That photo is courtesy of Erik Walum, husband of Admiral Neighborhood Association president Katy Walum, showing the big sign that’s up for the concert series starting one week from tonight – ANA’s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha (co-sponsored by WSB and more than 20 others – listed here). Every Thursday night at 6:30, bring your chairs/blankets to the east lawn of Hiawatha Community Center and get ready to enjoy free live music. The lineup’s here – kicking off next Thursday with The Starlings:
If you haven’t been to the concert site before – it’s just north of West Seattle High School, on the Walnut Avenue side (map).
In case you heard the sirens and wondered – we just checked out the scene of a house-fire call in High Point, at 34th/Juneau. Firefighters are mopping up after making quick work of a small but smoky fire inside a closet. Nobody was home at the time; nobody hurt.
“War Games” is the movie – ’80s trivia is the preshow activity – and the courtyard next to Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) is the place to be this Saturday night for the 2nd of this summer’s six West Seattle Outdoor Movies. Not only is Skylark Café and Club (WSB sponsor) co-sponsoring the evening, but Skylark proprietor Jessie SK is hosting a mini-round of ’80s trivia, and we’re supplying the prizes (WSB is another of the night’s co-sponsors, as are Nicholson Kovalchick Architects and Pagliacci Pizza, which we’re told will have some of its fabled pies on hand too). Come early – last week the courtyard was jammed long before the movie began at dusk (check the photo in this report!) – and bring money for the raffle – last week’s raffle raised more than $250 for WestSide Baby. (The full season lineup is on the official West Seattle Outdoor Movies website.)
As is usual this time of year and this time of the week, SDOT has gone public with its list of big events around the city. Included in this roundup, the American Legion Post 160-presented West Seattle Grand Parade, happening Saturday morning at 11 (check our coverage archive for all the newest previews, and past years’ coverage). Click ahead to see what else is happening where and when:Read More
As much as Seattle Police stress calling them when there’s trouble – either 911 for something urgent, or 206-625-5011 if it’s not – some say the latter number didn’t get them the response they expected. The team at the Southwest Precinct offers some advice: When you call the non-emergency number, to get a dispatcher, press option 2, and then option 8, and that’ll get you to a live person. Again – that’s for when whatever you are reporting is NOT happening now. So what about calling the precinct? Don’t call to file a report or ask that an officer be dispatched – SPD cannot dispatch “from a precinct level,” she explains – but if you need “general information,” as she puts it, 206-733-9800 is the main precinct number. Also: “Sometimes folks want to contact an officer, add follow-up information, just ask a question about something. We’re happy to answer the phones when there is a clerk available.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: We’re one of many small local-news organizations that work with the student journalists of the UW News Lab. One assignment we offered this quarter: “Go tell the story of what the West Seattle-based Nature Consortium is up to in the West Duwamish Greenbelt.” The following video/photos/story comprise the result. P.S. You can see the greenbelt for yourself tomorrow afternoon, 1 pm, in the NC’s next free monthly eco-hike – RSVP to lisa@naturec.org)
Story, video and photos by Sara N. Reardon
University of Washington News Lab
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Early on a recent Thursday morning, a score of middle-school students, retirees, office workers and court-ordered volunteers gathered on an unobtrusive corner in residential eastern West Seattle. Armed with shovels, work gloves and plenty of bug spray, they ventured into the forest on a quest to annihilate the spiny blackberry bushes and other plant species that have invaded the West Duwamish Greenbelt and to replace them with native species.
“It’s been kind of fun, it’s a good opportunity,” said Sarah Hart (above left), a middle school student with the Summer of Service program, one of many organizations that are getting youth involved in environmental issues through participation in the Nature Consortium’s restoration project.
“The sheer number of people coming out to work has snowballed in the past couple of years,” said Nancy Whitlock, Nature Consortium executive director. “It’s amazing how many groups come knock on our door wanting to work for us.”
Six days a week, anywhere from one lonely participant to more than 400 volunteers (last Earth Day) are out pulling out invasive plant species, picking up trash and planting native plants to repopulate the area. “Sometimes it’s like wrangling kittens,” said restoration director Mark “Buphalo” Tomkiewicz.
(King County rendering of future South Park Bridge)
First – the Puget Sound Regional Council has just finalized its $15 million South Park Bridge replacement-funding pledge, bringing total commitments to $98 million of the needed $130 million, according to an announcement just sent by the county. (The recommended pledge was first reported two weeks ago.) Second – at last night’s Delridge District Council meeting at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, City Council President Richard Conlin was asked by Pigeon Point’s Pete Spalding how the city will rustle up the $15 million it recently pledged to the bridge-replacement project. Conlin replied that options included adding the money to what the city borrows, delaying some Bridging the Gap programs, or perhaps a car-tab fee of up to $20. ADDED 3:46 PM: In coverage of the PSRC vote, our partners at the Seattle Times also report that demolition of the now-out-of-service bridge’s drawspans is set to start next month.
(WSB photo from 2007 Alki Art Fair)
We’re on the brink of another big summer weekend. And this afternoon, we have new details about one of the marquee events – the Alki Art Fair at the beach Saturday and Sunday – courtesy of its director, Giovannina Souers, who shared the full music lineup too! The annual fair raises money for scholarships to students of all ages for art classes offered through the Alki Community Center and Alki Bathhouse. More than 70 artists will be selling their work: “We have a wide mix of artists: pottery, paintings, photography, metal work, fused glass, jewelry, and many crafts like hand made clothing, candles, soap and much more. Many are local West Seattle artists,” says Giovannina, mentioning a few: Mary Hollister, who sells her fused-glass mobiles all over the state, and Ester Chinn, “who took her first pottery lessons at the Alki Bathhouse (and) now owns her own studio and sells every year at the fair, find her in booth #50.” Giovannina adds, “Surrounding the Statue of Liberty will be a group of artists from the Seattle League of Arts and all the way at the end of the fair you will find some of our newer artists this year including Andy Hill a metal worker who makes amazing pieces for indoors or outdoors.” For kids, a special arts/crafts booth and bouncy toy are planned; food vendors will include barbecue, hot dogs, kettle corn, shave ice, cotton candy; and 14 bands will play live music – click ahead for the lineup and a little more Alki Art Fair info:Read More
Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes today about tagging/graffiti vandalism. First, just in from a resident southwest of The Junction who wants to be anonymous, this report and photo:
Reporting multiple graffiti tags around our house at the corner of Erskine SW and SW Hudson. Garage door and “Do Not Enter” sign (west side of Erskine/Hudson intersection at one-way of SW Hudson) was marked with [five letters starting with Z, ending with R]. The tag was done with a black graffiti paint marker sometime between July 20-21, 2010. Good news is the graffiti is removed and our immediate neighbors are on the lookout. Hope this helps!
Our general rule (there’s bound to be an exception now and then, such as a request by police) is that we don’t show tags/graffiti vandalism without blurring, nor publish the full tag. Police do ask that you photograph tags before you paint them over, and there may soon be a new way to get those photos to investigators more quickly and easily: Southwest Precinct Lt. Norm James told the Delridge District Council last night that SPD is working on yet another new online reporting feature (following the launch of the reporting system mentioned here yesterday) – they’re looking at a feature that would allow citizens to upload photos. That would enable use of a new software package that detects similarities between tags/graffiti photos, so police can gather even more information to use against anyone they arrest. (Right now, though, even the new online system tells you that you must call to report this type of vandalism: 206-625-5011.)
Just two days till the American Legion Post 160-presented West Seattle Grand Parade rolls, marches, dances and glides down California SW from the Admiral District to The Junction. In the video above, we ask this year’s Grand Marshals, radio-turned-webcast personalitiesMarty Riemer and Jodi Brothers (both West Seattleites), to demonstrate the “parade wave” – and of course, the discussion veers off course. (Hopefully their parade-day convertible won’t.) More than 75 entries are set for the annual tradition, starting at 11 am – just pick a spot along the route, from the north edge of Hiawatha southward:
The purple-blue marker along the route is SW Genesee, starting point for the Rotary Club of West Seattle-presented Kiddie Parade, which all kids are invited to enter – signups start at 10 am Saturday, and the parade proceeds through The Junction right at 11, ahead of the rest of the parade (so there’s time to get back to your seat and watch everybody else!). Still more parade “sneak peeks” ahead between now and Saturday morning.
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar for today/tonight: GreenStage‘s Shakespeare in the Park makes its 2010 West Seattle debut tonight with “As You Like It,” 7 pm at Lincoln Park (follow the signs from the north parking lot) … If you prefer indoor theater, this is the second night for “Side Show” at ArtsWest, 7:30 pm … South Delridge/White Center Community Safety Coalition discusses crime and other safety-related concerns at 6 pm at the White Center DSHS office (9650 15th SW) … And you’re invited to help out with the food garden at St. James Annex (9421 18th SW) with Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle‘s next round of “drop-in gardening,” 6:30 pm. … More of today/tonight’s events here.
With the latest commute challenges this week, planned and unplanned, we noticed more people than usual were consulting the WSB Traffic page. Then we noticed some broken links, and some newer cameras that needed to be added. So we’ve added those cameras, fixed the links, and enhanced the infolinks atop the page. Check it out and let us know if there’s something else that might help.
Reporting multiple graffiti tags around our house at the corner of Erskine SW and SW Hudson. Garage door and “Do Not Enter” sign (west side of Erskine/Hudson intersection at one-way of SW Hudson) was marked with [five letters starting with Z, ending with R]. The tag was done with a black graffiti paint marker sometime between July 20-21, 2010. Good news is the graffiti is removed and our immediate neighbors are on the lookout. Hope this helps!
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