West Seattle, Washington
29 Friday
Story and photos by Bill “Hutch” Hutchison
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
We had a chance today to catch Mulugeta “Mulu” Abate and his sister Ruth Abate as they put the finishing touches on their new West Seattle venture, Pan Africa Grill, two days away from opening in the former Ho-Win space at California/Juneau.
“The renovation is pretty much complete and we will be ready on Tuesday,” Mulu said. Here’s a sneak peek inside the Pan Africa dining room:
As mentioned in previous coverage – we first reported on this new restaurant back in May – Mulu and his family also own Pan Africa Market in the Pike Place Market area and hope the new West Seattle eatery will be another successful venture.
See more of the renovations, plus a peek at the food, and even the art, ahead:Read More
As noted here previously, including this report yesterday, seal-pup season is at its height, on beaches all around West Seattle. Wildlife watcher/writer/photographer Trileigh Tucker saw this one today – and mentions this sweet encounter:
There was another seal pup on a West Seattle beach this morning, and a kind passerby named Barbara was caring enough to wait with it until Robin Lindsey of Seal Sitters arrived. I was so touched by how respectful and considerate all the Sunday morning walkers were of this little seal’s need to rest.
I was particularly moved by a little girl, accompanied by her parents, who spontaneously sang to the pup, a wake-up song just like her mother apparently sang to her. If her parents see this, they should know that their daughter gives me hope for our future!
Trileigh’s website Natural Presence tells a longer version of the tale.
(Photo courtesy Kris Wilder)
They’re veteran karate teachers at West Seattle Karate Academy (35th/Roxbury) – and they’re authors. Kris Wilder (left) and Lawrence Kane are about to release what Kris says is the 10th book between the two of them, “How to Win a Fight.” He says the book “helps you understand what’s worth fighting for, how to win when you must, and how to walk away when you should.” Penguin Books is publishing it, and its release date is October 4th – one week from Tuesday (it’s available for Amazon pre-order now). He says they’ve even been “assigned a promotional team” and might have a couple of book-signing events. Their previous co-authored book, “The Little Black Book of Violence,” came out two years ago, and Kris says it “was a finalist in both ForeWord Magazines’ Book of the Year award and USA Book News’ Best Books award.”
Thanks to Michelle Shillings for sharing the photo of 9-year-old Seahawks superfans (left to right) Roman Saladino and Gabe Clark, before they headed to the game that’s under way right now at CenturyLink Field. “They are true fans, and West Seattle needs to see these two awesome kids,” she writes. Michelle explains that they’ve been up since 6 this morning, pumped to go to the game, and asked her to paint their faces! She is Roman’s mom; she says the boys are at the game with Gabe’s dad Jeff (whom we saw just yesterday as he showed off his brand-new school).
As we publish this, the Hawks are down 10-6 (vs. Arizona) starting the second half, but if anybody can cheer them to a win, it’s these two.
4:23 PM UPDATE: And the Hawks pulled it out! 13-10.
(President Obama at the Paramount; photos courtesy Cindy S)
11:58 AM: According to our friends at KING 5, President Obama has just arrived at Boeing Field – which means you might encounter motorcade traffic. (Watch their coverage here.) He’s scheduled to head first to a fundraiser on the Eastside and then to another one at the Paramount Theater downtown. According to Seattle Times (WSB partner) political reporter Jim Brunner via Twitter, the president’s welcoming party at Boeing Field includes King County Executive Dow Constantine as well as Mayor McGinn and Governor Gregoire (among others).
1:03 PM: Roads are open right now since the President is in Medina for fundraiser #1, but he’ll be heading back across the lake before too long, and on to the Paramount event. For minute-by-minute traffic updates, check this KING 5 page; also remember we have an array of West Seattle-and-vicinity “live” cameras on the WSB Traffic page.
3:21 PM: Per KING, the President is headed back to Boeing Field right now, after finishing his speech at the Paramount downtown. (Added above – Cindy S’s photo of NBA Hall of Famers Bill Russell and Lenny Wilkens, who introduced him.)
3:58 PM: After four hours on the ground, Air Force One has taken off and President Obama is off to the Bay Area.
Reports on today’s visit: Seattle Times here; LA Times here
A few highlights from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
FERRY SCHEDULE CHANGE: The fall schedule for Washington State Ferries takes effect today (overview here).
FARMERS’ MARKET: Till 2 pm in The Junction (44th/Alaska).
RUMMAGE SALE: Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation’s Fall Rummage Sale, day 2, till 2 pm (7141 California SW).
MEET THE AUTHOR: Amy Pennington, author of “Urban Pantry” and “Apartment Gardens,” at Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) in The Junction, 11 am-1 pm (more info here)
NEW GAME GROUP: Forming a new “European strategy board game” group at Uptown Espresso in The Junction, 1 pm – read this story for details, contact info, and a group to join online.
STAIRWAY WALK: Jake and Cathy Jaramillo lead another stairway walk in West Seattle, a loop from Longfellow Creek up to Pigeon Point and back. Free! Meet up at 2 pm at the south parking lot at 26th SW and SW Yancy.
AUSTRIAN-AMERICAN DAY AT THE LONGHOUSE: You’re invited to celebrate Austrian-American Day at the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center, (4705 W. Marginal Way SW), 2 – 4 pm. Longhouse tour, Princess Angeline film, Austrian Zither Music by Fred Mitterndofer, Linzertorte by Richard Williams. Coffee and cake. $6 adults/$5 children.
LIVE MUSIC: Fauntleroy Church (9140 California SW) hosts a lively concert for all ages featuring the Ama Trio’s folk-style music from exotic places, 6 pm. More details.
Thanks to Cluny and Debbie for e-mailing to report a power outage caused by a fallen tree. Seattle City Light‘s status map says it’s affecting at least 27 customers (homes/businesses), in stretches both west and east of the Delridge/Orchard intersection, where Debbie says the signal’s out as a result, and to the south. City Light lists the estimated time of power restoration as 11 am. (Though the wind’s relatively calm at the moment, we have multiple reports of blustery conditions in the 4 am hour, when the tree came down, so this may be the first effect of the storm systems that brought the alert noted here last night.)
9:24 AM UPDATE: Just back from checking it out – adding photos. The entire 4-way intersection of Delridge/Orchard is marked with signs since the signal is out; Orchard/Dumar is closed east of Delridge, since that’s where the City Light crews are working.
The National Weather Service says more blusteriness is on the way.
11:18 AM UPDATE: The City Light map shows two more small outages – one that had been mentioned in comments on our earlier weather report, in the Admiral area, cause “unknown,” and the other further south on Delridge, at Kenyon, listed as “bird/animal”-related.
11:53 AM UPDATE: Just checked the Delridge/Orchard intersection – the traffic signal’s working again, but the road east of Delridge is still closed. Commenter from Admiral says that outage is over too.
EVENING NOTE: The road to the east is fully open again, too.
(Photos courtesy Janet and Bryan Jones)
On Saturday, dozens of new Seattle Pacific University students converged on West Seattle and White Center worksites as part of SPU’s City Quest day of community service – an annual tradition on the Saturday before classes begin. Hundreds more worked elsewhere in the metro area. The volunteers in these photos were among 23 who pitched in to help on the campus of closed Genesee Hill Elementary, which the Genesee-Schmitz Neighborhood Council has worked hard to keep from becoming rundown. Today, they had help!
Bryan Jones says the volunteers were treated to Husky Deli ice cream as a reward for their labor:
Other local City Quest volunteer sites included Lincoln Park, the West Duwamish Greenbelt (with Nature Consortium), and Hicks Lake in White Center.
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