West Seattle, Washington

18 Thursday

56℉

month : 11/2009 343 results

4-legged door-to-door alert: Goat hoofs it to Delridge doorstep
November 28, 2009 10:37 am
|      15 COMMENTS
 |   Delridge | West Seattle news | Wildlife

Authorities responded to a wild call in the 7900 block of Delridge (map) this morning: A goat on the loose. Nothing like that Sunset Avenue roundup last month, though, nor did it require transport to a holding cell: A couple of official city items were turned into makeshift barricades to keep the goat from going on the lam before animal control arrived.

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Your West Seattle shopping history tidbit for the day
November 28, 2009 9:00 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle history | West Seattle news

On this date 158 years ago, Charles Terry recorded the first sale at what was the first store in King County – set up on Alki Point two weeks after he and the rest of the Denny Party arrived. Check out this HistoryLink.org article with his merchandise list (the first items sold: two axes), and you’ll feel thankful for whatever you happen onto in your next West Seattle shopping stop. (By the way, November 28, 1851, was the Friday after Thanksgiving.)

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West Seattle Weekend Lineup, abbreviated holiday version
November 28, 2009 6:03 am
|    Comments Off on West Seattle Weekend Lineup, abbreviated holiday version
 |   Holidays | WS culture/arts | WS Weekend Lineup

wswllicon3.pngCompared to the next three pre-Christmas weekends, this one is relatively quiet. Nonetheless, if you’re ready to start emerging from the post-Thanksgiving/Black Friday haze, you’ve got some choices today and tomorrow: Some are holiday-related – the Holy Rosary Christmas Tree Lot opens today, as does Santa’s House at Westwood Village. Some are changes: Marination Mobile is taking the long weekend off, so no West Seattle visit today. Some are charitable: There’s another “Turkey Bowl” fundraiser at West Seattle Bowl today, and this afternoon, you can make holiday cards at a unique fundraiser that also includes dessert! More than 20 events/activities today and tomorrow, brought to you by Skylark Cafe and Club:Read More

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Closer look at Highland Park Improvement Club’s big birthday
November 28, 2009 3:04 am
|    Comments Off on Closer look at Highland Park Improvement Club’s big birthday
 |   Highland Park | West Seattle news | West Seattle online

(Photo of Julie and Dorothy at Highland Park Improvement Club’s Nov. 15th party, by Dina Johnson)
Two weeks after the 90th-anniversary party at Highland Park Improvement Club, a closer look at the event and the group is online this morning at seattletimes.com (WSB partner) – see the story and photos here. HPIC’s website is at hpic1919.org; the club building is also home to the Highland Park Action Committee, which invites you to its holiday potluck meeting there, 7 pm next Wednesday (more here).

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Seattle Public Schools’ finalized attendance maps are now online
November 27, 2009 10:46 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Seattle Public Schools management hasn’t issued a formal announcement of this yet — but since they did promise after last week’s five-and-a-half-hour School Board meeting that the final attendance-area maps would be online this week sometime, we checked again tonight, and they ARE now published online. From this page, you can either click the big pink medallion to get a form where entering your address will bring up your official attendance-area schools (Sat. note – if you have trouble with that, go here instead), or you can follow this link to an index page where you can look at the maps for individual schools. Next step for the board/district – “implementation,” which includes working out transition details, including “sibling grandfathering” and possible rule changes, such as West Seattle school-board member Steve Sundquist‘s suggestion that families at three WS elementary schools might be given the option to either track to Denny/Sealth or Madison/WSHS. Here’s a new timeline for how that will all roll out.

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Post-Thanksgiving West Seattle tradition: The “Idiot Bowl”
November 27, 2009 10:02 pm
|    Comments Off on Post-Thanksgiving West Seattle tradition: The “Idiot Bowl”
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle video | WS & Sports

The action on Alki Playfield at midday today might have looked like just another flag football game – but this was no average game – it was the 10th annual Idiot Bowl, replete with celebrity hosts, including State Sen. (and County Council hopeful) Joe McDermott and Seattle Times (WSB partner) sports columnist Jerry Brewer. “The Commish,” Paul Leonardo, took a moment to explain (with a young helper) what the game’s all about:

Still checking on the final results. Added 10:24 pm – From Paul, the results:

The Farmville Freaks beat Squadron C by the final score of 49-23 to win the Commissioner’s Trophy. MVP went to Zach Eastey and Rookie of the Year to brother Luis Eastey. A good time was had by all with no injuries and fun all around.

WSB side note: This story marks the debut of HD video here, courtesy of the recently procured replacement for our first-ever video camera, which gave up the ghost after 2 years of intensive use. We’ll still probably use our non-HD camera more often, but are interested in your feedback on this one … thanks!

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Home stretch, finally, for Alki pump station project
November 27, 2009 4:38 pm
|      8 COMMENTS
 |   Utilities | West Seattle news

Wondering how much longer you’ll see all that on the east end of the main stretch of Alki Beach? When last we got an estimated end-of-project date from King County Wastewater Treatment for the Alki pump station project, they expected it would wrap up this month. With the month almost over, we checked back. The project is now in what you might call the home stretch – it’s in the “commissioning” stage, which means a lot of testing to make sure it works, but that could take a few more weeks before you start seeing the equipment pull out, according to county spokesperson Martha Tuttle. She also said they hope to set up a public open house at the site for people “to be able to go down the stairs and take a look,” but no date’s set yet. The work was expected to take about 20 months when it started in early 2008; so far it’s lasted almost 22.

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Followup: West Seattle park gun rule challenge goes to court
November 27, 2009 12:08 pm
|      43 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

At left, that’s Bob Warden of Kent, with the parks security employee who asked him to leave Southwest Community Center during his much-publicized challenge to the city’s parks-facility gun restrictions two weeks ago (here’s our coverage from that day). He said at the time he planned to file legal action as a result; now, he has, according to e-mail we just received from him, which included the complaint he says was filed in federal court this morning and served at Mayor Nickels‘ house. The mayor and the city are named as defendants, in Warden’s claim that the city rule violates the U.S. and Washington state constitutions. Read the entire 11-page document here. (City offices are closed so we might not get an official response today.)

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2 Junction notes: Police response; suspected coyote sighting
November 27, 2009 12:04 pm
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   Coyotes | Crime | West Seattle news | Wildlife

Two things to mention: First, we just checked out a tip about a notable police response in The Junction near the Chase bank branch. An ambulance was called too; turns out, police tell us at the scene, to have been a fight between two people described as transients. Second, just got this note from Courtney at Wallflower Custom Framing (WSB sponsor) across from Jefferson Square:

I thought it might be worth mentioning that I just watched a coyote run down the middle of 42nd Street. It briefly ducked into the parking garage under Jefferson Square and then came out (with a bunch of crows giving chase) and ran north on 42nd toward Alaska Street. I lost sight of it after that, and it all happened faster than I could react to snap a photo. I only mention this for any potential safety issues both for the public and the animal, and also to see if anyone else can confirm the sighting or if I am just sitting here in the frame shop hallucinating…

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Video: Chief Sealth, Denny marching bands in downtown parade
November 27, 2009 11:35 am
|      9 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

No special place for media to shoot the Macy’s Holiday Parade downtown, so we just picked a spot – and got lucky: The Chief Sealth High School–Denny International Middle School combined marching bands, directed by Marcus Pimpleton, stopped right in front of us for an entire Christmas medley (and a few dance moves). According to e-mail forwarded to us last night by Denny principal Jeff Clark, the two bands only had three combined rehearsals – but as you can see in the video (and as evidenced by the crowd reaction), they rocked the parade – take three minutes and have a look/listen. Another West Seattleite was in the parade – the last parade for Greg Nickels as Seattle Mayor; we’ll add that clip when it’s done. (Update: Here’s the link.) Downtown tonight, it’s the Macy’s star lighting and fireworks – if you can’t be there, our friends at KING5 say they’ll be showing it live, as well as a special edition of Evening Magazine at 7 co-hosted by West Seattleite Jim Dever (pictured here covering this morning’s parade).

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West Seattle (& beyond) Black Friday update: The shopping begins
November 27, 2009 5:58 am
|      26 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

Thanks to David Rosen from SlickPix Photography for sharing a shot of the line at Westwood Village Target before it opened at 5; we just drove past WWV Staples and noted about 15 people waiting for its doors to open at six. (Nothing like Southcenter, where we’d gone just to gawk at the enormity of the lines; for Best Buy, for example, the line stretched for blocks across neighboring storefronts before the store opened at 5; [added 1:04 pm] our video caught linecutting again this year, this time unnoticed.) If you haven’t already, please see our West Seattle BF update from last night, with some local deals for today – once you’ve gotten the early-morning malling out of your system, it should be a great day to wander around The Junction, the Admiral District, and other West Seattle spots dotted with shops.

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Day after Thanksgiving: More changes & other notes for today
November 27, 2009 5:31 am
|    Comments Off on Day after Thanksgiving: More changes & other notes for today
 |   Holidays | West Seattle news

WEST SEATTLEITES IN MACY’S HOLIDAY PARADE DOWNTOWN: Reminder, if you’re going downtown to see it (here’s the official parade-route map; it’s NOT on TV this year), look for the Denny International Middle School and Chief Sealth High School bands marching together (they’re scheduled to be the 22nd entry in the parade). And it’ll be West Seattleite Greg Nickels‘ last parade as mayor.

METRO: “Reduced service” – explained here.

MOST GOVERNMENT OFFICES: Closed.

TRASH/RECYCLING/YARD WASTE: If you have Friday pickup, it’ll be on Saturday, as crews catch up from the holiday.

LIBRARIES: Open.

STREET PARKING: Where there are city pay stations/meters, this is NOT a holiday, so be sure to pay up.

MAIL DELIVERY: Yes.

BANKS: Open.

CHRISTMAS TREES: We’re working on our official list. So far, we’ve seen them at West Seattle Nursery, Tony’s (35th/Barton), TrueValue in The Junction, and both RiteAid stores. (The Holy Rosary lot opens tomorrow.)

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Black Friday West Seattle notes
November 26, 2009 10:44 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

Seriously now – do you really want to drive 15 miles in the middle of the night to stand out in the cold and the (possible) rain and go through this?

And after all that, it may turn out that there were only two of the “doorbuster” items in stock, and you were beaten to them by a couple of fellow line-waiters with jet packs and/or rocket-powered wheelies. No worries. Sleep in and shop West Seattle instead – or, if you insist on getting up and doorbuster-hunting (there ARE a few chances to do that in WS, at some of the chains in WW Village – Bed Bath Beyond opens at 5 with 20% off entire purchase before 10; Target opens at 5 for a two-day sale; Staples opens at 6, though its site is down till 3), shop your local small businesses afterward. Here are a couple highlights from around West Seattle’s business districts:

*From Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) in the Admiral District:

We’ll be giving away one free mercury glass ornament with any purchase of any other holiday decorations, while supplies last. Note that we will NOT be opening early… we aren’t morning people on any day of the year and certainly not the day after Thanksgiving! We are open noon to 7 pm. Our extended holiday hours begin Monday.

*Grand opening day for Mountain to Sound Outfitters, the new enterprise by the Alki Kayak Tours entrepreneurs, 3602 SW Alaska (map). They’re planning a free barbecue noon-2 pm.

*In The Junction, Edie’s Shoes has a 20 percent coupon (get it here). And Cherry Consignment (open 10 am-6 pm) is offering 10 percent off today and tomorrow to shoppers who bring a friend to the store with them.

*Also in The Junction, you can get your entries in for the $6500 giveaway – details on the Junction Association website, including list of participating businesses.

(added Friday morning) *On Alki, from Coastal Boutique‘s newsletter:

This Friday, November 27th, shoppers who spend $80 or more at Coastal will receive a
FREE $20 Coastal Gift Card as a thank you for shopping at Coastal!

(added Friday morning) *Another Junction note just in from Lisa at CAPERS:

CAPERS celebrates the kickoff to the holidays with a BLAFRITHWECYMON SALE [Black Friday Thanksgiving Weekend Cyber Monday Sale]. No camping necessary to save. Dining tables are 25% off, selected chairs are up for adoption & customers will receive a $10 gift card for every $50 they spend through Monday. Additional details at 932-0371.

(Reminder to businesses – any time of the year, you can post Freebies, Deals, Sales *free* in the WSB Forums section by that name – start here.)

(back to original report) And one more note for weekend shoppers:

*If you’re shopping for books, note that West Seattle High School Grad Night 2010 has a Bookfair going at Barnes & Noble through Sunday (any store, but you need to tell them you’re using Voucher #10001303, and if you show a receipt with that # on it, you get a free slice of pizza at Giannoni’s Pizza in Westwood Village).

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West Seattle Thanksgiving scenes, 2009 edition
November 26, 2009 8:37 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle Thanksgiving scenes, 2009 edition
 |   Holidays | West Seattle news

Our biggest trip away from HQ on this quiet (so far, knock wood) Thanksgiving took us to The Junction, where the Easy Street Records marquee carried the traditional message. Two blocks up California SW, we peeked in on the West Seattle Eagles reviving their free-holiday-dinner tradition:

We have a tradition of not photographing people who likely would prefer to enjoy holiday dinner without a camera in their face, so we don’t have a view of the dining room, but if we did, you would have seen a HUGE screen showing football. A few doors north of the Eagles’ aerie, we visited one of the many West Seattle coffee entrepreneurs working the holiday, charter sponsor Hotwire Coffee‘s proprietor Lora Lewis, who incidentally makes a mean Mexican Mocha:

Now on to Black Friday – we’ll have a few West Seattle-specific notes in our next update.
One more pitch, Hotwire’s holiday coupons are still good – first two through Sunday, the other two for longer; here’s a direct easy-print link.

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Followup: What the Historical Society’s ghostly gala scared up
November 26, 2009 5:59 pm
|    Comments Off on Followup: What the Historical Society’s ghostly gala scared up
 |   West Seattle history | West Seattle news

As we celebrate this holiday, we have a story from the last one – Halloween. Local writer Lesley Holdcroft tells the tale of the day’s most unusual event, from an inside perspective – she was one of the “ghosts” at the Southwest Historical Society’s fundraiser brunch.

Story by Lesley Holdcroft
Photos by gail ann photography
Special to West Seattle Blog

Eleven thousand dollars!

I’m used to generous money flowing around me, but around $11,000, pledged in two and a half-hours? That sets a new personal record.

What an event, the Southwest Seattle Historical Society’s Fall Gala: the people gathered at Salty’s on Alki, the costumes, the crowd dressed as ghosts, six ghosts making otherworldly appearances and a fun announcer encouraging the attendees to give money to support the society’s programming.

Read More

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“House with history” saga continues; it’s not just about the house
November 26, 2009 1:03 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle people

It’s the perfect day to ponder some of what you’re thankful for. So it’s perfect for the latest update we received from the local chiropractor rescued from a kayak mishap last March – who first sent in his account of the rescue, and has since updated us twice (in August and in October) about his renovation of a home with history.

Story and photos by Dr. Scott Redfern

The heater is going off again. This is a splurge; I’ve been home for three hours, heat included.

Recently I have been getting bids on re-plumbing the entire house.

It seems my bucket-bath days are limited. I must proceed, however uncomfortable, and demo the last standing bastion, my bathroom. I must smash the tub into tiny bits, saw all the walls, and finish by sacrificing brutally and mercilessly the pipes of old.

I am experiencing a lifestyle change. Next week I will be in Vegas at a seminar. I could come home to new plumbing if I play my cards right.

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Another West Seattle power outage – this time, Arbor Heights
November 26, 2009 11:26 am
|      9 COMMENTS
 |   Utilities | West Seattle news

“We apologize for the inconvenience this Thanksgiving Day,” says the Seattle City Light recording, updating the second West Seattle outage in two days — last night, the Westwood Village area; today, almost 300 customers (given the area, we’d guess almost entirely residential) in southern Arbor Heights/The Arroyos. City Light says this one is the fault of an underground problem, that crews will be called in from home, and that power may not be fully restored till 6 pm. (Some may have it back already – it was shortlived for one person who e-mailed us, anyway.) 2:44 PM UPDATE: In comments here and a post on our Facebook wall, we’ve gotten reports of other short outages in areas including Lincoln Park and Gatewood.

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Happy Thanksgiving, West Seattle!
November 26, 2009 5:04 am
|      13 COMMENTS
 |   Holidays | West Seattle news

One of many things we can be thankful for – spectacular scenery like that image David Hutchinson captured a few weeks ago from Seacrest. Here we are, on Thanksgiving Day – the first of the Major Winter Holidays is here. So is our compilation of information that might be helpful today – all previously published, but today, all in one place:

WEST SEATTLE COFFEE SHOPS OPEN TODAY

WEST SEATTLE GROCERY STORE HOURS TODAY

WEST SEATTLE RESTAURANTS OPEN TODAY

And then we have word of FOUR free Thanksgiving feasts, open to EVERYONE:

*The Hall at Fauntleroy (map), noon-3 pm (more details here)
*West Seattle Eagles (map), 2-5 pm (more details here)
*Freedom Church (map), 3 pm
*Admiral Pub (map), starting at noon

But perhaps you’d like to work out first? See our West Seattle Holidays page‘s Thanksgiving section for workout opportunities this morning at the West Seattle/Fauntleroy YMCA (WSB sponsor) and 8 Limbs Yoga.

As for what/who else is open – we didn’t catalog businesses beyond the categories mentioned above, but there are some. For example, Easy Street Records‘ retail store is open 9 am-1 pm, while their cafe is open for *coffee only* 7 am-noon; some local drug stores are open, in case all the holiday hoopla gives you a headache … and if you still need dessert, Shoofly Pie in The Junction was planning to have a limited amount available for walk-in customers 10 am-noon today – note there was a line when they opened yesterday with the same plan:

As for the rest of the news – we hope you’ll be able to unplug today, at least for a while. We’re going to try to, too. But if you feel the need to read, no worries, we’ll be publishing several feature stories as the day goes on, and we are on standby for breaking news – we’re committed to 24/7/365 coverage.

Have a HAPPY holiday! And THANK YOU for being part of WSB – your collaboration, participation and support keep the information flowing.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: 6-report roundup
November 25, 2009 11:56 pm
|      8 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

Before we go into something resembling holiday-news mode (we’ve got some great stories to share during the day, plus we’ll be on standby for breaking news, 24-7-365 means 24-7-365), we’ve got 6 Crime Watch reports to share. First some good news: In the WSB Forums, The Velvet Bulldog reports progress in the search for the hit-run driver who caused her big trouble six months ago – here’s her update; here’s the original post. Next – Unsolved (so far) cases, starting with one we found via Twitter, putting out the word about another work truck stolen, this time in West Seattle: 1980 GMC 4-door green full-size pickup with black racks. “Two ‘kids’ drove it off,” according to the truck owner’s spouse. It’s been reported to police, so call 911 if you’ve seen it. More ahead, including uniforms missing after a car break-in at the beach – read on:Read More

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West Seattle school scenes: Sanislo games; Madison wheels
November 25, 2009 9:52 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle school scenes: Sanislo games; Madison wheels
 |   Fun stuff to do | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Thanks to Matt Weiner, teacher candidate at Sanislo Elementary, for sharing photos from a fun event there last week, along with the story:

On Thursday, November 19th, Sanislo Elementary School held its annual Family Game Night. This year’s Game Night was organized by the four Teacher Candidates (formerly known as Student Teachers) from the University of Washington. This event draws together the school community to engage in a fun-filled evening of eating, good conversation, and of course playing games with one another. There were a wide variety of games being played, from old classics like Booby-trap and Scrabble to more contemporary games like Harry Potter chess and a fishing game based on the movie, Cars. This year, other activities were incorporated into the evening, including face painting, guessing game jars, a bake sale to support the fourth grade trip in the spring, and even a large walk on chess game.

Here’s the pic of that:

Matt continues:

Even on a rainy Seattle evening there was an estimated crowd of 150 people. This evening was even more successful with all the help of the volunteers and wonderful donations to additionally support the dinner option of pizza and prizes for the guessing game jars. This event continues to be a sought after evening of bringing together the community in a fun and interactive way.

(That gives us the opportunity to plug future Family Board Game Afternoons at Southwest Branch Library – more info here.) And at Madison Middle School, high-flying fun today:

Thanks to Ed for sharing that photo from the Ride and Glide BMX bicycle demo at Madison today. They’re the same riders who showed their stuff at West Seattle Christian in late August (WSB coverage here).

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Westwood Village-area power outage update: Back by 3 am?
November 25, 2009 9:34 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   Utilities | West Seattle news

Finally got some official information about a power outage in the Westwood Village vicinity. We got a text about a “spotty” outage in a few places at the center earlier tonight – went over and looked around, didn’t see any obvious evidence of an outage. Seattle City Light didn’t have anything on its outage line. But now they’ve sent a short tweet saying 148 customers – businesses and residences – are affected by the outage, and they may not have the power back till 3 am. In a comment on this morning’s holiday supermarket hours story, “Voodoo” reports that QFC has had some effects – including the ice-cream case.

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West Seattle coffee shops open on Thanksgiving: The map
November 25, 2009 4:35 pm
|      7 COMMENTS
 |   Holidays | West Seattle news | WS beverages


View West Seattle coffee shops open Thanksgiving 2009 in a larger map

Coffee and cooking just seem to go together. So once again this year, we’ve compiled a list of which coffee shops will be open Thanksgiving (and when). Click any spot on the map and you’ll see the name, address, and hours. These are the ones we have confirmed – by phone or in-person visit – are OPEN tomorrow; those we know are closed, are not listed. Note that the green arrow marks WSB sponsor Hotwire Online Coffeehouse, which is offering coupons for freebies during the 4-day holiday weekend (see them, and print them from, our Coupons page). Use the plus sign on the left side of the map to zoom in, and to go to the fullpage Google Map (including a text list on the left side), click the VIEW LARGER MAP link under the map above. Thanks yet again to Sue Scharff (who works with the zesty Zippy Dogs) for research assistance. There are a few places that didn’t pick up the phone and didn’t have hours posted – so if you know of one we missed, please leave a comment or e-mail us, and we’ll add it. This will also be linked from the WSB West Seattle Holidays page, where you’ll also find standing links (through tomorrow, anyway!) to the list of West Seattle restaurants open tomorrow and the list of West Seattle grocery stores open tomorrow.

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Return of the weekend traffic advisories – holiday edition
November 25, 2009 3:33 pm
|    Comments Off on Return of the weekend traffic advisories – holiday edition
 |   Not WS but we're mentioning it anyway | Transportation

Remember those big roundups from SDOT before the big summer weekends? They’re back for the holidays and with so many activities around the city, we’re thinking you’ll be interested. Among them, as mentioned here a few times, Friday morning (8:45 am start)’s Macy’s Holiday Parade with the Denny/Sealth bands (here’s the official route map, courtesy of Macy’s). Read on for the full traffic alert for the next four days:Read More

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