Seafair Pirates’ land-borne Moby Duck idled by ~$25,000 fire
(Photos courtesy Seafair Pirates)
Kids and adults alike shriek at its cannon blasts during parades, and wave as it carries the Seafair Pirates along city streets at other times of the year (with some of the pirates living in West Seattle, it’s a semi-common sight here between parade seasons too). But tonight, the Moby Duck is docked, so to speak, by the damage done in an engine fire. Our partners at the Seattle Times reported this morning on the fire, which happened late last night in Bothell. The group’s spokespirate Mark “Keelhaul” Jensen told the Times the damage could total $25,000. We e-mailed him to ask if they’d photographed the damage, and he sent photos including the two we’re using here:
The Pirates plan an emergency meeting to figure out what to do and whether they’ll need a donation drive to get Moby Duck sailing our area’s asphalt/concrete passageways again.
Kittens, anyone? ‘Kitty Cornered’ quintet almost ready to adopt
(Photo from Kitty Cornered Facebook page today – 2 of the kittens discover sunshine=naps)
Almost two weeks after our story about the five foster kittens that High Point’s Wendy and Stephen Hughes-Jelen have raised since they were a day old, the kittens are almost ready for their permanent homes. They were born in early August, and eight weeks/two months is considered “ready for adoption.” The Hughes-Jelens are hoping not to have to take them to the Kitty Harbor shelter for whom they volunteered to take on the then-newborns:
We would like to have them all spoken for and adopted without having to spend time in the shelter at Kitty Harbor. It is a great facility here in West Seattle but there are about 80-90 cats/kittens down there and new kittens can get sick easily. It’s just safer if they go from here to another home.
We’ve chronicled their entire life online at http://www.facebook.com/KittyCornered We will be posting video profiles of each individual kitten in the next few days.
If any of our neighbors would like to meet these kittens now, please let us know. They should read the adoption information at http://www.kittyharborseattle.org/adoption-info/ and have completed and submitted an adoption application to the shelter before coming into our home. The kittens have to be adopted in pairs or the adopter has to already have a cat in their home as a companion to the new kitten.
As noted on the Kitty Cornered page, once you’ve applied – which you can also do tomorrow in person at Kitty Harbor (or next weekend if they’re not spoken for yet) – you can go meet The Kittens.
‘Service change’ day for Metro, and debut of 1st RapidRide line
If you only ride Metro on weekdays, you won’t notice till Monday, but today’s the day the latest round of “service changes” kicked in, as first mentioned last month. 
Several West Seattle runs have schedule changes, including deleted trips, as listed here. But the big news for Metro is the debut of RapidRide, with the A Line serving South King County, two years before we’ll see the RR branding on the C Line here in West Seattle (mostly along the current 54 route). Not all its features are in place, according to Metro’s announcement, but if you want to go take a look at the new buses (wi-fi!), rides are free all weekend.
‘For the joy & happiness they bring us’: Pets blessed at The Mount
Patty from Highland Park came to the Blessing of the Animals at Providence Mount St. Vincent this morning with her five furry friends, two of whom are regular volunteers at The Mount. They mingled with, and sometimes barked at, more than a dozen other dogs, till Father Lyle began the blessing:
After a prayer and reading paying tribute to pets “for the joy and happiness they bring us,” the Redemptorist priest led a procession through the building – first scheduled stop, the second-floor fish tank – to bless animals that hadn’t been brought down to the lobby. The ceremony is a tradition on or near the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi – which is coming up Monday – and there will be two others in West Seattle tomorrow, at Alki UCC (6112 SW Hinds) during 10 am service and outside St. John the Baptist Church (3050 California SW) at noon.
Update: Eastbound West Seattle Bridge reopens after crash
Avoid any onramp to the eastbound West Seattle Bridge – there is a crash near 4th Ave but it appears the bridge has been blocked off all the way on this end. We are in the middle of a big backup on northbound Avalon and are getting reports it’s blocked off at 35th and Fauntleroy. Admiral is reported to be backing up southeastbound too. 1:17 PM UPDATE: We are now seeing cars get on from 35th and Fauntleroy, so it appears the high bridge is open again.
Happening now: Prudential Northwest food drive (and more)
Larry and Gini – “half of The Johnson Team” – are just two of many Prudential NW team members volunteering today in a multi-location food drive, all over the area. We found them at Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) just as the drive was getting under way at 10 am; other collection sites include West Seattle Thriftway, PCC West Seattle (WSB sponsor), Jefferson Square Safeway, and the White Center (16th SW) Albertson’s. You can drop off nonperishable food donations at any of those sites till 2 this afternoon. They’re collecting diapers for WestSide Baby, too. 1:53 PM UPDATE: We checked in with the volunteers at PCC around noon – Jeni Desmond, Tanya Edwards, Lisa O’Farrell – and they already had shopping carts full of donated food:
Also at PCC, we found another donation-drive effort – not related to the Prudential food drive, but just steps away – you can donate to the Northwest Burn Foundation for “Give Burns the Boot”:
2nd from left, by the way, is former North Highline Fire Chief Scott LaVielle (that district handles White Center and the rest of the unincorporated area south of West Seattle). The Burn Foundation fundraiser, they told us, will continue outside PCC West Seattle till 4 pm.
Dozens ‘walk and roll’ along Alki to raise money for ataxia research
After gathering at a picnic shelter along the Alki promenade, the participants in this morning’s Walk ‘n’ Roll for Ataxia (about 50 by our informal count) headed out eastbound along the beach, with these young banner-carriers leading the way:
Ataxia is a nervous-system disorder (explained here) that in some cases can turn deadly. Researchers are working on some studies that show promise, but as with all research, it takes money, so events like this one are geared toward raising some. You can donate to the cause any time by going here.
West Seattle Whale Watch: More photos of Friday’s orca visit
While we were covering Friday morning’s orca sightings between West Seattle and Vashon Island, as noted here, orca expert Jeff Hogan of Killer Whale Tales turned up at the same small shoreline park where we were on the lookout – and he had his camera in tow. These are four photos he shared afterward – two of them including ID’s, like this one, J16, with a state ferry on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run:
And this one is J1, the oldest male among the “southern resident” orcas, believed to be in his fifties:
Jeff even got a photo of one orca breaching:
Whenever we get a tip about a nearby sighting, we publish it here (usually with running coverage ensuing) as well as to Twitter and Facebook – this is prime season for the southern resident orcas to come further south in Puget Sound to chow down on salmon, so we’ll likely be seeing more of them in the weeks ahead. One great way to get a daily roundup of regional sightings is through the Orca Network‘s mailing list – sign up here. Its leaders are based on Whidbey Island. Back here in West Seattle, in addition to Jeff’s Killer Whale Tales, there are other great orca-related resources, like Donna Sandstrom’s The Whale Trail.
| 6 COMMENTS