day : 07/11/2011 10 results

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

We could carry the Wild Western metaphor to extremes when writing about a particular West Seattle event tonight … starting with Brent Amaker in his trademark hat, which of course he sported while making an impromptu speech to the gathering of West Seattle movers-and-shakers who filled the loft at Mission tonight. But … we’ll try not to be too unbridled.

“We are ‘The West’,” Amaker proclaimed — a West Seattle social/networking/activism alliance that’s taken shape over the past few weeks, with a mostly word-of-mouth network drawing interested parties to The West’s first major mixer tonight.

Founders of The West – Amaker, Lora Swift of Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) and Swift Media Solutions, and Lane Bueche of Motherlode – are confident the posse/coalition/group/network can do big things for a good cause – and to further maximize West Seattle’s community-coolness factor.

In the early going, they’re expecting to plot an event that’ll do something for charity. Something involving art, and/or music, particularly relevant since, as everybody around the room introduced her/himself, there were more than a few self-identified musicians and artists, as well as entrepreneurs whose businesses support art and music – proprietors from Skylark Café and Club, Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), West 5, Shadowland, host venue Mission, The Workshop, Harbor Properties, and others (we couldn’t hear all the introductions from our spot in the corner). Many have already been involved in West Seattle-wide coolness-for-causes (think West Seattle for Japan, Lowman Brau, West Seattle Outdoor Movies, just a small sample).

Whatever happens, “It’s gonna be f***in’ cool,” promised Amaker, as loud whoops of approval erupted.

We had to gallop into the night shortly thereafter, while the revelry and strategizing continued behind Mission’s facade:

If you’re interested in connecting with “The West,” best place to do that, we’re told, is by “liking” its Facebook page – but be ready for a wild ride.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Pilfered package; 3 car break-ins

November 7, 2011 9:41 pm

| 14 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

Four brief West Seattle Crime Watch reports to share tonight – a package taken from a porch, and three car break-ins, including one that might have had a witness, since it was in a busy parking lot:Read More

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Caffe Fiore: West Seattle’s newest coffeehouse opens Tuesday

November 7, 2011 8:44 pm

| 23 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS beverages

That’s part of the loft at Caffe Fiore – opening tomorrow in a new North Admiral live/work building at 2206 California SW. Right next to West Seattle Fabric Company (WSB sponsor), whose proprietor Monica Skov was among those who dropped in for a peek at the shop tonight. They weren’t selling coffee, just opening the doors to anyone who wanted to drop by and have a look around. With the loft, it’s West Seattle’s only two-story coffeehouse. Caffe Fiore is what you might call a “micro-chain,” to take the phrase from a businessperson with whom we were talking at another event tonight; this is its fourth all-organic coffeehouse, with the other three in North Seattle Though the building is brand-new, the interior is designed to look historic upstairs – brick walls, recycled wood flooring, ironwork – and the lighting is so warm, our photos of people had to be converted to black/white, like proprietor Deming Maclise and general manager Katrine Callahan at right. You have to see it in person to appreciate it – and you can do that starting at 6 tomorrow morning (hours are listed here).

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West Seattle preschools: ‘Small Scholars’ at High Point CC

November 7, 2011 5:29 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

As noted in the city’s ongoing budget process, Seattle’s city-run community centers offer a lot more than you might realize. If you think they are just places to go play basketball or hang out – you’re missing some of their well-kept secrets. At High Point Community Center (which has a city-organized public meeting tonight), the Small Scholars preschool program is under new leadership. We talked on Friday with Marquita Mosby, who took over Small Scholars this fall. The program (run by the Associated Recreation Council) is for ages 3-5, 9:30 am-1 pm on weekdays, with options for 2-, 3-, or 5-day participation. Marquita says she and her team pack a lot into those hours, from preschool traditions like circle time and play time, to language-learning (they’ve been working on Spanish).

With the expansive park and field grounds right out the door, the preschoolers take nature walks, too. When they show a particular interest, the curriculum responds, she explains – lately there’s been a lot of talk about volcanoes, so they’ve been talking about real-life volcanoes and checking out the ever-popular science-fair staple, the baking-soda-and-vinegar variety. There are openings in the program right now; find out more by calling 206-684-7422 (you can also reach Marquita directly at 206-321-7952).

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Hood Web Management: Welcome, new West Seattle Blog sponsor

November 7, 2011 4:28 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | West Seattle online

Today we welcome a new sponsor, Hood Web Management, an Arbor Heights-based business that specializes in website design, website management, site maintenance for existing websites, search-engine optimization, and online marketing services. Owner Kane Jamison says he’s committed to helping local businesses: “We offer effective online marketing solutions for local businesses, and we’re great at what we do! We have years of experience in building and managing websites and that experience is what makes us such a great value to our clients. We offer a full spectrum of web solutions for business owners including website design, website management and maintenance for existing websites, search engine optimization, online marketing services, and more. We support our community and do our best to support local businesses and keep our dollars in the community.”

Kane says there’s some real advantages of having someone manage your website. “The majority of our clients come to Hood Web Management because they recognize that we can save them time, money, and headaches. Instead of spending four hours trying to figure out how to make a change to their site, we can do it in an hour or less, and more importantly, we know the best way to complete the task. Our clients are frequently delighted to find out that we can take their existing website and improve it by making it faster, by reducing website errors and other issues that cause visitors to leave the site, making small site changes that increase their search traffic, and a number of other similarly beneficial changes. We have yet to run across a client site that couldn’t be improved, and it’s typically something the website owner just isn’t aware of.”

Hood Web Management has done pro-bono work for such community organizations as the Environmental Science Center, Sustainable Burien, and Ballard-based SeaChar. He’s also a member of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce.

DEAL: For a limited time, West Seattle Blog readers can get 25% off their first invoice with Hood Web Management! Start here.

We thank Hood Web Management for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.

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Change in plan for Roxhill Playground, Skatespot design reviews

November 7, 2011 3:05 pm

| Comments Off on Change in plan for Roxhill Playground, Skatespot design reviews

| West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | Westwood

If you’re following the progress of the two-part project to renovate the Roxhill Playground and build a Roxhill Skatespot: The city has just changed its plan for the final public reviews of the two design proposals, adding a new meeting to the calendar.

The process had started with an August meeting about both, continued with separate October meetings about each one (skatespot here, playground here), and then was supposed to conclude with a November 14th meeting about both. But according to a postcard just mailed by the Parks Department, they’re now going to have that meeting next Monday focus only on the skatespot design, while a November 30th meeting has been added, to focus only on the playground design.

Both meetings will be at 6 pm on their respective dates, at Southwest Library (35th/Henderson), same time/location as previous meetings.

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New location for West Seattle Produce: Moving across the street

November 7, 2011 1:14 pm

| 9 COMMENTS

| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

(Photo added 2:39 pm; looking from the NW corner of WSP’s current lot, across to where it’s moving)
Just shared by Christa Anderson – an announcement from West Seattle Produce:

West Seattle Produce Moving to New Location… Across the Street

Earlier this fall, we contradicted rumors that West Seattle Produce was moving because, at that point, it wasn’t. However, plans evolve and West Seattle Produce is now moving to a beautiful new home at 4722 Fauntleroy, directly across the street from the current location. The new location will be open for business on December 1, but we will be open for business at the original location until that date.

(And yes, the Beloved Mexico food truck will be coming too.)

This is exciting: we’ve got more room for current and new projects, lots of great parking, and we’re protected from the weather. We can’t wait to show off the new space!

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Election 2011: Deadline’s tomorrow; don’t go uncounted!

November 7, 2011 11:57 am

| 7 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

If you’re like us, and still in mourning for in-person voting – or, if you’re a classic procrastinator OR extremely busy person – you might still have your ballot sitting around, waiting to be marked/mailed. If so, here’s our reminder: TOMORROW is the deadline to get it postmarked. If you’d rather get it directly into a county dropbox, the only one anywhere near here is downtown (500 4th Avenue, county photo at right); the full list (with maps for each one) is on this county webpage. Your ballot must be in a dropbox by 8 pm tomorrow or else it won’t count. Though this is an “off-year” election, there still is plenty to be decided, including Seattle Transportation Benefit District Prop 1 raising car-tab fees for transportation projects, Seattle Prop 1 aka the “Families and Education Levy,” three statewide initiatives including I-1183 (liquor privatization), I-1125 (tolling), and I-1163 (home health care), five Seattle City Council positions, four Seattle School Board positions, two Seattle Port Commission positions, one King County Council position, and a few more issues/races (see your full sample ballot by filling in the fields on the right side of the County Elections home page – that “sample ballot” will have direct links to all the candidates and measures, if you need to read up on any before voting). The first round of results will go public shortly after 8 tomorrow night, with daily updates after that, till everything’s counted.

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City responds to West Seattle bicyclist’s safety/signage concern

November 7, 2011 10:59 am

| 25 COMMENTS

| Safety | Transportation | West Seattle news

The recent “Viadoom” week put bicycle/pedestrian commuting in a brighter spotlight than it had had for a while – including one hazard along the way between West Seattle and downtown – a spot where non-motorized traffic is supposed to use a “roundabout,” which means they wouldn’t have to cross the road. You can see it at :57 into Seattle Times (WSB partner) reporter Mike Lindblom‘s helmet-cam video of his bicycle commute that week – his narration calls attention to it:

This is apparently the same vicinity in which West Seattle resident Tim Nelson was hit by a truck two weeks ago while running to work. West Seattle bicyclist Eric Shalit, who publishes Tubulocity, e-mailed us about it, saying the safe path is not well-marked; we suggested he contact City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who chairs the council’s Transportation Committee and commutes by bicycle on occasion. Eric’s letter has yielded positive responses from both Councilmember Rasmussen and SDOT leadership – read on to see the letter, and the replies:Read More

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West Seattle Monday: Partial bridge closure; community center’s future; family law; online safety; more

November 7, 2011 8:03 am

| 7 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Heron at Constellation Park, photographed by Melanie Dixon on Sunday morning)
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:

WESTBOUND SPOKANE STREET VIADUCT CLOSURE, OVERNIGHT: SDOT plans to close the westbound Spokane Street Viaduct – the West Seattle Bridge between I-5 and Highway 99 – every night this week, as construction work to widen it continues. 10 pm-5 am, and during the closure, you will not be able to get onto the bridge from I-5 or Beacon Hill. Here’s the official announcement.

BINGO! Weekly bingo at Alki UCC Church (62nd/Hinds), doors open at 5:30 pm, games at 6:30 pm, usually running until about 8:30 pm, $7 buy-in. Hotline for information is [206] 935-5950.

NEW COFFEEHOUSE’S OPEN HOUSE: As reported here last week, the new Caffe Fiore in the Admiral District opens tomorrow, and invites you to a pre-opening open house tonight, 6-9 pm (2206 California SW).

‘WE ARE FAMILY’: The next event in the Community Lecture Series at Admiral Congregational Church is tonight at 7 (4320 SW Hill) Admiral resident Laura Sutkus will talk about family law: Appointing guardians, power of attorney, health care directives (living wills). $5 fee, cookies, coffee, and child care provided

KIDS’ ONLINE SAFETY: At 7 pm, you’re invited to Shorewood Christian School to hear from Stephanie Thomas of the Seattle Police Department, speaking about Internet Crimes Against Children and educating parents about inappropriate online behavior and what to watch out for when online and networking. (10300 28th SW)

HIGH POINT COMMUNITY CENTER’S FUTURE: Under the mayor’s budget proposal, High Point Community Center becomes a sort of hub of community-center services in West Seattle. How will that work? What would you like to see? Bring your ideas to a meeting tonight at 7 pm ((more details here)

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