West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
This balcony display is on the building between Short Stop and the ex-Chuck and Sally’s on California, north of Morgan Junction. We remember seeing it last year too; the lights manage to diminish the dinginess of that block like a glittering multi-layer necklace. It’s on our West Seattle Christmas lights map now, of course (you’ll find that on our Holidays page; click each marker on the map to see the photo from that location). Now, the side note – The famous red bows are up on the north side of the Admiral Way bridge.
We mentioned part 1 of the VintageSeattle.org “Painted Lady” (the one on 45th that’s for sale, not the one on Beach Drive that’s also for sale) tour the other day. Part 2 is what you can’t see from the street — the inside — definitely worth a look!
From WSB contributing photographer Matt Durham: A vintage Schwinn decorates the front yard of an Alki home a few blocks from the beach. The exact location is omitted to deter joyriders. (Prints of Matt’s WSB photos and his other work are available through his site, MattDurhamPhotography.com.)
We hate to lump RRRs together but the big news earlier this week has led to a backlog and these three sort of hit a theme, so we’re hoping all of you will help all three of these folks. The theme – new West Seattleites and what they need. First, Christy e-mails — from Atlanta!
My boyfriend and I just closed on a house in Morgan Junction and will be relocating at the end of the month. The 1918 house has 50% knob and tube wiring (which stopped being used in the 30s) so updating the wiring will be the first project. Do your readers have any good electricians to recommend?
Now from Mary, who’s also moving to WS:
We just bought a house in West Seattle and are so excited! We’re doing some work on the house now, planning to move in mid-January. We need our floors refinished! Any companies in West Seattle that anyone would recommend?
And from Wendy, who’s been here a while but this is still somewhat of a related query – with a tangent:
I am looking for a Westside piano tuner to give my little 1954 Chickering console a tune-up since moving to our new townhome in High Point. I’d like to get it tuned before Dec. 17th since we are having a party and I am hoping someone with talent shows up to play.
And once it is tuned up, I am looking to take lessons – my husband suggests jazz piano (I guess he thinks classical is too boring). I am self-taught in my youth but haven’t really played in a number of years. Never have had music theory, and would love to learn how to do chords and whatever that term is where you fill-in stuff to make your basic music sound impressive. My books aren’t unpacked yet but I know where they are!
Please leave responses to any and all of the above as comments on this post; check out previous Reader Recommendation Requests, and responses, in their archive here.
(2:35 PM NOTE – even if you read this earlier be sure to scroll down, we have added one more recent report) ORIGINAL POST: First – the broken window at Puerto Vallarta in The Junction remains a mystery, according to the folks we talked to at the restaurant:
They told WSB they just came in one day a few days ago, and it was broken. You’ll recall, nearby Northwest Art & Frame suffered a similar break just after Halloween.
Meanwhile, several things that WSB readers wanted to call to community attention. First, this just out of the inbox within the hour:
Not sure if this is peeper-related (I’m guessing it is), but my husband came home late last night at 1 am (Thursday) and reported police combing the area with dogs at 49th and Charlestown (the location of the last peeper spotting). The search didn’t seem frantic (no chasing) – just like a patrol or something. I can’t find any other details – but thought I would throw it out there to see if you knew anything more.
We also have this report of something that happened last Saturday night:
Last night there was an attempted break-in of our home at 5600 block of 48th Ave SW. We managed to scare him off by turning on light and yelling. He was pushing on door and jiggling handle. He is wise to have left as I was prepared to shoot him upon entry. He had short hair possibly shaven and was wearing a vinyl jacket and jeans. 911 was called and a report was filed. Officer told us a few others had reported a man walking through their yard. Please be on alert.
And from the far south side of West Seattle, another reader who didn’t want to be identified wrote over the weekend (lost amidst the weather coverage, but we are catching up now):
In looking at the blog crime section, I thought it might be worth a post that there may be a trend developing of attempted or successful home break-ins in a several block area around 35th Ave SW and SW 106th Street. I am aware of two that were completed burglaries and one attempted break-in, occurring since mid-September up to a few days ago. Two happened during daylight hours when the occupants were away.
ADDED 2:40 PM: Stephanie originally sent this in last Sunday night and just reminded us (please forgive us) we hadn’t posted it:
I wrote you not more than a few days ago in regards to a car break in of my neighbors. Well, the criminals have gotten greedier. One of the people whose car was broken in to now had their apartment broken in to. The criminals broke a bedroom window and stole some high priced items. This was pretty bold because I was home as was another neighbor and we didn’t hear the glass break.
I find this very troubling because locks don’t seem to be enough. What will it take….. metal bars?????
Grrrr I am so upset for my neighbors and for the community of Delridge. Is there any sort of block watch along Delridge?
As we noted when posting Stephanie’s previous report, she lives north of the Home Depot area. We referred her to the Seattle Police crime-prevention resources including this huge list. And for everyone, our standard caveat: Always report suspicious activity to Seattle Police. Always. Even if it seems like nothing can be done, or nothing is/was done, having the incident(s) on record can help them identify trends, deploy resources, etc. And keep WSB posted on what’s happening in your neighborhood, good as well as bad, so we all can be watching out for each other as much as possible.
Val e-mailed us to ask about the “no parking” signs along a stretch of 35th. This city press release explains what it’s all about: Arborists will be out tomorrow volunteering their time to prune “street trees” in several areas of the city — in West Seattle, along 35th between Holden and Alaska.
Two nights till the Christmas Ship sails to West Seattle — and the good news is that the weather looks great! The Christmas Ship and its floating entourage will make three West Seattle stops on Saturday night: Seacrest 5:15 pm, Lowman Beach 8:50 pm, Alki 9:40 pm) and one on Sunday night (Don Armeni, 7:10 pm – you can find the schedule linked from our Holidays page, where we just added another nightly highlight for tonight: Pathfinder K-8 has its holiday Craft Fair & Culture Night, 6-8 pm tonight. (We love hearing about, and sharing news of, school activities – so if you’ve got one or more kids in West Seattle schools, please make sure the school office and PTSA have WSB on their mailing lists — all the info, from e-mail to postal mail to phone # to even where to find us on Facebook, is on the Contact WSB page.)
Avoid 35th/Thistle right now; two-car crash, police redirecting traffic. Paramedics are checking at least one person out. 9 AM: Photo added:
9:23 AM UPDATE: Tow truck just took the most badly damaged car away; police are reopening the intersection.
The county Public Health Department wants to make sure you know about this: Sunday, 10 am-2 pm, first-come, first-served, free flu shots @ Delridge Community Center.
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