West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
Mid-winter break continues all week for Seattle Public Schools students – but they’re not all taking the week to relax. Tomorrow night, for example, students from West Seattle High School and Chief Sealth International High School will be part of the first-ever Youth Venture Community Showcase presented by Ashoka Seattle, whose Chris Kosednar describes it as “more than 30 high-school social-entrepreneur teams … pitching their ideas for a chance to be named ‘Top High School Social Entrepreneur‘ in King County.” Those who attend will vote for teams and their projects by “investing” pretend cash. The WSHS teams’ projects include gaming tournaments to raise money for an orphanage in China and selling bracelets made by LBGTQ youth; the CSIHS teams’ projects include staging plays/skits at assisted-living facilities. You are invited to attend the showcase tomorrow – not in West Seattle, but if you can go (not far – 843 Hiawatha Place South), it’s a chance to cheer on local youth! There’s an online RSVP form here.
Heard of the new Seattle online comedy video series “Local Brew“? We hadn’t till a week ago, when their clips were used between presentations at the Seattle Metro Chamber of Commerce‘s “IN-NW” conference. Just before a panel including your editor here was introduced, a bit of peninsula-aimed humor turned up on the conference stage’s bigscreen. We asked the “Local Brew” folks if it were available online so we could share; it wasn’t then, but it is now, as part of their “third episode.” We’ve coded the clip above to start with the short-short segment. You can see more of the team’s work (a bit in the spirit of “Almost Live!” though we suspect they hear that ALL the time) at localbrew.com. (We can’t find their “about us” page but Crosscut wrote about them last month.)
(January 2012 photo by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
Last week, SDOT said this would likely be the last week of nighttime Fauntleroy Expressway closures as part of the earthquake-safety work that’s been under way for months. Today – it’s official:
The contractor working for the Seattle Department of Transportation on the Fauntleroy Expressway, the raised roadway at the west end of the West Seattle Bridge, completed nighttime work on Tuesday … No further closures of the raised roadway are expected for this project.
The contractor has been strengthening the structure to make it more likely to withstand the force of a major earthquake. Upgrades to the structure have included strengthening the columns with steel jackets, strengthening the pile caps, adding additional longitudinal restrainers and replacing the bearing pads. The latter work item is what required the nighttime closures.
This afternoon’s West Seattle Crime Watch notes include a “happy ending” to a car theft reported here, plus 4 other reader reports, all ahead:Read More
Thanks to Diane for sharing the word that the American Red Cross‘s local Facebook page had featured 29-year-old Tareq Saade, who died in a diving accident Sunday off Seacrest. We published his name and a little bit about him yesterday, after the King County Medical Examiner’s Office publicly identified him, but now we have learned more: Stephanie Schoo at the American Red Cross’s local office gave us permission to republish their photo of Mr. Saade, and explained, “The photo was taken last year at a Red Cross volunteer recognition event where Tareq was one of several volunteers recognized for outstanding service.” His Red Cross volunteer work also had been mentioned in comments on an earlier WSB story; Jessica wrote that he had trained to be a first responder. He also was a ham-radio operator, remembered by members of the Capitol Hill Prepares group as an “active member … participating in radio trainings and drills” (thanks to Karen from West Seattle Be Prepared for pointing us to that information). At the end of our Tuesday followup, one of the volunteers who found his body after the official search ended told more of her story; in e-mail correspondence with Johanna Raupe, we had asked her why she and Patricia Gunderson went down after police/fire teams called it off for the night, having searched for more than five hours, after first word that Mr. Saade had disappeared while surfacing after some kind of problem happened during a deep dive with an advanced class. She replied in part, “I’m a diver and a mother. I have both a son and a daughter that are divers as well. … I know how many divers have been lost and never recovered or found maybe years later. The conditions were prime to find him before the marine life came in and before the big exchange happened. I wouldn’t want my children left behind. I could not leave him behind, not if I had the skills to locate him.”
ADDED THURSDAY AFTERNOON: We received a note pointing us to a memorial page set up on Facebook for tributes to, and memories of, Mr. Saade. It also mentions that his memorial is set for this Saturday at Salty’s on Alki.
Just in from the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce – this year’s Westside Award winners, who will be celebrated at an April 18th breakfast:
The results are in! Thank you to all who submitted nominations for The West Seattle Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Program.
From a pool of over 40 submissions, the committee has selected AmericanWest Bank (formerly Viking Bank) as the WestSide Business of the Year for 2011. Many nominators mentioned “friendly, personal, and professional” but it was AmericanWest Bank’s community involvement and support of local non-profits that earned them the title. All the nominees represented the quality West Seattle businesses which make us proud, including: Mashiko, Ola Salon, Click! Design That Fits, Clementine Shoes, Max and Quinn’s Atomic Boys, Link Apartments, Tony’s Market, Nurturing Expressions, and Ventana Construction.
To honor new ventures, an award in its second year is WestSide Emerging Business. Congratulations to The Grove West Seattle Inn for being the 2011 recipient and a strong addition to our business community.
As West Seattle’s only full-service inn, The Grove brings safe, convenient, clean and friendly lodging to our peninsula. Some other new businesses are already making a great impression. Nominees for WestSide Emerging Business of the Year, for those in business less than three years, included: Highline Medical Center Urgent Care, West Seattle Produce Co., The Cove School, Eldercare Consulting, and Les Schwab.
Also in its second year is the Not-For-Profit category, for which The West Seattle Garden Tour has been chosen WestSide Not-for-Profit Business of the Year. A major fund raiser for many non-profits, the West Seattle Garden Tour attracts scores of tour-goers to enjoy our neighborhoods each July. West Seattle is home to some other hard-working Not-for-Profit organizations. Nominees for this award included Transitional Resources, West Seattle Helpline, Sustainable West Seattle, WestSide Baby, Sports in Schools, Westside School, and West Seattle Food Bank.
Finally, the third-annual WestSider of the Year award which honors an individual who has made a lasting impact on our community, goes to Pete Spalding, tireless advocate and civic leader for West Seattle. Pete has been an active member of the West Seattle Food Bank Board, serves on the Southwest Precinct Advisory Council, the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council, and many other community groups.
Please join us in honoring these recipients at the WestSide Annual Awards Breakfast sponsored by Nucor Corporation at Salty’s on Alki on April 18, 2012, 7:30-9am. The Awards Presentation is the premier event of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, a community gathering to recognize and celebrate excellence in business and the vibrant sprit of West Seattle. This year’s special guest speaker is Matthew Gardner of Gardner Economics. Tickets are $50 each available at http://www.wschamber.com or call the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, 206-932-5685.
This time yesterday, your editor here was honored to be the monthly speaker at the Rotary Club of West Seattle, talking about covering news in West Seattle. Since then, there’s big news involving club members and more than 3,000 of their fellow regional Rotarians – Rotary International District 5030 is the first organization in 68 years to receive the Seattle-King County First Citizen Award. West Seattle is one of 53 clubs comprising District 5030, and is home to its district governor, Ann Liberato, at right in our July 2011 photo below, with club president Sue Lindblom:
The news release we just received from the First Citizen Award’s sponsoring organization, Seattle-King County Realtors, quotes award-committee chair Roni Strupat: “Rather than single out an individual, we are delighted to honor an organization with remarkable dedication – and results — in meeting the challenges associated with hunger, poverty and illiteracy.” District 5030 will officially receive the award at a Seattle Sheraton banquet on June 13th. Read on for the district’s accomplishments, listed in the announcement:Read More
(“First sign of spring!” says West Seattle photographer Machel Spence)
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
TONIGHT’S BRIDGE WORK: No closures announced so far, but lane closures for the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project continue – listed here.
IN CASE YOU HEAR PLANES: A WSB’er calls our attention to a NORAD alert about exercises over the region – might have already happened (or not), but in case you see/hear military aircraft (the latter’s more likely today), this might explain it.
LIBRARY STORY TIMES: From the Seattle Public Library Calendar of Events – Preschool Story Times at 10:30 am (West Seattle/Admiral branch) and 11:30 am (Southwest branch), Somali Story Time at 5 pm at the High Point branch.
WEST SEATTLE FIRMS AT SEATTLE HOME SHOW: The annual Seattle Home Show continues at the CenturyLink Event Center, noon-8 pm, with West Seattle participants including WSB sponsors Ventana Construction, Potter Construction, and NCompass Cottage Company.
MOVIE TIME AT SENIOR CENTER OF WEST SEATTLE: 1 pm, “Heart and Souls” (1993). California/Oregon. (from Twitter)
TEEN ZUMBA: Fourth Wednesday of the month means Teen Zumba at the Southwest Teen Life Center, open to anyone between the ages 11-19, 5 pm, free. (2801 SW Thistle)
DAYSTAR CHAT: Open conversation with Daystar Retirement Village (WSB sponsor) residents and families, 5 pm, full details here
POEMS AND STORIES: Poetry Bridge‘s 4th Wednesday Poems & Tales at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 5612 California SW, from 7-9 pm. Featured readers are Noel Parkinson and Beau Pritchard, followed by open mike (signup starts at 6:45 pm); free and open to all ages.
It’s been eight months since first word that the Downtown Emergency Service Center planned to build a “supportive housing” project at 5444 Delridge Way – downsized slightly to 66 units, each one to become home to a formerly homeless person living with mental illness and possibly substance abuse. Tuesday night, a new advisory committee met for the first time, expressly to listen to whatever community members wanted to say about the project, even if they had said it somewhere before.
The results are in our video clip, unedited, recording all 13 speakers, who comprised almost half the crowd. (There would have been more, suggested one speaker, if the community had any reason to trust DESC would truly listen and act on the concerns voiced.) They voiced concerns and criticisms, some with fury, some with disappointment, some with skepticism, some with scorn. While understanding the need for the work DESC does, this just isn’t the right site, many said – in one speaker’s words, putting an at-risk community on top of an at-risk community.
DESC director Bill Hobson is co-chair of the new committee, along with longtime community activist/advocate Pete Spalding of Pigeon Point. But this hearing wasn’t for back-and-forth discussion, or even for DESC to respond to concerns – it was meant to be 100 percent for anyone who wanted to speak, to do so.
Meantime, the project still has hurdles to clear – as reported here earlier this week, the Washington State Housing Finance Commission has a public hearing downtown at 1 pm Thursday for projects seeking Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, including this one; on March 8th, it’s the second Design Review Board hearing for the project. Other key dates and input opportunities are detailed here.
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