day : 21/05/2012 13 results

From 13th and Florida on Harbor Island, a dramatic set of before and after photos – first, the “before”:

And the “after” – though the story’s not entirely over yet:

Here’s the news release we received, explaining what’s going on:

A small group of Harbor Island employees joined forces to improve the neighborhood by creating a green space in their industrial environment. Naming themselves “Harbor Island People for the Environment” (HIPE), they arranged for a non-profit youth organization to paint murals for a warehouse and they built planter boxes for foliage to brighten and clean the air.

Festivities to celebrate installation of the murals and garden spot will be held June 1 at 4 PM at the north end of Harbor Island, 1731 13th Avenue SW. Sponsoring companies: Crowley, PCC Logistics, Rolls-Royce Commercial Marine, Vigor Industrial LLC.

Urban ArtWorks is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering at-risk youth through professional opportunities in the arts, to learn a variety of skills, and to use their creative talents in a positive way. Seven young artists and their mentors created eight mural panels for display on the side of a warehouse facing 13th Avenue SW. The maritime theme of the murals begins with a depiction of the land some hundred years ago, when it was inhabited by the Duwamish people, evolving gradually to the industrial era of today.

The garden design was developed by Spirit Garden Design owner, Lucinda O’Halloran. The planter boxes were donated and built by employees of PCC Logistics. Volunteers from the four sponsoring companies held a work party on May 18 to plant flowering trees and shrubs in the planter boxes. Company volunteers also participated for the fifth year in City of Seattle’s annual “Spring Clean” by picking up litter in the area.

Harbor Island is a busy work environment with shipping, shipbuilding and repair, railroads, trucking, engineering firms, and more, all squeezed onto a narrow manmade island co-existing with the Port of Seattle’s cranes, which constantly load and unload container cargo. The HIPE committee has plans for continued focus on developing green spots for a sustainable environment.

The murals mentioned in the announcement will be arriving later this week, and we’ll check back. Thanks to HIPE for the before/after photos included above!

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‘Every Mother Counts’: Benefit CD produced by West Seattleite

| West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

One more week to buy this year’s “Every Mother Counts” CD at Starbucks stores – benefiting advocacy for maternal health around the world, to reduce the maternal death rate. As was last year’s CD, this one is produced again by West Seattle resident David R. Legry, with Christy Turlington Burns, EMC founder. One of the featured songs is by Eddie Vedder – you can preview it here; there are also exclusive cuts by U2, Coldplay, Beck, Alanis Morrisette, Edie Brickell/Paul Simon, and other songs by David Bowie, Faith Hill, and Sting, among others. Star-studded, to say the least; the full song list is here. Starbucks handled the cost of producing the CD and is donating $8 from each purchase. It’s scheduled to be available in their stores till May 29th – and we’re told that if you don’t see it out on display, just ask for it.

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West Seattle Whale Watch: Return of the orcas!

May 21, 2012 4:29 pm

| 8 COMMENTS

| Seen at sea | West Seattle news | Wildlife

4:29 PM: First we got a tweet about orcas off Alki Point – now we’re told they’re off Lowman Beach and there’s a TV chopper over them. Let us know if you see them! (The rain’s moving back in, which presents a visibility challenge …)

5:49 PM: We spent some time south of Brace Point hoping they’d come by. No luck. Bill e-mailed from the Lincoln Park shoreline an hour or so ago that they appeared to be heading further offshore.

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Festival notes! Westwood Village Street Fair date; Summer Fest music

May 21, 2012 4:08 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle festivals | West Seattle news

Two West Seattle summer-festival notes:

WESTWOOD VILLAGE STREET FAIR: Though the Westwood Village shopping center has changed owners since last year’s Street Fair, the festival IS on again for this year. The date’s set for June 16th, 10 am-7 pm. Inflatables, live music, and more. According to the Facebook event page set up for the daylong extravaganza, the musical acts will include Gunn and the Damage Done and West Side Sally. The date is a few weeks later than last year’s street fair, which fell on a cool, cloudy day.

SUMMER FEST MUSIC: Susan Melrose of the West Seattle Junction Association says it’s looking like the music lineup for this year’s West Seattle Summer Fest will be out late next week, and doesn’t have any booking info till then. But the Seattle Weekly‘s Reverb site says it knows of one act that’ll be playing Summer Fest – the reunion of Alcohol Funnycar, a ’90s grunge band, per the Weekly. Summer Fest is July 13, 14, and 15. P.S. The website says that while the deadline’s past for vendor applications, there’s room in Art Dive and Green Life.

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Ferry update: Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth back to 3 boats tomorrow

May 21, 2012 3:15 pm

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| Transportation | West Seattle news

Washington State Ferries says it won’t have to have a second day of two-boat service on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run after all – the Tillikum has been repaired, and will rejoin the route first thing tomorrow morning.

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West Seattle beaches: Water-testing season begins at Alki

May 21, 2012 2:35 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Health | Safety | West Seattle news

Rain or shine, investigator Eyob Mazengia from Seattle-King County Public Health was scheduled to sample water off Alki for health testing at midday today, and that he did – three containers, three samples. Out on the beach with him, a team from the state Department of Ecology, getting out the word that this is the start of water-sampling season. The BEACH (Beach Environmental Assessment, Communication, & Health) program – which includes regular testing at Lincoln Park – isn’t new, but the idea of scheduling a multimedia photo op is, according to Sandy Howard, who was out at Alki wrangling camera crews with whom BEACH program manager Julie Lowe was doing interviews. We asked her about the value of testing at beaches where people don’t swim much (like Alki):

The state team says that if they find high levels of bacteria at a beach, they will not only post signs, but also:

*Send a note to an e-mail list you can sign up for (here)
*Tweet, via the Ecology Department account
*Post on Facebook, where the BEACH Program has its own page

… so you can check out any of those channels to make sure the water’s safe!

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West Seattle businesses invited to join next quarter’s Art Walk lineup

May 21, 2012 1:43 pm

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| West Seattle Art Walk | West Seattle news

West Seattle Art Walk organizers are putting out the call to local businesses today:

The time has come to get signed up for participation in 2012’s 3rd Quarter West Seattle Art Walk!

We continue our fight to make each Quarter bigger and better that the last, so we’re looking for excited, art-loving, local merchants to join us in featuring artist(s) at your business on Art Walk night, July through September. 3rd Quarter is always an great time of year to be a WSAW business, as there are so many fun things happening around West Seattle and the sunshine really gets people out walking the streets!

WSAW happens the 2nd Thursday of every month, 6-9 pm. 3rd Quarter WSAW dates are July 12th, August 9th, and September 13th.

The fee to be part of it, and be on the Art Walk list/map/website, etc., is $30 for the quarter – and businesses can sign up online, here.

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The Kenney to seek new CEO: Kevin McFeely is Hearthstone-bound

May 21, 2012 11:51 am

| 1 COMMENT

| The Kenney | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The Kenney is announcing today that its CEO, Kevin McFeely, is leaving for a new job, leading The Hearthstone in North Seattle.

He has led the continuing-care community north of Lincoln Park for almost a decade, and told us, in an interview at The Kenney (WSB sponsor) this morning, that he has “mixed feelings” about leaving his “extended family” there – both the 200 residents and the staff, including his dozen-plus-member leadership team, but the move feels like “the next logistical step” for him.

One thing they’re doing at Hearthstone that is not happening right now at The Kenney: Expanding.

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Followup: In starved-dog case, investigators ‘not ruling anything out’

May 21, 2012 10:24 am

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| Pets | West Seattle news

In case you missed the story late Friday about an emaciated dog found in West Seattle and the reward “up to $2,500” offered for any information leading to who’s responsible – we just talked with Seattle Animal Shelter director Don Jordan to ask some followup questions. Read on for what we found out:Read More

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Design Reviews ahead: 4724 California this week; 9051 20th in June

May 21, 2012 9:49 am

| 14 COMMENTS

| Delridge | Development | West Seattle news

Though the development slowdown has meant not many Southwest Design Review Board meetings the past few years, the board now has two on the calendar.

(Sketch described as development team’s preferred ‘concept’ – click image for larger view)
4724 CALIFORNIA: We told you 3 weeks ago about the meeting date for this Junction project, so this is just a reminder – Thursday night, 6:30 pm, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW), is the first design review for the proposed 100-or-so-unit development at the ex-Petco site in The Junction. Last Thursday, we brought you the first look at concept sketches that the project team has shown to community members in advance of the formal meetings, as well as the “massing” – size/shape – options in the “packet” put together for Design Review (see it here).

9051 20TH: This planned two-phase, 40-plus-unit project in South Delridge had its first Design Review meeting on March 8th (WSB coverage here). It’s now tentatively scheduled for a second meeting on June 14th, 6:30 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle.

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Update: Driver hurt in Highland Park truck crash

May 21, 2012 7:01 am

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| Helicopter | Highland Park | West Seattle news

7:01 AM: At least one TV chopper is over Highland Park. There’s a crash at 15th and Holden. We’re en route.

7:11 AM UPDATE: A Toyota pickup has gone off the road and into a yard. Police have Holden shut down right now between 14th and 16th but the tow truck is already there so it might not be for too long. At least one person is hurt – a private ambulance is on scene.

7:26 AM UPDATE: Police at the scene tell us the truck’s driver was the one taken to the hospital – private ambulance generally means NOT life-threatening injuries – and was alone in the truck. We’re waiting for the tow truck to get the truck out of the yard to check on possible damage to the house, which neighbors say was unoccupied.

7:37 AM UPDATE: It doesn’t appear the house was hit; the damage looks to be confined to the fence the truck went through, and the grassy slope/yard. (Thanks to everyone who texted and e-mailed us about the chopper, which is what tipped us to the fact that what was only a medic call on the 911 log was actually a crash.)

8:55 AM: Went back to the scene a little while ago and SW Holden is completely clear again.

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West Seattle Monday: Traffic alerts; growing food; Energy Fair…

May 21, 2012 6:03 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Great blue heron on Arbor Heights rooftop, photographed by a nearby resident)
Welcome to the week before Memorial Day … summer is in view, despite the weather, which we’re still warned will be rainy and windy today. From the calendar:

SPOKANE STREET VIADUCT CLOSURE AND OTHER TRAFFIC ALERTS: The westbound Spokane Street Viaduct – the West Seattle Bridge between I-5 and Highway 99 – is scheduled to be closed from I-5 to Highway 99 from 10 pm to 5 am tonight, while one lane will be closed on the eastbound SSV 9 pm-5 am. This means you won’t be able to get to the West Seattle Bridge from I-5, but you WILL be able to exit from southbound 99 to the bridge. There are some other closures on the surface – the details are here.

FERRY ALERT: As announced last week, the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth state ferry run is on a two-boat schedule today and tomorrow because of an overlap between one boat being out for inspection and another out for repairs.

AT THE LIBRARIES: Lots going on every week at West Seattle’s branches of the Seattle Public Library – today, that includes an Afternoon Book Group at 2 pm at Southwest Library (reading “The Moonstone” by Wilkie Collins) , and Family Story Time at 7 pm at High Point – find all the info via the SPL Calendar of Events.

GET RAW WITH THE COOKING CLUB: “Raw” is the theme for dishes to make and bring to today’s meeting of the West Seattle Cooking Club, 3 pm, Beveridge Place Pub.

WOMEN’S STAND-UP PADDLEBOARDING: Monday nights at Alki Kayak Tours (Seacrest Boathouse, 1660 Harbor Avenue SW), it’s time for women to get out on the water, starting at 6 pm.

BUDGET CONVERSATION: The third and final edition of the City Council’s three budget conversations – looking ahead to fall – isn’t in West Seattle, but it’s as close as this round of conversation is getting – 6 pm at New Holly.

LEARN ABOUT GROWING ORGANIC FOOD: Seattle Tilth is on hand 6:30 pm tonight at Chaco Canyon Organic Café (WSB sponsor).

SUSTAINABLE WEST SEATTLE’S ENERGY FAIR: No, it doesn’t have to be sunny for solar power to work. Learn about alternative energy of all kinds and whether it might be right for you, as Sustainable West Seattle’s monthly community forum takes the shape of an Energy Fair this month. 7-9 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon).

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Future of the Law Institute graduates include 2 Sealth students

May 21, 2012 4:36 am

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle people

The Future of the Law Institute is a year-long program for high-school students interested in law careers, intended to help work toward a future when this area’s “Courtrooms and Law Offices reflect the diversity of the community they serve …” (as declared atop the organization’s website). This weekend brought a graduation celebration for its most recent group of participants, and Ted Reed shares the photo with the news that the graduates include two Chief Sealth International High School students: Cecilia Silva, front row/left, and Trevor Reed, third row/left. He says the program “provides students with substantive legal workshops, career counseling, a mock trial, courthouse tour, and opportunities to meet with legal professionals.”

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