West Seattle, Washington
05 Thursday
(PHOTOS ADDED BELOW @ 7:45 PM) WSB reader Venkat sends along the story of someone whose erratic drive up and down the Gatewood Hill stretch of Cali apparently didn’t go too well:
We were having coffee at Ladro when we saw a car with a flat tire driving along. Didn’t think anything of it, and about 2 minutes later saw sirens going the opposite direction. About 10 minutes later, after finishing up coffee, we saw police cars towards the Thriftway, when we took a look, sure enough it was the flat tire car, with the driver in the back of the police car (i.e., in custody).
When we were headed back home, up California (towards Thistle) we saw a sign had been knocked down. I thought I saw a wheel mark on the lawn of the sidewalk. We talked to some of the neighbors and someone drove their car around 70 mph, up the sidewalk, knocked over a street sign, crashed into a generator, and drove off down to Ladro (where we saw the car).
I think no injuries were sustained (except for the transformer, and someone’s railing and front yard) but it was an odd incident.
7:45 PM UPDATE: Finally found the spot after our second drive-by along the hill. Note in the second photo, the offending vehicle left something telltale behind.
We noticed it while out walking in our Upper Fauntleroy hood a little while ago, and some readers wrote us that they saw it too: this mysterious white plane doing low circles over WS. We tried calling the FAA to find out what they knew; their 866-TELL-FAA hotline was amazingly unhelpful, and when we finally found a local number, they were closed, with a recording “leave a message.” Here’s hoping it’s nothing to worry about. We would speculate the dark object hanging off the side might be a camera, though we thought more aerial photography is done with helicopters than planes. Any enlightenment welcome. 9:45 PM SEMI-UPDATE: We think we at least know whose plane it was; an e-mail tip says a call to 911 yielded a mention that a State Patrol plane was in the area — this article about those planes mentions the camera mounted in a “black bubble” on the side.
From the Luna Park/Java Bean land of the former crosswalk (below left), we now have pedestrian flags (reader photo – thanks! – below right):
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… there’s a sign on Cali prominently advertising “adult” merchandise.
We noticed the new “adult DVDs” addition to the sign at the Short Stop market on the north edge of Morgan Junction several days ago and felt a little hinky about it, but then thought, nah, we’re just prudes. A day later, we got reader e-mail voicing concern, and we decided it’s worth raising the question here. The reader wrote, in part:
It’s lit up and elevated up on a big pole, which is unfortunate for the neighborhood. What’s next, strip clubs? Now when my family comes to visit, I’ll have to tell them “Take a right at the Adult DVD store.”ÂÂÂ
Now, in fairness, this sign is not exactly next to a school or day-care center. Chuck & Sally’s Tavern is the second building to the north, Beveridge Place Pub is the next one south. But it is next to the site of a future park, and smack in the middle of a neighborhood in transition — with a big condo conversion and future townhomes also steps away. So what do you think? “Unfortunate,” as the reader wrote? Or no big deal?
Within just a few minutes’ time — the view westward from Alki Avenue; the view south from Constellation Park:
Cool crowd, both hosts and visitors, at the police department’s annual Picnic at the Precinct this afternoon. As big and busy as WS is, it’s hard to believe we didn’t get our own police precinct till 2003. It’s a lovely building, but today (before the rain moved in) most of the fun was out in the street on the building’s south side; they shut down Webster for the occasion. Our first photo here is a great crowd shot sent in by WSB reader LyndaB:
(Thanks, LyndaB!) From here, photos are by the WSB team. Besides meeting-and-greeting, the police showed off some of their arsenal, including this robot:
Next — a closeup of the robot, Chief Kerlikowske in casual wear, one of the SPD vehicles you don’t see every day, and more:Read More
Photos below from tonight’s Alki community picnic @ the playfield — barbecue and bouncing, what more could you ask for on a nice night like this? Tomorrow afternoon, another picnic to which all of West Seattle is invited: It’s at the Seattle Police Southwest Precinct next to Home Depot, and besides picnicking with your protectors, you also will get a chance to tour the precinct — 1-4 pm tomorrow.
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The harbor-seal pup that’s been hanging out on Alki now has its own protection zone, with yellow (crime scene type) tape blocking off a section of beach by the Bathhouse. We caught a photo just before the seal went for a noontime swim, with the help of zoom – since as we all need to remember, it’s important to KEEP YOUR DISTANCE …
Updates on two sites we last mentioned two months ago, both with pix. First set, the doomed south Beach Drive trees. Left photo below is from June; right photo from this weekend, when we noticed the chopping had begun:
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Next set, Erskine & Dawson, the former “Thor’s Towing” property, soon a new home. Old structures seen in June at left; right photo is courtesy of WSB reader Luckie (in the week since she took it, construction has begun):
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We talked about it here and here. And as for West Seattle’s Most Famous Politician himself, looks like he’s keeping the promise — this just out of the WSB inbox:
Just spotted the mayor at Zatz Bagels. Guess he was serious about working from home.
We didn’t go to Westwood Village tonight in search of our semi-traditional Sunday sunset photo, much less infobits, but we found both …
The WV infobits: #1, West Seattle bestselling author Terry Brooks is coming back to the WV Barnes & Noble, August 28th @ 6:30 pm, almost a year after his last stop there; #2, the Pet Pros store in the old laundromat spot next to QFC is now open.
Went to Belvedere Viewpoint to see how the Admiral paving turned out, among other things. The whole stretch that was closed for nighttime work toward the end of last week (Admiral between Olga and 41st) looks good; here’s a small section shining during a sunbreak:
Looking out toward downtown from the same viewpoint, we enjoyed a great view of everybody out fishing on Elliott Bay:
Dropped by the Bench Press and Dead Lift Championships happening right now at Alki (between the Bathhouse and the sand). We caught a couple of the more senior lifters in action (their ages were announced with their names), lifting somewhere around 200 pounds. First, Richard, 75 years old, before and during his lift:
This is Leroy, 67, before and during:
Goodnatured crowd on hand, some sponsor freebies, and demonstrations between lifters’ “flights” — as we left, a group of young martial artists was about to show their stuff. ALSO HAPPENING IN WS RIGHT NOW: The first annual C & P Coffee arts & crafts fair, till 3 pm. One WSB reader already has written in with a rave review – “some great stuff.”
The beautiful murals around the heart of West Seattle are getting some long-awaited TLC. WS Junction Association president Dave Montoure of West 5 describes it as “the long process of restoring the salvageable murals in The Junction.” As our photos below show, they’re starting with the Hi-Yu Parade mural on the side of the Post Office, hit by taggers some time back. Dave also notes regarding the overall project, “Earl Cruzen, the gentleman who was a key figure in the original murals installation project, has stepped forward yet again — he’s a true WS treasure — to locate the original mural artists about restoration, replacement and, unfortunately in some cases, disposal.” Read more about the WS murals here and here.
P.S. We didn’t realize till a viewer e-mail following this post that the high-rise megaproject on the drawing board west of Jefferson Square is to be called “Mural,” in tribute to the WS murals … scroll down this page for a rendering.
The three photos below are from the first two sets of pix (including a full gallery here) we received, both from the gathering at and around 39th/Elmgrove, which we’re told got two visits from nearby landmark Fire Station 37. (One attendee offers a shoutout to hosts Wally & Wilma.) Keep the pix coming; we’ll add as the day goes on — also, thanks to everyone who shared their locations in advance — heartening to know there were so many around WS.
Our Sunday night activity, round trip on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth ferry. Here’s the view as we pulled into Vashon on the westbound return.
Just spotted on the slope beneath the Sealth/SWAC field, north of Westwood Village, people in protective suits attacking the weediness, Scotch Broom and all … gee, you would think it would have been safer to call in the goats instead.
Somewhere in Georgetown right now, there’s one whale of a party, at the finish line of a bicycle race that started a few hours ago at Redline (ex-Legends). We didn’t heard about it, or its uniquely named sponsor club, till late this morning, when we read about it at Metroblogging Seattle and added it to the weekly WS Weekend Lineup. We’re nothing if not curious, so a member of Team WSB went over tonight with camera in tow, and was immediately drawn to the St. Nick wanna-bes in the crowd…
More pix after the click:Read More
We happened onto this scene today at Fairmount Park Elementary, one of the buildings closed by Seattle Public Schools at the end of this past school year to save $. While the building is being taken out of commission, Fairmount Park’s people and programs are “merging” with High Point Elementary one mile southeast; tomorrow night (Wednesday) the School Board is set to vote on the proposal to give the “merged” schools a fresh start by renaming HP “West Seattle Elementary.” (Also on the board agenda, the introduction of the proposed contract for architect and engineering services on the Denny/Sealth project. More on that in the morning; we’re discovering too many nested documents linked from the agenda to coherently summarize it all tonight!)
First, a reader question for anyone and everyone in WSB-land. After that, three photos — not related to the reader question except that they are also things seen on/over Puget Sound. So here we go —
i’m curious if anyone else has seen a mysterious man, paddling STANDING UP on the Sound. we saw him last night about 6 pm, couldn’t believe our eyes! then, at 9 am this morning, we saw the same guy (we’re assuming). when we looked through our binoculars, it appeared that he was standing up on something resembling a surfboard as he paddles. has anyone else seen him or knows what it is he is doing?
If you do, leave a comment. Now, three photos we took around sunset tonight from the northern shores of Lincoln Park. Some of the folks on the boat in the first photo (which appeared to be related to an outdoor party at one of the waterfront homes just past the park) were actually jumping into the water. Brrr!
Guess you can’t just let those apartments lie idle while tenants flee before the deadline to buy in or get out. Spotted at West Ridge Park on Delridge this afternoon, balloon-festooned signs exhorting SHORT TERM LEASES! (photo below) and MONTH TO MONTH! (across the street), all within rock-throwing distance of the sign about the conversion to its new condo identity as “Gables” …
Tribal canoes on the region-wide Paddle to Lummi 2007 are stopping over at Alki. Read more about the journey here; if you can’t get down to the beach, check out some of the photos kindly sent to us by WSB reader Margelyn:
The ex-Travelodge on Alaska just west of 35th, where the sign had been under a blue bag for months, is now suddenly redubbed SEATTLE WEST INN & SUITES. (We know you won’t believe it without a picture, but it’s such a dark & stormy night, ours didn’t come out.)
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