We first showed you that bus in our coverage of Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade – First Student agreed during West Seattle Summer Fest to loan it to WestSide Baby for promotion of, and use during, the annual Stuff the Bus diaper drive this Sunday. You’ll see the bus again starting Thursday — Nancy Woodland from WestSide Baby, which is sponsoring WSB this week to give Stuff the Bus an extra promotional push, says it’ll be parked at the old Huling Buick showroom site as a reminder (with permission from BlueStar, which is developing Gateway Center at the site), till it moves on Saturday to the site where you’ll find it Sunday: Alongside the West Seattle Farmers’ Market, 10 am-2 pm. The diaper drive is vital for WestSide Baby because, as is scrawled on the promotional bus above, “food stamps don’t buy diapers” — and this year, WestSide Baby is expecting to donate 300,000 diapers to families in need — but they need your help first. More on this as the week goes on – but here’s first word of a new addition that might be of interest to your family: This year, WestSide Baby is partnering with the King County South chapter of the national SafeKids Coalition to offer diaper-drive donors FREE car-seat inspections at the Junction Wells Fargo Bank parking lot (right across from the bus you’ll be stuffing); note that the last car will be admitted at 1:30 pm. Find out more about WestSide Babyby going here.
We told you on July 4th that the date for the first meeting about the proposed Delridge Skatepark was set for July 30. Now that’s just eight days away – and the city has issued its official announcement — saying, “at this meeting the community will focus on creating a vision for the park and will learn about scope of work for the design of the skatepark” as well as setting up an official page on the Parks section of seattle.gov (see it here). 7:30 pm, 7/30, Delridge Community Center.
Today we’re welcoming the newest WSB sponsor — West Seattle Bowl on 39th just north of Fauntleroy (map). Owners Andy Carl and Mike Gubsch have a lot to share about one of the most fun places in West Seattle: It’s 32 lanes with a full Chinese /American restaurant (Terrace West) and lounge, and it’s one of the few remaining bowling centers in the Seattle city limits. Though West Seattle Bowl was established in 1948, today it is arguably among the most innovative centers in the nation. They were the first center in the U.S. to have an online reservation system incorporated in its website and have had more than 1,000 online reservations since the system started in July 2007. Before that, they were one of the first centers to post league standings online back in the ’90s. And coming soon: Game night on Fridays. This will be a fun interactive contest using a variety of games tied to the scoring system that everyone can participate in while bowling. Winners will receive prizes. Plus, right now – you can win a free bowling party for 30 people valued at $1000. Go to www.westseattlebowl.com and for each online reservation you make between now and August 31st you will be entered into a drawing for a bowling party for 30 people to include, a custom drill bowling ball and bag for the winner and a party for 30 people to bowl for 2 hours, catering by Garlic Jim’s (pizza and salads), and a $250 beverage allowance in our lounge. There’s even more to the West Seattle Bowl story, including special deals they offer, and other ways in which they’ve been trailblazers — read on:Read More
The Schuck’s/Hancock building (Fauntleroy Place) isn’t all that’s coming down today. Elise sent the shown-above photo of the tree on the southwest corner of 45th/Trenton — known at her house, she says, as “the sad tree” — posted last month for removal (June WSB coverage here) after utility-related tree trimming in the area (May WSB coverage here) left it in somewhat unsustainable shape:
City Light had told WSB that its owner agreed to have it removed (at city expense), with two “power-line-appropriate” trees to be planted in the spot. From one of our previous stories, Jenny had sent this photo of how what she called the “candelabra tree” once looked:
Though City Light said the work on this tree was done appropriately, and its demise can instead be blamed on the unfortunate fact it grew under power lines, the utility also told us in May that the trimming on another tree nearby was botched badly enough that the crew that did it was removed from the contract.
Busy morning so far. In addition to the Hancock/Schuck’s demolition and a notable tree takedown (report to come), we were going through a sheaf of police reports downloaded last night at the precinct – when something too new to have been in that stack arrived in the WSB inbox from Dr. Elise Mullen:
(At) Seattle Wellness Programs, 5617 California Ave SW: We had someone come through the office, at approximately 8:20 pm (last night), while the massage therapist, Leah Bowman, was working and stole her purse which was in a back room. A police report has been filed Please let police know if anyone saw someone at that time or recovers the purse. 206-388-2929
Those are two of the three backhoes working on the ex-Hancock/Schuck’s building. We talked with BlueStar‘s project manager for Fauntleroy Place, Easton Craft, at the scene a few minutes ago – he said the crews aren’t expected to take the entire building down today — just the facade and some internal work — though the plan could change. Though the official “groundbreaking” ceremony was more than a month ago, the building couldn’t come down until asbestos-abatement work was done; Craft tells WSB that went uneventfully, without anything unusual turning up in the building beyond some of the tile/ceiling asbestos routinely used back when buildings like this went up. He also says City Light crews are in the area today doing some preparation work for the utility undergrounding that BlueStar plans to do (including the poles along 39th). While we were talking with Craft, a woman came up to ask what’s going to happen to the old Hancock/Schuck’s sign:
Well, he began, we think it’s going to the dump. No! she said, alarmed, identifying herself as a longtime West Seattleite who wants to see the sign preserved as history – at least, the Hancock’s part. Craft said he’d see what he could do, though he’s worried the sign might be welded to its metal poles and hard to separate. We’ll let you know how it turns out. ADDED 10:39 AM: Demolition video:
We’ll check back on the progress a bit later. As for the project itself, its new design will be considered by the Design Review Board next month, but as BlueStar told JuNO two weeks ago, they planned to proceed with demolition and excavation work in the meantime.
The primary election, that is — August 19th, our state’s first “top two” primary since the court fight shook out. The candidates and ballot measures already are listed online; among the notables you’ll see on your ballot, Seattle’s 7th Congressional District Rep. Jim McDermott(now described on the ballot as “Prefers Democratic Party”) has five challengers (including perennial candidate Goodspaceguy Nelson); Gov. Chris Gregoire and Dino Rossi are just two of 10 people going for governor; all three of West Seattle’s state legislators (34th District Sen. Joe McDermott and Reps. Eileen Cody and Sharon Nelson; scroll down this page) are opponentless. On the ballot-measure front, you’ll only face one in August — King County Initiative 26, which seeks a November vote on a proposal to make the county executive, council, and assessor jobs all nonpartisan. If you’re not registered to vote, it’s too late for August unless you’ve never registered in WA before, in which case you have till August 4th (more info here)
Yes, as reported here before, the Hi-Yu float has needed help for a while, and even that will be a fond memory for good-humored Sivona Lingle. Last year, she was the only candidate for the senior court in the Miss West Seattle Hi-Yu Scholarship Program, and therefore has served the past year as a one-woman senior court. Last night, quite a different scenario – she crowned her successor, and two princesses, from a field of five candidates, during a high-spirited event in the expansive (and warm!) sanctuary of Grace Community Church. Watch video of all three crowning moments – and a few other highlights, including the Talent Award-winning performance – as our story continues just ahead:Read More
In its two-months-so-far fight against two proposed city-jail sites in southeast West Seattle, the Highland Park Action Committee has seen some of the same city reps more than once, particularly Doug Carey, the main person on the hot seat at the contentious South Park forum June 26th (WSB coverage here). But tonight, the city sent in a different team to represent its side of the jail-site story: Fleets and Facilities deputy director Mary Pearson (photo left) and Office of Policy and Management senior policy adviser Catherine Cornwall. They took questions for about 40 minutes, after opening remarks. Toplines ahead:Read More
(photo added 9:59 pm – the new Miss Hi-Yu posing for pix with her parents Ramona and Robert)
At Grace Church, the 2008 Miss West Seattle Hi-Yu Coronation has just concluded with Margo Femiano, who graduated from Chief Sealth High School last month (as class president!), chosen as the new queen. The princesses are Alicia Watanabe and Katie Tarabochia. More on the big night (including video) later!
Just uphill from the P-Patch pilfering we reported here last night, there’s trouble at Solstice Park (formerly Lincoln Park Annex): Pam from Nerd’s Eye View reports “the markers (there) are COVERED with tagging … it’s not just a paint-over deal, these are carved stone markers.” Pam says police told her it had to be reported by the victim – in this case the Seattle Parks Department – so she called the department’s maintenance hotline (206-684-7250) to alert them.
Though Mayor Nickels has publicly expressed opposition to sending a new parks levy to Seattle voters before 2010, a majority of City Council members just voted to ask you to vote on the Parks and Green Spaces Levy this November, which is when the current Pro Parks Levy expires – a unanimous vote by all 7 councilmembers (with Sally Clark and Richard McIver absent). The current version, which has undergone a tweak here and a tweak there since the Citizens’ Advisory Committee approved it a few weeks back, totals $145 million over six years, which reportedly will cost the average homeowner about $70 a year. “The reason we’re doing this is is that parks are the affordable place to go in renewing our spirits,” said Council President Richard Conlin. West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who chairs the Parks Committee, thanked the many people who took the time to attend public hearings and offer comments, saying, “It’s been a very good public process,” even if it didn’t “take as long as the usual Seattle process” and, in looking ahead to what a new park levy might accomplish, reflected on the excitement that surrounds the opening of a new park – just nine days ago, he was at the dedication of Ercolini Park west of The Junction (below left, with Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher):
Back to the pre-vote speeches: “This is a very deliberative process we’ve gone through (with public hearings and a citizens’ advisory committee),” said Councilmember Tim Burgess. “Some of the greatest public works projects in our country have been done during tough economic times.” Councilmember Nick Licata said, “There’s been some criticism our citizens have become overburdened with levies … (but) this was not created by council alone.” Councilmember Jean Godden said, “Everybody cares about parks … parks touch everyone.” Councilmember Jan Drago said, “I have reservations about placing this on the ballot … because of (a) lack of prioritization, I believe we will have three competing ballot issues,” but she added, “I have decided to let the voters decide.” Councilmember Bruce Harrell said he has “faith” voters will make the right decision after “scrutinizing” everything on the ballot. The council already approved the mayor’s proposal to put a Pike Place Market renovation-money levy on the same ballot, November 4th; the other one to which Drago referred is a likely Sound Transit levy. The mayor could veto the levy, but only six councilmembers’ votes would be needed to override (and as we mentioned, seven voted “yes” today).
That video clip and another one we posted on YouTube after the 9/14/07 Mars Hill Church baptisms at Alki remain the most-viewed WSB videos ever (while also among our lowest-quality clips, since we got our first video camera just three days earlier). In the ten months since, not only have we gone through some changes, so has the Mars Hill-West Seattle website, where we just found this update with word a new round of Alki baptisms is planned during an end-of-summer barbecue, 6-9 pm August 26th. While the post proclaims, “A West Seattle summer would not be complete without a beach baptism event on Alki,” at this point it’s not described as a regional event, unlike last year, which MH leader Mark Driscoll declared “the biggest mass baptism in Seattle history” (WSB coverage here).
The clock ticks, Alaskan Way Viaduct traffic rumbles on, and the roar of reminders about looming viaduct change gets increasingly louder. In the past six days, we covered two major meetings with viaduct info that will interest anyone who drives it – first, the public comment meeting for the South End Replacement Project “environmental assessment” (and the comment period’s not over yet, so there’s still time for you to have a say), then the advisory committee briefing on why the semi-short list of Central Waterfront options does not include a retrofit (photo above is from that event). Read on for what you should know about both – including links where you can see the full PowerPoint-type presentations from both events:Read More
Less than two weeks after work began at the site of the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza, with temporary removal of the statue and demolition of the old base and surrounding asphalt, concrete is being poured this morning. Meantime, as we mentioned in coverage of last Thursday’s Alki Community Council meeting, the committee that raised $ for the plaza is looking for volunteer help again to plan the Sept. 6th dedication — and inviting potential volunteers to a July 31st picnic next to the construction site. ADDED MONDAY EVENING: More photos, thanks to David Hutchinson:
After a couple weeks of stagnation, gas prices are dropping a bit, so we’ve taken our West Seattle-wide Gas Price Watch survey for the first time in 3 weeks. You can see the regular and premium prices at each station by clicking locations on the map above (we’ve added the newly reopened Roxbury station, so there are 21 West Seattle stations in all) — or read on for the text list, lowest price to highest, including comparisons going as far back as 12 weeks:Read More
They’re known more for washing (and styling) hair than for washing cars, but today the staff of Illusions Hair Design (WSB sponsor) became volunteer vehicle-scrubbers to raise money for Pencil Me In For Kids. When we dropped by the car-wash site outside the West Seattle Eagles‘ HQ in The Junction during the car wash’s final hour, they were already closing in on 30 cars. Speaking of volunteer power, we got an “after” photo from Saturday’s last round of portable-painting at Pathfinder K-8:
Eric Baer reports almost 50 volunteers were on hand, including two teams from Seattle Works (which had declared this a “hot project”). Now on to volunteer neighborhood-issue activism:
Those three are from the Highland Park Action Committee (from left, Jessie, Dina Johnson, Blair Johnson), which maintained a presence at White Center Jubilee Days all weekend as part of its campaign against the two potential city jail sites in southeast West Seattle. (Wondering about the costumes? Blair’s is obvious; Jessie and Dina were going with the WCJD “Pirates” theme.) HPAC’s next meeting is 7 pm tomorrow (Monday) night, Highland Park Improvement Club @ 11th/Holden, where they’ll plot strategy for Saturday morning’s city-organized jail-sites forum @ South Seattle Community College‘s Brockey Center (9 am-noon). Dina also sent photos from an entirely unrelated event – the Mediterranean Fantasy Festival this weekend at Hiawatha:
That’s Habib, dancing solo. Dina shared a few more Medfest photos, which (if you’re viewing this from the home page) are a click away:Read More
Lots of gardening-related news today already (Community Harvest update here; West Seattle Garden Tour report here), but here’s one we wish we didn’t have to report. Maybe it’s a simple case of misunderstanding, rather than outright deliberate theft, but whatever it is, Lincoln Park P-Patch coordinator Michelle wants it to stop – here’s what she e-mailed us:
I was wondering if you would post a note on your blog about the rise in the number of theft incidents from the Lincoln Park P-Patch over the past couple of months. We have had entire vegetable plants stolen from the beds as well as produce prematurely harvested.
With the rising cost of food and fuel, we recognize that everyone is feeling the pinch at the stores lately. That, and the concern over the safety of mass produced food, is why many of us find growing our own vegetables and herbs to be our best option. Quite a bit of sweat and effort goes into growing the gardens, so to have someone come along and pluck until their heart’s content is very discouraging. We want to let the community know that they are more than welcome to wander and admire the variety of flowers and vegetables there, but the produce and plants are not up for grabs. If anyone is interested in gardening a plot of their own, they can find more information at: www.ci.seattle.wa.us/neighborhoods/ppatch/gardening.htm.
We’ve also reported here in recent months about various group gardening efforts that are using volunteer help and sharing the harvest with those who helped do the work (like Longfellow Creek Garden in the Delridge area), so watch for more word of chances to get involved with gardens like those. TUESDAY MORNING P.S.: After this WSB item appeared Sunday night, two citywide media outlets contacted us Monday asking about the story; here’s the KOMO version.
(now described on the ballot as “Prefers Democratic Party”) 
In its two-months-so-far fight against 
We wanted to know why a neighborhood flag was half-lowered, so of course, we asked “The Google.” 
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