On Twitter this evening, we learned that the Lumpia World food truck is set to debut in West Seattle this Saturday, 11 am-2 pm. (Yes, the same window as Marination Mobile‘s weekly visits.) Where? They’re planning to make that announcement on Twitter (@lumpiaworld) and Facebook this Thursday night.
Three months ago, we reported on charges filed against Admiral resident Juanita Wright, found to have a blood-alcohol level of .29 after driving into seven pedestrians in SODO. Today, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Wright “pleaded guilty … to three counts of Vehicular Assault and one count of Reckless Driving … The sentence range is 22 to 29 months in prison.” She is scheduled for sentencing February 18th.
From West Seattle Hi-Yu tonight via Facebook: Two months after “Sparkling Seattle” was chosen as this year’s theme, it’s time for a button design to go along with the float design (the prototype above is from the December Hi-Yu meeting, when the theme was chosen):
Looking for an easy and creative way to show your community pride? West Seattle Hi-Yu is kicking off their annual button design contest. These buttons will be sold at events throughout Western Washington this summer!
This year’s theme is “Sparkling Seattle.” This year’s float design will depict all that makes Seattle sparkle! Think Ferry Boats, Seattle Skyline etc. The winning button will be chosen at the general membership meeting by popular vote on February 7th, 6:30 p.m. at St John the Baptist Church Hall.
All button designs should be in final size, which is 2 ½”. Hi-Yu welcomes entries from all ages! The winner receives a $25.00 check and will ride in the West Seattle American Legion Parade in July. Please send entries by email to wshiyu@yahoo.com or bring it to the meeting !THANK YOU for supporting your community festival.
South Seattle Community College’s Northwest Wine Academy is a first-of-its-kind program in Western Washington and offers three certificate programs – Wine Making, Wine Marketing & Sales, and Food & Wine Pairing. The Academy complements the college’s highly regarded and award-winning Culinary Arts program and the new bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management program.
The event is free and open to the public. The Northwest Wine Academy is located on the South Seattle Community College campus across from Bernie’s Bakery. Parking is available in the North entry parking lot.
Denny International Middle School‘s motivational music video “Teach Me How to Study” has landed them on KING 5 Morning News the past two days – quick clip on Monday, then a live in-studio interview this morning with teacher Gary Lai and assistant principal Chanda Oatis. If you missed it while running around getting ready for your day, we’ve embedded the interview video above. When we first reported on the video last Friday night (adding comments from the filmmaker and Denny principal Jeff Clark to the story as the weekend progressed), it had a little over 1,000 views on YouTube; as of right now, it’s up to almost 8,000. What? You haven’t seen it yet?
(Watch for the cameo by the “Westwood Neighborhood Welcomes You” sign.)
Another online upgrade from the City of Seattle: A map to track potholes. They’ve long had an online-reporting form, but now there’s a map to go along with it, just unveiled today. See the map here; see the accompanying information (including weekly status reports) here.
We’re at Seattle Parks headquarters downtown, where acting superintendent Christopher Williams (photo right) has just told West Seattle Golf Club and Camp Long Advisory Council leaders the decision on whether the controversy-beset West Seattle Golf Course driving range will proceed: It will NOT.
Williams says public concern is a major factor – as is the fact what they would have to do would exceed the available budget. The money left over in the design process, $500,000, will initially be applied to Golf Master Plan projects at Jackson and Jefferson courses, according to Parks leaders. (ADDED WEDNESDAY: Parks says $255,000 was spent on design/engineering for the WS driving range before this decision.) And the Jackson driving range will likely now move forward this year instead of the later timetable. As for future West Seattle projects – they remain on the current timetable for now, though it was acknowledged that plans have room to change. What about a new clubhouse for West Seattle? Wilkinson agreed, “We sure need a clubhouse there.”
WSGC is represented at the meeting by Patrick DiStefano and Mike Prittie (photo left); Parks reps also include deputy superintendent Eric Friedli and the citywide golf manager Paul Wilkinson. Camp Long Advisory Council reps Mary Quackenbush and David Kipnis are here too. WSGC’s president Bob Chamberlain was speaking to the Rotary Club of West Seattle just this past hour. (photo and notes added)
Chamberlain had reiterated to the Rotary that once it became clear the driving range would alter part of the golf course itself, the 700-member club was officially opposed, and that’s the viewpoint he had to represent.
(back to original report on announcement meeting) As DiStefano put it, there was widespread support for a driving range – but not for one that would change the existing golf course itself. “This really makes the most sense, looking for the overall … way to move the West Seattle Golf Course forward, toward something that will generate some revenue toward future projects,” he said, while expressing concern that the money originally budgeted for this “will never come back.”
More to come – we’ll add a few more toplines from the briefing, as well as from the WSGC president’s speech to Rotary that preceded it; the official Parks news release about this should be out momentarily, too. Side note: The department says it can’t recall the last time a project was completely canceled this far into the design/review/community-meeting process. “We listened,” Williams noted.
ADDED 2:56 PM: The official news release is now out: Read More
ADDED 11:11 PM: Heard back from Breathe proprietor Amber:
– We plan to open April 1, 2011
– We will start off with 4 classes a day Monday-Friday and 2 classes a day Saturday/Sunday
– All class packages and memberships will be good at both locations (our current location is in South Lake Union off of 8th & Bell, one block west of Whole Foods)
– How we differentiate ourselves:
– At Breathe, we focus first on the yoga practice. Along with that we focus on serving our customers’ needs. We offer high quality instruction and in an accepting, friendly environment. We welcome all types of practitioners. Although we practice yoga in a heated room, we emphasize the yoga practice, not heat exhaustion. We try to make every class for every customer an enjoyable and worthwhile experience. Unlike other hot yoga studios, we provide different temperature zones within the yoga studio. Having different zones, allows to students acclimate to the heat in a graduated manner.
– At Breathe we recognize that practicing yoga in a super heated room is a luxury from an energy consumption standpoint. We do our best to reduce energy consumption by using radiant heat, natural lighting and well insulated spaces. We understand the yoga experience starts when a customer walks thru our door and ends when they leave. We strive for excellent service, a clean environment and great yoga.
For Breathe Hot Yoga, this is really a homecoming. Amber was instrumental in building the West Seattle hot yoga community. She developed a loyal following as the director and lead teacher at Bikram Yoga West Seattle from 2001-2008.
While some of her students made the trek to SLU, many more have expressed excitement at the prospect of a Breathe Hot Yoga closer to home.
Thanks!
Amber Borgomainerio, Ross Yearsley & the Breathe Hot Yoga Staff
Thanks to the WSB’ers who tipped us this morning that work has begun on the north half of the long-empty NW corner of California/Graham (map) – earth is being moved (see equipment and new dirt pile in photo’s background). It’s been so long since we reported on the new plan for the site, one person who e-mailed thought this had begun without notice. Our last report was in July (see it here); according to the city’s online records, the permits were granted two weeks ago, and still total 4 townhouses and 3 “work units” (fronting California) for the site, as described last summer. As we also noted then, two lots a few doors north went through a similar process, and construction is under way on the second (northernmost) one right now.
Regarding the southern lot at the California/Graham corner – a “for sale” shingle is still up, as our photo shows. But city records indicate a very preliminary proposal went through “land-use coaching” last November for a “3-story, 44-unit Alzheimer’s community.” We’ll be checking to see if we can find out whether or not that is still an active proposal.
(Photos by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
It wasn’t a ribboncutting or “speechifying” occasion – just a casual gathering in the breezeway between Northwest Art and Frame and Puerto Vallarta in The Junction on Monday afternoon, to dedicate the three-panel art installation now gracing the breezeway, with the placement of a plaque:
Among those on hand for the occasion: Maureen O’Neill and Ron Davis from Parks, Roxanne Brown, Brian Judd, and Rebecca Hall from High Point Community Center, which partnered on the project, with a Seattle Housing Authority grant. It all started last summer, when we covered two milestones along the way: In August, we showed you the panels being created, and then the three panels being installed. 40 local youths between 10 and 17 took part along the way, choosing to tell the story of their “Past, Present, and Future”:
Here’s what the dedication plaque says:
As youth, we envision a diverse world that accepts everyone without judgment and allows us to explore our options. Our work is open to interpretation – we hope to inspire and open your eyes to the diversity and aspirations of the youth living in the West Seattle community.
So don’t just breeze through the breezeway – stop and take a look:
According to Liz Schroeder (above) from the West Seattle Junction Association, also involved with the project, the next step for beautifying the breezeway – which is privately owned (yes, the owner gave permission for the murals) – is new surfacing for the walkway.
Budget-mandated staff cuts at Alki Community Center have put the annual Alki Art Fair in jeopardy, as reported here previously. But volunteer power, and the Alki Community Council, might be able to save it. As announced at alkinews.com, there’s a meeting this Thursday, 5 pm, at the center, for anyone who wants to find out how to help.
(Photo by David Hutchinson – river otter spotted off the north end of Don Armeni)
Welcome to February! Chilly sunshine to start the month – and a fairly quiet day/night, in terms of scheduled events. Longtime WSB sponsor Dream Dinners (on the outer east side of Jefferson Square, 4701 41st SW) has an open house tonight – to RSVP, 206-938-5999 … Four local library branches welcome you to story times today/tonight: Baby Story Time at West Seattle (Admiral), 10:30 am, and at Southwest, 11:30 am; Toddler Story Timeat Southwest, 2 pm; and Family Story Time at Delridge, 7 pm … Several regular Tuesday activities/events, too – check the WSB West Seattle Events calendar.
We’re at 
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