West Seattle, Washington
11 Monday
Updates on Hometown Holidays in The Junction – First, looking to next Sunday, not only will you get another chance to get Santa photos at Cupcake Royale – the photos (provided by the West Seattle Junction Association [WSB sponsor] but with donation requested, proceeds to WestSide Baby, West Seattle Food Bank, and West Seattle Helpline – last Sunday brought in $500!) come in these two looks, full color and “classic aged,” taken by pro photographer Donna Ryan. And there’s a special feature at Hometown Holidays HQ (in front of Key Bank at California/Alaska) next Sunday – there’ll be an open holiday mike for musicians, coordinated by Patrick Small (of Patrick and Danny, who played at last Saturday night’s Tree Lighting) — Susan Melrose of WSJA says, “West Seattle musicians of all genres are invited to play holiday tunes, lead a sing-along, or come up with a holiday act that’s all their own. Musicians must coordinate with Patrick in advance at patrick@laststarrecordings.com.” One more Junction note – this Thursday is the Holiday Art Walk, 6-9 pm – of course, it stretches beyond Junction borders (for example, in the Admiral District, WSB sponsor Click! Design That Fits is having a late-night shopping event in connection with the Art Walk) – but if you want to get in on the free child care in The Junction, you need to sign up now – call Dan at West Seattle Christian Church, which is providing the service in connection with this month’s Art Walk only – 206-932-2098 x. 102. This Art Walk isn’t to be missed – how about tacky sweaters at Twilight? and more – read all about it here.
Two items of interest if you haven’t already seen them on our partner site White Center Now: First, one of White Center’s newest nonprofits — actually on the Seattle side of WC, so it’s West Seattle too — invites you to an open house 3-7 pm today; read the WCN story to see why New Traditions is one-of-a-kind. Second, a followup on the annexation-process deal reported last night: The full document is now online.
This has been on the Crime Watch page since Seattle Police posted it on their SPD Blotter site (which feeds the CW page instantly as soon as SPD posts something) – but we wanted to call attention to it here too: Two homes on 32nd SW were hit by bullets last night, nobody hurt, nobody arrested. A High Point resident sent us a Twitter message last night about that time saying he’d heard what sounded like gunfire – we listened to the scanner for quite some time and monitored 911 but nothing obvious. In several separate Twitter messages, Ryan reported:
I live in High Point and am pretty sure I just heard gunshots. a lot of em, sounded like two different guns … I’m at 32nd and Juneau, it sounded less than a block away, and afterwards a car drove really fast down my dead end street … and then turned around and drove away …
We get “thought I heard gunshots” reports fairly frequently, and they don’t all pan out, but this one obviously did. We’re checking with the Southwest Precinct for any additional information about who’s been sought and potential motives. ADDED 2:02 PM: Lt. Steve Paulsen provides additional details: 5900 block of 32nd SW (map); no description of the suspect/vehicle. They haven’t quite zeroed in on the motive yet but are investigating the possibility it involved a relationship dispute of some sort. No relation to the “house hit by bullets” incident from 20th/Henderson last month.
We’re now hours away from the next significant release of school closure/change-related information from Seattle Public Schools, during a School Board work session this afternoon/evening (we will be there to post live updates; it’s not expected to be televised and it starts too early — 4 pm — for everyone who’s interested to be there from the beginning). Here’s a quick recap on where things stand:
*The official proposal on the table remains the one announced by Superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson on November 25th (original coverage here): Close the Arbor Heights Elementary “program,” move Pathfinder K-8 into the Arbor Heights building, close the Genesee Hill Elementary building where Pathfinder’s been located since 1994 (five years after GH Elementary was closed as a school of its own), in addition to recommendations involving other schools around the city (full proposal here).
*That same night, after hearing the proposals, School Board members made various requests to district staff for additional research. One such request: Look into whether Cooper could become Pathfinder’s new home instead of Arbor Heights. As a result of those requests, Dr. Goodloe-Johnson presented an “update” at last Wednesday’s board meeting (see the full presentation here), and that update included this:
At the work session on November 25 the School Board indicated that the option of altering the Student Assignment Plan to permit the location of Pathfinder at Cooper should be evaluated. Staff are evaluating this option.
*As part of that 12/3 presentation, Dr. Goodloe-Johnson proposed tonight’s work session to discuss new data (for example, district staffers have been touring schools to determine “functional capacity” – how many students can really be served under current conditions, as opposed to the “planning capacity” – optimal theoretical conditions – that’s been discussed in district documents) and “potential final recommendations.” This, although the superintendent’s “final recommendation” is still not supposed to be announced until January 6th.
*Many schools caught up in this have already had meetings of their own to discuss strategy and status; the district has had two official “public workshops” in the past week (here’s our coverage of the first one Thursday night); and many more meetings are coming up, including an official meeting tonight at Arbor Heights (6 pm) with a district rep and an official public hearing 12/16 at the Genesee Hill building (6:30 pm – the full School Board won’t be there as there are other hearings that same night elsewhere in the city; West Seattle rep Steve Sundquist said at his 11/26 coffee gathering that he and fellow board members were working to decide who would go to which hearing).
Needless to say – more later! Meanwhile, WSB coverage of this round of school closure/change talk is all archived here; all the official district info related to what SPS calls “capacity management” is linked here.
Got this note from a Pegasus Pizza employee – who wants to be sure you bring something along when headed there for your next pizza this holiday season:
Hi, my name is Laura, I am trying to organize a big Christmas food drive down at
Pegasus Pizza on Alki. There is already a big box down there all ready and waiting for donations! But Pegasus isn’t exactly like Safeway where you can get something inside while shopping to drop off on your way back out the door so I’m having a much harder time getting the word out than I expected. I was hoping that it could go onto the events page of the blog just so that people will see it and know to bring stuff down with them when they come for lunch/dinner.Basic info: We are collecting any/all non-perishable food items; all donations going to the West Seattle Food Bank for christmas. If customers bring in 5 or more items of food, we are giving them a coupon for $2.00 off any size pizza.
We’ve listed this with other business drives on the Holidays page, of course, but wanted to give an extra shoutout to Laura, who concluded her note by describing herself as “just a … college kid trying to make a tiny little difference.” Pegasus is at 62nd/Alki (map), online at pegasusonalki.com.
Just combed through the latest report released as part of the ongoing drive to settle on a Central Waterfront Viaduct replacement by year’s end: the draft version of the Economic Analysis of Viaduct Scenarios. The only major West Seattle-specific mention is this look at how the project might affect Nucor in North Delridge:
Nucor, a major steel company, operates Seattle’s steel mill. The Nucor plant is located south of the West Seattle Bridge. It is a 660,000 square foot plant with 291 workers that can make about 800,000 tons of steel a year. The plant recently got new air quality permits that would allow it to make up to 1.1 million tons per year.
In theory, viaduct removal and construction could pose problems for the mill. Because of its location, Nucor has few options but to deal with traffic on I-5, and will be concerned that capacity reductions, both temporary and long-run in the SR 99 corridor, will affect I-5. Its customers are primarily construction projects located around the region where steel has to be delivered by truck during daylight hours. Because there are limited options for stockpiling steel mill products outside of the affected area, the company’s ability to deliver products to customers could be impaired during construction. Permanent closure, however, seems doubtful because permits for steel mills are difficult to obtain and the Seattle plant has no local competition for steel production. Nucor does not provide all of the steel needed for construction in the Seattle area; a major portion of it is imported or comes from steel from mills in Oregon. Construction impacts would also affect imported steel, however, leaving Nucor with no net competitive disadvantage. Indeed, the viaduct project itself could be a major customer for steel and may even help Nucor.
Overall, the report reached no clarion conclusion, with this among its final bulletpoints:
No single scenario emerges as the best or worst from an economic impact perspective. On the many dimensions we evaluated, we found no option that was consistently at the top or consistently at the bottom. That makes decisionmaking harder. For example, the bored bypass tunnel (F) probably reduces business impacts during construction, but it will likely cost more, take longer to build (so that the impacts it does have last longer), and have an unquantified but important cost of exposing Seattle to several additional years of risk of a catastrophic collapse in an earthquake if the viaduct remains until the bored tunnel opens to traffic.
Before the next Stakeholders Advisory Committee meeting this Thursday (4:30-8 pm, City Hall downtown), state, county, and city reps are scheduled to reveal the finalists — two or three “hybrid” scenarios ostensibly to be cobbled together from elements of the 8 original ‘scenarios’ (all shown here). One committee member has already come up with a hybrid of sorts, according to citywide newspaper reports today. Then, whatever emerges later this week as the list of finalists, you’re invited to speak out about them at a public meeting next Monday night (12/15), 5-7:30 pm, Town Hall downtown – 1119 8th Ave (map).
That’s Stu Hennessey from Alki Bike and Board (WSB sponsor) with Sustainable West Seattle president Bill Reiswig and daughter Linnea at tonight’s SWS Money-Free Shopping Spree holiday party at Camp Long — where handmade/sustainably produced gifts were exchanged as were gift certificates for experiences/services:
Guest speakers included West Seattle Chamber of Commerce executive director Patti Mullen, who reminded everybody that “shopping local” means “shopping sustainably” because the more local businesses survive and thrive, the less we’ll all have to cross the bridge to find … anything!
Also discussed: The “Celebrate Local” pledge (still time for you to take it!) – the deals offered by King County Waste-Free Holidays are part of that campaign. Sustainable West Seattle usually meets the third Monday of each month; you’ll find SWS online at sustainablewestseattle.org.
Westside Symphonette director Toni Reineke let us sneak in to the orchestras’ rehearsal tonight at the West Seattle High School theater as they prepared for tomorrow night’s Holiday Concert. The “Jingle Bell Rock” rendition above — with the combined junior and senior groups — is just one of many holiday singalongs you’ll get to enjoy, so bring your caroling chops (and your Messiah score if you have one, since “Hallelujah Chorus” is on the program too!). The lineup has got a few non-holiday selections as well; conducted by Nse Ekpo, the Junior Orchestra practiced Larry Clark‘s “Engines of Resistance” while we were there, and WSB Junior Member of the Team, Torin, got the whole thing on cinema-verite walking video:
Admission to tomorrow night’s concert — 7 pm at WSHS — is free, but donations are appreciated, as Westside Symphonette is self-supporting. Musicians of all ages are always welcome to join the Westside Symphonette – contact Toni Reineke at tonireineke@comcast.net or 206-243-6955. Meantime, the next week-plus is prime time for holiday concerts, and you’ll find them all listed on the WSB Holidays page (if you know of one that’s NOT there, please forgive us for missing it, and e-mail us to let us know!).
We’re breaking this at our partner site White Center Now: After weeks of mediation, Burien City Manager Mike Martin has announced that Burien, Seattle, and two fire districts have agreed on important points to pave the way for potential annexations of the White Center/North Highline area. Details here as his council briefing (under way right now in Burien) continues – one big part of the deal relating directly to West Seattle is that a King County fire station has been carved out of the original Burien annexation proposal zone, because Seattle said it was important for the continued protection of Arbor Heights.
Back when we visited the Duwamish River Festival in South Park last August (here’s our story), we mentioned an informational booth about upcoming Superfund cleanups on the eastern edge of West Seattle. We put our name on a list of interested parties, in hopes that would keep us in the pipeline for getting information to you. A followup flyer (identical to this) arrived in the mail (the EPA sent versions to 8,000 people in West/South Seattle) recently saying the Environmental Protection Agency is “developing a community involvement plan” for those cleanups – one of which is at the site known as Lockheed West Seattle (tons of official EPA info linked from this page). As a followup, an EPA rep called to invite us to come down and answer some questions (apparently we checked the “wouldn’t mind being interviewed” box on something somewhere) – and we did that this morning. Here’s what we learned – and how you can get involved:Read More
You may have noticed some trouble with Google and its products today – and it doesn’t just affect Google directly, it has the potential to affect much more, as so many sites (ours included) incorporate some Google features – for example, Google has the gold-standard statistics program (Google Analytics), and that code to count visitors is part of every page of our site and millions of others. We have tried taking the Google search box off the sidebar for the short run but that hasn’t helped much. We know it’s not just us – here for example is what the Twitter-verse is saying. Here’s hoping the problem’s solved soon.
Got a “media advisory” from Seattle Public Utilities today, with a reminder that the foam-packaging ban passed by the City Council with the plastic-bag ban is taking effect January 1st (the bag ban is on hold pending a citywide vote next year) – and food-service businesses are invited to a “trade fair” this Wednesday, to meet with “sellers of compostable food-service ware” – if you’re interested, read on:Read More
(West Seattle Cheetahs after a big win: Very back row left to right: Coach MacKenzie and Ali Campagnaro. Back row left to right: Anne Jorgenson, Tatum Dahl, Charli Ann Elliott, Sam Tanzer, Laura Jetland, Julia Nark, Abby Tuthill, Sami MacKenzie, and Annalisa Ursino. Front row left to right: Maddy Winter, Nicole Roed, Kelsey Klapperich, Gabby Rivera, and Danielle Nielsen. Not pictured: Julia Denison
Just before Thanksgiving, we reported on the West Seattle Cheetahs girls’ soccer team heading for the state playoffs (here’s that story). They played in Burlington this past weekend – and we’ve just received an update from John McKenzie that they have now advanced to the state championship game next weekend! Here’s his report:
After winning the District 3 Presidents Cup on Sunday, November 23rd, the Cheetahs traveled to the Skagit River Soccer Complex in Burlington for the state semi-finals in the GU-12 division. The team was well-prepared and rolled through their group play with a 3-game sweep, winning 3-0 in game 1, 3-1 in game 2, and 1-0 in game 3. The sweep gave the Cheetahs the number 1 seed in their group. They went on to win their semi-final match 3-0 and will now play in the state championship game Sunday, December 14, at 9:15 AM at Starfire Soccer Complex in Tukwila.
“It was tough playing 4 games in 2 days, but the well-conditioned girls rose to the challenge. They are a tireless bunch and they all know their roles on the team and none of them have ego or attitude issues,” said Coach MacKenzie. “We could tell the other teams were getting tired and we never let up.”
Congratulations again to the Cheetahs, and good luck in the title game! (Their opponent: The Tracyton Tornadoes from Kitsap County. The game’s open to the public; tickets $5, kids under 11 free, $5 parking at the soccer complex.)
Over the weekend, we introduced the first-ever WSB Coupons, with freebies, discounts, and other special offers from a dozen WSB sponsors — including one of our newest sponsors, Stor-More Self-Storage, whose big sign is hard to miss when you travel on or near Avalon, just south of the Luna Park business district. Stor-More‘s West Seattle facility on Yancy east of Avalon (map) is home to not only a sizable amount of storage, but also mailbox services, all under new resident management. Here’s what Stor-More wants you to know about their West Seattle facility: “Merry Christmas and Happy 2009 from Stor-More Self Storage in West Seattle, where you are welcomed as a Neighbor by singing snowmen this month! You will love the Shop Local Community Table with ads from local businesses. Stor-More offers several different-sized storage units 
for all of your storage needs. Every unit has an individual gate code, and there are on-site Resident Managers, which is the industry standard for quality properties. Mailboxes are available with 24-hour access. The Store, open 7 days a week, is filled with moving and packing supplies, as well as seasonal items including gift ideas. Tenants are delighted this month to find a 99-Cent Stocking-Stuffer Wall! Stor-More is a member of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce. Stop by and meet the Managers, Brian and Talani (native Washingtonians; photos at left) and the Assistant Manager, TJ. 
Tell them West Seattle Blog sent you! Stor-More Self Storage – 2850 SW Yancy St., Seattle, WA 98126 – (206) 933-8200.” If that address looks familiar – Stor-More has long been the official WSB mailbox provider, and since we visit daily, we can verify that the holiday touches are festive indeed. Thanks to Stor-More Self-Storage for supporting 24/7 West Seattle news, information, and discussion here on WSB; check out their coupon (and 11 others) by going here; and if you’d like to find out how to join the WSB sponsor team – and see the latest lineup – here’s the place to start.
This was sent to us by a parent at one of the schools currently caught up in the Seattle Public Schools closure/changes process, AKA “capacity management” (all WSB coverage archived here; we are working on a mammoth recap of “where it stands/what’s next” since today is a rare meetingless day after 2 weeks of nonstop events and discussions related to all this). It’s written by West Seattle-area teacher Jesse Hagopian: “I’m Changing the School’s Name to Chrysler.” Follow that link to read the whole thing; in part, he writes:
… if “letting GM go is a terrible idea”—as General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Rick Wagoner recently warned Congress in his plea for a bailout of his failing company—then letting our schools fail in the wake of free-falling state budgets would be catastrophic.
There’s a lot more we could say, but you have said it better, in so many comments on our reports during this school-closure round alone. By the way, we wanted to mention again – many have been saying, can’t we all just work together on a plan for West Seattle schools, rather than sniping at each other – and there is a citizens’ group meeting later this week with exactly that goal in mind: 6:30 Thursday at West Seattle Elementary in High Point – read about it here. ADDED 1:54 PM: The transcription of Superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson‘s Seattle Times online Q/A from this morning is available online now – she answers several questions regarding the West Seattle schools now being discussed in this process (Arbor Heights, Cooper, Pathfinder) but no new revelations – here’s the transcript.
Another forecast update – The National Weather Service still is calling for possible snow Friday night and Saturday (hey! that’s Christmas Ship night at Seacrest, Lowman, and Alki!) but whether or not that happens, there’s definitely VERY cold air on the way – Sunday highs may barely get to freezing.
Thanks to Marco for sending word, and that picture, of a bus stop closure TFN on northbound 35th just south of Avalon (as the sign says, buses will pick you up 20 feet south of there). Shortly after getting his note, we went to check out the area, and discovered that construction congestion because of Avalon Center is REALLY intense today – a lineup of cement mixers in the center lane on Avalon stretching eastward from 35th, eastbound lane on Avalon and northbound lane on 35th blocked off at the corner, good idea to avoid that area if you can:
Avalon Center is a mixed-use building (ground-floor retail, about 60 apartments, per city permits) that’s been under construction for almost a year at the southeast corner of 35th/Avalon (here’s our update from 11 months ago). Here’s the architect’s project page showing drawings of what it’s supposed to look like.
We’ve been telling you about West Seattle businesses with holiday food drives and giving trees (and if you’ve got one that’s not on our Holidays page, please e-mail to let us know!) – today, there’s an added freebie for donations in one drive: Cupcake Royale is marking the company’s fifth birthday, and if you bring a nonperishable food item there today, you get a free cupcake. (That offer is TODAY ONLY, though the food drive at CR, benefiting West Seattle Food Bank, continues till just before Christmas.)
Gas prices continue to drop — the national average is its lowest in five years, according to weekend reports — but they’re falling more slowly; two West Seattle stations actually have the same prices as they did during our last survey a week ago. As for everybody else, varying drops. In the list you’ll see ahead, the first number is regular, as posted on the stations’ streetfront signs; second number is premium (where posted)Read More
Thanks to Huzefa Mogri for sharing that overview of the scene inside West Seattle Christian Church‘s (WSB sponsor) new multiuse facility, opened unofficially for a dessert-theater performance Sunday night, with Taproot Theatre staging “It’s a Wonderful Improv Life” – zaniness ensued, as this photo suggests:
More on the new facility soon; Taproot, by the way, performs the same show at its Greenwood theater the next two Friday nights – info’s on their website.
Always nice to have pix to share as the weekend comes to a close. That one actually was sent Thursday by WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli, who says hummingbirds have been busy in his garden lately. Next, the beautiful sunrise from Saturday morning, while both of us were up early to cover special events (TR at the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast, PS at the Rotary Shopping Spree) – actually got this scene looking northeast from the Southwest Community Center parking lot:
Later on Saturday, more of those unusual cloud formations gave David Hutchinson the chance for this postcard-perfect shot of the Alki Statue of Liberty:
David sent that along with this reminder from the Statue of Liberty Plaza Project about a holiday gift opportunity:
We would like to remind everyone that there are only a little over 3 weeks left to get your engraved brick for the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza. We have received orders for over 290 bricks to date. All orders for this final sale must be mailed to Urban Sparks, our fiscal sponsor, no later than December 31st of this year.
It was originally planned to have the bricks engraved on site but we want to take advantage of a lower cost per brick by having them produced at the engraving company’s facility and trucked to Alki for installation. All orders will be submitted to them in January of 2009 and Seattle Parks and Recreation will be responsible for the installation in the spring. Due to this cost savings, the price has been reduced to $100 per brick. Everyone who purchased their bricks at the $150 price will be notified of their options. We have also begun our 3 for 2 Christmas Brick Sale.
For additional details see www.sealady.org or contact Eilene at 206-933-8352 or sslpp@msn.com. If you are interested in a bronze Tribute Plaque that will be installed along the front edge of the Plaza, see our website or contact Libby Carr at 206-938-8721 or libby@carrbiz.com.
No West Seattle sightings mentioned since the ones a week ago (12/2 photo at left, courtesy Jeff Hogan), but the latest Orca Network e-mail update mentions major sightings today around south Vashon Island — so they may be passing this way again — one morning sighting mentions seeing two sizable groups pass Des Moines this morning, and the captain of the Point Defiance-Tahlequah (south Vashon to northwest Tacoma) ferry “reported 20-30 orcas milling off Pt. Defiance” just after 1:30 pm. (Side note – The same Orca Network update reports a protest at Maury Island early tomorrow morning related to the state’s recent approval of construction of a 300-foot-long pier over an aquatic reserve to facilitate expansion of gravel mining; The Backbone Campaign is gathering a flotilla at Sandy Shores at 7 am.)
It’s festive … it’s sustainable … it’s affordable … it’s 24 hours away! Tomorrow night is Sustainable West Seattle’s Money-Free Shopping Spree, and you are invited – 6-9 pm, Camp Long Lodge. It’s a potluck and gift-swap occasion, and while SWS is hoping people will bring handmade gifts — the full list of what to bring (food and gift-wise) is on the SWS website — their latest bulletin also notes:
… if you don’t have time to pull together a gift between now and Monday, it is good to purchase something made by hand locally and give that OR better yet please consider offering a service/skill for 1-2 hours: gardening, bike repair, a foraging tour in West Seattle, wormbox 101, beekeeping 101, tutoring, a meal, making a dinner, kayak tour, etc. The possibilities of what you can give of some time to a neighbor are limitless …
In addition to the money-free gift swap, the event also features food, music by West Seattle acoustic guitarist Gunnar Goelitz, and guest speakers — West Seattle Chamber of Commerce executive director Patti Mullen (did you know the C of C is heavily involved in promoting sustainability? It’s even got a Green Team!), Sustainable Seattle executive director Sean Schmidt (who’ll talk about the Celebrate Local campaign that’s under way citywide this season), and WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand with a few words about the wonderful sense of community we’ve been seeing and reporting on throughout the year. That’s tomorrow, 6-9 pm, Camp Long Lodge (map), check out the complete details here.
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