West Seattle, Washington
20 Saturday
Since our update yesterday featuring the new flyer from the group that thinks it will take too long to embark on a new round of fundraising for what they call the “fancy-schmancy” plaza … here’s what else has happened:
First — That group has set up an e-mail address — libertyhomenow@yahoo.com — as mentioned in the comments below yesterday’s update. No website yet, but then again, we haven’t seen the pro-plaza group’s promised site at sealady.org go live yet either.
Second — Matt Hutchins, one of the architects that has donated his time to the plaza project and appeared at the recent meetings about it, e-mailed us some answers/clarifications to points that have been brought up by plaza opponents/doubters. Click ahead to read the complete text of what he wants to say (he also promises to answer questions here as well).
Guess you can’t just let those apartments lie idle while tenants flee before the deadline to buy in or get out. Spotted at West Ridge Park on Delridge this afternoon, balloon-festooned signs exhorting SHORT TERM LEASES! (photo below) and MONTH TO MONTH! (across the street), all within rock-throwing distance of the sign about the conversion to its new condo identity as “Gables” …
We’ll set up a special section soon, now that people who have lost or found pets are finding out this is another good place to get the word out. In the meantime, this just in: Izzy the 10-pound Cairn Terrier (photo right), described by her people as “shy but very friendly” and “looks like Toto from The Wizard of Oz,” disappeared from her High Point home sometime Friday. Izzy was wearing a pink collar with name and owner info. There’s a reward out for her safe return. 937-5693.
This one doesn’t seem to have been covered by the “traditional media.” However, the online 911 logs verify an “assault with weapons” call in the area at the time the letterwriter mentions, about three blocks south of Thursday night’s shooting. Here’s the e-mail we received, verbatim:
There was another shooting just up the street on Delridge early this morning. At the intersection of Delridge way sw and sw Juneau st. There was a shooting at approx. 1:50 am July 29, 2007.
The incident started with a car stop in the northbound lane of Delridge just after the intersection there where 4 young black males verbally arguing in the street. The car then pulled over and parked and another young black man got out. The 3 from the car proceeded to get into a physical fight with 2 other men. The fight seemed to have broken up with the 3 running back to their car when one of those 3 fired 5 shots in the direction of the other group and hit one of them.
The car speed off northbound on Delridge. The victim was hit in the head with a grazing wound. There were several eyewitnesses to the event who gave statements to the police. Who responded very promptly, they arrived at the scene just after the car left and ran to help the victim. Soon there where 3 fire trucks and 7 police cars, the intersection was taped off and evidence collected. The police said that the young man should be fine.
The gang unit was out and the victims companion refused to give a statement. Which in my opinion supports this incident being gang related. This is the second shooting in a 5 block stretch of Delridge in 4 days. In addition the police mention a driveby earlier in the week. I was the eyewitness who saw everything and gave a statement.
Hope this helps others in the community to be aware and to call things in. It’s okay to make a non-emergency call to 911 to report suspicious activity.
Today’s the day. Go buy some diapers, drop them off at the big yellow WestSide Baby bus parked next to the Farmers’ Market, 10 am-2 pm. Here’s who they help. They hope to have 60,000 diapers before the day’s done; help ’em meet, then beat, that goal. Still not sure you can take the time to help? The official WestSide Baby press release for today’s event makes a good case; click ahead to read it.Read More
Back from seven hours downtown (if you start parade stakeout around 3 pm, you can still get a great spot not too far south of Westlake Center, and catch up on reading). A few pix of WS relevance — first, West Seattle’s Most Famous Politician, back in the parade this year after skipping last year:
In honor of West Seattle’s many longshore workers, we snapped our first-ever sighting of the ILWU Drill Team:
Then there were the fine folks from the West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival, cheerily waving from atop and alongside the “Pearls of the Sea” float:
Their good cheer was extra-brave, considering the float was tow truck-powered by the time it got to our spot along the route (did the overheating problem rear its ugly head again?):
Next: Blue Angels mania! (Here are this year’s I-90 closure times, if you need ’em.)
To summarize where the Alki Statue of Liberty situation stood before today:
-New statue done.
–Plaza project in limbo.
–Organizers of new pro-plaza group held two meetings and addressed the Alki Community Council.
–City Parks Department has final say and plans public meeting September 13th.
And now: The “Bring Miss Liberty Home NOW!” faction goes public. MONDAY EVENING UPDATE: The flyer previously linked here has been pulled because the group is working on a new one that they are making sure does not mislead anyone into thinking it’s an official Parks Department document.
The weather’s more beautiful than expected and there’s a good crowd browsing the Art Fair booths at the beach. Dozens of booths, plus a bouncy toy for kids ($1), are on the blacktop promenade, both sides of the bathhouse. Live music, too! Here’s a few scenes we caught while strolling through — first, the obligatory overview:
Two pix from our favorite booth, on the west end of the Art Fair — Hoppy’s Garden Art, lovely and reasonably priced creations (the rectangular trellises in the second photo were $79 & $89):
Not part of the fair but part of the scenery — with a low-ish tide down on the beach itself, boogieboarding was in order:
Art Fair signs say it’s 10-5 today and tomorrow; city website says till 6; just an fyi in case you’re not planning to go till late in the day.
Hot out of the inbox:
At about 8 a.m. this morning my husband and I saw a little
brown dog running down the east side of 35th just south of Holden. We
tried to pull over but for fear of chasing him into the street we kept
going and hoped for the best. When we returned to our home near 39th and Elmgrove at 9:30, there was the same dog, still looking lost. We tried
to catch him but he’s very scared and he we eventually lost sight of
him around 41st and Kenyon. This dog successfully crossed 35th once this
morning, I am worried he’ll try again and he’s obviously lost. The
dog was small, around 8-10 pounds and looked like a dachshund, possibly
mixed with chihuahua. He was wearing a black collar and I am not certain
there were any tags. Please keep a look out for him and I am also
hoping if his owners read this, they can narrow their search.
Leave a comment if you know whose dog this is – with the Art Fair, the parade, etc., we will be offline for a good chunk of time today and e-mail won’t be seen for a while.
Though tonight’s Seafair Torchlight Parade happens downtown, there are a few Seafair-related items of WS relevance:
-Because of the Torchlight Run preceding the parade, The Viaduct will be closed tonight, from 5:45 till 7:30 or so.
-The West Seattle Hi-Yu float got fixed, thanks to Alki Automotive, and is ready for the parade; it got a lot of ink (pixels) in this Seattle Times parade preview.
-Thanks to Northwest Asian Weekly, we found out a West Seattle teenager has a prominent role in one of the most popular parade entries: Jennifer Gee, featured by NAW as an “Outstanding Graduate” for her achievement as this year’s West Seattle High School valedictorian, is captain of the Seattle Chinese Community Girls’ Drill Team (photo taken by Jason Parker at Hi-Yu Parade last weekend).
-Last but not least, West Seattle writer/humorist John Moe (whose blog Monkey Disaster is one of the 70-plus sites linked from our Other Blogs in WS page) wrote an amusing piece about potential Seafair revisions for the Times.
If you’re going to the Torchlight Parade, we’ll see you there. If not, we highly recommend checking out the first night (since last week was rained out) of Movies on the Wall by Sidewalk Cinema, featuring “Best in Show,” next to Hotwire Coffeehouse. Free! Fun! (Here’s our post from the first time we went last year.)
The Alki Art Fair, of course, is now just hours away … you can’t miss the signs all over WS …
Then in a couple weeks, there’s a second Art Fair in West Seattle — this one on August 11th at C & P Coffee south of The Junction. It’s their first one ever, and they’re looking for more participants; e-mail the C & P folks to find out more.
Ten days ago, we were all talking about the city plan intended to lead us all further into the world of recycling, while, by the way, reaching further into our wallets, to pay for upgrading city refuse/recycling facilities. Tonight we know how MUCH more West Seattle’s Most Famous Politician wants us to pay for trash service, for starters: A buck a month for the “average” house (?), $15 more per month for the average commercial Dumpster, among other things. City press release here; Times story here. Not final till the City Council says yes.
Hot out of the inbox, a city update on the Admiral Way paving project, including a total shutdown between 41st & Olga, week after next — here’s hoping it’s finished on time, before colliding with Freeway Fright ’07 — click ahead for the full text of the city update:Read More
Sign on Rick’s Barber Shop along Cali south of The Junction says “barber shop closed until further notice.” Voice-mail greeting says the same thing. Don’t know how long it’s been there; we just happened to be walking through the between-junctions (TweenJun? nah, let’s not go there) area for the first time in a while & saw it.
The Times says the victim is a student at SSCC; both the Times and P-I updates say the gunshots may have followed some kind of squabble over a ring. No particular description of who they’re looking for, just that a red minivan might have been involved.
CHARLESTOWN CAFE CORNER: Our Town West Seattle is inviting those concerned about the cafe site’s future to gather at 7 pm next Thursday (August 2) to get the newest information one week before the next city Design Review meeting on the proposed project.
BURNED-OUT EX-SCHUCK’S CORNER (below): Finally, finally, finally the demolition permit application is in, two months after the land-use permit was OKd for the 2-story commercial building planned there (this page about that project has a small sketch of what it might look like).
The weather looks relatively good, knock wood. This is the weekend that Alki is awash in art, Shakespeare in the Park holds court at Camp Long, and we WSers are “Stuffing the Bus” at the Farmers’ Market for WestSide Baby‘s biggest annual diaper drive, among many other things (including a few events outside WS that might interest you) — click ahead!Read More
We saw the fire call online for “assault with weapons” at 5626 Delridge; the P-I’s Big Blog has a few details (near the bottom of this post) — one man shot, taken to Harborview Medical Center. FRIDAY 9 AM UPDATE: P-I has a few more details; so does KIRO tv, with a pic.
From Creighton Space (one of the 75-plus sites featured on our Other Blogs In WS page): A poster near his home promises a reward for solving an arson, but where was the fire? (We’ll check with our police contacts in the morning if no one solves this sooner.)
Tomorrow’s the deadline to sign up your block for a night of crime-fighting, community-building, street-closing fun: Night Out 2007 is Tuesday, August 7, 6-10 pm. Find out how to sign up for it here. If you’re in the “Weed & Seed” grant area of South Delridge/downtown White Center, you might be able to get a small grant for supplies (not food); click here to e-mail the folks responsible for that. If you’re in the Beach Drive area, BDB has been working to organize a get-together there. If you’re in Fairmount Springs (northeast of Morgan Junction), their invite is online. Pigeon Point has a location posted too. Wherever you are in WS, if you have a Night Out get-together, take a pic that night, send it to us, we would love to post it in our follow-ups.
ÂÂ
Thanks to the reader who let us know that the heavy equipment has finally begun to arrive at the Lafayette Elementary playground project, a month after the ceremonial groundbreaking.
Our blogland-trolling picked up this tale. (Wonder where exactly he meant by the “Delridge projects.”)
| 6 COMMENTS