month : 07/2008 331 results

Thanks to Cami for another update (and the photo) – that cheering you heard from Bar-S Playfield over Alki Point tonight was the sound of the West Seattle Little League 11-12 All-Stars winning the championship:

West Seattle Little Leagueâ€™s Majors (11-12) All-Star team defeated the South Highline Nationals 6-4 tonight at Bar-S and clinched the District 7 championship! The game included a grand slam homerun by West Seattleâ€™s Matt Weller in the bottom of the second inning.

The team will now advance to the Little League 11-12 state tournament in Mill Creek on July 19th. For the first time ever, West Seattle Little League swept the District 7 all-stars tournaments winning the 9-10, 10-11 and the 11-12 divisions. All three teams were undefeated! For more information, please visit www.westseattlelittleleague.com.

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West Seattle July 4th updates: Alki traffic; parade; fireworks facts

July 3, 2008 6:24 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Holidays | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

The West Seattle 4th of July page is the one-stop holiday shop, but we have a few additional details right now, from answers to some questions about the Alki traffic restrictions tomorrow night, to some fireworks facts you might find fun if you are info-nuts like us. First, we talked to Lt. Norm James – who wanted you to have first word of the Alki restrictions in mid-June (original WSB report here) – and he answered a few of the questions we’d been asked:

–Admiral: It will stay open. But the streets that head west toward Alki will all be involved in the traffic restriction when it kicks in around 6 pm.

-Buses: They will continue to go through along Alki/Harbor. (Links to the holiday bus/Water Taxi schedules on on the 4th of July page.)

-Who gets through: As previously stated in the police advisory, residents’ “guests” will be allowed through – Lt. James says he’s been advising that people who fit into that category get a note from their host(s) that they can show police, or have a phone number ready for officers to check.

Lt. James said few complaints have come in about the plan to reinstitute these restrictions (which were used some years back) and they expect everything to go smoothly.

Now, the parade reminder – Sherri Chun sends a reminder that the Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade is definitely on for tomorrow, starting @ 10:30 am at 44th/Sunset, followed by picnicking and games at Hamilton Viewpoint. The only other 4th of July parade in West Seattle is an informal neighborhood parade planned around the new Ercolini Park (which is looking ahead to its formal dedication on July 12th). Other events here.

Last but by no means least – THE FIREWORKS! Most of the fireworks you’ll see from north- and east-facing West Seattle are from the 4th of Jul-Ivar’s show, which traces its history back to legendary West Seattleite Ivar Haglund (seafood-eatery namesake). We’re planning to join the media tour of the fireworks barge in the morning as part of our holiday coverage (we’ll continue updating through the day). But before that, here are some fun facts about this year’s show, from the Ivar’s PR team:Read More

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Crime Watch reader report: Tire slashings

July 3, 2008 6:19 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

E-mailed by Rod:

… Wanted to let you know that the tires of at least three cars were slashed last night on Graham St between 41st and 42nd plus one (mine) on 41st st. SW :(

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West Seattle Little League championship game tonight

July 3, 2008 2:11 pm

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| West Seattle news | WS & Sports

Even more fun in the Alki area tonight, besides the art reception/show (5-8 pm) at the Bathhouse and general pre-holiday excitement – Cami from West Seattle Little League reports:

The 11-12 All-Stars team plays tonight at Bar-S field [map] at 6 pm against the South Highline Nationals. This is the Championship game for this tournament. If WSLL loses, a game will be needed tomorrow at 10 am to determine the champion. Go WestSide!

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Bus riders alert: Metro proposes 25-cent increase

July 3, 2008 1:49 pm

| 21 COMMENTS

| Transportation | West Seattle news

Just announced today and attributed to fuel prices; the county news release and other docs are linked here (find the proposed fare table here). If approved, it would start 10/1.

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Seen along West Seattle shores: Parking alerts, tidewalkers

July 3, 2008 1:14 pm

| 6 COMMENTS

| Seen around town | Seen at sea | Transportation

At Don Armeni, parking restrictions kick in at 4 pm this afternoon, according to that sign and others. Not far away, parking is OK until mid-afternoon along California Way and Ferry Avenue, which have these signs:

Closer to the Alki business district, you’ll see no-parking signs which are actually for Saturday’s Seafair Pirates Landing extravaganza. (But don’t forget, as we’ve mentioned repeatedly, Alki and Harbor Avenues are going to be off-limits to all drivers but residents by late afternoon tomorrow – click here to read details.) More holiday coverage in the hours to come, and on our 4th of July events/infopage. Meanwhile, the lowest tide of the month bottomed out about an hour and a half ago; we surveyed the scene off Beach Drive across from Me-Kwa-Mooks:

Seattle Aquarium naturalists are out at Constellation and Lincoln Parks till 2 pm today and will be out again 11 am-3 pm tomorrow (-3.4 low tide at about half past noon tomorrow; monthly chart here).

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Amazing Space Needle lightning view from Alki

July 3, 2008 10:19 am

| 13 COMMENTS

| West Seattle weather

Just in from Susan Grossman at Singing Pixel Photography. She says she caught this image from Alki at 1:45 am today and adds, “It took snapping, oh, a photo every 60 seconds for 66 minutes to finally catch an image of an instance of all the lightning that was tearing around this morning.” (P.S. The latest official “forecast discussion” suggests it’ll be dry, with some cloud breaks, by fireworks time tomorrow.)

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Statue of Liberty Plaza update: Construction starting shortly

July 3, 2008 9:46 am

| 2 COMMENTS

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

(fall 2007 photo by Mark Bourne)
Today’s weather gives us one more chance to use that photo (as we did in rainy early June). If you are near the Alki Statue of Liberty today while tidewalking (very low tide @ 11:40 am), tomorrow for the fireworks, or Saturday for the Seafair Pirates Landing, take a last look because this section of Alki is about to change (as we first reported in this project update 2 weeks ago). Paul and Libby Carr of the Statue of Liberty Plaza Committee have just updated their sealady.org website but also included a few more details on the impending work in the following information e-mailed to WSB last night, including impending groundbreaking:Read More

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Natural fireworks: 3rd of July lightning show

July 3, 2008 8:33 am

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| Arbor Heights | Fun stuff to do | West Seattle weather

Thanks to Jill for that photo of the lightning early this morning – she’s in Arbor Heights (which also had one of the best views of the lightning a few nights ago too), and you can see a few more pix on her Flickr page. Meanwhile, with tomorrow’s holiday, we’re all watching the forecast – today looks soggy but tomorrow and Saturday may be better — lots to do all three days, including the Seafair Pirates Landing at Alki on Saturday and the Alki Bathhouse art show/reception tonight (5-8 pm), with a chance to browse creations like this (thanks to Jana):

More on the Events calendar page (and for tomorrow’s plans – with helpful holiday info as well as activities – on our 4th of July page).

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West Seattle, tourist destination: Concierges’ Junction tour

July 3, 2008 6:07 am

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| Seen around town | West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

It started with a bus ride on the 37 – met at California/Alaska by West Seattle Junction Association executive director Susan Melrose (in sunglasses, at left). Last night, more than a dozen concierges from downtown hotels came to The Junction to find out more about places they can recommend their guests visit. From the bus stop, they set off on foot:

Next stop, champagne at Clementine, whose owner Linda Walsh (facing the camera at left) hatched the idea with Georgia Blu owner Krista Means:

The Junction contingent got Russell Hathaway of the Seattle Hotel Concierge Association (and Hotel Vintage Park downtown) to assemble the “tour group”; along with visiting other spots (we didn’t follow the whole tour), they had dinner at Ama Ama. Interesting side note: Several of the participants said visitors thinking about moving to Seattle are the ones who most often ask questions about our side of the bay.

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Reader report: “Wonderful people in West Seattle”

July 3, 2008 12:55 am

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle people

Out of the WSB inbox, from Sherry:

I just wanted to tell you about a couple of incidents in West Seattle where good people have saved me from great difficulty caused by my own carelessness.

A few weeks ago, I set my computer bag down at the rear of my vanpool van while waiting for another rider to arrive with a key for the van. When he arrived, we jumped in the van and drove all the way to Redmond for work. When I opened the back of the van, I realized that I had left my laptop bag on the street (with my employer’s laptop in it, of course!). I sped back to West Seattle and found a message on my answering machine from my dentist: the kind young man who found my bag had found an appointment reminder in the bag, and called the dentist’s office to ask them to contact me and give me his phone number so I could retrieve my computer bag.

My office mate, who is from India, remarked that that is what he loves about the United States: If you lose something, people will always return it. Weeeelll, not necessarily, I said. I was very lucky that an honest person found my bag.

Then, apparently [Tuesday] night my wallet, containing my debit card and a credit card, fell out of my purse, either in the parking lot at the Jefferson Square Safeway, or on the street outside my house. I noticed that it was missing, but thought it must have fallen out in my car. [Wednesday] morning when I opened my front door to go and retrieve my wallet from the car, I found the wallet in my mailbox.

I was able to thank the young man who returned my computer bag in person. Whoever the kind person is who returned my wallet, THANK YOU!!

We have some wonderful people in West Seattle.

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Homeless and camping in West Seattle parks: 2 encounters

July 2, 2008 10:50 pm

| 20 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | West Seattle people

WSB contributing photojournalist Matt Durham has filed several updates in the past two-plus months about homeless encampments he has been finding, and investigating, while exploring West Seattle parks. Tonight, he writes about two encounters with people linked to them:Read More

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More tall ships off West Seattle – including 2 with sails up!

July 2, 2008 6:41 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| Seen at sea

Huge thanks to Joe Follansbee, a West Seattleite and tall-ships expert who took and sent those photos of the beauties sailing past Duwamish Head this afternoon — we got a couple tips (thanks to those tipsters too) but couldn’t get down to get pix in time, then were thrilled to receive these from Joe. He says the first is “the Lynx out of Newport Beach, Calif. Itâ€™s a replica of a War of 1812 privateer.” Second is “the Lady Washington, a replica of one of the first American vessels to visit what would later be Washington State.” (Seen in a WSB film favorite, “Pirates of the Caribbean”!) Third is “the Hawaiian Chieftain, which was inspired by 18th century South Seas trading ships.” (Joe is communications director for the last two.) All of course are headed to Tall Ships Tacoma (complete info on that here), along with the U.S. Coast Guard square-rigger Eagle, which we covered yesterday (here and here) and is seen below in a photo from before its departure this morning (thanks to JayDee for this pic taken from the Water Taxi):

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West Seattle jail-sites fight: Additions to city website

July 2, 2008 5:51 pm

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| West Seattle jail sites | West Seattle politics

Six days after the first city-organized public meeting about the two proposed misdemeanor-jail sites in West Seattle (photo above; complete WSB coverage here), the city sends word of two online updates: “written feedback” and video from the meeting, posted here, and what’s described as “a document describing the public forum format,” posted here (the format itself generated some controversy and complaints during last week’s meeting). The next scheduled city-organized meeting is July 12 at North Seattle Community College and is intended to focus on the Aurora site; WSB coverage of the jail-sites fight, stretching back to first word of the “final four” location list including the two WS sites, is archived here.

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Robbery/shooting followup: Three updates

July 2, 2008 4:44 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

We mentioned this morning we had two questions out to the Seattle Police media unit – and now we have answers: First, the Cherokee used in the robbery (shown above as photographed by Scott C while it was being towed away last night) was NOT stolen; second, one of the four law enforcers who fired at the vehicle when its occupant refused to put down a gun WAS from the Southwest Precinct here in West Seattle, according to media officer Mark Jamieson — a patrol sergeant with 19 years experience. As is routine in such cases, he and the others involved (two from SPD and one from King County Sheriff’s Office’s Metro Transit detail) are on administrative leave. 6:02 PM UPDATE: Police also released more details today about the actual robbery and how the suspects knew each other, plus the fact that the suspect who was shot had been armed with a pellet gun. Here’s one account from the Times.

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Reader report: Fast work stops small fire

July 2, 2008 2:50 pm

| 7 COMMENTS

| West Seattle fires | West Seattle news | Westwood

We saw the 911 call for “bark fire” at Westwood Village a short time ago; sounded too small to go. But Tyson just sent this firsthand account and it sounds like some folks deserve kudos:

I’m a daily reader of the West Seattle Blog and just thought I’d share something I just witnessed. Not exactly breaking news or anything but worth a note. Just walked out of the Westwood Village Barnes and Noble and saw a huge plume of smoke coming from the Target parking lot. I then noticed that one of the bushes used for landscaping was engulfed in flames and it was quickly spreading with help of the surrounding mulch. Target and Westwood Village security were very quick in responding to the fire as was the fire department.

No confirmation yet but speculation is that it might have been caused by a discarded cigarette – that sort of thing causes a lot of fires like that this time of year, so if you smoke, please be careful.

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Cart Project update: Pickup time!

July 2, 2008 2:43 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| Environment | West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news | Westwood

We told you recently about Feet First‘s Cart Project – offering discounted pull-carts like the one above to people in the Westwood Village area, as part of a pilot project to encourage people to walk to the store instead of driving. They’ve now set the pickup time – you have to live in the pilot-project area, and you should have received a doorhanger that you can bring along (see a copy of it here) – 3:30-7:30 pm today and each day next Monday-Friday, at Westwood Village QFC. You get the $90 cart for $15 if you pledge to walk at least once weekly to do grocery-shopping and agree to two surveys (initial and followup). Got questions? Call 206/652-2310. If you’re outside the pilot-project area, here’s another way to get a discounted pull-cart – as reported here a week and a half ago, Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) was inspired by the Cart Project and decided to offer discounts on their “shopping trolleys” to shoppers who mention it.

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Southwest Community Center to be closed next week

July 2, 2008 1:44 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

In our story last month about the renovation work that’s closing Southwest Pool till fall, we mentioned adjoining Southwest Community Center would have to close for a week here and a week there because of the project. SWCC just told us the next closure is next week: July 7-12, possibly a little longer. EARLY THURSDAY UPDATE: Junior Kitiona from SWCC sent more details – the closure is likely to stretch into the week of July 14th; how far, they won’t know till they get there – it’s because of the electrical-vault changeover mentioned in the pool-renovations article linked earlier in this post. We’ll keep you up to date on when the center is ready to reopen.

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Also happening today/tonight: 4 highlights

July 2, 2008 1:31 pm

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| How to help | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

This morning, we mentioned tonight’s Neighborhood Center volunteer event in High Point. Also in the hours ahead: Youngstown Arts Center is offering free events for youth Wednesdays at 4 pm, starting with All-Access Open Studio for young artists, 4 pm today. Heading south from there, North Delridge Neighborhood Council invites everybody with an interest in ND to join its nonthly meeting @ Delridge Library (excellent a/c there, we hear), 6:30 pm. At South Seattle Community College, the Southwest District Council — representatives from neighborhood groups and other key organizations in the part of West Seattle that the city considers the “Southwest District” — meets in the board room at 7 pm; City Light and Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle have spots on the agenda. Also at 7, at C & P Coffee south of The Junction, West Seattle Cool Moms are having their July get-together, with a presentation including ways to live a less-toxic lifestyle.

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Traffic alert: Avoid I-5 SB through downtown (and toward WS)

July 2, 2008 1:19 pm

| 3 COMMENTS

| Not WS but we're mentioning it anyway | Transportation

WSDOT has sent a bulletin about trouble on southbound I-5 through downtown, blocking three lanes just south of the West Seattle Bridge exit, currently causing a SEVEN-MILE-LONG backup. So if you happen to be reading this from points north, avoid I-5 TFN. 1:37 PM UPDATE: The crash scene is cleared but the backup is 9 miles and will probably take a while to thin out, so we’d still suggest alternate routes.

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Welcoming a new WSB sponsor: Village Green Perennial Nursery

July 2, 2008 12:34 pm

| 13 COMMENTS

| Gardening | West Seattle businesses | West Seattle online

The traditional WSB sponsor welcome goes out today to Village Green Perennial Nursery, featured in this month’s edition of Seattle Metropolitan Magazine as a “Community Treasure” (page 47!). Village Green is celebrating its 5th anniversary this year. Owner Vera Johnson is a fully organic gardener, specializing in perennials and old roses, growing with soils blended using compost made at Village Green. Of course, organic gardening doesn’t just involve the soil – it involves the rest of the ecosystem, and Vera and her staff extend their customer service to talking with customers about natural pest management, including knowing which plants atttract the “good bugs,” which in turn keep the “bad bugs” away. Village Green, in fact, has its own bee colony and three chickens who help keep potential pests in check. The plants Vera sells are all locally grown by independent growers; she notes that means you get fresher, livelier plants that will adapt more quickly to your garden. She also wants you to know she knows gardens and gardeners, and uses that knowledge in her approach to customer service. Village Green’s nursery grounds stretch out behind the green house you see at the upper right of the photo above; it’s at 10223 26th SW (map), phone 206/767-7735, open Thursdays-Sundays – hours are on this page of the Village Green website, which has a lot to explore. We thank Village Green Perennial Nursery and all WSB sponsors, listed on this page along with information on how to join them.

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Boat beached on Alki: Waiting for the tide to come in

July 2, 2008 11:16 am

| 7 COMMENTS

| Seen at sea | West Seattle news

Fog and low tide don’t mix very well. Just ask the two guys who are sitting in that powerboat right now, waiting for the tide to come back in so they can get back out on the water. Thanks to the person who called to let us know about this; we walked out to ask the stranded boaters if they’re OK, they said yes, “we just got lost” while heading out on the first day of crab season (not-yet-deployed baskets were stacked in their boat). Onlookers (like the person standing by the boat’s stern) are also checking on them; meanwhile, ferry foghorns are sounding just offshore, and it looks like the fog’s pulling back. (The tide bottomed out about 20 minutes ago, so they shouldn’t be stuck too much longer. Tomorrow at 11:39 am, by the way, the tide’s almost as low as the mega-low tide in early June, so boaters – and tidewalkers! – take note.)

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Robbery/shooting followup: Bank reopens

July 2, 2008 10:20 am

| Comments Off on Robbery/shooting followup: Bank reopens

| Crime | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

Wells Fargo at Admiral/California has reopened after the harrowing events of yesterday (WSB all-day coverage here). Meantime, we are following up with Seattle Police on 2 questions: A commenter asked whether the gold Cherokee (shown here) was stolen; alsoo, we wondered if any of the three officers who had to fire into it downtown happened to be from the Southwest Precinct, since the last official media update said “various precincts.” The SPD media unit is handling inquiries on yesterday’s events; Officer Mark Jamieson is looking into both questions and we’ll update this post when we hear back.

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