day : 11/07/2012 10 results

If you see helicopters this Friday-Saturday, they are probably headed to the Museum of Flight for the American Heroes Airshow, “Courage at the Speed of Flight.” Twenty-two helicopters are scheduled to arrive: three on Friday, July 13th around 3 pm and the rest on Saturday morning. They will all start departing the museum around 3 pm on Saturday.

“Courage at the Speed of Flight,” Seattle’s only helicopter airshow, is a free event meant to celebrate public service. Here’s the Museum of Flight’s description:

Visitors can see how helicopters play an important role in law enforcement, fire service, public safety, communications, national defense and homeland security. The American Heroes Air Show features static displays, special presentations and entertainment. Representatives from many organizations including local flight schools, Border Patrol, Search and Rescue units, and the U.S. Coast Guard will be available to answer questions. See helicopters like the Blackhawk flown by the U.S. Army 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, as well as those flown by Airlift Northwest, KING 5 TV and many others.

Stop by the museum’s parking lot between 10 am and 3 pm to participate. You can even come early (starting at 7 am) just to watch the helicopters land and enjoy some free refreshments. This year, the airshow will also include a U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service naturalization ceremony for members of the military, first responders, and aviators who have applied for U.S. citizenship. The public is also welcome to this event.

Jen Boyer, the show’s director (who also provided the photo above), has been a West Seattleite for eight years. She is both a helicopter pilot and member of the Whirly-Girls, a female helicopter pilots association. The Whirly-Girls have volunteered their time as the event’s organizers since 2005, when the first show was held. Jen does it to teach the community, and especially younger generations, about the importance of the aircraft she loves:

When I was a little girl, I attended a small event like this where I sat in my first helicopter. I’d been interested in helicopters before, but seeing, touching and sitting in that helicopter did it for me. One day I reached my dream and became a pilot. I do this each year to inspire future generations, boys and girls alike, and to help the community on a whole learn about the value of helicopters in our community.

Find more info from the Museum of Flight here.

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Citywide traffic alerts for this weekend, including West Seattle Summer Fest

July 11, 2012 7:48 pm

| Comments Off on Citywide traffic alerts for this weekend, including West Seattle Summer Fest

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

“Too many choices and not enough time,” is how SDOT headlines this weekend’s citywide traffic/event-alert list … which of course includes West Seattle Summer Fest. Since everything starts with the WSSF road closures tomorrow night, the list is out now – read on!Read More

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Happening now: 1st day for High Point Market Garden Farm Stand

July 11, 2012 5:32 pm

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| Gardening | High Point | West Seattle news

That’s the whiteboard for what’s available right now at the High Point Market Garden Farm Stand, open for the first time this year, Wednesdays 4-7 pm. The farmers took a quick break for our photo:

Their plots are literally next to the stand – so it’s as farm-fresh as you can get – 32nd and Juneau (map).

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Police-car-ramming suspect Sothany Sok charged with 5 crimes

July 11, 2012 4:24 pm

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| Crime | West Seattle news

Four counts of second-degree assault and one count of attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle are the charges just filed against 37-year-old Sothany Sok of West Seattle. He’s the man arrested on the north end of Delridge Way SW (right) after police finally stopped him, following a pursuit that started at Don Armeni and proceeded west along Harbor/Alki Avenues, then east again, and under the bridge, with four police cars getting rammed along the way. We reported on the incident Sunday, and then followed up Monday on his bail getting set at $30,000; today, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office asked that it be raised to $100,000, and the judge granted that request. Sok is due in King County Superior Court for arraignment on July 25th.

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1 day till West Seattle Summer Fest Eve, 2 days till the festival

July 11, 2012 4:07 pm

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| West Seattle festivals | West Seattle news

Some updates as our countdown to West Seattle Summer Fest (co-sponsored by WSB) continues!

JUNCTION STREET CLOSURE REMINDER: Tomorrow (Thursday) night at 6 pm is when California is scheduled to close from Oregon to Edmunds, along with a section of California just north of Oregon (which itself remains open to west-east traffic), and Alaska between 44th and 42nd. Which paves the way for …

SUMMER FEST EVE IN THE STREETS! As previewed here last Thursday, the Yada Yada Blues Band outside West 5 and Bubbleman outside Elliott Bay Brewing Company are just part of the Thursday night fun. There’s also …

SUMMER FEST EVE ART WALK: Venue/artist previews are up now at wsartwalk.com. (While The Junction’s venues will be in Summer Fest Eve mode, there are of course many venues in other parts of West Seattle too, so you can roam the peninsula on what promises to be a gorgeous night.) One special Art Walk highlight …

HOTWIRE CELEBRATES ITS TENTH! During the Art Walk, Hotwire Online Coffeehouse – WSB’s first-ever sponsor – will celebrate its 10th anniversary. Read about their plans on the Junction Association website.

AND THEN THERE’S THE ACTUAL FESTIVAL … First day of Summer Fest is Friday (you can take the day off, right?), with official hours 10 am-8 pm, but music and beer garden running later. Here’s the music lineup (first act is at noon Friday); here’s the vendor lineup/map; here’s the schedule of demonstrations at the GreenLife zone; kids-activities info is here; and remember your favorite year-round Junction merchant may well be having a sidewalk sale – WSB sponsor J.F. Henry is starting its sale tomorrow.

NOTE FOR PARENTS WITH LITTLE ONES: Donna Ryan says her City Mouse Studio and Store will again be a “Parents’ Rest Stop” during Summer Fest: “We will be opening up the studio space again this year for parents of little ones to nurse, feed, change, relax, and break from the heat.” City Mouse is at 4218 SW Alaska, just steps east of California.

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Admiral Neighborhood Association: Concerts ahead; celeb emcees

July 11, 2012 2:41 pm

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| Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

(ANA’s Dave Weitzel and president Katy Walum at the post-4th of July Parade concession stand)
We covered another community-council meeting last night – the Admiral Neighborhood Association. Summer events were at the heart of the discussion. For one, the ANA-presented Summer Concerts at Hiawatha (co-sponsored by WSB) series starts July 26th, and while the music lineup (see it here) has been final for a while – and the poster’s now out:

And the emcee lineup has just been announced: Mayor Mike McGinn will be MC for the Caspar Babypants show on August 23, and (acting) Parks Superintendent Christopher Williams will MC The Braxmatics‘ show on Alki Beach on August 16th. The other four concerts will be emceed by West Seattle broadcast personalities – each one by either Marty Riemer or Jim Dever. ANA also plans to be in the West Seattle American Legion Post 160 Grand Parade on July 21st (and president Katy Walum mentioned that the Admiral merchants would be, too). And they’re pleased with how their concession sales went after the West Seattle 4th of July Kids’ Parade a week ago – bringing in about $900 for the group (which is nonprofit and all-volunteer), including sales of 20 of their distinctive Admiral-logo T-shirts. P.S. ANA is taking August off, as many community councils do – keep an eye on their website for word of the September meeting.

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BULLETIN: Lincoln Park zipline proposal scrapped, says Parks

July 11, 2012 11:58 am

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| Lincoln Park zipline proposal | West Seattle news

(Added 1:02 pm: From WSB files, Trileigh Tucker‘s May 2009 photo of Lincoln Park owlet ‘Wollet’)
11:58 AM: Just in:

Seattle Parks and Recreation has decided not to proceed with a proposal to build a five-to-six acre high ropes course in West Seattle’s Lincoln Park.

“We listened to the community, and though there is demand for this emerging form of recreation, there are some who clearly do not support it at this location,” said Acting Parks Superintendent Christopher Williams.

Low and high ropes courses are gaining in popularity worldwide, and they are among a number of emerging sports and other outdoor activities Parks and Recreation is working hard to accommodate.

The proposal for Lincoln Park was in the conceptual stages. Parks had just begun its public outreach process with contacts with the Camp Long Advisory Council, the Morgan Community Association, and the informal Friends of Lincoln Park, and had developed a full public involvement plan that included four more opportunities for input, one onsite. Parks had issued an Expression of Interest and had selected Go Ape based on their safety, park stewardship and operational history.

After the meeting with the Fauntleroy Community Association on July 10, Williams made the decision not to proceed with a high ropes course at Lincoln Park. Williams and Go Ape have not yet decided whether to proceed with a ropes course proposal at another site.

ADDED 12:15 PM: That announcement in a Parks Department news release comes 13 days after WSB first reported the proposal had been under consideration since last summer, according to a Go Ape document, but had not to that date been disclosed to the community, and was not even mentioned anywhere on Parks’ website, despite the department’s Public Involvement Policy (as reported in our second story) committing the department to providing “early and thorough notification of proposals and projects, through a variety of means, to users, user groups, neighborhoods, neighborhood groups, and other interested people.” And it came 15 hours after the Fauntleroy Community Association‘s board meeting expanded into the first public discussion of the proposal, at which a standing-room-only crowd tallied by FCA at 250 (WSB coverage, with video, here) expressed almost unanimous opposition. Opponents had been organizing for the previous week-plus, including a Facebook page, Facebook group, website, and strategy session. Many opponents said they weren’t against this type of recreation, but that Lincoln Park was the wrong place for it, for reasons including the park’s wildlife – dozens of bird species, including nesting bald eagles – and parking/traffic challenges.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: More car prowling, including video

July 11, 2012 10:58 am

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| Crime | West Seattle news

Two car-prowling reports in West Seattle Crime Watch today – including one with an accompanying video clip. Both reports are ahead:Read More

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West Seattle Tool Library goes mobile! Delivery/pickup trailer debuts

July 11, 2012 10:00 am

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| Sustainable West Seattle | West Seattle news

(Photo courtesy West Seattle Tool Library)
As its third year of operation gets under way, the nationally renowned West Seattle Tool Library is adding mobile service – and you can take a peek firsthand during tomorrow night’s “Ask an Expert” event at the WSTL. Here’s the Tool Library’s official announcement:

The West Seattle Tool Library is pleased to announce that we are going mobile. Thanks to a few generous sponsorships and the ongoing support of our growing 700-plus member community, the tool library has purchased a trailer and refurbished it to serve as a mobile extension of our well-loved collection of tools.

The new mobile unit, sized seven- by 14-feet, will be stocked with a variety of the most popular tools. The trailer will allow for members who do not have a vehicle, who need a tool that doesn’t fit in their vehicle or simply want the convenience of having it delivered, to do so for a fee of $10 each way. The mobile tool library will also be available to community groups who are working on a project and need a large number of tools on site.

Members will be able to request a pickup or delivery by contacting the library by e-mail at library@wstools.org or by phone at (206) 317-4671.

“This mobile unit will dramatically increase accessibility to the West Seattle Tool Library for a number of our neighbors who, for one reason or another, can’t always make it down to the tool library itself during open hours,” said Patrick Dunn, tool library founder. “It’s a really exciting opportunity to reach out to the community and ensure that everyone has access to the tools they need to take on projects of all sorts.”

The bright red unit, which resembles a horse trailer and was purchased in used condition and refurbished to a pristine state by Tool Library Director Micah Summers, will be officially rolled out to the public Thursday night, July 12, at the Tool Library’s regular DIY community meetup and “Ask an Expert” night. It will then be on display at the GreenLife exposition (part of West Seattle Summer Fest ) this weekend in the West Seattle Junction.

Held at the tool library’s permanent location in the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way, the “Ask an Expert” event runs from 6-8 p.m. and offers area residents an opportunity to bounce project ideas off fellow DIYers and receive advice from experts in a variety of home improvement and sustainability fields.

The mobile unit was made possible by grants from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, the West Seattle Garden Tour and other donors.

The West Seattle Tool Library officially opened its doors in June of 2010, offering free community access to a variety of more than 100 tools out of a small storage closet. Just two years later, that modest collection has grown to over 1,500 mostly-donated tools, serving a membership of around 700 people from a renovated workshop space at Youngstown.

The tool library also hosts a wide range of educational classes and workshops, a fixer’s collective and social events geared toward the Do-It-Yourself community. Besides Summers, an intern and a number of volunteers help keep the library open and humming on weekends and Thursday nights.

You can check out the WSTL inventory via its website – wstoollibrary.org.
ADDED: Another reason to go!

Also visiting the Tool Library this Thursday evening are the folks from ‘Spark Truck.’ Out of Stanford Design School, they’ve created a mobile unit filled with 3d printers, laser cutters, and other tools to help promote hands-on making and design to youth. They’re currently on a nationwide roadtrip.

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West Seattle Wednesday: Babies, Slurpees, wine, and vegetables

July 11, 2012 9:31 am

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| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Osprey with its catch – photo by Danny McMillin, shared via the WSB Flickr group pool)
Welcome to West Seattle Summer Fest Eve-Eve. As the Friday-Saturday-Sunday festival – preceded by tomorrow night’s West Seattle Art Walk, and more! – approaches, there are still a few other things happening around the peninsula:

BABY PEPPERS: A new session of this group for parents of babies 5-12 months old starts today, 10:30 am, at Bright Horizons in The Triangle (38th south of Fauntleroy). Details here.

SLURPEE FREEBIES: It’s 7-11, and that means participating local 7-11s (you’ll have to doublecheck with yours – WS has seven!) are giving away free 7.11-ounce Slurpees.

OR, A MORE ADULT BEVERAGE: Wednesday wine tastings at South Seattle Community College continue, 1-4 pm. Details here.

MARKET GARDEN FARM STAND: Fresh-grown produce, sold next to the mega-garden where it’s grown, at the weekly High Point Market Garden Farm Stand, starting 4-7 pm today – details and map in our calendar listing.

NIGHTLIFE: At Skylark Café and Club, trivia at 7 and open mike at 9.

PUBLIC-COMMENT PERIOD: Today’s the deadline listed by the city for commenting on the proposed million-gallon underground-storage-tank project across from Lowman Beach (to handle combined-sewer overflows). Details are in our previous story, as well as the link for commenting.

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