West Seattle, Washington
14 Sunday
Three quick notes about local restaurants:
PORTERHOUSE MAKEOVER: Krista Maes, operations director for Porterhouse in the Admiral District, tells WSB they’ll be closing the restaurant/pub tomorrow (Tuesday) “for our own semi-extreme restaurant DIY makeover and re-opening Wednesday July, 27th at about 5 pm for dinner service. The major changes will be seen in styling, menu, and dining room layout and functionality.” Once it’s done, Krista says, “We look forward to any and all critiques,” and will offer “avenues for feedback.”
SPRING HILL AND BIN 41 TEAM UP … for monthly “Juice Salon” sessions at Spring Hill, with small bites and local wines, plus winemaker Q/A. First one is just a week away. Read about it on the Spring Hill website.
RED STAR REOPENING: After a six-day closure, Red Star Pizza in Sunrise Heights is set to reopen tomorrow, per notes on both their door and their website.
(One tile names members of a family that influenced Fauntleroy into the 1980s. Photo courtesy Phil Sweetland)
Your name – or some other inscription – can be etched into Fauntleroy history! From Judy Pickens:
What do a state legislator, sculptor, and school office manager have in common? Their names get walked on by more than a thousand people every week in the Fauntleroy Church/YMCA lobby.
That’s because each contributed in an important way to what Fauntleroy is today. Bill Leckenby was a conscientious voice in Olympia for district residents, Frank Evans made fine art as well as very popular “Thora-ware,” and Betty Bogardus Colman greeted children every day at Fauntleroy School.
These names and several dozen others with a past or present in Fauntleroy have graced the church/Y lobby since 1996, when the church initiated the buy-a-tile project. During the building remodel last year, the lobby grew, as did the number of blank 8″ X 8″ tiles. Now 200 are available to capture more of the neighborhood’s flavor for decades to come.
The tax-deductible cost is $100 per tile for up to two lines of lettering, and pretty much anything related to Fauntleroy goes. Buyers might choose to
§ commemorate grandparents
§ honor a special Y coach
§ mark a wedding or baptism
§ list family members
§ recognize a neighborly business
§ credit an influential residentDeadline to purchase tiles is Nov. 1. Proceeds benefit the church’s Fund for the Future. Order forms are available in the lobby, church office, or at www.fauntleroyucc.org.
After about two hours of public testimony and a 40-minute recess to talk, the King County Council has just decided to put off till the last minute its decision on the proposed $20/year car-tab fee that County Executive Dow Constantine says would save Metro from huge cuts. They’ll reconvene on August 15th (as explained here), which is their last chance to get it on the ballot, although Councilmember Julia Patterson suggested there were “other” possibilities to “explore” in the meantime.
P.S. Since they’ve extended their decisionmaking time – if you hadn’t commented yet, here’s how to do it online.
Will The Triangle’s transition from present to future include rezoning – buildings on its west side up to 85 feet, business areas in its central area rezoned to “neighborhood commercial”? The city’s proposals are about to get their first formal City Council review. The Committee on the Built Environment, chaired by Councilmember Sally Clark, meets at 9:30 am Wednesday; the agenda includes links to the documents they’ll review. (The second one is a briefing, featuring a page with some of what The Triangle’s known for – including, as the document labels it next to a photo, the “Infamous ‘Hole’.”) The meeting begins with a public-comment period, if you have anything to tell the committee about The Triangle (or other issues it’s considering).
P.S. Speaking of public comments – DPD is still taking your comments on the proposed Triangle plans/changes till August 4th. And documentation is now available on whether they would have environmental effects – the links (look for SEPA) are on the right side of the city’s Triangle-planning page.
Early reminder – a two-part closure will affect Alaskan Way Viaduct drivers this weekend. Northbound, it’ll be closed 5:30-8:30 pm Saturday night for the Seafair Torchlight Run; southbound, it’ll be closed for ongoing construction from just before midnight Saturday night, till early Monday. Read on for more details:Read More
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
2:58 PM: If you’re heading east on The Bridge from the Fauntleroy end any time soon, heads up – a crash is backing up traffic. One of the cameras is pointed at it as of this writing; the 911 log describes it as parallel with Admiral.
3:51 PM: Crash scene cleared, according to that city webcam pic. Adding an image from WSB’s Christopher Boffoli, taken before it cleared.
Handy info whether you love them or you hate them: Seafair says U.S. Navy Blue Angels pilots 1-6 are scheduled to arrive at Boeing Field next Tuesday (August 2nd), likely between 11 am and noon. (#7 will be here sooner, as it’s doing media flights on Monday, though its arrival date has not yet been announced.) As always, while here, the Blue Angels are based at the Museum of Flight, just over the ridge from West Seattle, and they always offer special activities during the Angels’ visit. (2010 photo courtesy David DeSiga)
We’re at the King County Courthouse, where jury selection was supposed to start right about now for the two remaining defendants on trial for the murder of Steve Bushaw two and a half years ago, after a week of final pre-trial motions and discussion. But jury selection has just been delayed till Wednesday because of a tangled set of circumstances that made it safer, for the case’s chances of surviving any later challenges, to wait for a new pool of jurors to arrive at the courthouse. Key among the challenges today, the fact that some members of today’s overall courthouse jury pool, while waiting to go into another courtroom, might have seen deputies bringing cuffed defendants Brandon Chaney and Bryce Huber down the hall, a sight that might prejudice them if they were then “recycled” into this jury pool. So Wednesday morning at 9:15, everyone will reconvene. Prosecutor Jeff Baird proposed opening statements then be set for next Monday morning, and no one objected.
11:25 AM: It’s not a done deal yet, but the periodic multiple-food-truck extravaganza Mobile Chowdown is looking to come to the West Seattle Junction this fall. First word came from Lumpia World, which mentioned this on its Facebook page last night; then we found a listing on the city’s Special Events Calendar for “Mobile Chowdown” October 2nd – a Sunday – saying that from 11 am to 6 pm, “California Ave SW will be closed to vehicle traffic between SW Alaska St and SW Edmunds St for a mobile food truck event. Event includes a beer garden and amplified music.” And finally, we’ve just talked with Susan Melrose at the West Seattle Junction Association, who says they’re excited about the possibility and have had meetings with organizers, but haven’t received final word yet. The official Mobile Chowdown site says only that the next one is coming in October. We have a request out for comment from the PR agency that co-sponsors the Mobile Chowdowns, Suzuki + Chou Communimedia, and we’ll let you know when we hear back from them. Past sites have included Safeco Field and Seattle Center.
12:27 PM UPDATE: Michi Suzuki from Suzuki + Chou says the plan for the next Chowdown won’t be final till mid-August but, “We always look for new and cool venues and because it’s MOBILE Chowdown, we can take it anywhere. We really liked the “neighborhood” feel of doing it along the main corridor of the Junction. We’re looking at 22-25 trucks.” She also says they’re proposing it for two blocks of California, Oregon to Edmunds.
The second “packet” for this Thursday’s Southwest Design Review Board doubleheader is now available – the design proposal for Nova, Harbor Properties‘ 62-apartment project at 36th/Snoqualmie in The Triangle, north of The Grove/West Seattle Inn motel. See the full “packet” of graphics and info here. Nova is the second of two projects on the Thursday night schedule, with discussion expected to start around 8 pm (its first SWDRB review was in March); the meeting begins at 6:30 pm with the “early design guidance” review for the 117-apartment 3247 Avalon Way project (its “packet” was available last week, as reported here). Both discussions will happen upstairs at the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon).
If you’re keeping track of the Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) proposal for a 75-unit apartment building in the 5400 block of Delridge Way SW, to provide permanent housing for homeless people dealing with mental illness/substance abuse, here’s an update: When we first reported on the proposal in mid-June, nothing was in the city Department of Planning and Development online system yet. Now, it is. There are two project numbers to track: This one is for the land-use permit application; this one is for the construction permit. Both are filed for the address 5444 Delridge Way. The page for the land-use application notes “Tree preservation and additional commercial space to be considered”; the latter came up at the first informational meeting for the project, a standing-room-only June 27th gathering at Delridge Library from which some were turned away. We are checking with DESC about future meeting plans.
If you have lost or found something that’s not a pet (they have their own page), we usually point you to the WSB Forums to report it. But this is an especially unusual find: Amber discovered a bag of wrestling medals and jewelry “thrown in the bushes in front of my apartment building. I found the items after two people that had been loitering around left. … The medals are labeled and I thought their owner might be missing them.” Her building is south of The Junction, and, yes, she’s reporting it to the police. If you have an idea whose they are, e-mail Amber via comm-9cvhw-2512029556@craigslist.org – click ahead for two more photos:Read More
(Bald eagle looking to be in a Monday mood, though WSB’s Patrick Sand photographed it last Tuesday)
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
COUNTY COUNCIL TAKES UP $20-FOR-METRO: The “congestion reduction charge,” aka “$20/year for car tabs to stave off Metro Transit cuts,” is on the King County Council agenda today. They’ll take one last round of public comment, starting around 3 pm in the council chambers at the County Courthouse downtown. You can sign up starting at 1 pm in the park just south of the courthouse, and you’ll get a card; the process is explained here.
WEST SEATTLE COOKING CLUB: This week’s theme is Condiments: Chutneys, Salsas, Relish, Dipping Sauces, Aioli …. whatever folks create. Meeting is at 2 pm at Beveridge Place Pub.
‘SNAKES: FRIEND OR FOE?’ 3 pm, free program at High Point Library (3411 SW Raymond Street).
DUWAMISH TRIBE HOSTS HISTORIC SEATTLE:At Duwamish Longhouse (4705 W. Marginal Way SW), 5:30 – 7 pm, A short quarterly business meeting of Historic Seattle precedes program about learning from historic sites (free/donation).
NIGHTLIFE: Trivia with Tom Hutyler at Christo’s on Alki, 7 pm … Karaoke with Kelli at Skylark Café and Club (WSB sponsor), 9 pm.
(updated) TODAY’S FORECAST: Mostly cloudy, chance of showers/thundershowers, high in low- to-mid-70s.
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