West Seattle, Washington
14 Saturday
That video zooms in on a well-gnawed tree that we learned about while talking to volunteer forest steward Mike Arizona near one of the beaver ponds in Delridge Natural Area. Mike agreed to meet us there to preview two major work parties he’s organizing, one for tomorrow (Saturday 10/11), one for next month (Saturday 11/8) – steps away from busy Delridge Way, but a world away – read on to find out more about them, and about those beavers:Read More
That’s some of what we found in the Art Lending Library at Youngstown Arts Center, which opened tonight as part of the monthly West Seattle Art Walk. The folks there tell us they plan quarterly Art Walk open houses, so the next one’s expected in January. Youngstown is among the newest of the recordsetting 43 participating venues; the Art Walk started in The Junction but now has moved far beyond, adding Delridge venues like Youngstown as well as Alki participants and, in Admiral, participants include Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor), where we caught up with photographer Karen Derby:
We interviewed Karen for this story last month about her long and challenging recovery from injuries suffered when her motorcycle collided with a minivan in Westwood almost four months ago. Turns out she used to work with Click! proprietors John and Frances Smersh. She’s got two more months left to wear a cast; because of reconstruction work on her mangled right leg, she’s had to wear loose clothing like skirts most of the time, but during the Art Walk, she happily told us, “Today is the third time in four months I was able to wear jeans!” You can see her photography at Click! all month; it’s being sold commission-free to help Karen raise money for her continuing medical expenses. Meantime, mark your calendar for the next West Seattle Art Walk, November 13th.
Just added another lost cat to the WSB Pets page. It’s a page you probably wouldn’t pay attention to until and unless you lost or found a pet; it still features some 
very-long-lost pets, like Sacha the cat (left), who’s been gone almost a year and also stars in a new Seattle Weekly story by West Seattle-residing Mike Seely, “The Lost Cats of Poverty Gulch.” It’s not just about cats and West Seattle – it’s also about greenspaces and coyotes, among other things. Which gives us another excuse to remind you that one of the excellent “Living With Wildlife” presentations is coming to West Seattle later this month – we hope it’s a full house, as the one we covered in Magnolia earlier this year was laden with helpful information. Be at the Camp Long Lodge, 7 pm, Tuesday 10/21.
Back in May, we brought you first word of West Seattle’s first-ever Art Lending Library, which made its debut at Youngstown Arts Center during Delridge Day, explained here by Seth Damm, who just sent word of an upcoming opportunity to try it out:
For all those who didn’t get a chance to participate in the first Art Lending Library, good news, we will be open one night only coming up this Thursday, October 9th from 6 to 9 pm in conjunction with the West Seattle Art Walk. Come down to the Youngstown Cultural Center (4408 Delridge SW) , browse our collection of local artwork, sign up for a library card if you don’t already have one, and select a piece for free delivery later in the month.
Youngstown is one of the newest additions to the monthly Art Walk lineup and is now one of two venues on Delridge (joining Bubbles); here’s the full list of who’s participating Thursday night (as well as during the November and December Art Walks).
“COMMUNITY BUILDER” HONORED: He’s another one of West Seattle’s semi-unsung heroes — North Delridge Neighborhood Council co-chair Mike Dady, who works tirelessly on behalf of an area that’s been fighting its way to a better future. Now, we’ve got word the Seattle Neighborhood Group is honoring him with a “Community Builder Award” at an upcoming event; here’s the flyer. Congratulations, Mike!
CHIEF SEALTH HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER HONORED: The Seattle Public Schools “School Beat” e-mail newsletter brings word that CSHS teacher Gary Thomsen is the first Seattle teacher to win the “Service to Community Award” from the University of Puget Sound, given for his “tireless work in the local community” (read more here).
CONSERVATION “HERO” FINALIST – AND YOU CAN VOTE: Also today, we just got word that Fauntleroy’s Judy Pickens is one of the five finalists in the “Cox Conserves Heroes” program – you can watch her story (and that of the other four finalists) here. Among many other projects with which she is involved, Judy has worked long and hard to help restore and protect Fauntleroy Creek as a rare, urban salmon stream. Whoever wins gets $5,000 to donate to a charity – and Judy has chosen EarthCorps. Vote for Judy by going to this page and using the form in the left sidebar.
Tomorrow’s the last day you can register to vote in the general election (E-Day is November 4th but the state starts sending out mail-in ballots within a couple weeks). Various groups plan registration drives around West Seattle on Saturday, but you can also do the deed online right now by going here. If you vote by mail, by the way, you will have an in-person dropoff option in West Seattle starting October 17th (and continuing round-the-clock through 8 pm on Election Day, 11/4) at the Delridge Neighborhood Services Center (one of only two such dropoffs in the entire city!). And when it comes time to make your voting decisions – you can find lots of info links (voters’ guides, official websites for candidates and ballot measure supporter/opponents, debate schedules, more) on the WSB Election page.
That’s one of the signs you can expect to see around North Delridge before the next meeting of the North Delridge Neighborhood Council – purchased with money from an outreach grant, and unveiled at last night’s NDNC meeting. Also discussed last night: They’re still working on next steps for the Cottage Grove “tot lot” playground upgrade, for which they have received a $15,000 matching-funds grant from the city. Expect an official update soon. Meantime, next year’s Neighborhood Street Fund plans for the area were outlined – projects that have been requested for years, as NDNC co-chair Mike Dady pointed out – including a sidewalk along Brandon from Delridge to the park and traffic calming on 26th SW north of Brandon, between Cottage Grove and Greg Davis parks; still some work to be done on projects approved for this year, as well, including calming on the 21st/Dawson hill that’s “supposed to start any day now” (that’s the hill heading down to Oregon, scene of this guardrail crash we covered recently). For the “juicy invitation” and a few more items, read on:Read More
That’s Jessie Summa-Kusiak, proprietor of Skylark Club and Cafe, standing next to her menus (the only ones we know of where WSB is mentioned, thanks to the tater tots and their nod in this popular post). Skylark has just joined WSB to sponsor the West Seattle Weekend Lineup every Friday (you can always find the latest one here). She says Skylark is all about “beverages, food, and entertainment.” On the first count – 13 new drink specials, 11 beers on tap, one hard cider.
On the second count (menus here) – her recommendations include mac and cheese, meatloaf, SFV sandwich, or if you’re dieting, the grilled chicken spinach salad, though she also notes they’re “baking delicious desserts from scratch, and we offer not just lunch and dinner 6 nights a week but weekend brunch Saturday AND Sunday.” Plus, she’s got a lunch punch card; after 7, #8 is on the house. Re: entertainment (calendar here) – “Free live music 6 nights a week, closed Mondays. Mostly local original acts, all genres. We link to music clips on our website so neighbors can listen to a sample before deciding whether to head down. Lots of opportunities for YOU to be the rockstar. Karaoke, open mic, open tease, open turntables. Kids are welcome until 11 pm on Sundays for our all-ages show (and before 9 pm every other night).” Jessie moved to West Seattle 11 years ago and opened Skylark two years ago (she was previously a manager at Amazon). She elaborates: “My husband Charles and I met as I was forming a band here in the late 90s (he was my bass player), and we discovered that we had an odd thing in common. Both our fathers supported the family growing up in the 70s by playing guitar in rock bands. His dad was in a disco/funk cover band that played in Atlantic City, mine fronted an original jazz-fusion band in Boston. My dad currently is a composer and does film scores for Errol Morris. (johnkusiak.com; a movie he scored, “Secrecy,” screens at the Northwest Film Forum Oct. 10-16) I’ve been booking bands since college and I managed Ladyfest Seattle 2004. I always wanted my own club, even when I lived in Boston. Here in WS I also realized there was a need for a laid-back, neighborhood place that wasn’t too upscale or intimidating. All the new places going in at the Junction seemed so fancy. Also I wanted to create a place where a woman could go, alone, and have a drink and read or work on her laptop or whatever without being hit on or feeling weird. That we do have solo female regulars tells me I’ve succeeded in creating the right ambience. No TV was another requirement, since I find TVs so distracting when I’m out with friends. Exceptions are games and elections, of course … we’re planning a big election day party (cancelling karaoke for the night) and we’ll have the results projected on a big screen as they come in.” She’s launching weekly Trivia Nights on 10/15 and doing monthly Open Turntable nights (mentioned here; next one is 10/28). Welcome to Skylark Cafe and Club, 3803 Delridge (map); look for its banner atop the West Seattle Weekend Lineup tomorrow morning. Meantime, thanks for your support of all the WSB sponsors who make it possible for us to bring you fresh West Seattle news/information/discussion 24/7; they’re all listed here along with information on how to join them.
Posted online, and also forwarded to WSB in e-mail: A letter from Chief Sealth High School principal John Boyd, to students’ families, following the incident covered here yesterday. (We checked with Seattle Public Schools‘ media team at the time and their response indicated it happened off-campus, but Principal Boyd’s note mentioned a “fight … on campus during lunch.” In response to our request for clarification, he tells WSB, “To clarify, while there was a fight that occurred on campus yesterday, the issue that sparked large scale police response occurred off campus.”) He also writes, “Those students known to be involved in the incident have been disciplined according to District policy,” notes today’s meeting with police (reported here this morning), and says Sealth will be in a “closed campus” situation for the rest of the week. P.S. Sealth/Boren updates are part of the North Delridge Neighborhood Council agenda for tonight (7 pm, Delridge Library).
IN WEST SEATTLE TONIGHT: The North Delridge Neighborhood Council meets at 6:30 pm @ Delridge Library, with its agenda including a playground-project update and a progress report on Chief Sealth HS @ Boren. Then at 7 pm, the Southwest District Council, with reps from neighborhood groups and other organizations in what the city considers West Seattle’s “Southwest District” (map here), meets @ the board room at South Seattle Community College. NOT IN WEST SEATTLE BUT WITH WS AGENDA ITEM: The Seattle School Board’s semimonthly meeting is at 6 pm at district HQ in Sodo; among the agenda items, the district’s share of the project to renovate Hiawatha Playfield (the city announced this summer that work would start this fall – although the timetable in that update has already slipped, since it anticipated an August vote). OTHER EVENTS: See the WSB Events calendar (including open-house nights at WSHS tonight, CSHS tomorrow).
We mentioned the event this morning, and it’s continuing till 9 pm – a Zapotec weaver from a women’s collective in Oaxaca, Mexico, is exhibiting and selling weavings at Cafe Rozella on Delridge less than a block south of Roxbury; thanks to Ricardo Guarnero at Rozella for taking and sharing a few pix (he posted more info on the event and the weavers at White Center Now).
Thanks to Sage K for e-mailing first word of this: We’re checking out the scene at Delridge/Juneau (map), kitty-corner from the north end of Chief Sealth High School’s temporary campus at Boren, where at least half a dozen police cars are in view. All police will tell us at the scene is that they were “asked to respond to a disturbance.” There are no aid/medic calls on 911, so whatever happened apparently does not involve injury. We’ll update with whatever else we find out. ADDED 12:24 PM: Photo above shows part of the police presence. We also have a reader photo taken looking over the scene, showing a fairly large group of officers and people they appear to be questioning, but we’re not going to post that until and unless we can blur/cover faces, because (a) we don’t know who’s accused of what, and (b) they appear to be juveniles. Meantime, we had checked with Seattle Public Schools‘ communications office to see if this was related to anything on campus, and spokesperson David Tucker checked for us – whatever happened, he says, took place off-campus, so information will have to come from police. ADDED 1:05 PM: Sage K blurred the faces in one of the photos she took (which wasn’t closeup on anyone to start with):
LATE AFTERNOON UPDATE: Mentioned this in comments and working on a separate followup, but bottom line, from a conversation with Southwest Precinct Lt. Steve Paulsen – the big response was due in no small part to the fact that it was reported one of the participants (reportedly NOT a Sealth student) was believed to have a gun. No gun was found – one knife, though. And he confirms what we had perceived from the lack of an aid/medic call – no injuries.
During his budget speech this afternoon (video and documents linked here), Mayor Nickels mentioned West Seattle a few times, notably when talking about the budget including money for artificial turf at Delridge Playfield (see page 10 on his “budget highlights” document). This raised a question for us, as we had just told you on Saturday about the Parks Levy campaign stopping at the field and noting that the levy would raise $3 million for the Delridge turf project (see it on the levy “project list” here). So which is right – Delridge turf $ coming out of the mayor’s budget if passed, or coming from the new Parks Levy if passed? We talked to the mayor’s communications director Robert Mak, who believed it was from regular city $ – but that doesn’t explain why it’s on the levy list too, so we’re checking with levy supporters to see what they have to say. TUESDAY MORNING UPDATE: Heard back from Councilmember Tom Rasmussen (who chairs the council’s Parks Committee). He says, “If the playfield improvements are funded through the 2009-2010 Parks budget and capital improvement program as recommended by the Mayor, then funds earmarked in the levy for the field can be redirected to other parks or athletic fields projects.” TUESDAY EVENING UPDATE: Robert Mak’s answer to our followup question is along those same lines. He says the mayor included it in the budget proposal “trying to guarantee this project gets done” – levy or no levy. (The levy was proposed and sent to the ballot by the council, you may recall, despite the mayor’s stated desire to wait another couple years before asking voters for more parks $.)
Some people just get involved in politics young. That little girl seemed determined to get the day off to a running start, along with one of three groups that toured the city today to campaign for Seattle Proposition 2, the $145 million, six-year parks levy (text/pros/cons/$ impact here) that’s going before voters just as the old Pro Parks Levy expires. This group started its day with a stop at Delridge Playfield, one of the West Seattle spots that stands to benefit if the levy passes, according to West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen: (who chairs the council’s Parks Committee):
Specifically, Delridge Playfield would get $3-plus million to replace its sand fields with artificial turf; the fields were hosting games when the levy campaign stopped by today:
The official pro-Prop 2 website has a map of other projects in West Seattle (and around the city). This is one of three local money-raising measures you’ll be considering on the November 4 ballot – the others are Seattle Proposition 1, the Pike Place Market levy (text/pros/cons/$ impact here), and Sound Transit Proposition 1 (text/pros/cons/$ impact here), which would expand light rail and includes money to study a potential future expansion into West Seattle.
From project manager Randy Nelson:
The South Seattle Community College Library has just completed work on a federal Library Services and Technology Act grant originating from the Washington State Institute of Museum and Library Services and awarded by the Office of the Secretary of State, Washington State Library Division.
A major product of this project is this website: www.delridgehistory.org, managed by the South Seattle Community College Library. The Library has also become the depository for material connected with the project.
The project is the culmination of years of co-operation involving South Seattle Community College, Seattle Public Schools, the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, and the Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association. South Seattle Community College emeritus faculty Judy Bentley organized the project.
This project is part of an ongoing effort by South Seattle Community College to be involved with its neighborhood.
This morning, we welcome West Seattle’s e-green landscaping and materials to the West Seattle Blog sponsor team! Here’s what they want you to know about their locally owned business: 
“e-green landscaping and materials has been serving West Seattle since its beginning in 1999, with quality landscape contracting services and maintenance. They specialize in natural stone and concrete paver patios and walkways, along with garden renovations and design and build projects. They also have an ISA Certified Arborist and do full tree pruning, windsail pruning and shaping, tree health and hazard evaluations, and some tree removals. In 2003 e-green opened a new landscape and stone supply yard at 9010 Delridge Way SW, on the former site of Lenny’s Fuel. Here they sell bulk Cedar Grove compost and Veggie Garden Mix, Steerco Mulch, bark mulch, clean and minus 5/8″ gravel, drain/river rock, and builders’ sand in bulk or by the bag. They also stock both light and dark Basalt Rockery stone to match most West Seattle rockeries, granite boulder, quartzite boulders, a number of varieties of flagstone for walkways and patios, decorative pebbles and gravels, beach pebbles and more! They are West Seattle’s biggest bulk materials dealer and the only full stone yard in West Seattle. This winter they will add firewood and 5 lb. press logs to their wide selection of items. e-green offers full delivery service, with two residential sized trucks that can easily get into your driveway or back alley gates, including a small boom truck that can lift pallets of stone up onto your rockery, or pallet bags of compost, soil or other materials! e-green landscaping and materials is open from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Saturday. You can find them on the web through their easily browsed website at www.egreenlandscaping.com or contact them at (206) 763-7625. They are easy to find at 9010 Delridge Way SW, Seattle 98106, just south of the stoplight at Henderson and Delridge. They are approx. 3 blocks north of Roxbury, and 1/4 mile east of Westwood Village Mall.” Thanks to e-green landscaping and materials for joining the WSB sponsor team; the current lineup is on this page along with information on how to join them.
Just broke this story at our partner site White Center Now: King County Councilmember Dow Constantine‘s office has announced a discussion October 2nd about a potential Alcohol Impact Area in the White Center business district – and the announcement notes that since the district includes areas within Seattle city limits as well as unincorporated King County, authorities and community members on both sides of the line are invited – and that the concept of “adjacent AIAs in unincorporated King County and the South Delridge area” should be considered in the discussion. The discussion is set for 7 pm Thursday, October 2nd, during the regular meeting of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council at North Highline Fire District headquarters. Read more here (the seventh news item today on White Center Now, with at least one more to come – newsiest day for our partner site since it launched seven weeks ago).
This just in from co-publisher Patrick at the Highland Park Action Committee meeting: Community Police Team officer Adonis Topacio is briefing the group and mentioned there was a shooting late today near the Delridge Community Center. A man was hurt and is at the hospital but according to officer Topacio, is “non-cooperative.” No arrest reported so far. More details as we learn them.
We got that photo on the south side of Youngstown Arts Center, looking southeast up the 23rd SW hill (map), after Eryka e-mailed us about what caused the damage: “Last night at 12:15 a.m. a driver in a brand new four door white pickup truck rounded the corner on Oregon to Delridge, quickly plowed through the guardrail, fence, and into the Cultural Arts Center lawn and driveway.” She says the driver appeared OK but impaired, and that police administered a sobriety test, then “cuffed him.” She added: “He went completely through the wire fence (or maybe under it?) and took out a couple of trees in the process. People zip around that corner incredibly fast. It’s a scary thought.” 9:32 PM ADDENDUM: Be sure to read the comments, where Mike Dady from the North Delridge Neighborhood Council notes this is at least the fourth time in two years this has happened – but also says help is on the way.
Just back from the Delridge Community Center basketball courts south of the Southwest Youth and Family Services building, where a refurbished court with that colorful center was just dedicated by its namesake Brandon Roy (WSB preview here). The 24-year-old former West Seattleite, now Portland Trail Blazer, returned to his old neighborhood to pose for photos galore with family — including his toddler son “BJ” (Brandon Junior) — friends, and sponsors, signing some autographs along the way. It wasn’t quite the Kodak, er, Facebook moment when somebody asked him to try a shot:
In fairness, he may be a bit rusty – he’s recovering from knee surgery that happened just last month (full details on his official “B Roy” website). And in addition to looking ahead to the new NBA season next month — he and fiancee Tiana Bardwell also are expecting their second child, a baby girl due in January. Here’s what he had to say during the ceremonial portion of today’s event:
Earlier today, we reported that West Seattle-based Southwest Youth and Family Services (headquartered just southeast of the Delridge Community Center) is tabbed for a big role in the new youth-violence-prevention initiative announced by the mayor. SWYFS director Steve Daschle was among the West Seattleites at today’s announcement (others included Southwest Community Center coordinator “Junior” Kitiona); we talked with him this afternoon in search of details about what this new role means to his agency:Read More
A city celebration last night honored groups citywide who successfully sought “Small and Simple” grants from the Neighborhood Matching Fund; among them, four in West Seattle. Three, we’ve mentioned before — the play-area projects in North Delridge (Cottage Grove “tot lot”) and Admiral (California Place) got $15,000 each; the Pigeon Point neighborhood celebration (coming up 9/20) got $2,100. The fourth is $15,000 for the ongoing restoration of the West Duwamish Greenbelt, this time going to the “Genesee Ravine Action Committee.” All of these projects involve matching funds – the city doesn’t just hand out $ without the groups showing a commitment of their own, money and volunteer labor. Here’s the full list of 24 “Small and Simple” recipients citywide; the city accepts applications four times a year, and the next deadline is October 6 – here’s more about the program. Meantime, the Neighborhood Matching Fund program itself is marking its 20th anniversary with events around the city, including an open house (free food!) this Saturday, 10 am-2 pm, at Youngstown Arts Center.
Just announced by the Parks Department — an event next Wednesday afternoon, with former West Seattleite and current Portland Trail Blazer Brandon Roy dedicating a “refurbished community basketball court” at Delridge Community Center. Here’s the full announcement:Read More
| Comments Off on West Seattle greenery, steps from blacktop, needs helping hands