West Seattle, Washington
09 Monday
Early this morning, WSB Forum members discussed hearing gunshots. We couldn’t find anything obvious on scanner/911 at the time. This morning, however, Seattle Police have posted a report on the SPD Blotter site; shots fired in the 20th/Henderson vicinity, nobody hit/hurt, but bullets pierced the wall of a home; no arrests reported so far. Just a reminder, any and all West Seattle entries from SPD Blotter are automatically posted on the WSB Crime Watch page as soon as the police department publishes them – you can check the Crime Watch page for the latest updates from SPD Blotter and WSB coverage, any time.
We reported here last month that the mayor’s budget for next year included money to repave Fauntleroy Way between Alaska and California. Now there’s word – announced at last night’s Pedestrian Advisory Board meeting and confirmed with a city Transportation Department announcement that’s just been released – that re-alignment might be part of the deal:
SEATTLE—SDOT is considering re-striping Fauntleroy Way Southwest from Southwest Alaska Street to California Avenue Southwest to improve safety, pedestrian access and bicycle usage. When the street is paved, SDOT would reconfigure the motor vehicle travel lanes to provide one lane in each direction with a center turn lane. Also, the pedestrian crossings on Fauntleroy would be improved and bicycle lanes with shared lane pavement markings would be provided. SDOT does not anticipate
removing parking.To provide more information on the proposed changes, SDOT will hold an open house on Monday, December 1, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. The meeting will be at the High Point Community Center, 6920 34th Avenue SW.
Right now, as you know if you drive it regularly, most of that stretch has 2 lanes in each direction, no turn lane. In recent months, SDOT has been busy with other jobs in the same area – several curb cuts are under construction right now (the photo above shows signage for one project); a radar speed sign is in place; and a new signal’s been installed.
Under the full moon, with low-enough clouds to capture and reflect city light closer to the horizons, 2 am looked more like 5 am at the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza. We wanted to take a picture there in the wee hours, to start the day that will be memorialized in the time capsule that’ll be buried at the plaza next year, and we’re going to print/digitally record today’s WSB posts to submit for consideration. Remarkably peaceful at the plaza at that hour – no wind, no rain, clearly audible birdsong at sea, way offshore. On the way back to WSB HQ, another classic West Seattle night sight:
Any photo you take today, or other item that might show people in 50 years how life was lived in Seattle (not just West Seattle) on 11/13/08 (meeting agenda? grocery receipt? event flyer? printed-out personal blog/online diary page?), can be contributed – the “when” and “how” are detailed here.
That photo is courtesy of Abby Suplizio, a West Seattle leader of CoolMom.org, whose members and volunteers have sorted donations and are ready for the first CoolMom Holiday Toy Swap ‘n’ Sale – 9 am-1 pm this Saturday at the Camp Long Lodge. Beneficiaries also include WestSide Baby and West Seattle Food Bank, which will get the proceeds from paper turkeys (cut out from used cereal boxes! CoolMom notes) sold for $2 to $20. According to a CoolMom reminder: “We have gotten some great items – bikes, trikes, and push toys; puzzles & games; barbies; baby gear, music, art, and other developmental activities; lots of brand names and much much more.” (Note that the “swap” aspect of it happened in advance – those who donated to the sale, as mentioned in this WSB preview, got a $5 sale credit for each bag of toys donated.)
SECOND SWAP: Sustainable West Seattle has just announced that on December 8th, everyone’s welcome to its first “Money Free Shopping Spree” gathering – a potluck and a gift swap. The SWS announcement says, “Items to be swapped are handmade crafts (candle, soap, ornament, handmade paper, art, cards…) or food (jam, preserves, chutney, beer, cookies…) or services (bike tune, garden consultation, weeding, dinner for two, babysitting, cooking lesson, home energy consultation …” This event also is at the Camp Long Lodge, 6-9 pm 12/8.
First the quicker note: The next meeting of the Denny Middle School Site Design Team (most recent WSB coverage here) has been rescheduled and expanded – the 11/17 evening meeting’s been called off, and a Saturday 11/22 9 am-1 pm “design charrette” at Camp Long Lodge will replace it. Now, the more complicated note: As expected, the Seattle School Board moved forward last night — in a four-plus-hour meeting — with notification-policy changes that will facilitate a tight timeline for the next round of school closures. Superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson also described the criteria on which schools are being evaluated:
• Geographic Need: How to balance capacity across the district to ensure the appropriate number of seats in each geographic area.
• Building Condition: Recent surveys and analyses will be used to evaluate the quality and condition of each building, using factors such as cost of maintenance, lot size, etc.
• Cost per Pupil: How non-instructional costs per student, including both core staffing and administrative mitigation, compare with District averages.
• Proximity: Whether other nearby schools serve the same grade levels.
• Academic Performance: Whether the school has made the expected annual academic progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law.
The first draft of the proposed closure list is to be announced on November 25th. A whirlwind process of public hearings immediately before and after the district’s winter break would follow. The full timeline appears again in the post-meeting district news release (from which the criteria list above is excerpted); which you can read it in its entirety here.
Eight nights after an election in which most of their endorsed candidates/positions emerged victorious, the 34th District Democrats gathered tonight at The Hall at Fauntleroy, in a celebratory mood but not at all ready to rest on their laurels – here’s our report:Read More
Just got a short note from On the Way Maternity owner Rosa Lim, asking us to post to tell you that “we are closing our doors.” The store opened 14 months ago at 5446 California SW. ADDED 6:02 PM: Rosa also wanted to share a message explaining what happened, and detailing her going-out-of-business sale — read on:Read More
Scott C just called to report the power’s out in the Jefferson Square area – he says Safeway seems to be running on generator power, but “people are being led out of Bartell (Drugs) by flashlight.” Checking now to see what’s up (or down, in this case). Nothing on the City Light outage website or recording so far. 5:02 PM UPDATE: Co-publisher Patrick just checked out the area – while the Jefferson Square businesses are dark (including the street-level eateries on 42nd) aside from Safeway and the apartments above it, surrounding areas don’t appear to be affected. 6:48 PM UPDATE: Just drove by JS again – the 42nd-front businesses have power, as does Safeway, but the other stores around the upper parking lot still appear out.
TIME CAPSULE: One more reminder before the big day arrives — tomorrow is the day that will be memorialized in a time capsule to be buried next year at the new Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza; the Southwest Seattle Historical Society/Log House Museum folks are inviting contributions from all over the city, with an emphasis on items that will represent what life was like in Seattle on November 13, 2008 (157th anniversary of the Denny Party landing), when it’s opened on November 13, 2058. See this WSB update for more details on what to save and how to submit it; we’ll be offering electronic and printed copies of all tomorrow’s posts so we’ll be out taking more pix than usual, literally for posterity’s sake.
VIADUCT: This one’s for the ages too — a media briefing’s just been called to announce more findings about the possible options for replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct‘s Central Waterfront section. The 2:30 pm briefing downtown will preview what the Viaduct Stakeholders Advisory Committee (which includes West Seattleites Vlad Oustimovitch and Pete Spalding) will review at its Town Hall meeting 2 hours later; we of course will be at the briefing to bring you the newest information as state, city, and county leaders get closer to figuring out the plan for what happens after the central section comes down in 2012.
ART WALK: Tomorrow night, the weather should improve in time for the monthly West Seattle Art Walk – more than 40 venues are participating now, all over West Seattle, 6-9 pm, and many have artists’ receptions (like WSB inaugural sponsor Hotwire Coffee, which is having a staffers’ art show, including Blayne of “Project Runway” fame) – see the full list of participants, and get the map, at the WSAW blog.
Just back from an errand break, during which we spotted two signs worth passing along, even though neither is a surprise – Delridge Arco has broken into the $2.10s (how long till $1.99?), and Zeeks Pizza has finally put up “coming spring 2009” signage at its future location, the ex-Corner Inn (Fauntleroy/California; we first reported their West Seattle plans back in September, thanks to a tip from Rick).
WSB welcomes another sponsor this morning: Tilden School, an independent K-5 school located north of The Junction, providing “a rich and rigorous program for the intellectual, artistic, social, and physical development of each student. Small classes and a low student/teacher ratio enable teachers to respond to the individual development needs—academic, social, and physical—of each student.” Tilden emphasizes cooperation and consideration of others.
Above, you see students from Tilden School‘s current 5th grade class, taught by Karin Beck; the school recently invited WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand to talk with the 5th grade students about evaluating sources of information when doing research. At the end of the talk, Patrick asked the class to tell him what they like about their school. Here are a few highlights:
SCIENCE: From Casey — The whole school does science, from K to 5th grade, beginner to advanced; starting in the earth, then sprouting up like a flower or a rocket shooting up, up, and out of the ground. Virgil, the science teacher, teaches it all.
MUSIC CLASS: From Owen — Tilden School has a very uplifting music class that is held every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. When I go to music, I always know that it will be a wonderful time.
K-BUDDIES: From Olivia — At Tilden School, the fifth graders and Kindergarteners get to have a special connection. Every year, fifth graders are paired up with Kindergarteners to do all sorts of activities throughout the school year, such as making Halloween bags, memorizing lines for poetry and plays, reading books, and much more.
To find out more about the school, its people, and its philosophy, you can explore its website at tildenschool.org. Tilden is currently scheduling visits for interested parents on Wednesday mornings; please contact the school to reserve a time, or for more information. Welcome to Tilden School; we thank Tilden for supporting WSB along with our other sponsors — the current list is on this page along with information about how to become part of it!
The mayor had a media event in the Rainier Valley this morning to call attention to the dramatic rise in food-bank usage citywide, and his proposal to spend a bit more city $ to help (here’s the official news release). You don’t have to wait for city government to do something: Two food banks serve West Seattle (each has a distinct service area), and both are dealing with a HUGE increase in clientele: You can donate $ online to West Seattle Food Bank by going right here right now; donate $ online to White Center Food Bank by going right here right now. Money helps the most, because the food banks can use it to buy in bulk. We also just got an announcement from Shorewood Church and School that it’s launching a food drive for WCFB tomorrow – read on for those details:Read More
Tomorrow night’s meeting of the Seattle Board of Park Commissioners is on our radar because of the proposal to seek a private operator for West Seattle Stadium — but it turns out that’s not the only item of interest on the agenda. The Parks Board will be briefed about a new proposed policy on nudity, and details have just been released. The topline goes like this:
The proposed rule of conduct would prohibit nudity in any public park or park facility open to the public. Violation of the rule may lead to the withdrawal of permission to remain in the park or park facility for a period of twenty-four hours or exclusion from parks, depending on the circumstances. There would be exceptions for children under the age of five, nursing mothers, and in restrooms, locker rooms and indoor showers.
But reading further into the briefing paper – which you can see in its entirety here – the proposal also would end the reported use of some public beaches as “informal clothing-optional beaches” and also would end the practice of granting permits for events such as the World Naked Bike Ride (which stopped by several West Seattle parks this past summer):
Event permits – The two most frequent requests for event permits are related to the beginning and stopover locations for the World Naked Bike Ride and for picnics at Magnuson Park. Recent World Naked Bike Ride events have resulted in complaints from citizens to the Seattle Police Department. These permits have been issued as the Superintendent does not now have a basis in law or regulation for denying an event permit as long as the permittee agrees to abide by applicable laws, rules and regulations, as is currently required by the permit. The proposed Rule will prohibit nude, or clothing optional events even under special permit. The Superintendent will no longer authorize permits for events where it is clear public nudity is planned.
After the briefing at tomorrow night’s park board meeting – 7 pm Thursday, Parks HQ in Denny Park downtown – a public hearing is planned for the Jan. 8 meeting, and a final vote on Jan. 22. Meantime, we’re reviewing the board agenda documents for tomorrow night’s West Seattle Stadium item and will post about that separately later. We’ll also be seeking comment on the nudity policy from the local WNBR organizer who participated extensively in the comments on our September report (and had in the past requested to rent Colman Pool for a nude swimming event).
From the WSB Events calendar, three highlights from what’s happening tonight: The 34th District Democrats meet for the first time since last week’s election; 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy — which is in the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse, which in turn happens to be on the Seattle School Board agenda at 6 pm tonight (district HQ in Sodo), as they vote on approving the $1.8 million deal to sell the building and part of its site to the Fauntleroy Community Services Agency. One other meeting that’s not in West Seattle but affects our area – a draft habitat-restoration plan for the Duwamish River will be discussed at South Seattle Community College‘s Georgetown campus (here’s a map), 5:30 pm.
Just in case you were wondering, no major problems reported anywhere in West Seattle that we’ve found as a result of the rain and wind. The forecast still calls for everything to ebb by evening.
Not only is West Seattle home to the city’s new Poet Populist, WS also is home to CityDog Magazine‘s Cover Dog Search winner. We told you October 25th about Cohen making it into the Final 5; last night Cohen’s proud person Ray e-mailed WSB to say the results are in: Cohen’s the winner – read about it on the CityDog blog (which also is hawking a 2009 calendar that features this West Seattle doggie duo).
From tonight’s Junction Neighborhood Organization meeting: Updates from Harbor Properties, which has three Junction/Triangle mixed-use projects in various stages of development — Mural (rendering above) across 42nd from Jefferson Square, Link along 38th from Alaska northward (Huling garage/West Seattle Montessori site), and the as-yet-unnamed future project for the ex-Travelodge/current Seattle West Suites motel property two blocks east of Link. For starters, Harbor’s Emi Baldowin says the remaining two retail spaces in Mural are now leased – read on for details on that, and what else was discussed at tonight’s JuNO meeting at Ginomai:Read More
This one from Jesse – second time this week we’ve heard about solicitors at fairly late hours:Read More
Quick updates from tonight’s Fauntleroy Community Association meeting: ROADS — New 12-foot-wide “traffic humps” are on the way to 47th at Roxbury (Google Street View/map above), at two spots, 9600 block and just south of the 9800 block — this is meant to slow speeders who often approach 60 mph heading downhill. RACCOONS — Following up on previous “raccoon latrine” discussions (WSB coverage here), the county Health Department‘s sending out a mailer later this month, with information on how to keep raccoons out of your yard. REDEVELOPMENT — The location is now set for the Dec. 4 joint FCA/Morgan Community Association meeting about the big project proposed by The Kenney; meeting will be at Fauntleroy Church (WSB sponsor), time not yet finalized. MoCA‘s Cindi Barker was at tonight’s FCA meeting for further planning discussion and how best to utilize the participation of a city planner. ALSO — A review of last month’s Fauntleroy Fall Festival, which Martha Callard says had the biggest turnout ever; the community bus-shelter-painting project during the festival “exceeded expectations,” she added. … Local historian Ron Richardson talked about Thursday’s time-capsule project — which is open to anyone who wants to participate, in West Seattle and all over the city. FCA plans to offer contributions including a copy of the documentary “The Fauntleroy Story: 100 Years of Community.” (For more info on the Fauntleroy Community Association, explore its website at fauntleroy.net.)
So says the latest “forecast discussion” from the National Weather Service – meaning we’re not likely to see/hear much blowing around till the wee hours. Quiet out there right now but the next bout of rain is still on the way too. 12:25 AM UPDATE: The wind arrived around 11:30 pm. Not that bad so far, though. 3:25 AM UPDATE: Still not too bad. 32 mph gust at the top of the hour at Alki Point. Newest “forecast discussion” says things are definitely calming down by tonight.
OK, who could resist a face like that? We told you earlier this year about the new local group raising guide-dog puppies to help blind people, and Sue Bonney e-mailed WSB tonight to say they are “looking for people in the community that may be interested in raising or puppy sitting these special puppies.” (She also provided the photo you see above.) More details: “Adult and youth volunteers train future guide dogs who enhance the mobility of people who are visually impaired. These adorable Labrador puppies and their volunteer raisers can be seen all over the county. The rewards of volunteering are enormous. Join our Puppy Raising Program. No prior experience is necessary.” For more info, you can call Sue at 206/330-7999 or e-mail her: seedogs@mail.com
One day after the Southwest Precinct announced arrests in the “BB Gun Burglaries” — in which BB-type guns were used to shoot out windows to enable burglars to enter — we have more information, and half a dozen photos police want you to see. Detective Ed Garcia, lead investigator in this burglary series (and others), shared six photos of recovered items that police hope to match with their rightful owners. Read on to see the other photos and the list of recovered property, and to get more information about who was arrested in the burglary spree, how, and who else is still being sought:Read More
Just found this on the National Weather Service’s Seattle website – they’ve put up the PowerPoint presentation from the official “hazardous weather briefing” delivered a bit earlier today. See it here. (Still awaiting updated forecasts — should be out any time now — but that “briefing” indicates the rain won’t be quite so bad here in the metro area, half-inch to an inch by tomorrow afternoon.) 3:48 PM UPDATE: The updated forecasts and advisories are coming online now – a wind advisory is in effect starting at 10 pm (read about it here), for starters, and it says 45 mph gusts are possible.
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