West Seattle, Washington
08 Thursday
(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).
(NOTE: The promotional clip below includes a simulated violent attack)
Did you know that West Seattle martial-arts expert Lisa Skvarla is an accomplished stuntwoman too? In the two-minute preview video above, she’s the dark-haired woman in the re-enactment scenes (starting about 18 seconds in) as a crime survivor tells her story of an East Coast ordeal more than a decade ago. It’s part of a new DIscovery Health special, “The Worst Thing that Ever Happened to Me,” debuting at 7 pm Friday (December 10); Skvarla is seen in flashback scenes as Debra Puglisi Sharp, who survived an attack that took her husband’s life (also detailed in the book “Shattered“). Lisa and husband Joe own Lee’s Martial Arts in the south Admiral area, and she teaches self-defense to kids as well as adults. According to a news release Skvarla sent tonight to announce the show, she also has been an actor/stunt performer/stunt coordinator working in L.A. as well as Seattle for more than 15 years.
You might have heard about the dog electrocuted on Queen Anne because of an “energized metal plate” over a streetlight power vault. Tonight, Seattle City Light reveals that a subsequent call from a worried High Point resident led them to a malfunctioning streetlight. From an SCL media advisory tonight:
“We received a call from a customer who believed that a streetlight in her neighborhood may not be working properly,” says Superintendent of City Light Jorge Carrasco. “Crews investigated the streetlight on Tuesday, found that there were exposed wires in the lamphead and immediately repaired it. There was no damage or injury associated with this malfunctioning streetlight.”
According to tonight’s advisory, Carrasco will brief the media tomorrow on the utility’s plans to check the system’s 20,000 metal streetlight poles and 10,000 metal streetlight-vault covers, and to fix any that need repairs. Meantime, if you suspect any kind of trouble with a streetlight – even if it’s just burned out – the city has long had a reporting system set up: Find the online form and phone number here.
(USCG Rear Admiral Gary Blore with Kiwanis Club of West Seattle president West Niver)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
If we started this story by saying that the U.S. Coast Guard District 13 commander, Rear Adm. Gary Blore, was in West Seattle today, that wouldn’t be remarkable, considering he lives here – on the grounds of the Alki Point Lighthouse.
But his appearance during the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle‘s luncheon meeting was noteworthy. Instead of focusing on the lighthouse, as expected, he said it was most important for people to know more about the Arctic, what’s changing there, and how it’s affecting not just the USCG, but the rest of the country.
He discussed the shrinking of the Arctic ice cap without ever using the phrase “global warming” or “climate change.”
(UPDATED 5:22 PM: At the end of the story, we’ve added new information from the county, including an open letter to the community, and information on how residents of the proposed-for-purchase Lowman Beach properties were notified. ADDITIONAL UPDATE 6:35 PM with Fauntleroy reaction)
(County map showing where the “green stormwater infrastructure” is proposed for the area feeding the Barton pump station; go here for larger version)
ORIGINAL 2:40 PM REPORT: Just in from King County Wastewater Treatment Division: The county has announced its preferred alternatives for facilities to achieve a required reduction in CSOs (combined-sewer overflows) at the Murray (Lowman Beach) and Barton (next to the Fauntleroy ferry dock) Pump Stations. For Murray, they propose building a million-gallon storage tank under private property across the street from Lowman Beach Park – which the county would have to buy (even if that involves “eminent domain“); for Barton, the Green Stormwater Infrastructure project – read on for the news release; more to come – the process of arriving at these choices has been going on for more than 3 years (with major acceleration in fall of last year). and today’s announcement is the first step toward an in-depth environmental review:Read More
Congratulations to volunteers from West Seattle’s Hiawatha and Alki Community Centers for winning 2010 Denny Awards for Outstanding Volunteer Stewardship, as presented by Seattle Parks last night. From the announcement:
Up and Coming Youth Award
Natalie “Wolfy” Whithan, Hiawatha Community Center Teen Council
At just 17, Natalie is already making a big impact in her community. She is a member of the Hiawatha Community Center Teen Council and the Youth Engaged in Service program. She has helped the center create more organized office systems, reshaped the Teen Advisory Council, designed colorful bulletin boards that highlight the teen program, led younger youth in fun activities, and ran special events at both the Hiawatha and Southwest community centers. She is a bright light to those around her.Associated Recreation Council Volunteer of the Year Award
Darrell Glover, Alki Community Center Advisory Council
Darrell not only helps lead the center with important policy and monetary decisions through his work on the advisory council, but he also rolls up his sleeves to help out for special events. He advertises events to businesses, parents, and friends before the event; sets up tables, passes out equipment, and supports staff during the event; then takes out trash, sweeps up afterward, and ensures the work is done before going home himself.
Natalie and Darrell were two of six West Seattle-linked nominees, as first mentioned here last month.
Though registration started yesterday for Seattle Parks community centers and pools’ winter programs, if you tried to find a copy of the winter brochure, you couldn’t. This, we’ve learned today via a discussion on Twitter, is because the department has needed extra time to figure out the schedules for the budget-determined “limited hours” community centers – including Alki – since the budget was just finalized two weeks ago. Parks says the brochures might be posted online as soon as tomorrow (watch the right sidebar on the home page for your favorite community center – the West Seattle/South Park centers and Southwest Pool all combine their schedules into one brochure); the printed version will follow. But you don’t have to wait for the brochure to get program information – check out the online-registration system SPARC by starting here. (P.S. Your West Seattle Community Centers, which are part of the WSB sponsor team, are “likable” on Facebook too.)
2:07 PM P.S. Just discovered on the Alki Community Center webpage that its Advisory Council meets tonight, 7 pm, to talk about next year – a meeting certainly of interest to anyone wondering how the budget cuts will affect its offerings.
Just out of the WSB inbox, word that the next initiative targeting the tunnel-replacing-Viaduct plan is to be filed with the City Clerk tomorrow morning. This one is to bear the name Seattle Taxpayer Protection Initiative, and according to its sponsors’ news release:
• Requires the City of Seattle to hold the State solely responsible for cost overruns and to require budgetary transparency on all state transportation projects located within Seattle.
• Requires all branches of City government to cooperate in holding the State responsible for project costs and report progress to the citizens on a quarterly basis.
• Establishes a Cost Accountability Commission to inform and monitor implementation of the ordinance.
• Instructs City Officials to fulfill the requirements of the ordinance within the full limits of their established authority.
The sponsors, including the state Sierra Club and Real Change, have a website at moveseattlesmarter.org. This is separate from the “no tunnel” initiative for which signature-gathering has been under way for months. P.S. The filing tomorrow will come three hours before the governor is scheduled to open bids from the 2 teams vying to design and build the tunnel.
ADDED 2:16 PM: Reaction from the pro-tunnel Tunnel Plus Transit coalition, excerpted from a news release they just sent:
“This initiative is a complete waste of time, trees, and money. The backers say they are concerned about protecting Seattle’s wallet, but they admit this will have no real affect – except, of course, that they want to waste the taxpayers’ money to put it on the ballot. We don’t need symbolic gestures, we need to replace the capacity of an aging and dangerous structure, we need congestion relief, and we need to take advantage of the favorable bidding climate right now. More delay is irresponsible,” said Bob Donegan, coalition spokesman.
Just yesterday, we were talking about owls. This one is not likely to have been part of THAT story, but it’ll figure into the next West Seattle Art Walk. Remember Wollet, the Lincoln Park owlet, shown here last year in photos shared by Trileigh? This photo is part of her first-ever photography show, “Backyard Beauty and Beyond,” which you can see at the Senior Center of West Seattle during tomorrow night’s Art Walk, 6-9 pm, along with other photos she took, mostly in Lincoln Park. “It’ll be wonderful to share some of these glimpses of our local beauty with my wonderful WS community!” Trileigh tells WSB.
Other December Art Walk highlights – with venues from Alki to Highland Park! (here’s the map) – include The Puny Picture Show, “tiny original masterpieces” – from 16 artists! – at Wallflower Custom Framing and Shooting Gallery (WSB sponsor). You’ll find live music, “puny snacks,” and eggnog as part of the Art Walk party accompanying the show at Wallflower (which also is offering a deal on the WSB Coupons page right now).
Also in The Junction, Twilight Artist Collective – one of the 20 participants in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Shopping Guide – is not only showing new art, it’s having a Tacky Sweater Party; wear your tacky sweater and bring an unwrapped toy for the Treehouse toy drive that’s continuing at Twilight (SW Alaska just west of California) … Be sure to find your way up to California/42nd/Genesee, not only to see Justin Hillgrove at Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor), but also to check out the Silent Auction at Ginomai artist studios – local artists have donated work to raise money for West Seattle Christian Church‘s next wellbuilding trip to Central America (we’ll have a separate story with more on that later today) … Brunette Mix (WSB sponsor) is celebrating its third anniversary and featuring the work of Tony Taj … The Junction also will be in the midst of its second Shop Late Thursday tomorrow night.
Art Walk highlights outside The Junction: If you and your dog stop by West Side Yoga/Doga in Morgan Junction, you’ll find yourself in the Yappy Howlidays Muttmixer party, presented in conjunction with West Seattle-headquartered City Dog Magazine … The Kenney (7125 Fauntleroy Way) will have a visit from Santa Claus in the FIRST hour, 6-7 pm … Bird on a Wire Espresso will welcome Art Walk visitors to its new location at 2604 California SW tomorrow night instead of its Westwood store … A long list of previews can be found at wsartwalk.com (see the map here) and we’ll have at least 2 more previews before tomorrow night.
This morning’s photo is courtesy WSB’er “Veteran Wisdom,” updating the installation of additional lampposts along SW Alaska in The Junction. A bigger light – Alki Lighthouse – figures prominently in one of today’s featured events (as does The Junction): The Kiwanis Club of West Seattle will hear all about it from U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Gary Blore, commander of the USCG’s Seattle-headquartered 13th District; the noon luncheon at Be’s Restaurant is $8, call the Kiwanis office ASAP for a reservation – 206-938-8032 … Tonight at C & P Coffee (WSB sponsor), 7 pm, West Seattle CoolMom talks about greening up the holiday season as well as looking ahead to 2011 … From the WSB West Seattle Holidays list, Westside Dermatology (WSB sponsor) presents its first-ever Holiday Skin Care Party, 5:30-7:30 pm, free but go here to RSVP … Fine Films at Freshy’s (Coffee, 2735 California SW) screens “Elf” at 7 pm.
Just posted on the Caring Bridge website set up by the family of Tony Genzale, the proprietor of Tony’s Market at 35th/Barton in West Seattle who died last weekend (here’s our Saturday night report) – the date, time and place for his memorial services: The Rosary will be at 7 pm next Monday, December 13th; the funeral Mass will be at 10:30 am the following Wednesday, December 15th. Both will be held at St. Francis of Assisi, 15236 21st SW in Burien, where Tony lived until losing his long battle with cancer at age 61. (Photo is from the website for the SW Sewer Commission, on which Tony served.)
Two days after the latest West Seattle Volunteer Recognition Awards ceremony, here’s another major celebration of local volunteer power: Tonight at The Hall at Fauntleroy, people who volunteer for the West Seattle Food Bank were in the spotlight, at the annual holiday-season dinner given in their honor. Among them, the three women in our photo, who are among the food bank’s longest-serving volunteers – Norma Arbow, Caroline Boone, and Asenath Brozovich – volunteering is for people of ALL ages! There are lots of ways you too can help the food bank, even if you don’t volunteer your time – other ways to help are listed on this page of the WS Food Bank website. (And you can give money any time!)
The Southwest Precinct sends holiday greetings and a wish for a (continued) low-crime season. Toward that end, precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen asked if we would share an SPD-provided list of holiday-specific crime-prevention tips with you. Even if you’re sure you’ve heard them all before – take another look. You’ll find the full list after the jump:
Gatewood Elementary students have just gathered a quarter-ton of pennies — but that’s only half their charitable work. Teacher Darren Radu, who also shared the photo, explains:
Over the past 4 weeks, kids from all classrooms worked together to bring in close to 500 pounds of pennies (and other coins) as part of the 2010 Penny Harvest. The bags of coins were shipped off to the local Penny Harvest offices last Thursday.
The next steps for the kids (in the New Year) will be to convene a Philanthropy Roundtable, where students from each grade will come together to research organizations working for justice in the community, country, and world, and determine which organizations are in most need of support. The Philanthropy Roundtable will then allocate grant funds from the pennies raised to these organizations. One of the Roundtable’s most important criteria is ‘leverage per dollar’ – the Philanthropists use their research to allocate funds in a way that works most effectively to make a positive difference in the world. Last year, Gatewood students awarded Penny Harvest grants to PAWS, Haiti Relief, the Mockingbird Society, and Child Haven. They had some guidance from teachers, but did most of the research and made the final decisions on where to send the money themselves.
The attached photo shows some of our many ‘harvesters’ with a few of the 30-pound bags they filled.
Big gratitude to the Gatewood community, families, and friends, for supporting this worthwhile work!
Darren Radu
4th/5th Teacher at Gatewood Elementary
ADDED 7:12 PM: Via Facebook, Stacey tells us Madison Middle School collected for Penny Harvest too – about 300 pounds.
Following our earlier report about Walt Hundley Playfield getting Parks and Green Spaces Levy money for new turf, as recommended by the levy’s Oversight Committee last night, here’s more big news from that meeting: Of the two West Seattle projects that were finalists for money from the levy’s Opportunity Fund, both will get money – one from the fund, one from other sources. The committee is recommending $520,000 for Puget Ridge Edible Park, a site for edible gardening, education, and more, proposed for a parcel in the 5200 block of 18th SW. (Added Wednesday – Stu Hennessey tells WSB that work should start next spring.) And it’s recommending that the Highland Park Spray Park – originally scheduled for a very basic installation where the HP wading pool is now – get “inflation funding” so that it’ll get the water- (and fun-) maximizing features that community advocates led by Carolyn Stauffer were asking for. The recommendations need approval from acting Parks Superintendent Christopher Williams, and then the City Council will vote on them next year.
That’s the map showing where the state’s installing automatic closure gates that are supposed to go down almost instantly if there’s a big earthquake, to keep traffic off the Alaskan Way Viaduct until it’s checked out. The work to install those gates has necessitated ramp and lane closures, and more are ahead in the next week, just announced and all listed here.
Pretty sure this is the first owl-attack report we’ve received in our five years of WSB’ing. Just out of the the inbox, from CS:
Just thought it of interest that my neighbor was attacked by an aggressive owl about 7:45 AM this morning as she was jogging up Bonair in North Admiral. The owl evidently grabbed at the top of her head. The neighbor said this was her second encounter with the Bonair owls. We were wondering if any other neighbors have had an encounter with the Bonair owls.
Rooting around for information on owl attacks, we came up with this 2006 story from the Seattle Times (WSB partner). No conclusions there as to why it happens – this isn’t even breeding season!
(September 2010 WSB photo)
Three months after the city-owned playfield in High Point got its new name, Walt Hundley Playfield (the photo above is from WSB coverage of the September ceremony), it’s getting something else new: Synthetic turf. That’s one of the decisions made at last night’s Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee meeting; the money will come from savings in other projects, including the Delridge Playfield turf work that’s under way right now. Seattle Parks‘ Susan Golub says this is pending City Council approval. Tim McMonigle from the West Seattle Soccer Club tells WSB that High Point is one of the last two lighted dirt fields in the city (the other one, Washington, will get turf in this funding too). He adds, “This is great news … The Hundley field is centrally located in West Seattle, and is in a diverse area that will get a lot of use. The West Seattle Soccer Club is looking forward to Delridge coming online next month and to the Hundley conversion, as late in the season our grass fields can get pretty messy and frequently close. I’m sure there will be other sports organizations that will want this field developed with them in mind as well, much like Hiawatha and Delridge, so it is win-win for the West Seattle community.” The Hundley Playfield turf isn’t the only West Seattle news from last night’s Oversight Committee meeting – a separate story on Opportunity Fund decisions is coming up next.
A month and a half ago, Cara Kroenke at Southwest Youth and Family Services put out a call for help on behalf of the family members who survived an afternoon of deadly violence inside a West Seattle home in September – the murder-suicide shootings that left four members of the Phan/Harm family dead. We talked last night with Cara, who says a recent media report that the survivors were virtually homeless is not true – she has been working with them daily since October. They should shortly all have “permanent” new homes – she says the widower of the woman who opened fire now has an apartment of his own, while the other family members are awaiting final word on a 3-bedroom rental house. The woman who was shot, but survived, will get her bowling-alley job back when she’s ready to work again, Cara says. And the family is working to plan a memorial that in Cambodian tradition, according to Cara, is even more important than the first funeral – the 100-day remembrance. Read on for more about that and what the family needs now:Read More
If you arent sure what the Southwest Design Review Board is/does, that’s understandable, since it (like the city’s other DRBs) hasn’t made news much this year – only two meetings! It’s an all-volunteer, city-convened board that reviews major development proposals for this area (full explanation here). Just a few years ago, the board was meeting for most if not all of its potential twice-monthly sessions, but if there’s no project to review, there’s no meeting. The board needs full membership, though, just in case, and that’s why we’re sharing a final reminder about an opening; application deadline this Friday. Each member on the board (current roster here) has a role – and the one that’s opening represents the local business community. (You do not have to be a business owner, just able to review development applications through the “how would this affect local business?” prism.) Interested in applying? Get the application here; read more in the original citywide announcement here.
Those are youth musicians from West Seattle Community Orchestras, rehearsing last night at Chief Sealth International High School for the holiday concert they’ll be part of tonight – same place – 6:30 pm. Adults $5, children $1, but as the poster says, extra donations are always appreciated! … Tonight’s lineup also includes your chance to find out why the Duwamish River cleanup “feasibility study” matters to everyone in our area – find out about it, and have your say, 5:30-8:30 pm at Concord Elementary in South Park. … The Senior Center of West Seattle presents “Spirit of Salsa,” 10-10:45 am, for fun and exercise, no partner necessary, $10 drop-in … Enjoy your West Seattle Community Centers (WSB sponsor) to the fullest – sign up for winter classes (Southwest Pool, too) starting at noon today – find the info online by going here. … And remember our special holiday links: Events list here, shopping guide here.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
“It’s going to be hard,” acknowledged Liberty Bell Printing owner Michael Hoffman, talking with WSB this evening to announce the closure of his Junction storefront after December 22nd.
He wants to stress that he is NOT closing the business itself – Liberty Bell Printing and Design will continue serving customers, just not from a retail storefront.
Liberty Bell Printing is The Junction’s fourth-oldest business (after Husky Deli, Menashe and Sons Jewelers, and Terjung’s House of Gifts), says Hoffman, who has owned it for 10 years (out of the 38 total that have passed since it was founded). He says the decision to close is simply financial – “economic changes, technology changes; we don’t need to have a storefront any more.”
(WSB photos by Ellen Cedergreen)
What’s in the box? Part of the more than $400 collected by West Seattle Brownies who gathered tonight at Holy Rosary School. The money’s going to Union Gospel Mission, where it’ll buy more than 200 hot meals to feed people in need. The centerpiece of tonight’s event, which gathered five troops of 2nd and 3rd graders from all over West Seattle, was exchanging and decorating cookies:
And that gave them the chance to make new friends – celebrated toward the end of the event, as they sang their “Friendship Song”:
Coming up, local Girl Scouts will deliver birthday-cake-making kits to local food banks in honor of the 150th anniversary this fall of Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low.
1:30 AM UPDATE: Rosina Geary just sent word of the final totals from Monday night’s event:
We had 5 troops (60 Brownie Girl Scouts) in attendance tonight. We will donate 60 dozen cookies to the Union Gospel Mission. And the COMBINED TOTAL spare change collected from all 5 troops was $479.60. This will provide 250 hot Christmas Meals at the Union Gospel Mission.
The spare change, she adds, took three hours to count! The participating troops were #40890, #40699, #43253, #42472, and #40681.
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