day : 16/03/2012 12 results

One week from Sunday, family and friends will gather at the West Seattle Eagles‘ aerie to remember a longtime member, Geraldine “Pat” Haddenham. Her family shares this remembrance:

Geraldine Patricia Haddenham (81) passed away peacefully February 27, 2012, at the Washington Veterans Home in Retsil. Pat was born in Seattle on November 20, 1930, to Laura (Evans) and Walter Everts. She grew up in West Seattle, and stayed in West Seattle until 1990, when she moved to Bremerton.

She married Edward Haddenham on November 8, 1951. She was preceded in death by her daughter Penny and her stepson Larry, her parents, sisters Mary and Jessi, and brothers Walter and George. Pat loved to play bingo and loved to “WIN,” and hated to lose! Pat belonged to West Seattle Eagles for over 40 years. She is survived by her husband of 60 years, Edward; children Linda (Lester) Dent, Terry (Susie) Haddenham, Ray (Barbara) Haddenham, Wayne (Tina) Haddenham, Lyle (Kay) Haddenham, Cathy Haddenham; ten grandchildren; eleven great-grandchildren; and her sister Adele (Everts) Taylor.

A memorial will be held at the West Seattle Eagles, March 25th at 2 pm, with a private internment at Forest Lawn Cemetery in West Seattle. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the charity of your choice.

(WSB publishes obituaries at no charge; send text and photo to editor@westseattleblog.com)

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West Seattle restaurants: Happy 23rd, Luna Park Café!

| Luna Park | West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

Staci at Luna Park Café shared the photo of their sign – which is up in advance of the restaurant’s 23rd anniversary this Sunday (March 18th). She says they’re celebrating by offering kids free face-painting from 3-6 pm that day (Sunday). The café’s history – including a photo of what the building held, long ago – is on this page of the LPC website. Staci also mentioned they’re also celebrating St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow (Saturday) with a corned-beef-and-cabbage special and green beers. (We’ve received word of a few other St. P’s day specials we’ll be offering, and they’ll be in the Saturday daily preview – e-mail us yours if you haven’t already!)

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West Seattle weather: Friday rainbow; Saturday … snow?

March 16, 2012 7:15 pm

| 5 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

Alki-residing author/chef Kim O’Donnel shared that photo around 2 pm, and it drew oohs and aahs around the region; we put it on the WSB Facebook page, and our friends at KING 5 circulated it online too. Is it the work of pre-St. Patrick’s Day leprechauns? Actually, the forecast suggests that instead of a pot of gold, tomorrow morning we might see a bit of snow (yes, again).

ADDED 10:11 PM: Thanks to Bob A in Admiral for sharing the vivid photo of tonight’s sunset!

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Save money, energy with new sponsor Community Power Works

March 16, 2012 5:53 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| Environment | Viaduct vote | West Seattle news

Community Power Works (CPW), the City of Seattle’s home-energy-upgrade program, is now available in West Seattle, and sponsoring WSB to get the word out. Here’s the info the program wants to share: Community Power Works is a federally funded initiative aiming to facilitate weatherization of more than 2,000 homes and small businesses before June of 2013. Home upgrades increase health and comfort, and offer opportunities to “live your values,” such as decreasing energy consumption and reducing your carbon footprint.

For homeowners, Community Power Works provides the opportunity for a $95 whole-home energy assessment (normally $400), and consultation with CPW’s home-energy experts to prioritize work based on the needs of the home and homeowner. Energy experts also advise on rebates and incentives available for the project, valued at $2,000 for over 20% energy savings per household. After bid selection, a CPW pre-approved contractor conducts the work, and it is quality-checked at no charge when complete. CPW also provides affordable financing if needed, and bundles all applicable utility rebates and incentives. For more information and to sign up for the program, visit CommunityPowerWorks.org or call 206.449.1170.

We thank Community Power Works 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.

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New fence, locks at Genesee Hill target vandals, says district

March 16, 2012 5:11 pm

| 60 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

We photographed the new fencing, lock, and signage at closed Genesee Hill Elementary‘s southeast field, after multiple tips from WSB’ers. They wondered if it had to do with the field’s popularity as an unofficial off-leash dog park. No, says Diane Taguba with Seattle Public Schools, who answered our inquiry:

The fence at Genesee Hill recently repaired and secured was not due to the “dog park” use, but to prevent additional vandalism that was happening to the building. To maintain building security, we do not intend to reopen the gates anytime soon. To also note, it is district policy that dogs are not allowed on district property without proper authorization.

Genesee Hill has been closed since Pathfinder K-8 moved out in summer of 2009. It’s considered a possible site for building a new school or extensively renovating the old one as part of the BEX IV levy that will be finalized this year and sent to voters next year. (Three public meetings about that levy are set for next month, including one in West Seattle on April 5th.)

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Update: Washington Federal robbed in Morgan Junction; van impounded

March 16, 2012 3:03 pm

| 44 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

(Thanks to Anthony for the photo)
3:03 PM: Police are looking for a bank robber after a holdup at Washington Federal Savings at California and Fauntleroy. Only description so far: Black man in his 20s, “tightly pulled hoodie.” The bank is closed for a while as investigators work.

4:35 PM UPDATE: Commenters asked about past robberies. Our archives indicate this bank was held up last October. The suspects were arrested five days later. We lost track of that case, so we don’t know their current status.

9:50 PM UPDATE: We have some additional information, from Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Smith responding to our inquiry. He says the robber “presented a note to the teller” and got away with “an undisclosed amount of cash.” We also asked him about a van that we photographed in the West Seattle Thriftway parking lot across the street, being guarded by multiple officers:

Lt. Smith says they were tipped to the van when “witnesses contacted officers and advised that they had seen a suspicious male leave a vehicle in the lot. Their description closely matched that of the suspect. The vehicle was impounded to SPD Processing. The suspect has not been located.”

SATURDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: SPDBlotter just published a short item about the robbery, but the only thing it mentions that we didn’t already report here is a bit more descriptive info about the robber: “black male, 40 years of age, last seen wearing a blue hooded jacket under a dark blue jacket, and khaki pants.”

P.S. THANK YOU to the WSB’ers whose texts/phone calls were our first word about the robbery shortly after it happened on Friday afternoon. We are not always in earshot of the scanner and your tips help immensely, so we can get out the info and get busy finding out more. (206-293-6302, voice or text, any time, day or night, weekday or weekend.)

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Day off for students, not educators: Symposium @ Sealth/Denny

March 16, 2012 2:10 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Seattle Public Schools students don’t have classes today because it’s a “Professional Development Day” for teachers – and if you ever wondered what that really meant, here’s one example. Chief Sealth International High School principal Chris Kinsey explains what’s happening at his school (and its neighbor) today:

Right now on the Denny/Sealth campus teachers from all current International schools (Sealth, Denny, Hamilton, John Stanford, Beacon Hill, Concord) and future International schools (Ingraham and McDonald) are all engaged in an International Education Symposium focusing on global competencies. Veronica Boix-Mansila from Harvard was the keynote speaker where she provided an overview of her book, Educating for Global Competence: Preparing Our Youth to Engage the World and provided a framework for teachers to analyze student work.

Teachers will spend the day looking at curriculum, projects, student work, and bouncing ideas off one another so they can better support the work being done in our International schools.

Side note: One of the projects that has underscored Sealth’s reputation for global awareness, World Water Week, is about to come around for its second year – events are running Tuesday through Friday, according to teacher Noah Zeichner; we’ll have a more detailed preview ahead, but for now, this webpage has a preview.

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ArtsWest chooses new managing director: Line Sandsmark

March 16, 2012 1:33 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

Just in from ArtsWest, which is two weeks away from announcing its lineup for next season – the Junction-based arts enterprise has chosen a new managing director. Here’s the announcement:

ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery announces the appointment of Line Sandsmark as its new Managing Director, effective March 22, 2012.

Ms. Sandsmark recently returned to the Northwest, after twenty years’ arts management and producing experience in Scandinavia and Europe. After acquiring an undergraduate degree in Comparative Literature from the University of Washington, and studying Critical Theory and Film Analysis at the graduate level at the Sorbonne, Sandsmark turned to film in the late 1990s, producing award-winning short films through her own production company, Kaliber Filmproduksjon, continuing as a regional grantmaker for the Norwegian Ministry of Culture, and heading the Copenhagen-based European Documentary Network.

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Another West Seattle Bridge traffic alert: New Harbor Island ramp opens tomorrow

March 16, 2012 12:55 pm

| 7 COMMENTS

| Spokane St. Viaduct project | West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

(The westernmost aqua spur is the new Harbor Island ramp – click for larger image)
An alert for westbound drivers on the West Seattle Bridge – Another component of the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project is ready to open. SDOT has just announced that the new Harbor Island offramp from the westbound bridge will open tomorrow. Here’s what’s on the project website:

… on Saturday morning, March 17, the old westbound exit to Harbor Island will be closed and the new off-ramp will open. Signage will direct motorists wishing to take this exit, but it should be noted that the new off-ramp begins east of SR 99, whereas the old-ramp began west of SR 99.

Meantime, the 1st Avenue offramp on the eastbound SSV is still months away. We’ll be adding more project updates from the first meeting of a new informal task force that SDOT promised to form after the communications crisis that complicated a daylong bridge closure in January. SDOT reps at the meeting say the new Harbor Island offramp will open early in the morning – no hard-and-fast time, but as soon as crews are ready, 6 am or so.

ADDED 6:10 PM: SDOT has sent a news release with not only the ramp opening we mentioned, but also a reminder about tonight’s bridge closure and other changes ahead – read on:Read More

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1st-ever ‘Food for Art’: West Seattle restaurants invited to help

March 16, 2012 11:46 am

| Comments Off on 1st-ever ‘Food for Art’: West Seattle restaurants invited to help

| How to help | West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

Next month’s West Seattle Art Walk will be held in conjunction with a new fundraiser – “Food for Art,” benefiting Transitional Resources, a WS-based organization that helps people living with mental illness. They’re looking for participants, writes TR’s Yemaya St. Clair:

Calling all West Seattle Restaurants: Join the first annual Food for Art event on Thursday, April 12!

In partnership with the West Seattle Art Walk, join Transitional Resources’ first annual Food for Art event, which will raise funds to benefit the art therapy program at Transitional Resources while providing restaurants with free publicity. Transitional Resources is a nonprofit organization in West Seattle serving men and women living with severe and persistent mental illness. We help over 200 individuals in our community stay off the streets, out of institutions, and on the road to recovery.

The dual goals of Food for Art are to raise money for our art therapy program and to make this your best charitable investment of the year.

The concept is simple: Your restaurant, along with others from West Seattle, commits to contributing a portion of your proceeds on one night – Thursday, April 12 (in conjunction with the West Seattle Art Walk) – to help support our art therapy program. Transitional Resources commits to promoting your restaurant through an extensive promotional campaign and to filling seats and increasing revenue at your restaurant on April 12. Also, you will be assigned an ambassador, whose primary function will be to make sure your restaurant is as full as possible on Thursday, April 12.

If you are a West Seattle restaurant and would like to be a part of the action, please e-mail Yemaya St.Clair for more details at yemayas@transitionalresources.org.

And Yemaya adds a message for readers: “Transitional Resources needs to hear directly from restaurateur(s), so if you have a suggestion, please make sure your favorite restaurant sees this!”

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West Seattle Friday: Bridge alert; movie night; live music…

March 16, 2012 9:46 am

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Photo courtesy of SDOT’s Marybeth Turner – stairway work continues at the top of 60th/61st/Spokane)
What’s up for the rest of today/tonight, you ask?

NO SCHOOL: It’s a day off for Seattle Public Schools students.

BRIDGE CLOSURE: SDOT will again close the westbound Spokane Street Viaduct overnight – that means no access to the West Seattle Bridge from I-5 or Beacon Hill. Details here.

WINE TASTING: 1-4 pm at South Seattle Community College‘s Northwest Wine Academy (more here).

BEER TASTING: 3-7 pm at Admiral Safeway, featuring 3 ales.

LIVE MUSIC AT C & P: Tonight from 6-8 pm at C & P Coffee (WSB sponsor), the always-memorable Bobcat Bob. Says C & P, “You’ll feel great and leave smiling.”

MOVIE NIGHT IN HIGHLAND PARK: Doors open at 6:30 pm, movie at 7, at the Highland Park Improvement Club (12th/Holden). They say they can’t announce the actual movie title but the hint: “Magical forest creatures befriend 2 sisters whose mother is hospitalized! Japanese anime.” Admission’s free, bring your own blanket/pillow (HPIC provides chairs if you’d prefer). Popcorn, candy, “other movie fare” available for purchase.

‘RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE VOICE’: ArtsWest production continues this weekend, 7:30 pm tonight.

LIVE MUSIC AT SALTY’S: 8-10 pm ~ @ Salty’s on Alki, singer/songwriter Barbie Anaka with a mix of classic and contemporary jazz, in the lounge, no cover. (Same time frame, it’s Late Night Happy Hour.)

LIVE MUSIC AT SKYLARK: Sad Face, The Sundries, The Fancy, starting at 9 pm.

LIVE ACOUSTIC MUSIC AT THE BENBOW ROOM: Featuring Robyn Dee.

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Saturday morning traffic alert: Viaduct’s north end closed

March 16, 2012 9:13 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| Holidays | West Seattle news

In addition to another westbound Spokane Street Viaduct closure tonight (as announced here), there’s a weekend traffic note for Highway 99 – the St. Patrick’s Day Dash will shut down its northernmost end, from the Western Avenue exit stretching onto Aurora Avenue and beyond, from approximately 7:30-11 am Saturday. Details are in this SDOT update (along with a few other downtown-area traffic notes, including tomorrow afternoon’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade).

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