day : 02/09/2008 11 results

Door-to-door alert: Sightings from Admiral, North Delridge

Neighbors are sharing these sightings, just in case. Might be perfectly innocent. If you’re interested, read on for two reports from Admiral and one from North Delridge:Read More

Calling all artists: Fauntleroy Art Show on the way

September 2, 2008 8:48 pm
|    Comments Off on Calling all artists: Fauntleroy Art Show on the way
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle religion | WS culture/arts

(updated since original publication – now that all artists are welcome, not just West Seattleites)
Earlier this summer, we brought you coverage of the many ways Fauntleroy Church celebrated its 100th birthday, from bell-ringing to beachfront vespers, and now there’s one more big event on the way. From Judy Pickens:

As a gift to the community to cap its centennial celebration, Fauntleroy Church/United Church of Christ is planning an art show and is calling for artists to participate.

The Fauntleroy Art Show will be the weekend of November 7-8. Participants should be prepared to show works (in any medium) that reflect the centennial theme, “Celebrating the Light.” Artists may display work at no cost; artists wishing to sell will contribute 15% of sales to help cover event expenses.

Details and application forms are available at ArtsWest, at the church office (9140 California Ave. SW; 932-5600), or by e-mailing info@fauntleroyucc.org. Applications must be received by October 1 for consideration.

Other Fauntleroy events include the Fauntleroy Community Association‘s monthly meeting a week from tonight, the premiere of the Fauntleroy documentary “The Fauntleroy Story: 100 Years of Community” on 9/24 (we wrote about the sneak preview in late July), and Fauntleroy Fall Festival 10/19; you can find out more about all of the above at fauntleroy.net.

Traffic alert: California/Genesee crash

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That photo’s just in from WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli, who advises avoiding California/Genesee, north edge of The Junction, for a while. He said nobody’s seriously hurt but there’s some rubbernecking slowdown and a lot of debris on the road. In addition to the vehicle in this photo, Christopher says, a small black SUV (not shown) was involved in the crash. No word so far on the cause.

Details: More $ for more bus service when Viaduct work intensifies

September 2, 2008 4:45 pm
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 |   Alaskan Way Viaduct | Transportation | West Seattle news | West Seattle video

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As promised, here are more details on the bus plan that county leaders announced today — yards away from the area where the Alaskan Way Viaduct’s South End work is set to start next spring — the project that will trigger extra service to areas including West Seattle:Read More

Gateway Cleanup countdown: The latest, with 11 days to go

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We’re now 11 days away from West Seattle’s biggest community cleanup in a long time, after months of planning, and if you’re not already signed up, it’s not too late. If you’re just hearing about this now – the West Seattle Gateway Cleanup on Saturday 9/13 is targeting the “gateway” area at the Fauntleroy end of The Bridge, from Walking on Logs to 35th/Fauntleroy — since the date was set in early June; today, we have another update from organizer Nancy Driver of the Fairmount Community Association, who says the cleanup now will extend to 3:30 pm:

The day of the event all volunteers should meet at the parking lot at the former Huling showroom at 4545 Fauntleroy (the location of the future Gateway Center). BlueStar Management has graciously allowed us to use the lot as our staging area. One section will be reserved for parking, however, we are strongly encouraging participants to arrive by foot, bus, bike or to carpool with other volunteers – remember this is a “green” event. We will have tents set up in another area with tables for checking in volunteers, handing out safety vests, dispensing water, coffee and light snacks. The mayor will be speaking under one of the tents.

Another important piece of information is that we have extended the project by a half hour to accommodate the mayor’s schedule. He is due to arrive at 9:00 and we understand he will speak for about 10 minutes around 9:30. Tom Rasmussen, City Councilmember, will also be on hand and may want to say a few words. We will actually start moving the volunteers in the first crew down to the site just before 9:30 – people in the 9:30 crew still need to arrive at least by 9:10 to get checked in. Volunteers in the second crew should arrive by 11:10 so we can be down at the site by 11:30; third crew should arrive at 1:10 in order to get to the cleanup site by 1:30. Volunteers must check in at the staging area first and get a safety vest. Volunteers who appear down at the site without a safety vest will not be allowed on to the cleanup site.

More updates to come! If you have questions or haven’t signed up yet to help but want to, e-mail Nancy at ndriver@quidnunc.net.

Update: “New” route open through High Point

September 2, 2008 2:30 pm
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 |   High Point | Neighborhoods | Transportation | West Seattle news

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The new stoplight at Lanham/Morgan is still in test (blinking) mode, but there’s an update since we reported on the start of testing last week – when we passed by a short time ago, we noticed the barricades are gone and, for the first time in years, Lanham is open for drivers to get onto/off Morgan in High Point, at the intersection with Commons Park and the new Bridge Park retirement complex. (The photo was taken on Lanham, looking south across Morgan.) By the way, as posted at highpointneighborhood.org, the High Point Neighborhood Association‘s quarterly meeting is set for Commons Park a week from Thursday, 6 pm on September 11th.)

Welcoming a new WSB sponsor: “In the Sawtooths” opens Thursday

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That photo of a scene from “In the Sawtooths” is courtesy of Burnt Studio Productions, which joins us as a WSB sponsor to make sure you know all about its new play, which opens Thursday and runs through September 20th at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. Here’s a special offer: Burnt Studio would like to extend a special offer to West Seattle Blog readers. Mention the WSB at the door and get $5 off your ticket! Now, about “In the Sawtooths”: The play written by Dano Madden stars (as shown L to R in photo above) Chris Bange, Scott Lendzion, and Sam Read and is directed by Brian Tyrrell. As described on the Burnt Studio site, “‘In the Sawtooths’ tells the story of Oby, Nellie and Darin, best friends who, as a yearly ritual, go backpacking in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains. As their annual trip nears, their bond is unexpectedly tested by tragedy. What will become of their friendship as they navigate through an immense and unexpected wilderness? At its heart, the play deals with how friendship changes with age. The distinctive quality of In the Sawtooths, says the playwright, is the depth of its male characters. ‘It’s not a play about three men that people are used to seeing,’ Madden says. ‘I think there’s a lot more emotional depth to male relationships than most people realize. This play really delves into that dynamic.'” Burnt Studio — described as “an eclectic performing-arts organization serving West Seattle ” — also notes: “Dano Madden was recently named one of the ’50 Playwrights to Watch’ by The Dramatist.” You can see “In the Sawtooths” at 8 pm on any of these nights: September 4, 5, 6, 11, 13, 18, 19, 20. Buy tickets at the door to get that special WSB-reader discount mentioned above (otherwise, tickets at the regular price are available online at this Brown Paper Tickets link). We thank Burnt Studio Productions for sponsoring WSB, along with the other local groups and businesses you’ll find listed here (along with info on how to join them, and an update on our record-setting August traffic).

Beefing up bus service: Toplines from today’s announcement

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We’re in Sodo, where County Executive Ron Sims and West Seattle’s County Councilmember Dow Constantine have just finished a media briefing about plans to beef up bus service once the Alaskan Way Viaduct‘s major construction work kicks in (starting with the South End project beginning next spring). We’ll have full details a bit later; toplines include: this is being paid for by $32 million in state money to “mitigate the construction impacts” – and the routes listed as “candidates for service enhancement” include West Seattle’s 21, 22, 37, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, and 116. (White Center-area routes are listed in this report on partner site White Center Now.) More to come. ADDED 1:33 PM: Here’s the official news release from the county website. Pursuing electronic copies of the collateral (including a countywide map of potentially affected routes) that was handed out at the media event.

Countdown to Car-Free Day on Sunday: The Alki alert plan

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As first posted here a week ago, that’s the map from the doorhangers that went out on Alki last week with another alert about this Sunday’s city-organized Car-Free Day, which will close that stretch of Alki SW to all vehicles but the Route 773 shuttle (and local residents who can’t reach their homes any other way) from noon to 6 pm. As mentioned here over the weekend, while there were speed bumps with Car-Free Day #1 on Capitol Hill two weekends ago, general consensus seems to be that Car-Free Day #2 this past Sunday in the Rainier Valley went more smoothly. SDOT’s Rick Sheridan tells WSB today: “There were no cars ticketed or towed during the (Rainier) event. SDOT’s outreach and use of multiple means of communications helped ensure community members were aware of the event and knowledgeable about the parking restrictions.” For Alki, Sheridan says that in addition to the doorhanger distributed last week (see it here ), SDOT also is “visiting businesses in person … and using an automatic phone-dialing system to call people in the area about the event.” (Both of those methods were deployed for last Sunday’s Rainier Valley Car-Free Day; the Alki calls are to be made this Thursday.) He also says the no-parking signs are now scheduled to be “set up a full 72 hours in advance,” which means you should see them Thursday, instead of the previously mentioned Friday – the parking restrictions will be in effect 10 am-6 pm Sunday along Alki SW in the zone shown on the map above (California Way to 63rd SW). We’ll continue posting daily updates (including information on Sunday activities scheduled along Alki during the event); the city’s official Alki Car-Free Day webpage is viewable here.

Crime Watch: The case of the purloined planter (and bonsai)

bonsai.jpgIt’s been gone a while, but CSR wonders if perhaps someone in WSB-land has seen the birthday-gift bonsai (photo at left) stolen from her home earlier this summer. From her e-mail: “On the weekend of July 5th while my husband and I were away, someone entered our fenced-in backyard in the Admiral neighborhood of 48th Ave SW and Lander and stole a 30-year old Chinese Elm bonsai and planter that I had given to my husband for his 70th birthday. The tree, about 2 1/2 feet high, is beautifully shaped and was the focal point upon entering our yard. When we filed a police report, we were told that it is not unknown for unscrupulous gardeners and landscapers to steal plants (even digging them up) and sell them to their customers. We believe that someone who knows the value of bonsai trees saw ours when the gate was open and waited until the time was right to steal it. Bonsai Northwest told our insurance company that stolen bonsai sometimes show up on Craig’s List. I suspect that too much time has gone by for this post to help us recover our stolen bonsai, but I am attaching a photo to alert our community and on the off chance that someone may have bought it from the thief not realizing that it was stolen.” If you’ve got a tip, the SPD non-emergency number is 625-5011.

For early-morning water-watchers: Carrier’s final journey

kittyhawksandiego.jpgIf you’re looking out at Puget Sound, toward Bainbridge or northward, early this morning, you might see the USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63; US Navy photo at left) on the last leg of what’s expected to be its final journey: The 47-year-old carrier is expected to tie up around 9 o’clock this morning in Bremerton, where it will be decommissioned (a public ceremony is expected sometime next year). The Kitty Hawk has been sailing up the coast from San Diego, where it stopped last month after a 10-year deployment to Yokosuka, Japan. ADDED 8:59 AM: Gary J got this photo before the Kitty Hawk turned into Rich Passage:

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