West Seattle, Washington
21 Saturday
ALKI “CAR-FREE DAY” TODAY: As per beaucoup previous mentions – noon-6 pm, no driving on Alki between California Way/Harbor and Alki/63rd except for the Water Taxi shuttle, the 56 bus (here’s one reroute alert), and a few exceptions spelled out in the official city advisory; parking restrictions (no parking between Maryland/Harbor and 63rd/Alki) kick in two hours earlier, so they’re in effect 10 am-6 pm. We will be posting frequent updates from Alki starting around 10, so you can check here for the latest report before you go. Lots of activities planned, and remember the Cones for Kids fundraiser at Alki Bathhouse (planned before the Car-Free Day was scheduled, so they’re really hoping it’ll be a fundraising boon and not a boondoggle), 1-4 pm.
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: Happening 10 am-2 pm at 44th/Alaska as always. Here’s our weekly link to the latest “Ripe ‘n’ Ready” fresh sheet, listing what you can expect to find.
POOL FINALE: Today’s the last 2008 day for Colman Pool on the Lincoln Park shoreline. (Here’s our report on its first day; seems like minutes ago instead of months.) Today’s schedule, from the Colman brochure: Lap Swim noon-2:45 pm, Public Swim 3-4:45 pm, Lap Swim 5-7 pm.
More of today’s options are listed in the latest West Seattle Weekend Lineup.
Tina shares this alert:
Not sure if anyone else has been hit lately, but we noticed this week that some 6-7′ heating pipes were missing from inside our yard. This is the second time something has been taken in the past week. The pipes were tucked away near our fence so the person or persons must have been searching. I know these “scrappers” may be after only what seems to be junk right now, but I’m concerned that once the well runs dry they’ll up the game. We have seen the infamous red pick-up in our alley – a couple of Saturdays ago, right around 6 p.m. We live on 37th between Fauntleroy and Genesee (map). Obviously they like this neighborhood now. Please keep an eye out. I also saw a white male in a tan/gold sedan (Chevy or Taurus type) leaving our alley (Saturday), going directly across the street to the north and thru that alley. I waited and they turned around at the end of that alley, which would be Dakota (?). I didn’t wait because I felt silly for being suspicious, but perhaps I should have. Beware.
If you wondered what a lantern would look like in the new Alki Statue of Liberty pedestal – there’s two views of the answer: A soft blue. That’s one of the lights that graced tonight’s sunset concert capping the daylong dedication event, along with luminarias on the seawall:
While the bagged candles gently flickered (with a precautionary fire extinguisher here and there!), Jeanette Anderson played piano, accompanied by violin, on a waterfront stage – hmm, how about an Alki sunset concert series next year?
A few more sights and sounds from today (besides the unveiling and ribboncutting video featured in our earlier report), just ahead:Read More
As was evidenced again in the discussion after the 35th/Juneau crash the other day (original coverage here, followup here; today’s update here), there are many things that could be done to make our roads safer. But there’s no arguing that some of the responsibility lies with all of us as drivers. To that point, Lt. Steve Paulsen at the Southwest Precinct wanted to share these thoughts (and some info):
I regularly receive a varying mix of opinions from our community in regard to value of traffic enforcement and its overall importance to public safety/saving lives.
In the last week since school has started, I have noticed an increase in traffic collisions. Most are due to speed or just not paying attention to driving, i.e. … cellphones, GPS navigation screens, DVD players, reading the paper, putting on makeup, shaving, eating…
I attend a number of community meetings from every part of our fine West Seattle community. The single most common complaint the Seattle Police Department receives from each neighborhood is traffic-related. We are fortunate to have regular assistance in West Seattle from our Traffic Section, who have City-wide responsibility in patrolling our neighborhoods to ensure traffic and pedestrian safety.
I realize that our citizens are very busy and with the advent of technology, they have become increasingly distracted while driving.
To my fellow West Seattle folks….Please slow down and pay attention when you are driving. School has started, we have children walking around…We have more people riding bicycles and motorcycles, which as you know are difficult to see at times. Anticipate each intersection, whether controlled or not, as a potential accident location…Keep an eye out for pedestrians and joggers who may be hooked into their iPods and not paying attention to traffic…
Here are a few of our regularly enforced areas … No surprises here! We would much rather have you slow down than to have to write the citations.
All School zones during school hours
West Seattle Freeway
Admiral Way
35th Ave SW
Fauntleroy SW
16th Ave SW
Highland Park Dr
Delridge SW
1st Ave S near the bridge
SW RoxburyThanks again, please be safe out there and watch out for each other!
Sincerely,
Lieutenant Steven Paulsen
Seattle Police
SW Precinct
Operations
P.S. We originally drafted this early today, before hearing from Denise Sharify re: the 35th/Juneau accident survivor (as we reported this afternoon, she’s out of the hospital). Denise is hoping to work with the High Point Neighborhood Association to revive the High Point-specific Pedestrian Safety Committee that worked on many issues in recent months, some of which have been addressed with city responses such as the new 35th/Raymond light upgrade and the 34th/Morgan crosswalk.
Just so you can’t say we didn’t give you the heads-up (more than a dozen of them, actually, going all the way back to first word six weeks ago): Tomorrow’s the day that the third of the city’s three “Car-Free Days” this summer will shut down Alki SW (and a bit of Harbor) to most traffic from Harbor/California Way to Alki/63rd (see map above, and click it to see the doorhanger from which it was taken), noon-6 pm. No-parking signs have been up since Thursday; 10 am tomorrow, two hours before the actual road closures, the no-parking rules take effect, from Maryland (map) to 63rd. We will be posting updates – with photos as well as info – from the area by then, watching to see whether anyone gets towed; then, as noon gets closer (as we did on the 4th of July) reporting on the street closures; and once noon arrives, we’ll post updates on the activities that are under way (here’s our preview) and how many people are actually down on Alki to participate (will it be the “ghost town” some predicted? in less than 15 hours, we’ll find out). More questions? Here’s our post from yesterday with the final official city advisory; here’s the city’s own information page about the event. Once things start kicking in around 10 am, if you have anything to report, please e-mail us, or text or tweet (see the Contact page for all the different options). P.S. We walked the Alki business district this afternoon looking for any evidence any businesses are closing tomorrow because they think it’ll be quiet (as had been hinted when this was first announced); found NO evidence – let us know, though, if you’ve heard of any, otherwise we’ll be checking on that again tomorrow too.
Heading back to WSB HQ a few hours ago after the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza ceremony, we spotted three Seattle Police cars rushing from Fauntleroy to northbound California, with rollers and sirens; we lost track of them, and couldn’t pick up anything obvious from the scanner, so later when we ran into Lt. Steve Paulsen on Alki, we asked what that call was about – he didn’t have tons of details but said it was a burglar “on Beach Drive” and “we got him.” Then a bit later, we got the rest of the story in this note from Megan:
Around 2:25 this afternoon I came home to a very panicked neighbor on her cellphone. She walked in on a well-dressed 5’8ish African American robbing her. This was in the middle of a Saturday afternoon. In a secure condo building. Luckily, a nice husband and wife heard her yelling for help and came to her aid. The African American ran down Beach Drive. The husband in pursuit. As she was on the phone with 911, a cop drove by, who she flagged down. A description was given. I had a friend I was meeting down on Alki and it looked as if they had arrested a suspect by 2:40 p.m. Great Job, SPD! I did want to give a heads up to everyone though, considering that this was in the middle of a Saturday afternoon. I would have never thought such a thing would happen like that.
P.S. To be a little more specific about the location – this happened around the 4200 block of Beach Drive.
From Denise Sharify, who works for Neighborhood House in High Point and has long been an advocate for pedestrian-safety improvements in the area, we get word that the 15-year-old HP girl hit by an SUV at 35th/Juneau on Thursday is out of the hospital. Denise says, “It is a miracle she seems to be okay with a concussion and minor abrasions.” Denise is hoping to work with the HP Neighborhood Association and the city on pushing for more improvements; we will have more on that, plus a safety-related plea from a local police leader, in another WSB report later tonight; first, we wanted to pass along the good news about the accident victim as soon as we heard it.
Karen Berge was a little startled to see this sight in her neighborhood a short time ago (the photo was taken at 36th/Dawson) – a group of mostly unclad bicyclists. We don’t think this photo shows anything X-rated; and we’re pretty sure (from what one guy has written on his back – BURN FAT, NOT OIL – visible in a larger version of the photo) that it’s got something to do with this protest (warning, link includes some actual nudity; bottom line to the protest, pun not intended, under the umbrella of the “World Naked Bike Ride,” is to call attention to what “the dangers of oil dependence” and the dangers faced by cyclists and pedestrians). Karen said they were last seen “heading north”; makes sense since as we were about to publish this, we got word they’d just gone through the Admiral District (past Click! Design That Fits, WSB sponsor, who sent that tip). 6:18 PM UPDATE: After posting this and leaving the house for a while, received reports of the bicyclists being spotted pretty much all over West Seattle – Alki, Lincoln Park, etc., plus a few more photos, like this one taken by Bill Schrier as they pedaled north on California through the Admiral intersection:
ADDED 7:06 PM: And here’s a photo from California/Oregon, courtesy of Mac, followed by some info our original spotter, Karen, found online:
Karen found a wiki all about the ride; even an online flyer. It says this was the last of three such protest rides in Seattle this year. Side note — almost everyone who reported sightings included some variation of the line we almost used as our first headline on this post – “West Seattle, or Fremont?”!
(video no longer available due to blip.tv shutdown)
Almost exactly a year after the recast Alki Statue of Liberty was unveiled for the first time – it was unveiled again this afternoon during the dedication ceremony for the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza, which also included a ribboncutting for the plaza itself — as you can see in our video, a beautiful sight with a city fireboat show just offshore (and a little bit of a breeze-fueled snag before the draping came off!). Hundreds of people were on hand, including many who worked on the project, and even some of the men (like Harald Sund, featured in this P-I story) who were among the Boy Scouts that helped dedicate the original statue (which is now on display at the Log House Museum‘s gift shop) more than half a century ago; the city was represented by West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen (who chairs the Parks and Seattle Center Committee) and Parks Department Deputy Superintendent Christopher Williams (they’re standing screen-right from Plaza Project Committee co-chairs Paul and Libby Carr in this short clip of the ribboncutting):
(video no longer available due to blip.tv shutdown)
We’ll add a few more notes and images later, but first an advisory: If you’re going to the luminaria-lit concert at the plaza tonight, it was announced at the ceremony that the time has been moved up to 7 pm – we’ll have some video of the concert, luminaria, and hopefully the new pedestal’s lantern, in addition to some more of today’s sights and sounds. (All WSB Alki Statue of Liberty coverage is archived here, including many updates from the past 14 months of plaza fundraising and construction.)
The White Center Food Bank (which also serves part of southern West Seattle) is getting a boost from an artistic fundraiser under way now at Avalon Glassworks: Proprietor Shannon Felix explains, “We’ve made big, beautiful green glass apples with white stems which sell for $80, of which 50% goes directly to the White Center Food Bank. They are limited-edition, signed and numbered, six-inch apples. The $40 proceeds from each apple equate to approximately 200 pounds of food for the food bank.” Avalon Glassworks is on Avalon just south of The Bridge, by Luna Park Cafe (map) – and according to its website, if you visit 2-5 pm today, you can see glassblowing happening live (the site mentions other dates too)!
Quick highlights from the West Seattle Weekend Lineup:
ALL DAY TODAY, AND INTO THE NIGHT: 11 am is the start time for the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza dedication celebration, which continues on into the evening, with the actual dedication ceremony at 1:30 pm; schedule here.
MIDDAY TODAY: The first Grad Night fundraiser car wash of the year for West Seattle High School‘s Class of ’09 is 10 am-2 pm in the school’s parking lot. Bonus for all patrons and volunteers: Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) donated coffee gift certificates!
ALSO MIDDAY TODAY: You’re invited to tour Chief Sealth High School‘s temporary digs at Boren (5950 Delridge; map) and enjoy a barbecue, 11 am-2 pm.
Luckie caught that owl on camera during a family overnight last month at a cabin at Camp Long; we’re sharing it along with two ways to help the park/environmental learning center considered one of the city’s semi-secret treasures. First, you can help take care of Camp Long by joining in a work party tomorrow morning, 9 am-noon (show up at the lodge and they’ll point you in the right direction). Second – Camp Long is looking for some people power on a longer-term basis: new members for the Camp Long Advisory Council. Many local Parks Department facilities rely on these volunteer groups for help; Sheila Brown from Camp Long explains what this one does, and how you can help:Read More
We’ve been talking about it since bringing you first word six weeks ago, and now, whether you’ve been anticipating it or dreading it, it’s almost here: “Car-Free Day” on Alki, noon-6 pm Sunday, with parking restrictions taking effect two hours earlier. We’ve shown you the map, the doorhanger, the flyer for cars, the no-parking signs (and as of this afternoon, the detour/street closed signs have been dropped off all over the area – 2 examples shown above); now, here’s the official final SDOT advisory:
Here’s what to expect during this time:
Motorists:
-Motorists cannot use Alki Ave SW from 63rd Ave SW over to Harbor Ave SW and California Way SW.
-Exceptions will be made for emergency response and people with disabilities.
-An eastbound lane will remain open along Alki Ave SW for the Water Taxi shuttle, bus route 56 and residents needing access to their homes.
-Detour signs will guide motorists around California Ave SW to SW Admiral Way.
-Parking will not be allowed, except for people with special needs, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Alki Ave SW from 63rd Ave SW over to Harbor Ave SW and SW Maryland Place.
-There will be local access to the boat ramp at Don Armeni park off Harbor Ave SW.Transit:
The Elliott Bay Water Taxi and Water Taxi land shuttle will operate on their normal Sunday schedule.Bicyclists:
Cascade Bicycle Club volunteers will lead three bike rides to the Car Free Day including:
-From Seward Park at 8:30 a.m.
-From Greenlake Park and Ride at 10:30 a.m.
-From Kent at 10:30 a.m.More details on these bike rides can be found at
http://cascade.org/EandR/Activities_Calendar.cfmAll participants are encouraged to bike, walk or take transit to the event. If Seattleites drive every vehicle 1,000 miles a year less (about 20 miles a week), we can meet our current climate pollution reduction goals.
That’s a coffee joke from comedian Tracey MacDonald, who’s at the Admiral Theater tonight and tomorrow to kick off its monthlong “Ladies of Laughter” series. Other weekend highlights include the last weekend for Colman Pool plus two big Alki events – the Statue of Liberty Plaza dedication tomorrow and “Car-Free Day” on Sunday – 36 events in all, ahead:Read More
One of the many Boeing workers in WSB-land just forwarded us this word from the union – Machinists are going on strike at a minute past midnight tonight. As has been pointed out, that means a lot of families and potentially businesses affected in our area (and around the Boeing facilities not that far to our east, among others), so we wanted to post it here. This is the page on the union website with details.
That’s the California-facing view in the newest design proposal for “Spring Hill” (no relation to the restaurant), the project that BlueStar Management (same company behind Fauntleroy Place — aka Whole Foods/Hancock — and Gateway Center, aka ex-Huling Buick showroom) is proposing for 5020 California SW (map). The next public hearing before the Southwest Design Review Board is Thursday night, 6:30 pm, Hiawatha Community Center; the proposal that BlueStar and Hewitt Architects will show that night is now available online, with proposed views from all sides, “shadow studies,” and other information — you can download it from the city website. (WSB coverage of the last SWDRB meeting for this project can be seen here; we have been reporting on this project now for almost a year.)
A little more than two hours after we published our story about Zeeks Pizza signing a lease for the old Corner Inn building at California/Fauntleroy, we were waiting at the light at that intersection, when along came those gentlemen to take down the “FOR LEASE” sign. Here’s what we were on the way to check out:
That’s the southwest wall of 6053 California; we reported yesterday morning that demolition had begun, but it’s proceeding slowly – the most distinctive facades of the building, on its south and east sides, haven’t come down yet, and the backhoe’s currently parked. (In a most-likely-unrelated move, a city crew is working in the street by the building right now – looks like they’re roughing in sharrows.) Last but not least, thanks to Gina for the tip that sent us up to the Admiral District for this shot:
According to Gina, the fences just came down today on the now-grassy area of the Lafayette Elementary playground, formerly an all-asphalt zone; groundbreaking for Lafayette playground improvements happened on the last day of school in 2007 (WSB coverage here).
To recap from our original report (WSB coverage plus more than 80 comments, here) – a driver hit a teenage girl crossing 35th at Juneau yesterday afternoon. Now, the updates from Lt. Steve Paulsen at the Southwest Precinct: First, though exact condition information isn’t available (privacy laws), Lt. Paulsen says he has heard she’s expected to survive. Second, as we suspected, the tv report that the driver “will not be cited” is not quite right; a citation may not have been issued at the scene, but as Lt. Paulsen explains it, “Our Traffic Collision Investigations squad is doing the followup and will decide after reviewing their facts and circumstances if any violation occurred.”
We got the first tip from Rick (thank you!) earlier this week but couldn’t share the news with you till we got it confirmed after the lease was signed: Zeeks Pizza is coming to West Seattle, in the Morgan Junction spot (shown above) where the Corner Inn abruptly closed three months ago. We just talked with Zeeks vice president Greg McClure (a former West Seattleite) – read on to see what he told us, and one question you might be able to help answer:Read More
We’ll explain the photo in a minute (you probably recognize the guy on the left). We took it this morning at Hotwire Coffee (WSB’s very first sponsor), which is celebrating its 6th anniversary in West Seattle this month. As part of the festivities, Hotwire’s having a weekly “Barista Balderdash Smackdown” with brain-teaser quiz questions – guess the meaning of a specific uncommon word, for example. A new Smackdown starts tomorrow; tomorrow Hotwire’s also offering a few other deals – including a chair massage/latte deal, 20-minute massage plus 12-ounce latte for $15, 9 am-3 pm tomorrow as well as the next two Saturdays (9/13 and 9/20). Oh, as for the photo? Baristas Blayne (of “Project Runway” fame) and Mary are shown with Mr. Manatee, loaned to Hotwire by WSB when we heard one of the Barista Smackdown topics had something to do with manatees’ genetic makeup. Just go see for yourself (if somehow you’ve never been to Hotwire – just past the Junction Post Office, on the east side of California just south of Genesee).
One week from tomorrow, a huge volunteer cleanup effort will tackle the “West Seattle Gateway” stretch of Fauntleroy, from Walking on Logs to 35th. Nancy Driver from the Fairmount Community Association has been providing updates – here’s the latest:
The goats, as cute as they would have been, are out of the picture. Some of you may have noticed that blackberry removal started yesterday. We were very fortunate that Jim Thorburn, the Community Corrections Supervisor- Seattle WORKCREW Program, with the State Department of Corrections agreed to take out the blackberries that we would have had to pay to have the goats clear out. We are very grateful to Jim and DOC – they are doing more than what they would normally commit to. Jim has lived in West Seattle all his life. Much thanks to him and his crew for this service to the community.
As mentioned in our last update, volunteer help is still welcome but what’s needed most right now is financial donations to help pay for tree work — if you can help, please e-mail Nancy – ndriver@quidnunc.net – The cleanup is 9 am-3:30 pm Saturday 9/13 (and please note that the curbside lane of that area will be closed during that time, for volunteers’ safety).
(video added 9:48 am, shot about an hour and a half earlier in Pigeon Point/Puget Ridge)
ORIGINAL REPORT: Thanks to those who have e-mailed/texted about major police activity in the South Seattle Community College vicinity, mostly around 16th SW – we’re checking to see what it’s about, both by phone and in person. Will post when we find something out; let us know if you know anything. 8:27 AM UPDATE: We’ve seen King County Sheriff’s Office personnel involved in this as well as Seattle Police so we have inquired with both departments; KCSO’s Sgt. John Urquhart says “we’re looking for a suspect who ran off on us” but can’t elaborate on exactly what the suspect is wanted for – he says they’d received a tip the suspect lived in West Seattle, then about 7 this morning the suspect “took off” — Seattle Police are helping with the search. More information as we get it. 9:01 AM UPDATE: Scanner information (and one text message) suggests the search is also moving into other parts of east West Seattle – just letting you know in case you see the officers. 9:53 AM UPDATE: A description was just put out over the scanner: Black male, 28 years old, thin, no facial hair, black jacket/blue jeans but “possibly changed clothes to unknown T-shirt and boxer shorts.” Call 911 with any info. 10:09 AM UPDATE: Sgt. Urquhart just confirmed, the man they are looking for was being sought in connection with last night’s double shooting in Burien (here’s tv coverage). They now believe he may have escaped the area. If any photo or further description is made available later today, we will post it in a separate report.
(photo by David Hutchinson)
After two months in storage during plaza construction, the Alki Statue of Liberty is back – and on its new pedestal. Today, the pedestal and plaza get a few finishing touches, just in the nick of time for tomorrow’s all-day dedication celebration (schedule here). At the site Thursday afternoon, Plaza Project co-chairs Libby and Paul Carr revealed they’ve reopened brick sales – they have the green light to sell hundreds more, $150 personal/$300 business, to be engraved on-site – the money, they say, goes to a special fund the city Parks Department will use to maintain the plaza. Brick-buying forms will be available at Saturday’s event, and online at sealady.org.
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