The city has announced grants for two dozen community-group-spearheaded technology programs around Seattle – and one is in West Seattle. The grants are made through the Technology Matching Fund – all listed here. The one here is a $19,800 grant to upgrade the technology center at Westwood Heights, “with hardware and software to provide low income seniors and residents with disabilities instruction in basic computers, accessing online health resources, Internet safety and job readiness.”
Three of the next four nights, you are invited to enjoy free outdoor concerts in West Seattle – starting with tomorrow night at the beach! From Mary Pat Byington:
Come enjoy local artist Michael Powers play his Jazz, Rhythm and Blues music at the Alki Bathhouse. The concert will start at 6 p.m. Bring your family and friends with a picnic basket, lawn chairs, and blankets for an evening of music by the water. We are collecting non-perishable food items for the local food bank during the concert.
Then on Thursday night, it’s the second of six Summer Concerts at Hiawatha, presented by the Admiral Neighborhood Association, co-sponsored by a long list of local businesses and individuals including WSB. 6:30 pm Thursday on the east lawn at Hiawatha Community Center, it’sBack Burner – bring a picnic dinner, and bring the whole family – the kids can go test samples at the PCC Kid Picks truck, too!
And on Friday night, it’s the first of four outdoor concerts at The Mount, with Mariachi Fiesta Mexicana – doors open at Providence Mount St. Vincent (4831 35th SW) around 5 for dinner sales (optional; there’s also a beer/wine garden for 21+, and kids’ activities) – music starts at 6 – full series details here.
(July 2009 Seafair fleet “parade” photo by Mark Rhea)
Not specifically West Seattle, but widespread interest, and you’ll see some of these Seafair spectacles from here, so here goes: We’re awaiting a specific time-frame for the Blue Angels‘ “mid-afternoon” arrival tomorrow – here’s their previously announced schedule for the week. Then on Wednesday afternoon, you’ll see the Seafair fleet arrive in Elliott Bay, en route to where they’ll dock for tours: 4 ships are expected from the U.S. Navy, 3 from the Canadian Navy – this page on the Seafair site has full details (including tour times). 6:24 PM: Ryan reminds us via Facebook that we should include the link to the I-90 bridge closure times for the Blue Angels’ flights Thursday-Sunday – here it is.
(WSB photo showing Zebra burglary damage, just after police arrived on July 19th)
We promised a followup on the broken-glass burglaries we’ve been covering in the past two weeks – starting with one at The Swinery on July 16 – so here’s the newest information from Southwest Precinct Lt. Norm James. He confirms:
We do indeed have a commercial burglary pattern in West Seattle. To date, we’ve had 8 confirmed smash and grab burglaries that fit within our pattern since the middle of July. The burglar typically breaks a window to gain entry, grabs a cash register/vending machine, then flees.
Lt. James says another common point is that they’re happening in the early morning hours. He says King County Sheriff’s Office detectives also are investigating similar cases, and working with SPD counterparts “to coordinate the investigation.” Meantime, the Southwest Precinct is checking to see if any other SPD precincts have noticed similar trends. As for what else is being done about this new “burglary pattern,” Lt. James continues:
We have advised businesses to try to make it inconvenient for burglars to access cash registers/vending machines. We are also putting out directed patrols in the areas of these burglaries. As always, we ask for the community’s assistance in reporting suspicious people and activities. At this time we’ve been asking businesses with cameras focusing on the exterior of their buildings (to) review those tapes every 24 hours and report suspicious activity.
The most recent smash-and-grab was early Saturday at the liquor store in The Junction (WSB coverage here – our story also lists the previous ones we covered, and has a comment that adds to the list).
(WSB photo taken during the reinstallation last Wednesday)
Five days after the West Seattle Rotary Viewpoint Park totem pole was reinstalled (WSB video coverage here), WS Rotary has just sent new details about the rededication celebration planned for August 10th (one week from tomorrow), as well as an invitation to join in a work party at the park this weekend:
The public is invited to join the Rotary Club of West Seattle as we celebrate the return and rededication of West Seattle’s beloved Totem Pole. The Totem was recently refurbished and re-installed at The Rotary Viewpoint Park on 35th and Alaska SW. We are honored to have the original carver Robin Young, Cecile Hansen, Duwamish Tribal Chairperson and other dignitaries as our guests.
Date: Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Time: 5:00 PM
Where: Rotary Viewpoint Park at 35th and Alaska SW
After the ceremony, all are invited to join the Rotary Club at the West Seattle Golf Course Fox Den Grille as we continue our celebration. Refreshments will be available for purchase.
A Work Party to spruce up the park is scheduled for Saturday, August 7th starting at 8:30 AM . Volunteers are needed if you would like to help.
For more information, please contact Shirley Clough at s.clough@comcast.net or 206-293-2773.
Last week’s reinstallation followed restoration and repainting work at Artech, more than seven months after the pole was stolen and taken to Oregon, where it was found along with another totem pole that had been stolen from its display site at the Renton Fred Meyer. ADDED 7:03 PM: An unusual view of the newly reinstalled West Seattle totem pole, taken Friday and shared today by Colby:
With a little over a month till the new school year, Westside School is moving out of its just-south-of-West-Seattle building and into its new Sunrise Heights headquarters at the former EC Hughes Elementary (7740 34th SW). This is the “full campus move” mentioned in an update last month; the school announced four months ago that it had reached an agreement to lease the Hughes site from Seattle Public Schools ($3,750/month for at least the first 3 years). (Two other closed campuses in West Seattle, Fairmount Park and Genesee Hill, had been offered for lease, but no takers.) Westside’s former neighbor, Explorer West Middle School, announced in June it’ll take over the classrooms left empty by Westside’s move. This is one of two major West Seattle school moves this month – Chief Sealth International High School is moving out of its temporary site at the former Boren Junior High on Delridge after two years of renovation work at its permanent campus in Westwood.
You’ve seen the city’s new traffic-messaging signs in action recently – with the alert about the Spokane Street Viaduct lane closure, for example – and now the state is sending a reminder that its “Smarter Highways” signs are about to be activated on highways including the stretch of northbound I-5 used by drivers leaving the West Seattle Bridge. So what are these signs going to do that the current “trouble ahead” signs don’t, you ask? Read on for the official news release:Read More
FIRST “HAPPENING NOW” REPORT AT 8:15 AM: Just a few minutes ago, the backhoe bit into the back side of the former Pegasus Pizza storefront on Alki (2758 Alki SW). It’s been sitting vacant since the restaurant moved next door 2 years ago. For now, you won’t see anything driving by on Alki Avenue, though, because the work has started behind the building. 8:44 AM UPDATE: Here’s our video from the first crunch (after the backhoe operator carefully plucked a few metal pieces from atop the building – including the satellite/microwave dish and a piece of ventilation/cooling equipment):
A permit’s been granted for the “shell/core” of a new building to be put up at the site. 11 AM UPDATE: Three hours in, the demolition crew is moving to the front of the building – this video shows the second-story front wall coming down (first half of clip and then second part, toward the end of the clip):
Those who’ve come to watch include Pegasus team members past and present who have been sharing memories as they watch the building come down, piece by piece. Among those here is the building’s owner, who tells WSB that the one-story commercial building he’s putting up has “multiple” interested parties so far – but no leases signed yet.
3:45 PM UPDATE: By mid-afternoon, the teardown was all done (and the sun was finally out) – cleanup, of course, remains to be done, before construction. Just before noon, the backhoe was dumping debris into the back of a big hauling truck, but you can see what remained after that, and after the rest of the demolition.
You’ve seen the city’s new traffic-messaging signs in action recently – with the alert about the 
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