West Seattle, Washington
28 Sunday
The sizable crowd was all aglow just before tonight’s West Seattle Movies on the Wall presentation of “Ghostbusters” in the courtyard next to Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor): One of tonight’s movie co-sponsors, Curious KidStuff, provided glow sticks for all, and the crowd waved them for the WSB camera. A more natural source of light appeared right before intermission, as the full moon rose over the building to the left of the movie screen, within view of all. Another of tonight’s co-sponsors, Square 1 Books, announced it’s planning a 21-percent-off sale in November, during its 21st-anniversary celebration, and Garlic Jim’s Pizza (WSB sponsor) provided free slices for moviegoers. Proceeds from this week’s raffle (tickets are sold pre-movie, drawing at intermission) benefited WestSide Baby (we won one of the prizes, an adorable sock toy for cats, created by Teri Ensley from Furry Faces Foundation; our cats have a couple already so we’ll be giving it to one of our best pals’ ailing senior kitty). You’ve got two chances to enjoy Movies on the Wall, powered by Sidewalk Cinema, in the next week – “Finding Nemo,” rained out last Saturday, is rescheduled for this Thursday, and then the season finale, “Galaxy Quest,” is planned for next Saturday night.
Thirty years since 1978? “Baker Street” and “FM” and all that? Gulp. Anyway, 1978 is in the news here tonight because we have a link to pix and info from the “Tour de West Seattle,” a group bike ride today in honor of the West Seattle High School Class of ’78’s 30th reunion. ’78 grad Brian Dirks, the organizer, sent the link to his photo gallery, including the pic you see above, and this description:
Eight riders took to the streets of West Seattle Saturday for the 30-mile, “Tour de West Seattle” bicycle ride … Riders included ’78 grads Brian Dirks (ride coordinator), Cecelia Bellcross and Rosalie Aikin with husband Marc; Ron Badley and Tamara Crawford (who finished at other schools but attended earlier grades with the class); Bryan Clarke, son of ’78 grad Laura Christopherson; and Britt Tinglum of Seattle. The ride took in some of the best scenery of West Seattle, passing by most of the feeder elementary schools, James Madison Jr. High (or Middle School if you prefer), as well as Alki, Hamilton Viewpoint, Sunset Ave. Beach Drive, and many other points north and south.
You can see Brian’s full gallery here.
Nathan sent photos from an odd incident near his house, 39th/Raymond vicinity (map):
At 4:45 PM I came upstairs after hearing some voices on the street only to see a brown Chevy Blazer had been driven into the roundabout near my house. The police had just arrived and indicated that the car was in park, so it appears that someone had driven the Blazer into the roundabout, put it in park and then locked it. No word on whether it was out of gas. The Blazer has Indiana plates. The car was blocking part of the intersection so the police have towed the car.
So if that was your car … the police will know how you can get it back (non-emergency number: 206/625-5011.)
We got the tip from Jen Cole of FeetFirst while talking with her at today’s Picnic at the Precinct (first report here, more to come later tonight) this afternoon — the sidewalk improvements for West Seattle’s Sanislo Elementary, funded as part of Safe Routes to School (January report here), are almost done, just in time for the start of school (two weeks from Wednesday). In addition to the sidewalk work you see above (mostly stretching eastward from the campus), Cole says improvements for the Delridge/Myrtle stairway are also under way, and that will complete a safer walking connection between Delridge and 16th. Unfortunately, she says, the 16th/Myrtle crossing guard position (a couple blocks east of Sanislo) apparently will not be filled; we reported last spring that a serious illness had taken the previous guard off the job, and the city had not replaced her – nor, according to Cole, will a replacement be forthcoming for the new school year.
You see them sometimes at Alki – and they’re headquartered right here in West Seattle, at Westcrest Park – today, two members of the Seattle Police Mounted Patrol are at the Picnic at the (Southwest) Precinct, continuing through 4 pm. We have LOTS more photos and video to share with you in a separate report later, but in case you check in online before then and you haven’t been – there are also free treats (hot dogs, ice cream) in the precinct parking lot, which is off-camera to the right of this shot showing the setup running along Webster westbound from Delridge:
Cool robots, a Segway, and lots more – Delridge and Webster, park in Home Depot and walk over. While heading home, we passed the intersection of 16th SW/Holden and had to pull over when we saw these folks handing out free samples:
That’s Jodi Robbins, Pinky the dog mostly hiding behind the sample tray, Darlene, and Jodi’s husband from JoJo’s Fine Espresso at 16th/Holden. They just put their blended-iced-drink setup into action, so they’ve got a tropical setup at the corner and trays of free samples. Not sure how long they’ll be out – we were there around 2:30.
(top photo added 1:07 pm)
If you see this before 2 pm, it’s not too late to go join in the High Point celebration of the Neighborhood Center groundbreaking. We took that photo a short time ago, as a buffet of multicultural cuisine opened up following an hourlong ceremony involving a variety of local leaders, from High Point Neighborhood Association president Andrew Mead to Congressman Jim McDermott. We have video that we’ll post in a separate report later, but back at the scene at High Point’s Commons Park, food and entertainment continue for another hour or so. Meantime, some of what else is happening today (the rest was originally posted this morning):
That’s some of what you’ll find on sale/display at the Arts/Crafts Fair under way till 3 pm today at C and P Coffee Company. Meantime, 3 pm is when the finals begin at the daylong EVP Pro Volleyball Tour event happening right now on Alki – we stopped by the beach earlier this morning to survey the scene:
WSB is the “media sponsor” for today’s event (ergo the signs you see in that shot) — only the second year this popular pro tour has stopped at Alki, and as we mentioned last night, the players include local stars. Comcast will televise the finals, and you’re invited to be in the official TV section of the audience — women’s finals start around 3, men’s finals at 4:30.
Two and a half weeks ago, auctioneers sold off much of what was inside Morgan Junction’s Corner Inn (WSB video coverage here), which abruptly closed in early June. This morning, WSB’er “Rock Steele” spotted a few remaining (big) pieces offered free on CL — separate ads for the Corner Inn’s awning, bar, and stage. All three listings say the items must be removed within one week. Hmm.
Fun, food, free. Also a traffic note — Webster is shut down on the south side of the precinct (Delridge westward) for this event (here’s a map to Delridge/Webster).
From Stephanie, southeast of The Junction:
So I was taking my dog out to do her business about midnight tonight and was waiting for a while. Then looked across the street and saw something moving in the dark. Looked a little closer and saw that it was a Coyote walking up the sidewalk. Knowing that my 4 lb. Yorkie was no match I quietly whispered for her let’s go. As I hurried up the stairs it took off. I was relieved it was not aggressive. Seemed to be spooked by us. I am located at 41st and Dawson. (map) I had seen the pictures on the blog before and it looked identical. Went back inside to get my camera and waited for a while but he was gone.
Just thought I would share it since I did not think anyone saw them in my neighborhood. But it seemed more scared of me then I was of it. I don’t think he was out to harm anyone. Clearly not hostile.
This post was officially the tipping point … we just went back and created a category for all posts about coyotes (which required adding the label to each previous one) … maybe someday we’ll finally get to that West Seattle coyote map! Find the coyote archive here.
That’s the crowd from one of at least two Breast Cancer 3Day fundraisers in West Seattle this weekend — left to right, the grownups in the photo are Kyle Minaglia, Jennifer Carlson, Amanda Armstrong, and Kristi Keithly. Kristi had e-mailed WSB to let us know about her fundraising barbecue at 62nd/Admiral tonight; she’s working to get to her fundraising goal. She’ll be in the 3Day (which reportedly will travel through West Seattle again this year; here’s our coverage from last year) in honor of a dear old friend, diagnosed with breast cancer and not even 40 yet. The story’s a lot like that of 33-year-old West Seattleite Tracy Dart, who is blogging here about her breast-cancer battle — and getting ready for the 3Day with a fundraiser outside West 5 this coming Sunday, 11 am-6 pm. Meantime, back in the Alki area, the Community Center‘s advisory council was barbecuing tonight too:
The council helps keep things humming at this community hub, and put on the event as a community thank-you (and an opportunity to get the word out about the ongoing need for volunteer help). Now we head south to The Mount, where tonight’s outdoor concert drew a sizable crowd to enjoy the always-fabulous West Seattle Big Band:
Providence Mount St. Vincent (WSB sponsor) has one more Friday night concert to go – next week it’s Steve Rice and Big Squeezy. To go with our video clip from tonight, here’s a photo just sent to us by Karen:
And one more photo from WSB-land — it wouldn’t be a REAL West Seattle summer night without a spectacular sunset:
Thanks to Relaena Sindelar for sharing that incredible view.
In the green top, that’s Alki resident Bri Murray, one of the winners at last summer’s first-ever EVP Pro Beach Volleyball tour stop on her home beach – and she (with teammate Wendy Stammer from Oregon) will try to do it again when the tour returns tomorrow. (Great timing, with beach volleyball in the spotlight at the Beijing Games!) WSB is a co-sponsor of the daylong event — and the finals are being recorded by Comcast again this year, so if you’re there by 3, you’re welcome to be in the official TV audience – the women’s finals are expected around 3, the men’s finals around 4:30 (last year’s winning men’s team also featured a local star, Alki resident Chris Hannemann, and he’ll be playing tomorrow too). Here’s the official news release with full details about tomorrow’s event, which starts bright and early:Read More
Got a note with this photo, saying a demolition crew took down 4103 SW Edmunds (kitty-corner from the southeast side of Jefferson Square) today. As we’d reported previously, townhouses are planned for the site.
In the past day and a half, we’ve received two notes alerting us to a major change in The Junction: Moses the cat is no longer in residence inside Next to Nature. Both notes expressed alarm and concern – is Moses OK? So the ace WSB investigative team stopped by N-to-N this afternoon to find out, and discovered what you see in the photo above – a picture and note that “Moses has left the building. No, he’s not dead. He’s just in retirement. Sightings of him have been reported in Mexico.” Actually, we uncovered the fact that he’s now home with his owners … he just wasn’t happy staying at the store any more. One of our tipsters is relieved to hear that but adds, “I’ll miss him (don’t have a pet of my own, plus he was like a local landmark).” We’ll miss him too; he was definitely a shop fixture, hanging out by the front door much of the time, high enough up that you could try giving his ears a skritch. Enjoy your retirement, Moses!
Cool crimefighting gizmos are just part of the draw at the annual Picnic at the Precinct, 1-4 pm tomorrow at the Southwest Precinct (Delridge/Webster; here’s a map). Tomorrow alone is jampacked – before you picnic with the police, you can help celebrate the High Point Neighborhood Center groundbreaking, at which we’re told you will be invited to share your hopes/dreams for the project’s success:
Event starts at 11 am – Massive Monkees hip-hop dance performance at 1:15! And then when the sun sets and tomorrow starts to cool a bit, you can stay out of your probably-not-air-conditioned house and enjoy a comedy classic:
“Ghostbusters” is tomorrow night’s feature at West Seattle Movies on the Wall. And tonight in The Junction, you can enjoy ArtsWest air conditioning with “Pippin”:
(photo by Nichole DeMent)
So what ELSE is going on from tonight through Sunday night, you ask? Well, for one, a pro volleyball tour appearance co-sponsored by WSB! That’s among the 51 events and attractions, listed ahead:Read More
Just saw this, regarding the power problem. We’ll start watching traffic early just in case. Seattle City Light is having a media briefing at 1:30 pm. Here’s the news release SCL sent literally a minute after we originally published this:Read More
As part of the same school district ballot measure (BEX III) that raised money for projects including the Denny/Sealth combined campus, the Southwest Athletic Complex across from Chief Sealth is getting new turf. Didn’t get to share this pic with you till now, but we spotted striping work being done on Thursday afternoon. On a related note regarding the athletic complex – as we reported earlier this week, there was a suggestion at Tuesday night’s Westwood Neighborhood Council meeting that the perpetual inaccessibility of the complex because of locked fencing – a hindrance in particular for people trying to walk between Thistle and Trenton, from the school zone to Westwood Village — might be changeable. West Seattle school-board rep Steve Sundquist said he’d check into it. We e-mailed him to ask if he’d gotten anywhere with that, and he replied: “I have not yet had a chance to chase this one down. My guess is that the most productive conversations about the fencing will occur this fall as part of the larger site development planning effort.” (Read more about that in our report about the WNC meeting.)
The concerns about the two major mixed-use (part residential, part commercial) projects on the Southwest Design Review Board‘s agenda last night were similar – particularly, how the projects will affect pedestrian flow once they’re built. But the results were quite different; one project is finally at the end of the process, while the other is just beginning what could be a long journey. Our full report, ahead:Read More
Thanks to everyone who has checked out White Center Now, the blog about White Center, since its launch was announced here earlier this week. The site’s already abuzz with robust discussions about topics including potential annexation — check out the comments (28 so far). Recent posts also include a teen-authored article about White Center students becoming park stewards (read it here), a White Center Now review of Big Al‘s beer, and In Search of the Great Burrito. Lots more to come (including original coverage of a couple events happening later today).
We first told you two weeks ago about some Junction businesses’ petition campaign against Conner Homes‘ request for the city to “vacate” that stretch of the alley between 42nd and California, south of Alaska, so that land under the alley can be included in the underground parking garage for its two-building development. (Read our original report here; read developer Charlie Conner‘s next-day “letter to the community” here.) Opponents including Elliott Bay Brewery and Liberty Bell Printing have continued to gather petition signatures, and the Junction Neighborhood Organization has posted the petition as well; now there’s word that the city’s deadline for comments on the request has now been extended to September 15. That of course means comments in support of it as well as against it; you can comment directly to Moira Gray at SDOT, which is reviewing the request, at moira.gray@seattle.gov. The project itself, meantime, is still in the design-review process. Here’s our coverage of the most recent meeting, in late May; the city has not yet posted a date for the next one.
That’s video of the West Seattle Big Band playing in last month’s Hi-Yu Concert in the Park – and tonight, they’re outdoors again, for the same admission price (FREE!), as Providence Mount St. Vincent‘s (WSB sponsor) outdoor concert series continues. Jim Edwards with WSBB tells us that Elizabeth Hott from the Kings of Swing will be the guest singer with them at The Mount tonight. As we showed you last week (here) and the week before (here), these concerts are drawing fun all-ages crowds; dinner and beer/wine are offered for sale starting at 5 pm, music starts at 6. Lots of other fun tonight too, with more music — including Alma Villegas at Cafe Rozella — and then just wait till we start talking about Saturday, with Picnic at the Precinct, “Ghostbusters” at Movies on the Wall … anyway, all that will be in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup, here before noon.
These events aren’t happening IN West Seattle, but they involve West Seattleites who have lent WSB a major helping hand at times when we needed it – plus, they’re interesting events in their own right – so we’re helping spread the word:
PHOTOGRAPHERS’ CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: West Seattle lawyer Venkat Balasubramani is on a panel tackling this topic; WSB has been blessed with so many great photography contributions, we thought a few of you might be interested. Here’s more info including how to RSVP for the event.
GNOMEDEX 8.0: West Seattleite Stuart Maxwell, who provided us with technical consulting last year (including installation of software for the WSB Forums, the busiest neighborhood-news-site forums in the city), is helping coordinate Gnomedex, a tech conference next week at Bell Harbor on the downtown waterfront (a short distance away). Among the online-world luminaries who’ll be speaking, the guy behind the insanely popular ICanHasCheezburger.com. Check out the conference slate and registration information here.
Michele at West Seattle Thriftway sends word that their “Dog Days of Summer” 
promotion is under way – and as part of it, CityDog Magazine – founded by West Seattleite Brandi Ahlgren – will have a professional photographer at the store 11 am-2 pm Sunday to take pix for the magazine’s Cover Dog Search. (Read more about the search here.) Also this weekend: a barbecue 11 am-4 pm Saturday ($7 for burgers/chips/soda) to benefit the Seattle Humane Society and Doney Clinic, and the SHS MaxMobile returns 11 am-3 pm Sunday with adoptable pets. (Photo above: A pooch we spotted on the beach south of Alki Point Thursday.)
Thanks to JayDee for that sunset shot. After we originally published this post half an hour ago, this view came in from David Hutchinson:
There are still sights to be seen tonight; check out the nearly full moon if you haven’t already (nice picture on Creighton‘s blog, by the way). Latest forecast: Sunny and 90s tomorrow AND Saturday. Here’s a cooling view, from Lincoln Park:
Luckie actually took that one yesterday, by Colman Pool. Not far away, in Fauntleroy tonight, great night for a barbecue:
That video shows an overview of the big crowd on the northwest lawn of The Kenney during tonight’s annual barbecue. The Kenney, by the way, is just about to file applications with the city to initiate its major redevelopment project; we spoke with its CEO a few hours before tonight’s event and plan to publish our report tomorrow.
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