Morgan Junction Community Festival countdown: This Saturday!
With the official start of summer just hours away, we’re looking ahead to this weekend’s festival schedule – starting with the Morgan Junction Community Festival (presented by the Morgan Community Association, co-sponsored by businesses including WSB), in and around Morgan Junction Park (6413 California SW) on Saturday, 10:30 am-7 pm, with live music, kids’ activities, and food, plus cool neighbors to meet. 
Food at the Morgan Junction Community Festival is a little different than your average festival – once again this year, they’re featuring the “Bite of Morgan,” which involves a free coupon book you get at the info booth in the park – first come, first serve! – to take around to nearby establishments. Festival volunteer Kate Gill de la Garza sends the updated final list of participants – nine this year, the most ever! – Abbondanza Pizzeria, Caffe Ladro, Domino’s Pizza, Feedback Lounge, Kokoras Greek Grill, Meander’s Kitchen, Pet Elements (doggie-treat bites), Windermere Real Estate, Zeeks Pizza. (And for a full-meal deal, buy lunch at the barbecue tent outside West Seattle Thriftway – all proceeds go to the festival fund.) As for music and performances, here’s the latest lineup; highlights include The Bubbleman at 11:15 am, the Tongan Choir at 4:15 pm, and lots of music before and after, including cover rockers Offenders at 6:15 pm to wrap up the festival, which runs 10:30 am-7 pm. More info in last week’s preview – see it here!
New Admiral Safeway: Updates, as opening date approaches
(4:55 pm view from the “live” construction-site webcam looking south at front of store)
As the new Admiral Safeway gets closer to completion, we have been checking with Sara Osborne from the project team to ask about any changes. August 12th remains the scheduled store-opening date, she tells WSB. The new commercial building on the northwest side of the site still has only one officially signed tenant, Umpqua Bank, but Osborne says, “There is considerable interest.”
Safeway also has a few community initiatives coming up: More than 20 West Seattle-area employees will join the playground-building party this Saturday (June 25) at Lafayette Elementary across the street from the new store. Osborne says, “Safeway will be providing refreshments and is also going to purchase a bench for the school’s Play It Forward fund.”
Safeway also plans to attend the West Seattle High School freshman orientation on August 31st, to “provide taste samples of nutritious lunch offerings for the students, as well as have an eScrip information booth.”
Last but not least, Osborne says, “We plan to host LEED tours right before the store opens. This means we will provide tours for interested groups who want to learn how a grocery store obtains LEED designation. If there are organized groups interested, please contact me at sara.osborne@safeway.com.”
No, it’s not a spill: Noctiluca ‘bloom,’ redden West Seattle water
We’ve received multiple photos today of an unsettling sight in West Seattle waters. The WSB’er who sent the photo above, showing Cormorant Cove Park off Beach Drive, wondered if it’s a spill. NO – not a spill. If you read WSB over the weekend, in fact, you probably already know it’s a bloom of microorganisms called noctiluca, according to Beach Drive resident Lura Ercolano, who answered a reader’s question over the weekend and shared a photo this morning:
Lura explains, “It is a beautiful, glowing, noctiluca bloom. They are single-celled creatures, and there may be more than normal this spring, or it might just be that we haven’t had big waves to disperse them.” We also received a Brace Point photo from Kathleen:
Here’s more information. Experts say noctiluca is NOT TOXIC so while you might just decide to keep away from it, you don’t have to. (Our archives show that something similar turned up in summer 2008.)
8:57 PM UPDATE: The Kitsap Sun reports that the state did a flyover this morning to take a look at the bloom.
City budget cuts: Brief reprieve over; Junction Neighborhood Service Center to close June 30th
Local neighborhood-organization leaders argued successfully to save it from last fall’s round of budget cuts – but now the West Seattle Junction Neighborhood Service Center (Alaska/42nd) is again slated for closure, according to a memo from the Department of Neighborhoods. This is part of almost $9 million in midyear budget cuts just unveiled by Mayor McGinn‘s office. From the memo by DON director Bernie Matsuno outlining more than $206,000 in cuts for the department:
… With these reductions, there are major staffing and programmatic impacts. We will be closing the West Seattle Neighborhood Service Center and moving operations into the Delridge facility. Although we believe this will not impact the community significantly (the Delridge facility is less than two miles away), NPIS staffing will be. We are losing funding for two, .5 FTE Customer Service Representatives (CSR) positions. Losing staff is never easy; we will do everything we can to support and assist staff as they seek other employment. The West Seattle facility will close on June 30.
The Junction center couldn’t stay open forever – it is on the site of the future Conner Homes development, which could start construction as soon as next winter. We are still reviewing the mayor’s plan to look for other West Seattle-specific cuts. This is the only West Seattle-specific cut listed in the presentation made to the Council Budget Committee this morning.
West Seattle Crime Watch: Another Alki robbery reported
For the second weekend in a row, someone has reported being assaulted and robbed on Alki. As noted in our most recent edition of the WSBeat police-report roundup, two men told police they were attacked in the 2500 block of Alki SW early Sunday, June 12, and one man’s wallet was taken. Then around 2 am today, we heard a “strong-arm robbery” call on the scanner, at 59th/Alki – two blocks from the previous incident – and followed up with Seattle Police media-response unit Det. Mark Jamieson: He says witnesses called 911 to report seeing a “male victim … assaulted, robbed of (his) wallet and iPhone.” There are not many other details because the victim was “not really cooperative at the scene,” Det. Jamieson says, but after Seattle Fire checked him out, he was taken to Harborview Medical Center. We have a question out to the Southwest Precinct to ask if there’s any suspicion the two incidents are related, and we’ll update with any additional information we get.
West Seattle Summer Fest 2011 countdown: Vendor list, and more
West Seattle Summer Fest (co-sponsored by WSB) starts 2 weeks from this Friday – summer’s biggest party in West Seattle, and it’s a three-day celebration as usual. The West Seattle Junction Association has announced a few more details today (we reported on the full music lineup last Friday): For one – the vendor list is now online; see it here. And Summer Fest is very “green” – besides the sustainability/garden expo Green Life, you’ll find Hack Cycle, described as “old bikes ‘upcycled’ into new bikes using human-powered power tools alone,” and a Zero Waste commitment – in partnership with Cedar Grove Composting, WSJA says, “All plates, utensils, beverage containers and napkins are either compostable or recyclable and volunteers will be staffing disposal stations to help festival goers deposit their used items in the proper containers to keep recyclables from becoming contaminated.”
Summer Fest hours will be 10 am-10 pm Friday (July 8), 10 am-midnight Saturday (July 9), 11 am-5 pm Sunday (July 10); the vendors close earlier on Friday and Saturday (6 pm and 8 pm, respectively). Keep an eye on wsjunction.org/summerfest for all the official lists and maps.
West Seattle Monday: 2-weeks-till-4th-of-July edition
(From last night’s Art Car show at Feedback Lounge – more pix here)
The heart of summer is rushing this way – two weeks till the 4th of July; West Seattle Summer Fest starts two weeks from Friday … But first, a few highlights for today, from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
LAST WEEK BEGINS FOR SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Elementary and K-8 schools’ final day is tomorrow; middle and high schools’ final day is Thursday.
AFTERNOON BOOK GROUP: “The Moviegoer” by Walker Percy is this month’s book for the afternoon group at Southwest Library, which meets today, 2 pm.
FULL TILT ICE CREAM ANNIVERSARY, MATCHING DONATIONS: In honor of its 3rd anniversary, Full Tilt Ice Cream donates matching ice cream to the White Center Food Bank for everything bought today. They’re now open Mondays (2 pm-10 pm); here’s our story from last night.
SUSTAINABLE WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY FORUM: That’s tonight’s topic, , as previewed here last night, with participants including Greg Whittaker of Alki Kayak Tours and Mountain to Sound Outfitters, and Patti Mullen of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, 7-9 pm at Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon).
FAMILY STORY TIME: The High Point Library (35th/Raymond) has a Family Story Time on Mondays at 7 pm! All families are welcome to enjoy songs, rhymes, games, and books with the children’s librarian.
MONDAY NIGHTLIFE: Bingo at Alki UCC church – doors open at 5:30 pm, games start at 6:30 pm (read more here) … Trivia with Tom Hutyler at Christo’s on Alki, 7 pm … Karaoke with Kelli at Skylark Café and Club (WSB sponsor), 9 pm
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