A new word for your vocabulary
“Sharrows.” The city’s definition: “… bicycle symbols that are placed in the roadway lane indicating that motorists should expect to see and share the lane with bicyclists.” City crews have roughed in some “sharrows” along a stretch of Beach Drive (this one is across from the north end of Me-Kwa-Mooks), as they start to implement the city’s Bicycle Master Plan:
A city handout made available at Thursday’s Alki Community Council meeting had full details on where this work will be happening and how it will affect traffic — click ahead for those details:Read More
Scenes from Hi-Yu Parade Day ’07: Final installment
Hi-Yu festivities aren’t over yet. The community brunch just wrapped up; the coronation of the next Miss West Seattle Hi-Yu is tomorrow night. But this is the last of our parade reports — a few loose ends, including the list of award winners, a few more pix, and links to other parade-photo galleries out there in WSB-land, after the jump:Read More
Scenes from Hi-Yu Parade Day ’07, 5th installment: The people
While we sit back in our fold-up chairs and enjoy the parade, we can’t forget how many people it takes to make it happen — not just the hundreds of participants, but the others behind the scenes. Kudos to the Hi-Yu and American Legion folks, among a legion of others. Now, another group of photos — focusing on people. We start with the Hi-Yu royalty and other Hi-Yu folks (red shirts), who held court on the SW corner of Cali/Alaska (the camera crew you see behind/above them involved Art Institute students who have been shooting video at Hi-Yu events as a project):
Click ahead for more parade people, from the famous to the oughta-be-famous:Read More
“Chicken Run” rainout
Even in Seattle, who in the world could imagine that if you wait till late July to schedule an outdoor-movie series, the first one would be rained out? Well, it happened in The Junction tonight; sign on the gate @ Hotwire says “Chicken Run” is rescheduled to Friday, August 10th.
Scenes from Hi-Yu Parade Day ’07, 1st installment
Many more to come later. But for now, four photos, starting with deep-fried disappointment: The Spud Fish & Chips mascot did not show off The Calves (quoth one WSB Team Member, “at this rate, next time the mascot will be in a burqa”):
We did spot a letter carrier in shorts before the parade, but we were not photographing him for his legs, but rather, his scarf in honor of Literary Phenomenon Du Jour:
Here’s the parade-watcher with the best seat in over the house:
Finally (many more pix later), WTG to the Hi-Yu folks who urged the crowd in The Junction to do a “no rain” chant before the parade. Except for a one-minute spray of light mist — it worked. Later tonight, we hear, it could be a different story, so we hope we won’t have occasion to see this parade entry back in WS for something less festive:
Links to our other parade photo posts:
Second installment (The Kids)
Third installment (The Enforcers)
Fourth installment (The Wheels)
Fifth installment (The People)
Sixth/final installment (The Winners)
Car show mystery finally solved
There IS a car show on Alki today, happening right now. We had received conflicting reports in recent days (and earlier) — it is not sponsored by any official WS-based festival so those folks weren’t involved — finally we knew it would come down to just checking out Alki this morning to see what did or didn’t show up — and indeed, there are dozens of gorgeous classic cars on the promenade. Here’s our drive-by photo. (NOW off to the parade!)
Parade Countdown ’07: Reason #1 to see it tomorrow
Besides the fact the no-parking signs have all been lovingly placed along Cali this Hi-Yu Parade Eve, much like the stockings hung by the chimney with care on Christmas Eve …
… our top reason why you should join us as parade spectators tomorrow, rain or shine, anywhere along Cali between Lander (south of Lafayette Elementary) and Edmunds (south edge of The Junction) … surprises! One example: parade organizers have just added a late entry, likely to be a crowd fave; let’s just say it’s a float honoring a Seattle landmark. See for yourself, starting at 11 am Saturday (after the 10 am kids’ parade). We don’t need sun to have a blast.
Two big proposals for Harbor Ave
Harbor Avenue around the northeastern edge of the WS peninsula will be in for big changes if either or both of two ambitious ideas presented at last night’s Alki Community Council meeting become reality. It was emphasized that the two plans are not officially linked — but they have undeniable “synergy.” They involve land adjacent to, and east of, what many describe as West Seattle’s “secret gem,” Jack Block Park.
First: The Pier 1/2 concept for a new Water Taxi dock. It’s an unofficial proposal but may be gaining steam, since most would agree the Water Taxi can’t stay at Seacrest forever (among other things, the parking crunch is just too ridiculous). Pier 1/2 is Port of Seattle property adjacent to Jack Block Park. Much more on this and the other proposal, after the click …Read More
Beacon of change
Yet another tidbit from last night’s Alki Community Council meeting, big changes ahead for the semi-monthly Alki News Beacon: Its webmaster Cami MacNamara will take over as editor, as Christine L’Ecluse moves on to “a new adventure”; plus, toward the end of the year, subscribers will receive the Beacon by mail instead of by carrier. (If you pick it up at local businesses, don’t worry; Cami tells WSB that copies will still be made available at Alki/Admiral-area businesses.)
Alki Statue of Liberty: Next steps, new logo
Three meetings in less than two weeks, including the Alki Community Council last night, and now we know there won’t be a decision any sooner than fall about whether the Alki Statue of Liberty — removed for recasting exactly one year ago today — will return to its old base, or to a new plaza like this (all architects’ art here):
Both the couple leading a drive to restart the plaza project, Libby & Paul Carr, and the city Parks Department project manager for the statue, Pamela Kliment, are in difficult positions, to say the least. They all spoke at last night’s ACC meeting, but since it was just one item on a busy agenda, there wasn’t a ton of Q/A time. What’s difficult: For the Carrs, the fact they and their volunteer assistants are working hard on something completely unofficial, since the final say lies with the Parks Department; for Parks, the fact they have to be the “reality check” on a volunteer effort that inarguably is full of enthusiasm, vision, inspiration, and hope — Kliment noted that for one, it’s “distressing” that the statue spot is empty, after one full year, and for two, the situation is larger than the statue itself. Which the Carrs likely would not dispute, as they have a larger vision as well — they hope a grand new home for this “Little Sister of Liberty” could spark a nationwide revitalization project for the many other similar statues that have fallen into disrepair in the half-century since the Boy Scouts donated them. So for now, the Carrs and their group — which is not yet officially certified as a nonprofit — will continue their work, including a new logo they debuted last night (shown below; copyrighted by local artist Phil Jones) that they plan to put on fundraising items such as T-shirts and posters; and the Parks Department will look ahead to a public meeting announced last night, 7 pm Thursday, Sept. 13, location TBD (Kliment said she’s hoping for the Bathhouse but it’s got a “temporary hold” for that night).
WS weekend lineup: Ginormous gobs o’ fun
Bite Schmite; not a single reason to leave West Seattle this weekend. Harry Potter on campus! Parade! Free outdoor movie! Belly dancing! The WS Garden Tour! And that’s only the beginning (click ahead):Read More
Hot headlines from the Alki Community Council meeting
We went to hear the latest developments in the Statue of Liberty situation, and came away with information on much more. Full reports to come, but for now, the headlines:
-A big new “workforce housing” (we’re guessing that’s the new buzzphrase for “affordable housing”) project is under consideration for Port of Seattle property along Harbor Ave (south of Florida).
-A little further west along Harbor Ave, there’s a new proposal for a Water Taxi terminal at a site adjacent to Jack Block Park known as Pier 1/2. With 500 parking spaces!
-New Liberty developments, too, including the Parks Department announcing an official public meeting about its future, 7 pm Sept. 13. (Location TBA.)
Stand by for more on all of the above and then some …
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