The program for today’s celebration in memory of West Seattle business/community pioneer Helen Sutton described its location, the South Seattle Community College Arboretum, as “one of Helen’s favorite places.” Guests were welcomed with harp music by Pinky Dale, SSCC’s Georgetown Campus dean:
Hundreds gathered underneath a striped canopy, where the celebration officially began with a welcome by SSCC’s interim president Gary Oertli:
Ms. Sutton’s many ties to SSCC and the rest of Seattle’s community-college system were described in the program:
Helen served on the Seattle Community College District Board of Trustees from 1974 to 1985, and was involved with our colleges from the beginning. She was one of South’s earliest and strongest supporters. Helen was instrumental in the establishment of the South Seattle Community College Foundation, and she served as board member for many years, including several as president. She also helped create the Arboretum, where the Helen G. Sutton Rose Garden was established several years ago in honor of her efforts. In addition to her work on the Arboretum Committee, Helen was a member of the Scholarship Committeee.
Helen was fondly known as “Mrs. West Seattle” by many in the community. She owned La Grace Fashion Apparel for more than 40 years and was the first woman president of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce. She was also named “Citizen of the Year.”
She also was a Board Member Emeritus for the West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) and had been involved with Fauntleroy Church; on behalf of the church, LeeAnne Beres was to share reflections at today’s memorial, as were several others including niece Lori Edgerly of Yakima, the town in which Ms. Sutton was living when she died in June at age 95.
A reminder that tomorrow night is the memorial celebrating the life of Hussein Khazaal, owner of Phoenecia at Alki restaurant, who died suddenly last Saturday at age 63. The memorial is set for 6:30 pm Friday, and e-mail from the Khazaal family, forwarded to WSB, includes a few more details. First, the location is “west of the Statue of Liberty.” Plus:
•We have rented a small stage and sound system for Friday’s celebration. There will be an open mic for anyone who would like to share warm thoughts, wishes, and stories. Just like “papa” would want, we will prepare “something special for you.”
•In addition to food from Phoenecia, many fine West Seattle eating establishments will be preparing food due to the overwhelming attendance we expect. We thank them so much for their support.
We know Hussein would want to share one last meal with you all, and we will make sure that happens this Friday.
We also know many of you would like to pay your last respects, and we wanted to give everyone the opportunity.
We cannot begin to explain how much your kind words have touched our hearts – frankly, they are keeping us going.
William Khazaal – on behalf of the family
Hussein Khazaal was buried in Covington on Tuesday. ADDED EARLY FRIDAY: More details of Mr. Khazaal’s life, and family reminiscences, are in a new obituary by food writer Nancy Lesonjust published at seattletimes.com.
The schedule for closing the southbound lanes on First Avenue South between South King Street and Railroad Way has changed. The lanes will now be closed on Monday through Wednesday, August 17-19, and possibly also Thursday, August 20, if needed, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. The sidewalk on the western side of First Avenue South will also be closed. A detour will be provided to South King Street and then to Railroad Way, back to First Avenue South. (Please note that Railroad Way is divided by a median, so traffic turning left from King Street to head south on Railroad Way must stay to the right of the median.) The closure is needed for the operation of a large crane working on a private building.
Since Maury and Vashon Islands are so close by, this has been closely watched in West Seattle too, so we’re mentioning this breaking story: A federal court judge has just sided with the conservation groups that have been trying to stop the gravel-mine expansion that would build a big new dock. The judge says more federal reviews are required to consider the project’s possible effects on marine life, according to this AP report published by The Olympian. King County Council Chair Dow Constantine, a longtime opponent of the project, has issued a statement – read on:Read More
That’s a snippet of video of rainwater running downhill on a nearby side street. Nothing big, but a sight we haven’t seen in a while. Just in case you’re in a windowless room. In which case you’ve missed the lightning flashes and thunder rumbles this past hour, too. But the forecast says more typical summer weather WILL return soon – by the weekend, in fact. The National Weather Service is even calling for 80s starting Monday (PLUS we just saw a forecast by our favorite meteorologist, Q13’s Walter Kelley, who thinks it’ll be more like 90s next week). 6:40 PM UPDATE: We’re in the Hiawatha gym now, where the Summer Concerts at Hiawatha performance by the Elizabeth Carpenter Trio is starting a bit late to give people time to get here – there are a few dozen here despite the rain, it’s warm and cozy and bound to be fun. But be careful driving: Noticed some serious puddling on Fauntleroy Way, in the paving-project stretch, at least the northbound lanes. ADDED 10:12 PM: Got a photo, pre-dusk, of a truck splashing through one of those puddles:
The rain’s back – and thunder too – but tonight’s two big events are still on, and we wanted to remind you that BOTH are now indoors: West Seattle Art Walk, 6-9 pm, with locations all over the peninsula (here’s the printable map) — including the Nature Consortium‘s art exhibit at Youngstown Arts Center, 4408 Delridge (map) – NC’s Lisa Corbin sent the photo at right and says, “This painting titled MLK was done by one of our teaching artists, Agazit Ocbazgi. Her other pieces are equally as compelling. We will have live music and refreshments tonight as well!” Also happening shortly: Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha, now set to take place inside the gym at 6:30 pm, starring the Elizabeth Carpenter Trio – free!
The door-to-door alerts shared by WSB’ers have both alerted people to ruses and resulted in information verifying legitimate sellers – so in that spirit, here’s the latest:Read More
(WSB photo from June 2009)
Though the very existence of the King County Water Taxi has become a campaign issue in the County Executive race, its West Seattle and Vashon services continue chugging back and forth across Elliott Bay multiple times a day, and plans to make the West Seattle run year-round starting next year are still proceeding. As part of those plans, the dock at Seacrest is to be upgraded, with work to be done this fall – replacing the floating wooden dock (shown above) with concrete – and that work has just won approval for “shoreline substantial development” (scroll down to the second-to-last notice on this page); that decision is appealable to the State Shoreline Hearings Board, according to today’s notice. The project still needs construction permits, which are in progress, according to the official city page. Given the county budget situation, we checked with County Council Chair Dow Constantine‘s office – he also chairs the King County Ferry District Board. Reply: “At this point we are moving forward with all plans for service improvements to West Seattle and Vashon until otherwise directed by the Ferry District board. The board will be making several important decisions in the coming months in the budget process.”
That short clip pans around to look at the overflow crowd inside The Hall at Fauntleroy last night, where West Seattle’s biggest political organization, the 34th District Democrats, opened their monthly meeting with the hottest national topic of the moment, health-care reform, featuring U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, who not only is Seattle’s longtime House of Representatives rep, but also a physician. (Here’s our first report, published last night as the meeting unfolded.) Before it began, sign-holders had lined the street outside the hall as well, with more conversation than confrontation:
McDermott’s appearance was arranged and introduced by Dr. Lisa Plymate of the 34th DDs, who is active with the reform-advocacy group Doctors For America (she’s at the center of this photo with McDermott and, at left, the 34th DDs’ newly elected secretary Michael Taylor-Judd):
(Photo by Dina Johnson)
The group set out its rules for last night from the start (and on its website even before the meeting) – this wasn’t a town hall, so if you weren’t a member, you were welcome to watch but not to speak. As the meeting began, chair Tim Nuse also asked those with signs to lower them once the meeting began. And the only real interruption came toward the end of this clip, after McDermott’s harshest words for the insurance and pharmaceutical industries that he claims are keeping health-care reform from passing:
The man who you hear yelling “THAT’S A LIE!” at the very end of the clip was escorted from the room. (Note: From comments after this story was published, here’s another account of what happened after the shouting.) But that was one brief moment; the meeting was raucous at times with applause and shouts of assent, but otherwise peaceful. As you heard in the clip, McDermott advocates so-called “single-payer” health coverage (explained here), as – suggested by volume and frequency of applause – do many who were in the room last night. Read on for more video and more details of the entire meeting – which also included an endorsement vote on a measure that isn’t even officially on the ballot yet:Read More
Throughout the summer,SDOT has been issuing these roundups toward week’s end, to let everyone know where traffic might be affected around the city on Friday/Saturday/Sunday. We’ve been sharing them because we know you just might want to venture off the peninsula. No West Seattle events this time around (though plenty’s going on, as usual), but read on for the roundup:Read More
Emergency crews are at the scene of a crash on the eastbound side of The Bridge. No details except for one warning if you’re thinking of heading that way – DON’T. Our tipster hasn’t even made it past the Delridge onramp yet and traffic is at a standstill. 10:02 AM UPDATE: It’s a two-car crash. At least one person hurt, but being transported by private ambulance, which usually means “not life-threatening.” The cars are blocking the exit lane to 99 and the bus lane right at the top of the highrise. Everything’s moving smoothly once you get past it. 11:24 AM NOTE: As you can see in the “live” pic from the traffic cam, all’s clear now.
HELEN SUTTON MEMORIAL: This afternoon at 2 pm, longtime West Seattle entrepreneur and community advocate Helen Sutton will be remembered and celebrated at the South Seattle Community College Arboretum, which she helped create. Here’s a map to the college; here’s a campus map showing where the Arboretum is located. Ms. Sutton was 95 when she died in June (here’s our original report); she was the longtime owner of La Grace in The Junction, and was the first woman president of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce. Everyone’s invited to the memorial.
WEST SEATTLE ART WALK: More than 50 venues all over West Seattle welcome your visit 6-9 pm to enjoy art (and treats at many stops). Not only is it an opportunity to see the artwork, but it’s also an open-house atmosphere where you can visit local businesses you might not just drop into otherwise. Many of tonight’s participating artists are listed on the official West Seattle Art Walk site. One unique event on tonight’s docket is STOP! COLLABORATE! at Twilight Artist Collective in The Junction (west of Easy Street), promising a DJ’ed dance party as well as a show curated by local artist Todd Karam. Here’s how Twilight describes it:
This is one-of-a-kind opportunity where 16 artists from Washington and California collaborated with each other. Of course there’s a twist. Each participating artist contributed one of their own “completed” pieces. After drawing names from a hat, another artist from the group then took the once completed piece to expand on it. You ask “..but, but will they respect the work of the other artist? Is this normal?” The answer is, “who knows.”
SUMMER CONCERTS AT HIAWATHA, UPDATE – INDOORS TONIGHT! (this item updated at 9:34 am with new information) The fourth in the popular-from-night-one new, FREE concert series presented by the Admiral Neighborhood Association is tonight at 6:30 at Hiawatha Community Center – and organizer Katy Walum says that because of the potentially showery weather, it WILL be held indoors at the Hiawatha gym. The jazzy Elizabeth Carpenter Trio headlines tonight; sample their music here.
A reminder that tomorrow night is 
The rain’s back – and thunder too – but tonight’s two big events are still on, and we wanted to remind you that BOTH are now indoors: 
Two weeks after 
Emergency crews are at the scene of a crash on the eastbound side of The Bridge. No details except for one warning if you’re thinking of heading that way – DON’T. Our tipster hasn’t even made it past the Delridge onramp yet and traffic is at a standstill. 10:02 AM UPDATE: It’s a two-car crash. At least one person hurt, but being transported by private ambulance, which usually means “not life-threatening.” The cars are blocking the exit lane to 99 and the bus lane right at the top of the highrise. Everything’s moving smoothly once you get past it. 11:24 AM NOTE: As you can see in the “live” pic from the traffic cam, all’s clear now.
HELEN SUTTON MEMORIAL: This afternoon at 2 pm, longtime West Seattle entrepreneur and community advocate Helen Sutton will be remembered and celebrated at the 
WEST SEATTLE ART WALK: More than 50 venues all over West Seattle welcome your visit 6-9 pm to enjoy art (and treats at many stops). Not only is it an opportunity to see the artwork, but it’s also an open-house atmosphere where you can visit local businesses you might not just drop into otherwise. Many of tonight’s participating artists are listed 
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