Missing woman found
Seattle Police just told us the WS woman reported missing (previous post) has now been found, and officers are going to talk to her to find out what happened. This all unfolded in the Westwood area. At least, that’s where police say the victim lives; this update quotes family members as saying the victim was found in Cle Elum. We have asked Seattle Police to let us know if it turns out later there is a suspect we all need to be watching for.
Ex-WS tycoon now vacating Vashon
The tycoon who brought WS the Delridge megaflag (photo below, looking south from outside Uptown Espresso) has just put his Vashon ranch up for sale (Beachcomber story including detailed property description here; Times story here), less than a year after moving his company out of West Seattle. (The ex-SGA Delridge building, by the way, is no longer listed for sale anywhere that we can find. Oh real-estate insiders out there, does it have a new owner?)
Alki Statue of Liberty: Latest from the pro-plaza organizers
Just in from Paul Carr, who with wife Libby Carr is heading up the group that is picking up the stalled proposal to build a plaza for the recast Alki Statue of Liberty. His unedited e-mail responding to recent comments, questions, and criticisms, as well as some questions of his own, and the latest on their committee’s efforts, all after the click:Read More
Another crosswalk in the city’s crosshairs
WSB reader/commenter (and blogger) Chas Redmond writes to tell us flyers have just gone around announcing the imminent demise of the 35th SW crosswalk at Kenyon (photo), hot on the heels of the Java Bean crosswalk removal….
Chas elaborates on this better than we could, so we’re quoting verbatim from his e-mail:
SDOT appears to be on a crosswalk-removing rampage – again claiming that “safety is our highest priority” and that un-signalized but marked crosswalks do not meet Federal standards based in part on a 2002 Federal Highway Administration study. So, the latest victim is the marked crosswalk at Kenyon and 35th Avenue SW. Oh, SDOT also says that “it is also important to note that, according to Washington state law, a legal pedestrian crossing exists at every intersection regardless of whether or not a crosswalk is marked. Thus pedestrians will continue to have a legal right to cross at this intersection.”
What they don’t state is that they are removing more and more of the visible signs of pedestrians, giving drivers even more incentive to ignore pedestrians. Irrespective of whether or not un-signalized crosswalks are safer or not, marked crosswalks remind motorists that there other users of the roadway or intersection and removing them is one more notch on the belt of automotive traffic at the expense of pedestrian traffic. Responses can be made by calling SDOT’s comment line at 206-615-1608 or e-mailing “walkandbike@seattle.gov.”
But be it known that the flyer states emphatically “SDOT will be removing the crosswalk at 35th Avenue SW and SW Kenyon Street.”
Be like Greg
West Seattle’s Most Famous Politician announced today that he is planning to cope with Freeway Fright ’07 by, among other things, telecommuting and taking some time off. If you can’t work from home, how about a wi-fi-equipped coffeehouse? Suggests Hizzoner, “Fill up, log in, and chill out.” If you just can’t avoid driving, take note that some alternate routes will get special treatment, like First Avenue South heading north from The Bridge into downtown. Remember, you can check commute cams before you leave, through our WS “Live” Cams page. We’ll bring you more details on alternate routes in the days before FF ’07 hits; for now, here’s the official WSDOT project page. (We would be negligent also not to take this opportunity to re-remind you of an unrelated WS project that’s now just days away, the intense phase of Admiral repaving.)
Quick! Rush to the beach!
Or anyplace you have a view of the Sound from west-facing West Seattle … a bunch of military ships are going by right now (Navy, Coast Guard), we believe as part of the Seafair fleet parade, heading south past north Vashon. 12:45 PM UPDATE, ADDING PHOTOS: They just went back the other way, to dock near downtown. Here are a couple shots we got from Marine View Drive.
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Our Seafair “secrets”
Love it or hate it, it’s here … the frenzied finale to Seattle’s biggest summer festival, Seafair. 
We had been debating whether to take up space here with our Blue Angels and hydro obsessions interest, given that it’s not WS-specific, but bless the reader who wrote us to suggest we do exactly that … so here goes.
SECRET #1 — Watch the Blue Angels take off from and land at the Museum of Flight, which is at Boeing Field, just a few miles east of West Seattle. You don’t have to pay MOF admission to go stand along their fence and do this, although we highly recommend the very affordable MOF membership — it’s a unique Seattle institution worth supporting. This is always stirring, particularly on the Friday-Saturday-Sunday occasions, when you can see the full pageantry of the “walkdown,” the synchronized crew checks, the jet engine smoke, the feel-it-in-your-bones takeoffs … anyway, you can read our tales from last year: day 1 here, day 3 here, day 4 here. The Angels will have two takeoffs and landings during practices tomorrow (Thursday), then one each for the “rehearsal” show on Friday and the real deal on Saturday/Sunday.
SECRET #2 — “Free Friday.”
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Delridge fights back
We wanted to make sure everyone saw this note added late last night as a comment on both of our recent posts about the Delridge shootings, since the event is tonight. (A reader had described it here as a “block watch” meeting but it’s much more.):
For those residing in North Delridge please come to the North Delridge Neighborhood Council monthly meeting … Wednesday August 1st, at the Delridge Library. Meeting starts at 6:30 and ends at 7:45. One of SPD’s finest, Community Police Team Officer Brian Ballew, will be present to fill in folks on the recent shootings.
Relentless citizen pressure is, and will continue to make a difference. Never hesitate to call 911, because if you think it looks strange, I will almost guarantee that it is strange.
Mike Dady Co-Chair – North Delridge Neighborhood Council
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