and other urban wildlife is coexistence, not panic or fear. That said, some find it helpful to know what’s seen where. So here’s the report Kathleen sent us last night about a coyote sighting in Admiral:

We are dog-sitting a little terrier and were surprised (Saturday) afternoon with a coyote that ran into the yard. It didn’t harm the dog, as my husband ran after the coyote, who easily cleared a 6 foot fence and ran into the neighbor’s yard. We live at 51st and Pritchard, one block north of Admiral. I wanted you to know because pets left unattended might be at risk.

Previous coyote reports published on WSB (some with photos) are archived here, newest to oldest.

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Pickup truck hits house, tree in Fauntleroy
May 3, 2009 9:38 pm
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   Fauntleroy | West Seattle news

That photo is from Dwight, in the 4300 block of Brace Point (map), who explains:

Our house got rammed by a ’99 Dodge Ram 1500 v8. We live in the middle of the block so it seems rather odd that someone would swerve, take down a 12ft maple and hit the house.

Fence is gone, too.

The tree you see in the photo is supposed to be where the bumper of the truck is, despite looking like it’s planted on the corner of the house.

Checking on injuries; no medic unit was dispatched, which suggests if anyone was hurt in this crash (which happened just before 8 pm), it wasn’t major. We also received photos from Carlos — this one’s a bit blurry but it provides another angle:

ADDED 9:55 PM: We asked Dwight if anyone was hurt:

No one and no critters were hurt. No windows or doors were blown so we’re lucky. We’re very lucky to have had such a large tree on the corner of the lot; otherwise we’d be missing a large chunk of the house. That tree took the brunt of the assault, and the trunk was large enough to help ground the bottom of the truck before it hit the brick.

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Flu update: Another 6 suspected cases announced today
May 3, 2009 6:18 pm
|      7 COMMENTS
 |   Health | Swine flu

In what’s becoming a daily update from Seattle-King County Public Health, the latest announcement says 6 more probable cases of swine flu have been reported, bringing the total number of likely cases in the county to 22. Health authorities also have changed their recommendations for how schools should handle news of a case of this flu – read on for the latest details:Read More

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Skillet in West Seattle, week 2 and early outlook for week 3
May 3, 2009 4:17 pm
|      8 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

We mentioned this briefly in our as-it-happened coverage of the just-concluded Sustainable West Seattle Festival (first report/photos here, a wrapup with more photos/video later) — Skillet Street Food drew a crowd to Seattle Lutheran High School‘s parking lot today (here’s the saga of how they wound up there) – thanks to Jake for the photo above, taken around 11:15; several other reports indicate they ran out of food before 2 pm. So will they be back next week, given that this was billed as a trial run? We just checked with Skillet’s Josh Henderson and Seattle Lutheran’s Bil Hood; Josh says he hopes so but needs to check with SLHS first, and Bil also said they’ll confer tomorrow – so stay tuned for word then. In the meantime, show your favorite West Seattle restaurants some love (three of them are WSB sponsors, we should note – Skylark Club and Cafe, Cafe Revo, and Ama Ama Oyster Bar and Grill), as we plan to do tonight.

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Also happening now: “Ask the Doctor” at Fauntleroy Church
May 3, 2009 3:14 pm
|    Comments Off on Also happening now: “Ask the Doctor” at Fauntleroy Church
 |   West Seattle news

Sorry we didn’t see the e-mail on this earlier this morning – till 4 pm at Fauntleroy Church, Dr. Jill Cook is leading an “Ask the Doctor” workshop – at which Little Pilgrim School will be raffling off the quilt we told you about the night we spoke at Fauntleroy Church earlier this spring — there’s still time to drop by and hear about some hot health topics (including The Flu — we’re expecting another county update on that shortly, by the way).

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Update: Police helping investigate Admiral house fire
May 3, 2009 11:32 am
|    Comments Off on Update: Police helping investigate Admiral house fire
 |   West Seattle fires | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

Just got an update from Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen on the fire we covered overnight (original WSB report here) in the 1700 block of 44th SW: She says Seattle Police Arson and Bomb Squad is helping investigate — the cause so far remains “undetermined.” The house was vacant and for sale; damage from the fire totals $430,000 — $400,000 to the house itself, $10,000 to its contents (not much was inside since nobody was living there), $10,000 each in damage to the exterior of the two neighboring houses. No one was hurt in the fire, which broke out around 3 am; our earlier report includes the story of the first person on the scene, neighboring resident Craig, who took the photo you see above.

6:34 PM: Added that shot taken late today, from the rear alley (the same spot from which the photo of the burning house was taken), also showing some of the exterior damage to the house on the left side of the photo. After we mentioned in our earlier story that we couldn’t find the listing, several local Realtors kindly found it and sent it – the address isn’t the same as the one listed in county records – but it’s the same house; it was listed as for sale at $499,000 and said a sale was “pending.” No new updates regarding the fire’s cause.

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Sustainable West Seattle Festival: Reporting live, till 3 pm
May 3, 2009 9:53 am
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Sustainable West Seattle | West Seattle festivals | West Seattle news

(scroll down for the latest photos and updates)

(Sustainable West Seattle president Bill Reiswig)
Till 3 pm today, West Seattle Blog headquarters moves to the Sustainable West Seattle Festival in The Junction. Above is a photo sent via Twitter by festival organizers, who’ve already “tweeted” lots of great info and photos (follow SWS at @sustainablews – or check the updates via the Web at twitter.com/sustainablews). We’ll be adding our own soon. Our table is by the east side of the Wells Fargo drive-through (where we were last year), west of the “main stage.” We’ve got the first 200 copies of the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day map – which doesn’t go live online till tonight or early tomorrow (if you think you’ve seen a map online already, it’s from a previous year, because this one is NOT yet published online). Great weather for a festival, lots of booths, entertainment, panel discussions (we’re on one at noon) – see the schedule, site layout, exhibitors list, all here. More to come!

10:26 AM UPDATE: Congressman Jim McDermott is speaking on the nearby main stage right now. Great weather, lots of people and lots of incredible exhibitors.

A highlight for kids of all ages – costumed characters – including not just one, but two “Bagmonsters” crafted from plastic bags …among other characters:

We’re right across from Camp Long, Longfellow Creek Watershed, Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition, Nature Consortium booths … more of the great groups working to keep West Seattle green, and in many cases make it even greener through their restoration work. By the way, if you pick up a festival program while you’re here, it’s good for reading later – several articles by festival participants including us, talking about the topic that will be the subject of a panel we’re on at noon, “Sustainable Community Through Media” – one of the most important parts of WSB is YOU – without your presence, your collaboration, your ideas, your news tips, your event announcements, your photos, there wouldn’t be much here. Meantime, we’re also monitoring the SWS Twitter feed, from which this photo of the “backyard chickens” booth comes:

Over at the main stage next to us, CoolMom is about to put on a puppet show.

11:50 AM UPDATE: Pete Spalding, president of the West Seattle Food Bank board, just stopped by. (added later, here’s a photo of Pete in the WSFB booth)

He told us Friday night’s Instruments of Change fundraiser WSFB was a smash hit – sold out, more than 200 people, former Mayor Norm Rice gave a great speech, and the “dessert dash” led by County Council Chair Dow Constantine raised $11,000. (Pete adds that WSFB served more people last month than in any other month in its history.) Constantine just spoke here at the festival:

Also here – Mayor Greg Nickels:

12:52 PM UPDATE: Just back from the media panel, with Kery Murakami from Seattle Post Globe (former P-I employees who started up a new news site), Chuck Taylor (formerly of crosscut.com), and Jonathan Lawson of Reclaim the Media. Great discussion – and thanks to the folks who came to listen (Yes Magazine was tweeting it – see highlights at twitter.com/yesmagazine):

Thanks to Jake for that photo of us on the panel – from left, Chuck, Kery, me (WSB editor TR), Jonathan – next photo is our iPhone snap of the audience area:

We thought we’d added this earlier but apparently not – some of what else is happening in The Junction – the Skillet trailer at Seattle Lutheran High School (we’ll be checking after today whether it’ll be back next week – this was on a trial run basis):

They’re there till 2 pm, and there are some menu changes from what’s online – including a pulled pork sandwich instead of the fried spaghetti sandwich. And if you’re walking that way from the heart of The Junction, drop by the Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) courtyard for the Furry Faces Foundation plant sale to raise money for animal rescue – they’re there till 4 pm.

Now back to the Sustainable West Seattle Festival – here till 3 pm in and around Wells Fargo in The Junction (44th/Alaska, across from the Farmers’ Market) – two stages with panels and performances, lots of great places to learn about living sustainably.

1:51 PM UPDATE: Just talked to Gene, who’s tweeting today for @sustainablews – check out that Twitter feed not only for festival notes, but also some photo links. Meantime, more of our photos – WSB sponsor Clean Air Lawn Care is here (that’s owner Adam):

And of course, lots of different ways of getting around, sustainably:

The Westenders Scooter Club is one of dozens of exhibitors here. Meantime, we’re almost out of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day maps but the map will be online late tonight/early tomorrow, in printable and clickable forms! And we’ve had many more great conversations – political candidates have stopped by our table including mayoral candidate Michael McGinn and West Seattle-residing City Council candidates Dorsol Plants and David Ginsberg.

3 PM UPDATE: The festival’s ending, though some festivalgoers are still lingering as things wrap up – we have some folk music over at the main stage – festival coordinator Brian Allen‘s running around pointing participants to an afterparty:

Congratulations to Brian and everybody at Sustainable West Seattle for putting on another huge, successful, fun festival. We’ll be jumping back into the news stream. Look for a followup report later tonight with more photos and video from today’s festival. P.S. Stu Hennessey (Alki Bike and Board), another of the Sustainable West Seattle leaders working hard on the festival, stopped by to say they want to say again how much they appreciate the local business support in this area for and during the festival. And speaking of business support, we mentioned earlier that WSB sponsor Clean Air Lawn Care is here – spotted a couple more of our sponsors along the way – Mural Apartments (just about open, across from Jefferson Square):

And also, Envision Homes:

Some of the people who stopped by to talk with us asked what they can do to support the continued growth of 24/7 community news, information and discussion at WSB – our #1 request, support our sponsors; close behind, keep sharing your news tips, photos, announcements, stories, etc. – you can reach us any time, a variety of ways – all listed here (but most importantly, make sure our number is in your cell-phone list so you can call if you have an urgent sighting or question – 206-293-6302). More photos and video from the festival later!

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Happening today: Viaduct, Farmers Market, SWS Festival, Seeger
May 3, 2009 7:06 am
|    Comments Off on Happening today: Viaduct, Farmers Market, SWS Festival, Seeger
 |   Admiral Theater | Alaskan Way Viaduct | West Seattle Farmers' Market | West Seattle festivals

(photo by Janna Silverstein)
The top deck of the Alaskan Way Viaduct will be full of people instead of cars this morning – the northbound section will be closed to traffic approximately 9-10:30 am, according to WSDOT, for the March of Dimes March for Babies. By the time it’s over, back on this side of the bay, The Junction will be bustling for two reasons:

(photo by JayDee)
Tulips are just part of what you’ll find at the West Seattle Farmers’ Market, 10 am-2 pm. Here’s the fresh sheet. And across the street, it’s the second annual Sustainable West Seattle Festival:

That video is from the festival opening by Duwamish Tribe members last year – and this year, the Duwamish will do the honors again. 10 am-3 pm, there will be TONS going on — performances, discussions, demonstrations, involving dozens of organizations and businesses from all over the area, focused on community resilience (here’s the official program). WSB will be there – look for our table near the main stage (here’s the layout) along the east side of Wells Fargo – we’ve got the first 200 copies of the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day Map, first come, first served! Then about an hour after the festival, it’s the start of the Pete Seeger 90th birthday celebration at the Admiral Theater:

The event has two main components – a documentary screening at 4 pm (“The Power of Song,” which includes that video clip), a “hootenanny” with performances and singalongs at 7 pm. See our preview here.

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Update: Vacant house burns in North Admiral
May 3, 2009 3:29 am
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle fires | West Seattle news

(photo by nearby resident Craig, added 4:32 am)
ORIGINAL 3:29 AM REPORT: On our way to check out a “fire in single-family residence” call in the 1700 block of 44th SW (map). Crew on scene just reported on the scanner the fire is “under control.”

3:40 AM UPDATE: As our crew arrives on the scene, Fire Department spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen has just updated the SFD media line: She says it’s a vacant house that was “fully involved” in flames when crews arrived around 3 pm; they took a “defensive position” as a result. Property records say this is a 101-year-old 3-bedroom house. About the same time we were listening to the media line here, our crew on the scene got an in-person briefing from Vander Houwen — she says the house is for sale (we haven’t found a listing online, though) and confirms nobody was home when the fire started; she also says the houses on both sides were evacuated to be on the safe side, but are not damaged, and nobody is hurt. It’ll be a while before investigators can go in to figure out how it started. We’ll add video to this story in a bit.

4:19 AM UPDATE: In this clip, you see/hear the start of Vander Houwen’s briefing until we veer off onto the firefighters pouring water on the still-smoky house:

The station she mentioned as “just down the street” is Fire Station 29, which indeed is just three blocks southwest. Meantime, we got this note from area resident Craig:

I was the first one on the scene of the house fire in north Admiral. I woke up to the light smell of smoke, and thought, “who’d be having a fire right now?”

I decided I’d best look out the window, and it was a dense fog. In shorts and barefoot, I ran up to the next block and found flames coming out a basement window of a house in the 1700 block.

I can’t tell you how surprised I am at how well people sleep! I made a lot of noise and a neighbor across the street eventually came out and called 911.

The house that burned is an old house that had just been remodeled. They had split the lot and built a tall skinny house on it last year. Both houses have been for sale for a long time.

He also says one of the adjacent houses IS damaged – and he sent the two photos we’re adding at the top and bottom of this story:

We’ll keep checking with SFD till they determine and announce the fire’s cause.

11:36 AM UPDATE: The Fire Department says the cause is undetermined but police are helping investigate. We have started a new story with more information that’s just be released; see it here.

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What should Parks do with Manning/Admiral site? Your turn
May 2, 2009 10:01 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   Environment | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

As reported here in March, that city-owned parcel at Manning and Admiral just north of The Bridge, known for its big sequoia, is no longer proposed to be sold off as surplus property – City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen helped facilitate a deal for the Parks Department to take it over. As he mentioned when first announcing that, a public meeting will provide your big chance to have a say in what happens to it and what you’d like to see done with it – and that meeting is set for next Tuesday, 7 pm, Hiawatha Community Center. The city originally bought the 14,400-square-foot site as bridge right-of-way in 1961.

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Flu update: 6 more potential cases in King County
May 2, 2009 8:17 pm
|    Comments Off on Flu update: 6 more potential cases in King County
 |   Health | Swine flu

The daily update from King County Public Health came in a little while ago, so for everyone following the saga, the latest is: Six more potential cases, one of which was already suspected – three from Seattle: a 12-year-old and 14-year-old who haven’t been hospitalized, and an 80-year-old who has been, but is now out of the hospital. Read on for more details in the official news release:Read More

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Heard the rumbling? B-17 flies over West Seattle (and beyond)
May 2, 2009 6:08 pm
|      19 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle video

WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli took an amazing flight today and is sharing that video as well as photos and a story – he says you might have heard the rumbling since the plane was flying over this area too:

Photos and story by Christopher Boffoli

The large vintage plane you might see over the skies of West Seattle this weekend is a newly restored World War II era B-17 “Flying Fortress” named the Liberty Belle. The bomber will be making flights through the weekend from Boeing Field and can be seen up close behind the Museum of Flight.

These Boeing-designed planes were best known for their bombing runs from England to Germany throughout the War and were famous for their ability to withstand damage from both enemy fighters and from flak guns on the ground and yet continue to fly. Still, the bombing runs were incredibly dangerous. Of the 12,731 B-17s built, exactly 8,007 were lost in combat and almost 25,000 airmen died.

Casualty figures were extremely high during the first few years of the War, until the Allies eventually were able to design longer-range fighter escorts to protect the planes from the Luftwaffe. By studying B-17s that crash-landed, the Germans were able to learn how to exploit the weaknesses of the aircraft. But the sheer number of successful bombing missions by Flying Fortresses had a devastating effect on the German war machine.

The crews of the B-17s were able to defend themselves with .50 caliber machine guns mounted at several positions on the aircraft, including a tail gunner and a man in a turret on the belly of the fuselage. The planes were not pressurized and the long flights could be very loud and cold. The airmen wore electric flight suits to keep warm in temperature that could reach 50 below. Some crew members were killed when their oxygen tanks froze at high elevation. The name Flying Fortress was apparently coined by a Seattle Times reporter in the early 40’s. The moniker caught on and Boeing eventually copyrighted it.

The B-17 in town this weekend, the Liberty Belle, was built in 1945 in Burbank, California under contract by the Vega Aircraft Corporation, a part of Lockheed. Because it was completed at the end of the War, this B-17 never saw combat. It was initially sold for scrap but was rescued by a collector who then sold it to engine maker Pratt & Whitney which used it for many years to test engines. It was eventually sold to private collectors, changing hands a number of times over the years. While on display at an air museum in the 1970’s it was damaged by a tornado. The current owner spent more than $5 million meticulously restoring the B-17 to flight condition. Fewer than a dozen B-17s are still airworthy.

Much of the aircraft is in original condition, through some modern avionics and navigation equipment has been added. The Liberty Belle was actually flown to England last year, following the same route and landing at the airfields used by the B-17’s during the War.

The story of Christopher’s flight, ahead:Read More

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Happening now: Body Bar anniversary bash (with marching band!)
May 2, 2009 5:21 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Fun stuff to do | West Seattle businesses

Not quite parade weather right now but at least these marchers have hats! If you saw them in the north end of The Junction about an hour ago – but didn’t know what they were there for – maybe you missed the listing in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup, where we mentioned the Body Bar day spa’s first-anniversary bash, east side of California just north of Genesee. The party kicked off with Ingraham High School’s Drum Line, photographed by Lora Lewis from Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor), which was on the “parade route” toward the Body Bar:

The Body Bar party’s continuing till 8 pm, with food, beverages, music, and free chair massages.

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Latest on Scatt the cat: Attack survivor out of the hospital
May 2, 2009 1:02 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | Pets | White Center

Just posted at partner site White Center Now, the latest on the church cat that survived a vicious attack.

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