Winning the Holiday Spirit Award tonight in The Junction during West Seattle Art Walk/Shop Late Thursday – the gleefully goofy Tacky Sweater Party at Twilight Artist Collective. (Compare to last year’s “tacky sweaters” here.) Even if you missed the party, you can stop in (4306 SW Alaska) and see the “12 Days of Christmas,” by 12 artists including members of the Twilight owner team. Smiles abounded along tonight’s Art Walk route for many reasons:

Posing with a few of her “Backyard Beauty and Beyond” photos at the Senior Center of West Seattle, that’s Trileigh, whose scenes of wild West Seattle have appeared many a time here on WSB – tonight was her first public (offline) exhibition! Kitty corner at Clementine (4447 California SW), West Seattle entrepreneur Cari Jones showed her new paintings:

We have to admit, though WSB is among her client firms, we didn’t know Cari was an artist too, along with everything else she’s up to (as detailed on the Clementine website)! Around the corner at Brunette Mix (4306 SW Oregon), tonight was a two-part event:

Brunette Mix proprietor BJ Prokopof is celebrating her third anniversary in The Junction – and hosting the art of Tony Taj. From there, scooting over to Ginomai artist studios on the north edge of The Junction, we peeked in on the silent auction we told you about this morning, raising money for the next Central America well-building trip on the West Seattle Christian Church schedule:

That gorgeous purse was donated by Funky Jane’s Consignment; we’ll be checking with WSCC to see how the auction went. Last but by no means least, over to Wallflower Custom Framing and Shooting Gallery:

Mark Morgan is one of 16 artists whose work is included in the “Puny Picture Show,” 2nd year in a row for Wallflower to feature small-size work by big-size talent. Remember, much of what is on display Art Walk night also remains on display for all or part of the following month at the participating venues, so every day/night can be an Art Walk day/night. We had a second crew out tonight, meantime, and that second round of December Art Walk scenes are coming up in a separate report! (Disclosure: Brunette Mix and Wallflower are WSB sponsors; Clementine, Twilight, and Funky Jane’s are featured advertisers in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Shopping Guide.)

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Yet more national TV for West Seattle: ‘BizKid$’ at SW Pool

December 9, 2010 8:43 pm

| Comments Off on Yet more national TV for West Seattle: ‘BizKid$’ at SW Pool

| West Seattle news | West Seattle people

Swimming on a rainy night? Sure! And tonight, West Seattle’s Southwest Pool had special guests at poolside, as you can see in the photo shared by Val, who reports:

Tonight the show BizKid$, shown nationally on PBS, was taping some segments with two of the lifeguards/swim instructors at Southwest Pool. Last week we all had to sign a consent form in case our kid got on TV while they were taping inside the actual pool area. The show will air sometime in April, locally on KCTS-9.

The BizKid$ production team is based in the Seattle area.

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How would West Seattle survive a disaster with no hospital?

December 9, 2010 8:07 pm

| 26 COMMENTS

| Health | Safety | West Seattle news

By Jack Mayne
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

West Seattle residents and civic leaders met Wednesday to discuss what would happen if an earthquake or other disaster cut off the community from the rest of Seattle and its hospitals and other emergency facilities – considering there’s been no hospital here for some 20 years.

The “Hospital Without Walls” meeting at Delridge Community Center was sponsored by Senior Services of Seattle/King County, the non-profit that runs several area senior centers and other senior services.

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1 more preview: West Seattle Art Walk, Shop Late Thursday, MORE

December 9, 2010 4:46 pm

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| West Seattle Art Walk | West Seattle news

(Photo added 7:37 pm, courtesy Tim – crowd at Wallflower Custom Framing‘s ‘Puny Pictures’ show)
Less than two hours till West Seattle Art Walk – all over the peninsula – and Shop Late Thursday in The Junction. In addition to our previous Art Walk previews here (several other interesting stops) and here (Ginomai auction for well-building), plus all the artist spotlights you can find on the official WSAW website, here are a few more mentions:

ARTSWEST (WSB sponsor): In addition to continuing “A Tuna Christmas” in the theater tonight, the gallery features “Neo-Kitsch,” a juried exhibition, and you’ll recognize some local artists – including Highland Park’s Dina Lydia Johnson and Kelly Lyles of art-car (among other things) fame.

LIBERTY BELL PRINTING: Days after announcing its imminent departure from The Junction, Liberty Bell has an open house tonight AND charity gift-wrapping by Furry Faces Foundation – 6-9 pm. Details in this WSB Forums post.

BRUNETTE MIX (WSB sponsor): Celebrating its third anniversary during tonight’s Art Walk!

BIN 41 WINE (WSB sponsor): Music, wine, and art!

NOT in The Junction —

CLICK! DESIGN THAT FITS – Offering special discount on locally originated merchandise, like what’s spotlighted here.

SEATTLE YARN COMPANY: We’re told their open house tonight will include a visit from Mrs. Claus.

LOG HOUSE MUSEUM OPEN HOUSE: Want a copy of the new “Images of West Seattle” as a stocking stuffer? The Log House Museum is selling it at its holiday open house under way right now, till 8 pm. (61st/Stevens)

SANISLO ELEMENTARY BOOK FAIR AT BARNES AND NOBLE: Need to buy books for somebody? Sanislo Elementary benefits if you buy tonight at Barnes & Noble, Westwood Village, where their Bookfair is under way, 6:30-8:30 pm.

In The Junction AND elsewhere:

WSB WEST SEATTLE HOLIDAY SHOPPING/BUSINESS GUIDE: 20 businesses offering deals and special holiday-shopping info. We’ve also upgraded it so you can e-mail/FB/tweet each individual business’s listing, if you want a reminder, or to share. Find it here (with more additions later tonight, in time for weekend shopping).

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West Seattle High School football coach Davis Lura leaving

December 9, 2010 3:48 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS & Sports

Thanks to Curtis for the tip from last night’s West Seattle High School 2010 football banquet: Head football coach Davis Lura announced he’s leaving after four seasons. Having listened to what he described as an emotional speech, Curtis said, “Despite what was a very difficult season, it is very clear that Coach Lura cares about the young men on his team very much.” We checked today with WSHS athletic director George Foster, who confirmed Coach Lura’s departure, saying he is pursuing coaching opportunities in Ballard, where he teaches. No replacement for the Wildcats yet – the interview process may take a while.

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How Alki Community Center/Bathhouse will operate, post-cuts

December 9, 2010 3:17 pm

| Comments Off on How Alki Community Center/Bathhouse will operate, post-cuts

| West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

Two weeks after the Seattle City Council finalized a budget for next year – which among other things changes Alki Community Center into a “limited-use” facility – the details of what that means for people who use the center are finally worked out, while those involved acknowledge it’s a work in progress.

We sat in last night on the meeting of the all-volunteer Alki Community Center Advisory Council, whose members will be more responsible than ever for what happens at Alki CC – most of its programs are funded through the council, including preschool and child care. Among the toplines of what’s ahead: We know the new hours; we know that (as first reported here in October) the popular Alki Art Fair won’t happen next year unless someone else is found to present it; and we know that tonight will be the last time the West Seattle Art Walk includes an Alki Bathhouse stop.

Read on for details:Read More

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Highway 99 tunnel bids opened: ‘Winner’ says they’ll finish sooner

December 9, 2010 2:30 pm

| 35 COMMENTS

| Alaskan Way Viaduct | West Seattle news

(Most recent WSDOT video simulation of the tunnel – from October 2010)
The apparent winning bid has been chosen from the two submitted for the tunnel that the state wants to build to replace the central section of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. According to transportation reporter Mike Lindblom‘s story at SeattleTimes.com (WSB partner), the bidder, Seattle Tunnel Partners, says they could finish sooner than the state asked – and can build the tunnel a bit wider. The state has just sent its official news release – it’s not online yet so far as we can tell, but we’ve got it after the jump:Read More

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Burglary-attempt alert

December 9, 2010 12:50 pm

| 13 COMMENTS

| Crime | Highland Park | West Seattle news

This happened within the past hour in Highland Park, according to BigRed:

I just wanted to put the word out on an attempted break-in on our house around 12pm today; we live on 17th and Trenton [map]. I was home sick and my husband works from home and we have a rather large dog, so I am not quite sure why they picked our house but it worked out well! My husband was working in his office with his curtains closed and heard something on his window. He opened his curtain and found a younger African-American male, age 15-16 trying to pry our window open. This scared the robber off and he escaped down our alley. My husband also saw a younger female with the suspect, he didn’t get a good look at her but she seemed around the same age, possibly Hispanic. A section of our fence along the side was removed so they could get into our yard. Cops responded quickly and are canvassing the neighborhood for suspects. Our 95lb “guard dog” slept peacefully through it all.

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Streetlight safety: More City Light inspections after Queen Anne dog death, High Point problem

December 9, 2010 10:51 am

| 11 COMMENTS

| High Point | Utilities | West Seattle news

We’re at the Seattle Municipal Tower downtown, where Seattle City Light superintendent Jorge Carrasco is leading a media briefing about streetlight safety, in the wake of both the Thanksgiving Day electrocution of a dog who walked onto an electrified plate by a Queen Anne light, and a High Point incident revealed last night. Though City Light’s account did not mention names, HP resident Wendy Hughes-Jelen identified herself in WSB comments as the person who called to report a streetlight that appeared to be having problems, after her Italian greyhound Sophia acted oddly around it. Carrasco says the pole she reported (on SW Raymond, near the one in our photo) was indeed found to have “voltage” on the pole – no one was injured, however. That has been repaired, and he says after immediate testing of a half-dozen poles nearby, crews also went out yesterday and tested all 170 streetlights in the High Point area to be sure there were no other problems; there weren’t, but the grounding system there will be evaluated, in case a “more robust” grounding system is needed, according to Carrasco. Other “similar” developments will be checked ASAP, he said – listing them later as Greenbridge in White Center, as well as two Seattle developments, Rainier Vista and New Holly. The problem that caused the voltage in the High Point pole, according to the superintendent, was a frayed wire. The pole carried 50 volts, said City Light staffers at the briefing, which Carrasco confirmed could have been a problem if a pet or child had touched it before it was fixed. The voltage involved in the Queen Anne dog’s death, they said, was 90.

Here’s what he mentioned regarding safety “going forward”: As of New Year’s Day, there’s a new grounding standard for all metal poles, and City Light will be accountable for all inspections from thereon out. “We operate the streetlight system – we need to be the ones making sure the streetlights are safe,” Carrasco said. (It was revealed in coverage of the Queen Anne dog incident that SDOT had some accountability for checking the lights.) He also discussed the decorative streetlights that are in place in some neighborhoods – saying it’s difficult for crews to keep track of the different grounding configurations. “We are going to reduce the number of options going forward,” Carrasco said, regarding those types of streetlamps, in order to reduce the chances of safety hazards. He also announced a plan to test all 20,000 existing metal-poled streetlights (the rest of the city’s system has wooden poles) for voltage between now and next May 1st, while noting that a just-completed inventory of streetlights has had crews visiting all of those poles fairly recently, with no problems detected at the time. “We had a human being in the past year touching every one of those poles, metal or wood, and no problems were reported,” he reiterated. (As part of the inventory process, a metal plate was attached to metal poles.)

If you see anything of concern with a streetlight or pole, Carrasco stressed, call City Light at 206-684-7056 (the number we mentioned last night); he says staff has been trained so that they will recognize signs of a problem requiring an immediate inspection. We are checking to see what hours that number is answered, and what to do if you see a potential problem after-hours. Bottom line, though, SCL says these problems are extremely rare, so – Carrasco insists – you do NOT need to be worried that every streetlight pole you see is a potential hazard.

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USS Nimitz passes West Seattle shores en route to Bremerton

December 9, 2010 8:48 am

| 4 COMMENTS

| Seen at sea | West Seattle news

(Photos by Gary Jones)
Not sure if it’s still visible but we just received a few e-mails (thanks, Diane, Bryan, and Ed!) pointing out that the USS Nimitz has been passing West Seattle shores while on its way to Bremerton, where its crew of nearly 3,000 will be based while maintenance work is done on the carrier. It was homeported in Bremerton for a decade from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, and has spent most of this decade based in San Diego.

ADDED 9:31 AM: Thanks so much to Gary Jones, who has shared photos of the Nimitz passing our shores – in the top photo, that’s the Vashon Water Taxi heading downtown as the Nimitz continues its Bremerton-bound path; in the 2nd photo, that’s the top of the Alki Lighthouse in the foreground. Also thanks to Jennifer for noting in a Twitter discussion that the Nimitz is on Facebook (with updates about the arrival).

4:23 PM NOTE: The Navy has announced that after the work in Bremerton, the Nimitz will be homeported in Everett.

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Also today/tonight: College, culture, cleanup, crimefighting…

December 9, 2010 8:40 am

| 5 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(‘Slip 4’ Duwamish cleanup area, photographed for WSB by Christopher Boffoli)
Here are highlights of what’s notable tonight BESIDES the West Seattle Art Walk, The Junction’s Shop Late Thursday, and West Seattle holiday events: 2 more chances to learn more about the proposed alternatives for cleaning up Duwamish River pollution, 3:30 and 5:30 pm at South Seattle Community College‘s Georgetown campus (directions here) … Two major high-school events tonight: At West Seattle High School, find out about financial, with a rep from the National Education Loan Association on hand, 6:30 pm in the WSHS theater … It’s Multicultural Night at Chief Sealth International High School, featuring student performances and appetizers, 6:30 pm … And the South Delridge/White Center Community Safety Coalition meets tonight at the WC DSHS offices (9650 15th SW), 6 pm. … More (mostly) non-holiday events on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar page!

ADDED 9:09 AM: From the comments, one more meeting tonight of note for anyone interested in local Seattle Public Schools.

ADDED 12:41 PM: Couple more additions: Youngstown Arts Center’s All-Access Showcase tonight, with amazing performances by the youth who are part of the afterschool (etc.) program there, 6 pm; Sanislo Elementary has a fundraising book fair tonight at Barnes and Noble/Westwood Village – 6:30 to 8:30 pm – if you buy a book, be sure to tell the clerk it’s to benefit Sanislo!

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Silent auction during WS Art Walk to bring a village clean water

December 9, 2010 2:08 am

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| How to help | West Seattle Art Walk | West Seattle news

(Photos by Aaron Hernandez, courtesy WSCC)
Tonight (Thursday), during the December edition of the West Seattle Art Walk, stop by Ginomai artist studios and put in a bid for art that will do double duty: A gift for someone (maybe even yourself?), and a gift for hundreds of people thousands of miles away. Local artists have donated pieces for a silent auction raising money for the next well-building trip by a delegation from West Seattle Christian Church. Dan Jacobs, the WSCC pastor who spoke at last weekend’s Junction Tree Lighting, was part of the group that helped build a well for a Guatemalan village this past summer and is making plans now to go to Honduras next summer. (Exactly where, they don’t know yet, because the demand is so great, the exact community isn’t designated till the last moment.) It’s in connection with a group called Living Water, and as Dan says, it’s a matter of living or dying, in many cases – until these new wells are dug, deep below the area where the ground might be contaminated by farming runoff or other pollutants, water-borne illnesses are common, and deadly, especially to children, who also lose countless school hours to frequent sickness.

West Seattle Christian has been supporting well-building projects for some years – but until recently, that just involved fundraising. However, Dan says the value of going to help out in person not only entails more help, but also more awareness: “There were 10 of us who went, and 300 involved in sending us.” The drive to raise money for the project always starts at Christmastime, and that’s on purpose: “Three years ago, I heard a statistic that the U.S. will spend $450 billion on Christmas. The estimated cost to address the need for clean water in the world is $10 billion. We thought we could do Christmas better than just spending money on stuff.” (Thus, the involvement with Advent Conspiracy.)

One individual well about 100 feet deep might cost about $5,000, he notes, not much of a cost for 300 people to “have clean water for the first time ever.” The wells are drilled only in common public areas like schools, so there’s little chance of a “water war” breaking out over access. Dan says his group this past summer only had to dig to about 80 feet to get clean water, and they’ve gotten reports, since their departure, that it’s yielding even more water than expected.

Paintings and photos comprise most of the work you’ll see at the silent auction during the Art Walk. Included is some photography by WSCC’s Aaron Hernandez, who also is part of the well-building delegation. Even for those who couldn’t go, the pastor explains, “our whole church felt they were part of (the journey) – including some older couples who were so proud to be part of it, we felt as if we were taking them there with us.”

Bid for some art at Ginomai tonight, and you can be part of it too. The silent auction is in the community room down the hall – enter from 42nd, on the SW corner of Genesee (parking is on the south side of the building, also entered from 42nd).

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