A beautiful day to be out by a creek, in a forest, and that’s exactly what students from Little Pilgrim School got to do today. They’re part of a first-of-its-kind program with EarthCorps trainees from several states and countries, installing 400 native plants along the restoration area at Fauntleroy Creek’s last degraded segment.
According to Fauntleroy Creek neighbor and steward Judy Pickens, the $52,000 project is funded by the City of Seattle, King County, the King Conservation District, and Fauntleroy Church, which owns the site. Little Pilgrim School is headquartered in the church; EarthCorps is based in North Seattle, and its team members talked with the kids in their classrooms just before they came out to plant (one group this morning, one group this afternoon).
P.S. You have a chance to lend a hand to Fauntleroy Creek this weekend – 5 pm Sunday at the creek overlook across Fauntleroy Way from the ferry terminal, it’s the annual gathering to drum, chant, and sing to call the coho home. Everybody welcome.
Tomorrow and Friday, the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival(WSB sponsor) returns to West Seattle’s historic Admiral Theater. We’ve given away tickets, courtesy of festival organizers, the past two nights, and tonight we have one last giveaway: Two tickets to the 6 pm Friday screening of “The Sleeping Beauty of East Finchley,” described as an “uplifting drama shot at the Various Voices Festival, a 4-day festival of gay and lesbian choirs from all over the world.” First person to e-mail us with SLEEPING BEAUTY TICKETS in the subject line, westseattleblog@yahoo.com, wins (be sure to tell us the name you want the tickets held in at the box office). Once the tickets are won, we’ll post an update here; no more giveaways after tonight, but you can go here to check out all the Admiral showings over the next two days.
We’ve just arrived at the “heavy rescue” call on SW Chilberg, just off Beach Drive, north of Me-Kwa Mooks Park. That’s what you’re hearing helicopters about. As you can see in our photo, there’s a vehicle on its side – just to the left, a short but steep embankment.
UPDATE: Authorities at the scene say the driver of the red vehicle is hurt, though not life-threatening – he’s being evaluated right now. The blue car was not involved, despite how the scene looks in our photos. Authorities suspect the red vehicle’s driver just had trouble negotiating the turn which is immediately south of this scene. A tow truck’s on the way; they also need to get a fuel spill cleaned up.
(View of The Hole, photographed in September from atop the unrelated Link project)
We’re in King County Superior Court Judge Susan Craighead‘s courtroom downtown, after finally confirming today that what’s on her calendar as Ledcor Vs. Aero Construction is indeed the trial for the major legal fights over the stalled Fauntleroy Place development – aka The Hole. Judge Craighead’s staff told us by phone earlier today that the trial – two years in the making – was projected to take about two weeks, though they also noted that, after two days, it was running ahead of schedule. On the witness stand right now: Dan McTaggart from BlueStar, the original developer of the project, which was supposed to bring a Whole Foods Market and new Hancock Fabrics store, plus residential units and underground parking, to the 39th/Alaska spot that had previously held the old Hancock and a Schuck’s Auto Parts store.
Though we’ve just parachuted into the ongoing testimony, we’ve been following the paperwork online since the first two lawsuits were filed in March 2009 – as of right now, online records show 417 separate filings since the cases were consolidated in April of last year, some with triple-digit page counts, like the 100-plus-page list of evidence filed just before trial. One of the key points of contention – did construction work really ever start on the site, and who owes what to whom? (There was a ceremonial groundbreaking in June 2008; demolition work began weeks later – but work idled on the site later in the year, and it was finally revealed that the project had fallen apart and was headed for court.)
Meantime, the site’s future ownership – and ostensibly, future development – is linked to the outcome of this; a potential new owner has been seeking “judicial foreclosure” for more than a year, but as we understand it (at least pending a review of all the latest court docs), nothing will change till some of the key issues are settled – particularly liens for key project figures who say they’re owed money. We’ll track this as best we can during the trial (and of course, beyond).
As reported here on Monday, renovated Fairmount Playground is almost ready to open – and we just got a note from Seattle Parks saying, “There are a couple of minor items to be fixed before we can open the site, but these should all be completed by next week and we anticipate opening the playground on Friday, October 29th.” Project manager Kelly Davidson had told WSB on Monday that the “punch-list” inspection was set for today.
(WSB photos/interview by Ellen Cedergreen)
Got a mattress you don’t need any more and can’t find anyone to take? Your solution may lie with Matt Althauser, who recently opened Bed Be Gone, a mattress-recycling company, based at ActivSpace on Harbor Avenue north of the West Seattle Bridge. He’s been a man of many potential-startup ideas over the years, but this one just made sense: “I started researching and realized there’s nobody doing it for individuals in Seattle, so I thought it’d be a great service and it’s a pretty straightforward business model.” How does it work? Read on! Read More
At last night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen mentioned the ongoing search for a suspect believed to be responsible for at least half a dozen recent local burglaries. Just got word from Lt. Ron Rasmussen that the suspect is now in custody:
Through the excellent work of the Southwest Precinct Detectives and Patrol Officers, we arrested a juvenile male last night who we believe is responsible for the series of burglaries that have occurred in West Seattle area over the past couple of weeks. The investigation continues as detectives continue to follow-up on leads developed during the investigation.
Capt. Paulsen said last night that a search warrant had been served even before the suspect’s arrest, and stolen property had been recovered. Meantime, he also said police are actively looking for a suspect in connection with two recent “indecent liberties” incidents involving females walking alone, and he suggested extra precautions – read on:Read More
If you noticed Seattle Fire Department Engine 29 out front of historic West Seattle (Admiral) Library in the past hour – don’t worry, no fire, no rescue, no medical problems – as mentioned in the WSB morning preview, it was Firefighter Story Time!
Just in from SDOT, a general traffic alert about President Obama‘s impending Seattle visit – he’s campaigning for local Democrats tomorrow, but arriving tonight:
Seattleites should be prepared today and tomorrow for occasional street closures or traffic slowdowns as President Obama arrives at a local airport, travels to various events, and departs on Thursday. Little information on the routes and times of his movements are announced for security reasons.
The President arrives tonight, so travelers can expect a possibility of rolling closures on the freeway or major arterials leading from a local airport. There will be street closures to provide security near the Westin Hotel tonight and tomorrow.
Tomorrow morning there will likely be closures on local streets as the president attends an event at a private residence, and then attends an event at 11 a.m. at the Edmundson Pavilion on Montlake Boulevard NE next to Husky Stadium.
Rolling closures are again likely on the freeway or major arterials as the President travels to an airport when leaving the city after the event at the Edmundson Pavilion.
The aforementioned “local airport” is usually Boeing Field, just east of West Seattle. President Obama, you will probably recall, last visited just two months ago (a day that’ll be long remembered, particularly for The Sonic Booms).
The Avalon Way 7-11 is now under the same ownership as 2 other West Seattle 7-11s (Admiral Way and Harbor Avenue). What makes that particularly notable is that the owner is throwing a “grand opening” party in a couple weeks (though he took over last spring); here’s the announcement sent to WSB to share:
Grand Opening: Meet Chintu the owner
November 6th, Saturday – 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Free Hot Dogs – Fresh Bakery Chips, Balloons & much more! Bouncy House for kids
7-Eleven 22561, 3280 Avalon Way SW
Bring your kids and have fun
We asked Monti, who e-mailed the announcement, for a little more information:
Chintu took over the store on May 19, 2010. He does not live in West Seattle, but he has been running two other 7-11s in West Seattle for the last 14 years. Chintu wants to have a grand opening for this store because he wants to connect with new friends and families in the West Seattle community … he knows if he connects with the community, he can improve his store to serve the customer better. We believe with this grand opening we can bring the West Seattle community together. AND HAVE FUN TOGETHER!!
Right now police are searching in Westwood for someone suspected of stabbing two people – the injuries so far are not believed to be major – according to the scanner, one in the hand, one in the lower arm. It happened in the 9200 block of 31st SW (map). 12:46 AM: Scanner now indicates one person’s in custody and a knife has been recovered.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third weekly installment of this new WSB feature – if you missed the explanation/introduction with which we prefaced the first one, you can see it here.
*Two men called 911 late Sunday and said they were trapped inside a locked Avalon Way storage facility. As it turns out, they just didn’t see the “open” button for the roll-up door. Firefighters opened the door from the outside, but one man’s taste of freedom was short-lived: Officers arrested him when a computer check showed he was wanted on a warrant for driving with a suspended license.
*Early Sunday evening, two thieves were likely congratulating themselves for nabbing a compressor and a variety of tools from the bed of a pickup truck parked in Morgan Junction. But karma paid a visit and the pair ended up in a car wreck just blocks away. The culprits managed to escape, but the tools—scattered across the roadway near SW Raymond and Fauntleroy SW — were retrieved by their owner.
From reports on cases handled recently by
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