West Seattle, Washington
28 Thursday
(Photo by Dave Howard, courtesy West Seattle Running Club)
Notice something suddenly more visible on the Alki Trail? The West Seattle Running Club has repainted its mileage markers. Club member Melissa Ransdell shares this report:
The mileage markers along the outside edge of the Alki Trail are now easier for runners, walkers and others to spot. Members of the West Seattle Running Club recently repainted them. Four miles of trail are accurately marked off in quarter mile increments beginning at the start of the paved trail on Alki Avenue, continuing north around Harbor Avenue, then heading east under the West Seattle Bridge. The four-mile mark is just before Chelan Café.
The markers were first installed in the late ’90s by West Seattle Running Club members, using an engineer’s wheel for accuracy, to make it easier to calculate distance and pace. City of Seattle provided permission and Salty’s funded the cost of the initial materials. Club members donate time and materials to keep them maintained.
Joggers and runners who are 40 years old and over and looking for year-round motivation and support are encouraged to check out West Seattle Running Club. Newcomers who can jog at least three miles at any pace are welcome. Meet members and learn more on Sunday mornings at 8:30 at the Statue of Liberty (the ¼ mile mark on the Alki Trail) or at www.westseattlerunningclub.org.
The Admiral District‘s business association, led by president Parris Sadow of Atomic Boys, is sailing full speed ahead. We have toplines from the group’s meeting this afternoon at the Heartland Café‘s Benbow Room:
SLOGAN: It’s finally official, and was announced at this afternoon’s meeting – “Welcome Aboard.” This was chosen following several months of discussion and brainstorming. (You can even see it on the Admiral District Facebook page.)
EVENTS: A draft list of events circulated at the meeting included both proposed Admiral District participation in events/activities organized by other groups – most notably, tabling at the Admiral Neighborhood Association-presented Summer Concerts at Hiawatha series (co-sponsored by WSB), Thursday nights 7/26-8/30 (seen the lineup yet?) – and also new Admiral District events. One that you can mark on your calendar already: August 11th, the Admiral District Sidewalk Sale. They’re also starting to plan for the fall holidays too – including the always-popular Treats and Treasures Halloween event.
ART WALK: Admiral District businesses want to be sure you know some of them participate in the West Seattle Art Walk too – it’s not just “a Junction thing,” so they’ll be raising their profile. At today’s meeting, they heard from Art Walk planning committee members including John Smersh of Click! Design That Fits (Junction business formerly located in Admiral, WSB sponsor), Lora Swift of Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor), Susan Melrose from the West Seattle Junction Association, and WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand. Next Art Walk is June 14, 6-9 pm!
Since door-to-door solicitors are often a hot topic here, we thought you might be interested in a news release sent today by State Attorney General Rob McKenna‘s office in Olympia. No specific companies named, but a general warning about the “door-to-door magazine sellers from out of state”: Read More
While we have been publishing obituaries on WSB for a while, this is a first – a request to publish a tribute on the anniversary of someone’s passing. It is also shared as a message of gratitude to the community, so here’s what Barb Fuda‘s widower Bob and his family want to say:
In Memory of Barb Fuda
Today marks the one-year Anniversary of the passing of my wife Barb. It’s hard to believe she has been gone a whole year. She is truly missed by all who knew her and loved her so much, but we all know she is in a better place knowing all the pain she was in during her final days.
My family and I would like to take a moment to say Thank You for all your kind words and all the love, support and prayers that have been given to us over the last year. It lifts our hearts whenever we see Barb’s Bench at Safeway or the Lafayette playground because we know her spirit lives on.
Our love and thanks goes out to you all,
Bob, Melissa, Tim, Whitney, Luke, Little Conner, and the rest of my family
The little photo shows little Conner on “Barb’s bench,” which is inside the new Admiral Safeway, as shown in our coverage from its opening day last August. That was two months after Ms. Fuda’s life was cut short by cancer; she had worked at the old Admiral Safeway for more than 40 years.
This Friday night, West Seattle High School senior Fatuma Ali would love to see you at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center – where she is presenting a benefit to help people in need, half a world away. Fatuma has organized an evening of food, entertainment, and storytelling to raise money to help provide clean water and food for East African refugees. She tells her story in this interview on the Power of Hope website – explaining that the region is facing its worst drought in more than half a century, threatening water and food supplies, yet it’s not getting much attention. You can help her make up for that by coming to Youngstown (4408 Delridge Way SW) 6-9 pm Friday (June 8th), admission $5 youth/students, $10 adults.
New information just in regarding the story first reported here on Sunday night – a plant purchased by Ian Stawicki at West Seattle Nursery last Wednesday between the time he shot six people, five fatally, in North Seattle and on First Hill, and the time he shot himself in West Seattle. Seattle Public Schools has released a statement by the recipient, who is publicly identifying herself as a North Admiral resident who is a former teacher of his. This is the entirety of what we have received from SPS:
Statement from Patricia Guenther:
When I arrived at my home from work on Wednesday evening, May 30, I discovered a bag containing a blueberry plant and seed packets from the West Seattle Nursery, along with a pre-printed commercial thank you card (not personalized or signed) in a bag on my porch. I live in the North Admiral area of West Seattle.
There was no identifying information on the items and I did not know who left them there. I later learned that these items were purchased by Ian Stawicki, the shooter in the recent North Seattle and First Hill shootings, who was a former student of mine.
I have not had contact with Ian Stawicki since he was in my Summit K-12 School classroom almost 25 years ago, and I was surprised to learn that he was the source of the bag that was left on my porch.
I was in communication with the Seattle Police Department and the items were turned over to them.
No person, no neighborhood, no community is immune to being touched by tragedy. Please be compassionate with each other as we each process this recent heartbreaking event in our city in our own way.
I have no additional information and I ask that the media please respect my privacy.
SPS says she has requested that she not be contacted for interviews, and WSB will honor that request. Meantime, we asked Seattle Police today for any information they have regarding where else Stawicki went in West Seattle on Wednesday afternoon; Det. Mark Jamieson says they have nothing to release so far, but it remains an open investigation. P.S. Summit, in northeast Seattle, was closed by the district in 2009.
Three hours and 61 laps around the Pathfinder K-8 field on Pigeon Point are in the books for the school’s PE teacher, Lou Cutler, in his annual fundraising run for Make-A-Wish (donation link here), for which he’s also a volunteer (2 years ago, we photographed him as a little boy’s wish came true here in West Seattle). One of the remarkable things we’ve noticed while covering this the past few years is that it’s not even remotely all about Lou – we heard shouts of “WE did it!” from some of his young running partners. Our video above captured the last part of the last lap, and the celebration afterward. Next thing Lou did? Got some of the students to pose for a photo, waving their bright green slips (on which laps were checked off). Only THEN did he pose too.
Luckie shares that photo from the beach at Constellation Park south of Alki Point, the most popular tidewalking spot during this morning’s low-low tide – we drove by around noon and noted school buses from Mercer Island, Issaquah, and Seattle districts. (Further south, we noted a Highline bus across from Me-Kwa-Mooks.) On West Seattle’s north-facing shore, we stopped for a look at the stubs of pilings where the Luna Park amusement park stood a century ago:
Here’s a Luna Park photo from the Seattle Municipal Archives:
Tomorrow’s low-low tide is the lowest of the month, -3.8 just after noon.
From our newest partner site The South Park News, two stories of potential interest: Newest – the Seattle City Council has just been told that an area of annexation interest along the Duwamish River is pursuing annexation by Tukwila instead, so they may have to act fast. Here’s that story. … Meantime, this weekend included another milestone for the new Duwamish Rowing Club, whose organizer Mike Merta announced his hopes here on WSB a year and a half ago – see that story here.
(Photographed by Machel Spence in Fauntleroy during Sunday morning’s low-low tide, long before last night’s overflow – don’t go there today!)
From the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar:
NO BRIDGE CLOSURES SCHEDULED TILL THE WEEKEND: Just in case you’re wondering. The westbound Spokane Street Viaduct will close Saturday night till Monday morning, but SDOT says no closures are planned till then.
NEW ‘NO PARKING’ ZONE: Starting today, there’s no more parking along SW Alaska between California and 42nd, per SDOT (here’s our Friday followup). This is the first phase of parking removal in some Junction/Triangle spots, mostly along SW Alaska, related to the future RapidRide bus service.
LOU’S MAKE-A-WISH RUN: As previewed earlier this morning, Pathfinder K-8 PE teacher Lou Cutler is scheduled for his annual birthday “one-lap-for-every-year” run today, raising money to make dreams come true for seriously ill children via Make-A-Wish, with which he’s been volunteering for 16 years. Should last until noonish; you can donate now or later by going here.
LOW-LOW TIDE: At 11:19 am, today’s low tide will be very low, down to -3.7. Seattle Aquarium volunteer beach naturalists will be at Lincoln and Constellation Parks, 9:30 am-1 pm, to offer info and guidance to visitors. Tread lightly – remember the tide leaves many creatures exposed who otherwise would be underwater.
WEST SEATTLE COOKING CLUB: The club’s theme this week is peppers – cook something with them, bring it to share, 3 pm at Beveridge Place Pub (6413 California SW).
ANTI-INFLAMMATION DIET: A new round of classes starts at The Kenney (WSB sponsor) at 6:30 pm (information in our calendar listing).
Big event at Pathfinder K-8 this morning – PE teacher Lou Cutler‘s annual run to raise money for Make-A-Wish, for which he’s been volunteering for 16 years. Every year for 8 years, he’s been doing this to mark his birthday, running one lap for each year he’s been on the planet – 61 of them, this time around. The money goes to help Make-A-Wish make life-threateningly ill children’s wishes come true; last year, we interviewed Lou a few days before his run, and if you could hear him talk about some of the “wishes” he’s been involved in fulfilling … you’d want to be on the sidelines cheering him on today. Or maybe even running with him, as many of the Pathfinder students and staff will do during the course of the morning, once he gets going around 8:45 am. At the very least, you can donate to help him reach his goal – just go here. (WSB photo from June 2011)
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