Update: Opening day for Alki pho restaurant Saigon Boat Café
Story and photo by Mary Sheely
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Between 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. today, Saigon Boat Café, 2632 Alki SW (map), served 20 customers. For many restaurants, that probably wouldn’t be such a great number. But for a restaurant on its opening day, with no fanfare save a lit-up “open” sign? Not bad at all.
Owner Nhung Tran, who with her sister Thu Tran is the proprietor of Saigon Boat Café and Red Nails, around the corner at 2648 59th SW, two businesses that we have covered previously, is smiling as she stands in the cheerful space that used to be a dreary rental house.
“We just opened, they come!” she says.
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West Seattle Weekend Lineup: Polar Plunge/Dine for Haiti edition
Not too late to jump in and sign up – we’re happy to be co-sponsoring the first Alki edition of Polar Plunge for Special Olympics of Washington and the Law Enforcement Torch Run, this Sunday at Alki – plungers include police, local students, and more! – Sunday is also Dine Out Seattle for Haiti, with five West Seattle restaurants participating last time we looked, including WSB sponsors Feedback Lounge and Skylark Cafe and Club. Saturday – it’s the West Seattleite-organized karaoke benefit at Goldie’s to benefit WS Officer Jason McKissack‘s medical fund (more here) – earlier in the day, school open-house season continues, with the doors swung open at West Seattle Montessori School (WSB sponsor) and Cometa Playschool … Saturday afternoon’s also when you’ll find puppet theater at Alki Bathhouse! From tonight through Sunday night, FIFTY events/activities in all, brought to you by Skylark Cafe and Club, where you’ll find FREE live music and rockin’ food (and don’t forget the Sunday benefit):Read More
West Seattle’s Water Taxi: Dock pour today; fare hearing Monday
Thanks to WSB’er “kmo39” – who has shared updates before on the progress of the King County Water Taxi dock project at Seacrest – for sharing that photo taken this morning: Now that the pilings for the new dock are in, concrete pouring is under way. The Water Taxi is scheduled to start running again in April, and if funding is finalized over the summer, its year-round operations could start this fall; the dock project is a prelude to that, since the previous wooden floating dock – shaky even in summertime – didn’t suit rough-weather operations. Also a reminder – the King County Ferry District board (King County Council members) is scheduled to take up the new proposed fare structure (including a 50-cent increase if you pay cash) on Monday (1:30 pm, County Courthouse), with a public hearing – here’s our story from last week.
Urban coyotes: 1 trapped/killed in Magnolia, but no citywide plan
While wildlife authorities usually evangelize coexistence with coyotes (and other urban wildlife) – as pointed out in this recent WSB report – they decided to take a different tack with two coyotes seen recently and frequently in Magnolia, trapping and killing one this morning, according to the Seattle Times (WSB partner). Though state wildlife agents indicated they were most concerned about the coyotes’ attacks on pets – which happen in other Seattle areas too, West Seattle included – the Times report says they are NOT planning a citywide anti-coyote effort.
If you wondered too: Big white ship in the bay = Olympics-bound
Thanks to Sharonn for sending that photo after we mentioned this earlier on Twitter: After a note from Deborra asking about the unusual-looking white ship in the middle of Elliott Bay. We looked it up with a website you should bookmark if you get curious about ship sightings too: marinetraffic.com’s Seattle map. It’s the Mona Lisa, a chartered passenger ship according to this info-page (which also has a closeup file photo). More background here helped indirectly point us to confirmation of what Sharonn said she’d heard – The News Tribune reported last week that Mona Lisa is one of the ships headed to Vancouver to serve as floating hotels for workers coming in for the Winter Games. 3:33 PM UPDATE: Zack shares a closer view – first, the entire photo, then a closer view, since his note to us called attention to the funnel art honoring the ship’s namesake:
Officer Jason McKissack: Hearing set for bill; fundraiser update
Two updates in the story of Jason McKissack, the Seattle Police officer viciously attacked during a West Seattle call more than a year and a half ago, 
and still not recovered enough to work, but losing medical benefits because state law does not cover “catastrophic disability.” Since we reported Tuesday on the Seattle Police Officers Guild news conference (left) in which he and others spoke in support of EHB 1679 — state legislation reintroduced this year to fix the situation — a public hearing has been set: Next Monday, 3:30 pm, House Ways and Means Committee. West Seattle Rep. Eileen Cody is on that committee; here’s how to contact her; here’s the full list of committee members. A message on the “Support Officer Jason McKissack” Facebook group says the hearing will be short “but we need all the help we can get … to show the level of public support for this legislation.” The John L. O’Brien Building at the State Capitol (map) is where to be. Meantime, the next local fundraiser for Officer McKissack’s medical expenses is karaoke at Goldie’s in Georgetown at 9 pm tomorrow. Karaoke host Willie Murderface, a longtime West Seattle resident, organized it and has rounded up raffle prizes from businesses including Skylark Cafe (WSB sponsor), Cherry Consignment, Full Tilt Ice Cream, C and P Coffee, Proletariat Pizza, Pegasus Pizza, Pagliacci Pizza, Envy on Alki, Alki Beach Tattoo, Via Tribunali, Club Motor. Here’s Willie’s event page for this.
Today/tonight in West Seattle: Traffic alerts to high-school hoops
TRAFFIC ALERTS: All that activity on and around the section of The Bridge between 99 and I-5, known as the Spokane Street Viaduct, starts happening today. The 4th Avenue South offramp from the westbound side closes forever; westbound lower Spokane St. closes from 6th to 1st for many months; the northbound I-5 ramp to The Bridge and the Columbian Way ramp to The Bridge both close around 10 tonight for the entire weekend, till early Monday. Lots of details, detour maps, etc. at seattle.gov/spokane.
WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY CENTERS: Fun night at three of them – Family Skate Night at 6:45 at Alki CC, an MLK celebration with arts, crafts, music and spoken-word performance at 6 pm at Hiawatha CC, and Leo the Clown at Delridge CC at 7.
PEOPLE’S PLACE FUNDRAISER: Call it a startup for helping the homeless – “communal transitional housing,” founded by two volunteers including West Seattle’s Christi Stapleton. (We wrote about People’s Place here.) 6:30 tonight at El Centro de la Raza on Beacon Hill, they’re having a fundraiser reception and silent auction (items include “lunch, coffee or drinks with Mayor Mike McGinn“).
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL (INCLUDING HAITI FUNDRAISER @ SEALTH): All three high schools in West Seattle are playing host to visiting teams tonight. At West Seattle High School, Cleveland HS is the visitor, girls’ varsity at 6:15 pm, boys’ varsity at 8 pm. At Chief Sealth High School, Nathan Hale is the visitor, same times – note that a bake sale to raise $ for Haiti relief is planned during the Sealth games. At Seattle Lutheran High School, Tacoma Baptist is the visitor, 6:15 girls’ varsity, 7:45 boys’ varsity.
More on the WSB West Seattle Events page.
Alki Community Council: Lighthouse love; Beacon shines
(October 2009 photo courtesy of Greg Whittaker from Mountain to Sound Outfitters [WSB sponsor] and Alki Kayak Tours)
Story and photos by Jonathan Stumpf
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
As promised, the Alki Community Council introduced new webmaster/Alki News Beacon editor Glynnis Vaughan Thursday night in its new meeting location at ![]()
Alki UCC.
But before the introduction of Vaughan, the council was treated to a presentation by United States Coast Guard Auxiliarist Lyn McClellan (left). The room of about 20 clearly enjoyed the half-hour discussion about the history of the Alki Point Lighthouse.
The USCG is thrilled to have it open to the public during the upcoming summer weekends (Memorial through Labor Day weekends) from 1:00 to 4:00 pm, and although the light is automated now, and the neighborhood side is veiled from it, the established-in-1887 lighthouse and its history are still worth the visit, with visitors from 68 countries stopping by during the last two years. You can read lots more about it here.
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