month : 01/2008 294 results

Help West Seattle seniors tell their stories

January 3, 2008 11:50 am

| 1 COMMENT

| How to help

West Seattle author Lisa Haneberg is looking for a little help as she gets ready to lead a group of local seniors in writing their life stories for family, friends, and posterity. Here’s her request:Read More

Fauntleroy ferry wi-fi still not connected

January 3, 2008 9:31 am

| Comments Off on Fauntleroy ferry wi-fi still not connected

| Transportation | West Seattle online

According to the official website for the Washington State Ferries wi-fi Internet service, Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth is still the next route scheduled to get it … and still no date set; after various delays last year, the site switched its public projection to “fourth quarter 2007,” and now that’s moved to “first quarter 2008.” However, if you have any reason to use WSF wi-fi on a route where it’s up and running (listed here), you can get a free week of service by taking a relatively quick (we tried it) survey.

West Seattle’s future RapidRide buses: Online questionnaire

January 3, 2008 6:34 am

| 21 COMMENTS

| Transportation | West Seattle news

In advance of the West Seattle open houses later this month (listed on the WSB Events page and here) about RapidRide bus service starting in 2011, Metro has now posted more West Seattle-specific info on this page, including an online questionnaire for you to fill out before February 1st, asking which route alternative (map here) you’d prefer. (Hat tip to Seattle Transit Blog for pointing out the updated Metro page.)

Looks like in-person voting may linger longer

January 3, 2008 12:48 am

| 3 COMMENTS

| West Seattle politics

So says the Times. Heartening news for us fans of in-person voting.

Late-night followup: Tacos to teardown to townhouses

January 2, 2008 10:19 pm

| 17 COMMENTS

| Development | West Seattle history

Continuing our series of late-night followups when there’s no urgent news at this hour — we noticed today that construction is moving fast on the townhouses at the ex-Guadalajara Hacienda site in the 5900 block of California. First, from last February, the old restaurant’s festive facade just after it closed and the sign came down:

Demolition day, October 8:

And the townhouses-in-progress, today:

West Seattle crime watch: Relatively quiet New Year’s

January 2, 2008 6:12 pm

| 5 COMMENTS

| Crime | Safety | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

Good news from our latest review of Seattle Police reports at the Southwest Precinct — no major crimes reported in West Seattle over the New Year’s holiday. Not to say things were completely quiet, of course – here are four incidents of note:Read More

Traffic alert: Roxbury/Delridge accident

January 2, 2008 6:01 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| Delridge | White Center | WS breaking news

Police are on the scene of an accident that’s causing some traffic trouble if you are trying to turn northbound on Delridge from westbound on Roxbury. Doesn’t look too major; we’re just alerting you to avoid the area (map).

Also from the city: Official park-meeting announcements

January 2, 2008 4:32 pm

| Comments Off on Also from the city: Official park-meeting announcements

| West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

All sorts of West Seattle stuff on the city’s press-release site today. We first told you last Friday (with a lively discussion erupting afterward, of course) about the public meetings coming up later this month for the future parks at Morgan Junction and Myrtle Street Reservoir; the official city press releases are out today (Morgan Junction 1/15 meeting here, Myrtle 1/22 meeting here) so we’re mentioning them again in case you missed the news during the holiday crunch.

Red-light cameras coming to West Seattle

January 2, 2008 12:18 pm

| 31 COMMENTS

| Transportation | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

This just in from the city press-releases page: 35th/Thistle and 35th/Avalon will get cameras this year to snap photos of red-light runners. If you get caught, it’s a $124 fine (up from $101 last year). Specifically, at those intersections, the cameras will watch drivers heading south on 35th @ Thistle (above photo, right) and west on Avalon @ 35th (above photo, left). Full citywide list of present and future cameras here; map of West Seattle locations here:

View Larger Map

Comments are back — thanks for your patience

January 2, 2008 12:11 pm

| Comments Off on Comments are back — thanks for your patience

| West Seattle online

And thanks again to our fabulous tech consultant Stuart Maxwell for troubleshooting: Long story short, because it includes some behind-the-curtain stuff you should know — The world of “spam” online doesn’t just affect your inbox; it also affects websites like ours that accept comments. Automated programs are out there relentlessly patrolling for places to try to post fake comments with addresses for porn sites, pharma sites, things like that. There’s an excellent spam-fighting program called Akismet that we and many other sites use, and it catches literally thousands of spam comments per day, on WSB alone. (Sometimes it accidentally nets bonafide comments too, so if a comment you post never turns up, that may be what happened.) According to what Stuart found out, Akismet had a glitch very early this morning, so the spam comments were flooding in, and the site-hosting company disabled the function till the problem could be solved. All’s well now, the old comments are back, and you can post new ones too. Sorry for the snag!

Site alert: Comment problems

January 2, 2008 10:17 am

| Comments Off on Site alert: Comment problems

| West Seattle online

Just to let you know – we’re having some trouble with the “comment” function right now, including posting them and reading them. Sorry about that; will let you know when it’s fixed.

Alki Urban Market: Proprietor reveals what you’ll find inside

January 2, 2008 7:02 am

| 20 COMMENTS

| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

Since we first reported two months ago that the last remaining space in the ex-Alki Market would become the “Alki Urban Market,” hopes have run high, as has the volume of questions. A few more facts emerged when a sign appeared on its door December 21st featuring an e-mail address with the “seattleurbanmarket.com” domain, thus confirming AUM will be part of a group of stores run by Eastside businessman Thampipillai Thilakarajah (WSB photo above). But the website doesn’t have Alki specifics (yet), so to find out more, we requested an interview. Here’s the result:Read More

West Seattle past and present: 4808 Alaska

January 1, 2008 11:42 pm

| 11 COMMENTS

| West Seattle history

Just west of The Junction, and a couple houses west of Ercolini Park, you’ll find this deteriorating old home whose current appearance doesn’t hint much at its vital past as a neighborhood market — unless you look at the “past” photo sent by neighbor Bill Leaming (who also sent the “present” one below):

If you had trouble reading the inscription on the “past” photo of Fraker’s Grocery, it’s from 1956. County property records show the building dates back to 1926. City records don’t show anything new currently proposed for the site. Thanks to Bill for sharing the past/present photos; we love history tidbits here, so they’re always welcome. (Speaking of neighborhood markets, our Alki Urban Market update will be published first thing tomorrow morning.)

Neighbor organizing opposition to 5020 California project

January 1, 2008 8:22 pm

| 24 COMMENTS

| Development | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

The first Southwest Design Review Board meeting of the new year, one week from Thursday, is scheduled to look at the Spring Hill apartment/retail mixed-use building proposed for 5020 California and 2 parcels south of that address (area photo above; developers BlueStar told WSB last week there’s no project rendering yet). As mentioned in our December 11 update, it’s now outlined as a 6-story building with 90 apartments, 100 parking spaces, and 4,000 square feet of retail. Area resident Mary wanted other neighbors to know that she’s drafted a letter opposing it and that they can contact her if they want a copy of it or are interested otherwise in joining forces:Read More

Harleys on Alki: HOGging the road, in a New Year’s tradition

January 1, 2008 3:31 pm

| 10 COMMENTS

| Seen around town | West Seattle video

What a New Year’s Day along the West Seattle shore. First the Polar Bear Swim (see below), then the Seattle HOG (Harley Owners’ Group) taking off from Don Armeni on their annual “Chilly Buns Run” to Federal Way:

Video thumbnail. Click to play

Click To Play

The cheering section outside the Alki Tavern was a nice touch.

Alki Polar Bear Swim: Cool way to start the year

January 1, 2008 10:30 am

| 7 COMMENTS

| West Seattle beaches | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

Pix of this morning’s swim, courtesy of Dan E (thanks!):

Water temperature, by the way, was 48 degrees (warmer than the air, though!).

Also happening on Alki this morning – Harleys gathering for their annual New Year’s ride, south through Burien and on to Federal Way. Video of that in our next post; meantime, a few more Alki Polar Bear pix from Dan E:Read More

Start the New Year with a good deed

January 1, 2008 10:24 am

| Comments Off on Start the New Year with a good deed

| West Seattle people

Nominate somebody for the West Seattle Community Recognition Awards. Quick, easy, free. If you missed our announcement just before Christmas, read it here.

2008 – your West Seattle hopes ‘n’ dreams

January 1, 2008 12:26 am

| 40 COMMENTS

| WS miscellaneous

Ours: Sanity, reason, compassion … and we want to see orcas up close and personal for the first time in a decade-plus. Yours? Discuss here.

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