West Seattle, Washington
23 Sunday
As reported recently, The Junction is having its trick-or-treating event 1-3 pm on Halloween (Saturday 10/31) … and now we know that the Admiral District merchants will offer theirs the day before, Friday 10/30, 3-6 pm – that word just in from Kent and Parris Sadow at Max and Quinn’s Atomic Boys Shop-O-Rama, this year’s event coordinators. Haven’t heard from Westwood Village yet if/when they’re having one, but we’ll be checking.
We asked QFC media liaison Kristin Maas if she’d share photos from inside the new Junction QFC, which opens with a 7 am ribbon-cutting tomorrow (public invited if you’re up that early and interested); she offered a few from the past week-plus of setup:
And here are the “gourmet cheese” and sushi areas:
What else is in the store (in Capco Plaza at 42nd/Alaska; map? Here’s the fact sheet listing it all – pizza, bakery, flowers – and noting that it’s about the same size as Westwood Village QFC. She also says there will be valet parking on the store’s “exclusive customer-parking deck” over the store (entrance is midblock on 42nd SW) 10 am-8 pm tomorrow through Sunday. We’ll be up bright and early tomorrow for a tour of the store before the ribboncutting so watch WSB, Twitter and Facebook for updates after 6 am.
ADDED 7:07 PM: A little more information about parking, from QFC’s Kristin Maas:
There are several areas to park for the complex (residential and retail), so there are signs around the building. Here’s the layout:
* QFC Customers Only Parking on the deck above the store – with easy access mid-block on 42nd. This will be the easiest access for our QFC customers, both for parking and for access to the store.
** And tomorrow, our Valet Parking will be available beginning at 7am for the ribbon cutting and then the rest of the week through Sunday it will be from 10am to 8pm.
* Two levels of underground parking located mid-block on 41st is for the loading dock, other retail customer parking, QFC customer overflow parking and residential parking.
CITYLINK: We noticed a while back that some of the city’s newer web sections, such as SPDBlotter, had a “CityLink” logo, perhaps a sign of something to come. Turns out it was — the city has just unveiled CityLink Seattle, with 11 city “newsfeeds” (including SPDBlotter) linked from one page. See it here.
TWEETING FOR STARBUCKS, AND HITTING THE ROAD: Got word from Starbucks PR that its official tweeter at @starbucks, Brad Nelson, is hitting the road as part of a nationwide promotion for the company’s new instant coffee – and she noted she was letting us know because Brad is a West Seattleite. They had a big kickoff event today – we were at the Concord event instead, but they promise they’ll be tweeting (at @starbuckslive), posting video, and more. (P.S. Brad’s not the only West Seattleite who is the “Twitter voice” of a major Seattle-based company – there’s also Elliott Pesut, who tweets for Alaska Airlines at @alaskaair.)
Just east of West Seattle – but part of the Seattle Public Schools‘ West Seattle “region” – Concord International School held its first assembly today under its new designation, one day after a similar assembly at Denny International Middle School (WSB coverage here), whose principal Jeff Clark was on hand (not only to visit with potential future Denny students, but also because he’s a Concord dad). The Concord assembly also featured cultural performances – and new Concord principal Dr. Norma Zavala explaining why multiculturalism matters, after talking about growing up bilingual/bicultural in a small Eastern Washington town:
Concord social-studies teacher Robin Kanev (a West Seattle resident) told us she’s excited – she’s been at Concord for nine years and specifically wanted to work at a school with a dual-language program. Meantime, district Superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson also noted the significance of Concord’s new status:
And of course, there were performances – African-Cuban drummers to open the assembly, and shortly afterward, these dancers:
Concord has more than 300 students speaking 15 languages, and, as described in a Seattle Public Schools news release, “two classes of Spanish/English dual immersion program as well as an English cohort in kindergarten and 1st grade, (adding) 2nd grade this year, continuing to expand to additional grades each year.” Never been to Concord? Here’s a map.
Just in from Gary Jones – some love and care for a West Seattle icon!
Back on May 20, we published a Crime Watch report from Robin, whose car was stolen just weeks after she arrived in West Seattle. All this time later, she says, it’s finally turned up:
For what it’s worth, I thought I’d follow up with news that my car that was stolen on 5/14 from in front of my house on 39th and Morgan [map] was found last Thursday. SPD left me a voicemail with the address where it was “found.” Of course, 4 months and an insurance claim later, the car no longer belongs to me. However, I thought I’d check to see if any of my belongings were still there. Upon arrival (1.5 miles from my house — just out of the radius I had personally searched for it), the car was in perfect condition, albeit dirty, and it was clear that it had been sitting there for months. Only a few items were taken, but the thieves left a pair of expensive sunglasses, a booklet of CDs, an FM transmitter, and several other easily sell-able items. Should I want to pass any message along to WSB readers, it would be to not be afraid to report abandoned vehicles! They might actually be helping someone by doing so.
The city in fact has an Abandoned Car Hotline: 206-684-8763.
Police and fire responding to 6400 block of California, which would be immediately north of Fauntleroy (map). We’ll be there in a minute. UPDATE: Police have just called off the fire/medic crews, saying “it’s NOT a shooting.” The 911 log call originally said “assault with weapons” but it has closed. 2ND UPDATE: Police are leaving. Here’s what happened: Two people were hanging out in the alley area near Zeeks, described to us as “transients,” and one started yelling about a shooting. Police determined no such thing had happened, though one of them had a “cut-up hand.” Case closed but we’ll leave this up in case you saw everyone rushing there and wondered what happened.
In a weekend of big events this Saturday and Sunday, one of the biggest is the 2nd annual West Seattle Junction Car Show (with WSB among the sponsors), for which California SW in The Junction will be shut down all day Sunday. Coordinator Michael Hoffman from Liberty Bell Printing had more than 100 cars pre-register – and some of their proud owners don’t have to go far to participate in the show – like Bakery Nouveau proprietor William Leaman, who showed us his 1964 Ford Falcon Club Wagon the other day:
And he told us the van’s story:
The van will be in front of Bakery Nouveau during the Junction Car Show (the street closure is going to be a lot like West Seattle Summer Fest, only extending another half-block north to Genesee). After Leaman talked with us about his cool wheels, it was off for a ride:
Car owners are also welcome to register on show day – space available, first-come, first-served. The car show website explains where to be, and when, to participate. Coordinator Hoffman says, “We have two of the best car show people in Seattle, Dean Olson and Scott McMahill, handling the day of logistics. Steve and Dean also head the Roadster Show that take place yearly at the Convention Center.” And while the show is free, he suggests bringing a few dollars to get in on some great prizes for a great cause: “We are also having a raffle, with all proceeds going to the West Seattle Helpline. There will be over 30 items donated by local merchants. The main prize is a $350 gas BBQ grill donated by Junction True Value. And TILA Mortgage has donated two round trips on the Victoria Clipper and one night’s lodging, worth $250.”
From the WSB West Seattle-wide Events calendar (where you’ll find even MORE that’s happening tonight, and beyond):
WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL: Crime concerns? Bring them directly to local police leaderships and community advocates in the meeting we always call a “don’t-miss.” 7 pm, Southwest Precinct meeting room (map).
BACKYARD COTTAGES: This isn’t in West Seattle but the proposed city rule change allowing “backyard cottages” would affect our part of the city too: City Council Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee‘s public hearing, 5:30 pm, City Hall downtown (map).
NEED MEDICARE INFO? Bridge Park in High Point has Medicare Health-Education Consultant Marian Sofferin on hand for Q/A at 1:45 pm today (map).
WESTSIDE SYMPHONETTE: New season for West Seattle’s community orchestra, as previewed here, and if you play an instrument, chances are they have room for you (youth welcome too)! Chief Sealth High School at Boren (map; we’re checking on the start time). Update – Symphonette’s Toni Reineke tells us the start times are 5:30 for beginning strings and junior orchestra, 6:45 for senior orchestra.
DANCE LESSONS IN HIGHLAND PARK: Six Tuesdays, three different dance styles; times and other details on the Highland Park Improvement Club website – HPIC is also where you’ll find the classes (map).
BELLY DANCING AT SKYLARK: With Alauda, 7:30 pm (map).
While a lot of Twitter marketing is fairly basic “hey! come see us and buy our stuff!” (in the case of us news sites, we send out links in hopes you’ll come READ our stuff), there are also 
cool little moments like this one we just happened onto, hours after it happened: Pearl Jam‘s official Twitter account sent word of a photo (at left) of a limited-edition “record” (remember those?) and said, first person who finds it gets it. If you look at the photo full-size here, you’ll see the visual hint – Easy Street Records coffee cups. According to the comment thread on the Twitpic photo page, “someone named Megan got it.” (Reminds us of the April tale of a local family that found a Tony Hawk skateboard at Shadow Land via Twitter.) We use Twitter not just to send out story links (if you ONLY want those, find ’em at @westseattlenews), but also, at @westseattleblog, other tidbits, newsy and otherwise, plus Twitpics of events we’re covering, while we’re there, like the Denny International Middle School ceremony Monday morning (here and here). You can also just check in on the Web – our main @westseattleblog account is at twitter.com/westseattleblog. P.S. Easy Street itself is on Twitter, here – you’ll see tweets about the Pearl Jam release party this Saturday night and the Black Whales in-store show at 5 tonight.
Our trail to that documentary-style video placed on YouTube by Ivar’s started with a post in the WSB Forums, wondering if the video solves the mystery (?) of the Ivar’s sign fished out of Elliott Bay off Alki last month. We had inquired two weeks ago with historian Paul Dorpat, who was mentioned in the initial reports, and here’s what he told us then when we asked “any idea whether it was real or some kind of hoax?”:
The sign is still in the hands of scientists. And they are also, I am told, out diving for the others listed on the map. I, for one, doubt that they will uncover anymore. Ivar would have come to his senses, or he may have only needed one for whatever designs he had. He was famous for chasing the Madrona Sea Monster in the late 40s, and even had a picture of it. I wrote about for an April Fools feature in Pacific. But this sub thing is another thing. You and I will have to wait.
Hmm, mysterious. And when we finally made contact with an Ivar’s PR rep a few days later, she just pointed us back to Paul. Documentary or mockumentary (we can’t help but recall the Jack in the Box Super Bowl saga, though Jack is nowhere near the memorable character Ivar was)? Only time – and tide – and (You)Tube – will tell. (P.S. Global Diving and Salvage, whose vessel Prudhoe Bay is featured in the video, is based in West Seattle.)
Catching up on more stuff to share: West Seattle Thriftway has announced two flu-shot sessions, October 4 and 17, 11 am-4 pm both days, ages 12+. Other info here.
Duwamish Alive! shares an update on its next big volunteer cleanup day, just a month away — October 17 — at sites all over the area, including 4 in West Seattle; they’re even organizing a kayaking cleanup crew. Bottom line: They hope YOU can be part of it, at one of these spots. Read on to see where and how —Read More
Two more reports to share tonight – but first, another plug for tomorrow night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting. If you have any concerns you’d like to bring directly to Southwest Precinct police leadership, this is exactly the place to be; also, tomorrow’s guest speaker is King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, which means you’ll get to hear – and ask – about what happens to crime suspects *after* they’re arrested, including the recently launched Repeat Burglar Initiative. 7 pm, public meeting room at the precinct (Delridge/Webster, parking lot and building entrance are off Webster). Now, speaking of burglary, the latest reports:Read More
From the “School Beat” e-newsletter just distributed – Seattle Public Schools superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson (who was at the Denny event this morning, photo left) has scheduled “coffee hour”-style meetings around the district, and one is in West Seattle (the only evening meeting, too): 6:50-8 pm September 29th at High Point Community Center (6920 34th SW; map). Big week for HPCC – two nights later, it hosts a community meeting with Parks boss Tim Gallagher (7 pm October 1).
As soon as SDOT announced the Fauntleroy Way road work – repaving, rebuilding, “rechannelizing” – was almost done, the questions began, including, why isn’t it all blacktop? We arranged to chat and stroll with SDOT project manager Jessica Murphy to get some answers as the work wrapped up.
(looking north across Fauntleroy at 42nd SW, foreground in shadows)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Now that the end of the Fauntleroy Way repaving/rebuilding work between Edmunds and Holly is here – and so are the “rechannelization” lines – new questions have surfaced (as have new features).
SDOT explained along the way that the stretch of Fauntleroy covered in this $3+ million dollar project (first revealed here last October, with the lane-reconfiguration “rechannelization” plan first made public in November) is a three-section road: Concrete on each side, asphalt down the middle where a gap once existed with thoughts a streetcar track would be built.
When I sat down with SDOT’s Jessica Murphy – a West Seattleite, by the way – at a Morgan Junction coffee shop last week to talk about the project, she brought along a few more specifics about that history – the east section of the road was built in 1927; the west, 1949; and the last major work on the road, including the section where the streetcar track never got built, was 1984.
The roots of what you see today – some spots that are blacktop adjoining some spots that are not – are in 1984, when sections of cement roadway were overlaid in asphalt. It’s particularly noticeable stretching west from Fauntleroy/Graham (map):
Murphy says the asphalt overlay is not considered necessary any more – the asphalt doesn’t add any “structural benefit,” but does add cost — putting it over the west stretch, for example, would have cost $200,000 more, but “added no lifespan.”
That said, two points are worth noting: Once a road is overlaid with asphalt, she says, it needs to stay that way, in no small part because the utilities and other features are built to work with the road at that height (generally two inches over the concrete road base). Also, perhaps most notably, even though your eyes would tell you otherwise, nothing has changed in this project – the section where you see asphalt now is where there was asphalt before – the section where you don’t, didn’t have it. Over time, the two-tone look will soften, she says, adding that the black marks on some of the concrete, blamed on trucks driving over the “tack,” will go away too.
Two days before the grand opening of the Junction QFC supermarket in Capco Plaza at 42nd/Alaska (map), the sign on its west side has just gone up – thanks to Brian from TouchTech Systems in The Junction for the photo. As noted here last week, the ribboncutting is set for 7 am Wednesday. We also have a footnote on our story about Westside Pharmacy closing as its owner and staff move to the new QFC store’s pharmacy – Westside (California/Brandon; map) has posted a sign saying its doors will close for good at 6:30 pm Tuesday, as they work to transition the prescriptions in time for the new pharmacy to open the next morning.
A warning just in from Molly – read on:Read More
(Sunday photo by WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli)
As promised, we checked with the Seattle Housing Authority today regarding what one of the Stewart Manor residents told WSB contributing photojournalist Matt Durham after yesterday morning’s fire – that there are no sprinklers, and that it was dark inside. SHA spokesperson Virginia Felton looked into the questions for us. First, regarding sprinklers:
Stewart Manor does NOT have sprinklers. The building was built before they were required and it would be very expensive to retrofit with sprinklers. One of our construction managers estimated half a million dollars to add sprinklers to Stewart Manor. Because of how most of our high rise buildings are built, they are highly rated for fire safety in spite of not having sprinklers. They are made of concrete and masonry with steel framing. In every instance where I have known of a fire in our high rise buildings, it has consistently been restricted to the one unit where it started. This was also the case at Stewart Manor. Even though the smoke damage is extensive, the fire damage is limited to the fifth floor apartment where the fire originated.
So what about emergency lighting? We asked if its absence was why the resident reported dark hallways. Felton’s reply:
All our apartment buildings are equipped with standard illuminated exit signs. The taller ones have been fairly recently equipped with backup generators that run the elevators and hallway lights if the power goes off. At six stories, Stewart Manor is NOT equipped with a back up generator. In any event, back up or emergency lighting only becomes functional if there is a power outage, which was not the case with this fire at Stewart Manor. The hallways were dark (and hot) because of the thick smoke. Investigation this morning shows that some exit signs (made of plastic) melted from the heat that rose to the ceiling in the hallways.
(Sunday photo of firefighter Bennett from Ladder 7, taken by WSB contributing photojournalist Matt Durham)
She also tells WSB that cleanup crews have been at the building all day today, working on cleanup, and that more residents will be able to return to their apartments later in the day “and we will make sure everyone has a place to stay.” According to the Seattle Fire Department report yesterday, the fire – which sent three people to the hospital for what SFD described as “minor smoke inhalation” – started with someone heating shoe polish to shine shoes, and did $175,000 damage.
They thrilled Delridge Day at Youngstown Arts Center on May 31, as you can see in our video, and Vicious Puppies Crew is back for one of this weekend’s many major West Seattle events – the LINKS community barbecue at Delridge Community Center Playfield (across the street from Youngstown; map) 2-6 pm this Saturday. The event’s to support and celebrate the work that Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association (DNDA) is doing, and DNDA board chair Howie Martin sent along the plan for LINKS – with a menu including grilled steak strips, chicken and veggie sausages, hot dogs, salads, cooked greens, sliced melon, and pies; activities including a bouncy structure for young attendees; live performances including (besides Vicious Puppies Crew) poetry, music, a Youngstown youth showcase. The weekend is fun-filled but since this all stretches across four hours, you can make time to drop by! More on the other big events as the week rolls on.
Today we welcome one of our newest WSB sponsors, AmazonFresh, the new grocery home-delivery service from Amazon.com. We offer new sponsors the chance to tell you about their business, and 
here’s what AmazonFresh would like you to know: Since November 2007, 2,000 of your West Seattle neighbors have experienced the convenience of having all their perishable and non-perishable groceries delivered to their doorstep by AmazonFresh. Unlike other grocery delivery services, AmazonFresh was designed from scratch to take your busy life into account. Same day and next day delivery is standard. They can deliver before you wake up and you don’t need to be home to get delivery. If you want to be home (or your order contains alcohol), you can choose from dozens of 1-hour time slots. Delivery is available 7 days a week including Sundays. For doorstep deliveries, AmazonFresh leaves your groceries in secured, temperature-controlled totes. In addition to these convenience benefits, AmazonFresh has a great selection of local products including produce and dairy. You can even get many of your favorite Amazon.com books, video, baby, toy, and kitchen products delivered with your groceries. Need popcorn, movie, and popcorn maker for a Friday night? No problem. Last but not least, AmazonFresh has multiple ways to save including daily deals, bulk purchases, and automatic delivery discounts. Best of all, these discounts can be “nested” so that customers can take advantage of not 1 but 3 different discounts on the same item! By combining discounts, customers can save up to 70% on certain products. Give AmazonFresh a try today.
Thanks to AmazonFresh for sponsoring 24/7 independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news here on WSB – the full sponsor team is here, with info on how to become part of it! (Photo credit: JetCityOrange)
Leading his school’s first assembly as Denny International Middle School – that second word is brand-new this year – principal Jeff Clark offered a well-received explanation for his bright outfit. He spoke within the past hour to a cafeteria filled with the 700-strong student body that speaks more than 22 languages, according to a fact sheet Seattle Public Schools media liaisons handed out. Clark also pointed out the visual representation of that – these flags hanging overhead:
Part of the new “international school” program includes Spanish/English immersion – Denny teacher Leticia Clausen is teaching a humanities block in Spanish, and is shown in our next video introducing costumed students who performed a dance from the Mexican state of Oaxaca:
(A sign of Denny’s new focus – as Clausen left the stage, the teacher next to whom we were standing thanked her in Spanish; she replied, “De nada.” The language focus at Denny also includes Mandarin Chinese.) Other performers this morning: Denny’s marching band and steel drummers; toward the middle of this clip, you’ll see Marcus Pimpleton, who is leading music programs at Chief Sealth High School this year as well as his duties at Denny:
The students (and teachers, who lined both sides of the cafeteria) also heard from SPS Superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson, who will appear a few miles east at Concord Elementary School tomorrow morning as part of a similar celebration – Concord, which is in South Park but considered part of SPS’s West Seattle region, is also an international school as of this year (here’s the original announcement), which the district says sets up a pathway from Concord to Denny. They are two of five international schools in the SPS system, along with Stanford, Hamilton and Beacon Hill. ADDED 1:08 PM: One more clip – the actual Oaxacan dance:
Three major community meetings are ahead this week in West Seattle, all extending an invitation to you, two with speakers/guests bound to be of high interest:
TUESDAY – WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL: After a summer hiatus, the grass-roots group that brings together law-enforcement leaders and community members each month will reconvene Tuesday night, 7 pm, Southwest Precinct meeting room (Delridge/Webster; map). Special guest this month: King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg (left). If you have questions about what happens to crime suspects once they’re arrested and why, this is the person you want to hear from – his office decides on what if any charges are filed, and how to prosecute the case.
WEDNESDAY – DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOODS DISTRICT COUNCIL: Reps from key community groups and organizations in the eastern half of West Seattle will gather at Youngstown Arts Center (4408 Delridge; map), 7 pm.
THURSDAY – ALKI COMMUNITY COUNCIL: When the ACC meets at Alki Community Center this Thursday at 7, they’re expected to hear from Tom Lin, owner of the historic Homestead Restaurant, closed since a fire eight months ago. Because of the building’s landmark status, the Southwest Seattle Historical Society has expressed concern about its future post-fire, and brought up the situation at the Sept. 2 Southwest District Council meeting. After ACC rep Tony Fragada told the SWDC that Tom Lin would be briefing the Alki group this week, they tabled the topic to wait and see what’s planned for the property and how best to offer help. The public is welcome at the meeting too, though you have to be an ACC member to vote on anything (membership information is here).
What else is up this week? Check the WSB West Seattle-wide Events calendar page any time.
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