day : 22/04/2008 15 results

That early-early-morning coyote pic is from “Fauntlee Hills Neighbor” near Concord/Barton, who writes:

This one is half of a young pair who cross Barton from Fauntleroy Park and have been seen late evening, early morning for some weeks now. I feed backyard feral cats and unfortunately, forgot and left food out overnight. They found a paper plate on my back porch and took to finish off. No warnings here, just information. I much believe we need to coexist and just be the smarter species. After all, we are the interlopers

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Denny-Sealth meeting tonight: Quick toplines

April 22, 2008 10:22 pm

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| Denny-Sealth | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Full article to come in the morning. A few toplines: While it was described as an “environmental-checklist meeting,” tonight’s Denny-Sealth project meeting at CSHS was far more sweeping in scope – including four “conceptual” possibilities for the Denny site, once the existing school has been demolished, and a chance for attendees to informally “vote” on priorities for spending the $10 million “extra” in Sealth renovation money. Also, the district admitted it fumbled another commitment to get Denny-Sealth info on its website in a timely manner; because the materials for tonight’s meeting were not posted earlier this month as promised — in response to an audience question, a district official said it just went up “this afternoon” — the comment period for this phase of the project will be extended till May 9. (The huge volume of material just posted online hours before the meeting is available here.)

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Another crash at 35th/Thistle

April 22, 2008 9:44 pm

| 14 COMMENTS

| Westwood | WS breaking news

Just back from 35th/Thistle (map), where two cars collided; both were badly damaged – the two people in one of them got out OK, the driver in the other had to be cut out by rescue crews and was rushed to the hospital. Avoid the area. Thank you, to the people who called and texted us, just as we heard the sirens and were starting to check into what was going on. This is the same intersection where a pedestrian was hit and hurt exactly two weeks ago. Sorry our night photography leaves something to be desired; for perspective’s sake, here’s a wider shot, with one damaged car at left, the other far right – this is looking northeast from the southwest corner of 35th/Thistle:

P.S. As of 10:04 pm, nearby resident Stephanie says the intersection has just reopened.

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Reader report: Unusual door-knocker

April 22, 2008 7:02 pm

| 27 COMMENTS

| Neighborhoods

Alki’s Larry Carpenter asked us to pass this along:

About 4 pm today I got up to answer a brusque knock at the door in my neighborhood at 63rd and Hinds near the Alki UCC church. A repair man had just given me an estimate 30 minutes earlier, so I figured he was back with a question. The knocker turned out to be a 25-ish, normally dressed, white man who announced in good English that he was touring the neighborhood as part of an army exercise to “test his communication skills.” He then handed over his US Army i/d bearing the name Regan. I kept waiting for some sort of solicitation such as selling magazines to support combat readiness or whatever. However, he explained that his only purpose was to improve his ability to approach strangers and win their confidence via straighforward speech and strong eye contact. After saying that his team chief had left some 25 of his mates in the surrounding area and that I might see others walking about, he extended his hand for a firm handshake and headed off around the corner. H-mm. I wonder how this approach would go over in Baghdad’s Sadr City.

[Larry spent 20 minutes trying to reach police on a non-emergency basis …] I finally tried a few neighbors, but nobody was home yet. My last call found a woman neighbor at home, who reported that she had earlier noticed several strange young men hanging around the USPS mailbox on the corner and had already decided not to answer the door if anyone rang. [SPD Crime Prevention Coordinator] Benjamin Kinlow had just briefed us at the Alki Council on Thursday that we should always report suspect activities to the police and to our block watch neighbors. When wife Marge observed my rising frustration, she suggested that if I really wanted anybody to get the word, I should send it to the WS Blog.

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Update: “Inconvenient Ride” homecoming and bike convoy

April 22, 2008 5:23 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | West Seattle video

That was the scene at Chief Sealth High School less than an hour ago as the “Inconvenient Ride” cross-country student bicyclists (they’re in the light-blue jackets) headed out, with plenty of company, for Benaroya Hall, site of tonight’s “Project Earth Care” benefit. ADDED 6 PM: A candid moment with three of the riders, including the youngest:Read More

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Water Taxi countdown: Five days till the season starts

April 22, 2008 4:53 pm

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| Elliott Bay Water Taxi | Transportation | West Seattle news

We asked the staff of West Seattle’s King County Councilmember Dow Constantine for some info-bits to add to our Elliott Bay Water Taxi countdown, and here’s one for starters — Take a close look at this year’s schedule; the “maintenance break” gap at midmorning is gone; King County staff worked with Argosy to shorten the time needed, so there’s now a 9:30 boat from Seacrest and a 10:30 boat from Pier 55. (The Water Taxi starts its season on Sunday; rides are free all day and there’s a celebration from noon-2 pm.)

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Route update for bicycle convoy

April 22, 2008 4:05 pm

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| Delridge | West Seattle news

The police escort is staging at Chief Sealth and the Inconvenient Ride bicyclists, with dozens of other students, will head out shortly, with a new route: they now plan to head north on Delridge all the way from Thistle to the low bridge.

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Earth Day business spotlight: Alki Kayak Tours expands

April 22, 2008 2:29 pm

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| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

As the Elliott Bay Water Taxi gears up to start the 2008 season this Sunday, one of the two businesses that share Seacrest Boathouse/Pier with the EBWT is gearing up for a double expansion that we’re telling you about today in honor of Earth Day: West Seattle is home to a fair amount of “green” businesses, but you can’t get too much greener than human-powered recreation. Alki Kayak Tours is open now for the season and expanding this year in two ways; we sat down with owner Greg Whittaker (pictured above) to talk about the expansion and about how far the business has come since its first season (this is season number four):Read More

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Anybody missing a chicken?

April 22, 2008 1:12 pm

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| Pets

Somehow seems in keeping with the Earth Day theme (and seeing as how we’re an apparent hotbed of urban chicken-raising): Didn’t want to just relegate this one to the Pets page alone. Ronald e-mailed us with this:

Yesterday afternoon our neighbor asked us if we had chickens again because there was one loose in their backyard. We caught it and put in in our aviary overnight to keep it safe. It’s black with a small comb, with feathered feet. Looks very healthy so we figured it “flew the coop” from someone nearby. This is in the 4700 block of 48th Ave SW, below the Alaska Junction, about 4 houses south of Ercolini Park. Contact phone 425-260-6946.

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Cat-coyote faceoff captured on cam

April 22, 2008 12:41 pm

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| Coyotes | West Seattle online | Wildlife

Check it out at Beach Drive Blog; wonder if it was “our” coyote?

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Update: Permits issued for “townhomes long after teardowns”

April 22, 2008 11:32 am

| 10 COMMENTS

| Development | West Seattle news

Five months after our last update on that empty lot along California just north of Morgan Junction (previous WSB coverage here), Knoll Development has just been issued construction permits for the four addresses at the site where townhomes and live-to-work units are to be built: at 6021, at 6025, at 6029, and at 6031. Looks like this is the Knoll website page about the development (this is just up the block from the live/work units that will be part of the 6053 California development).

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Update: Police-escorted route for “Inconvenient Ride” bikers

April 22, 2008 10:50 am

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| Safety | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

UPDATED WITH NEW ROUTE SINCE ORIGINAL POST AT 9:49 AM: As mentioned earlier this morning, the Southwest Precinct wanted us to share this so that you will know ahead of time and be able to help contribute to the safety of the “Inconvenient Ride” students and their bicycling escorts, who could number up to 200, as well as their police escorts. This is the route they are to follow after a welcoming celebration at Chief Sealth High School in mid-afternoon, as they then head on to tonight’s Global to Local benefit downtown. The route has changed a little since our first post an hour ago:

Starting approximately 4:15 pm Tuesday:

From Chief Sealth, east on Thistle Street, then north on 16th Avenue, west on Myrtle, and north again on 21st Avenue. We will veer west on Croft Place, then Juneau in order to head north on 26th Avenue, then pass by the Gatewood bus riders at Delridge Community Center. Following a brief hello, we’ll continue on to the Lower West Seattle Bridge.

(From earlier update, the rest of the route will be:
Remain on Bike Trail over West Seattle Low Level Bridge
Cross Spokane St. at 11th Ave SW, continue East on trail to E Marginal Way S
Head North on E Marginal Way S, becomes Alaskan Way S
Continue North on Alaskan Way S to Spring St.
Head East on Spring St., up the hill to 3rd Avenue
Head North on 3rd Avenue to Union St.
Turn W on Union and into Benaroya Loading Dock – North side of Benaroya Hall, entrance is off of Union St.)

We will be riding single file, observing bike safety rules and etiquette, and will be accompanied by a number of expert riders, including some from Cascade Bicycle Club.

1:37 PM P.S.: Thanks to “Que” for sending us the KING5 noon news link.

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Denny-Sealth: Local meeting tonight, School Board tomorrow

April 22, 2008 8:49 am

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| Denny-Sealth | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | Westwood

TONIGHT: 6:30 pm, Chief Sealth High School, the next public meeting regarding the Denny-Sealth construction project — as described by Westwood Neighborhood Council president Steve Fischer, “The School District has issued their Environmental Determination; the Appeal period closes shortly. Copies of the Environmental Checklist will be available for the community to review. For those who are interested, they should attend the meeting and see what the District is proposing.”

TOMORROW: The Seattle School Board agenda includes several items related to the Denny-Sealth project – somewhat technical but if you follow the links to the attached documents, there are a few more project-plan specifics to be learned.

Archived WSB coverage of Denny-Sealth can be found here.

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Earth Day, West Seattle student edition

April 22, 2008 7:02 am

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| Environment | West Seattle schools | West Seattle video

Thanks to Arbor Heights Elementary School teacher Mark Ahlness for sharing that video of his third-graders (who can be found online at roomtwelve.com), decorating “Earth Day” grocery bags and then delivering them to the Roxbury Safeway. Ahlness says Arbor Heights kids decorated more than 300 bags this year, the 16th consecutive year of their Earth Day partnership with Safeway on this project, and the 15th anniversary of the Earth Day Groceries Project, which Mark notes began at Arbor Heights. If you shop at that store today, you’ll likely get one of these bags. Meantime, today is the day the five local students on “An Inconvenient Ride” are expected back in Seattle, with the homecoming festivities taking them downtown tonight for the “Global to Local” benefit at Benaroya Hall. 8:11 AM UPDATE: Just got word from the Southwest Precinct that the Inconvenient Ride-rs may have up to 200 bicyclists accompanying them on their last leg, and the precinct wants to alert you to their route, for safety’s sake – will post more on that a little bit later this morning.

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Be a Master of Disaster: Earthquake drill this morning

April 22, 2008 5:31 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| Safety

9:45 am today is the time set for a statewide earthquake drill, as part of Disaster Preparedness Month (which West Seattle neighborhood groups are highlighting with a focus on neighborhood readiness): The state has handy info here on how to handle this type of drill for home, office, school.

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