Crime Prevention Council report #2: Drug-trend surprises
Some of these factoids might surprise you; they surprised us, when we heard the infobursts presented by the featured guest at last night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, Steve Freng, who is a manager for the Northwest HIDTA (pronounced HIGH-tuh – High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area). Read on for those infobursts, in bullet-point form:Read More
Snowshoes at school, minus snow
The flip side of dry fall sunshine is the lack of snow – there’s still time, though, and the kids at Explorer West Middle School are getting ready for it. Amy French sent the above photo and this report on what it was all about:
Explorer West Middle School kicked off their winter outdoor program yesterday when the school’s 6th grade students had the opportunity to work on a snowshoe construction project with Lee Getzewich, MSR Snowshoe Product Manager for local outdoor gear manufacturer Cascade Designs, Inc.. This was the first step in designing and building the snowshoes that the students will use for several outings to Snoqualmie Pass this winter. Mr. Getzewich helped the students think about the design and then work out solutions with the materials. The 2008-09 snowshoe program has evolved to use local, native willow as the main framing material instead of PVC frames, so the students are now building snowshoes with even more natural materials.
We love school news, big and small – send yours any time to editor@westseattleblog.com! (WSB coverage of local schools and school-related issues is all archived here, newest to oldest.)
At your community centers: Free food; holiday bazaar
HIGH POINT COMMUNITY CENTER: (map) Free (early) Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night – turkey, veggies, rolls, door prizes! 6 to 8 pm.
SOUTHWEST COMMUNITY CENTER: (map) They’re still accepting vendors for the Holiday Bazaar coming up 9 am-5 pm December 6th. Call 684-7438.
ALKI COMMUNITY CENTER: (map) Free spaghetti dinner 6-9 pm December 11th, a chance to “come see what programs we have to offer and fill out a questionnaire for future programs” according to a flyer we picked up while speaking to a group there today.
Update: Local food banks get more help (and still need more!)
Tonight we’re at the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council‘s monthly meeting, chaired by Pete Spalding of Pigeon Point, who also leads the West Seattle Food Bank board – he has mentioned the success of last weekend’s various fundraisers for WSFB (including the Beer Church, CoolMom.org, and Rocksport events) in tandem with the relentless ongoing increase in demand for WSFB help. We have a few more to mention: This Saturday, 8 pm-midnight at Kenyon Hall, a community dance with Rick Berinato and the Paperback Riders will benefit WSFB ($20 donation suggested). Also, we’ve received word that the 18th annual food drive at Java Bean Coffeehouse on Avalon is under way, continuing through this Sunday; bring nonperishable foods to drop off – preferably “Thanksgiving-type food,” according to the flyer (which you can see here) – the food’s going to Northwest Harvest, which supplies various area food banks. One more note: We have been reporting on partner site White Center Now about the multi-ton potato donation that’s just arrived at the White Center Food Bank; see today’s video coverage here – here’s a photo of WCFB executive director Rick Jump, Blaine Hirai from the donating farm (Hirai Farms in the Moses Lake area), and 11th District State Rep. Bob Hasegawa (whose district includes part of White Center) with some of the potato sacks:
You can donate $ online to both local food banks, any time – WSFB’s site is here; WCFB’s site is here. ADDED 9:30 PM: Celeste e-mailed us (thank you!) to say that Jefferson Square Safeway is still promoting “buy a turkey for $5 to donate to the West Seattle Food Bank,” so check that out when you grocery-shop.
West Seattle food news: Barbecue signage; Greek additions
The OK Corral barbecue joint (4417 Fauntleroy in the Triangle; map) opened two weeks ago without even switching signage (here’s our post-opening chat with owner Otis Austin) – but now that’s been remedied – first spotted it last night, got a pic while passing at noontime today. (The “grand opening” sign, however, is legacy from the previous tenant, who didn’t last long.) Also, just got word from West Seattleite Tracy Dart that Christo’s on Alki has added new menu items:
I wanted to pass along some info from my friends (and next-door neighbor) who own a
restaurant down on Alki. The Fotopoulos Family, owners of Christo’s on Alki, are starting their new Greek Menu tonight featuring Mama & Papa Fotopoulos’ traditional recipes from their home village in Pelopnese, Greece. Featuring Lamb Chops, Dolmathes, Moussaka, Pastitsio, Flamed Saganaki, Lemon Oregano Chicken and Potatoes – as well as Gyro & Souvlaki platters. They will continue to have their original menu (pizza’s, pasta, sandwiches & salads, etc.) available as well.
I’m excited to have another option for Greek Food in West Seattle, especially from a family who has been serving food in West Seattle since 1996. The entire family runs this place, and mama and papa live over the restaurant. Almost makes you think it’s how it would be back in the old country.
Tracy, by the way, is one of the West Seattle-residing blog authors whose sites are featured on our Blogs page – always the latest 100 entries from a pool of 100 West Seattle-based writers (we’ve been catching up with the latest requests to have sites added to this continuously, automatically updated page – please let us know if we’ve missed yours).
Junction update: Stop ‘n’ Shop reopens Saturday
The remodeling work at Stop ‘n’ Shop on the ground floor of the Senior Center of West Seattle was supposed to be done in time for a grand reopening last Saturday – but it took a little longer than planned, so this Saturday is now the plan (just in time for it to be part of your Junction holiday shopping plans!). The Christmas items in the photo above are in the window now, and will be waiting when the shop reopens. Here’s the word from Cindy Gwinn:
The newly remodeled Stop and Shop will open its doors this Saturday at 10 AM. We would like to invite you all to join us. The new hours are 10 am to 4 pm, 7 days a week.
We are also receiving donations. We are looking for clean, working items. If you have large furniture you can not deliver, we can pick it up. West Seattle only, please. Please call Cindy Gwinn at 206 915-5595 for pickup time.
All donations can be left in the back of the store, or by the front door after 4pm or you can always come by during open hours.
Thank you West Seattle, for all your support
Speaking of seniors – thanks to the seniors’ group at Alki Community Center that invited us to come talk to/with them this morning – anyone who has the outdated opinion that the Internet’s mostly just for “young” people should meet folks like them (we were thrilled to learn that just about everyone in the room was familiar with WSB!) – and of course, you can be “young” at any age, anyway (heaven knows, your WSB co-publishers have more than a few years in the rear-view mirror).
Mayor and SDOT boss: Fauntleroy paving WILL happen
(video no longer available due to blip.tv shutdown)
(the Fauntleroy stretch targeted for paving, “dashcam” view as we drove northbound to the briefing)
We’re just east of downtown, at the McGilvra Place pocket park, where Mayor Nickels, SDOT director Grace Crunican (also a West Seattleite), and others have just wrapped up a media briefing to talk about citywide paving plans for 2009. We came to seek clarification on the status of the Fauntleroy Way (Alaska to California) paving proposal, which lost some of its funding in late budget moves by the City Council (as we reported two days ago) and was said to be in jeopardy. Here’s what we’ve learned: The mayor and SDOT say there WILL be repaving next year on Fauntleroy – the city just has to figure out how much it can afford. Crunican told us just before the briefing that they are looking for other sources to make up the $1.5 million (almost a third of the estimated cost) that the council moved to a long-overdue project elsewhere in the city (Linden) — and some of that may come from other bids that are out right now, potentially coming in for less than was originally budgeted (given the current construction/economic climate). So they’re moving forward with plans for the project, including the proposed restriping we’ve been reporting on – the open house for information and comments on that remains set for December 1st, High Point Community Center, 5:30-8:30 pm. ADDED 1:36 PM: Adding a couple video clips – this one is the mayor giving a shoutout to communications assistance, with regards to road work, from sites like WSB (we got a shoutout by name since we were standing 10 feet away with our video camera, next to one TV station and the Seattle Channel):
(video no longer available due to blip.tv shutdown)
Other interesting tidbits from today’s briefing included the fact that more than 800 intersection signs citywide have been replaced so far this year. Here’s the official news release from the briefing.
First sighting of $2.0-something gas in West Seattle – Delridge Arco within the past hour, right after we left the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting at nearby 
Thanks to Cherisse for spotting this while we were offline for a bit: Former Sen. Tom Daschle, brother of 
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