West Seattle Runner’s peninsula-wide challenge for 2011 fitness
With two months left to go in 2010, West Seattle Runner‘s Tim McConnell is looking ahead to 2011 – with an invitation for you.
Ever wanted to run or walk a 5K? A 10K? A half marathon? Or all 26.2 miles of the Seattle Marathon? Ever wondered how you would get in shape for one of these and didn’t know where to start? Maybe you have never run before or just want to get in better shape? Well, then this is the program for you! A fully supported, free training program that takes you from never running or from low mileage running to running/walking a full marathon in 48 weeks. This program will allow you to miss some weeks and still be on track to run/walk the Seattle Marathon in November of 2011. It starts very slow and builds gradually, ensuring you don’t get discouraged with your progress and trying to keep injuries down to a minimum. There will be races added along the way to keep it interesting, including a 5K (or 2, or 3), a 10K, the Rock and Roll Half Marathon (based on availability) and ending with the Seattle Marathon. (All race entry fees will be paid for by the participant).
It will also introduce you to others from the area, as there will be weekly group runs. There will also be information nights were you will learn about nutrition, injury prevention, stretching, cross training ideas, proper footwear and apparel, and others we will add along the way. So come out, enjoy yourself, get healthy and meet your neighbors! Let’s all Get Fit in 2011!
And did I mention that all of this (except race fees) is free?
Come out and see if this is something you would be interested in. Our first info night will be November 5th at 7:00 p.m. at West Seattle Runner. 3727 California Ave SW, Suite 2A. That’s on the corner of California and Charlestown, upstairs next to Anytime Fitness. Check it out on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/39zexyo. Any questions call Tim at West Seattle Runner, 938-0545. See you then!
More West Seattle Halloween: Another round of creative carvings
We’re featuring West Seattle pumpkins through Halloween, and tonight, three more examples of creative carvings – first, Megan carved half a dozen pumpkins, both in honor of her two Admiral workplaces (including WSB sponsor Shanti Salon and Spa) and “just for fun.” Next, Bill Schrier – who among other things is webmaster for the 34th District Democrats – has some political pumpkins in this picture:
From left, that’s Alexandria, Ryan, Lara, and Bill. And from MargL‘s three-member family, a three-pumpkin family:
Sent your pumpkin photo yet? We’ve got room for more the next three nights! Here’s how to send ’em.
West Seattle Halloween: Toddler Pumpkinpalooza at High Point CC
(WSB photos by Ellen Cedergreen)
The Halloween wave is rolling in … and first to arrive, Toddler Pumpkinpalooza in two sessions today/tonight at High Point Community Center.
Other city-run community centers in West Seattle have celebrations tomorrow (and HPCC has another one)- but this one ushered in the festivities:
They got to show off costumes – like Clarabel above – and decorating skills:
Not only is High Point CC doing a second round of Pumpkinpalooza right now, they’ve also got a Freaky Fall Festival planned tomorrow night (Friday) at 6, same time as Halloween Carnivals at Alki and Hiawatha Community Centers; also tomorrow night, Southwest Pool has a free Halloween Family Swim at 7 pm. (Tons of other activities for all ages at multiple West Seattle venues, all listed on the WSB Halloween page.)
Election countdown: Another way to fact-check the initiatives
Five days to go till your ballot HAS TO be in – either by mail (postmarked no later than Tuesday) or by dropbox (by 8 pm Tuesday). One quick mention: If you are still making up your mind about the initiatives, there’s a new fact-checking site launched as a University of Washington project, assembled by graduate students, and it even looks at the refenda on the ballot. Check it out at factcheckwa.org. (Note – this is about the statewide measures only, not the local ones like the King County and Seattle Public Schools propositions.) P.S. King County is offering a digital “I Voted” sticker – get it here.
Followup on call for help for West Seattle shooting victims’ family
Following up on the urgent call for help sent out late yesterday by Southwest Youth and Family Services‘ Cara Kroenke, and published here as well as circulated on local mailing lists – Cara just left this comment on last night’s story:
THANK YOU to everyone who is helping the family! SWYFS is beyond lucky to have such a loving community. We have raised the $1800 thanks to you and are now using the remaining money to help cover the costs of moving. They will be moving into two separate households (if all goes as planned) and will need deposit money, moving help and whatever gently used household items you might have. Does anyone know of a good storage company here in West Seattle? We could really use a small space to store the larger items until they move into permanent housing. Thank you for all you do to help SWYFS make the community safer and supported! Yours, Cara
If you missed the original coverage, this involves surviving family members of the three people killed by a West Seattle woman one month ago before she killed herself, all members of her family, as was the lone shooting victim who survived.
Trial for ‘The Hole’ now in week 2, will go into week 3
(View of The Hole, photographed last month from atop the unrelated Link project)
One week after we reported the start of the trial in the tangle of lawsuits over “The Hole,” aka Fauntleroy Place, aka the 39th/Alaska site once envisioned for Whole Foods Market, Hancock Fabrics, and apartments, till everything fell apart in fall 2008, AFTER the site was excavated for what was to be a big underground parking garage. Yesterday, we went back to court to see how the trial’s going. For WSB, Katie Meyer sat in on yesterday’s session in King County Superior Court, and reports that Judge Susan Craighead estimates there’s enough testimony and cross-examination remaining to continue till at least Tuesday, with closing statements expected that day, and “oral findings” next Thursday.
Witnesses yesterday included BlueStar Management executive Steve Hartley, geotechnical engineer David Cotton, and Bryce Bryan Campbell, who was executive vice president of financier Seattle Capital when it was dealing with various parts of the 2-years-stalled project. Most of what they’re all arguing about (we published the full list of parties involved, from atop the legal documents, here) is who has the right to what compensation and in which priority/order. Ultimately, however this gets settled will affect what happens at the site next – a new entity related to Madison Development has been trying to take over the site, seeking “judicial foreclosure,” but until all the liens are settled, that apparently cannot happen.
Part of what’s being sorted out is how the whole thing fell apart, how BlueStar moved from being the developer to not being the developer (and some of that firm’s circumstances at the time were part of the questioning in court yesterday). BlueStar had told WSB this past spring that they still hoped somehow to be able to take over the project again; executive Hartley noted in court yesterday that they’d worked on it for seven years. Testifying later, former Seattle Capital executive Campbell said Fauntleroy Place had originally been seen as an investment for the firm, not a loan: “At the time, it wasn’t obvious the whole economy was going to come down.” He said SC had no intent to take the project through to completion, but rather to find a new buyer/sponsor for construction expenses, while retaining some ownership interest in the project. They had a choice between two such firms, and UDR won – but the path to finalizing that grew rocky, he testified. Whose fault it was that the project fell apart, is still at issue, as the different parties have different views, and that’s what the judge will have to sort out. Today is the last scheduled day of testimony for the week; we’ll go back to court when it resumes next week.
West Seattle Thursday: Halloween events rev up; plus, 3 benefits
For the next four days/nights, it’s almost ALL about Halloween. Our all-in-one-place, by-category-of-event West Seattle Halloween list is here; from that list, High Point Community Center has two Toddler Pumpkin-Palooza sessions today, 10-noon and 5-7 pm ($5/child); The Sanctuary at Admiral shows the 1922 silent film “Nosferatu” (a “Dracula” adaptation) tonight, with live pipe organ, 7:30 pm ($5 person, also collecting nonperishable food items for West Seattle Food Bank). From the rest of the WSB West Seattle Events calendar – 3 fundraisers tonight: Pegasus Pizza on Alki is raising $ for the Livestrong Foundation, 4-11 pm; Beer Junction‘s tasting event benefits 2 animal-advocacy groups, 5-8 pm; tonight’s monthly WS Tweetup raises $ for breast cancer, 5:30-7:30 pm @ Endolyne Joe’s. On the not-West-Seattle-but-it’s-being-followed-here-closely front, today’s the day that the two firms still in the running to design/build a tunnel to replace the Central Waterfront section of the Alaskan Way Viaduct are supposed to officially present their proposals. More on the calendar (and again, the Halloween page, with dozens of events from now through Nov. 1, is here).
Highland Park Action Committee delves into the Duwamish
Story and photos by Karen Berge
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
More than 25 residents, plus a handful of presenters, attended last night’s information-packed meeting of the Highland Park Action Committee (HPAC).
The meeting at Highland Park Improvement Club (HPIC)’s historic headquarters began with an informative, but brief, presentation by Cari Simson from Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition (DRCC). She provided an historic overview of the Duwamish, including photos; then in contrast, she described its extremely polluted current condition, “basically, it’s a 5 ½-mile-long Superfund site,” a reference to the Duwamish being added in 2001 to the list of the most hazardous and toxic sites in the country.
Simson’s presentation included two especially memorable slides: One lists more than 40 pollutants that have been found in the river that exceed healthy levels, the second shows warning signs that are posted along the river that urge people not to eat any of the bottom-feeding fish from the river.
More about her presentation and other agenda items, ahead:Read More
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