South Seattle Community College is known for an ever-longer list of specialties … food, wine, horticulture, automotive technology, to name a few. The latter was in the spotlight today at a ceremony unveiling a sign in honor of its forthcoming Steve and Sharon Huling Automotive Center. This was a followup to the announcement last year that the Hulings would be the namesakes of the center, which is about to undergo an $18 million renovation, increasing to 45,590 square feet with 27 shop bays (up from the current 18), enabling an enrollment expansion. Dozens of dignitaries and students, from the Hulings and SSCC president Gary Oertli to a large contingent of the program’s faculty and students, participated in the ceremony. Here’s our video:
The Hulings have long been strong supporters of SSCC, with Steve Huling currently on its President’s Advisory Council. The couple shared a champagne toast with the president after the sign unveiling:
Given the family history in the automotive business (until 2007), the center is perfect synergy, especially since it will offer a “dealership environment” for students to work on vehicles. A few datapoints about the program at SSCC, as mentioned during today’s ceremony: Its faculty includes three full-time in automotive technology and one in collision repair, with more than 80 students; a six-quarter Associate of Applied Science degree is available in Auto Tech, as well as training certificates in various areas. It’s won a “Top 4 Automotive Schools” award, and they expect to be offering classes soon in alternative fuels. The future Steve and Sharon Huling-named center is on the north side of the main campus.
So far, one of the biggest West Seattle trends this holiday season is … Santa-mania! It’s Santa everywhere. And just added to the WSB West Seattle Holidays page tonight, the return of Santa Paws, 11 am-1 pm December 10th at Windermere West Seattle HQ in The Junction … the guy in the fur-trimmed hat is there for photos with your furry friend(s). That’s our newest listing in the “Santa Photos” section. We also have a link now to the schedule at CAPERS for the bearded St. Nick we’ll call “Ex-Westwood Santa” … plus you can get a Santa photo at the Community Pancake Breakfast with the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle at the Masonic Hall (40th/Edmunds) this Saturday, 7 am-11 am (remember to bring your unwrapped Toys for Tots donation) … and the Santa listings we’ve had since the start of the season, daily at Westwood Village and the next three Sundays during Hometown Holidays in The Junction, are there too. And did you see Santa and Mrs. Claus wandering The Junction last Sunday?
(Photo courtesy David E. Perry)
They may be in the vicinity again this Sunday, we hear, perhaps even in the crowd during Saturday’s Junction Tree Lighting (5 pm, Junction Plaza Park). Then again, Santa is everywhere, anyway … has to be, to get all those presents delivered … More holiday events, info, everything, updated frequently, here (and if we’re missing YOUR holiday event, please share the news!).
Just in from SDOT, heads-up if you travel anywhere near the stadiums (including the Alaskan Way Viaduct) during your commute home – Thursday night might be dicey:
The Seahawks will play the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday evening, starting at 5:20 p.m. with an estimated attendance of 67,000 fans. Drivers can expect heavy congestion in the areas around the stadium, in the downtown area, and on major routes to the stadium (I-5 and I-90). Seahawks fans are advised to arrive early. Commuters leaving the downtown area may also want to leave early, or wait to leave downtown until after kickoff.
Rezoning for the West Seattle Triangle and part of the adjacent area – including increasing some parcels to a maximum of 85-foot-high development – is back on the agenda tomorrow morning for the City Council’s Committee on the Built Environment (9 am, CIty Hall downtown). They are scheduled to discuss potential changes to the plan presented two weeks ago, and they may vote on whether to send the plan to the full council for final action. The information package, including proposed map and text amendments – with an area of Fauntleroy between Alaska and Edmunds proposed for 85-foot zoning on the east side as well as the west side – is linked from the meeting agenda, which begins with a public-comment period for anyone interested in speaking to the members about this.
Note the missing bulbs, off to the right of the photo, which is from Dan, who explains:
Yesterday we saw a squirrel run off the deck with a bright yellow object in his mouth..and came out to see he had chewed through the wires (and they were turned ON) and grabbed a yellow LED light from the deck railing.
Then today he (or someone he told about it) was back and grabbed another yellow…this time with them unplugged…and later we spotted him with a green one in his mouth running across the deck.
We had no idea that they were nutritious …!
Thought this was very strange, til we found online that this is somewhat common… and most report that the red ones are not ever taken.
12:38 PM: Traffic is blocked by fire units in the northbound lanes of Delridge near Hudson. It’s because of a fire call that started big but reportedly has turned out to be “food on the stove” – we’re still en route to the area to make sure.
1:18 PM: Still haven’t confirmed the cause of the problem – there was smoke visible in the area when we got there – but Delridge is now reopened both ways.
(No orcas in this pic but they’re out there somewhere – shot around 1 pm, light on the Olympics) 11:48 AM: We’re getting reports of orcas in the area – they were first spotted from the Bainbridge ferry about an hour ago; Donna Sandstrom from The Whale Trail called to say they appeared to be heading this way; and now we’ve just gotten a phone call from someone who saw them from a ferry “between Alki and Blake Island.” We’re out looking – let us know if you spot ’em!
11:55 AM: Just talked to Donna south of Alki Point – the whales are much closer to the Bainbridge side right now, so you’ll need really good binoculars/camera at this point – updates to come if that changes.
1:24 PM: They’re now visible from Lincoln Park, according to wildlife watcher/photographer/writer Trileigh Tucker. Donna also has checked back to say they’re between here and Vashon. Please share photos if you get ’em! Thank you!
Under the direction of Rob Duisberg, that’s the West Seattle Community Orchestras‘ Symphony Orchestra, rehearsing Bartok’s “Rumanian Folk Dances” last night in the auditorium at Chief Sealth International High School. Tonight, that’s where you will find them and the WSCO’s Flute Ensemble in concert, 7 pm. The program also includes works by Dukas, Grieg, Elgar, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saens, Liszt, and “A Christmas Festival” by Leroy Anderson. The concert is free; a $5 donation is suggested (WSCO is a nonprofit all-volunteer community organization).
Every chair in the library was filled by the time the meeting began … and people just kept coming, requiring extras to be brought in, until the room was full, wall to wall.
Six elementary schools in West Seattle are perceived to have a “capacity-management” – overcrowding – problem so serious that something must be done before next year. A seventh school in the area – Chief Sealth International High School – is stuffed too, but while the district is only putting it on a “watch list” for now, its teachers are circulating a petition to get portables, which happen to be among the options proposed for the brimming elementary schools.
If you would like to see and hear the meeting for yourself, here’s our unedited hour-and-a-half video:
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