Each night in April, we’re marking Disaster Preparedness Month with info on one more step you can take to increase your chances of getting yourself and your family through the unthinkable – just in case. Tonight, it’s actually 3 steps, but we’ve mentioned two of them already: It’s the City of Seattle’s “3 to Get Ready” Preparedness Challenge, during which the city Office of Emergency Management is sponsoring WSB and other media outlets to promote a campaign to take those 3 steps and get 3 people you know to do the same thing. Step 1 – Store emergency water. Step 2 (we highlighted this Saturday night) – Set up an out-of-area phone contact. Step 3 (mentioned here Sunday night) – “Drop, cover, hold” in case of earthquake. Got all those? Follow the link on this city page to sign up for a special prize package between now and May 7. We’ll mention it again as the month rolls on – and you can find it again by looking for the “3 to Get Ready” ad in the WSB sidebar. ALSO: For WSB, we’d love to share preparedness pix, to inspire others – For starters, once you have your water stored, send us a pic of yourself/your family/any or all of the above with the big container(s)! (Here’s how to get us that pic.) Final note – our nightly reminders: Know your Hub; and join The Group!
As an all-star group of community activists and businesspeople gathered for the first in a new series of meetings to map a vision for The Triangle – the mostly industrial/commercial area east of The Junction, bounded by 35th/Fauntleroy/Alaska – what wasn’t discussed loomed almost as large as what was.
The two-hour-long meeting was about three-fourths through when Harbor Properties‘ Denny Onslow angled into the issue: “The parking issue is the 500-pound gorilla in the room. We can’t ignore it, or say we’ll address it later.”
Harbor has one of the biggest stakes in The Triangle right now, with what is currently the biggest in-progress construction project in West Seattle, Link, which will supply about 200 of the potential 2,000 new residential units the area might eventually hold, and will not solve “the parking issue,” as it is designed with fewer than 1 space for each of those units.
But the Triangle already has its parking-challenged moments, even before new residents start moving in.
The West Seattle Hi-Yu Summer Festival is moving toward its busy season – and Hi-Yu’s Deena Mahn has some news to share tonight: First, it’s our first look at the recently chosen 2010 button design – which Deena and daughter Zoe Mahn designed. The buttons will be sold for $1 as usual, all summer long, and Deena adds, “Many thanks to Steve Fischer for digitalizing our drawing!” The “Dreams Do Come True” theme for 2010 was chosen four months ago (WSB coverage here); the float with that theme is now being turned from dream to reality, Deena reports: “The float building is under way, and many volunteers led by Tim Spencer are feverishly trying to finish for our first parade appearance in Sequim on May 8th.” Meantime, she also has a long list of thank-yous for the recent Hi-Yu Spring Tea and Auction – read on to see the list:Read More
ORIGINAL 3:28 PM REPORT: From the scanner, and we’re on our way to find out more in person: There’s a report of a bank robbery in The Junction – the address checks to KeyBank at California/Alaska. 3:35 PM UPDATE: The description police are giving out so far: 35-year-old woman, white, about 5-4, slim, shoulder-length black hair, black glasses, black knit cap, black wool jacket, black scarf with red flowers and green leaves, put the money in a “B of A bag,” headed west on Alaska. At the scene, we’re seeing a “temporarily closed” sign on the bank door, with investigators inside.
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli, added 4:47 pm) 3:50 PM UPDATE: We’ve talked to police on the scene; no new description info but we did find out that the robber claimed to have a weapon, though none was actually seen. We’ll also be checking with the FBI to see if they’ll distribute a surveillance photo, as they often do after holdups. (Our archives show at least two holdups at this bank last year – April and August.) 5:03 PM NOTE: Got a question about a damaged police car “near the entrance to (The Bridge)” – according to the scanner watch at CentralDistrictNews.com, an officer crashed while rushing to help with the robbery response here. 8:38 PM: Casey sent a photo snapped while driving by that car:
Meantime, no new info in the search for the bank robber.
Thanks to Jim Sander from the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council and Mike Dady from the North Delridge Neighborhood Council for the word that 23rd SW reopened today, as promised, after six weeks of work adding utility connections to new homes up the hill from Delridge. (We took the photo at left a short time ago.) Jim reported in e-mail to PPNC members that the much-discussed no-parking signs along 21st SW were being picked up, too. Mike, on behalf of the NDNC Transportation Committee, wants to remind drivers that this means the end of other temporary traffic changes: In particular, it means the return of the temporarily covered “No Left Turn” and “No Right Turn” signs at the corner of 22nd and 23rd Avenues SW, which he says were hard-won after a years-long campaign – those turns are again illegal. And Metro Route 125 is supposed to be back on its regular route this afternoon, according to spokesperson Linda Thielke.
Got chickens, or thinking about them? One of our newest WSB sponsors can help you feed them. We welcome Scratch and Peck, a regional chicken-feed company (delivery or pickup), which like all new sponsors gets the chance to tell you about their business: “Many of us are trying to eat healthy foods grown close to home – that’s a big part of the reason we keep chickens in our yards. We are a local, chicken-owning family business dedicated to providing the cleanest, most wholesome animal feeds possible without the use of soy. We use only organic or non-gmo grains, most of which are grown in the Pacific NW. We currently specialize in chicken feed and are also working on creating feeds for other urban farm animals (goats, rabbits). We are in the process of building a feed mill to produce a line of organic feeds made with Washington-grown grains. Our customers seek us out because they want organic chicken feeds so the eggs and meat the chickens give are the cleanest, healthiest possible for human consumption. Most comments center around the idea that the chickens absolutely love the feed and their people love the look and feel of it. The grains are ground or whole and look similar to granola. Many folks say that it looks good enough for them to eat it themselves! My customers return again and again because their chickens thrive on the feed and they feel confident that they are providing the best feed available. My customers are very appreciative of our delivery services. We enjoy it as well because it enables us to visit with our customers and to meet their special chickens up close and personal. Their lives are enhanced because we are helping them in their goal to live as local and organically as possible.” Scratch and Peck is affiliated with the Seattle Urban Farm Co-op, Puget Sound Food Network, American Pastured Poultry Producers Association, and Sustainable Connections. You’ll find them online at scratchandpeck.com – phone and e-mail information is here.
We thank Scratch and Peck for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB; find our sponsor team, and info on joining, all here.
The race for State House Position 2 is now down to four candidates – Sabra Schneider just announced she’s dropping out because of an injury that will keep her from campaigning strenuously. Read on for her statement:Read More
WEST SEATTLE RUNNER SETS START DATE: When we last updated you on the much-awaited specialty-running store coming to Charlestown Center (NW corner of California/Charlestown), Lori and Tim McConnell were hoping for an April 10th opening date – and looks like they’ll make it happen, per their official announcement last night via Facebook. 10 am-7 pm Saturday, with chair massages plus a running coach and physical therapist on-site all day.
SHADOWLAND “SIDEWALK CAFE”: The latest West Seattle establishment to apply for a sidewalk-cafe permit is Shadowland; the notice (see it here) was part of the twice-weekly Land Use Information Bulletin just e-mailed by the city. According to the notice, you can comment on the application until April 19th.
One more note:
“REFRESHING”: Washington Federal Savings is “refreshing our brand,” explained Gypsie Gitane in sharing that photo recently, not long after we spotted the Morgan Junction branch’s new signage being hoisted into place one late-March morning. She adds, “Still one of the best capitalized banks in the nation.”
7:23 AM: Just back from Seacrest, where the King County Water Taxi‘s first West Seattle-to-downtown run of 2010 left right on time about half an hour ago. We’ll add video of the sailaway shortly; above, our iPhone photo of the first two passengers at the portable-farebox stop (or, if you’re using ORCA, the portable reader). Lots of info in our preview from last night.ADDED 7:52 AM: Here’s the sailaway, which took 2 minutes as the Rachel Marie backed away and pivoted to point toward downtown.
Fairly quiet, you might notice – when we were at a Ballard shipyard for our sneak peek at the RM as it underwent renovations, we were told that would be one noticeable difference. Right before boarding began, by the way, we caught inaugural captain Neil and crew member Ben on camera:
As for whether the Water Taxi really will run year-round from here on out – we checked last week with King County Executive (and longtime Water Taxi advocate) Dow Constantine‘s transportation specialist Chris Arkills, who says the funding question has yet to be worked out, but that Constantine “remains committed to it.” P.S. Remember that the season-opening party for the Water Taxi (which returns as a WSB sponsor as of later today) is this Sunday, noon-2 pm at Seacrest, with free rides all day.
As an all-star group of community activists and businesspeople gathered for the first in a new series of meetings to map a vision for The Triangle – the mostly industrial/commercial area east of The Junction, bounded by 35th/Fauntleroy/Alaska – what wasn’t discussed loomed almost as large as what was.
The 
Thanks to Jim Sander from the 
“Many of us are trying to eat healthy foods grown close to home – that’s a big part of the reason we keep chickens in our yards. We are a local, chicken-owning family business dedicated to providing the cleanest, most wholesome animal feeds possible without the use of soy. We use only organic or non-gmo grains, most of which are grown in the Pacific NW. 
WEST SEATTLE RUNNER SETS START DATE: When we 
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