West Seattle, Washington
11 Thursday
PCG e-mailed this tribute, to share with you:
There was an elderly gentleman that lived on a street adjacent to our house (33rd SW near Andover) that we fondly refer to as Pussy Cat Lane because of all of the Tabbies that Titus (our dog) searches for with each morning walk.
He was an interesting man, who for the most part kept to himself. While I would often see him shuffling back and forth with his shopping bag, we rarely exchanged greetings with the exception of good morning, or good afternoon. I remember in exacting detail one day last summer, during an unusually hot spell, when he was walking in front of the house while the sprinkler system was on; there he stood soaking up the mist and all the goodness that a cool rain could bring on a hot summer’s day. In that brief moment I found myself admiring him for his love of life and all that it can bring.
His house is now dark. One of the tires is flat on his van. He died last week.
I, for one, will miss him and his ability to put one foot in front of the other, his love of life and his ability to get on. But it is that picture of an elderly man in a bucket hat standing in the spray of a sprinkler system that will never leave my mind. He meant something to someone, I was one of them. I am saddened for the loss. He made my world a better place, though some would deem him insignificant. He meant something to someone, I must admit I was one of those individuals, though he didn’t know it.
Julie brought this up in the WSB Forums tonight — the King Conservation District has a districtwide election this Thursday for a Board of Supervisors spot, and all registered voters in Seattle (plus other parts of the district) are eligible to vote. 
A quick read about the King CD might leave you thinking it’s mostly about rural King County — not so. For example, the King CD is involved with Longfellow Creek restoration here in West Seattle. Chances are, you’ve contributed part of its $6 million annual revenue. And if you watch this explanatory video, you’ll hear about a project at Seahurst, just a bit south of us. There’s only one polling place in Seattle – the downtown library, 10 am-8 pm Thursday (Julie’s forum post lists them all) – but if you read about this district’s work and want to have a say on which of these two three (including a write-in) candidates joins the board, now you know – you can. (By the way, King CD says there’s a historic aspect to the way they’re conducting this election!)
(Photo above, rescue boat and overturned kayak, from Tracy White – photo below from Doug and Anne, as the rescue boat was hoisted back aboard the Issaquah)
ORIGINAL 6:39 PM REPORT: On our way now to a call off Brace Point – a kayak overturned in the water, and according to what we’re hearing on the scanner, a ferry is trying to rescue the person who’s with the overturned kayak. 6:44 PM UPDATE: KING had an aerial picture – a lifeboat from a ferry has just picked up the kayaker and reportedly will bring him to the command post in the 9600 block of 50th SW (map). Some of the fire/medic units are being canceled now. 7:04 PM UPDATE: Still awaiting word from our folks at the scene on how the kayaker’s doing – looks like the ferry Issaquah, which helped with the rescue, is now heading back westbound, per VesselWatch. Just added the top photo from Tracy White – thanks! Tracy says, “The (rescue) boat appeared to pick up the kayaker, take them to shore, then come back for the boat …” Also just heard from co-publisher Patrick, who is at the command post – the kayaker was reported to be conscious and alert when brought to shore, and was taken to the hospital as of just a few minutes ago. 7:16 PM: Added the second photo above – thanks to Doug and Anne, who caught the rescue boat being hoisted back aboard the Issaquah. Here’s our photo of the 50th SW street end where police and fire crews staged:
ADDED 8:23 PM: No update on the rescued kayaker’s condition – privacy laws make it impossible to just call the hospital and say “how’s that kayaker?” without a name – but we have a few more photos, from WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli, starting with the kayak after it was brought back to the Brace Point beach:
ADDED 9:35 PM: KING has put up its helicopter video (silent) of the entire rescue – watch it here.
ADDED 11:14 PM: Can’t find it online yet, but KOMO had a short interview with the kayaker, identified as Scott Redfern. Q13 has the same name in this short story.
Earlier today, we saw the label crews trailing the pickup crews again, taping notices to trash/recycling containers along Alki Avenue – a reminder there are two weeks to go till new city contracts kick in, upping rates, expanding what’s recyclable, changing yard/food waste pickup to weekly, and for many households, changing pickup days. (We’ve been Monday since we bought our house in ’93; as of 3/31 it’ll be Tuesday.) If you don’t see a note attached to your can(s), watch your mailbox – the collection day is mentioned above your address on a brochure about the changes. Here’s the latest city news release aimed at keeping the impending changes top-of-mind; again, they kick in the week of 3/30. (Note the recycling/disposal-station rates are rising too.)
Today, we welcome one of our newest WSB sponsors: Weitzel Construction, and as we traditionally do when a new sponsor comes on board, we offer them the chance to share information about their business. Weitzel Construction 
owner Dave Weitzel started his company in West Seattle in 1993. He handles both reconstruction and new construction. Dave says what his customers notice the most is his attention to detail – and he says that attention extends to the people he hires as well, so that Weitzel Construction has assembled a great team as well as building great projects. Dave is active in the West Seattle community as well. He currently serves as a board member for the Admiral Neighborhood Association. And more than a decade ago, he was part of the neighborhood-planning advisory group that worked on the Admiral District’s neighborhood plan. Weitzel Construction is an award-winning company based in West Seattle; you can call 206-935-8440 or find out more about their projects at weitzelconstruction.com. Thanks to Weitzel Construction for supporting local news, information, and discussion by sponsoring WSB; the entire sponsor team is listed on this page, which is also where to find out how to be part of it!
Back in January, West 5 in The Junction had its first-ever movie screening — “Rock ‘n’ Roll Gearhead – 4 Days with Billy Gibbons.” Its locally based filmmaker, Jamie Chamberlin, sent that photo and this accompanying announcement:
In response to the warm hospitality extended … by West 5 in screening the NW premiere of “Rock and Roll Gearhead,” Gibbons has flown up a most enviable wall piece. Taking time out of his hectic recording sessions with producer Rick Rubin down in Los Angeles, Gibbons custom pin-striped a mustard yellow guitar to be hung on display at The West 5. The legendary guitarist is celebrating a 40-year anniversary with his band ZZ Top and is slated to have a new album out this year as well as a worldwide tour. The guitar should be on display by week’s end.
Chamberlin says he’ll be visiting West 5 to personally present the guitar for display. There’s more about his movie, including its trailer, at this MySpace site.
President Obama announced action today to try to thaw the credit freeze affecting many businesses. Thanks to Diane for pointing out a story that brings it home: KING5 has an update today on BabyLegs, headed by a West Seattle entrepreneur. Business is booming, the story notes (see it here), but the challenges of getting credit have forced BabyLegs to lay off some workers in the meantime, according to the TV story.
Mayor Nickels has just announced that Deputy Chief John Diaz will be the acting police chief, as Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske leaves for his new federal job. He is speaking live on Seattle Channel right now and says he has no timetable for choosing a permanent chief. “The reason I accepted this,” Diaz said, “is because I’m a cop .. I’ve been doing this for a long time. … The Seattle Police Department needs to mirror the priorities of its neighborhoods.” Mayor Nickels says he will discuss details of the chief-search process once there’s an official vacancy – in other words, once Kerlikowske is confirmed as federal “drug czar.” Diaz, who’s 51, says he is interested in the permanent job. 1:25 PM NOTE: The news conference is now over; when the archived video is up on the Seattle Channel site, we’ll add a link here. TUESDAY NOTE: Here’s that link.
The White Center Food Bank, which also serves West Seattle south of SW Myrtle, is opening its doors one Saturday a month, as its clientele continues to grow. Full details at our partner site WhiteCenterNow.com.
Just got a note from Kirsty wondering why the windows at Circa in the Admiral District are papered over, so we ran over to check: Note on the window says the restaurant is closed for “equipment repairs” and planning to reopen March 24.
We know many folks have been waiting for word of a decision on the P-I’s fate, and it’s now been announced: Posted minutes ago at the Seattle P-I website — its final print edition will be tomorrow; an online-only P-I will continue, making the Post-Intelligencer “the nation’s largest daily newspaper to shift to an entirely digital news product.” For a window into what’s being said about this online right now, go here for a real-time look at notes on Twitter mentioning the P-I. ADDED 11:12 AM: You knew there’d be a West Seattle angle, of course. An item now up at SeattlePI.com talks about the new web-only operation, and it’s by executive producer Michelle Nicolosi, who is a West Seattleite. Meantime, here’s P-I video of the announcement made at their HQ this morning:
Note in the accompanying story that a Hearst executive is quoted as saying, “We’ll also be linking to the great work of other Web sites and blogs in the community.” WSB is among them (as noted in the 7th-to-last paragraph here) – some of the most eagle-eyed WSBers noted a couple weeks ago when WSB was in fact the first such outside site with a link to appear on SeattlePI.com (the link was for our coverage of the City Council’s most recent snowstorm-aftermath hearing) – the P-I has since linked to the work of more than a few “other … sites,” which is really online SOP – as we have linked and will continue to link to sites like theirs when they have notable exclusive West Seattle stories. As fellow journalists, we wish those who are staying on with the online P-I, and those who are not (here’s a PSBJ story about severance plans and other business matters), the best of luck as the world of newsgathering and delivery continues to turn … somewhat like a globe. ADDED 1:23 PM: Speaking at his media event to announce Deputy Chief John Diaz as Acting Police Chief, Mayor Nickels says re: the P-I print shutdown, “Tomorrow will be a very sad day in Seattle.” He cited the importance of local-news coverage. ADDED 2:50 PM: Questions in our comments have included “what happens if you’re subscribing to the P-I?” This FAQ is now posted, confirming what commenters have replied – subscriptions are being transferred to the Times.
ENERGETIC NIGHT FOR SUSTAINABLE WEST SEATTLE: What better way to follow up a mini-windstorm than a discussion of non-fossil-fuel energy sources like wind? An Alki resident whose wind-power invention is getting a lot of attention, Jellyfish Wind Appliance creator Chad Maglaque, is among the guests discussing “community energy” at tonight’s Sustainable West Seattle monthly meeting at Camp Long Lodge, 7 pm.
ALKI SIDEWALK PROJECT SET TO START: We’ve been updating you on the Alki Point sidewalk completion/traffic-calming project in the past month, as construction got closer; today’s the day it’s set to start (providing our weekend weather woes haven’t caused a delay) – here’s our previous coverage with details of the project and timetable for construction; note that it’s starting at the Beach/Alki bend, which is a dicey drive in the best of conditions, so avoid that area if you can. (10:42 am note, just drove through the project zone to see if anything was happening yet – no equipment or signs – not exactly ideal work weather, of course – will keep checking and will post again whenever it DOES truly start.)
And one big citywide story to watch for this afternoon:
ACTING POLICE CHIEF ANNOUNCEMENT: Mayor Nickels is scheduled to announce at City Hall, 1 pm, who will run the department — at least temporarily — if and when Chief Gil Kerlikowske leaves for his new job in D.C. (The Times says this morning that Nickels wants it to be Deputy Chief John Diaz.)
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