West Seattle Gas Price Watch: Heading down again
Looks like nobody in West Seattle really had the heart to break the 3-buck barrier. Most stations’ prices are heading back down again; the title of “lowest posted price for regular unleaded” belongs to Delridge Arco (photo right) at $2.79. That’s no surprise, but this is: The highest posted price for regular unleaded is at 35th/Barton Exxon, at $2.97. The Lundberg Survey says the national average for unleaded regular is $2.75, after sliding 4 cents in the past 2 weeks. That’s fairly close to what we’ve seen since our last update two weeks ago (Delridge Arco has actually dropped 6 cents). Still a ways to go to make it to what was the lowest point since we started watching prices, $2.60s back in August.
Wet walkers, warm hearts
Caught up with some of the Seattle CROP Walk’ers in the rain and the wind a little while ago just south of Alki Point. Hundreds of people from churches all over the area are braving the 3-mile Alki-area route today to raise money and awareness to fight hunger, locally (benefiting agencies include the West Seattle and White Center Food Banks) and worldwide.
Reader Recommendation Requests: 2 to start the day
Two requests for your recommendations. Reminder, all previous RRRs (with responses galore in the comments) are archived in their own category here.
CLEANING: Reader K is looking for a “good and reasonably priced West Seattle dry cleaner. Preferably one who cleans on site.”
SEWING: Reader daPuffin is looking for “referrals for a seamstress/tailor in West Seattle who can re-line a leather coat.”
All suggestions welcome; leave yours as a comment. If you have a RRR of your own, e-mail the request to us.
3811 California landmark-nomination update
Since our report yesterday quoting a 3811 California tenant as saying the endangered 80-year-old brick 4-plex across from Charlestown Cafe 
was apparently being evaluated for city landmark status, we’ve found out more from the city Landmarks Preservation Board. Coordinator Sarah Sodt tells WSB that the board has “asked the property owner to submit a landmark nomination … as part of the MUP-SEPA process.” That’s Master Use Permit and State Environmental Policy Act, both aspects of the development process. According to the city website, “All buildings over 50 years old that are proposed for redevelopment are referred to the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board as part of the city’s SEPA policies.” However, Sarah also said the board has not “been in communication” with the owner, and has not arranged for a site tour (contrary to what the tenants were led to believe, apparently), but believes the owner is “working on preparing the nomination” paperwork. The bar for landmark status seems pretty high; the list of official city landmarks in WS contains only two residential properties (the Hainsworth House on 37th, sold earlier this year for $1,490,000, and the Satterlee House, aka Painted Lady, still on the market for $2.2 million). The process is explained here; looks like the next step after the nomination application would be a public meeting. The board’s website says it takes up to a month to determine if an application is “complete,” and it wouldn’t be scheduled for consideration at a public meeting until it is. Here’s the board’s schedule for the rest of the year. If a landmark designation does happen, a whole separate process begins regarding setting guidelines for what can be done with the property and which of its features must be preserved; that’s all outlined here. We’ll keep checking with the Landmarks Board to see how this progresses.
Reason #59,996 why we hate tagging
So our videographer just came back from the Me-Kwa-Mooks sign dedication. Video to come — there were many wonderful things about the event, and great people there — but infuriatingly, some criminal(s) already tagged the new sign. Almost cause for breaking our no-swear-words-on-the-site policy. Yes, it’s been reported to the police. Organizers say they’ll be able to clean this idiotic vandalism off the sign’s plastic cover, thank heavens. (Sorry we’re breaking the “don’t publicize taggers by showing their stuff” credo — we’re making the picture smaller, at least — but this is too maddening not to report.)
By the way, as we review the forthcoming video, we note that Judy Bentley, who led the event, was good-natured enough to describe the vandalism, pre-unveiling, as “a sixth unanticipated layer of history” on the sign.
And two more late-breaking weekend haps
FOOD DRIVE TODAY: Bill Barna from Prudential NW Realty tells us the company’s collecting donations around West Seattle for its food drive today as part of Global Volunteer Day. You can drop off donations 10 am-2 pm at Metro Market, PCC, and Morgan Junction Thriftway, or throughout the weekend at boxes set up at both PNW offices (Jefferson Square, 3221 Cali). Bill adds, “The usuals are asked for: Canned: veggies, meats, soups, tomato sauce, chili, etc. Peanut butter, mac & cheese, pasta, rice, beans. Don’t forget items like: diapers, baby food, toilet paper, toothpaste, tooth brushes, soap, detergent. Of course, cash donations are always appreciated by the food banks.”
ALUMNI EVENT TOMORROW: It’s Alumni Sunday at Holy Rosary, for the grade school as well as the high school, with special honors for the Classes of ’57, ’67, ’77, ’87, and ’97, but the invitation is extended to alums from every year. They’ll be planning for future reunions as well as for HR’s Centennial in 2013. You can RSVP for the alumni gathering online.
Saturday haps
Many fine things to do in West Seattle today, and the WS Weekend Lineup lists a ton of them. But as the day begins, we want to single out a few:
ONE RACE/ONE VILLAGE: First-ever 5K run for the Agathos Foundation. Registration starts at 8 am at the Bathhouse (we believe the website means “Alki Ave” where it says “Beach Drive”).
KITTEN ADOPT-A-THON: Just found out about this last night, walking past All the Best Pet Care on Alki and spotting flyers on the windows. 11 am-3 pm, at the store (next to Cactus).
ME-KWA-MOOKS SIGN CELEBRATION: 10:30 this morning at the park that’s a lot bigger than it looks from Beach Drive. A volunteer organizer says the event is “to celebrate the installation of an interpretive sign that will tell you where a mansion once stood, what the park’s name really means, and why the trail through the woods gets better every year. Coffee, pastries, and unforgettable historical insight are all on the house!”
And if you have to leave West Seattle this morning, remember The Viaduct is closed 7 am-11 am for the Heart Walk.
New meaning to the term “televangelist”
As Mars Hill Church-West Seattle expands to two Sunday services starting tomorrow, it appears MHC has gone to 100% video preaching for its satellite locations such as WS, with the “campus pastors” opening & closing the services, and the sermons all given on video by MHC leader Mark Driscoll. This is detailed in the newest blog post by West Seattle’s campus pastor Adam Sinnett, who points to an explanation from Driscoll — in the form of a 36-minute video, available online. We just watched it out of curiosity; it’s a long ramble that goes back into history, starting by contending that Christian leaders going back to Jesus himself were tasked with “using the opportunities that culture provides us,” then going on to discuss technological breakthroughs with religious ties, such as the printing of the Bible and the invention of the film projector by Thomas Edison (described by Driscoll as a “devout Christian” though we’re having trouble finding corroboration online). Driscoll notes that video preaching “frees up” each campus pastor to spend more hours each week “shepherding” the local flocks, and he notes generously that the campus pastors are “allowed” to preach “live” during the 10-12 times each year that Driscoll himself doesn’t do the Sunday sermon. BTW, the new MHC-WS service times as of tomorrow are 9 am and 11:15 am, so be on the lookout for more white-bus traffic, earlier and later.
GEE closure: The signs of shutdown
Before we headed out again to check out the closure status and seek new pix, WSB reader Andy S sent us the photo below (thank you!). He says copies of this flyer are up at all the entrances, and “the place is a ghost town”:
Bulletin: GEE closing TODAY
Shortly after we posted the pix in the post below, a PR person for GEE wrote back to confirm we weren’t seeing things:
Yes, Gee Automotive has to close its door at the end of business today, as they do not have enough staff available to keep it open until October 7. It is no surprise that many of their employees have found positions with other dealerships in the area, as they are great people.
GEE West Seattle situation update
We have sent the GEE (all capital letters is their official branding, so we will go with that from here on out) Automotive PR team a note asking if the Sunday closing is still on, or if there’s any progress toward a buyer. We’ll let you know what we hear back. Meantime, a few notes: As promised, we did check court records for the names of the four additional former Huling employees whose names were mentioned in the GEE lawsuit, separate from the three who are facing trial; records do not show charges filed at this point against those other four. Meantime, since we drive through Fauntleroy/Alaska at least four times a day, it’s easy to notice when things change, and three things caught our eye at the Gee lots this afternoon. First, some of the cars are no longer pulled all the way up to the sidewalk:
Second, a U-Haul truck happened to be out by one of the service bays (yes, we know, could be absolutely coincidental, could even be there for some service work).
Third, the “conventional media” is circling (again):
School scoop
Lots happening at WS schools. (Let us know any time about big doings at yours — public, private, parochial, whatever.) A few highlights:
SANISLO ELEMENTARY TODAY: City councilmember Jan Drago, a former teacher, is joining the Walk-To-School Month assembly this afternoon.
WEST SEATTLE HS: Look for extra-exuberant school spirit with the homecoming dance tonight, homecoming football game (vs. Rainier Beach) tomorrow night.
CHIEF SEALTH HS: This is the first year for its prestigious International Baccalaureate program; an IB information night is coming up October 18th. And CSHS is throwing itself a 50th birthday party on October 13th.
COOPER ELEMENTARY: Its EARTH Project just got a $53,000 grant, half from the state and the rest from the Northwest Environmental Education Council, the Nature Consortium, and Camp Long. A school district press release describes the EARTH Project as “a new magnet environmental focus at Cooper Elementary School. It includes the planning and planting of an on-site habitat by students as well as integration of art and technology linked to the environmental projects teachers are developing.”
MADISON MIDDLE SCHOOL: Its next PTSA meeting (Wednesday, October 10th) features a high-profile guest — new Seattle Public Schools superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson.
LAFAYETTE ELEMENTARY: Families are rounding up pledges for its annual walk-a-thon, coming up October 19th. (Press release here.)
West Seattle Weekend Lineup: First weekend of October
You can check our new Events page any time to see what’s happening any day of the week (and thanks to everybody who’s sent us additions so far; keep ’em coming) but we’ll still bring you the West Seattle Weekend Lineup list every Friday morning too – with full weekend details (such as music acts at the major WS venues). Here’s this week’s edition; more than 30 items this time around:Read More
Will this be the one that beats back the backhoes?
Almost six months have passed since we first told you a teardown-to-mixed-use proposal was on the drawing board for the elegant old brick apartments shown above, at 3811 California (across from the also-in-limbo Charlestown Cafe), drawing laments from dozens of commenters (as well as from us). The four-story project planned for the site appeared to be proceeding full speed ahead. But maybe not – according to the following e-mail we received late last night from one of the current tenants:
I realize this is an old story for most, but for anyone interested in the fate of this beautiful building, we (the tenants) received a notice from the landlords today stating the following:
“The Landmark Preservation Board has determined that this property may meet the standards for Landmark Designation. Before this can be determined by the board, it is necessary to access the units for construction details.”
They’ll be doing a walk-through sometime tomorrow. The real significance for me is that this is the first documentation we’ve received at all from the landlords regarding the potential fate of our homes.
(On a side note, the notices were slipped into our mail slots in Omni
Construction envelopes — my first thought was they were our vacate
notices. Glad to see they weren’t!)
We will check today with the Landmarks Preservation Board to find out more about the expected inspection and what might happen next.
Wild signs of fall
Those colors on Harbor Ave keep brightening …
The migratory waterfowl are returning; here are scoters spotted off the Fauntleroy ferry dock, first swimming toward the ferry, then ducking when its engines revved…
—
Also from the dock (and from a distance), a loon!
That WS fashion feature thing: The legs have it
To recap, a couple WSB readers suggested a West Seattle fashion feature a la Pike/Pine; we asked the folks at Clementine — with whom we have corresponded on matters from Junction beautification to the Art Walk, to help us kick it off. It’s wide open to any and all contributors, from West Seattle’s other fine fashion retailers, to any other reader out there who snaps a cool look (either gender) somewhere in WS; our inbox is a-waiting. We all gotta get some relief from death, destruction, business battles, etc., now ‘n’ then. Meantime, at right we have a second contribution, this one sent along by Clementine’s Kelly Rae Cunningham, a dryly humorous artist who titled her note “if WS wasn’t ready for [the first fashion photo] they won’t be ready for this look.”
Huling has indeed sued GEE for “unlawful detainer” (eviction) centered on the alleged nonpayment of rent as of the start of September. Since we offered you the chance to 
might be interested in becoming a 
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