West Seattle, Washington
19 Friday
Two updates as garage-sale season revs up:
WEST SEATTLE EAGLES GARAGE SALE TOMORROW: Linda shared the news; the West Seattle Eagles‘ garage sale is tomorrow, enter through the alley at 4426 California SW. Note that they still have tables available, $15 each – call Mary Lou at 206-937-5484 if you want one. Sale hours on Saturday are 10 am-4 pm, and they’re selling burgers and hot dogs all day.
WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY GARAGE SALE DAY REGISTRATION CONTINUES: 55 sales are signed up so far for the seventh annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day , presented/coordinated by WSB, coming up Saturday, May 14th, 9 am-3 pm. It’s not one big garage sale, but rather, dozens and dozens all over the peninsula, large and small (more than 200 last year!), all on one map we put together (printable and Google versions). You can sign up your sale online – just go here. Meantime, three group-selling spots are planned so far (want to host one? let us know – garagesale@wsb.blackfin.biz): Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (4410 California SW; WSB sponsor) will have courtyard tables again (contact Lora, info@hotwirecoffee.com, if you want to reserve one); the VFW Hall at 3601 SW Alaska plans to offer tables (we’ll have more details and contact info shortly); and Cycle U (4550 Fauntleroy SW) is offering the chance for you to sell bikes and gear. We’ll keep updating here, but if you lose track of the latest update at any point, just remember the official WSCGSD, full of info as well as coverage of the sales since we took over as presenting organization in 2008 – westseattlegaragesale.com.
Another event happening tonight in West Seattle: Organizers confirm the next in a series of rallies around the city to show support for the Seattle Police Department is planned tonight outside the Southwest Precinct. They hope to line Delridge and Webster outside the precinct, starting around 6:30, and the public is welcome to join in. It’s not an official SPD event; coverage of rallies at other precincts has noted that organizers and participants have included members of officers’ families.
This morning’s featured photo is courtesy of Julie Clegg – she’s just put up a display of photos inside Mud Bay in the Admiral District, where you can see them today (and all month long). She’s at baileyandbanjo.com (or on Facebook here) and also has a new “dog lifestyle line” at lickslobberdrool.com with 10% of the proceeds going to fight canine cancer. Now, from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
WEST SEATTLE WATER TAXI SPRING/SUMMER SCHEDULE STARTS: It’s now running all day long (instead of just commute hours), plus Friday/Saturday nights, Mariners/Sounders game nights, and weekends. Here’s our preview from last night.
EL CHUPACABRA OPENS ON ALKI: The new bar/Mexican restaurant in the old Casa Feliz spot, which we first told you about back in January, opens today. (Here’s our update from earlier this week.)
2 PLACES TO ROLLER SKATE: Yes, it’s the second night for the Southgate Roller Rink (first-night coverage here), but the Friday Night Skate Program at Alki Community Center continues too! $3/person, bring your skates or borrow some, 6:45-8:45 pm every Friday night.
‘SWEET, SWEET MUSIC’: 7:30 tonight, Fauntleroy Church sanctuary, with the church’s chancel choir opening, the Chief Sealth International High School Honor Choir closing, and inbetween, clarinetist Emma Pierce will team with SSM organizer Bronwyn Edwards Cryer on the piano. $5 at the door ($15/family) includes dessert in the narthex after the performance. You’ll also have a chance to donate toward the honor choir’s upcoming trip to Carnegie Hall. Details at www.fauntleroyucc.org.
RAINBOW BINGO! “Putting on the Ritz” Rainbow Bingo at West Seattle Senior Center (4217 SW Oregon St), food and drinks at 6 pm, music and entertainment begins at 6:30. $15 prepaid donation to play, $20 at door ($10 prepaid for SCWS members, $15 at the door). Call 206.932.4044 ext. 4 for a reservation.
In case you just couldn’t make it to the Senior Center of West Seattle last night for the first training session sponsored by the all-volunteer West Seattle Be Prepared – above, you will find WSB video of the session, in its entirety. The leaders were David Shannon and Sarah Rothman from the local branch of the American Red Cross. If you don’t have time for an hour-and-a-half video, here’s our report on the highlights (added 8:59 am):
By Katie Meyer
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
“Our volunteers are our most precious asset and resource, and without them, we can’t do it,” declared Deb Ticknor, Red Cross Readiness Manager, leading off the first session in a new West Seattle series with an overview of how the Red Cross responds to local disasters.
“If something happens here in Washington, say we have a major wildfire and a landslide at the same time, a lot of families would be impacted, and our local chapters would respond. We would bring in people from around our state who are Red Cross-trained, so when a disaster hits we’re ready to stand up and provide services that our community needs.”
However – you need to be prepared, too, and that was the point of the session – don’t expect somebody else will rescue you (not immediately, anyway).Read More
(County map showing where the “green stormwater infrastructure” is proposed for the area feeding the Barton pump station; go here for larger version)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
There was a bit of myth-buster flavor to the first major community meeting since King County’s December announcement that it wants to solve the Barton Pump Station‘s overflow woes with “green stormwater infrastructure” in a 17-block area of Westwood and Sunrise Heights:
No, there won’t be a raingarden in front of every home in the area.
No, the raingardens aren’t expected to fill up and sit stagnant as mosquito-breeding ponds or child-drowning risks.
No, they won’t block you from getting between your street-parked car and your front door.
So – what will they do, and how?
(Photo by Deanie Schwarz for West Seattle Blog/White Center Now)
‘AS-IT-HAPPENED’ REPORT AT 9:22 PM THURSDAY: Shortly after the renovated Southgate Roller Rink opened its doors to general-public skating for the first time in more than five years (here’s our original February story about the reopening plan), this line snaked out the door and out along the walkway to the front door. Inside, the skate is on. More coverage to come.
ADDED FRIDAY MORNING: Photos and video from Opening Night, by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB/WCN. First, the Derby Girls took the floor in early evening before the official opening session, to work on fundamentals:
Then at 8:30 – the first public session:
The old saying “a good time was had by all” seemed to be in order. Even for Ronda Stapleton, who Ellen says may have been the first to take a tumble, but was still smiling, bravely showing off her bruised arm:
Southgate has a skate shop, too, in case you want to buy your own skates and gear (rental skates are included in the admission fee if you need them):
The Southgate schedule is online – see it here.
Three weeks ago, Katie Krause at The Kenney shared a photo of a nesting hummingbird on their grounds near Lincoln Park. Tonight, two more photos – with a hint of the results.
(WSB photo of Rachel Marie @ Seacrest Pier on Thursday morning)
If you’re going to the Mariners’ home opener tomorrow night, don’t forget that the King County Water Taxi‘s West Seattle-Downtown Seattle run is an option for getting there and back. That’s because tomorrow is the day the Water Taxi launches its spring/summer schedule, which means adding midday and weekend runs back to the plan. You can see the full schedule here. It includes special evening service to Mariners and Sounders home games through October 30th, according to the county. As for the shuttle buses, here’s how their changes are explained:
Shuttle routes 773 and 775 will remain in service through the afternoon/evening commute period, but will not serve any arrivals or departures into West Seattle past 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. However, Sunday shuttle service will be extended to serve passengers taking the final 8 p.m. Water Taxi trip from downtown Seattle.
This is the first year the Water Taxi has run year-round – since last fall, it’s been on a weekday-commute-times-only schedule.
More than a few West Seattle businesspeople spent part of today in “lockup” – but it was for a good cause, and they didn’t do anything wrong. They joined in a Muscular Dystrophy Association fundraiser where they had to rustle up donations in order to get “bailed out.” Above, Todd Ainsworth of West Seattle Autoworks (WSB sponsor); below, Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy of Mac’s Triangle Pub on the West Seattle/White Center border in the south Delridge Triangle:
We photographed both at Angelina’s in Admiral, which served as the “lockup” host site for West Seattle participants, once they were picked up by Seattle firefighters! It was up to the “locked up” to figure out how to get friends, family, clients, etc., to chip in donations so they could get out and get on with the rest of the day; one of the most enterprising was longtime WSB sponsor Rhonda Porter, who’s one of our area’s most active businesspeople on Twitter, Facebook, and the Web, and used them all to round up enough cash to get out within an hour or so! It’s not too late to donate – for example, Rhonda’s page is here, WS Autoworks’ page is here. If we can find Mac’s link, we’ll add it tooAnd here’s Mac’s link; plus, here’s somebody else who tweeted theirs – Cheryl from Twilight Artist Collective – (donation link here).
From last night’s Southwest District Council: Above, that’s SWDC co-chair Tony Fragada, also president of the Alki Community Council, peeking out from behind a map, as the council discussed plans to showcase neighborhood groups during the upcoming West Seattle Summer Fest (July 8-9-10 in The Junction). That’ll include ways, like the map, to show festivalgoers how to find the nearest neighborhood group (and how to know which neighborhood they’re in!) That was part of another busy agenda for SWDC, whose members represent community councils and other key organizations around the area. But one big topic took a fair amount of time – read on:Read More
‘EIGHT GOING ON EIGHTEEN’: Think kids these days are growing up too fast? Parent educator Amy Lang will be at Pathfinder K-8 in West Seattle tomorrow night at 6 pm to tackle the topic, and you’re invited. Here’s the official flyer; the talk is free, but they’re requesting that you RSVP, pathfinderk8rsvp@gmail.com.
HEAR CHIEF SEALTH’S HONOR CHOIR BEFORE CARNEGIE HALL TRIP: You’ve seen them wash cars, sell cupcakes, etc. – and now, see and hear them sing! Chief Sealth International High School‘s Carnegie Hall-bound Honor Choir sings as part of the next “Sweet, Sweet Music” show at Fauntleroy Church, 7:30 tomorrow night. (Full details on the show – which includes dessert! – can be found on the church website.)
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*Security officers on Harbor Island called 911 just after midnight Sunday to report that their video cameras were trained on two men with flashlights carrying something in an abandoned building. An officer was dispatched to the scene and met what he deemed “two amateur urban explorers” as they drove away from the complex in a “little white car.” In the rear was a large metal cabinet. The pair explained they had seen the structures on a website dedicated to “cool abandoned buildings,” readily admitted to taking the cabinet and had planned to keep it as a souvenir. The officer made them return the cabinet and lectured the two — ages 19 and 20 — on the legal and physical dangers of such adventures. Since neither had a criminal record, had legal driver’s licenses, and were not impaired by substances, they were let go with a warning to never return.
Eight more summaries, starting with a man’s odd explanation for being in a local park, ahead:Read More
After 7 months without any Southwest Design Review Board meetings – since there weren’t any developments to review – the pace continues to pick up. Just two weeks after the board met to review Harbor Properties‘ new Nova development, it has a meeting set for April 28th to resume review of the proposed 7100 Delridge development. Here’s the official notice. Most recent meeting about this development was back in August. The notice says it’s currently proposed as:
… a 4-story structure containing 58 residential units over 1,344 sq. ft. of retail space. Project includes three, 2-story single family structures and 88,800 cu. yds. of grading in an environmentally critical area. Project also includes pedestrian bridge between structures. Parking for 77 vehicles to be provided in two levels within the structure.
That proposal appears only slightly changed from how it was described during the “early design guidance” phase last August (less retail space this time). The April 28th meeting is at 6:30 pm, Senior Center of West Seattle.
(Photo by Shawn McNurney from the WSB Flickr pool)
Highlights from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
SOUTHGATE ROLLER RINK OPENS: 8:30 tonight in White Center (9646 17th SW); coverage of last night’s “soft open” is on our partner site White Center Now.
MDA LOCK-UP: More than 100 business and community leaders in West Seattle will be ‘locked up’ today to help the Muscular Dystrophy Association of King County, which explains: “These jailbirds are being accused of having a big heart for Jerry’s Kids and will ‘serve time’ while raising ‘bail’ to fight neuromuscular disease.” This year’s West Seattle Lock-Up is hosted by Angelina’s Family Italian Restaurant. Watch for a “bail me out” note from your favorite local leader, or call (206) 283-2183 for info.
WEST SEATTLE BE PREPARED: Preparedness training tonight at the Senior Center of West Seattle, 6-7:30 pm. Full details on the WSBP site.
OPEN MIKE NIGHT AT FRESHY’S: 1st and 3rd Thursday “open mike” night at Freshy’s Coffee. Beverage discounts for those who show up to perform! Open mike starts at 7 pm.
READ THE KORAN IN FOUR WEEKS: At First Lutheran Church of West Seattle, Pastor Ron Marshall‘s unique instruction session begins – as news-relevant as it was when he started teaching it eight years ago. Call 935-6530 to see if there’s still room.
NOT IN WEST SEATTLE, BUT RELEVANT TO ALL: West Seattle resident Lucy Gaskill, a member of the League of Women Voters of Greater Seattle, invites you to attend “Ain’t got no money honey.” This public forum on our economic future is sponsored by the LWV and will be held at Seattle First Baptist Church (1111 Harvard Avenue at Seneca), 7:30 – 9 pm. At this forum government experts will outline our options, shedding light on the revenue predictions in the near future and budget challenges facing our elected officials. Beth Goldberg, Seattle city budget director; Tom Goodwin, chief economist with King County’s office of Economic and Financial Analysis; and Marc Baldwin with Washington State’s Office of Financial Management will share the spotlight.
Did you know there was a 3.4 earthquake near Mount Rainier on Wednesday? Us either, till West Seattle Be Prepared‘s Karen Berge mentioned it in e-mail. Microquakes are common there, but this was a bit bigger. Not necessarily a harbinger of anything more, but just another reminder: Be ready! So, the most constructive thing we can tell you here in our sixth Disaster Preparedness Month spotlight is: Be at WSBP’s first free training session TONIGHT, 6 pm, Senior Center of West Seattle in The Junction!
A flyer is worth a thousand words … see you there. (If you haven’t been to the Senior Center before, the entrance is on SW Oregon, east of West Seattle Coins – go immediately upstairs.)
Annemarie e-mailed earlier tonight about her 1983 red Toyota pickup, stolen from in front of the Tug Inn … but before we could even put up the request for you to be on the lookout for it, she says watchful West Seattleites helped find it – read on for that story plus another stolen vehicle, now found:Read More
(Photos by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
This week, an infamous chapter of Seattle rock history is being revisited – and late today, West Seattle’s Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) had a share of the spotlight. Italian journalist Ezio Guaitamacchi brought a camera crew for his interview with Gene Stout, whose career as a Seattle music critic included the ’90s heyday of grunge – including covering Nirvana, whose frontman Kurt Cobain killed himself 17 years ago this week. Stout is friends with Feedback proprietor Jeff Gilbert, so between that and the rock ‘n’ roll atmosphere – memorabilia and all – at the Feedback, it was the logical choice for the interview, covered by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB.
As we’ve been reporting, tomorrow night is grand-opening night for the renovated Southgate Roller Rink in White Center – but tonight, some lucky skaters got a test run, and Deanie Schwarz – who was first to report the renovation plan back in February – was there for WSB and partner site White Center Now. Here’s a clip for starters; more coverage to come.
Two followups tonight on weekend collection efforts in West Seattle that both proved highly successful:
(WSB photo from Saturday)
On Saturday, we reported on the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle food drive “as it happened.” It was part of the global volunteer-action Kiwanis ONE Day. Tonight, the Kiwanians report that they collected more than 7,000 pounds of food and almost $1,000 in cash at five West Seattle grocery stores Saturday – all going to the West Seattle Food Bank (and remember, this is the time of year when food-bank donations count extra). The club says, “Special thanks goes out to all the members of the community who generously donated to support this worthy cause.” They’re also glad to have had Key Club members join them (note the teens in our photo). West Seattle Kiwanis also wants to remind you that they meet 1st, 3rd, 4th Wednesdays for breakfast, 7 am, and lunch (noon) on the 3rd Wednesday at Be’s Restaurant in The Junction (4509 California SW)
Another event we covered “as it happened” – on Sunday, the Fauntleroy Church Green Committee invited the community to another Recycle Roundup:
(WSB photo from Sunday)
Judy Pickens reports that 1 Green Planet filled its trucks with “an estimated 12 to 14 tons of just about everything for free recycling.” The church did accept donations from anyone interested in showing their appreciation – and took in almost $1,000. She says the company’s crew chief Michael Szanyi told them that the “strong support has made Fauntleroy Church one of 1 Green Planet’s favorite places to go!”
No, we’re not saying that was snow that fell in the past hour – it was sleet/hail/graupel/whatever you think best describes what came down (thanks to Shelley for the photo!) – but that word is actually in tonight’s forecast, as a wild weather system moves through:
Tonight…showers likely and a chance of thunderstorms this evening… then mostly cloudy with a chance of showers after midnight. Some showers may produce small hail or light snow.
Perhaps even more notable than whatever falls from the sky – it’s cold! Lows in the 30s. But sun predicted for Friday!
(Sketch of California-facing view from latest version of Conner project in The Junction)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Since nothing’s happened publicly with the Conner Homes two-building development proposal in the heart of The Junction for two years, you might have thought that, like other once-active local projects, it’s stalled indefinitely.
Not so, we learned when its “alley vacation” component – asking to take over city right-of-way under part of an existing alley, so its two buildings can share one parking garage – suddenly appeared on last week’s City Council agenda.
As a result of that quick vote (reported here), the “alley vacation” will get a public hearing before the council’s Transportation Committee three weeks from today. (Here’s the official notice.)
The project’s potential effects on the alley that runs south from SW Alaska between 42nd and California once drew opposition vehement enough that a petition drive was started (here’s our report from July 2008). And concerns still lingered when the project finished going through Design Review two years ago.
But you won’t see key opponents speaking against it at the April 26th public hearing. In fact, some of them have signed an agreement not to. The agreement ended a process that has played out over a year and a half outside the public spotlight, addressing concerns that participants had voiced about the project. If you want to cut to the chase – this document is the result of that process, and will be presented to the Council this month; it includes changes in the “public benefits” that are considered crucial for allowing a development to take over public right of way. It also includes the text of the agreement signed with the seven participants in the mediated community discussions.
Ahead, a more detailed look, including project backstory as well as comments from Conner Homes’ Charlie Conner, who spoke with WSB a few days ago:
(Photo by Deanie Schwarz for WSB/WCN)
In case you haven’t seen it yet on our partner site White Center Now – WSB/WCN contributor Deanie Schwarz has checked back inside Southgate Roller Rink as it gets ready to open to the public tomorrow night. Here’s the story, with more photos. The rink officially opens at 8:30 tomorrow night for an adult (18+) session; here’s the full schedule.
The city has just announced Phase 2 in its planning process for The Triangle’s future, with a “focus on providing an urban design framework to identify the future neighborhood character of this area” – which would include, among other potential flashpoints, how tall the area’s buildings might eventually be. The city’s inviting the Triangle Advisory Group from Phase I to a round of two meetings – also open to the public – starting with one at 6 pm April 14th at the Senior Center of West Seattle. Advance material for that meeting isn’t on the city website yet, but here’s the introductory document (PDF) that senior planner Susan McLain sent around with the announcement.
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