month : 03/2011 376 results

West Seattle Wednesday: SW District Council; WSHS meeting…

March 2, 2011 6:26 am

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| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(WSB photo from Seattle Summer Streets “car-free day” on Alki last year, 5/23/2010)
Short list from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar for today/tonight: The Southwest District Council, which includes reps from community councils and other major organizations around western West Seattle, meets at 7 pm, board room at South Seattle Community College (6000 16th SW). The agenda includes a briefing on this year’s Alki “car-free day” (aka Seattle Summer Streets), coming up May 22nd (as first noted here a month ago when West Seattle 5K registration began) … Also tonight at 7, the meeting at West Seattle High School for feedback on interim principal Ruth Medsker, as previewed here … 7 pm is also the starting time for the “project knitting” class at C & P Coffee (WSB sponsor), 5612 California SW ($10) … Up early? Run your own small business? The Westside Professionals business-networking group (WSB sponsor) welcome you, 8 am, The Kenney, 7125 Fauntleroy Way (or find out about them any time on Facebook).

P.S. (added 7:17 am) – It’s an early-dismissal (2 hours) day for Seattle Public Schools students.

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4 days to pre-spring cleaning for West Seattle’s longest stairway

March 1, 2011 8:23 pm

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| How to help | West Seattle news

It’s West Seattle’s longest stairway, and we’d venture to say its best-known, as a result. Seattle Stairway Walks has featured it; runners and walkers express begrudging appreciation for its 359 steps (or so – this site cites different numbers!). The Thistle Street Stairway, running between Lincoln Park and the Upper Fauntleroy/Gatewood line, is getting some TLC this Saturday, and you are invited to be part of it. Stairway fans are gathering at the bottom, 46th and Thistle (map), at 10 am Saturday for two hours of intensive cleanup. Here’s the Facebook event page, which you can use to RSVP if you choose, and organizers would love to know “if you are able to bring any of the following: scraping tools, brooms, flat shovels, or other implements of moss destruction” – yes, they mean MOSS destruction. They’re promising to “bring the yard waste bags, drinks, and a plan.” This is the second-longest stairway in the city, one of 480 stairways that are part of the public right-of-way. (Photo by Wesley Sauer)

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White Center/North Highline annexation vote? Council’s next step

March 1, 2011 7:20 pm

| 10 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle politics | White Center

Following up on last week’s City Council briefing on the potential costs of White Center/North Highline annexation, the Regional Development and Sustainability Committee took a closer look today. It was the first step toward deciding whether to seek an annexation vote this fall – to ask the 20,000 residents of the potential annexation area whether they want to become part of Seattle or not. The state Growth Management Act says urban services need to be delivered by cities, so unincorporated urban areas like this one have to either become part of a city, or create their own; the latter is considered unlikely, so the decision for WC is ultimately: Seattle or Burien? Under terms of a never-finalized agreement that both cities are nonetheless currently honoring, Seattle has dibs till the end of this year. For an annexation to happen this fall, a process including the state/county Boundary Review Board has to be triggered this spring, so the big decision for this committee will come at its next meeting March 18th. You can watch Seattle Channel video of this afternoon’s meeting (public comment 2:30 in, the full agenda item at 42:30, with an unrelated urban-forestry report inbetween) by going here; we also live-chronicled meeting highlights on partner site White Center Now. (Screen-grab images: Above left, Seattle annexation supporter Kathi Wheeler; above right, Burien annexation supporter Gill Loring.)

P.S. A commenter asks about the boundaries of the proposed annexation area; here’s a King County map showing the zone under discussion, known as “Area Y.”

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‘Harry Potter’ super-fan? The Admiral’s the place to be on Sunday

March 1, 2011 5:21 pm

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| Admiral Theater | Fun stuff to do | West Seattle news

The latest “Harry Potter” movie continues at the Admiral Theater this weekend, and the theater plans a special event: Fans who come to the theater in costume for the 3:40 pm matinee on Sunday will get a chance to win prizes courtesy of a super-fan who’s also bringing along her HP-themed car (which isn’t among the prizes, but IS for sale). The car belongs to Alexia Johnson, a custom-made Mini Cooper convertible that was custom-ordered from Oxford, England, in the 2006 model year. According to The Admiral’s announcement, Johnson explained, ““I have been a longtime Harry Potter fan and I wanted my British car to reflect my favorite British story. I went to the Mini dealership in 2005 and choose everything that I wanted to have on my car. It has a supercharged engine and it is manual. I love the color purple and at that time they came out with a new color, Purple Haze. That color is now discontinued but that makes my car even more special and unique.” She says an artist “took the clear coat off of the car, painted “HP” on the doors, golden snitch on the gas tank cover, Hogwarts crest (which has a lot of detail) on the hood between the stripes which are hand-painted not decals like they normally are. Finally, he put a metallic coat on the car and under street lights and in the sun light it sparkles like magic!” (52,000 miles on the odometer and she’s asking $20,000 or best offer.) The Admiral says that Johnson’s collected HP memorabilia through the years and “will be giving out some great prizes to the best costumed attendees.” Doors open at 3 pm.

(Also of note for those who haven’t seen the Oscar-nominated movie “The Social Network,” it opens Friday at the Admiral. Plus, Saturday night at midnight, it’s the monthly “Rocky Horror Picture Show” extravaganza. More details in this update e-mail from The Admiral.)

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West Seattle development updates: Shoremont; Trader Joe’s

March 1, 2011 1:57 pm

| 24 COMMENTS

| Development | West Seattle news | West Seattle Trader Joe's

Two updates this afternoon on sites from the WSB watch list:

SHOREMONT APARTMENTS: Thanks to Patricia for sending the photo after spotting the land-use sign that went up in the past day or so outside the once-targeted-for-demolition Shoremont (2464 Alki SW). We reported back in December that a Mercer Island investor’s deal to buy it had closed; that purchase followed a period of bank (and even federal) ownership, which in turn followed a proposal 3 years ago to demolish it and put up an ultramodern complex. The new proposal is described on the sign and on the DPD website as adding one unit to each of two three-unit buildings, for eight units total. To find out what exactly that entails, we’ll likely have to check the files downtown (which we had done a few weeks ago, knowing a proposal was in the works, but nothing had been filed yet). The DPD website says a formal comment period will open with this Thursday’s Land Use Information Bulletin.

TRADER JOE’S SITE: It’s been three whole weeks since our last update, so if you’re among those starved for incremental info, here’s the latest bit of news: The DPD officially “accepted the application” last Thursday for the main part of the project to turn the old Huling Brothers Buick showroom site (4545 Fauntleroy Way) into a new Trader Joe’s store (rendering at right). As we had written last month, there had been some back-and-forth about parking on the site and other details, but “application accepted” is one milestone toward the permit being granted. As we noted while reviewing the file last month, TJ’s thinks construction will take about six months, so assuming a permit’s granted before long, the current realistic timetable for opening is probably fall.

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Challenge time! West Seattle/White Center Food Bank donations count extra, starting now

March 1, 2011 11:14 am

| 1 COMMENT

| How to help | West Seattle news

March means the start of the annual two-month Feinstein Challenge – and that means your donation, in money or material, to West Seattle Food Bank or White Center Food Bank (which also serves southernmost WS) counts for more than its face value, if you designate it as part of the challenge. Here’s the official announcement from your two local food banks:

The White Center Food Bank and West Seattle Food Bank are seeing a record number of families come to their doors for assistance. During March and April your donations to help neighbors in need can go farther.

For the 14th consecutive year, Allan Shawn Feinstein will divide $1,000,000 among hunger relief agencies nationwide through his Feinstein Challenge. All donations made between March 1 and April 30th, 2011, and that are specifically designated “Feinstein Challenge,” will count towards the challenge total and help these agencies receive a larger percentage of the million dollars.

For the White Center Food Bank, donations may be mailed to 10829 8th Avenue SW, Seattle, WA 98146. To make a donation online or for information about the White Center Food Bank’s programs benefited by the $1 Million Challenge, visit www.whitecenterfoodbank.org or contact Rick Jump at (206) 762-2848, or e-mail rick@whitecenterfoodbank.org.

For the West Seattle Food Bank, donations may be mailed to 3419 SW Morgan, Seattle, WA 98126. To make a donation online or for information about the West Seattle Food Bank’s programs benefited by the $1 Million Challenge, visit www.westseattlefoodbank.org or contact Fran Yeatts at (206) 932-9023, or e-mail fran@westseattlefoodbank.org.

For information about the Feinstein Foundation and the $1 Million Challenge, visit www.feinsteinfoundation.org

As the need for our services continues to increase significantly, your donations are now more important than ever.

The Feinstein Foundation says its annual Challenge is “the most successful ongoing effort ever to fight hunger” – so your donation makes you part of that.

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West Seattle Tuesday: Digging into the first day of March

March 1, 2011 9:50 am

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| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

We have traffic alerts large and small, to start the day … reminder in case you missed our update last week, the Fairmount/Forest intersection continues to be a major digging zone, and Craig – who shared those shots from Monday – says they’re down about 25 feet. The emergency work to replace a broken sewer main (blamed for this sinkhole) is expected to continue at least another week. … On a larger scale, SDOT says the westbound Spokane Street Viaduct will be CLOSED AGAIN TONIGHT for the fourth time in the past week as part of the ongoing widening project – 10 pm-5 am, that’s the section of the bridge between I-5 and Highway 99. The Harbor Island offramp from the bridge will be closed those same hours tonight, tomorrow night, and Thursday night.

Also tonight:

SECOND P-PATCH DESIGN MEETING: Bigger plots? Smaller plots? Keep the tree? Remove the tree? Much still to be decided as the planning of the 34th/Barton P-Patch design continues – but this is the last community meeting at which it’s all still on the table. 6:30 pm, Southwest Community Center (2801 SW Thistle; here’s our coverage of the first meeting).

FAMILY STORY TIME AT DELRIDGE LIBRARY: Tonight, children’s librarian Amy leads Story Time at the Delridge/Brandon library branch, 7 pm.

‘TASTE OF DREAM DINNERS’ OPEN HOUSE: Sample the March menu at Dream Dinners-West Seattle (WSB sponsor) and see what it’s like to assemble a dinner – drop in at 5:30, 6 or 6:30 pm (call 206-938-5999 if you have questions ahead of time), 4701 41st SW on the east side of outer Jefferson Square.

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL TRIVIA: Tuesday nights mean rock trivia with cash prizes at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 6451 California SW, 8 pm.

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West Seattle youth sports: New bicycling club; WS Soccer reminder

March 1, 2011 8:36 am

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| West Seattle news | WS & Sports

Two youth-sports notes this morning:

NEW CROSS-COUNTRY MOUNTAIN-BIKE-RACING LEAGUE: The Washington High School Cycling League is forming statewide, with a “composite club” being set up in this area for high-school students (public, private, or homeschool – it’s not affiliated with any specific school or program). Prerequisites are “a working mountain bike and a bike helmet,” but experience not required, say organizers – league events will include riding-skills clinics, safety guidelines, and equipment awareness. The first race is in early April; if you are interested in joining as a rider or as a ride leader/volunteer, e-mail West Seattle club director Nikole Rock, nkrck@yahoo.com.

LAST DAY FOR WEST SEATTLE SOCCER CLUB SPRING SIGNUPS: Today is the final day of registration for the West Seattle Soccer Club‘s spring season; as of tomorrow, players will only be accepted on a “space-available basis.” Games are played at eight fields around West Seattle; this year’s theme is “Champion’s League,” after a major European competition – each team represents one of the clubs in that league (and gets to keep her/his jersey). For signup info, go to this WSSC webpage.

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