The last time we published a debris-dumping report, a little over two weeks ago, much discussion ensued, along with some potential clues. We don’t know if the source was ultimately traced – but tonight we have a new dumping report, from Val in Westwood, who also shared the photo:
Found this pile of tires today after getting home from the Football game; I don’t believe they were there this morning. Garbage is next to the tires but appears to have been there a while. This is in the alley between 35th Ave SW and 34th Ave SW, and between Trenton and Cloverdale, closer to Cloverdale. Not that big of a deal but they do kind of block the alley. Is this kind of thing becoming more common? I have filed an illegal dumping report.
You can file those reports online, as one commenter pointed out in last month’s report, by going here.
Just checked in on the scene at the Fauntleroy Church parking lot (map), where 1 Green Planet is back with trucks ready to be filled with recyclables – electronics and more (list here) – free dropoff. They had a steady stream rolling up to unload when we were there about an hour ago – and they’ll be there till 1 pm. (You can also park afterward and go inside the church to check out the final hours of the “Second-Time Sale,” 11 am-1 pm.) West Seattleites are clearly devoted recyclers – the 1 Green Planet folks told us that their last event at Fauntleroy UCC, this past February, was their most successful event of its type ever – we’ll see how today winds up!
When we went by 10-month-oldHigh Point Neighborhood Center this afternoon for a look at the work A&R Solar has done to expand the solar array atop the building, we should have realized it couldn’t be seen without going up on the roof. We’re not much for climbing, but luckily Dave Kozin from A&R agreed to take our camera up and get a few photos. He says they just finished installing the expansion – 128 more solar panels, added to the original 256 panels – and will be working on wiring tomorrow; then it should be turned on by the weekend. The solar array atop High Point Neighborhood Center already was one of the largest in the region; they are new to the project – a different company installed phase 1.
A&R Solar is based in Seattle and notes in the announcement of the project:
This system is currently one of the state’s largest solar projects with 48.6 kilowatts (kW) of capacity. The additional 128-panel installation from A&R Solar will increase the community center’s solar energy output to 73.6 kW. … With help from Sally Knodell at Environmental Works, as well as engineering support from Glumac (electrical) and Swenson Say Faget (structural), A&R Solar began installation of the additional 128 solar panels on Monday, August 23, 2010, and is scheduled complete the project by Friday, September 10. Many thanks are in order for the City of Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development, who helped streamline the permitting process, and to the City of Seattle for providing most of the funding for the project.
A&R Solar says it’s also working on a system at Walla Walla Community College with almost as much capacity as High Point – 72 kilowatts. HP Neighborhood Center, meantime, has other energy-saving features beyond the social array – we detailed some of them during a hard-hat tour last year.
There’s a new deadline to apply for Trees for Neighborhoods – a partnership between EarthCorps and the city. EarthCorps’ Lina Rose reminds us that Roxhill, Westwood, and Highland Park are the West Seattle neighborhoods eligible for the tree distribution program this time around, because, she says, “they have the lowest percentage of tree canopy coverage in the city” (along with several other Seattle neighborhoods). The application (you can apply as an individual – doesn’t have to be a group request) is available online, where you’ll notice the new deadline is October 4th. Here’s where to go to get started!
(WSB photo from February recycling event at Fauntleroy Church)
Thanks to Fauntleroy’s Judy Pickens for sharing information about what’s happening during “reuse/recycle weekend” next Saturday and Sunday:
The 15th annual 2nd Time Sale and the second Recycle Roundup constitute a “reuse/recycle weekend” coming up in Fauntleroy.
The much-anticipated sale will be Saturday, Sept. 11, 9 AM – 3 PM, and Sunday, Sept. 12, 11 AM – 1 PM, in and around Fellowship Hall at Fauntleroy Church, 9140 California SW. Expect bargains on a wide variety of clean, workable, and well-organized stuff, including furniture, toys, books, linens, kitchenware, and “Cut Above” treasures, plus a bake sale on Saturday.
That’s the reuse part of the weekend. The recycle part – a community-wide recycle roundup organized by the church’s Green Committee – will be Sunday, Sept. 12, 9 AM – 1 PM in the church parking lot. 1 Green Planet will accept and recycle a wide variety of items (see www.fauntleroyucc.org for the list), all for free. You bring it and, within minutes, it’s out of your life forever!
When 1 Green Planet came to Fauntleroy last February (photo above), they took away 4 truckloads of recyclables!
Lots of West Seattle folks involved in presenting and sponsoring Eat Local Now! again this year – and it’s just a little more than one month away. Again this year, a Local Food Hero will be honored during the gala, which is set for Sept. 30th at SODO Park (a venue owned by West Seattle-based Herban Feast). Read on to see how to nominate someone for this honor:Read More
(P.S. While you’re at the SWS site – which is one of the 100+ sampled by this frequently updated WSB page, by the way – take a look at Andy Silber‘s latest “Energy Blog” story, connecting you with the newest information on electric cars.)
Two years ago, The Junction was home to that PARK(ing) Day setup, calling attention to the final push to get nearby Junction Plaza Park completed. Now it’s done – but another PARK(ing) Day (explained here) is rolling around – September 17 – and the deadline to apply for your own temporary park is almost here. Friday’s the deadline to apply – this item on the Sustainable West Seattle website explains how. And we’ve already gotten word of one PARK(ing) Day “park” planned for West Seattle – arborist and tree-protection activist Michael Oxmanshares the following rendering, followed by an explanation of what it will feature – and how you can be part of it:
Now that I’m located out here in West Seattle, it’s time to give back a little to my new community. Some decoration and greenery in a vast sea of asphalt is in order. This is a demonstration project of what to do when we run out of oil, and have fewer cars. We certainly won’t need as many parking spaces. Parking Day shows what to do with them, by setting out plants, trees and oxygen-producing greenery to soak up some of that excess CO2.
West Seattle interpretive designer Pat Whempner and experience designer Sam Stubblefield are creating the design concept for the “Park.” Our Park will be a Free Speech Platform with a Free Speech Garden in the Junction neighborhood. Anyone can get up there on the podium and say anything they want for 15 minutes. No restrictions. The platform will provide space for speakers or musicians, and the garden will create a journey through a maze of plants telling the story of important historic free speech moments or asking important free speech questions.
Since the timing of the Sept 17th event is right for politicians, we usually have candidates sign up to reserve a time slot in advance to give their pitch. We’d love to have musicians serenade the strollers. If anybody wants to help with the construction, some carpentry, set up assistance, & plant loans would be appreciated. Other spaces can also be created by people that submit the $10 application for the street use permit through the sponsor, Feet First. It would be really cool to have a few spaces scattered around West Seattle.
A design competition among the expected 100 Parking Day spaces across the city will result in prizes being awarded to the most innovative projects. The Seattle Department of Transportation will be issuing one day permits to occupy the street. Did you know the street right of way footprint covers almost a quarter of the total land area in Seattle? We can certainly spare a few spots for a day.
(Photos by Christopher Boffoli)
The Nature Consortium‘s Arts in Nature Festival is for all ages – from print-making kids, to the musicians in the Seattle Festival Orchestra‘s Little Band:
If you haven’t been to the festival yet, you have till 9 tonight – then again from 11 to 5 tomorrow – on the lush green grounds of Camp Long, with venues throughout the woods, the meadow, and inside the newly renovated lodge. Among the performers – the aerial-dancing Cabiri:
Here’s the schedule – note that tomorrow kicks off with a slate including Caspar Babypants; its leader Chris Ballew then performs a benefit show to raise money for the Nature Consortium right after the festival, 5 pm tomorrow at Camp Long Lodge. (Tickets are available online here.)
Another side note on the Admiral Safeway project: The old house on the southeast corner of the site, 42nd/Lander, had been offered for many months to anybody who would pay to have it moved – but no takers – it’s now set for demolition. We got a tip from area resident Forest that the fencing had come down and some windows were boarded up; went by, and found the banner you see in the photo above. The company named on the banner, Earthwise, salvages what it can from old houses like this and resells the material to both contractors working on projects and homeowners in the throes of DIY work. That’s according to James Klicpera, Earthwise’s acquisitions manager, who, it turns out, is a West Seattleite. He tells WSB they subcontracted with Safeway to salvage whatever would be reusable and have actually finished most of the work, with much of the “recyclable” material coming from inside the house: 400 square feet of fir flooring, some appliances, windows, a few doors, and he mentions, “There was a very nice fireplace front – kind of Art Deco, tile – so we gathered up as many of those tiles as we were able to.” They also salvaged “several pallets” of bricks from the backyard patio as well as the fencing from around the house (as Forest had noticed). They resell the material, James explained, from a warehouse on 4th Avenue South in SODO. He says some of what they’ve salvaged from other sites is incorporated around West Seattle – like the bar top at Beveridge Place Pub, a recycled bowling lane. Safeway’s Sara Corn tells us other material from the house will be reused after demolition, which could happen as soon as next week – or as late as mid-September, when the existing grocery store comes down. (As first reported here last week, the store will close August 21, with the new store to be open next July.)
(EDITOR’S NOTE: We’re one of many small local-news organizations that work with the student journalists of the UW News Lab. One assignment we offered this quarter: “Go tell the story of what the West Seattle-based Nature Consortium is up to in the West Duwamish Greenbelt.” The following video/photos/story comprise the result. P.S. You can see the greenbelt for yourself tomorrow afternoon, 1 pm, in the NC’s next free monthly eco-hike – RSVP to lisa@naturec.org)
Story, video and photos by Sara N. Reardon
University of Washington News Lab
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Early on a recent Thursday morning, a score of middle-school students, retirees, office workers and court-ordered volunteers gathered on an unobtrusive corner in residential eastern West Seattle. Armed with shovels, work gloves and plenty of bug spray, they ventured into the forest on a quest to annihilate the spiny blackberry bushes and other plant species that have invaded the West Duwamish Greenbelt and to replace them with native species.
“It’s been kind of fun, it’s a good opportunity,” said Sarah Hart (above left), a middle school student with the Summer of Service program, one of many organizations that are getting youth involved in environmental issues through participation in the Nature Consortium’s restoration project.
“The sheer number of people coming out to work has snowballed in the past couple of years,” said Nancy Whitlock, Nature Consortium executive director. “It’s amazing how many groups come knock on our door wanting to work for us.”
Six days a week, anywhere from one lonely participant to more than 400 volunteers (last Earth Day) are out pulling out invasive plant species, picking up trash and planting native plants to repopulate the area. “Sometimes it’s like wrangling kittens,” said restoration director Mark “Buphalo” Tomkiewicz.
From tonight’s Delridge District Council meeting (more to come in a separate report), a sneak peek at something that hasn’t been officially announced yet: On October 9th, Delridge will be the locale for what’s being billed as “HP3 – Healthy Parks, Healthy People, Healthy Planet – Seattle’s First Environmental Adventure Race.” According to draft handouts circulated at tonight’s meeting at Youngstown Arts Center, this will be “an environmental adventure race crisscrossing the Delridge community, designed to create awareness and foster action on environmental issues throughout Seattle.” The flyer lists “elite” and “open” divisions – with the former involving no more than 50 two-person teams, limited to people who have completed either a half or full marathon in the preceding year, and the race including multiple events over 16 miles, including “pushing a wheelbarrow full of mulch 1 mile up the Soundway Trail” and “removing 50 pounds of invasive plants at Westcrest Park.” Separate from the race, there also will be an inter-neighborhood competition component involving picking up trash, collecting recyclables, and collecting compostables. This comes from a project that won a $20,000 city “Small and Simple” grant earlier this year.
(Photo by Cliff DesPeaux)
The missing word on those T-shirts is “jobs” – as in, “Got Green Jobs?” For WSB and partner site White Center Now, Cliff DesPeaux covered an event today geared at showing the media – and as a result, you – what’s up with the Got Green? training program, which currently has 14 trainees working on weatherization techniques at a White Center home that will be demolished as part of the future Strength of Place Initiative Village development. See the full story at WCN.
New details today about an event first mentioned at last week’s Fauntleroy Community Association meeting (WSB coverage here). A so-called “green stormwater” project is one of the three combined-sewer-overflow (CSO) reduction proposals for the “basin” feeding the Barton Pump Station by the Fauntleroy ferry terminal. If that option is chosen, it would change the streetscapes in the area of the “basin” outlined with yellow street lines in the map above – which includes areas of Sunrise Heights and Westwood. The county wants to be sure everybody potentially affected gets a chance to have questions answered, and they’ve now chosen a time and place for the previously mentioned August 5th meeting – 6 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy. In the meantime, if you’re just tuning in to this, here’s more info on the county website. (As for the other CSO project, for the Murray “basin” feeding the station at Lowman Beach Park, citizens’ advisory group meetings continue – calendar here – and discussion is planned at tomorrow night’s Morgan Community Association meeting, 7 pm at The Kenney.)
If your teen’s summer isn’t quite filled out yet – there’s a new weeklong camp next month, offered by the West Seattle-based nonprofit Nature Consortium: Arts in Nature Camp, 10 am-4 pm daily, August 16-20, for ages 12 and up, at Camp Long. It’ll feature “workshops from real local artists” and activities including “challenge course, recycled art, world music, nature games, sound installations, and forest ecology/restoration.” Full details and online registration, here.
(Saturday night Twitpic by @davidgjames)
The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency tells WSB the agency received two complaints over the holiday weekend about the Saturday night emission from Ash Grove Cement that drew attention from West Seattle, and elsewhere (WSB coverage here), as well as an initial “fire in building” response from the Seattle Fire Department. PSCAA spokesperson Amy Warren says the complaints will be reviewed before the agency decides what, if any, action to take. Meantime, Ash Grove has issued a statement saying “finished cement was discharged” from the plant, “as a result of the affected silo being overfilled,” though the amount of “finished cement” was not mentioned. The statement sent by corporate PR rep Jackie Clark also says Ash Grove has “contacted affected neighbors to offer cleanup assistance.”
After getting the word that Marination Mobile won’t be making its usual Saturday stops in West Seattle this weekend and next, we followed up with co-proprietor Kamala Saxton on something we had heard a while back – that the popular food truck was looking for a new West Seattle spot. Kamala replied it’s true, they need to move:
We have been granted an extension from the Seattle Housing Authority to stay at our current location until August, however, after that we will need to find a new WS location. … We are absolutely committed to remaining in W. Seattle on Saturdays and any leads you have would be greatly appreciated.
The 35th/Graham site (map) where they’ve been for a year has long been tabbed for a future development project – so we wondered if maybe the move mandate meant the project was starting up. We checked with Housing Authority media liaison Virginia Felton, and found out something a little different:
A long-planned cleanup is going to put the site out of commission, starting in September. “There’s pretty serious petroleum contamination on the site,” Felton explained, “but we finally got the money trickled down through EPA to the state to King County to do the cleanup.” Even after the cleanup, the site will be fenced, and “it’ll be a big pit for a while,” she said, adding that more specifics about the cleanup will be available by late summer. As for Marination Mobile – SHA hasn’t been able to find anything in High Point that’ll work, according to Felton; Saxton said her entreprise has examined some obvious possibilities like the remaining Huling sites in The Triangle, and Youngstown Arts Center, but nothing has clicked yet – so again, any suggestions, post them here (or contact them through marinationmobile.com). [Photo credits: Top picture courtesy of Daniel, from July 2009; center photo taken by us today]
ORIGINAL 12 PM “HAPPENING NOW” REPORT: On the beach right now – 157 people holding hands as part of “Hands Across the Sand.” It’s part of a nationwide demonstration against offshore oil drilling and for clean-energy development.
More info here; more photos to come. ADDED 1:52 PM: Here’s one courtesy of Cathy, as the participants gathered at Alki Statue of Liberty:
And another of ours:
ADDED 4:14 PM: Two video clips – one as the line formed, and one in which we talked with organizers:
3 reminders tonight in case you forgot these were happening tomorrow:
ALASKAN WAY VIADUCT CLOSURE (AND HALF THE 1ST AVENUE S. BRIDGE): The Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon closes the Alaskan Way Viaduct for much of tomorrow – both directions from 4 am to 1 pm, according to WSDOT, and the northbound deck stays closed past that, till 4 pm. Also, the northbound side of the 1st Avenue South Bridge will be closed 5 am-11 am tomorrow and Sunday for maintenance.
WEST SEATTLE RESERVOIR (WESTCREST) PARK MEETING: Tomorrow morning is the fourth public meeting to discuss design of the new parkland atop the newly covered reservoir at Westcrest Park in Highland Park. This time, the all-but-final design will be shown. The meeting’s 10 am-noon at Southwest Community Center. (Notes from past meetings, and other project info, can be seen here.)
HANDS ACROSS THE SAND: As first mentioned last weekend, Alki is one of the beaches around the country where people will gather to show opposition to offshore drilling and support for “clean energy.” Gather at the Bathhouse starting at 11; the demonstration starts at noon. Official info at handsacrossthesand.org.
DELRIDGE ALLEY CLEANUP: They’re winning kudos – and fighting a war against trash, overgrowth and neglect. The alley cleanup crew will be back behind Delridge Library tomorrow, 10 am-2 pm. Here’s our story from their last round of work; you’re welcome to join them.
Volunteering can be fun! Jackie from Matson Navigation Company on Harbor Island e-mailed to share news of her office’s environmental-volunteer project – last night, a group of co-workers went to Alki to help stencil storm drains – and in the photo above, they were joined by a young helper they nicknamed the “Storm Drain Trooper.” Here’s a bucketless photo of the group:
Jackie says, “We couldn’t have chosen a nicer evening to be at the beach. The Alki community members were so friendly and thankful as we worked in their neighborhood to help fulfill the city’s goal to stencil every storm drain in Seattle with the ‘Dump No Waste, Drains to Lake, Stream, or Bay’ message.”
We’ve talked before about phone books and junk mail, and how to try to opt out of them. The city council’s Public Utilities and Neighborhood Committee (which had a special meeting on another topic here in West Seattle last week – here’s our report) is taking up the topic tomorrow, with several options before them. In case you want to let them know which sounds best to you, here’s the “draft memo” listing the options. They range all the way up to passing a new law that would allow some phone books to be delivered on an “opt-in” basis only. The preferred option, according to the memo, is to contract with a company called Catalog Choice that would provide an online “enhanced opt-out service” for both city and county residents via Web access; the memo says it would cost $30,000 to get that going next year. Tomorrow’s committee meeting is at 2 pm at City Hall downtown; here’s the full agenda.
Anybody else old enough to remember Hands Across America (May 25, 1986)? Next Saturday, Hands Across the Sand is planned nationwide, to show opposition to offshore oil drilling – with on-the-beach handclasping if you are somewhere that happens to have a beach. In our case, Alki is on the list. Gather at 11 am by the bathhouse, demonstrate at noon. (Somewhat spooky to see that there were protests like these in Florida back in February – including along the Gulf of Mexico – months before the BP disaster.)
After getting the word that 
ALASKAN WAY VIADUCT CLOSURE (AND HALF THE 1ST AVENUE S. BRIDGE): The Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon closes the 
We’ve talked before about phone books and junk mail, and how to try to opt out of them. The city council’s
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