In case you don’t see this new comment below our original post on last Friday’s La Rustica fire, Aimee confirms the October 2nd date heard on their phone recording over the weekend, and provides more information about what happened:
Hi all, I’m Giulio’s daughter. The damage was not severe and they should be up and running by the 2nd of October or before. It was a small kitchen fire but it did destroy one dining room wall. I originally painted that wall so it was hard to see but we’ll have the same look and great food up and running in no time. Thanks all for your concern and support. We love our West Seattle home and neighbors. Salute!
First, sad news: Seal Sitters organizer Brenda Peterson tells WSB they buried their second pup yesterday, “a newborn, who was very thin, probably only about 4 weeks old.” Overall, Brenda says, this has been a “very intense pup season” (photo @ left is from earlier in the season) and they appreciate all the new volunteers who are helping out, including some who came forward after our recent video-enhanced update; if you are interested in volunteering, e-mail WSB your name and phone number, and we will forward it to Brenda (it’s easier for them to make phone calls while keeping watch on the beach). She says there are a few other things the Seal Sitters need:
“We are looking for sponsorship or some Alki Beach businesses to help us out with T-shirts, public education, and training. We would also like to see some very large signs along the beach as there are in Oregon and CA beaches telling the public to stay 100 yards away from the pups as recommended by federal law and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.”
Anybody ready to step up on that count? These little guys and their human protectors need all the help they can get.
BUS ROUTES: First and foremost, a reminder that changes kicked in this past weekend on the downtown section of several routes that go through West Seattle, leading up to today’s reopening of the bus tunnel: The following routes that used to travel 1st Avenue downtown now travel 3rd Avenue instead — 54 and 55 all the time (their 5th Ave segments also now are on 3rd instead), 56 Express northbound during mornings only, 21 Express northbound during mornings only. Read this carefully for Metro’s complete update, including a list of the routes now running in the tunnel again, and other changes. THE VIADUCT: The city Transportation Department reps at last week’s Alki Community Council meeting said the city and state are now cooperating again in the process of figuring out what’s next for The Viaduct. Whew, that’s a relief. This week, you can participate in a West Seattle “public scoping meeting” regarding the plan to replace the south end of The Viaduct no matter what is decided for the middle part of it; it’s happening 5-8 pm Wednesday @ Madison Middle School, with the presentation scheduled to start at 6.
Thanks to the tipster who texted us to make sure we had heard about this big callout – fire in a house at 3809 Admiral, affecting traffic in the area for a while too. One WSB reader says she was dining across the bay and could see the smoke and flames from there, at the height of this fire. 10:03 PM UPDATE: TV reports say the house is gutted inside, the couple who lived there got out OK, and investigators don’t know what started the fire. Meantime, here are two photos sent to us by WSB readers who snapped them as smoke poured from the house — first one from Mark (thank you!!!!):
Second photo is from Jess (thank you too!!!!) — you can really see how traffic was blocked off on Admiral (if you didn’t happen to get caught in it yourself):
Here’s some video of crews mopping up — mostly flashing lights — we’ll check back on the scene in the morning too:
Saw this on tv last night but couldn’t find anything posted online till this afternoon: A CSHS student says he was attacked just off-campus during lunch break Friday; no arrest reported.
Checking back on the Evergreen State Barbecue Championship happening along the Alki promenade all weekend — Yes, there is indeed one vendor selling food (from a $2 corncob to a $24 full platter with full rack of ribs), if they haven’t run out by now! Meantime, the judging is happening hourly; we were there at brisket-judging time, and followed Jonathan from Edmonds as he left his battle station and headed for the judging table holding what he proclaimed would be the prize-winning brisket (plus our videographer asked him to predict the outcome of the Seahawks-Bengals game, which at that point hadn’t started):
Among the most amusing aspects of the Barbecue Championship, from an onlooker’s perspective, is the wide variety of wordplay in the team names and their attire, logos, banners, etc. We caught up with this next guy mostly because of his T-shirt:
Also seen at Alki today, just past the east end of Barbecue Row: The Statue of Liberty Plaza Project crew, selling their $20 fundraising T-shirts. As mentioned at the last public meeting, they’re trying to get all their fundraising done by year’s end.
-The West Seattle Birdcam has flown away. Sorry to see it go. Can’t believe we have so few linkable live cams in WS; if you know of one that’s not on our WS “Live” Cams page (nothing too “adult,” sorry), please let us know.
-WSB reader Gaylee-mailed us to make sure everyone knows about West Seattle’s newest food option, which you might miss unless you frequent ActivSpace on Harbor Ave: River House, open Mon-Sat at ActivSpace. Gayle says, “They serve crepes (sweet and savory), sandwiches, salads, daily specials, espresso drinks, baked goods and gelato … Also offered are homemade sauces. Try the Fresh Pear – no sugar added. Coffee served is from Vashon Island Roasters. … Yummy!”
Went by La Rustica tonight, still closed in the wake of yesterday’s fire; then we called and eventually got a recording that says LR plans to reopen Tuesday, October 2nd.
Actually, in his latest blog post, Mark Driscoll calls the September 14th Alki event “baptismalooza,” while also giving a nod to “pajama blogger jihadists” whom he believes are posting from “the comfy confines of their mom’s house.” (We own this ourselves, thank you very much.) His retelling of the seal incident is pretty close to other accounts except for two things: we don’t remember “animal-rights activists” showing up unless he means the Seal Sitters, and his crowd estimate of 3,000 is about 4 times what we got at the scene. SUNDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: MH’s WS pastor Adam Sinnett estimates that same crowd at 2,000 in his latest blog post, which also touts the congregation’s growth, mentions they are moving from “live” to “video” preaching (does that mean MD via video to all campuses? we can’t sneak in to see for ourselves, we’re way out of their demographics), and says they’re having a big bash this Wednesday 9/26 (neighbors take note).
Along Delridge, the North Delridge Adopt-A-Street volunteers have been busy this midday — we saw groups mostly in twos and threes, with bright yellow bags, taking the time to make their neighborhood a better place.
On the Alki promenade, the Evergreen State Barbecue Championship participants spent the morning setting up. This photo shows the stack of wood one team brought along. The barbecuers say they will be cooking all night, judging tomorrow; apparently one vendor will be selling food tomorrow, but the others are just there to compete (different health regulations, too). The video clip after the photo is a short walking tour going past about a third of the booths.
In The Junction, construction/excavation crews have taken down most of the graffiti-laden retaining wall at the back of the ex-Hollywood Video/future QFC-Office Depot-apartments megaproject on Alaska:
One other note if you will be out and about — the last leg of Erskine, going southwest from The Junction, is blocked off at the five-cornered intersection (7-11, Uptown, etc.), because of road work just to the west.
This is one of the most unusual e-mails we’ve received lately. Someone who recently found WSB is wondering if anyone out there can help him figure out whatever happened to a waiter who worked at a now-closed Junction restaurant.Read More
The new Seattle CAN (Climate Action Now) campaign asks us all to take a few simple steps, such as using energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs. You can get one free today by going to any of the following:
–The WS kickoff event for Seattle CAN featuring Hizzoner, KC Councilmember Dow C, Sustainable West Seattle, Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association, the Delridge councils, Chief Sealth HS, performers, and a lot more, at Youngstown Arts Center, 9 am-1 pm (info provided by SWS includes notes about refreshments @ 9, the mayor speaking @ 9:30, and a biodiesel demo @ 9:45)
–Public libraries around the city, including the four here in WS (Delridge, High Point, Southwest, West Seattle, all open 10-6 today according to those branch websites) – 1 PM UPDATE, we just stopped by the WS branch to get one, and the people manning the Seattle CAN table there told us they are there until 4.
-On the door at La Rustica tonight: “Closed For Remodel/thanks for your patience.” (Interesting way to put it.)
-On the gate at Hotwire tonight: Sidewalk Cinema rained out one more time. This was supposed to be the reschedule of last month’s “Monty Python & the Holy Grail” rainout. When the raindrops started smacking the windshield just as we entered The Junction, we were mega-bummed, to say the least.
-On the window at Chuck & Sally’s tonight: The same “closed for several days” sign that’s been up for several weeks. City records show that someone filed a “land use code” complaint a few days after our early September report, but no indication exactly what they’re alleged to have violated, and no resolution of the complaint yet.
Even as we prepare to step into fall, one of the most beautiful events of every WS summer needs you – and asked us to share this one more time:Read More
This morning, the Budget rental trucks on Harbor Ave, which on occasion cause a bottleneck we first mentioned last December, were behind their fence and in their lot (photo above). Perhaps the business got the message conveyed at last night’s Alki Community Council meeting — much of the problems reported by area residents involve activity that, if true, would be against the law, according to the city Transportation Department reps at the meeting — they say citations would be warranted for such things as parking with wheels up on the sidewalk and detaching trailers. They said they had messages out to the business owners responsible for the rental-truck business and that they also planned to alert their “commercial compliance” squad, as well as Seattle Police parking enforcement. So keep your eyes out and if you don’t think things are getting better — let the city know.
We just called to check; the person who answered the phone at La Rustica said they’re closed tonight for sure and not sure how many more nights beyond that, because of today’s fire. More pictures, courtesy of reader David Schneider (thank you!!!).
Big fire/rescue callout so we rolled down to check. Fire crews are still there; heavy smell of smoke in the air, no external damage visible. No details yet about what happened; will be checking later how this affects business for tonight — let us know if you hear sooner.
Not far past the spot shown above (west end of the public Alki waterfront), the sidewalk on the north side of Alki Avenue mostly stops, and to keep walking west to Alki Point, you have to cross the street and stay on that side till you get south of Alki Point. But for the first time in years, there’s hope that might change, according to what we heard at last night’s Alki Community Council meeting. After years of trying, Alki community leaders have gotten the sidewalk proposal onto the list of potential Neighborhood Street Fund projects, and the more “votes” it gets, the better its chances of happening. The sidewalk project is one of the Bridging the Gap projects shown at the WS meeting this past Wednesday night, but if you didn’t attend the meeting to “vote” in person, you can do it online: Go to this site, choose South Sector, then rank projects on the list (which includes other WS proposals). This project is sixth from the bottom of the list. Deadline to “vote” in this survey: Next Thursday (September 27).
Fall officially arrives early Sunday morning. Before and after that, there’s a massive amount of things to do in WS — from Holy Rosary’s annual WestFest tonight and tomorrow, to the North Delridge Adopt-a-Street cleanup, to tonight’s rescheduled outdoor movie (weather looks better), to the last Children of the Revolution appearance (they’re fabulous) of the season at Cafe Rozella tonight, and tons more: 37 events ahead!Read More
More news from the east edge of The Junction: In a little brown house kitty-corner from the 42nd/Oregon development plan we posted about yesterday, The Good Book is closing after five years in business. Co-owner Shirley Geller sent us the photo at left and asked us to let you all know this:
West Seattle’s only Christian store is going out of business. Everything is on sale – including the fixtures. We need to sell everything by October 15th. Our hours are 10 to 4 everyday except Sundays. Telephone 206-935-1722. Address: corner of 42nd SW and SW Oregon St.
Shirley says a chiropractor moving from another WS location will be taking over the space.
Overall, Brenda says, this has been a “very intense pup season” (photo @ left is from earlier in the season) and they appreciate all the new volunteers who are helping out, including some who came forward after 
BUS ROUTES: First and foremost, a reminder that changes kicked in this past weekend on the downtown section of several routes that go through West Seattle, leading up to today’s reopening of the bus tunnel: The following routes that used to travel 1st Avenue downtown now travel 3rd Avenue instead — 54 and 55 all the time (their 5th Ave segments also now are on 3rd instead), 56 Express northbound during mornings only, 21 Express northbound during mornings only. 
THE VIADUCT: The 
 
More news from the east edge of The Junction: In a little brown house kitty-corner from the
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