West Seattle, Washington
12 Thursday
Two more car-burglary reports came in tonight, this time from car owners who want you to know what happened to them in the Beach Drive and Admiral areas:Read More
Heartening to see new faces at both neighborhood-group meetings covered tonight by Team WSB, after our exhortation-let as the week 
began … Our first report: The Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s monthly meeting, at Admiral Congregational Church. Turnout was about double the average crowd – up to about 20 in the room at one point – most there to hear the latest on a proposal for improvements at California Place, the mini-park adjacent to the church – and new developments were revealed, as well as other agenda items, all ahead:Read More
Got a call tonight from Southwest Precinct Community Police Team Officer Kevin McDaniel suggesting an alert about a scam that is particularly cruel in its choice of targets: Owners of missing pets. Some of those who have posted e-mail addresses online have received notes from people claiming they have the missing pet and are demanding ransom. Some are particularly obvious, not just because of the text – they sound like a spam e-mail – but also because if you put an excerpt of the text into Google or another favorite search engine, you’ll turn up other warnings that it’s a scam. If you do think you have gotten a note or call that might be a legitimate claim of pet-napping and/or ransom, of course, McDaniel stresses, call police (the non-emergency number is 206/625-5011).
We’re still putting the finishing touches on our Holidays page (Halloween through New Year’s; but all the events we know about are already on the WSB Events page, if you can’t wait for a sneak peek) – and we have word that the West Seattle Eagles still have room for vendors at their holiday bazaar THIS Saturday – and at a turkey dinner afterward!
The West Seattle Eagles are having a holiday bazaar Saturday, October 18th, from 10 AM-5 PM. The Eagles are located at 4426 California Ave SW.
We are currently looking for vendors. Cost for a table is $15. We would like to keep the bazaar for arts, crafts, gift items, and baked goods for the holiday season. There will be no “White Elephant†or “Garage Sale†tables allowed. If interested in a table rental, or for general questions about the event, please contact Mary Lou Wilkerson at (206) 938-4426.
The Children’s Orthopedic Guild will be preparing a wonderful turkey dinner with all the trimmings to follow the bazaar at 5:30 PM. Both the bazaar and dinner are open to the public.
You can find the Eagles online at westseattleeagles.org.
Early door-to-door alert: You might find a senator on your doorstep this Saturday. With ballots arriving in mailboxes this week, a major get-out-the-vote Democratic door-knocking effort starts with a rally at The Hall at Fauntleroy at 9:45 am Saturday, 
and our state’s U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell are scheduled to join them. More info here (it’s also on the 34th District Democrats‘ website; disclosure, they’re a WSB sponsor this month to get out the word about their “sample ballot” with 34th DD endorsements). By the way, if you are not currently registered to vote in WA, you can still register if you do it in person at county elections HQ in Renton – here’s a map – and this page has info on extended hours on deadline day next Monday. ONE MORE NOTE: Statewide Initiative 1000, “Death With Dignity,” will be the topic of a West Seattle forum Thursday 10/23; local churches opposed to I-1000 are sponsoring it but have invited advocates from both sides and are inviting you too — 7:30 pm 10/23 at West Seattle High School. More info on I-1000 and other races/ballot measures on the WSB Election page.
We’ve heard lately from more than a few people newly inspired to explore alternate forms of commuting. In one case, a West Seattle woman is arranging a get-together later this month to talk about new vanpooling options opening for people who head toward the Eastgate Park-and-Ride area in Bellevue.
*Thinking about how much you are spending on gas lately?
*Tired of driving in traffic but not sure of your options?
*Not ready to commit to anything yet, but willing to find out more?
*Looking to meet more of your West Seattle Neighbors?
*Wanting to talk to some people that are vanpooling now?Come meet at Uptown Espresso in The Junction (Edmunds/Erskine/California; map):
Sunday, October 26th, 4:30-5:30 PMThis will be an informal gathering to meet and greet other West Seattleites and hear about the joys of vanpooling!
Metro provided the vanpool-vehicle photo, by the way, but wants to be clear it’s not sponsoring/presenting this gathering – it’s a 100% grassroots effort to get more people involved in West Seattle carpooling. (If you know you can’t make it on 10/26 but are interested in finding out more, e-mail get-together organizer Lisa, l.rough@comcast.net)
Six chances ahead for you to dine while helping, and/or finding out about, more of the people who make West Seattle a better place – and there’s a deadline TODAY to sign up for one:
RESERVATION DEADLINE IS 5 PM TODAY, EVENT IS SATURDAY: The White Center Food Bank‘s Harvest Dinner and Auction is Saturday night – starting with the silent auction @ 5:30 pm, SSCC’s Brockey Center. Full details here; $60/person, 206/762-2848, or rick@whitecenterfoodbank.org. We just talked with Audrey at WCFB and she says they need reservations by 5 PM TODAY so they can get the catering order in. (Remember, as we often mention, WCFB serves a sizable chunk of West Seattle too.)
THURSDAY: Got an hour to spare before you go to work? Safe Futures invites you to a free breakfast to find out more about how they help local kids. It’s at their HQ, 6337 35th SW (map), 8 am. RSVP: 206/235-8892.
NOVEMBER 1: Hope Lutheran School Dinner and Auction, 5:30 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy. $50/person for early-bird bookings through tomorrow; full details here.
NOVEMBER 4: Endolyne Joe’s is donating part of today’s proceeds to Arbor Heights Elementary‘s fundraising efforts for replacing basketball hoops that had to be removed because of lead levels.
NOVEMBER 7: Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association‘s annual “Links to the Community” fundraising dinner, starts with 6 pm happy hour, SSCC’s Brockey Center. By donation, suggested $100/person.
NOVEMBER 22: Log House Museum: Preserving Heritage Gala and Silent Auction, SSCC’s Brockey Center, 5-9 pm: Live jazz trio with wine, appetizers, jewelry appraising, gourmet dinner, $75/person, call 206/938-5293 or e-mail loghousemuseum@comcast.net
And browse the WSB Events calendar to see what else is coming up – all the way through next spring; if you have something to add, please e-mail us!
While visiting Lowman Beach a few days ago to get photos for this ducky little WSB story, we were surprised to see its swing set had vanished, nothing left but the sand square. It’s the only piece of official play equipment at that park, and it’s been a favorite of ours for years of walking down to Lowman with Junior Member of the Team. So we asked the Parks Department what’s up, and heard back this morning from Carol Baker, who manages park maintenance for this section of the city. She says it’s an upgrade, and that a sign will be posted at the site to advise park users as follows: “The swing set has been removed. It will be replaced with a new swing set, curb, and new safety surfacing. The new swings will be open by November 2008, weather permitting.”
When we reported September 21st that demolition and construction permits had been issued for the site of the Shoremont Apartments at 57th/Alki, we heard in comments from James Ellison of Modern Dwelling, a division of the site’s new owner/developer Pb Elemental), who said new renderings were in the works for the project, described on the city project page as five townhouses and one single-family residence. Nothing’s happened on the site yet; then yesterday, Slog reported that Pb Elemental laid off a third of its staff. Though that report said Pb wasn’t commenting on the fate of specific projects, we e-mailed Ellison late last night to see if he could say anything about the Shoremont plan. Despite the hour, his response was fairly quick, albeit brief: “We are exploring options with the site but will be moving forward shortly.” (P.S. The Shoremont is featured in the latest post on Vintage Seattle, whose author lives in West Seattle.)
Not far away, so we’re mentioning it here: 10 am-3 pm. Read more here. (Meantime, if you do business in West Seattle and have a job opening for which you are recruiting candidates right now, remember you can post it free in the West Seattle Jobs Offered section of the WSB Forums.)
Our first WSB’er jack-o-lantern photo of 2008 – and appropriately enough, it’s a political pumpkin. Thanks to HunterG and family, who report this is their way of combining their excitement about Halloween and the election. Yes, if you send a Palin or McCain pumpkin, we’ll show that too, not to mention pumpkins that have nothing to do with politics. We featured West Seattle jack-o-lanterns this time last year, both the photos you sent and the ones we picked up around town, and we’re doing it again this year, so if you’ve got a pic to share or a location to report, please e-mail us. Meantime, back to politics — first-time events listing so it’s a special shoutout: The West Seattle Democratic Women invite all to their October 23 lunch, 11:15 am at the West Seattle Golf Course, with a program including King County Democrats Chair Susan Sheary speaking on I-26/Non-Partisan Elections (perhaps the most complicated measure on the November ballot, and we’ll be writing separately about it later this week), as well as West Seattle school-board rep Steve Sundquist and the Democrat running for state treasurer, Jim McIntire. To make a lunch reservation, e-mail wsdwomen@yahoo.com or call (206) 935-3216 before 10/22. More election info later today (and here, anytime) – if you vote by mail, start watching your mailbox, because ballots are going out this week.
As promised, here are the details of Monday afternoon’s oral arguments in the case of Conner vs. Seattle — that’s William Conner, who founded Conner Homes and is now retired, challenging the city Hearing Examiner‘s decision upholding the city Landmarks Board‘s rejection of his proposal to build three 3,000-or-so-square-foot homes on the big lawn fronting the Satterlee House (4866 Beach Drive; map). That board has to turn thumbs up or down on changes proposed to official city landmarks, which require a “certificate of approval” before such changes can proceed to the next step in any development process. This case is unusual and potentially precedent-setting because, as was noted during the HE hearings we covered in the spring, Landmarks Board rulings are seldom appealed, and this one not only went to appeal, the ruling on that appeal is now being challenged in court. Here’s what happened in court Monday (expanding on our brief initial report published Monday afternoon):Read More
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