West Seattle, Washington
13 Tuesday
As first reported here in our coverage of last month’s Highland Park Action Committee meeting, HP residents were particularly concerned about fireworks damage to the HP Elementary campus, and hoping to dissuade people from showing up to blow things up there. Illegal fireworks proliferated anyway, according to HP resident Deanie, who provided the brief video clip above – with the sights of illegal fireworks and the sound of what she describes as “an M-80 blowing up in a trash can” – and multiple explosions of that type “under the school building.” Meantime, so far, at least, no major problems (fires etc.) reported anywhere in West Seattle (here’s the archived 911 log from Sunday night, and here’s the in-progress Monday log) – though we’re not quite sure how to take this note from one local couple:
As WS residents and spectators to tonight’s local fireworks, I’d like to thank those responsible for the great fireworks over the west part of Alki and the North part of beach drive. We enjoyed the shows – BRAVO ! It made it another “Glorious Independence Day.” Could we make it an official thing ? We’ll be happy to kick in a few bucks.
ADDED 11:07 AM: Followup photos from Deanie. First, some of the trash/debris from the illegal fireworks in Highland Park. Second – Ellis Tingstad, cleanup hero, whom she says has been out sweeping up after the field-trashers:
We’ve never covered the Burien 4th of July Parade before, but we heard about enough West Seattle participation that we headed down for a few photos. Before we get to the West Seattleites – we had to start this off with the guest appearance by Santa Claus. Who could be more appropriate on a rainy, chilly holiday, summer or not? Now, on with the West Seattleites. First, the much-acclaimed West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival float and its entourage:
Then, the political participants – First, the 34th District Democrats (whose turf includes Burien, though the main monthly meetings are usually in WS):
Now, the candidates – in our candid shot from the staging area, that’s State Sen. Joe McDermott (who’s running for County Council) at left, a West Seattleite as is Marcee Stone (running for State House Pos. 2) next to him, and at right, Rep. Sharon Nelson (from Maury Island), who’s running unopposed for the Senate seat McDermott is leaving:
Also from the State House Position 2 race – West Seattleite Mike Heavey:
And Burien resident Joe Fitzgibbon:
We didn’t see the 4th candidate in the race, West Seattle entrepreneur Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy, there (if we missed him – our apologies!). We did see one of McDermott’s three County Council opponents, West Seattleite Diana Toledo — we had a photo of her marching, but her campaign just sent this one with Seafair Pirates right after the parade:
Toledo marched in the Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade earlier in the day. If we missed any of the other County Council candidates, Shawn McEvoy or Tim Fahey, again, forgive us. (P.S. With the August 17th election nearing, we start in-depth coverage Tuesday – we’ve sat down recently to talk with each of the four candidates in the House race, for starters, and you’ll see a story a day, Tuesday through Friday.) One more parade participant of West Seattle note:
That’s a RapidRide bus – of the variety we’ll supposedly see here in about two years. In case you want a better look, we’re checking to see if it’ll be part of the big West Seattle American Legion Post 160 Grand Parade on July 24th. ADDED MONDAY MORNING: Thanks to Mark for sharing this photo of another West Seattleite in the parade:
Mark photographed West Seattleite Bruce Hart in wife Stacie’s new MINI Cooper, adding, “Bruce and Stacie are part of the Puget Sound MINI Motoring Club, which participated in the parade for the fourth straight year. The club annually escorts Burien Rotary Club dignitaries. Bruce also has a MINI, which was in the parade and being driven by a relative.”
Thanks to Joseph for the photo – he says the newlyweds are Heather and Josh, coming off the King County Water Taxi at Seacrest Pier, after getting married on its 3:30 run today. Congratulations! ADDED MONDAY AFTERNOON: We’ve heard from the newlyweds themselves in the comments, and they provided the link to video of the wedding itself:
(Our first report on this morning’s Admiral parade, with photos, can be seen here)
This year’s Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade was bigger than last year. How do we know? We usually roll video on the entirety of the parade – this year, it was so long, we had to break it into two clips! The first seven-plus minutes – starting with Seattle Fire Department Engine 29 coming around the corner (we staked out the second block of the parade) – is above; the ensuing six-plus minutes are next:
Before the parade, a few words from West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival junior royalty (Princesses Isabella and Kaitlin and Queen Kailin Jo), followed by King County Executive Dow Constantine (with parade organizer Sherri Chun emceeing):
The ceremonial whistle officially started the parade:
One more thing – our Flickr slideshow:
All West Seattle kids are also invited to be in a parade that’s just a few weeks away – the Rotary Club of West Seattle Kiddies’ Parade, which precedes the West Seattle American Legion Post 160 Grand Parade – the Kiddies’ Parade sign-in is at 10 am, and the parading begins at 11, on Saturday, July 24 – more info on the Rotary website (scroll down).
That’s our view from the third floor of the apartment building across from the Alki Homestead, as the official ‘This Place Matters’ photo was taken as part of a rally organized by preservation groups including the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, whose headquarters are in what was the Homestead (originally Fir Lodge)’s old carriage house. By our rough count, around 200 people had gathered by the time the photo was taken. (6:10 pm update: We used our photo-from-above to count: 162.) The photo was preceded by short speeches from those groups’ reps as well as King County Executive Dow Constantine, State Sen. Joe McDermott, County Councilmember Jan Drago, and former mayor Greg Nickels. This came one day after Homestead owner Tom Lin (whom we did not see at the event) announced he’s putting the Homestead up for sale (WSB coverage here), starting with a one-month offer for $2 million to preservation groups. We talked to reps of two – SWSHS executive director Andrea Mercado told WSB they have no official comment yet on the offer; Washington Trust for Historic Preservation field director Chris Moore (a West Seattleite) says his group “unfortunately” doesn’t buy buildings. ADDED 5:53 PM: Video of the politicians’ speeches. SWSHS’s Clay Eals said they’d been asked to speak for 30 seconds each (here’s Eals with a historic Homestead photo during a pre-rally talk at the Historical Society’s annual picnic):
By our count, most of the rally speeches ran closer to a minute-thirty, still relatively brief. Here’s former mayor Greg Nickels:
King County Executive Dow Constantine, more formally dressed than he was in his appearance at the Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade three hours earlier, alluded to that as he began:
Next, State Sen. Joe McDermott – a West Seattleite like Nickels and Constantine, and also a candidate for the County Council seat vacated last year by the now-executive:
Finally, the former city councilmember who currently holds the County Council position for which McDermott is running (though she’s not seeking to keep it), Jan Drago, who – Eals pointed out – sponsored the council resolution that made the Homestead a landmark:
Regarding the crowd count, always a thorny issue in any story in which turnout might matter (ever seen those protest stories where police say 2,000 and organizers say 10,000?), our estimate was a rough count, looking at the photo we took with the view from above. Just because we love precision when it’s possible, we’re working right now to blow it up and print it out so we can do an exact count. We can tell you unequivocally that the “nearly 100” in the lead line of KING’s story is too low. 6:09 PM: Finished the photo count: 162. Have adjusted the headline. MONDAY MORNING: As noted in comments: The “official photo” is now online. You can click on it, then click again, for a very high resolution version. We are told Historic Seattle counted 199 in the mega-high-resolution version, to which we didn’t have access yesterday. So we are going to revise our headline to “more than 150” and leave it there, for WSB purposes … no time to print and count yet again … this isn’t an election; we’ll leave the counting from hereon out to the folks who are directly involved.
(Admiral Neighborhood Association concession/T-shirt stand at Hamilton Viewpoint)
Now that the Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade is over, we’re at Hamilton Viewpoint Park, where there’s lots of time to get here for family games – they’re starting with wheelbarrow races – even if you missed the parade.
This year’s parade was bigger than ever – our unofficial gauge is how long it takes to videotape the entire parade going by, start to finish – almost 14 minutes (we’ll have that video up later) – compared to 11 minutes last year. As promised, County Executive Dow Constantine kicked off the parade at 44th and Sunset (along with West Seattle Hi-Yu junior royalty, and parade organizer Sherri Chun).
But, as the executive acknowledged, there was a surprise visitor – the man who’s kicked it off in recent years – his fellow Admiral resident, former mayor Greg Nickels, there with wife Sharon Nickels and their trusty dog Edgar.
The roads should be open again, in case you are wondering.
12:20 PM: Added a few more photos in the story – including this example of mega-festive patriotic parade decoration:
Our video clips will be in a separate story.
(Photo by Robin Lindsey)
Before you head for a beach this 4th of July – and beyond – a reminder from West Seattle-based Seal Sitters: If you see a pup, keep your distance. Seal Sitters’ Robin Lindsey says pupping season has begun in Puget Sound, and though we’re not likely to see the babies on our shores till later this summer, it’s never too soon for the reminder. If you get too close, the pup’s mom may not come back for it. Robin explains in this update on the Seal Sitters’ site.
(July 4, 2009, photo courtesy Gilbert: Lake Union fireworks, seen from West Seattle)
Big events in West Seattle today: Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade at 10 am (44th/Sunset), Southwest Seattle Historical Society membership picnic at noon (Log House Museum), Alki Homestead “This Place Matters” rally/group photo at 1:30 pm (on 61st SW between Alki and SW Stevens). Aside from the early-afternoon street closure for that event, police are NOT planning any traffic revisions/restrictions. You’ll find many other holiday notes – including which fireworks displays are visible from West Seattle, who’s having special sales today (and yes, the West Seattle Farmers’ Market IS open as usual), and transportation-schedule notes – on the WSB 4th of July page.
(2009 WSB photo from Night Out party in Fauntleroy)
Signed up for a “Night Out” crime-preventing/neighborhood-strengthening party on your block yet? This year’s event is coming up August 3rd. And Seattle Police have changed a few things this time around, as noted here. For one – there’s a quicker way to sign up online – you can do it right here, right now. For two – they’ve set up a Seattle Night Out Facebook page (you can “like” it here). If your neighborhood does decide to have a Night Out block party, and you wouldn’t mind us stopping by for a photo, please let us know – SPD generally doesn’t share lists/maps of registered parties, so we’ve made this request to you the past two years, and have met some great folks as a result.
(photo added 9:04 pm, see explanation below)
ORIGINAL 8:35 PM REPORT: Just mentioning this because so many have e-mailed and texted about it. We also saw the apparent smoke that, according to the 911 log, came from the Ash Grove Cement facility on East Marginal Way (map). It was originally a “fire in building” call; however, the call was already “closed” less than half an hour after it started. So what was it? No info yet but we’ll try to find out. That may be tough – we just reached someone who answered “control room” at the plant, and as we started to identify ourselves as news media, they said “You’ll have to call back Tuesday morning” and hung up.
ADDED 9:04 PM: From Dan Berger, the photo above and this note:
Driving south on E. Marginal on my way back to W. Seattle @ 8:05 pm. I observed a large plume of ash pouring out of the top of a silo at the Ash Grove Cement plant. The plume completely obscured visibility down E. Marginal past the plant. Attached is a photo taken about 15 min. later, with the cloud subsiding. At this point there is now just a wispy haze south of the plant. No idea how much dust coated the neighborhood.
We have just driven past the plant on East Marginal – we could see, from a distance, at least one fire truck getting hosed off near the plant’s entrance road. There’s definitely some dust being kicked up as we drive along East Marginal, but not enough to show on a photo.
ADDED 11:33 PM: We’ve received video from Michelle, shot while what looked like smoke was pouring from one side of the plant. Focus on the left side of one of the silos in the center of the frame:
If no information emerges sooner, we will be checking back on Tuesday, as suggested.
Story and photos by Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
When asked by US Coast Guard Auxiliaryman Craig Smith whether I’d visited the lighthouse before, I sheepishly admitted that, in my 27 years in West Seattle (13 of them three blocks from the lighthouse), I had never taken the tour.
If you haven’t managed to get there either, I urge you to find a sunny weekend afternoon and do so – since it’s only open during the summer, and only on weekends. Not only will you learn a lot about the history of the lighthouse and its inner workings, you’ll have a lovely view from the top of the tower.
In case you haven’t checked it out yet, we wanted to point you once more to the WSB 4th of July page – info on what’s happening tomorrow, starting with the Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade (all welcome, starts at 10 am at 44th/Sunset), continuing on through a list of which fireworks displays are most visible from West Seattle. Traffic, transportation and shopping info too. Find it all here.
Friday afternoon, we updated the news about the sudden departure of Swinery founder Gabriel Claycamp, after Christopher Boffoli talked with him. Subsequently, Christopher interviewed the man who’d been Claycamp’s partner – James Dillon. For those following the Swinery saga, here’s what he has to say.
Story and photo by Christopher Boffoli
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
James Dillon, The Swinery‘s “angel investor,” says that, since its founder Gabriel Claycamp announced his departure, he has stepped in “to ensure the success of the Swinery’s mission of continuing to provide high-quality, sustainably sourced products to the community.”
Dillon says right off the top that, for customers, nothing about the business will change. The Swinery is NOT closing (as is reiterated in a message today on one of its websites). Claycamp has indeed left and he says he has complete confidence in the capabilities of the staff they have in place. Their product lines and hours will remain the same.
(Photos by Christopher Boffoli)
As proprietor Morgan Herzog (in the green shirt) promised, as of 11 am today, his brand-new Junction business The Beer Junction is open. The glassware in the foreground of the top photo is part of what he’s selling in addition to 640 different beers and more than 50 wines.
When we talked to Herzog for our story yesterday, he also mentioned other beverages including sake, mead, champagne and soda. Just back from the store (4707 42nd SW), Christopher Boffoli notes, “Customers may notice that they have blackout curtains up front and that the lights are out in all of the beer cases. The folks at The Beer Junction tell me that, much like the way beer bottles are usually a dark color of brown or green, the low light is to protect the quality of the beer.”
There’s more info about The Beer Junction’s hours in our Friday story. (Yes, they WILL be open tomorrow.)
Sun or no sun, the gardens are blooming – and you’ve got an abundant chance to see the best of the best, in a variety of specialties, coming up within the next few weeks. Here’s the rundown:
GREENLIFE AT WEST SEATTLE SUMMER FEST, NEXT FRIDAY-SATURDAY-SUNDAY: Lots of edible-gardening how-to’s will be part of this first-ever expo during West Seattle Summer Fest in The Junction next Friday through Sunday. It’s co-presented by West Seattle Nursery (which has more info here) and Sustainable West Seattle. You’ll find GreenLife in the lot at 44th/Edmunds (alongside the Chase drive-thru) all three days of Summer Fest, starting at noon Friday, 10 am Saturday-Sunday.
EDIBLE GARDEN TOUR NEXT SATURDAY – AND OPTIONAL ‘COOP TOUR’ ADD-ON: 11 am-4 pm Saturday (July 10th), more than a dozen gardens are showcased in this Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle-presented event. You can see them previewed here; tickets are on sale online here. (There’s also an add-on which will enable you to see the West Seattle stops on the Seattle Tilth Coop Tour the same day – more info here.)
WHITE CENTER JUBILEE DAYS GARDEN WALK, JULY 11: The day after that, as part of White Center Jubilee Days, it’s the return of the WC Garden Walk, noon-5 pm. Free maps will be available in the parking lot of McLendon Hardware, which is sponsoring the event. More info here.
WEST SEATTLE GARDEN TOUR, JULY 18: WSB is a proud co-sponsor of this year’s West Seattle Garden Tour, coming up two weeks from tomorrow, and it’s no cliché to say it’s bigger and 
better than ever. The gardens themselves (previewed here) are just part of what you get for the ticket price (with proceeds going to these five beneficiaries). At noon at the South Seattle Community College Arboretum (one of the stops), you’ll get to see/hear West Seattle’s own Willi Galloway, edible-gardening expert. And right afterward, 1-2:30 pm, tour ticketholders get to sample wine, cheese, chocolate, and pastries courtesy of the renowned SSCC culinary-arts program. Tickets are on sale online now (kids under 12, free) and “in person” at these six locations (including WSB sponsor Metropolitan Market).
With a rally/group photo planned tomorrow afternoon at the Alki Homestead, organized by local preservation groups including the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, owner Tom Lin says he’s offering those groups first crack at buying the fire-ravaged landmark, now that he’s decided to sell it, a few weeks after he told us he was considering that option. Here’s the text of his letter (from this PDF):
Alki Homestead/Fir Lodge is being offered for sale to Seattle’s concerned historical organizations such as:
Historic Seattle
4Culture
Southwest Seattle Historical Society
The Washington Trust for Historic PreservationSale Price – $2,000,000 An endowment fund of $500,000 would be provided from these funds by the current owner Tom Lin
Alki Homestead/Fir Lodge was offered to the Southwest Seattle Historical Society under the same terms in 2004 by the previous owner, Doris Nelson, according to her family.
These historical organizations claim to have more extensive resources and the expertise needed to ensure that the Alki Homestead/Fir Lodge retains its historical place in the community and would not be torn down.
Tom Lin will accept offers from interested historical organizations no later than July 31, 2010. Beyond July 31st the property will be offered to the general public at a different sale price and terms.
Contact Information: Tom Lin at savealkihomestead@yahoo.com
Lin had been trying to proceed with a plan to rebuild the historic log building and add other uses to its site – uses without which, he says, it wouldn’t be financially viable; he discussed his challenges in this story we published two weeks ago. This morning, he tells WSB, “It has been over a year and a half since I have tried to bring Homestead back. The cost has become a burden. I had a long conversation with [previous owner] Doris Nelson’s estate yesterday. They understand the dilemma I am in and they respect my choice. In fact, [they] had already told SWSHS to buy the building again 6 months ago … I think when I spoke to you a few weeks ago, I told you I was pretty close at giving it up. Now it is time. I hope they can address that during the rally.”
The rally – to which Lin tells us he finally did get an invitation, after he pointed out to Historic Seattle that he had not received one – is scheduled for 1:30 pm tomorrow on the sidewalk and street (which will be closed for the event) in front of the Homestead. Clay Eals from SWSHS says there’s been one change in the slate of political leaders scheduled to be there – City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen will be out of town, but County (and former City) Councilmember Jan Drago will be there, which Eals notes is “quite fitting because (she) was the Seattle City Council sponsor of the landmark designation ordinance for the Alki Homestead building in 1996.”
Previous WSB coverage of the Alki Homestead is archived, newest to oldest, here.
Highlights from the West Seattle Weekend Lineup: The West Seattle Little League 9-10 All-Stars play for their district championship this morning at 10, Bar-S Field on Alki Point … For our neighbors in South Park to make it through the bridgeless years, they need some love. Today’s a great chance to do that, as the weekly South Park “Market on Wheels” debuts for the season, right by the blocked-off south end of the shut-down bridge, 14th S. and S. Cloverdale (map). 10 am-4 pm, more info here … On your way to or from South Park, the Duwamish Longhouse hosts a rummage sale and frybread fundraiser today, same hours, 10 am-4 pm … Reminder that Marination Mobile will NOT make its WS stop today or next Saturday … Finally – there’s live music at venues including Kenyon Hall, C&P Coffee, Skylark Café and Club, and Shadowland … Details in the WSWL; and the full lookahead to tomorrow’s holiday events/info is on the WSB West Seattle 4th of July page.
Before the holiday weekend really revs up – we wanted to share this look ahead to something that’s happening next Saturday. Same day as West Seattle Summer Fest and the Seafair Pirates’ Landing at Alki, but this is big in its own way too, and everybody who’s rooting for little Hannah Grage is hoping you will stop by. She’s a West Seattle 4-year-old fighting cancer – acute lymphoblastic leukemia, diagnosed in April – and her family needs help with expenses, so friends, neighbors and relatives are having a garage sale/bake sale/lemonade-stand fundraiser one week from today – Saturday, July 10th. It’ll be 8 am-2 pm (so there’s plenty of time to go BEFORE, or after, Summer Fest and/or Pirates), 7228 39th SW (that’s in Gatewood; here’s a map; here’s the flyer for the fundraiser). You can read more about Hannah’s fight by going here, to see what her mom’s been writing about what they’re going through.
You’ve cheered the FIFA World Cup 2010 games … endured the bzzzz of the vuvuzelas … now, a chance to learn how to play soccer — providing you’re 7 to 14 years old. High Point Community Center is presenting the program for the next six Wednesdays, 6 pm, at HP Commons Park; call 684-7422 to find out more, and in the meantime, check out the official flyer.
Thanks to Marilyn for e-mailing to ask about the wooden fence going up on the southeastern edge of The Hole (Fauntleroy/Alaska/39th) late today; we subsequently went over for a few photos. Along with the concrete barricades noted here two weeks ago, the fence is part of what was promised one month ago by the entity that holds the note for the stalled site, in its response to a letter sent by the Southwest District Council, drafted by West Seattle Junction Association executive director Susan Melrose.
The triangular area on the southeastern corner, where the fence will now be the backdrop, is actually a publicly owned mini-mini-park, and part of the complaint about the chain-link fencing around The Hole was that it had made that site inaccessible. For perspective, here’s a wider shot looking eastward at the back of the fencing from the other side of The Hole (that’s the 76 station in the background at right, and the Link construction site with the yellow wrap):
Meantime, as for the site’s status, the legal wrangling continues – the online file for the case that combines multiple lawsuits is now up to 300 separate actions in the past 14 months. If the case isn’t resolved sooner, the trial is still set for this October. The prospective new owners of the site have not publicly discussed their plan, should they gain ownership; Whole Foods had told us a few weeks ago that there might be some news right about now regarding the status of the lease they had for what was supposed to be a new store by now, but they haven’t yet answered our messages left earlier this week.
Nine days ago, we brought you the nautical tale of woe – Seafair Pirates facing the possibility of having to personally bankroll their popular July 10th Alki landing, because sponsors had pulled out. Duke’s Chowder House boss Duke Moscrip put out a call for donations. And now, the Pirates announce, they’ve found a sponsor – TOP Food and Drug. Read on:Read More
Just got word from Beer Junction owner Morgan Herzog that his new store across from Jefferson Square (4707 42nd SW) opens tomorrow (Saturday) morning, 11 am. We brought you first word of the store-in-progress back in March.
4:58 PM UPDATE: Just spoke with Morgan to get full details on the merchandise and the hours as he opens – read on:Read More
(Photo added 3:34 pm)
Big fire response for an “automobile rescue” call at 8th and Roxbury (map). We’re on our way to find out more at the scene. Just heard on the scanner that three people were hurt. More to come. 3:18 PM: At the scene – the crash includes at least 2 vehicles, a truck and passenger car (as seen in photo since added) – someone has just been extricated from the car. Still trying to gauge the traffic effects, but for starters, 8th SW is inaccessible starting about a block north of Roxbury; westbound Roxbury is blocked off at 8th.
3:37 PM: We’re now told three people have been taken to the hospital and a fourth soon will be – two transported in medic units, two by private ambulance. Yellow tape is going up to facilitate the investigation, so this intersection will have traffic trouble for at least a few more hours. 3:47 PM: One lane is open in each direction. But the investigation team has just arrived and, as is the case with major investigations, will be busy for a while. We’re working now to see what more we can find out about the victims. EARLY SATURDAY NOTE: That information still hasn’t been made available. The investigation, meantime, continued into the 7 pm hour.
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