West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
Jodi e-mailed WSB (thank you!) about a house in the 4000 block of Fauntleroy, which runs parallel to the end of The Bridge; we hope this is the right one — impossible to see street numbers in the dark, and there are several nicely lit homes on the block, but this one is the brightest, and the photo barely does it justice because there’s a whole lot of blinking and strobing going on. It’s the latest addition to our clickable/printable West Seattle Christmas lights map, linked from the WSB Holidays page and now featuring 28 locations, all around our peninsula, and all also archived here.
Here’s the weekly update from the West Seattle Farmers’ Market organizers – remember the market’s not taking a winter break; it’s 10 am-2 pm Sundays through month’s end, then 11 am-2 pm for a while starting in January:Read More
Photo courtesy of Vlad Oustimovitch, remembering the monorail-that-wasn’t, on the date once touted as a potential opening day.
First, the background for newcomers: The concept of a citywide Seattle Monorail – eventually envisioned as starting with the “Green Line” between West Seattle and Ballard – passed several city votes dating back to 1997 before an uproar over its financing plan led to one last vote that killed it in 2005. The monorail agency already had been set up and was collecting money from car-tab taxes; it had bought property in West Seattle that has since been resold, some of which is just now being developed, such as the parking lot behind Petco that’s becoming Mural, and the ex-Video Vault spot in Morgan Junction that is becoming the new Beveridge Place Pub and a neighboring park. (Other sites, from their original monorailproperty.com pages, included: 35th/Avalon, 35th south of Avalon, the former Herald office further south on 35th.) So on this Opening Day That Wasn’t, you might wonder, what’s next for mass transit in West Seattle, considering that Sound Transit light rail isn’t pointing our way? Some interesting ideas can be read on the Sustainable West Seattle Transportation Action Group blog; regarding more concrete plans, two public meetings are set in West Seattle next month for the “RapidRide” bus plan (both dates are on the WSB Events page).
As first reported last month, one of the Neighborhood Street Fund projects approved by the city would extend the sidewalk along Alki Point, from this spot where it ends at the west edge of the Alki promenade. Local resident Susan Jones wrote to the city with a concern about the potential effects on the street itself, and shared the resulting e-mail exchange, which also includes word from the city that “significant community outreach” regarding the project is planned for spring:Read More
The exterior appears intact but the charring over the broken-out windows suggests this house was gutted by the overnight fire there. It’s 9415 Delridge (map), on the north edge of the Delridge/Roxbury business district, at a location identified in county records and online searches as home to B & J Plumbing (we have left voicemail for that business to check on this); 911 logs show the fire callout was at 1:50 am. There’s no official Fire Department press release on this, so here’s hoping that means nobody was seriously hurt.
-If you planned to participate in the West Seattle High School Travel Club babysitter fundraiser tonight, the Travel Club needs you to know that the babysitting had to be canceled because “Ms. D” has pneumonia and the event can’t happen without a staff member present at all times. However, good news, the Night Out dining fundraiser tonight is still on – full details at the WSHS Travel Club blog.
-Yeah, so it’s a little breezy and wet out there today – some other awesome events are happening indoors throughout the morning, afternoon, and evening too, besides the dining fundraiser — from the C and P Coffee Arts/Crafts Fair under way right now, to several holiday concerts this morning/afternoon, and more – the WSB West Seattle Weekend Lineup has full details.
-Got a note from Jim Curtis, executive director of the North American Self-Defense Association. He’s not WS-based but he’s about to launch a class here and wanted to get the word out:
I am now registering students for a new Umibushi Goshin Jutsu self-defense class I’m teaching at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center … It’s every Wednesday from 4:40-5:30 PM … If people sign up this coming week then they get a free uniform … Umibushi Goshin Jutsu is a practical self-defense system combining techniques and strategy from karate, jujitsu, boxing and Marine Corps hand to hand combat. It’s easy to learn and does not require extreme flexibility. Also, I am seeking a new webmaster for the North American Self-Defense Association and would trade self-defense classes in exchange for this service.
If you want to find out more about the class, you can contact Jim directly at umibushi@yahoo.com.
As is the WSB tradition when a new sponsor joins us, we want to tell you a bit about them: 
Today we welcome West Seattle Realtor Alice Kuder, who is with Prudential NW Realty and is part of the growing trend of professionals with blogs about their businesses and what they’re seeing in their industry in general (you can find Alice’s blog here). We appreciate the support of Alice and the other West Seattle businesspeople 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.
From Alice:
I’m looking for a good, reasonably-priced personal trainer in the West Seattle area… hoping some of your readers can give me some suggestions!
From “bookbiz”:
Can your readers recommend a good acupuncturist either in Seattle or West Seattle? My wife’s foot doctor recommended the treatment, but we don’t know where to begin the search. Thanks for any help.
And from Marylyn:
I am a soon to be new West Seattle resident, and am in need of a good dog walker.
If you have recommendations for any or all of these requests, please post a comment here. And remember – all WSB RRRs, and their responses, are archived here. Thanks for helping your fellow West Seattleites (and future ones!).
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