day : 11/03/2010 11 results

Wandering around the website of our citywide-news partners the Seattle Times recently, we noticed a best-sellers’ list for West Seattle’s Square One Books (WSB sponsor). Looked like something that might interest book lovers here most of all, so we asked proprietor Gretchen Montgomery if that list might be available to WSB – and she said yes. So here’s the first edition of “What West Seattleites are reading” (working title, maybe we – or you? – will come up with something catchier).

Adult Hardcover:
1. The Pacific by Hugh Ambrose
2. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
3. Angelology by Danielle Trussoni
4. Rediscovering Values by Jim Wallis
5. Blackout by Connie Willis

Adult Paperback:
1. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
2. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
3. The Forgotten by Kate Morton
4. Ghost Train to the Eastern Star by Paul Theroux
5. Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Teen Bestsellers:
1. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
2. The Pendragon Series by D.J. MacHale
3. North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley
4. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
5. Madapple by Christina Meldrum

Children’s Bestsellers:
1.The Enormous Egg by Oliver Butterworth
2. Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan
3. The Lion & the Mouse (Caldecott Winner!) by Jerry Pickney
4. Happy Easter, Curious George by Margaret and H. A. Rey
5. When You Reach Me (Newberry Winner!) by Rebecca Stead

Look for the next round of “What West Seattleites are reading” next Thursday!

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Chief Sealth winter-sports banquet celebrates “Sealth Pride”

March 11, 2010 11:29 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS & Sports

What a day for Colin Slingsby, boys’ basketball coach at Chief Sealth High School. Not only did the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce announce he’d been chosen as Westsider of the Year, he also got to celebrate his team’s successful season during the Sealth winter-sports banquet tonight. Also on hand, athletic director Sam Reed:

His wrap-up of the winter-sports season, e-mailed last weekend, was printed out and handed out at tonight’s banquet. Here’s what he wrote:

Nearly four months after the season started, the last of the Chief Sealth Winter sports teams concluded their season last week, when the boys basketball team was defeated in a winner-to-state, loser-out game versus Franklin High School. While the 68-65 loss wasn’t the desired result, it doesn’t dampen the amount of ‘Sealth Pride’ that was built throughout the season.

All of our Winter Sports have things to be proud of. Foremost, it was a season marked by excellent coaching. Long-standing coaches Dave Rosario (wrestling) and Colin Slingsby (boys basketball) each took home Metro League Coach of the Year honors and added regional awards as well. Tony Trahan, in his first year at the helm of the girls basketball team, and Katie Hathaway, also new to the school as head swim coach, helped craft hard-working teams that competed well throughout the season. Gymnastics was led in conjunction with West Seattle High School and coached by Echo Balliett-Legge.

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West Seattle Art Walk: Another bright night @ Twilight

March 11, 2010 10:27 pm

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| West Seattle Art Walk | West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

Only got the chance to drop by one West Seattle Art Walk venue tonight, in part because we were driving around for quite a while trying to sort out the low-bridge woes (all over now). But The Junction’s own Twilight Artist Collective is always a sure bet on the big night (not to mention other times) – in our photo, artists Michelle Anderst and Chris Sheridan, two of the 10 artists whose work is in Twilight’s new show “10 and Change,” curated by Kate Protage (read more about it here). You can see the show at Twilight (Easy Street Records‘ western neighbor) through April 5th; next West Seattle Art Walk will be April 8.

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Update: ‘Low bridge’ fixed, reopened

March 11, 2010 5:51 pm

| 16 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news

9:02 PM UPDATE: SDOT says the bridge is fixed and reopened. Earlier coverage below:

ORIGINAL 5:51 PM REPORT: No official reports on this so far but we’ve received multiple reports over the past 20 minutes of possible trouble with the “low bridge” – traffic not moving. 6:12 PM UPDATE: Via comments and Facebook, we’re hearing that there’s definitely a malfunction and the low bridge may not be back in working order for at least an hour. We’re on our way to see what we can find out at the scene. 6:17 PM: We’re at the west end of the low bridge and can confirm that it’s blocked off – a police car is parked across the eastbound lanes, lights flashing. 6:37 PM: At the west end – which is blocked off at East Marginal Way – an officer confirmed it’s a bridge malfunction, and that they’re not sure how long it’ll be closed: “They told us an hour, but that was an hour ago.” 7:27 PM: We have an official “traffic advisory” from SDOT now, but it doesn’t say how much longer the closure will continue (we have a followup question out):

The Lower Spokane Street Swing Bridge is currently stuck in the closed position, with its gates down, due to a bridge malfunction. Due to this positioning, the bridge is not available to vehicle/bicycle/pedestrian traffic and cannot allow marine vessels to pass.

Seattle Department of Transportation electricians and bridge crews are en route to the structure to assess the bridge’s malfunction and, if possible, raise the gates to facilitate vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic. Seattle Police Department officers are already on scene diverting traffic to alternate routes. King County Metro Transit has been notified to re-route busses and the Coast Guard has been notified to alert marine vessels.

7:55 PM UPDATE: SDOT spokesperson Rick Sheridan tells WSB they just don’t know how long it’ll take to fix. But there is one update:

We have manually opened the pedestrian and bike gates, so pedestrians and bicyclists can now cross the bridge. We will not be able to raise the gates for vehicles as the center lock is not currently in place. (It was withdrawn in preparing the bridge to open and the malfunction occurred shortly after that.)

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West Seattle Chamber of Commerce award winners announced: Nancy Woodland, Colin Slingsby, and WSB (which means you)

March 11, 2010 4:21 pm

| 25 COMMENTS

| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

On April 7, bright and early in the morning, the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce will gather to honor this year’s award winners. They’ve just been announced: Nancy Woodland of WestSide Baby is the Community Hero of the Year, Chief Sealth High School boys’ basketball coach Colin Slingsby is Westsider of the Year … and we are extremely honored and humbled to say that WSB has been chosen as Business of the Year … which means it’s an award YOU share in, no matter how you’ve contributed – even “just” reading is contributing. Here’s the official news release just sent around by the WS C of C:

The West Seattle Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the winners for Business of the Year, Community Hero and Westsider of the Year awards.

Each year, the Chamber recognizes one business which best exemplifies West Seattle’s high standards of excellence. Five finalists rose to the top, and the award for the 2009 West Seattle Business of the Year goes to the West Seattle Blog. Runners up included the West Seattle Farmers Market, Visiting Angels, Ventana Construction, and Alki Kayak Tours. The West Seattle Blog receives this honor for their commitment to covering West Seattle news in an innovative way, 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. The West Seattle Blog connects our community and is recognized as an industry leader in both journalism and blogging. They’ll keep good company with past winners Elliott Bay Brewery & Pub (2008), Tom’s Automotive Service (2007), and Avalon Glassworks (2006).

The Community Hero Award has been presented to an individual who has continually contributed selflessly to West Seattle. Past recipients have included Jerry Robinson (2008), Warren Lawless (2007), and Earl Cruzen (2006). Joining these heroes will be another great contributor: Nancy Woodland, executive director for WestSide Baby, the 2009 recipient. Runners up for the Community Hero award who also continue to give their time and energy, included Tracy Record and Patrick Sand of the West Seattle Blog, Michael Hoffman of Liberty Bell Printing, Amy Lee Derenthal of The Kenney, Karen Sisson of the Senior Center of West Seattle, and Steve Shay of the West Seattle Herald.

The Westsider of the Year is a new award designed to honor fresh faces who are improving West Seattle. Congratulations to Coach Colin Slingsby of Chief Sealth High School. This boys’ basketball coach has led by example, shows success comes from hard work, and has quantifiably improved the programs with which he is involved. Runners-up for the Westsider of the Year included Patrick Sand and Tracy Record of the West Seattle Blog and Greg Whittaker of Alki Kayak Tours.

The community is invited to celebrate these winners and network withlocal businesspeople at the Chamber’s Annual Awards Breakfast to be held April 7, 2010 at Salty’s on Alki. Awards will be presented by Senator Joe McDermott, with a special thanks to Nucor Steel for once again sponsoring the event. For tickets to the Awards Breakfast, contact the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, 206-932-5685, or http://www.wschamber.com.

Congratulations to all the nominees from the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce.

And we too congratulate the nominees and winners.

Personal aside: Both of us are children of people who tried their hand at entrepreneurialism and realized it just wasn’t working out; we have been together 25 years and remember saying at times over those years “We’ll never start a business – we just couldn’t do it.” But then … we found ourselves doing it after all … and besides being hard work, it is pure joy, with your support and collaboration, and we are deeply honored that WSB would be recognized in this way. Thank you again – Tracy and Patrick

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West Seattle (and beyond) traffic alerts: What’s ahead

March 11, 2010 2:41 pm

| 3 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

Just got the new edition of the most thorough traffic-alert bulletin around, the “Seattle-Area Construction Look Ahead” from SDOT. You can see the whole thing here – including SODO, Spokane Street Viaduct and West Seattle alerts. You’ll note that there’s a lane closure on the SSV coming up all weekend this weekend, plus lane closures in West Seattle in the next week for DMS (Digital Messaging Signs) work on Admiral, 35th and Fauntleroy. (The roundup also includes a reminder of the next Alaskan Way Viaduct weekend closures – 6 am-6 pm each day 3/27-3/28.)

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Latest car/home break-in alerts

March 11, 2010 2:22 pm

| 8 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

We have Crime Watch information to share from three neighborhoods this afternoon – both car and home break-ins, including one in which the loot included snacks – read on for the details:Read More

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From the Land Use Bulletin: 2 patio projects, and a permit

March 11, 2010 12:40 pm

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| Development | West Seattle news | WS beverages

Three items of West Seattle interest in today’s Land Use Information Bulletin from the city: First, the permit for a “sidewalk café” at Prost has been approved – we mentioned the application last month; here’s the notice that it’s been approved. Meantime, the future wine/beer bar Locöl (35th/Kenyon) has applied for permission to have an outdoor patio; we profiled Locöl and its proprietors here in January. And outside the beverage world, the land-use permit for Transitional Resources‘ new residential building on SW Avalon has been approved; that opens an appeal period, and anyone interested in how to do that can follow the links on the official notice.

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South Park Bridge, night 2: “Tell us what to do”

March 11, 2010 10:41 am

| 17 COMMENTS

| South Park | Transportation | West Seattle news

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

One thing is clear, after two nights of standing-room-only meetings about the South Park Bridge‘s scheduled June 30 closure – if the residents and businesspeople of South Park could build the unfunded replacement bridge themselves, they would.

The second meeting, organized by South Park Action Agenda at the SP Community Center last night, ended with an attendee pleading with County Councilmember Jan Drago, “Tell us what to do.”

Drago was one of three elected officials in attendance last night – triple that turnout from the night before, at the official county-publicized briefing during the South Park Neighborhood Association‘s regular monthly meeting (WSB coverage here).

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34th District Democrats: O’Brien on South Park Bridge, and more

March 11, 2010 8:24 am

| 3 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

Hours after City Council colleague Tim Burgess dropped in on the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, new Councilmember Mike O’Brien spoke last night with the 34th District Democrats at their monthly meeting in Fauntleroy. His opening remarks focused on the 520 bridge battle and city energy audits, but a few sparks flew during questions from the floor, about the South Park Bridge and its scheduled June shutdown. O’Brien said he was “given false credit” for defeating the 2007 ballot measure that included $110 million to replace the bridge; he was the local Sierra Club president at the time, and while he said he’s always supported the SP bridge, the overall package was opposed because “the conversation has to be about preserving and maintaining infrastructure, and not expanding.” (More on the South Park Bridge coming up later this morning, in our story about another SP meeting last night.) O’Brien also was asked about White Center annexation – since Mayor McGinn has asked the council to consider a November ballot measure in northern North Highline; he said he’d met with local supporters of Seattle annexation and will meet with opponents too, but right now he’s in favor of going ahead and asking local residents to make their choice by voting; he also acknowledged the council must consider the costs involved (right now, a financial analysis is in the works).

Also last night, the 34th DDs heard from the second Democrat to join the race for State House, Position 2, Sabra Schneider (photo at left is by Dina Johnson); her campaign announcement was published here last month … There was a panel discussion with four speakers discussing job creation – not just in the region, but specifically, in this district, with suggestions including making sure that major local projects employ West Seattle workers. The overview consensus was that job growth will be slow in the short term; “green jobs” are a growth industry, and public policy requiring more energy-efficient buildings will help create jobs. … This Sunday’s 34th Legislative District Democratic Caucus (announcement here) will also feature a food drive, those in attendance were reminded, so bring nonperishable food if you’re going to the caucus at Mount View Elementary in White Center (signups start at 12:15).

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Today/tonight: West Seattle Art Walk, Fenton Glen, sports …

March 11, 2010 7:48 am

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| West Seattle Art Walk | West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

WEST SEATTLE ART WALK, 6-9 TONIGHT: Among tonight’s dozens of options: Wallflower Custom Framing and Shooting Gallery (WSB sponsor) in The Junction features “Three Faces” by Jennifer Mercede (one of her paintings is at right), Elena Cronin, and Betsy LeVine. Kelly Rae Cunningham from Wallflower explains, “Elena, Jennifer and Betsy are three friends from Portland, Oregon, all in different stages of their art careers. Their styles vary, their colors vary, and their subjects vary. For this show, the three talented artists decide to focus on the figure.. in any way shape or form they feel inspired.” … Twilight Artist Collective has a reception for its new show 10 and Change (here’s last week’s announcement) … Tom Norton, West Seattle artist/musician/composer, paints and performs music live at The Bohemian 7-10 pm … At Shadowland, the Katie Voss Quintet plays at 8 tonight … More Art Walk previews at the official site, wsartwalk.com; get the walking map here.

SUNLIGHT, NIGHT TWO: In The Junction, you can catch the first hour and a half of the Art Walk and then move into the theater at ArtsWest (WSB sponsor) for “Sunlight,” which has the second performance of its four-week run tonight at 7:30.

FIRST LOOK AT FENTON GLEN: Tonight’s meeting of the Fauntleroy Watershed Council is scheduled to include a first look at restoration plans for Fenton Glen, next to Fauntleroy Park. Area residents interested in shaping the future of the park, Fauntleroy Creek, and/or Fauntleroy Cove are encouraged to attend. Agenda and past minutes at www.fauntleroy.net; the meeting’s at 7 pm, Fauntleroy Schoolhouse.

SPORTS NOTES: Chief Sealth High School‘s sports banquet is tonight, 6 pm … Basketball tryouts continue tonight for area 4th-8th graders at White Center’s Salvation Army Community Center (details here) … Baseball, T-ball and basketball signups start today at West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) – more here.

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