West Seattle, Washington
16 Monday
The folks who run Kitty Harbor, a new addition to the east side of Harbor Ave by ActivSpace, welcomed a WSB visit this past weekend for this video feature. Kitty Harbor is operated by Delyn Kosbab, founder of the rescue organization Animal Safe Haven Association. As you will see her explain in the second clip (with the help of a playful pal), this is NOT a place to drop by and just gawk at cute cats; they are extremely serious about finding the best home for the dozens of rescued cats and kittens they are trying to place. Like these, who couldn’t resist trying to play with a volunteer helping clean cages:
In this clip, founder Delyn Kosbab explains Kitty Harbor and its guidelines, adoption fees, etc.
You can find out more about Kitty Harbor at its new website. As you’ll see on the site, it’s open Friday-Sunday or by appointment.
If you drive along Fauntleroy, you’ve probably noticed the lots are finally starting to empty out, more than 2 weeks after closing:
Today we have more details on what’s going on, now that court documents are available for the agreement reached in the Huling suit to evict GEE (we reported last Tuesday that the Huling lawyer said the agreement was in the works to give the Gees till November 30th to clear out):Read More
Just got e-mail from the West Seattle Food Bank and it’s more important than the other stuff we’re working on to post for you later – so here goes. Preface: Last fall, when you probably didn’t even know we were here (WSB readership now is 10x what it was then, thank you!), readers generously joined in an impromptu campaign to rustle up turkeys for another area food bank, and it felt great to help. Now, the West Seattle Food Bank is putting out the call to WSB readers for immediate help — we’ll do what we can and hope you will too. If you’re too busy to get food and drop it off at WSFB or the donation bins at three local supermarkets (mentioned below), click here to go to their site now and donate $ online (we just did so we’re challenging you to join us; the service handling $ donations takes credit cards or PayPal). Here’s the full text of the WSFB request:
The West Seattle Food Bank is seeking food and cash donations to ensure that no one in our community goes hungry this holiday season.
“There are many of our West Seattle neighbors who need special help,” said Food Bank Executive Director Fran Yeatts, “and unfortunately that’s especially true at this time of year. The West Seattle Food Bank will greatly appreciate anything you can do to help bring cheer to their holidays.”
Individuals and businesses can make holiday meals possible by donating items from the list below. Donations will help the most people by bringing Thanksgiving food donations to the Food Bank by November 17th.
Holiday foods to donate:
* Frozen turkey
* Hams
* Stuffing mix
* Mixed salad greens
* Canned cranberries (whole or sauce)
* Canned gravy
* Yams or sweet potatoes (fresh or canned)
* White potatoes
* Pumpkin or apple pies
* Dinner rolls (frozen or packaged)Cash donations are always welcomed and will help the Food Bank purchase items that are needed Cash donations can be sent to: West Seattle Food Bank, 3419 SW Morgan Street, Seattle, WA 98126, or donated online at westseattlefoodbank.org. Food donation bins are also located at Metropolitan Market, PCC and West Seattle Thriftway.
“Generous neighbors can make such a difference,” said Yeatts, “and on our clients’ behalf, we thank everyone.”
We’ll remind you about this in the days/weeks ahead, but do what you can now – donate online, get extra food in your next grocery trip, make it a happier holiday season for West Seattle families who are counting on you.
One of West Seattle’s best hillside workouts is about to be off-limits for a week or so. We told you ten days ago that the Upper Fauntleroy sinkhole (at the top of the above-pictured Thistle staircase, a popular route to and from Lincoln Park) is finally about to be filled in, 10 months after it opened in the December ’06 storm; this morning, we checked back with Seattle Public Utilities for an update on the timetable, and Jim Lee just told WSB that work begins tomorrow, with debris removal first, followed by sinkhole-filling. New flyers are up at the site, with the reminder that the stairway will be closed during the work, which should be finished within a week or so.
Not far from the epicenter of our recent discussions about the relative signlessness of the Fauntleroy overpass, arose this complaint e-mailed to us last night by Andrea about anti-campaign-sign vigilantism on the roadside itself:
It seems we have an anti-campaign sign thief on the WS Bridge (near Kids on Logs). This week I’ve noticed various signs – both D & R candidates – gone missing. My Democratic friends and I are supporting Dan Satterberg for King County Prosecutor and have been posting these signs. Twice now, they’ve been removed. For example, today around 4:00 there were many signs for Dan and some other school board candidates. At 6:30, all were removed and in a pile. Isn’t this illegal? I know many people think they are annoying, but I thought we lived in a free country where we can express ourselves.
Actually, research reminds us, it’s not illegal. According to city sign regulations, under the heading “Yard Signs Prohibited on Public Property,” city law “prohibits placement of campaign signs on all public property, includin but not limited to: medians, boulevards, parks or public golf courses, greenbelts, rights of way to arterials or freeways, bridges or overpasses or planting strips that abut public property, such as schools, public buildings, parks or public golf courses.” However, the regulations also say, “yard signs may be placed on … planting strips abutting private property, with the consent of the property occupant.” Lots more interesting reading, involving all types of “temporary signs” (not just political), here.
Some pix we wanted to share before the weekend ended … First, a rainbow over Westwood, sent on Friday by “The House”:
The rest of these pix are ours — first one from Lowman Beach, eligible for the title “as the crow flies”:
Not far away, on the northernmost end of the Lincoln Park shore, we found what looks from this perspective like The Spider That Ate Blake Island:
Up the hill from Lincoln Park, alongside the top of the Thistle staircase, a little house with a beautiful garden has this fall-colored plant almost a fluorescent shade of red:
And in a different garden, near the west side of The Kenney, a Halloween creature lurks among the trees:
The team putting together The Bohemian in the space that used to be Leslie’s Country Store (3405 California, next to Spiro’s) is finally ready to reveal more about their plans. They answered our e-mail by writing up a cheery blurb that we decided to share in its entirety:Read More
Maybe too soon for the Christmas phrase-turns; blame the decorations that already have sneaked into some stores … But we digress. This post is about real estate — always a Sunday pastime as “open house” signs pop up on corners around WS. A couple noteworthy offerings, not necessarily brand-new, but they just hit our radar. First, 4315 SW Stevens, across the street from PCC , across the alley from McDonald’s, $725K:
This is notable because the property was home to a hair salon that some neighbors were upset about (as reported here last March). Thanks to WSB reader Luckie for the tip that it’s now for sale; she sent the photo shown above as well as a photo of the flyer posted in the window, which touts “beautiful extended family home … also has a fully running hair salon … you can work from home!” Here’s the official listing page, though it currently appears to be displaying the wrong photos. … Now, to another up-for-sale home, with almost twice the price ($1,499,000), almost twice the age, and countless times the history:
That’s the Herren House at 1603 45th SW, shown in a photo from the city Department of Neighborhoods’ page detailing its history, which DON says dates back to 1891, though King County property records say 1900. Interestingly, the official listing website calls this house “The Painted Lady,” same as the still-apparently-unsold “Satterlee House” on Beach Drive.
Driving or walking through The Junction, you can’t miss the distinctive exterior touches that continue on the former Neilsen Florist location that’s becoming Shadowland. We e-mailed its proprietors last week to ask how their timeline is looking; they are currently hoping to open in the first half of next month, if all goes well with finishing touches and required inspections. (For those wondering what Shadowland will serve, we had some info in a September update, second part of this post.)
Happening today:
LAST ’07 CHANCE TO RIDE THE WATER TAXI ON A WEEKEND DAY: The regular Elliott Bay Water Taxi weekend sailings ended a few weeks back; today is the second and final Sunday with special sailings geared toward the Seahawks crowd, but you don’t have to show a ticket or wear blue to get on board. The special sailings start at 11 am today and continue through 5:30 pm; can’t find a precise schedule online, so be sure to ask on board about when to catch the boat back. The weekday commute sailings continue for two more weeks.
CALL THE SALMON HOME TO FAUNTLEROY CREEK: With the recent “reach to the beach” work (read more in the new Fauntleroy Community Association newsletter), Fauntleroy Creek is more welcoming than ever for the coho that creek-watchers hope to see return. Everyone’s invited to the creek’s fish-ladder overlook (across the street and up the bank from the ferry dock; here’s a map) to drum and sing and call the salmon home, 5 pm tonight.
FREE ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTARY SCREENING: It’s not happening in West Seattle, but WS resident Shauna Causey is helping organize it, and she’s got 100 spots left, first-come, first-served: The new CNN investigative documentary “Planet in Peril” is previewing Monday @ 7:30 pm at the Metro Cinemas in the U-District, after a 6:30 reception at a nearby restaurant. If you’re interested, e-mail Shauna at Shauna_Causey@cable.comcast.com ASAP.
FARMERS’ MARKET TOMORROW: It’s always earth-friendly to shop for fresh locally grown food at our local Farmers’ Market, which continues every Sunday on into winter. Here’s the latest list of what’s hot:Read More
Exactly one week ago at this moment, police officers were swarming northern West Seattle, looking for a suspect in the fatal shooting inside a car at 59th/Admiral (WSB 10/13/07 photo at right). Tonight, a 17-year-old suspect is in the King County Jail, in lieu of half a million dollars bail, charged as an adult with second-degree murder. The court documents are now a matter of public record, accessible online from the King County Electronic Court Records system (which charges a nominal fee for copies/downloads). We have downloaded the charging documents filed by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, including the certification for determination of probable cause. The documents name both the suspect and victim. As the suspect is now charged as an adult, we will publish his name here: Dwayne Myatt-Perez. These court documents say he lives in the Alki area. Though as we posted earlier today the King County Medical Examiner has yet to include the victim’s identity in its media updates, he is identified in these publicly available court papers as Francisco Bailey-Ortiz, which is the same name that the suspect’s lawyer Robert Perez included in a comment on this post earlier today. Here is a transcription of the “probable cause” section of the documents, representing what police and prosecutors allege happened and what evidence they base the charge on, with one name and address omitted at WSB editorial discretion (we have noted clearly where those excisions were made):Read More
A new concern about baby seals in West Seattle waters: Local residents who asked to be anonymous e-mailed us (and other news organizations) with a claim that a net fishing crew strung its nets “right across one of the most popular haul-out beaches for these pups at Anchor Park … (Other) fishermen … reported they have never seen a net attached to these rocks before this year. Several fishermen witnessed the net had drowned three seal pups. … This is a clear violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. We also have photo documentation of this same fisherman pulling a fourth seal pup out of his net. We cannot tell for sure if this particular pup is dead or alive.” Here’s that photo (we have cropped out what looks to be a partial identifying number on the boat, as we are still doing research to find out more about this claim):
The e-mail goes on to say the nets were removed for a while last week, then returned this past Thursday. The residents believe these nets belong to a tribe, but haven’t been able to figure out which one — because of what they say is a conflict over tribal fishing rights in the area. Whoever it belongs to, they say, they are “respectfully asking … to move this net for the next several weeks away from this very popular haul out beach for the pups.” We have e-mail out to the tribe that these residents think owns the net, to see what they can tell us about the situation, and will also be checking with the local federal authorities who have jurisdiction over marine mammals such as the seal pups. 5:10 PM ADDENDUM: 47 minutes after we published this report, this tv site posted a story about the situation suggesting something had happened today (“9 am Saturday”), although for the record, the photo published with their online story is one of two photos that we received from the concerned residents YESTERDAY (Friday afternoon).
If you see this before 2 pm Saturday, you still have time to get down to Gatewood Elementary and join in the “Kids for Kids” fun. If you see it later, the goats aren’t scheduled to leave till Tuesday morning, so you may get a chance for an impromptu look. (And check out WSB video of their arrival here.) Quite a crowd when we went by a little while ago — first two photos are onlookers admiring rain-shielded goats; third one is from the other “Kids for Kids” events up on the Gatewood playground:
PUMPKIN MANIA: A canopy’s up over part of Erik’s Alki Pumpkin Patch, so you can stop by without worrying about total sogginess. In addition to our report from last Saturday, you can see more photos at Shell Marr‘s MySpace. And if you would like to wander through an art-glass pumpkin patch, you can enjoy that at Avalon Glassworks; see nice pix here.
CONDO MANIA: The signs and balloons are out for the Strata condo-conversion “preview” event, and even some poor soul in a rain bonnet waving a big sign (a la Verge last winter). Hope the pay’s reasonable.
SMALL SIGN OF SEMI-CHANGE: Right across the street from Strata, the “closed for a few days” sign that was up for weeks in the window of shuttered Chuck & Sally’s Tavern is finally gone, no replacement.
EXERCISE FOR A GOOD CAUSE: Tomorrow morning’s Nia class at Youngstown Arts Center is a benefit for Northwest Hope and Healing, which helps breast-cancer patients. Instructor Lesley Tinker will donate all the proceeds from the class to the organization (her site is here). Class time is 10-11 am, no Nia experience required, all fitness levels welcome, $10 cash or check.
While webcombing in the dead o’night for updates on Fauntleroy Place, we discovered a new West Seattle project on the website of FP developer BlueStar Management: A retail/residential complex to be called Spring Hill. Here’s what the BlueStar site says about it (followed by what else we have found out so far):
BlueStar Management/Development of Seattle, Washington has purchased three contiguous parcels on the east side of the 5000 Block on California Avenue SW, just south of the West Seattle Junction.
Preliminary plans for the Spring Hill development include approximately 80 apartment homes above 3,600 square feet of retail space. Parking will be available under the building as well. The apartment homes are expected to range from 550 to 1250 square feet and will help to fill the growing need for rental housing in the area. … Construction is slated for 2008 with anticipated occupancy in 2009.
Armed with that general location information, we scoured through the city’s online files, and discovered this project appears to be centered on the parcel at 5020 California, currently half-century-old apartments, per county records. (Saturday afternoon addendum: The streetfront of these apartments is actually marked 5022 Cali; photo below; BlueStar page about the complex, Skyliner, here.) Its land-use permit application and construction permit application are not dated right now, but they’re clearly new because the “pre-application site visit” happened on October 5th; the applications aren’t even coming up yet in a search of the city’s Land Use Information Bulletin archives. We’ll check with BlueStar next week to see what more they can tell us. Architects listed on the application are from Hewitt, which also is working right now on the QFC/Office Depot megaproject progressing rapidly north of Jefferson Square. Side note: If you’re thinking, “Isn’t Spring Hill also the name of a restaurant in development on the north edge of The Junction?” yes, you’re right. Popular name with long-ago geographic relevance.
Two notes from our weekly check to make sure the Other Blogs in WS page links are still good (and to see what all those other lively West Seattle writers are up to!):
-Looking for a West Seattle house for less than $300,000? One blogger’s house just went up for sale, and she’s started this blog [wsb note: link removed 12/26/07, no longer active] to get it a little extra attention.
-Dropping by the JetCityOrange blog reminded us that JCO’s Jerry had sent us a link earlier about some mysterious graffiti he spotted around town, wondering if anyone knows what it stands for. (Check it out here.)
-Congratulations to the West Seattle HS Wildcats for making it into the Metro League football playoffs after their win tonight in the big cross-WS-rivalry game against the Chief Sealth HS Seahawks.
-Some readers wrote us earlier in the day worried about the White Center shooting. Teenage suspects are in custody. If you haven’t gotten around to looking up exactly where that happened, here’s a map. To get resident reaction, the P-I’s “online reporter” went to Papa Murphy’s in the nearby business district and talked with people including a man from Arbor Heights who, according to the resulting blog post, expressed his concerns about safety in south WS.
-We have been watching county Medical Examiner reports and online “King County deaths” lists for identification of the victim in last weekend’s 59th/Admiral shooting. Nothing public, even almost a week later, which seems unusual. However, the King County online register does reveal that the suspect is back in county jail, with bail listed as $500,000 and the charge as “murder 2” — as we first reported last weekend, he was only briefly in the county jail, then transferred to juvenile custody; this would suggest he is now charged as an adult — we are looking for verification in the online records.
If you went to The Junction’s newest restaurant tonight (in the ex-Ovio location), please let us all know what you thought. We did receive a review of last night’s “preview night” in e-mail today:Read More
As promised, video of the goats that arrived at Gatewood Elementary (location) today to munch away invasive plants. The folks at Gatewood hope everyone will come see the goats 10 am-2 pm tomorrow during their special “Kids for Kids” playground-project celebration:
Also, reader Luckie kindly sent us a photo from the Lafayette Elementary fundraising Walk-A-Thon today, noting “here’s proof the kids had SOME good weather today!”
We recently received two WSB Reader Recommendation Requests for services currently more relevant to many of us than usual, thanks to effects of the wind and water (reminder, all RRR posts are archived in their own category here):
–Alistair is looking for “someone good [in West Seattle] to clear my gutters and install leaf guards.
–Manuela is looking for a “reliable/reasonable person/crew to do some yard work – trim back trees, remove old landscaping.”
Please add your suggestions to “comments” on this post. Thank you for helping RRRs be a neighborly way to share recommendations and referrals across the virtual back-fence!
5:10 PM ADDENDUM: Reader Katherine has a semi-related request we are adding to this post — simply a request for help that you may be able to provide. If you can help, please e-mail her directly (link is included in her note below):
I’d like leaves. I’m an organic gardener on very poor soil. I usually go around begging leaves about this time of year. However my best source, a yard with a huge old maple in it, was swept clean by the wind yesterday. What I’d really like is to pick up leaves after they’re raked and bagged. My health is poor, and I can’t do a lot of raking. But if there’s someplace relatively small where the leaves are deep, I’ll rake and bag myself. I’d definitely prefer not to have dog droppings mixed with them. Anyone with leaves to offer can contact me at kld963@gmail.com.
Thanks to reader K for sending pix of the most eagerly awaited animal act to hit West Seattle since the baby seals. (News about them, coming up in a bit.) We are processing video right now too.
Not that quiet – still 33 things to tell you about for today-Sat.-Sun.:Read More
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