day : 05/05/2015 11 results

Next Design Review Board meeting set for CVS at 4722 Fauntleroy

The Southwest Design Review Board‘s calendar has been empty since its last meeting in mid-April, but now that’s changed: The second review for West Seattle’s first CVS drugstore is on the schedule, for 6:30 pm Thursday, June 25th. It’s another Early Design Guidance meeting, since board members had enough concerns and critiques to not allow it to pass that stage the first time through, back in March (WSB coverage here; official city report here). Despite the site being zoned for 8 stories, the drugstore is proposed as a single-story, one tenant building (the land also will be rented, and the project team says the height limit is part of the lease), with 49 parking spaces. The June 25th meeting, which includes public comment, will start at 6:30 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle in The Junction.

In case you wondered too: Fairmount Playfield’s new-but-not-open restroom building is almost ready

Jeff sent that photo on Monday, wondering why the new restroom building at Fairmount Playfield is still closed, though it’s looked complete for weeks. We took the question to Seattle Parks, whose Karen O’Connor replied:

We have a couple of punch list items for the Fairmount Playfield restroom building including locks and the installation of the electric meter. We are working with our shops and Seattle City Light to get this done. In the meantime, the temporary bathrooms will remain on site. … If the final inspection goes well – we anticipate the restrooms opening the weekend
of May 15.

The restroom replacement has been in the works for almost four years; the project finally got going last fall.

West Seattle Weather Watch: Lightning, thunder, rainbows

(Thanks to Karl for the rainbow photo from Westwood Village)
4:53 PM: Yes, that was thunder, as a storm cell moves through the area – we saw a big bright bolt of lightning a bit northwest of us a few beats before the boom. No special weather alerts but the forecast overall did warn of a chance of thunderstorms.

5:13 PM: Longtime WSB’er “MetPatrick” is watching the charts and warns of another one that appears to be headed this way.

6:21 PM: Did you catch the hail (ice pellets) and downpour? If you use the Periscope livestreaming app, be sure to follow @westseattleblog – we were experimenting during all that. Meantime, thanks to everyone who’s sent rainbow photos – we’re adding a few here!

Congratulations! Jim Edwards honored by West Seattle Rotary

(WSB photos)
The Rotary Club of West Seattle was up extra-early today for a special occasion – a breakfast event at Salty’s on Alki (WSB sponsor). At right above is Jim Edwards, honored by the Rotary with the Paul Harris Fellow award, named after Rotary’s founder. Jim’s long history of community service includes coordinating the West Seattle Grand Parade, which is now presented by the Rotary. He accepted the award with his daughter Michelle Edwards, who works with him on the parade, as does Dave Vague, at left, honored by the Rotary last year. (One of the other things for which you might know Jim right now is the West Seattle Big Band, which donates its earnings to student programs.) This year’s parade, by the way, is coming up fast – Saturday, July 18th, from The Admiral District to The Junction as always.

Rotarians also heard from King County Executive Dow Constantine this morning:

The centerpiece of his talk was his new initiative, Best Starts for Kids, announced in his recent State of the County address as a plan to “provide the resources needed to prevent negative outcomes in the community and put every child on a path toward lifelong success.” Its components include mental-health and developmental screenings and a host of other services aimed at the notion that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Voters will be asked to approve a levy to fund it. Early childhood is a subject not only important to Constantine as a leader but also as a parent, and he noted that daughter Sabrina is about to turn 1.

West Seattle road work: City to seal cracks on California, Admiral

May 5, 2015 2:11 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle road work: City to seal cracks on California, Admiral
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

From SDOT today, news that the warmer, drier weather will bring out its crack-sealing crews and equipment. They’ve sent a list of spots around the city which will be on the list where work could start as soon as next week, “applying low-tack sealant to pavement cracks to keep water from seeping under the street surface, helping to prevent potholes and other roadway damage.” The two West Seattle streets listed are:

*SW Admiral Way – between Olga Street and California Avenue SW

*California Avenue SW – between SW Admiral Way and SW Edmunds Street

The city says you’ll get about three days’ warning when the crews are on the way, when NO PARKING signs go up. The work will be done in the daytime and: “Crews will close one lane at a time for approximately 3-4 hours for the operation and to allow the sealant to set. Traffic flaggers will assist and sidewalks will remain open at all times.” The full citywide list of to-be-sealed zones is here.

West Seattle restaurants: Itto’s to bring ‘Moroccan fusion,’ tapas-style, to The Junction

By Randall Hauk
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

The West Seattle Junction is getting a tapas lounge!

Local resident Khalid Agour is hoping to have his new endeavor ready for business no later than July 1. Itto’s will bring Moroccan fusion to the northeast corner of California SW and SW Genesee, as soon as the former Firefly Café and Creperie space can be made ready.

Agour’s brother Aziz will be the culinary mind behind Itto’s, named for their mother who passed away last November and was the primary chef for the Agour family when the brothers were young. Khalid says that the restaurant will fulfill a long-held ambition to start a business in his neighborhood.

Read More

West Seattle Tuesday: GiveBIG continues; Gelarto ‘soft open’; benefit for fire victims; WWRHAH; knee-pain help …

(Pam Mandel from Nerd’s Eye View photographed this great blue heron @ Constellation Park)

Here’s what’s up for the rest of today/tonight, mostly from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar (where you’ll always find even more listings than what we get to spotlight here):

GIVEBIG, UNTIL 11:59 PM! The annual donate-a-thon is under way – here’s our list of West Seattle, White Center, South Park nonprofits to which you can donate, making them eligible for extra “stretch” money. (Also note Dine Out for Hunger” participants in White Center.)

GELARTO SOFT OPEN: The gelato-and-coffee shop on Alki Beach that we first told you about in March says it’s “soft-opening” at noon today. They’re still working on an organic-dairy provider, so no dairy-inclusive coffee drinks just yet. (59th/Alki)

HELP FIRE FAMILIES: 4 Morgan Junction establishments are donating part of their proceeds tonight to help the three families who lost homes in the big Pelly Place fire last Thursday. Details in our preview.

HIGH-SCHOOL SOFTBALL: West Seattle High School varsity team hosts Eastside Catholic at Southwest Athletic Complex, 3:30 pm. (2801 SW Thistle)

CINCO DE MAYO CELEBRATION: 6 pm, music, food, and dance at Delridge Community Center. (4501 Delridge Way SW)

CINCO DE MAYO ‘TACO TUESDAY’: 6 pm event at Alki Bathhouse – details in our calendar listing. (60th/Alki)

WESTWOOD-ROXHILL-ARBOR HEIGHTS COMMUNITY COUNCIL: 6:15 pm at Southwest Branch Library, with agenda including:

6:20-6:45: Delridge Basin Sewer System Improvement with Tara Wong Esteban, SPU, & Kelly Pajek from the Arts Department: This is the project currently underway at 22nd Ave SW and Henderson/Barton Pl.

6:45-7:10: Arbor Heights Micro-Surfacing Project Update with Art Brochet: Did your street get missed? This is an opportunity to hear from SDOT what streets will be completed this time.

7:15-7:30: Committee & Neighborhood Council Updates

7:30-7:40: WWRHAH Elections!

In the library’s upstairs meeting room. (35th/Henderson)

ABOUT YOUR ACHING KNEES … 6:30 pm at West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor), Elite Sports and Spine “will be presenting on knee pain,” according to WSR’s announcement: “This topic will include patellofemoral syndrome and ITB syndrome. They will cover causes, signs and symptoms as well as treatment strategies: including strengthening and stretching. West Seattle Runner will be offering 10% off all injury prevention merchandise, including inserts.” (2743 California SW)

DEAD MEN WALKING: Live in-store, free, all ages, 7 pm at Easy Street Records. (California/Alaska)

UPDATE: Deck fire at house in 6500 block 25th SW; brush fire reported by bridge

May 5, 2015 9:48 am
|    Comments Off on UPDATE: Deck fire at house in 6500 block 25th SW; brush fire reported by bridge
 |   West Seattle fires | West Seattle news

(Added: WSB photo of response on 25th SW)

9:48 AM: Seattle Fire is responding to a deck fire at a house in the 6500 block of 25th SW.

9:52 AM: Crews at the scene say the fire has NOT spread to the house. They’re dismissing most of the responding units. Meantime, in an UNRELATED call you might also be seeing, SFD is checking out a report of a brush fire near the West Seattle Bridge, in the Admiral Way vicinity.

10:07 AM: The brush-fire call already has closed. The 25th SW call remains “open” but our crew at the scene says it’s out, was limited to a small portion of the deck, and that SFD is wrapping up.

UPDATE: Seattle teachers say they’re walking out for one day on May 19th; SPS to close schools and add June 16th make-up date

ORIGINAL REPORT, 9:04 AM: Thanks to the texters who alerted us to this: The Seattle Education Association teachers union says its members have voted for a one-day walkout on Tuesday, May 19th, two weeks from today. The announcement was published via the SEA Facebook page last night:

With an 85% yes vote, Seattle educators have voted to join the wave of one day strikes over the legislature’s failure to fund education! The strike will be Tuesday, May 19. It’s time for reasonable class sizes and caseloads, and for livable wages!

As our partners at The Seattle Times point out, teachers in more than 20 other districts already have had this type of walkout or are planning one. Meantime, we checked with Seattle Public Schools to ask about their plan for the walkout date; spokesperson Stacy Howard tells WSB that the district has no official notification from SEA, but will comment once they do. So – updates to come.

ADDED 2:17 PM: Just in from SPS – a letter sent out by the superintendent to SPS staff, noting that school will be canceled May 19th and so an extra day is added at the end of the year, June 16th:

The Seattle Education Association (SEA) has voted to join in a statewide action against the legislature to protest the lack of education funding in our state. SEA is the organization of professionals and union that represents teachers in our district. This protest involves a one-day walkout.

SEA has selected May 19 as the day for their one-day walkout. Therefore, there will be no school for students on May 19, as teachers will not be at work on that day. SEA chose the day to provide the district two weeks of notice to work on arrangements in an effort to minimize disruption for students, parents and district staff to the greatest extent possible.

While there is no school for students on May 19, the school day will have to be made up, just as we would make up a snow day or other unforeseen calendar change. The make-up day will be added to the end of the school year. This means Tuesday, June 16, will become our last day of school and a work day for district staff.

The SEA action is not directed at Seattle Public School as a district, but is a statement to the state legislature about the current lack of adequate state funding for basic education and we share that concern. I thank you in advance for your understanding. If you have questions about your work schedule for next week, please work closely with your supervisor.

Sincerely,

Dr. Larry Nyland
Superintendent

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Tuesday updates; crashes on I-5, 99, 4th Ave. S.

(MAJOR ALERT: Northbound I-5 closed in heart of downtown – see below)

(Four WS-relevant views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page. P.S. Sorry about the broken cameras – out of our control)
7:38 AM: There’s a crash on northbound 99 right where it meets the West Seattle Bridge, and that’s slowing traffic in all directions 99-bound, according to SDOT:


Updates as we get them. Meantime, speaking of 99:

HIGHWAY 99 CLOSURES NORTH OF DOWNTOWN THIS WEEKEND: If you use Highway 99 from the Battery Street Tunnel northward to Valley Street, either direction, please note planned closures this weekend. They’re in phases, with reopenings for sports-related traffic.

7:56 AM UPDATE: Now the blockage on northbound 99 is down to one lane.

8 AM UPDATE: If you are thinking of taking 4th Avenue South as an alternative – note that there is a crash just south of Costco – a car hit a bus – and they’ve just upped the response to rescue so they can cut someone out.

8:10 AM UPDATE: The 4th Ave. S. crash is blocking both northbound lanes, per scanner, but police are diverting NB traffic into a SB lane to get people by.

8:16 AM: Back to the NB 99 crash, “all lanes are open” per SPD announcement monitored via scanner.

8:20 AM: New problem, 4-vehicle crash on northbound I-5 at the Convention Center, with at least one reported to be on fire, per scanner. That could soon affect the WS Bridge traffic headed for NB 5.

8:25 AM: WSDOT now says all northbound lanes of 5 are CLOSED because of the crash/fire. Several people are hurt, at least one seriously. So stay away from NB 5 TFN!

9:23 AM: All but one lane of northbound I-5 is open now.

GiveBIG 2015 has begun! You can donate to these West Seattle, White Center, South Park nonprofits right here, right now

Again this year, dozens of local nonprofits are participating in today’s GiveBIG one-day donate-a-thon coordinated by the Seattle Foundation. The money you give TODAY ONLY to any or all of the participating nonprofits goes beyond face value – it boosts their eligibility for a “stretch pool” of partial matching funds, to be distributed proportionately depending on how much each participating organization raises during GiveBIG, by 11:59 pm tonight.

MEGA-IMPORTANT: You **must** donate through the special pages all participants have on the GiveBIG website, NOT via the organizations’ own websites. So here’s our list of those special pages for participating West Seattle, White Center, and South Park-based or -founded/-connected nonprofits. The special links take you to pages on the Seattle Foundation website with background information, as well as the donation links to use for this one-day event. Please also note that some organizations require an extra step – the “go here” link takes you to their “fiscal sponsor” or parent organization and then you MUST write the local org’s name in the “comments” area. (P.S. Please let us know if we missed a WS, WC, or SP-based organization – post a comment or e-mail us ASAP at editor@westseattleblog.com so we can check it out – thanks!)

ART FOR ANIMALS’ SAKEgo here

ARTS CORPSgo here

ARTSWESTgo here

CITIZENS FOR OFF-LEASH AREASgo here

DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOODS DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATIONgo here

DENNY-SEALTH PERFORMING ARTSgo here

DISABILITY RIGHTS WASHINGTONgo here

DUWAMISH RIVER CLEANUP COALITION/TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUPgo here

DUWAMISH ROWING CLUBgo here

DUWAMISH TRIBAL SERVICESgo here

EARTH MINISTRY go here

EMPOWER MENTORING PROGRAMgo here

ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION OF SOUTH SEATTLEgo here

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE CENTERgo here

EXPLORER WEST MIDDLE SCHOOLgo here

FAUNTLEROY CHILDREN’S CENTERgo here

FEESTgo here

FREE2LUVgo here

FRIENDS OF SEALTH – IB SCHOLARSHIP FUNDgo here

FURRY FACES FOUNDATIONgo here

HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCEgo here

HOLY ROSARY PARISH SCHOOL go here

INVEST IN YOUTHgo here

K-5 STEM PTAgo here

KILLER WHALE TALESgo here

KING COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM FOUNDATIONgo here

KOL HANESHAMAHgo here

LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDRENgo here

MARRA FARM COALITIONgo here

MULTI-COMMUNITIES (M.I.C.) go here

NATURE CONSORTIUMgo here

NAVOSgo here

NEIGHBORHOOD FARMERS MARKETSgo here

NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSEgo here

NONFICTION MEDIAgo here

NORTHWEST CENTERgo here

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE SCHOOLgo here

PLUMBERS WITHOUT BORDERSgo here

PONGO PUBLISHINGgo here

PROVIDENCE MOUNT ST. VINCENT FOUNDATIONgo here

PUGET SOUNDKEEPER ALLIANCEgo here

REEL GRRLSgo here

ROOTS OF EMPATHY USA go here

SAFE FUTURES YOUTH CENTERgo here

SCHOOL OF ACROBATICS AND NEW CIRCUS ARTSgo here

SEAL SITTERS go here and in the comments area, write that you’re donating for Seal Sitters

SEA MAR COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERSgo here

SEATTLE CHINESE GARDEN SOCIETYgo here

SEATTLE GLEE CLUBSgo here

SEATTLE PARKS FOUNDATIONgo here

SEATTLE POLICE FOUNDATIONgo here

SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATIONgo here

SEATTLE SINGLE PARENT ADVOCACY COUNSELING ENRICHMENTgo here

SEATTLE YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRASgo here

SENIOR CENTER OF WEST SEATTLEgo here and write “Senior Center of West Seattle” in the “comments” area

SOUTH PARK AREA REDEVELOPMENT COMMITTEEgo here

SOUTH PARK INFORMATION AND RESOURCE CENTERgo here

SOUTH PARK NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONgo here

SOUTH PARK SENIOR CITIZENSgo here

SOUTH SEATTLE COLLEGE FOUNDATIONgo here

SOUTHWEST SEATTLE HISTORICAL SOCIETYgo here

SOUTHWEST YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICESgo here

SPORTS IN SCHOOLSgo here

TECHNOLOGY ACCESS FOUNDATIONgo here

TECHNOLOGY SERVICES CORPSgo here

THE CABIRIgo here

THE ILLUMINATIO PROJECTgo here and specify in the comments area that it’s for The Illuminatio Project

THE MISSION TO SEAFARERSgo here

THE SALVATION ARMY – KING COUNTYgo here

THE SERVICE BOARDgo here

THE VILLAGE OF HOPEgo here

THE WHALE TRAILgo here

THEATER SIMPLEgo here

TOTEM STARgo here

TRANSITIONAL RESOURCESgo here (TR’s board is matching the first $2,500 donated)

TWELFTH NIGHT PRODUCTIONSgo here

VIVACE CHAMBER PLAYERSgo here

WEST SEATTLE BE PREPAREDgo here and write the organization’s name in “comments”

WEST SEATTLE BLOCK WATCH CAPTAINS NETWORKgo here and write the organization’s name in “comments”

WEST SEATTLE FOOD BANKgo here

WEST SEATTLE HELPLINEgo here

WEST SEATTLE JUNCTION ASSOCIATIONgo here

WESTSIDE BABYgo here

WESTSIDE SCHOOLgo here

WESTSIDE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CONGREGATIONgo here

WHITE CENTER COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATIONgo here

WHITE CENTER FOOD BANKgo here – and again this year, WCFB has an added event on GiveBIG day, Dine Out For Hunger:

Dine out on May 5, 2015, and these restaurants will donate a portion of their proceeds to the White Center Food Bank!

Company Bar
Full Tilt Ice Cream (White Center location)
Mac’s Triangle Pub
Meander’s
Proletariat Pizza
Zippy’s Giant Burgers (White Center AND Georgetown locations)

These wonderful restaurants will donate to us through giveBIG, so their donations will be stretched and matched, too!

WHIT PRESSgo here

YES FOUNDATION OF WHITE CENTERgo here

WEST SEATTLE/FAUNTLEROY YMCAgo to the YMCA of Greater Seattle donation page and write in the comments that it’s for the West Seattle YMCA

YOUTH FOR SOCIAL JUSTICEgo here

YOUTH MEDIA INSTITUTEgo here

YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION NETWORKgo here

YWCA OF SEATTLE-KING COUNTYgo here