West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
It’s a low-risk way to check out some of the programs at local community centers and pools – and it’s making a comeback this month. Seattle Parks is promoting its “Try It for $2” offer again (advertising it on WSB and elsewhere), which starts after the Labor Day holiday and continues all month. There’s some info at the official website, tryitfor2.com, and you can find programs to try by browsing the fall West Seattle-wide brochure – it’s permalinked atop the WSB West Seattle Events calendar page, or you can access it directly (PDF) here.
Thanks to Mike for sharing that photo of the work that’s under way by the bus stop on the northbound side of Delridge at Croft (map). It’s a multi-component project from the city’s Neighborhood Projects Fund, according to SDOT spokesperson Marybeth Turner:
SDOT paving crews are working on a neighborhood improvement project at Delridge Way and Croft Place SW. They installed a curb ramp and paved an area within a driveway. They also paved a bus pad. They will install a new traffic island (median) on one side of the intersection to assist pedestrians crossing Delridge. The crew chief expects the work to be completed sometime next week.
Three reader reports in this West Seattle Crime Watch roundup – read on:Read More
(Photo substituted 3:01 pm – took this one from Charlestown Hill)
1:58 PM: We’ve gotten a few questions about all the smoke on the east slope of the Olympic Mountains, north of the iconic Brothers peaks, clearly visible from West Seattle. (Our photo is from the hill over south Lincoln Park.) So far we believe it’s this one that’s reported to have closed the Duckabush trail (here’s a map of that area) – still looking for a more comprehensive sense of information.
3:06 PM UPDATE: Substituted a better photo, after checking it out from Charlestown Hill and Beach Drive. Our friends at KING 5 quote authorities on the peninsula as calling this one the “Big Hump Fire.” They report at least 20 firefighters are assigned to it. Also just in – best photo yet, from David Hutchinson on Alki:
4:53 PM UPDATE: First time we’ve seen a cause mentioned – the Peninsula Daily News has a story up now, and says it’s believed to have been sparked by an abandoned campfire.
8:15 PM: The fire’s size has been updated to 50 acres.
The King County Elections Department is out with the breakdown on last month’s vote, precinct by precinct, and our partners at the Seattle Times have turned the Seattle Referendum 1 (tunnel-related) vote into a color-coded map. Eastern West Seattle was the anti-Ref. 1 stronghold – get a closer look at the map here – and there was a bit of a north-south split, too, with a few pockets of opposition in north WS, such as one area just south of Alki Point. (If you know your precinct number, you can check out the text version of the vote breakdown – for all races/measures – on the county website.)
Look out at the blue water of Puget Sound today. Think about what you don’t see … the poisonous pollution that threatens the lives that depend on it (including ours). There are easy ways you can help, and Sustainable West Seattle is going to spend the fall showing you how not to feed the Tox-Ick Monster! Here’s their announcement, with a list of presentations you can attend – not just to listen and learn, but also to win prizes:
Sustainable West Seattle is taking on a monster of a problem in Puget Sound with a new campaign that empowers citizens to curb toxic runoff.
The group is hosting a series of free educational events, September – November. Audience members will be eligible to win up to $1,000 in prizes like water cisterns, landscape consulting, car-wash gift certificates, oil changes, bus passes, and more.
Toxic runoff comes from many everyday sources, including soap, paint, fertilizers and herbicides, and even dog poop. According to the Department of Ecology, toxic runoff is the No. 1 threat to the health of Puget Sound. Each year, 14 million pounds of pollutants wash from our streets and driveways directly into our rivers and streams, and ultimately into the Sound.
“Most people I talk to think that polluted runoff from our streets and driveways go to facilities to remove contamination,” said Cate White, leader of Sustainable West Seattle’s toxic runoff outreach group. “However, that isn’t true. Most runoff is not treated. Our campaign helps people understand how they can reduce that flow of toxic runoff.”
Keep watch for the ominous Tox-Ick: A Monster of a Problem for Puget Sound posters in your community. “The Tox-Ick Monster is the group’s emblematic metaphor for what toxic runoff is doing to our communities, which is robbing us of our salmon, our orcas, our shellfish economy, and our health,” said Corbet Curfman, designer of the character. The posters will alert the public to the next educational event and opportunity to win pollution-prevention prizes.
Events will be:
– Sunday, Sept. 11. 2 pm, West Seattle Christian Church, 4400 42nd SW ($1,000 prizes)
– Saturday, Sept. 24, 10 am, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW ($1,000 prizes)
– Monday, Oct. 10, 7 pm, Pathfinder Elementary School, 1901 SW Genesee ($1,000 prizes)
– Saturday, Oct. 22, 1 pm, Roxhill Elementary School, 9430 30th Ave SW ($1,000 prizes)
– Saturday, Nov. 12, 2:30 pm, SPANISH PRESENTATION, White Center Community Cultural Center (aka St. James Annex), 9421 18th SW ($500 in prizes)
– Saturday, Nov. 19, 4 pm, Alki United Church of Christ, 6115 SW Hinds ($500 in prizes)In addition to the community outreach meetings, a new Web site is (up) at www.tox-ick.org as well as new Facebook and Twitter profiles.
(Jewelry artist Sarah Loertscher setting up her Click! Design That Fits installation. Trunk show today!)
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar (event/meeting ahead? let us know!):
TRAFFIC ALERT: Till 3 pm today, lane closures that might back things up on the Alaskan Way Viaduct – here’s the announcement we published earlier this week. P.S. HistoryLink.org notes that this is the anniversary of the day the final phase of the Viaduct opened.
NEED TOOLS FOR A PROJECT? West Seattle Tool Library open on the east side of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW. 9 am – 2 pm Saturdays (and 1 – 5 pm Sundays).
LINCOLN PARK NEEDS YOU! Lincoln Park plant restoration party, 9 am – 2 pm. The mature forests of Lincoln Park in West Seattle are a treasure, but they need our help to survive. Join the Friends of Lincoln Park to work on maintaining previously restored forest. We promise you a good work out (Green exercise!) and the planet will thank you! Meet in the north parking lot on Fauntleroy Way SW at the kiosk across from SW Rose St. (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW, just north of the Vashon Ferry). Bring garden gloves and hand clippers. We will have extras.
TRUNK SHOW AT CLICK! At Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor), Sarah Loertscher jewelry, 11 am – 5 pm trunk show with new jewelry “The F-Series”
FELINE FRIENDS AWAITING YOU: West Seattle’s Kitty Harbor (3422 Harbor Ave SW), is open for adoptions, 12-6 pm.
CAR WASH! Fundraising car wash at West Seattle Produce parking lot (Alaska & Fauntleroy). 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm, West Seattle High School Girls Volleyball Team raising money to pay for new gear and fees for the upcoming season. Cars washed by donation. Want to know more about the team? Go here!
SKAMPIDA AT THE BRICKYARD: Outdoor live music at 7 pm, 2308 California SW, reggae/ska band from Colombia.
ON THE ROAD: High-school football – Seattle Lutheran at Life Christian, 7 pm (in Lakewood, south of Tacoma).
MORE LIVE MUSIC: Skylark Café and Club, starting at 9 pm: K (Heart) M, The Stevedore, The Underwater Tiger, $5 cover
Friday was a busy day for Seal Sitters on West Seattle shores, as first responder Robin Lindsey writes on their Blubberblog website. 
The final pup report of the day gives rise to a reminder – if you see a pup on the beach, stay as far away as you can, and keep others away too, until Seal Sitters can get a volunteer there to keep watch. We received a Twitter report of the Lincoln Park sighting, photo included, along with a question about who to call; we replied with the Seal Sitters’ number (we suggest adding it to your contact list – 206-905-SEAL [905-7325]) and advice to keep everybody back. Robin writes that the pup was apparently scared back into the water, which can be deadly – they are usually left on the beach by their moms, who go off to find food and return for their nursing pups, and if the pup is scared into the water, mom might not find it. Read more about how to handle marine-mammal sightings at sealsitters.org.
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