Using Twitter — even to find out diving conditions at Seacrest!
With Oprah talking about it today, Twitter is suddenly The Next Big Bandwagon. We’ve been talking about Twitter here for a long time – WSB has been using it since November 2007, and we added a page here last year enabling you to check out recent tweets by almost anyone mentioning West Seattle, plus our latest tweets. You don’t need to sign up for Twitter to see what’s on it — just as long as you know who you’re looking for, you can check out their latest tweets on the Web; for example, we are @westseattleblog, so you can see what we’re up to at twitter.com/westseattleblog, Twitter member or not. Enough about us: We got word via Facebook (where you can “friend” us: WS Blog) from local diving instructor Dave Rintoul of Dive Canuck SCUBA that he’s set up a Twitter account – inspired by one in Malibu – to share info on Seacrest diving conditions. Find him at twitter.com/seacrestdiving – he says he’ll be looking for more divers to share the responsibility of posting condition updates.
West Seattle scenes: Schmitz Park signs of spring
From West Seattle photojournalist Matt Durham, of mattdurhamphotography.com:
Clockwise from lower left: Spring foliage adorns the trails as hikers and naturalists tour Schmitz Park Friday. White Trillium flowers (Lily family) can be found by the keen observer. Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) sprouts from soggy soils and their flowers are short-lived. Various other plants and flowers await visitors in West Seattle’s second-generation “old growth” forest.
Never been to Schmitz Park? Here’s a map.
California Place Park: Design workshops end – now what?
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Much has changed since the first public discussion of possible changes to little California Place Park in North Admiral – and much has not.
What has changed:
*After going through the design process funded by a $15,000 city matching-funds grant, the proposal for possible park changes does not include anything resembling a children’s play area.
*The so-called “southern triangle” of city-owned land, southwest of the park itself, is now under Parks Department supervision since the process brought to light the fact it was somewhat neglected SDOT-owned right-of-way.
*Life has changed for one of the leaders of Friends and Neighbors of North Admiral — Manuela Slye is moving her Admiral District home-based bilingual Cometa Playschool — which some critics had suggested was a motivation for proposing park changes — to part of the former Prudential NW space about two miles south.
What hasn’t changed:
Those opposed to any changes in the small triangle of lawn and trees remain resolute, particularly nearby resident Jan Bailey, who has spent many hours standing in the park with her NO CHANGE TO PARK sign, gathering almost 700 petition signatures, and brought her sign and flyers to last night’s meeting, greeting neighbors at the door, then keeping vigil at the back of the room.
Also unchanged, one stark reality: The fact that intensive community fundraising would be needed to make any changes to the park.
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More West Seattle restaurant news: New ownership for Alki Cafe
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Thanks to the anonymous e-mailer who tipped us to this last night; we confirmed it in person this afternoon: Alki Cafe‘s longtime owners Carol and Steve Roaldson have sold the restaurant. It’s now owned by John Bang, who was there today, greeting customers, too busy to talk in detail at the time but promising to share more information about his plans shortly.
Metro proposals unveiled: Delridge-Junction Route 50 won’t happen
Metro has just unveiled a slate of proposed route changes, mostly related to the impending opening of the light-rail line: Southwest changes are listed here (including rerouting the south end of 128, which travels through West Seattle/White Center) – but we noticed one big thing missing: The proposed Route 50, which generated some West Seattle excitement because it would have included a leg taking bus riders directly between North Delridge and The Junction, is no longer under consideration. That’s “because of costs,” Metro spokesperson Linda Thielke tells WSB; she also noted that the proposal generated mixed feedback during the public-comment period. Its Southeast Seattle leg had been linked to some changes that were generating concern in that area, according to what Metro reps told the North Delridge Neighborhood Council two months ago (WSB coverage here). The next step for all the changes proposed today is a County Council committee public hearing next Tuesday night (info here) and then a vote in May. (If you want to see what’s being proposed for southeast Seattle, here’s the direct link to those details.)
Sunrise Heights meeting: Hughes School; sex offenders; more
From Thursday night’s quarterly meeting of the Sunrise Heights Neighborhood Association (this area is roughly between High Point and Westwood, between 35th and Delridge):
E.C. HUGHES SCHOOL’S FUTURE: Sage Wilson of the SHNA board has been talking with Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association about applying for a city Department of Neighborhoods grant to study community interest in the closed Hughes school. (After temporarily housing South Lake High School the past two years, it’s vacant again this year.) The grant would facilitate open houses for public input on the site, to figure out if there’s enough interest to look into buying it, since it’s on the Seattle Public Schools surplus-property list. Neighbors’ general consensus was that it’s a good idea to talk about this before a development proposal comes in from outside the neighborhood. Sage will head up the grant-writing effort, to meet a July deadline.
SEX OFFENDERS: Detective Bob Shilling from the Seattle Police Sex Offender Detail briefed the neighborhood about how to find information online, as well as what families really need to know about sex crimes: Long story short, very few involve “strangers.” As for sex offenders in local neighborhoods, you can use this website to see if any level-1 or level-2 offenders are living near you (it’s linked from the bottom of our Crime Watch page if you ever need to find it again); the West Seattle overview is that the Southwest Precinct area has 163 right now, fewer than any other precinct in the city (the largest number is 343 in the North Precinct). Statewide, there are 20,178 registered sex offenders.
POKER TOURNAMENT FUNDRAISER: This Saturday night is SHNA’s 4th annual Texas Hold’em Poker Night at the social hall of Our Lady of Guadalupe, $15/person or $120/table of 9. Must be 21 or older. More info on the SNHA website.
Including – Earth Day 
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