2 invitations from Genesee-Schmitz Neighborhood Council
West Seattle’s newest neighborhood council – the Genesee-Schmitz Neighborhood Council, about to celebrate its first year – has two invitations for area residents (here’s the map to use to see if that means you):
BEEFING UP BLOCK WATCHES: Next Tuesday (March 8th), 6 pm at the Southwest Precinct, area Block Watch captains and interested neighbors are invited to a Block Watch meeting, featuring retiring Crime Prevention Coordinator Benjamin Kinlow and Community Police Team Officer Ken Mazzuca as well as the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains’ Network. The GSNC hopes to find out how many active Block Watches are out there, as well as to get them going in areas that don’t have them yet. (BW captains who can’t attend are asked to contact the council through its website, to share contact and location information.) More details here.
GENESEE-SCHMITZ NEIGHBORHOOD EVENT: This one’s more of a celebration, “to kick off year two,” inviting all area residents to a town-hall forum “where neighbors can share the concerns and interests they want the council to focus on,” followed by a hoedown, led by instructor Dina Blade, with live music by the Canote Brothers. The event is 6:30-8:30 pm March 31st (dancing starts at 7) at West Seattle Christian Church, 4400 42nd SW, $3/person or family donation requested, and you’re asked to bring cookies to share!
High-school basketball: Chief Sealth loses by one point
(The team taking the floor at the start of tonight’s game)
A boys-basketball state-tournament heartbreaker just ended at the Tacoma Dome – Bellevue 49, Chief Sealth International High School 48. We tweeted live from Tacoma (see the tweets here); more details here on WSB, and video, when our crew’s back at HQ. (Sealth plays a consolation game, vs. winner of tonight’s Glacier Peak-North Central game, tomorrow at 2 pm.)
ADDED 11:20 PM: Details and video from our Tacoma Dome coverage, after the jump:Read More
West Seattle HS student seeks your vote in stay-in-school contest
Motivating teenagers to stay in school is harder than you might think. The dropout crisis is real, and multiple attempts are under way to try to convince kids, one by one, to keep going. The video you see above is part of a campaign called “Get Schooled.” West Seattle High School is participating, and there’s a rap/rhyme contest too. One participating WSHS student e-mailed WSB with his video link – it’s a 1-minute video, full of local scenery! – and this explanation:
My name is Ryan Gluckman, I am a Junior at West Seattle High School, and I am participating in “Get Schooled,” a campaign focused on motivating kids to graduate high school, and be on time to class. This program is relatively exclusive, including only 25 schools in the nation, one of them being WSHS. Participating students submit a rhyme & video that explain how they stay motivated in school. I wrote, directed, performed, and co-produced an entire video along with the help of my fellow student, a Senior at West Seattle High School, Lucas Saunders. We filmed the entire video in West Seattle. WSHS showed support for my video [earlier this week] by playing my song over the intercom in the hallways inbetween classes.
Ryan also shared this link explaining the video contest and why your support matters. He has a Facebook page for his participation in the contest, too – you can show support by “liking” it here. Note that you have to sign up with the Get Schooled site to vote – though the checklist makes it look like you can’t participate if you’re over 19, the rules clearly say anyone over 13 can vote; deadline for voting is March 18th. (P.S. If you wondered who’s behind Get Schooled – we did – its “partners” are listed here, including the Seattle-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation).
Opening date set for West Seattle Bright Horizons at Link
Laurie Paul is a longtime West Seattle resident who is thrilled that her commute is about to get a lot shorter. She has been director of a Bright Horizons child-care center in Bellevue for 14 years – and now she is going to lead its first center in West Seattle, at Link (WSB sponsor) in The Triangle. If you see this before 7 pm, you have a chance to meet her during a drop-in informational session that’s under way at Cupcake Royale in The Junction (California/Alaska); otherwise, watch this webpage for upcoming events (like a hard-hat tour on March 31st). Paul told WSB contributor Ellen Cedergreen at today’s event that Bright Horizons is scheduled to open in Link on May 2nd.
Bright Horizons started back east and now has centers in North America and Europe. Some of its centers are partnered with companies to serve their employees (local Starbucks workers may be familiar with the Mermaid’s Lagoon program), but others are standalone community-serving centers like the one in West Seattle will be. According to our earlier conversation with regional manager Mahira Aleem, the center will serve more than 160 children, including three infant rooms. They also hope to integrate their program with some of Link’s unique features, such as the gardens planned on its rooftop deck. Their facilities are centered on the north side of Link, but they also have outdoor play areas, including one being built at the site east of neighboring Lien Animal Clinic where the Link construction trailer has been based.
Though they’re two months away from opening, they’re signing up families now, and you can find information – including phone and e-mail contacts – on their West Seattle-specific webpage, here.
Next time you hear a horn – someone might be saving a life
Another matter of pedestrian safety – this time, gratitude, and a reminder, from Abby:
I wanted to both thank a driver and caution other less-than-careful drivers to watch out for pedestrians. Last night, getting off the bus at 35th and Roxbury, I was crossing Barton heading north on 35th Ave SW when a truck taking a left turn onto Barton nearly ran me over, going at quite a speed. It was only thanks to a driver stopped on Barton, heading East, who honked his horn that made me stop just inches shy of being hit and likely killed last night. Thank you. I am so grateful for your action – for being there-for honking. And to all of us who drive – please take care to be watchful and mindful of pedestrians, bicyclists, and fellow motorists.
The WSBeat: From Queen Anne to West Seattle; plus, 2 dog cases
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*Last Thursday evening, officers noticed a suspicion-evoking car in the 8000 block of Fauntleroy Way. A license check revealed that it had been used in an armed robbery on Queen Anne, and that people associated with it should be considered “armed and dangerous.” The vehicle was stopped in the 4600 block of SW Monroe. The driver was eventually released, but two passengers wound up in the King County Jail. Police say both were carrying drugs and that the woman, an Admiral resident, had an outstanding felony drug warrant.
Five more summaries after the jump, including, “What would your mothers say?” and two cases involving dogs:Read More
Got spare instruments? West Seattle Elementary needs them!
At least once a year, a local school puts out the call for musical instruments, in case you have one in the closet or the trunk or someplace it just isn’t getting used. From Diane Stuart:
What do you do with that old violin, flute, trumpet, saxophone, clarinet, (anything!) — that your now 35-year-old kid used to play in Jr. High Band?
West Seattle Elementary needs donated instruments for our instrumental instruction program. Don’t worry if that old instrument needs a tune-up, or even an overhaul. SPS has a technician who can make repairs.
Please bring donated instruments to the main office of West Seattle Elementary (formerly High Point). 6760 34th Ave SW.
Traffic update: Bridge-backup crash now cleared
If you are headed toward the West Seattle Bridge any time soon – be forewarned, there’s a car on its side in the inner eastbound lanes on the highrise, and while fire units already have cleared, the wreck itself hasn’t been moved, so avoid the bridge for a while if you can. (Above, a screengrab we took from the traffic camera a few minutes ago; here’s the live version.)
10:38 AM UPDATE: Wreck is cleared, according to an update from Metro (and a check of the aforementioned live camera).
West Seattle Thursday: Looking closely at the day ahead
(Jumping spider photographed in Lincoln Park by Machel Spence)
Highlights for today/tonight from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
THE DOG WHO SAVES ORCAS: Tonight is the rescheduled “Tucker and the Orcas” presentation at the Duwamish Longhouse (4705 W. Marginal Way SW), 7 pm. Presentation and ticket information on the website for sponsoring organization The Whale Trail.
CHIEF SEALTH’S BIG GAME: The Chief Sealth International High School boys’ basketball team plays in the Tacoma Dome tonight, as one of the final 8 teams in the state 3A tournament. 7:15 pm vs. Bellevue.
WSHS GRAD NIGHT FUNDRAISER: Fantasy Casino Blackjack at Pyramid Alehouse (1201 1st Avenue S. in SODO) to raise money for this year’s West Seattle High School Grad Night celebration, 5:30-9 pm, appetizers, prizes, raffles, $35 at the door if you haven’t bought your ticket already (5 and under free).
BRIGHT HORIZONS PARENT-INFO SESSION: Interested in the new child-care center opening in Link (WSB sponsor) this spring? The Bright Horizons team will be at Cupcake Royale in The Junction (4556 California SW), 4-7 pm – drop in Q/A, no formal presentation. (Here’s the official flyer.)
SCHOOL TOURS: Arbor Heights Elementary kindergarten tour at 9:30 am, Chief Sealth tour at 1 pm, Madison Middle School at 6:30 pm.
‘OPEN MIKE’ AT FRESHY’S: 1st and 3rd Thursdays are “open mike” nights at Freshy’s Coffee. Starts at 7 pm.
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