West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
While you might bump into ongoing West Seattle projects this week – including the start of the Arbor Heights water-main work – there are NO freeway/bridge closures scheduled:
*Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project – the only traffic effects this week will be from some lane closures on 1st Avenue S. near Spokane to install sensors (explained here). P.S. No date set yet – as of our last check, anyway – for reopening westbound surface Spokane St.
*Alaskan Way Viaduct/99 – **No** closures scheduled this week (scroll down this page).
(Photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
It’s an autumn tradition – Blessing of the Animals events/services around the feast day of the patron saint of animals, Saint Francis of Assisi. For the past several years, the lone outdoor public event in West Seattle has been offered by St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, in the adjacent West Seattle High School parking lot, WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams was there as St. John’s Rev. Greg Peters carried on the tradition:
In West Seattle Crime Watch tonight – one new car-theft report, and word that a stolen truck and stolen motorcycle reported here recently have both been recovered. First, the stolen car – it’s the one in the photo above, and the one in this tweet from the Seattle Police Department‘s @getyourcarback feed:
COLOR:GRAY YR: 2009 MAKE: AUDIMODEL: Q7BODY: 4 DRLIC: AIU6581 ST: WA***DO NOT MAKE CONTACT CALL 911***
— Seattle Police(@getyourcarback) October 4, 2012
What that doesn’t say is that the 2009 gray Audi Q7, bought just three months ago by someone who moved to West Seattle just three months before that, was stolen from Highland Park, 5th and Cloverdale. Call police if you see it.
Meantime, the last two stolen vehicles reported in Crime Watch coverage have both been recovered. One week ago tonight, we published Sean‘s report about his stolen truck; he says it was found “in a public parking lot off 42nd.” And Ryan‘s motorcycle, mentioned here on Thursday, has turned up too: He says, “It was reported by a neighbor a few blocks from where I am who reads the WSB; the police came, checked it out, asked around, and then called me; the guy who stole it just left it there.”
Don’t let the chance to vote for president, governor, and big ballot measures – marriage equality, taxation, charter schools, marijuana among them – pass you by. TOMORROW is the deadline for registering online to vote – or going online to update your information; the mail-in deadline is already past. Here’s where to start; here’s the King County voter-registration-info page.
For those tracking the medical-marijuana business in West Seattle – another dispensary opened this weekend, weeks before a statewide vote might change the way marijuana is bought and sold: We’ve lost count of the dispensaries in West Seattle but got a tip about Greenlight Care Center, in the former Dollarwise building at 9211 Delridge Way SW. We photographed its signage on Friday and noticed an added “open” sign late today. It’s one of four within a few blocks of each other on Delridge and on 16th, both sides of the city/county line. And it opens as city leaders start a push for new rules regulating medical-marijuana businesses, even as state Initiative 502 goes before voters in four weeks. (Our news partners at The Seattle Times took a look at the medical-marijuana business citywide in this story published today.)
This time next Sunday – the sun will be setting, literally and figuratively, on the 10th annual Fauntleroy Fall Festival, after the heart of Fauntleroy spends four hours as the epicenter of fun in West Seattle. The festival sprawls across and through the Fauntleroy YMCA (WSB sponsor) and Fauntleroy Church, their shared parking lot, and the grounds of/interior of Fauntleroy Schoolhouse across the street, 2-6 pm next Sunday (October 14th), 9100 block of California SW (map). The full schedule isn’t out yet but we know some popular features (2011 WSB coverage here) will be back – like the cake walk (you’re invited to make and donate one!) and performances (Dance! West Seattle tells us they’ll be on at 4). See you there!
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
“I cannot describe to you how much we want you to be our advocate.”
West Seattle’s elected representative on the Seattle School Board, Marty McLaren, heard that plea and a whole lot more during her two-hour community-conversation meeting on Saturday.
Before the meeting was over, she in turn asked community members to help her advocate for them – and that resulted in this whiteboard list of priorities suggested by the 20 or so who came to her meeting:
(Click image to see larger view)
The urgency of a priority list comes from the fact that within days, McLaren and other board members are expected to see the next draft of the Seattle Public Schools BEX IV levy. It doesn’t go to voters till February, but the board is supposed to finalize the levy proposal by early November.
While the group in attendance on Saturday was dominated by parents of students at K5 STEM at Boren – who are suddenly in turmoil over district administrators’ repeated refusal to say where they eventually will be housed, or even whether they are a “school” or instead a “program” to potentially be dispersed among campuses – the priorities were for the entire peninsula.
“This is so exciting,” McLaren enthused by meeting’s end.
(Video and photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
In that quick clip by WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams, you hear Marie LeBaron explain the West Seattle Cardboard Challenge – which became reality just about a week after she put out the call for venue ideas.
The Kenney (WSB sponsor) was the place, as Marie (above) announced, and local kids were the stars:
From left, that’s Patrick O’Leary, 8; Matt LeBaron, 9; and Ruben Smith, 7, checking out the puzzle game “Skittle Riddle.” See more, ahead!
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
As always, the WSBeat summaries are from reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers, incidents of note that (usually) have not already appeared here in breaking-news coverage or West Seattle Crime Watch reports, but that might at least answer the question “what WERE all those police doing on my block?” :
*Officers visited a residence in the 1200 block of Alki Ave. SW late last Sunday after several citizens reported that a woman was being assaulted. The boyfriend was booked into King County Jail for investigation of domestic-violence assault. The intoxicated victim denied that anything had become physical, explaining that the pair had simply been squabbling over NFL games and “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.”
Four more summaries ahead:Read More
Fall is when the City Council goes through the city budget, taking a look at what the mayor has proposed, taking citizen comment, and coming up with final proposals. For an inside look at how the decisions are made and how best to let councilmembers know what you think, join the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce for lunch this Wednesday at The Kenney (WSB sponsor), 7125 Fauntleroy Way SW, 11:30 am, to hear from – and talk with – this year’s Budget Committee chair, Councilmember Tim Burgess. You don’t need to be a Chamber member to go; you do need to RSVP, here.
Thanks to Greg for sharing that Saturday night sunset photo of an unidentified artist on the beach at Lincoln Park. If you haven’t gone out to watch one of these spectacular late-summer sunsets in person, tonight might be the night. Things are fairly quiet on the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar but before the day is too much further long, here are a few notes:
VIADUCT TO REOPEN BY 4 PM: The Highway 99 closure continues but WSDOT says it’ll be open again by 4 – we’ll publish a separate update if it happens sooner. There are currently no other closures listed for this week.
EXTRA WATER TAXI RUNS FOR SOUNDERS GAME: If you’re going, you can go by water – see the aqua-shaded extra runs added to tonight’s schedule.
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm as always at 44th/Alaska. New this weekend – raw-goat-milk cheeses from Mountain Lodge Farm.
BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS: Along with services at Alki UCC and St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church (as previewed here last week), St. John’s is offering its traditional public event in the West Seattle High School parking lot at noon.
CROP WALK TO FIGHT HUNGER: The annual fundraising walk along Alki leaves Alki UCC at 1:30 pm – details here.
LIVE MUSIC – IN THE AFTERNOON! Two events – Sunny McGhee and Steve Norris perform at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 3-5 pm, and at Skylark Café and Club, there’s a pancake-party fundraiser at 3 pm (and continuing into the night) for KSUB Radio.
SUNDAY RIBS RETURN! A popular Sunday-dinner item at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) is back on the menu as of tonight, 5 pm.
(Added 4:18 am – photo courtesy Gabe)
3:38 AM: If you’ve heard the sirens – big response to a house fire reported in the 5200 block of 45th SW (near Erskine, southwest of The Junction). First firefighters to respond have described the house over the radio as “well-involved” in flames, and also say everyone got out OK. More to come.
3:56 AM UPDATE: Firefighters have radioed that the fire is under control on the main floor of the house.
(Photos/video from here down: By WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
4:02 AM UPDATE: Our crew is there and says it’s still an intensive firefighting scene – the cameraphone photo above shows firefighters working with their air supply. The house itself is hard to see from the street because of trees/shrubs. Still no injuries reported.
4:19 AM UPDATE: Fire now reported “tapped,” which means, basically, out – firefighters had been working to ventilate (cut roof and/or siding holes) the house to make sure they’d gotten to all possible spots. Just added the photo at the top of the story – Gabe took that from a balcony overlooking the house, explaining, “We woke up to the neighbor across the street screaming ‘Help!’ and seeing his house on fire!”
4:52 AM UPDATE: SFD spokesperson Kyle Moore is at the scene and just briefed us (will add video of his briefing when our crew’s back, along with a few more photos). He says one man was inside the home when this started.
He told investigators that he had a fire going in the fireplace; spark/fire jumped from it, ignited something, and he tried to put it out but it spread too fast.
5:30 AM UPDATE: Added the aforementioned briefing video. Investigators are working to confirm the fireplace suspicion.
9:38 AM UPDATE: $150,000 damage, according to SFD, whose official online update is here.
If you’re going to have an EP-release party – what better place than a music store? And if you’re a West Seattle band – it had better be THE West Seattle music store. Add all that up, and that’s why Daughters of the Dead Sea rocked Easy Street Records in The Junction on Saturday night. Brad Yaeger and The Night Terrors opened; Hobosexual closed. Before the show, we caught up with DOTDS’s Mia in the Easy Street aisle:
Mia’s bandmates are Jen and Iris. Didn’t catch them tonight? They’re performing at the Funhouse downtown in about two weeks – here’s the Facebook event page.
Every Saturday afternoon, West Seattle’s Vietnamese Cultural Center invites you to visit. This weekend, Saturday brought something extra: A commemoration of the 712th anniversary of the passing of 13th-century Vietnamese hero Gen. Tran Hung Dao – who is honored with the statue outside the center.
Gen. Tran Hung Dao was considered to be a brilliant tactician and is revered for having turned back three invasions. He was in his early 70s when he died of natural causes in 1300. You can visit the statue, as well as other memorials – including one for fallen soldiers – at the center, 2236 SW Orchard, 12-3 pm on Saturdays.
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