West Seattle, Washington
31 Thursday
(Photo courtesy King County Ferry Board chair Joe McDermott’s office)
One week ago, we reported on the King County Ferry Board’s Executive Committee agreeing to accept the Spirit of Kingston and the recommendation that it take over the West Seattle Water Taxi run once it arrives. This afternoon, the county announced the Ferry Board has finalized the deal, and the move should happen when 7-day-a-week service resumes in a few weeks:
The Spirit of Kingston, the 65-foot catamaran that once ferried passengers between Kingston and Seattle, is about to become part of the King County Ferry District’s fleet of water taxis. The District unanimously voted today to acquire the eight year-old vessel at no purchase cost through an agreement with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) – the agency that originally provided grant funding to the Port of Kingston to purchase the vessel.
Meander’s Kitchen in White Center says it is canceling the plan to host a show by singer Michelle Shocked next month, because of Shocked’s reported homophobic remarks in San Francisco last night. Via Facebook, Meander’s proprietor Miranda Krone made the announcement about an hour ago. The concert had been set for April 26th. The online reports about Shocked’s show at a San Francisco club include this one reporting that she used a phrase best known as the slogan of an anti-gay fundamentalist church, “God hates f-gs” and that she said same-sex marriage puts the world at risk of Biblical-scale destruction. This report says venues elsewhere in the country have canceled her shows as a result. We have not, however, seen any day-after quotes from Shocked herself, so far.
TUESDAY NIGHT NOTE: Update from Miranda – she says Meander’s will host a cabaret benefit for queer youth that night, instead.
For the third year, it’s World Water Week at Chief Sealth International High School – and the students/staff are hoping to shake us out of taking clean water/sanitation for granted. So many in the U.S. have it; so many in the rest of the world don’t. It’s a life-and-death topic, and yet it can be discussed with humor and inspiration – which is what you’ll hear from the man who’s traveled from the other side of the world to give the keynote speech tomorrow night, Jack Sim, founder of the World Toilet Organization.
(From left, Sealth students Natalia, Riley, Syd, Tasha, with, center, teacher Noah Zeichner and Jack Sim)
He’s at the school today, and speaks at 7 pm Tuesday in the Sealth auditorium, right after a 6 pm resource fair at the school, and you’re welcome to attend the event for free. (Donations are welcome – here! – to support the ongoing WWW-related awareness-raising work, though.)
(Click image for larger view – photo by David Schneider)
More sightings this morning of the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) on the move off West Seattle shores. It was out of view by the time we got down to the water but we’ve since received this photo from David Schneider, who wondered about the cars on deck. West Seattle ship-watchers noticed the same thing when the carrier arrived in early 2012 for work in Bremerton – see the photos and comments here. With the work done, the carrier is moving its homeport to San Diego and that means “everything must go.”
Continuing our followups on the Chapter 11 bankruptcy 
and impending sale of West Seattle’s Allstar Fitness: This Friday is the day a federal judge will consider approving the proposed sale of the club to health-club entrepreneur and former Seahawks player Sam Adams. As first reported here on March 9, court documents say that Adams does not want to assume “long-term contracts” from before last August’s bankruptcy filing. He denied that in a conversation with WSB the next day (here’s our March 10th report), saying he expected to honor “99 percent” of them, but so far, the court filings have not changed. This Wednesday, March 20th, is the deadline for interested parties to file responses with the court. As of this morning, the online file includes only a handful of responses to the sale motion, and one response to a separate motion that is scheduled to be heard April 5th – a request that the judge give permission for court proceedings NOT to result in further mass notices.
One WSB’er suggested that in case members missed the mail notification and/or still don’t know whether they are on the list of contracts proposed as “rejected” contracts, we upload the publicly available court documents here. Here’s the one with the “prepaid contracts to be rejected” list – 17 pages holding more than 2,000 names. If you want to file a response to be considered before this Friday morning’s hearing on the sale motion – which includes the “rejected contracts” list – this court document originally included in our March 9th report explains how to do so by the Wednesday deadline.
(Surf scoter off Alki, by Patrick McCaffrey)
After a very busy weekend – with coverage from the green glow of the Northern Lights to green costumes on canines – it’s on with the new week. From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, six notes for the rest of today/tonight:
CITY COUNCIL VOTE ON SURVEILLANCE-SYSTEM PARAMETERS: It’s not specifically about the system including West Seattle cameras that were installed unannounced, but the proposal that the council will consider during its 2 pm meeting today will, the city says, be used to vet policies before it is activated. Details are in this story from Saturday. There’s a public-comment opportunity at the start of the meeting.
ALSO @ COUNCIL – CAR 2 GO EXPANSION: The agenda at 2 pm today also includes an increase in permits for Car2Go, which launched in Seattle without including our side of the city, but says it’s changing that (as noted here last week). If you can’t get to City Hall for these or any other Council proceedings, you can watch live via the Seattle Channel, on cable or online.
ANNIVERSARY CAKE: The 25th anniversary celebration at West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor) continues with cake today marking the anniversary of its reopening following reconstruction after the 1997 fire. All customers are welcome to drop by for a slice starting at 4 pm.
SUSTAINABLE WEST SEATTLE: Dig into sustainable gardening with SWS at its community forum tonight – 6 pm on the north end of the South Seattle Community College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor) campus, in the Horticulture Center/Community Orchard of West Seattle vicinity – details here (and be there to see who wins a $1,000 grant).
FAMILY STORY TIME: At High Point Library (35th/Raymond) tonight, 7 pm.
‘ON STAGE’ DISCUSSION @ ARTSWEST: Go behind the scenes of ArtsWest‘s acclaimed current production “Next Fall” during a free event in the theater, 7:30 tonight, explained here.
(Video and photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
The Alki Tavern‘s long farewell – dating back to the January announcement of its plan to close – ended late last night, with the last “last call” after 38 years. WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams was there; his video includes final thoughts from proprietor Gill McLynne, and scenes from the final night and weekend. We’ll be adding one last round of photos; in the meantime, if you missed any of these galleries from the final days/nights:
*Seafair Pirates’ visit
*Last ‘Taco Thursday’
*Wednesday night memorabilia auction
ADDED 10:16 AM: The last look at last night, in photos:
(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; see other cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
Happy Monday! If you ride a bus today, extra reason to thank your driver: It’s Bus Driver Appreciation Day.
Looking ahead:
*The official start of spring is less than two days away (very early Wednesday).
*Also starting on Wednesday, Phase 2 of the Delridge Way repaving project, which means the detour zone shifts.
*Drainage work is planned on the high bridge tomorrow and Wednesday, between commute times.
*Next weekend, the I-5 Spokane St. Interchange Special Bridge Repair Project closes ramps including from the bridge to Beacon Hill and from the bridge to northbound I-5.
Some Arbor Heights residents asked about a police search late Sunday night. Here’s what we’ve found out from Southwest Precinct Lt. Alan Williams: A man was arrested for violating a domestic-violence court order in the 3700 block of SW 106th (map). He ran as police were answering the call; a search ensued, with a K-9 unit, and Lt. Williams says they “found him hiding under a porch, and arrested him. The suspect had some non-life-threatening injuries caused by his flight and some self-inflicted injuries that occurred before police arrived.” After hospital treatment, he’ll be booked into King County Jail. According to Lt. Williams, nobody else was hurt.
Sunday night’s not usually the most bustling time at a coffeehouse – particularly on a St. Patrick’s Day when it seemed everyone was out drinking green beer and/or marking the end of an era – but Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) was crawling with people last night.
The occasion: A shoot for the in-production time-travel online series “Causality,” which just debuted this trailer at Emerald City Comicon downtown earlier this month:
They’ll be filming at another West Seattle location later today, we’re told.
THREE SEALS FOR ST. PATRICK’S DAY: No holiday for the Seal Sitters. On their Blubberblog website, you can read about today’s three pup sightings, all in the Jack Block Park vicinity – a pup dubbed Shamrock who appeared to be making a first-time visit; the return of rehabiiltated pup Ruby; and a third pup who’s nameless so far.
CHEMICAL BAN TO GET PUBLIC HEARING THIS WEEK: Tuesday afternoon, HB 1294 gets a public hearing in the State Senate Energy, Environment & Telecommunications Committee. This bill would ban two toxic flame-retardant chemicals that get into the food chain and are stored in the fat of marine life – especially our area’s seal pups – as well as humans. As noted in this Blubberblog report explaining the need for a ban, it recently passed the State House. You can e-mail your thoughts to our area’s Sen. Sharon Nelson by using this form.
SLIPPING-AND-SLIDING ‘SURFING’ SEAL-PUP CLIP: Seal Sitters‘ Robin Lindsey called our attention to this clip, which you might already have seen, since it’s passed a million views on YouTube:
Ethan Janson set up the surfboard platform off Three Tree Point in Burien. As Robin’s Blubberblog post notes, and as Alki residents and visitors have seen firsthand, platforms are a boon to seals of all sizes, so they can rest without coming ashore and having to deal with other animals (humans included). Follow the link to find out more about building your own – she writes that Alki’s own Guy Smith, builder of the Joy D. Smith Wildlife Raft, was a later consultant to the video-maker!
Graffiti vandalism – whether gang-related (most isn’t) or not – is a perennial problem. What’s being done about it? What should you do if you see it? One more reminder is just in from the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council – that’s their spotlight topic this Tuesday night:
Most people don’t know that the Seattle Police Department has a detective solely devoted to graffiti crimes. Detective Christopher Young will discuss all aspects of graffiti crimes including the reporting of graffiti, how to identify gang graffiti, the prosecution of graffiti crimes, ways to deter graffiti, and how graffiti is often correlated with more serious crimes.
Everyone’s welcome – 7 pm Tuesday (March 19th), Southwest Precinct meeting room (right off the parking lot, enter from SW Webster just west of Delridge). As always, police will discuss recent crime trends, and there’s time for attendees to bring up their neighborhood concerns too.
A Terrible Beauty and The Celtic Swell were on the Seattle Firefighters Pipes and Drums schedule for St. Patrick’s Day; as you can see in our video, we caught up with them arriving at ATB, where they were the center of attention:
The corps includes retired firefighters as well as current members of the SFD ranks:
In addition to the two scheduled stops, we’ve learned they also had a third performance in West Seattle today, at the hours-to-go Alki Tavern (thanks to Bruce for that tip on that; separate report on the tavern’s final night, coming up).
(Photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
A brand-new West Seattle St. Patrick’s Day event debuted this weekend – the first-ever pets/people costume contest at The Celtic Swell on Alki. WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams was there to catch some of the contenders on camera. Above, that’s Zoey; next, the Lynns and their boxer:
Pub owners Gareth and Joleen Hughes‘ Siberian Huskies Finnegan, left, and Foley were of course on hand and wearing some green:
Eleven more scenes of green, after the jump:
(Photos courtesy club volunteer coach Anne Higuera)
Robotics continue to grow in popularity at local schools – including the new LEGO Robotics Club that K-5 STEM at Boren launched just two months ago, with 50 students already participating. The photos are from a field trip this past Thursday to the UW Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering, where grad students, writes club parent volunteer Christy Monge, “showed off robotic fish and some other projects that involve flight.
“The STEM students were invited downstairs to the tank where the robotic fish are tested, and were able to pilot the fish around the pool. … They also monitored the robot’s progress on a laptop computer below and tried out some of the tools and equipment, feeling right at home.”
Six teams from K-5 STEM are also getting ready to compete in the big FIRST Robotics Expo event at CenturyLink Field Event Center on March 30th.
With two weeks until Easter (March 31) and one until Passover (starts March 25), we’re working on our annual spring-holiday guide right now, so this is your invitation/reminder to send information about your event, service, etc., if you haven’t already – from egg hunts to seders and beyond. Getting the basics (what, when, where, who, weblink) via e-mail is our preference – editor@wsb.blackfin.biz – just put the information in plain text in the body of your e-mail (no need for attachments, flyers, posters, etc.) and send it … thank you! Soon as it’s ready, you’ll see it in the line of tabs under the sunset photo atop our site; each of those tabs takes you to an inside section.
Thanks to Sheryl Guyon for sharing the photo of stalwart cookie-sellers from Troop 40766 – pointing out that today is the last sales day for 2013 Girl Scout Cookies. They’re outside KeyBank in The Junction until 2 pm. Using the Cookie Locator, we found the full list of today’s West Seattle sellers and locations here, going all the way till 8 tonight at some locations. (Sheryl also points out: “Thin Mints are excellent frozen!”)
As festive as Seattle’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade (WSB coverage here) was, just imagine being part of a parade *in* Ireland – as were West Seattleite Brad Burzynski and family: Jules, Bella, and Sophia. Brad shared photos from this morning, and a report
Started our day with a traditional Irish breakfast of bacon, sausage, fried mushrooms, blood sausage, egg, toast and (since it’s a special day) Bailey’s Irish Cream in our coffee. We marched in the People’s Parade representing West Seattle. Before we came we all got sweatshirts from our local Irish pub – A Terrible Beauty. Although the day started out snowing and raining, by the time the parade started, the weather dried up a bit and we had an awesome time. We heard people speaking Italian, German, Russian, and many other languages like Canadian. We saw flags from all over the world. This has been a great week and we are glad we could send a little bit of Dublin back home to our dear West Seattle.
The People’s Parade is explained here – a first-time offering in Dublin, as part of the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade and a weeklong celebration reaching out to visitors from around the world as well as locals.
(Photo by Nick Adams for WSB: Kathryn Shane-Kumler, looking through shamrock-colored glasses at Celtic Swell costume contest – gallery later)
Five highlights among your many options for today/tonight (St. Patrick’s Day-themed AND otherwise) on the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
GO GREEN AT WORK PARTIES: 9 am (but you can show up late – get directions from the Fauntleroy/Rose kiosk) with the Friends of Lincoln Park (listing here); 10 am, mulching trees along 34th SW with the Tree Ambassadors (listing here); Seattle Chinese Garden on Puget Ridge, 10 am (details here).
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: Greenery galore EVERY Sunday at 44th/Alaska in The Junction, 10 am-2 pm – check out the vendors’ list on the market’s website.
SEATTLE FIREFIGHTERS PIPES AND DRUMS: The corps splits into two “clans” for simultaneous 2 pm performances at West Seattle’s Irish restaurant/pubs, The Celtic Swell on Alki and A Terrible Beauty in The Junction.
CHOIR CONCERT X 2: The South Seattle Community College Choir invites you to their free concert today – with two performances this afternoon/evening to make sure everyone gets a chance to hear/see them, 3 and 5 pm, at Olympic Hall on the south end of campus (6000 16th SW).
KARAOKE FUNDRAISER TO FIGHT BREAST CANCER: At Skylark Café and Club, St. Patrick’s Day karaoke with West Seattle’s breast-cancer warriors Team Tracy, 4 pm – details here.
(Click image for larger view; photo by Nick Adams for WSB)
Hours after Comet PanSTARRS made another appearance in the western sky (photo here and more to come), the Northern Lights were visible from West Seattle. WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams says this image is from Alki Beach at 3:12 am. Depending on cloud conditions, the aurora might be visible again tonight – it’s from a coronal mass ejection on Friday. Skies Over West Seattle correspondent Alice Enevoldsen of Alice’s Astro Info recommends spaceweather.com for updates.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: If there’s a significant break in the clouds, Alice plans to be out at the south end of Lincoln Park beach around 7:45 tonight for aurora and comet watching. You can also watch her Twitter account for updates.
ORIGINAL REPORT, 7:01 AM: Overnight crashes often involve cars hitting trees. This morning, we have a report of things happening the other way around – on Beach Drive north of Lowman Beach Park, Mark reports (while sharing the photo above), a tree has fallen onto a parked car. Police have been called. We’ll head downhill to check it out too, given the potential traffic problem if it’s not out of the way soon.
8 AM UPDATE: Beach Drive northbound is blocked just north of the three-way intersection by Lowman while crews work to remove the tree – this photo is from WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand:
No injuries reported.
Three notes tonight on the Seattle Police surveillance-camera system that is being installed now and that the department hopes to activate this spring:
COUNCIL VOTE MONDAY ON SURVEILLANCE-SYSTEM OVERSIGHT: This Monday during the Seattle City Council‘s regular 2 pm meeting, they are scheduled to vote on the proposal to give the council a role in overseeing city-owned/operated surveillance systems from hereon out. It is not a vote specifically on the 30-camera system that Seattle Police wants to use in connection with a federally funded “wireless mesh” communications system, but rather a vote on a bill setting policies regarding surveillance systems. As reported in as-it-happened coverage here, the council’s Public Safety, Civil Rights, and Technology Committee discussed the bill on March 6, including amendments. Civil-liberties activist/writer Phil Mocek has compared an earlier version of the bill to the amended version that the council will consider Monday – showing and writing about the differences on his website here, including a side-by-side comparison. Along with other points, he notes that it speaks to concerns about communication – this system, you’ll recall, was being installed without any word to the public:
Instead of a description of the nature and extent of outreach performed, the bill now requires (in paragraph ‘H’) plans for public outreach for each community in which the surveillance equipment is intended to be used, including opportunity for public meetings, opportunity for comment periods, and written agency responses to public comments.
You can read the full bill here. The Monday afternoon council meetings do begin with a public-comment period; they’re in council chambers on the second floor of City Hall downtown.
PUBLIC-DISCLOSURE REQUEST: In late January (shortly after we first reported on the cameas), Mocek initiated public-disclosure actions seeking various types of documentation related to this system, and the resulting public release of documents is under way. Some have been made available on the website through which he filed the request, and others are in progress. Another local advocate, Andrew Pilloud, also filed for public release of documents and gave us the heads-up today that some are now available – he has written about it on his website, here. He says his concerns include the fact the city could vastly expand the camera network (as discussed in an online article we found in our early reporting on the system): “If the city was offered another grant, there is no technical reason not to add a camera to every other mesh node in the city for 180 in total.” He also says the cameras have capacities beyond what SPD originally sought – this came up briefly in Q/A at last Tuesday’s Alki Bathhouse meeting (WSB coverage, with video, here).
‘TAKE DOWN THE CAMERAS’ ONLINE PETITION: As mentioned previously in WSB comments and the WSB Forums, an online petition is circulating to ask the city to cancel the camera system. (At least twice in meetings we’ve covered, SPD leadership has said that could be done without affecting the “wireless-mesh” communications network.) The petition is here. It was created by Avrian Sellick, who tells WSB this is not only for those who are against the cameras: “The petition is also for those who are deeply concerned with the SPD’s handling of the public relations aspect of these cameras. … I really just want to give those people who are concerned about these cameras an organized avenue to communicate with the city and SPD.”
Side note: SPD plans another meeting about the surveillance cameras this Tuesday in Belltown, and has said there will be others, though no further dates have been announced. It’s at 7 pm Tuesday (March 19), Belltown Community Center.
After sailing their landlubbing vessel Moby Duck right behind the West Seattle High School Marching Band in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade downtown (as shown in our parade coverage), the Seafair Pirates brought it to this side of the bay for a visit to the Alki Tavern. Thanks to Don Brubeck for catching the scene as the Pirates reboarded and prepared to sail away before sunset. Tomorrow, as announced in January, is the tavern’s final day; the farewell festivities this past week have included a memorabilia auction Wednesday night (photos here) and the final Taco Thursday, motorcycle lineup and all (photos here). The site including the tavern and neighboring parcels has been sold and is expected to be redeveloped, though no formal proposal is filed with the city so far.
ADDED 9:32 PM: WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams was inside the tavern with the Pirates:
(added) … and outside:
(Pirates Lance English, left, and Shane Faucher)
Six more scenes of revelry – ahead:
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