Skatepark Committee backs moving money from Myrtle to Delridge
At tonight’s meeting of the city Skatepark Advisory Committee, a big step was taken toward cobbling together the money needed to build the Delridge Skatepark, even though its original funding was pulled from the city budget: With Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher and two managers in attendance, 
as well as what one committee member called “the largest number of people we’ve ever had in this room over the age of 12,” the SPAC voted to recommend moving a quarter-million dollars in Parks Levy money to Delridge. The $250,000 was originally earmarked for a “skate spot” at the future Myrtle Reservoir park, but as committee member Matthew Lee Johnston of West Seattle (center, in photo at left) noted, multiple community meetings last year turned thumbs down on the idea of a skate feature at Myrtle. It’s still in the citywide Skatepark Plan and could resurface someday if money appeared from elsewhere, but for now, if the necessary approvals ensue, it’s going into the Delridge pot. First, the Parks Levy Oversight Committee will have to give its blessing; then, City Council approval, which also would be needed to seed the Delridge Skatepark funding with $500,000 saved from other Parks projects (first revealed at a Parks Board meeting last month). However, with the community support reiterated tonight — Pete Spalding spoke on behalf of the Delridge District Council and the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council (he’s on the Levy Oversight Committee too), while Nancy Folsom spoke on behalf of the North Delridge Neighborhood Council – department leadership didn’t think that would be much of a problem. “Everybody’s blown away by how amazing the process has been,” Johnston noted. However, he called for one additional demonstration of community support: Fundraising. The site apparently can support a skatepark of up to 14,000 square feet; it’s being designed right now to 10,000 square feet because that’s what the original budget would have paid for, but Gallagher says $750,000 would buy 12,000 square feet. Perhaps the community could chip in enough to cover the rest of the way to 14K, Johnston suggested. West Seattleite Mike Shaughnessy – a former SPAC member – said he supports the maximum possible size for the skatepark, as he could imagine it becoming overcrowded quite quickly. Meantime, the design process continues – two meetings already have been held, and project manager 
Kelly Davidson said she hopes to schedule the third meeting soon. First, the money matters have to be worked out; Parks executive Kevin Stoops said the Levy Oversight Committee likely will be asked May 26 to consider the Myrtle-to-Delridge transfer. Also ahead in late May, Folsom said a Request for Proposals will be published for the art project that’s proposed to be built by the skatepark site at the northeast corner of the Delridge Community Center playfield/park. Though it’s not technically part of the skatepark, designers are working with art-project planners, Folsom said.
West Seattle Hi-Yu’s 2009 float wins award its first time out
Last Friday, we got a sneak peek at this year’s West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival float as it prepared to head north for its first parade of the year in Sequim. Tonight, Hi-Yu vice president and float chair Deena Mahn sent photos from the parade – including one (below) of the award won by the “How Sweet It Is” float – and news about how things went:
Plenty of hard work and a challenge up until the moment we got there but we are very proud to have received the Chairman’s Award! Next weekend we will be in Port Townsend for the Rhody Festival.
We would like to extend a very special thank you to Life Church on 35th and Cloverdale, who allowed us to park and work on our float in their parking lot; they were so gracious and took care of our float in one of the windstorms! Also many thanks to everyone who helped in constructing this beautiful float, we are so excited for all of the many upcoming parades.
West Seattle Crime Watch: “Break-in on Mother’s Day”
That’s the subject line Jeff wrote on his e-mail about the break-in at his house in the 9200 block of 20th SW (map):
It happened sometime Sunday sometime between 1 and 9 pm while we were away for Mother’s Day festivities. They broke in through the dog door in back of the house. They had to be pretty small since the dog door isn’t very big. They stole an iPod and Dewalt drill.
And that wasn’t all, Jeff found out after the first note – $1,500 in jewelry too. They did call police; of the response, he told us, “Officer Sperry responded quickly, made a report and dusted for prints around where
the iPod was taken from. I can’t say enough about how helpful and reassuring he was during such a stressful time.”
West Seattle scene: Police on two wheels
Spotted these officers pulled over briefly during a Harbor Ave ride, near Salty’s, this afternoon. When we talked with Southwest Precinct Capt. Joe Kessler a week ago about Alki police-presence plans, he mentioned the possibility of bike patrols again this year, so we’ll be checking on whether this might have portended that. ADDED 7:32 PM: A tipster tells us SPD has a mountain-bike training class this week, with officers from other departments as well as new SPD bicycle officers and parking-enforcement officers involved.
Monday afternoon notes: More about tonight, and Tuesday
In addition to other previews we mentioned earlier, a few more things to mention for tonight, and tomorrow:
TRIVIA ON ALKI: Just got word that Christo’s on Alki is hosting Monday night trivia tonight – 8 pm – with the Voice of the Mariners, West Seattleite Tom Hutyler.
EARLY TOMORROW MORNING: Feet First is organizing a “walking school bus” event tomorrow morning from Highland Park playfield (11th/Thistle [map], meet 8:10 am) to Sanislo Elementary. Families and other interested neighbors are encouraged to join in; what one Feet First organizer calls “a true walking celebrity” will be along too – Mark Fenton from the PBS series “America’s Walking.”
LATER TOMORROW MORNING: Reminder – as reported here 2 weeks ago, the groundbreaking for the new Fire Station 37 is happening at 35th/Holden, 11 am tomorrow, with the mayor in attendance; here’s the official invite. (The old station won’t be put up for sale till next year, once the new one is done and occupied.)
TOMORROW AFTERNOON: Governor Gregoire signs the viaduct/tunnel bill in a ceremony at 2 pm, Seattle Aquarium.
TOMORROW NIGHT: It’s one of those mega-nights for neighborhood meetings – Junction Neighborhood Organization meets at 6:30 pm, Ginomai, 42nd/Genesee, and parking’s on the agenda (particularly the Restricted Parking Zone changes that were also discussed at last week’s Southwest District Council meeting); Admiral Neighborhood Association meets at 7 pm, Admiral Church; Fauntleroy Community Association meets at 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy.
ALSO TOMORROW NIGHT: Outstanding students from West Seattle are among the two dozen-plus citywide to be honored at the Mayor’s Scholars Awards downtown tomorrow night; we first reported on them in late March.
2 months till Seafair kickoff on Alki – plus a one-day deal
That’s the scene from last July, on the day the Seafair Pirates invaded Alki. Exactly two months from today, they’re scheduled to return, in the first big event of the Seafair season – the Pirates’ Landing is set for July 11. And exactly two days from now, Seafair is offering a one-day-only discount-advance-ticket deal for two of its highest-profile admission-required events: This Wednesday, May 13, 9 am to 9 pm only, Seafair is selling hydroplane race/air show tickets for $6 and Torchlight Run entries for $6. (The price is in honor of Seafair celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.) You have to make the purchase online, that day and those hours ONLY – through either seafair.com, or (hydro/airshow only) ticketmaster.com/(Torchlight Run only) active.com. (The Seafair Pirates’ Landing, we should note, is free – just be sure to arrive early for a prime spot on the beach.)
Welcoming a new WSB sponsor: Lady Di, Pet Chaperone
Today, we welcome our newest sponsor, West Seattle pet-care provider Lady Di, Pet Chaperone. 
It’s a WSB tradition to welcome new sponsors by sharing more information about their businesses; Lady Di‘s been in the pet-care business in West Seattle for 14 years. Currently, she offers doggy day care in a real home environment. The dogs have a complete living room, with comfy furniture, dog beds and a TV, which were all donated by Lady Di‘s clients. There are also inside and outside areas for small dogs, and the day care features a live-in manager to look after your pets. Lady Di offers in-home visitation for pets as well. If you’re going out of town, you can schedule an interview with Lady Di. During the interview, Lady Di takes time to get to know you and your pet, and to learn about what needs your pet might have while you’re away. In-home visits are available for dogs, cats, birds, fish, and exotics. Her visiting staff is bonded and insured. Lady Di, Pet Chaperone is a member of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the West Seattle Junction Association. Online, you’ll find Lady Di at seattlepetcare.com; by phone, 206-938-4222.
Thanks to Lady Di, Pet Chaperone for supporting 24/7 community news, information and discussion by sponsoring WSB; our full list of sponsors is here, as is info on how to join them!
Harbor Island weekend outage followup: 2 questions answered
The first area news story to break as West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day was winding down on Saturday afternoon happened to be a power outage on Harbor Island (original WSB story here). It left us with two followup questions, both of which have just been answered by Seattle City Light: First, a WSB’er asked, how could a Harbor Island outage involve 552 “customers” (since that means individual entities, not people)? SCL’s Mike Eagan explains the outage stretched along East Marginal Way a ways, too. Second, we wondered how just one seagull could cause that kind of trouble by landing on a “transmission line,” and before we could even make a call this morning to ask that, SCL’s Scott Thomsen read our comment and e-mailed:
A bird crashing into a power line would be unlikely to damage the line by the force of the impact. Birds cause outages by creating a new circuit when they touch two different lines. When such a short circuit occurs, it’s the electricity that does the damage by overloading the system. The bird is the connection that allows it to happen. When a bird lands on a single line and doesn’t touch anything else, they’re fine. You see this every day. The reason is that the bird is not creating a new, shorter circuit for the energy. The bird has a higher level of resistance to the electricity than the wire does, so the electricity takes the path of least resistance through the wire.
By the way, City Light’s outage page – including what to do if one happens, who to call, etc. – is here.
Happening today/tonight: Space, stamps, skatepark
SPACE: Countdown continues (clock here) for the scheduled launch (11 am our time) of Atlantis, piloted by West Seattle High School Class of ’72 alum Gregory Johnson. It’ll be live online at nasa.gov (and via Twitter, you can see updates at twitter.com/nasa; plus there’s a “launch blog” here).
STAMPS: Up 2 cents for first-class postage, to 44 cents, as of today.
SKATEPARK: Tonight, the status of funding for the future Delridge Skatepark will be up for discussion at the citywide Skatepark Advisory Committee meeting, 7 pm, Parks HQ downtown (location) – as noted here, seattleskateparks.org has the newest developments, including an exhortation for Delridge Skatepark supporters to be there in person.
Police explain startling sight at Hamilton Viewpoint
A few notes came in late Sunday night asking about an earlier incident involving police and a possible armed suspect at Hamilton Viewpoint (map). Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Smith explains that just after 7 pm, officers answered “a call of a female pointing a gun” but upon arrival discovered the woman, in her 30s, was “practicing self-defense with a fake yellow handgun and a rubber knife.” He adds, “After the female explained to officers what she was doing and officers inspected the weapons in question, she was allowed to leave.”
This has been a big year for church milestones around West Seattle – and the next to celebrate its centennial is 
it’s time to look ahead to West Seattle’s next scheduled restaurant opening: A spokesperson for 
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