West Seattle, Washington
11 Thursday
Got the news via Twitter (thanks @rebekahdenn and @experiencewa) that Spring Hill Restaurant proprietor Mark Fuller is one of Food and Wine‘s 2009 Best New Chefs, one of 10 nationwide.
Just got that photo from John Smersh at Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) in the Admiral District, who noticed on his way home that Dante’s shoe store (near Zatz A Better Bagel on California just north of Admiral) has shut down. The signs direct deliveries and customers to the other Dante’s store in Olympia; the West Seattle phone number is already disconnected and forwarding to the Olympia number (which is on the store’s webpage).
Didn’t want to wait till daylight for a photo, once Matthew e-mailed us to point out the subtle alteration that’s been made on the sign at what’s been dubbed Hole-In-The-Ground Foods. (Added Thursday afternoon: The daylight view)
On the way back to WSB HQ from there, we did a double-take (and a pull-over) once we saw the sign at right: The first “Shop Cat” profile is being plugged on the West Seattle Nursery sign! If you missed the story of Seth, who holds court at WSN (by the way, you can meet him during the nursery’s annual Spring Open House on April 11, see it here. And watch for the next West Seattle “Shop Cat” profile either tomorrow or Friday.
First, out of the WSB inbox, from Robin:
Chief Sealth High School students and members of the Nature Consortium are hosting another work party at the West Duwamish Greenbelt. It will be held this Saturday April 4th from 10am to 2pm. We will meet in the Cooper Elementary School parking lot. We need all the help we can get, so come join us!
Second – this Saturday is also the monthly work party for Friends of Lincoln Park, who will meet at 9 am in the parking lot across from SW Rose. (Every week, we list work parties in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup, published on Friday mornings.)
(WSB photo from 3/4/09)
We photographed that scene just a month ago, as Seattle City Light continued a year-plus program of stepped-up tree trimming aimed at reducing weather-related outages, since many are caused by wind-spurred conflicts between tree limbs and power lines. But today, there’s word SCL will be cutting down on tree-cutting because of spending reductions; according to this news release, it’ll also mean longer times for street-light repairs (which already are running weeks behind, according to what we discovered in February) and longer wait times when you call the utility.
(WSB photo of city-owned grader doing snow-removal work 12/23/08)
As discussed during the post-Snowpocalypse ’08 debriefings, the city has promised to get more snow-removal backup lined up for future use. (Here’s our coverage of the January 6th hearing in which SDOT boss Grace Crunican revealed how little private help they actually summoned last December.) Toward that end, the city is now officially seeking proposals, due April 14, for private, on-call, on-retainer snow-removal help. So what are they looking for? Thinking it might make interesting reading on this snowflake-dotted day, we pulled a few excerpts – read on (or just go here to see the whole document):Read More
Just announced by Galena White, ringleader of the Delridge Produce Cooperative campaign: “This summer, Delridge Produce Cooperative wants to give away hundreds of reusable, compactible nylon tote bags to help get out the message, ‘I want a produce cooperative on Delridge!’ Reusable totes are environmentally sustainable, and are great for carrying home fresh produce. We are holding a contest for the best artistic design to put on the tote which expresses the theme, “I want a produce cooperative on Delridge!” The design should be less than a foot square and contain only the colors black and white. Full-size foldable designs can be dropped off at the Delridge Neighborhood Development Association office at 5411 Delridge Way SW. Put your submission in the envelope marked, “Delridge Produce Co-Op,” along with attached sheet with your full name, address, phone number and email address. Submissions are due by April 28th; 1st prize is $48, 2nd prize is $32, and 3rd prize is $16. Judges will be the board members of Delridge Produce Cooperative. All ages are welcome!”
One week ago today (WSB coverage here), that vacant North Delridge house in the 5400 block of 26th SW (map) was cleaned out by a city crew; it’s now slated to be auctioned off on April 17th foreclosure auction. The ongoing issue of Delridge-area problem properties – from vacant and squatter-besieged, to occupied but debris/deterioration-plagued – is one of the items on the agenda for tonight’s North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting, 6:30 pm at Delridge Library (map). NDNC co-chair Mike Dady, who has been working a long time to get the city to take notice of the issue, has finally succeeded, and we are now two days away from a tour he plans to lead of some of the problem spots (community members invited, meeting time/place is 2:30 pm Friday at Delridge Uptown Espresso). City Councilmember Sally Clark and Department of Planning and Development director Diane Sugimura have already RSVP’d, and since our original reports on this, the mayor’s public-safety liaison, Julien Loh, also has contacted Mike, who has invited the mayor to join the tour; a city attorney’s office rep is expected to be along too. (12:25 pm addition: We’re also told Councilmember Tim Burgess will be there, as will Department of Neighborhoods director Stella Chao.) One other development: The city’s Customer Service Bureau director has circulated a note reiterating city codes regarding properties like these — read on to see it (we’ve added inline links to the code sections she mentions):Read More
(video from WSB HQ added 9:45 am – mostly just to record the proof, for posterity)
Yes, that’s a bit of snow mixed in with the rain right now. Temperature’s currently a few degrees above freezing so not likely to get TOO serious, but the official forecast even mentions it. Last year, if you’ve forgotten, we saw snow as late as April 19th. 10:12 AM NOTE: According to comments also coming in via Twitter (@westseattleblog) – where even a religious leader is complaining about it – Facebook (WS Blog), and e-mail, this is happening all over the place – Tukwila, Kent, Everett, Bremerton, downtown, and myriad West Seattle neighborhoods.
ADDED 10:30 AM: Seems even the little ones have mixed feelings about our endless winter. This photo shared by Bronwyn in Belvidere seems to capture the ambivalence:
The Wednesday night speaker series at Fauntleroy Church (WSB sponsor), “Re-creating Community in Our Day,” concludes tonight with Michael Ramos from the Church Council of Greater Seattle discussing “The Promise and Pain of Diversity in Shaping Community.” 7 pm in the church fellowship hall, free, or come early for a simple supper (by donation) at 6 pm. (We had the privilege of being part of this series a few weeks ago; here’s our report from that night.)
From Peg Nielsen at SDOT:
No details except that there is a report of a water main break at 6th Ave S and S Spokane St. Seattle Police are on the scene directing traffic. Avoid the area to avoid delay.
Any later updates, we’ll add to this item.
3:20 PM UPDATE: Just in from SDOT and SPU:
A watermain break in the vicinity of Sixth Avenue South and South Spokane Street this morning prevented traffic that was exiting from I-5 from turning right at Sixth Avenue South. The emergency work will pause by 3 p.m. today and all traffic movements will be restored during the peak period. Crews from Seattle Public Utilities plan to resume work at 10 p.m. this evening and work through the night. They plan to keep all lanes open to traffic tonight, if possible.
We wanted to take a moment to let you know about one of the newest WSB sponsors: 
Cherry Blossom Aesthetics and Boutique. As is customary when a new sponsor comes on board, we offer them the chance to tell you about their business, and here’s what Cherry Blossom‘s Aimee Bonomo says: I have been a licensed aesthetician for 10 years. I practiced in Las Vegas for 8 years before moving to West Seattle and opening the Cherry Blossom. I have had a variety of extended-education classes including body treatments, facial peels, HydraFacial, LED lights and MAC pro. I am always taking new classes to better serve my clients. I work with Virginia Rain, who is a wonderful permanent makeup artist and Pranic Healer. Virginia has been an aesthetician for 9 years and has lived in West Seattle for 15 years. We offer HydraFacial, which is a non-surgical facial rejuvenation. This serum-based resurfacing improves the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, congested pores, hyper-pigmentation and acne with no discomfort or down time. The Professional LED lights are amazing for hyper-pigmentation, collagen production, inflammation, and acne. Permanent makeup makes it possible to look better around the clock without spending so much time. It works great for sensitive skin, and active, outdoor lifestyles. Get $50 off your first HydraFacial and 50% off permanent makeup. Call for an appointment or come by. We look forward to hearing from you soon: (206) 933-2824.
Thanks to Cherry Blossom Aesthetics and Boutique for joining the WSB sponsor team, full list here with info on how to join!
| 4 COMMENTS