West Seattle, Washington
24 Saturday
One of those side things we wouldn’t usually bother you with ’cause it’s off-topic, but several people just sent e-mail and other messages so what the heck: The New York Times website has posted tomorrow’s Page 1 story about the massive delay in tonight’s Olympics-opener broadcast. Your editor here, identified as “a blogger in Seattle,” is quoted. Just because it’s an anecdote about the new world of new media, we thought we’d note how that happened, jumped off the home page so you can scroll by if you don’t care:Read More
If you vote by mail, you may have cast your ballot already. If you’re old-fashioned in-person voters like us, 12 days till polling places throw open their doors for the August 19th primary. Here’s all the ballot info you could possibly want; we also included some highlights in this WSB update a few weeks ago. (If you’re not registered, it’s too late for the primary, but you can follow the links on that same page to get signed up in time for the November 4th general election.) Meanwhile, West Seattle’s largest political organization, the 34th District Democrats, reminds us that tomorrow night is their biggest fundraiser of the year — the Garden Party and Auction, 6 pm @ West Seattle Nursery. And if you feel like talking politics right now, the never-dull 2008 Elections section of the WSB Forums has a provocative topic in progress: “Why vote?”
Seattle Weekly just posted its “Best of 2008” winners’ list, with some West Seattle representation: In the readers’ poll, Buddha Ruksa was voted “best Thai restaurant,” Husky Deli was voted “best takeout deli food,” Cupcake Royale (which of course has branches outside WS too) got “best cupcakes,” and we thank you for voting WSB “best neighborhood blog” – the Weekly kindly included the description, “keeping us astoundingly well-informed on goings-on across the bridge.” You can read the entire Best of 2008 readers’-poll list here. In addition to the reader votes, the Weekly also profiled its staff “best of” picks; Spring Hill is “best new restaurant“; Rocksport is lauded as “best unvarnished sports bar”; Redline Music and Sports is written up here as “best way to keep your Cougar pride in Seattle,” Kitty Harbor is profiled here as “best place to melt your heart,” and WSB also got a bonus shoutout in this section, courtesy of Weekly managing editor Mike Seely, who lives on this side of the bay. You can browse all the writeups from this “Best Of” start page; there are a TON of categories and we just read through as quickly as we could but have to leave the computer for a while – let us know if you see a West Seattle winner we missed and we’ll add it here later.
Today we’re welcoming the newest WSB sponsor, Fauntleroy Chiropractic Clinic, which has been in West Seattle for more than 25 years; 
Dr. Bryan Wiebe and Hillary Wiebe took over the practice a decade ago. Fauntleroy Chiropractic Clinic sees patients for injuries and treatment, as well as for wellness and preventive care. FCC offers therapeutic massage onsite. They are on most insurance plans, and offer affordable cash plans too. You’ll find Fauntleroy Chiropractic Clinic at 4520 Fauntleroy (map), online at www.fauntleroychiro.com, and by phone at 206/932-6605. We appreciate the support of Fauntleroy Chiropractic Clinic and all our sponsors, who are listed on the WSB Advertise page, where anyone interested in joining them can also find out how (the latest toplines on WSB traffic growth are on that page too). Welcome, Fauntleroy Chiropractic Clinic!
Next Monday, Fresh Air Body Fitness starts a new outdoor-fitness “boot-camp-inspired” class at Lincoln Park; 
this morning, they join WSB as sponsors to let you know about that, and what else they are doing as they invite you to “Air Out Your Workout!” Photo shows Diana Smith (left) and Alex Haas, who write: “As the owners and operators of Fresh Air Body Fitness boot camp inspired classes in West Seattle, we are dedicated to helping our participants reach their fitness goals. As certified group fitness instructors with experience teaching a variety of formats, we believe that it is more motivating to have a group of energetic individuals working together than it is when we go it alone. We take pride in the challenging and balanced exercise programs we implement outside of the usual gym walls. Our beautiful city parks offer a varied terrain that ramps up any workout. The elements push us to work harder while at the same providing a mental boost that makes the time fly! We appreciate our partnership with community organizations such as the Parks Department and even area schools. In addition to holding classes in the West Seattle area, we bring our revitalizing exercise program to the workplace. We are looking forward to a bright future in reaching many individuals across all ages and fitness levels with the hopes of impacting their lives in a positive way.” The Fresh Air Body Fitness website has full details on the cost, time, location, and how to reach Diana and Alex. We’re glad to have them on board along with our other much-appreciated sponsors, all listed on the Advertise page, where you’ll also find a brand-new update on WSB traffic, and information on how to join the sponsors who help keep West Seattle’s 24/7 news source growing. Welcome to Fresh Air Body Fitness!
Even if you don’t frequent the WSB Forums, this thread’s kind of fun (thanks to PSPS for starting it): Movies shot, all or part, in West Seattle. Everyone knows about the “Sleepless in Seattle” Alki scene (and the hilarious implication it’s around the corner from Lake Union), it seems, but otherwise, we’ve seen some surprises so far! (P.S. The city “Film and Music Office” posts a weekly newsletter.)
Today we’re welcoming the newest WSB sponsor — West Seattle Bowl on 39th just north of Fauntleroy (map). Owners Andy Carl and Mike Gubsch have a lot to share about one of the most fun places in West Seattle: It’s 32 lanes with a full Chinese /American restaurant (Terrace West) and lounge, and it’s one of the few remaining bowling centers in the Seattle city limits. Though West Seattle Bowl was established in 1948, today it is arguably among the most innovative centers in the nation. They were the first center in the U.S. to have an online reservation system incorporated in its website and have had more than 1,000 online reservations since the system started in July 2007. Before that, they were one of the first centers to post league standings online back in the ’90s. And coming soon: Game night on Fridays. This will be a fun interactive contest using a variety of games tied to the scoring system that everyone can participate in while bowling. Winners will receive prizes. Plus, right now – you can win a free bowling party for 30 people valued at $1000. Go to www.westseattlebowl.com and for each online reservation you make between now and August 31st you will be entered into a drawing for a bowling party for 30 people to include, a custom drill bowling ball and bag for the winner and a party for 30 people to bowl for 2 hours, catering by Garlic Jim’s (pizza and salads), and a $250 beverage allowance in our lounge. There’s even more to the West Seattle Bowl story, including special deals they offer, and other ways in which they’ve been trailblazers — read on:Read More
The Elliott Bay Water Taxi schedules are still anchored to the Metro website, but you can now read all about the new-ish parent agency of the Water Taxi and the Seattle-Vashon passenger ferry – and in the future, maybe more foot ferries — on the new King County Ferry District website.
While we’re covering (and participating in) the West Seattle Grand Parade, we’ll be able to update Twitter via mobile phone (as we did while watching the 4th of July fireworks from Alki), so updates, parade-related and otherwise, will appear here:
(LIVE COVERAGE OVER NOW, SO THE TWITTER WINDOW IS GONE)
The space above this line shows our four most recent updates. Doesn’t look like there’s a way to go to the archives from there but the Twitter “what am I doing” box halfway down the right sidebar does access archives via the lower-right arrow (if necessary).
If you had trouble getting into WSB over the past hour or so, please accept our apologies. Our server and its backups all crashed. We have some technical upgrades in the works in the not-too-distant future that should improve reliability. Meantime, when this kind of thing happens, we send out notes and news via Twitter – so if you’re not on Twitter yet, you might consider getting an account (doesn’t mean you have to use it much) — twitter.com, sign up to “follow” westseattleblog. (This won’t help during those occasional site outages but FYI, our Twitter updates also appear in the aqua box halfway down the sidebar; sometimes you’ll see notes, observations, updates there that aren’t worth official posts/articles but briefly notable anyway.)
We didn’t entirely love the site search “widget” we’d been offering atop the sidebar … so we found something better. The new search box still uses Google to comb WSB, including the Forums, but results are on a more full-featured G-page. BONUS: If you need to search the whole Web, now you can do that from any WSB page – use that same box but uncheck the boxlet next to “search West Seattle Blog.” Problems? Let us know. Thanks!
Swedish Automotive recently joined WSB as a sponsor, and we’re telling you about it with a bit of a lag but in time to get out the word about its annual T-shirt giveaway/contest and bag giveaway. 
First, about Swedish Automotive: Swedish has been West Seattle’s Volvo and Saab repair service center since 1983. Owner Dave Winters says his business philosophy is based on his mother’s old saying – take care of your car, and your car will take care of you. Now, about the T-shirts: Right now Swedish is giving away free reusable canvas shopping bags (timely!) and free T-shirts to anyone who stops by. You do not have to have work done on your car to get a T-shirt and/or bag, nor do you have to own a Volvo or a Saab. But here’s another incentive to stop by for a shirt: Between now and the end of August, Swedish Automotive is having its annual T-shirt picture contest. Swedish wants you to send a picture of yourself wearing their T-shirt while on vacation. The person who sends the picture from the place FARTHEST away from Swedish will win dinner for two at Salty’s. (Get your photo to Swedish by 8/31; winner will be announced 9/15.) All pictures must show the wearer next to an identifiable landmark to be eligible. Dave tells us past winning photos have come from all over — Europe and Asia included. To date, the picture that was taken the furthest from Swedish was sent from the tip of South Africa. But even in this time of “staycations,” the T-shirt and reusable bag can come in handy, so visit Swedish Automotive at 7501 35th SW (map), 206-938-8685. We thank Swedish Automotive and all our other sponsors for supporting WSB; interested in joining them, to have your ad seen an average of 16,000+ times every day (6/08 stats)? Here’s where to start.
Looks like we’re back up – after an hour of downtime – we discovered AFTER it started that our hosting company had a “planned outage” to do some repair work, but had only posted a warning on a website that customers wouldn’t have occasion to visit until and unless there was trouble. So we didn’t see the warning, and therefore didn’t/couldn’t warn you, or else we would have. Thanks for your patience. Couple posts in queue so they’re coming right up …
NEW BEACON ONLINE: Editor Cami MacNamara has just posted the latest edition of the Alki Community Council-published semimonthly newspaper Alki News Beacon; you can get it here. We contribute to the News-Beacon sometimes and wrote up the beach-fire-controversy flareup for this edition. The ACC’s next meeting, by the way, is a week from tonight — 7 pm July 17, Alki Community Center. Also from Alki:
ALKI STATUE OF LIBERTY PLAZA PROGRESS: Thanks again to David Hutchinson for that photo and another update on the project, about to start its third day (see our extensive video/photo coverage of its momentous Day 1, plus the past year of what led up to it, archived here). He reports:
Virtually all of the rubble has been hauled away. (Today) begins the construction phase of the project with Patrick Donohue, Parks Department Project Manager, indicating that this would begin with surveying and grading. Then will come the construction of the forms in preparation for the first pouring of cement next week.
In today’s traditional WSB sponsor welcome, we want to share this information about RD House Real Estate & Property Management. 
Owner/Broker Ricky D. Sadler is a longtime West Seattle resident who started as an agent with the West Seattle John L Scott office, and sold his first house on Fauntleroy, across from Lincoln Park. An interesting trend that RD House has seen, especially in West Seattle, involves owners who decide to rent their property and manage it themselves but quickly realize that being a landlord isn’t something that everyone is cut out for. A myriad of issues all make self-management a very challenging, and unexpected, fulltime, job. RD House uses a flexible operation that allows them to virtually run the business from the field, which they say has been a big success – owners really value their responsiveness, the average days on market for their rental units over the past year is about 25 days, and they are steadily taking on new properties. Aside from running RD House, Ricky D sits on the board of the Seattle chapter of the National Association of Residential Property Managers and is involved in community support, such as Solid Ground, which provides emergency food and clothing banks, and he’s raised funds for First Place School, which provides a safe educational environment for homeless children. We appreciate the support of RD House and the other West Seattle-based businesses who sponsor WSB; you’ll find them all listed on the WSB Advertise page along with info on how other prospective advertisers can join them.
The traditional WSB sponsor welcome goes out today to Village Green Perennial Nursery, featured in this month’s edition of Seattle Metropolitan Magazine as a “Community Treasure” (page 47!). Village Green is celebrating its 5th anniversary this year. Owner Vera Johnson is a fully organic gardener, specializing in perennials and old roses, growing with soils blended using compost made at Village Green. Of course, organic gardening doesn’t just involve the soil – it involves the rest of the ecosystem, and Vera and her staff extend their customer service to talking with customers about natural pest management, including knowing which plants atttract the “good bugs,” which in turn keep the “bad bugs” away. Village Green, in fact, has its own bee colony and three chickens who help keep potential pests in check. The plants Vera sells are all locally grown by independent growers; she notes that means you get fresher, livelier plants that will adapt more quickly to your garden. She also wants you to know she knows gardens and gardeners, and uses that knowledge in her approach to customer service. Village Green’s nursery grounds stretch out behind the green house you see at the upper right of the photo above; it’s at 10223 26th SW (map), phone 206/767-7735, open Thursdays-Sundays – hours are on this page of the Village Green website, which has a lot to explore. We thank Village Green Perennial Nursery and all WSB sponsors, listed on this page along with information on how to join them.
We’re extending the traditional WSB welcome this afternoon to our newest sponsor, Charles Burnett. He grew up in West Seattle and currently works as an associate broker with Windermere Real Estate in The Junction, where he specializes in helping first-time homebuyers, particularly those interested in condos and townhouses. He says his buyers are interested in West Seattle for many of its most appealing attributes — great views, close to downtown, Junction nightlife. And he’s noticed that it’s become a very attractive place for people who have been out of school for a few years, are getting settled into their careers, and are ready to find a great neighborhood they can truly call home. His expertise comes from seven years of working as an agent before studying for his broker license, as well as from growing up here; when he’s not busy helping clients, he’s an avid hiker, rock-climber, boater, and snowboarder. Check out Charles Burnett’s website for info on how to reach him, and to search for properties that are on the market now. WSB thanks him and our other sponsors for choosing to grow their businesses and support ours by advertising here; they’re all listed on this page, with info on how you can join them.
If you’re near a radio or computer at 9 am Monday, your editor here will be one of several guests during the live interview show “Weekday” on KUOW (94.9 FM, or listen online here) — here’s their description of what we’ll be talking about (not on KUOW’s website yet so we’re excerpting from e-mail the booking producer sent us):
Neighborhood blogs
A townhouse is going up next door, someone got mugged around the corner, and a new coffee shop opened down the street. That’s the kind of thing you want to know when it happens near you. But it’s probably not going to make it into the city newspaper. Hyper local bloggers have sprung up to fill you in on your neighborhood news. Some bloggers are reporters. Some are software developers. Some are just curious citizens. One only writes haikus. Are local blogs how all of us will get more information in the future? Is it a sustainable business? Do you read a local blog? E-mail weekday@kuow.org.
Other scheduled guests are from Central District News, Rainier Valley Post, OlyBlog, and Hillku (whose writer also contributes to Capitol Hill Seattle). P.S. Our “Rain City Radio” online/phone chat from earlier this week is now archived here as an audio file (and linked from our “About” page, where we have a list of WSB-related coverage links below our bios).
Our summary last night of the newly unveiled Alaskan Way Viaduct “scenarios” included that one — Scenario E — which envisions buildings beneath a new single-deck elevated structure (which in turn would have a green-space “lid”). In an odd coincidence, WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli had just a few days earlier sent us this:
He found it in the municipal archives — some sort of prototype for a new West Seattle Bridge, proposed in the ’70s, with residential and business spaces built into the structure. The fabulous history book West Side Story discusses three high-level-bridge designs presented at a February 1972 public hearing, followed by years of squabbling over bridge-building (sound familiar?) until finally the 1978 freighter crash forced the issue — but we don’t know if this was one of the three, or just a fanciful scenario.
On one of those days when you can see forever – not a cloud in the sky – we welcome a new WSB sponsor: A North Admiral view home that’s up for sale. Here’s what its owners want you to know: “Two longtime West Seattle residents and avid West Seattle Blog readers are selling their North Admiral View Home and think advertising to WS Blog readers would be a great way to spread the word. Are you looking, or know someone looking for view property in Seattle? This home is well-priced and located on a quiet, secluded section of Walnut Avenue. It boasts a wonderful city/bay view, two decks, lots of natural light, an open layout and more. It’s move-in ready with new paint and carpets. There’s potential to expand in a neighborhood of million-dollar-plus homes. Enjoy bird and weather watching, walk to Metropolitan Market, the library, Admiral Theater, restaurants, bus, water taxi, beach and Hiawatha Playfield. Take a look and call listing agent Mitch Forrey (his number’s on that website, or e-mail him here) for more information.” The home’s address is also on its website, along with word of an open house at 1 pm this Sunday. WSB thanks the home-sellers for their support, along with all our other sponsors, listed here along with information on how to join them.
New listing — $1.5 million, with the notation: “Please drive by, seeing is believing.”
With the 4th of July just a week and a half away, it’s high time to start thinking about it. A lot. So we’ve finished the WSB West Seattle 4th of July page 
and you can find it now from the row of page-navigation tabs atop every WSB page — or just click here. It’s your one-stop shop for everything from the Alki traffic-restrictions plan we first published here a week and a half ago (important info so read it now if you didn’t read it then), to holiday events such as the Admiral Kids’ Parade and the High Point Commons Park celebration, to Water Taxi, ferry, and bus info, and even all the details we can find about the fireworks shows you’ll watch from West Seattle — or elsewhere (we’ve got the statewide list linked on the page too). If there’s some other Independence Day info you’re looking for – or if you have an event to add to the page – please e-mail us, as we’ll keep updating it till the holiday’s over.
4 PM TODAY: Your editor here has been invited to discuss West Seattle this afternoon on Rain City Radio, a new audio interview “show” that the founder of popular Seattle real-estate blog Rain City Guide, Dustin Luther, recently launched. His post about it explains how to listen and/or call in to join the conversation.
7 PM TONIGHT: As reported here last week, two members of legendary rock band R.E.M. — Peter Buck and Bill Rieflin — will join West Seattle authors Corianton Hale and David Belisle for a launch party to celebrate their photography book “R.E.M.: HELLO,” 7 pm @ Easy Street in The Junction. (Party goes till 10; signing is 7-8.)
7 PM TONIGHT: The next big West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival event — the White Rose Reception — happens tonight at Fauntleroy Church (WSB sponsor) – here are details from Hi-Yu’s Danette Carufel:
West Seattle Hi-Yu cordially invites you to the 2008 White Rose Reception. This event is for women only and is a celebration of past and present Hi Yu royalty and candidates. All are invited; festivities will begin at 7 pm tonight at Fauntleroy Church (UCC), 9260 California SW. Come and share your Hi-Yu memories or to learn about our community festival. Past royalty are encouraged to wear or bring their sashes and memory scrapbooks. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $5.00. For more information please call (206) 935-6517.
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