month : 04/2008 330 results

That photo, and report #1, from Arbor Heights Elementary teacher Mark Ahlness:

It’s finally happening! The sidewalk on the south side of SW 104th next to Arbor Heights Elementary School is almost finished. Many thanks to the Arbor Heights PTSA, who have worked for several years with the city to make this happen!

The Arbor Heights sidewalk project was first mentioned here last November.

Report #2: As Manuel noted in his e-mail, the issue he is following isn’t technically in West Seattle, but certainly affects a lot of WS drivers “who use South Spokane Street to go to Costco or work.” He continued:

I wrote SDOT inquiring about the poor condition of the concrete panels at the railroad crossings down there. Over time they sunk several inches, and drivers had to slow way down. They have since fixed the eastbound panels, but the westbound panels are currently pretty bad. Anyway, just passing along a well-thought-out response from our city.

Read on for the full text of the response that Manuel received and forwarded:Read More

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Truck hits house on Genesee Hill

April 26, 2008 12:55 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| Genesee Hill | West Seattle news | WS breaking news

For the second time in less than 12 hours, a vehicle has hit a building in West Seattle. WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli is out on the “heavy rescue” 911 call in the 4400 block of 55th SW (map) and texted us with the description “truck vs. house.” 1:05 AM UPDATE: Police on the scene tell Christopher nobody is hurt; the truck’s driver fled before fire/police arrived and will face a hit-run charge if/when found.

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The (apparent) woodpecker-shooter explains himself

April 25, 2008 10:47 pm

| 56 COMMENTS

| West Seattle online

This just in, as a comment on the original report. Can’t say for 100% certain this is really “The Perp,” as he signed the comment, but we can say that one bit of only-available-to-site-admin info does seem to corroborate vicinity …

Ok. Iâ€™m the guy that shot the bird. A couple comments:

1. Bravo Seattle Police. My house was surrounded by a SWAT team (not kidding!) in less than ten minutes from the murder. My wife awoke to 6 cops with assault rifles in our yard. Sorry to my next door neighbor btw, you didnâ€™t actually need to hit the bricks when the cop gave you the â€˜get lowâ€™ hand sign.

2. I have sinned. I do feel really feel bad about putting a cap in that horny pecker/flicker. I realize a 28 foot tall version of the pecker/flicker may be standing at the gates with St. Pete upon my demise. All I can say is that I will do everything possible to rebuild my pecker/flicker karma. May you rest in peace Woody.

3. That bird had it comin. Weâ€™ve spent $300 bird proofing the side of our house (grates, hole filler, etc.). The horny pecker/flicker punched holes in our siding, pecked us out of bed at 6 am daily and pooped on our house (a lot). I gave him a number of warning shots. To no avail.

4. To the lady that narced on me. Thanks for the wine and flowers. You donâ€™t have to move out of the neighborhood. I would like to suggest a quick check up at the eye doctor or an NRA primer on gun types.

5. To my wife. Youâ€™re welcome! Cops with assault rifles, the ire of our neighbors, the sight of our son huddled over the dead birdâ€™s bodyâ€¦all worth it. Youâ€™ll thank me when you wake up at 8 am instead of 6 am tomorrow. And no you donâ€™t get â€™spa timeâ€™ for your troubles today.

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You’d expect to see a Tiger on the green, but a coyote?

April 25, 2008 10:35 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Wildlife

Short coyote-sighting report just in from Brian: “Today while playing golf at West Seattle Golf Course, we witnessed a coyote run across the 10th fairway and enter the woods behind Camp Long.”

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Last call for West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day signups

April 25, 2008 9:04 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| Community Garage Sale Day

Maybe it’s the sunshine; lots of folks are getting in the mood for garage sales in this final day of signups for the 4th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, which WSB is presenting this year — taking the baton from the late great Megawatt — on Saturday, May 10. 11:59 pm tonight is the registration deadline, so if you were registering by mail, we hope you’ve already sent it off; the online form is good till the last minute (find it at our WSCGSD site). Please be aware of something we should have made clearer earlier (we promise to streamline it next year) – the online registration/payment is a two-step process; first you fill out the form, and when you click send, it takes you to PayPal. You will get a confirmation e-mail regarding your registration after that first click, and your info goes to us then — but you’re not officially signed up till your fee is received — PayPal would have sent you a separate receipt confirming you’ve paid. If you signed up in the first week and didn’t get a PayPal receipt in addition to the confirmation e-mail from us, you should have received a followup e-mail from us offering you the PayPal link again OR the option to send a check; we’re going through the second week registrations tonight and will send e-mails to those for whom that seems to have happened in recent days. Anyway, thanks for your patience and your decision to be part of this fun community event; if you’re not selling but you plan to be shopping, we’re excited about that too – we have just finalized the list of where maps will be available, but we do encourage you to print out your own copy from the online link, which – along with preprinted ones – will be available May 8. And be sure to keep an eye on the official WSCGSD site at westseattlegaragesale.com, where the registration talk is about to end and the promoting/buying/selling fun talk is about to start, with more than 130 participating sales so far!

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Derby eve: West Seattle Sportsmen’s Club on Fish Watch

April 25, 2008 6:43 pm

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| Fun stuff to do | West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival | West Seattle video

That’s the temporary “pond” set up at Seacrest with the hatchery trout that arrived this afternoon in advance of tomorrow morning’s West Seattle Sportsmen’s Club Hi-Yu Kids’ Fishing Derby. It’s happening much earlier in the season this year (last year it was in July) — 8 am-11 am tomorrow, to be specific, free to kids under 14, gear provided. But first – club members will be on fish watch all night tonight, guarding the pond and its contents – if you stop by Seacrest on this lovely night, you can’t miss ’em. Then in the morning, when the Derby begins, club members and fish will be joined by Hi-Yu junior and senior court members and candidates; kids get to keep their catch, and get goodie bags regardless of whether they catch anything.

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West Seattle Weekend Lineup: Pet Fest, Water Taxi, more

April 25, 2008 4:52 pm

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| Fun stuff to do | WS culture/arts | WS Weekend Lineup

Sunshine? Did somebody say sunshine? From a free kids’ fishing derby to the home stretch for Ercolini Park, from Spring Clean-ing to becoming a Master of Disaster, plus two big events Sunday — the West Seattle Junction Association‘s first-ever Pet Fest and the Elliott Bay Water Taxi‘s season kickoff — and music and theater and art and shopping, 50 West Seattle events outdoor and indoor, ahead:Read More

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Updates on 2 new West Seattle fire stations

April 25, 2008 3:24 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| Safety | West Seattle news

This P-I story about impending pole-less-ness in new fire stations — including Station 37 on 35th — got us wondering how that project and another one in West Seattle are going. We found this page on the Fire Department website with monthly reports on the fire-station projects citywide; though the newest “status report” is filed as “March 2008,” it’s dated just yesterday. For Station 37, to be built at a new site at 35th/Holden (while the old one, a city landmark, will eventually be sold), the architects are “continu(ing) on construction documents.” For Station 32 in The Junction, the report says its architects (different firm) are continuing on pre-design, and “three alternative site layouts have been prepared for comment.” Another document linked from that same city page says construction on FS 32 is scheduled to start in November ’09, while 37 is scheduled to start this August.

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Van bumps 17th/Roxbury restaurant, takes out hydrant

April 25, 2008 1:40 pm

| 10 COMMENTS

| WS breaking news

Thanks to Ricardo Guarnero @ Cafe Rozella for the tip – he says there’s been a crash at the 17th/Roxbury corner (and sent photos; he says it looks like the Taqueria Guaymas building is OK but the van that hit it took out a hydrant – you can see it in the lower left of his photo) – good idea to avoid that area for now. (No medic unit was dispatched, so no serious injuries so far as we can tell.)

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2 more ways to help local schools

April 25, 2008 12:46 pm

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| How to help | West Seattle schools

RECYCLE OLD ELECTRONICS ETC. TO HELP WEST SEATTLE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: We still have a pile of old cell phones etc. around the house and maybe this is the way to go: Now through May 30, you can turn in everything from cell phones to laptops to old inkjet cartridges, and WSHS Football will benefit from the proceeds of recycling or refurbishing. Scroll down the WSHS daily bulletin to “students and staff” for more details, or click here to e-mail Monique for info.

EXOTIC OFFERINGS AT SANISLO AUCTION: This weekend is the last chance for discount tickets to the Sanislo Elementary auction May 3 – and Lisa Keith from the Sanislo PTA says some enticing items have been donated for the auction – read on:Read More

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2743 California: Design-review details

April 25, 2008 11:32 am

| 1 COMMENT

| Development | West Seattle news

Last night’s Southwest Design Review Board meeting about the project proposed for that spot between PCC and the California Place mixed-use building had one foot in the present and one foot in the future – as would be optimal for such meetings, since new buildings will be around for decades. We toplined it last night but here as promised are the details:Read More

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West Seattle Crime Watch: 2 reader reports, plus an update

April 25, 2008 9:03 am

| 23 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

First reader report: Officers with guns drawn earlier this morning at 46th/Andover. We are checking on that. 9:21 AM UPDATE: Sgt. Jeff Durden at the Southwest Precinct says “911 call of a man in a back yard with a shotgun. Turned out it was only an air rifle and the intent was to shoot a woodpecker.”

Second reader report: Burglary yesterday. Here’s what Joe e-mailed to WSB this morning:

We live on the 7300 block 35th Ave SW, I went home from work to meet a service technician at 12:30 pm and found that we had been burglarized. Entry through broken window. two tvs, two cameras, laptop, misc stuff . One tv was lying on floor as if the burglars were scared off before the were done. This happened between 9:oo am and 12:30 pm and nobody saw anything.

Update: A few folks asked about a followup on the two-car crash at 35th/Thistle the other night. It’s close to impossible to get an update on the victim’s condition — privacy laws have tightened in recent years so media cannot just call up a hospital and say “somebody was brought in from a crash, how are they” — but Sgt. Durden says the crash did NOT turn fatal. As for the cause, he says one of the drivers had run the red light, and was cited.

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Be a Master of Disaster: 3 ways to do it this weekend

April 25, 2008 7:30 am

| 10 COMMENTS

| Safety | West Seattle news

View Larger Map

In honor of our state’s Disaster Preparedness Month, throughout April – and continuing for a few weeks into May – we’re helping local community leaders share information geared to help you take steps to ensure your family’s safety in case the unthinkable happens. One big emphasis is the designation of neighborhood gathering spots around West Seattle where residents will be able to go for information and help if the normal lines of communication are down; even if the only preparedness step you take this spring is to know your nearest gathering spot, that’s still progress. With that in mind, we’ve made the map you see above – each marker is clickable and explains that respective location and who it’s for. Two communities, Alki and Morgan Junction, have already had one-day drop-in events for neighbors to visit the gathering spot and get disaster-preparedness info; this weekend, you’ve got the same chance in two more — 8 am-10 am tomorrow at 20th and Andover, during the Pigeon Point neighborhood cleanup, drop by to get info and get acquainted; 10 am-2 pm Sunday at Ercolini Park, Junction-area residents are invited to do the same. ONE MORE THING YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW, NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE: One of the many West Seattleites working on this effort is Cindy Pestka, who has worked a long time to help people with readiness (we borrowed the “Master of Disaster” term from her); she created a checklist of supplies you can purchase right now to have on hand “just in case” – it has helpful specifics, not just the generalized lists you often see. We’ve uploaded it here so you can take a look and print it out for yourself for use in building a kit you can get to if you need it (and if you don’t have MS Word — thanks to Amy F, here’s a PDF version).

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Video: Elliott Bay Water Taxi crew practices for Sunday start

April 24, 2008 10:30 pm

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| Elliott Bay Water Taxi | West Seattle news | West Seattle video

Thanks to marketing director Maureen Black at Argosy Cruises for answering our inquiries about when we might catch the Sightseer — aka the Elliott Bay Water Taxi, now operated by the new King County Ferry District — in action prior to its season debut this Sunday; as a result, we caught the crew in action doing touch-and-go practice at Seacrest this afternoon. Here’s a longer clip from our visit to Seacrest:

Rides are free all day Sunday; the EBWT will start running that morning (8:30 am from downtown), but the real fun at the dock will be the official launch-day festivities noon-2 pm, with West Seattle’s King County Councilmember Dow Constantine emceeing (he can be a lively host, as evidenced at the 34th Legislative District Caucus earlier this month) and Argosy CEO Kevin Clark also scheduled to appear.

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Admiral project @ Design Review tonight: Quick topline

April 24, 2008 9:56 pm

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| Development | West Seattle news

“Early design guidance” tonight for 2743 California (city project page here), replacing a duplex between PCC and California Place (the white building with apartments over businesses including Freshy’s): Not much controversy. A few new details – the “medical offices” are expected to be primarily dental, three floors over “basement” parking. Design Review Board members had a lot of questions and recommendations, but they did advance the project to the next stage. More tomorrow, including the interesting caveat that came up about half a dozen times.

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Another review next week for Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza

April 24, 2008 8:58 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Alki Statue of Liberty | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

It’s not online yet but the agenda for next Thursday’s city Design Commission meeting (at City Hall downtown) came out today via e-mail, and the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza project will return that day for another review. The same commission had a long list of suggestions when they saw the project for the first time three weeks ago; read about them in our report from that meeting. FRIDAY NIGHT UPDATE: This review has been delayed – we’ll let you know when it’s rescheduled.

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“Strange doorknocker” story turns up on TV

April 24, 2008 8:44 pm

| 10 COMMENTS

| West Seattle online

Thanks to Margaret for sending that shot of her TV screen showing WSB while the reporter credited this site for the original “strange doorknocker” story (first report here, second one here) — which channel 7 decided to follow up on tonight. Actually, credit goes to Larry Carpenter (Alki Community Councll, Log House Museum, and West Seattle Community Recognition Award winner) for the original report – he told us a couple hours ago that channel 7 had interviewed him; we missed the newscast but after Margaret’s screen-shot came in, we found this text version (no video so far) online. WSB is described in the online writeup only as “a West Seattle blog,” but 7 still deserves props for crediting the source — last week another station we won’t name lifted our coyote photos without permission or credit (we saw it and called, and they fixed it for a later run; this website’s contents are copyrighted so permission is required to republish our photos). 9:51 AM UPDATE: Re: the door-knocker story, KIRO updated the web version this morning (without us even having to ask) and it now credits us properly (with a link too). Thanks!

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Charlestown Cafe update: Repair work hasn’t started yet

April 24, 2008 5:02 pm

| 4 COMMENTS

| Charlestown Cafe | West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

We just checked in again with Charlestown Cafe owner Larry Mellum; in our last update three weeks ago, Larry’s co-owner Ron Hanlon told us they were still awaiting the final go-ahead for work to start, and they couldn’t set a reopening date yet. Today, Larry tells WSB that the work required for the restaurant to reopen post-Feb.-4-fire still hasn’t begun:

The project has not yet started. We have been waiting for our Landlord and their insurance carrier to get the required construction proposal and deposit back to the contractor. To date that has not happened due I believe to some administrative glitches within their operation. … We are as anxious as you to get the Charlestown going again. Thank you again for all of your support.

Whenever the work starts, the cafe owners say it’ll take at least four weeks from that point to get it finished so the Charlestown can reopen. (You can always find the latest WSB coverage of the Charlestown Cafe situation atop this archive.)

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Traffic alert: Bonair closure next week

April 24, 2008 4:31 pm

| 4 COMMENTS

| Transportation | West Seattle news

Just in from the city Transportation Department:

A contractor for a private development will close the 2100 block of Bonair Drive SW in West Seattle to traffic next week to repair the roadway. The street will be closed between Alki Avenue SW and Halleck Avenue SW (map) for four to five days. Drivers will need to use an alternate route.

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Junction Association Pet Fest update: New category

April 24, 2008 4:22 pm

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| Pets

Just in from Louis Lujan @ Next to Nature, sponsoring the “ugliest dog/cat” contest for this Sunday’s Pet Fest in The Junction and now adding something new:

Pet Fest Contest UPDATE!! New Category!

Guess what, West Seattle?… Paw for paw, the West Seattle neighborhood has the best looking pets anywhere! Haven’t found an ugly one in the whole lot, but we’re still holding out. To provide better opportunity to the vast majority of West Seattle pets, a “Most Beautiful Pet” contest will be held in addition to the “Ugliest.” Your pet is free to use props to show off their true quality. Here’s a hint – the Judges are 5th graders!

So we want to see uniquely homely AND good-looking pets at Pet Fest this Sunday…

Bring your homely OR handsome hounds and pets to the Pet Fest tent near 44th and Alaska this Sunday. The judging will begin at 12, noon. A panel of local school kids is standing by to determine “West Seattle’s Ugliest – and now – Most Beautiful Pet”!!

Our revamped contest is still free to enter, and there’s a growing prize package for the winners. Go to the Next to Nature table at Pet Fest to sign-up. The festival gets rolling at 10 a.m., so you can start signing up then, just make sure you’re signed up by 11:30. Each contest will be limited to 20 entries on a first-come first-served basis. We anticipate
mostly dogs since they usually do best in these public festival settings, but if your cat, bird, ferret, cow, or koala is comfortable with crowds they’re eligible for the contest too.

See you at Pet Fest this weekend! There will be great nutritional and health information, adoptable dogs and cats, pet portraits, and more!

Coupled with the first-ever Sustainability Festival May 4 (featured in our previous post today), that marks two consecutive Sundays with “first-ever” festivals in The Junction.

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Sustainable West Seattle gets ready to make history

April 24, 2008 1:51 pm

| 4 COMMENTS

| Environment | How to help | West Seattle festivals

That photo is courtesy of the members of Sustainable West Seattle, who gathered for a group shot outside Camp Long before their monthly meeting this past Monday night — a meeting like no other in their less-than-one-year history, because it’s the last one before SWS presents its first-ever Sustainability Festival, coming up Sunday, May 4, 10 am-3 pm in The Junction. A little while before that photo was taken, we sat down with three SWS leaders to talk about the festival (and how it’s not too late for you to pitch in, especially if you have some time this weekend) – read on to see why they, and many other folks around West Seattle, are so excited about it:Read More

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West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day hits the century mark!

April 24, 2008 1:00 pm

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| Community Garage Sale Day

Our 100th registration is just in for the 4th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day on Saturday, May 10th — thanks to everybody who’s decided to join in! One community, one day, (now we can say) more than 100 sales around West Seattle — including some group/business/school/organization sales — As soon as registration closes tomorrow night, we’re getting down to the next round of fun stuff: Mailing info packets to participants, making the second round of posters promoting Garage Sale Day itself (we’ve had registration posters up for two weeks, and of course they had the sale date too), and sharing information about The Big Day — if there’s something really unusual or interesting about your sale (and you are registered for WSCGSD, of course), e-mail us at garagesale@westseattleblog.com — remember we’re planning “Best Sign” and “Most Unusual Item” contests too. Again, registration’s open till tomorrow night; go here to sign up online (or to get a mail-in form you can print, but please get it in the mail ASAP). If you’re just coming in on this, WSB is sponsoring WSCGSD now because its creators @ Megawatt closed down earlier this year and needed new presenters for their signature events (we took on WSCGSD, the Gathering of Neighbors is being organized by DNDA). May 10, whether you’re a shopper or seller, mark your calendar!

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New way to get a 4-year degree without leaving West Seattle

April 24, 2008 11:41 am

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Just announced today: South Seattle Community College and City University of Seattle are partnering for a program that will enable students to get a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with all four years of studies taking place on the SSCC campus in east West Seattle. SSCC says the deal will be finalized at a ceremony next Tuesday; here are the details released this morning.

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