West Seattle, Washington

22 Monday

68℉

Spotlight Stories


  • Shooting

    PARK SHOOTING: Self-defense investigation

  • Closing

    BANK CLOSURE: B of A to shut 1 WS branch

  • Parade

    WS GRAND PARADE: Video, pix of winners, more

TGIF and other reasons for thankfulness
December 7, 2007 5:49 am
|      7 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle online | West Seattle people

We’re starting the day in a thankful mood — so first we want to post a public thank-you of our own. WSB may not look any different than it did a week ago, but it is running a lot more smoothly “under the hood,” thanks to a whole lot of time, energy, creativity, and sheer determination expended by STUART MAXWELL. We’ve known for months WSB simply had to move to a new “host” server because the old one was on the brink of doing what it did back in June, and worse — publishing a simple update or change took extra time just to wait for the server to deal with it (or not) — but because we needed to make the move without losing any of the thousands of posts, comments, and photos published on WSB in the past two years, and for some other reasons Stuart discovered along the way, it was way too complicated for us to handle (despite some bleary all-nighters during which we tried). We asked technically oriented crosstown friends for advice on a tech adviser — and the inquiries blazed a trail straight back to West Seattle (of course!), and, in fact, to someone who happened to have a site linked from our Other Blogs page (one of Stuart’s many projects is The New Big). So again, HUGE thanks to Stuart – his tireless, creative, good-natured, patient work has saved the site and our sanity, and is paving the way for more improvements. … Also on the thankfulness front – an unusual tale landed in the WSB inbox – someone who pulled off a last-minute wedding with a lot of West Seattle help:Read More

Share This

West Seattle Christmas lights, 12/6/07 (and a side note)
December 6, 2007 11:35 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   Holidays | West Seattle Christmas lights

balconymorgan.jpg

This balcony display is on the building between Short Stop and the ex-Chuck and Sally’s on California, north of Morgan Junction. We remember seeing it last year too; the lights manage to diminish the dinginess of that block like a glittering multi-layer necklace. It’s on our West Seattle Christmas lights map now, of course (you’ll find that on our Holidays page; click each marker on the map to see the photo from that location). Now, the side note – The famous red bows are up on the north side of the Admiral Way bridge.

Share This

Inside the “Painted Lady”
December 6, 2007 9:30 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle history | West Seattle online

We mentioned part 1 of the VintageSeattle.org “Painted Lady” (the one on 45th that’s for sale, not the one on Beach Drive that’s also for sale) tour the other day. Part 2 is what you can’t see from the street — the inside — definitely worth a look!

Share This

West Seattle scene: Two-wheeled garden art
December 6, 2007 6:34 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Seen around town

artbikeweb-1.jpg

From WSB contributing photographer Matt Durham: A vintage Schwinn decorates the front yard of an Alki home a few blocks from the beach. The exact location is omitted to deter joyriders. (Prints of Matt’s WSB photos and his other work are available through his site, MattDurhamPhotography.com.)

Share This

Reader Recommendation Requests from new neighbors
December 6, 2007 4:17 pm
|      35 COMMENTS
 |   Reader recommendations

We hate to lump RRRs together but the big news earlier this week has led to a backlog and these three sort of hit a theme, so we’re hoping all of you will help all three of these folks. The theme – new West Seattleites and what they need. First, Christy e-mails — from Atlanta!

My boyfriend and I just closed on a house in Morgan Junction and will be relocating at the end of the month. The 1918 house has 50% knob and tube wiring (which stopped being used in the 30s) so updating the wiring will be the first project. Do your readers have any good electricians to recommend?

Now from Mary, who’s also moving to WS:

We just bought a house in West Seattle and are so excited! We’re doing some work on the house now, planning to move in mid-January. We need our floors refinished! Any companies in West Seattle that anyone would recommend?

And from Wendy, who’s been here a while but this is still somewhat of a related query – with a tangent:

I am looking for a Westside piano tuner to give my little 1954 Chickering console a tune-up since moving to our new townhome in High Point. I’d like to get it tuned before Dec. 17th since we are having a party and I am hoping someone with talent shows up to play.

And once it is tuned up, I am looking to take lessons – my husband suggests jazz piano (I guess he thinks classical is too boring). I am self-taught in my youth but haven’t really played in a number of years. Never have had music theory, and would love to learn how to do chords and whatever that term is where you fill-in stuff to make your basic music sound impressive. My books aren’t unpacked yet but I know where they are!

Please leave responses to any and all of the above as comments on this post; check out previous Reader Recommendation Requests, and responses, in their archive here.

Share This

West Seattle crime watch: Several items of note
December 6, 2007 1:03 pm
|      18 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

(2:35 PM NOTE – even if you read this earlier be sure to scroll down, we have added one more recent report) ORIGINAL POST: First – the broken window at Puerto Vallarta in The Junction remains a mystery, according to the folks we talked to at the restaurant:

They told WSB they just came in one day a few days ago, and it was broken. You’ll recall, nearby Northwest Art & Frame suffered a similar break just after Halloween.

Meanwhile, several things that WSB readers wanted to call to community attention. First, this just out of the inbox within the hour:

Not sure if this is peeper-related (I’m guessing it is), but my husband came home late last night at 1 am (Thursday) and reported police combing the area with dogs at 49th and Charlestown (the location of the last peeper spotting). The search didn’t seem frantic (no chasing) – just like a patrol or something. I can’t find any other details – but thought I would throw it out there to see if you knew anything more.

We also have this report of something that happened last Saturday night:

Last night there was an attempted break-in of our home at 5600 block of 48th Ave SW. We managed to scare him off by turning on light and yelling. He was pushing on door and jiggling handle. He is wise to have left as I was prepared to shoot him upon entry. He had short hair possibly shaven and was wearing a vinyl jacket and jeans. 911 was called and a report was filed. Officer told us a few others had reported a man walking through their yard. Please be on alert.

And from the far south side of West Seattle, another reader who didn’t want to be identified wrote over the weekend (lost amidst the weather coverage, but we are catching up now):

In looking at the blog crime section, I thought it might be worth a post that there may be a trend developing of attempted or successful home break-ins in a several block area around 35th Ave SW and SW 106th Street. I am aware of two that were completed burglaries and one attempted break-in, occurring since mid-September up to a few days ago. Two happened during daylight hours when the occupants were away.

ADDED 2:40 PM: Stephanie originally sent this in last Sunday night and just reminded us (please forgive us) we hadn’t posted it:

I wrote you not more than a few days ago in regards to a car break in of my neighbors. Well, the criminals have gotten greedier. One of the people whose car was broken in to now had their apartment broken in to. The criminals broke a bedroom window and stole some high priced items. This was pretty bold because I was home as was another neighbor and we didn’t hear the glass break.

I find this very troubling because locks don’t seem to be enough. What will it take….. metal bars?????

Grrrr I am so upset for my neighbors and for the community of Delridge. Is there any sort of block watch along Delridge?

As we noted when posting Stephanie’s previous report, she lives north of the Home Depot area. We referred her to the Seattle Police crime-prevention resources including this huge list. And for everyone, our standard caveat: Always report suspicious activity to Seattle Police. Always. Even if it seems like nothing can be done, or nothing is/was done, having the incident(s) on record can help them identify trends, deploy resources, etc. And keep WSB posted on what’s happening in your neighborhood, good as well as bad, so we all can be watching out for each other as much as possible.

Share This

Parking restrictions, explained
December 6, 2007 12:12 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Environment | Transportation | West Seattle news

Val e-mailed us to ask about the “no parking” signs along a stretch of 35th. This city press release explains what it’s all about: Arborists will be out tomorrow volunteering their time to prune “street trees” in several areas of the city — in West Seattle, along 35th between Holden and Alaska.

Share This

Holiday highlights
December 6, 2007 9:27 am
|    Comments Off on Holiday highlights
 |   Fun stuff to do | Holidays | West Seattle schools

christmasShipStanSayres2.jpgTwo nights till the Christmas Ship sails to West Seattle — and the good news is that the weather looks great! The Christmas Ship and its floating entourage will make three West Seattle stops on Saturday night: Seacrest 5:15 pm, Lowman Beach 8:50 pm, Alki 9:40 pm) and one on Sunday night (Don Armeni, 7:10 pm – you can find the schedule linked from our Holidays page, where we just added another nightly highlight for tonight: Pathfinder K-8 has its holiday Craft Fair & Culture Night, 6-8 pm tonight. (We love hearing about, and sharing news of, school activities – so if you’ve got one or more kids in West Seattle schools, please make sure the school office and PTSA have WSB on their mailing lists — all the info, from e-mail to postal mail to phone # to even where to find us on Facebook, is on the Contact WSB page.)

Share This

Cars collide on 35th
December 6, 2007 8:55 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   WS breaking news

Avoid 35th/Thistle right now; two-car crash, police redirecting traffic. Paramedics are checking at least one person out. 9 AM: Photo added:

35th.jpg

9:23 AM UPDATE: Tow truck just took the most badly damaged car away; police are reopening the intersection.

Share This

Free flu shots in West Seattle this weekend
December 6, 2007 6:52 am
|    Comments Off on Free flu shots in West Seattle this weekend
 |   West Seattle news

The county Public Health Department wants to make sure you know about this: Sunday, 10 am-2 pm, first-come, first-served, free flu shots @ Delridge Community Center.

Share This

Two more flood footnotes
December 5, 2007 11:55 pm
|    Comments Off on Two more flood footnotes
 |   December 2007 flooding | West Seattle news

–This P-I article has a cool map at the end showing that West Seattle got more rain in the big storm than most other parts of the city.

-One more update on the “Allstar car” — Ty Hammond caught it “on the move” tonight, hours after its owner told WSB about its impending tow:

allstarcar.jpg

Share This

Reader Recommendation Request: New arrivals need doctors
December 5, 2007 9:00 pm
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   Reader recommendations

From Jo B:

Looking for doctors … We just moved to West Seattle from Minnesota and I need to find a local doc (preferrably West Seattle but downtown is ok too) who understands fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome and my hubby needs a good old fashioned family doc. Preferably one with Saturday hours or downtown near the train dept. We are United Health customers.

As always, please add your recommendation as a comment on the post; previous RRRs and their respective responses are archived here. Thanks to everyone who joins in the RRRs to help fellow West Seattleites find what they’re looking for!

Share This

West Seattle Christmas lights, 12/05/07: Menashe video
December 5, 2007 6:30 pm
|      21 COMMENTS
 |   Holidays | West Seattle Christmas lights | West Seattle video

We featured the famous Beach Drive Christmas house with a photo on 11/28 … then this week, the Menashe family graciously allowed us to stop by and get a narrated tour, including answers to some of the questions everybody asks (such as, “how many lights?” — the big tree alone has 100,000!). The display’s on 4:30-11:30 pm every night through New Year’s, and its location is one of many on our special West Seattle Christmas lights map (you’ll find it on our new WSB Holidays page). First clip: Josh Menashe shows us what’s new, and talks about what it takes to put this together:

Here are 3 more clips, starting with a longer walk-through:Read More

Share This

“Lake Alaska,” the video
December 5, 2007 5:04 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   December 2007 flooding | Development | West Seattle video

We linked yesterday to a photo of the water buildup in the 41st/42nd/Alaska megaproject construction … today, WSB contributing photographer Christopher Boffoli went by for some video of what’s being done about it:

Share This

From the owner of the Delridge Deluge icon
December 5, 2007 3:01 pm
|      12 COMMENTS
 |   December 2007 flooding | Delridge | West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

(photo by Lea Kuchan) In case you don’t go back to comments on day-old posts – we wanted to highlight this comment just left on our followup about the now-famous car swamped in the Allstar Fitness parking lot during Monday’s megadownpour:

I am the somewhat sad and soon to be past owner of this car. It is indeed being totaled by my insurance – they say that they are liable if they fix it and something happens. Happily, I am aware of the folks who get ripped off by having totaled cars get reconditioned and sold. I have arranged for it to be towed to a salvage yard, and scrapped out for body parts. The bad karma will end with me.

Thanks for your support, though. I feel privileged to have such supportive neighbors.

Best,
E

Share This

Another megaproject on the brink of beginning to build
December 5, 2007 1:20 pm
|      38 COMMENTS
 |   Development | West Seattle news

petfenc.jpg

The lot behind Petco in The Junction isn’t closed to parking yet but it’s apparently on the brink (the folks in the store are also waiting to hear when) – so suggests the sign on the fence, shown in our photo above; it discusses other parking options, and advises Petco shoppers to get store workers to help them with big items, and of course it also talks about the project coming to that site: Mural, which is the second project on this page at the site of its developers, Harbor Properties (side note, a power permit for the construction project was just granted). Petco, you may recall, wants to move to a new future building at the Charlestown Cafe site; things on that front have been publicly quiet (city project page here) since the last Design Review Board meeting four months ago (our detailed report is here, and it includes links to all the background).

Share This

If you go to “Gifts,” bring a gift
December 5, 2007 11:29 am
|    Comments Off on If you go to “Gifts,” bring a gift
 |   How to help | WS culture/arts

magiphototwo.jpgTonight is opening night for WSB sponsor ArtsWest‘s holiday production, “O. Henry’s The Gifts of the Magi.” And ArtsWest is asking audience members — and anyone who stops by ArtsWest while the play is running now through December 23 (checking out the art gallery, visiting the box office, whatever) — to bring their own “gifts”: ArtsWest is collecting donations of new books, new toys, new clothing, and diaper packages, all to be donated to WestSide Baby. As ArtsWest executive director Alan Harrison says in an AW press release: “‘Love thy neighbor’ is the credo of the season. O. Henry’s story about Della with the gorgeous hair and Jim with his grandfather’s priceless pocket watch is most famous for its ironic twist, but more than that, it tells us that love is the greatest gift of all. If we can help our neighbors at WestSide Baby by finding a way to supply their children with clothing, a book, or even a new toy, then we’ll all have a loving holiday indeed.” (ArtsWest photo by Matt Durham)

Share This

Reader question: Anyone need flood-cleanup help?
December 5, 2007 9:22 am
|    Comments Off on Reader question: Anyone need flood-cleanup help?
 |   December 2007 flooding | How to help | West Seattle weather

chrishydrantphoto.jpg

(Monday photo near 26th/Andover by Chris Monsos) The water has receded, but in some places it’s bound to have left damage behind. So Kaydee is wondering:

With all the flooding this week, I feel very fortunate to have not experienced any flood damage but I would like to help neighbors in need. Are there any groups of volunteers organizing this weekend to help neighbors or restore damage to parks caused by this flood?

P.S. To make it easier to find WSB coverage of the flooding and aftermath, we have retagged our reports in a new “December 2007 flooding” category (much like the “December ’06 windstorm” archive).

Share This

The frame that followed the flames
December 5, 2007 6:16 am
|    Comments Off on The frame that followed the flames
 |   Crime | Development | West Seattle fires | West Seattle news

4132frame.jpg

(above photo by WSB contributing photographer Christopher Boffoli) North of The Junction, reconstruction is back in high gear at 4132 California, the live/work units (city project page here; developers’ project page here) that were under construction when a huge early-morning fire (below photo by Garrett Burke) destroyed the project August 17th. Investigators declared it arson but so far as we know have never made an arrest (hotline for tips: 800-55-ARSON).

garrettphoto1.jpg

Share This

Coyotes in Fauntleroy Park tonight?
December 4, 2007 10:47 pm
|      8 COMMENTS
 |   Wildlife

That’s what Amy is wondering about:

Anybody else hearing coyotes in Fauntleroy Park tonight? I’m about one or two lots away from the southwest side of the park (the wetlands feeding the creek go through my back yard) and heard a very odd hooting/crying type noise. My dog started whining, too. Is that the coyotes?

Share This

West Seattle Christmas lights, 12/4/07
December 4, 2007 10:11 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Highland Park | Holidays | West Seattle Christmas lights

highlandparklights.jpg

Tonight, we found ourselves wandering the streets of Highland Park, where we came across this house at 7925 9th Ave. SW (map; also, we have added it to our clickable map of all the displays featured on WSB this season, which you can access any time from our new Holidays page). Rolled the window down to get the picture and even heard Christmas music. By the way, tomorrow evening, we’ll bring you a narrated video tour of West Seattle’s most famous display, the Menashes’ lights on Beach Drive.

Share This

Reader Recommendation Request: Best place to help
December 4, 2007 8:46 pm
|      15 COMMENTS
 |   How to help | Reader recommendations

A reader who wants to be anonymous sent this intriguing request for recommendations:

I’m planning a volunteer event for my company—and I’m a West Seattle resident so I’d like to consider ideas from fellow West Seattle residents.

It’s an annual day of service in Seattle or a surrounding community. We’ll have about 300 people volunteering for a full day on a Saturday. In the past we’ve done everything from landscaping, painting buildings, stocking shelves, restoring a school… to getting in the mud and repairing a creekbed in South King County.

In order to be eligible, the non-profit has to have a 501c3 number or be associated with a 501c3. Any suggestions you or your readers have are much appreciated, either in West Seattle or in the greater Seattle area. We’re hoping to volunteer at an organization where we can make the biggest difference in one day, an organization that really needs our help.

As always, please add your recommendation as a comment on this post; you can find previous RRRs, and responses, archived here.

Share This

The port of gold at the end of the rainbow
December 4, 2007 7:34 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle weather

Thanks to Gwen @ Azalea Software for these photos of this afternoon’s rainbow(s):

doublerainbowport.jpg

rainbow3.jpg

Share This