West Seattle, Washington
28 Saturday
One more event has just been announced in memory of Jerry Ceis, Thanks to Doug for sharing the announcement:
There will be a wake for Jerry Ceis on February 24 at the American Legion. It will be from 2 pm to 6 pm and include music by Fever — and possibly several other folks. We will have dancing, drinking, and anything that Jerry would have approved of. More information to follow.
Mr. Ceis, remembered by his brother Tim as a man who “lived for the joy of life and adventure,” died January 9th at age 64. His official memorial service was last weekend; friends also have gathered for informal tributes.
On this date 10 years ago – February 8, 2003 – West 5 opened its doors at 4539 California SW in The Junction. You’re invited to a big party this Sunday night – but before that, co-proprietors Dean Overton and Dave Montoure (center and right in the photo above) commemorated the milestone this afternoon by re-enacting a historic moment: Making a guest appearance as bartender, Dean served a beer and a shot of whiskey to the man who in 2003 was their first customer, Bill Reid (left):
Dave noted that Bill was known as “The Tallest Man in Radio” during stints with KNDD (“The End“) and KJET. Dave and Dean, as pointed out when they announced their 8th-anniversary party two years ago, are “born-and-bred West Seattle natives,” and West 5 has gained fame for its food as well as its cocktails, gaining an especially huge helping of fame for its Astral Mac ‘n’ Cheese. They invite you to be on hand this Sunday night for a “raucous party,” starting at 8 pm.
P.S. Found a party-entertainment hint on West S’s Twitter page:
Happy anniversary to us! Lets have a party this Sunday. twitter.com/Westfive/statu…
— West 5 (@Westfive) February 5, 2013
(They performed outside West 5 on Summer Fest eve last year – there’s video in our report from that night.)
In the West Duwamish Greenbelt, steps away from the south end of the South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) campus, a delegation from Seattle Sounders FC took the field – well, the forest – this afternoon. They were there to help the Nature Consortium in the West Seattle nonprofit’s ongoing quest to help heal and restore the city’s longest stretch of contiguous forest. Their task today: Plant trees that NC obtained through the Forterra C3 grant, in which the Sounders are a founding partner. (From left in our photo, Sounders team members Alex Caskey and Babayele Sodade; Nature Consortium’s Monica Thomas; Sounders’ Andy Rose, and Sounders rep Jessica Hancock)
P.S. You can help out in the forest too – find out how here – and the NC also would love to see you at SODO Park on March 21st for their next gala fundraiser, Deep Roots (with WSB among the co-sponsors) – ticket info here.
We take it for granted, turning or pulling a handle and getting it instantly … but water is no sure bet for so many other parts of the world. That’s why Chief Sealth International High School is about to embark on its third annual World Water Week. The mid-March start is more than a month away, but Sealth staff and students are already getting ready.
In that photo are student leaders who spoke during a staff workshop yesterday afternoon focused on issues related to the lessons and events that will be part of WWW – including global sanitation and wastewater.
Social studies teacher Noah Zeichner, who is in his third year as faculty leader for WWW at Sealth, says this year’s keynoter – with a presentation open to the community, preceded by a Water and Health Resource Fair – will be Jack Sim, founder of the World Toilet Organization, on March 19th. 2.6 billion people in the world have no access to toilets, so it’s a big deal – here’s a preview:
Meet Mr. Toilet | Jessica Yu from Focus Forward Films on Vimeo.
Town Hall Seattle is co-sponsoring Sim’s appearance, as announced here.
Admission will be free – thanks in part to a fundraiser in which they’re partnering with Seavuria, connecting local students with counterparts in Kenya. Zeichner says you’ll be hearing from student “champions” as they “reach out to family, friends, and community to help support these important global programs at Chief Sealth International.” You can chip in by going to their fundraising page.
(WSB photo from 2011’s Hiawatha pancake breakfast)
No need to cook your own breakfast this Sunday – join your neighbors at Hiawatha Community Center (2700 California SW) for an annual tradition – all-you-can-eat pancakes, with proceeds going to cover program costs for those having trouble affording them otherwise. Hiawatha’s Tiffani Melake tells us it all starts at 8 on Sunday (February 10), $6 for ages 13-64, $5 for kids 3-12, $4 for ages 65 and up, 2 and under free.
One more advance traffic alert – this one two weeks away, involving the so-called Timber Bridge project on Highway 99 south of the West Seattle Bridge. We first told you about this impending work back in November, and more recently shared WSDOT’s announcement that work would begin on February 25th. We now have details on a weekend closure immediately preceding that, to reorganize traffic on the structure to make way for the crews, and to move underground utility pipes out of the way, as described by WSDOT’s Broch Bender, followed by details of the changes that then will be in effect during the project:
During the weekend of Feb. 22-25, the project will relocate a waterline under the existing timber structure and shift traffic to the west half of the bridge (where the southbound lanes are today). All traffic on SR 99 over S. Spokane Street will be shifted to the west to allow crews room to safely demolish the timber overpass and replace it with a new, concrete supported structure.
Closure details:
· 10 pm Friday, Feb. 22 to 5 am Monday, Feb. 25 – Both directions of SR 99 between the West Seattle Bridge and S. Nevada Street will be closed around the clock.
o Southbound SR 99 will be closed from the Battery Street Tunnel to S. Nevada Street, traffic will be detoured off the highway at Denny Way.
o Northbound SR 99 will be off-limits to drivers between S. Nevada Street and the West Seattle Bridge. South of Diagonal Street, traffic will be detoured to First Avenue S. North of Diagonal Street, signs will direct drivers off of SR 99 at the West Seattle/S. Spokane St./East Marginal Way S. exit.
Then on Monday, February 25th, after the closures, here’s how the traffic flow will work:
·Southbound traffic: South of the West Seattle/Harbor Island exit, southbound traffic will be reduced to one lane between the West Seattle Bridge and S. Nevada Street.
Northbound traffic: Two lanes of northbound traffic between S. Nevada Street and the West Seattle Bridge will be shifted to the west. The third lane remains the drop-lane for the northbound exit to West Seattle and East Marginal Way S.
· Slower speeds: A temporary speed limit reduction to 40 MPH in both directions of SR 99 will be extended south of the Alaskan Way Viaduct through the construction zone to approximately S. Idaho Street.
A map showing all that – as requested at the South Portal Working Group meeting earlier this week – should be available by tonight, and we’ll add it to the story when it is. The project is expected to last into June of next year, as crews demolish and rebuild the overpass one half at a time; once the east half is complete, it’ll handle traffic so work can commence on the west half.
Metropolitan Market‘s Andrew Borracchini is off to Las Vegas for the second year in a row, representing our state in the National Grocers Association‘s Best Bagger Championship competition this Sunday. We photographed Andrew at the store (which is a WSB sponsor) yesterday as he practiced one more time. What’s new this year? we asked. For one, the baggers are using reusable bags – just like us Seattleites – paper and plastic are out.
Store director Glen Hasstedt told us that Andrew’s been practicing with a variety of items, since last year in his competition debut, they learned the baggers aren’t given any hints about what they’ll be bagging until the moment it all begins – the checkout-stand mockups have the items covered until it’s time to begin.
He says he’s ready – he won the state title back in October – and glad to have his entire family coming along. Sunday afternoon’s bagging battle is at The Mirage in Las Vegas; tonight, Andrew said, he and his dad are going to see a concert at the Vegas Hard Rock Café.
4:03 PM P.S. – Researching a commenter question, we learned the Grocers Association plans to stream the competition live – so at 2:45 pm Sunday, you should be able to watch it here.
11:42 AM: Police initially tweeted there was a report of a robbery at West Seattle Coins at California/Oregon. However, the manager told us at the scene that they were NOT robbed – they had to deal with a disruptive person in the store. The store is open for business.
11:58 AM: We also reconfirmed with Seattle Police public affairs that further investigation revealed *no* robbery.
That’s the trailer for the Van Eps’ new music video, shot at the same West Seattle venue that’s premiering it tonight – part of our highlight list from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
SCHOOL TOUR: 10 am at West Seattle’s STEM elementary, 5950 Delridge Way SW, previewed here last night.
CUT-A-THON TO BENEFIT TRANSITIONAL RESOURCES: Ola Salon (2942 SW Avalon Way) in Luna Park is holding a Cut-A-Thon tonight starting at 5 pm, with proceeds benefiting their Luna Park neighbors at Transitional Resources. Full details in our calendar listing.
PARENTS’ NIGHT OUT: At Hiawatha Community Center, 6-9 pm – check to see if any room’s left for tonight, and if not, note that another one is coming up.
INTERSECTION CLOSURE REMINDER: 7 pm is when SDOT plans to shut down the Delridge/Henderson intersection for all-weekend-long repaving work. Here’s the detour map.
‘SHIRLEY VALENTINE’ – second-to-last weekend for the acclaimed ArtsWest (WSB sponsor) show, with tonight’s curtain time at 7:30 pm.
ALKI ELEMENTARY’S “ANNIE JR.” – sold out for tonight at the West Seattle High School Theater, we hear, but check on availability for tomorrow!
AT KENYON HALL: It’s Bill Evans on the banjo, 7:30 pm at Kenyon Hall (7904 35th SW) – details in the calendar listing.
VAN EPS’ VIDEO PREMIERE PARTY AND LIVE PERFORMANCE: Big night of music and video at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), where the Van Eps’ new video was shot (directed by West Seattle’s Jamie Burton Chamberlin – see the trailer above), and where it premieres tonight, along with a live performance by the band, all starting at 8 pm (6451 California SW).
LOW-TIDE BEACH WALK: 8:30 pm at Constellation Park, with volunteer beach naturalists from the Seattle Aquarium. RSVP encouraged but not necessary.
… and even more on the calendar!
A closure-alert sign sparked a question in today’s traffic/transit tracker, which led us to find a couple of major closures scheduled NEXT weekend that you might want to know about before official reminders circulate, especially considering it’ll be a holiday weekend and the closures will therefore last an extra day:
EASTBOUND SPOKANE STREET VIADUCT: The I-5/Spokane Street Interchange Special Bridge Repair project resumes its closures next weekend, and as part of that, from Friday night 2/15 through Tuesday morning 2/19, the eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct will be closed at the 4th Avenue South exit – which is where everyone will have to exit. (On the surface, the ramp from Spokane St. to eastbound I-5 and Columbian Way will be closed, too.)
DELRIDGE/TRENTON INTERSECTION: According to the weekly SDOT “lookahead,” President’s Day weekend is also when the Delridge Repaving Project will close another intersection for the entire weekend – this time, it’ll be Delridge/Trenton. Again, that’s NEXT weekend; THIS weekend’s closure is Delridge/Henderson.
These closures and many others for the greater Seattle area are listed on the weekly “construction lookahead” updated by SDOT here.
(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; see other cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
Happy Friday! Nothing unusual as the commute begins …
But tonight’s the night the Delridge/Henderson intersection closure begins; here’s the detour map. According to the project’s official webpage, the closure is scheduled to start at 7 tonight and end no later than 6 am Monday.
The West Seattle Food Bank‘s first open house of the year did double duty – the Thursday night event also served as the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce’s “after-hours” gathering, first one in a few months. Everyone who visited got a chance to peek behind the scenes at the food bank (p.s. – here’s how to donate).
P.S. Next up for the Chamber – its annual meeting, set for noon February 19th at The Kenney (WSB sponsor) – details here.
Last week’s open house was a full house at West Seattle’s STEM elementary school, in its first tour/open house season, as shown in that photo by Robin Graham from the K-5 STEM PTA. So in case we don’t get tomorrow’s daily preview out in time, just a reminder that the school is having a school tour at 10 am tomorrow (Friday), then 1 pm tours on February 11th and 19th – parents/guardians only. You’ll find them at 5950 Delridge Way SW.
8:39 PM: Just in from tonight’s second playoff game for West Seattle High School‘s girls-basketball team – they beat Holy Names, 33-28.
11:11 PM: Adding photos and toplines, both from WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand, who covered the game at Holy Names (which is on Capitol Hill). He reports that despite the final
score, West Seattle had as much as a 12-point lead at times in the second half; Holy Names got off to a slow start while the Wildcats had a tougher second half when trying to get the ball in the basket. Overall, West Seattle controlled the boards/rebounds better; Holy Names tried a tight press early on, but never turned the turnovers into points. The WSHS cheerleaders, by the way, came along tonight:
Your next chance to cheer for WSHS is Tuesday, and you won’t have to go far – the tournament will be at Chief Sealth International High School that night, and WSHS will play a TBD Kingco team, according to head coach Sonya Elliott.
One person just getting home e-mailed to ask what all the police in the 6000 block of Lanham were there for. Our crew has just come back, and here’s what they learned: The call went out about half an hour ago as an “assault with weapons” – there was a report of a possible stabbing, we’re told. Emergency responders at the scene deduced there had not been a stabbing and they didn’t think anyone had been hurt, but there was a suspected domestic-violence situation, and scanner traffic indicated a knife had been found. One fire unit was kept on scene for a while just in case, but the rest were dismissed. Police are continuing to investigate.
(Click image for full zoomable PDF version of new map)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
While Mayor McGinn has just announced that Seattle Police‘s Homeland Security-funded drone program has been scrapped (see his statement here), the work continues on the 30-camera network first reported by WSB a week and a half ago.
And one of his challengers in this fall’s election describes the system as “borderline problematic.”
More on that shortly.
First – We’re continuing to research the new fixed cameras that could be in operation as soon as next month in West Seattle and other areas of the city. This week, we have a new, clearer map of the 30 cameras’ planned locations – 12 of them in the West Seattle vicinity. The new map makes it easier to see where the ones not already in place are planned; for example, comparing a labeled map with this one, you’ll note one location is the Admiral Way Viewpoint, by SW Olga. We checked the site – no camera, but the southeast pole has loops of cable; in our interview last Friday with SPD Assistant Chief Paul McDonagh, who as Special Operations Bureau commander is in charge of this, he said that “about 9” of the 30 had been installed as of the time of our conversation.
As noted in our second report on January 31st, the $5 million grant that paid for the cameras was approved by the City Council in May of last year. A network of cameras was mentioned in passing during the briefing given pre-vote to the Public Safety, Technology, and Civil Rights Committee, but locations were not discussed, and it was described only as “port security,” with no mention that cameras would be installed in recreational/residential zones.
When we spoke with Assistant Chief McDonagh, he explained that a “steering committee” has yet to make the decisions about who will operate the cameras and which agencies will have access to their 24-hour video streams. He did say that in retrospect, he thought telling the commmunity in advance might not have been a bad idea; as we first reported on January 29th, the cameras were first noticed by WSB readers the preceding weekend, and we learned their purpose through two days of inquiring with various city agencies.
We have asked for comment from Mayor McGinn, and renewed the inquiry this afternoon following the no-drones announcement, but mayoral spokesperson Aaron Pickus e-mailed back, “We don’t have anything to add to what SPD has already discussed with you.”
Last night, we spoke with another mayoral candidate, Councilmember Tim Burgess – a former Seattle Police officer and former chair of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee – when he came to West Seattle to speak with the Southwest District Council.
“I think it’s borderline problematic,” Councilmember Burgess told us, saying that the original explanation of the cameras was that they were for port security and would be installed around Elliott Bay and port facilities, but now it’s been disclosed they have been installed “from Fauntleroy to Golden Gardens,” which he considers “not appropriate.”
He added that he thinks “the council should play a larger role here … maybe (it) should set stronger rules about the use of surveillance and technology that goes beyond what the original intent was.”
Assistant Chief McDonagh told us on Friday that he expected the Council would be briefed again; no date has yet been announced. There’s a target date of March 31st for activation of the camera system, but the aforementioned “steering committee” – whose membership list we have requested from SPD but not yet received – will make the final decision, he said.
ADDED 6:30 PM: Toward the end of The Stranger‘s coverage of the mayor’s no-drones decision today, the ACLU’s Doug Honig is quoted as saying they think the city needs to re-examine this camera system next.
Two food notes from West Seattle’s lone shopping mall:
PANDA EXPRESS? Checking the city building/remodeling permit files, we discovered that an application was filed today citing Panda Express as the company that’s remodeling the south side of what had been Hollywood Video, immediately south of Desert Sun Tanning. As you may know, it’s a nationwide Chinese food chain – nearest outlet is in Burien. We have a message out to Panda Express corporate HQ; we also checked with Westwood Village management, which tells us they’re waiting for a news release to be drafted before commenting on forthcoming tenants.
NATIONAL NOD FOR GIANNONI’S PIZZA: As noted in the WSB Forums – whose members declared it an informal taste-test winner almost five years ago – Westwood Village’s homegrown Giannoni’s Pizzeria has just gotten a prestigious message, on New York Magazine‘s food website. They listed 101 top pizza restaurants coast to coast, and included Giannoni’s!
Even one crime is too many … but as we watch trends, that screengrab of the SPD crime map, just showing auto-theft reports, is actually “good” news, relatively speaking. It represents seven auto thefts reported in the past week (the top marker represents three, the bottom marker represents two), a big drop from one week earlier. When we showed you the same screengrab nine days ago, 19 vehicle thefts had been reported in the preceding week.
We looked up the latest stats after getting a direct reader report of one theft that is among the seven on the map, and Justin is offering a reward:
I would like to let you know that I have a 26-foot U-Haul that was stolen from the corner of 38th and Genesee Tuesday morning. It was halfway full of furniture and personal belongings. It had an Arizona license plate number.
It was reported to the police on 2/5/13 @ 9:30 am. General offense # 13-040818. Officer Spadoni badge @1968 was responding on case. There is a $1000 reward for return of property.
From left, meet Tin Vo, Annalisa Ursino, Renee McMinn, and Megan Duong. They are four West Seattle High School students with one goal: As Megan explains, “We want more families to choose WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT BREAD as their main bread choice,” as a small step toward eating healthier food: “After doing a lot of research, I learned that whole grain wheat bread has so many health benefits that you can’t get through eating other foods.”
They also want to get more restaurant owners to offer whole-grain bread in menu items for kids, instead of defaulting to “enriched white bread,” which doesn’t compare nutritionally. So far – not much luck, Megan explains: “It can be a bit frustrating because we feel as though they aren’t taking us seriously since we are just a small group of teenagers.”
She has hope that getting the information out can make a difference in people’s choices – even kids and teens:
I recently took a survey, asking 10 teens around my age (15-18 years old) and 10 younger kids (6-11 years old) if they would rather eat white bread or whole grain wheat bread. Most of them said white bread, except for four of the ten teens that were surveyed. The four that said they would rather eat wheat bread already knew the health benefits. However, the rest of them who said they would rather eat white bread, claimed that it either tastes better, they were raised to eat white bread, or they didn’t know the difference. After I told them just one fact that simply switching from white to whole wheat bread can lower heart disease risk by 20 percent, according to research from the University of Washington … most were shocked.
After giving them this statistic, I asked them again if they would rather eat white bread or whole grain wheat bread, five of the six teens that first said they would rather white bread chose to eat whole grain wheat bread after finding out it was healthier. Seven of the ten kids who originally said they would rather eat white bread agreed to eat or at least try whole grain wheat bread. After doing this survey, I noticed that many teens and kids don’t know the difference between whole grain wheat and white bread. I think if we spread the fact that it is healthier to eat whole grain wheat bread, many kids would make the switch. If we get enough kids to eat more wheat bread, it could really open the doorway to making healthier choices at the dinner table.
Their project is part of competition for the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America “Star Events” and they’re making a presentation on Saturday, for the chance to move on to statewide competition.
They did get some support, from the Whole Grains Council: “They thought our idea was great and they agreed to send us 100 pins to give out at school and help promote choosing whole grains.”
And they have created this flyer for you to see – even, to share! (It includes contact info if you would like to reach the teens and offer support for their campaign.)
Concludes Megan: “Throughout this project, our ideas have been rejected by many restaurants; however, we are very determined and aren’t willing to give up! We are going to keep fighting to encourage families, children, and teens to live a healthier lifestyle. … we really want to make a difference, but we can’t do it alone.”
If you wondered what police and fire were doing at Harbor Island Marina this morning: A “water rescue” call went out around quarter past 7. The Fire Department had already cleared the scene by the time we got there, but police (as shown in our photo) were checking out a sailboat. From both SPD and SFD, we cobbled together these details: A woman fell into the water and needed help getting out. She was spotted, but would-be citizen rescuer(s) had trouble getting to her because of locked access to the docks. Kyle Moore from SFD says a “man in a small skiff rescued her out of the water and brought her to shore. When Engine Company 36 arrived, the female patient was being warmed up in the back of an SPD car. Firefighters conducted a medical evaluation. AMR transported her to (Harborview Medical Center) as a precaution due to spending approximately 20 minutes in the water.”
(California sea lion, photographed from the Water Taxi yesterday by Mike Steen)
From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar for today:
PARKS AND NEIGHBORHOODS COMMITTEE: just getting under way (watch live at seattlechannel.org), the City Council’s Parks and Neighborhoods Committee meets, with the longterm lease for Marination ma kai (WSB sponsor) at Seacrest part of the agenda, along with the superintendent’s briefing including the artwork we showed here last night.
HIGH-SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE: Chief Sealth’s big event for prospective students/families is tonight, 6-8 pm. More details here.
KINDERGARTEN OPEN HOUSE: It’s also open-house night at Arbor Heights Elementary, 37th and 104th, 6-7 pm, for prospective kindergarten families. Details in the calendar listing.
AND ANOTHER OPEN HOUSE: This one’s at Shorewood Christian School (10300 28th SW), 6:30 pm.
(added) AND EVEN *MORE* SCHOOL OPEN HOUSES: Thanks to the commenters who let us know that Alki Elementary and Gatewood Elementary both have open houses tonight too, both at 6:30 pm.
FOOD BANK OPEN HOUSE: The West Seattle Food Bank invites community members to stop by, tour the food bank, find out how it works and how to help. 5-7 pm; southeast corner of 35th and Morgan. Also a West Seattle Chamber of Commerce “After Hours” event.
BASKETBALL POSTSEASON: West Seattle High School‘s girls-varsity basketball team plays tonight at Holy Names, 7 pm.
NORTH HIGHLINE PUBLIC-SAFETY FORUM: If you’re in the unincorporated area – or near the city limits – you might be interested in tonight’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council public-safety forum, 7 pm at Greenbridge’s Boys and Girls Club (9800 8th SW).
COMEDY OPEN MIKE: Topping the nightlife lineup for tonight, the Benbow Room‘s twice-monthly open-mike comedy night. Signups at 8:30; comedy starts at 9.
MORE … on the calendar!
(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; see other cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
Another routine start to the day’s commute …
If you use Metro, take note that the service-change information for February 16th is now public, as reported here on Wednesday. And yet another reminder: Friday night till Monday morning, the Delridge/Henderson intersection closes all weekend so it can be repaved.
8:49 AM: As noted in comments, trouble on eastbound Spokane Street (surface) – believed to be a “stuck train.” There are no traffic alerts regarding trains so eyewitness info is all we will get on that.
If there’s a house for sale near yours – keep an extra-close watch, advises B, who reports a break-in:
Thought other folks might want a heads up to keep an eye out on vacant homes for sale in Highland Park. We are selling our property and were called (Tuesday) after someone threw a rock through the window and climbed through. As we were fixing the window two kids, around 20, both stopped by, coming in from the alley.
Our neighborhood block watch is very active and folks have been keeping an eye out on the property. However, even with all of these eyes keeping watch, these punks were still around somewhere.
Hate for someone else to have the same experience. Thanks to SPD SW folks for their professionalism and effort. Whole new level of respect for their work and effort to keep us safe. Just wish folks like those we encountered yesterday didn’t make it so hard.
Highland Park and other residents near the city/county line might be interested in tomorrow (Thursday) night’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council public-safety forum, since crime knows no borders – it’s at 7 pm at the Boys and Girls Club at Greenbridge (9800 8th SW), details on our partner site White Center Now.
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