West Seattle, Washington
13 Saturday
Thanks to JayDee for that view from Sunset Avenue SW, looking out toward Alki Point, with Blake Island in the background. Next: Ground-level on Alki, we spotted this bird a few days ago, and have been meaning to ask aloud if it’s yet another eagle-in-transition:
Different kind of creatures onstage this past week at West Seattle Montessori School (WSB sponsor) – congratulations to the preprimary performers who put on “Three Billy Goats Gruff”, and thanks to Jennifer for sharing the photo:
Last but not least, we published a photo tour last week spotlighting a new WSB sponsor, Mural Apartments in The Junction — a few days later, Brian sent us this photo, with appliances-in-waiting seeming to mirror the windows above:
Thanks to everyone who shares photos via WSB, whether breaking news or interesting sights – yours are welcome any time at editor@westseattleblog.com (including links to Flickr or other types of galleries, as long as you tell us it’s OK to publish)!
As reported two months ago, the homeless shelter that moved into West Seattle Church of the Nazarene at 42nd/Juneau in March of last year was supposed to move to Ballard — but its planned new temporary home in Ballard fell through. Now, according to this story posted tonight at seattlepi.com, the shelter’s West Seattle stay has just been extended again — to June 1st — because parent organization SHARE hasn’t found a new place for it. The article also says the Community of Christ Church in Highland Park recently “evicted” a shelter it had hosted for seven years.
James sent photos with this explanation:
I was walking through Solstice Park with my baby and dog and noticed a bunch of skinny-tired donut (360 skid-out) tracks in the groomed gravel of the lookout. Following the tracks, they led to the culprits fixing their scooters up the trail.
He says the riders were 3 male teenagers/young men: “… the broken (scooter) was blue.” One of the other two, he says, had a license plate that starts with 78 and ends in 52; he says some of the ruts left behind in this small park, formerly known as Lincoln Park Annex — uphill east of the tennis courts across from Lincoln Park’s north end, and also home to a P-Patch — were almost half a foot deep.
James says he did call police to report this. Motorized vehicles, including scooters, are prohibited on Seattle Parks trails.
On the brink of 100 sales signed up now for the 5th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day – schools, churches, estate sales, block sales, private homes, the “group sites” at Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) and C & P Coffee, a great mix. Registration deadline is next Saturday night – get your online registration in by 11:59 pm Saturday, or make sure your mail-in form gets to us by Saturday’s delivery (so mailing it no later than Thursday is a good idea) – The Big Day, with sales all over West Seattle is 9 am-3 pm, Saturday, May 9th, and the map will be available earlier than ever this year (starting with distribution at the WSB table at the Sustainable West Seattle Festival [WSB sponsor *and* we’re a festival co-sponsor] Sunday 5/3 in The Junction). Want to register, or just find out more? The official Garage Sale Day site is westseattlegaragesale.com (you can browse the site for coverage of last year, too, to get a taste of what it’s about and how it went).
School may have two months left to go but as thousands of West Seattle families know, it’s prime time to get summer-camp options lined up. Here’s one: Registration is open now for this year’s Basketball and Life Skills Camp at Chief Sealth High School, but it’s not just for high-school students – it’s open to incoming second through ninth graders, both girls and boys. Sessions start June 22; here’s the brochure. This came to us, by the way, from Sealth’s Sam Reed, who will be CSHS athletics director next year, taking over from Nels Enquist, who Reed explains been in that role on an interim basis after retiring as assistant principal.
(WSB cameraphone photo added 12:37 pm)
FIRST REPORT, 12:21 PM: On our way to a single-family residence fire call in the 8100 block of Delridge (map). Huge callout; more details momentarily.
12:25 PM UPDATE: South of the fire, Delridge is blocked to traffic at Thistle. Don’t know yet where it’s blocked on the north. The fire is centered in the basement, according to the scanner, and has just been declared “under control,” but not entirely out yet.
12:34 PM UPDATE: Looks like Delridge may be blocked to traffic as far north as Holden, north of the fire scene. Still lots of smoke and the house is quite charred, according to our crew on the scene; medic units are there but do not appear to be treating anyone – firefighters have searched the house and not found anyone inside, as of “primary search.” From the scanner, fire was “well-involved in the basement” of the house but is now “knocked down” aside from some hot spots. We don’t have official word at the scene yet if anyone was inside when this started, but we talked to neighbors who say they haven’t seen anyone at the house in quite some time.
1:02 PM UPDATE: Firefighters say nobody was in the house when it started; nobody hurt; cause won’t be known for a while, but it definitely started in the basement. While the fire’s technically out, they’ll be on the scene for a while monitoring “smoldering debris” as well as investigating the cause, so Delridge traffic north of Thistle will still be difficult for a while – we’ll check periodically so we can update you when it’s fully open again.
1:48 PM ADDITION: We shot that video clip is when we first arrived at the scene – you can see some smoke for starters, then more after firefighters break out some of the windows (you can hear the glass breaking, then you see more smoke and steam from a front window); our camera also looked southbound on Delridge, to show how far down the line of fire trucks stretched. Property records show the 1,000-square-foot house, built in 1955, has had the same owners since 1997. We’ll add an update whenever an official cause is announced.
5:40 PM UPDATE: Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen says damage from the fire totals $225,000 – $150,000 to the structure, $75,000 to its contents. The cause is not yet determined; she says investigators still have to talk to a few more people.
While at Chief Sealth High School for the Honor Choir/Mariachi Tamale Dinner last night, we noticed that sign on a courtyard window. The Wednesday activity reminded us of the passion with which restoration workers describe the need to get invasives up and out of our forests, yards, fields, anywhere you see them. (Here’s a list and photos of what to look for.) Meantime, we also have an update from West Seattle Thriftway regarding their big Earth Day plan: Not only will the store bag everything in reusable tote bags (while they last) – and no plastic for the day at all (aside from the health-code-required produce and meat/freezer bags), even if you insist you don’t want a tote bag – but the Movin’ 92.5 “Ladies Room” team will have a contest in the Thriftway parking lot, noon-1:30 pm, giving away a three-wheeled ECO Car. Michelle from Thriftway explains, “These cars are still in preproduction … so the winner will be able to customize the car to their liking…interior, color etc. There will be a model of the car on-site. They have a pre-determined list of contestants [from an ongoing contest], but will be choosing a handful of on-site individuals to participate (maybe 10-15). It will be a mix of some ECO trivia and sort of a ‘Supermarket Sweep’ type game to incorporate our store into the challenge.” Here’s a video of the DJs’ test drive of the three-wheeled car:
Found that on their site’s page with more info, here. Thriftway’s Earth Day page is here.
SUSTAINABLE WEST SEATTLE BIKE-A-PALOOZA TOMORROW: Looks like the 70s for Monday. 
So after work, get on your bike and ride over to Camp Long, where the monthly Sustainable West Seattle meeting at 7 pm tomorrow will feature Bike-A-Palooza, with speakers and exhibits as described here. Even if you’re not riding yet, but maybe mulling the possibility, there’s a lot to see and hear.
WEST SEATTLE BRIDGE BICYCLE TRAIL CLEANUP, MAY 23: As the official webpage for this cleanup asks, “Do you ever ride the trail to West Seattle or commute to downtown? It is a mess!” Check out the plan here; maybe you even know a business or group that wants to get involved. 
But even if you can “only” volunteer yourself, go here to sign up.
2ND ANNUAL WEST SEATTLE BIKE TOUR, JUNE 7: Tour “some of West Seattle’s most influential landmarks,” as the Southwest Seattle Historical Society puts it, 12:30 pm-2 pm Sunday 6/7 — going from the Log House Museum to the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza, Anchor (Luna) Park, and the Duwamish Longhouse. The tour’s creator, museum assistant Sarah Frederick, says, “Much of the route is a bike path or part of the existing Alki Cultural Trail. Taking the history out of a museum and or standard educational setting is refreshing for the patrons. It’s wonderful to stand on the spot where something actually happened and bring it to life through stories.” To join the tour, it’ll be $5 museum members/$7 non-members – to sign up in advance, call Sarah at 206-938-5293 or e-mail shop@loghousemuseum.org.
As always, Sunday morning means we point you to the latest from the West Seattle Farmers Market (10 am-2 pm, 44th/Alaska). Sounds like you should bring greenery for greens.
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