West Seattle, Washington
19 Friday
OK, who said retirement means shuffleboard? We found that pool table upstairs from the great room that was headquartered for today’s grand-opening party at the newest retirement community in West Seattle, Bridge Park (WSB sponsor). Guests of honor at the party — Bridge Park’s first residents:
Highlights from today’s event, ahead:Read More
Just got a tip about shots fired in Alki/60th vicinity a short time ago – no medic calls but scanner says police are looking for one or possibly more people “firing rounds” – one scanner description was “whitish color 2 door coupe, Maserati, white male, 20s, short blonde hair, cranking rounds off in the air” – haven’t heard the other potential description. Will update if/when we hear more; let us know if you’re in the area and seeing/hearing anything. 11:14 PM UPDATE: In comments, our original tipster says there’s word a suspect was stopped at the Harbor Ave. 7-11.
Seen from the Klahowya tonight, sailing from Southworth to Vashon (first two photos), then Vashon to Fauntleroy. The official full moon is tomorrow.
Rolfe wrote to ask that you be on the lookout for his car, stolen between midnight-10 am today from his home near 46th/Raymond (map): “1991 black Acura Integra 2 door with hatchback with tan cloth interior. Car has distinctive dent above right front wheel.” Call 911 if you see it. SEPTEMBER 28 UPDATE: The car’s been found.
Fans were already lined up through the produce section at West Seattle Thriftway this morning waiting for “Captain Phil” from the “Deadliest Catch” reality show — who signed autographs for about two hours on behalf of his new coffee company:
As fans had mentioned in the comments following our original WSB preview of his appearance, he’s had some health trouble, so we asked how he’s doing:
As you can tell from what he said in that video (sorry about the background noise – new mike’s on order, after a week of shooting events in very loud places), Captain Phil is proud of his “Deadliest Blend” (the name stirs memories of the triple-strength grind we made during overnight radio shifts decades ago, but thank heavens coffee’s come a long way since then) – you can read more about Captain Phil’s coffee here. We also dropped by the West Seattle Farmers’ Market to see how things were going at the Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle booth:
Mary Ellen Cunningham of CHoSS (pictured with Anthony Hardt of Left Coast Dog Walkers) hadn’t gotten any produce donations yet when we dropped by but was thrilled anyway because her group’s getting new citywide publicity – a KING5 tv crew stopped by the booth (look for the story on tonight’s newscasts). Community Harvest has other big news – as noted on its website, the fruit-tree harvest (if your tree has more than you can eat, donate its fruit and they’ll send volunteers over to harvest it) has already brought in more than A TON of fruit – more than twice last year’s total – and the season’s not over yet!
One week from today, California SW in The Junction will be closed (in segments: Edmunds/Alaska, Alaska/Oregon, Oregon to post office) for the first-ever West Seattle Junction Car Show (co-sponsored by WSB). 
Pre-registration is closed, with more than 140 signed up, but there’s room for more, says co-organizer Michael Hoffman of Liberty Bell Printing. First come, first served, on show day — pre-1975, no 4×4s, per Michael — which means be there at 6:30 am; if you really want to be prepared, you can download the registration form here – there’s a $20 fee, as this is a fundraiser for the co-presenting Maple Valley Street Rats, which has a scholarship funds for students going into the automotive field. (The T-shirts shown at left will be sold during the Junction Car Show, too, among other activities we previously reported here.) If you’re just going to view the cars, stroll The Junction 8 am-4 pm Sunday – or get there earlier for a pancake breakfast at the West Seattle Eagles (starting at 7) among other dining choices (including a special breakfast menu at Puerto Vallarta, also starting at 7). P.S. Anybody who’s entering and wants to send us a pic of your car(s) in advance, we’ll be doing more previews in the coming week and would love to show some of the cars people will be able to see: editor@westseattleblog.com
We were heading north to The Junction just before 1 pm when a Blue Angels-like roar preceded the sight of several military jets flying west. Figured it had something to do with the Seahawks game at Qwest Field; indeed, the Game Day page says “four F-15 jets” (Air Force stock photo above) were to fly over the stadium following the national anthem.
It’s been a quiet few days for crime reports but we’ve received a few today, starting with this one that came in as a comment on this three-week-old post, where it’s unlikely to be seen, so we’re republishing it here – it’s from Mike:
Well, I got hit Friday night. They cut the catalytic converter off my truck. It was parked on 41st between Dakota and Andover. I hope they catch this guy. I would also encourage all of us to contact our legislators to implement regulations on metal recyclers; that’s the only way were going to get control of this nuisance.
Legislations have passed two metal-theft bills in the past two years – the second one, which took effect this summer, specifically addressed catalytic converters; here’s an article mentioning both.
Highland Park activist Dina Johnson says she’ll be out on Alki again this afternoon in her suffragette garb — “circa 1912,” as she describes it — registering people to vote. Unless you’re new to this state, your deadline to register is October 4th — if you sign up by mail, that’s the date your form must be postmarked by; you can download the form from this page on the King County website. If you ARE new to Washington, your deadline is October 20, but you’d have to register in person to push it that far (more details here). The presidential race is only the top of a tall stack of important state/local races and ballot measures; go here to get a look at some of what you’ll be voting for – provided you’re signed up. (If you’d like to sign up with Dina’s help, look for her and husband Blair Johnson on the Alki promenade this afternoon. Lots of other local activists are busy trying to sign up voters too, with so much at stake.)
CAPTAIN PHIL IN WEST SEATTLE: The “Deadliest Catch” reality show co-star will be at West Seattle Thriftway 11 am-1 pm today to pitch his “Deadliest Coffee” (check this report from earlier in the week for more details and lots of fan discussion).
BRIDGE PARK: This new retirement community (which is one of our newest sponsors) is throwing open its doors for an open house 11 am-5 pm today, including guided tours and door prizes, plus a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 1:30 pm. Read more about Bridge Park (including its pet-friendliness!) here; it’s on Morgan at Lanham, just a few blocks east of 35th, across from High Point’s Commons Park.
FOOTBALL FUNDRAISER: The West Seattle Junior Wildcats junior football team will be washing cars and selling burgers/hot dogs in the West Seattle High School parking lot, 9 am-4 pm.
Three notes about today’s West Seattle Farmers’ Market: First, if you grow fruit and/or vegetables, bring some to the market today, to “Share the Bounty”> via Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle, which will donate it to the White Center Food Bank (which also serves part of West Seattle). Second – it’s tomato-tasting day, starting at 11 am (one hour after the market opens). Third – here’s our regular weekly link to the Ripe ‘n’ Ready “fresh sheet.”
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