day : 16/07/2009 21 results

Hope Lutheran Vacation Bible School “camp” starts Monday, July 20

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| Announcements

Here’s the announcement from Hope Lutheran:

Hope Lutheran Church invites all children, ages PK-4 through grade 5, to join us at Son Rock Kids Camp Vacation Bible School, daily July 20-24, from 9am – 12 noon.

“We’re ready for a VBS your children will never forget!” said camp Director, Leighellen Landskov, of Hope Lutheran Church. “At Son Rock Kids Camp, your kids will experience an adventure camp like no other! Children will have a great time singing songs, watching skits, creating crafts, and playing games. Most importantly, they will learn how their lives can be transformed by God’s great love for them.” “We’re looking forward to sharing this exciting event with the children and parents in our neighborhood. We hope they will join us at Son Rock Kids Camp!”

Son Rock Kids Camp VBS begins Monday, July 20, at 9am and continues daily through Friday, July 24th. Hope Lutheran Church is located one block East of the West Seattle Junction on the corner of Oregon and 42nd Ave. The church address is 4456 42nd Ave. SW. You may pre-register by calling the church office at 206-937-9330 or by e-mailing the church at church@hopeseattle.org. Registration begins Monday, July 20 at 8:30am and costs only $5! Plan on arriving early as we will be packed! All children must be potty trained as we don’t have adequate staffing or facilities to meet the needs of children in diapers. Please disclose any allergies your child may have on the forms you fill out during registration.

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Election 2009 close-up coverage kickoff: Robert Rosencrantz

| West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

Though the primary election is officially one month from Saturday, voting begins in as little as two weeks – it’s an all-mail election, and ballots go out on July 30th. Starting tonight, WSB takes a closeup look at the Seattle City Council races and how several key West Seattle issues figure into them. Veteran journalist Kathy Mulady sets the stage, right before her first candidate report:

Two of Seattle’s longest-serving city councilmembers are giving up their seats. Jan Drago is running for mayor, and Richard McIver is retiring. The vacancies have opened up crowded contests, with 11 candidates running for the two seats.

Two other seats are also up for election, those held by Council President Richard Conlin and Councilmember Nick Licata. Both men are fighting to keep their positions.

In all, you will see 14 city council candidates on the primary ballot (with only one challenger, Conlin advances automatically to the November general election). In the days/weeks ahead, we’ll try to help you make a little sense of it all, at least in regard to West Seattle issues – like growth, and the economy.

–How do we preserve the hometown feel of West Seattle, and still bring new jobs here so people don’t have to commute?

–With more people comes more traffic – just as plans are laid to tear down the Alaskan Way Viaduct and replace it with a deep-bored tunnel. Should West Seattle have better bus service, or even a streetcar line like South Lake Union?

–And there are still lingering questions about plans for a new jail – does the city really need its own jail, and where would it be built? West Seattle is still officially a possible site – should it be?

We asked the candidates those questions and more. Check back here during the coming days to see what they say and ask your own questions. We have asked candidates to watch WSB and respond to questions asked by readers when they have a chance.

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL, POSITION 8: ROBERT ROSENCRANTZ

By Kathy Mulady
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Robert Rosencrantz has a theory about giving up – “don’t.” He also knows hard work pays off, and that the easy way often isn’t the best way. With those life lessons well ensconced, Rosencrantz, a 53-year-old Montlake resident, is making his third run for a Seattle City Council< seat.

Although his early life was spent on crutches, Rosencrantz went on to become a race-walker and runner. While in high school, he started sweeping and doing minor maintenance at an apartment building to save money for college. Now Rosencrantz owns four apartment buildings with his wife.

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Video: 3 concerts in 1 at tonight’s Westsidewalk in Fauntleroy

July 16, 2009 10:27 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle video | WS culture/arts

(video unavailable due to blip.tv shutdown)

Rev. Pat Wright and the Total Experience Gospel Choir – which practices at West Seattle’s Kenyon Hall — co-headlined tonight’s first-ever Westsidewalk three-act concert: At three venues in Fauntleroy Church and the old Fauntleroy Schoolhouse across the street, each group played half-hour sets simultaneously – punctuated by breaks so audience members could rotate to the next group/venue. While Total Experience played inside the church sanctuary, the Ballard Sedentary Sousa Band performed outdoors:

(video unavailable due to blip.tv shutdown)

And Sambatuque‘s sleek samba jazzed up The Hall at Fauntleroy:

(video unavailable due to blip.tv shutdown)

Tonight’s proceeds benefit Seattle Artists, which operates Kenyon Hall and its programs (including Kindermusik with Lou Magor). Lots more summer music ahead – in addition to live indoor shows like those at Skylark Cafe and Club (WSB sponsor) Thursdays-Sundays (schedule here), two outdoor series are still to come: the Admiral Neighborhood Association’s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha (co-sponsored by WSB) start Thursday night with Alma Villegas (full series details here), and Providence Mount St. Vincent will present its Friday night concert series starting August 7.

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West Seattle scenes: Mater Matrix Mother & Medium @ Camp Long

July 16, 2009 8:17 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | WS culture/arts

Chas Redmond shared that photo from Camp Long, where it was a beautiful night to sit in the forest and enjoy the Mater Matrix Mother and Medium performance. We also received this photo from Sharonn Meeks, who estimated about 200 were on hand and shows us a closer look:

Tonight’s performance is over, but artist Mandy Greer‘s crocheted river, part of the Water Calling “temporary public art” series, is scheduled to remain in the forest through the end of this month.

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Hours till Delridge Community Center Playground construction!

July 16, 2009 6:39 pm

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| Delridge | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

This afternoon, it was just piles of wood chips and a cleared, fenced site – by early tomorrow morning, it will be abuzz with hundreds of volunteers building the new playground for Delridge Community Center, and Holli Margell has sent an update with some things you might want/need to know:

Traffic Alert – With Build Day happening this Friday, we are expecting over 250 people to arrive at the Delridge Community Center by 8am. As a result, we have strongly encouraged all volunteers to arrive by bus, bicycle, skate board, foot or through carpooling. However, we realize not everyone can do so resulting in additional traffic during the morning commute along SW Genesee Street and Delridge Way S.W.

Once the playground is built, it needs to sit untouched while the cement dries. Please don’t be disappointed if you go to the Delridge Community Center and can’t play on the playground this weekend. This is for your safety.

Everyone is invited to help us celebrate this momentous community project!

What: Delridge Playground Grand Opening
When: July 23, 6:30 pm
Where: The Delridge Community Center Playground, of course!
4501 Delridge Way S.W.
We will enjoy light refreshments and live music while the children play!

And in a comment on an earlier report, Betsy Hoffmeister adds:

It’s not too late to have your name or business recognized on the playground wall! Cash donations are still being accepted and will be on the day of; also, donations of food and beverages for the grand opening are enthusiastically welcomed — we will have a grand opening at 6:30 pm on July 23 where we will be serving, at very least, 200 cupcakes donated by Coffee to a Tea With Sugar. If you want your name up on the playground wall, contact us to donate! helpdelridgeplay@gmail.com Thanks neighbors!!

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Another bank robber caught on cam: Friday’s Westwood holdup

July 16, 2009 6:04 pm

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| Crime | West Seattle news

In addition to the photo we shared earlier this afternoon showing the man who’s believed to have robbed both the U.S. Bank branch in The Junction yesterday and a Maple Valley bank five days earlier, we also now have a photo from last Friday’s holdup at the Alaska USA branch in Westwood Village QFC. The FBI acknowledges it’s not that clear, but it’s all they have. No additional description, just the photo. Same advice if you see this one – call 911.

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New start date for 16th SW work: Week of July 27th

July 16, 2009 5:43 pm

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| Puget Ridge | Transportation | West Seattle news

Last week, the city said it expected the 16th SW paving work to start “the week of July 20th”; now SDOT has sent an update saying the road closure (and detour shown above) will kick in a week later than that. Read on for the latest advisory:Read More

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Psssst, don’t tell the kids: Sandwich surprise tomorrow at Alki

July 16, 2009 5:35 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| Safety | West Seattle news

Here’s hoping they don’t need the incentive to wear their helmets properly anyway – but just in case a little encouragement helps, the Seattle Fire Department says West Seattle’s own Engine 29 will be out on Alki between 10 and 11 am tomorrow, “handing out Safety Citations to children who are properly wearing their helmets. The program will continue through the summer at Fire Stations throughout the City. Each citation entitles the child to a free child-size sandwich at participating Subway locations. The goal of the program is to reduce the incidence of childhood head injuries.” Engine 29 is also scheduled to be in the West Seattle Grand Parade on Saturday.

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SoundYoga has 10 slots open for certified teacher training

July 16, 2009 4:08 pm

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| Announcements

Just in from SoundYoga (WSB sponsor):

West Seattle’s own SoundYoga is now accepting applications for its Certified 500-hour Teacher Training program.

SoundYoga’s Chris Dormaier limits the class to only ten students. “The small class means that each student can benefit from the rich learning environment that we create and the personal attention of a mentor,” said Chris. “Our program is also special because our students learn not only to teach beginning yoga to groups but to individuals as well.”

The teacher training course includes:
• History and philosophy of yoga
• Anatomy and physiology
• Asana
• Pranayama
• Ayurveda
• Meditation, mantra and chanting
• Course planning
• Teaching methods for groups and individuals

The training fulfills all the requirements for Krishnamacharya Healing Yoga Foundation (KHYF) Teacher Certification and is the only teacher training course in Seattle registered with the KHYF.

“Some students participate to deepen their understanding of yoga for their own practice,” said Chris, “and others enroll because they see teaching yoga as their path in life.”

The course is presented by Christine Dormaier, M.S., CYT, ERYT 500, the director of SoundYoga and a certified Krishnamacharya Healing Yoga Foundation (KHYF) Teacher Trainer. Guest teachers for special sessions are Sonia Nelson, a KHYF Certified Teacher Trainer; and Julie James, LMP, Yoga Teacher and Ayurvedic Practitioner.

Information about SoundYoga’s Teacher Training course is available at www.soundyoga.com or by calling Chris at 206-938-8195. SoundYoga is located at 5639 California Avenue, Seattle, WA 98136.

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“Dreadlocked” West Seattle bank robber now linked to 2 heists

July 16, 2009 3:40 pm

| 4 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

In the comments after our report on yesterday morning’s robbery at the U.S. Bank branch in The Junction, some wondered if the dreadlocked bandit who struck in Maple Valley July 10th was the same dreadlocked bandit who got away here. The King County Sheriff’s Office now says yes, it’s believed to be the same guy. Sgt. John Urquhart from KCSO says, “The robber in both stick-ups was wearing a multi-colored hat with fake dreadlocks. In the Maple Valley robbery the man handed the teller a note which said ‘Give me all the money’ and mentioned something about a gun. No gun was seen, however. He was given the cash and left the area on foot.” The photo above is from the Maple Valley heist; we’ve asked the FBI for any photos available from the one here, but so far none have been provided. If you think you’ve seen this man, call 911.

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Higher electricity rates? Councilmember Harrell’s take

July 16, 2009 3:34 pm

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| Utilities | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

Once a month, the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce is hosting small brown-bag gatherings that president/CEO Patti Mullen has dubbed “Lunch with LEOs” – local elected officials. We’ve made it to all three, and today, the guest was City Councilmember Bruce Harrell, who heads up the council’s Energy and Technology Committee. The roundtable chat with seven of us representing local businesses/organizations covered a wide range of topics; of most interest – will Seattle City Light rates go up? Harrell stressed that SCL is technically a distinct entity but that he hasn’t seen any “data” regarding alleged money woes, which he says include “leaked” suggestions they might seek a rate increase of 20 percent next year. He says, “There might be a rate increase of some sort, but nothing close to that,” promising to closely scrutinize any such request, and the utility’s operations. He also discussed the city’s just-submitted application to get federal funding to put City Light on a “smart grid” – they’re hoping for up to $100 million of the $200 million he says it would cost to install technology that would enable more efficient management both at the operations level and at the individual customer level. Harrell says it would also assist in outages, potentially rerouting power around a trouble spot. That was good news to Marcia Chittenden, operator of the Chittenden House B&B, who told the story of how her business was without power for a week and a half after the December 2006 windstorm. According to Harrell, the “smart grid” money is being sought from a “stimulus” fund administered by the U.S. Energy Department and a decision on the grant should be in by October. Other projects Harrell says are on the drawing board include pursuing subsidized broadband for some low-income residents. Participating in the gathering as well as covering it, we put in a pitch when it was time to go around the table: Since his committee oversees technology as well as energy, we asked to have Seattle Police crime information available online, in something closer to real time – right now, the primary way reports are distributed to the media involves turning them into PDFs, copying them onto CDs and distributing them to precincts for reporters to peruse.

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8 gardens, raffles, Ciscoe: West Seattle Garden Tour this Sunday

July 16, 2009 2:47 pm

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| Fun stuff to do | Gardening | West Seattle news

We’ve talked a lot about the West Seattle Grand Parade at midday Saturday, the first Outdoor Movie on the Wall Saturday night, and other big events in West Seattle this weekend – but before your plans are set in stone, a shoutout for one more major event: The 15th annual West Seattle Garden Tour is this Sunday – and since it’s self-guided, 9 am-5 pm, you can tour at your leisure. We got a sneak peek at one of the 8 featured gardens a few days ago, the Hailey Family Garden in Admiral (see it here on the WSGT website). Above, a photo of just one tiny corner, showing one of the ways small and large in which color are texture is wound throughout this garden – with open sunny “grassland” out front, and a shady refuge (including beautiful birches) in back. In addition to the Haileys, the team that created this garden – wrapping around a classic, remodeled Admiral home — includes designer Shon Robinson, who was there to do a bit of tidying when we stopped by:

Every stop on the Garden Tour will feature something special. Along with the 8 tour stops, your West Seattle Garden Tour ticket includes admission to Northwest gardening legend Ciscoe Morris‘s lecture at noon at The Kenney, and a chance at winning raffle prizes including a bench donated by Capers (one of the places where tickets are still available) and a stone bench that you’ll see on display at the aforementioned Hailey Family Garden, plus many other items listed here – including, from WSB sponsor Endolyne Joe’s, a $100 gift certificate and $175 gift basket. Here’s where else to get tickets – including online at Brown Paper Tickets (which you in turn can exchange at two places Saturday or Sunday for ticket books).

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Seattle Department of Transportation rolls out online upgrades

July 16, 2009 2:06 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| Junction parking review | West Seattle news | West Seattle online

It’s the city department we discuss the most here, so we’re guessing you’ll want to check out SDOT’s new website. With it – a new Twitter account through which they promise traffic alerts, @seattledot (they used a different one a bit during last year’s snowstorm). And they’ve put the Community Parking Program, which includes the Junction parking review that’s been under way for a year and a half, on Facebook. Plus, you can get their news releases via RSS. (We’ve had state transportation news on our Traffic page via RSS for a while so we’ll add city shortly too.)

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Fauntleroy stolen-stone saga

July 16, 2009 11:44 am

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| Crime | Fauntleroy | West Seattle news

Local artist Paul Sorey posted his crime report in the WSB Forums – Two tons of stone, stolen from the Fauntleroy Church parking lot last weekend. Paul’s post links to a webpage he created with photos of similar stones. We just called him to find out a bit more: He says the stone was meant for use in a memorial garden at the church, and the two tons of stolen stone represent about a quarter of what they were using for the project.

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Also from MoCA’s meeting: More details on Metro changes

July 16, 2009 10:49 am

| 1 COMMENT

| Transportation | West Seattle news

More from last night’s Morgan Community Association meeting: New details about how Metro promises it will be beefing up West Seattle bus service, even though the “RapidRide branding” for planned service improvements is proposed to be delayed a year. What Metro’s Jack Latteman discussed with MoCA includes a plan to add rear-door card-readers to hundreds of buses to speed things up – read on for details on that and more:Read More

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Alki Community Council meets tonight – but NOT the usual place

July 16, 2009 6:30 am

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| West Seattle news

If you live in the greater Alki/Beach Drive area, the Alki Community Council‘s hoping to see you tonight – but not in the usual place. The Alki Community Center is closed for work till July 25, so tonight’s ACC meeting is at 7 pm at Alki UCC (here’s a map).

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SW District Council: Traffic-calming how-to, plus backyard cottages

July 16, 2009 4:13 am

| 10 COMMENTS

| Development | Safety | Southwest District Council | Transportation | West Seattle news

The Southwest District Council usually meets the first Wednesday of the month but moved and shortened its meeting this month to combine with an SDOT presentation about neighborhood traffic calming – and that brought out more than a dozen extra attendees. At left, SDOT’s Christina Legazpi with a radar gun, which her colleague Jane Rebelowski explained is often the first tool to determine if your neighborhood really needs help. If you sign up and get at least four more people on your street to join you, you’ll be able to take a class on how to use a radar gun, which will be loaned to you. She suggests neighbors work in pairs to track how fast cars are going and what type of cars are seen speeding. They notch two hours of logged observations to gauge the speed problem. Then comes the next phase – SPD enforcement and/or installation of calming measures. They can include signs, humps, chicanes, chokers (chicanes right across from each other) … all explained here, all potentially funded by money you can apply for. So how effective are the various measures? she was asked – and: Why not put up more stop signs? She says the federal government outlaws simply using stop signs for traffic calming – and they’re easily ignored anyway. Some attendees said they’d applied for traffic calming and gotten turned down; Rebelowski said she’d take a look at the specifics of their applications. If you’re interested in finding out more about how to confirm whether your neighborhood has a problem, and then figure out what to do about it, e-mail her: jane.rebelowski@seattle.gov – and note that this year’s deadline to apply for projects like traffic circles is fast approaching, end of the month.

The group also heard from Andrea Petzel with the same presentation on “backyard cottages” that she gave to the Delridge District Council last month – the city is considering allowing them in more areas. One attendee asked if there would be a vote or whether the City Council would “just ram it down our throats.” Junction Neighborhood Organization president Erica Karlovits expressed concern about density; Petzel said the cottages would only be allowed on single-family lots, but Karlovits pointed out that in The Junction, single-family residences are in close proximity to the ongoing new high-density building. Petzel countered by saying the city planned a maximum of 50 permits per year and she didn’t think that would ultimately affect density. (According to the “backyard cottage” program website, they’ve been allowed in Southeast Seattle for three years, but only 18 permits have been sought.)

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New federal ferry money: $2 million for King County Water Taxi

July 16, 2009 3:41 am

| 15 COMMENTS

| King County Water Taxi | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

U.S. Senator Patty Murray has announced that $7.6 million more transportation dollars are coming to our state for ferry operations – and $2 million is earmarked, we’re told, to go toward a new vessel for the West Seattle run of the King County Water Taxi. (The other money is going toward a Seattle-Bremerton foot ferry, as well as $3 million for Washington State Ferries‘ Anacortes terminal and $750,000 for a new Skagit County ferry terminal serving Guemes Island.) The $2 million would be “more than half the cost” of a new ferry, according to King County Council Chair Dow Constantine‘s office. (Meantime, some of Constantine’s opponents in the King County Executive race continue kicking the Water Taxi around as a political football – eastside State Rep. Ross Hunter, who said the other day that he’d kill the county-run ferries altogether, promises “startling numbers” about passenger ferries at a media briefing this morning — in front of a Lake Union yacht dealership.) 11:27 AM: Daily Weekly has posted a bit about Hunter’s latest anti-KCWT attack.

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Looking moonward, as the Apollo 11 anniversary draws near

July 16, 2009 2:24 am

| 22 COMMENTS

| WS miscellaneous

WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli notes his subject was approximately 234,913 miles away as he captured this image of this morning’s moonrise, observing, “The moon appeared strikingly orange as it rose above the horizon.” Reminds us that the Apollo 11 anniversary is just four days away. If you’re at least, oh, say, 45, do YOU remember what you were doing on July 20, 1969?

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Delridge Community Ctr. Playground update – by DCC interns!

July 16, 2009 1:37 am

| 6 COMMENTS

| Delridge | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

We mentioned during our West Seattle Summer Fest coverage that we are working with a group of youth doing multimedia internships through Delridge Community Center, and this morning we have a report. The group is Digital Darkroom – we’ll tell you a more about them later, as we are working fast to get out more stories this morning, but with the Delridge playground construction happening tomorrow, we didn’t want to wait on this – it’s great to have our DCC playground coverage enhanced by interns who are based right there! — TR, WSB editor

By Nick Wolf
Digital Darkroom Intern

This Friday, the Delridge Community Center is receiving a long-overdue remodel for its playground. The old playground was removed about two weeks ago when contractors came in to take out the old playground equipment.

This project started when Ryan Spencer (photo above) answered a surprise call from KaBOOM! Ryan, who works as the assistant coordinator for the community center, was excited that Delridge CC was selected to receive a new playground. KaBoom is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. It remodels and builds new playgrounds for organizations across the nation.

The volunteer work necessary to get the job done has been sponsored by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, a city Department of Neighborhoods grant, and the North Delridge Neighborhood Council.

When volunteers started the excavation they found concrete and some rubber still left in the old playground foundation, so it’s taken about eleven days to remove the remainder in order to start from a fresh foundation. An old and outdated manhole was also uncovered; it has been shortened and covered up with concrete and gravel.

Today, the Associated Recreation Council’s Digital Darkroom interns took photos of the volunteers beginning work on this project (like Nancy Folsom, above) and interviewed organizers and workers. We’ll be covering this story through to completion and will post again on Friday and Monday.

Thanks to Digital Darkroom! We are excited to work with them for the next month.

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Schmitz Park-area search: Suspect caught after fleeing police

July 16, 2009 12:29 am

| 3 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

Thanks to everyone who sent notes via e-mail, Twitter and Facebook asking about a big police presence about an hour and a half ago in the Schmitz Park area. Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Smith explained what it was about: He says officers pulled over a vehicle “for the purpose of IDing a suspect of an assault investigation.” However, the suspect bolted. Police meantime discovered the suspect also was “wanted for violation of a protection order,” according to Lt. Smith. With the help of K-9 tracking, officers found the suspect, who “will be booked for violation of protection order and obstruction of a police officer.”