It’s not just YOUR grocery bill that’s rising …
You’ve heard the national-news stories about the rising price of staples like rice and wheat … and you’ve seen it when you go to the grocery store. But if you think your budget is tight, try running a food bank and trying to maximize every last fraction of a cent. Local food banks are hurting worse than ever as a result – not just from having to pay more for the food they buy, but also because the higher prices are sending more families their way for help — but the bright spot is that, donating to them in the next week not only will help with the crunch, it will also help them qualify for matching funds as part of a national “challenge” we’ve mentioned before. Here’s an update from Eve Holt at West Seattle Food Bank:
April 30th is the last day for donations to the West Seattle Food Bank that can be submitted for matching funds from the Feinstein Foundation’s $1 Million Challenge.
Donations of food and cash are especially needed right now because of rising food prices. Most of what the Food Bank has to buy is costing more and there has been a significant increase in the number of families coming to the Food Bank for help.
Checks may be mailed to West Seattle Food Bank, 3419 SW Morgan, Seattle, WA 98126. Credit card donations can be made by calling Eve Holt at (206) 932-9023 or online at www.westseattlefoodbank.org. A list of suggested food donations can also be found on the organization’s Web site.
The Food Bank’s first-ever Instruments of Change fundraiser is coming up one week from tonight, by the way. One other note: Part of southern West Seattle is served by the White Center Food Bank, which is also participating in the challenge; find its donation info here.
1 month till Day 1 @ Colman Pool, which’ll be busier this year
(May 2007 photo of the plywood that covers the Colman Pool windscreen during the offseason)
Exactly one month from today, it’s the first 2008 day of operation for Colman Pool at Lincoln Park, one of the city’s two outdoor pools. Colman Pool will be open weekends only from May 24 till 7-day-a-week operations start June 14. Starting soon after that, it will be busier than usual, because West Seattle’s other pool — Southwest Pool, east of Denny Middle School — is scheduled to close mid-June through late September for three months of work.
Pitches from two local high-school baseball teams
School budgets don’t cover everything needed for extracurricular activities these days; they barely can cover the academic basics. So students need a whole lot of community help … and with that in mind, tonight we are sharing pitches from two local high-school baseball teams:
CHIEF SEALTH HS: Its baseball team has a spaghetti dinner/auction coming up May 2. This year, though, they’re having a tough time coming up with donations for the auction. The event raises most of the annual $ the team needs, so they’re really hoping the auction-donation drive turns around. If you can help, e-mail Coach Policarpio at edpolicarpio@seattleschools.org.
WEST SEATTLE HS: We mentioned this fundraiser a few weeks ago, and now the sales are really ramping up: The team is selling discount tickets to the June 3 Mariners/Angels game — $10 for view reserved (half the usual price); $2 of that goes to the team. You can order up to 25 tickets in an online process that starts with e-mail to groupmanager@mariners.com (be sure the subject line mentions West Seattle HS), or more by calling Stephanie at (206) 518-3879 – if your group has 40 or more, its name will be on the scoreboard during the game.
Southwest Precinct follow-up on the “unusual doorknocker”
As promised, we checked today with the Southwest Precinct re: last night’s hottest topic, the “unusual doorknocker” reported by Larry Carpenter in Alki. Sgt. Jeff Durden, who leads the Community Police Team, says they were working directly with Larry to get more info, and also checking with area military — at this point. Sgt. Durden says, “I doubt this was any kind of military operation. Everyone we have contacted concerning the matter has agreed.” He adds, particularly in the light of the trouble that Larry had reaching somebody at non-emergency police numbers — “Also as said/posted many many times before – call 911. 911 will always answer and this is definitely a situation where we want to get a patrol officer dispatched to investigate.”
Denny-Sealth meeting: 4 Denny-site future options, and more
(Model of future Sealth/Denny shared campus, looking northward over it, with the new Denny building north of/behind the Sealth gym on the eastern half of the campus)
As promised, here’s the complete update on last night’s SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act)-mandated public meeting on the Denny-Sealth project, which turned out to have a further-reaching scope than you might have surmised by looking at advance notice of the meeting. Though there was a formal presentation halfway through — with the contingent of school-district staffers and project consultants/architects almost outnumbering the general-public attendees — the most interesting info was available on and along the easels in the Chief Sealth HS Commons during the first half of the meeting:Read More
Wednesday morning miscellaneous mentions
FILM CREW AT WESTWOOD VILLAGE: In case you see it over by Eats Market and you’re wondering what’s up (thanks to Kristen for the tip and the follow-up info), they’re shooting a commercial for Sleep Country USA, till about 1 pm.
PHOTOGRAPHERS’ RIGHTS: We get lots of great pix from photographers both professional and nonprofessional around West Seattle, so when WS-based lawyer and WSB reader Venkat Balasubramani told us about this, we thought some of them might want to know: Tonight at Photographic Center Northwest (900 12th Ave, map), 6:15 pm, he’s discussing the legal rights of photographers who take photographs in public places. To register (discount in advance), go here.
CONCERT ON THE WATER IN WEST SEATTLE: Jennifer Kallen, the promoter for Firefly Concert Series, says the venue for this has changed to a waterfront residence in WS and there are a few tickets left: Rebecca Riots, 8 pm Saturday (after a 7 pm potluck). More info and tickets available here.
GO FISH!!!! Also Saturday — the first Hi-Yu event of the year is earlier than ever this time around, and while it’s on our Events page, we also wanted to give it a special advance shout-out as you plan your weekend: The West Seattle Sportsmen’s Club presents the annual Kids’ Fishing Derby at Seacrest, 8 am-11 am Saturday. Here’s a pic from a previous derby:
As Karen Haynes-Palmquist explains:
It is FREE to kids under age 14. Poles, bait, etc. are all supplied to fish for trout with, along with the expert help of the Sportsmen. The West Seattle Hi-Yu junior and senior court and candidates will also be there. A pond is set up with more than 100 fish, and goodie bags are distributed to all participants whether they catch a fish or not. Kids get to keep their catch. Information on the Sportsmen can be found at www.wssportsmen.org.
Two “developments” at 4415 Fauntleroy, home to Tervo’s
Heading east on Fauntleroy this morning, we noticed that sign on Tervo’s Mini-Mart, 4415 Fauntleroy (map), heralding new ownership, remodeling, and a “grand opening” next month. We’ve reported on this site a few times in the past few months — the death of its owner last September, and the property going up for sale in November. So far, no indication on the Liquor Control Board or city business-license sites who the new owner is, nor do King County records show a closed sale on the site (here’s the listing). HOWEVER — just checked the city files for the address, and there’s even bigger news — aside from the impending “grand (re)opening,” there appears to be a development proposal for the site, summarized online in the construction and land-use permit applications as: “Demolish existing commercial structure and construct new mixed-use building. Proposal to include retail space, 90 residential units, and associated subterranean parking.” Looks like time to update the Junction-area development/real-estate map – will work on that later today!
Welcoming our newest sponsor: M3 Bodyworks Massage Clinic
(M3 Bodyworks staff: Clockwise from lower right, owner Michael Mandell, LMP; Gary Rhodes, LMP; Stephanie Ross, LMP; Josie Ives, LMP; Courtney Good, office assistant; M’Lissa Hayes. Not pictured: Jen Barth, LMP; Damon Vecci, LMP)
That’s the staff of M3 Bodyworks Massage Clinic, which became WSB’s newest sponsor this week. Here’s what M3 wants you to know about the business (read through to the special offer!): “M3 Bodyworks Massage Clinic is a massage boutique with multiple therapists, 3 treatment rooms and 400 square feet of wall space for local artists to display their work. M3 Bodyworks is located at 5410 California Ave SW, Suite 203, diagonally across from the West Seattle Nursery. The owner, Michael Mandell, has lived in Seattle since 1996 and survived through 3 failed internet startups during the high-tech boom. After the third startup, Michael went to massage school and took his career into his own hands. Michael has created a space where massage for the whole body is important to the healing process. M3 Bodyworks Massage Clinic’s philosophy is to provide massage for all at an affordable price with quality therapists. We promise an hour paid for a massage is a hour on the table. Prices are as low as $56.00 per hour through pre-paid packages. All therapists share clients, which make it easy for you to get comprehensive care. Michael brings his high-tech experience with him to the massage clinic with online scheduling, account review, e-mail receipts, therapist bios online and web-only specials. This allows all the therapists more time to spend with the individual clients. M3 Bodyworks has also joined organizations like AHAC (www.ahacseattle.org) to provide affordable massage to the homeless and people in need or in crisis where alternative healthcare is needed. M3 Bodyworks Massage Clinic has monthly specials and accepts most Health Insurance, car-accident insurance (PIP), on-the-job-injury insurance (L&I) and credit cards/cash/checks. Since you have taken the time to read our introduction, new clients can introduce themselves to us with $20 off any service when you mention West Seattle Blog.” Thanks to M3 Bodyworks for sponsoring WSB — and thanks to our other sponsors, all of whom you will find on this page, which also has info for anybody interested in joining them to grow their business and reach more customers while helping WSB be a sustainable source of 24/7 community news, information, and discussion for West Seattle.
West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day: 3 days to sign up
Been thinking about joining in on the West Seattle-wide day of selling/shopping/recycling (that really is what garage sales do, after all), but haven’t quite made up your mind? Three more days … registration for the 4th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day closes Friday night, April 25. You can sign up to have an individual sale, school/business/organization sale, or block sale; online registration is available this year for the first time, or you can print the form to mail in (but hurry … we’re going to start work on The Official Map on Friday night!). All the links you need are here, plus some bonus info (such as, 10 principles of garage-sale secrets, and 2 places to join in a group sale if you don’t have enough room/stuff for your own). WSCGSD is Saturday, May 10, 9 am-3 pm, and we’re on the brink of 90 signups, from all over West Seattle. (If you’ve already signed up, info packets will start going out later this week.)
One more wildlife pic, before Earth Day ends
That early-early-morning coyote pic is from “Fauntlee Hills Neighbor” near Concord/Barton, who writes:
This one is half of a young pair who cross Barton from Fauntleroy Park and have been seen late evening, early morning for some weeks now. I feed backyard feral cats and unfortunately, forgot and left food out overnight. They found a paper plate on my back porch and took to finish off. No warnings here, just information. I much believe we need to coexist and just be the smarter species. After all, we are the interlopers
Denny-Sealth meeting tonight: Quick toplines
Full article to come in the morning. A few toplines: While it was described as an “environmental-checklist meeting,” tonight’s Denny-Sealth project meeting at CSHS was far more sweeping in scope – including four “conceptual” possibilities for the Denny site, once the existing school has been demolished, and a chance for attendees to informally “vote” on priorities for spending the $10 million “extra” in Sealth renovation money. Also, the district admitted it fumbled another commitment to get Denny-Sealth info on its website in a timely manner; because the materials for tonight’s meeting were not posted earlier this month as promised — in response to an audience question, a district official said it just went up “this afternoon” — the comment period for this phase of the project will be extended till May 9. (The huge volume of material just posted online hours before the meeting is available here.)
Another crash at 35th/Thistle
Just back from 35th/Thistle (map), where two cars collided; both were badly damaged – the two people in one of them got out OK, the driver in the other had to be cut out by rescue crews and was rushed to the hospital. Avoid the area. Thank you, to the people who called and texted us, just as we heard the sirens and were starting to check into what was going on. This is the same intersection where a pedestrian was hit and hurt exactly two weeks ago. Sorry our night photography leaves something to be desired; for perspective’s sake, here’s a wider shot, with one damaged car at left, the other far right – this is looking northeast from the southwest corner of 35th/Thistle:
P.S. As of 10:04 pm, nearby resident Stephanie says the intersection has just reopened.
Reader report: Unusual door-knocker
Alki’s Larry Carpenter asked us to pass this along:
About 4 pm today I got up to answer a brusque knock at the door in my neighborhood at 63rd and Hinds near the Alki UCC church. A repair man had just given me an estimate 30 minutes earlier, so I figured he was back with a question. The knocker turned out to be a 25-ish, normally dressed, white man who announced in good English that he was touring the neighborhood as part of an army exercise to “test his communication skills.” He then handed over his US Army i/d bearing the name Regan. I kept waiting for some sort of solicitation such as selling magazines to support combat readiness or whatever. However, he explained that his only purpose was to improve his ability to approach strangers and win their confidence via straighforward speech and strong eye contact. After saying that his team chief had left some 25 of his mates in the surrounding area and that I might see others walking about, he extended his hand for a firm handshake and headed off around the corner. H-mm. I wonder how this approach would go over in Baghdad’s Sadr City.
[Larry spent 20 minutes trying to reach police on a non-emergency basis …] I finally tried a few neighbors, but nobody was home yet. My last call found a woman neighbor at home, who reported that she had earlier noticed several strange young men hanging around the USPS mailbox on the corner and had already decided not to answer the door if anyone rang. [SPD Crime Prevention Coordinator] Benjamin Kinlow had just briefed us at the Alki Council on Thursday that we should always report suspect activities to the police and to our block watch neighbors. When wife Marge observed my rising frustration, she suggested that if I really wanted anybody to get the word, I should send it to the WS Blog.
Route update for bicycle convoy
The police escort is staging at Chief Sealth and the Inconvenient Ride bicyclists, with dozens of other students, will head out shortly, with a new route: they now plan to head north on Delridge all the way from Thistle to the low bridge.
Earth Day business spotlight: Alki Kayak Tours expands
As the Elliott Bay Water Taxi gears up to start the 2008 season this Sunday, one of the two businesses that share Seacrest Boathouse/Pier with the EBWT is gearing up for a double expansion that we’re telling you about today in honor of Earth Day: West Seattle is home to a fair amount of “green” businesses, but you can’t get too much greener than human-powered recreation. Alki Kayak Tours is open now for the season and expanding this year in two ways; we sat down with owner Greg Whittaker (pictured above) to talk about the expansion and about how far the business has come since its first season (this is season number four):Read More
Anybody missing a chicken?
Somehow seems in keeping with the Earth Day theme (and seeing as how we’re an apparent hotbed of urban chicken-raising): Didn’t want to just relegate this one to the Pets page alone. Ronald e-mailed us with this:
Yesterday afternoon our neighbor asked us if we had chickens again because there was one loose in their backyard. We caught it and put in in our aviary overnight to keep it safe. It’s black with a small comb, with feathered feet. Looks very healthy so we figured it “flew the coop” from someone nearby. This is in the 4700 block of 48th Ave SW, below the Alaska Junction, about 4 houses south of Ercolini Park. Contact phone 425-260-6946.
We asked the staff of West Seattle’s King County Councilmember
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