Another West Seattle business move: smallclothes gets bigger

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.

Read More

West Seattle Weather Watch: Almost-spring Sunday snow

(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.

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.

1 week till spring: The gardening mood is sprouting up all over

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 Facebookstart 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.)

Admiral “Mamma Mia!” wedding: They got hitched without a hitch

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)

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).

West Seattle’s Denny Middle School in St. Patrick’s Day parade

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).

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).

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.

Saturday miscellany: Videos, a traffic alert, a petition

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.

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 Lineupjust 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!

West Seattle Crime Watch: 2 burglary reports

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

Ask, and ye shall receive … parking enforcement

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.

Update: Boy “will be just fine” after accident on Belvidere

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.

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 SocietyGatewood 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

Details: Why Conner’s Junction megaproject gets another review

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

Traffic alert: Crash slowing traffic at north end of The Junction

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.

2 Denny Middle School headlines: New move date; parade

March 13, 2009 12:04 pm
|    Comments Off on 2 Denny Middle School headlines: New move date; parade
 |   Denny-Sealth | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

dennyext.jpgSome updates on Denny Middle School, from a conversation with Principal Jeff Clark: First big one, the move-in plan has changed for the new Denny that’ll be built on the nearby Chief Sealth High School campus. As we reported in recent months, there was a tentative plan to make the move over winter break 2010-2011. Now, Clark says, that plan’s been scrapped, since it would likely have been educationally disruptive, to say the least. The plan is now to move the Denny staff immediately after the end of the school year in June 2011 (so Denny summer programs that year will happen on the new campus), and start classes there in fall 2011. Also from our visit to Denny (and more to come later): Music director Marcus Pimpleton will lead the Denny Marching Band in tomorrow’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade downtown (parade info here), so if you’re going, watch for them!

City budget crunch: Mayor freezes executive pay, including his

So says a news release just in from the city – and it says furloughs are on the way too (following the example of King County, which has implemented some to save $ – including today’s furlough day for the King County Council) – here’s the news release:Read More

Traffic alert: Northbound 1st Ave. S. lane closure starts Monday

Many West Seattleites use this route, so we’re sharing the alert – full news release, ahead:Read More

Happening now: 2 West Seattle churches, 2 big rummage sales

March 13, 2009 10:55 am
|    Comments Off on Happening now: 2 West Seattle churches, 2 big rummage sales
 |   Fun stuff to do | West Seattle news | West Seattle religion

Rummage-sale season is off and … rummaging. Two big sales started this morning: West Side Presbyterian Church (above – we found quite a crowd there a little while ago) and Tibbetts United Methodist Church (tons of stuff there too as shown below), both just north of The Junction.

Tibbetts is selling till 4 pm today, 9 am-3 pm tomorrow; West Side goes till 5 pm today, 9 am-2 pm tomorrow. By the way – don’t forget to mark your calendar – the 5th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, presented again this year by WSB, is May 9th, registration details to come.

Your chance to bid on lion’s share of an Alki condo development


View Larger Map

A public notice is published today for an upcoming foreclosure auction that, according to online records, includes the lion’s share of one of Alki’s newer condo developments, 1350 Alki Avenue SW (built in 2008, which is also when the Google Street View image above was made). Of its 10 units, one is sold, according to this sales website and county property records. The foreclosure/notice of trustee’s sale document on the King County website (read it here) says that as of January, $5 million was owed, and says that what’s being offered at auction at the county Administration Building downtown on April 10th includes 9/10ths interest in the land and seven of the condo units.

Bulletin: Lawsuit filed in West Seattle Whole Foods development

A major followup this morning to our status report yesterday on the idled Fauntleroy Place/Whole Foods development at 39th/Alaska/Fauntleroy: WSB has learned that a lawsuit has just been filed. The firm that has been developing the project, BlueStar Management, is suing Fauntleroy Place LLC (the official site owners), Seattle Financial Group, and Seattle Capital Group (one of the governing parties of FP LLC). We are working right now to get a copy of the full complaint, but a watchlist of newly filed lawsuits summarizes this one as alleging breach of contract and defamation. Construction on the site has been idle since last fall, and Seattle Capital disclosed in late January that they were in the process of selling the site, though they have not been available for comment this week and the status of the reported sale is unknown. More to come; we will add comments and documents to this story as we get them. 11:12 AM UPDATE: BlueStar’s Easton Craft referred us to the company’s lawyers for comment, and we expect to speak with them soon. There also is word of an additional lawsuit linked to this project, also filed this week, and we are working to get details on that. 8:09 PM UPDATE: We have a statement from Susan Rae Fox at Ryan, Swanson and Cleveland, the firm representing BlueStar, in response to several questions we asked:

BlueStar Management, Inc. filed the action to recover unpaid management fees incurred in connection with the Fauntleroy Place project and is merely seeking to be fairly compensated for the project development services it rendered. BlueStar has been committed to, and worked diligently for the Fauntleroy Place project from the very beginning and was shocked and saddened to be summarily terminated in December 2008.

The action was filed after a formal request for mediation was rejected and was in no way intended to adversely affect any current activity on the project. BlueStar continues to believe that bringing Whole Foods to West Seattle as part of the Fauntleroy Place development will be good for West Seattle. BlueStar wants to see the project succeed and does not believe that the filing of this action is inconsistent with that goal.