West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
(all photos/video in this report by Christopher Boffoli)
Toward the end of the school day today, just a few blocks south of the city-limits line, the students and staff of White Center Heights Elementary School gathered to celebrate. In part, what they were celebrating was music – which is why they got a guest visit from members of the Seahawks’ Blue Thunder drum line:
But they also were celebrating community, and generosity. This is the assembly during which they said thanks for dozens of musical instruments donated through an informal drive announced a few weeks back here on WSB. It was the brainchild of a WCH Elementary librarian Nancy Hallberg and her daughter, Eliza Junkerman, who talked with WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli at today’s event:
By the way, Eliza’s fiancee’ Blake partnered in this enterprise too, collecting the donated instruments:
Eliza tells Christopher it’s not too late to donate yours, if you didn’t see the story the first time around, which is where you will find her contact info. Even if it turns out not to be right for the kids at White Center Heights, they’ll find a place – she says one donated instrument was a beautiful child-sized cello, and while that didn’t work into the music program at WCH, it’s going to an area middle school. ADDED 11:07 PM: More video from Christopher – this includes scenes from the assembly, including Blue Thunder playing:
From the new seattlecrime.com (a project of Jonah Spangenthal-Lee, formerly of The Stranger) – A police report says two people reported getting hit by BBs along 35th SW (first one in the 6900 block, then a half-mile north) last Saturday night, though neither was seriously hurt. Read the story here.
The windy weather’s not scaring away trick-or-treaters in the Admiral business district – that first shot is our drive-by photo from the Admiral/California intersection. Out of the car, we got candy-handing-out action at Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) with co-proprietor John Smersh greeting trick-or-treaters:
And near Admiral Theater (where goofy-scary Theatresports improv is onstage at 8 tonight), Don Wahl from Alki Mail and Dispatch set up a table to meet candy-seekers who might not otherwise make it several blocks west on Admiral to his place:
More than two dozen other merchants are participating (here’s the map), continuing till 6 pm; tomorrow, it’s Trick or Treat at The Junction from 1 pm to 3 pm and Westwood Village trick-or-treating 4-7 pm. Lots more before, during, and after, of course.
Doesn’t change the concerns raised by this now-infamous video, but at least, WSDOT says, last week’s inspection didn’t turn up anything new to worry about. Read on for the just-announced details:Read More
No need to count sheep this weekend – even if they are faux sheep like Hester the pug – you get an extra hour of sleep. Of course it’s Hallo-weekend TOO, but the West Seattle Weekend Lineup needs to give the end 
of Daylight Saving Time (2 am Sunday, your clock “falls back” an hour) and the impending election (get your ballot mailed or drop-boxed by EOD Tuesday!) a little love too, so this is dedicated to them. Much of what’s on the list is on the WSB Halloween page – but we have NON-Halloween activities too – more than SEVENTY events/activities in all, brought to you by Skylark Cafe and Club:Read More
A creative entry in this afternoon’s pumpkin-carving contest at Keller Williams in The Junction – his name’s not Jack but you can call him Trevor-O-Lantern. The pumpkin contest was coupled with a chili cookoff, and look who we found sampling the entries:
Next up on this pre-Halloween Friday: Admiral Treats or Treasures (official map here), 3-6 pm, with participants including WSB sponsors Click! Design That Fits and Merrill Gardens-Admiral Heights, plus more than two dozen others!
(WSB photo from Admiral business district trick-or-treating in 2008)
A couple more advance notes before we publish the West Seattle Weekend Lineup – The first of three business-district trick-or-treating events in West Seattle is just a few hours away – Admiral Treats and Treasures is 3-6 pm; here’s the map – remember to stop by Merrill Gardens-Admiral Heights (WSB sponsor) when you’re done, to enter the raffle. Right after that, indoor fun begins all around the peninsula, including the special Halloween edition of West Seattle Junction Movies on the Wall – “Nightmare Before Christmas,” 7 pm in the big new West Seattle Christian Church Activity Center (4400 42nd SW) – free! Bring a food-bank donation if you can. Tonight also features more high-school football: West Seattle High School plays Seattle Prep at Memorial Stadium at 5 pm (we’ll tweet from the game at @wsblive). Also, Seattle Lutheran High School plays Chief Leschi at West Seattle Stadium at 7 pm; since the match won the channel 13 “Game of the Week” poll, you’ll see a clip on TV later tonight. Chief Sealth High School plays at Lakeside tomorrow, 1 pm.
The planned agenda for next Wednesday’s Southwest District Council meeting has just been sent out by district coordinator Stan Lock, and they’re expecting two special guests: Deputy Parks Superintendent Christopher Williams is expected with an update on planned improvements at West Seattle Golf Course; a representative from Councilmember Sally Clark‘s office is expected with an update on the neighborhood-planning process. (See our story from earlier this week.) The SWDC meeting at 7 pm Wednesday in the South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) board room will come one night before the next key gathering in the neighborhood-plan-update process — THAT meeting next Thursday is on Beacon Hill (complete details here), but it’ll include discussions of the 5 West Seattle neighborhood plans, so WS representation is vital.
RIVERHOUSE’S FINAL DAYS: Tomorrow is the final day of business for Riverhouse Creperie at ActivSpace on Harbor Ave just north of The Bridge, according to its owner Kathaleen. As reported here earlier this month, she is closing the business to focus on her health. She e-mailed to say she’s offering the business for sale or sublease, and is also willing to sell equipment. You can reach her for details at riverhousecrepes@gmail.com.
NAME CHANGE: Across the street from West Seattle Nursery, another name change appears to be in the works for the former Olarn Thai Bistro, now Boontin; an application to transfer its beer/wine license to new proprietors says it will be called Thaitan.
Among the many Halloween Eve options today/tonight (all here), two pumpkin events of special note: First, noon today is the pumpkin-carving contest and chili cookoff at Keller Williams Realty in The Junction (4452 California SW) at noon (details on the Halloween page); bring chili and/or the pumpkin you already carved – they’ll be displaying entries during tomorrow’s Trick-or-Treat At The Junction. Then tonight, one of the biggest carve-a-ganzas in West Seattle each year – the Pathfinder K-8 pumpkin-carving spectacular (Eric shared the photo above last year, saying those were only about HALF the jack-o-lanterns!). Laura sent us extra details: It’s at Pathfinder (1901 SW Genesee) 5:30-7:30 pm tonight, come in costume, B-Y-O-P, soup and snacks provided, but please bring a pumpkin dessert, bowl and spoon for soup, and carving tools as well as the aforementioned pumpkin. We’ll be scaring up more previews later …
King County Elections is again keeping a running count of how many ballots have come in – and so many are still out, it looks like a big weekend of last-minute voting is ahead: As of last night, 18.11 percent countywide had been returned; in the jurisdictional breakdown, our County Council district – #8 – has the second-highest percentage of ballot return, but that’s still only 18.97 percent, behind metro-eastside District 6‘s 19.87 percent. If you’re still struggling with who and what to vote for, pretty much all the endorsements are made by now – for example, West Seattle’s biggest political group, the 34th District Democrats, have a paid political ad here on WSB this week to point you to their voting recommendations; you can find endorsement lists on almost every campaign website – the city voters’ guide lists weblinks for each city candidate as well as other information – you can also get a complete voter guide through the county website. Once you’ve made your decision, you can either mail your ballot by Tuesday or take it to a drop box – here’s the full list (including one in Delridge and one in White Center).
During Wednesday’s celebration of The Kenney‘s grand-opening centennial, attendees also were invited to look to its future as well as its past, with renderings of its latest redevelopment proposal set up on easels around the room. That proposal was presented to the Southwest Design Review Board one week ago, along with the latest layout for the Admiral Safeway project. We reported the meeting’s headlines that night but never the details – several have asked, so for starters, here’s the rest of the story on The Kenney’s review, and what’s next – read on:Read More
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