West Seattle, Washington
21 Thursday
Brussels sprouts on the stalk! That’s one of the newest items you might find at the West Seattle Farmers’ Market today, according to the “ripe ‘n’ ready” fresh sheet (see the whole list here) – 10 am-2 pm, southeast corner of 44th/Alaska in The Junction.
The cloud formation (altocumulus?) that made last night’s sunset so spectacular (our photo is here; Beach Drive Blog has pix here) went on to enable that memorable moonscape — thanks to David Hutchinson for sharing his photo, taken from Duwamish Head.
Just found this link and added it to our Fauntleroy Way lane-reconfiguration followup – but we wanted to share it separately, too. The city’s Traffic Flow Data maps are online, with the daily totals for major arterials. Currently you can find the 1996-2006 maps/data; start here. It’s a bit hard to read (turned sideways with east on top), but for example, this map section shows the West Seattle Bridge and its feeders in 2006; the comparable section from 1996 shows higher volume on the bridge’s main stretch then, than 10 years later. ADDED SUNDAY: Want some REAL perspective? WSB Forums member “manuelw” started a thread with a photo of truly historic traffic on one of The Bridge’s predecessors.
They’re not just knocking down pins, they’re stacking up food for West Seattle Food Bank tonight at West Seattle Bowl, where the Beer Church has tapped quite the crowd for its 10th annual fundraiser/food drive Turkey Bowl:
Kendall from the Beer Church told WSB there’s no exact count yet but $ raised for WS Food Bank appears to have surpassed $2500.
This is going on till about 10 tonight – you are welcome to drop by with a food donation, or to just “hang out.” Find out more about the Beer Church at its website (which includes Beer News Headlines!). Also, you can help the two food banks that serve West Seattle any time, with an online $ donation — donate $ to WS Food Bank by going here; donate $ to White Center Food Bank by going here.
Two state playoff games today for Seattle Lutheran, and Bil Hood just sent word of the scores: The football team lost to Naselle 34-7, so their season is over; the Lady Saints soccer team beat Liberty Bell 6-0 and are in the state tournament’s final 4 – next game, next weekend. SUNDAY MORNING UPDATE: Thanks to the fan who provided a link to the brackets with the next game – Noon Friday in Sumner. The Lady Saints are 13-3-3, opponent LaSalle (from Union Gap, WA) is 16-1; the winner advances to the championship game, same place, the following day.
The fish “flag” is flying at the Fauntleroy Creek overlook – because the first coho spawner has arrived! The notice posted at the overlook is the same one you can read on this page of fauntleroy.net. It says: “Our first coho spawner (dubbed “Hillary” as a kind of consolation prize!) came in on Saturday, Nov. 8, and as of Monday is still awaiting a mate. Congratulations to watchers Ann Samenfink and Cathy Follis for making the first sighting.” So, “Hillary” arrived less than two weeks after the gathering to “call the salmon home” (WSB video coverage here); the fish ladder is marking its 10th anniversary this fall. Shortly after visiting the creek, we headed north to catch tonight’s glorious sunset from just south of Alki Point:
Just in from Nathan – read ahead for the report:Read More
(added photos at the bottom of this post)
ORIGINAL POST: The march and rally are happening right now, Capitol Hill to downtown, and Slog has coverage — including these overview photos of the march stretching for blocks. We’re hoping for photos later from West Seattleites who are participating. 2:36 PM UPDATE: Cami uploaded this video from the VERY early going, just as the first people were starting to gather at Volunteer Park:
And she sent this photo (thank you!) of organizer Kyler Powell onstage:
Capitol Hill Seattle also has photos (you have to click through them in the box on the left side of the post). ADDED 7:25 PM: Thanks to WSB Forums‘ Zenguy for sharing these photos – the first one shows you the depth of the Volunteer Park crowd (Zenguy says that’s Ron Sims way up at the stage — we’ll take his word for it; the other two pix show the marchers going through downtown):
ADDED LATE SATURDAY NIGHT: Thanks to Cheryl for sharing these photos taken by Greg Martin of her making a sign, and her and her goddaughter with their signs at the rally:
The WSB Forums thread about the event (discussed before and after) is here. ADDED VERY EARLY MONDAY: Just found this post on the Jew-Ish blog, recounting what Rabbi Michael Latz from West Seattle’s Kol HaNeshamah congregation said at the rally.
Thanks to JenV for adding a comment to our previous post, pointing out that you can donate a turkey to the West Seattle Food Bank today by buying it for just $5 at Jefferson Square Safeway. Two other food drive/fundraiser events for WSFB are happening tonight in the general Junction vicinity — the Beer Church‘s annual Turkey Bowl, starting at 5:30 pm at West Seattle Bowl (the TB lanes are full but you’re welcome to drop by, bring food and/or money for WSFB, and hang out) — and at 8 pm, a live-music benefit, Serve It Up, at Rocksport, with the toplines as follows:
Features Fall from Grace, To the Glorious Lonely, Memphis Radio Kings, Down with People, Something Vital and unplugged sets from Owen Wright, Martin Chandler, Tom Gunn and Dudley Taft. Door goes to Food Bank. $10.00 cover. Bins to donate non-perishable foods as well as raffles for prizes!
It’s the ultimate multitasking — having fun while doing good. P.S. If you can’t join in any of the above, you can still help the two food banks that serve West Seattle, right now without even leaving your computer/tucking away your iPhone/whatever — donate $ to WSFB by going here; donate $ to White Center Food Bank by going here.
That’s the scene at the Camp Long Lodge, where the first-ever CoolMom.org Toy Swap/Sale is happening till 1 this afternoon (added later: everything’s been marked down till sale’s over!) — the “swapping” happened in advance with donations taken in exchange for sale credit, so today, just bring your $ – proceeds benefit WestSide Baby and West Seattle Food Bank as well as CoolMom. Not far away, it’s the second and final day of the Holiday Bazaar at Providence Mount St. Vincent:
You can shop the bazaar till 3 pm. Overall, it’s a great day to get a jump on holiday shopping – it’s also the final day of the Square 1 Books (WSB sponsor) everything-21%-off anniversary sale; another WSB sponsor, West Seattle Nursery, has its annual open house; Capers and Friends and Company have special events in The Junction; Snap Fitness on the 42nd SW side of Jefferson Square (run by longtime WSB’ers) has its grand opening; browse the West Seattle Weekend Lineup for the full list of EVERYTHING happening today — including playoff games for Seattle Lutheran‘s football (1 pm vs. Naselle) and girls’ soccer (4 pm vs. Liberty Bell) teams, both at Sammamish High School.
By Patrick Sand
West Seattle Blog co-publisher
West Seattle High’s seniors took to the field. The game had been over for half an hour.
By ones and twos, they came out of the locker room and all but one walked onto the field. The seniors walked past the clutch of parents, grandparents, younger siblings, and girlfriends who waited for them outside the locker room and onto the turf. This was it – the last time they would all be under the same lights, and on the same field.
Give SDOT credit for proactivity: After our report yesterday that the city’s proposing cutting down travel lanes on Fauntleroy Way between Alaska and California – from two each way to one each way plus a center turn lane, in conjunction with anticipated repaving – SDOT offered up a key interview before we could even ask: Eric Widstrand, the man who will recommend to SDOT leadership whether this should go forward. We talked this morning, and here’s what we found out:Read More
Another followup to the Fauntleroy arrest early Sunday, following one break-in, another attempt, and a helicopter search: Court documents obtained from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office list the charges now filed against 41-year-old Richard Lovejoy, the convicted rapist caught after that search. Read on for details of the charges, including more information about the evidence prosecutors say they have against him:Read More
That’s the final score, just in from WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand at Civic Stadium in Bellingham, covering the high-school-football playoff game in which the Wildcats (now 9-2) have just lost to the Ferndale Golden Eagles (now 11-0). Patrick says the stadium was jammed – more than 5,700 people (that’s about half the population of Ferndale, which is 11 miles north of Bellingham). Full report later.
The Parks Department has announced its annual volunteer awards. Among the winners: Libby Carr of the Seattle (Alki) Statue of Liberty Plaza Project and Ken Shaw for his Schmitz Preserve work. Among the runner-up nominees, Westcrest Park Off-Leash Area steward Steve McElhenney (of “Bassets for Obama” fame).
Last night in the WSB Forums, member “Bigmark” posted e-mail he had received seeking support for a soccer complex on Port land along Harbor Avenue. “Has anyone heard anything about this?” he asked. We sent an inquiry the person who had sent the mass e-mail that “Bigmark” received – and finally got more information tonight, including the Request for Proposal cover photo shown above. Turns out the soccer field is one of the latest proposals for the so-called “CEM site” – which we last reported on in July of 2007, when Jack Block came to the Alki Community Council to advocate for a residential/urban proposal for the site; our coverage from that meeting indicated that was one of two primary competing proposals, with the other being boat storage. But now, a soccer complex is in the mix, at least for some CEM land – here’s what its supporters have to say:Read More
Driving through The Junction this afternoon, we spotted the lamp-post wreaths going up. Just in time for various holiday events happening this weekend (as you can see in the latest West Seattle Weekend Lineup). It also gives us a chance to mention that the dates are set for Junction fun you can enjoy before, during, and after shopping trips, as the West Seattle Junction Association (WSB sponsor) reminds you to “Live Local” this holiday season, and beyond. An hour of fun is planned for the West Seattle Junction Christmas-tree lighting, 5 pm December 6, including music and giveaways – dozens of Junction merchants are offering free tickets (available starting next weekend) for December raffling of thousands of dollars in gift certificates, and the tree lighting event will include an announcement of some of the winners (as well as holiday music and surprises). You’ll also see Junction fun on the following Sunday afternoons: December 7, 14, 21, with carriage rides and lots more – instead of picking just one “Hometown Holidays” weekend like last year, they’re spreading out the holiday joy.
The photo at left is from “Bullshot Crummond” — which Twelfth Night Productions (WSB sponsor) is presenting at Youngstown Arts Center tonight, tomorrow night, and Sunday afternoon — and as you’ll see in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup, to be published a little later today, it’s one of THREE live-theater productions on the peninsula this weekend:
In addition to this being the second and final weekend for “Bullshot Crummond,” it’s also closing weekend for “Black Gold” at ArtsWest, and the first of two weekends for a West Seattle High School Drama Club production — plus many local merchants are having special events this weekend to kick off holiday-shopping season – that’s all among more than 50 (!!!!) West Seattle and WS-linked events on our handy list ahead:Read More
Pathfinder K-8 PTSA folks say everybody’s welcome; it tackles one of the toughest topics a parent faces, in the relatively early going – when do you start talking to your kids about the “birds and the bees,” as the age-old euphemism puts it? 6:45 tonight at Pathfinder; more details online.
[photo by Christopher Boffoli]
First posted on Twitter by Monica Guzman from the P-I’s Big Blog, but we found out via this “retweet” (forwarded link) – Xconomy Seattle reports on coffee haunts “where innovators meet up.” West Seattle isn’t represented. C’mon, we’re not innovation-less over here! Are we? (For what it’s worth, while we of course are mega-fans of WSB sponsor Hotwire Coffee for the beverages, it’s too cozy for meetings when it’s not outdoor-table season, so we have had recent meetings at the Junction Uptown, Morgan Junction Caffe Ladro, Morgan Junction Tully’s, Coffee to a Tea … And you?)
Photographed within the past hour, that’s West Seattle High School athletic director George Foster giving WSHS varsity football players the scouting report on tonight’s playoff opponent, the Ferndale Golden Eagles, before the Wildcats’ bus hit the road for Bellingham. Also handed out before the trip, lunches provided by the WSHS Foundation:
What’s the lunch of champions, you ask? We know it included peanut-butter bagels and Gatorade. Speaking of champions, check out the new patch:
As mentioned earlier, WSB will be in Bellingham tonight to cover the big game – short in-progress updates as they happen at twitter.com/wsbbizdev (which will display in a red box you’ll see on the sidebar here later) and the halftime/final scores here on the main page, also as they happen. ADDED 1:03 PM: We shot video of the team boarding the bus. Nothing dramatic but we like to share the unprocessed video when we can:Read More
That’s one of the iconic images from the coverage we dubbed Freeway Fright ’07 (all archived here) — the August 2007 I-5 lane closures that could have caused gridlock backing up into West Seattle, but didn’t because of commuter action like what’s shown above (an Elliott Bay Water Taxi run on Day 1 that carried about 200 people; photo was provided that day by the staff of County Councilmember Dow Constantine). The state Department of Transportation‘s communications team just won the National Partnership for Highway Quality‘s 2008 Gold Award for Public Communications for its effort to get the word out about Freeway Fright ’07 before and during the road work. They really did do a great job in reaching out to the public via myriad news sources (including WSB even though that was months before we became a full-fledged business) so we wanted to congratulate them, although in turn, their news release announcing the award congratulates YOU: “The project’s success really came from the public choosing to travel different routes, try public transit, work from home or defer their trips,” state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond said. Speaking of the Water Taxi, looks like the King County Ferry District reauthorization vote is indeed happening next Monday (11 am); keep your Water Taxi support messages flowing in to info@kingcountyferries.org.
Following up on the Parks Department rule proposal – which didn’t make it out of last night’s Board of Park Commissioners meeting (WSB coverage here) – SPD Blotter has posted a letter from Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske addressing the question “Is nudity illegal?” Bottom line: no easy answer.
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