West Seattle, Washington
18 Wednesday
If you follow what’s happening in the Middle East, you may have heard about an international aid delegation, sponsored by the women’s peace group Code Pink, that made it into Gaza from a long-closed Egyptian border crossing. Turns out a West Seattle woman is with the group. Dr. 
Amal Sedky Winter‘s daughter, Miriam Yovetich, e-mailed to share her mother’s story. In e-mail to family and friends, Dr. Winter described the delegation as “almost 60 women with sleeping bags and tents” as they camped out hoping the border crossing would open so they could fulfill an invitation from the United Nations Refugee Agency to be in Gaza for International Women’s Day last weekend. (Her e-mail can be read in its entirety on this website.) Dr. Winter is an Egyptian-born psychologist who has been in the U.S. since her teen years, and has long advocated on behalf of Arab women’s rights. The delegation’s visit is scheduled to end today, according to this story about a B.C. woman who also is with the group. Dr. Winter’s daughter also tells us her mother has been developing this website to share information about Egypt.
Sorry, no runway models – instead, a fresh new concept: Real women wearing real clothes! (And, in our short clip, modeling to the fitting tune of “Got to Be Real,” the 1979 disco classic by Cheryl Lynn.) Good turnout this afternoon – we counted at least 50 – for the fashion show/West Seattle Food Bank fundraiser at The Sanctuary at Admiral (the ex-church-turned-event-venue north of Hiawatha):
The fashion show was co-sponsored by Designer Labels Consignment Boutique, Clementine, Elliott Hair Salon, Small Clothes, Coffee to a Tea w/ Sugar, and Herban Feast Catering.
(Scouts from Troop 282 with donations from the 2008 “Scouting for Food”)
Heads-up on door-to-door visitors you DON’T need to be suspicious about – in fact, you’re going to want to welcome them warmly: The folks at West Seattle Boy Scout Troop 282 e-mailed with advance word of Scouting for Food, which will send Scouts into local neighborhoods the next two Saturdays:
Scouting for Food
March 14 and 21For twenty years, the Boy Scouts have worked together with community food banks to collect food for the hungry during the annual Scouting for Food drive. To date, more than 23 million cans of food have been collected for local community food banks. The Boy Scouts of America teaches the value of community service in all of its programs and the importance of helping others. Doing a Good Turn Daily is a cornerstone of the Scouting program.
Scouts from West Seattle Troop 282 will walk our neighborhoods delivering door hangers on Saturday, March 14. The following Saturday, March 21, Scouts will follow-up to collect non-perishable food item donations and deliver them to the West Seattle Food Bank. Emphasis is on food most needed for nutrition such as peanut butter, baby formula, packaged meals and canned goods, especially tuna, soups, stews, meats, fruits and vegetables.
Please help support the hungry in our community. It is more important now than it has been for many decades. Watch for a door hanger on your door and get your donations out early on March 21st, so you can join our Scouts in Doing a Good Turn Daily.
A bonus — donations to West Seattle Food Bank (and also White Center Food Bank, which serves part of West Seattle) count extra this month and next because of the Feinstein Challenge (explained here). ADDED 5:09 PM: First word of this came from Troop 282 – thank you! – but we also asked a followup question about other troops participating; we’re told that other area participants will include Troop 284 and Cub Scout Packs 282, 284, 285, 793, and 799. (As always, we really appreciate being able to share news like this with the rest of West Seattle, so whatever you and/or your group are up to, editor@wsb.blackfin.biz – any time!)
She’s a successful enterpreneur and coach, but you may know Sunny Kobe Cook best from her “Sleep Country USA” commercials. Now she’s back onscreen as one of the stars of the 8-minute movie you see above, “A Taboo for Eight,” a creation of her husband and MovieStarNow.com proprietor John Murphy, which premiered with a party Friday night at their West Seattle home. Click ahead to read their news release about it (including the list of cast and crew):Read More
Big day for work parties! Thanks to Josh Sutton for the pix and this report:
Rotarians Bill Fazekas (left) and Ryan Reese split firewood today at YMCA Camp Colman, where the weather held out most of the day. Located on Key Peninsula, Camp Colman has an almost-100-year connection to West Seattle, founded by families in the Fauntleroy area.
Ten Rotarians (and three of their kids) joined forty other volunteers who cleaned winter debris, spread woodchips on trails and prepped camp for schoolgroups and spring campouts. YMCA Camp Colman also offers summer camp and is taking signups now @ www.ymcacampcolman.org If you’re a Camp Colman alumni, you can find a group on Facebook. Also, the annual Goop breakfast is coming up on Saturday, March 28 at the Fauntleroy YMCA.
The Fauntleroy Y is part of the West Seattle Family YMCA, which is a WSB sponsor. One more photo, this one of the whole group:
Meantime, we’re proud to be a co-sponsor of the first-ever Winter Movies on the Wall series in The Junction, which kicked off tonight with “The Mummy” – preceded by a race that’s hard to explain – you just have to see it:
The winner took home a gift certificate for Square 1 Books in Jefferson Square. Two more Winter Movies on the Wall, coming up the next two Saturday nights – the original (Gene Wilder) “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” next Saturday 3/14, and “Napoleon Dynamite” on 3/21, showtime at West Seattle Christian Church‘s brand-new activity center at 7 pm, doors open 5:30 pm, bring your own chairs and donations for West Seattle Food Bank.
Snow? What snow? A few flakes didn’t stop 15 hardy people from volunteering their time this morning for the annual — every year since 1993! — cleanup of Fairmount Ravine, which runs along Fairmount Avenue, including under the Admiral Way bridge. John Lang told WSB they were glad to find less trash this year, and not surprised to find a whole lot of spray-paint cans. (You can see some of the paint vandals’ handiwork in our photos from last year’s cleanup.) They’re also working to clear invasives like ivy from the big trees along the slope.
If you look really closely – that blue jacket is being worn by one of the volunteers who was all the way up the slope under the bridge when we stopped by. Tully’s and Admiral Safeway donated coffee, hot chocolate, and donuts. (Congrats also to everyone who volunteered in today’s other work parties, including Lincoln Park and Camp Long; we include work parties in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup every week – they’re usually on Saturday mornings/middays and a great way to kick off the weekend.)
(Pictured from left are: Meredith Lang, Hope Lutheran 8th grader; Tori Hammond, 7th grader; Erin Salle, 8th grader; Anika Lidstrom, 8th grader; Meghan Espinoza, 6th grader; Olivia Wake, 7th grader. They were coached by teachers Kristin Tarabochia, and Kim Hood)
We received that photo of Hope Lutheran basketball-team members from Bob Matthews, along with a tribute he wrote in honor of their recent effort. Read on to see what he wants you to know about them, and the lesson they taught:Read More
We first showed you that photo back in October, in this story about Family Promise of West Seattle, the peninsula’s only agency helping homeless families, with a day center and arrangements for night lodging. Board member Donna Pierce e-mailed today to invite you to a benefit brunch:
West Seattle Blog readers are cordially invited to “Delivering on the Promise,” a brunch benefiting Family Promise of Seattle, this Saturday, March 7, from 10:30 AM ’til noon, at Fauntleroy Church. Brunch begins at 10:30, and a program follows at 11. Please come hear about Family Promise’s work in our community, coordinating a network of congregations and volunteers that provides fellowship, temporary housing and food for newly homeless families, while staff provides case management, advocacy and direction to help guests access the housing and employment resources they need to regain independence. Admission is free, and donations supporting the organization’s mission will be solicited during the program. RSVP 206-388-9170 or fundraiser@familypromiseofseattle.org
Sarah Bonzer e-mailed today to ask if we’d share a request that she in turn is sharing on behalf of her friend and co-worker, Katie Hogan; both of them live in West Seattle – that’s a candid photo of Katie at left, sent after we asked Sarah for one to go with this story. Before reading Katie’s request, you should hear what Sarah has to say about her friend Katie:
Katie was diagnosed with advanced cancer three years ago and I’ll never forget the day she made the announcement in our conference room at work. You don’t wish something like this on anyone, let alone a woman in her thirties with a young daughter and husband who has survived his own bout with cancer. Katie is one of the gentlest, most caring, considerate and hard working individuals you’ll ever meet. My life is better for having known her during this time, if that is at all possible. Sadly, Katie likely won’t live a full life like the rest of us. Yet in her final years, she stays committed to organizations such as the one she describes below which have supported her during this journey.
The organization is called the Young Survival Coalition; its Seattle branch has less than $40 left in its “Sunshine Fund.” Sarah says even $10 would be a big help – but you don’t have to take her word for it; read Katie’s note, by clicking ahead:Read More
As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child – and in the case of this story, it takes a village of fundraisers to rustle up the money for programs to help kids. The West Seattle Family YMCA (WSB sponsor) gathered fundraising volunteers at The Hall at Fauntleroy tonight for the Partners With Youth Campaign “victory celebration”: More than $202,000 raised, close to the $205K target (half of the total $410K goal, with the other half raised by the Y’s Board of Managers). This money goes to keep YMCA programs accessible to kids, teens, and families in West Seattle, Vashon, and South Park. Tonight’s event brought together volunteers to report their individual achievements – those who exceeded certain personal goals got T-shirts – the photo above shows Katie Taylor, director of the Y’s afterschool program at Madison, calling out goal-exceeders’ names. (The Y website offers online-donation opportunities, by the way.)
(photo at left, Mike Gain in his West Seattle office, next to framed drawings of Cayce and Gain’s past headquarters)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
“Personally, I think the market’s bottomed out.”
Longtime West Seattle real-estate/development leader Mike Gain was careful to include the term “personally.” But it’s emblematic of his optimistic nature, which he is using to fuel what he calls the “run” to get up to speed as he takes over Prudential Northwest Realty, which he ran for two years after he and Roger Cayce sold their West Seattle-iconic Cayce and Gain real-estate firm to Prudential in 2002.
That “run” hasn’t stopped since at least Tuesday, when he prepared to tell the PNW areawide team he was coming back to run the company (as first reported here Thursday morning, once Gain confirmed it).
Even as I sat in Gain’s 3210 California SW office this afternoon – where I’d last visited in December 2007 to talk with Gain and Cayce about their rezoning proposal for the blocks surrounding it (more on that proposal’s status later) – signs of that “run” persisted.
(added 7:14 pm, photo by Tony Bradley, replacing our original iPhone photo)
ORIGINAL 6:16 PM REPORT: 9428 Delridge, commercial building. Here’s a map. Scanner says smoke from the second floor. Off to check it out.
6:31 PM UPDATE: (From TR at the scene) No visible flames, but smoke coming from roof of the Ty Ty Market building that is just to the north of the Cafe Rozella (etc.) building on the alley (which veers southeast from a driveway opening on Delridge). Flames were seen on the second floor, but seems to be out now. The fire engines have traffic blocked around the Delridge and Roxbury Triangle.
UPDATE 6:43 PM: No one was hurt and fire crews are mopping up.
UPDATE: 6:51 PM: Traffic is also blocked along 17th SW between Roxbury and Delridge as crews are still packing up.
7:02 PM UPDATE: The incident commander told us at the scene that fire investigators have just gone in to figure out what started the fire and how much damage was done. SFD spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen says nobody was inside when the fire started. Photographer Tony Bradley got to the scene shortly after firefighters and saw some flames behind a 2nd-story window; we’ll add his photo when we get it (7:13 pm, we subbed it out for the iPhone photo originally on top of this – and here’s a second one from Tony, beneath this update).
10:07 PM: Just in case you’re wondering, we’re still awaiting official word from SFD on the fire’s cause.
8:49 AM MONDAY: Our fellow White Center Now contributor Ricardo Guarnero at neighboring Cafe Rozella says the fire actually was in a Muslim prayer hall in this building. We are still awaiting word from Seattle Fire investigators regarding cause/damage. Ricardo adds that there’s a note on the door saying “MASJID is closed indefinitely,” and adds, “The sign is on the door where Muslims gathered to pray five times a day. Next door is the ‘Hope Academic Enrichment Center.’ Both were there for the Muslim community in White Center – mostly African immigrants from the horn of Africa.”
12:39 PM MONDAY: SFD tells WSB that “improperly discarded smoking materials … in a vinyl couch” were to blame for the fire, which has been ruled accidental. Damage is estimated at $25,000. A photo we took at the scene this morning shows a burned couch:
Sunday night, we brought you the story of Allison Dennis, a West Seattle mom whose son Jack (photo left) is autistic, campaigning to get a bill mandating insurance coverage of autism treatment — “Shayan’s Law“ — through the Legislature. Allison says the bill is on the brink of death unless action is taken today:
Senator Karen Keiser, chair of the Senate Health Care Committee, has today to call SB5203 up for a vote in an executive session or it dies.
Shayan’s Law (SB5203) offers protection against the prevalent insurance coverage denials of medically necessary treatments for children on the autism spectrum at an identical cost to Washington State as the Neuro-Developmental Therapies (NDT) bill [HB1412] that proposes to do the same, but falls short due to insurance coverage loopholes within the bill. The insurance industry has carefully crafted provisions that render the NDT bill utterly meaningless for all developmentally disabled individuals who need services, not just the ones on the Autism Spectrum. The influence of the insurance industry is allowing the NDT bill to gain traction on the House side.
Ultimately, states pay in cases of untreated or undertreated populations and SB5203 puts the cost of health care back where it belongs. Shayan’s Law will hold insurance companies accountable for covering diagnosis and medically necessary, evidence based treatment of autism. Under Shayan’s Law, insurers will not be able to get out of accepting their share of this devastating medical condition, as they have been for years here in Washington and around the nation.
It is unthinkable that our lawmakers would choose less protection for the same cost to the state (NDT bill), especially in the current economic crisis. Eight states have passed Autism Insurance Reform similar to Shayan’s Law and 32 more have taken it up this year. We want the same protection for our children. Now more than ever, our state needs relief from the societal costs when children don’t get the intervention they need. Now more than ever, our children need these benefits.
As a Washington voter, I expect fiscally responsible decision making that will yield significantly lower societal costs of autism. SB5203 is an opportunity that Washington State lawmakers cannot afford to pass up. I urge anyone similarly concerned to call Karen Keiser and ask that SB5203 be put to an executive session vote. The deadline for a vote is the 25th – today. Please take part in the legislative process. Grassroots efforts do work and voter participation does make a difference! Her number is 360-786-7664.
West Seattle’s 34th District State Senator Joe McDermott is a co-sponsor of SB5203, but this district’s two State Representatives, Eileen Cody and Sharon Nelson, are supporting the “NDT bill” (HB1412) that Dennis and other autism advocates say has too many loopholes.
Following our visit to West Seattle Girl Scouts’ cookie-case-sorting operation on Saturday, we found out a lot more about what the local Scouts are up to (including this). Now there’s one more event we wanted to share with you, because this one could use your help too: Tuesday night at Holy Rosary, more than two dozen Girl Scouts got together to put together AIDS- and malaria-fighting kits to send overseas, as part of the GS “World Thinking Day,” which had as its 2009 goal for “girls worldwide to say ‘we can stop the spread of AIDS, malaria, and other diseases’.” Fifth-grader Caroline Rouse worked to organize the project, as we learned when we met Caroline and her mom at the cookie loading dock; last night, she led her fellow Scouts in a game as part of the event:
The kits (which include items such as malaria-fighting mosquito netting) cost about $30 each to put together. Girl Scouts from all over West Seattle have been chipping in to buy them, but you can help too – some local businesses and other organizations already have — just e-mail kriskrop@msn.com to say you’d like to donate. Meantime, we’re glad to share what YOUR organization – kids OR adults – is up to, whether it’s an event listing or a heads-up about something like this; e-mail WSB at editor@wsb.blackfin.biz any time (or if you’d prefer a different contact method, all of ours are listed here).
Thanks to Jules for e-mailing to say citywide media have been staking out the Beach Drive home of King County Assessor Scott Noble since word came out that he is under investigation for possible charges in connection with a head-on freeway crash last month (P-I report here; Times report here, which includes a statement from Noble’s lawyer saying he has been “recovering from injuries” since “an automobile accident in mid-January”). Noble is in his fifth term as county assessor; here’s his biography on the county website.
Meet the members of the West Seattle Junction Association Board of Directors who were elected/re-elected this morning at a breakfast meeting, and shown above as they posed for the WSB camera afterward with board president Dave Montoure (West 5) — from left, Brandon Nicholson (Nicholson Kovalchick Architects), Lora Lewis (Hotwire Coffee, WSB sponsor), Heather Leaman (Bakery Nouveau), Michael Hoffman (Liberty Bell Printing), Montoure, Doug Baldwin (Windermere Real Estate). The vote was part of an annual meeting that not only recapped the Junction Association’s 2008 successes, but also looked ahead to this year’s priorities — read on for details:Read More
(Members of Troop 2092 outside Rainier House, with some of what they donated)
Over the weekend, we showed you West Seattle Girl Scouts getting ready for their annual cookie sales, and some WSB’ers joked about the calories. Local Girl Scout mom Tracie Luthi e-mailed WSB to make sure everyone knows cookies are about a lot more than indulgence and calories – the sales are the main fundraiser for local troops, and they do some amazing things with the money, including this one that Tracie tells us about:
West Seattle Girl Scout Troop 2092 has been working on their Bronze Star award, which is the highest award a Junior troop can earn. These Fifth and Sixth graders chose furnishing an apartment at the new Rainier House as their project. The Rainier House is housing through the Downtown Emergency Service Center, which helps vulnerable mentally ill homeless people transition to apartment living.
The apartments are opening this week on Rainier Ave. I believe there is an opening ceremony (today) for the building as a whole, and on Tuesday 50 new residents move in. The troop set up the apartment (Sunday) afternoon with items they purchased with their proceeds from last year’s cookie sales. Cookies do good work!
You can read more about Rainier House in this Times article published today; as reported in our cookie-arrival story Saturday, cookie sales start this Friday (if you want to buy some and have trouble finding them, this webpage can help). Plus, you’ll hear a bit more about what local Girl Scouts are up to, after we cover a “World Thinking Day” event tomorrow night during which the Scouts will be taking action to help improve the health of people half a world away.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
“Autism is treatable, and health insurance should cover that treatment.”
That’s how Allison Dennis summarizes her quest, which — on the night we spoke in her Upper Fauntleroy living room earlier this week — had just taken her to Olympia, to try to change a local legislator’s mind.
Allison’s preschooler son Jack is autistic, diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS, in semi-short).
He is getting therapy – which can make a huge difference for those with autism – but it comes at a significant cost. Allison and other parents and advocates are trying to get the state to change the rules about which treatments insurance companies must cover and when, but they are facing an uphill fight.
Those West Seattle Girl Scouts (and some adult volunteers too) spent their Saturday morning working inside a big loading-dock building at Alaska Marine Lines on West Marginal Way, getting ready for their organization’s tastiest event of the year: Girl Scout Cookie sales! This morning, nearly 3,000 cases of cookies arrived, totaling about 60,000 boxes, approximately one for every person in West Seattle; they had to be sorted for troops to pick up, in stacks like this:
The cookies delivered and sold here are made by Little Brownie Bakers in Kentucky, one of only two GS Cookie bakeries in the nation. 25 West Seattle troops will be selling cookies, with the official kickoff date February 27th (next Friday), and sales continuing through March 15. What’s new this year, you ask? Dulce De Leche (think caramel; read about all 8 available cookie varieties here). Cookie prices? $4/box. If you don’t encounter a Girl Scout selling cookies outside your nearest store, or some other way, send a note here and they’ll have someone contact you. And you won’t be surprised to hear you can become a “fan” of Girl Scout Cookies on Facebook. P.S. Tomorrow is Girl Scouts'[ “World Thinking Day,” and while covering the cookie arrival this morning, we got word of a big project the West Seattle girls are working on – stay tuned for more on that.
Highlights for today/tonight from the WSB West Seattle Weekend Lineup (see this weekend’s edition here):
(photos from Alki Lodge #152 pancake breakfast added 9:25 am – above, Rick Dusatko refills the syrup; below, Geoff McNeely wielding the spatula)
PANCAKES: On the griddle right now, till 11 am, and you’re invited – Alki Lodge 152, 40th/Edmunds (map) in The Junction. (Donation $5, $4 for kids, includes eggs, sausage, coffee, juice, the full meal deal.)
GET OUT INTO THE GREENERY: Three work parties at midday today to help West Seattle’s greenspaces — Brandon Street Natural Area, West Duwamish Greenbelt, Me-Kwa-Mooks, all 10-2, hop to the Saturday section of WSWL for links with full details.
GET YOUR BUSINESS ON: Thinking of starting your own? Lora Lewis from Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) is hosting a session on what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. 7 tonight, e-mail to RSVP.
MEET “SIREN”: A successful businessperson – and TV personality! – is in West Seattle at 2 pm at Anytime Fitness (WSB sponsor): Meet Valerie Waugaman, known as “Siren” from TV’s “American Gladiators.” She’ll be putting on a fitness workshop and also talking about personal success. (More info in this earlier coverage.)
WHITE CENTER’S FIRST ART TOUR: 5-10 pm tonight, details at partner site White Center Now.
In the past few days, we’ve heard about two Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fundraisers that we want to share with you – organizers of both are looking for pledges to help West Seattleites succeed in two upcoming events: First, from MJ Benavente at Snap Fitness (WSB sponsor) in The Junction –
Snap Fitness is sponsoring a team for “The Big Climb” at the Columbia Tower on March 22nd. It’s a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and we are trying to raise pledge money for our team members. Anyone interested in supporting the Snap Fitness climbers can contact the club directly at 206.299.1597, or via e-mail at seattlewest@snapfitness.com
The Big Climb is the regional LLS chapter’s biggest fundraiser, according to this webpage. And as for what it’s like to climb all the way to the top of Seattle’s tallest building – this video from a stairclimb participant who posted his achievement on YouTube in 2007 gives a hint:
Now, the other LLS fundraiser – this note came in from Mandy:
I am doing the Seattle to Portland ride this year and am training with Team in Training. As a part of this team, I need to fundraise $2800 which goes to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. To raise part of this money, there will be a poker tournament at the Admiral Pub on Friday, March 13th. It is free to play, and thegame that night is Omaha Hold’em. People do not need to know how to play–it is just for fun! Starts at 7:00 pm. If people want to play poker, they need to call the pub at 933.9500 to sign up. There is already a list started.
I will also be selling raffle tickets and the prizes are generously donated from local businesses. People are encouraged to come to the pub that night (even if they don’t play poker) to join in on the raffle, have dinner, play darts, and I will also be making delicious baked goods to sell for the cause.
Also–I am still looking for gift certificates from local businesses to enter into the raffle. This is an excellent way for local businesses to get their names out there and gain new customers!
If people are interested in donating to this cause on my page, they can donate
securely at: pages.teamintraining.org/wa/stp09/mwilliaehoBusinesses can contact me at this e-mail address if they are interested in donating a gift certificate.
Thanks to the WSB’er who wrote to make sure everyone knew that the founder of a longtime West Seattle business — Mary North Travel in the Triangle, founded more than a half-century ago — has died. According to this obituary, Mary Margaret Finley North was just a few months shy of her 90th birthday. You can sign the online guestbook here.
An announcement from the Seattle Public Schools communications team says two Chief Sealth High School students, Michelle Tran and Mohamed Mohamed, are heading for New York City to attend the National Academy Foundation‘s annual gala, along with four other students from the district. Read on to see what it’s all about:Read More
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