West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
(Photo by Tony Bradley)
ORIGINAL 8:31 PM REPORT: We have arrived in the area of a house fire call on SW Manning. It is alongside the bridge by Luna Park businesses. (map) More shortly. 8:39 PM UPDATE: It’s a house up the Manning hill north of the bridge. No sign of flames or smoke now but still an active scene. We are hearing here at the scene that one room caught fire, extinguished quickly, no injuries reported so far. 8:57 PM UPDATE: We are still on the scene. Incident commanders tell us they don’t know yet how it started. A neighbor who was first to see the smoke tells us the homeowner has been remodeling but wasn’t home when this started. An animal control worker has just safely caught a dog that ran off during the fire chaos. (iPhone pic added 9:25, dog in foreground as it ran past us toward the officer)
Several witnesses tell us the fire was primarily in the back of the house. The neighbor who first saw the smoke told us he ran up to bang on the doors and windows and make sure nobody was inside. He says the homeowner’s been working on largely do-it-yourself remodeling for a long time. The street’s narrowness and steepness made it a tough squeeze for all the crews that responded – some had to park down the hill in a dirt clearing along the street that runs between Admiral/Manning and Avalon – and a few more waited down by the Luna Park businesses in case they were needed.
First – West Seattle Family YMCA sports director Matt Schlede sent that championship photo with news of who won a big game on Thursday night:
My Oh My beat the Bad News Y’rs 15-6 to win the West Seattle & Fauntleroy YMCA Adult Co-ed Softball Championship. My Oh My, who finished the season 7-1, was led by the strong bat and aggressive base-running of Jamie Schaefer, and solid outfield play of Drew Andrews.
Next – the Y’s Josh Sutton shares word that aquatics director Mac Snow just finished his cross-country bicycling odyssey – Seattle-to-Portland, but not the two-state STP, rather a coast-to-coast version. He chronicled it on this website, from which we pull the stats from his just-completed trip
21 days of biking:
2 days off in Chicago
3,395 total miles
Most miles 225, Austin MN to Madison WI
Least miles 105, multiple days
Speaking of Y aquatics, we are belatedly publishing these words of congratulation shared by Cindy McComish for another group of athletes who recently completed out-of-state travels:
7 swimmers and 1 assistant coach under the leadership of head coach Rod Rombauer have returned home after swimming in the National YMCA Long Course Swim Meet held in College Park, Maryland. The Dolphin National Team traveled to the meet on the campus of the University of Maryland by plane via Baltimore and stayed for 8 days and 8 nights. This year’s summer travel team represented 5 Seattle/Burien schools and the entire roster for the team (the starters, juniors, seniors, high school and national groups) is over 100 swimmers. Congratulations to this hard working national team and their coaches for their competitive spirit and for doing a great job of representing West Seattle.
That’s one of our tinfoil hats … foil provided to moviegoers so don’t worry about bringing your own. So far no indication they’ll have to double as rain hats – cloudy all day but staying dry (knock wood) so we are preceding with plans for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” at tonight’s West Seattle Junction Outdoor Movies on the Wall in the courtyard by Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor). Gates just opened so you’re welcome to come stake out your spot – no admission charge but bring your own chair/blanket. Preshow fun (show off that hat AND join us in the five-note singalong) scheduled for 8:30, movie at dusk, concessions and raffle tickets on sale to benefit local nonprofits. See you there.
Sure, you need a sweater, but otherwise there are music and beverages to keep you warm at West Seattle Nursery till 5 pm today. It’s a fundraiser for Furry Faces Foundation, with Beveridge Place Pub‘s Gary Sink pouring:
We also have a photo to share from an outdoor celebration in the Roxhill area night before last:
(Thursday photo courtesy Lutheran Alliance To Create Housing)
Paul Hogle and other board members from The Lutheran Alliance To Create Housing (LATCH) served ice cream during an open house/ice-cream social at Longfellow and Westwood Courts. LATCH, with 36 member congregations, oversees more than 200 apartments around the city, including these West Seattle properties.
We’ve been reporting all this on Twitter because the citywide media hasn’t jumped in yet, but now the potential West Seattle connection is stronger so we’re mentioning it here too: Two armed robberies in the past hour-plus in the North End, and per scanner traffic, witnesses say the second one appears to be the same guy who held up KeyBank in The Junction last Wednesday:
It’s also been noted via the scanner that in the West Seattle case the robber and a possible accomplice were believed to be in an early ’90s police-style white Chevrolet Caprice with a chrome/silver spotlight. We haven’t yet gotten the location of the second robbery today, but the first one was at a Bank of America in Wedgwood, and the second one is also being handled by North End units – in that one, the description was closest: Black man, 40s, round glasses, heavy set. These are both still active investigations in North Seattle; we’ll add more here later when additional information’s available. (There’s also talk of a possible link to an incident elsewhere in the city yesterday – checking into that.) 3:11 PM UPDATE: While the possible WS link is not mentioned, the two robberies are now discussed briefly on the SPDBlotter site. The 2 locations from today were just about 2 miles apart (map).
P-PATCH PROJECT: Originally found that via Facebook, and Joni says it’s OK to share with you — she’s updating progress (Whrrl allows you to keep adding photos) on another day of volunteer work at the new MacArthur P-Patch in High Point. Just click to see what’s happening. (A celebration of the new garden is set for 5-7 pm this Friday – more info here.)
FREE CAR WASH: Also via Facebook, Nancy sent word that hubby Kevin has organized a free car wash in the parking lot at Ginomai, southwest corner of 42nd/Genesee. Scheduled to be there till 2 pm. (Just a stone’s throw from tonight’s West Seattle Outdoor Movies on the Wall site!)
TWO RETAIL EVENTS: Ann at smallclothes (which recently moved to 3215 California SW) says today’s the last day of their summer sale – “everything in the shop is 20% off including all resale items, Imp Wear and SKR shoes.” And Coastal on Alki is having a “Happy Hour” event 2-5pm with 20% off Smith and Nikita items – plus DJ Sean Majors. Don’t let the weather ruin the summer mood; fall is still six weeks away. (By the calendar, anyway.)
GARDENING AND BEER: They’re together again at West Seattle Nursery, 1-5 pm today, benefiting the animal advocates at Furry Faces Foundation.
ORIGINAL 11:16 AM REPORT: We’re en route to this [“assault with weapons” call] – also monitoring the scanner, and so far it seems to involve a van and a knife, other circumstances hard to sort out from the radio traffic, but we’ll let you know what we find out at the scene. 11:28 AM UPDATE: From information at the scene and on the scanner – bystanders noticed a man (late 20s/30) in a van who appeared to be injuring himself; they called for help, and he is being taken to Harborview Medical Center. No one else apparently involved, no crime, authorities are clearing out.
IN A FLASH: It’s been discussed here on WSB multiple times; now channel 4 has crossed the bridge to do a story about the frequently flashing 35th/Thistle (map) red-light camera. (Most interesting factoid in there — this camera is reported to average 2.5 tickets/day.)
TRANSPORTATION (DEPARTMENT) TALES: This relatively new city website is providing updates on SDOT projects at a fairly busy clip. Most recent West Seattle update – a look at this past week’s work to repair sections of the Duwamish Trail.
FAREWELL, FERRIES: Two of the four steel-electric ferries the state took out of service and sold for scrap started their final journey last night, under tow. Since they were briefly in Elliott Bay, you might have seen them; if not, here’s a Seattle Times photo. Until concerns about their seaworthiness arose, a steel-electric was usually the third boat on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run. Quinault and Nisqually were the two towed last night; the other two, Klickitat and Illahee, will be towed away later this month.
“CLOSE ENCOUNTERS” AT MOVIES ON THE WALL: Come make a protective tin-foil hat and sing along to the famous five notes during the preshow nuttiness, then watch the classic movie on the big screen at dusk, courtyard next to Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor). See you there. If you’re looking for indoor entertainment …
“A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD, KIDS”: Thanks to Matt Durham from mattdurhamphotography.com for those shots (including, in the closeup photo, West Seattleites Cameron Lee and Levi Starkweather) from ArtsWest‘s production, with 3 pm matinees and 7:30 pm evening shows finishing the run today and tomorrow. Also onstage tonight, with stars of all ages:
“THE MUSIC MAN”: It’s night two of the classic musical as presented by Twelfth Night Productions (WSB sponsor). 7:30 pm, West Seattle High School Theater.
(August 2008 photo by John LaSpina)
DUWAMISH RIVER FESTIVAL: Celebrate West Seattle’s “other” body of water while also learning what’s being done to restore its health. The festival’s in the park on the river bank in South Park, 7900 10th Ave. S. (map), noon-4 pm – the tentative schedule of performers/events is here.
BIG SALE BENEFITING THE SERVICE BOARD: Check it out at tSB’s home base at Youngstown Arts Center, 8 am-2 pm. Full details here.
Lots more happening – all listed in the latest West Seattle Weekend Lineup.
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