West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
Out of the WSB inbox, from Josie:
I just wanted to report that my electric bike (IZIP) was stolen from outside my apartment building on Alki (it was locked up) this weekend (3000 block of 60th Ave. SW). It’s cream-colored and looks unique because it’s an electric bike (it has a motor). Here’s what it looks like.
If you see it, call police.
NEXT CRIME/SAFETY MEETING: Another reminder that the West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network meets Tuesday, 6:30 pm at the precinct (2300 SW Webster), and it’s your next chance to hear from and bring neighborhood concerns to local police leadership. Plus, SPD’s new director of transparency and privacy will be the special guest.
(Photo courtesy Bureau of Fearless Ideas)
It’s a world now where many if not most of us write more than we speak. That makes writing skills more valuable than ever – so if you can help local students improve theirs, this is for you:
The Greater Seattle Bureau of Fearless Ideas is the world-famous, volunteer-powered, Greenwood-based nonprofit writing and tutoring center that’s been serving kids across the Puget Sound area for the past decade. Our next mission: establishing a satellite bureau in White Center — a move that has us looking to build our volunteer ranks in the West Seattle and White Center areas. This winter and spring bring a number of volunteer opportunities at West Seattle schools, with bureau agents conducting writing workshops with students at Big Picture Middle School, Denny International Middle School, and Chief Sealth International High School. Have a few hours a week for 6-8 weeks to help the younger generation become better writers and communicators? Email David Schmader at david@fearlessideas.org. (And check out all things bureau-related at fearlessideas.org.)
Thanks to Lynn Ogdon-Perrine for the update on the Chief Sealth International High School wrestlers who went to the state tournament in Tacoma this weekend: Daron Camacho (left) placed third in the 195 class, Joe Kereti (right) placed eighth in the 220 class. With them in the photo (by Buiford Martin) is Coach Maurice Dolberry. Full results are here.
While on the other side of the bay earlier this afternoon, we detoured to Ballard for a look at the city’s first of two “safe lots” for people living in RVs or other vehicles, since the other one is set for our area.
It opened this past Friday at 24th NW and Shilshole, north of the old Yankee Diner restaurant, east of a shipyard. Like the future “safe lot” in Highland Park (W. Marginal Way SW and Highland Park Way), it is ringed in canvas-covered fencing. A padlocked chain held the fencing closed on the south side, off a parking lot that’s not part of the “safe lot.”
Four RVs were visible; the lot is supposed to be able to hold at least 30. Two portable toilets were in view on the east side of the lot, along with two tents (regional-media coverage says one is a kitchen tent). No one was in view outside the RVs or anywhere else when we looked around the periphery, so there was no one to ask about how things are going.
Last projected opening date for the Highland Park lot, with room for about a dozen RVs, is still at least about two weeks away, per discussion at last Wednesday’s Delridge District Council meeting. We went by the HP site again at midday today; nothing changed except that the fallen-down fence has been picked up and bolstered with sandbags.
After two reports about this, we’re wondering if it’s happening anywhere else – first DG reported that on Friday, along California SW in Gatewood, they “came home to nails placed at the end of our driveway. They appear purposely placed there, and luckily we saw it before we entered the driveway. They were on the left side (right where the tire would drive in on the left side).” We don’t know their block number, but then today, also from Gatewood, Heather e-mailed to say, “I’ve been finding piles of big tacks/nails scattered in the alley that runs parallel to California between maybe Elmgrove and Rose. Who knows if it’s an accident or malicious, but they’re new and shiny and easy to see. I thought maybe drivers and dog-walkers should be warned.”
Historian Rob Ketcherside recently shared that 1937 photo from tax-assessor files via the WSB Flickr group. It might look familiar even if you weren’t around in the ’30s – it’s the subject of the mural behind the commercial building on the southwest corner of California and Fauntleroy in Morgan Junction. It shows the Morgan Street Drive-In Market; Ketcherside will be speaking about the market (on the site where West Seattle Thriftway [WSB sponsor] is now) at the kickoff event for the SouthWest Stories series just announced by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society. If you want a sneak peek, read his story about the city’s drive-in markets, including this one, and see his photo roundup.
Ketcherside’s presentation is four weeks away – 2 pm Sunday, March 20th, at High Point Library; it’ll be followed by five more presentations on the third Sunday of each month, scheduled out through August, rotating among WS and South Park branches of the Seattle Public Library (which is co-sponsoring SouthWest Stories) – see the list on the official flyer. All free!
(Seagull sentinels atop the Alki Bathhouse – Saturday photo by Marc Milrod)
Relatively quiet Sunday, with a handful of highlights on our calendar:
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm in the street – here’s what’s fresh this week. (California SW between SW Oregon and SW Alaska)
MEET THE GREYHOUNDS: 11 am-1 pm, Greyhound Pets Inc. will be at Mud Bay in The Admiral District. (2611 California SW)
WEST SEATTLE TOOL LIBRARY: Regular Sunday hours are 11 am-4 pm, on the northeast side of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. (4408 Delridge Way SW)
NATIVE AMERICAN FLUTE-MAKING WORKSHOP: 1-5 pm at the Duwamish Longhouse – online registration is over but contact the longhouse to see if there’s still room. (4705 W. Marginal Way SW)
JAMTIME AT C & P: Bluegrass and old-time music with Jamtime, live at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 1-4 pm. (5612 California SW)
GREAT SEATTLE SEED SWAP: As previewed here last night – 2-3:30 pm at West Seattle (Admiral) Library, free chance to swap or pick up some seeds for this year’s planters/gardens. (2306 42nd SW)
ALL-AGES PUNK AT SKYLARK: Party Shark, The Beautiful Freaks, Lubedo, all ages, $5 cover. 6 pm at The Skylark. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
ORIGINAL STORY: Two weeks ago, chef Miranda Krone announced she was returning to West Seattle for a fourth incarnation of Meander’s Kitchen, 
this time at 6400 California SW, where the proprietors of Kokoras Greek Grill had decided to retire (their restaurant had long been listed for sale). Early today, she announced via Facebook that the official Meander’s opening will be Thursday (February 25th). Read full details here, including cuisine and hours.
(Side note: Multiple readers pointed out that the building/lot at 6400 California SW, also home to The Wash Dog, has just been put up for sale for $1.1 million. The flyer notes both tenants have recently signed 5-year leases, with a provision for 6 months’ notice if a redevelopment plan emerges. The site is zoned for 3-story mixed-use. Online files do *not* show any proposals.)
UPDATED FEBRUARY 25: Via Facebook, Meander’s says it’s now planning to open Friday morning at 8.
Two late-night West Seattle Crime Watch reports:
CAR-PROWL ATTEMPT: From S in Admiral:
Just reported (around midnight) to the police a black male about 6’0 6’1 with a Hispanic accent with an Afro, he was trying to break into a car off 42nd and lander in the admiral area wearing all black near the mail center. He punched the car window twice. I was walking near the Safeway and park and immediately left to go back home to call it in because I did not have my phone on me. All of sudden he was behind me trying to speak to me and asked to talk for a moment and I said no I needed to go. I know it is late, but just wanted to give a heads up to neighbors and people close by.
DUMPED BIKES: Christine spotted them by the cleaners at 35th/Morgan in southeast Gatewood:
Or if you’re looking for a blue bicycle – we haven’t heard yet if this one’s been claimed.
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