West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
Southwest Community Center needs your help designing a new fitness room to replace the current workout zone next to the pool (which has been closed 3 months, 1 1/2 to go, for renovation work). To help, join in three workshops set for 6-8 pm 9/25, 10/16, 11/20. Want to know more? E-mail Kellee Jones, kellee.jones@seattle.gov.
Just in from our correspondent at West Seattle Stadium: The big game just ended, and West Seattle High School‘s football team has beaten O’Dea, 21-6. We shot video of the game-end celebration and we’ll put it up when it comes into WSB HQ a bit later. This is big because WSHS has NEVER before beaten the football squad from O’Dea, which the Times noted here has won the Metro League 12 of the past 14 seasons. ADDED 10:32 PM: The end-of-game video, starting a few seconds before the clock ran out. Note that we did NOT go to shoot the game itself, so we don’t have highlights – we went to the stadium late in the game to make sure we’d be able to share the score fast if they won (last year we learned it’s almost impossible to find out the score any other way), and since WSHS did win, we shot the fans going wild (more so than the players). Congratulations! (P.S. Anyone interested in sending pix/video and/or texting or phoning in the score after any local schools’ games, we’d love to share more of this; let us know if you can help.)
Left to right, that’s JanS, JoB, and Kat near Mars Hill Church-West Seattle tonight, in a vigil/protest that grew out of a vigorous discussion in the WSB Forum and elsewhere this past week. It began with first word that MH was sponsoring a two-day seminar with parenting author Tedd Tripp, whose teachings include an advocacy of corporal punishment and say it may even be merited for babies. Opponents decided to gather tonight outside MH-Ballard, where Tripp is speaking, and MH-West Seattle, one of several MH branches where the seminar is being broadcast live. As families arrived, the West Seattle trio stood on the corner across from the church’s south side and offered their thoughts to those who walked by, as well as offering flyers.
Some accepted flyers, some didn’t; one person was heard to suggest that the protesters go inside to listen for themselves. To that point, we should note that a Mars Hill representative, in logo T-shirt and name tag, offered us and the other media reps the chance to go inside and observe the seminar. We didn’t take him up on it; the controversial topic itself comes up late tomorrow morning. Meantime, we’ve received a photo of the concurrent Ballard protest tonight:
That photo is courtesy of our friends at MyBallard.com; you can see their coverage here.
Gotta love a festival with a 20-foot-high inflatable pig over the barbecue stand. Lots of food options at the West Fest Fall Family Festival (WSB sponsor), happening now through 10 pm, then again tomorrow 10 am-10 pm, at Holy Rosary (42nd/Genesee – look for all the activity NORTH of Genesee), and much dining was under way when we dropped in briefly:
There are also games, bouncy rides, and indoor offerings too — bingo in the gym, with coffee and other autumnal beverages available for purchase. Despite the clouds, it was relatively pleasant during our passthrough. Live music should be under way by now; the schedule is listed in this WSB preview.
The major decisions in the controversial campus-combining project may be in the history books, but there is other work under way now, with public involvement/comment encouraged, and we want to make sure you know it’s happening: First, what is currently being called the “School Design Team for Future Redevelopment of the Former Denny Middle School Site” is about to meet for the first time – in two sessions two weeks apart, the first one next Monday afternoon – here’s the official announcement:
The first meeting is planned for September 22nd at 3 pm at Denny Middle School with a repeat meeting to take place on October 8th at 7 pm at Denny Middle School for parents, neighbors and community members not able to attend the meeting on the 22nd. The SDT process allows a set number of volunteers from the school, parks, businesses and the surrounding neighborhood to attend the meetings to develop the project needs and requirements. The entire community is invited to attend these meetings and voice their opinion and desires regarding the design and use of the former Denny Middle School site. A number of people from the community volunteered to be a part of the design team. At this time the available seats have been filled. However, we may need optional members in the case that any of the team members are unable to keep their commitment for the full length of time. If anyone is still interested in volunteering to be a part of the design team, please fill out the volunteer form.
The first meeting will familiarize everyone with the school design team process and begin the process of deciding together the best use of the space. The intent is to have all stakeholders be able to express their interests.
The second group that’s meeting is the Sealth/Denny School Departure Advisory Committee. Its first meeting actually happened earlier this week, but we didn’t get an announcement ahead of time and we don’t see evidence much of anyone else did, either — we’re thankful that one of the participants called us the next day in hopes we’d shine a little more light on the process. This is a group the city is required to convene because the Denny/Sealth project calls for zoning “departures” – regarding parking and height. The Departure Advisory Committee’s next meeting is 7 pm October 7, also at Denny.
As we first reported here last month, the state liquor store in Morgan Junction is closing for good tomorrow, after losing its lease. Nearby Aaron’s Bicycle Shop is moving into the space. When the state announced the liquor-store closure, the Liquor Control Board said it was seeking another location in the area; we called Olympia today to see if they’ve found one yet — answer, no. So the stores in The Junction and White Center are your nearest options TFN, after the MJ store shuts its doors for good at 8 pm tomorrow.
On the national/world front, a rough week, scary week. If you need a little distraction, the West Seattle Weekend Lineup has lots of it, including comedy tonight and tomorrow as the Admiral Theater‘s “Ladies of Laughter” series continues. This afternoon, we caught up briefly with headliner Carrie Snow, who managed to tie yoga and comedy together:
Snow says Seattle comedy star Peggy Platt will appear with her at The Admiral tonight. Meantime, you can read more about Snow here; tickets are $20, with $5 going to the Susan G. Komen breast-cancer-fighting fund.
We dropped by the Seattle Parks Foundation‘s “park” in The Junction thinking it was a quick photo op – and instead, we found out a lot of new information that answers a question asked every time we show the site of Junction Plaza Park (northwest corner of 42nd/Alaska): “When is it going to be done and how much more money do they need?” Read on for details plus the latest park plan:Read More
We just stopped at the White Center “PARK(ing) Day” (backstory here) park and are en route momentarily to the West Seattle version set up by KeyBank in The Junction. At the one in WC (more pix on partner site White Center Now), Sopha Danh of White Center Community Development Association and Richard Brown from Technology Access Foundation are going high-tech and low-tech – with laptops and produce – the latter, to help spark the dream of reviving a WC Farmers’ Market. The WC “park” will be on the west side of 16th SW, half a block south of Roxbury, in front of Full Tilt, till 3; the West Seattle one is scheduled to be in place till 4 – we’ll add pix here as soon as we get ’em.
Fall officially begins Monday. So this is it (today’s weather seems to have jumped the gun). Clouds or sun, summer’s going out in style – with 
the West Fest Fall Family Festival (WSB sponsor; ’07 photo at left) at Holy Rosary tonight and tomorrow, the first-ever West Seattle Junction Car Show (co-sponsored by WSB) on Sunday, two live theater options (final performances of “In the Sawtooths” by Burnt Studio Productions [WSB sponsor] at Youngstown Arts Center, and the ongoing “The Vertical Hour” at ArtsWest), 46 events ahead – first, a big shoutout to Skylark Club and Cafe, the brand-new sponsor of the Weekend Lineup (live music, food, and more):Read More
TODAY: TEMP PARKS: We just checked and the soggy weather’s not stopping the local plans for PARKing Day, a nationwide event with temporary “parks” set up – often in onstreet parking spaces – to demonstrate the importance of greenspace in urban areas. One was planned for Alaska/California 9 am-4 pm today (as of 9:08 am, they’re setting it up), and another in the 9600 block of 16th SW in White Center, 10 am-3 pm in front of Full Tilt Ice Cream.
TONIGHT: PUNISHMENT PROTEST: A demonstration is planned outside Mars Hill Church-West Seattle at 6 pm tonight by people who are upset about the parenting-book author whose Mars Hill-Ballard seminars are going to be broadcast there live tonight and tomorrow, Tedd Tripp, because his advocacy of corporal punishment includes the suggestion parents may need to hit children starting in infancy. This Times story today takes a thorough look at the controversy, including a statement from MH; the genesis of the demonstration was in this WSB Forum thread, followed by this one specifically about the protest plan (check it if you are interested in participating in the protest; meantime, MH’s seminar schedule is here – the “physical discipline” discussion is tomorrow morning).
Got a note inviting us to a briefing next week where a Florida man will try to get traction for his idea to replace the Central Waterfront section of the Alaskan Way Viaduct without having to tear down the old one first: The rendering you see above is from the website for the “Seattle Skyway” (which, a few pages in, also proposes an alternative replacement for the 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington); its proponent, Jim Powers, says the 70-foot-high “Skyway” could be built for less than a billion dollars. No cost estimates yet on the 8 Viaduct “scenarios” currently officially under consideration; Powers says his idea is really just a variation on “Option D,” officially sketched by the state as follows:
Powers’ briefing is next Wednesday night, the day before the next meeting of the Stakeholders Advisory Committee (4 pm Thursday 9/25, City Hall) that’s helping evaluate possibilities as state/city/county leaders move closer to a Central Waterfront decision.
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