West Seattle, Washington
18 Thursday
We lost count at three blasts of snow/hail today – at least one, followed by sunshine. Thanks to everyone who shared photos; we’re finally getting a chance to check them out, and this is the first one we wanted to share – Michaela took photos during the West Seattle High School soccer game, which included sun as well as snow! (According to the scoreboard published by our partners at the Seattle Times, Ingraham beat WSHS 11-0.)
ADDED: JayDee‘s view of the “storm train,” seen from Upper Alki:
From The Junction this afternoon, the snow shower that hit just before 4 pm:
And not far away, WSB contributor Katie Meyer caught the sights and sounds of the afternoon’s hail:
Still a chance of snow showers till late Wednesday morning, say the forecasters.
ORIGINAL 9:55 PM REPORT: Dave shared this tonight in hopes of helping fellow bicycle commuters:
I wanted to pass on some construction I unexpectedly encountered today. I bike to work from the Junction to Boeing Field via West Marginal Way. Today I encountered an SDOT crew on the bike path just south of the longhouse. On return this afternoon, I found that they had the bike path ground down to bare gravel, sand, dirt, and mud (thanks afternoon snow/rain storm). The stretch from from the long house headed southbound to where the path recrosses the railroad tracks just north of LaFarge is ground down and in this condition. Just wanted to pass on this information as that surface is very treacherous now, especially for road bikes. All of the equipment is there, so it may be paved by the end of the day tomorrow.
We’ll check with SDOT in the morning – hadn’t heard about this previously.
ADDED 9:31 AM WEDNESDAY: SDOT says the work will continue throughout the week. Read on for their news release:Read More
Tomorrow night, the newly announced Design Team for the new K-5 STEM at Boren school will meet for the first time. Tonight, the school’s first principal visited West Seattle – she is still on the job as a principal in Tucson – to meet families and other community members. In our photo, principal-to-be Dr. Shannon McKinney is in the center with, at left, West Seattle’s School Board rep Marty McLaren and, at right, the district’s executive director of West Seattle-area schools, Aurora Lora. Dr. McKinney is expected to move up here next month to start work getting ready to launch the new school; we hope tomorrow’s meeting will include information about how many families applied for admission to the new school during the open-enrollment period that ended just yesterday.
(UPDATED WEDNESDAY MORNING with text toplines)
ORIGINAL 6:28 PM REPORT: Mayor McGinn has arrived, community organizations and city departments have been tabling for almost an hour, and the Town Hall is about to begin at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, with a performance by the Vicious Puppies Crew breakdancers. Seattle Channel is here to webcast the event, so we’ll put up their code in a minute so you can watch even if you’re not near a Channel 21-equipped TV. More shortly.
6:33 PM UPDATE: Here’s the code:
6:46 PM UPDATE: The mayor has started speaking – so the feed should be live – click the “play” button to watch.
(Substituted early Wednesday: Here’s our video, from the mayor’s first word to his last:)
8:18 PM UPDATE: The town hall is over. Topics ranged from arts funding to traffic/transportation challenges to the DESC Delridge project, and more.
ADDED 9:23 PM: Video clip above – that’s the VPC performance in its entirety. Text toplines to come.
ADDED WEDNESDAY MORNING: The aforementioned toplines:Read More
By our count, there are about two dozen people participating in the Occupy West Seattle rally in The Junction. Police are there too – including Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen. Our crew at the scene says it’s gone as the group had said it would – they walked from KeyBank to Chase, and are now on the California/Oregon corner.
The announced 4 pm start time of the rally coincided with a blast of snow and hail.
ADDED: Our video from the event, and a few more photos:Read More
Two weeks ago, we stopped by Arbor Heights Elementary School as students battled it out in the Global Reading Challenge school finals. Today, the winning team, a group of 5th graders calling themselves Da Peeps, went downtown for the semifinals – and after scoring 110 out of 120 points, according to an AH parent volunteer, advanced to the all-city finals! (7 pm March 22nd) From left in the photo above (also courtesy of the parent volunteer) are Chase, Dylan, Stone, Siobhan, Ayden, Steph, and Ruby.
Thanks to Tim Ewings at Alki Community Center for the tip on this: Sign-ups have just begun for spring classes and programs at Seattle Parks community centers, plus Camp Long and Southwest Pool. Here’s the spring brochure. You can register online – start here.
If there’s just one brunch for which you make reservations this year – this is the one. West Seattle-based Nature Consortium – which works to protect and restore the West Duwamish Greenbelt (right), Seattle’s largest contiguous forest – is saving a seat for you at its annual benefit brunch April 1st at The Hall at Fauntleroy. But you need to RSVP ASAP. You don’t even need to pay ahead of time (though they’re suggesting a minimum $50 donation at the event – proceeds support NC arts and environmental education programs all over the county. Brunch will start with mimosas and jazz/blues music by Billy and The Bouncers at 11:30 am, continuing at noon with a gourmet brunch menu (see the right sidebar), youth music and dance performances, and awards for volunteers and community partners. You can RSVP online right now. (There’s even free child care if you need it.) P.S. WSB is proud to co-sponsor this event again this year.
(September 2009 photo courtesy of Schmitz Park Elementary parent Erik)
His grandparents figured prominently in West Seattle history – and he often volunteered his time to educate others about it. Alan Schmitz – shown above in a WSB reader photo from 2009, talking with students at Schmitz Park Elementary – has died at the age of 77. Mr. Schmitz’s obituary was circulated by the Rotary Club of West Seattle, which granted our request for permission to publish it:
Alan Schmitz was the grandson of West Seattle pioneers Ferdinand and Emma Schmitz, and the son of Dietrich and Peggy Schmitz. Alan was born on 11-25-1934 at Swedish Hospital, and he died in West Seattle on March 9, 2012, of a bone-marrow disorder. Alan was a lifelong West Seattle resident.
Alan attended Alki Elementary, Madison Junior High, and West Seattle High School class of 1953. Alan graduated from the University of Washington in 1957 and belonged to Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. Alan achieved the rank of Eagle Scout with the Boy Scouts of America, Alki Troop 283; he later became a Scoutmaster with Troop 281.
Alan skippered his family’s sailboat, the schooner SUVA, for many years.
Alan’s career began in banking, investments and small businesses; in his later years, he became an aerobics and fitness instructor for senior citizens at community centers. Alan was very involved with the West Seattle Rotary for over 30 years, and had been a member of the Seattle Yacht Club and the Rainier Club.
Alan is survived by his daughter, Julie Schmitz and her fiancé Dr. Grant Broker, of Houston, Texas; his son Dietrich Schmitz and wife Mary Howland Schmitz, grandchildren Ilse Schmitz and Gunnar Schmitz of West Seattle; his sister Gloria S. Brinton Davis of West Seattle, many nieces/nephews/cousins, and his former wife Vicki Schmitz Block.
The family is extremely grateful to all of his physicians, nurses and caregivers at the Providence Mt. St. Vincent Center, and to Dr. William Hammond and staff at the Minor & James Medical Clinic.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 17th at 4 pm, at Alki UCC Church, 6115 SW Hinds.
(WSB publishes obituaries at no charge; send text and photo to editor@westseattleblog.com)
Though we apologize for not having heard about it while it was happening (not everything’s on the scanner, so your text/call to 206-293-6302 is always helpful!), we DO now know why a sizable police response spent a while on Pigeon Point yesterday afternoon: Seattle Police media-relations Det. Mark Jamieson looked it up for us. Someone reported a suspicious item in a mailbox in the 4100 block of 20th SW (map). The police report says it was described as a plastic milk container with a screw top and foil, and it appeared “burnt.” Officers called in Arson/Bomb Squad specialists to have a look. The eventual determination, according to Det. Jamieson: It was “a device used to smoke marijuana.”
From the almost-out-of-its-cocoon WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
JOB SEARCH HELP/NETWORKING: “Notes from the Job Search” continues to meet weekly at C & P Coffee Company (5612 California Ave SW; WSB sponsor), 11 am.
ORCHARD TOUR: Tuesday’s the day for Health and Harvest Tours at Community Orchard of West Seattle (north side of South Seattle Community College campus), 2-4 pm on Tuesdays, details here
FREE SWIMMING LESSONS: Southwest Pool and Southwest Teen Life Center offers FREE lessons for ages 11-19. Every Tuesday, 3-4 pm. Call 206-684-4115 to check if there’s room.
‘OCCUPY WEST SEATTLE’ RALLY: We published the announcement early yesterday, and a lively (to say the least) discussion ensued. The group says it’ll start at California/Alaska at 4 pm.
TELL THE MAYOR WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND – PLUS, MEET YOUR NEIGHBORS: Mayor McGinn‘s back in West Seattle for a Town Hall at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 5:30-8 pm, details here. Starts with a community information fair (find out about neighborhood groups) till 6:30; then, a breakdancing performance till 6:40, at which time the mayor takes the mike (and there’ll be one for you too).
MEET THE PRINCIPAL: Your first chance to meet Dr. Shannon McKinney, announced last month as the principal for West Seattle’s new school K-5 STEM at Boren. Meet-and-greet starts at Madison Middle School, 6:30 pm. (Here’s our Monday report on the new school’s Design Team; here’s our interview with Dr. McKinney after the announcement of her appointment.)
NO ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION MEETING, BUT… Admiral Neighborhood Association president Katy Walum says tonight’s regular monthly meeting is OFF, but she invites ANA members to come to the group’s table at the information fair preceding the mayoral town hall (see above).
FAUNTLEROY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION MEETING: FCA *is* having its regular meeting, 7 pm at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse (9131 California SW).
DENNY PTSA MEETING: Denny International Middle School PTSA meets tonight in the school library, 7 pm.
NIGHTLIFE: Skylark Café and Club acoustic open mic night, starts 7 pm … Rock music/pop culture trivia at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 8 pm … “Geeks Who Drink” pub quiz at The Wing Dome in The Junction, 8 pm … Trivia at The Bridge, $2 registration beginning at 8 pm and play starting at 8:30 pm. … Free pool at Beveridge Place Pub, plus discounts on bottled Belgian beer … Starlight songwriter showcase at Shadowland, 9 pm.
(The requisite “proof it snowed” video, shot at 9:30 am)
ORIGINAL 6:33 AM REPORT: Spring officially arrives next Monday night. Winter isn’t giving up without a fight. A little more snow dusted the area overnight; we’ve had reports via Facebook and Twitter, from Admiral to Arbor Heights, and beyond. Let us know if there’s any actually on the ground where you are; it apparently snowed a little more heavily in points south and east. A “special weather statement” is in effect and warning that some snow and/or hail is still possible during what the National Weather Service calls “a showery, cool day” ahead.
9:04 AM UPDATE: Getting a notable snow shower here in Upper Fauntleroy at the moment.
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