West Seattle, Washington

20 Saturday

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Spotlight Stories


  • Parade

    WS PARADE TODAY: California SW full of fun

  • Closing

    BANK CLOSURE: B of A to shut 1 WS branch

  • Closing

    COFFEE CLOSURE: Starbucks shutting a store

Bulletin: Ovio reportedly closing
June 18, 2007 12:28 pm
|      35 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle restaurants | WS breaking news

E-mail just forwarded to us. Working to confirm (8:30 PM UPDATE: it’s now posted on the Ovio website).

Dear Friends & Fans of Ovio Bistro,

They say all good things must come to an end, and so it is with sadness that we must tell you that after nearly 5 years in West Seattle, Ovio Bistro will be closing at the end of June.

It was a very difficult decision to make, but one that we feel will be best for our family at this time.

As you know, we have worked very hard and put a lot into this restaurant…we have no managers and one of us is here all the time, but our sons are older and involved in school and sports, and it is heartbreaking to not be there for them.

We have been fortunate to work with amazing people – our staff has been incredible from the beginning. The original Ovio would never have been so successful without Chef Eddie Montoya, Tony LaVelle, Michael Tinsley, Janae Hawkins, EBO Ottens and Lisa Lovering.

Others joined us at the old location – Darcey Wijsenbeek, Emily Garner, Ben Adlin, Rickey Story, Mike Bond, Bubba Schultz – and quickly became part of the Ovio family. When we decided to expand and relocate, our old staff found our new staff by inviting their friends to join the party – and Dennis McMahon, Will Green, Julie Johnson, Evan Beilke, Michael Nelson, and Will Waterstraat came to stay. The new Ovio was built on the hard work of everyone, literally! We demolished, we rebuilt and we opened with a bang! It was an incredible experience to be a part of. We have been lucky to add talented people along the way – Chef Brenda Rodriguez has been invaluable in putting Ovio back on the culinary map. Alongside her in the kitchen, we have been fortunate to have Angela Emery and Ben Pickett, and Michelle Manning. They have all done amazing things for Ovio.

We were also blessed to have so many wonderful regular customers – and you know who you are! You have been through the highs and lows of Ovio and you still come back, week after week. You have gotten to know all of us and introduced us to your families and friends. You have shared special occasions and private moments with us. You dealt with the devastation of Eddie’s death alongside us. We can never thank you enough.

We know that this is sad and shocking news to everyone, but hope that you will be supportive of us through the end. We would love to see EVERYONE in the next two weeks, and we especially look forward to a big party on Saturday, June 30th. Please join us. We will miss you all very much and can never thank you enough for being part of our Ovio family these past 5 years.

Much love,

Shing and Ellie Chin

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Three traffic alerts
June 18, 2007 12:21 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   Transportation

First – flagging on Alki today, because of some utility work across from Duke’s:

alkiflagging.jpg

Second – checked out the Morgan/Sylvan shutdown; on the west, as our photo shows, it’s closed just a block east of 35th; on the other side, it’s not closed till the cemetery.

morganblockedoff.jpg

Third – posters are popping up all around WS to heighten the alert about the I-5 Project From Hell coming up in August. We even got a ping from a WSDOT person recently asking if we’d discussed it here; they promise all sorts of online resources to help people cope, but note that it’s going to hit us pretty hard since it’ll be happening right where we all pour out onto I-5.

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WS Gas Price Watch: Latest low
June 18, 2007 11:53 am
|    Comments Off on WS Gas Price Watch: Latest low
 |   Gas prices | Transportation

Delridge Arco is back in the low-price lead (photo below), with a bonus mystery price:

arcojuneeighteenth.jpg
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A death in WS, almost unnoticed
June 18, 2007 8:59 am
|      7 COMMENTS
 |   WS miscellaneous

This escaped our usual web-combing for WS-related news: near the bottom of this “digest” from Sunday’s Times, a brief note about an apparent WS Bridge suicide on Saturday night. (Suicide gets very little media coverage because of an apparent belief that talking about it will cause more of it. This unforgettable 2004 Seattle Weekly story tackles the issue more eloquently than anything we’ve ever seen.) But back to the subject of what happened on The Bridge Saturday night … it was pointed out to us by one of the writers linked from our Other Blogs in WS page, who went on to say:

I saw the young man walking up the bridge on Saturday night seven minutes before he jumped. I went up the Delridge on-ramp at about 8:08 pm, saw him well up the ramp, wondered about him, figured he was on his way to a car, and then went on to my own thoughts. I didn’t notice as I got on the bridge that there was no car. He jumped about 8:15 pm according to the Seattle Times. He was young-looking, lean and well dressed.

Last night, I drove under the bridge and looked up and down and tried to come to terms with what he did and what I might have done.I was thinking that a lot of West Seattleites must have seen this man. Perhaps we could piece together a timetable of when we saw him and offer some details to his survivors of his last movements.

One more note from us: The Seattle Crisis Hotline is 206-461-3222. A great list of support resources is here.

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Swimmers, rejoice
June 18, 2007 7:15 am
|    Comments Off on Swimmers, rejoice
 |   Fun stuff to do | West Seattle parks | WS & Sports

Today’s the first weekday of the season for Colman Pool, which is now open noon-7 pm every day till early September (full schedule here).

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You can’t get there from here
June 17, 2007 9:52 pm
|    Comments Off on You can’t get there from here
 |   Transportation | Utilities

Don’t forget — as of tomorrow morning, a major east-west West Seattle route is scheduled to close, and stay closed, for three months. All along 35th (and elsewhere), the signs were in place and waiting as of late today (albeit facing backward, till morning):

signsinwaiting.jpg

The route, if you’re not already aware, is Morgan/Sylvan between 35th and Delridge. The designated detour/alternative is Holden. If you find yourself needing to call someone with questions, there’s a “construction information hotline” in this city news release about the project.

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Another WS school-board candidate makes his pitch
June 17, 2007 8:53 pm
|    Comments Off on Another WS school-board candidate makes his pitch
 |   West Seattle politics | West Seattle schools

First Dan Dempsey; now Edwin Fruit, another of the 5 candidates for the WS-centered open school board seat in the Aug. 21 primary, takes his “guest blogger” turn at Educating Mom.

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Emergency Preparedness event countdown: Reason #7
June 17, 2007 7:57 pm
|    Comments Off on Emergency Preparedness event countdown: Reason #7
 |   WS miscellaneous

Counting down the reasons why you should spend a few hours next Saturday @ the West Seattle Emergency Preparedness event: #7, ’cause to paraphrase what your parents always told you, an ounce of preparedness is worth a pound of … etc.

poster_emergency_preparedness_event_r2_generic.jpg
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3 scenes from a non-sunny Sunday
June 17, 2007 6:19 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Seen around town | West Seattle beaches | West Seattle businesses

Late-afternoon outdoor wedding just west of the Alki Bathhouse:

weddingalki.jpg

Mid-afternoon, still low-enough tide to see this inscription on the water side of the Alki bulkhead/staircases … we know what 1851 refers to; was 1925 when these were put in? (have to go dig out our West Side Story)

18511925.jpg

Early afternoon, ample free parking behind Junction businesses on the east side of Cali, even as the lots on the west side overflowed (with drivers circling in frustration):

emptyishparkinglot.jpg
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Beach Drive will soon be a little less green
June 17, 2007 12:08 pm
|      11 COMMENTS
 |   Development | Environment

Five months after we posted about a landowner’s application for a permit to chop down more than a dozen trees (and surrounding greenery) on a steep slope over Beach Drive — below a house on Atlas — the decision’s in.

beachdrtrees.jpg

It says in part “this … will result in adverse impacts to the environment,” but since those “impacts” are “not expected to be significant,” the greenery removal gets the green light. (The decision mentions one public comment of concern was received, focusing on slide risks in the area; appeals are also possible on decisions like these, and the city site explains how.)

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Beer bash with WS suds stars
June 17, 2007 12:57 am
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   Fun stuff to do | WS beverages

West Seattle’s growing Schooner Exact Brewing Co. is spending the weekend at the Washington Brewers’ Festival in Kenmore (you’re invited to go see ’em today) and telling the tale on its blog.

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What to look for at the Farmers’ Market tomorrow
June 16, 2007 10:06 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle Farmers' Market

By the time we got home from the Farmers’ Market last Sunday, it was too late to mention this in time for anyone to act on it. But now with 12 hours to go till the market opens, it’s worth mentioning — SPECTACULAR STRAWBERRIES. At least three booths offered them last Sunday, some as low as $3/pint, ripe Skagit County strawberries, nothing like the plasticky supermarket ones from California. Yum! (Also for strawberry fans, as linked in our weekend roundup, Metro Market sells strawberry shortcake for $3, noon-5 pm tomorrow.)

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Chief Sealth HS, past/present/future
June 16, 2007 7:56 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Denny-Sealth | West Seattle schools | Westwood

Its immediate past — the 100-plus Class of ’07 grads who gathered at SW Athletic Complex across the street this afternoon to celebrate the successful end of their pre-college educational careers:

sealthgraduation.jpg

Present/future, change is ahead for Sealth and its neighborhood. As we have mentioned previously, it is working to boost its academic image (which may factor into its underenrollment) by offering the International Baccalaureate program, one of only two high schools in Seattle Public Schools — only 14 in the entire state — with IB. And its future holds a big construction project (page 4 in this doc; approved by voters last February), in tandem with nearby Denny Middle School, set to start immediately after next school year. The Westwood Neighborhood Council has questions and concerns (as do people at both schools; see page 3 of this) and is hosting a community meeting one week from Wednesday (June 27) to talk about the project.

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A tail of lost love
June 16, 2007 12:25 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Pets | West Seattle online

Is it really the dog they’re looking for, or perhaps its owner? Check it out at BDB.

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Viaduct on foot
June 16, 2007 12:04 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   Not WS but we're mentioning it anyway

Back from RFTC. Intermittent sun, good crowd. But walking on The Viaduct now feels the way it felt to attend baseball games in The Kingdome in 1999 … end-of-an-era’ish. Here for posterity is the cobblestone/aggregate viaduct surface underfoot:

aggregateaduct.jpg

A few more pix (with people in them!) after the click:Read More

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Viaduct alert
June 16, 2007 7:18 am
|    Comments Off on Viaduct alert
 |   Transportation

Remember, it’s closed till about 11 this morning for RFTC. We’re off to be part of it.

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Guess SeventyOne is sold out indeed
June 16, 2007 7:11 am
|    Comments Off on Guess SeventyOne is sold out indeed
 |   West Seattle housing

Something called the “Parade of Affordable Homes” is happening this weekend and next, and this article mentions a $349K unit at Verge wiil be part of it. The article parrots the “near Alki” (not so much) claim.

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To catch a thief?
June 16, 2007 12:22 am
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   Crime

Last week’s thread about local burglaries has fallen off this page, but it just drew a comment that we thought deserved wider consideration. We won’t be able to try to get a police-department response to this till Monday, but we promise to try. Click to read the commenter’s story:Read More

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3 quick notes
June 15, 2007 6:30 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Gardening | Gas prices | West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

–Sidewalk Cinema has finalized the list of what it’s showing during the West Seattle outdoor movie series in July and August.

–The Seattle Chinese Garden project near SSCC in east WS just got $1.2 million from one of Seattle’s sister cities (Chongqing, China).

–The P-I paid a visit to our gas-war intersection (Fauntleroy/Alaska, still both below $3 as of our last driveby a few hours ago).

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Good luck, ’07 grads!
June 15, 2007 4:00 pm
|    Comments Off on Good luck, ’07 grads!
 |   West Seattle schools

Congrats to the grads from Seattle Lutheran HS who got their diplomas last night — to the grads from Chief Sealth HS, who will celebrate at SW Athletic Complex @ 1 pm tomorrow — and to the grads from West Seattle HS, whose ceremony is 8 pm Monday @ Benaroya Hall.

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Low tide, dockside
June 15, 2007 12:46 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Fauntleroy | West Seattle beaches

How exciting was the “lowest tide of the summer” (11:39 am today)? So exciting, field trips even came to West Seattle from Mercer Island; saw the MI bus parked by Lowman Beach, as we headed to our chosen tide-wandering spot at Cove Park by the Fauntleroy ferry dock.

bythedock.jpg

You’re not supposed to walk under the dock … but during mega-low tides, you can … a few more photos, one click ahead: Read More

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WS mid-June weekend roundup
June 15, 2007 10:13 am
|    Comments Off on WS mid-June weekend roundup
 |   Fun stuff to do | WS culture/arts

Click ahead to see what’s up:Read More

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41st/42nd/Alaska megaproject update: Blame it on the monorail?
June 15, 2007 6:03 am
|      11 COMMENTS
 |   Development | Triangle

projectphoto1.jpg–projectphoto2.jpg–projectphoto3.jpg
After 2 1/4 hours in a room last night with the Southwest Design Review Board and a hearteningly sized group of onlookers, here’s what we can tell you about the big building that’s to go up on the east edge of The Junction, where Hollywood Video etc. once stood:Read More

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