West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
This P-I story about impending pole-less-ness in new fire stations — including Station 37 on 35th — got us wondering how that project and another one in West Seattle are going. We found this page on the Fire Department website with monthly reports on the fire-station projects citywide; though the newest “status report” is filed as “March 2008,” it’s dated just yesterday. For Station 37, to be built at a new site at 35th/Holden (while the old one, a city landmark, will eventually be sold), the architects are “continu(ing) on construction documents.” For Station 32 in The Junction, the report says its architects (different firm) are continuing on pre-design, and “three alternative site layouts have been prepared for comment.” Another document linked from that same city page says construction on FS 32 is scheduled to start in November ’09, while 37 is scheduled to start this August.
Thanks to Ricardo Guarnero @ Cafe Rozella for the tip – he says there’s been a crash at the 17th/Roxbury corner (and sent photos; he says it looks like the Taqueria Guaymas building is OK but the van that hit it took out a hydrant – you can see it in the lower left of his photo) – good idea to avoid that area for now. (No medic unit was dispatched, so no serious injuries so far as we can tell.)
RECYCLE OLD ELECTRONICS ETC. TO HELP WEST SEATTLE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: We still have a pile of old cell phones etc. around the house and maybe this is the way to go: Now through May 30, you can turn in everything from cell phones to laptops to old inkjet cartridges, and WSHS Football will benefit from the proceeds of recycling or refurbishing. Scroll down the WSHS daily bulletin to “students and staff” for more details, or click here to e-mail Monique for info.
EXOTIC OFFERINGS AT SANISLO AUCTION: This weekend is the last chance for discount tickets to the Sanislo Elementary auction May 3 – and Lisa Keith from the Sanislo PTA says some enticing items have been donated for the auction – read on:Read More
Last night’s Southwest Design Review Board meeting about the project proposed for that spot between PCC and the California Place mixed-use building had one foot in the present and one foot in the future – as would be optimal for such meetings, since new buildings will be around for decades. We toplined it last night but here as promised are the details:Read More
First reader report: Officers with guns drawn earlier this morning at 46th/Andover. We are checking on that. 9:21 AM UPDATE: Sgt. Jeff Durden at the Southwest Precinct says “911 call of a man in a back yard with a shotgun. Turned out it was only an air rifle and the intent was to shoot a woodpecker.”
Second reader report: Burglary yesterday. Here’s what Joe e-mailed to WSB this morning:
We live on the 7300 block 35th Ave SW, I went home from work to meet a service technician at 12:30 pm and found that we had been burglarized. Entry through broken window. two tvs, two cameras, laptop, misc stuff . One tv was lying on floor as if the burglars were scared off before the were done. This happened between 9:oo am and 12:30 pm and nobody saw anything.
Update: A few folks asked about a followup on the two-car crash at 35th/Thistle the other night. It’s close to impossible to get an update on the victim’s condition — privacy laws have tightened in recent years so media cannot just call up a hospital and say “somebody was brought in from a crash, how are they” — but Sgt. Durden says the crash did NOT turn fatal. As for the cause, he says one of the drivers had run the red light, and was cited.
In honor of our state’s Disaster Preparedness Month, throughout April – and continuing for a few weeks into May – we’re helping local community leaders share information geared to help you take steps to ensure your family’s safety in case the unthinkable happens. One big emphasis is the designation of neighborhood gathering spots around West Seattle where residents will be able to go for information and help if the normal lines of communication are down; even if the only preparedness step you take this spring is to know your nearest gathering spot, that’s still progress. With that in mind, we’ve made the map you see above – each marker is clickable and explains that respective location and who it’s for. Two communities, Alki and Morgan Junction, have already had one-day drop-in events for neighbors to visit the gathering spot and get disaster-preparedness info; this weekend, you’ve got the same chance in two more — 8 am-10 am tomorrow at 20th and Andover, during the Pigeon Point neighborhood cleanup, drop by to get info and get acquainted; 10 am-2 pm Sunday at Ercolini Park, Junction-area residents are invited to do the same. ONE MORE THING YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW, NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE: One of the many West Seattleites working on this effort is Cindy Pestka, who has worked a long time to help people with readiness (we borrowed the “Master of Disaster” term from her); she created a checklist of supplies you can purchase right now to have on hand “just in case” – it has helpful specifics, not just the generalized lists you often see. We’ve uploaded it here so you can take a look and print it out for yourself for use in building a kit you can get to if you need it (and if you don’t have MS Word — thanks to Amy F, here’s a PDF version).
Thanks to marketing director Maureen Black at Argosy Cruises for answering our inquiries about when we might catch the Sightseer — aka the Elliott Bay Water Taxi, now operated by the new King County Ferry District — in action prior to its season debut this Sunday; as a result, we caught the crew in action doing touch-and-go practice at Seacrest this afternoon. Here’s a longer clip from our visit to Seacrest:
Rides are free all day Sunday; the EBWT will start running that morning (8:30 am from downtown), but the real fun at the dock will be the official launch-day festivities noon-2 pm, with West Seattle’s King County Councilmember Dow Constantine emceeing (he can be a lively host, as evidenced at the 34th Legislative District Caucus earlier this month) and Argosy CEO Kevin Clark also scheduled to appear.
“Early design guidance” tonight for 2743 California (city project page here), replacing a duplex between PCC and California Place (the white building with apartments over businesses including Freshy’s): Not much controversy. A few new details – the “medical offices” are expected to be primarily dental, three floors over “basement” parking. Design Review Board members had a lot of questions and recommendations, but they did advance the project to the next stage. More tomorrow, including the interesting caveat that came up about half a dozen times.
It’s not online yet but the agenda for next Thursday’s city Design Commission meeting (at City Hall downtown) came out today via e-mail, and the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza project will return that day for another review. The same commission had a long list of suggestions when they saw the project for the first time three weeks ago; read about them in our report from that meeting. FRIDAY NIGHT UPDATE: This review has been delayed – we’ll let you know when it’s rescheduled.
Thanks to Margaret for sending that shot of her TV screen showing WSB while the reporter credited this site for the original “strange doorknocker” story (first report here, second one here) — which channel 7 decided to follow up on tonight. Actually, credit goes to Larry Carpenter (Alki Community Councll, Log House Museum, and West Seattle Community Recognition Award winner) for the original report – he told us a couple hours ago that channel 7 had interviewed him; we missed the newscast but after Margaret’s screen-shot came in, we found this text version (no video so far) online. WSB is described in the online writeup only as “a West Seattle blog,” but 7 still deserves props for crediting the source — last week another station we won’t name lifted our coyote photos without permission or credit (we saw it and called, and they fixed it for a later run; this website’s contents are copyrighted so permission is required to republish our photos). 9:51 AM UPDATE: Re: the door-knocker story, KIRO updated the web version this morning (without us even having to ask) and it now credits us properly (with a link too). Thanks!
We just checked in again with Charlestown Cafe owner Larry Mellum; in our last update three weeks ago, Larry’s co-owner Ron Hanlon told us they were still awaiting the final go-ahead for work to start, and they couldn’t set a reopening date yet. Today, Larry tells WSB that the work required for the restaurant to reopen post-Feb.-4-fire still hasn’t begun:
The project has not yet started. We have been waiting for our Landlord and their insurance carrier to get the required construction proposal and deposit back to the contractor. To date that has not happened due I believe to some administrative glitches within their operation. … We are as anxious as you to get the Charlestown going again. Thank you again for all of your support.
Whenever the work starts, the cafe owners say it’ll take at least four weeks from that point to get it finished so the Charlestown can reopen. (You can always find the latest WSB coverage of the Charlestown Cafe situation atop this archive.)
Just in from the city Transportation Department:
A contractor for a private development will close the 2100 block of Bonair Drive SW in West Seattle to traffic next week to repair the roadway. The street will be closed between Alki Avenue SW and Halleck Avenue SW (map) for four to five days. Drivers will need to use an alternate route.
Just in from Louis Lujan @ Next to Nature, sponsoring the “ugliest dog/cat” contest for this Sunday’s Pet Fest in The Junction and now adding something new:
Pet Fest Contest UPDATE!! New Category!
Guess what, West Seattle?… Paw for paw, the West Seattle neighborhood has the best looking pets anywhere! Haven’t found an ugly one in the whole lot, but we’re still holding out. To provide better opportunity to the vast majority of West Seattle pets, a “Most Beautiful Pet” contest will be held in addition to the “Ugliest.” Your pet is free to use props to show off their true quality. Here’s a hint – the Judges are 5th graders!
So we want to see uniquely homely AND good-looking pets at Pet Fest this Sunday…
Bring your homely OR handsome hounds and pets to the Pet Fest tent near 44th and Alaska this Sunday. The judging will begin at 12, noon. A panel of local school kids is standing by to determine “West Seattle’s Ugliest – and now – Most Beautiful Pet”!!
Our revamped contest is still free to enter, and there’s a growing prize package for the winners. Go to the Next to Nature table at Pet Fest to sign-up. The festival gets rolling at 10 a.m., so you can start signing up then, just make sure you’re signed up by 11:30. Each contest will be limited to 20 entries on a first-come first-served basis. We anticipate
mostly dogs since they usually do best in these public festival settings, but if your cat, bird, ferret, cow, or koala is comfortable with crowds they’re eligible for the contest too.See you at Pet Fest this weekend! There will be great nutritional and health information, adoptable dogs and cats, pet portraits, and more!
Coupled with the first-ever Sustainability Festival May 4 (featured in our previous post today), that marks two consecutive Sundays with “first-ever” festivals in The Junction.
That photo is courtesy of the members of Sustainable West Seattle, who gathered for a group shot outside Camp Long before their monthly meeting this past Monday night — a meeting like no other in their less-than-one-year history, because it’s the last one before SWS presents its first-ever Sustainability Festival, coming up Sunday, May 4, 10 am-3 pm in The Junction. A little while before that photo was taken, we sat down with three SWS leaders to talk about the festival (and how it’s not too late for you to pitch in, especially if you have some time this weekend) – read on to see why they, and many other folks around West Seattle, are so excited about it:Read More
Our 100th registration is just in for the 4th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day on Saturday, May 10th — thanks to everybody who’s decided to join in! One community, one day, (now we can say) more than 100 sales around West Seattle — including some group/business/school/organization sales — As soon as registration closes tomorrow night, we’re getting down to the next round of fun stuff: Mailing info packets to participants, making the second round of posters promoting Garage Sale Day itself (we’ve had registration posters up for two weeks, and of course they had the sale date too), and sharing information about The Big Day — if there’s something really unusual or interesting about your sale (and you are registered for WSCGSD, of course), e-mail us at garagesale@westseattleblog.com — remember we’re planning “Best Sign” and “Most Unusual Item” contests too. Again, registration’s open till tomorrow night; go here to sign up online (or to get a mail-in form you can print, but please get it in the mail ASAP). If you’re just coming in on this, WSB is sponsoring WSCGSD now because its creators @ Megawatt closed down earlier this year and needed new presenters for their signature events (we took on WSCGSD, the Gathering of Neighbors is being organized by DNDA). May 10, whether you’re a shopper or seller, mark your calendar!
Just announced today: South Seattle Community College and City University of Seattle are partnering for a program that will enable students to get a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with all four years of studies taking place on the SSCC campus in east West Seattle. SSCC says the deal will be finalized at a ceremony next Tuesday; here are the details released this morning.
You’ve heard the national-news stories about the rising price of staples like rice and wheat … and you’ve seen it when you go to the grocery store. But if you think your budget is tight, try running a food bank and trying to maximize every last fraction of a cent. Local food banks are hurting worse than ever as a result – not just from having to pay more for the food they buy, but also because the higher prices are sending more families their way for help — but the bright spot is that, donating to them in the next week not only will help with the crunch, it will also help them qualify for matching funds as part of a national “challenge” we’ve mentioned before. Here’s an update from Eve Holt at West Seattle Food Bank:
April 30th is the last day for donations to the West Seattle Food Bank that can be submitted for matching funds from the Feinstein Foundation’s $1 Million Challenge.
Donations of food and cash are especially needed right now because of rising food prices. Most of what the Food Bank has to buy is costing more and there has been a significant increase in the number of families coming to the Food Bank for help.
Checks may be mailed to West Seattle Food Bank, 3419 SW Morgan, Seattle, WA 98126. Credit card donations can be made by calling Eve Holt at (206) 932-9023 or online at www.westseattlefoodbank.org. A list of suggested food donations can also be found on the organization’s Web site.
The Food Bank’s first-ever Instruments of Change fundraiser is coming up one week from tonight, by the way. One other note: Part of southern West Seattle is served by the White Center Food Bank, which is also participating in the challenge; find its donation info here.
(May 2007 photo of the plywood that covers the Colman Pool windscreen during the offseason)
Exactly one month from today, it’s the first 2008 day of operation for Colman Pool at Lincoln Park, one of the city’s two outdoor pools. Colman Pool will be open weekends only from May 24 till 7-day-a-week operations start June 14. Starting soon after that, it will be busier than usual, because West Seattle’s other pool — Southwest Pool, east of Denny Middle School — is scheduled to close mid-June through late September for three months of work.
DINING OUT FOR LIFE: 12 West Seattle restaurants are among those participating in the Lifelong AIDS Alliance fundraiser (find the list here, some are participating at lunchtime as well as dinnertime).
DESIGN REVIEW FOR ADMIRAL PROJECT: 2743 California on the north side of PCC, proposed for a 3- to 4-story medical-office building (here’s our report on the project from 3 weeks ago), 6:30 tonight, Southwest Precinct meeting room (official meeting notice here).
FINAL PARKS PLAN MEETING: 6:30 pm, High Point Community Center, last of 7 West Seattle meetings where you can tell city Parks staffers what you think the department should focus on in the next five years. (Here’s our report on last week’s Southwest CC version of the same meeting.)
More West Seattle events for today, tonight, and beyond, can be found here.
It’s called “Gatewood Apartments” but this 22-year-old, 16-unit building at 6547 42nd SW (map) is in the heart of Morgan Junction, right behind Thriftway. Just listed at $1,950,000. (This isn’t in the listing, but city records show an “unresolved” condo-conversion application from 2006.)
School budgets don’t cover everything needed for extracurricular activities these days; they barely can cover the academic basics. So students need a whole lot of community help … and with that in mind, tonight we are sharing pitches from two local high-school baseball teams:
CHIEF SEALTH HS: Its baseball team has a spaghetti dinner/auction coming up May 2. This year, though, they’re having a tough time coming up with donations for the auction. The event raises most of the annual $ the team needs, so they’re really hoping the auction-donation drive turns around. If you can help, e-mail Coach Policarpio at edpolicarpio@seattleschools.org.
WEST SEATTLE HS: We mentioned this fundraiser a few weeks ago, and now the sales are really ramping up: The team is selling discount tickets to the June 3 Mariners/Angels game — $10 for view reserved (half the usual price); $2 of that goes to the team. You can order up to 25 tickets in an online process that starts with e-mail to groupmanager@mariners.com (be sure the subject line mentions West Seattle HS), or more by calling Stephanie at (206) 518-3879 – if your group has 40 or more, its name will be on the scoreboard during the game.
As promised, we checked today with the Southwest Precinct re: last night’s hottest topic, the “unusual doorknocker” reported by Larry Carpenter in Alki. Sgt. Jeff Durden, who leads the Community Police Team, says they were working directly with Larry to get more info, and also checking with area military — at this point. Sgt. Durden says, “I doubt this was any kind of military operation. Everyone we have contacted concerning the matter has agreed.” He adds, particularly in the light of the trouble that Larry had reaching somebody at non-emergency police numbers — “Also as said/posted many many times before – call 911. 911 will always answer and this is definitely a situation where we want to get a patrol officer dispatched to investigate.”
The city just announced two dozen area nurseries made this year’s “natural yard-care nurseries” list — including West Seattle Nursery and Village Green Perennial Nursery. See the full list here.
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