West Seattle, Washington

16 Tuesday

39℉

month : 03/2008 311 results

Rummage/garage sales: 1 right now, WSCGSD in 6 weeks
March 29, 2008 1:21 pm
|    Comments Off on Rummage/garage sales: 1 right now, WSCGSD in 6 weeks
 |   Community Garage Sale Day | WS miscellaneous

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That’s the scene a short time ago in the Seattle Lutheran High School Gym on the north edge of the Junction (Genesee just west of 42nd) – the Booster Club‘s rummage sale to raise money for SLHS athletics is under way till about 4 pm today, and one of the most surprising finds we noticed was a large quantity of lovely wood furniture. This is yet another reason for us to remind you that WSB is presenting West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day this year, and it’s now six weeks away! We have set the date for registration to open — APRIL 10 — and hope you’ll sign up to be part of it – both individual sales and group sales are welcome and we’ll be promoting the heck out of it in hopes of bringing garage-sale throngs here to WS to shop and buy; watch both WSB and also our official WSCGSD site (westseattlegaragesale.com) for ongoing updates, and if you’d like to be on the e-mail list for announcements and reminders (we promise, no spam, no high volume) please e-mail us at garagesale@westseattleblog.com – thanks!

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Race day: Sailboats on the Sound
March 29, 2008 12:54 pm
|    Comments Off on Race day: Sailboats on the Sound
 |   Seen at sea | West Seattle news

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Just a few of the sailboats we saw off Alki earlier this morning, as they headed around Alki Point and southward — it’s the Corinthian Yacht Club‘s Pully Point Race (more info here including the list of participating vessels). And thanks to Hopey for sending a different view as the race headed past the Fauntleroy ferry dock:

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ADDED 2:20 PM: Hopey caught the racers heading back northbound past Fauntleroy:

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2 items from Thriftway: Egg-hunt pix, plus a chance to help
March 29, 2008 9:35 am
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Holidays | How to help | West Seattle people

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Those are some of the folks who, as we showed you last Saturday, thronged West Seattle Thriftway in Morgan Junction exactly a week ago for its annual kids’ egg hunt. Thriftway has just posted dozens of its own pix online and is inviting families who participated to come have a look and send them a note if you want a copy (find the Easter pix here). In the same e-mail, Thriftway also asked us to share news of a benefit barbecue coming up next Saturday (4/5): Thriftway employee Julie Lynch is battling breast cancer — a cause that the Thriftway team has long been active in (see this page) — and the store’s going to cook up burgers next Saturday (April 5) to offer a burger/chips/soda lunch for $7, all proceeds to Julie and her family. (In case you lose track of that event or anything else going on in West Seattle, just keep a daily eye on our Events list page, updated multiple times daily.)

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Eddie Vedder clip: Next best thing to having been there
March 29, 2008 1:03 am
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle video | WS culture/arts

A (good audio, bad video) clip has surfaced on YouTube from one of Eddie Vedder‘s semi-secret Kenyon Hall shows this week.

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Pre-teardown house put to good use
March 28, 2008 11:59 pm
|    Comments Off on Pre-teardown house put to good use
 |   Development | Seen around town

Remember this future-townhouses site at 5232 California, across from West Seattle Nursery?

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Exactly one month after we reported on its demolition permit, WSB contributing photojournalist Matt Durham was there today to document firefighters putting it to good use:

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More info from Matt: “SFD Recruits drilled in rooftop ventilation techniques; they also practiced ‘search and rescue’ scenarios inside a smoke-filled, two-story house. Firefighters charged the home with nontoxic smoke to simulate the rigors of operating in low visibility. Good luck to SFD recruits during your rigorous and stressful year. Their first year is inundated with hands-on training and classes and high expectations.” (Matt knows; in addition to being a photojournalist, he’s also a professional firefighter. Prints of his WSB photos and his other work are available through his site, MattDurhamPhotography.com.)

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Speaking of well-deserved honors: It’s nomination time!
March 28, 2008 11:37 pm
|    Comments Off on Speaking of well-deserved honors: It’s nomination time!
 |   West Seattle online | West Seattle people

trophy.jpgThe second quarterly West Seattle Community Recognition Awards will be announced in three weeks, and you’ve got about one week to nominate people who are working to make this a better place! The first-ever awards — brainchild of Divina‘s Julie Mireille Anderson — were announced at a January get-together at Capers; we then profiled the recipients here on WSB — Cindi Barker from Morgan Junction, Larry Carpenter from Alki, and Paul Sureddin from Fairmount Springs. So who’s next? Up to you! Forms are available at Divina (California/Genesee) and other participating businesses, or you can download it here (it’s a Word doc so you can use “replace” and type the info “inline”), and e-mail the completed form to us at westseattleblog@yahoo.com; explanatory info is here. Then mark your calendar for the informal gathering April 18 at which we’ll announce the winners!

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Lafayette Elementary teacher honored
March 28, 2008 10:25 pm
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle people | West Seattle schools

While away from the keyboard for a few hours tonight, we received two notes (thank you!) that Lafayette Elementary fifth-grade teacher Catherine Bloom was honored today as the STAR 101.5 “Teacher of the Week”; checking their website, it appears to be a new program they just started this month. (Disclosure: As we mention on our “about” page, Mrs. Bloom is one of the fabulous people who taught and helped the Junior Member of the WSB Team in his Lafayette days.) This is her last year, so what a great time for a well-deserved honor — congratulations, Mrs. Bloom!

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What’s the rush? New 2-wheeled anti-speeding campaign
March 28, 2008 6:33 pm
|      24 COMMENTS
 |   Safety | Transportation | West Seattle people

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There you see neighborhood activists Nancy Folsom from North Delridge and Miranda Taylor from High Point, gearing up outside Skylark about an hour ago for a southbound bike ride during the Delridge commute. Their goal was small and simple, yet big in its own way – be a presence on the road to remind vehicle drivers that city streets aren’t high-speed expressways. They’re thinking this could grow into a bigger group activity; we’ll let you know about their future plans once we hear how this one went.

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An even-better CL ad: West Seattle bomb shelter for rent
March 28, 2008 3:39 pm
|      15 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle online | WS miscellaneous

bombshelter.jpgWe have sent a message to try to find out more. Meantime, figured you’d want to know about it if you hadn’t seen it already: CL ad even better than the one we linked in the WS Weekend Lineup post below — West Seattle bomb shelter for rent; the photo at left is one of four accompanying the CL posting. (Thanks to Diane for the tip!) P.S. Ever since seeing the ad, we haven’t been able to get this song out of our head, since the video came immediately to mind:

6:41 PM P.S. The bomb shelter’s owner e-mailed us back. We speculated in our first e-mail to them that they’d probably be inundated with conventional-media requests too, and in fact, the owner says channel 5’s coming by tonight. We’d try to doubleteam it but we’re headed for the Dyan Cannon lookalike winner announcement before “Deathtrap” at Youngstown Arts Center.

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West Seattle Weekend Lineup: Spring’s 2nd weekend (really)
March 28, 2008 3:14 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle Weekend Lineup: Spring’s 2nd weekend (really)
 |   Fun stuff to do | WS culture/arts | WS Weekend Lineup

First – the “found it elsewhere” event listing of the week: see it here. (Added it to our calendar here too, of course.) Just one of 33 West Seattle events from this afternoon through Sunday night; the list starts here:Read More

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Basic Green Box move update: New location announced
March 28, 2008 2:42 pm
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

When we first told you 2 months ago about Basic Green Box moving out of its California SW storefront (right next to this project), Charlotte at BGB didn’t know yet where they would land. Now she’s just sent WSB the official announcement – they’re leaving WS:

After 3 years in our lovely West Seattle community, we are moving to a more accessible location with more parking (you talked, we listened!).

We are so thrilled to join forces with our friends at Year of the Monkey at 2915 1st Ave S (SODO) integrating our accessories with their impressive selection of antique and reproduction furniture.

Last days: We are only open Friday-Sunday for two more weekends (March 28, 29, 30) and April 4, 5, 6 (12 pm-5 pm each day). Hurry in for up to 50% off everything (we won’t move it all!) Our accessories will still be available at www.basicgreenbox.com and we hope to see you in our new location in May. Thank you for your continued support!

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West Seattle Weather Watch: Afternoon snow updatelet
March 28, 2008 12:00 pm
|      19 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

(keep scrolling down for updates and pix added to this post)
Big fluffy flakes now. Steady but still not cold enough out there to stick, even on cars. (37) 12:33 PM UPDATE: Kevin writes from Arbor Heights, 375-foot elevation, the snow’s “struggling to stick.” We’re around the same elevation here in Upper Fauntleroy and it’s finally starting to stick … walking out the door for a pic. Send yours if you get one. 12:44 PM UPDATE: OK, here’s our first one.

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ADDED 12:54 PM: Thanks to JoB for this pic:

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1:03 PM: Definitely sticking on the WSBmobile. May be enough for some snowball fights when school gets out this afternoon. (Spring break – ha! – is finishing for some of the private-school kids; Seattle Public Schools and some other private schools are out next week.)

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1:10 PM: Some kids are out having fun already. Thanks to Karen for sending this next photo from Westwood. (P.S. We’ll let you know of any traffic troubles reported on the WS-bound commute this afternoon, of course; check cams any time here).

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1:18 PM: Thanks to Sage K for these next 2 pics, from Delridge and Juneau, where it’s starting to stick. If you’re wondering about the forecast, seems this may not settle down till tomorrow.

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1:33 PM: Thanks to “k” for sending this from Morgan Junction:

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1:44 PM: From 51st/Hudson (map) comes this classic scene of spring vs. snow, thanks to Eileen:

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2:04 PM: Snow’s lightened up in a big way, at least up here. Meantime, JenV sends this photo (thank you!) of frosty flowers, taken outside Buddha Ruksa (did you see the West Seattle 101 on WSB feature yet?) at lunch:

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2:08 PM: Just in from Belvidere (or is it Belvedere? even the city has it both ways):

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2:13 PM: Thanks to Trick in Arbor Heights for a new twist on the term “snow globe”:

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2:18 PM: Snow’s stopped and the big melt has begun here – we can hear it through the rain gutters, and there’s serious drip action from the shrubbery. Some other West Seattle news has been stacking up in queue so we’ll get that going here shortly.

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Harbor Ave block wall: Not what you may have thought
March 28, 2008 10:33 am
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   Development | West Seattle news

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If you’ve driven by that new block wall along Harbor Avenue east of Salty’s and suspected it had something to do with the restaurant – it doesn’t. After a couple of reader e-mails asking about it, we doublechecked with Salty’s, which said no, it’s an unrelated industrial project. That sent us looking into the property records, which are a little convoluted for this parcel (#7666705250, owned by Anmarco), with multiple addresses, but finally we traced it to 2130 Harbor, which carries notes of a city DPD investigation: According to this page on the DPD website, the work was proceeding without permits, and the city posted a “stop-work order” — here’s the exact language:

Constructing a 400’+ long approx. 8′ tall retaining wall and grading in a designated shoreline environment requires permits. STOP WORK ORDER posted 3/5/08 by building inspector.

The DPD website shows two case numbers open for this investigation, here and here. Anmarco’s land in the area has quite a bit of history; this article goes back 11 years.

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West Seattle Chamber of Commerce announces winners
March 28, 2008 10:13 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

Just in from the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce – the official announcement of its Business of the Year and Community Service award winners: Business of the Year goes to Tom Smith for Tom’s Automotive; Community Service goes to Warren Lawless. Both have worked in the West Seattle community for decades; according to the Chamber announcement, Tom’s has been in business for more than 37 years and — quoting the announcement regarding Warren Lawless — “Since 1938 he has been a constant force and a very active participant in numerous West Seattle organizations.” You can be on hand to honor them both when the WS C of C presents the awards during a breakfast event at Salty’s on Alki, 7:30 am April 9. The reservation deadline is next Thursday; go to the West Seattle Chamber website for more on that.

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West Seattle Weather Watch: Any snow where you are?
March 28, 2008 6:14 am
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle video | West Seattle weather

Not here in Upper Fauntleroy, but Vickie reported flakes @ 4:30 am @ California & Charlestown (in comments here). The “snow advisory” is now extended to 5 pm. 6:45 AM UPDATE: OK, we have a few flakes now. Just a few. 9:13 AM UPDATE: A fairly serious snow shower here now. As our saying goes, “send pix if it sticks.” 9:50 AM UPDATE: Shot a few seconds of the snowfall (still not sticking enough here for stills) just in case anyone is trapped in a windowless room:

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Crossing-guard crisis update: West Seattle loses another one
March 27, 2008 11:42 pm
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   Safety | West Seattle schools | West Seattle video

Video thumbnail. Click to play
Click To Play

That video shows West Seattle mom Antje Staudt and her kids crossing busy 16th SW at Myrtle (map), on their way to Sanislo Elementary a couple blocks west. The intersection used to have a guard – one who not only protected kids crossing the street, but made news here January 10th for helping a young crime victim. Now, that guard is fighting serious illness, and parents and pedestrian advocates say they have been told the city doesn’t plan to replace her this year. It’s the latest in the crossing-guard crisis we first told you about in this January report – and safety advocates want to make sure it’s addressed when the City Council’s Pedestrian Safety Committee hears from citizens next Tuesday – though they recommend other courses of action too:Read More

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West Seattle Weather Watch: Might be a Flaky Friday
March 27, 2008 8:27 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news

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JoB sent that pastoral photo (thank you!) as snow flurries flitted through parts of West Seattle this afternoon (as discussed in this WSB Forum thread), hours after their cameo last night. More may be on the way. The forecast has the entire metro area under a “Snow Advisory” for 3 am-noon. If you want the technical-jargon version, here’s the “forecast discussion.” This wouldn’t be anywhere near the latest Seattle snowfall, though, according to this “Ask Steve (Pool)” page — which says April 17, 1972, holds that record. (Must have been weird weather times; that same month, a major tornado hit Vancouver, WA.)

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Congratulations to five West Seattle middle-schoolers
March 27, 2008 6:52 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle people | West Seattle schools

This city news release today announced middle-school students from around the city chosen for the Mayor’s Scholar Awards; they had to write essays about how they contribute to their communities, and about what they would do with the $500 prize — here are the winners from West Seattle schools:

Mia Kaiser-Nielsen, Pathfinder K-8, 6th grade
Princess-Nyosha McWilliams, Pathfinder K-8, 8th grade
Adriana Tabile, Madison Middle School, 6th grade
Miranda Taylor, Denny Middle School, 8th grade
Amleset Tesfamariam, Madison Middle School, 8th grade

They and the other winners from around the city will be honored with a reception May 29. Meantime, reminder – if you’re ever looking for a comprehensive list of West Seattle schools, public and private, we have one with weblinks, addresses, and maplinks, on this page; we also have a section of the WSB Forums set aside for school-related discussion.

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Place & date set for fundraiser to help locksmith arson victim
March 27, 2008 5:44 pm
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   How to help | West Seattle fires | West Seattle news

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As we first showed you yesterday, that’s the banner inspired by the efforts of WSB Forum members who quickly and intensively launched a campaign to help Puget Sound Key and Lock rebuild from last Friday’s arson – and tonight, less than a week after the still-unsolved fire, following hours of collaboration and brainstorming plus lots of community help, they’ve set the date and place for a fundraising event: Saturday, April 19, Admiral Pub. Mark your calendar; more details to come. They’re also still soliciting auction items; please check out this forum thread if you can help with that. (Also, as the banner says, you can donate to the Puget Sound Key and Lock account at any Wells Fargo branch.)

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Play ball! West Seattle Little League’s 50th anniversary tipoff
March 27, 2008 4:57 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | WS & Sports

baseballclipart.jpgWe brought you news about sign-up season for West Seattle Little League and other area sports leagues some weeks back. Now – it’s game time! WSLL is celebrating its 50th anniversary, having started in 1958. And it’s got two major events in the next few days – here’s the official announcement:

TONIGHT: West Seattle Little League will hold our annual Parent Meeting this evening at 7pm at West Seattle High School Commons. The meeting will cover information and events for the upcoming season, including updates on plans for the $100,000 grant received this summer from Boeing and the Mariners. All families that are currently registered are encouraged to attend. Uniforms will be distributed to players. This is a great opportunity to meet your teammates and we will also hold a raffle for fun prizes!

SATURDAY: Please join West Seattle Little League’s season kickoff at our annual Jamboree! The event is held at Bar-S Field ( 6464 SW Admiral Way). Players are to arrive at 10 am. At 10:30 am, teams will be introduced with a ceremony following at 11 am. Exhibition games will begin at 11:30 am. To see the full schedule of games, tee ball through majors, go to www.westseattlelittleleague.com/jamboree.html. This event is open to the public. Our Snack Shack will offer full service throughout the day.

Sponsors are still needed for the 2008 Season. If you are interested in sponsoring a team, please contact us through our new and improved website: westseattlelittleleague.com.

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2 Delridge notes: Pizza update; road repairs
March 27, 2008 4:39 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   Delridge | Transportation | West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

PIZZA UPDATE: Further confirmation of the news we broke here two weeks ago — Olympia Pizza and Pasta is coming to the short-lived Pacino’s Coffee location at 5605 Delridge (map) — we drove by minutes ago and saw new yellow banners draped outside saying OLYMPIA PIZZA AND PASTA COMING SOON (didn’t have a camera along).

ROAD REPAIRS: The city Transportation Department says its crews are working on the shoulder of Delridge, 8100-8600 blocks, through Saturday afternoon, doing “utility repair work.”

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More “West Seattle 101,” including Buddha Ruksa news
March 27, 2008 2:47 pm
|      15 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle 101 | West Seattle restaurants

bookcover1.jpgOne week after we debuted a new addition to WSB — our new section (note the “tab” link on our header) with selections from the popular book “West Seattle 101” by Lori Hinton — lorimugshot.jpgwe’ve added two more features from the book; while Lori was checking for updated information to add to the original copy, she discovered some news. The newly posted “West Seattle 101” features are about geocaching (read it here) and the much-talked-about Thai restaurant Buddha Ruksa (read it here). While checking on Buddha Ruksa’s hours, menu, etc., Lori got the scoop on its new beverage additions. You can find all five “West Seattle 101” features published here so far by going to the WS 101 on WSB “home page,” and we’ll add more to the list next week!

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Seattle to participate in “Earth Hour” this year
March 27, 2008 1:29 pm
|      20 COMMENTS
 |   Environment

Somebody asked us about this just the other day. Now it’s official: 8-9 pm Saturday, the whole city’s invited to go dark as part of “Earth Hour.” Fittingly, that’s the same day that six West Seattle students are starting “An Inconvenient Ride.”

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