West Seattle, Washington
12 Monday
Local diver Laura James has shared two more video clips this week with a look at what’s happening underwater right off West Seattle shores. Above, another adventure in retrieving an abandoned battery offshore near Seacrest – as you can read here, the effort was complicated by the discovery of gunnels in it, so the battery was moved closer to shore, marked, and Laura writes that she’s hoping they decided to clear out on their own volition. Meantime, Laura also ventured back to a storm-drain outfall – to see what the recent stormy weather was sending into Puget Sound:
Her background story on that video – the “massive plume” in action just off Alki – is here. P.S. – Remember, you can take action to make those “plumes” less toxic to Puget Sound (which means, ultimately, to all of us).
Know a teenager who might be interested? The Rotary Club of West Seattle is getting the word out:
The West Seattle Rotary Club is identifying and nominating West Seattle qualified and interested West Seattle high school students (13-18) to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Seminar (at no cost to the student or school). The conference will be held at Pacific Lutheran University March 1-4, 2012.
RYLA is an intensive leadership training conference and workshop. The program has been carefully designed to provide basic leadership training and experience for young people from Western Washington and Canada. The program will include lectures and discussion periods with skilled and prominent leaders, as well as recreation, good food, and fellowship.
It’s a great way to further develop leadership talents and abilities, add to your resume, and broaden your horizons while having fun.
If you are an interested high-school student, please fill out an application by February 15th 2012. Applications may be sent via e-mail to tarambyrne@gmail.com or via fax at 206.932.2326. For more information visit rylanw.org
The application form can be found here.
Story and photos by Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
If all goes well, a corner store will open next month at Delridge and Findlay.
Look closely at the upper right corner of the mural on its north side, and you will see its name: Martin’s Way.
As in, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And that is your first hint that this is not just intended to be a store.
From the outside, it doesn’t look like one, and that’s exactly what proprietor Vik Puri intends.
We sat down with him this week to talk about Martin’s Way, its beginnings, and eventual hopes.
This is a labor of love for Vik and his partner Nikhi. As he tells it, that’s about all they have to put into it right now. It’s been in the works a long time, with a shortage of capital. But on the other hand, there are partnerships at its foundation – including the nonprofit that operates a day care immediately behind the building, a source of neighborhood mystery and intrigue as it was built a few years back.
Today we’re welcoming new WSB sponsor Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, which invites you to its Grand Opening celebration tomorrow and Sunday. Here’s what Menchie’s would like you to know about them:
Menchie’s is a family-friendly venue in which kids, teens & adults can enjoy endless self-serve frozen yogurt combinations. Our commitment to providing an exceptional experience in a fun & safe environment leaves every customer with a smile!
Menchie’s is an original idea – one of mix, weigh & pay. Our store offers frozen yogurt (fro-yo) with a twist. We are a self-service, interactive, and completely customizable experience where customers dispense their own yogurt from a choice of more than 100 rotating flavors of yogurt (14 rotating daily flavors), and move through lines to select from more than 70 rotating “wet” and “dry” toppings. Customers are free to take as little or as much as they want before heading to the cashier station, where their unique dessert creations are weighed and they pay by the ounce. This self-serve, hands-on experience allows customers to choose their own portion, build a perfect mix, and achieve satisfaction every time!
Menchie’s provides an endless number of product combinations which allow customers to “build their own” dessert. Swirl options include nonfat, low-carb, no sugar added, gluten-free, vegan, dairy-free, kosher, and tart. Topping options include fresh fruits, granolas, assorted nuts, candies, hot fudges, and chocolates.
Our store offers a safe and engaging hangout with both dine-in and outdoor space for family and friends to gather and enjoy a unique, family-centered experience. A private party room is available for reservation for events such as birthdays, team award celebrations, social gatherings, and business/association meetings. Menchie’s also sells cold beverages, pre-packed frozen yogurt to go, and logo-branded merchandise. It starts with an inviting design and a friendly welcome, adds choice, affordability, great taste and health, and culminates with SMILES all over!
Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt is at 2620 California SW in West Seattle’s Admiral District, with grand-opening events – including freebies! – 11 am to 9 pm both days this weekend. Full details are on Facebook, facebook.com/menchiesadmiral.
We thank Menchie’s 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.
As Kari tells the story, what she saw at 8:45 this morning happened in a flash:
I was going south on Delridge between Thistle and Barton- two SUV’s pulled out in front of us without signals, went half a block, pulled over right without signals, and out popped undercover cops with rifles, forcing two men on the sidewalk to the ground.
We asked Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Smith what it was about. He says a regional task force arrested a “dangerous fugitive” on a warrant for robbery; they had “information from New Jersey that he was in Seattle.” That’s all the information we have so far; we’re seeking more.
After two notes and one call in the past two days about those signs (and more like them), we had to go check them out. On Fauntleroy Way along a block-plus stretch south of the ferry dock, more than a dozen hand-lettered, orange-flagged signs are placed in planting strips on both sides of the street. Not only do they warn prospective criminals they’re being watched, they have a warning for solicitors, too:
We only found one person to ask about the signs; actually, he found us, driving up while our photographer was starting to take pictures, and asking what we were doing. He wouldn’t comment except to suggest that we check the “police reports” for something that happened recently. One incident is listed, a daytime burglary in the 9200 block of Fauntleroy Way on January 21st, with burglars not only ransacking the house and stealing multiple items of value, but also taking the victims’ car. The police report says someone saw a “white Dodge SUV pull into the driveway one house to the south of the victim house” that morning, with a passenger getting out and going “through the bushes into the yard of the victim’s house. After a short time the passenger got back into the vehicle and the vehicle slowly drove around the block as if they were looking at every house.” (The report did not indicate whether police were called at the time of that sighting.)
Been wondering if your favorite grocery store will sell liquor when privatization takes full effect? Since the initiative passed last November, we’ve been watching the liquor-license applications online to see when private retailers will start seeking licenses. This week, the first two in West Seattle have turned up: QFC is applying for “spirits retailer” licenses for the Junction and Westwood stores, part of a raft of permit applications for many QFC stores around the county (we only monitor King County applications, so we don’t know about the rest of the region). Fred Meyer stores, owned by Kroger like QFC, also are seeking “spirits retailer” licenses, including the closest one to West Seattle (1st Avenue South in Burien). Private retail sales of liquor will be legal in our state starting June 1st.
Busy morning, but before we get too much further into the day, a few notes for tonight from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
BRIDGE CLOSURES SCHEDULED TONIGHT: The schedules are always subject to last-minute change, but if you are driving late at night, be prepared – we were out around 9:30 last night and this double closure caused backups in both directions. The Fauntleroy Expressway Seismic Retrofit work is scheduled to close the west end of the bridge 9 pm-5 pm (details here); the EASTBOUND Spokane Street Viaduct will also be closed starting at 9 pm and this will last ALL WEEKEND. Details here.
DON’T ASK: Live music at C & P Coffee (WSB sponsor), 6-8 pm.
‘GOT GLEE?’: At Fauntleroy Church, 7:30 pm, another “Sweet, Sweet Music” performance – this time, you’re invited to “share the fascinating journey of Bron Edwards’ musical life with friends and students.” Admission $5, $15/family, including dessert.
JAZZ AND BLUES: At Kenyon Hall, 7:30 pm – Orville Johnson and Casey MacGill. Reserved table seats are $14; row seating $12 general/$10 seniors (discount if you make a reservation – e-mail kenyonhall@earthlink.net).
‘ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT’: 7:30 pm; it’s the second weekend for the new production at ArtsWest in The Junction.
Just in case you wondered. Seattle Fire sent out a “full response” to 36th and Orchard, with a family reported to be evacuating their home because of smoke in the basement, but the first scene report describes it as a “furnace backfire,” so most crews are being canceled.
9:38 AM: Between 2 and 5 am today, in below-freezing weather, 800 volunteers roamed King County for the annual One-Night Count of people sleeping outdoors. The results just announced: 2,594 men, women, and children were counted, “a small increase over those found without shelter last year,” according to the official post-count announcement, which explains that volunteers “counted people trying to survive in cars, tents, all night buses, select hospitals, or curled up in blankets under bridges or in doorways.” Guidelines for public discussion of the count do not allow specific locations to be reported, so we don’t know at this point if they visited the Nickelsville encampment in Highland Park, where one WSB Forums member who is a frequent visitor told us 90 people were staying as of a recent count. Last year’s countywide total was 2,442, and organizers also say it is perennially “an undercount of people without shelter on this night. Counters can reach only a portion of the geographic area of the county, and many homeless people sleep in hard-to-reach places.”
2:59 PM UPDATE: Here’s a breakdown of this morning’s count. There is no West Seattle category, but the list does mention 55 people counted in White Center.
8:37 AM: The temperature is still below freezing and there are scattered reports of problems with icy roads, including this from Jennifer:
There is a bad patch of ice on 46th, the little street that goes down to Marine View Drive from 100th – right after you go around the corner in the right lane there are large, thick patches of ice. Myself and the car in front of me both almost slid through the intersection. Marine View drive right there is also covered in a thick frost that no one seems to suspect – saw quite a few cars and a scooter (!) go slippy-sliding for a few seconds.
And Walter e-mailed to say there is (or was) a bus blocking people from going down Manning to Admiral. We’re also checking out a crash report on California Way (the street heading down the hill from Hamilton Viewpoint to Harbor).
9:14 AM UPDATE: The crash scene on California Way is cleared – no injuries, but police are not allowing drivers to go downhill (northbound) while the shaded side of the street remains icy/frosty. Thanks to the commenters who are reporting other trouble spots.
The marketing students at West Seattle High School were recently invited to “compete in an advertising campaign by the Department of Ecology and Seattle Public Utilities for advertising materials to be used in a car oil leaks marketing campaign,” according to marketing teacher Michelle Sloan, and they came in third, winning $833 for the class. Congratulations to: Team 1, Shane Fay, Tyler Prom, Alijah Gibson; Team 2, Camara Harris-Weaver, Leanna Le, Laurie Bui; Team 3, Makenzie Harrison, Helena Sallas, Mohammed Abdulkadir. In addition to that achievement, 21 WSHS marketing students recently participated in regionals. Sloan says, “Though we did not win any of the few top spots to compete at state, we had several WSHS marketing teams score very well on their presentations.”
(Monday photo by RyAnn – onlookers young and old with the dead sea lion on the beach)
The California sea lion found dead at Lincoln Park earlier this week had been shot, reports Robin Lindsey of Seal Sitters. She had told us the sea lion would be necropsied – and late Thursday night, she sent word of results:
I am sad to report that indeed the necropsy yesterday revealed a bullet in the left lung lobe of the California sea lion at Lincoln Park. The animal’s intestines were also twisted and will be examined. Causes can range from obstruction by fishing lures and line to tumors, but could also be from trauma of the shooting. WDFW Marine Mammal Investigations will turn over the evidence and information to NOAA Office for Law Enforcement for investigation.
Robin has published more details on the Seal Sitters’ “Blubberblog” site.
What? You haven’t pulled that black-velvet Elvis painting out of the basement and taken it over to the Yen Wor yet? Till 2 am or so, Guy Olson is presiding over a showcase for “Bad Art” – because, well, why not? We stopped by early in the evening and noted a few creations on display. Particularly the one at left with Michael Jackson … who just might replace Elvis as the leading celebrity inspiration for “bad art.” (A subjective term, of course.)
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