(Photos by Christopher Boffoli)
If you drove through The Junction tonight and spotted the huge crowd spilling into the street from Easy Street Records – big night for music fans. The store hosted – free! – the public debut of Fistful of Mercy, a new group with three names you might recognize: Ben Harper, Joseph Arthur, and Dhani Harrison. Hundreds showed up for a glimpse and a listen:
Fistful of Mercy is based in Venice, California. They’ve got a website – but it looks like you’ll find out about them right now on the band’s Facebook page. ADDED 10:17 PM: From comments, here’s video shot and uploaded to YouTube by “k”:
And Christopher’s clip from the crowd-in-the-street perspective:
A onetime Junction eyesore is getting a big dose of beautification. We told you two weeks ago about the High Point Community Center-supervised mural-creation project, making paintings that would be put up in the passageway on the west side of California SW in The Junction, near Northwest Art & Frame and Puerto Vallarta – now, they’re up, after some hard work by volunteers on Wednesday.
A dedication plaque will go up soon, and the walkway path itself will be repainted too, to complete the facelift, which should be done sometime next month.
Just got that photo from Josh Sutton of the West Seattle Family YMCA (WSB sponsor), e-mailing us on behalf of the Rotary Club of West Seattle, whose members are busy with a big volunteer project right now:
A dozen Rotary Club members are busy sorting over $8,000 worth of school supplies for elementary students in need across West Seattle. Pencil Me in for Kids is a project of the West Seattle Rotary. We raise money throughout the year and work with school staff to be sure that students have the supplies they need to be successful in class. Tonight we sort the supplies by school, and on Friday we’ll deliver them to local schools.
You can find out more about Pencil Me In For Kidsby going here; donation information’s here.
With 13 Seattle communities having regular art walks, including West Seattle, even devoted art lovers might have trouble keeping track. That’s why City Councilmember Nick Licata‘s office just launched a new website spotlighting them all – click the neighborhood name and you’ll get more information on its art walk. See the new site here. (The next West Seattle Art Walk, by the way, is just two weeks from tonight, on Sept. 9th.)
Today, we welcome a new WSB sponsor, Stacey Riley of Stacey Riley Interiors. She says her approach to design is to be both fun and flexible. Stacey explains, “I think design should be a successful endeavor between client and designer, of course. But having fun and choosing a designer that they have a good connection with is equally as important. There are so many beautiful things to look at and select from in the design world, and this experience should be fun! Also, if they have kids and/or pets they should try to select someone that is patient and also has kids and pets! Which I do.” Stacey adds, “Most of my clients have said that I am fun to work with, and that I always keep their needs in mind before style. Fashion is important when planning a design, but function is always more important. Clients also feel that they can work with me at their pace. If they need to take a break or just take a breather mid-project, it will be easy to get back in touch with me and begin working again.”
Stacey says she believes a third-party perspective can bring solid results. She says working with clients and being able to step back from a given project has given people the ability to let clients work through their own ideas or be open to her suggestions. As a pet lover, she is also aware of what pet-friendly material are out there and how your new design can work for the whole family. Stacey also has a column, Dish on Design, which appears in the West Seattle Herald. You can find Stacey Riley Interiors online at staceyrileyinteriors.com, or call 206-200-5951.
We thank Stacey Riley Interiors for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB; find our sponsor team, and info on joining, all here.
When the Aurora Bridge Fence Projectaffected traffic on northbound 99 last Sunday, we heard from West Seattleites who got stuck in backups – so we’re passing along the advisory that just came in for THIS Sunday, in case you were planning to use 99 – which will have closures in both directions that day – read on:Read More
2 quick reminders about Sunday’s Alki Beach 5K Walk/Run, benefiting Northwest Hope and Healing, which helps breast-cancer patients: First, 11 am tomorrow is your deadline to register online – you can do that here. Second, a reminder that Alki SW will be closed approximately 8 am-11 am Sunday for the 5K – this is a CHANGE from past years; the run got so big (1,400 last year) that it needs to be on the street, same course as the West Seattle 5K.
The Seattle Fire Department has just announced the cause of this morning’s 6 am garage fire in the 5400 block of 23rd SW – “accidental, caused by an electrical malfunction.” Their update adds, “Damage estimate: $100,000.” Here’s our original breaking-news coverage with photos and video; the video above is shared by our friends at KING5, sent to them by viewer “edgallo“; here’s the last shot we took before leaving the scene this morning, looking into the gutted garage as the smoke cleared:
(Photo courtesy Toni Reineke, Westside Symphonette) Westside Symphonette “welcomes all musicians – beginning to advanced, young to antique.” So writes its founder/co-conductor Toni Reineke in her announcement of its new season, which starts September 14th. If you’re interested in being part of this community orchestra, it’s registering musicians now. Read on for the full announcement:Read More
So, it’s a little cloudy. Bring a sweater along with your blanket/chair and be at Hiawatha Community Center‘s east lawn for the second-to-last Admiral Neighborhood Association-presented Summer Concerts at Hiawatha (co-sponsored by WSB), 6:30 pm. In concert tonight: Camille Bloom (seen in the above video clip performing one of her album tracks). Mark your calendar for next Thursday night too, when the Hiawatha series concludes with the West Seattle Big Band onstage. (PS – We’re checking on rain plans, since moments after we published this, a shower began …)
(Meantime, two more outdoor concerts in West Seattle between tonight and next Thursday: Tomorrow, 6 pm, the Providence Mount St. Vincent Friday night series concludes with The Haggis Brothers; next Tuesday night at Alki Playfield, it’s the Board of Education, which was part of last week’s well-attended double bill at Hiawatha.)
Update from Seattle Policeon a “home invasion” robbery they’ve been investigating in the 7900 block of 4th SW this morning: Det. Mark Jamieson tells WSB they don’t believe it was random – they think this house “was targeted”: Someone knocked at the house around 3 am; a woman in her 60s answered, a man with a gun forced his way in, tied her up; two other people who were home – a man in his 30s and his girlfriend in her 20s – came out, and they too were tied up. Police believe at least three robbers were involved; they stole “items including rifles and handguns” as well as two cars, a gray 2005 Toyota Camry (license 9224*DP) and 1995 white Ford Windstar (license 6532*DP). The only description they have, according to Det. Jamieson, is that the man who knocked was described as “Asian”; no other descriptions so far, but detectives are continuing to do interviews.
(Added top photo 6:47 am, sent from Belvidere by anonymous contributor; photo below was added at 6:27 am – Wendy Hughes-Jelen photographed the smoke from High Point)
6:15 AM: On our way to the house fire call in the 5400 block of 23rd SW. If you’re hearing/seeing choppers, it’s TV. This is just east of Delridge, near/at the intersection with Brandon (map). 6:21 AM: Fire is “knocked down” per scanner – but the smoke could be seen from quite some distance, according to some of the people who’ve called (thanks!). 6:30 AM: “A large garage with vehicles inside” is what burned, according to SFD’s Helen Fitzpatrick, who says nobody was hurt – everybody got out of the adjacent house OK. 6:36 AM: Here’s what’s left of the garage, which is behind the house:
In case you wondered – this is NOT affecting traffic on Delridge, which is open and running just fine. 23rd is blocked, but it’s not a major through street at that point anyway. One wall of the garage is still smoldering. 7:02 AM: The media briefing at the scene (we’ll add that video when it’s back at HQ) has mostly reiterated what we’ve already reported – nobody home; contents of garage a loss (but exactly what was in there is still being sorted out). The family who lives there was home at the time and called in the fire. Investigators are working to find out how it started.
7:58 AM: The above video clip is Battalion Chief Jay Hagen, who spoke to media at the scene. Here’s also a short clip of firefighters still hosing off the smoldering garage:
Beautiful Wednesday night images from Christopher Boffoli: Sunset behind the Olympics was followed closely by this moonrise from behind Alki (seen from the water):
Stacey explains, “I think design should be a successful endeavor between client and designer, of course. But having fun and choosing a designer that they have a good connection with is equally as important. There are so many beautiful things to look at and select from in the design world, and this experience should be fun! Also, if they have kids and/or pets they should try to select someone that is patient and also has kids and pets! Which I do.” Stacey adds, “Most of my clients have said that I am fun to work with, and that I always keep their needs in mind before style. Fashion is important when planning a design, but function is always more important. Clients also feel that they can work with me at their pace. If they need to take a break or just take a breather mid-project, it will be easy to get back in touch with me and begin working again.”
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