Seen around West Seattle, Thursday midday edition
That’s an SDOT crew giving a facelift to the California SW crosswalk at SW Findlay.
Not sure if it was SDOT or someone else, but there’s also been a “facelift” on that bridge column on the west side of the low bridge — and that covered the wolf art that’s been there at least since we posted about it almost a year ago. (Thanks to Patricia for the tip.)
When we did a West Seattle-wide gas-price survey last weekend, we mentioned we couldn’t include biodiesel prices because they’re not posted for drive-by viewing. The new Propel station at 35th/Barton has just changed that.
In The Junction, the Morton’s-to-Pharmaca pharmacy transition is almost complete. It’s scheduled to become official at the end of this week; as we reported two weeks ago, they’re offering freebies during the “grand opening.”
Schmitz Park Elementary saying goodbye to 2 teachers
Thanks to Fiona Preedy for that photo and word that the two teachers pictured, Carolyn Kunihiro (left) and Sharon Glockner, are retiring from Schmitz Park Elementary this year and will be feted at a reception on Friday, June 6th (along with SP principal Richard Mellish, who’s departing). Fiona adds, “I’d like to invite former students, families, and staff to the reception, to bring these teachers their well wishes and as a reunion. If folks are unable to attend, pictures, stories, memories, are being gratefully received at schmitzparkelementary@gmail.com.” That’s a big potential pool of participants — Fiona says Mrs. Kunihiro has been teaching for 35 years (27 at SP) and Mrs. Glockner for 38 years (28 at SP).
New details on two major Junction projects
Those are from the “Preferred Scheme” section of the newly released Conner Homes presentation that will be made tomorrow night at the second Early Design Guidance meeting for Conner’s proposed buildings at California/Alaska/42nd in The Junction. See the presentation in its entirety here. The city Department of Planning and Development sometimes posts these presentations on the Design Review site in advance of the meetings (otherwise, they go up afterward), and that’s where we just found it. (Our coverage of the project’s first EDG meeting is here; tomorrow’s meeting is at 6:30 pm, Southwest Precinct meeting room.
We also have some new info about the groundbreaking celebration for the project that’ll soon start construction at that site, Fauntleroy Place (aka “the Whole Foods project”). Eric Radovich from development firm BlueStar says the June 12 event (first announced here) wiil start at 5:30 pm with a hosted barbecue (beer, wine, soda available). Music will be provided by local reggae band Andy O. Eric says, “You can expect a politician or two and a few of the key players to say a few words between 6:10 pm and 6:30 pm. We’ll turn a couple of shovels full of dirt and then back to the party until probably around 8 pm.” (Whole Foods and a new Hancock Fabrics store are the only two retail tenants who’ll be in the new building, which also will include hundreds of residential units.)
Also tonight: Tournament play for West Seattle Little League
On behalf of West Seattle Little League, Alki’s Cami MacNamara e-mailed WSB to let you know:
West Seattle Little League has completed regular season play. Congratulations to the Minors division (ages 8-10) Diamondbacks and the Majors division (ages 10-12) Orioles for finishing in first place! Tonight, End of Season (EOS) Tournament play begins for the Minors at Bar-S Field (6464 SW Admiral Way) at 6 pm and runs through June 10th. Majors take the field on Friday, May 30th also play through June 10th. The winner of each division will move on the the District 7 Tournament of Champions on June 13th-16th, hosted by the South Highline Nationals at City Hall Park in Normandy Park. Come down to Bar-S and enjoy the fun! To view the complete tournament schedules, go to westseattlelittleleague.com.
Here’s a map to Bar-S; here are photos from the season-starting Jamboree two short months ago.
Welcoming a new WSB sponsor: Dream Dinners
Every time a new sponsor comes on board, we take a moment to welcome them and let you know what their business is about. The latest is Dream Dinners, operated by Leslie Thomson (left) in Jefferson Square. It’s a solution to being repeatedly plagued by the dread question of “what’s for dinner?” when you don’t really have the inclination to make something from scratch, but a restaurant or takeout isn’t feasible either. This page on the Dream Dinners website explains “how it works” — they have the recipes and ingredients, you arrange for a session, you go home with meals to freeze till you’re ready to cook ’em. In this short clip, you’ll hear Leslie describe a few of the dishes on the DD menu (which rotates every several weeks, to offer plenty of choices):
This month’s menu continues through the end of the week; next month’s menu is previewable online too. Since Dream Dinners’ hours vary, the best way to contact Leslie to find out more is to e-mail her here: Leslie.Thomson@dreamdinners.com. Thanks to Dream Dinners for sponsoring WSB — and thanks to our other sponsors, all of whom you will find on this page, which also has info for anybody interested in joining them to grow their business and reach more customers while helping WSB be a sustainable source of 24/7 community news, information, and discussion for West Seattle.
Reader report: If you think your ‘hood is coyote-free …
Still letting your cat(s) run around, confident you’re in a wildlife-free zone? If so, you’re the reason “Mac’s Mom” wanted us to share her e-mail:
We are in the 4100 block between 44th and 45th [map], an area not particularly close to any green spaces. One month ago we found the remains of our family cat who had met a very violent end (at about 4AM – he put up quite a fight). Last weekend, our neighbors experienced the same loss. [Yes, we had told our neighbors what happened] I’m not sure how large a Coyote’s territory is, but we are evidently within one and wanted to let other folks in the area know that this is happening. While we’ve seen all of the warnings here on the blog, we disregarded them as we are so far from what we would consider to be “Coyote Habitat”. Please don’t make the same mistake we did!
It’s been said 2,005,894 times, there are many other good reasons to keep pets indoors too … cars, humans, other cats, other types of wildlife among them. For more on “coexisting with coyotes,” check out the info in our coverage of a city-organized presentation earlier this year.
West Seattle Crime Watch: Return of the report summaries
West Seattle Crime Watch has been long on reader reports and short on police reports for a while because of a change in how we access those reports, related to Seattle Police switching to a new computerized report system. But now we’re getting back into the rhythm of things, so those who are interested in these roundups can see what’s been going on. Keep those reader reports coming, though. Meantime, here are some West Seattle notes from the past four days worth of reports, plus one reader report:Read More
Tonight’s Lincoln Park sunset
This time of year, the quieter north side of the Lincoln Park shore is an especially wonderful place to watch the sun slide behind the Olympics.
Another followup: The door-to-door Democrats
On Saturday, we told you that 34th District Democrats chair Ivan Weiss was looking into reports of West Seattle solicitors claiming to be seeking money for the Democratic National Committee. 
Tonight, they were making the rounds again — came to our door in Upper Fauntleroy, in fact, plus we got e-mail and phone calls from others who were visited — and we wanted to note that Weiss did confirm over the holiday weekend that the DNC does have solicitors out, dispatched from national HQ, and he’s not happy about it; he believes the most effective way for the party to raise money and awareness is locals-to-locals. (This is what we told tonight’s solicitors, by the way, who spent some time plotting solicitation strategy right outside our home-office window before they went door-knocking.) Nonetheless, just because the DNC apparently does have solicitors in the area, don’t take anyone’s word for it — ask for their ID.
Cove Park vandalism update: The raven will rise again
We told you last Thursday about the raven sculpture at Fauntleroy’s Cove Park getting knocked off its perch, apparently a victim of vandalism. As we mentioned in that report, it’s in the custody of Gary Dawson from the Fauntleroy Community Association; we checked back to ask him its fate, and he says: “We have a plan on how to repair it and reinstall, but it will take some time to get at it. It won’t be that big of a job, just need to dedicate time to work on it.” No updates on the search for whoever’s to blame.
Crew removed from City Light trimming over “aggressive” cut
The Seattle City Light tree-trimming that’s been under way for the past few months (WSB coverage here, here, and here) has sparked controversy and concern in a Fauntleroy neighborhood. Last week, resident John McNulty cc’d WSB on a complaint to the city and attached two photos including the one you see above, taken along SW Trenton, showing big cedar trees that he says were “badly damaged” by a trimming crew, and asking for a “public apology” to the neighborhood. We heard the next day from the owner of the property where one of the trees is located, Fred Fleischmann, who wrote, “The trimming they are doing this time is excessive and is destroying beautiful big old cedar trees that are irreplaceable.” Since then, we’ve been pursuing information from City Light, and got it today. The utility acknowledges one of the trees was trimmed too “aggressively” by an Asplundh crew which has since been removed from the contract. But the other tree’s a different story, according to the city – here’s everything we have found out:Read More
Friday night Admiral attack: Update from police
Just got a call from Sgt. Jeff Durden at the Southwest Precinct with the latest – and a clarification – on the Friday night attack that injured a woman walking her dog in west Admiral. First of all, Sgt. Durden wanted to clarify part of what was reported in a tv story last night (as we mentioned here) – he says police do NOT have anyone in custody, and do NOT know of any similar attacks in West Seattle. In addition, he says, they are NOT certain that the man was trying to steal the woman’s purebred Siberian Husky – Sgt. Durden notes that the man did not say anything to the victim; that was simply her speculation that theft might have been his motive. Here’s the description information they have so far: Black man in his 30s or 40s, about 6-1 and 180 pounds, wearing a red sweatshirt and dark-colored jeans, and one final descriptive detail from the report, “(the suspect) did not smell very good.” Southwest Precinct detectives are continuing to work on the case and promise to let us know of any new developments.
whose students have come all the way to Fauntleroy Creek in recent years to study an environmental challenge – creek pollution from pet waste. On the Fauntleroy Community Association‘s 
Quiet week for public meetings since it’s the end of the month (except for 
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