West Seattle scenes, with a focus on the weather
Checking through the inboxes to make sure we didn’t miss anything good during another busy, crazy week, we have a few photos to share: Several people photographed the vivid Thursday sunset – the version above is from Dan E. And remember the Jefferson Square sign putting us in triple-digit heat last weekend? What a difference a few days make:
Brian sent us that photo of the J-Square sign in subzero mode. (He took it earlier this week, but we happened to be within line of sight of that sign this afternoon and can confirm it’s still in subzero mode!)
West Seattle Crime Watch: Delridge harassment; hydrant vandalism
First, from seattlepi.com, a Delridge man has told police he’s being harassed – with his truck repeatedly egged, and a swastika drawn on it. Second, a vandalism report from the WSB inbox tonight, sent by Shannon:
I wanted to report some new activity in our area. When we woke up this morning we noticed that someone had spray-painted some type of graffiti on the fire hydrants in bright orange paint. On the way to work, I realized the graffiti was on all the hydrants along 48th Avenue between Brandon and Raymond [map]. We made a police report – hope this isn’t signs of more to come. I park on that street and will definitely be bringing everything in from my car tonight – CD player, CDs, etc.
What the yellow tape in The Junction is there for
You may have noticed yellow tape cordoning off some areas along the sidewalk in The Junction’s business district: Liz at the West Seattle Junction Association tells WSB that landscaping work is happening along California between Edmunds and Oregon, through next week, and the tape will come down as the new plants go in. West Seattle-based Artego’s is donating their services.
Rescued West Seattle kayaker shares his story – and gratitude
(3/16/08 photo from Doug and Anne, originally published here that night)
On March 16, we brought you breaking news about a West Seattle kayaker who got into trouble off Brace Point. The photo above was shared by local residents, as the ferry crew that helped get Scott Redfern out of the water returned their small vessel to the Issaquah. Today, we received Scott’s story, told firsthand. He also provided all the photos in the story below.
By Scott Redfern
Special to West Seattle Blog
I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the rescue crew of the Washington State Ferry, the Seattle Fire and Police Departments, and Gaye Hewson, who opened her home to me. I would also like to thank my friends who have held me close to them and for their love and caring. I feel embraced by this community of West Seattle that is where I make my home. For those of you that know me but are not in touch: I am grateful, healthy and whole. I love you all.
These days are hard as winter slowly recedes. It leaves me wanting for warm and sunny days. With heart-felt sighs and grey, dreary skies, I force myself out to exercise between storm breaks, in this case in the wake of a storm.
Before I took the kayak out I went for about an hour run in Lincoln Park. I chugged up the wet, muddy slippery hills carrying the burden of my extra winter weight. Upon return from my run I look out from my apartment at the wind blown water and the white caps. My endorphins are coursing and I feel like more work. I want to push back against the depressing weather. I’ve been out there on days like this before. It seems every other day it changes direction. Today the winds and swells are moving from south to north.
Read More
More earthquake-proofing planned for a West Seattle bridge
View Larger Map
After encountering a brief mention of “Fauntleroy Bridge seismic work” on a city page listing future projects, we checked with SDOT to see what that’s about. Here’s the explanation of what’s on the drawing board for a half-mile section at the southwest end of the West Seattle Bridge, from SDOT communications director Rick Sheridan:
This work will upgrade the Fauntleroy Expressway Bridge, which spans over SW Admiral Way, Harbor Ave SW, SW Avalon Way, SW Manning St., and local railroad tracks that access the adjacent steel mill. This reinforced concrete bridge is approximately 2527 feet long and carries traffic between the West Seattle Freeway and Fauntleroy Way SW.
The city completed a first phase of seismic retrofit work in the mid 1990s. This covered widening and strengthening bridge supports, and tying bridge segments together over the supports. The project you referenced is a second phase of work. This will upgrade the structure to prevent a collapse during a 1000 year seismic event, which is the new national design standard.
We have identified the bridge weaknesses that need to be retrofitted to meet this new standard. A consultant contract is being negotiated to design and detail the retrofit work. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in early 2010.
Signed up to help make history yet? First-ever West Seattle 5K
Reminder: Discount early registration is still under way for the first-ever West Seattle 5K – benefiting local schools. It’s happening along Alki on May 31st, same day that Alki Ave will close (roughly from Seacrest to Cactus) for Car-Free Day-Turned-Celebrate-Seattle-Summer-Streets. Not only can you sign up online, you can also designate donations for the participating schools – start here.
West Seattle scenes: Seen at last night’s Art Walk
During last night’s West Seattle Art Walk, stopping by Brunette Mix (WSB sponsor) in The Junction would have brought you a little Parisian flavor – Vertu Cakes‘ creation echoed the Eiffel Tower. Elsewhere, treats abounded:
Beneath the painting by “subdued surrealist” T.S. Pew, that’s the dessert buffet offered last night by M3 Bodyworks (whose ad on the WSB sidebar is a gateway to the latest M3 specials). You can see more of Pew’s work at other local businesses including Elliott Bay Brewery and Mashiko, and online at tspew.com. Also on display last night, the work of student artists:
That’s art from Holy Rosary School students, shown last night at The Kenney, the southernmost stop. Last but by no means least, the classic Art Walk pairing may be art and snacks, but at Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) in the Admiral District, the elegant pairing was modern living and modern real estate:
Click! joined forces with 360 Modern, a regional firm that handles, as noted online, “the buying and selling of modern homes.”
Even if you missed last night’s Art Walk, or – like us – only managed a few stops, keep in mind that many of the art displays are at the participating venues for the entire month – so keep an eye out for art as you shop in West Seattle. Next month’s Art Walk – always on the second Thursday – is May 14. And watch the WSB Events calendar for other Junction (and elsewhere) happenings in the meantime, like this one just announcedt:
April 24th from 7-10pm Carmilia’s, Clementine, Edie’s and Sweetie are joining together to host a night of beauty and fashion. Each store will have mini-spa treatments, drinks, treats and of course shopping with great deals. Visit each store and get a punch card stamped good for a glass of bubbly at West 5. There will also be a VIP Discount card given out, good for discounts at the stores and the participating salons (Julie from Ola, Heidi from Seattle Style Salon, Sara from Sara’s Skin Butik and The Body Bar). Please join us for an amazing night. Questions? Call Erin at Edie’s, 206.937.2029
Design Review tonight: Avalon project advances, 42nd doesn’t
That’s the Transitional Resources project at 2922 SW Avalon, one of two projects examined by Southwest Design Review Board members tonight at Madison Middle School. This is intended to be an 16-unit residential project over 1200+ square feet of living space, part of the TR complex offering services, including residential units, to people living with mental illness. This was the project’s first time before the board, seeking “early design guidance” (see the full presentation here); members agreed to let it move on to the next phase, with a few recommendations, including open-space coordination and the courtyard entry. Next project did not have such smooth sailing:
That’s 4532 42nd SW (presentation here), which last went before the board 10 months ago (WSB coverage here). It’s already passed “early design guidance,” so it’s in the second phase of design review, but has to come back for at least one more meeting. Last June, board members said they wanted a closer look at what this mixed-use building (35 residential units over 3,000 sf commercial) will look like at street level; they got one tonight but aren’t happy yet with how the ground-level retail will look – saying it’s not inviting enough and looks distant and inaccessible, which could lead to business failure. So the first floor will be the topic of the next meeting – in hopes a revamp will make it less “vanilla” and “generic.” One more note from tonight’s meeting: new members Norma Tompkins and Robin Murphy joined the board.
One more 34th District Democrats report: The campaigning
When we interviewed County Councilmember Larry Phillips about his campaign for County Executive, he had a catch phrase including “uncommon courage.” Took a little courage to face the 34th District Democrats last night, since they had already endorsed County Council Chair Dow Constantine‘s candidacy last month. And he acknowledged it right out of the box: “I know you have a favorite son, who’s in the back of the room” — heads turned in time to see Constantine wave from the spot where he stood. Phillips, the first of several to campaign or advocate for campaigns during the meeting, reviewed his personal story, reiterated his willingness to “fight,” and stressed his Democratic credentials (though the job now is technically non-partisan). He also had something to say about the newest entrant in the race, former TV news anchor Susan Hutchison: “She’s masquerading as a moderate,” he declared, saying prominent Republican politicians are backing her. Phillips also answered several audience questions, including one about how big a budget bite is being taken by “law/safety/justice” — he said “a lot of people are in our detention facilities who aren’t threats to public safety and don’t need to be there.”
He was only the first of several candidates to speak last night to the 34th DDs, which took on a couple of election-related issues too – read on for the rest of our story and photos:Read More
Before The Kenney’s next design review, a community meeting
As we reported earlier this week, the next Southwest Design Review Board meeting for The Kenney’s $150 million redevelopment proposal is set for May 14th. But first, a community meeting has just been announced for updates on major aspects of the project, including whether the iconic Seaview building can be saved. Here’s the latest, from Cindi Barker at Morgan Community Association:
The Morgan Community Association and Fauntleroy Community Association are hosting a second community meeting to have continued discussion on the Kenney redevelopment project. This meeting will be held Monday, May 4th, 7:30 p.m. at Fauntleroy Church, UCC (9140 California Ave SW).
This session will include not only Kevin McFeely, The Kenney CEO, but also a representative from the Kenney’s architects, AG Architecture. The idea and planning for this second meeting began after the last formal Early Design Guidance Review by the city’s Design Review Board on January 8th. The wait has proved fruitful, as the Kenney has received an estimate on moving the Seaview building in order to preserve it, and has found that saving the Seaview and moving it elsewhere on the property could be done. Consequently, the Kenney has requested a new site plan that 1) moves the Seaview to the northeast corner of the property to be used for administrative purposes and 2) lowers the perimeter building heights to step down more gracefully into the neighborhood and which would put the higher buildings towards the center of the property.
This meeting is intended to be a conversation between community members and the Kenney and the architects. During the formal Design Review meetings, it is not possible to have direct communication; this meeting would give neighbors an opportunity to preview the new design and talk with the architects.
We have a message out to Kenney CEO McFeely, seeking more comment on the possibility of saving the Seaview building (which, in previous discussions, had been deemed infeasible). And before the community meeting, this will be one of the topics on the agenda for MoCA’s quarterly public meeting next Wednesday, 7 pm, at The Kenney (along with items including updates on the Fauntleroy repaving/restriping and RapidRide, among other things).
Closed Fairmount Park Elementary is reopening (temporarily)
It’s been almost two years since we took the photo at left, with crews clearing out Fairmount Park Elementary School (map) in summer 2007, after the Seattle School Board voted to close the building and merge its “program” with the former High Point Elementary School (the two together, in the HP building, are now known as West Seattle Elementary School). Seattle Public Schools‘ communications team has confirmed to WSB something we got a tip about recently – the Fairmount Park building is being reopened for summer school this year. The district had confirmed last year that the building would be kept for “inventory” rather than being put up for sale any time soon. No details so far on exactly which dates, or for which programs, the building will be used. We asked district spokesperson David Tucker why a closed building like this is being reopened for this purpose – his reply:
Using the building for summer school means not disrupting an already existing classroom at another school and also reduces the risk of vandalism during the summer with the building now occupied. So it is not a matter of lack of available space, but keeping the building in operational condition while limiting impacts on other schools. It is the first time the building is being utilized since being closed two years ago.
New recycling/trash schedule, week 2: Everything OK for you?
Seattle Public Utilities says its first week and a half of recycling, yard/food waste, and trash pickup changes has gone relatively smoothly, with a half-percent miss rate for home customers and five percent for apartment/condo/commercial customers. It’s expanded the call-center hours so that if you’re missed or have some other problem, you can reach someone at 684-3000 7:30 am-7 pm weekdays, 9 am-1 pm Saturdays. SPU also says it has “inspectors” trailing crews to check for trouble. (Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Update: Death investigation beneath the West Seattle Bridge
We’ve received several tips/inquiries about this: We just called Seattle Fire Department to find out about what started as a medic response to 11th SW/SW Spokane (map). Spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen confirms it was a fatal fall from the West Seattle Bridge. She says the person pronounced dead at the scene was female. It would be up to an investigation to determine whether this is confirmed as suicide; while we had three reports of bridge deaths in 2007, we had none (this is from our archives, not a check of official records) in 2008; one person died beneath the Admiral Way bridge over Fairmount Ravine in March of last year. As we’ve said before, suicide is an epidemic that needs to be addressed, not ignored as is the policy of some media, so we report about it here as well as homicide cases (which are outnumbered in King County by suicides). For those who have thought about it — the local Crisis Clinic is there to help: 206/461-3222. There’s a national hotline at 800/SUICIDE.
7:06 PM: Wanted to repost a haunting comment just left by Lisa:
It must have been about 12 and I was heading home to West Seattle when I saw the woman as she leaned over the bridge edge, but I was two lanes away and called 911. By the time I reached Harbor Ave. the dispatcher was calling fire and police, when I got to the water taxi I heard them say there was a injured woman on Spokane and 11th and I knew we were too late. I saw her face, shining black hair in the sun, pink shirt……I am so sorry for those who loved her.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: The Medical Examiner’s Office confirms this was a case of suicide. The victim was a 52-year-old woman.
West Seattle jail-site fight: Conlin wants to reopen talks
This item was going to be part of our forthcoming wrapup of various campaign speeches at last night’s 34th District Democrats meeting, but we’ve just received a response to a followup question we sent City Council President Richard Conlin, so we’re breaking it out: During his campaign speech to the 34th DDs (photo left), he mentioned the jail issue – Seattle teaming up with several other cities to pursue a potential new municipal-misdemeanor jail, with the potential sites including West Marginal Way/Highland Park Way SW – and told the 34th DDs: “… siting a new jail … is a terrible idea; we should only have to do it if we absolutely have to do it. I’m encouraged by a significant decrease in the King County jail population (recently) … we’re going to be sending King County a letter asking to reopen discussions about accommodating misdemeanants, so that we won’t go ahead (with a jail) unless we are ABSOLUTELY SURE we have to.” In other words, Conlin intends to ask a question others have posed before: Can’t the county keep handling misdemeanor inmates, at least a while longer, since their jail population in general has been dropping? We e-mailed Conlin this morning for a followup, and he replied:
Councilmember Burgess and I have decided to send this letter, but not sure yet whether it will be just from us or from the whole Council. We just made the decision this week and have not drafted it yet, but expect to do so shortly.
(Councilmember Tim Burgess chairs the council’s Public Safety Committee.) Officially, as noted in our coverage of recent Highland Park Action Committee meetings, the jail-site search is in the environmental-review phase. (WSB coverage of this issue is archived here, newest to oldest.)
West Seattle street-sign snag: Name, readable. Signal, not.
We’ve heard about this now from Karen and Lela (who sent the photo) — when the latest round of street-sign-replacing work started sweeping through West Seattle recently (as noted here), at least one sign wound up causing an unintended side effect — this one on the northwest corner of California/Edmunds in The Junction (map) is blocking the view of the pedestrian signal. We’re checking with SDOT to see if a fix is in the works (and to make sure it’s being reported via the proper SDOT number).
1:53 PM UPDATE: Heard back from Rick Sheridan at SDOT, who says: “Calling 684-ROAD is the best option for this type of issue or any other roadway related problem. But I will talk to the sign replacement team about the northwest corner of California/Edmunds and we will correct the issue.”
3:25 PM UPDATE: And as noted in comments – the visibility problem is being taken care of, with a crew on scene within the past hour. Karen, one of our original tipsters, sent this photo (thanks!):
Tomorrow’s also prime time for egg hunts; though we have 
| 5 COMMENTS