West Seattle, Washington
17 Wednesday
(UPDATED 5:22 PM: At the end of the story, we’ve added new information from the county, including an open letter to the community, and information on how residents of the proposed-for-purchase Lowman Beach properties were notified. ADDITIONAL UPDATE 6:35 PM with Fauntleroy reaction)
(County map showing where the “green stormwater infrastructure” is proposed for the area feeding the Barton pump station; go here for larger version)
ORIGINAL 2:40 PM REPORT: Just in from King County Wastewater Treatment Division: The county has announced its preferred alternatives for facilities to achieve a required reduction in CSOs (combined-sewer overflows) at the Murray (Lowman Beach) and Barton (next to the Fauntleroy ferry dock) Pump Stations. For Murray, they propose building a million-gallon storage tank under private property across the street from Lowman Beach Park – which the county would have to buy (even if that involves “eminent domain“); for Barton, the Green Stormwater Infrastructure project – read on for the news release; more to come – the process of arriving at these choices has been going on for more than 3 years (with major acceleration in fall of last year). and today’s announcement is the first step toward an in-depth environmental review:Read More
Here’s an option for dealing with all those corks left over from your holiday party: As bin 41 (WSB sponsor) wine-shop proprietor T. Frick McNamara puts it, “We’re on a roll for recycling corks!” Since starting their program this summer, they’ve recycled 500 pounds – a quarter-ton! – of corks. She explains, “Often folks put these either in garbage or the garden compost can, not realizing there are options for reusing this valuable renewable material. We’re teamed up with ReCORK of Amorim in California. They work with a company called Sole, who by spring of 2011 have vowed to use all recycled cork material instead of virgin cork to make the soles of their shoes. ReCORK is also working with a company in Portugal to replant new cork trees to help end the cork shortage.” You can bring your natural corks (no synthetic) to bin 41 in The Junction any time (maybe during Wednesday’s tasting?) and put them in the recycling box (shown above). Questions? bin41@me.com. (Also check out the store’s holiday hours in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Shopping/Business Guide – now with a new feature enabling you to share/e-mail individual deals from the page.)
(WSB photos by Katie Meyer)
Thanks to Shelley and Kristen for e-mailing about this sighting today – crews working for the city on the slope beneath Hamilton Viewpoint. The burlap they’re spreading is striking enough – but what really caught passers-by’s eyes were the mounds of bottles and cans found beneath years worth of blackberry tangle – here’s a closer look:
WSB contributor Katie Meyer talked to the workers while photographing the project zone and the bottle/can mounds. They told her the areas being protected now with burlap will be seeded with grass, and then planted with native bushes and shrubs (Oregon Grape and ferns were mentioned).
As Katie points out, the recovered containers have been sorted into piles for recycling!
The 2nd of 3 events we covered last night celebrating local students’ creativity and talent was a Community Film Fest at Chief Sealth International High School, with five short films screened, each exploring an environmental issue. Over the past four months, Environmental Science/Global Studies students made the films, with research trips including an examination of how the city handles solid waste as well as a Duwamish River tour to see how industrial and urban residential uses affect local waterways. Onstage in our top photo are Global Studies students who produced the film “Heavy Metal,” answering questions onstage afterward. The program was presented in connection with Bridges to Understanding; a rep told us they’re expecting to make the students’ work available online (we’ll follow up when we get word on when/where to find it).
Thanks to Tracy T for sharing this news via Facebook – Clarian Energy, run by West Seattle energy entrepreneur Chad Maglaque, is celebrating a big win – a Consumer Innovation award in the GE Ecomagination Challenge. It’s for Clarian’s SmartBox Solar Module, which will make it possible to tap into solar power via existing home outlets. Xconomy has the story here; you can also read about it on TechFlash (where we found the video embedded above).
Still two and a half hours to bring your tote bag(s) to the Fauntleroy Church fellowship hall and stock up on gently used toys as the annual CoolMom Toy Swap ‘n’ Sale continues – they’re spotlighting some items that are too big for your tote bag, too – toddler-size cars on the stage in the background, and baby/child furniture in the foreground:
Fauntleroy Church is across from the historic schoolhouse, at 9140 California SW – that’s not a continuation of the long stretch of California, but rather a bend in the road if you are either heading up Wildwood south of the ferry dock, or heading down Barton west of 35th. The sale continues till 1 pm, with proceeds benefiting WestSide Baby as well as CoolMom. Never know who might just jump into your tote bag!
12:57 PM: Got a text that in the waning moments, everything is half price.
Stars of that video are Team Trev, one of four teams currently in the Zero Race, an 80-day around-the-world renewable-energy-car race that’s officially stopping in Seattle tomorrow – but this team is due in West Seattle tonight, since participants are being hosted by local residents, as explained by Leah LaCivita via e-mail:
Founded by Louis Palmer, the first person to drive a solar-powered car around the world, the goal of Zero Race is to generate popular enthusiasm for the use of renewable energy sources for vehicles. In order to compete in Zero Race, vehicles must be propelled by an electric motor, drive approximately 156 miles at an average speed of 50 miles/hour, and carry at least two passengers. Vehicles are judged according to their speed, reliability, energy efficiency, design, safety, and utility to everyday life.
Zero Race began in Geneva, Switzerland on August 15 and will end when the teams reach Geneva again in January 2011. The race route covers a distance of 30,000 km, approximately 18,600 miles, across 16 countries. The North American leg began in Vancouver, Canada, and follows the West Coast until Los Angeles, where the route turns southeast and eventually enters Mexico. The race will also visit the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun at the end of November before returning to the European continent.
There are currently four teams in the race, hailing from Germany, Switzerland, South Korea and Australia. Team members and race organizers will spend the evening in private home throughout Seattle. Hosting them are members of the Seattle Electric Vehicle Association, (SEVA) a volunteer led educational organization that promotes the advancement and adoption of electric vehicles.
SEVA member Matt Schneider will be hosting Zero Race’s Team Trev at his Gatewood home this evening. In 2008, Schneider converted a VW Vanagon to electric power and has been commuting in it since then. He is looking forward to the visit as a chance to talk shop, but also to “check out a really cool car.”
Leah says their arrival time isn’t set yet – they’re heading down from Canada. She also says that from there, the Zero Race cars will continue to head south, stopping in Portland on Sunday. If you explore Team Trev’s website – you’ll see Trev is the car, and they’re the team from Australia.
As you’ll hear in our video, State Rep. and Sen.-elect Sharon Nelson says this is a day she has awaited for 13 years – a day bringing real hope that a section of industrial-company-owned shoreline on her home island, Maury, will be preserved forever.
She, King County Executive Dow Constantine, and dozens of other state and King County leaders, environmental advocates, and Maury/Vashon residents gathered on the Beach Drive shore across from Me-Kwa-Mooks, with the islands visible to the southwest, to formally announce a deal to purchase that mile of shoreline, and 250 adjacent acres of madrone forest. What’s currently been compiled includes $15 million in state money and $19 million in county money – with about $2 million that will have to be raised from other sources to close the deal by year’s end. The land has been the subject of controversy in recent years, with environmental advocates and nearby residents trying to stop it from being mined. The site holds importance for the ecology of all of Puget Sound, say supporters – West Seattleite Donna Sandstrom of The Whale Trail was at the announcement and told us, “It’s a great day for the whales” – the orcas about whom her group seeks to educate. And for Puget Sound salmon, as underscored by the giant prop brought by the Vashon-based Backbone Campaign:
(You might remember Backbone for the “flash mob” video protest inside West Seattle’s Target store.) According to the county’s announcement, the site is adjacent to the 320-acre Maury Island Marine Park already owned by the county. Opening the news conference, Constantine made a point of saying that the $19 million the county would advance for the $36 million purchase is from the King County Conservation Futures Fund, and that state law says that money can only be used for open-space or resource-land purchases.
The private fundraising work begins now, with various groups involved, and donations being taken at www.cascadeland.org. (Thursday PS: Here’s the official county news release with yet more details.)
When a mysterious “media advisory” rolled in late Tuesday saying King County Executive Dow Constantine will meet the media at Emma Schmitz Memorial Overlook on Beach Drive this afternoon to “announce agreement on a major new land acquisition that would permanently protect one of King County’s longest stretches of undeveloped Puget Sound shoreline and provide trails and open space,” it seemed clear the announcement would not be about West Seattle shoreline, as nothing around here meets that description and would be for sale. And indeed, our partners at the Seattle Times are now reporting that the announcement has to do with a site visible in the distance from Beach Drive: Maury Island. The Times reports that a deal has been reached for public and private entities to buy a controversial mining site for $36 million. You can read their story here.
From tonight’s Fauntleroy Community Association meeting: Topic A remains the recently surfaced suggestion that the south parking lot of Lincoln Park might be the best place for a storage facility to reduce combined-sewer overflows (CSO) from the Murray Pump Station at Lowman Beach. As noted in previous coverage, the idea came from a citizens’ advisory group made up mostly of people who live outside Fauntleroy, which already is in line to get a CSO-reduction project for the area feeding the Barton Pump Station next to the ferry dock. Tonight, FCA members decided they’ll seek to meet with King County Wastewater Treatment Division‘s Linda Sullivan to talk about their ongoing concerns, many of which were expressed at last week’s community meeting about the proposal (WSB coverage here, including video of the entire meeting). They also want to talk about what might be done to mitigate the effects if the site is chosen. The comment deadline is November 15th, and King County – according to what spokesperson Annie Kolb-Nelson told us a few days ago – expects to decide on its “preferred alternatives” for Murray and Barton in mid-December, so there’s some urgency. Main issues for the FCA regarding the parking lot: Where would people park during construction? How would local businesses be affected? (For more information on the CSO proposals, go here for the Murray process, and here for the Barton process.) One other item of business tonight: March 15, 2011, is the date chosen for the FCA’s annual Food Fest membership-drive event.
The FCA meets the second Tuesday of each month, 7 pm at The Hall at Fauntleroy (in the schoolhouse).
One week from today, you can kick off holiday-shopping season in the greenest of ways at CoolMom‘s annual Toy Swap ‘n’ Sale, 9 am-1 pm Saturday, Nov. 13, at Fauntleroy Church. Those two mini-electric cars are among the donations in so far – but CoolMom‘s looking for more. You get a $5 discount on your Swap ‘n’ Sale purchases if you turn in a bag of donations. CoolMom executive director Terri Glaberson says they’re accepting lots of things for the sale – just gather up what you don’t need any more!
We are short on our gently-used toy collection (that includes baby gear, kids furniture, books, games, puzzles…) and need your help in filling our bins.
The sale really is fantastic and benefits two great non-profits [WestSide Baby and CoolMom], motivates you to clean out your closets… AND provides families in West Seattle with a way to purchase holiday toys at CRAZY low prices. When you make a donation, just put your name in the bag and you get a $5.00 credit at the sale.
Have the kids help; they may love to give away a few toys and then get some new ones at the toy swap. Great fun and it doesn’t break the bank.
CoolMom has dropoff sites conveniently located at Gatewood Elementary, Community School of West Seattle, PCC, C&P Coffee on California and Small Clothes.
If you have big items you would like to donate, but can’t drop them off at a bin, Terri would happily pick them up or you can drop them off the day of the sale (but please let her know that you will be dropping them off at the sale). Contact her at 206-280-2828 or terri@coolmom.org.
Just got word that West Seattle Thriftway, an independent, locally owned grocer, is getting a $2 million loan through the National Development Council and the City of Seattle. The announcement from the NDC says its Grow Seattle Fund is loaning Thriftway the money to help it consolidate its debt and “make energy-efficiency upgrades to lighting and refrigeration units, resulting in an annual energy-savings of more than 596,042 kilowatt-hours … enough energy to power 45 single-family homes for an entire year.” The program uses a U.S. Small Business Administration “guarantee program,” according to the announcement, which says this is designed to help small businesses that might otherwise have trouble getting financing. The city says businesses can apply for a Grow Seattle Fund, with qualifications including three years of profitability and a need for $100,000 to $5 million “to help with working capital, equipment purchases, tenant improvements, or energy-efficiency improvements” – there’s more information here.
In our coverage of the recent Killer Whale Tales benefit, we mentioned first word of this event – now known as OrcaFest 2010, and coming up this Sunday at Alki Bathhouse. The Whale Trail, led by Donna Sandstrom, and Killer Whale Tales, led by Jeff Hogan (both West Seattleites), are presenting OrcaFest, which will include an environmental fair and program, tribal-dance performance, storytelling, art, and activities for kids. That’s all happening Sunday (November 7), 11 am-3 pm at the bathhouse, free. Then the following Wednesday, November 10, $5 gets you in to the Duwamish Longhouse to hear NOAA’s Brad Hanson give an update on research into what orcas eat (7 pm; tickets available online here).
Today’s weather is what the Combined Sewer Overflow situation along south West Seattle beaches is potentially all about: If heavy rainstorm runoff from “combined sewer” systems overwhelms a pump station’s capacity, that triggers an untreated-water overflow containing raw sewage as well as stormwater, and that’s bad news for Puget Sound, so King County has to decide how to reduce those overflows. Right now the focus in West Seattle is on the “basins” feeding two pump stations, Murray (Lowman Beach) and Barton (north of the Fauntleroy ferry dock). The process of figuring out the best way to reduce CSOs at Murray has stirred the most controversy, after the county back in March unveiled three options, including potentially digging up most of Lowman Beach Park to put in a huge storage facility. Tonight, the county is hoping for maximum community turnout at a briefing on the option that a community-advisory group favors – involving putting most of the storage under the south parking lot at Lincoln Park (county photo at right). In particular, it’s hoped the Fauntleroy community comes to hear about this, since it’s in their area, rather than in the area directly served by the Murray station. The meeting is 6:30-8:30 pm tonight at The Hall at Fauntleroy in the Fauntleroy schoolhouse (as explained here) – 9131 California SW; here’s a map.
As school resumes this morning after Halloween weekend, one local class has not only the weekend activities to discuss, but also the excitement that concluded the week: Dano Beal‘s 2nd-grade class from Lafayette Elementary found out the truth about spiders. Above, they’re at Camp Long on Friday, getting briefed by naturalist Stewart Wechsler before going out on a spider hunt. But first, back at school on Thursday, they showed off their own spiders, built primarily from edible material such as vegetables:
One of the requirements: The creations had to represent real spiders. This one nested in a box:
Many of the students were quite excited to show off their spiders’ attributes – some took great pride in insisting theirs were particularly deadly (this was before the Camp Long myth-debunking session). For example, this piece of paper demonstrated the relative distance a spider can jump :
The Thursday classroom event was billed as a “Creepy, Crawly Tea,” including this spooky brew:
Mr. Beal explained that spiders are a subject that not only gets students’ attention, but is also a topic they can really dive into.
When Andrea Mercado hung out with the “paranormal investigators” who visited the Log House Museum a few weeks ago (WSB coverage here), she said, they seemed to detect some kind of presence. At the Southwest Seattle Historical Society Halloween brunch today at Salty’s on Alki, she showed up as the presence they said they’d detected – “a spirit who had died in a farming accident.” This is her final weekend running the museum, as announced recently. Meantime, another uniquely “spirited” event today – the Duwamish River tour billed as “scary” – Sharron Meeks shared photos including the leafless South Park Bridge from the water:
Spooky stories, as promised by the announcement of the tour, were provided by guides like the Snohomish Tribe’s Mike Evans:
Some hot Halloween happenings are under way right now, like “Come As You Aren’t” at Skylark Café and Club (WSB sponsor) and Hive Mind Halloween at nearby Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (remember, the Pai’s food truck outside is open to anyone, hive-minding or not, till 2 am).
Story and photos by Karen Berge
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
More than 25 residents, plus a handful of presenters, attended last night’s information-packed meeting of the Highland Park Action Committee (HPAC).
The meeting at Highland Park Improvement Club (HPIC)’s historic headquarters began with an informative, but brief, presentation by Cari Simson from Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition (DRCC). She provided an historic overview of the Duwamish, including photos; then in contrast, she described its extremely polluted current condition, “basically, it’s a 5 ½-mile-long Superfund site,” a reference to the Duwamish being added in 2001 to the list of the most hazardous and toxic sites in the country.
Simson’s presentation included two especially memorable slides: One lists more than 40 pollutants that have been found in the river that exceed healthy levels, the second shows warning signs that are posted along the river that urge people not to eat any of the bottom-feeding fish from the river.
More about her presentation and other agenda items, ahead:Read More
(Video from November 2009, when last year’s first returning coho were sighted in the creek)
The forecast for tomorrow still looks soggy and blustery, and that’s led Fauntleroy Creek steward Judy Pickens to make this call:
The forecast for late Sunday afternoon is such that we are wise to cancel the annual salmon drumming on Fauntleroy Creek, scheduled for 5 PM at the fish-ladder viewpoint. Parents with young children will keep them home in the face of rain and wind, and we don’t want any instruments getting wet.
Thanks to all who had planned to come and participate in this seasonal ritual. The salmon watch will start on Monday, and we can only hope that the spawners will come in on their own this year!
(We hear from Tilden School’s fifth-graders from time to time. Tonight – they explain their recent forest-restoration project.)
By Tilden School’s Fifth Graders
Special to West Seattle Blog
On October 8th, our fifth-grade class joined Nature Consortium’s Restoration Project Director Mark Tomkiewicz (aka Buphalo) and Restoration Project Coordinator Lizzie Petrin in the West Duwamish Greenbelt here in West Seattle. Nature Consortium is a nonprofit organization “whose mission is to connect people, arts, and nature,” and Buphalo and Lizzie spent a whole day teaching us how to be stewards of the environment through hands-on habitat restoration activities. Even though the word “green” is in “Greenbelt,” and it is green, this West Seattle forest is unhealthy and needs our help.
The West Duwamish Greenbelt is covered with both invasive and native species. Common invasive species include Himalayan blackberry, evergreen blackberry, and English ivy. Our class picked up trash and ripped out invasive species, so we could plant native species, specifically western red cedars. When native species grow near invasive species, they can be killed, but we can save native species by removing invasive plants and planting native ones.
The western red cedars we planted are young coniferous trees. Mature coniferous trees are not currently in the West Duwamish Greenbelt, but if they were, we would gain many benefits. One of them is carbon reduction. You might ask why, and the answer would be under the bark. Coniferous trees do a great job of capturing the carbon dioxide we produce. The Pacific Northwest actually holds the top ten carbon-storing forests in the U.S., according to the Wilderness Society. If you cut down the trees that hold the carbon, it is released into the atmosphere to contribute to global warming as greenhouse gas.
Even though the West Duwamish Greenbelt has few evergreen trees, the forest is still green. It’s a common misconception that since it’s bright and green, it’s healthy. That’s not the case. Invasive species can be green, and they kill off the more important coniferous trees! Also, most of the green, mature trees in the Greenbelt are short-living and deciduous, thus not storing much carbon and allowing invasive species to take over. Coniferous trees are long-living (some over 1,000 years), store much more carbon, and stay green and oxygen-producing all year round. So, here’s the proper conception of a thriving forest: if it’s a green forest in winter, chances are it’s a healthy forest!
The West Duwamish Greenbelt is a large watershed whose naturally-filtered water should drain right into the Duwamish River, one of the most polluted rivers in the U.S. However, because West Marginal Way and industrialized land stand between the Greenbelt and the Duwamish River, the healthy water from the Greenbelt cannot flow directly into the toxic river. If it could, it would help clean up the river, creating a healthier, salmon-filled waterway.
Even though we may have only made a small dent in the giant wall of ecosystem-destroying forces, our effort to stop the reign of pollution and invasive species will lead to a better world. We have begun to improve our future and that of generations to come. With year-round opportunities to volunteer with Nature Consortium, we all can save the West Duwamish Greenbelt by fighting for native species and against invasive species.
The citizens’ advisory group set up at the suggestion of neighbors upset about the possibility of a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) control facility digging up Lowman Beach Park has finished its months-long work to suggest and review other options. At its last meeting three weeks ago, the consensus was that its preferred alternative would be a storage facility under the south parking lot at Lincoln Park. It didn’t come without controversy – that’s technically outside the Murray Pump Station-feeding “basin,” for which the county had originally proposed three other options, and the advisory group rep from Fauntleroy, Vlad Oustimovitch, removed himself from the voting, saying his area wasn’t truly represented, with everyone else who was voting living outside the area they were targeting. The county doesn’t have to accept the recommendation, but wants the community to hear about the proposal, so a meeting is now set for November 1st. Read on for the official news release, which also mentions the group’s four runners-up:Read More
A beautiful day to be out by a creek, in a forest, and that’s exactly what students from Little Pilgrim School got to do today. They’re part of a first-of-its-kind program with EarthCorps trainees from several states and countries, installing 400 native plants along the restoration area at Fauntleroy Creek’s last degraded segment.
According to Fauntleroy Creek neighbor and steward Judy Pickens, the $52,000 project is funded by the City of Seattle, King County, the King Conservation District, and Fauntleroy Church, which owns the site. Little Pilgrim School is headquartered in the church; EarthCorps is based in North Seattle, and its team members talked with the kids in their classrooms just before they came out to plant (one group this morning, one group this afternoon).
P.S. You have a chance to lend a hand to Fauntleroy Creek this weekend – 5 pm Sunday at the creek overlook across Fauntleroy Way from the ferry terminal, it’s the annual gathering to drum, chant, and sing to call the coho home. Everybody welcome.
(WSB photos/interview by Ellen Cedergreen)
Got a mattress you don’t need any more and can’t find anyone to take? Your solution may lie with Matt Althauser, who recently opened Bed Be Gone, a mattress-recycling company, based at ActivSpace on Harbor Avenue north of the West Seattle Bridge. He’s been a man of many potential-startup ideas over the years, but this one just made sense: “I started researching and realized there’s nobody doing it for individuals in Seattle, so I thought it’d be a great service and it’s a pretty straightforward business model.” How does it work? Read on! Read More
West Seattle artist Oleana Perry shared this photo and explained what the bags are all about:
Yesterday I spent the day making decorative harvest-leaf bags out of burlap coffee bags. My leaves are out of control in my yard and I don’t like the big plastic pumpkin bags (plastic is forever), so I solved the problem. The decorative burlap bag will break down and compost the leaves over the winter season. Then I will mix the leaves in my garden soil and use the bag as weed block or for my garden path. The West Seattle Nursery liked them as well, so I had to make about 25 of them in my front yard yesterday. People walking by kept buying them as I was making them, it was pretty hilarious. It amazes me that all of these burlap coffee bags come from all over the world and a huge majority of them go into landfills. I think this is a resource we should all be thinking about.
She says you can find her bags at West Seattle Nursery or you can e-mail her about bulk orders – art4thoughts@yahoo.com
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