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Happening today/tonight: Energizing discussion, Alki work, more
March 16, 2009 6:30 am
|    Comments Off on Happening today/tonight: Energizing discussion, Alki work, more
 |   Environment | Transportation | West Seattle police

ENERGETIC NIGHT FOR SUSTAINABLE WEST SEATTLE: What better way to follow up a mini-windstorm than a discussion of non-fossil-fuel energy sources like wind? An Alki resident whose wind-power invention is getting a lot of attention, Jellyfish Wind Appliance creator Chad Maglaque, is among the guests discussing “community energy” at tonight’s Sustainable West Seattle monthly meeting at Camp Long Lodge, 7 pm.

ALKI SIDEWALK PROJECT SET TO START: We’ve been updating you on the Alki Point sidewalk completion/traffic-calming project in the past month, as construction got closer; today’s the day it’s set to start (providing our weekend weather woes haven’t caused a delay) – here’s our previous coverage with details of the project and timetable for construction; note that it’s starting at the Beach/Alki bend, which is a dicey drive in the best of conditions, so avoid that area if you can. (10:42 am note, just drove through the project zone to see if anything was happening yet – no equipment or signs – not exactly ideal work weather, of course – will keep checking and will post again whenever it DOES truly start.)

And one big citywide story to watch for this afternoon:

ACTING POLICE CHIEF ANNOUNCEMENT: Mayor Nickels is scheduled to announce at City Hall, 1 pm, who will run the department — at least temporarily — if and when Chief Gil Kerlikowske leaves for his new job in D.C. (The Times says this morning that Nickels wants it to be Deputy Chief John Diaz.)

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A West Seattle student abroad asks for your help, to help others
March 15, 2009 10:28 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   How to help | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

Michelle Baker is a born-and-raised West Seattleite – attended Lafayette Elementary, Madison Middle School, and West Seattle High School – but right now she’s in Butare, Rwanda (map), as part of her International Studies major at Seattle University. Before she left, she held a Beads for Life fundraiser to help Ugandan women – the photo above shows Michelle and mom Julie at the fundraiser. Now that she’s in Africa, Michelle is writing about her experiences online – michellejbaker.blogspot.com. But her trip is about more than studying; Michelle — a longtime soccer player — and her friend Caitlin, from Colorado, are also spending time in Uganda and have written a proposal to carry out a dream to help women through sports, by starting a soccer team in Northern Uganda. They need support, including money. Read on to see what they want to do and why:Read More

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West Seattle Weather Watch: Now, the wind
March 15, 2009 5:03 pm
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

(refresh/scroll down for new pix and info as we get it)

(photo added 5:10 pm, courtesy of Cathy Woo, taken south of Alki Point)
Starting to really kick up, so we’ll open this new post in case of any problems. Note that West Seattle’s brand-spanking-new emergency-preparedness website is up and running, too – including where to gather in case of major disaster. See it here. 45 mph gust at Alki Point according to the hourly readings from the National Weather Service (that station is K91S). Let us know if there’s trouble where you are. And even if the power goes out – if you can get online, you’ll find us here too, since we have power and Internet-service backups. Another potentially helpful link: Here’s the City Light outages list (none in our area right now).

ADDED 5:28 PM: Anne from Ventana Construction (WSB sponsor) photographed this rainbow while in the Belvidere area just before the sun went back into hiding:

8:15 PM NOTE: We took a sunset/dusk drive around some of the major arterials. No obvious problems. Will be watching for another forecast update in an hour or so, to see if any other “surprises” are lurking later this week. There is a big tree down in South Park, though – got this photo from 8th S and Rose (map):

We’re told City Light is cutting up the tree now and that only a few homes lost power because of the downed tree.

9:58 PM UPDATE: Sustained wind has picked up again, but the new “forecast discussion” published at 9 pm still says things should calm down by midnight.

11:08 PM UPDATE: The official forecast itself updated at 11 pm. Now says wind “easing overnight,” but potentially gusting to 35 mph now and then in the meantime. Alki Point registered a 34 mph gust at the top of the hour.

11:35 PM NOTES: We also have two reports (comments and Twitter) of some snow mixed in with all this craziness, from Fairmount and High Point.

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Space shuttle just launched; NEXT one has a West Seattleite
March 15, 2009 4:54 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle people

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

(today’s shuttle launch, clip from MSNBC.com added 5:59 pm)
Just watched the liftoff of shuttle Discovery, headed for the International Space Station johnson-gc-thumbnail.jpg(check out NASA’s website for all the latest, including live audio and video from the mission as of this writing). In case you’ve been wondering — West Seattle High School alum Gregory Johnson (photo at right) is still waiting to go up – we reported back in August on the announcement that he would pilot the next mission of shuttle Atlantis, headed for the Hubble Space Telescope; his mission, STS-125, is currently scheduled for May.

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West Seattle snow (before the wind): Two more visual souvenirs
March 15, 2009 4:15 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle video | West Seattle weather

Thanks to Adam for creating and sharing that video of this morning’s snowy scenes around West Seattle. What’s the music, you ask? “Lullabye” by _ghost. Next, a photo from David Hutchinson:

David adds:

Not nearly as much snow at sea level this morning as up at the Admiral Junction; just enough to add some highlights to the old 1975 Alaska Square Tlingit Totem Pole being stored by the Port of Seattle at Jack Block Park.”

Reminder, a wind advisory is in effect till 11 pm, and the afternoon forecast says we could see gusts up to 50 mph.

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Listen up: West Seattle music on the air tonight
March 15, 2009 3:34 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

Just got a note from Jessie, proprietor at Skylark Cafe and Club (WSB sponsor), West Seattle’s major live-music hotspot with bands six nights a week – she says, “I’m going to be on 107.7 The End’s Local Music show tonight with Megan Seling of The Stranger (8-10 pm) playing a few awesome bands that have played Skylark — as many as I have time for. Take a listen if you can!” She’s working to get mixdowns for Stevedore (which has two former Skylark employees) and Bend (which has two Shadow Land owners), who she says are both in the middle of recording right now. 6:31 PM UPDATE: Jessie reports in comments, “Got the mixdowns.” If you’re away from a radio, listen online, 8-10 pm: 1077theend.com.

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Another West Seattle business move: smallclothes gets bigger
March 15, 2009 11:29 am
|      9 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

Thanks to longtime WSBer Diane for spotting a “Moving/April 1st” sign on the door at smallclothes (map) and letting us know; sounded like a good excuse to check in on a local business that also happens to be working in the spirit of sustainability – so here’s what WSB’s newest contributing reporter found out during a visit to the store:

By Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Good news for fashion-forward kids and their cost-savvy parents: The resale kids’-clothing and gift store smallclothes is moving across the street to a new space on April 1st. Besides being larger and having an open floor plan, what’s the best thing about the new store? Mother-daughter co-owners Ruth and Stephanie Hargrave agree: “No stairs!”

For the past four years, faithful parents have dragged strollers up a flight of stone stairs to reach the duplex that houses smallclothes, seeking gently used and new clothes for their well-dressed tykes. The owners buy clothes without wear and tear, offering cash or store credit in return. Some of the clothes and shoes are brand-new and still have store tags on them; some have only been worn a couple of times.

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West Seattle Weather Watch: Almost-spring Sunday snow
March 15, 2009 7:53 am
|      32 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

(replaced original photo with video from Upper Fauntleroy at 8:35 am)
Nothing should surprise us, given what’s happened so far this winter, but waking up to Winter Wonderland, Yet Again, is still a bit of a shock. Someone mentioned “snow?” on Twitter last night; we went to the forecast to look and all we saw was the chance of some gusty winds later today. But at least where we are – it’s blanketed, already. And you?

8:02 AM: The current forecast insists this will change to rain later – and then give way to a wind advisory, noon-11 pm. Send a photo if you have one! editor@westseattleblog.com

8:17 AM: Here come the photos – thanks! First, from Tony in High Point:

From Scott C near Myrtle Reservoir:

From King County on Twitter a moment ago:

Snow is spreading across King County, but Metro buses are still moving with little disruption. Will keep you posted if that changes

From Cathy Woo on Alki – snowing down at the lower levels too:

Reminder that if you need to drive somewhere, our Traffic page has a variety of camera views in West Seattle and on the routes leading onto/off the peninsula.

8:36 AM: Just added video to the top of this report, a shaky pan from the arterial intersection nearest WSB HQ (California/Thistle; map) for posterity’s sake and anyone who’s out of town … Remember that it did snow in LATE March last year. Now, more photos – this one from Todd in Admiral:

From Jodi in the 4000 block of Fauntleroy Way alongside the approach to The Bridge (and she reports traffic’s getting by just fine):

Via Facebook (where you can “friend” us as WS Blog), Talani reports it’s more like rain on Alki right now. Still snow here but smaller flakes, and there IS some on the road, so drive carefully if you have to go somewhere. Meantime, famous forecaster Cliff Mass explains the super-size flakes seen earlier:

The snow is full of large aggregates (many crystals stuck together)…that is why they are so large (the surfaces of the snowflakes are melitng and wet…and this acts as a sort of glue to allow them to stick to each other). This happens in marginal temp situations, like we have now.

Update on who DID forecast this: On FB, we have one report that Channel 5 did hint at this, and another that Cliff M mentioned the possibility in his Friday KUOW appearance.

9:04 AM: From Diana in North Admiral:

And on the flip side, Talani’s photo of Alki Ave out the window of the beachside Starbucks:

From JH near Schmitz Park:

Pretty sure that’s now the sound of some snowmelt in the downspout outside the nearest window … And yes, the street’s now wet with a little slush, and it’s more rain than snow. So at least your photos will be indisputable proof for anyone who’s sleeping late and might end up missing the whole thing!

9:22 AM: Via Twitter, Bridgette in the Avalon/Luna Park area reports a Comcast cable-TV outage. Anyone else? Meantime, the big flakes are back. Guess this will be off-on for a while.

9:31 AM: Kathleen just e-mailed from Highland Park and says that near Riverview Playfield, “no sign of rain” – still “tons of snow coming down.” (minutes later in Upper Fauntleroy, it’s 95% rain)

9:55 AM: Unless you’re in a micro-microclimate pocket and seeing otherwise, looks like the snow event is mostly over. But remember that there’s another round of wild weather predicted for later today – a wind advisory around the metro area, noon-11 pm – forecast excerpt:

SOUTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH BECOMING SOUTHWEST 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO NEAR 40 MPH THIS AFTERNOON.

But in the meantime, the more-typical weather has arrived just in time for the West Seattle Farmers’ Market (now till 2 pm in The Junction). And the first government news release has arrived too – King County’s overview.

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Happening today: West Seattle Farmers’ Market, free yoga …
March 15, 2009 6:52 am
|    Comments Off on Happening today: West Seattle Farmers’ Market, free yoga …
 |   Fun stuff to do | West Seattle businesses | West Seattle Farmers' Market

WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm, 44th/Alaska; here’s the latest list of what you can expect to find. (Also look for the chance to pledge volunteer time to Junction Plaza Park.)

FREE YOGA: 11 am-12:15 pm today, Sound Yoga (WSB sponsor) offers another one of its every-so-often free yoga classes. Find out more at the Sound Yoga website.

WANT A MINI-MASSAGE? Another WSB sponsor, Pharmaca, has a massage therapist on hand in its Junction location today, 11 am-2 pm, offering massage therapy at $1/minute.

LEND A HAND TO THE LOG HOUSE: Reminder about the emergency request that came in yesterday — the Log House Museum in Alki needs help moving some stuff 11 am-2 pm today, and you’ll get treats for your trouble. Read all about it here.

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1 week till spring: The gardening mood is sprouting up all over
March 15, 2009 12:28 am
|      7 COMMENTS
 |   Arbor Heights | Delridge | Gardening | West Seattle news

On this rainy night – think of how great the rain is for all those West Seattle gardens-in-waiting, with the official start of spring just a week away. We have several garden-related notes to share:

P-PATCH VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: An update from Aaron Hernandez, who’s helping coordinate the creation of a new P-Patch on a plot provided by West Seattle Christian Church in The Junction:

We’ve finally got a name, Friends of West Seattle Genesee P-Patch. We’re shooting to meet the April 6 grant deadline, and I am still in search of potential volunteers. I am also interested in hearing from any local businesses able and willing to contribute to our project. The items we need vary, so if anyone is interested they should contact me. I’d also like to encourage businesses and other organizations to consider volunteering as teams, as it is a great way not only to contribute to our community, but also build and strengthen employee teams and relationships. My e-mail is wscc.grounds@hotmail.com.

LONGFELLOW CREEK GARDEN: We followed the development of this organic garden/mini-farm last year, and its volunteers are getting ready for a new growing season:

Another organizing meeting is planned tonight (Sunday) not far from the garden site in Delridge. If you’re interested in being part of it, send a note to longfellowcreekgarden@earthlink.net — you can also become a “friend” of Longfellow Creek Garden on Facebook – start here.

ARBOR HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY PLANT SALE: Orders are being taken now for plants that’ll be delivered in early May. All the info you need starts here. (And if anyone else has a fundraising plant sale under way, let us know – all our contact info is here.)

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Admiral “Mamma Mia!” wedding: They got hitched without a hitch
March 14, 2009 8:38 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   Admiral Theater | West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

The movie and the singing are in full swing as we write this, and the cake/cupcake partying will follow, but we can report that tonight’s real-life wedding onstage at the Admiral Theater happened in fine style. We took the wedding party’s photo above in the lobby afterward; we’ll be checking our video in a bit. Good crowd on hand to applaud now-newlyweds Melodie Anderson and John Babcock, longtime sweethearts whose story you can read here and here; we met the fine folks from Standing Ovation Films, a West Seattle-based video-production company who read about the wedding plan here on WSB and donated a wedding-video package worth $2,000 (they had three cameras in the theater!); other donated gifts included the Cafe Revo wedding dinner, the Sugar Rush Baking Company cake and cupcakes, an anonymously gifted stay at a Lake Chelan vacation home, and the volunteer services of nondenominational minister Teri Ensley, who you may also know as the ringleader of local pet-helping nonprofit Furry Faces Foundation. For the occasion, till we have wedding video to share, here’s our favorite ABBA song:

ADDED 9:52 PM: Here’s the entire five-minute wedding – minister Teri’s mike did come on after the first 10 seconds or so:

(video no longer available due to blip.tv shutdown)

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Saturday early-evening notes: Movie cupcakes; cover dog
March 14, 2009 5:57 pm
|    Comments Off on Saturday early-evening notes: Movie cupcakes; cover dog
 |   Admiral Theater | Fun stuff to do | Pets | West Seattle Outdoor Movies

MOVIE CUPCAKES: No matter which of tonight’s big movies you are going to, you’ll see cupcakes. The ones at left were photographed by Lora Lewis of Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) as she gets ready for tonight’s Winter Indoors Movies on the Wall showing of the original “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (7 pm, West Seattle Christian Church activity center, free [cupcakes extra]); cupcakes also are in the works for the wedding celebration before the singalong “Mamma Mia!” at the Admiral Theater (7:30 pm, $8, cupcakes included).

MAKING OF A COVER DOG: We learned recently that one of West Seattle’s best-known canine cuties, Wendy Hughes-Jelen‘s Italian greyhound Sophia, would be appearing on a future cover for WS-based CityDog Magazine – and now (discovered via our Blogs page feed) Wendy has published the story of Sophia’s big day on her website. See Wendy’s story, photos and all, here (meantime, CityDog has promised to share a sneak peek at the cover when it gets close to hitting the stands).

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West Seattle’s Denny Middle School in St. Patrick’s Day parade
March 14, 2009 4:20 pm
|      8 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS culture/arts

Thanks to Joe Follansbee for these photos of the Denny Middle School marching band in this afternoon’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade downtown. Joe reports: “The rain eased off for us and the wind was light, so conditions were tolerable. And the kids were near the beginning of the parade, so they (and their parents) didn’t freeze halfway to death!”

While we were visiting Denny yesterday morning (longer story to come), music director Marcus Pimpleton told us the marching band’s next parade is the Junior Daffodil Parade, two weeks from today in Tacoma (more info here).

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Log House Museum needs help tomorrow: Free treats, too!
March 14, 2009 2:30 pm
|    Comments Off on Log House Museum needs help tomorrow: Free treats, too!
 |   How to help | West Seattle history | West Seattle news

loghousemuseum.jpg

Andrea Mercado from the Log House Museum — where you can check out the history of West Seattle, noon-4 pm Thursdays-Sundays — just sent this note:

Stop in Sunday, March 15th, between 11-2 to help us move file cabinets, brochures, books and papers out from the Log House Museum upstairs. Besides being an enormous help to the Log House Museum and Southwest Seattle Historical Society, you will also get to see the inner sanctum of the museum (upstairs) which is not generally open to the public. (oooooooohhhhh)

A 105 year old log structure is always an adventure to maintain and a joy to work in, but the building cannot handle the weight of our modern-day conveniences.

For 30 minutes, an hour or two of your time… there will be goodies donated by the Alki Bakery and beverages to keep us all going.

The museum’s in the big beautiful historic house shown in the photo above, 61st/Stevens in Alki (map).

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New bowling leagues coming to West Seattle
March 14, 2009 2:20 pm
|    Comments Off on New bowling leagues coming to West Seattle
 |   Fun stuff to do | Triangle | WS & Sports

With recent bowling-center closures elsewhere in the region, more bowling leagues are rolling our way – so Underdog Sports Leagues sent this announcement of new leagues at West Seattle Bowl, with registration open now:

Roll on Through Wet Weather Toward Summer!

Spring in Seattle could easily be renamed MoreWinter. It’s that tease of a season here in the Northwest that spans from after the holidays until about July. MoreWinter tosses out a nice day every couple weeks – but for the most part you could be in November. How to make it through until Summer? Take refuge in the warm embrace of the bowling alley. Liquid sunshine, prizes, theme nights (like Ugly Sweater Night), and classic fun will ward off April and May cold dampness!

The leagues are on Monday and Thursday nights, and run for 6 weeks each. Monday night league starts on the 30th of March at 7 pm, and Thursday is late-night bowling starting on March 26th at 9:30 pm.

For sign-ups and more info, check out the Underdog Sports site.

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Saturday miscellany: Videos, a traffic alert, a petition
March 14, 2009 11:01 am
|      12 COMMENTS
 |   Alaskan Way Viaduct | West Seattle video | WS miscellaneous

Longing for the sun that seemed to shine throughout the workweek – and now has mischievously vanished? WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli captured some of it this past week on video – lovely water scenes off Beach Drive. Another video to share – this one from Arbor Heights Elementary School:

That’s a video plea for Barbara Bailey, the school’s music teacher, to get better and come back. Arbor Heights teacher Mark Ahlness shared that clip with us; he writes on his own website – which is among the 100 West Seattle sites featured on our automatically and frequently updated Blogs page (always good reading) – that she is “fighting valiantly to regain her health.”

TRAFFIC ALERT: To clarify the Alaskan Way Viaduct closure signs you may have seen regarding tomorrow’s St. Patrick’s Day Dash – according to this city alert, if you head northbound tomorrow morning (approximately 7:30-11 am), you will be routed off 99 at Western, since the Dash is happening north of The Tunnel. So that might cause some slowdowns. (Reminder, NEXT weekend is The Viaduct’s next inspection shutdown – full closure 6 am-6 pm Saturday and Sunday, Battery Street Tunnel closure from Friday night-Monday morning.)

P-I GLOBE PETITION: With an announcement due next week on the fate of the Seattle P-I, a longtime WSBer wanted to share this petition, saying that whatever happens with the P-I itself, the iconic globe should not go away. You can see and “sign” the petition here.

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Today/tonight: Onstage wedding, Movie on the Wall, more
March 14, 2009 9:35 am
|    Comments Off on Today/tonight: Onstage wedding, Movie on the Wall, more
 |   Admiral Theater | Fun stuff to do | West Seattle Outdoor Movies

First: Direct link to today’s long list of events from our West Seattle Weekend Lineup – just click here.

Second: We have one “what’s NOT happening” note – the West Seattle High School fundraising car wash has been called off, rainout.

Next: Tonight’s the night for two fun movie events in West Seattle. First, an update on the “Mamma Mia!” preshow wedding tonight at The Admiral:

Melodie Anderson and John Babcock will get married onstage before the “Mamma Mia!” singalong screening, and yet another gift has appeared: Dinah Brein McClellan at the Admiral Theater says Standing Ovation Films has now donated its services to shoot the wedding and related events (including the donated wedding-party dinner at Cafe Revo). YOU, however, do NOT need to bring a gift – just help make sure there’s a good crowd to cheer on Melodie and John – they’re marrying before movietime, 7:30 tonight at The Admiral (tickets $8, available online till a few hours ahead of time, after that, at the door).

More in the mood for goofy family fun? Be at tonight’s Winter Indoor Movies on the Wall presentation of the original “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory“:

Your sponsors are the West Seattle Junction merchants; venue is the newest multipurpose facility in The Junction, West Seattle Christian Church‘s activity center (with not one but TWO big screens!) on 42nd just south of Genesee), price – absolutely free, and you’re encouraged to bring a nonperishable food item for the West Seattle Food Bank. Worth bringing a few bucks for concession sales and the special “Golden Ticket” raffle. More at the Movies on the Wall website. (Next week, the winter series finale – “Napoleon Dynamite“!)

Again – for everything else happening today and tomorrow in West Seattle, go here!

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West Seattle Crime Watch: 2 burglary reports
March 14, 2009 8:21 am
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   Arbor Heights | Crime | Seaview | West Seattle news

Read on for two reports that came in Friday but involved break-ins earlier in the week:Read More

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Ask, and ye shall receive … parking enforcement
March 13, 2009 8:54 pm
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   Transportation | West Seattle news

After covering a crash in The Junction this afternoon, WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli noticed several cars along SW Oregon east of 41st (map) with parking tickets. This, just a few days after parking enforcement in Junction-area neighborhoods was discussed at the most recent meeting of the Junction Neighborhood Organization (as reported at the end of this WSB article); JuNO president Erica Karlovits had suggested that better enforcement of existing rules and laws could ease the perceived parking crunch and confirm there’s no need for pay stations (which the city will be reviewing as part of the Junction parking study that’s under way now – next walking tour Wednesday, 11 am, meet at Cupcake Royale). Think your neighborhood needs parking enforcement? Here’s a place to start.

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Update: Boy “will be just fine” after accident on Belvidere
March 13, 2009 4:31 pm
|      19 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | WS breaking news

Thanks to everyone who has called and e-mailed. The “heavy rescue” call in the 3200 block of Belvidere (map) involved a pickup truck hitting a child – a boy, six or seven years old. WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli has been to the scene and was told the victim’s injuries are not life-threatening, but he was taken to the hospital to be checked out. He also was told the boy was playing with a toy truck when the truck, apparently belonging to someone working in the area, came down a steep driveway, and the driver just didn’t see the child. 5:29 PM UPDATE: Just talked to Officer Jeff Kappel with the Seattle Police media unit. He says the boy is 6 years old, “will be just fine” – bumps and bruises, at this point – and that it was truly an accident, so the truck driver (who Kappel says apparently knows the boy’s family) will not be cited.

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West Seattle Weekend Lineup: 2 big movies, a wedding, & more
March 13, 2009 3:31 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle Weekend Lineup: 2 big movies, a wedding, & more
 |   Fun stuff to do | WS culture/arts | WS Weekend Lineup

wswllicon3.pngThe original “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” is the second of three Winter Indoor Movies on the Wall in The Junction … at The Admiral, the singalong “Mamma Mia” will be preceded by a real-life wedding onstage … there’s a property auction and two rummage sales … a poker tournament tonight to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society … Gatewood Elementary and Pathfinder K-8‘s big fundraisers … the last weekend to buy Girl Scout cookies … and free yoga! That’s all among more than 40 events in this edition of the West Seattle Weekend Lineup (sponsored by Skylark Cafe and Club):Read More

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Details: Why Conner’s Junction megaproject gets another review
March 13, 2009 2:26 pm
|      27 COMMENTS
 |   Development | West Seattle news

Last night, we published a short summary right after the design-review meeting about the Conner Homes megaproject in The Junction; now, here are full details on what was seen and said, and what happens next:

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The crowd reaction was a bit reminiscent of an evangelistic church service when Rene Commons (above) stood before the Southwest Design Review Board last night to show those photos she’s shown holding. Many people in the 50-or-so-member crowd murmured and mumbled “uh-huhs,” maybe just short of an “A-men.”

Her point was that the Conner Homes two-building, 7-story megaproject at California/Alaska/42nd needs architectural flair, given its prominent future position in the heart of the business district that is now branded as Downtown West Seattle.

And the desire to see more detail is part of why SWDRB members asked Conner and his development team, including architects from Weber Thompson, to come back for (at least) one more review.

Read More

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Traffic alert: Crash slowing traffic at north end of The Junction
March 13, 2009 1:23 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | WS breaking news

WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli is at the scene at California and Oregon (map); he says one car hit three others, and adds: “The driver is being taken to Harborview. Police said that there were no signs of alcohol use but that the man was having trouble answering basic questions about what happened. Traffic at Cali and Oregon is backing up a bit but SPD is waving through the rubberneckers.” 1:37 PM UPDATE: Added photo by Christopher, who updates that police say the red car was heading eastbound and crossed into the westbound lane, hitting at least two cars.

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