Thanks to the folks at WSB sponsor Ventana Construction for snapping pix at Fauntleroy/Alaska a short time ago, as they spotted this “FOR LEASE” sign going up on the ex-Huling/Gee lot on the southeast corner. Here’s the leasing company; as of this moment, the listing isn’t on their site, nor is it coming up in a general search of commercial sites “for lease.” Data point: Unlike many surrounding parcels, this land isn’t actually owned by the Hulings, according to King County property records.MARCH 26 ADDENDUM: The completed sign says for sale OR for lease.
THIS MORNING: Toddler Spring Egg-stravaganza at High Point Community Center; fun starts at 10 am, egg hunt for the little ones at 11 am sharp.
TONIGHT: Help shape and protect the future of our Puget Sound shoreline – be at the “visioning” meeting tonight; open house at 6:30 pm, workshop starts @ 9, High Point Community Center.
EASTER UPDATES:The Events list now includes a section with Saturday egg hunts in West Seattle (more than half a dozen!); also, thanks to the WSB’ers who have sent us added info for our West Seattle Easter Sunday Services page (which includes the sunrise services at Forest Lawn and Alki as well as more than 30 WS churches). As we mention on the page, many of these churches also have breakfasts, brunches, even egg hunts in addition to the Sunday services (plus other Holy Week events today and tomorrow) so follow the links to their websites for the added details.
Sanislo Elementary – tucked into a wooded corner along Myrtle a few blocks east of Delridge – bills itself as “the small school with big ideas.” Tonight was the night their librarian Maryann Horsley‘s big idea for “West Seattle Reads” (previous coverage here) took flight as kids picked up free books – with a kite theme – and watched a kite expert show them some fun creations:
The goal is to get as many West Seattle kids as possible reading these two books (“The Emperor and the Kite†by Jane Yolen and Ed Young for younger kids, “The Kite Fighters†by Linda Sue Park and Eung Won Park for older kids) and then joining in two discussions at local libraries in a few weeks:
The discussions are April 14 at Delridge Library and April 15 at Southwest Library. Then “West Seattle Reads” wraps up with a kite celebration at Sanislo on April 27. And if you couldn’t go last night – you can still get the free books and join in “West Seattle Reads” — e-mail Maryann Horsley (click here).
… when we checked its automated list of updated West Seattle-related news, after linking to it in our previous post, we learned of this news that also seems worth a home-page mention: The company behind Pay-By-Touch fingerprint-authenticated payment — which West Seattle Thriftwaywas the first retailer to use (making history in 2002) — is shutting down. The article briefly quotes Thriftway owner Paul Kapioski; we’ll see if we can find out more tomorrow about how this affects the store. (According to this news release, the shutdown is effective as of late tonight.)
She didn’t point this out to us – WSB’er JT did – but WSB sponsor Rhonda Porter, who writes The Mortgage Porter, is quoted in an article from tomorrow’s New York Times. As we had just explained to somebody earlier today, we don’t put up a lot of West Seattle-related newspaper links here on the home page unless there’s something extraordinary about them, since that’s what the More page is for, but getting quoted in the NYT is a big deal in our book!
When we mentioned The Tap Project the other day, a few commenters mentioned they were offended by a particular radio commercial they had heard. They’ve received a response from someone local who worked on a different part of the Tap Project publicity campaign, and since the item’s a few days old, we wanted to spotlight that new comment here:
I work at the ad agency Publicis West in Seattle. I am the Creative director and copywriter of the local public service campaign for the Tap Project Seattle. I did indeed write a radio spot which is airing, but it doesn’t mention anything about a waitress. I am not sure where the radio spot you’re talking about came from.
Please know that the Seattle restaurant community are our best friends in this project and we have been working hand-in-hand with restaurants to support this great cause. I was a waitress myself all through college and would NEVER suggest that a food server not be tipped. In fact, I had lunch today at Le Pichet and we gave both a big tip to the waitress and a $75 donation to TAP!
Perhaps the radio spot is part of the national public service campaign. If so, they are definitely utilizing a tongue and cheek tone and probably didn’t have the intention of offending the very people who are supporting the TAP Project.
Below is the script for the radio spot currently airing in Seattle:
ANNC: This morning when you woke up there was a 65% chance it was falling from the sky. You turned on a tap and bathed in it. You turned on another tap and brushed your teeth in it. You put on clothes that were washed in it. You flushed a gallon and a half of it down the toilet. You got in your car and crossed large bodies of it. You drank a latte steamed with it. You gossiped next to a cooler of it. And you haven’t given it a second thought. You haven’t had to. Because in Seattle we’ve got plenty of water. But not everyone in the world is so lucky. The fact is, 5000 children die every day from a lack of safe water. During world water week, we can help change that. Dine out March 16th through the 22nd and donate a dollar for a glass of tap water. That dollar will provide 40 children with safe drinking water for one day. And because you thought about water for a change, someone else won’t have to. For participating restaurants or to donate online, go to tapproject.org/Seattle
Doesn’t solve the mystery of that other commercial, but just wanted to share this with anyone concerned there was some local snarking going on.
This just in from detectives at the Southwest Precinct: The youngest of the three suspects arrested after a West Seattle burglary on Monday (WSB coverage here) is now also confirmed to be the suspect in a shooting outside the Renton Fry’s store last week. According to this article about the shooting, it happened when a Fry’s employee tried to stop a car theft; nobody was hit or hurt by the gunfire. The suspect just turned 17 this month.
Yes, we know, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for all day: The arrival of last year’s “American Idol” finalist Chris Richardson at Roxbury Safeway this afternoon to promote ice cream and sign autographs. Our video clip captures the full magic of his SUV arrival, entry into the store, and initial autograph-signing, in a compact 1:15 of video goodness. (A few dozen fans were there to greet him, in case you were wondering; he’s supposed to be there till 5:30.) If you prefer YouTube video, we put this clip there too.
First one: If you haven’t seen these banners yet — Morton’s Pharmacy in The Junction is being taken over by Pharmaca, a chain that bills itself as an “integrative pharmacy” and already has stores in Madison Park and Wallingford. (Thanks to Krista for the tip.) The other new name — remember the Rip Tide condo conversion on Alki Point? We now know the building’s new name is Lighthouse Point.Here’s its website; news of the name actually emerged when the developers called to ask if it’s OK if they link WSB to the community section of their website. (If you’re curious – we were – the site lists only a few prices so far, in the $200K vicinity.)
As of 1 o’clock this afternoon, the testimony’s over, and paperwork is what’s next in the fight over what can be built on the big front lawn of the landmark Satterlee House (the “Painted Lady” at 4866 Beach Drive, photo above). The city called one last “rebuttal witness” this afternoon — someone who almost wasn’t called to testify, as the city legal team explained while closing hearing-room proceedings with an official protest following the testimony:Read More
Just finished our first cut at a comprehensive list of West Seattle churches and their Sunday service times. You can find it here – including two sunrise services (Forest Lawn and on the beach @ Alki). As we noted on that page, PLEASE let us know if you see an error or omission – we compiled this as best we could with web searches and phone calls. Also note that some churches are planning Easter-egg hunts on Sunday — plus, you can find Saturday egg hunts at the city-run community centers around West Seattle, as well as Morgan Junction Thriftway (find the scoop on that on our Events page).
LIBRARY GAMES: Libraries aren’t just for books any more. It’s game time for ages 8-18 @ Delridge Library this afternoon, 3-5 pm — particularly the kind that actually involve body parts beyond the thumbs – Wii and DDR. (P.S. Did you know the Delridge branch is an official Homework Help Center?)
WE ALL SCREAM FOR … IDOL ICE CREAM? Yes, today’s the big day (previous coverage here). One of last year’s “American Idol” finalists, Chris Richardson, is touring the U.S. hawking “Idol” ice cream, and his only Seattle stop is (sort of) in West Seattle – Roxbury Safeway (map), 3:30-5:30 pm
FREE BOOKS!Sanislo Elementary (map) is throwing open its doors tonight for the “West Seattle Reads” kickoff; read all about it here, and don’t miss the free books and kite-making kits, 6:30-7:30 pm tonight.
LAST NIGHT FOR TEGC @ KENYON HALL: We went on night 1 (video-enhanced coverage here); tonight’s the final night of Pat Wright and Total Experience Gospel Choir at Kenyon Hall (map) before their return to the South to continue helping with Katrina relief.
P.S. – APOLOGY: An unintended WSB event happening today — server trouble at our hosting company. If you have trouble getting into the site, please accept our apology; we have reported the trouble, and they are planning some sort of major upgrade later this week that we’re hoping might fix the latest problems.
Going to get this all out in one long 3-part report: First, details on an incident last night that several people e-mailed us about today. Second, news from tonight’s West Seattle Community Safety Partnership meeting. Third, the police reports we reviewed at the Southwest Precinct yesterday afternoon but never got around to posting before all sorts of other news (missing girl found, etc.) started breaking. All ahead:Read More
Two from WSB contributing photojournalist Matt Durham: Above, a seal pup just south of Luna/Anchor Park (remember to keep your distance so that the mom will be more inclined to come back for baby); below, a cuddling couple at sunset at Lincoln Park. (Prints of Matt’s WSB photos and his other work are available through his site, MattDurhamPhotography.com.)
Big crowd tonight at the Fauntleroy Community Association‘s annual Fauntleroy Food Fest. And as had been discussed while we were at last week’s FCA meeting – this was carried off as a virtually waste-free event – if it wasn’t edible or drinkable, it was recyclable or reusable. Reminder, the next big Fauntleroy event is one week from tomorrow — the community open house with updates on the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse situation (as reported here), 6:30-8 pm March 26th, The Hall @ Fauntleroy.
Six weeks after the Charlestown Cafe fire – six weeks with plenty of uncertainty – the news is just in from restaurant owner Larry Mellum:
I wanted to pass along to you the good news that we are moving forward with our repairs from the fire we had on Feb. 4th. Our Landlord has agreed to get our Hood System fixed and upgraded to meet necessary codes so we are “officially” on the mend. I would expect it to take at least four weeks to get the doors back opened. I want to thank everyone who contacted us regarding the fire, wished us well and inquired if they could help us in any way!! This is an amazing community of which we are honored to be a part of. We will keep you updated with our progress and with any luck we will see everyone in a month.
In the meantime, if you didn’t already know this, Larry also owns Pike Place Chowder, with two downtown locations – Pike Place and Pacific Place – so you can get a chowder fix if you’re downtown, till Charlestown reopens.
Mayor Greg Nickels will declare open season on potholes at a press conference tomorrow morning, kicking off a campaign by the city’s Pothole Rangers to fill a record number of the axle-bending offenders over the next week.
The mayor will issue a pothole hunting license to all drivers and bikers to flush out the worst potholes in the city and report them to 684-ROAD. He will then join the Rangers as they fill the first pothole in their record-setting attempt.
The press conference is going to be in — no, not West Seattle, our kindred spirit across the bay, Ballard. Which of course means we must hereby show you the best “Almost Live” clip ever:
Now in its third (partial) week before city Hearing Examiner Sue Tanner, testimony in the Satterlee House (above) case is almost over, with no more than 2 additional witnesses expected tomorrow afternoon. It wasn’t supposed to continue into this week; property owner William Conner, who is appealing a city Landmarks Board decision about what he can do with the house’s huge lawn, isn’t even sitting in on the proceedings any more as of today:Read More
This 4-plex at 1716 California (map) is proposed for teardown-to-townhomes (four duplexes on the drawing board). That fact itself is not where the controversy lies here — it involves both the height of the proposed buildings and the fact that the property includes former city land with an open-space requirement, and the neighborhood is concerned about whether the development will live up to that requirement. A meeting with neighbors is planned for Thursday night, but even the purpose and scope of that meeting are in dispute:Read More
Just got details from the Southwest Precinct on three of the arrests reported late Friday: Three people were arrested in connection with a break-in Friday in the 5400 block of 31st SW – because less than an hour later, police say, they were in Seatac trying to cash a check stolen during the burglary. Detectives say there’s a good chance these suspects are linked to additional burglaries, for reasons including the fact the loot found in their vehicle included more than the items reported stolen in the break-in on 31st. Meantime, just after getting the call with those details, we got a reader report about an apparently unrelated burglary yesterday:Read More
The Southwest Precinct team always has a major show of force at the West Seattle Community Safety Partnership meetings — with crime updates, crimefighting tips, and more — plus the WSCSP leaders have plenty of updates on community concerns. We’ll have a report, of course, but that’s no substitute for being there yourself and asking questions about what you and your neighbors specifically want to know – it’s a casual meeting and there’s always plenty of chances to have your say. 7 pm tonight, Southwest Precinct meeting room (map) — with special guests tonight from the Parking Enforcement division!
Thanks to Lillie for the tip that this taco truck has turned up at the Orchard/Sylvan road fork west of Delridge (map), across from the northwest corner of Home Depot. We previously hadn’t noticed any taco trucks closer than White Center/Burien, as discussed in this WSB post (and ensuing comments) a year ago.
This just in from detectives at the 
Six weeks after the Charlestown Cafe fire – six weeks with 
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