West Seattle, Washington
19 Thursday
From Jo B:
Looking for doctors … We just moved to West Seattle from Minnesota and I need to find a local doc (preferrably West Seattle but downtown is ok too) who understands fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome and my hubby needs a good old fashioned family doc. Preferably one with Saturday hours or downtown near the train dept. We are United Health customers.
As always, please add your recommendation as a comment on the post; previous RRRs and their respective responses are archived here. Thanks to everyone who joins in the RRRs to help fellow West Seattleites find what they’re looking for!
We featured the famous Beach Drive Christmas house with a photo on 11/28 … then this week, the Menashe family graciously allowed us to stop by and get a narrated tour, including answers to some of the questions everybody asks (such as, “how many lights?” — the big tree alone has 100,000!). The display’s on 4:30-11:30 pm every night through New Year’s, and its location is one of many on our special West Seattle Christmas lights map (you’ll find it on our new WSB Holidays page). First clip: Josh Menashe shows us what’s new, and talks about what it takes to put this together:
Here are 3 more clips, starting with a longer walk-through:Read More
We linked yesterday to a photo of the water buildup in the 41st/42nd/Alaska megaproject construction … today, WSB contributing photographer Christopher Boffoli went by for some video of what’s being done about it:
(photo by Lea Kuchan) In case you don’t go back to comments on day-old posts – we wanted to highlight this comment just left on our followup about the now-famous car swamped in the Allstar Fitness parking lot during Monday’s megadownpour:
I am the somewhat sad and soon to be past owner of this car. It is indeed being totaled by my insurance – they say that they are liable if they fix it and something happens. Happily, I am aware of the folks who get ripped off by having totaled cars get reconditioned and sold. I have arranged for it to be towed to a salvage yard, and scrapped out for body parts. The bad karma will end with me.
Thanks for your support, though. I feel privileged to have such supportive neighbors.
Best,
E
The lot behind Petco in The Junction isn’t closed to parking yet but it’s apparently on the brink (the folks in the store are also waiting to hear when) – so suggests the sign on the fence, shown in our photo above; it discusses other parking options, and advises Petco shoppers to get store workers to help them with big items, and of course it also talks about the project coming to that site: Mural, which is the second project on this page at the site of its developers, Harbor Properties (side note, a power permit for the construction project was just granted). Petco, you may recall, wants to move to a new future building at the Charlestown Cafe site; things on that front have been publicly quiet (city project page here) since the last Design Review Board meeting four months ago (our detailed report is here, and it includes links to all the background).
Tonight is opening night for WSB sponsor ArtsWest‘s holiday production, “O. Henry’s The Gifts of the Magi.” And ArtsWest is asking audience members — and anyone who stops by ArtsWest while the play is running now through December 23 (checking out the art gallery, visiting the box office, whatever) — to bring their own “gifts”: ArtsWest is collecting donations of new books, new toys, new clothing, and diaper packages, all to be donated to WestSide Baby. As ArtsWest executive director Alan Harrison says in an AW press release: “‘Love thy neighbor’ is the credo of the season. O. Henry’s story about Della with the gorgeous hair and Jim with his grandfather’s priceless pocket watch is most famous for its ironic twist, but more than that, it tells us that love is the greatest gift of all. If we can help our neighbors at WestSide Baby by finding a way to supply their children with clothing, a book, or even a new toy, then we’ll all have a loving holiday indeed.” (ArtsWest photo by Matt Durham)
(Monday photo near 26th/Andover by Chris Monsos) The water has receded, but in some places it’s bound to have left damage behind. So Kaydee is wondering:
With all the flooding this week, I feel very fortunate to have not experienced any flood damage but I would like to help neighbors in need. Are there any groups of volunteers organizing this weekend to help neighbors or restore damage to parks caused by this flood?
P.S. To make it easier to find WSB coverage of the flooding and aftermath, we have retagged our reports in a new “December 2007 flooding” category (much like the “December ’06 windstorm” archive).
(above photo by WSB contributing photographer Christopher Boffoli) North of The Junction, reconstruction is back in high gear at 4132 California, the live/work units (city project page here; developers’ project page here) that were under construction when a huge early-morning fire (below photo by Garrett Burke) destroyed the project August 17th. Investigators declared it arson but so far as we know have never made an arrest (hotline for tips: 800-55-ARSON).
That’s what Amy is wondering about:
Anybody else hearing coyotes in Fauntleroy Park tonight? I’m about one or two lots away from the southwest side of the park (the wetlands feeding the creek go through my back yard) and heard a very odd hooting/crying type noise. My dog started whining, too. Is that the coyotes?
Tonight, we found ourselves wandering the streets of Highland Park, where we came across this house at 7925 9th Ave. SW (map; also, we have added it to our clickable map of all the displays featured on WSB this season, which you can access any time from our new Holidays page). Rolled the window down to get the picture and even heard Christmas music. By the way, tomorrow evening, we’ll bring you a narrated video tour of West Seattle’s most famous display, the Menashes’ lights on Beach Drive.
A reader who wants to be anonymous sent this intriguing request for recommendations:
I’m planning a volunteer event for my company—and I’m a West Seattle resident so I’d like to consider ideas from fellow West Seattle residents.
It’s an annual day of service in Seattle or a surrounding community. We’ll have about 300 people volunteering for a full day on a Saturday. In the past we’ve done everything from landscaping, painting buildings, stocking shelves, restoring a school… to getting in the mud and repairing a creekbed in South King County.
In order to be eligible, the non-profit has to have a 501c3 number or be associated with a 501c3. Any suggestions you or your readers have are much appreciated, either in West Seattle or in the greater Seattle area. We’re hoping to volunteer at an organization where we can make the biggest difference in one day, an organization that really needs our help.
As always, please add your recommendation as a comment on this post; you can find previous RRRs, and responses, archived here.
Thanks to Gwen @ Azalea Software for these photos of this afternoon’s rainbow(s):
We all got excited October 12 when, the day after the demolition permit was granted, the ex-Schuck’s at California/Charlestown started showing some signs of impending activity. Then … nothing, till a construction permit for the replacement project was issued last Friday, and today, we got a reader tip (thank you!) that takedown crews were on scene … WSB contributing photographer Christopher Boffoli went over for a look and reports, “… the entire interior is indeed gutted and the front windows are blown out. Looks like they went through the interior with a bobcat tractor [see second photo]. The north parking lot was full of burned-up debris.”
From WSB contributing photographer Matt Durham: Cody Blue of West Seattle waits for a tow truck to pull his Chevy from its precarious position at 5916 Beach Dr. this afternoon. “I was visiting a friend and misjudged the curve to the driveway,” Cody explained. “I was blinded by the hood of my truck as I climbed over the hump and didn’t realize the roadway narrowed.” Cody’s truck suffered little damage and didn’t cause any property damage. (Prints of Matt’s WSB photos and his other work are available through his site, MattDurhamPhotography.com.)
-The biggest building project under way in West Seattle right now is dealing with a good dose of rainwater, according to the photos we found here.
-The wonderful history-focused blog Vintage Seattle is taking a closer look at the northernmost “Painted Lady” currently on the market in West Seattle (as mentioned here in October).
-According to an e-mail just sent out on the Duke’s mailing list, the date is set for the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza Project fundraiser at Duke’s on Alki (as mentioned here last month): 6 pm December 27, hosted by radio talker Dave Ross, with promised appearances by two West Seattle political readers — here’s a screengrab from the e-mail:Read More
Remember this much-photographed car, under water yesterday outside Allstar Fitness? (photo by Lea Kuchan)
We found it again today. Our camera-equipped team member reports (shock) it’s full of mud. But all in one piece!
These photos are from Erik (thank you!), who says, “This is my parents’ house on the cliff above Seacrest Park. No known damage to the structure — yet. The washed-out street is Victoria Ave SW. SDOT was on the scene last night and reopened the road.”
Tonight at Hiawatha Community Center (6 pm), and tomorrow at Camp Long (5 pm) and Alki Community Center (7 pm), it’s your last three chances to tell the city Parks Department what you want to see in its plan for the future — we attended the first West Seattle meeting last week @ Southwest Community Center (read our detailed report here); the format is definitely discussion-friendly – you get to share ideas in a small group, rather than before a big crowd. Community activist Charles Redmond went to both the Southwest meeting and the Saturday afternoon Delridge meeting and gave us permission to share his thoughts, which conclude with a recommendation for you:Read More
The suspense is over; the city Parks Department has made its decision. David Cagen from Friends of Ercolini Park just forwarded the park-naming announcement from interim parks superintendent Christopher Williams:
After receiving overwhelming support from the community, I have decided to name the park site located at 48th Avenue SW and SW Alaska Street, Ercolini Park. This name will recognize the longtime ownership of this site by the Ercolini family and their willingness to sell this property to the City for a public space.
I look forward to joining you for the opening of the new Ercolini Park in early 2008.
More parks news coming up in an hour or so – this just came in so we wanted to publish it fast! 3:30 PM ADDENDUM: Friends of Ercolini Park chair Katie Hjorten wrote to the FoEP group (and gave us permission to republish):
I called Jim Ercolini to let him know and he couldn’t have been more pleased. He told me that he was the last descendant with that last name both here and in Italy. He said his parents would be so proud and pleased since they were share croppers in Italy. It was their life’s dream to own land. Now it will bear their name in perpetuity. He thanks all of us for our work on this project.
This morning, we launched a new WSB page to help you enjoy the holiday season — our Holidays page (it has its own tab in the navigation under the header throughout the site, or you can bookmark it here). Right now, it features West Seattle holiday events through New Year’s, plus our ongoing West Seattle Christmas lights map and a link to our West Seattle Christmas tree price check; at the top of the page each day, you will also see highlighted holiday events for that day/night. 
This page is presented by a brand-new WSB sponsor, West Seattle Christian Church (on the north side of The Junction, at the SE corner of 42nd/Genesee). West Seattle Christian Church is a growing church offering a lot more than worship services — it also is parent to the Ginomai artists’ studio facility right across the street at the SW corner of 42nd/Genesee — which among other things is a must-visit stop during the monthly West Seattle Art Walk; the next one is coming up Thursday 12/13 — we stopped at Ginomai during last month’s Art Walk and met several artists, then browsed the merchandise others were selling in the Ginomai community room. In addition, WSCC is home to West Seattle Christian Preschool, which is currently enrolling (find out more here). We thank WSCC for supporting WSB, along with our other sponsors, who are listed on this page along with info on how prospective advertisers can join them. (And if you have suggestions for additional features to add to the Holidays page, please let us know – we’ll be tweaking it at least once daily as the season rolls on!)
No major traffic trouble spots in Seattle so far this morning; here’s the list of outlying King County roads still having trouble (including one on Vashon), and if you have to drive outside King County, the state has a handy list of what’s up elsewhere on this page (including that big I-5 shutdown in Chehalis). ALLSTAR FITNESS UPDATE: Just called to check (in the wake of all that water in all those photos further down the page) — they ARE open today. ADDED 6:45 AM: Here’s the latest city press-release roundup of trouble spots (says all the ones here in WS are open again).
As former apartment-dwellers, we particularly appreciate balcony brightness – and you can find a lot of it around West Seattle, especially along Harbor and Alki – but this trio of balconies is from California Avenue just south of Morgan Junction. We’re still scouting for lights and happy to get your suggestions; besides the new archive of featured lights, we also have created a map locating every place we’ve shown – click on each marker and you’ll see its location as well as a thumbnail photo. We’ll continue to update the map as each night goes by. (One more holiday note – it got a bit lost in the weather coverage but we posted our annual West Seattle Christmas tree price check yesterday afternoon.)
Provided the weather calms down, we’ve got several WSB Reader Recommendation Requests to get out to you – tonight we start with this one from Chris:
My home computer is not working…mysterious colors flashing on the screen, no access to the desktop … anyone know a good computer technician that does home visits?
| 10 COMMENTS