West Seattle, Washington

31 Saturday

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month : 04/2009 382 results

Happening today: Farmers’ Market, Skillet @ Hotwire, more
April 26, 2009 7:02 am
|    Comments Off on Happening today: Farmers’ Market, Skillet @ Hotwire, more
 |   West Seattle Farmers' Market | West Seattle news

(Photo added 9:54 am courtesy Lora @ Hotwire, as Skillet crew sets up)
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS MARKET: 10-2 in The Junction; here’s what to look for.

SKILLET STREET FOOD’S WEST SEATTLE DEBUT: Remember, look for the Airstream trailer in the courtyard by Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor), 11 am-2 pm, because of the last-minute change in locations. Menu’s here.

Lots more happening today, including a craft show/brunch to benefit the fight against leukemia/lymphoma and The Esoterics at Holy Rosary – here’s the Sunday list, from the West Seattle Weekend Lineup.

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West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day registration record!
April 26, 2009 1:44 am
|    Comments Off on West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day registration record!
 |   Community Garage Sale Day

Registration is now closed, and the semifinal tally – pending a little checking and rechecking – is 170+ sales – big, small, inbetween, some for fundraising, some just for fun. That means the 5th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day on Saturday, May 9th, will be by far the biggest one yet. Now we start making The Map, so the first copies will be available for you to pick up at our table at the Sustainable West Seattle Festival a week from today. Stand by for updates — including more on some of the big sale spots, as we start going through the signup stack!

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Highland Park dancer/activist to “shake it up” downtown
April 26, 2009 1:10 am
|    Comments Off on Highland Park dancer/activist to “shake it up” downtown
 |   West Seattle people | West Seattle politics

Monday at noon, if you happen to be outside the Jackson Federal Building downtown, you’ll see colorfully clad dancers demonstrating – to urge Sen. Patty Murray and other local lawmakers to support single-payer health-care. Helping lead the way: Dina Lydia Johnson, who’s also active with the Highland Park Action Committee (which, incidentally, meets Monday night, 7 pm at Highland Park Improvement Club). She’s put together a webpage with more about the demonstration – see it here.

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Fauntleroy SWAT situation over: Man surrenders
April 25, 2009 8:13 pm
|      37 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | Fauntleroy | West Seattle news | WS breaking news

(previous as-it-happened coverage here)
8:13 PM BULLETIN: Just ended. More to come.

(WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)
8:19 PM UPDATE: The standoff in Fauntleroy’s Endolyne business district lasted approximately 5 1/2 hours. According to our crews on the scene, it ended a few minutes ago as the suspect backed out of the house and surrendered, as police had been shouting through a bullhorn, asking him to do, for the past few hours. Just a short time earlier, police had said on the radio that they had re-established contact with him but he was “not cooperating.” WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand, who has been on the scene since even before the SWAT team arrived, says the man is well-dressed — wearing a tie and suspenders — and was taken to a medic unit that had been called to the scene a few hours ago to be on standby. We will have photos/video soon, but Patrick and WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli are still gathering more information now that the situation is over. Added: Seattle Police spokesperson Officer Renee Witt says the man was indeed, as we reported earlier, alone in the building. He says he was walking around with a shotgun – the sighting that touched off the standoff hours earlier – because he thought there were transients in the building. No evidence of transients, police say.

8:51 PM: That’s video of the man as police walked him around the corner toward the medic unit. (We don’t always show faces at arrest scenes, but we are following the rules implemented in all the conventional-media newsrooms in which we worked in recent years: Faces only if you are charged with the crime, confess to the crime, or there is no doubt you are the person who did what you are being arrested for – in other words, you are caught in the act – and that would apply here, with there being no doubt this is the man who held police at bay for 5-plus hours.)

9:06 PM: The last SWAT unit is leaving the scene, and traffic is moving through the area again. As we mentioned in our as-it-happened coverage, Endolyne Joe’s (which was behind the police line) decided to close for the night and send its staff home to be on the safe side, but should be open again for breakfast (and beyond) in the morning. Meantime, we are reviewing video shot at the scene earlier, to add a few more clips here from the 5-hour-plus standoff, and also will be watching the county jail register to see if the man arrested tonight shows up there.

9:54 PM: One thing that came up repeatedly during the standoff was the issue of the loud bangs heard several times, audible from some distance away – those were from devices police can choose to set off during situations in which they need to distract or confuse the person/s they are dealing with. WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli got two images related to the use of these – since police sent out a warning of sorts on the radio before setting them off, here’s an officer covering his ears, followed by some smoke in the air afterward:

You can also see some smoke clearing in this video clip, which also includes the sound of the bullhorn orders police were shouting at the suspect:

Here’s a clip of two of the vehicles the SWAT team brought to Fauntleroy this afternoon:

SUNDAY NIGHT NOTE: As of 10:55 pm Sunday, no one by the name we believe to be that of the arrested man has been booked into King County Jail. We will be checking with Seattle Police first thing in the morning to see if they have information on whether he is still in the hospital or whether he was released.

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Preliminary name recommendation for Morgan Junction’s park
April 25, 2009 7:58 pm
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | West Seattle people

The final word rests with Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher, but the Parks Department naming committee has announced its recommendation for what to call Morgan Junction’s new park (on the ex-Fauntleroy Auto, ex-planned-monorail-station site north of ex-Video Vault-turned-Beveridge Place Pub). The recommended name, disclosed at this week’s Parks Board meeting … Morgan Junction Park. As reported here in recent months, a community petition drive had been under way to get the park nameed in memory of Tim St. Clair, the longtime West Seattle Herald reporter who died in March of last year; he lived near Morgan Junction and spent years covering issues that led up to the creation of the park, including the monorail. Supporters, including major West Seattle-area community leaders and groups, asked Parks to make an exception in the department’s naming policy, which says a park can’t be named after someone until at least three years after their death. Again, the final park-naming decision is up to Superintendent Gallagher; if you are interested in contacting him with your comments on the proposed name, you’ll find his contact info here. Whatever name is finalized, the park will be officially dedicated during the Morgan Junction Community Festival on June 13th.

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Updates: SWAT team in Fauntleroy standoff, roads blocked
April 25, 2009 2:47 pm
|      63 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news | WS breaking news

(scroll down for newest photos, info)

ORIGINAL 2:47 PM REPORT: Checking on multiple reports (thanks for the calls and e-mails) of major police activity in the Endolyne business district area of Fauntleroy. We’re told roads are blocked off in the area. One neighbor describes the scene: “Multiple cop cars cutting off every street in my neighborhood and police with guns drawn running around especially up by the bakery/restaurant.” We’re heading down the hill now to find out what’s going on.


View Larger Map

2:59 PM: Still no official information as it is a very chaotic scene but two citizen reports suggest it involves a suspect who may have a gun. So DEFINITELY avoid the area TFN. We can’t get close from the west side so we’re going around the other way. Scanner indicates special units are being used here including SWAT (en route if not there yet) – a negotiator is apparently on the scene. Scanner says suspect has told police no one else is with him.

3:22 PM UPDATE: An officer at the scene told us the person they’re all focused on is believed to be in the alley behind Endolyne Joe’s. The SWAT team has just arrived — adding a photo in a moment.

3:54 PM UPDATE: No major updates from the scene. Police all in position, though some of them have moved around. Scanner traffic within the past several minutes indicated the suspect was still talking via phone with police. And on a practical note, this is affecting traffic toward and from the ferry dock AND traffic between Fauntleroy and Marine View Drive/west Arbor Heights, so keep that in mind.

4:12 PM UPDATE: To further clarify, co-publisher Patrick Sand, who’s our reporter/photographer on the scene right now, says he’s been told the suspect is in a 2-story apartment building on the alley behind Endolyne Joe’s. Just in case that helps you further figure out where all this is unfolding. Adding a photo – note we are cropping our SWAT team photos as it’s important in standoff situations not to show police’s exact positions, lest a suspect be monitoring media (of any kind):

4:36 PM UPDATE: Police are now using a bullhorn to try to get the suspect to re-establish contact. From comments (if you haven’t read it there already), Rick is at the scene and forced to stay at his workplace while the standoff continues:

I’m at work in the middle of this, i’m inside the taped area, my office wall adjacent to this alley. There are a handful of swat patrol guys with machine guns outside my window. I tried to leave and they told me to go back inside and wait. I’m watching from my window…

WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli is also now at the scene, which we have covered from both sides. (After arriving, he took the next photo, added Saturday evening:)

5:30 PM UPDATE: No major developments. Standoff still under way. Police still trying to get suspect to re-establish contact. The loud noises you hear are being made by police, deliberately, we can verify. There are still conflicting anecdotal reports from the scene whether anyone was believed to be in the house with the man.

6:01 PM UPDATE: Again, we’re not doing play-by-play from the scene because (as discussed in comments) there are some details that it’s safer not to report publicly while these situations are unfolding. Police are still using a bullhorn to try to get the man to respond; the building he’s believed to be in is the 4-plex immediately west of the commercial building at 45th/Wildwood.

6:09 PM UPDATE: SPD spokesperson Officer Renee Witt just confirmed to us – after we called to triplecheck – that what we have been reporting for hours is accurate: NO HOSTAGES.

7:10 PM UPDATE: Status quo at the scene. In news of nearby businesses, we called Endolyne Joe’s to see if they were planning to be open IF this ends before too long, and Mike told us no, they just decided a short time ago to send everybody home, to be on the safe side. So they are closed for the rest of the night, no matter what. Kitty-corner in the same intersection, though, people are coming and going from Guadalajara – that’s on the other side of the police tape.

7:38 PM UPDATE: Police at least briefly heard from the suspect for the first time in a while, according to the scanner. And without going into further detail, let’s just say this could go on for quite some time. Just saying that so if you live in the area and have been waiting to make your plans for the evening based on whether this might end sometime soon, you can plan otherwise. We will probably start a new story for evening updates on this, since there’s another story we’ve been holding off on publishing to keep this atop the page; when we do that, we will add the URL here, but till you see that, we’ll add any new info here.

8:12 PM UPDATE: It’s over – the man came out and surrendered. Starting a separate post to cover that. Find it here.

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West Seattle scenes: Eagle on the beach; “Junction Rebellion”
April 25, 2009 1:19 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle businesses

Thanks to Stacey and Brooklyn Fuda for that photo – Stacey explains, “My daughter and I were at Alki this morning at about 10:30 during the low tide and we saw an Eagle hanging out on the sand. It was pretty awesome! I can’t say that I’ve ever seen anything like that before!” (With all the great eagle sightings lately, we have a guest-written feature story in the works for sometime this weekend.) Meantime, back inland to The Junction, we’ve mentioned today’s “Junction Rebellion” shopping discounts (coupons here; participants listed here) – Jefferson Square has participants too, including Square One Books:

And Snap Fitness (WSB sponsor) is having an open house with free food:

Guests too – with Snap’s MJ Benavente in the middle, that’s Mary Zwerling at left and sports chiropractor Michael Ross (who gave a talk this morning) at left:

Snap’s open house continues till 3 pm. More big events happening around West Seattle as the day goes on – next up, the Pet Rodeo and Snooty Walk presented by West Seattle High School students at Hiawatha (including pet adoption!), 2-4 pm, and Feedback Lounge‘s grand opening night, starting at 6 pm (see our Thursday night sneak peek here).

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West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day: Hours left to register!
April 25, 2009 12:18 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day: Hours left to register!
 |   Community Garage Sale Day | West Seattle news

West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, May 9, 2009Looks like it’s going to be the sale day to end all sale days. Well – maybe not literally “end” – Saturday , May 9, will be the 5th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, and we certainly expect to present a 6th annual, and 7th annual, and what a bash it will be for the 10th one in 2014 … Anyway — 11:59 pm tonight is the deadline to register your sale. Too late to get a form in the mail but online registration is pretty quick (do it here), and that’s how almost 80 percent of the signups have come in.

For everybody who’s signed up by then – we’ll be sending you an info packet via postal mail, including your “official participant” sign and more on how to donate unsold items via Northwest Center. And as mentioned before, we will have The Map ready extra-early this year – Sunday, May 3, with free copies available for pickup at the West Seattle Blog table near the main stage at the Sustainable West Seattle Festival (sponsoring and co-sponsored by WSB); after the festival ends on Sunday afternoon, the map will be available online, and other locations we’ll announce this week. Also look for the flyer we’ll post online so you can put it up on your workplace bulletin board, e-mail to your friends, anything else to spread the word. Keep watching for news here and at westseattlegaragesale.com. Thanks!

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Happening now: Cove Park, Delridge volunteer cleanups
April 25, 2009 11:19 am
|    Comments Off on Happening now: Cove Park, Delridge volunteer cleanups
 |   Delridge | Environment | Fauntleroy | How to help

The little park north of the Fauntleroy ferry dock sometimes seems like one of West Seattle’s best-kept secrets, but today the sign you’ll see when you click the video is catching some attention – the Fauntleroy Community Association has volunteers out at Cove Park for the spring cleanup. We talked with FCA’s Gary Dawson, who explained the cleanup’s a little more intense than usual because the winter cold and snow killed more of the shrubbery. They’ll be out till noon if you want to go jump in; they’re also adding new wood chips donated by Stonehedge Tree Experts (WSB sponsor) owner Mark Harman, who along with his dad is volunteering today too. Meantime, eastward to Delridge, the quarterly Adopt-A-Street cleanup is under way today, with the North Delridge Neighborhood Council starting at Delridge Community Center and Chief Sealth High School volunteers starting at the school (Boren campus) – we caught up with a Sealth PTSA trio:

(From left: Janet Hillier, Liann Sundquist, Vanessa Hodges)
Sealth is one of the schools where you’ll find big sales on West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day two weeks from today (registration ends at 11:59 pm tonight) – and the PTSA is looking for donations and volunteers; here’s their announcement:

Funds raised will help benefit the Chief Sealth Students participating in a Summer 2009 Study Abroad trip to Japan and the many programs of the Chief Sealth PTSA.

We are joining in with the 5th Annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale sponsored by the West Seattle Blog!

We Want Your Stuff!
Clean out your garage, closets and basement by donating items in good condition. All unsold items will be donated to Northwest Center; therefore we are following their donation guidelines.

Love to Bake?
Please consider donating baked goods we can sell to hungry shoppers. Not time to bake? We would also appreciate your donations of juice boxes and bottled water to be sold to thirsty shoppers. After all shopping at such a great sale is hard work!

Important
Due to extremely limited storage space at the school, we can only accept donations of your items and bake sale goodies the day before the sale or the morning of the sale.

Please bring donations to the school Friday, May 8th from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm or Saturday May 9th from 7:00 am to 9:00 am

We need your help – Just 1 or 2 hours of your time on Friday, May 8th or Saturday, May 9th will make a BIG difference! We have a variety of jobs and time slots.

Contact us at garagesale@chiefsealthptsa.org or leave a message at 206-252-0444 voice mail box 98550. A PTSA member will return your call!

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Happening today: Get out, pitch in, strut, shop …
April 25, 2009 6:30 am
|    Comments Off on Happening today: Get out, pitch in, strut, shop …
 |   Fun stuff to do | How to help

(photo added 9:45 am – sent by Doug Baldwin, as the Windermere crew prepped balloons for “Junction Rebellion” sale participants)
So much going on today, the best thing we can do is point you to the direct link to the Saturday section of the West Seattle Weekend Lineup. Lots of chances to have a good time (Snooty Walk, music, theater, more) and/or do a good deed (Delridge and Cove Park cleanups, food drive at Westwood Village QFC) – we’ll be covering some of them throughout the day.

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Join Pete Seeger’s multi-site 90th birthday bash — at The Admiral
April 25, 2009 3:33 am
|      8 COMMENTS
 |   Admiral Theater | Bag fee battle | West Seattle video | WS & Sports | WS culture/arts

Folk-music legend Pete Seeger co-wrote “If I Had a Hammer,” but Peter, Paul and Mary made it famous. Seeger – whose impending 90th birthday will be celebrated in West Seattle and other locals nationwide – is much better known for his songwriting than his singing – this classic performed by The Byrds, also from the ’60s, is a prime example:

Here’s Seeger explaining how he wrote that:

So, after those clips, are you in the mood to sing along with songs like “If I Had a Hammer” and “Turn, Turn, Turn,” along with many others? On Seeger’s 90th birthday, Sunday 5/3, a day with celebrations planned around the country, the Seattle party will be right here in West Seattle, at the historic Admiral Theater. The singalongs will be part of an evening music slate, starting at 7 pm, following a documentary screening at 4 pm. West Seattle author/historian Clay Eals is the one who came up with the idea for the historic theater to host this celebration of living history – during an interview at the Admiral last Wednesday, he explained what it’s going to be all about:

Read on for more about the celebration, more from Eals – who explains the synergy between this event and the musician-biography project he worked on for years – ahead:Read More

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Closing sale Sunday at The Little Artist in The Junction
April 25, 2009 1:54 am
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

Thanks to Bonnie for sharing this e-mail sent to a customer list for the kids-art business upstairs from Curious Kidstuff in The Junction:

Dear Friends,

After seven years I have had to close The Little Artist. I am very sad about it and will miss you all. In order to clear out the studio, I will be having a sale on Sunday, April 26th from 11:00 to 4:00.
* Art materials
* Easels
* Furniture (bookcases, cubbies, etc.)
* Storage bins
* Art project books
* “Grab bags” materials for several projects in each bag
* Birthday party supplies
Prices are below my costs, so bargains are to be had! Hope to see you!

We’d checked out a tip some weeks back that The Little Artist was for sale, but hadn’t confirmed anything at the time. The studio’s operator is NOT the same as the toy store it’s above.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Anybody see who did this?
April 25, 2009 12:38 am
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | High Point | West Seattle news

Just out of the WSB inbox, from Kelly:

My friends and I were driving back from Alaska Junction to our home in the Westwood area right before midnight on the Friday night (4/24).

We removed 2 signs and a cone from the middle of the road. They seemed to be placed there deliberately so that cars could hit them. The location was 35th Ave between Raymond and Juneau Streets (map).

I was wondering if you could post this on the site to see if anyone witnessed people in the act of placing these in the street. I feel a lot better knowing these items are out of the street and no one is hurt. We have seen our share of car accidents in the neighborhood recently.

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Remembering J.B. Webster: Fund set up for family
April 24, 2009 11:46 pm
|      21 COMMENTS
 |   How to help | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

Since we reported the death of well-known West Seattleite J.B. Webster earlier this week, more than two dozen people have paid tribute to him in comments following our story (see them here). And tonight there’s something new to report: Ian Lurie sends word of a fund set up to help Mr. Webster’s wife Christi and children Tyler, Logan and Eli – he’s created this webpage for it, with information on how to get a check to First Mutual Bank north of The Junction and a link for donating online. Mr. Webster’s memorial is at 11 am next Tuesday, 4/28, at Alki UCC Church (here’s a map).

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West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day history!
April 24, 2009 10:54 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day history!
 |   Community Garage Sale Day

West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, May 9, 2009It’s official – this year’s West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day has already set a record for number of sales, and there’s still 25 hours to sign up. Last year, checking back into the archives, it appears our final count was 144 sales, which was a WSCGSD record; as of right now, we’re at 154 – and that’s just for number of sales registered … even more actual sellers are involved, given that we have schools, churches, organizations and group sales (the courtyard at Hotwire Coffee [WSB sponsor] has 25 people signed up for tables!). But remember – (a) There are almost 60,000 people on our peninsula and (b) we’re promoting this outside West Seattle too – it’s the first big community garage-sale day of the season (Greenwood moved its big Garage Sale Day to fall as of this year) AND with economic jitters, bargain-hunting is hotter than ever. Too late to mail in your form for it to get here tomorrow but online registration is open all the way till 11:59 pm tomorrow night – start here. And if you’re not selling but planning on shopping – we’ll start spotlighting some of the specifics over the weekend, while working on The Map, which will be available starting Sunday 5/3 at the WSB table at the Sustainable West Seattle Festival (and will be available online for download starting right after the festival). Thanks to everyone in advance for being part of a fun day of meeting more West Seattle neighbors AND engaging in a classic form of “recycling”!

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Viaduct=Tunnel bill gets final OK, with cost-overrun provision
April 24, 2009 6:35 pm
|      15 COMMENTS
 |   Alaskan Way Viaduct | West Seattle politics

After the state House passed the Alaskan Way Viaduct=Tunnel bill (SB 5768) the other night,
it had to go back for one more Senate vote because of some amendments, including the one that says cost overruns will be covered by “property owners in the Seattle area who benefit from replacing the existing viaduct with the tunnel.” Within the past hour, the Senate passed the bill, as amended by the House, 39-9; the yes votes included West Seattle’s State Sen. Joe McDermott. Governor Gregoire said afterward, “”We are on the way to one of the most important transportation years in Washington’s history. … Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives approving a very complex project is a remarkable accomplishment. The deep-bored tunnel replacement will create jobs, help us emerge from this recession stronger and prepare our state for a 21st-century economy.”

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West Seattle Weekend Lineup: Shopping, Snooty, Feedback edition
April 24, 2009 5:33 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle Weekend Lineup: Shopping, Snooty, Feedback edition
 |   Fun stuff to do | WS culture/arts | WS Weekend Lineup

wswllicon3.pngFrom two big West Seattle Junction shopping events to the Snooty Walk and Pet Rodeo to the grand opening of Feedback Lounge, plus a summer-activities-info fair, cleanups from Delridge to Cove Park and beyond, an open house (with giveaways!) at Snap Fitness (WSB sponsor) and a big food drive, more than 50 events are happening in the next 54 (or so) hours ’round here — here’s the full West Seattle Weekend Lineup, brought to you by Skylark Cafe and Club:Read More

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Sustainable West Seattle Festival, May 3: Preview it online!
April 24, 2009 3:54 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Environment | Fun stuff to do | Sustainable West Seattle | West Seattle festivals

swsundriver.jpg

(WSB photo from 2008 Sustainable West Seattle Festival)
The full website is now up and running for the 2nd annual Sustainable West Seattle Festival (which is sponsoring, and co-sponsored by, WSB), coming up Sunday, May 3, in The Junction, 10 am-3 pm. You can see the schedule here – the Duwamish Tribe will open the festival again this year, and speakers immediately afterward include Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott; there’s a long list of schedules, workshops and panels, including one that’ll feature your editor here (Local Media Panel: “Communities as Contributors, not Readers” – as we put it, WSB doesn’t have “readers”; you’re a collaborator). We’re also among dozens of organizations and businesses that will have tables or booths, all listed here – at our table, you can be among the first to get a free copy of the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day map, which will go public that day (tomorrow’s the deadline to sign up a sale for WSCGSD – westseattlegaragesale.com). The Sustainable West Seattle Festival’s official website starts here.

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From the courthouse: Skyelar Hailey sentenced in trespass case
April 24, 2009 3:01 pm
|      46 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

(WSB photos by Christopher Boffoli)
We’re at the King County Courthouse, where 18-year-old West Seattle repeat offender Skyelar Hailey has been sentenced in the plea agreement he reached following his arrest in an Admiral neighborhood last November (the search that day started with a burglary, but an evidence problem resulted in the plea bargain). We had long planned to cover this anyway but the case ratcheted up a notch after what happened earlier this week – he had three warrants out for his arrest, related to theft and domestic-violence-protection-order cases, and was caught by police Wednesday night, one night after he allegedly bolted when they tried to pull him over. In court this afternoon, deputy prosecuting attorney Gary Ernsdorff said Hailey admitted to possessing the bag of marijuana found with him during his arrest that night. As for the sentencing – the prosecution asked for 30 extra days of jail time; the defense pointed out he hasn’t formally been charged with anything related to what happened this week, and also said he’s living with his girlfriend and her parents in West Seattle, pursuing a GED and looking for a job. In the end, King County Superior Court Judge Jim Rogers sentenced Hailey to time already served (he spent 16 days in jail after the November arrest, one day in the domestic-violence case in February, and has been in for two days so far since Wednesday’s arrest), plus an extra 240 hours of community service, and two years’ probation. As for how much longer he stays in jail now, depends on what happens with the warrants for which he was arrested; we are checking with the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for the status on those. (4:40 pm update: PAO spokesperson Dan Donohoe says Hailey would go to each court with jurisdiction in the warrant cases – Juvenile and Municipal – to “resolve” them; no charges filed as of yet in anything related to the Wednesday night arrest.) WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli joined me in covering today’s hearing, and took the photographs included in this story. — Tracy Record, WSB editor

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West Seattle food update: Skillet is a go – next to Hotwire
April 24, 2009 2:00 pm
|      11 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

This just in. Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) owner Lora Lewis offered courtyard space to Skillet Street Food in the wake of the sudden parking-lot cancellation that otherwise might have kept them from opening this Sunday – and “it’s a go” per a quick message we just got. Details to follow. (By the way, the reason for the lot cancellation remains a mystery; Skillet’s proprietor Josh Henderson said he got the word from Diamond Parking, but we got a call back from the Diamond manager who runs the lots in this area and he didn’t know anything about it.)

ADDED 3:15 PM: Since everyone responded so fast – including Lora! – we wanted you to see the message he sent on Twitter; by WSB, he really means YOU!

New west Seattle location this sunday… In the courtyard of hotwire coffee… Thanks lora!! And the WSB..

Direct link to that tweet here. Still working to confirm that the hours will be the same as the original West Seattle plan (which were 11 am-2 pm); here’s the menu they’ll be serving.

4:30 PM: The hours will indeed be 11 am-2 pm. Hotwire’s courtyard is just north of the coffee shop, which in turn is just north of the post office, east side of California just south of Genesee. Same place outdoor movies are shown in the summer!

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West Seattle jail-site fight: Council delivers letter to county
April 24, 2009 1:45 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle jail sites | West Seattle news

We were first to tell you about the plans for City Council President Richard Conlin and City Councilmember Tim Burgess to send the county a letter, asking for an extension of time before the county ends the city’s contract to handle misdemeanor inmates; the looming end of that contract is why the city’s been looking to build a new jail, with a site in West Seattle (Highland Park Way SW/West Marginal Way) among those under consideration. Today, the letter’s been delivered, according to this announcement we just received from Councilmember Burgess:

The Seattle City Council delivered a letter today to King County Executive Ron Sims and King County Council Chair Dow Constantine requesting a “ten-year (or longer) extension of the current agreement” that provides jail beds for misdemeanor prisoners arrested by Seattle police officers.

The letter from the Seattle City Council is attached, along with King County Ordinance 16200 (which states that “it is the intent of the council that the county should continue to be the primary regional provider of secure detention”) and the King County Executive’s signing letter for Ordinance 16200.

Read the letter here. It’s a three-page letter, followed by the six-page ordinance.

ADDED 4:13 PM: Statement from Mayor Nickels (we have also requested one from County Council Chair Constantine and are told it’s in the works):

“I appreciate the support of the City Council in urging King County Executive Ron Sims and the King County Council to continue to provide regional detention and community corrections programs. The city of Seattle has long advocated for a long-term extension of the current agreement with King County to house our misdemeanants. However, King County has maintained that it doesn’t have long-term jail capacity and a new facility must be built. For months, we have been engaged in a process with cities in northeast King County to find another option. If King County determines that it now has the capacity for a long-term contract, we would welcome a new agreement.”

ADDED 5:09 PM: And Constantine’s statement is in:

“I appreciate this letter from the Seattle City Council. I think we all acknowledge that incarceration rates have been trending downward in King County and that the rush to build a large misdemeanant jail—or two—now seems premature. We need to explore every alternative before we spend millions of dollars of taxpayer money. The numbers indicate that a new jail may not soon be needed, particularly if we increase the capacity and use of less expensive alternative programs, drug and mental health treatment, and housing.

“In King County, our average daily jail population is far below projections in part because of our diligent work in creating and promoting alternatives to incarceration. If we are going to spend more money in this area, it should go to programs that divert people from a life of crime.

“The right thing to do now is for the county to work not just with the city of Seattle, but with all regional stakeholders to revisit our projections and develop a plan that meets our shared long-term jail needs. The important thing is to begin this dialogue immediately.”

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Denny-Sealth challenge: Hearing over; ruling within 2 weeks
April 24, 2009 1:26 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Denny-Sealth | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

We’ve spent the past three-plus hours in the city Hearing Examiner‘s hearing room on the 40th floor of the Municipal Tower downtown, listening to arguments in the appeal of the city’s decision granting two “departures” for the Denny Middle School/Chief Sealth High School co-located campus project. (Those “departures” allow the project to exceed height requirements – for the “galleria” roof peak shown in the rendering above — and to not meet parking requirements, and were finalized by the city after going through a community/district advisory committee.) The appeal was argued by West Seattle-based district watchdog Chris Jackins, who brought two retired educators as witnesses; they focused largely on arguments against the co-location in general, rather than focusing on the parking/height issues that were officially challenged. Defending the decision, the city Department of Planning and Development and also private land-use lawyer Richard Hill on behalf of Seattle Public Schools. Jackins’ contentions include “The project will have adverse impacts on views and shading, removal of trees and vegetation, and parking and traffic,” and “The DPD decision … did not properly balance the ‘project’s relationship to educational needs’ ‘with the level of impacts on the surrounding area’.” Deputy hearing examiner Anne Watanabe heard the case and will now take it under advisement; she says she will issue her written decision within 14 days.

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Welcoming a new West Seattle Blog sponsor: Cafe Revo
April 24, 2009 11:56 am
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   Luna Park | West Seattle restaurants

Today we welcome West Seattle’s newest restaurant, Cafe Revo, to the WSB sponsor team; new sponsors get the chance to share information about their business, and here’s what Cafe Revo wants you to know:

(From left, Kevin Fry [manager], Chef Sean Goff and Sofia Zadra Goff [owners], Milo Goodrich [manager]
Even though it’s been open for less than 2 months, diners say the atmosphere at Cafe Revo is warm and family-like. The restaurant is owned by Sofia and Sean Goff. Sofia is a fourth-generation West Seattleite, and she says it’s long been her family’s dream to bring a restaurant to the neighborhood that honors their ancestral home of Revo, Italy. Sofia says that some guests have compared their food to meals they had while visiting Italy. Sean’s cooking resume includes six trips to Italy to study the cuisine and 25 years working in Seattle restaurants. Sofia and Sean also bring some Seattle to Revo by featuring ice cream from Husky Deli, West Seattle’s Finamoré Limoncello, cheeses from the West Seattle Farmers Market, Uli’s Famous Sausage from Pike Place Market, West Seattle’s Gioia Wines, Pioneer Coffee (which has a store on Alki), and flowers by West Seattleite-owned Monday’s Flowers. Sean and Sofia are also active with the Westenders Scooter Club. They work in their children’s schools — Arbor Heights Elementary and West Seattle High School — and they’re also involved in the Arbor Heights Girl Scout Troop, as well as West Seattle’s own Endolyne Children’s Choir. Cafe Revo is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner. They also offer happy hour Monday – Friday 4-6:30, and they take reservations. You can see their full menus online.

We welcome Cafe Revo to the WSB sponsor team; you can see all our sponsors listed here, along with information on how to join them!

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