West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
It’s Saturday night, so maybe you have a minute or two to spare to help a West Seattle student who is in a cooking contest that could net prizes including $ for her school. Pathfinder K-8 third grader Carmen came up with the recipe for Five-Spice Fried Brown Rice, and she and mom Sandra made a video to enter the “Ben’s Beginnings” contest. Sandra says, “Entering cooking contests is a family hobby, and if Carmen wins, Pathfinder K-8 wins $30,000 for a cafeteria makeover!” The voting is no-strings-attached – you don’t have to “like,” register, or sign up for anything – and you can vote once a day through October 27th. Just go here.
If you have unwanted, unused, expired prescription medication, best thing to do is get rid of it through a safe, official, no-questions-asked dropoff, and the next one in West Seattle is coming up two weeks from today, 10 am-2 pm on Saturday, October 26th, at Seattle Police’s Southwest Precinct. Operations Lt. Pierre Davis shared the announcement today, and says that if you have items to dispose of, “Simply bring them to the Southwest Precinct during the aforementioned date and time and your precinct desk officer will do the rest.” It’s a matter of safety, convenience, and even ecological prudence – dumping medication down the drain, or flushing it, contaminates the water that is eventually drained back out into Puget Sound (wastewater treatment doesn’t get everything).
Three weeks after we brought you word of the first West Seattle Wedding Showcase, it’s hours away: Tomorrow (Sunday), 1-4 pm, at Dakota Place Park (California/Dakota). If you’re getting married or thinking about it, come meet West Seattle vendors (see the list in our original announcement) who can help make your wedding local, local, local – admission is free and there’ll be door prizes.
Admiring the fall colors this weekend? A visit to the past-and-future school site on Genesee Hill (50th SW/SW Genesee) might be in order – to pay your respects to that American Elm honored as a “Best in City” tree in PlantAmnesty‘s Heritage Tree program. Karen Lyons shares the photo and the news:
I belong to a group that is trying to save some of the fine trees on the school’s 6.2 acres. I’m the group’s botanist so I volunteered to take a tree survey last year and found a magnificent American Elm! The majority of American Elms in the US were wiped out by Dutch Elm disease. Somehow this tree is either immune (making it valuable for research) or has escaped the disease. I later contacted the Heritage Tree committee and they sent a group of 6 investigators to measure and take samples of the Elm. That was a few months ago. On October 1st I received this letter naming this tree and awarding it as “Best In The City”. It will be spared!
District documentation verifies that the tree will not be taken out during the construction of the new school – from last month’s summary of the newest design changes: “The steep hillside on the site will be fully protected, as will the significant and exceptional trees on the hillside (including the old elm near the center of the site).” The district expects to start construction next spring; the current Schmitz Park school program is expected to move into the new school at mid-year 2015-2016, while the district proposes to turn the current Schmitz Park building into an early-learning center.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
How can West Seattle’s transportation tangle best be untangled?
With unified, peninsula-wide voices, resolve, and action.
That’s what the newly rechristened West Seattle Transportation Coalition is organizing. This morning, its interim board members are meeting for a strategy session, as they prepare for their first big public action, sending a letter to local political leaders – the ones who have (or potentially have) the power to forward and fund solutions to our peninsula’s muddled intersection between population growth and lack of transportation vision.
Here’s the brand-new letter the WSTC will send to elected officials and candidates (scroll to the end to see the list of addressees, and if you can’t see the embedded document, here’s the PDF link):
The WSTC (whose board members are listed here) isn’t just going to wait for politicians to take action, though. It’s also going to draft a transportation vision. And it’s looking for as much support as possible. Here’s how:
-Show your support and/or your group, business, organization – go here
-Explain what matters most to you in the creation of a peninsula-wide transportation vision – send e-mail, circulate a survey, see how by going here
-Come to WSTC meetings, listed here – next one is Tuesday, November 12th, a general meeting expected to focus on operational issues including planning and recruitment.
BACKSTORY: The WS Transportation Coalition is the renamed WS Transit Coalition, which itself launched less than three weeks ago – here’s our coverage, with video, of that first meeting.
6:59 PM NOTE: WSTC board members finalized and formatted the letter at their meeting today and that finalized version is now linked and embedded above.
In honor of Washington Disaster Preparedness Month, we’re continuing to publish day-by-day instructions on making the “Go Bag” that you want to have in case of disaster (big earthquake, longrunning power outage, etc.). Some of the items on the list so far are things you might well already have around the house. This one probably is not. From West Seattle Be Prepared:
It’s Saturday, so hopefully you should have time to shop for this item; a hand-crank AM/FM radio with NOAA weather radio channel. If it also has a USB charger, that’s even better.
In Seattle there are several commercial radio stations that would become official emergency-channel radio stations: KIRO-AM 710 and/or FM 100.7, KOMO-AM 1000, KNWX-AM 770, and KVI-AM 570. But to hear directly from the National Weather Service, a NOAA Weather Radio is best. It also has a warning alarm feature, and site-specific and event-select capabilities. It serves as Washington’s “all-hazards” warning system, including tsunamis, volcanoes, and hazardous releases. Lots of detailed information about weather Radios and the spotter system we have in Washington can be found here.
You can look for this type of radio at a variety of stores – hardware and electronics, among them. If you can’t find one at a store, order it online and put it in the bag as soon as it arrives. We found them on websites including Radio Shack (here) and Amazon (here) – and you can even buy yours from the Red Cross!
Haven’t started the “Go Bag” yet? Don’t feel guilty! Just get GO-ing. Find the suitcase or backpack you’re going to designate (that was Day 1) and scroll through this WSB archive page to find the items for days 2-10.
8:59 AM: Thanks to @hommesea for the tip via Twitter: There’s a crash on northbound 99, and the Battery Street Tunnel is closed in that direction as a result. If you have to head out sometime soon, you might want to wait a while or check out another route.
9:27 AM: Northbound 99 is now reported clear. HOWEVER – there’s scanner talk of a crash on northbound I-5 in downtown, though it’s not on the 911 log.
(WSB photo: Crows at Junction Plaza Park on Thursday afternoon)
Options for your Saturday, from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
TIBBETTS RUMMAGE SALE, DAY 2: 9 am-3 pm, from cookware to clothing to crystal and much more, rooms of stuff on sale at Tibbetts United Methodist Church (WSB sponsor) in the second and final day of their big fall rummage sale. (3940 41st SW)
ELECTRONICS RECYCLING AT PCC: 9 am-4 pm, drop off your unwanted electronics and metal items at PCC Natural Markets-West Seattle (WSB sponsor) to be recycled, free! Find a list of what will be accepted by going here. (California/Stevens)
COSTUME SWAP: A different kind of recycling – bring in a gently used Halloween costume, and swap it for another one, starting at 10 am at City Mouse Studio and Store in The Junction, as previewed here. (4218 SW Alaska)
FIRST HOLIDAY BAZAAR OF THE SEASON: 10 am-4 pm at the Masonic Center in The Junction. (40th/Edmunds)
LOG HOUSE MUSEUM VOLUNTEERING: 11 am-1 pm at the Southwest Seattle Historical Society‘s Log House Museum, it’s the next session for prospective volunteers, as explained on the LHM website. They would love to see you! (61st/Stevens)
CATS IN SEARCH OF FOREVER HOMES: Two places you can go to meet your next feline companion(s) today – a one-time-only event at the Alki Community Center with adoptable foster felines via the Seattle Animal Shelter, noon-3 pm (details in our calendar listing), and Kitty Harbor, noon-6 pm (on Harbor Ave. SW north of the West Seattle Bridge).
FIND YOUR ROOTS: 1:30-5:30 pm, come to the West Seattle (Admiral) Branch Library for a free class/workshop on genealogical research – explained in our calendar listing. (2306 42nd SW)
REFLECTIONS ON RESTORATION: Come to Roxhill Park/Bog 2-4 pm to find out more about its long restoration process – details in our calendar listing.
FIRST NATIONS CELEBRATION: The Duwamish Tribe honors the First Nations with a program this afternoon-evening at their West Seattle longhouse. Details in our calendar listing. 4-7 pm. (4205 West Marginal Way SW)
NIGHTLIFE: See live-music listings for tonight on the calendar!
(Photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
After weeks of road games, the West Seattle High School Wildcats finally played at home Friday night; the band had a whole new look for the occasion. The game went into overtime, and was hard-fought, though visiting Ingraham pulled out the win, 12-6.
That’s WSHS #12, Carter Golgart, taking down Ingraham’s #12, Nate Han. In our next photo, the Wildcats’ defense snags Ingraham’s running back Emmery Porter:
Next weekend, it’s the always-awaited Huling Bowl, with Westside facing Chief Sealth for annual bragging rights – 7 pm Saturday, October 19th, at West Seattle Stadium (4432 35th SW).
(Chief Sealth quarterback Weston Reed; photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
The Chief Sealth International High School Seahawks scored first but eventually lost Friday night to Nathan Hale at Northeast Athletic Complex, 33-20. Here’s Alloney Burris after that first TD:
Next, Sealth’s Larry Mao going up for the pass, with Hale’s Gadisa Margarsa blocking:
Next week, the Seahawks are close to home but technically on the road as they face West Seattle High School for the Huling Bowl, 7 pm Saturday, October 19th, at West Seattle Stadium (4432 35th SW).
At mid-afternoon Friday, all that was left of the building on the southwest corner of 42nd/Alaska was what we’re told was once a vault. As projected by contractor Andersen Construction, working for developer/owner Equity Residential, the building was torn down in a week. We showed the Monday start here, and an update on Thursday, before crews moved on to the Rocksport side of the building Friday. One 7-story apartment/retail building is to go up on that side of the site, another on the west side, which formerly housed businesses including Super Supplements, and long before that, the West Seattle Hospital, including an upper story that’s long gone – check it out in this aerial from the city archives, dated 1957:
Click here to see a larger view, and look closely for the street labeling. Note that Jefferson School (opened in 1912, closed in 1979) was still on the 42nd SW site now known as Jefferson Square, and look around the photo for other sites that are on the brink of change – what do you recognize that’s not there any more?
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