West Seattle, Washington
20 Tuesday
News from the beach, semimonthly, courtesy of the Alki Community Council (which has a business meeting this Thursday at 8:30 pm at Alki Community Center, right after the Elliott Bay Water Taxi/Seacrest open house) — you can read the new News Beacon right here, right now.
With income-tax time looming around the corner, we welcome our newest sponsor, the accounting firm of Jackson, Morgan & Hunt. Longtime West Seattle residents Jim Jackson and Chuck Morgan have been serving local clients for decades, and recently welcomed Scott Hunt as the newest partner to the firm. Jackson, Morgan & Hunt serves the accounting needs of business, individual, and estate clients, with an emphasis on meeting the specific needs of owners of closely held businesses and their families. The firm offers a full range of accounting, tax planning, and advisory services to help clients reach their financial goals.
The firm has community roots and business experience in West Seattle dating back more than 25 years. Scott, Jim and Chuck pride themselves on providing top-notch accounting expertise in a friendly neighborhood setting. Please feel free to drop by their office at 4123 California Ave SW (between Genesee and Dakota Streets, just one block north of the Post Office; map) or call 206-932-1314 to schedule a consultation to discuss your personal or business accounting needs. WSB welcomes Jackson, Morgan & Hunt to the sponsor team, viewable in its entirety on this page, along with info on our booming traffic and how to take advantage of it to grow your business too!
Found out about this from City of Seattle technology boss Bill Schrier (a West Seattleite, by the way), who mentioned it on Twitter: The city just launched an updated, clickable My Neighborhood Map that you can use to search for all sorts of info – even active fire incidents (use the “impacts” tab) and crime stats. They’re asking for feedback; send it here.
We bring you the crimefighting successes as well as the crime-alert stories, and here’s the latest – from Officer Brian Ballew at West Seattle’s Southwest Precinct:
In early December a parking garage condominium on SW Avalon was burglarized. The victim had her bicycle stolen. The victim located the bike on Craig’s List and met the seller in the Downtown area. The victim took the bike for a test drive, verified it was hers by the serial number and kept the bike.
On 01/03 the victim notified SW Detectives that the same seller was selling another bike on Craig’s List. Detectives called the seller as a potential buyer and met the seller in the downtown area. When detectives met the seller, the victim was with detectives in a nearby vehicle and positively identified the seller as the same person who tried to sell her, her stolen bike. The seller was arrested and booked for trafficking stolen property.
This one’s still on the WSB (Other) Blogs (in West Seattle) page, but will fall off soon since 100 sites feed into that page and this update’s a few days old. If you haven’t read it already, and you’re interested in the arts — or philosophy — or just plain thoughtful writing — it’s worth a look: ArtsWest executive director Alan Harrison‘s 2008-ending thoughts. (And we couldn’t resist calling attention to it, since he opens by implying only 4 people, or so, will see it.)
With 2009 just hours away, you may have your New Year’s resolution(s) ready to go; for many people, every year, the top of the list tends to involve getting your body moving. Today we welcome a new WSB sponsor who can help you with that: Jackie at Fusion Studio. As with all new WSB sponsors, we offered Jackie the chance to share details about her business – here’s what she wants to share: Flexibility and strength go hand in hand. At Fusion Studio, these principles are tailored to fit each client’s needs. 
Jackie works with a variety of individuals, with goals such as weight loss, post-rehab, core strengthening, and flexibility. She explains, “My training style is a mixture of resistance and yoga, which I find complement each other. Being in touch with our bodies can be hard work, but it should also be fun. Achieving a balance in our bodies directly translates to our lives.”
Jackie has worked as a Personal Trainer and Yoga Instructor for 5 years. At Fusion Studio, she is committed to teaching people how to tap into their inner and outer strengths and push beyond their normal limitations. “Shocking your body in a positive way is how you bring about change,” she says. Jackie has donated her services to fundraising events for ArtsWest and Schmitz Park Elementary as she believes strongly in giving back to the community. Contact Jackie today at 206-257-9640 to set up your FREE fitness assessment. This gives you the opportunity to learn about her training style and see if she can help you with your fitness goals.
WSB welcomes Fusion Studio to our sponsor team, which you’ll find listed on this page along with information on how to become part of it – growing your business while supporting West Seattle’s 24/7 community connection for news, information, and discussion!
Several new sponsors have joined WSB in the past few weeks – but our traditional “welcome” messages have been on hold while we focused on 24/7 weather-related coverage. Now – during a lull in the weather woes – it’s time to start welcoming those new sponsors. So today we warmly welcome one of WSB’s newest sponsors, Chill! Located in Morgan Junction, Chill is West Seattle’s seven-day-a-week massage therapy shop and modern apothecary, with evening appointments available Thursday through Saturday. Chill offers many types of personalized massage, including Sports, Pregnancy, and Hot-Stone massage. 
You can also choose from shorter sessions of Swedish massage, Reflexology, or a seated massage at the rejuvenation station, for those short on time but long on stress. Still giving holiday gifts since Christmas and Hanukkah were a bit snow-challenged? You can get gift certificates by visiting Chill‘s website (here’s a direct link to that page). Chill’s Massage Therapists are licensed professionals adept at providing excellent body work in a comfortable environment. Try Diana’s Signature Chill for a luxurious vacation; it combines an hour of soothing Swedish Massage with a half hour of foot Reflexology. Then take home some of their mood mists to keep the Chill going all week long. Chill‘s in a convenient spot at 6969 California SW (map); call 206-724-9555 and find them online at chillwestseattle.com – where you can even book appointments online! We’re happy to welcome Chill to the WSB sponsor team; the latest lineup is here along with info on how to become part of it.
Two items from the WSB Forums that you should know about if you haven’t seen ’em already:
DON’T THROW SHOES, DONATE THEM! “Bob Loblaw” came up with a great idea to improve on social-network suggestions about throwing shoes on Inauguration Day (example here). Bob writes, “While I’m all for throwing shoes at the Federal Building on January 20, as is being planned on Facebook and elsewhere in ‘honor’ of our outgoing president, I’m starting to think it’s a waste of shoes. Any interest in a “shoe drive” that day instead? I’d be happy to load up the car with new children’s shoes and run them to a local charity in honor of our incoming president.” Interested? Here’s where to join in – he’s looking for ideas, suggestions, support if you’re up for it.
THE BEST OF 2008, AS YOU SEE IT: Yes, we will probably write the inescapable “West Seattle 2008 in review” item tonight or tomorrow, as we did, in ever-evolving style, in 2005, in 2006, and in 2007 (when we published several “Top 7 of ’07” lists). But much more interesting: What’s on YOUR best-of list as 2008 ends? WSB Forum members are discussing it here.
(SW Sullivan looking east from California SW [map], one of many slushy side streets)
The temperature’s in the 40s, rain is falling, snow is receding. And yet, normalcy does not instantly return, as noted via Facebook by Talani from Stor-More Self-Storage (WSB sponsor) on steep SW Yancy east of Avalon (map):
I think it’s important for our neighbors to know that everything is NOT back to normal…I know people are driving again on the main streets, and that we are seeing more blacktop than we have in 2 weeks, but we still have dangerous conditions on side streets, in parking lots and on the Stor-More property. The places a lot of residents, seniors, handicapped and others want to go, they still cannot get to. We are still snowed in on Yancy, because while we can get out of our driveway and up a street, we cannot go to places we want to go to, and park in their lot. Armed with only one shovel, it’s impossible for us and others to get every last place that has snow and ice, when we have 3 huge buildings…the result is that tenants are arriving very confident because our driveway is blacktop between 2 mountains of snow, but they are getting stuck on the property and we are having to push their vehicles with our hands to keep them from crashing into other vehicles on property. Still snow!!!
Talani also notes that while the U.S. Postal Service has braved conditions every day to get mail to Stor-More, which has public mailboxes (including the WSB business box), UPS and FedEx haven’t made it there in a week, even though some of their customers have been told the packages were delivered.
(WSB editorial-esque aside ensues:) This is what we are seeing as the central problem for how multiple large businesses and government agencies served citizens during Snowmare ’08 — not so much which actions they did or didn’t execute, in terms of delivering, plowing, etc., as the failure to communicate clearly, quickly, reliably, SPECIFICALLY< about what is or is not being done, when it will be done, and WHERE it will be done. Sadly, this was the same problem during the last weather-related crisis in our area -- the power outages following the December 2006 windstorm. We were without power for almost 4 days; some in West Seattle were power-less for a week. People managed to cope -- but were desperate for information on "when are the crews coming to my neighborhood?" The uncertainty often seemed to take a heavier toll than the outage's actual side effects. As much as knowledge is power, a knowledge deficit is not only powerlessness, but also brings stress. Of course we must say, yet again, that we are WELL aware many good people in these large businesses and government agencies worked themselves to a frazzle to do the best they could. Snowplow drivers, mail carriers, city and county media-relations people trying to gather and share the latest general information, and answer questions from all us media types, small and large, police officers and firefighters slogging their way to incidents big and small. The point isn't that nobody tried. The point is that at a different level, beyond the people-power on the street, technology exists now to get SPECIFIC, REAL-TIME information to people - so that the uncertainty can be lessened. This was NOT a crisis that destroyed infrastructure; the power stayed on, the servers ran, the computers worked, the cell towers stayed up, the phones worked. But they did not deliver SPECIFIC, REAL-TIME information, reliably, to the people desperate for it. We hope that the IT people and the customer-service people will have serious post-mortems that result in real action plans. Why weren't the "bus trackers" accurate? What do you need to put on a bus to figure out where it is, and how can you crunch code to translate that information into something customer-accessible showing just how far behind schedule Route X is running and how far off its route it really is? For snowplows and power crews -- certainly they are dispatched from somewhere, by somebody keeping track of where they are now, and where they are going next. Can that information be multipurposed so that customers - who the city claims it puts first - will have a better idea of how soon, if at all, they will get help getting out of their streets? This will require true brainstorming sessions, the "no bad ideas" kind. We fear the discussion could get bogged down in concern over whether certain corporate/government computer systems will work well with each other. Don't get caught up in that. Similar problems have hampered old-media organizations (including at least two megacorporations where we worked) in their efforts to leap into the new-media world. Use the same out-of-the-box tools us civilians use. State/county/local government did use Twitter, for example, to some degree, during Snowmare ’08 — unfortunately not with many specifics — mostly to send out the news-release links, or generalized lines (the experimental Twitter account “sdotsnow” was last heard from on Christmas Eve, with “Primary roads are wet with some slush. Secondary arterials the focus through the night. Temps helping with work”). Seattle Police are using WordPress (same open-source content-management system that is the underpinning of WSB and millions of other blog-format websites) to power the almost-blog-like SPDBlotter site.
We don’t have the solutions but we did want to point out that from our standpoint, watching WSB’ers use the comments sections of our snow-coverage posts to share specifics about bus-route realities and UPS-truck sightings (among many other things), the communication methodology and comprehensiveness are what require the real work after everyone has recovered from this — much more so than “salt vs. sand” or “articulated buses vs. standard.”
Snow coverage has been so intense, we didn’t even stop to think till tonight – belatedly writing the holiday newsletter for family ‘n’ friends outside West Seattle — that last night, Christmas Eve, marked the 3rd anniversary of West Seattle Blog. 
The entire WSB archive is accessible via the month-by-month list at the bottom of the sidebar, though if you poke around the first year, you’ll notice that Year 1 hadn’t much in common with Year 3! Our first-ever post, December 24, 2005, was a not-especially-West-Seattle-y musing on Santa. (It was the equivalent of a tree falling in an empty forest, because a full three weeks passed before anybody discovered the site – our stats software shows the first visitor accidentally wandered in on 1/15/06.) Anyway, while the snow has been a challenge, to say the least, we are thankful to you for the collaboration and camaraderie that concluded WSB’s third year so memorably, and we hope you will find it worth your while to spend time here in Year 4, as we are committed to working to connect West Seattle with 24/7 news, information, and discussion, in an ever-more thorough, timely, and relevant manner. Most important of all: We thrive on hearing from you any time there’s something you want to report, say, ask about, share with people, suggest, etc. — our e-mail addresses, phone number, and other contact info can all be found here.
Just got word of this and wanted to share the link: Cooper Elementary‘s community has put up a website to get the information out about their fight to keep the school “program” from being closed, as is now listed as a “potential final recommendation” as Seattle Public Schools tries to find a new home for Pathfinder K-8. The site is at cooperschoolworks.com, and among other info, it lists the next round of meetings this week – district public hearing at Genesee Hill tomorrow night, School Board meeting Wednesday, and a meeting at Cooper on Thursday, with more content promised. It also links to the Cooper “fact sheet” we told you about last Wednesday. (On the “closure info” page at the official Cooper Elementary website, by the way, you can now read a handwritten letter by a student in Cooper’s autism program.)
(Budget Blinds‘ West Seattle team: Back row, left to right: Nathan Westrand, Parrish & Kendra Hammer, Brian Read. Front row, left to right: Danica Corwin, Paige Beck, and Angela Stocker)
The business community in West Seattle continues to diversify – and one of the latest examples is our newest sponsor, Budget Blinds of West Seattle, in the Triangle area. As always, we offer new WSB sponsors the chance to tell you something about their business – here’s what Budget Blinds wants you to know: “Budget Blinds of West Seattle is independently owned & operated by local residents Parrish & Kendra Hammer. As one of over 1,000 franchises in North America, Budget Blinds has been ranked #1 in the window-covering industry by Entrepreneur Magazine since 1998. The West Seattle franchise has consistently ranked as one of the top twenty Budget Blinds franchises in North America during 2008. Parrish & Kendra moved to West Seattle in the Fall of 2004 from Colorado, and they are the proud parents of two daughters, Sasha and Tahlia, who attend Alki Elementary School. Parrish & Kendra are strong supporters of the local community, teaming up with WestSide Baby for their annual Stuff the Bus diaper drive, and NW Hope & Healing, to name a few, and they are members of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the BNI Chapter. With a beautiful showroom in West Seattle, Budget Blinds has a wide variety of products and fabrics to look at, and choose from, including some unique exclusive products. Whether it’s interior or exterior, standard lifting operations or motorized, they have solutions to fit your specific needs.” You can find Budget Blinds in West Seattle at 3518 SW Genesee (map), right next to Buddha Ruksa; Budget Blinds‘ phone number is 206-932-2655. We welcome Budget Blinds of West Seattle to the WSB sponsor team; the current lineup is here along with information on how to become part of it!
You may have noticed some trouble with Google and its products today – and it doesn’t just affect Google directly, it has the potential to affect much more, as so many sites (ours included) incorporate some Google features – for example, Google has the gold-standard statistics program (Google Analytics), and that code to count visitors is part of every page of our site and millions of others. We have tried taking the Google search box off the sidebar for the short run but that hasn’t helped much. We know it’s not just us – here for example is what the Twitter-verse is saying. Here’s hoping the problem’s solved soon.
Over the weekend, we introduced the first-ever WSB Coupons, with freebies, discounts, and other special offers from a dozen WSB sponsors — including one of our newest sponsors, Stor-More Self-Storage, whose big sign is hard to miss when you travel on or near Avalon, just south of the Luna Park business district. Stor-More‘s West Seattle facility on Yancy east of Avalon (map) is home to not only a sizable amount of storage, but also mailbox services, all under new resident management. Here’s what Stor-More wants you to know about their West Seattle facility: “Merry Christmas and Happy 2009 from Stor-More Self Storage in West Seattle, where you are welcomed as a Neighbor by singing snowmen this month! You will love the Shop Local Community Table with ads from local businesses. Stor-More offers several different-sized storage units 
for all of your storage needs. Every unit has an individual gate code, and there are on-site Resident Managers, which is the industry standard for quality properties. Mailboxes are available with 24-hour access. The Store, open 7 days a week, is filled with moving and packing supplies, as well as seasonal items including gift ideas. Tenants are delighted this month to find a 99-Cent Stocking-Stuffer Wall! Stor-More is a member of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce. Stop by and meet the Managers, Brian and Talani (native Washingtonians; photos at left) and the Assistant Manager, TJ. 
Tell them West Seattle Blog sent you! Stor-More Self Storage – 2850 SW Yancy St., Seattle, WA 98126 – (206) 933-8200.” If that address looks familiar – Stor-More has long been the official WSB mailbox provider, and since we visit daily, we can verify that the holiday touches are festive indeed. Thanks to Stor-More Self-Storage for supporting 24/7 West Seattle news, information, and discussion here on WSB; check out their coupon (and 11 others) by going here; and if you’d like to find out how to join the WSB sponsor team – and see the latest lineup – here’s the place to start.
We’ve said this before and we’ll say it again – if you haven’t wandered The Junction lately, you may not realize just how much it has to offer. Among its one-of-a-kind businesses is the one that’s just joined the WSB sponsor team, Liberty Bell Printing. 
As always with new sponsors, we offer them the chance to share information about themselves with you, and here’s what Liberty Bell wants you to know: “As your local full service printer, we would like to take a moment to introduce ourselves. We are Liberty Bell Printing and we are West Seattle’s oldest and most reliable full service printing and copier shop. Founded in 1973 to serve the West Seattle business and residential community, today Liberty Bell still maintains the personalized service, welcoming atmosphere, and high quality printing that launched our shop more than 35 years ago. Still privately owned and operated, Liberty Bell offers a unique opportunity for you to experience the Old World charm of a traditional print shop interpreted through the powerful dynamics of our modern, leading-edge print capabilities. The result is a printing experience that is defined by our traditional values, sustained by our commitment to quality, and is competitively priced to compete in today’s marketplace. We are confident that once you experience the quality and care of Liberty Bell, we will be your first choice for printing in West Seattle. Liberty Bell also has the largest selection of prints and gifts by Bellingham, Washington, Artist Jody Bergsma.” Liberty Bell Printing is in the West Seattle Junction at 4736 California SW, on the east side of the street between Alaska and Edmunds (map), 206-935-1212. We welcome Liberty Bell to the WSB sponsor team and thank them for supporting West Seattle’s 24/7/365 news/information/discussion source; the current sponsor lineup is all here along with info on how to join!
We told you two weeks ago about Nic Plemel (left), when his wife Rachael e-mailed WSB to share the news that he’s planning to run 13 marathons in 12 weeks, to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Nic has just updated his “13 in 12” blog (as you may already have seen if you follow the automated updates on the WSB Blogs page, which picks up the feeds from 100 West Seattle-based blog writers) – now that he’s finished his first 3 marathons out of those 13, including yesterday’s big Seattle Marathon. He’s also more than a third of the way to his fundraising goal; you can make a donation via his site.
They’ve organized fundraisers … they’ve organized knitting and book clubs … and now .. WSB Forum members are joining forces to buy bacon. See why, here.
Please help welcome our newest WSB sponsor, the White Center Swap Meet and Flea Market. As we reported earlier this fall, the former Southgate Skate Center (map) has been renovated to become the Southgate Event Center, which is home to the White Center Swap Meet and Flea Market – the only one of its kind in the West Seattle/White Center area. After several weeks in “soft launch” mode, the Swap Meet is ready to welcome you to its official grand opening – as it launches expanded winter hours, 
just in time for holiday bargain shopping: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm (12/6/08 update – hours are now 10 am-4 pm), Saturdays and Sundays. In true swap meet/flea market tradition, you never know who’s going to be selling what (like the items you see at left), or what treasures you might find. Operator Dean Burgess invites you to stop by and check it out – there’s no admission, and the building is open to the public. As for the Southgate Event Center itself: Now that the historic 13,000-square-foot center has been remodeled, you can book it for parties and other events, starting in January (here’s more information from the center’s website). There’s an attached kitchen, and a small business-office space upstairs. Free space also is available to nonprofits (by appointment only). Dean and his team say they are “proud and thrilled to be retaining this building and returning it to its use as a community outpost and meeting place.” Drop by and say hi this weekend during the grand opening, 8:30 am-4:30 pm both days — 9646 17th Ave SW (map), barely a block over the line from West Seattle, and immediately west of the heart of the 16th SW business district. Welcome to the White Center Swap Meet and Flea Market; we’re glad to have them on the WSB sponsor team – you can see the latest lineup here, along with information on how to become part of it!
Today we’re welcoming not one but three new sponsors who are joining forces to let you know what they’re all about – the health and fitness providers at 4546 California SW in The Junction – West Seattle Wellness, Fitness Together and 8 Limbs Yoga.
(West Seattle Wellness, Fitness Together, 8 Limbs Yoga team members: Front, L to R, Michelle Browning, Michele Mortenson, Jada Wood, Joe Bielling, Duncan Sailors; center, Joanna Bond; back, Deena Raven, Bonnie Katz, Jody Thomas O’Brien)
West Seattle Wellness offers alternative health-care options including acupuncture, massage therapy, skin care, psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, and more. Joe Bielling, owner and massage therapist, believes his strength comes from his strong listening skills. He says that his practitioners agree that the key to care is paying close attention to both verbal and nonverbal cues to determine the best course of action for their clients.
Bonnie Katz at Fitness Together says her fitness programs work because she can focus on her clients. Her individual trainers work with her to create a coordinated effort tailored to each client’s needs. She believes her attention to detail is what sets her apart from the “big box gyms.” Bonnie says great results come from personalized service.
8 Limbs Yoga manager Joanna Bond is proud of the community that’s grown up around her classes. She says 8 Limbs offers yoga in a safe and friendly environment. Also, 8 Limbs offers a variety of classes at different times of day. Whether you’re a beginner, a mom with a small child, or anyone else looking to get in better shape, Joanna says she has a class for you.
We’re pleased to welcome West Seattle Wellness, Fitness Together, and 8 Limbs Yoga (over Jak’s Grill; here’s a map) as the newest members of the WSB sponsor team; find the full list on this page along with information on how to join them!
Hope you never need it – but if you do, a reminder that WSB has the only West Seattle-specific lost/found pets page (now with a year of lost/found pets, plus pix at the end from our West Seattle Blog Pet Photos Flickr group). Our latest case: Leo the kitten, who was posted on the page as found; his owner says Leo didn’t stay with the original finder, and may now be wandering again. If you’ve seen Leo (whose home is on 44th SW between Hinds and Hanford), please call Scott, 206-755-3852. And if you lose/find a pet in West Seattle, send us the info and photo – editor@wsb.blackfin.biz – and be sure to check the Pets page.
As posted on Creighton Space (with photo) — a seal pup on Alki (which, Creighton wrote, was being guarded by Seal Sitters), close to a dead seal. (Perhaps the same dead seal that someone posted about in this comment last night on an old post?) Overall, it’s been a fairly slow season for the Seal Sitters, but they had expected the recently arrived chum run to bring along more seals.
Both from the WSB Forums: A rave for a dog rescuer, and one for a thoughtful act of neighborliness.
The company that launched wireless internet access on Washington State Ferries routes including Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth, Parsons, has just been acquired by Boingo, best known for wi-fi service in airports. Here’s the announcement. This excerpt indicates monthly subscriptions will be cheaper:
The Ferries Wi-Fi network will be moving to a Boingo-branded start page, where commuters and tourists will be able to purchase Boingo AsYouGo day passes for $7.95, as well as Boingo Unlimited for $21.95 per month. Boingo Unlimited is a monthly service that provides Wi-Fi access throughout the Americas and can be used at any Boingo location. For current subscribers to the Washington State Ferries Wi-Fi, the monthly subscription will be a decrease in price from $29.95, and will now include the ability to connect to any hotspot in the Boingo Roaming Network.
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