West Seattle, Washington
19 Thursday
We happened onto this scene today at Fairmount Park Elementary, one of the buildings closed by Seattle Public Schools at the end of this past school year to save $. While the building is being taken out of commission, Fairmount Park’s people and programs are “merging” with High Point Elementary one mile southeast; tomorrow night (Wednesday) the School Board is set to vote on the proposal to give the “merged” schools a fresh start by renaming HP “West Seattle Elementary.” (Also on the board agenda, the introduction of the proposed contract for architect and engineering services on the Denny/Sealth project. More on that in the morning; we’re discovering too many nested documents linked from the agenda to coherently summarize it all tonight!)
With about an hour and a half left in July, this has become WSB’s first month with six-digit “traffic,” as they say in internetland. 101,099 “page views” for July; double what we notched as recently as February; 12 times July ’06. Without marketing or gimmicks — people are just discovering WSB online, or hearing about it from friends/relatives/co-workers. By “people,” we mean YOU, so we want to thank you not just for coming by to look at what we’re posting about, but especially for e-mailing us with rants, raves, questions, photos, tips, whatever you are seeing/hearing in, and about, WS. That’s what makes this so much more than we imagined possible when we launched it on a lark, yet it’s barely a shell of what it can become … with your continued help. Thank you, thank you, thank you, 100(thousand) times thank you!
Tomorrow is the first full day of business for Giannoni’s Pizza, on the south side of Westwood Village (between Sally’s Beauty Supply and the future Taco Del Mar), after a soft launch for lunch today:
The Giannoni’s proprietors tell WSB the restaurant opened for 4 hours at lunchtime today for 4 hours and served more than 140 slices. Starting tomorrow, they plan to be open 11 am-10 pm daily.
If you’re looking for someplace to move a business, south of Morgan Junction is where you might want to be. In fact, space is available at the current home of Authentic Home, which is moving later this year to the north edge of The Junction (4151 Cali, former home of Emerald City Locksmith). Below the photo, some other changes in the same business area south of Morgan Junction, which covers two blocks north of Caffe Ladro:
In this block, the Tail Wag has rebranded itself as Stella Ruffington’s; in the block north of the photo, Chill is open, offering massages and “modern apothecary” (its website isn’t built out yet but the flyers at its storefront promise an intriguing mix of aromatherapy). All this within a stone’s throw of development/housing action we’ve reported on previously, including the SeventyOne apartments-turned-condos, the Housing Authority purchase of Riviera West, and the big clump of townhouses on former Gatewood Baptist church land across from the ex-GB/now Seattle International Church itself.
So said channel 7 tv news, briefly. Rescue apparently happening now. We’ll see what else we can find out. 12:35 PM UPDATE: channel 5 says the diver has died. 12:59 PM UPDATE: Here’s an update from the P-I. 1:50 PM UPDATE: Medical Examiner and Police vehicles still at Seacrest when we went by. Also, a short article from the Times.
Ten days till Freeway Fright ’07. You can skip the first day entirely by staying right here in West Seattle and golfing for a good cause: the first-ever Seniors for Juniors Golf Tournament @ WS Golf Course. 1 pm August 10th, hosted by local sportscasting legend Bruce King (photo right, from the Fir State Junior Golf Foundation site). Read all about it here, including how to register. (Getting in on this entitles you to more than golf — it’s a full day of fun, including refreshments, entertainment, and dinner.)
Catching up on info from Monday (one of the two days each week
when the city sends out its Land Use Information Bulletin, among other info sources):
-The land-use permits have just been issued for the megaproject that will bring QFC, Office Depot, apartments, and more to the ex-Hollywood Video site (photo right): it’s got two addresses, so two permits (4100 Alaska and 4122 Alaska).
-The permit’s also finalized for the “vegetation/tree removal” plan along Beach Drive (it too has two addresses, one on Beach and one on Atlas) that we previously lamented.
-There’s an addition to the agenda for the Southwest Design Review Board meeting @ SW Precinct Community Room a week from Thursday: After board members get the latest on the Charlestown Cafe site at 6:30, they’ll be dealing at 8 with the “mixed-use” project @ 2310 Cali. (For those concerned about the cafe site’s future, remember the community meeting this Thursday.)
7:15 AM UPDATE: The morning digest of yesterday’s city action is just in; a land-use permit was issued for the other Junction Megaproject, Fauntleroy Place. Busy times.
From the eyewitness who first told us all about Sunday morning’s shooting, second one in a short stretch of Delridge in two days:
I talked to my neighbor today and she said that an officer paid her a visit, as a follow up to Sunday’s shooting. The officer told her that apparently there is a turf war going on between gangs in White Center and West Seattle. There seems to be a house or apt. around the 5600 block of Delridge that is bringing them down here. As of yet they are not exactly sure what address or people.
The officer said that Sunday’s shooting was in retaliation for Thursday’s shooting. They encouraged her to call the police if you see groups of 2 or more around the 5600 Block late at night that appear to be doing anything like through gang signs or getting loud etc. they hope that if they can bother them enough they will move on.
Also of note there will be a block watch meeting at the Delridge library on Wednesday August 1, 2007 @ 6:30 pm. I encourage everyone in the neighborhood to attend. This is our neighborhood and we don’t have to put up with this cr*p!
The subject line on the e-mail about this lost cat was a grabber — LOST SPECIAL NEEDS CAT. Sammy’s owner writes that he’s a “special needs, indoor cat. His hind legs don’t work well, so he drags them around while he pulls himself along with his forelegs. He can move unexpectedly fast though. He was lost at 46th and Genesee in West Seattle on Monday morning. He is a medium-sized Siamese and he does not have a collar on.” Call Sammy’s people at 937-4418 or 396-8026.
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WS writer/broadcaster/blogger John Moe wrote to let us know his latest piece for public radio’s Weekend America has a WS angle — as he describes it, “comparing and contrasting Lindsay Lohan and West Seattleite Frances Farmer. I talk about her life in West Seattle, mention West Seattle High School, and a couple other local things.” Here’s the link.
The P-i has finally picked up on the one we reported here yesterday, with a story looking at whether the two recent shootings might be related.
Several people have written us wondering what’s up with Divina, north of The Junction, since it looks rather empty from the outside. We stopped to check out the sign on the door; it promises they’ll be “back in August” with more “new, fun” stuff.
This Hi-Yu Festival season, we’ve been privileged to correspond with some of the folks whose hard work makes a ton of West Seattle summer fun possible. Among them are Hi-Yu President Tim Winston, and Jim Edwards, who among many other things has a key role in making the Hi-Yu Parade happen, and a big role in the West Seattle Big Band, which keeps a busy schedule that included the Concert in the Park earlier this month. After our Torchlight Parade report including the photo of the Hi-Yu float getting a little help, Jim sent us some parade photos, and the tale of his 15 years driving the float …
Jim photographed the float from the Westlake Park grandstand area, just before it needed a little help. He also sent pix of his daughter, who represented West Seattle in this year’s Miss Seafair competition, and the outgoing Miss Seafair, Erin Waid, also from WS … those pix and Jim’s float-history tale, after the click.Read More
We’ve mentioned before that Delridge Arco, besides usually having the lowest posted gas price in WS (though one reader warned, that can be negated by a surcharge for using plastic), has quite the challenge for those tasked with changing its price signs: They have to change four sets of numbers, one on each side of its two big signs. If one particular digit appears too often — well, see our picture to witness the results. (The backward and missing digits are supposed to be 9’s.) Arco’s $2.79 is still the lowest in WS; next up, Admiral Chevron at $2.87 as of last night, with many others following at $2.89. Speaking of numbers, interesting Times story today about what kind of profit station operators apparently are NOT making off these prices.
Our WS “live” cams page has long featured links to city and state traffic cameras in and near WS. In time for this morning’s commute, we tweaked the page to add images from those cameras: Each time you check the page, you will see the newest images from all the cameras we link to. They won’t automatically refresh (nor do they on their source sites), but every time you “refresh” or return to the page, you will get updated images for all cameras. Let us know any other cameras (the city and state have a ton) you would like to see added.
A reader sent us this photo, saying he took it this morning while passing by a house under construction in Fauntlee Hills. Haven’t seen a whole lot of protest banners around here, so we looked around online and found some backstory …
The unfinished house (which is separate from the older brick home in the foreground) is for sale for $1.2 million, according to this listing, about $1 million more than the landowner paid for the 5k-sf lot a year and a half ago. So what’s the banner-inspiring beef about this development project, compared to the dozens of others under way around WS? The online city records give us a hint; a complaint filed earlier this month, investigated, and found without merit, carries a note about checking the house’s height at the “external nailing inspection.”
First, a reader question for anyone and everyone in WSB-land. After that, three photos — not related to the reader question except that they are also things seen on/over Puget Sound. So here we go —
i’m curious if anyone else has seen a mysterious man, paddling STANDING UP on the Sound. we saw him last night about 6 pm, couldn’t believe our eyes! then, at 9 am this morning, we saw the same guy (we’re assuming). when we looked through our binoculars, it appeared that he was standing up on something resembling a surfboard as he paddles. has anyone else seen him or knows what it is he is doing?
If you do, leave a comment. Now, three photos we took around sunset tonight from the northern shores of Lincoln Park. Some of the folks on the boat in the first photo (which appeared to be related to an outdoor party at one of the waterfront homes just past the park) were actually jumping into the water. Brrr!
Since our update yesterday featuring the new flyer from the group that thinks it will take too long to embark on a new round of fundraising for what they call the “fancy-schmancy” plaza … here’s what else has happened:
First — That group has set up an e-mail address — libertyhomenow@yahoo.com — as mentioned in the comments below yesterday’s update. No website yet, but then again, we haven’t seen the pro-plaza group’s promised site at sealady.org go live yet either.
Second — Matt Hutchins, one of the architects that has donated his time to the plaza project and appeared at the recent meetings about it, e-mailed us some answers/clarifications to points that have been brought up by plaza opponents/doubters. Click ahead to read the complete text of what he wants to say (he also promises to answer questions here as well).
Guess you can’t just let those apartments lie idle while tenants flee before the deadline to buy in or get out. Spotted at West Ridge Park on Delridge this afternoon, balloon-festooned signs exhorting SHORT TERM LEASES! (photo below) and MONTH TO MONTH! (across the street), all within rock-throwing distance of the sign about the conversion to its new condo identity as “Gables” …
We’ll set up a special section soon, now that people who have lost or found pets are finding out this is another good place to get the word out. In the meantime, this just in: Izzy the 10-pound Cairn Terrier (photo right), described by her people as “shy but very friendly” and “looks like Toto from The Wizard of Oz,” disappeared from her High Point home sometime Friday. Izzy was wearing a pink collar with name and owner info. There’s a reward out for her safe return. 937-5693.
This one doesn’t seem to have been covered by the “traditional media.” However, the online 911 logs verify an “assault with weapons” call in the area at the time the letterwriter mentions, about three blocks south of Thursday night’s shooting. Here’s the e-mail we received, verbatim:
There was another shooting just up the street on Delridge early this morning. At the intersection of Delridge way sw and sw Juneau st. There was a shooting at approx. 1:50 am July 29, 2007.
The incident started with a car stop in the northbound lane of Delridge just after the intersection there where 4 young black males verbally arguing in the street. The car then pulled over and parked and another young black man got out. The 3 from the car proceeded to get into a physical fight with 2 other men. The fight seemed to have broken up with the 3 running back to their car when one of those 3 fired 5 shots in the direction of the other group and hit one of them.
The car speed off northbound on Delridge. The victim was hit in the head with a grazing wound. There were several eyewitnesses to the event who gave statements to the police. Who responded very promptly, they arrived at the scene just after the car left and ran to help the victim. Soon there where 3 fire trucks and 7 police cars, the intersection was taped off and evidence collected. The police said that the young man should be fine.
The gang unit was out and the victims companion refused to give a statement. Which in my opinion supports this incident being gang related. This is the second shooting in a 5 block stretch of Delridge in 4 days. In addition the police mention a driveby earlier in the week. I was the eyewitness who saw everything and gave a statement.
Hope this helps others in the community to be aware and to call things in. It’s okay to make a non-emergency call to 911 to report suspicious activity.
Today’s the day. Go buy some diapers, drop them off at the big yellow WestSide Baby bus parked next to the Farmers’ Market, 10 am-2 pm. Here’s who they help. They hope to have 60,000 diapers before the day’s done; help ’em meet, then beat, that goal. Still not sure you can take the time to help? The official WestSide Baby press release for today’s event makes a good case; click ahead to read it.Read More
Back from seven hours downtown (if you start parade stakeout around 3 pm, you can still get a great spot not too far south of Westlake Center, and catch up on reading). A few pix of WS relevance — first, West Seattle’s Most Famous Politician, back in the parade this year after skipping last year:
In honor of West Seattle’s many longshore workers, we snapped our first-ever sighting of the ILWU Drill Team:
Then there were the fine folks from the West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival, cheerily waving from atop and alongside the “Pearls of the Sea” float:
Their good cheer was extra-brave, considering the float was tow truck-powered by the time it got to our spot along the route (did the overheating problem rear its ugly head again?):
Next: Blue Angels mania! (Here are this year’s I-90 closure times, if you need ’em.)
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