West Seattle, Washington
22 Thursday
Comcast’s Shauna Causey (a West Seattleite) forwarded the news release on these changes launching next month (mid-December in WS, she says) – you might be interested, if that’s your ISP: New megafast, costlier service (up to $139/month) plus potential speed improvements at current service levels:Read More
JOB LISTINGS: The latest listing in the West Seattle Jobs Offered section of the WSB Forums (where you can post West Seattle-based job openings FREE) is from Cafe Revo, whose upcoming opening is so fervently anticipated that some forum members are already laying the groundwork for a meetup. See the CR job listing here. Also, thanks to the fine folks who have applied for the first-ever WSB job listings (as posted here) – we’re starting interviews this week, and there’s still time to get resumes in.
HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS: More additions to the list this weekend, as the weeks to come get busier and busier: We now have a variety of Santa sightings (The Junction, Westwood Village, Admiral Theater, Delridge Community Center) as well as dozens of dinners, concerts, shopping events, Christmas-ship stops … we’re updating the page as often as possible so if your event’s not listed, send us the scoop! Thanks!
[photo by Christopher Boffoli]
First posted on Twitter by Monica Guzman from the P-I’s Big Blog, but we found out via this “retweet” (forwarded link) – Xconomy Seattle reports on coffee haunts “where innovators meet up.” West Seattle isn’t represented. C’mon, we’re not innovation-less over here! Are we? (For what it’s worth, while we of course are mega-fans of WSB sponsor Hotwire Coffee for the beverages, it’s too cozy for meetings when it’s not outdoor-table season, so we have had recent meetings at the Junction Uptown, Morgan Junction Caffe Ladro, Morgan Junction Tully’s, Coffee to a Tea … And you?)
Next time you check out the WSB Holiday Happenings page – with frequently updated listings for holiday bazaars, performances, and much more – you’ll see a new sponsor atop the page: Citilights Electric, residential specialists who want you to know this about their business: “Citilights Electric offers full-service electrical contracting. Our electricians are certified, trained professionals able to work in a high-pressure environment 
while utilizing their multi-tasking skills. This assures you that your electrical project is given the enthusiasm and expertise you deserve and expect. We strive daily to provide our customers the highest quality and greatest value. Superior workmanship, fast, dependable service, and complete customer satisfaction are what you will experience as a customer of Citilights Electric. We appreciate the opportunity to bid your next electrical project or troubleshoot your electrical problems.” For a list of some of the services Citilights Electric provides, check out this webpage. Citilights Electric invites customers in West Seattle and vicinity to call 206/937-8495; you can also send inquiries from the company’s website. WSB thanks Citilights Electric and our other sponsors for their support; for the current lineup and info on how to be part of it, just start here!
Trouble in the Triangle. Sort of. Read the whole tale in this WSB Forums post.
We were down a bit because of a “hardware node” problem with the server. Fixed now. Reminder, any time the site is unreachable, planned OR unplanned outage, we will post at westseattleblog.wordpress.com, with updates on the outage as well as any news that happens in the meantime, and we’ll update our Twitter feed (twitter.com/westseattleblog) in such instances too.
SHARE YOUR HALLOWEEN PIX WITH YOUR WEST SEATTLE NEIGHBORS: The pumpkin pix have been great (find them all by scrolling through our Holidays coverage archive), and now, after tonight’s fun, whatever you’re up to, please send pix – we’re going to get around to as many events as we can, but we can only pedal so fast; send pix to editor@wsb.blackfin.biz, and we’ll put together the best wrapup of West Seattle Halloween ’08, with your help! (Remember, the events are all listed here.)
FORUM FEATURES ADDED: If you haven’t been in the WSB Forums yet today, we’ve added a few features that have been in the works for a while, by members’ request; read about (and see) ’em here.
ORIGINAL 10:57 PM POST: Earlier today, we mentioned we’re planning on some late-night site downtime for upgrades, and thought it might start at 11 pm. That’s just moved back to about midnight. Meantime, one more reminder, PLEASE bookmark or otherwise note westseattleblog.wordpress.com, which we will use to post news during ANY WSB downtime, scheduled or unscheduled (as well as our Twitter feed at twitter.com/westseattleblog). 2:11 AM UPDATE: Site’s open again. Still some work going on under the hood, but it shouldn’t get in your way from hereon out.
NIGHT OWL ALERT: As of right now, we are 95% likely to be offline for a while starting around 11:30 tonight, to do some upgrading. We will continue our commitment to 24/7 news by using our backup site (westseattleblog.wordpress.com) if/when necessary, so please bookmark or otherwise make a note of that – anything major that happens while WSB is down (that goes for any unscheduled trouble as well as things like this), we’ll post it there, not only the latest news but also updates on what’s up with the site. You can also check in on Twitter during such times (twitter.com/westseattleblog) and when needed, we will post alerts on our partner site White Center Now (whitecenternow.com) too.
WANT TO WORK FOR WSB? We have just proudly posted our first-ever WSB job listings. Two roles we’re recruiting for — both detailed here.
SEATTLE MAGAZINE FEATURES WSB: WSB Forums members scooped us on this days ago when the magazine hit mailboxes, but since it’s finally on the newsstands, please indulge us a mention: Seattle Magazine‘s November issue includes its annual “Power List” of those whom the magazine’s editors and a guest panel consider to be some of our area’s trendsetters. Only by the grace of the trust, collaboration, and support you have invested in WSB — as the place to get 24/7 West Seattle news and to share news, information, opinions, photos, etc., with your West Seattle neighbors — has this turned into an interesting-enough enterprise for them to have approached your editor here about being part of the “Power List” feature. So we turn up on page 98, with a photo from this shoot we mentioned in August, or you can read the entire “Power List” article’s text online – we’re around the middle of the second page. Also featured on this year’s “Power List” are West Seattleite Anne Levinson, now leading the Seattle Storm, and Duwamish River hero BJ Cummings. Please let us know if you recognize anyone else on the list as a West Seattleite or someone with major WS ties (neighborhoods of residence generally weren’t mentioned in the features), so we can give them props here too. Thanks!
Next step in the plan to seek private operators for West Seattle Stadium is a Parks Board vote Nov. 13 on the “request for proposals” (as we reported last week), but in the meantime, there’s a new website set up by people concerned about its future. We got word today of savewestseattlestadium.blogspot.com; its author is requesting your comments and other feedback, and is planning to add additional info to the site in days to come.
We’re welcoming new WSB sponsors this afternoon — local realtors with an open house this weekend they’d like to let you know about (see the photo above): Here’s what Bunny Parker (Campbell) and Karen Hoffbuhr want you to know about themselves and their real-estate business: “They began working together in 2003 when they joined Keller Williams Real Estate. They have dubbed themselves team2use.com and truly enjoy working as a team. They believe they can deliver more to their customers and have grown their business primarily based on referrals. They know and love the Puget Sound area and enjoy helping buyers and sellers with all their real estate needs. West Seattle is home to both; Bunny has twin daughters and Karen has a daughter and a son. They can truly call themselves lifelong West Seattle residents. For Bunny and Karen, their connection began a long time ago in West Seattle. They attended Genesee Hill Elementary (Pathfinder), Madison Middle School and West Seattle High School. They have been great friends for 30 years. Previous to real estate Bunny managed many restaurants in the area, including Angelina’s in the Admiral Junction. She then moved into food sales. Real estate has been an excellent fit for of taking care of the customer, sales and of course working in a community she loves. Karen graduated from SPU and worked at Boeing and Teledesic. She spent a great deal of time doing Boeing Tours, conducting orientation for new employees, human resources and customer service. Karen enjoys the challenge of helping people achieve their goals and working to bring a real estate transaction together. Bunny and Karen feel a strong connection to Seattle Schools. With each closed transaction they will donate $500 to the school PTA of your choice. We believe Real Estate should be fun and we love what we do! Come by for a treat, not a trick, on this Sunday from 1:00 –4:00 P.M. at this open house, 4535 51st PL SW (here’s a map). It is a beautiful 5-bedroom Craftsman with spectacular views. We look forward to seeing you around West Seattle because it will be where we will always be.” Thanks to Bunny and Karen, team2use.com, for joining the WSB sponsor team, and thanks to YOU for supporting the sponsors that make it possible for us to provide 24/7 West Seattle news, information, and discussion; see the current sponsor lineup here, along with information on how to join it!
(Left to right, Swedish West Seattle Rehabilitation Services’ Adrienne Tews, patient rep; Elisabeth Tomere, DPT; David Esquinasi, PT)
This afternoon, we’re welcoming a new WSB sponsor: Swedish West Seattle Rehabilitation Services. It’s become a theme lately in so many things we write about: Services and businesses that are available right here in West Seattle, no need to leave the peninsula to find them. That goes for myriad services offered by Swedish West Seattle Rehab: You can see a detailed list of their services here. Their methods include diagnosis of musculoskeletal impairment and disability, manual therapies, complete postural analysis, specific exercise programs, biofeedback (S-EMG), and home programs. Those methods are used for areas of care including general orthopedics, ergonomics, headache treatment, women’s health, men’s health, sports/performance injuries, and post-operative care. You can find all these services at the West Seattle Rehab clinic in Swedish’s WS building at 3400 California SW (map); call them at 206/320-5510. Thanks to Swedish’s West Seattle Rehab team for joining the roster of WSB sponsors, all listed on this page along with information on how to join them.
In the WSB Forums, someone’s looking for a little peace and quiet with their java. Maybe you have a suggestion to add?
From Jerry at JetCityOrange, who is hanging ten on the digital edge: Barcodes for Obama. (That link includes a video demonstration.) P.S. Whoever you’re for, Monday’s the drop-dead voter-registration deadline. 
ADDED EARLY MONDAY MORNING: Another unique campaign-related video from a West Seattleite came in a few hours after we started this post with the barcodes — this time, Westcrest Park Off-Leash Area volunteer steward Stevo sent the link for “Bassets for Obama.” A must-see, even if you are voting for somebody else. At right, you see the stars of his video – Buddy and Barkley — who have their own trailer to travel with Stevo via motorcycle!
WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH ADDITION: You may have heard that Seattle Police have launched a website with short summaries of major crime incidents around the city, SPD Blotter. They have made RSS feeds available, separated by precinct, so we have added the Southwest Precinct feed from SPD Blotter to the WSB Crime Watch page (automated links, similar to the format you’ll find on our Blogs and More pages).
HOLIDAYS PAGE UPDATES: Thanks to everyone who’s sent word of more West Seattle Halloween events since we announced the WSB Holidays page, which starts with Halloween happenings (lots next Fri-Sat-Sun plus of course Halloween night itself) and continues through the winter holidays. If you’re planning something to which West Seattleites are welcome, please e-mail us the who/what/when/where, editor@wsb.blackfin.biz, any time.
FROM PARTNER SITE WHITE CENTER NOW: After two and a half months, White Center Now continues to update White Center news and information seven days a week, with multiple updates most days – like today: Here’s news of a new men’s salon coming to White Center; and here you’ll find new photos from the ongoing pier-removal work at Hicks Lake (now there’s a MASSIVE crane on the job).
This afternoon, we’re welcoming the newest WSB sponsor: West Seattle Nursery, 
where fall gardening season is in full swing (check out the colors in the photo at left). As is the tradition when a new sponsor joins the WSB team, we offer them the chance to let you know who they are and what’s up with their business: “West Seattle Nursery has been selling plants to neighborhood gardeners year-round for 22 years. We are proud to provide a great selection of perennials, annuals, shrubs and trees – tried and true favorites but also rare and unusual garden gems. Quality is important to us, so the majority of our plants come from Northwest growers, thus they are acclimated for our climate and growing conditions. Our staff is a well-rounded group of seasoned gardeners and plant enthusiasts. When you come to visit us, our first priority is to show you around, answer your questions and help you find the perfect plants for your garden. Our destination gift shop is overflowing with beautiful and unusual gifts, housewares, books, and indoor plants. We also provide a great selection of seeds, bulbs, tools and soil amendments. Mark your calendars for upcoming events at West Seattle Nursery: Through October 25th, our Fall Art in the Garden Exhibit – talented and creative local artists and craftspeople have honored us with their beautiful, durable and fanciful garden art; Saturday, October 25th, from 10 am to 1 pm: Our first-ever Growing Gardeners Appreciation Event! Children ages 4-12 are welcome to join us for a costume contest and scavenger hunt. There will be prizes and treats for everyone, and you’ll be done just in time to go trick or treating in The Junction! For more information on joining our Growing Gardener Club visit our website: www.westseattlenursery.com; Saturday, November 15th, from 11 am to 3 pm: Our Fall Open House – Join us for complimentary espresso and hors d’oeuvres. Check out Ingrid’s beautiful Christmas trees and all of our other holiday-themed merchandise. Get seasonal gardening advice from our staff. We look forward to this event every year and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do! In December, some of the artists among our staff will be giving a wreath making seminar every week. We’ll teach you how to build beautiful holiday wreaths and table swags out of seasonal evergreens. They make great gifts. Dates and times to be announced in our Fall Mailer (add your name to our mailing list the next time you visit) and also on our website: www.westseattlenursery.com.” Huge thanks to West Seattle Nursery for its support, and to all our sponsors, as well as to you, in turn, for supporting them. Our full list of current advertisers can be found here, along with information on how to join them.
A new online sideline for WSB’s inaugural sponsor Hotwire Coffee … a place to confess a secret, completely anonymously … or read others’ confessions even if you don’t have one of your own, yet. Check it out here. (And if you need to find it again later, it’s linked from CONFESS in the Hotwire ad on the WSB sidebar.)
Please forgive us for the unexpected hour and a half or so of downtime. You may recall we moved to a bigger and better server recently – but that didn’t mean much when tonight the company that manages it (and others) suffered some kind of trouble. (Update: The hosting company says it was a DDOS attack.) Meantime, please remember the backup site we set up during that transition:
westseattleblog.wordpress.com
We started posting there (as well as on Twitter, which you can access at twitter.com/westseattleblog even if you don’t want to sign up for your own account) once it was clear this wasn’t fleeting – please bookmark both of those, because their servers are with different companies so any time something goes wrong over here (hopefully not again for a long time), we’ll be there posting the latest news as well as updates about the site. So again, sorry about that, now we’re going to get busy copying what we posted on the backup site over to this one.
West Seattle is home to a wide variety of spiritual communities from a diverse array of faith traditions – and many are growing fast. Today, we welcome one of them as our newest WSB sponsor: Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation, an active, spiritually liberal West Seattle Church for more than four decades, led by the Rev. Peg Morgan. The tagline summing up WSUU: “Feeding your spirit, expanding your mind, working for justice.” Here are some of the ways its current, growing congregation of 150 adults and 80 children/youth say they’re doing that: “Examples of our current work in social justice include direct participation in Habitat for Humanity; caring for homeless families through the Family Promise Program; joining with the West Seattle Neighbors for Peace in opposing the tragic war in Iraq; and continuing to press for full equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people.” Toward the latter end, WSUU is a certified Welcoming Congregation. If you haven’t attended a Unitarian Universalist service before and are wondering what UUs believe, here’s a little bit about that: “We believe there are many sources of wisdom from which to draw in order for one to develop a strong spiritual core and live a meaningful, ethical life. Those sources include the world’s religions, our natural environment, as well as science and reason.” And it’s for all ages; WSUU has a well-regarded, comprehensive religious-education program for youth, under the leadership of Director of Religious Education for Children and Youth, Kari Kopnick. Also offered is a stimulating and diverse program of adult education classes. The church meets at 10:30 Sunday mornings at the Alki Masonic Temple, with an after-service coffee hour “where newcomers are warmly welcomed” – and there’s an enthusiastic, growing Choir and Music program too:
Plus, there are other socializing/spiritual support opportunities such as Women’s Retreats and Circle Suppers. To find out more, explore the WSUU website at wsuu.org. Thanks to Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation for joining the WSB sponsor team; our full list of sponsors — thanks to everyone for supporting them! — and info on how to join them, is on this page.
ARBOR HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY TECH PIONEER NOTED NATIONALLY: The Wall Street Journal‘s “Blog Watch” gives a shoutout this week to Arbor Heights’ Mark Ahlness, who in 1994 created the website that made AH Elementary one of the first grade schools in the U.S. with an online presence. You can follow his blog here (and he’s on Twitter too!).
SAY HI TO SEATTLE’S MOST FAMOUS NEWSPAPER BLOGGER: Monica Guzman from the P-I’s Big Blog is bringing her weekly BB meetup to West Seattle today, 5:30 pm at Uptown in The Junction. All welcome. We’ve met Monica several times and there are many things we could say about her – all positive! – but we’ll summarize with “she’s just plain good people,” so if you’re in the vicinity, drop by; we plan to.
THE NEXT TIME WE’RE LIKELY TO SEE MONICA, AND YOU’RE INVITED TO THIS TOO: Monica and your editor here are among the speakers set for the whimsically named BigFoot Blogging Conference (along with, among others, Goldy from HorsesAss.org, one of the political blogs covered on the new WSB Election page). 10 am-4 pm October 11th at Kane Hall on the UW campus; admission free, but space is limited.
LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST – THANKS FOR ANOTHER RECORD MONTH!!!! We try to follow a philosophy from our TV days – though you get ratings daily, don’t stress about the ups and downs, look at the monthly trends. When you run a website, you get “ratings” minute by minute, but the trends are what matter. And thanks to you, the trends continue to be amazing – September was the fourth consecutive month with more than half a million WSB pageviews, setting a new record at 564,283 (40K more than last month, even though September has one less day). That’s not just because of all the people who read WSB – most importantly, it’s because of everyone who shares information with the rest of West Seattle via this site, whether it’s a Forum post or e-mailing/calling us with a tip (like the half-dozen people who e-mailed this morning to ask about the film crew in Lincoln Park – thanks to those tips, our in-person and online followups brought full details within about half an hour). This site is viewed as one of the most successful experiments so far in community-centered independent online-only news (our media coverage links are halfway down the “About” page), and we are thankful to have you as a collaborator. We also want to know how this site could better serve your needs — call, e-mail, text, or tweet any time.
Alki Bike and Board actually joined the WSB sponsor lineup about a week ago but now that the shop’s annual Fall Sale is just days away – this Friday, Saturday, Sunday – we’re rolling out the red carpet today. Stu Hennessey (pictured at left presenting a demonstration at the last Sustainable West Seattle meeting) says he wants people to see Alki Bike and Board as a resource for people to find out everything about bicycles, particularly as a form of transportation – yes, they’re recreational, but with high gas prices and environmental concerns, he invites people not only to stop by and buy a bike but also to find out how it can be a useful transportation device. Stu hopes that this will lead customers to appreciate and enjoy the time they spend in Alki Bike and Board, seeing it not only as a shop, but also a place to learn about what they buy, so they can get better use out of their purchase. One more note – even though Alki Bike and Board is in the Admiral District, its name comes from the fact that the shop opened on Alki in the 1970s; it moved up to Admiral, at a location on the west side of California SW, then to its current location several years ago. Snowboards were added to the shop’s repertory in 1998 because Stu’s kids were snowboard fans and it seemed like a natural fit for his customers – if you’re into bikes, you’re often into boards. During the winter months, Alki Bike and Board sells boards and does ski tuneups. Back to bikes – if you go to the AB&B website, you can find out how to get one free bicycle-maintenance class; note that the classes are limited, and by appointment only. Alki Bike and Board is at 2606 California SW, less than a block south of Admiral. There’s more info about the Friday-Sunday fall sale – including the hours – on this page of the Alki B&B website, including “20%-50% STOREWIDE DISCOUNT on all Clothing, Shoes, Parts and Accessories.” We thank Alki Bike and Board for joining the WSB sponsor lineup; you can see the current list of sponsors – thank you for supporting them! – plus our latest traffic updates (September has already set a WSB pageview record with two days to go – 525,536, 9/1 through 9/28), by going to the WSB Advertise page.
2 quick notes as the week begins: With Election Day just five weeks from tomorrow, we’ve added the WSB Election page, featuring links to info on ballot measures (pop quiz! do you know what I-1029’s about?) and candidates, plus continuously updated digests of area political headlines and political blog updates (like the automated 
digests on our Blogs and More pages). Find the Election page here (or from the tabs on any WSB page). Also, the Twitter box is back in the right sidebar – it’s one way to track what we’re saying on Twitter without signing up for it (as explained here) yourself – it’s been gone a few days, since some systemwide technical instability on Thursday, but seems OK now.
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.
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