day : 06/05/2011 13 results

West Seattle photographer (among other things) Robin Lindsey caught the famous pedestrian geese on camera – along with the drivers who stopped for them. She notes, “Of late, the geese and their goslings have decided the grass is sometimes greener on the other side of Harbor Avenue. This poses a major danger to them as they try to cross back and forth from the water side as traffic speeds by. Please drive slowly along the stretch of Harbor from the curve just south of Salty’s to Fairmount and give the geese families the right of way – give ’em a ‘brake’! And thanks to all the drivers who have been so patient and have enjoyed this spectacular sight.”

West Seattle scene: Neighbor says ‘Thanks, SDOT’

May 6, 2011 7:20 pm

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| Safety | Transportation | West Seattle news

Kam shared that photo, reporting: “SDOT just finished with the first phase of repairs on Shore Pl. Thank you to the A-team pothole-repair crew!” According to Kam, it was a three-person team – truck driver plus Reneé and Leon with the asphalt. (Shore Place is right off Beach Drive, recently dubbed “Pothole Drive” – here’s a location map; and here’s the city’s “pothole-report map.”)

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Kiwanis Club of West Seattle “Poker Run” on May 14th

May 6, 2011 5:30 pm

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| Announcements

Fresh out of the Inbox, this notice about the West Seattle Kiwanis “poker run” fundraiser – sounds like a lot of fun!

KIWANIS OF WEST SEATTLE
2nd ANNUAL CHARITY MOTORCYCLE POKER RUN, BIKE & CLASSIC CAR SHOW
PROCEEDS GO TO KIWANIS CHILDRENS CANCER CARE PROGRAM (KCCP)
BECAUSE KIDS WITH CANCER DESERVE A FUTURE

On May 14, 2011, the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle will host its second annual Charity Motorcycle Poker Run & Classic Car Show. Proceeds from this event support the PNW District Kiwanis Project, led by 2010-2011 Governor Frank Morehouse, which will fund cancer research at Children’s Hospital in Seattle. Donations will be made through the West Seattle Kiwanis 21st Century Scholarship Fund, a not-for-profit corporation operating under chapter 501c3 of the US Internal Revenue code. Our EIN is 91-1285427.

A poker run is an organized event in which participants must visit five to seven checkpoints, drawing a playing card at each one. The object is to have the best poker hand at the end of the run. The event is not timed—winning is purely a matter of chance.

Sign-in for this event starts at 8:30am at the lot on 40th Ave SW and SW Alaska St in West Seattle. Following the Poker Run, riders, passengers, and the general public are welcome to a BBQ and to view the Classic Cars on display presented by the Old Rides Club. Prizes will be presented to riders for the Best Hand, the Worst Hand, and other categories as determined. The pre-registration is $25 per rider and $5 for a passenger (if there is a passenger). Day of registration is $30 per rider, plus $5 per passenger. The cost of the BBQ for the general public is $10. Pre-registration closes on May 9th. Click Here To Register on the Kiwanis website. Contact the Kiwanis at westseattlekiwanis@yahoo.com with questions.

==============================================================

Date: May 14th, 2011
Location: 4700 40th Ave SW, Seattle, WA. 98116 (adjacent to Howden Kennedy Funeral Home)
Pre-registration: $25.00 per Bike – $30.00 with Passenger
Day-Of Registration: $30.00 per Bike – $35.00 with Passenger
Entry fee includes B-B-Q, bike show entry, water/snacks along route, and Prize drawing entry.

Time: 8:30am – 9:30am Registration/Check-in
9:30am – 1pm Ride (Poker Run)
1:30pm to 3pm BBQ ($10 for BBQ only)
2:30pm Bike Show

Prizes for Best Hand, Worst Hand & Additional Categories! (Winners of other categories to be chosen by majority vote from attendees)

The Kiwanis Club of West Seattle, now in its 83rd year, undertakes a full program of service to the communities of West Seattle with special emphasis on the growth, education and needs of children from preschool though college. An affiliate of Kiwanis International which has clubs in 83 nations, the West Seattle club is an organization of concerned adults dedicated to changing
the world one child and one community at a time.

The West Seattle Kiwanis club is one of the first service clubs established in West Seattle, and was started in 1929. Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world, one child and one community at a time. The Kiwanis Club of West Seattle offers you the opportunity to share your experience, knowledge, and time in service to the community. This
service is great fun and builds fellowship with other members. Excellent, diverse programs can be enjoyed at our weekly meetings. Membership is open to all men and women who possess a genuine interest in serving the community. The club meets at 7am every 1st and 3rd Wednesday, and Noon every 2nd Wednesday, at Be’s Restaurant in the Junction, at 4509 California Ave SW. Park in rear lot and enter the rear door. For more information, contact Warren Lawless at 206-938-8032 or ewl@westseattle.com

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Update: Watch for Sea-Based X-Band Radar ‘in next several days’

May 6, 2011 4:59 pm

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| Seen at sea | West Seattle news

Two days after our first report that the Missile Defense Agency‘s Sea-Based X-band Radar (SBX) is on its way to West Seattle for three months of maintenance/upgrades at Vigor (formerly Todd), we have a bit of an update: While the military won’t be any more specific, their latest update says SBX “is expected to enter Vigor … within the next several days” since it “will soon enter Puget Sound.” They also want to clarify, for those who have asked, that the radar “will not operate while in the shipyard.” More background info in our Wednesday report; the structure rises 280 feet – that’s almost half as tall as the Space Needle.

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Help Highland Park’s spray-park plan make a splash!

May 6, 2011 4:10 pm

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| Highland Park | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

(2009 WSB photo of Highland Park’s wading pool, which hasn’t been open since 2008)
Almost two years after the plan to convert Highland Park’s wading pool to a spray park first surfaced, it’s getting closer to construction: A public meeting has just been announced for May 25th. The Parks and Green Spaces Levy allotted the bare minimum to convert the pool, $200,000; then Carolyn Stauffer, now co-chair of Highland Park Action Committee, put together a plan to pitch for more money from the levy’s Opportunity Fund, and an additional $580,000 has been finalized. Now, it’s time to talk about what features the spray park – planned for the pool’s current “footprint” – will include. The meeting is set for 7:15 pm May 25th at Highland Park Improvement Club (12th/Holden).

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SDOT confirms Arbor Heights walkway on the drawing board

May 6, 2011 3:44 pm

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| Arbor Heights | Safety | Transportation | West Seattle news

One of the most sidewalk-less areas of West Seattle is in line for a few blocks of potential change. Lisa spotted survey workers on 35th south of Roxbury yesterday, found out their work had something to do with a paved walkway, and asked what we knew about it. We checked with SDOT‘s Marybeth Turner, who confirms:

Survey work is underway for the design of a walkway at this location, to be constructed next year. How long the walkway will be has not yet determined–it will depend on the cost. At this point they are looking at the west side of 35th Ave SW from SW 97th to SW 100th. More will be known as the design work progresses. This is a “Walk Bike Ride” project.

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Video: Caspar Babypants rocks City Mouse Studio & Store crowd

May 6, 2011 2:02 pm

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| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

With the line outside City Mouse Studio and Store (WSB sponsor) in The Junction this morning, you’d have thought a rock star was visiting. Oh wait – one was:

The strollers might have been a giveaway – the rock star on hand was Chris Ballew, aka Caspar Babypants, posing above with City Mouse proprietor Donna Ryan. Her photography studio/children’s-merchandise store is celebrating its first anniversary at 4218 SW Alaska, and CB performed two wall-to-wall-crowded mini-concerts to help celebrate:

City Mouse also just launched an online store – check out the site for a discount code to get you 20 percent off a first-time purchase. (And Donna says locals can pick up online-bought merchandise at the Junction store to save shipping fees.)

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Heads up: Emergency Communications Hub quake drill tomorrow

May 6, 2011 1:29 pm

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| Preparedness | West Seattle news

Last October, we photographed Sharonn Meeks and Cindi Barker during a West Seattle Be Prepared Emergency Communication Hubs drill, simulating what might happen in terms of neighborhood communication during a major earthquake. Tomorrow, WSBP is part of another drill, this one citywide. From 9 am until noon, volunteer groups here and in several other Seattle neighborhoods, with the help of the city Office of Emergency Management and the Auxiliary Communication Service, will be involved in role-playing scenarios and radio communications. The hubs are neighborhood gathering places where volunteers will help coordinate communication in case of catastrophe – an expanded version of the premise that neighbors helping neighbors will be far more likely in the immediate hours and days after disaster than relying on the authorities to reach everyone who needs help. WSBP says this drill will “activate” two hubs – the one for the Fairmount neighborhood, at Providence Mount St. Vincent (4831 35th SW, northeast corner by the flagpole), and the new North Delridge hub (at the P-Patch at 5078 25th SW). You are welcome to come observe, but they don’t need extra help this time around; if you’d like to get involved with neighborhood preparedness in general, here’s how to reach WSBP!

P.S. WSBP has another training session coming up – featuring a movie about our region’s quake threat; it’s on May 16th and you can get all the details here.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Federal charges for accused dealer

May 6, 2011 11:02 am

| 12 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

Court documents confirm what a tipster reported in comments following our coverage of yesterday morning’s police operations at locations including Upper Fauntleroy (remember the helicopter?) and High Point: The man who was arrested is someone we’ve reported on before – James Monroe Flowers, Jr. He’s the alleged drug dealer that Seattle Police arrested in a SWAT-enhanced operation in The Junction back in February; he was out on bond when charges were filed and a warrant issued – we later learned that he posted bond on the warrant without having had to return to jail. Now he’s facing federal charges listed in court documents as “possession of cocaine base (crack) with intent to distribute” and “carrying a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.”

The documents relate to the same investigation that led to the state charges against Flowers (detailed in this WSB report). The federal documents also allege witness tampering – though no charge is filed on that: The narrative says that after Flowers posted bond, one of the witnesses in the case received a phone call from him, asking the witness “not to take him [Flowers] away from his kids” (the court document notes that this is a paraphrase of what was said). The court document goes on to say, “Since this call, the (witness) has received several threatening calls from unidentified subjects who have either directly or indirectly threatened his/her life.” Flowers is now in federal custody, with a detention hearing set for Tuesday. Regarding the locations involved in yesterday morning’s warrant operations – one apparently an arrest warrant, one a search warrant – the documents don’t mention the specific addresses or their significance, but earlier state court paperwork had mentioned a High Point address for Flowers. (Photo courtesy Washington Dept. of Corrections)

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Alert for Lincoln Park walkers/runners/riders: Colman Pool work

May 6, 2011 9:31 am

| Comments Off on Alert for Lincoln Park walkers/runners/riders: Colman Pool work

| West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

West Seattle’s only city-owned outdoor swimming facility, Colman Pool, is getting ready for its short, sweet summer season, opening on Memorial Day weekend as usual. But first, Seattle Parks has a project that will affect people who use the park, particularly along its waterfront walking/running/bicycling trail. According to Parks’ Garrett Farrell, a large vault will be installed to “hold backwash water from the sand filters” (remember, Colman Pool uses filtered Puget Sound water). Since the contractor has to bring in equipment (including a crane) as well as the vault – in pieces – while hauling out dirt from the hole they need to dig, “park users should expect a lot of traffic on the path between Fauntleroy and the pool.” Farrell says this all starts Monday, north of the pool (the path on the building’s east side will be blocked, as will access to the outdoor women’s restroom) and will be done before the pool’s scheduled opening on May 28th (here’s the brochure with this year’s full schedule).

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West Seattle Food Bank: How to help, with just a click

May 6, 2011 8:38 am

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| How to help | West Seattle news

Big night for the West Seattle Food Bank, with its annual benefit dinner. And this can be a big day for them too, if you can help with a one-day-only quest to build the Food Bank’s following on Facebook. WS Food Bank director Fran Yeatts explains:

Reminder: Tonight, Friday May 6th The West Seattle Food Bank is hosting the 4th annual Instruments of Change benefit dinner at The Hall at Fauntleroy.

The event is sold out, but don’t worry, there is still a way to participate and be an instrument of change in our community: All day today, until midnight, participating WS Food Bank board members will donate $1 for every new “like” for the West Seattle Food Bank Facebook page (up to $1000.). Help us get the word out – “like” the West Seattle Food Bank Facebook page and spread the word. http://www.facebook.com/westseattlefoodbank

Attending Instruments of Change? Don’t forget, check-in is at 6:00 pm at The Hall at Fauntleroy, 9131 California Ave SW.

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Less than one week till Northwest Hope & Healing ‘Style ’11’

May 6, 2011 7:51 am

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| Fun stuff to do | Health | How to help | West Seattle news

That video made for Northwest Hope and Healing by West Seattle’s Captive Eye Media gives you a taste of the fashion, fun, and inspiration at NWHH’s annual “Style ’11” benefit fashion show to raise money for its mission: Helping breast-cancer patients – not with the treatment itself, but with the sudden turmoil and upheaval it causes in patients’ lives; that kind of help provides “hope and healing” too. “Style ’11” is now less than a week away – happening next Thursday night, May 12th, at Showbox SODO. Lots of West Seattle involvement again this year – including West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor), Carmilia’s, Coastal, Ola, and Sweetie. Tickets will cost you less online than at the door; get yours by going here.

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West Seattle Friday: From Caspar Babypants to carne asada

May 6, 2011 7:34 am

| 7 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Great blue heron, photographed off Beach Drive by David Hutchinson)
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
CASPAR BABYPANTS MINI-CONCERTS: Caspar Babypants performs a special mini-concert at City Mouse Studio and Store (WSB sponsor, 4218 SW Alaska), 10:30 am and 11:30 am, in honor of the store’s first birthday. See Facebook event page here

CARNE ASADA BOWL: Annual boys’ soccer game between Chief Sealth International JV and Secondary BOC, 3:30 pm at Southwest Athletic Complex on SW Thistle (or SW Trenton, for the other side). After the game, everyone is invited to stay and partake in the annual Carne Asada feast as prepared by Sealth’s own Delfino Muñoz and our generous soccer parents.

AFTER THAT GAME: Sealth athletic director Sam Reed just announced a playoff game tonight for Sealth boys’ soccer varsity: “The boys finished 7-1-4 in the Sound Division and earned the 3rd seed into the playoffs. They will play Seattle Prep tonight at 7:00 pm @ SWAC. This is a single-elimination tournament with 3 teams guaranteed a berth to State.”

JAPAN EARTHQUAKE RELIEF BENEFIT: Tonight at C & P Coffee (WSB sponsor, 5612 California SW), Benefit for Japan’s Earthquake Relief, 6 pm – 7 pm. Originally from New York City but now living in Tokyo, Danny Katz entertains with his unique blend of 80s flavored folk-pop. Proceeds from CD sales at this show will go towards Japan’s earthquake disaster relief efforts.

FOOD BANK BENEFIT: 4th annual Instruments of Change benefit dinner for the West Seattle Food Bank, with keynote speaker King County Executive Dow Constantine, 6-9 pm at The Hall at Fauntleroy (with WSB among the co-sponsors). Event is sold out.

RADIO8BALL RETURNS: The Radio8Ball Show featuring the show’s host and creator, Andras Jones, and local darlings The Young Evils, and The Janks from Los Angeles, returns to Seattle for a weekend of shows at Skylark Cafe and Club (WSB sponsor, 3803 Delridge Way SW). Advance tickets $8, at the door $12; Buy online

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