West Seattle, Washington

16 Tuesday

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month : 02/2010 337 results

Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle’s 1st Seed Swap a smash
February 20, 2010 11:54 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   Gardening | Safety | West Seattle news

Sunny, warm, perfect day to think gardening, and that brought so many people out to Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle‘s first-ever Seed Swap ‘n’ Sale, the seeds were gone about halfway through the three-hour event. Community Harvest’s Aviva summarized it in a comment tonight on our morning preview story:

Thank you to those who came out to the Seed Swap ‘N Sale…and apologies to those who came after we were sold out. By 2:30 we had sold ALL of our 650 packets of seeds. Should have known…with it being the year of Urban Agriculture.

AND THANKS TO THE GROUP OF VOLUNTEERS WHO MADE THIS HAPPEN! I’m grateful to all the gardeners who brought in their old seed packets for re-distribution and for the old tools…keep an eye open for their transformation! We will be doing a Veggie Start Sale in mid-April. Will have more seeds then.

Gardening wasn’t the only topic on the table:

(Photo courtesy Karen Berge)
From left, that’s Karen Berge, Deborah Greer and Cindi Barker – they brought along the traveling display of info about the West Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs (a project that’s an ongoing WSB sponsor – find their ad on the right sidebar to access the hub info at any time). Be sure to go here to find out where your nearest “hub” is, just in case.

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Girl Scout Cookies arrive in West Seattle – with 2 new features
February 20, 2010 9:00 pm
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   How to help | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

Our video shows the scene inside the Alaska Marine Lines loading dock on West Marginal Way SW this morning – about two hours after West Seattle’s 30,000 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies arrived, and about two hours before they were all scheduled to be gone, picked up by reps of the 25 troops selling cookies in our area this year. From outside the dock:

As always, volunteers young and old helped out – coordinated by West Seattle Service Unit Cookie Manager Cheryl Brown – including this group we got to stop down for a photo:

What’s new this year, you ask? Two things: First, the new flavor is Thank You Berry Munch, described as:

Real, premium cranberries provide a delightful tartness in these hearty cookies sweetened with creamy white fudge chips.

And of course, as you probably noticed in the video, older faves are still available too, like Samoas, Thin Mints, last year’s new flavor Dulce de Leche …But here’s what’s really big: The Cookie Locator. Once cookie sales officially begin next Friday, February 26th, the Girl Scouts of Western Washington website will have a spot for you to enter your zip code and find the locations and times where you’ll find cookie sales nearby! (Around Western Washington, Cheryl says, 18,844 girls sold 2,773,288 boxes of cookies last year; 112,569 were donated to Operation Cookie Drop – you can buy a box of cookies to be donated to U.S. military personnel.)

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City councilmember in Pigeon Point to hear road-closure concerns
February 20, 2010 4:37 pm
|      15 COMMENTS
 |   Pigeon Point | Puget Ridge | Transportation | West Seattle news

(Updated at 6:10 pm after a conversation with the developer whose project’s at the heart of this)

ORIGINAL 4:37 PM REPORT: In the bright jacket, that’s West Seattle-dwelling City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who chairs the council’s Transportation Committee. Rasmussen bicycled up to Pigeon Point this afternoon to listen to neighbors’ concerns about effects of the 6-week road closure that starts on Monday so that a developer can run a sewer line to new-home sites on 23rd SW. First reported here 10 days ago, the closure not only will close a major route between North Delridge and Pigeon Point/Puget Ridge, it also will reroute Metro’s 125 bus (details here), which in turn means parking restrictions on nearby streets that are not in the construction zone. Most galling to neighbors – as noted here last night, when the signs went up yesterday, they covered an even longer stretch of nearby streets than had been announced by SDOT – and that’s what has neighbors most concerned. Jim S wrote in a WSB comment last night:

It’s frustrating to say the least. It feels very much as if the city has sold out Pigeon Point for a developer’s utility upgrade to the arterial. I understand that Riser Homes are paying the full ride on the sewer and storm drains on 23rd and that cost is considerable, but this has affected a far wider swath of neighborhoods than the average street closure. Closing virtually all parking on two of the three major streets in the Pigeon Point neighborhood without consulting the neighborhood is very unfair. It is a thoughtless, cookie cutter fix to a problem that required a more measured equitable solution.

This afternoon, Rasmussen met with about a dozen residents, coordinated on short notice by Pete Spalding (at right, below, with Rasmussen at left – note the “no parking” signs lining the road in the background).

It’s not just a matter of nowhere to park and driving a detour route, neighbors say, it’s also a safety issue – as hundreds of drivers detour, there’s concern they may go racing down streets where there’s not usually heavy traffic. And there’s a big-picture issue here: Notification. Everyone agrees that the homebuilder did what was required – notifying neighbors in the immediate area – but, as discussed at the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting last Wednesday, what’s required, may not be enough. In our video clip, you’ll hear Rasmussen wonder if there’s any way to hold off the project now, so that a meeting can be held with neighbors first:

There was no public word of the impending closure till signs went up on Delridge a week and a half ago; the signs seemed to suggest Delridge was closing for six weeks; a WSB’er named Pete (not Spalding) contacted us to ask what we knew. We checked with SDOT, which explained the developer’s plan – this Feb. 10th story resulted – and got him to add “23rd SW” lettering to the closure signs; the information about bus and parking restrictions followed, and Pigeon Point neighborhood leaders have been working round the clock to try to make sure residents are getting accurate information. They’re expecting SDOT reps to be in the area to monitor the situation on Monday morning, first commute period after the closure is scheduled to happen, if the plan doesn’t change in the meantime. (We also have e-mailed the developer to ask for comment.)

ADDED 6:10 PM: Got a fast response from Jon Riser, the aforementioned developer, who called after receiving our e-mail. He says, “This is a process that’s been going on for a long time. We submitted a traffic control plan back in November – it’s not a small, little, quick, throw-out-a-permit thing to close the road. It’s been a drawn-out (process) that’s involved Metro, city engineers, and my own traffic engineers. This is the plan they came up with that they felt was the safest.” He says he’s talked with Councilmember Rasmussen and that holding off construction isn’t an option – “I don’t see us not starting on Monday” — Riser says this phase of the project will be costing him $10,000 a day; “the contractor’s lined up and this all has been rolling for weeks.” But, he adds: “What I do want to do is, during the first initial closure, try to adjust some of this …” such as, seeing if buses can “turn directly onto 21st,” and adjusting some of the no-parking zone on 23rd for residents who face “some serious parking problems.” He adds, “Adding signs, removing signs … whatever we can do in the first day or so. … (And) we’re trying to get a couple police officers to be on site to help. … I’m trying to do what I can.”

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First notes: 34th District legislators’ “town hall” @ High Point
February 20, 2010 12:07 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

We’re at High Point Community Center, where West Seattle’s three state legislators are leading a “town hall” meeting to let constituents know what’s happening in Olympia – and to find out what constituents hope to see happening. Sen. Joe McDermott and Reps. Eileen Cody and Sharon Nelson are your 34th District legislators. They have given toplines on the legislation they’ve been working on, and a presentation on the state-budget dilemma ($2.8 billion shortfall in the current biennium and what to do about it). Now they’re taking audience questions – first question was about the corporate-personhood ruling and campaign financing. One interesting point – in the photo at left, you see Reps. Nelson and Cody holding copies of surveys they sent out. Nelson sent out 20,000 by e-mail, Cody about 21,000 by postal mail. The postal rate of return was 1,300+; the e-mail rate of return, fewer than 200. About 75 people are here, by the way; questioning is now turning to education financing.

1:39 PM: The meeting ended at the top of the hour, though the legislators lingered to speak with people who lined up to have a one-on-one word. The overall point seemed to be – the state has to close a budget gap but it’s almost impossible to figure out how – the budget presentation showed that $7.7 billion of the budget is the only part that can be cut (roughly a fourth), and while they expect an income-tax initiative this fall, if it passes, it would face years of court challenges, so it wouldn’t solve anything any time soon. What about raising revenue by privatizing liquor stores? they were asked. We rolled video as Reps. Nelson and Cody replied.

Town-hall meetings like these are being held in a number of legislative districts around the state today. The legislators promised they would do their best to get the budget-explaining slideshow onto the Web next week; meantime, one other account of the meeting is online so far, from PubliCola.

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2 more Junction notes: Haiti relief office-item sale; Bin 41 sign
February 20, 2010 10:31 am
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   How to help | West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

(photo added 1:36 pm)
OFFICE ITEMS, FURNITURE ON SALE TO RAISE HAITI $: Just got the word from the folks at Westside Dermatology (WSB sponsor). Outside their building, Olympic Court in The Junction, there’s a sale under way “till 4 or 5 pm” to raise money for Haiti quake relief. From Joe Erickson at Westside Dermatology:

All proceeds will go to the Haiti Relief Fund. There is lot of furniture and office items. We are hoping to raise $5-10 per item. Some items are free with an optional donation. Please come by and help out.

Joe also says they have a lot of framed prints. (added 12:55 pm) Also: “Office chairs, lots of framed floral prints, a Nordic track exercise ski machine, desk tops antiques, solid marble table with heavy metal base, desktops, heavy lockable file cabinets etc.” Here’s a map to Olympic Court. Meantime, less than a block away:

BIN 41 SIGN: Driving through The Junction late yesterday, we spotted the sign going up for Bin 41, the specialty wine store going into the former Georgia Blu space between Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy (WSB sponsor) and KeyBank. In this January 29th WSB story, Bin 41’s proprietors told the story of what their store will be all about.

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West Seattle scene: Westcrest Off-Leash Area, transformed
February 20, 2010 9:52 am
|      9 COMMENTS
 |   Highland Park | Pets | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

Thanks to WSB’er “westseattledood” for the Friday afternoon photo and report on West Seattle’s only off-leash area.

Cyndi, dog wrangler and owner of Petite Posse dog walking service, shared the shade with her exclusive pack of small dogs at Westcrest Dog Park. This bucolic patch of wood chips, about 50 yards in length, now includes two benches providing observation points toward the sloped embankment adjacent to the West Seattle Reservoir Park project. Hand removal, without any machinery, of yards of dense invasives revealed a prime location for sighting rabbits scurrying from burrows in the remaining berry brush on the slope. Sounds of chatty wrens co-exist with barking dogs, neighbors’ roosters, Boeing planes and the earth movers still grading the reservoir project. What was once an overgrown, impassable thatch of blackberries and invasives has been transformed by dedicated volunteers with a vision and time to give.

Haven’t been to Westcrest before? Here’s a map.

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Today/tonight: Seed Swap; legislators; grand opening; opera; art!
February 20, 2010 8:26 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

Some of today’s special events around West Seattle (and vicinity):

SEED SWAP ‘N’ SALE – AND BRING YOUR OLD SHOVELS! Sunny weather got you in the gardening mood? Perfect timing! 1-4 pm today in the horticulture area at the north end of the South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) campus (6000 16th SW), it’s the first-ever Seed Swap ‘n’ Sale presented by Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle. The seed list can be seen here; the SSCC Garden Center will also be open and selling plant starts. And bring your old shovels/garden tools, which CHoSS plans to recycle into artwork for later fundraising.

WHAT’S UP IN OLYMPIA? Find out from your 34th District legislators, Sen. Joe McDermott and Reps. Eileen Cody and Sharon Nelson, High Point Community Center (6920 34th SW), 11 am. (Full details here)

WESTSIDE YOGA-DOGA GRAND OPENING: This new business in Morgan Junction (6417 Fauntleroy) invites you to its grand-opening party, 7-9 pm tonight. More at its website.

OPERA SNEAK PEEK: 7 pm at The Kenney (7125 Fauntleroy Way), the West Seattle Preview Group of the Seattle Opera Guild presents a preview of Verdi’s “Falstaff,” which opens in a week. The opera’s chorusmaster, Beth Kirchhoff, will bring young artists to sing the arias and tell the “Falstaff” story. Free.

AND IN WHITE CENTER … ART! The White Center Third Saturday Art Walk is tonight, with artists showcased at eight WC businesses plus the new Dream Community Gallery, 6-9 pm — all listed on the White Center for the Arts website.

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West Seattle help for Haiti: 2 successes, and a new request
February 20, 2010 2:36 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   How to help | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS culture/arts

STUDENTS HELPING HAITI: From left, Lafayette Elementary student council representatives Anna Goldberg, Alyx Hastings and Quinn Gerberding. Proud Lafayette principal Virginia Turner says they “conceived of, publicized and organized the fundraising effort” that brought in $1,460 for Haiti relief — the council sponsored the collection. Lafayette teacher Kent Ferris worked with the students to help them make it happen. Another big announcement:

ARTISTS HELPING HAITI: Last weekend, we brought you a progress report during West Seattle artist/entrepreneur Stephanie Hargrave‘s art sale to raise money to help Haiti. She now has the final numbers: $17,031 raised during the one-day sale! It’s going to Partners in Health, Doctors Without Borders, and Mercy Corps. Stephanie took the above photo of all the art in her studio during the sale, and adds: “My two friends who were instrumental in the effort and worked tirelessly are West Seattleites Anne-Marie Meredith and Bronwyn McNutt.” She also included a full list of the artists who participated by donating work – see that list (with information on how to contact the artists – web links or phone/e-mail) here.

NEW WEST SEATTLE HELP FOR HAITI: Kari Robins e-mailed to say:

I am a West Seattle resident and a high school teacher. I am going to be traveling to Haiti this summer with Global Volunteer Network. I will be working with orphaned children and homeless women. I want to raise money to help offset the cost of travel and participating in the program.

I will be working with children, youth and women within two camps; Pinchinat and Kay Wolf. These camps have more than 3,000 people who became homeless after the quake. I will be helping to run education classes for children as the schools have been closed down until September.

I am looking for community support to help offset the expense and to maximize my time down in Haiti.

Read more about the type of work she’ll be doing, by going here; to e-mail her with questions and/or help, kari.robins@hotmail.com.

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Sidebar: Artists who donated to Stephanie Hargrave’s Haiti benefit art sale
February 20, 2010 2:32 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Announcements

Ann Kendall, photography

Ann Marie Meredith, image transfers
e-mail at: annemm1@hotmail.com or call 206-349-5873

Britt Freda, oil paintings

Camea Davidson, cards, paintings

Carla Davis, prints, paintings, cards

Carol Pierce, paintings
represented by Kaewyn Gallery – Bothell, has work at Overlake Hospital

Conrad Chavez, photographs and digital prints

Cynthia LaRowe, photography
info on photography: cynthia.larowe@gmail.com

Dana Cassara, jewelry

Diane Culhane, oil paintings

Don Bugler, sculpture, paintings

Frances Smersh, jewelry

Gail Howard, acrylic paintings

Garric Simonsen, fine art of all kinds

Gini Lawson, oil paintings

Holly Haynes, woven works

Jan Flynn, paintings

Jesse Young, photography

Joelle King, jewelry

Juan Alonso, fine art of all kinds

Julie Biggs, mixed media collage

Junko Yamamoto, paintings

Kamla Kakaria, encaustics, prints

Kathy Berg, paintings
e-mail at: kathy.berg@comcast.net

Kelly Lyles, fine art of all kinds

KT Grisez, sculpture, jewelry

Lara Swimmer, photography

Layne Cook, paintings

Leah Kangas, jewelry

Lonjina Verdugo, mixed media collage

Marcos Lewis, ceramics
for urchin vessels, contact: marcos@olypen.com

Marita Dingus, fine art of all kinds

Mark Burgess, frames
wood frames: 425-828-6012

Melinda Hannigan, oil paintings

Mike Mullins, paintings

Pam Keely, fine art of all kinds

Patricia Cameron Fine Art, gallery
*Patricia donated a print by one of her artists

Paul Rucker, cellist, fine art of all kinds

Rachel Illingworth, print maker

Rickie Wolfe, fine art of all kinds
*solo show coming soon with Gallery IMA

Sally Ketchum
fine art of all kinds

Sandy Glass, graphic design

Sarah Savidge, paintings

Shaun Doll, encaustics

Stephanie Hargrave, encaustics, etc.
*solo show july 1st – patricia rovzar gallery

Stephanie Tomczak, jewelry
*winner of an award of artistic excellence – BAM’s Indulge Show

Sue Danielson, oil paintings

Theresa Neinas, block prints

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Shots (but no one hit); possible prowler
February 19, 2010 9:20 pm
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

First: We’re checking for official police information on this, but so far, what we have from a neighborhood source is that shots were fired earlier this evening in the 18th/Barton (map) vicinity. No one was hit but casings were found at the scene, we’re told. Our source says one of the possibly two vehicles involved was stopped; we won’t know about any arrests till we hear back from police. This would be just a few blocks east of the 21st/Barton shots-fired (also no one hit) situation we wrote about last week. ADDED 10:42 PM: Heard back from Lt. Ron Smith at the Southwest Precinct:

Initial call of a drive-by shooting in the 9000 block of 18th Ave SW. The call indicated 5 shots were fired up in the air from a dark-colored pickup truck. The truck was located and was occupied by a male. Another male standing on the corner approached the officer, was hostile toward him and diverted his attention away from the suspect vehicle. Search of vehicle was conducted and no weapon was recovered. ). No known victims or property damage at the time of the report, .22 caliber shell casings were recovered from the street. 3 suspects were taken to the precinct for further investigation.

(back to original report) Second: From our Facebook wall, an alert about a possible car prowler in Arbor Heights, a “guy checking out cars on 42nd Ave SW south from 100th [map] … yellow jacket with black/gray backpack, black pants/saggy, with black hat … checking through windows …” Police have been alerted.

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West Seattle street safety: Crosswalk flags added in The Junction
February 19, 2010 8:25 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Safety | West Seattle news

Previously, the nearest crosswalk flags were at Dakota to the north and Dawson to the south. Now, according to this update on the West Seattle Junction Association website, baskets of flags are in place at the two midblock crosswalks in the heart of the business district. (They’re privately placed, not from the city, which has yet to expand the pilot program that put the baskets at California/Dakota, California/Dawson, and Avalon/Yancy in June 2008 [WSB coverage here].)

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High-school basketball: Chief Sealth loses title game, but moves on
February 19, 2010 7:58 pm
|    Comments Off on High-school basketball: Chief Sealth loses title game, but moves on
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS & Sports

From Seattle Pacific University, where we covered the game via Twitter (@wsblive), the boys’ varsity basketball Metro League title game final score: Rainier Beach 51, Chief Sealth 34. But the Seahawks are still in the district playoffs, which start next week. We’ll add the recap and video here soon.

SUMMARY AND VIDEO ADDED 8:55 PM: Friday night, Chief Sealth found out that it’s not easy to hang onto the ball when you play Rainier Beach. Beach pulled away from Sealth early on in the second quarter and never looked back as the Vikings beat Sealth 51-34 to take the Metro League championship.

While the Seahawks managed to rebound the ball fairly well in the first half, they had a great deal of trouble shooting throughout the game. None of their players managed to make it into double digits on the night. The only player who got close was Tomas Ogbaslassie, with nine points. Also the teams’ foul-shooting percentage, which had been a strong point for them against Prep last Wednesday, fell off dramatically against Rainier Beach. Sealth converted fewer than half their free throws.

One of the high points for Sealth came in the second Quarter when senior Daniel Davis put up a three-point shot.

We’re checking for word on Sealth’s first game in the district playoffs. SATURDAY MORNING UPDATE: Sealth athletic director Sam Reed says that since the Seahawks have a first-round bye at districts, they’re scheduled to play at 4:45 pm next Friday at Bellevue Community College – vs. either Sammamish, Bainbridge, or O’Dea (depending on the outcome of two games between now and then).

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Update: “Jason McKissack bill” gets a State Senate hearing Monday
February 19, 2010 5:15 pm
|    Comments Off on Update: “Jason McKissack bill” gets a State Senate hearing Monday
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle police | West Seattle politics

More than two weeks have passed since the State House of Representatives approved SHB 1679, known as the Jason McKissack Bill, after the now-former Seattle Police officer who has been unable to work since a vicious attack while on the job in West Seattle a year and a half ago, and is losing insurance coverage as a result. We just got word from law-enforcement advocate Renee Maher that they’re hoping for another show of support – like the one that turned out for the bill’s first major hearing on January 25 (photo right) – when the bill gets a public hearing next Monday in the State Senate Ways and Means Committee. She says the hearing’s set for 3:30 pm Monday, Room 4 in the Cherberg Building, and: “We’d love to have everyone down there supporting Jason and his family!” (The Senate is where last year’s version of this bill stalled, so support there could be even more important than the support showed while it was going through the House. It’s one of the topics likely to come up when 34th District legislators – State Sen. Joe McDermott and State Reps. Eileen Cody and Sharon Nelson – hold a Town Hall at High Point Community Center tomorrow, Saturday 2/20, 11 am.)

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Alki pump-station site update: Path opens as promised
February 19, 2010 4:30 pm
|      9 COMMENTS
 |   Utilities | West Seattle news

That photo was just tweeted by Mike Heavey (@mjheavey) – who says the barricades have just been moved at the 53rd Avenue Pump Station Project site on Alki, and the path’s open. So the promise made at last night’s Alki Community Council meeting by King County’s Martha Tuttle – that the path would open today – has been kept. Next up, as reported in our story – about a month of road work to rebuild the outside lane.

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2 updates on upcoming 23rd SW (etc.) closure
February 19, 2010 3:18 pm
|      13 COMMENTS
 |   Delridge | Pigeon Point | Puget Ridge | Transportation

9:04 PM: Pigeon Point residents say the “no parking” warning signs are up but are stretching beyond the areas described in previous communication from SDOT. Neighborhood leaders are working to sort this out, and also hope to talk with city crew members expected to be in the area to check on the situation Monday morning.

EARLIER (ORIGINALLY POSTED 3:18 PM): We’ve been covering this for a week now, but in case you missed it, here’s the official reminder from SDOT of the North Delridge/Pigeon Point/Puget Ridge road closure/detour situation starting Monday – read on:Read More

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Sneak peek aboard West Seattle’s new Water Taxi, the Rachel Marie
February 19, 2010 1:14 pm
|      37 COMMENTS
 |   King County Water Taxi | Transportation | West Seattle news

When you step on board the 77-foot catamaran Rachel Marie – which will make the West Seattle-Downtown Seattle run of the King County Water Taxi when this year’s service starts April 5 (new date) – you may feel a little smarter. That’s because the boat used to carry rocket scientists. True! As explained by Robert Patronsky of Four Seasons Marine, which owns the RM and its sister ship Melissa Ann – the Water Taxi for the Vashon-Downtown Seattle run – this one made shuttle runs in the Western Pacific for many years, to a US military missile-testing site. A photo inside the vessel is testimony to this:

So are signs in English and the Marshall Islands’ language, Marshallese.

More recently, the RM was on a foot-ferry passenger project in Honolulu. But we digress. The reason we asked the King County Ferry District for a sneak peek on board the Rachel Marie, which is currently at a Ballard shipyard, is because many WSB’ers asked for more details when we first reported on the Rachel Marie (with photos) last month. Ask, and we’ll do our best to make sure you receive. “Is there an outside deck?” some asked. Here it is – room for about 40 people topside, stern – a one-minute tour of where you can sit/stand outside:

There’s an inside deck upstairs, too – keep in mind, this eventually is meant to run year-round – and then, the main deck:

While the Rachel Marie is capable of carrying more than 200, Susan Whitmore with King County says it will be certified for up to 150 – any more, and they have different crewing and security requirements. Right now, they’re finishing hiring the crew – they’ve got their captains, who will be in a wheelhouse you can watch through windows at the front of the top interior deck:

Some other notes: No concessions; the county might look at that later as a revenue measure, says Whitmore, but nothing’s planned when the season starts. You can bring your own food/drink, though, and there are some tables in the main-deck seating.

(A few power outlets, too, if you just can’t stay off your laptop during the trip across the bay.) And as you probably noticed in the video clip, interior bike racks – enough to hold 18 total, no extra charge. Though the Rachel Marie has the ability to run faster than its predecessors, they’re keeping the same schedule for now – while looking for the “sweet spot” between fuel efficiency and speed. The basic fare is higher if you’re paying cash, as reported previously; Whitmore says they’ll keep taking cash “for a while,” but the farebox will be at the dock, along with an ORCA transit-card reader, and they hope eventually to install credit-card-capable ticket machines at the docks (remember, on the downtown side, they’ll be switching to Pier 50, just south of Colman Dock). Again, the new Water Taxi season starts April 5; that’s a Monday, so Whitmore says they’re not planning the kind of festivities with which they kicked off the season in past years, but might have an open house at some point. Meantime, the new dock at Seacrest needs to be finished – and then this summer, county leaders have to figure out the funding that’s needed for the service to run year-round as hoped.

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West Seattle scene: USS John C Stennis on the move again
February 19, 2010 12:53 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle scene: USS John C Stennis on the move again
 |   Seen at sea | West Seattle news

On a picture-perfect morning, the USS John C. Stennis, CVN-74, was spotted from West Seattle shores, headed toward Bremerton (WesCAddle mentioned it in the WSB Forums). Thanks to Kevin for this carrier-and-mountain view!

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Update: Media “brown bag lunch” with the mayor
February 19, 2010 11:47 am
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

We’re among a dozen-plus journalists at City Hall (7th floor conference room) in a “brown-bag” Q/A session with Mayor Mike McGinn. Not that anybody’s actually lunching, of course. So far, he’s fielded questions on everything from municipal broadband to Highway 520 to funding the bicycle plan to the new Youth/Families Initiative; we asked about library funding, given that two West Seattle libraries have been cut back to five-day-a-week operation. He said it’s too soon to say but he’s hoping not to have to cut libraries further. 12:10 PM UPDATE: The Q/A session is now over. Look for coverage in a variety of places in addition to here – PubliCola, seattlepi.com, The Sable Verity (whose author/editor we just met for the first time), Crosscut, Q13. We got in the last question – why is he pursuing White Center (etc.) annexation now? The answer seemed to boil down to it being an exploratory matter more than anything, and might not ultimately make budget sense, but they’re pushing forward with finding out what the people who live in the prospective annexation area think. We got most of the session on video and will post some excerpts later. (Thanks to Diane for noting on Twitter that mayoral staffer Aaron Pickus had tweeted a photo of some of us – that’s your editor with the glasses and the MacBook.) ADDED 1:53 PM: Video of the mayor’s answer to our library-funding question:

A few more clips later.

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High school basketball: Chief Sealth in league-finals game tonight
February 19, 2010 10:24 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS & Sports

Tonight at 6, Chief Sealth High School‘s boys’ varsity basketball team plays Rainier Beach for the Metro League title. After Sealth’s Thursday afternoon practice, we talked with coach Colin Slingsby:

Sealth has a challenge tonight – they lost to Rainier Beach twice this year, once by 9 points, once by 10, and RB is undefeated in the Metro League, #2 statewide in 3A. No matter what happens tonight though, Sealth still moves on to the district playoffs next week. You can cheer them on tonight at 6 at Seattle Pacific University (map); we’ll tweet live from the game on our “live events” Twitter account (which you can check on the Web even if you are not a Twitter member), @wsblive (twitter.com/wsblive).

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Followup: City councilmembers request graffiti/litter audit
February 19, 2010 8:32 am
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

Followup to our story late Wednesday night about three graffiti-vandalism arrests in West Seattle and our request for your thoughts on this particular category of crime: We’ve learned that West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen and his colleague Councilmember Tim Burgess – respective chairs of the Transportation and Public Safety (etc.) Committees – have asked for an audit of how the city handles graffiti and litter, which they describe as “street disorder.” Specifically, they asked the City Auditor earlier this month to review 7 points, including the city’s graffiti and litter laws, the rate of arrest/prosecution of offenders, intradepartmental coordination of city cleanup efforts in both areas, and “innovative efforts other cities have implemented that Seattle might replicate.” Rasmussen and Burgess asked auditor David Jones to get this done by June 1. We received their letter to the auditor from Rasmussen’s office after they saw our Wednesday night story; read the entire 2-page document here.

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U.S. Rep. McDermott in West Seattle: Health reform WILL pass
February 19, 2010 7:28 am
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 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle politics | West Seattle video

More than 60 people were at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center last night for U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott‘s “winter 2010 community meeting.” The big topic was the same as it’s been for months – health-care reform (McDermott, you may recall, also happens to be a doctor) – which he’s been involved with for years.

He said he remains optimistic a health-care-reform bill will be passed, but whatever is finally approved, won’t necessarily be “final” – his example was Medicare, first passed in 1965, worked on every year since then. McDermott said he would like to see the 1945 act creating state insurance commissioners repealed; his view is that one central set of controls would represent a more efficient system. Asked about voter anger, McDermott suggested that the most infuriating thing for a voter is to see her/his representatives do nothing – those are the people, he says, who will get voted out. On another hot topic, he said he supports ending the filibuster rules in the U.S. Senate that so often slow progress there to a standstill. Last but by no means least, he believes legislation will be introduced within a few months to negate the U.S. Supreme Court‘s ruling on “corporate personhood.” Got something to say to Rep. McDermott? His contact info is here. Meantime, three more elected officials who represent you are having a Town Hall meeting tomorrow – the 34th District legislative trio, State Sen. Joe McDermott (no relation to Jim), Rep. Eileen Cody, and Rep. Sharon Nelson. They’ll be at High Point Community Center, 11 am tomorrow (Saturday).

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Another month or so for pump-station project, Alki council told
February 19, 2010 1:44 am
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 |   Utilities | West Seattle news

(Tuesday photo of 53rd Avenue project site, by Chas Redmond)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

“This project has been a long haul,” King County Wastewater Treatment rep Martha Tuttle told Thursday night’s Alki Community Council meeting, referring to the 2-years-and-not-done-yet 53rd Avenue Pump Station Project.

Uneasy laughter flowed through the room.

“It has been two years that we’ve been in construction and the fatigue the community feels is strong. We do apologize for that,” she continued. But she had some good news.

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West Seattle nightlife: The return of “Corner Inn Lynne”
February 19, 2010 1:11 am
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 |   Fun stuff to do | West Seattle news | WS beverages

This June, it’ll be two years since the Corner Inn closed its doors at Fauntleroy/California, the space now transformed into Zeeks Pizza. But the spirit of the Corner Inn has lived on here and there around West Seattle – and here’s the latest incarnation: We got a note from “Johnny Roadkill” about a new Ladies Night starting up at The Bohemian this Sunday night, with the bartender known best as “Corner Inn Lynne” mixing the drinks Sunday nights, hoping to create a new tradition. Click the image at left to see the flyer full-size; Johnny says, “There will be music, ladies’ drink specials and fun times.” But everyone’s welcome – guys too. (Lynne got mentions in the comments when we covered the Corner Inn’s shutdown in June 2008.)

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