West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
(From left with Rep. McDermott, 34th District Democrats activists Jackie Dupras, Marcee Stone, Tamsen Spengler)
For West Seattle’s highest-profile politicians and political activists, Beveridge Place Pub was the place to be tonight. The occasion: A fundraiser for the Seattle area’s longtime Congressional representative, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, that also drew contributions for the West Seattle Food Bank. If a media alert about the event went out, we didn’t receive it, but big thanks to Dina Lydia Johnson for sharing photos and info – more ahead:Read More
West Seattle’s King County Councilmember Joe McDermott has a new high-profile role – leading the council through the budget process. Read on for the official announcement:Read More
6:10 PM: Multiple reports via Twitter and e-mail of engine trouble just as the 5:45 pm West Seattle Water Taxi run from downtown was arriving at Seacrest. Checking on its status.
(Photo by Bill Schrier – looking down toward engine room before docking at 6 pm)
6:25 PM UPDATE: It’s just been confirmed by King County, the West Seattle Water Taxi is canceled for the rest of the night. That means no 6:15 or 6:45 runs from downtown, no 6:30 or 7 pm runs from West Seattle. We’re expecting an update later on its status for tomorrow.
9:24 PM UPDATE: It’s also just been announced, the West Seattle Water Taxi will be canceled for Tuesday morning, too. Too soon to say what’ll happen Tuesday afternoon.
West Seattleite Sage Wilson at Working Washington tells WSB it’s just a coincidence that his group’s mini-protest outside a local bank today came 
the same day that the “Occupy” movement announced an official “Occupy West Seattle” branch. But it’s notable that the economic-inequality protest movement is reaching outside downtown.
First, the protest: Working Washington stationed Sera and Abdi outside Wells Fargo in The Junction with signs and flyers about WF’s tax history (based on this report). Its news release also said WW hopes to attract West Seattleites to participate in a protest targeting WF downtown tomorrow, meeting at Westlake at noon and marching from there.
At the same time, though apparently not related, “Occupy West Seattle” turned up for the first time on Facebook (here) and Twitter (here). They have announced their first “General Assembly” meeting for this Saturday at Alki UCC (6112 SW Hinds, time TBA). Their motto: “We are taking what we learned downtown and bringing it to the local neighborhoods.”
February 13-18, a series of events is planned for South Seattle Community College. Here’s today’s announcement:
Japanese American Day of Remembrance
Events mark the 70th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066.Wednesday, February 15, 2012
11 am – 1 pm, Brockey Student CenterJapanese American Day of Remembrance observes the 70th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. It authorized the evacuation and incarceration of 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast, most of whom were U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents
In Washington state, nearly 13,000 people of Japanese descent were ultimately sent to detention centers. Most Seattleites ended up at Camp Minidoka near Hunt, Idaho, while the majority of rural Western Washington evacuees were sent to Tule Lake in California.
South Seattle Community College is holding a series of events to recognize this historic date.
Wednesday, February 15
*11 – 11:50 am – Mary Matsuda Gruenewald will discuss her memoir, Looking Like the Enemy, and share her story of living in several Incarceration Camps
*12 – 1 pm – Mark Mitsui, South’s former vice president of Student Services and current president of North Seattle Community College will discuss the significance of this Day of Remembrance with author, Mary Matsuda Greunewald.Monday, February 13 – Friday, February 18 Photographs by Teresa Tamura
Photographer Teresa Tamura created a series of black and white images that record the remains of the Minidoka Relocation Center, as a means of affirming the spirit and resilience of those who lived through the incarceration. The collection will be on display in the South Seattle Community College library. Ms. Tamura’s photos have been displayed at Whitman College, Missoula Art Museum, and published in the Seattle Times.The public is invited to remember and learn more about this period in our history through the words and experiences of these special guests. The events are free and open to the public. Driving directions: www.southseattle.edu/campus/map.htm#sscc.
This program is part of the learning series From Prejudice to Genocide, sponsored by the Office of Diversity & Retention at South Seattle Community College.
In case you missed it in our morning preview – the Fauntleroy Expressway and eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct are both closed tonight (and other nights). SDOT has just sent media organizations another reminder (and published it on their blog-format On The Move site):Read More
(Mid-January West Seattle snow; photo by JM)
No more makeup days for this month’s snow? Seattle Public Schools is hoping to get the state’s blessing:
Rather than add days to the end of the school year, Seattle Public Schools is asking the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for a waiver for the Jan. 19 and Jan. 20 snow days.
Gov. Chris Gregoire declared Washington in a State of Emergency for those days, prompting Seattle Public Schools to seek a waiver to not make up the Jan. 19 or Jan. 20 snow days. This is contingent on a decision allowing the Emergency Proclamation to apply to schools in King County. OSPI officials said they will have more information next month on how to apply for waivers.
It would cost Seattle Public Schools roughly $500,000 to make up the two days in June.
Seattle schools made up one of the three snow days on Friday, Jan. 27. State law does not require students to make up a day for Tuesday, Jan. 17, when students had a late arrival and an early dismissal.
Making up the time during mid-winter break is not an option, as families and staff have arranged their schedules around the school calendar, which was approved by the School Board in May 2011. That calendar, which is available online at http://bit.ly/DistrictCalendar, listed Jan. 27 as a weather make-up day, and up to three additional days are to be made up at the end of the school year.
That construction fence around Colman Pool at Lincoln Park brought some questions our way over the weekend, so we walked into the park to check it out today, while also sending an inquiry to Seattle Parks. It’s for the second phase of a renovation project that began last year, and the work means that West Seattle’s only city-owned outdoor pool won’t open this year until late June (that was announced before last season ended – we mentioned it here in September). The work that’s getting under way now will “replace portions of the pool deck, pool shell, and provide a new plaster lining to extend the life of the pool,” as explained on the project page. Parks spokesperson Dewey Potter adds that, “The demolition work on the deck and other elements will begin this week, so people will start to see trucks going in and out.” If the work goes as scheduled, Colman Pool will open on June 30th.
Free time this week? 2 workshops at the nonprofit West Seattle Tool Library both have room: “Power Tools 101: Lose Your Fear, Not Your Fingers” at 6 pm Tuesday – register online here – and “Introduction to Indoor Winter Gardening,” 7 pm Wednesday (promising a kickstart on your spring gardening too), with online registration here. The Tool Library is on the east side of
From “Planet LB” via the WSB Flickr group pool, that’s the new Spokane Street Viaduct section at left, the old one at right, looking east from 4th Avenue South. More bridge closures overnight tonight are part of what’s on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
OVERNIGHT BRIDGE CLOSURES: Scheduled tonight – Fauntleroy Expressway (info here) and eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct (SDOT announcement here), both 9 pm-5 am.
PROTEST IN THE JUNCTION: Per a news release, “a local resident wearing a Statue of Liberty costume will appear outside Wells Fargo bank” in The Junction 11:30-1:30 to protest the amount of federal income tax WF pays, and as a preview to a rally downtown tomorrow.
WEST SEATTLE COOKING CLUB: Meeting info at westseattlecookingclub.org; 2:30 pm at Beveridge Place Pub, theme “Braised/Slow-Cooked.”
FAMILY STORY TIME: 7 pm at the High Point branch of the Seattle Public Library – details here.
TAI CHI LIFESTYLE: 7 pm Mondays at High Point Neighborhood Center (6400 Sylvan Way SW), Caylen Storm leads “Tao Jin: Foundations of a Tai Chi Lifestyle,” introducing, the announcement says, “basic concepts and movements of Tai Chi, as well as information on diet, mind-set, tools to facilitate a healthy lifestyle based on Tai Chi philosophy, energy regeneration, and the motivation in making positive life changes.” Free to High Point’s SHA and Elizabeth House residents and KCHA Greenbridge residents, otherwise $10 drop-in fee. Questions: caylen_storm@yahoo.com
NIGHTLIFE: Trivia with Brian Calvert at Christo’s on Alki, 7 pm … Karaoke with Kelli at Skylark Café and Club, 9 pm … Talarico’s has karaoke @ 9:30 pm. … Around 10 pm, the “Flat Earth Society” weekly vinyl DJ’ing at West 5 features Randall Dunn (MMOB) & Chris Martin (Kinski, Ampbuzz), plus surprise guests (bartender Don’s birthday celebration)
(Photos by Jessica Ruger)
It’s never too soon to learn what it might be like in the “real world” after high school. Last week, two career-centered events at Madison Middle School brought that point home. School staff shares photos and a recap:
More than 45 adults representing Madison parents, the Y, City Year and South Seattle Community College visited our students during two career events.
(Lauren Hadley from the Georgetown Apprenticeship/Education Center, Vanessa Reed Calonzo from SSCC, Colleen McDevitt and Sean Goode from the Y)
On Tuesday the YMCA, with support from the City Year team at West Seattle High School, put our 8th grade students through an exercise called “A Real Life Fair”. Each student was given an envelope with a high school degree, Associate Degree or a Bachelors Degree paper, a job title and some play money that would be associated with that job. Students were told to manage their money by going around to each table to make payments for child care, food, transportation and housing.(Math teacher Mr. Meltzer collects payments for transportation
Some of our students ran out of money quickly, while others decided to pursue higher education to increase their wages.(Ms. Yoshitomi talking to a class about entrepreneurialism)
Career Day on Thursday allowed each student to hear from 3 adults talking about their careers and what education is required for their job. The students showed a lot of interest in learning about their future and the adults were excited to share insights about how to succeed in life.
P.S. Madison’s annual auction date is set – March 10; full details on the school’s webpage.
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