West Seattle, Washington
21 Wednesday
Forecast suggests more fog in the morning, which means more foghorns (got a few notes about those today) and possibly more scenes like these: CL took the top photo from Luna (Anchor) Park – noting that it appeared the fog had made a nest for the downtown skyscrapers. Greg took the next photo from Jack Block Park, observing, “We thought the cranes looked like brontosaurii taking over Harbor Island!”
From NG in the 6500 block of 44th SW (map), a cautionary tale — read on:Read More
JOB LISTINGS: The latest listing in the West Seattle Jobs Offered section of the WSB Forums (where you can post West Seattle-based job openings FREE) is from Cafe Revo, whose upcoming opening is so fervently anticipated that some forum members are already laying the groundwork for a meetup. See the CR job listing here. Also, thanks to the fine folks who have applied for the first-ever WSB job listings (as posted here) – we’re starting interviews this week, and there’s still time to get resumes in.
HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS: More additions to the list this weekend, as the weeks to come get busier and busier: We now have a variety of Santa sightings (The Junction, Westwood Village, Admiral Theater, Delridge Community Center) as well as dozens of dinners, concerts, shopping events, Christmas-ship stops … we’re updating the page as often as possible so if your event’s not listed, send us the scoop! Thanks!
Both the city and county are in the throes of budget discussions and decisions, and the coming week is pivotal. For those interested in the question of whether the city will build a new jail for misdemeanor offenders — potentially, on one of two southeast West Seattle sites that are on the current “final four” list — there’s word of a budget-related comment opportunity, from Danina Garcia of Real Change, which has been working with jail opponents citywide:
On Monday the city council will have a series of budget meetings to discuss and vote on the “green sheets” before coming to a final budget decision. One of the things before the council is a budget proviso. This proviso would put a hold on 3 million of the 4.5 the mayor requested to move forward on the jail in 2009. This 3 million could not be spent until a panel, which would include people from outside the government, investigated and reported back on whether and how a new jail could be avoided completely, while increasing public safety and public order, if investments were made into preemptive social services, pre-arrest diversion programs and pre-booking programs. There will be a brief public comment period available before the start of business at 9:30 am Monday morning in City Council chambers.
The budget decisions are pretty much all going to be made on Monday; the final vote by the budget committee and then by the full council later in the week are procedural and largely formalities. So this is a prime opportunity to put a stop on expenditures that we don’t need and that will damage neighborhoods and lives.
If you can’t attend the council meeting, there are multiple ways to comment on this issue (or any other) – you’ll find all the info and links you need, by going to the City Council‘s main webpage.
From Abby Suplizio with West Seattle CoolMom.org, via e-mail: The first-ever CoolMom Toy Swap/Sale at Camp Long on Saturday had an “amazing turnout,” according to Abby (WSB photo at left from our Saturday “happening now” report), and she adds: “The end of the day numbers were that we raised $475 (enough for 600 meals) specifically for the West Seattle Food Bank. We sold $2,000 worth of toys (initial estimate) AND dropped off nearly 25 boxes of toys to WestSide Baby. Nancy (Woodland, of WestSide Baby) was overjoyed that so many families were going to get Christmas this year! We all felt really good at the end of the day!” (More about CoolMom at coolmom.org)
From KSJ and the Beer Church via a comment on last night’s Turkey Bowl report (which included the food-donation photo at right): “We made just over $3,000 and while we didn’t have a scale big enough to weigh the food we filled a van. Thanks to everyone who came and bowled, particularly our local pubs and breweries: Georgetown Brewing, Big Al’s Brewing, Elliott Bay Brewing, Rogue Issaquah Brewhouse, Dog and Pony, West5, and Beveridge Place.” (More about Beer Church at beerchurch.com)
And a few days ago, we got a results report on last weekend’s cat adopt-a-thon at Southwest Community Center. Via e-mail from Megan with the Seattle Animal Shelter “Fabulous Felines” team e-mailed: “13 kitties, including two adults and one special needs cat, found their forever homes.” According to another message we received, that included the two whose photos were at the top of our “happening now” report that day.
SIDE NOTE: Whenever there’s an event (like the 3 above) lasting more than a couple hours, we try our best to get there to take pix and post “happening now” coverage, after sharing advance word via regular WSB features such as the Events calendar, the West Seattle Weekend Lineup, and (seasonally) the Holiday Happenings list. But we also welcome you to send photos during your event (and pix/success stories afterward) – cameraphone photos are often usable too – editor@westseattleblog.com (you can also share via Flickr – where we’ve set up a West Seattle Blog group – Twitter and/or Facebook — all our current contact info is on this page). Thanks!
As your official West Seattle Helicopter News Source – we just wanted to mention we just saw the four helicopters go by too (west to east, just north of us in Upper Fauntleroy). It’s Military Appreciation Day at the Seahawks game; the team’s website says the Blackhawks and Chinooks are doing a Qwest Field flyover.
From WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli:
Christopher reports:
Call went out as a “rescue automobile.” A vehicle driven by a single occupant apparently came down Andover at a high rate of speed, lost control and bounced off the curb before striking a parked van. The owner of the house said he was inside at the time and only heard the sound of the impact. They came out to find the driver trapped in his car with the airbags deployed. SFD responded and pulled the man out the passenger side before strapping him to a backboard and transporting him to the hospital. He was conscious as they loaded him into the ambulance.Police would not say if alcohol or drugs were a factor. Police were still on the scene at 9 a.m. waiting for a tow truck to remove the car.
To give you some perspective, here’s a photo from Nick (thank you!) who got the bird’s-eye view:
here’s a map of the area where this happened.
While freshening up the Blogs page overnight — its centerpiece is an automated digest delivering the newest posts from 100 blog writers around West Seattle — we added a few sites, including 13 in 12. This time, it’s not one we happened onto during, oh, say, a Google Blog Search (our usual means of discovering West Seattleites in the “blogosphere”) — we got a note from the author’s wife. Rachael e-mailed us to say, in part:
I’m not sure if this is WSB news-worthy, but I think it’s a pretty cool thing my husband is doing. He has participated in the Big Climb fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for 3 years, but recently our good friend was diagnosed, so he’s taking it one step (or many steps depending on how you look at it) further with this new challenge (13 races of marathon distance or more in 12 weeks).
Rachael’s husband, Nic, already keeps a personal blog — so 13 in 12 is an addition, and it just launched, including a list of the 13 events he plans to participate in, starting with one in Gig Harbor the day after Thanksgiving. Not only can you follow his progress along the way to achieving “13 in 12,” you can also make a donation (all money goes to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) from a link on the page (which also has a postal-mail address if you’d rather send $ that way). Good luck, Nic!
Brussels sprouts on the stalk! That’s one of the newest items you might find at the West Seattle Farmers’ Market today, according to the “ripe ‘n’ ready” fresh sheet (see the whole list here) – 10 am-2 pm, southeast corner of 44th/Alaska in The Junction.
The cloud formation (altocumulus?) that made last night’s sunset so spectacular (our photo is here; Beach Drive Blog has pix here) went on to enable that memorable moonscape — thanks to David Hutchinson for sharing his photo, taken from Duwamish Head.
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