West Seattle, Washington
05 Thursday
From tonight’s Alki Community Council meeting: Officer elections, with 3 returnees and one new: Jule Sugarman, Randie Stone and Paul Carr are returning as president, vice president and secretary, respectively; since Larry Carpenter chose to step down from the treasurer position, Terry Zerngast was elected to take over. ACC is also looking for a new board member to replace Laura Sue Hoover. Another new name: Glynnis Vaughan has been hired to take over the Alki News Beacon, succeeding Cami MacNamara; next edition, said Sugarman, should be out in January (he’s accepting story suggestions). The ACC also heard from Chas Redmond regarding the upcoming Alki wayfinding kiosks and stanchions (signposts) that are in the works along with Admiral, which has a meeting at 4 pm tomorrow, as noted here earlier:
(If you’re wondering about the decor, the group had to meet in an Alki Community Center room more often used for kids’ programs, since the center’s community spaghetti dinner was in its bigger space.) As is the case in Admiral, and Fauntleroy before that, there’ll be meetings to zero in on location and content for the wayfinding structures, part of West Seattle Trails (seen the updated map yet?). One more Alki note – another work party for the West Seattle Wildlife Habitat Project demonstration garden at Seacrest is coming up this Saturday, 9 am-1 pm, all volunteers welcome, meet behind the Alki Kayak Tours shack at 9. (No ACC meeting in December, by the way – next one’ll be January 21st.)
West Seattle Chamber of Commerce members and guests were at Westwood Village tonight as WSCC president/CEO Patti Mullen and WWV manager Stuart Crandall cut the ribbon for Santa’s new digs in the original Wyatt’s Jewelers [WSB sponsor] storefront across the breezeway from 24 Hour Fitness during the chamber’s After-Hours event tonight. Santa listened to holiday wishes, too – including the ones shared by Rick Jump from White Center Food Bank and Nancy Woodland from WestSide Baby:
Rick asked for enough food to feed the 1,000 people his agency (which serves part of WS too) will see in the next week; Nancy asked for enough diapers to make life pleasant for the hundreds of little ones whose families get help through her agency. (WC Food Bank REALLY needs turkeys, by the way – their website has info on how to donate – they’ll be there on Saturday this week too; while WestSide Baby has specifics on its site too.) As for the rest of the event – Wyatt’s proprietors Joni and Kirk Keppler opened their new storefront in the heart of the center (by Chico’s, north of Barnes & Noble) to visitors:
Other Westwood Village merchants participated too (with treats from eateries Giannoni’s Pizza, Eats Market Cafe and Sub Shop), as the shopping center gets ready for the holidays. Back to Santa, we’ve got his schedule on the new WSB West Seattle Holidays page; he’s all about doing good in the community – photos are free with a food donation, there’s a Giving Tree for the Salvation Army, a place to drop off diapers (preferably sizes 3-6) for WestSide Baby, and gift wrapping is free but anything you donate will go to local nonprofits. More Chamber info, by the way (disclosure – WSB is among the many local businesses that are members), at wschamber.com.
Betsy reports a burglary on 26th SW in North Delridge – and says she came face-to-face with one of the burglars when she arrived at her neighboring home around 1 pm — “a slender, dark-skinned African American man between the ages of 17-24 walking out of my neighbor’s house carrying a large bag.” She continues:
I confronted the perp who said he was “visiting a friend.” Another young man came out of the neighbor’s yard carrying a bag, saw me, and turned around and ran out the back. The young man I saw looked like he was of east or north African descent – high cheekbones, very slender build, dark complexion. I was on the phone with police instantly. The neighbor got home while I was still calling in the crime and he saw his house had been ransacked, trashed, and all his valuables stolen. Including his rent money as he has been working overtime to pay the rent. They were broken into a week ago but someone was home; they noticed someone casing the house a few days ago, and we saw someone prowling the house YESTERDAY but the police said they could do nothing because no crime was committed. The cars of interest are a RED SUV and a RED/MAROON midsized sedan.
ADDED 8:41 PM: Betsy has included more description information in comments. Meantime, we have had another break-in report – sent by two of the victim’s neighbors, and mentioned in comments – on 47th near Andover (map).
Thanks to Wendy Hughes-Jelen for sending photos from the High Point Community Thanksgiving Dinner that’s happening right now at HP Community Center, till 8 pm. Everybody welcome! (And there are other community feasts coming up – including two on Thanksgiving Day – check the new WSB West Seattle Holidays page.)
The Seattle City Council just announced who’ll be in charge of which committee once its two new members, Sally Bagshaw and Mike O’Brien, are sworn in after the holidays. One change of particular note to West Seattleites – WS-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen is moving from the Parks Committee chair role to lead the Transportation Committee (whose former chair, Jan Drago, ran for mayor instead of council re-election); Bagshaw will be the new Parks chair. A few committees are changing names/focuses too – read on for the full council announcement about those changes, and who’s running what:Read More
We’ve been covering this story since night before last on partner site White Center Now, when several people sent tips about the crash and resulting traffic trouble – but now investigators are casting a wider net in trying to solve the hit and run (16th/106th) that sent a developmentally disabled man to the hospital, where deputies say he remains in critical condition. If you have any leads on a vehicle that might fit the description above, a $1,000 reward is offered, and 911 will take your tip.
Just out of the WSB inbox, this update from West Seattle Food Bank executive director Fran Yeatts:
The West Seattle Food Bank will be changing hours during the week of Thanksgiving.
We will be distributing our holiday food on Monday, 11/23 for seniors from 9:30 a.m.- 11:00 a.m. and for the general public from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and on Tuesday, 11/24 for the general public from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Any donations specific to the Thanksgiving holiday can be delivered on Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. or Monday, 11/23 from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. We will also be here to accept donations from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 11/24 and Wednesday 11/25.
We will be closed at 3:00 on Wednesday 11/25, and all day Thursday, 11/26 and Friday, 11/26. We will resume our normal hours on Monday, 11/30.
Thank you West Seattle for your generous support!
We’ve got a followup question out asking if there’s anything in particular they need; the WS Food Bank is at 35th/Morgan (map). Meantime, remember the White Center Food Bank serves part of West Seattle too – it’s got donation information here.
Thank you to everyone who has shared news so far of holiday events around West Seattle – we’ve put it all together in Version 1.0 of the WSB West Seattle Holidays page. Events start with the Canape Chef Services (WSB sponsor) cooking class tonight, continue through Thanksgiving (including the Eastridge Christian Assembly turkey giveaway on Saturday), and we’ll add New Year’s when those events roll in. Keep in mind, these are just the holiday events we’ve found out about so far – PLEASE send word of whatever you’ve heard of, too, and we’ll keep adding – thanks!
First came Fauntleroy – next, Admiral and Alki are on deck for the West Seattle Trails Wayfinding and Kiosks project, which includes a $100,000 city grant. The first meeting to plan Admiral kiosks (similar to the one shown in a Feet First website photo at left, the pilot kiosk on Delridge) is scheduled for tomorrow – here’s the announcement from Chas Redmond:
The first of several planning meetings to help determine the location, content, and art for wayfinding kiosks to be installed in the Admiral neighborhood area will take place this Friday, November 20, at the West Seattle (Admiral) Library from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
This meeting and others to follow will allow residents and other interested individuals to help define and create the content and art for two six-foot high, three-feet wide wayfinding kiosks which will be part of a West Seattle-wide wayfinding system.
The system already has three kiosks in various stages of development in the Fauntleroy area. The two Admiral kiosks will also be joined by three Alki-area kiosks. These five kiosks are part of the West Seattle Trails Wayfinding and Kiosk project which previously produced the West Seattle Trails map.
That map has been updated by the way – take a look here.
This Saturday at The Hall at Fauntleroy, it’s a brand-new event – the “Shining Stars Gala” for the Washington chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Uncomfortable subject – but if you’ve been following our coverage a while, you’ve heard us say it’s one that gets swept under the rug too often. In fact, the annual report from the King County Medical Examiner’s Office is out today, and while suicides are down – the rate is still more than double the homicide rate, though you’d never know because of a misguided taboo on news coverage of suicides: 210 suicides in King County last year, 85 homicides. It’s a higher number than even traffic deaths at 163. (See the ME’s full report here.) Back to the Shining Stars Gala: It’s the AFSP chapter’s first annual auction benefit, 7:30 Saturday, with hors d’oeuvres, silent & live auctions, dessert and entertainment. There’s ticket info online.
While salmon-watchers along Fauntleroy Creek watch for the next arrival of live fish – the ones who’ve visited so far are doing what come naturally – including dying. But while visiting the creek this morning, we learned from Dave McCoy of Emerald Water Anglers that the one you see above wasn’t a coho after all – but a blackmouth chinook. “Hatchery fish trying to get up here and mix it up with the wild ones,” he explained. We caught up with him, Denny Hinton and Judy Pickens while a class from the Providence Mount St. Vincent Intergenerational Center was getting a lesson about salmon – including the chinook carcass – and then a presentation from Judy (in the background):
Denny and Dave then headed off to check out a report of fish near the creek mouth on Fauntleroy Cove.
(Added Judy in e-mail after we first published this story: “Fauntleroy is a coho creek, so having this type of chinook (king) come in is a first. Instead of migrating to the ocean, blackmouth stay in Puget Sound all year and their black gum line is the reason for their name. This fish was under five pounds – small for the species – and it had no adipose fin, indicating that it originated in a hatchery.” She says the carcass “was returned to the creek where its nutrients will benefit the next generation” and adds an update on this year’s watch: “After several days of no fish, this year’s salmon watchers went home, having documented a total of 18 fish. But more were spotted this morning near the mouth and, with especially high tides through the weekend, spawning season may not be over!”) Great day to be out by the creek, despite the fairly heavy rain – and nearby streets are resembling creeks, like upper Fauntleroy Way north of the salmon overlook:
By the way, the wind advisory is still up, till midnight, and the forecast suggests it may kick up again before then.
NEW RESTAURANT’S NAME: When we reported last week on the plan for what’s going into the former Ama Ama space at California/Edmunds, the proprietors weren’t sure about a name. Looks like they’ve found one: The liquor-license permit application lists the name as Table 35 Restaurant and Lounge. Now, to the Admiral District:
SAFEWAY PERMIT FILINGS: From today’s city Land Use Information Bulletin: The only two West Seattle items are both related to the Admiral Safeway project, and both include a formal chance for you to comment. First, the application for the land-use permit for the commercial building along California north of the store (rendering above), which Safeway wants to build first so its pharmacy can stay in operation while the store is closed for construction; links are here (including how to comment). Second, permit applications for the store/apartments/flex-work project itself, including a rezoning request that will require City Council approval (links are here). As we reported last weekend, the next Southwest Design Review Board meeting for the Admiral Safeway project is tentatively scheduled for 8 pm December 17th, Youngstown Arts Center.
As reported a week ago, that’s an early sketch of the proposal for 4435 35th SW, which will be presented to the Southwest Design Review Board for the first time at 6:30 tonight, Senior Center of West Seattle. Also today/tonight: West Seattle Democratic Women meet at 11:30, West Seattle Golf Course (call ASAP for reservations – info here); two events at Alki Community Center – the center Advisory Council‘s community spaghetti dinner at 6 (bring a canned-food donation) and the Alki Community Council‘s annual meeting (with officer elections) at 7 pm (then head over to Bamboo for Alki Idol) at 9:30; and you can celebrate Thanksgiving a week early at High Point Community Center – turkey dinner, prizes, contests, starting at 6. That’s not everything that’s happening – see the rest on the WSB Events calendar!
Less than three weeks after the Halloween night shooting that shook the city and took Officer Timothy Brenton‘s life, his partner Officer Britt Sweeney is telling her story. That video clip is from Wednesday night’s Q13 FOX newscast; Sweeney talked with anchor David Rose during a taping of the station’s “Washington’s Most Wanted” show. She told the station she’s still hoping to get back to work as soon as possible.
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