West Seattle, Washington
27 Saturday
From the Seattle Public Schools “School Beat” e-newsletter that arrived today:
Cathy Thompson, currently principal at Roxhill Elementary School, has been appointed Assistant Director of Curriculum and Instruction. This is a newly established role that strengthens the Learning and Teaching function in support of the Strategic Plan. Before taking the leadership role at Roxhill, Cathy spent four years at Rainier View Elementary School, four years as a literacy instructional coach and six years as a first-grade teacher at Bailey Gatzert Elementary School.
That means Roxhill and Schmitz Park Elementary Schools (links and maps to those and all other WS schools are on this WSB page) here in West Seattle are both looking for new principals; the SPS communications team is checking into the search status and we should have an update next week. “School Beat” also mentioned that volunteers organized by Pricewaterhousecooper were sprucing up Roxhill today.
(photo taken a few minutes before the Official Start of Summer)
Permit us a funny little brag. Admiral Neighborhood Association president Mark Wainwright sometimes begins his meetings by going around the room with an interesting question for each person in attendance to answer. During the ANA meeting on Tuesday, June 10, in the midst of June gloom, he asked everyone in the room to predict which date it would next hit 80 degrees. Many were pessimists .. August? Next year? Etc. For some reason, your editor here declared, “June 20th.” Everyone laughed. Well, just for the record, it’s June 20th, and the 4 pm temperature reading at Sea-Tac Airport is … 80 degrees. At Boeing Field, 81. And the next few hours are likely to be even warmer. Happy summer!!!!
An hour from now, it’s solstice time. Weather permitting (forecast doesn’t look too bad), most West Seattle wading pools open this weekend, too – plus there’s another of those popular “Wii for adults” events at a local library — a free soapmaking class presented by Seattle Free School — even pet adoption on Alki, and more! 42 West Seattle events ahead:Read More
The first pinball (note the circa-1981 Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man game at right) and video games are in … the ice cream is up at the counter …
… and Full Tilt Ice Cream on 16th SW (detailed WSB preview here with flavors, hours, etc.) is open for business as of a couple hours ago. Co-owner Justin Cline says the party really gets going tonight, with The Blank-Its playing from 9 till about midnight, but you can wander in any time before then and try the ice cream, paletas, and/or pinball. We’ll add a couple video clips in a bit with a closer look at the games; just wanted to post this reminder that they’re officially open.
(video no longer available due to blip.tv shutdown)
Passing through Westwood Village on the way back from dropping in on Grand Opening Day for Full Tilt Ice Cream (an update on that is coming up shortly), we noticed the bloodmobile at WV, just east of Barnes and Noble. That reminded us we hadn’t passed along word of the “Give Twice” drive that the Puget Sound Blood Center recently launched to avoid a dangerous summertime blood shortage — even if you can’t get to WV today (sorry for the short notice, looks like it’s only there till about 3 pm), there’s a June 30th blood drive at Admiral Safeway, July 2nd at PCC, and then back at Westwood Village July 26th. Or make an online appointment here to donate some other time at one of the PSBC’s regional centers. Meantime, here are full details about “Give Twice” – with a freebie for participants:Read More
First, one last note that The Viaduct will be closed 7:45-11 am tomorrow for the Race for the Cure (not too late to register! we’ll be in the 5K Walk crowd that’s always an amazing sight, swarming the carless Viaduct decks). And the state just issued its announcement of results from this week’s quarterly inspection (along with the dates for the next total-shutdown inspection, which we’ve added to the WSB West Seattle Events list) – sounds like you can breathe a little easier as you drive it:Read More
Summer starts in a few hours and outdoor dining starts this weekend at WSB’s newest sponsor, Beato Food and Wine. Here’s more on that and other announcements that Beato’s Brandon Gillespie wants to share as his restaurant joins the WSB sponsor lineup (find that full list here):
A Big Thanks to West Seattle!
The staff and I at Beato want to thank all of West Seattle for providing us with such support over the past year and a half. We love being a part of West Seattle and we couldn’t have done it without you. As we approach summer, we have a couple of announcements to make with regards to the restaurant.
SUMMER PATIO OPENING SOON:
Saturday, June 21, 2008
The meterologists are predicting warmer weather for the beginning of summer this weekend and with it, we plan to open the patio on Saturday, June 21. Throughout the summer season, for anyone enjoying a glass of wine on the patio between 4:30-6pm, we’ll offer complimentary summer snacks, such as housemade sunchoke chips or house-brined olives. So be sure to stop by on your way home from work and enjoy a glass of wine and a few bites in the summer sun!SUMMER HOURS
Starting this week, we are open for dinner inside from 5-10 pm on Tuesday through Thursday and from 5-11pm on Friday and Saturday. The patio will open at 4:30pm whenever the weather is warm and dry enough. We will be closed Sundays and Mondays for the summer.Thank you for your continued support and I hope to see you soon at Beato Food and Wine.
-Brandon Gillespie
From the WSB Forums – Hopey is getting married in two weeks and suddenly scrambling to find a classic car. If you can help, check out her post here.
As mentioned in our first report on this, the meeting’s not in West Seattle, but many of these possible county cuts affect public safety/criminal justice in our area (as well as on-the-street law enforcement in neighboring White Center) so it’s an important issue for West Seattle as well: King County Sheriff Sue Rahr‘s public meeting about the situation she headlines as “Public Safety in Peril” is 6 pm tonight at SeaTac City Hall (map/get directions). Read the full meeting notice (including toplines on possible cuts) here.
Feet First, which helps make our area more walkable, is close to kicking off The Cart Project – distributing carts like the one shown above, for a nominal price – and that means two things for people in West Seattle. First, the carts will be initially offered to Westwood-area residents. Second, volunteers are needed to help match carts with takers. Here’s what Ellie Taylor from Feet First sent us to share with you:
Meet new people, and give neighborhood residents a reason to get out and walk! This is a volunteer opportunity for Feet First’s new Cart Project, which aims to make it easier for people to do their everyday shopping on foot with personal hand-carts.
Location: The pilot project is in Westwood Village, West Seattle. Volunteers would help distribute carts to neighborhood residents who come through the QFC in Westwood Village.
Times: Throughout the day; evening availability (5-7) is especially appreciated.
Tasks: Volunteers will ask people if they are within the target area, describe the project, administer a short survey, and collect some money.
To find out more, e-mail Ellie at ellie@feetfirst.info
Thanks to Dave Gould for that photo of the last sunset before summer arrives. Solstice is 4:59 pm our time tomorrow. Next photo is more about what you don’t see than what you do see:
That’s the view from the railing to the south of the ramp going down to the Elliott Bay Water Taxi dock downtown, if you didn’t recognize it. The small wooden float at the center with the upside-down boat had two visitors this afternoon while we were waiting to catch the WT home from our City Hall visit — they were gone before we could pull out the cameraphone, but we wanted to mention them: two otters! (Just in case you were still feeling sad about the one killed over here last weekend, looks like they have friends/relatives in the bay; hope the two we saw don’t try crossing Alaskan Way …)
Belated report on last night’s monthly meeting of the Delridge District Council, one of two “district councils” in West Seattle (as per the city’s “district” map) – Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle is getting ready for the second year of its program to harvest fruit from residents’ trees; City Councilmember Sally Clark talked about the latest changes in the process for reviewing neighborhood plans (and got to hear about some hot local issues since she arrived early, including the jail-sites fight); details ahead:Read More
As you can see from that photo Scott sent last week – the day grass seed was applied – the Myrtle Reservoir site is not only on a hill, it has hills of its own. And they seem to have provided a new wrinkle in the park plan, according to what the Parks Department’s project manager and architect told the city Design Commission downtown today:Read More
We usually just put the lost/found notes on the Pets page, but the one that just came in about the discovery of two tortoises begs for a wider audience. Check it out here.
6 am June 30th. Here’s the update that just came in from Charlestown Cafe co-owner Larry Mellum, 4 1/2 months after the fire that forced the beloved restaurant to close for a while:
The Fire Dept. has approved our new Hood System so we are “good to go!!” This week we will finish getting the restaurant put back together and cleaned-up. Believe me it has been a long and frustrating process but the end is near. So, we will make it official. We will be re-opening Monday, June 30th at our usual time 6:00 a.m. … The support we have received from this community has been incredible. We at ‘Charlestown want to thank you all very, very much!! We will see you on the 30th.
If you missed the original news of the February fire, you can catch up with our Charlestown Cafe news archive (newest to oldest), which includes the most recent update from Larry a week and a half ago, when he told us he’d just had a meeting with his staff to see how many he’d have to replace (since the restaurant had been closed so long) – and he reported “Everyone showed up!”
(first photo by WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli; second photo by co-publisher Patrick Sand)
No one hurt and mostly smoke damage, according to the team member who’s just arrived on scene (“ton of firetrucks” according to one of the e-mail tips we received, as you can also see from the 911 log; thanks to everyone who e-mailed and texted!). Here’s a map; details to come. 1:52 PM UPDATE: Here’s what the incident commander told us at the scene: Mostly smoke damage; nobody hurt; cause unknown; investigators arriving now. There was some concern among neighbors that a dog might have been injured in the fire; incident commander says the residents’ two dogs might have breathed in a little smoke but are OK. ADDED 2:40 PM: Another photo from Christopher:
OK, don’t let the kids click ahead on this one. Well – the pix are really just PG, but a nine-letter word starting with “s” comes up. Burning Hearts Burlesque brings its “Bedroom Club” show to Admiral Theater on Saturday night, and its executive producer talked with us at her West Seattle home so we could ask the obvious question:Read More
First – Dump the Pump Day must be a roaring success; we couldn’t get a parking place within blocks of the Water Taxi dock, compared to two days ago, when we got here at 10 minutes before departure time and got a space within a few blocks. (Yes, we know, should have just left earlier and taken the bus all the way from home.) So we’re trying again for the 1 pm run. Meantime, a lovely view here at Don Armeni (cameraphone photo above), where our inbox just yielded the city’s official weekend traffic alert, including the 7:45-11 am time frame for the Saturday morning Viaduct closure we first told you about earlier this week – read on for the full citywide list:Read More
Thanks to Parks Department project manager Patrick Donohue for that drawing of the just-finalized city-approved site map for the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza, as they prepare to put out bids for construction. (We recently reported the newest developments in both the plaza-construction plan and the Plaza Project committee’s vision for the September celebration – read that report here.) Click the image to see the full-size version; as you’ll see in the legend on that version, the darker area will be brick, the dotted area will be concrete – the top of the drawing is the existing asphalt promenade (north). Just thought those who have been following the project closely would be interested to see this; note that no new color “pictures” are available from the city, according to Donohue — we’ve featured some of them over the months in our Alki Statue of Liberty coverage archive, and the Plaza Project’s site also has some of the original design art).
Thanks to Sue for the tip – after a round of testing this morning, following a few days in yellow-flashing mode, the new Fauntleroy/Dawson pedestrian signal is now in operation – just five weeks after the city told neighbors the construction schedule was being moved up in a big way (original WSB coverage here).
According to a survey just released by Jewish Living Magazine (read about it here), West Seattle is one of America’s top 10 Jewish neighborhoods. No surprise to WSB’s newest sponsor, Kol HaNeshamah, West Seattle’s progressive synagogue, 
which is advertising here to let you know it is celebrating its 5th anniversary during the Shabbat service tomorrow night at 7 pm (at Alki UCC, where Kol HaNeshamah has shared space with the church for all of those five years). The congregation’s rabbi, Michael Adam Latz, says, “I am profoundly humbled and honored to serve as the Rabbi of Kol HaNeshamah, where every day, people from all walks of life gather to worship, study, and work to repair our broken world.” Here’s what the synagogue wants you to know: “Kol HaNeshamah is a congregation of 145 member families. They include the young, old, singles, families, single parents, interfaith, lesbian, gay, and transgendered people. We pride ourselves on our inclusivity of all groups. Since Kol HaNeshamah joined the Seattle community, we have been highly active in areas of social justice. Our activities include building a home with Habitat for Humanity which provided a home for a Muslim family, the highest earning religious group for the AIDS Walk with Lifelong AIDS Alliance, and our newest endeavor to work with other faith groups in the newly formed Sound Alliance. Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) called Kol HaNeshamah one of its fastest-growing member congregations. This growth is influenced in part by the overall rate of increasing synagogue affiliation among American Jewish households, which grew by 15% between 1990 and 2001 even as the “core” Jewish population declined and the number of intermarried families grew. Rising affiliation rates are largely benefitting the Reform movement.” Member Kate Gordon says, “I can’t imagine raising my son in a more open, welcoming and accepting place. After moving to Seattle 3 years ago, not knowing anyone, this was the first place that felt closest to home.” Again, the 5th anniversary service is 7 pm tomorrow; here’s a map to Alki UCC. WSB thanks Kol HaNeshamah and all our sponsors, listed here along with information on how to join them.
Every day on the calendar has a promotional tie-in … National Chocolate-Covered Pickle Day, Worldwide Sing While Standing On Your Head Day, and on and on … but today’s is worth a note: “Dump the Pump Day” is meant to encourage you to try transit. This year, gas prices could certainly be an impetus – on Dump the Pump Day “Eve” last year (6/20/07), this WSB report showed the 35th/Avalon 7-11 at $2.99 for regular; as of our latest West Seattle-wide weekly survey Sunday night, that grade at that station was $4.33, up $1.34 in a year. We were already planning to use transit today (Water Taxi-ing downtown to cover the city Design Commission presentation on Myrtle Reservoir Park); if you need more convincing, Metro offers suggestions here. And the American Public Transportation Agency offers you the online game Whack-A-Pump.
We’re at the Southwest Precinct, where — after the Delridge District Council meeting wrapped up (details on that later) — we got to see the early draft of the report on last night’s High Point incident that left a police officer badly hurt. Here are the basics:Read More
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