We’ll be spotlighting business and block sales later tonight. One fundraiser addition: The WSB Forum Community sale at 2655 45th SW will include a chance to donate to a fund that’s being set up for longtime WSB reader JanS, a self-employed massage therapist who’s going to be out of work a while after hip-replacement surgery this coming week (read more in this forum thread). And a couple trivia points: The northernmost sale is 1418 Palm SW; the southernmost sale is 3737 SW 108th; westernmost sale is 3247 64th SW; easternmost sale is 7937 11th SW. We’ll be out and about with as-it-happens coverage tomorrow starting in the 8 am hour (though again, official sale time is 9 am-3 pm) – and more previews are coming up later tonight.
We have managed to find drivers and the float will roll in the Sequim Irrigation Festival tomorrow @ noon. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. We will send parade pictures.
(You of course will be able to see the Hi-Yu Float right here in West Seattle during the Grand Parade down California on July 19th – but this is the first of more than a few other gigs it has to make between now and then!)
Not sure exactly how many vehicles were involved; debris scattered over a fairly wide range (note the foreground of above photo). Medics appeared to be helping at least one person. Obviously, stay away from the area TFN. 4:13 PM UPDATE: Tow truck is just now helping clear the scene; should be open again soon.
So we’re lunching at Easy Street a little while ago, enjoying today’s soundtrack (a Chic LP from disco’s heyday!), and … noticing bubbles floating by the street-level window now and then. Music-induced flashback to roller disco, maybe? Nope. Went outside and found those folks on the roof over West Seattle Optix — they explained simply, “It’s a great day for bubbles!”
Thanks to Michelle for the tip that a sign had gone up in the window of the former Basic Green Box spot in the 3400 block of California, between the townhouse cluster and the future Bohemian: We stopped by to check it out, and it’s going to be a West Seattle branch of Prost (here’s the site for its North Seattle location). (We also bumped into Bohemian’s owner, who says they hit a snag or two but are now hoping to open in June.)
Once upon a time, the Community Centers (we have five in West Seattle — Alki, Hiawatha, Delridge, High Point, Southwest) each had its own activity brochure. Then came a sort of odd grouping which split West Seattle north/south for combined brochures; we even mentioned this at one of those parks meetings last year – suggesting it would make sense to have all the WS centers in one brochure. Voila, that happened (maybe it was already in the works anyway), with South Park included too; see that brochure here. If you enjoyed that format – or not – we just stumbled onto an online survey about it, while collecting info for the West Seattle Weekend Lineup (out within the hour). Take the “combined brochure” survey here.
First, the remodeling — WSB’er The House sent that photo of a sign spotted at Westwood Village QFC. Now, the move: Marilyn at Murphy’s Furniture has confirmed her new location in Pioneer Square (as first reported in January, she’s leaving Avalon; as first reported last weekend, Cafe Revo‘s taking the space): 314 1st Ave. S., next to Elliott Bay Books, hoping for an early-June opening. This is her last weekend on Avalon and she’s having a sale. Next, the opening — Last night’s West Seattle Art Walk participants included a new business on the north edge of The Junction, The Body Bar, and we stopped in to find out more – even came away with another prize for the Garage Sale Day contests – read on:Read More
(Partial view of almost-done Hi-Yu Float in its ‘hangar’ this morning; Luna Park is the theme)
This just in, from the WSB inbox. If you or someone you know can help – that will keep West Seattle from going unrepresented as parade season starts!!!!
We have been feverishly working to have the float ready for our first parade of the season, the Irrigation Festival in Sequim. At the last minute, both of our qualified truck drivers are unable to make the trip. It would be a shame to miss for our girls and volunteers, but also because Sequim makes every effort to have their float in our parade.
We desperately need someone who is experienced pulling and maneuvering a fairly large and heavy trailer to pull the float to Sequim early tomorrow morning and drop it in Port Townsend after the parade for next week’s parade. It is a long, but not too difficult day, leaving West Seattle at 5am and returning about 7:30pm. We will cover food and related expenses. It is possible that we can offer a modest stipend.
We would prefer a commercially licensed driver, however, we can also use someone with experience towing and maneuvering a 24’+ travel trailer.
The truck is a Hertz rental and the trailer has been checked out, so the equipment is decent.
Thanks, Tim Winston
President
West Seattle Hi-Yu Summer Festival
Volunteers have been working for months to get the float ready. We saw other evidence of that during a brief look inside the float “hangar” this morning:
We run a lot of requests for help on WSB and they’re all good causes, but we have a soft spot for community parades and the people who give their time and treasure to keep this small-town tradition alive; no matter how growth and development change the look and feel of a community, this is one of the traditions that can continue to nourish a small-town soul.
As we publish this, it’s 33 hours till the 4th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day (got your map yet?). Putting it together has been a blast. Now, it’s up to the shoppers and sellers (and the weather). Three updates:
EVERYBODY: We have yet another prize up for grabs in the WSCGSD contests – whichever contest gets more entries, we’ll award two prizes. In addition to the Illusions gift certificate and Hotwire coffee card (both WSB sponsors), tonight we received a gift certificate from the new Body Bar day spa north of The Junction (more on them tomorrow). The contests are: For shoppers AND sellers, “Most Unusual Item”; for sellers, “Best Sign.” For both contests, take photos of your entry and e-mail them to us at garagesale@westseattleblog.com; we’ll announce the winners here and at westseattlegaragesale.com Monday night.
SHOPPERS: Another advance shoutout to the sales that are raising $ for causes, and an addition: 7717 California is donating proceeds to the Orca Network. In addition, 9450 22nd SW is The Community School of West Seattle‘s big annual fundraising sale; 2512 SW Genesee is North Delridge Neighborhood Council raising $ for tot play equipment at Cottage Grove Park (more tomorrow on a chance to get involved with that NEXT weekend); 19th & SW Genesee is Pigeon Point Neighborhood on behalf of Cooper Elementary; 3003 61st SW is the Log House Museum‘s fundraiser; 7138 32nd SW is raising $ for childhood-cancer research via Alex’s Lemonade Stand (and will be selling lemonade too!) – read their personal story here; a few blocks south at 7955 32nd SW, a leukemia patient gets half the proceeds; 3919 41st SW benefits the Breast Cancer 3-Day; 1418 Palm is donating proceeds to the animal-rescue group Homeward Pet; 5637 42nd SW is on behalf of Kiwanis Club of West Seattle; 6115 SW Hinds is Alki UCC with its annual plant sale; and before you leave the house (or set up your sale) on Saturday, please put out a bag of nonperishable food for the annual Stamp Out Hunger letter carriers’ food drive!
ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD SELLERS: Your Neighborhood Association needs your help. It, like other neighborhood groups, is building a neighborhood disaster-readiness kit and would love donations of any of the following items if you’ve come across them while getting ready for your sales, or if they’re left over after sale day. Read on:Read More
– Went over crime statistics – mainly bike thefts – about 8 in total for the last 3 months
– A manager from Lowe Enterprises came to report about the plans for the development on the corner of 35th & Graham. A couple of hundred mainly 1 bedroom-apartments on the housing side/some low-income, most market-priced – and about 6 to 8 retail shops (smaller ones like Coffee shop, Hairdresser, Beauty Salon, Restaurant, Dry Cleaner and maybe a Specialty/Deli-more-high-end-Husky-like kind of store). But there will be surveys in the neighborhood for the final decisions – nothing final yet. Sounded a little like a Mini-Jefferson Square to us.
They really worked hard to find a grocery store but with the new Whole Foods and QFC coming to West Seattle, no big chain is interested. Lowe Enterprises are convinced that all new stores are not in competition to shops on California as people travelling south on 35th are on their way home – and wouldn’t drive down to California anyway. Most of them wouldn’t know at all what kind of businesses are located at California right now. ;-)
A half-acre park in the middle of the square, 2 u-shaped buildings with 3to4 stories and an open space right at the corner of 35th & Graham for neighborhood gatherings are planned. But these plans have to be signed off by the city first.
We try to get to as many neighborhood association/council meetings as we can, but occasionally something slips through, so we really appreciate getting a report like this – thanks again, Christina! – to be able to share it with you too.
David Hutchinson sent that closeup of Canada goslings near Don Armeni. Yes, we know, not everyone’s a Canada goose fan, but there’s still “awwww” factor. We got this wider shot of geese families this morning near Seacrest:
And from the Water Taxi this afternoon, a shimmering sunbreak as a state ferry headed west:
By the way, just heard the weekend forecast from the only TV meteorologist we truly trust, our former co-worker Walter Kelley at Q13 – he says no rain on Saturday unless you’re near the coast. Yay for West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day rainlessness!
Just one of those days – lots of crime news to be shared – first, from Detective Nick Bauer at the Southwest Precinct, confirmation that the suspect arrested this afternoon (mentioned here) was indeed the third suspect from this morning’s Admiral break-ins. He says police found this suspect with the help of some detective work from a citizen. He also notes that seven burglary suspects have been caught in the past week, which he says is fairly unprecedented; also, one person who reported their break-in here on WSB has been reunited with some of their stolen stuff, thanks to some of those arrests. Now, a reader report we didn’t get till just now, so can’t check it with police till tomorrow — this one involves Angelia’s Red Cup Espresso in The Junction, only 4 months removed from the death of owner Angelia Paulsen (amazing community outpouring in the comments here) in a crash on I-5. Dawne-mailed WSB to say:
Wanted to report that my favorite coffee place got broke into last night …. I went to Red Cup Espresso this morning and noticed that there was glass every where and the drive thru window was broke. So I asked and sure enough was told that someone broke the window and took the register …. this is soooo low. not only is Sean dealing with the death of his wife and owner of Red Cup and trying so hard to make ends meet and keep the joint open but someone robs from him …. I hope this person has bad karma for the rest of his or her life.
From the latest Land Use Information Bulletin: This is described as a “revised application” so perhaps it’s come up before, though we can’t find evidence of that on the DPD website — the project-page address is 3601 Fauntleroy (see city map above; here’s a G-map) and the public-notice page describes the project as“Land Use Application to allow 21 single family residences in an environmentally critical area (clustered housing). Parking for 30 vehicles will be located within the structures and 8 surface parking spaces will be provided on the site.”
One of the neighborhood-group sites with a sale participating in West Seattle Community Garage Sale Daythis Saturday is accepting donations tonight and tomorrow — the Pigeon Point Neighborhood sale is a fundraiser for Cooper Elementary, and Matt Swenson from the PP Council asked if we’d post this:
Past garage sales have raised more than $3,000 for the kids at Cooper. We will be accepting donated items tonight (Thursday, 5/8) and Friday, 5/9 from 6:00 – 8:00 P.M., and on Saturday morning from 8:00 – 9:00 A.M. Please bring donations to the covered basketball court at the north side of Cooper Elementary (1901 SW Genesee St). Items must be received by a volunteer. We’re hoping for plenty of donations and for lots of visitors on Saturday!
Lots of other fundraising sales – we’ll mention more tonight and tomorrow, and you can see them now on the official map, available in printable and Web-explorable versions at westseattlegaragesale.com.
(photo by WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli shows SWAT team members, with shields)
Just got word from the scene, the standoff is over. Relatives tell WSB it started about 1 pm when the suspect tried to cut himself with a knife; a relative called 911, and the standoff ensued from there. Again, according to what we have been told at the scene, no one was hurt, and things in that area (5400 block of 31st; map) should begin returning to normal.
UPDATE: Here’s some pictures from WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli.
Just after 1 pm the initial response included a City Light truck.
That’s the house where the suspect lives. It’s about 100 yards west of 31st. Police kept residents and the media on 31st and allowed no one to go no further for the first hour – except the suspect’s aunt, who went in with a negotiator:
About 30 minutes before the standoff ended, neighbors were allowed back into their homes:
ADDED 7:18 PM: This video clip shows an unusual side effect … two school buses that needed to get through the area, which is on a narrow, steep street, and had trouble getting around everything from police to fire to TV crews:
We’ll keep updating the item below on the 31st SW standoff as info/pix become available. Sometimes these things go on a long time, however, so two other things to share in the meantime: First, a reader report that the third suspect in this morning’s Admiral burglary-suspect case (original report here) has apparently just been apprehended; will work to confirm with police. Second, Robin Williams is coming back to Seattle and will again donate “artist’s proceeds” from one show to the West Seattle Food Bank; more information here. (He did the same thing around this time last year; WSB report here.)
(photo by WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli)
Heavy police presence including SWAT team at a house in the 5400 block of 31st SW (map). It started as an assault with weapons call; we don’t know if anyone is hurt, but neighbors tell WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli there’s been trouble at the house before. One person is reportedly inside; it’s just a standoff right now. 2:35 PM UPDATE: Here’s what else Christopher and another WSB team member on the scene have learned — According to family members, no one has been hurt; the weapon involved is a knife. Police negotiators arrived a few minutes ago and are either talking to the suspect or trying to talk with them. Obviously this is an area to stay well clear from until it’s all over; we’ll have photos/video later. 2:55 PM UPDATE: Police have allowed some nearby residents to go back into their homes. 3:27 PM UPDATE: Word from the scene – it’s over, ended safely. Separate post to come.
Realistically I’m just wanting to extend my hours and allow people to come and have a glass of wine or beer or coffee while they are studying, or working or hanging with friends. I’m wanting to do more art shows or Ms. Pacman and Galaga tournaments or whatever. I’m open to anything. I think the space is super cozy at night and would like to provide an alternative to just going to bars.
As for Garage Sale Day, Amber notes that she hopes to have a “flea market” feel, and that this coincides with the monthly “Homemade Brigade” arts/crafts show/sale she’s been having. Freshy’s is one of three coffeehouses with group sales — the others area Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) and C and P Coffee. (We’ll continue to spotlight WSCGSD participants between now and sale day – check out westseattlegaragesale.com for some of what we’ve already mentioned, and to download and print out your copy of The Map! which is actually three area maps plus all the sale addresses/descriptions.)
6-9 pm tonight, the next monthly West Seattle Art Walk, with (as noted earlier this week) a record number of participants – and more of West Seattle involved than ever, from Admiral to Delridge (Bubbles!) to businesses south of The Junction. See the map here; list of venues (and special events you’ll encounter along the way) here. Speaking of maps, the Art Walk venues include two places you can pick up a copy of the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day map if you can’t print out your own — Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) and Capers — but please do print it yourself if you can (the link’s here), to save preprinted copies for those without printers/computer access; thanks!
ALSO WHILE YOU’RE ARTWALKING – HAVE YOU SUGGESTED A MOVIE YET? Six ballot boxes are now up at West Seattle shopsif you want to suggest a film for Movies on the Wall this summer but don’t want to do it online (see this special WSB page; we’re a co-sponsor this year). Read on to see not only where the boxes are up, but also how the movie-deciding is going so far:Read More
I am one of 2 photography teachers at West Seattle High.
We do ask our students to take landscape and portrait pictures that they find beautiful, so if you see students wandering and taking pictures of each other, random people or pets (they should ask first), bushes, trees, pretty houses, architecture, they may very well be doing their coursework. However, the story of the mother taking pictures of a car is not in line with any assignments I am aware of, and just sounds weird. Students shooting pics during the school day should have a signed note from one of their teachers, indicating permission for them to be outside shooting: you can ask to see this if you feel they are acting inappropriately, and please, contact the school with their name and location if they are. Students with inappropriate behaviors of any kind should be reported immediately to the WSHS Main Office.
(video added @ noon, quick look at police presence at scene) ORIGINAL REPORT: Just in from a reliable tipster:
Attempted break-in 37th north of Admiral
Three black male teens – looked about 16-17 yrs old
Two PERHAPS apprehended on Admiral Way bridge over ravine
Police in neighborhood looking for third suspect
Remember, if you see anything/anyone suspicious, CALL 911 – police reiterate this over and over. More on this when we get it. 10:25 AM UPDATE: The WSB team member on the scene reports two suspects are indeed in custody by Merrill Gardens/Admiral Heights and being questioned now, after first having been spotted in the Metro Market vicinity. More later. 12:17 PM UPDATE: A few more details from Lt. Steve Paulsen at the Southwest Precinct, who confirms the arrests and promises more info later:
We just arrested 2 burglary suspects ..They were 3 all together, one got away….tied to two burglaries in the Admiral neighborhood. Great work by all. … All juveniles who don’t live in West Seattle.
The Weather Service still says 
As we publish this, it’s 33 hours till the 4th annual 
6-9 pm tonight, the next monthly West Seattle Art Walk, with (
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