West Seattle, Washington
23 Friday
Thanks to Ian McKay for sharing that photo of the Denny Middle School Marching Band in the Syttende Mai parade in Ballard today (full coverage of the parade at MyBallard.com)! Back on this side of the bay, thanks to JayDee for sharing a shot from the King County Water Taxi – just can’t get enough of The Mountain when it’s “out”:
And thanks to Jason for a cameraphone pic from the puppet show that delighted dozens of kids and parents at Alki Bathhouse on Saturday, the Zambini Brothers‘ “The Fattest Kitty on Earth“:
That was just one of the dozens of West Seattle events on our Weekend Lineup, published Fridays; between weekends, you can find highlights for any day of the week, stretching months into the summer and beyond, on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar page.
Editor’s note: 3 months till our state’s primary – and while that sounds like a long time, we’ve got many more candidates to introduce you to, so — after kicking off with two County Executive candidate interviews (Dow Constantine and Larry Phillips) earlier this spring — we’re continuing the profiles now, with veteran West Seattle journalist Jack Mayne on the WSB politics-reporting team — starting with his story about one of the West Seattleites running for City Council, David Ginsberg:
(David Ginsberg at left, photographed after becoming the 34th District Democrats’ 2nd vice chair in January; note that the group has not yet made its endorsement in City Council races)
By Jack Mayne
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
West Seattle’s David Ginsberg has been phased out of his technology job with Washington Mutual and now wants to displace Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin as the Position 2 councilmember.
Why three-term incumbent Conlin, when there are open seats?
“I understand this is the toughest seat I could have chosen,” Ginsberg said during a recent interview at Coffee to a Tea with Sugar in The Junction.
Two tipsters report traffic trouble along Fauntleroy in the Fairmount Park area because of a two-car crash – if you have to drive, take an alternate route. Thanks to Ray for the photo. 7:23 PM UPDATE: The scene is clear and traffic is back to normal.
Bumping this up in case you hadn’t already seen the link from SPDBlotter on the WSB Crime Watch page: This explains a couple notes we received about this time Saturday, regarding police chasing suspects in upper Alki. SPDBlotter reports:
Southwest Precinct officers were at 58th Avenue Southwest and Alki Avenue Southwest when they observed a stolen vehicle occupied by three suspects. When the officers approached (in heavy traffic) to attempt to arrest them, the suspects fled on foot. Following several foot pursuits and yard-to-yard searches, two of the three suspects were located and arrested.
Police say one suspect is an adult male, the other a juvenile male, and both were booked for investigation of auto theft. (We mentioned the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting in earlier CW updates today; we should also mention that police leadership will be at the Alki Community Council meeting Thursday — 7 pm, Alki Community Center — for updates in the aftermath of the May 1st shooting, and more on plans for summer police presence at the beach.)
Ray sent photos and info as “an FYI” about his car getting prowled in the 5900 block of 38th SW (map). He notes it’s a car he hadn’t moved in a while. As we mentioned in today’s earlier Crime Watch report: West Seattle Crime Prevention Council, 7 pm Tuesday, Southwest Precinct, Delridge/Webster (map).
On video, that’s helga hizer and Matthew Ellis of Mess Kit performing at West Seattle Nursery a short time ago – during the first-ever beer/art/gardening event that’s teaming WSN with Twilight Artist Collective and Prost West Seattle. $2 beer:
$1 pretzels:
Art – priceless. Well, not really. Prices vary.
West Seattle Nursery is at California/Brandon (map). Part of the sale proceeds during today’s event will go to West Seattle Helpline.
That video shows the start of this morning’s Walk with Us to Cure Lupus 5K fundraising walk at Alki – third year for this event, and organizer Laurie Gray told us the hundreds of walkers raised about $40,000. Before the walk began, participants were told that researchers are making progress in the fight against lupus, an auto-immune disorder (explained here), by identifying specific genes linked to it. (Lupus is gender-linked, as well; 90 percent of patients are female.) This is one of more than a dozen Walk with Us to Cure Lupus events around the country (others are listed here); local businesses supported the event too, including WSB sponsor M3 Bodyworks, which had massage stations set up inside Alki Bathhouse:
From left, that’s Jen Barth, Michael Mandell and Liam Buell (he’s one of M3’s newest therapists, who are the inspiration for the “New Therapists Special” currently being promoted in M3’s WSB ad). Seattle Lutheran High School band members were on hand to help pump up the walkers, and Pioneer Coffee provided their signature beverage. Next 5K event on Alki: The first-ever West Seattle 5K to raise money for local schools; organizers are advertising on WSB for the rest of the month to help get the word out — it’s the kickoff event to the May 31 “Celebrate Seattle Summer Streets” event (sequel to last September’s Car-Free Day, though the name has changed this year); you can register for the West Seattle 5K here.
Update on the adoptable dogs and cats at the Furry Faces Foundation plant sale/pet adoption event running through 4 pm today (3809 46th SW; map) – Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor)’s Lora Lewis is there and sends pix of some of the pets who just might be looking for YOU – that’s Rambo in the photo above – and following the nameless but cute kittens, it’s Griswold:
Griswold’s a Rottweiler mix, 18 months old, available through King County Animal Services – Lora says the fees are $75 dogs, $35 for cats, $75 kittens. And as she adds, “Lots of plants too, of course!”
From the Triangle district (4700 block of 36th; map), Mike sent that photo, wondering if anyone has more information about how their car window wound up in that condition. He says it happened between 12:30 am, when he and his wife went to bed, and 2:30 am, when a police officer woke them up; he says they didn’t hear this happen because their windows were closed to shut out noise from “revelers at the VFW” and wonders if it was related. It’s been reported to police, so there’s a case number if you call with info (206-625-5011 is the non-emergency number). By the way, it’s time for us to start reminding you that the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meets this Tuesday, 7 pm at the Southwest Precinct (map), first meeting since high-profile cases including the May 1st Alki shooting and April 30th Junction bank robbery. WSCPC meetings are the biggest monthly opportunity to bring your concerns about crime/safety directly to local police leadership, since they’re always there both to brief the group and to answer attendees’ questions.
Special T-shirts are part of the festivities through 1 pm today as Our Lady of Guadalupe welcomes one and all to an open house at its new Pastoral Center (that’s Father Jack Walmesley at right).
Seattle Archbishop Alex Brunett helped dedicate it two weeks ago (photo here). Inside the new center: 6,800 square feet of accessible meeting rooms, offices and storage. You can tour it today and enjoy refreshments too; OLG notes that this is just the start of its campus master plan – next phase, a Pastoral Life Center/Gym. Here’s a map to OLG’s location at 35th/Myrtle (on the highest hill in Seattle!).
From Anne and Doug:
We’re noticing a group or pod of whales or dolphins swimming south in the sound. Very white on the sides of one. We are south of Brace Point, it’s 8:15 Sunday 5/17. Anyone else know what they are?
Among today’s highlights:
We got that video at a cheering station along Alki Ave during last year’s Walk with Us to Cure Lupus 5K — today, another sunny day for the fundraising walk, which starts from the Alki Bathhouse at 10, after check-in at 9 (more info here).
Also at 10, Furry Faces Foundation‘s plant sale/pet adoption event starts its second day at 3809 46th SW (map), continuing till 4 pm. Even more pets today, dogs and cats, and as of our visit around 2 pm yesterday, Riley (shown above with the Animals First Foundation folks) hadn’t found her permanent home yet. As for the plants? Vegetable starts and flowers, sun and shade, and if you’ve got questions, some great folks are there to help – like F3 leader Teri Ensley‘s mom Lila:
Gardeners who also enjoy beer and art have an event tailor-made for them at West Seattle Nursery – joining forces with Prost and Twilight for its first “Beer Fest” 1-5 pm, combining beer, gardening and art. Pretzels too, according to the WSN website. Part of today’s sales go to West Seattle Helpline in honor of the occasion.
Also today: In The Junction, as always, 10 am-2 pm is West Seattle Farmers’ Market time – here’s the link to today’s list of what’s fresh.
One more event of note: Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrating its new Pastoral Center with an Open House, all welcome, 9:30 am-1 pm (more info here; the new center’s on 35th just north of Myrtle – here’s a map).
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