West Seattle, Washington
23 Tuesday
Thanks to SW for e-mailing WSB to say work has really intensified today at the mixed-use project site at 35th & Avalon. We last discussed this project in mid-December, when the city granted a permit for shoring/mass excavation/erosion control. As you can see from the photo (taken from the bus stop on 35th, looking northeast at the site), all sorts of heavy equipment is there today; a new check of the city files reveals they’ve just applied for the building permit too. You can check architect Mark Travers‘ website to see what the future building is supposed to look like (we’re still wondering if they’re really going to build another Starbucks so close to the drive-thru!).
More than 2 weeks before the Metro RapidRide public open houses in West Seattle, the Junction Neighborhood Organization (JuNO) got a detailed preview of the future service last night, including even the buses’ likely red/yellow color scheme:
The buses will look different and so will their main stations and stops, so people will know the difference between a RapidRide bus and a regular bus. But before you get anywhere near riding one in 3 1/2 years, Metro’s looking for your thoughts on decisions to be made in a time frame that’s more like the next 3 1/2 months – decisions that might ultimately affect you even if you are sure you’ll never board a bus:Read More
10 events listed/linked here, for today/tonight alone – from school tours, to the School Board on Denny/Sealth, to the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s annual meeting, to the Nucor public hearing. Oh, and a premiere too!
Many have asked what’s up with the long-stalled park project at the old substation site (2007 photo above) north of The Junction. Now there’s a long-awaited update from Friends of Dakota Place Park:Read More
Among the latest police reports filed at the Southwest Precinct, here are some of the most notable: In the 4500 block of 56th SW, at least four vehicles were broken into Sunday night-Monday morning. An SUV owner told police that a window was smashed and a GPS was taken; another owner said someone got into three of his vehicles, breaking the window of a truck and stealing a camera and gas card, then looking through the 2 other vehicles without damaging or stealing anything. More ahead:Read More
In case you missed it in comments below our original coverage, Erin Thomsen has left this on behalf of Angelia Paulsen‘s family, after reading all the memories and tributes in those comments:
To all of you who have left such wonderful memories of Angelia, we thank you from the bottoms of our hearts. Reading about the love and kindness and laughter she shared with everyone of you has meant the world to all of us. Her smile and radiance will live forever in every life she touched.
10:50 PM ADDENDUM: Thank you to Angi’s longtime friend Krissi for sharing the photos we just added above.
As we first reported this morning, a car crash on I-5 early Monday killed Red Cup Espresso owner Angelia Paulsen, and her memorial service is this Friday. Now there’s word of a tribute Saturday night outside her shop – this just in from Patty:
There will be a candlelight vigil to celebrate the life of Angi outside of Red Cup espresso on Sat at 7 p.m. All are welcome to join us. Angi was a very dear friend to us all. She will be truly missed.
So promises the state ferries’ wi-fi provider (after many delays) in this update today.
West Seattle resident and ex-deputy mayor Anne Levinson is one of the women buying the WNBA’s Seattle Storm.
EVENING UPDATE: Please see other coverage higher up the WSB home page (here and here) for additional info; we did, however, just add the photos seen above, sent by friend Krissi. AFTERNOON UPDATE: Just checked the Red Cup door; the service for Angelia Paulsen is this Friday morning, 11 am @ St. Stephen the Martyr Church in Renton. Here’s the note that’s on the door:
ORIGINAL 9:23 AM REPORT: Meredith just e-mailed to say that Red Cup Espresso in The Junction is closed and a note on the door says its owner has died. 9:28 AM UPDATE: Another reader e-mail says the owner died in a traffic accident yesterday morning and services are this Friday. 9:40 AM UPDATE: Washington State Patrol public information officer Trooper Jeff Merrill just confirmed to WSB that 36-year-old Angelia Paulsen, Red Cup’s owner, is the woman killed when her car crashed on I-5 in South Seattle early yesterday. Citywide media covered that crash; thanks to “k” for finding a short mention in the middle of this Times “digest.”
Mentioned the impending demolition yesterday … went by a few minutes ago and the teardown was in full swing. Always amazing to see how little time it takes to bring down these old wood-frame homes (this one was built in 1918). A few more teardown pix, and our rambling digression:Read More
Seattle Fire investigators say the 15th SW apartment fire was an accident – started by “smoking materials” thrown into a trash bag. (Additional photos at top and bottom of this post just sent in today by DJ Sonsteng.) Meantime, WSMom posted this comment following the original WSB report. Way to go:
I happened upon the apartment fire and called 911 at about 3:30 this afternoon. Ć¢ā¬ÅSeattle Police and Fire, can you hold pleaseĆ¢ā¬Ā is the answer I received. ItĆ¢ā¬ā¢s interesting what goes through your mind at a time like this. The fire was quite big and there was an impressive amount of smoke. I stayed on hold, hoping someone else had already gotten through to a real operator. Not knowing what I should do, I started pounding on doors and yelling Ć¢ā¬ÅFIRE, GET OUTĆ¢ā¬Ā. We should all learn how to say Ć¢ā¬ÅfireĆ¢ā¬Ā and Ć¢ā¬Åget out of the buildingĆ¢ā¬Ā in Spanish. When the 911 operator came on the line, she asked if there were people in the building and when I said yes she told me to get them out. It was actually reassuring to be told to do what I was already doing. I carried a little boy out of his familyĆ¢ā¬ā¢s apartment and helped him get his shoes on once we were at the sidewalk. His parents had their hands full lifting their newbornĆ¢ā¬ā¢s stroller down the stairs. It was very cold outside and all the little boy had on were pajamas, so I was glad to find some of my sonĆ¢ā¬ā¢s outgrown clothes in a giveaway bag in my car and I set to work putting some warm clothes on the child. His parents didnĆ¢ā¬ā¢t speak English so I used the universal language of pointing and shivering to get their permission to dress their child. Right about this time the first of four or five fire trucks pulled up and quickly got the fire under control. My son sat patiently in the car the whole time waiting for me to get back and continue on to his brotherĆ¢ā¬ā¢s basketball game. IĆ¢ā¬ā¢m going to make it a point tomorrow to learn how to say Ć¢ā¬Åfire, get outĆ¢ā¬Ā in Spanish just in case.
There’s some on the car roofs up here on our hill, but not on the road. How about you? 6:30 AM ADDENDUM: No delays or changes reported for Seattle schools; if you need to know what’s happening at schools out of the area, here’s the regional list. 6:45 AM: Adding this photo from the parking strip nearby. Our resident snow expert describes what’s on the grass as “thick, a little bit frozen, slush” but even up here what’s coming down is just light rain; thermometer (note we have one in the right sidebar of this page now too) says 35.
No further snow in the forecast – at least as of right now.
Added this as a PS, hours after the announcement of our fledgling Pets page over the weekend, so in case you missed it: We created a Flickr group you can use to upload your most insanely adorable/heartwarming pet pix, for potential featuring on the WSB Pets page. You can find the West Seattle Blog Pet Photos group here. (There’s a couple of cuddly cat pix there so far, one from us.)
Thanks to Stan Lock, one of West Seattle’s two city Neighborhood District Coordinators, for forwarding word of which city councilmembers are running which committees this year. This is important info since in Seattle, city councilmembers do not represent specific districts; 
instead, you can take concerns and issues to the specific councilmember(s) focusing on the most relevant area of concern. In addition to word that Richard Conlin succeeds Nick Licata as council president), here are today’s official committee announcements — Licata chairs Culture, Civil Rights, Health and Personnel as well as Labor Policy; West Seattle resident Tom Rasmussen (who also took the oath of office today after his opposition-less re-election run last fall) chairs Parks/Seattle Center; new councilmember Bruce Harrell chairs Energy and Technology; Conlin chairs Environment, Emergency Management, and Utilities; Jean Godden chairs Finance/Budget; Richard McIver chairs Housing/Economic Development; Sally Clark leads Planning, Land Use, and Neighborhoods; new councilmember Tim Burgess chairs Public Safety/Human Services/Education; and Jan Drago continues to chair the Transportation committee. Their contact info, e-mail as well as phone numbers, is all listed on this city webpage.
Fire charred the northeast corner of an apartment building at 9200 15th SW this afternoon. Multiple fire units and police were on site. NEW INFO: According to a 5 pm update on the Fire Department media hotline, the flames were confined to one unit on the 1st floor, where one person lived; firefighters evacuated everyone safely from this 10-unit apartment building (county property records here), and no one is hurt. (Later Monday night, investigators determined “smoking materials” accidentally started the fire.) Photos are by WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli; we also added 2 WSB video clips below these next two photos:
Thanks to everyone who e-mailed, called, and texted to make sure we heard about this!
These numbers just in from West Seattle Realtor (and WSB sponsor) Bill Barna:
Average market time: 2006: 34 days / 2007: 42 days (up 24%)
Median price: 2006: $390,000 / 2007: $402,000 (up 3.1%)
Average price: 2006: $445,422 / 2007: $469,473 (up 5.3%)
Number of homes sold: 2006: 1,728 / 2007: 1,642 (down 5.0%)
Bill adds, “Although the annual appreciation is off a little from the record year of 2005 (almost 15% that year!) we are still growing here in West Seattle.” The numbers are from a detailed report he compiles every year, and he says anyone who wants a full copy is welcome to e-mail him (click here).
REMINDER THAT SUMMER WILL REALLY BE HERE EVENTUALLY: The Big Blog says two Blue Angels will “buzz” the city between 3 and 4 pm today. (If you have been reading WSB at least 5 months, you know we have what one WSB’er charitably described as a “strange obsession” with the Angels.)
WEST SEATTLEITE GUEST-SLOGS STARTING TODAY: Jeff from Soundproof Suite 1850 (which is linked from our newly improved Other Blogs in WS page) has begun his week of Slogging, thanks to the right he procured in The Stranger‘s fundraising auction; we believe this is his first post.
VEDDER VIDEO: What’s described as the first solo music video done by West Seattle rock luminary Eddie Vedder premiered today on VH1 (tv and web; watch it here.)
3700 block of Beach Drive – the “no parking” signs and hay bales are an unmistakable sign of backhoe-en-route; update’s on Beach Drive Blog (including a link to the upcoming townhouse project). We’ve watched this one because our original West Seattle residence was next door, way back when a grungy convenience store was on the site across the street that is now known as Cormorant Cove Park (nothing like the beach’s next convenience store!).
Today we’re extending the traditional WSB welcome to our newest sponsor, Illusions Hair Design (on California between Alaska and Morgan Junctions). This year, Illusions is celebrating 30 years in business, and its achievements over the years — including a Mayor’s Small Business Award and repeat annual votes as “Best on the Westside.” Clicking on the new Illusions ad you see on the right sidebar of this page will take you to information about a special offer regarding one of their many specialties — color services — they do more than 4,000 every year, and provide their stylists with continuing education in haircutting and all chemical services. Illusions also supports the community with donations to more than 100 local organizations each year, including two major fundraisers that they started: “Have a Heart Day” in February, and “Pencil Me in for Kids” during the summer (read more about that here). You may have seen their distinctive VW Bug around town (we photographed it in our Hi-Yu Parade coverage last summer). Thanks to Illusions and all our sponsors for supporting WSB; if you are interested in finding out how to join them, check out our Advertise page (which also lists the current sponsor lineup and our newest opportunities).
-State ferries are now on their winter schedule, including fewer runs on Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth.
-You may have heard about Metro taking bike racks off some of its buses. Here’s the official Metro advisory; the specific routes affected are listed as “all bus trips on routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 12, 13, 14, 36, 49 and 70, and some trips on routes 7, 43 and 44.” Doesn’t appear to involve any of the routes directly serving West Seattle.
If you are anywhere near West Seattle HS, you know there’s a fire callout there right now. First it called out as an automatic fire alarm, now scanner traffic says a maintenance person thinks there MIGHT be a “small” fire in one room. So the fire department’s checking it out. 7:23 AM UPDATE: Now they’re talking about resetting a detector, so this doesn’t sound major. 7:29 AM UPDATE: The 911 log shows the call closed. Just in time for the first day of school post-break.
Much going on this week – all listed on the WSB Events page – but here’s a small sampling we want to highlight:
TODAY/TONIGHT — Back-to-school day for everyone who wasn’t already back by the end of last week. School open house/tour season is revving up too, with Seattle Lutheran High School having one @ 6:30 tonight (more open houses & tours on the aforementioned Events page, including the West Seattle-wide Middle School Information Night on Thursday, and please send us your open house/tour schedule if it’s not there already).
TOMORROW — Next meeting of Junction Neighborhood Organization (JuNO), 6:30 pm at Ginomai (SW corner 42nd/Genesee), with topics including RapidRide and Adopt-A-Street. Read more on the new JuNO site. (Are you connected to your neighborhood organization? We’ve got a list on the right sidebar of this page.)
WEDNESDAY — Biggest event today involves the rest of the city as well: The Seattle Police Department will begin implementing geographic changes as laid out in the new Neighborhood Policing Plan. You can read it here; we are working on a standalone report about this, but among other things, it means the Southwest Precinct here in West Seattle no longer will handle Georgetown; its remaining turf remains split into two “sectors” but the layout of “beats” within those sectors will change (see page 15-16). Also Wednesday — At 4 pm, before their regular semiweekly meeting, Seattle School Board members hold a “work session” for updates on the controversial Chief Sealth High School/Denny Middle School shared-campus plan. (Recent WSB coverage: 12/19 school board meeting; 12/12 Westwood Neighborhood Council meeting.) Then at 7:30 pm, people interested in the environmental permits required for the Nucor steel mill’s crane-expansion project are invited to a public hearing at Alki Community Center.
THURSDAY — The Southwest Design Review Board is back in action, this time looking at the mixed-use “Spring Hill” project south of The Junction. (Latest WSB reports on that project: Neighbor concern here; meeting announcement here.)
FRIDAY — The West Seattle Kiwanis Club presents a free community concert by the Seattle Symphony, 8 pm @ West Seattle High School.
Again, those are just a few of this week’s events – listed here along with dozens of other West Seattle events planned all the way through October at this point — if yours isn’t there, e-mail us (or go here for our postal-mail address if you prefer to send announcements that way).
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