Just five weeks after first word that Blackboard Bistro would replace short-lived Eness at 3247 California SW – it’s Grand Opening Eve for proprietorJacob Wiegner (above left) and his team. Friday night, they’re officially open; tonight, they welcomed food writers in for a “media preview”; we don’t partake during such things but we did drop in for a few photos. Blackboard Bistro actually has been serving guests in “soft-open” mode for at least a week; as promised, the menu’s on a blackboard:
Here’s a closer look at the “savory” side (as opposed to the right side of the photo, which was the “sweet”):
You can also see the opening menu in the news release we published July 28th. And here’s a food photo, tweeted by @valentinavitols during/after tonight’s sneak peek. Per the Blackboard Bistro website, Friday night’s grand opening is 5-11 pm and you should have made a reservation by now – but you can always check tomorrow to see if there’s room left (or make plans to visit on subsequent days/nights).
When the meteor-shower talk started rising beyond a dull roar last night, Christopher Boffoli went out to the Me-Kwa-Mooks vicinity along Beach Drive in search of an early view. He reported only two meteors in 40 minutes – but great stargazing. (We noticed the latter even from our near-lots-of-streetlights Upper Fauntleroy porch.) Tonight, however, should be a different story. This is the night the annual Perseid meteor shower is peaking – maybe almost a meteor a minute, if you have a good view. Via Twitter, @martha_kang points us to this NASA link for the best information – they’re keeping watch at the space agency too. (Added: Links from Katie – here and here – and from Mac – here.) If you can stay up late enough, NASA suggests the best viewing is after midnight; let us know what you see, and from where! Or try this live feed which is linked from that NASA page – video AND audio:
Even the layout of treats at Liberty Bell was a work of art:
And another Junction stop – Bin 41, “your Junction wine shop” (WSB sponsor), where they were thrilled to host Washington winemaker Brian Carter tonight – he took a quick break from pouring, to pose with Bin 41 proprietors T. Frick and Jon McNamara:
Speaking of The Junction, two huge events are coming up within the next month-plus: On August 21, it’s the multi-store Big Bonanza sale, all day long (participants listed here), with not only deals, but fun, like a water-squirting showdown at high noon. Then September 19th is the third annual West Seattle Junction Car Show (co-sponsored by WSB) – the posters are hot off the presses at Liberty Bell, so you’ll be seeing them around soon. And mark your calendar for the next West Seattle Art Walk, second Thursday in September, 9/9 (if you want more info about any of the artists whose work you saw tonight, there are plenty of highlights on the official WSAW website).
By one count, more than 500 people sprawled out across the east lawn at Hiawatha Community Center tonight for the season’s third installment of “Summer Concerts at Hiawatha,” presented by the Admiral Neighborhood Association, whose president Katy Walum‘s shoulders you’re looking over in the top photo. On stage, Pearl Django:
As usual, lots of families – check out the stroller lineup:
As mentioned in our preview earlier, the “cooler on wheels” featuring Full Tilt Ice Cream was there, and next week will feature the Buns on Wheels burger truck. Tonight, there was some unofficial neighborhood awareness-raising going on – we spotted opponents of the 3200 block of California rezoning proposal – with its pivotal public hearing coming up next Wednesday downtown (here’s our coverage archive topped by the newest stories)
We’re told, however, that this was not an authorized table – tabling at the series has been reserved for sponsors (which include WSB, though tonight because so much was going on, we just dropped by for photos/video.) Meantime, as big as tonight’s crowd was, next week just might beat it – a double bill of family music by Caspar Babypants and The Board of Education. (6:30 pm Thursday as usual) – admission free as always, but donations will be collected for WestSide Baby: Bring diapers, kids’ essentials, or even $ to donate.
P.S. More West Seattle free outdoor music tomorrow night – the second of four Outdoor Concerts at The Mount, south side of Providence Mount St. Vincent, dinner offerings go on sale at 5 pm, music starts at 6 with Maia Santell and House Blend.
We’ve been out covering a boatload of big events, but first wanted to tell you, if you watch West Seattle development, that the first Southwest Design Review Board meeting in about half a year is over, and the 7100 Delridge project – 58 apartments, 1,750 square feet of retail, and three rental houses behind the building – made it through the “Early Design Guidance” phase. We’ll add full details later about architect Warren Pollock‘s presentation and SWDRB members’ advice. Next step: At least one more meeting, at which the design will have to be presented in more detail.
ORIGINAL 3:26 PM REPORT: We’re at the Regional Justice Center in Kent, where the 50-year-old Burien man suspected in more than 40 smash-and-grab burglaries – including a series of break-ins in West Seattle – has just appeared before a judge for his bail hearing. We are not identifying him until and unless he is charged, which could happen tomorrow. The judge granted prosecutors’ request for $150,000 bail; his defense lawyer had argued that there was little evidence tying him to the three cases on which he is currently held – but the judge noted that he allegedly had a “cash register in his hand, which was then dropped” at or around the time of his arrest early yesterday. We should get more information shortly on the circumstances of his arrest – now that bail is set, prosecutors will be able to release some documentation, which we’ll add here when we get it. In granting the bail amount, the judge noted that the suspect had more than 60 cases in his history, resulting in more than 90 warrants – drolly observing, “That’s a ratio of 1.5 warrants per case.” (The warrants, the prosecutor had said, were generally for “failing to comply with court orders.” As we reported yesterday, he has prior burglary convictions. The Department of Corrections told WSB today that he had served two prison terms – from September 2002 to August 2004, and from June 2007 to September 2009. (The latter was in connection with the theft of an ATM from a tavern in Seatac.) More to come.
ADDED 3:55 PM: We have the probable cause paperwork now, from the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office – indicating that detectives had been watching this particular suspect, also saying that he was caught an hour after a burglary at a West Seattle church, and mentioning an alleged drug problem – read on:Read More
Thanks to Sue for noticing this and sharing the link: Central District News has an update today on Leschi neighbors’ plans for a memorial to Seattle Police Officer Tim Brenton, murdered there in the line of duty last fall. Officer Brenton, you may recall, had West Seattle ties, including having graduated from West Seattle High School in 1988. The CD News story includes images of what is on the drawing board for the memorial in Leschi – and a request for donations if you’d like to help them cover its $25,000 cost. Meantime, Officer Brenton’s accused murderer awaits trial.
On assignment for WSB, contributing photographer Evan Miglorie stopped by Roxhill Elementary this morning to check on the garden-building party mentioned here yesterday. Volunteers are building nine garden beds where they’ll grow vegetables (“and other edibles,” Evan tells us) to study and eventually eat! It’s under the direction of Maggie Anderson from the King County Food and Fitness Initiative:
She’s been working with schools in eastern West Seattle and White Center to get programs like this one off the ground – and, you could say, IN the ground. Still time to drop by and pitch in – supplies and tools provided, as well as refreshments; they’re scheduled to be there till 3 pm (30th/Roxbury).
These photos are both courtesy of ace Alki wildlife-watcher Guy Smith – top, a seal mom and pup that he says spent a lot of time Wednesday on the Joy D. Smith Wildlife Raft (rafts like this are a big help, according to Seal Sitters, which has wished there were more) – second, a mini-ferry of sorts also seen off Alki Point – looks terribly familiar but we don’t have time for extensive research to determine its name – recognize it?
(October 2009 YouTube clip of Pearl Django)
Tonight at 6:30, east lawn of Hiawatha Community Center, bring your chair(s)/blanket(s) for the next free Summer Concerts at Hiawatha presentation – the jazz/swing of Pearl Django with guest vocalist Greta Matassa. The series is presented by the Admiral Neighborhood Association, whose president Katy Walum has been working on fulfilling a frequent request for food vendors – and one debuts tonight, she tells WSB: “Icecycle will be there (a ‘cooler on wheels’) selling Full Tilt ice cream bars, Otter Pops, and water bottles.” Then next Thursday, a full-fledged food truck – the new Buns On Wheels truck with organic/grass-fed/free-range-beef burgers, which has been spending weekends on Alki, will come to Hiawatha on concert nights. Meantime, the PCC Natural Markets (WSB sponsor) Kid Picks truck with samples is back tonight (PCC’s a major sponsor of the series; all sponsors, including WSB, are listed here). The concert series continues Thursday nights through Sept. 2; the full lineup’s here.
6:30 tonight at the Senior Center of West Seattle (meeting room upstairs – enter from SW Oregon), the Southwest Design Review Board meets for the first time in months, with one project on the agenda: 7100 Delridge (map; site in photo at left), proposed for 58 units and a 1,750-square-foot commercial space, with three detached “rental homes” in the greenbelt behind the main building. The first meeting (and sometimes subsequent ones, depending on how meeting #1 goes) is for “early design guidance,” so the package of information and graphics (see it here) is more about size, shape, and concept, than the building’s final appearance. (Public comment is welcome, even encouraged, at DRB meetings, if you’ve never been; here’s a guide for the process.)
Tonight through Sunday, you have five more chances to see young performers sing and act their hearts out with vigorous verbosity, as part of the ArtsWest Musical Theater Academy, as they present “Seussical Jr.” Get a quick preview in the video created by Edgar Riebe from West Seattle-based Captive Eye Media. Check out the cast list and info here; showtimes are 7:30 pm tonight through Saturday, 3 pm Saturday and Sunday. (Tickets are on sale online.)
2nd weekend in September gets busier: In addition to the Alki Community Council Family Fun Day on September 12th (missed our preview with a call for talent show and dog parade participants, plus sponsors and vendors? see the story here), Holy Family School is having its annual Street Fair Sept. 11-12th. They want to get the word out about openings for both tablers and sponsors (maybe you want to do both!) – to see about tabling, e-mail Betty at betwell@comcast.net; for Spanish-speaking tablers, Victory at ramirez.victormanuel@hotmail.com. For sponsorship information, contact principal@hfseattle.org. The HF site says they’re having chili and salsa cookoffs, too.
We are not identifying him until and unless he is charged, which could happen tomorrow. The judge granted prosecutors’ request for $150,000 bail; his defense lawyer had argued that there was little evidence tying him to the three cases on which he is currently held – but the judge noted that he allegedly had a “cash register in his hand, which was then dropped” at or around the time of his arrest early yesterday. We should get more information shortly on the circumstances of his arrest – now that bail is set, prosecutors will be able to release some documentation, which we’ll add here when we get it. In granting the bail amount, the judge noted that the suspect had more than 60 cases in his history, resulting in more than 90 warrants – drolly observing, “That’s a ratio of 1.5 warrants per case.” (The warrants, the prosecutor had said, were generally for “failing to comply with court orders.” 
Thanks to Sue for noticing this and sharing the link: 
Tonight, 6-9 pm, it’s the next 
6:30 tonight at the
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