West Seattle, Washington
11 Sunday
Walking behind West Seattle’s Most Famous Politician and spouse Sharon Nickels in this morning’s downtown holiday parade was a posse of people in green T-shirts emblazoned in white, SAVE SANTA (you can catch a glimpse in our photo above). Turns out that’s the latest offshoot of the city climate-change-fighting campaign.
A little quieter than usual but not that quiet, with events featuring Christmas trees, Santa Claus, and even The Beer Church: 20 West Seattle events ahead for the last weekend of November:Read More
New update at fauntleroy.net: Almost 100 spawners counted at Fauntleroy Creek so far!
So a particular chain retailer at Westwood Village had this incredible laptop deal. Got there when they opened at 6 am … 100 people in line, plotting near-military strategy for bargain reconnaissance. We retreated. Friendlier crowd at the one Junction store that opened its doors at 5 am, the rubber-stamping store Friends and Company, where we caught up with proprietor Doris Goulet and her early-bird shoppers during the first half-hour:
Nobody camping outside West Seattle’s early-opening chain stores when we checked late last night (just the big cart lineup outside Westwood Village Target, shown above). But they’re not the only ones opening early (Target 6 am, Bed Bath Beyond 6 am, Radio Shack 6 am, for example) — some independent retailers are getting creative too, like Friends & Company in The Junction, which is coupling a 5 am opening today with free early-bird eats and a tiered sale, starting at 40% off between 5-6 am. But there’s time to pace yourself — from today through Christmas Eve, 32 shopping days this year, and lots of new choices (as well as existing faves) for keeping your $ here on the peninsula.
Our daylight picture came out better than our nighttime photo … it’s the “blue bottle house” on Alki Ave, just east of Alki Point, matching blue lights and all. If you have or see a bright holiday display, send pix, or send location info and we’ll come by.
One week from Saturday, one of West Seattle’s biggest events of the holiday season will start — Hometown Holidays in The Junction. We brought you details in this report last weekend; you can also read the full Hometown Holidays press release at the end of this post. First, here’s your chance to be part of it — we received this from Erica Karlovits, president of JuNO (Junction Neighborhood Association):
For folks living in the Junction and interested in getting involved with JuNO, we have a great opportunity for involvement:
Hometown Holidays is coming . . . The Junction comes to life on the first Saturday in December. Events include the Dickens Carolers, the Annual Tree Lighting, Santa photos for you and for your pet, and great deals in local shops. Plus events at the West Seattle Farmers’ Market!
Volunteers are needed to staff the refreshment and information table during the Hometown Holidays event on December 1 and 2. JuNO has agreed to take on this responsibility and is inviting anyone that is interested in joining to contact wsjuno@yahoo.com – This is a great opportunity to support your community, meet neighbors and take part in a great event.
Please let me know if you are interesting in meeting your JuNO neighbors and volunteering at this event.
Thank you!
Erica Karlovits
Junction Neighborhood Organization
For even more details on Hometown Holidays plans, here’s the West Seattle Junction Association‘s full press release:Read More
As a few more folks wander, stuffed, to the computer, we are sharing a WSB Reader Recommendation Request sent in a few days ago by David:
I sure could use some recommendations for roof cleaners and those who treat for moss prevention. … I have a tall house with a steep roof and it seems
difficult to find a company that deals with moss prevention/treatment. Ideally, I need someone to spray a moss inhibitor so that the more severe power-spraying/cleaning won’t be needed every couple years.
First photo from Lowman Beach late this afternoon; second from Beach Drive at sunset.
From WSB contributing photographer Matt Durham: An Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) packs away the berries from a hawthorn tree at Hiawatha Park in preparation for winter. Eastern gray squirrels were first introduced into Washington in 1925.
(Prints of Matt’s WSB photos and his other work are available through his site, MattDurhamPhotography.com.)
WSB reader Patrick e-mailed that photo today with this eyewitness report: “Yesterday about 6 police cars pulled up at Chief Sealth when students were let out; they questioned 2 students for about 15 minutes, looked in the bushes where they were questioned, and let them leave.” We don’t have information on what that was about — but it reminds us, you might not have heard about the survey released just before City Hall shut down for the 4-day holiday weekend: It’s the “biennial survey of attitudes toward police” in the Neighborhood Policing and Crime Survey Report. Here’s the page where you can find a link to the complete report as well as various summaries. We browsed it to look for West Seattle specifics; not many of those to be had, but we were quite interested in page 13 of the report, where traffic offenses and graffiti/vandalism — both discussed extensively, repeatedly, here at WSB — were identified as the crime problems noticed most frequently by citizens. On a related topic, WSB reader LyndaB passed along word that everyone is invited to the Police Chief’s Citywide Advisory Council meeting on December 11th (6:30 pm, West Precinct, which is actually downtown) to get details on the Neighborhood Policing Staffing Plan that the police department will start implementing in January.
If you’re looking for a little diversion – here are a few links of note from sites on our Other Blogs in West Seattle page:
–Cauliflower banana bread. Really.
-The Bird’s Eye that wasn’t.
Nothing to do with food but just plain funny:
–Thanksgiving portrait of child and … cat.
The marquee over Java Bean on Avalon (photographed by Jerry from JetCityOrange; thank you!) says it all. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! We will be here with West Seattle news later in the day but for starters, here are the essential links as your holiday begins:
-West Seattle grocery store holiday hours are here
-West Seattle coffee shop holiday hours are here
-Free community Thanksgiving dinner: noon-3 pm, The Hall @ Fauntleroy (read more here)
-Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth ferry changes (other routes too) are here
-City reminder about parking
-City reminder about trash/recycling
We are thankful for countless blessings including your support of, and participation in, WSB!
Shining brightly over North Delridge, it’s the star atop a tower at Nucor. If you have or see a bright holiday display, send pix, or send location info and we’ll come by.
From the inbox, Stephanie writes:
Yesterday I found a bike lying at the corner of Beach Dr and Oregon (right next to Me Kwa Mooks Park) with no one around to claim it. It’s either a mountain bike or a “hybrid”. I thought it might have been stolen, so I thought I’d let you know so you could post it. I’ll be happy to return it to anyone who can give an accurate description of it.
E-mail WSB if you think it’s yours, and we will forward to Stephanie; we’ll be right here keeping watch through the holiday.
So many years, we have found ourselves driving around in search of someplace to get espresso, early, before we start crafting the homemade stuffing and all that. So in hopes of saving you a similar gas-wasting experience, here’s what we have so far, in alphabetical order, for tomorrow’s West Seattle standalone-coffee-shop hours, from a combination of in-person visits and phone calls:
Alki Bakery, closed
Bakery Nouveau, closed
Bird on a Wire, open 8 am-1 pm
Bubbles on Alki & on Delridge, closed
Caffe Ladro, open till 2 pm
Capers, closed
Coffee to a Tea with Sugar, closed
Cupcake Royale, open 8 am-2 pm
Diva, open till 1
Easy Street, 9 am-1 pm
Freshy’s, open 8 am-1 pm
Hotwire, closed
Java Bean, open 7 am-2 pm
Original Bakery, closed (Friday too)
Red Cup, closed
Revolution, closed
Sleepless (DRIVE-THRU), 7 am-2 pm
Starbucks (all WS locations), open normal start time (drive-thru is earliest @ 4:30 am) thru 4 pm
Tully’s Alki, 7 am-4 pm
Tully’s Morgan Junction, 6:30 am-2 pm
Uptown Delridge, open 6 am-3 pm
Uptown Junction, open 6 am-4 pm
We weren’t able to get through to C & P or Cafe Rozella – anyone who knows, let us know; we’ll have to run by later and see if signs are on the door. 9:30 PM ADDENDUM: No clues to be had on the Rozella doors; a comment on this post says C & P is open in the morning, though. THURSDAY MORNING ADDENDUM: Added Diva; went by to check, they’re open till 1.
This just in from the Orca Network “sightings” e-mail list (you can sign up here), which usually brings first word of such things, before they turn up on the ON website:
Nov. 21: Orca Network received a call from Amy Carey at 9:45 am, relaying a report from a passenger on the Vashon passenger ferry of a pod of orcas off the north end of Vashon Island heading south at 8:15 am. She found the pod at 9:55 am, between Three Tree Point & Pt. Robinson, Maury Island still heading south. At 10:56 am they were at Pt. Robinson, and she was able to confirm them as J pod. By 11:13 am they had come around Pt. Robinson, moving slowly. A cargo ship, the Greenwich Bridge, blasted right through the pod, after which they did multiple breaches & spy hops. At 11:35 am she said they were still heading south, not quite to Brown’s Pt. At 12:05 pm they were directly off Gold Beach, heading into the Maury Island Reserve.
We mentioned earlier in the week that Mayor Nickels was going to wander over to his neighborhood supermarket, Metropolitan Market in Admiral, to help promote MM’s new reusable bags. He made good on his promise this morning and helped bag a few groceries – our WSB videographer was there to get the proof:
This also gives us an excuse to mention the West Seattle supermarket hours for Thanksgiving Day again: Metropolitan Market is open till 2 pm, Thriftway till 4 pm, QFC till 6 pm, the Safeways are open regular (24) hours, PCC is closed. ADDED 7:30 PM: Another clip from the Metro Market event, with the mayor joined by Terry Halverson, CEO of the Metropolitan Market chain (which is HQ’ed in West Seattle):Read More
We were lucky to grow up with some opportunities to travel, around the U.S. as well as to a few other countries. Nothing too fancy, but still — as you know if you have been able to travel — it changes your perspective on your own slice of the world, in so many ways, that carry on throughout your life and enhance your ability to “think global/act local,” among other benefits. With that preface, here’s a chance to help some West Seattle teenagers gain that perspective as they prepare for the journey into adulthood: At West Seattle High School, the Travel Club is looking for partners and supporters to help make sure everyone who wants to join a 10-day student trip to Italy and Greece next spring can go. A nicely written press release appeared in the WSB inbox – so we’re sharing that, and the information that follows it about how you can help, including fundraising events that are just a few weeks away:Read More
Driving east on Harbor Ave at sunrise this morning, we spotted this formation in the southeast sky. Could have been anything — deteriorating jet trail? Mount Adams steam? — whatever it was, it caught our eye, and luckily the camera was along for the ride.
Two weeks ago, we told you about local library advocates’ call to let city councilmembers know the new budget needed to give libraries a better deal. This morning, two days after councilmembers approved a budget (which we reported here), Sarel Rowe from Friends of Southwest Branch Library, one of those advocates, sends everyone these words of thanks:
The City Council passed a $2 million increase for The Seattle Public Library materials budget in 2008. In addition they passed funding guidance requesting a baseline for future materials budget proposals of $1.5 million more than that included in the proposed 2008 budget. Your readers were instrumental in this progress. Thanks to you we can all celebrate renewed materials vitality at our branch Libraries.
For more info, Sarel points us to the Friends of the Seattle Public Library site. And you can celebrate by checking out any of West Seattle’s four branches: Southwest, Delridge, High Point, and West Seattle (Admiral). (They’ll be closed on Thursday and Friday for the holiday, though.)
Seen on Harbor Drive near Don Armeni — one of this season’s early adopters. If you have or see a bright display any time this season, send pix, or send location info and we’ll come by.
When we broke the news last night about Amazon‘s new grocery-delivery service adding three West Seattle zip codes — 98116, 98126, and 98136 — to its delivery area, the question of course came quickly from West Seattleites outside those zips: What about 98106 (Delridge) and 98146 (Arbor Heights etc.)? We checked back with Vincent at Amazon, who could only tell us:
At this instant we’re considering 98106 & 98146, but unfortunately we don’t have any set timeframe. (and if we do expand, you’ll be the first to know about it ;) ).
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