West Seattle, Washington
19 Friday
First photo, High Point sunrise today (thanks, Steve!); second, Lincoln Park at mid-afternoon. Here are a few more photos we wanted to share:Read More
That picture just in from Paul Cozens (thank you!), with this news:
The West Seattle Wildcats defeated the Bellevue High Wolverines in boys’ basketball today 82-76, in overtime. West Seattle will play for the District Championship next Tuesday at Bellevue CC, opponent to be determined.
2:15 AM UPDATE: Here’s what the Times wrote about the win; the Wildcats’ next opponent is now set – Rainier Beach.
The friends/family search website says they’re regrouping to look from Burien southward on Saturday, after canvassing an area including the easternmost edge of West Seattle today. (Remember, he has WS ties, including membership until recently at Mars Hill Church-WS, and coworkers/friends who live here.) Meantime, while regional media updates grow more sparse, the national media has jumped in, with ABC network coverage here and a FOX network story here.
For the second time today, we have good news for fans of fresh fruit and veggies — 
A few WSB’ers asked when Tony’s Produce will reopen for the year – so we just called & spoke to Tony himself, who says tomorrow is opening day, “8 to 8, 8 days a week, as usual.” He adds, “Just wait till you see the stuff I’ve got!” (If you haven’t been there before, it’s at 35th/Barton — map here — under the new red/white/green canvas installed before the holidays.)
That photo, and this narrative, just out of the WSB inbox, from Babs:
I had just walked into my front door and looked toward my deck which is 5 stories up with a city view. Two birds fell off the roof to the deck in right in front of my slider door. I looked closer and it was a hawk with a pigeon in his (or her) talons. I grabbed my camera and moved toward the slider – that scared the hawk and he moved allowing his lunch (the pigeon) to escape. Insanity occurred in the sky (crows and pigeons flying everywhere to get away from the unhappy hawk.)
A few minutes later the hawk returned to my deck and I took this picture (not the best but I had just a second) – So guess I’m in trouble with the hawk hood! My cats are indoor girls! Sorry dude! (My building has a lot of pigeons that hang out up here so I assume it’s an “all you can eat Hawk buffet.”)
Almost missed this one – city news release from yesterday with future recycling changes, including the end of separation requirements for glass and “everything else” (yay), plus an expansion of the kinds of plastic that can be recycled.
WSB EXCLUSIVE: The city Transportation Department invited reporters to a briefing downtown this morning announcing a new program to evaluate and potentially revise parking in several Seattle neighborhoods, including The Junction — and those revisions could even include a return to paid street parking. Other media invitees were no-shows, so your editor here got an exclusive briefing and a chance to ask SDOT all the questions we could think of. Most important thing you need to know: SDOT says the process of assessing the Junction parking situation, coming up with recommendations, and implementing them, will take a full year, and the clock on that doesn’t start ticking till later this year — but you can start having a say NOW. (Other West Seattle neighborhoods will get the same sort of review within the next few years; more on that ahead too.) Read More
This isn’t strictly West Seattle but we know many people who work at Starbucks HQ in Sodo live on the peninsula, and this hasn’t gotten wide media exposure yet – apparently big job cuts announced today. An e-mail tipster says a friend is one of those who got the ax. This is the first official word we’ve seen, more to come, we’re sure. 12:21 PM UPDATE: Just hearing a radio bulletin about this now – 200 job cuts at corporate HQ, more than 300 open jobs that won’t be filled. Yet more details here.
We told you this was in the works, and now it’s official: Following a vote of approval by the West Seattle Junction Association board, the West Seattle Farmers’ Market is now clear to go year-round (otherwise, it was set to close for about 2 months after this Sunday). Seattle Neighborhood Farmers’ Market Alliance director Chris Curtis says, “The market currently is about 17 vendors. It will get a little bigger toward the end of March and should be close to 25 vendors in April and over 30 by the first of May.”
We have answers this morning to yesterday’s questions, thanks to Marybeth Turner of SDOT:
Our traffic engineers are counting traffic volumes on 35th SW and Thistle, and at several other locations on 35th SW. This is a follow-up to traffic counts done last year. I understand that results will be available in several weeks.
12:07 PM ADDENDUM: Now we’re told the cameras are NOT part of this, nor part of the red-light cam program. So they remain a mystery.
The clerk told one tv crew the crash sent a soda machine flying right by him. (It’s in one of the photos in the coverage we linked to below.)
We’re off to get pix. For now, here’s online tv coverage; an SUV lost control and slammed into the lobby at the Seattle West Inn and Suites on Alaska west of 35th (aka the former Travelodge). Its driver and passenger went to the hospital; the desk clerk escaped injury.
(update since this original report – it passed)
It’s tanked in the state Legislature a couple times in the past few years, but Admiral resident Liz Wilhelm points out that the bill to allow grocery-store beer/wine tastings is back. In fact, it’s up for a hearing in the State House Committee on Commerce and Labor in Olympia at 8 am today, according to the bill’s official webpage. Liz has a lot to say about it:Read More
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