West Seattle scenes: The dock is jumping
Coming in from downtown on the Elliott Bay Water Taxi less than an hour ago, not only did we see fish jumping in the bay – we saw this lively crowd angling for them from the dock at Seacrest. Didn’t get a photo, but as we walked away from the dock, we saw one man who’d made quite the catch, cleaning a 2-foot salmon over in the Seacrest sink. (If you want a different view of the salmon now running in local waters, looks like it’s a great time to visit the Ballard Locks fish ladder viewing area, according to our friends at MyBallard.com.)
Denny/Sealth updates: Sealth appeal, Denny site future
Two updates today: First, we reported earlier this week about West Seattle-based activist Chris Jackins‘ appeal of the Sealth site “determination of nonsignificance,” and a controversy over tree-cutting that had been done before a hearing on that appeal. We have new information on the appeal (and why there was no public notice of the hearing) – also, we have a report from last night’s Westwood Neighborhood Council meeting, where both city Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher and West Seattle’s school-board rep Steve Sundquist were on hand for some honest and open discussion about the future of the Denny site, once the old school’s demolished (shown above, the WNC “vision” for what the site could become – click image for a larger view):Read More
Two bag-fee updates: Website’s REAL backer; plus, comic relief
FIRST, ABOUT THAT WEBSITE: Huge kudos to Blogging Georgetown, one of our favorite nearby-neighborhood sites, for going an important step further than we did in our report last night on the anti-bag-fee website: As you can read in this BG post, he looked up the StopTheSeattleBagTax.com URL registration, and notes that the domain was registered Monday, to … the American Chemistry Council. No surprise, as several commenters on WSB speculated along those lines, but it is a little startling that they didn’t bother to register the domain in the name of Washington Food Industry. We have sent a note to WFI spokesperson Jan Gee asking for comment on the Chemistry Council’s relationship to her group and this referendum campaign. This section of the ACC site has links about its previous efforts to stop this bag fee (and proposals in other states), including the radio commercial BG mentions.
SECOND, ON A LIGHTER NOTE: Just got this link from West Seattle’s own “tea lady” Tracy (who closed her Admiral shop some months back to focus on her downtown Tea Gallery operation) — Her brother, syndicated comic-strip artist Keith Knight, took on plastic bags in his strip “The Knight Life” over the weekend. You can see it here.
12:51 PM UPDATE ON FIRST ITEM: Response from Jan Gee at WFI:
The ACC is a member of the coalition and was very active during the City’s public hearing process on this issue. Their membership includes the manufacturers and suppliers of many of our bags. We expect them to be very supportive of this effort including significant financial support. As an association of family owned businesses we don’t have the resources to meet all the demands Seattle places on citizen referendum. They also have an IT person and I don’t.
West Seattle Crime Watch: Explosive attack this morning
Got a note from Laura in Highland Park wondering about an loud explosion-type sound that rattled her windows around midnight. Checked with the Southwest Precinct, which quickly provided this info: Somebody set off an explosive device in the backyard of a home in the 7700 block of 13th SW (map). “Shrapnel” from the explosion broke a window at the house; no injuries reported. The bomb squad was called out, and determined the device was made from “sparklers, ceramic, and duct tape.” The victims told police they don’t have kids who might have been involved in a prank like that, and have no idea who might have done it.
Happening tonight/tomorrow: From politics to paintings
TONIGHT: 34th District Democrats‘ monthly meeting, with guests including City Council President Richard Conlin and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson, plus a jail-sites-fight update from Highland Park Action Council, 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy.
TONIGHT: “Project Runway” week 5 and Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) barista Blayne is still in the running, so that means another viewing party at Ginomai (42nd and Genesee). Doors open 8 pm, show at 9 pm.
TOMORROW: West Seattle Second Thursday Art Walk, 6-9 pm. More than 30 venues – and not all in The Junction! – get the map and find out about some of the artists, at the official Art Walk blog (here’s a direct link to the map).
We’ll spotlight some of the Friday and Saturday events later today – Saturday in particular has some mega-events, such as Picnic at the Precinct and the High Point Neighborhood Center groundbreaking – in the meantime, you can check the WSB Events calendar list for dozens of happenings in the days/weeks/months ahead.
We’re still in the “no spoilers on the home page” mode for those who recorded the show but haven’t watched it yet, so click ahead to see how Blayne did tonight, and what his 
The bill eventually passed, and tonight,
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