West Seattle, Washington
05 Wednesday
Thanks to WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli for checking this out (map) – big callout for starters but it was called off relatively quickly so nothing big, but in case you heard the sirens, we’re letting you know.
35TH/ROXBURY: Reminder that you will see a significant police presence there much of the day because of teenage shooting victim DeChe Morrison‘s memorial service @ Freedom Church later this morning (as reported here last week).
READER REPORTS CAR BREAK-IN: From Melissa in the 9700 block of 41st (map):
I thought our little neighborhood was immune, but no. Our dog went a little bonkers at about 10 pm Monday night. That must have been whenever was taking my cellphone and binoculars and rifling through our cars was doing so. My husband went out at 5:45 this morning to find my door still open. I wonder if our dog’s barking scared the thief off?
-Major car ice (no surprise since temp’s in the 20s); prep your scraping arm.
-Looks like another morning moonset in the making (big bright full moon in the western sky now).
Happened onto an online hint weeks ago that Emerald City Smoothie was planning a permanent West Seattle location, after posting a portable trailer at Alki last year. Now there’s finally word of where they’re opening — at Allstar Fitness (Andover west of Delridge). Thanks to Ty for spotting the sign and letting us know; the location is confirmed online.
ADDED 10:35 PM: Thanks to Shawn for sharing this moonrise shot from Seacrest:
ORIGINAL POST: Rode the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth ferry round trip late today to see how things are going since the big schedule upheaval. No real tales of woe but we did happen onto another great sunset coinciding with a moonrise.
The Legislature is one week into its session. We talked on Day 1 with new State Rep. Sharon Nelson; your other 34th District (map) legislators are Rep. Eileen Cody and Sen. Joe McDermott. You can check the list of bills they’re sponsoring or co-sponsoring (frequently updated) online: Nelson’s list is here, Cody’s is here, McDermott’s is here. If you want to contact them about anything, remember the semi-secret Rep. Nelson shared in our interview – e-mail them directly (each of their names above is linked to their respective sites), instead of through the general Legislature address; that’s the quickest way to get to them, and therefore for them to be able to get back to you.
Following up on this morning’s dignitary-laden kickoff event (WSB coverage with video clips here) on the King Day volunteer work at West Seattle Elementary: Before the scheduled wrap-up a short time ago, we dropped by again and found the work in full swing:
And also got some before-and-after views of spots we’d photographed when a group of volunteers did prep work last Thursday:
One more King Day note – Dr. King did visit Seattle once, in November 1961: HistoryLink.org tells the story.
Last week, for the first time in almost a year, the Parks Department came to West Seattle for a meeting about the future Morgan Junction park (WSB coverage here and here). Tomorrow, after a similar time gap, the same thing’s happening regarding the park going in at Myrtle Reservoir (map). This park is different for several reasons, including its location in a less-commercial area, its size, and the fact a skatespot is in the plan, which drew some controversy last year. Matt Johnston, the West Seattle resident who runs SeattleSkateParks.org, writes about it today. Whatever you would or wouldn’t like to see in this park, tomorrow night (7 pm, High Point Community Center) is your best chance to make a difference. You can find notes from the March 2007 meeting linked from the project’s official city webpage.
On the heels of the spectacular Sunday sunset, this early-morning scene, courtesy of Shannon in Fauntleroy (thank you!):
Just back from West Seattle Elementary in High Point, where the King Day “Day of Service” work as part of the Hands on Schools project (previewed here on Thursday) got a major kickoff this morning featuring Governor Gregoire, her husband (aka “First Mike”), and Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott. Here’s our first clip, the governor joining in the City Year volunteers’ traditional morning warmup:
Tara Smith with Seattle Works tells WSB that local families are welcome to come by during the work today, which is under way through 3 pm (though the governor’s not staying all day) — they’ve got “family-friendly” activities for ages 5-12. More video ahead, including Gov. Gregoire on Dr. King, plus some of what West Seattle Elementary principal Gayle Everly and Rep. McDermott had to say:Read More
Some updates on the biggest development/redevelopment project in West Seattle, from a presentation at last week’s joint meeting of the Delridge and Southwest District Councils: Project manager Tom Phillips from the Seattle Housing Authority told the groups he’s “very proud” of the way things are going, he says High Point Phase I has only 10 homes left to sell. As part of Phase II, the 160-unit seniors’ complex on Morgan will open in May, and the new park with amphitheater is in the works along with Neighborhood House. (NH construction is set to start this September; a capital campaign is under way now — read more here.) Phillips also told the councils that paperwork had just been signed with a developer for the commercial center at 35th/Graham, though there’s still no grocery-store commitment — he said he’s been told West Seattle is “over-grocered,” particularly with Whole Foods coming to Fauntleroy Place and QFC coming to Capco Plaza. The SHA’s official High Point site is here.
So who says the Internet is a threat to face-to-face interaction? It brought us 10 more acquaintances tonight — in the name of soup. We’d never been to a Soup Swap, had never even heard of the concept, but that all changed after a recent visit to Nerd’s Eye View (among the 100-plus West Seattle-based blogs linked and frequently updated here). There, we saw this post, and left a comment along the lines of “wow, cool concept” – which to our surprise and delight brought us an e-mail invite from the person who hosted tonight’s West Seattle Soup Swap. This has actually become a national phenomenon (you’ll note from that site, National Soup Swap Day is supposed to be this Wednesday, but many gatherings like the one we attended west of The Junction tonight are being held on other dates). NEV author Pam explained tonight that the whole thing started right here in Seattle, on Capitol Hill, a couple years ago. If you’re a soup fan, check it out. The ones now in our freezer following tonight’s Soup Swap range from carrot habanero to beef ‘n’ cabbage (the full lineup, six containers from each contributor, shown above). This time of year, as temps keep dipping, it’s truly Nature’s Perfect Food.
Despite the most recent round of fuss that we were bound to finally break $4/gallon someday soon, West Seattle gas prices have been on the decline again. Tonight, we spotted two places below $3 for a gallon of regular unleaded — the Admiral/California Chevron (photo left) and the Delridge Arco. That’s 13 cents below the current Seattle average.
ADDED 10:35 PM: Just can’t get enough of tonight’s sunset. For this one, we have Dan E to thank:
ADDED 7:30 PM: And another spectacular sunset shot – this one from SL (thank you!):
ADDED 6:05 PM: One more scenic shot – the Sunset Avenue sunset, from Steve Heck (thank you!):
FROM EARLIER: Thanks to John LaSpina for thid shot of the Olympics in the morning light:
Now, the site notes:
ADOPT A PET! Since debuting the WSB Pets page a couple weeks ago, we’ve continued adding features, including lost/found pets and more photos from the West Seattle Blog Pet Photos group on Flickr, but we don’t mention every update here on the main page, so if you’re interested in pets, check the Pets page from time to time – you never know what you’ll find. Most recently, we have heard from a couple of animal-rescue groups asking if we’ll feature adoptable pets – so we have three links on the Pets page right now for dogs looking for new homes, including Rufus (photo right).
FORUMS GONE WILD: Well, maybe “wild” is a bit strong. But more than 250 people are now participating in the relatively new WSB Forums – which is where you can post a request for Reader Recommendations, or answer somebody else’s request – or you can get discussion going on a topic of your choice, such as the hottest one this weekend, The Seattle Freeze. (Our newest forum area is all about West Seattle schools – the forum is here; our new list of links to all WS schools, public and private, is here.)
Haven’t seen a formal announcement — this was the last update we had — but according to the service provider for Washington State Ferries wi-fi (screen grab above), the wi-fi system is now “operational” on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route, which would be news. Maybe WSF has been a little too busy to trumpet it?
At the bottom of a slope along the southern half of Beach Drive, those ivy-wrapped trees are posted for removal by the city at the end of this month. This has been a busy site — a mudslide in the December storm, a “vegetation-removal” project to the north a few months earlier, a tree from the west side of the street that came down and blocked BD in the December ’06 storm. The notice posted on the “No Parking” signs says these trees will be removed because they’re in “poor health”; we have been trying to reach the city Urban Forestry department (listed on the notice as a contact) to find out whether the trees will be replaced, but haven’t heard back yet.
From Colleen in the 48th/Dakota vicinity:
Friday night my son’s bike was taken out of my van. They also took a clay cat that my daughter had made, only valuable to me. I’m curious if they hit any other vehicles around here.
Besides whatever we hear here, we’ll also check next time we’re reviewing reports @ the Southwest Precinct. Meantime, the important reminders: Call 911 if you know or suspect something’s happening right now or just happened; 206/625-5011 is the non-emergency number; lots of crime-prevention resource info at the bottom of the WSB Crime Watch page.
We’ve mentioned it before and it’s time to mention it again: Our state’s caucuses are on Feb. 9, exactly three weeks away. The 34th District Democrats are doing their level best to make sure everyone in the area knows about it — someone was out doorbelling in our neighborhood today 
(we didn’t get to the door in time but he left a doorhanger with info, including our precinct number and caucus site), and the 34th DD Caucus Outreach Committee had a meeting today. (Also meeting today, according to Slog — area Clinton supporters including County Executive Ron Sims gathered in South Park.) The 34th DD’s website has a caucus info page including a list of locations, by precinct; you can find your precinct number on this county page (but beware, the “polling place” that comes up after the precinct # is NOT your caucus place) — or for a one-step process, try this statewide page (type your address below the map, it’ll find your precinct and caucus site). The 34th District Republicans‘ website still isn’t as info-rich as the D page, but the King County Republicans’ site has its own caucus locator; you may not need it, as it appears all West Seattle Republicans are caucusing at Southwest Community Center. The GOP is choosing half its WA delegates through the caucuses and half through the Feb. 19 primary, but the Democrats are choosing all their delegates through the caucus process.
It’s Saturday night and that means time to look ahead to what’s on the “fresh sheet”:Read More
Just in from TC (thank you!), re: the cat sighting from yesterday:
The exotic cat that someone saw on 1/18/08 was just captured by the Humane Animal shelter at about 4:30 and is being taken to a rescue shelter. We were up jogging on the Madison Middle School track when some boys pointed out a larger than domestic size spotted cat on the banks. We called the Humane Society 386-4258 and they came out and captured it. They said it was a serval, a wild cat from Africa and that it is the second one picked up in West Seattle.
We’ve seen servals … in zoos. Will look up a usable photo shortly to add here. ADDED 7:18 PM: Here’s one. Again, NOT the WS capturee, just one found roaming online:
Checking the website of West Seattle Christian Church (WSB sponsor, but fyi we check many local churches’ websites weekly for event listings etc.) – we discovered part of the congregation was headed to Lewis County today to help the people down there who are still having a terrible time recovering from the December flooding. We wrote WSCC’s Dan Jacobs to ask for more details, and he tells WSB, “A group of about 15 people are going down a second time (the first was just before Christmas) to help with cleanup for families who were flooded. They’ve been working through the United Way and this weekend will again be helping to dig out / mud out / and clean out homes. I believe this weekend they will be working with some elderly people who can’t physically do the work. … Feel free to let people know that they are going and that there is still a need for others to follow in the future.” If you are interested in helping Lewis County flood victims, we found this state page with some info on how to help.
We do, anyway. Two photos e-mailed to WSB earlier this week and held for when a “virtual sunbreak” might be in order (like now!):
That one’s from RPH, who took it while flying in on Tuesday. Next one’s from Bob Bollen, during Wednesday’s sunset:
Thanks to RPH and Bob!
Off the emergency-radio scanner (and please note, those radio transmissions just reflect what police get calls about and dispatch officers on — not all reports pan out, but once in a while we hear something you might need to know about fast): Police were just flagged down by several children reporting a man exposed himself to them in the 31st SW/SW Juneau vicinity. We didn’t catch the full description off the scanner but the few words we did hear (Hispanic, stubble) did NOT match the description of the indecent-exposure suspect we wrote about in last night’s roundup from police reports, in case you wondered.
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