West Seattle, Washington
06 Sunday
Got a note from Kim Nyhous, who says she and others at Screaming Flea Productions are West Seattleites and interested in extending this “home makeover” TV invite to peninsula families – read on:Read More
(From left, Delicious Planet’s Jose, Chase, Lianne, Randi, Miranda, and Lulu)
Today, we welcome Delicious Planet as a brand-new WSB sponsor – and as per WSB tradition, this is their chance to tell you about their business: Delicious Planet meals start with the highest-quality, seasonal organic foods and specialty ingredients, obtained from local sources whenever possible. We leverage the flavors and nutrients that nature provides, without the processed ingredients, additives and preservatives. Order online by 1 pm to receive food the next weekday! Our unique Delicious Detox program is a tasty and convenient way for people to retrain their taste buds, eliminate common allergens, lose weight, renew energy, improve mental clarity and learn healthy eating habits. The goal is to acquaint people with the building blocks of good nutrition while cleansing their systems – without depriving them of taste and variety. Our customers call it a lifechanging experience. We think it is a lifesaving experience ;) Call today – 206-720-7017 – start on Monday!
We thank Delicious Planet for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB; find our sponsor team, and info on joining, all here.
Today, we’re welcoming our newest sponsor, Washington Energy Services, and as with all new WSB sponsors, they get the chance to tell you about their business: As a second generation, family owned and operated company we are proud to have served Western Washington homeowners since 1957. 
We offer the most energy efficient gas and electric products on the market today, as well as a full line of Energy Star-rated windows and doors. We install and service everything we sell, and because we don’t outsource, homeowners have peace of mind knowing they are getting the most experienced technicians in the industry. Our Mission is Simple: Offer the best energy-efficient products for your home, and through innovation, look toward the future for new products and services that ensure we continue to meet your needs, while remaining good stewards of the environment. Satisfaction is Key: We take customer satisfaction seriously and we stand behind every project we do with our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Simply put, if you are not completely happy with your purchase, we will remove our equipment and refund your money. Our People Make it Happen: From our corporate staff and sales teams, to our installation & service techs, we hire the best people in the industry. With passion for ensuring your needs as a homeowner are met, we maintain a proactive attitude toward seeking solutions. Our goal isn’t simply to get your business, but to earn it every step of the way. Check us out online at www.WashingtonEnergy.com, or for more information call 800-398-HOME.
We thank Washington Energy Services for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB; find our sponsor team, and info on joining, all here.
Our server-management company had an outage that apparently affected more than just WSB. First long outage (about 45 minutes) in a very long time – nonetheless, we, and they, work hard to make sure this site is reliable, so we apologize for being unavailable. If you ever have trouble bringing the site up, we do note outages on our other channels – @westseattleblog on Twitter, WS Blog on Facebook – and we’d post breaking news there if necessary (as we do anyway).
Also happening today: First, since the libraries are closed, Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) is offering a free hour of Internet surfing to anybody who comes in and mentions they heard it on Twitter, Facebook, or WSB. Another reason to stop in at Hotwire and say hi – proprietor Lora Lewis says barista alum Blayne, who left a few months back to focus on his fashion career, is back Monday-Tuesday this week and next.
Switching gears, a note from “Westseattledood,” who’s been part of a Block Watch discussion in the WSB Forums:
Are you a Block Watch Captain in the SW Precinct or do you know one?
Are you interested in forming a Block Watch Captains’ Network? Do you think efforts to revitalize the Block Watch program in our SW Precinct neighborhoods is an idea worth talking about?
While the city of Seattle is ahead of the country in participation of Block/Neighborhood Watches, citywide there is only about 30% participation. There was a time when 70% of Seattle citizens were affiliated with a Block Watch.
If you are interested in strategies for West Seattle neighbors to revisit and perhaps revitalize this proven, cost-effective model of citizen support of public safety and crime prevention, join your neighbors for discussion today.
4:00 PM today
Delridge Uptown Espresso.
3845 Delridge Ave SW
(Delridge and Andover)
On a slow-ish Saturday afternoon, you can meander over to the WSB Forums if you haven’t already. Among the current discussion – Tigger and others are trying to figure out why their utility bills suddenly jumped. (Also browsable, the 100+ West Seattle-based sites that feed into the Blogs page – their latest entries are linked here.)
By request – we’ve expanded the WSB Forums’ Freebies/Deals/Sales section to add Trade/Barter. And the first qualifying listing was already up as of very early this morning – see it here. (And a reminder – West Seattle-area businesses can list job openings FREE in the Jobs Offered section.)
Some people refuse to read comments on online news stories, for myriad reasons: No time; no interest; the suspicion that all comment sections are like the ones on “anything goes” sites, toxic pits of profanity and insults. While some comments might seem like time-wasters, an amazing amount of WSB’ers use comments to add helpful information, both during breaking/developing stories, and sometimes on stories that are days old, like this one from last Monday about neighbors hit by burglars. Since even regular comment-readers don’t tend to go back and check older stories, we wanted to highlight the followup that just appeared in that story’s comment section:
Thank you everyone for the helpful information. Even though we’ve been burglarized, we still love West Seattle, and it is unlikely that these burglaries are isolated to West Seattle. Wherever there are items that can be pawned or hawked on Craigslist, there’s some thief that wants them.
Here are some of the lessons we’ve learned since the burglary (along with a few opinions of our own).
As a neighborhood, we need to coordinate our efforts. We will plan to contribute.
We have heard lots of stories about how Craigslist seems to be fueling this problem. Let’s start getting the word out that until Craigslist puts in some security measures to deter thieves from selling our stuff, it is little more than an online black market and pawn shop.
From what we’ve heard and read, there is a fairly serious mail theft problem in West Seattle. Best thing to do is to lock your mailbox or get a P.O. box.
Serial numbers are helpful to the police, take an hour and go through your electronics and write down the serial numbers and store them somewhere online so they can be included with police reports.
An audible (external) alarm or a dog is a very good deterrent to burglary.
We’ve also heard that people sometimes don’t report the issue even when they see it or hear it. As a neighborhood, we should be reporting to police when we hear audible alarms and barking dogs or anything that sounds like it could be really bad.
After this experience, we’re absolutely convinced that suspicious soliciting (such as our Comcast visitor) or loitering activities (such as the type we’ve read about here on the other WSB burglary postings) should be reported immediately to the police (not hours later, immediately). We will be doing our part by calling the police on suspicious solicitors and ask them to come out and check their credentials.
We’ll keep checking in here, we really appreciate the helpful information, and we hope that sharing what we’ve learned since our burglary will help others to prevent it from happening to them.
(Note: CL has an official policy banning sales of stolen property.) We have long said, WSB doesn’t have “readers,” it has collaborators. Comments are a simple form of collaboration; sending information (here’s how), from event listings to photos to Crime Watch reports and much more, is another way. But even if you “only” read, you are still collaborating, by seeking and using information. Thank you.
If you haven’t checked out the WSB Forums yet today, two items of note: “Smitty” says dog owners violating the law at newly renovated Hiawatha Playfield are being ticketed (read the post here); and there’s word of MORE free yoga, in addition to the Limber Yoga classes mentioned earlier – at SoundYoga (also a WSB sponsor), a free restorative-yoga class is happening at 1 pm (details here).
We’ve been doing some upgrades to the underpinnings of the site lately, including moving to a more powerful server, but this afternoon something is going wrong that’s rendered the site inaccessible off and on this past hour. Just wanted to say, we apologize, and wanted to let you know that fine talented technical experts are working on it. If there were major news and WSB itself was down, we would use these other channels to get the news out:
Facebook – facebook.com/westseattleblog
Twitter – twitter.com/westseattleblog
Backup site (not a mirror of WSB, but something we can post longer stories on if necessary):
westseattleblog.wordpress.com
Also worth noting, our partner site White Center Now runs off different servers in a different location so would not generally be having trouble if this site is: whitecenternow.com
Thanks again for your patience and support.
If you notice anything odder than usual this afternoon – a link takes you to a dead end, for example – please forgive us; our ace technical consultant has been working on some site improvements. Most have been very behind-the-scenes but there’s one you may have noticed already: After four years, we are finally getting rid of the default URL (website address) style that among other things had the word “blog” twice and identified each story only by number. From hereon out, URLs will include words from the story headline or page title, as they do on most websites, and the second incidence of “blog” is gone – so the WSB Forums, for example, are no longer at “wsb.blackfin.biz/blog/forum” but instead at wsb.blackfin.biz/forum. If you bump into any bugs along the way, PLEASE let us know by posting a comment here or e-mailing editor@wsb.blackfin.biz – thank you. A few other improvements are in the works, so thanks for your patience, and stay tuned.
Another community group finally has an online home: Renae Gaines shares the news that Southwest Healthy Youth Partnership has a website – see it here. (You’ll also see that page has a left-side column with information on upcoming parent-education events; elsewhere on the site, the calendar page shows that the next SWHYP coalition meeting is January 26, all welcome.)
We’ve been planning some upgrades – mostly the behind-the-scenes stuff that you wouldn’t notice immediately, but which would pave the way for us to make some much-needed improvements – and we’d hoped to be able to warn you before we started tinkering with the live site, but a little earlier tonight … we suddenly had to tinker with the live site, without warning. So you might have noticed some slowness. If you notice ANYTHING different regarding the way you access/navigate the site, including the iPhone version if applicable, PLEASE let us know, either in a comment or through e-mail etc. – we are still kicking the tires following a major upgrade in content-management-system versions, and we also are upgrading the WSB Forums‘ behind-the-scenes stuff, which could lead to some hiccups we won’t notice till you point them out. Thanks for your patience and help!
Thanks to all the people who sent us this news today: We hadn’t even heard of the annual Google Zeitgeist list — by that name, anyway — till receiving notes and tweets that WSB was in the Seattle Top 10. Background: Google compiles an annual list of top search terms – you may have heard news reports all day noting that Michael Jackson topped the overall list worldwide. But Google’s announcement also includes breakout lists – such as the top “uniquely local” search terms for major US cities. At right, the top 10 for Seattle – with Sounders FC (scarves up!) at #1 and West Seattle Blog at #5, the only news site on the Seattle list. Just another reason our second year as a business has been even more fun than the first – collaborating with you and the rest of the West Seattle community, informally partnering with the region’s largest news organization, and other highlights. WSB is on track for at least 8 million pageviews for 2009, a 33% increase from last year, 5+ times the year before that. This new way of reporting/sharing/discussing community news has attracted regional and national attention, and this quirky little Google shoutout is just one more bit of proof. Thanks again for being part of this adventure!
(Photo of Julie and Dorothy at Highland Park Improvement Club’s Nov. 15th party, by Dina Johnson)
Two weeks after the 90th-anniversary party at Highland Park Improvement Club, a closer look at the event and the group is online this morning at seattletimes.com (WSB partner) – see the story and photos here. HPIC’s website is at hpic1919.org; the club building is also home to the Highland Park Action Committee, which invites you to its holiday potluck meeting there, 7 pm next Wednesday (more here).
(Latest image from city camera pointing east on The Bridge; refresh for updated image)
Just last week, when reporting on more new traffic cameras being installed in West Seattle (but not scheduled for activation till next year), we had asked SDOT for an update on when at least one of the cameras on the “high bridge” would be back. Hadn’t received a reply yet (two months ago, we were told “shortly”). But tonight, we notice – the one that’s pointed east is working again. We’re going to take a leap of faith and put it back in the sidebar, where it’s been gone for a few weeks once it was clear both “high bridge” cameras were out of commission. Cross your fingers.
Reminder — The WSB Forums include a section where West Seattle/White Center-area businesses are welcome to post job listings for free. Here’s a brand-new listing.
A bit of a lull as we get ready to cover the next wave of major news later today – revised school-attendance maps (4 pm), election results (8 pm) — so if you’re looking for something new to read, check out the WSB Forums for community-powered items including:
*The merits of independent bookstores, as other neighborhoods lose theirs
*What’s the going rate for babysitters these days?
*Reward for missing heirloom jewelry
SIDE NOTE: Not from the forums, but based largely on WSB comments – the regional news site Crosscut has a story today about the booted-from-Lincoln-Park-moved-to-Lakewood-Park cyclocross controversy.
Want to see more photos from Saturday’s Trick or Treat at The Junction? The Junction’s own official gallery is 
part of what you’ll find on the newly relaunched West Seattle Junction Association website – wsjunction.org – with added features including an event calendar. They’re on Facebook too, and just added a Twitter account – @WSJA.
West Seattle artist Karen Lyons shares news of an “online studio tour” in which she’s participating, to celebrate Halloween and to raise money for bat conservation. It’s a fun site to wander if you have at least a few minutes to spare – halloweenstudiotour.com – and you can contact Karen at woosel@wildmail.com if you want to know more.
We’re welcoming a new WSB sponsor this afternoon: Chris Thayer, Seattle personal-injury attorney (and West Seattleite). Here’s what he’d like you to know: He’s a Seattle-area native who grew up in Edmonds, currently a partner at a small law firm in downtown Seattle: Larson, Hart & Shepherd, PLLC. 
He’s put together three websites highlighting some of his particular practice areas and providing extensive information for consumers: www.seattle-personal-injury-attorney.net, www.seattle-wrongful-death-attorney.com, and www.seattle-medical-malpractice-attorney.com. Chris and his wife moved to West Seattle last summer, and he says, “We are growing to love our new neighborhood more and more every day. We have enjoyed going to the West Seattle Farmers’ Market, riding our bikes down to Alki, and taking our dog for walks in Lincoln Park.”
Back to business: What sets him apart from others in his field? He cites a “compassionate approach”: “This is a business for me, but it is also about helping people who have been the victim of unfortunate circumstances. I have been handling serious personal injury, wrongful death, insurance disputes, and medical malpractice claims and lawsuits in Washington since 1995. I understand that these cases are often about much more than money. I am often able to help my clients obtain closure on a difficult chapter in their lives, and, in some cases, I can help bring about changes in policy or procedure which may help prevent similar problems in the future. I am dedicated to efficiently and compassionately representing my clients to assist them in seeking resolution and compensation for their losses. My philosophy is to represent my clients aggressively to obtain a fair and just result.”
What does he hear from clients? “They appreciate my willingness to explain things to them and to answer their questions in a way that makes sense and is easy to understand without all that legal jargon. They come to me because they have found themselves in a difficult situation that is not their fault. They are often frustrated by their experiences in trying to deal with their claim on their own. I feel like I can offer a very valuable service by helping them understand their rights and to make sure they are treated fairly. I get most of my business from referrals from happy clients. I offer a free initial consultation, where I will sit down with any prospective clients and review their situation so that I can provide feedback and my assessment of whether or not they should retain a lawyer. Chris belongs to the Washington State Bar Association and Washington State Association for Justice, and has an Avvo rating of 10/10 – here’s his profile. You can reach Chris Thayer, Seattle personal-injury attorney, at 866-884-2417. We thank Chris Thayer for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB; the sponsor team, plus info on joining, is all here.
Over the weekend, Beach Drive Blog published a note from someone trying to find out what happened to a house they remember from decades ago. Maybe you can help – read the note here.
The Google site-search feature we’ve been using for a while is far from perfect – though we’re still Google fans in general, it seems that Microsoft‘s Bing is on the ascendancy, so we’re testing its site search instead. What you’ll notice if you try the new (unlabeled – that’s how MSFT coded it) search box (top of sidebar) is that your search will open a popup that stretches across the center of the WSB page you’re on, with two tabs – the default is the WSB search for your term, and if you click the WEB tab, it’ll show you web-wide results for your search. Let us know what you think; it’s an easy switch back if you think the Google box worked better. (And if you’re looking for something you’ve seen in our forum, including the keyword forum in your search will help find it.)
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