West Seattle, Washington
18 Thursday
There are two, in fact, in today’s P-I:
–The traffic columnist disappoints an impatient West Seattle driver by getting the city to go on the record, again, promising the “walk all ways with walk” status of Cali/Alaska is safe. (Personally, we don’t mind it, whether in the car or on foot.)
–Elliott Bay Brewery plays a big role in an odd little article promising to be part of a series themed something like “wow, parents actually still drink in front of their kids.” EBB is one of many swell places in The Junction (yummy burgers), and it’s great to see the area get publicity, but since you can get a drink in a zillion restaurants where you also can bring the whole family (gasp, we’ve had the West 5 mai tai in front of a grade-schooler), we’re a little befuddled as to what makes this a trend. We would have liked to see them poll the patrons on whether they’re walking, busing, or designated-drivering. (Around here, they also could have focused on the creeping tendency to NOT let under-21s in, with both Talarico’s and Matador right there on the same side of Cali.)
-Junction road work’s almost done – just a few finishing touches left around the edges of the “raised crosswalks.” They don’t seem to do much as speed bumps; hanging out in The Junction on Saturday, we saw people zoom right over them, none the worse for wear.
-The official sign is now unveiled at West Seattle’s first drive-thru Starbucks, though the rest of the ex-Rainier Roaster renovation seems to have a ways to go:
… go to the Farmers’ Market today and get a bag of the spectacular salad mix from Willie’s (usually near the northwest corner of the lot). Last chance; they told us last week that this week would be their last visit for the season. (Last week they were also displaying photographs of how the recent flooding affected their farmland in Monroe.)
So we’re sitting in the balcony at Cinerama downtown watching Casino Royale, the new James Bond movie (six thumbs up). The theme song is by Chris Cornell of Audioslave, ex-Soundgarden. “Doesn’t he live in West Seattle?” we ask ourselves. Sadly, post-movie research reveals, he used to, but not any more. He got divorced and remarried; his ex-wife got the house in Gatewood. Good song, tho; hear it here.
We know you’ll be slugging your way thru the supermarket aisles sometime this weekend, looking ahead to the cookingest holiday of them all. One more pitch for turkey donations to local food banks … the White Center Food Bank still needs ’em; a reasonably sized frozen turkey won’t set you back much scratch, and you can drop it off Monday 8:30-5. (Don’t know about the WS Food Bank; tried calling, nobody answered.) By the way, for your shopping convenience, here are links to nearby grocery stores’ latest ad flyers: Morgan Junction Thriftway … Westwood Village QFC … Metropolitan Market … Safeway … Burien Fred Meyer.
123 stores for Tully’s, versus four-billion-kajillion for S(BIG)BUX. Yeah, I’d call that an underdog. So Tully’s is trying something new — according to the end of this story, it’s getting new treats from Alki Bakery. By the way, if you didn’t already know, two of those 123 stores are here in WS — the one on Alki (used to be a Taco Time), and the one at Morgan Junction (which once was a Cafe Starbucks).
Took us several years as homeowners to realize this undying truth of November: If you want to put up Christmas lights, seize any rainless spell you can. You’ve probably noticed that our current reprieve has led to a sudden pre-Thanksgiving blast of decorations around the neighborhoods. We’ve seen at least half a dozen homes and “multi-family” buildings suddenly sporting lights along the stretch of Fauntleroy between Alaska and California. One more day till the next storm hits, or so they say.
Here’s some of what’s up this weekend around West Seattle: For starters, things are jumping on Delridge tonight, with the “semi-annual open house” for Youngstown Arts Center & Cooper Artist Housing, plus an “open-campus celebration” for Delridge Community Center, the Delridge library branch, and nearby community-service agencies … Friday Night Family Skating again tonight @ Alki Community Center … EarthCorps work party Saturday @ Me-Kwa-Mooks … Holiday Craft & Plant Fair on Saturday @ Southwest Community Center (as posted earlier on our WSB Holiday Stuff page) … Community Rummage Sale on Saturday @ Hiawatha Community Center …“In Fere” Saturday & Sunday nights @ Youngstown Arts Center … Andy Crow plays piano & organ Sunday afternoon @ Kenyon Hall … West Seattle Neighbors for Peace & Justice presents “Sir! No Sir!” @ the WS Library on Sunday afternoon … the Visual Ensembles exhibit continues @ ArtsWest … live music tonight and tomorrow night (as is usual for Thurs/Fri/Sat nights) @ Skylark Cafe … Finally, two memorials that we mentioned below: Saturday afternoon @ Seattle Center Pavilion, the public memorial for 47th/Admiral accident victim Tatsuo Nakata; also on Saturday, the Dix memorial cruise. Anything we missed? Leave a comment or e-mail us.
The city has announced a public memorial service at Seattle Center this Saturday for Tatsuo Nakata, the man hit and killed at 47th/Admiral earlier this week. Meantime, the P-I takes on pedestrian safety in a Friday editorial. Certainly a touchy topic, as evidenced by the discussion here and on other blogs, like this one.
Not a very cheery week on this side of the bay, is it? Tonight’s news, a fire at an Arbor Heights house has killed a woman. The P-I says her son was badly burned trying to save her.
-Last reminder that the city’s Southwest Design Review Board meets tonight @ the police dept.’s SW Precinct, with 2 projects on the agenda: the controversial apartment/condo/”park-pool” proposal for 4515 41st SW, and “mixed-use” @ 4116 Cali.
-Tipster wrote to tell us about Salon.com’s comic “K Chronicles” giving a shoutout to West Seattle. (Since Salon requires subscriptions or “day passes,” good news is, a different site has a free link to the strip here.) Further investigation reveals its author Keith Knight will be at the T(ea) Gallery (in the SOA zone) tonight for an afterparty following his appearance at Hugo House; per the comic, he’s related to the TG’s owner.
The Times writes up the city announcements we mentioned last night; the P-I focuses on Tatsuo Nakata’s short but full life in one story, then gets into the new pedestrian-safety emphasis in another.
The city now says it’s putting up a “mobile radar station” and warning signs near the 47th/Admiral crosswalk where Tatsuo Nakata was hit and killed. (Nothing there yet when I drove by a little while ago.) Is that enough? In a comment on our original post below, site visitor Kate invites us all to join her in a push for more. Here’s part of what she wrote:
If you would like to join me, I will be at the Alki Mail and Dispatch tomorrow, 11/16, at 7AM to once again march with signs up and down Admiral Way. I was out there today with a concerned citizen from 7:30AM-11AM raising awareness about driving behavior and pedestrian safety. I would also like to organize a vigil for Mr. Nakata. I did not know him, but as far as I am concerned, we are all Mr. Nakata, every time we walk down the street and cross at the marked crosswalks.
The P-I says the man hit, and very seriously hurt, while crossing at 47th & Admiral yesterday morning is Tatsuo Nakata, chief of staff for city council member David Della. According to an e-mail discussion on the Alki Yahoo! group, there was a petition drive just a few months ago for a light at that very spot. UPDATE: As two comments point out, it was announced this morning that Mr. Nakata has died of his injuries.
An eagle-eyed reader alerts us to news about what she/he aptly describes as “a West Seattle Farmers’ Market fave” — the bakery Sugar (no relation to “Coffee to a Tea with …”) is raising money to help owner Stephanie’s husband fight cancer. $20 per pie, pumpkin or apple streudel, order online by Sunday night, pick up your pie the day before Thanksgiving, right here in West Seattle.
Another excuse to mention our holiday page: In the Junction, the wreaths have been hung from the light poles with care, in hopes more holiday shoppers soon will be there … Tonight there seemed to be a fete at Menashe & Sons, perhaps in honor of the retiree? With valet parking outside! (We just got a flyer in the mail about the big sale starting Thursday.) Meantime, also on a holiday note, Santa arrives at Westwood Village a week from Saturday. (The reindeer near his hideaway next to Bed-Bath-n-Beyond have already landed.)
Before we get back to focusing on West Seattle’s present & future … one more bit about the past … which also involves an event coming up this weekend. Ever heard of the SS Dix disaster? Till moments ago, neither had we; but the tale makes “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” sound mild. This Saturday, a boat full of folks will be out off Alki Point commemorating the Dix disaster’s centennial, and the Log House Museum (among others) says you’re invited. (Found a few more details on the museum’s site; this cruise follows the annual meeting of the SW Historical Society, at which a new exhibit about West Seattle’s maritime history will be previewed.)
Cool feature in my favorite part of the Sunday Times (Now & Then): a whimsical structure that once stood in the back yard of a north-of-Admiral WS home, when it belonged to the founder of the downtown waterfront’s legendary Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. (As they say … who knew?)
Thanks to the tipster who reminds us, Nov. 13 is the anniversary of the day in 1851 that the schooner Exact brought the rest of the Denny Party to Alki, several weeks after their scouts discovered our little bit of heaven. HistoryLink has the true tale.
An interesting albeit accidental discovery that may be relevant to one neighborhood’s fight against a sizable development planned in their midst: While looking for something else, we happened onto the city’s 1999 plan for Junction development. It describes the area from 41st to 44th, Genesee to Edmunds, as targeted for creation of “a more compact mixed-use commercial core.” That would seem to include the area on 41st, just north of Alaska, where folks are upset about a proposed 7-story apartment/condo building with a “park-and-pool” facility (lots of interesting info in the comments on our original post); the SW Design Review Board takes up the project this Thursday night. Not sure how closely that 1999 plan is still being followed, but you can still easily find it (and plans for other city neighborhoods) from here.
… just in case; our weather-geek pals tell us it could get windy enough overnight to take out the power. It appears the National Weather Service concurs. In case you want to write it down now, the City Light hotline for reporting outages is 206-684-3000; if you want to check first if someone’s already reported your outage, there’s supposed to be a recorded message along those lines at 206-684-7400.
Big sign in the Menashe & Sons Jewelers window in The Junction — Jack Menashe’s retiring after 30-plus years. Since it’s “… and Sons,” we’re assuming the business will go on. But what about the Christmas lights at the Menashe house on Beach Drive? Please tell us they’re not going into retirement yet! We’re still reeling from the loss of the Gai display long ago. (Not to mention the little old guy in Burien, may he rest in peace.)
As holiday-shopping season looms, we’re throwing in a few words of support for shopping at local businesses as much as you can. A lot has changed in The Junction, for example, since last holiday-shopping season. And many businesses are doing what they can to court you — such as, we learned at last weekend’s Gathering of Neighbors that Square One Books has a pre-holiday sale next weekend — 19% off! Check them out before wandering resignedly over to the big chain bookstore at W-Village. And if computer stuff’s on your list, sounds like changes are afoot at Quidnunc — its new newsletter reveals it’s now part of a company called HomeTown Computer Centers, and promises “changes to improve prices and customer service.” Certainly we all pay attention to prices … but it’s worth considering that paying a few cents more is the worthwhile price of not living in one of those hideous megaburbs without a true small-town downtown.
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