West Seattle, Washington
23 Monday
Thanks to Angela for e-mailing tonight to share the news about a roadside fundraiser planned for Thursday at Emma Schmitz Overlook along Beach Drive. 31-year-old Jessica Oldwyn, who lives in Green Lake, is in the third year of fighting a brain tumor, and writing about her fight online. As she writes in a recent entry, she has an experimental treatment coming up, and the ongoing fight is costly – so her parents are going to sell organic cherries to raise money to help. They plan to be at the waterfront park 11 am-1 pm this Thursday (and as Jessica writes, other locations later).
The Parks and Green Spaces Levy passed by Seattle voters three and a half years ago included an Opportunity Fund for community-generated projects and acquisitions – and the second round of projects is now starting to make its way through the pipeline. The levy’s Oversight Committee is chaired by West Seattle’s Pete Spalding, who says that last night’s committee meeting yielded some numbers: 112 letters submitted for potential projects, 87 of which would be “development” – new Parks facilities – and 25 “acquisition,” new Parks property. West Seattle and vicinity had the largest number of letters of interest turned in – 32; second most was from the northwest section of the city, 22. The next step is the formal application process, with a September 17th deadline, after technical-assistance workshops to be scheduled during the summer; the full timeline is here.
5:36 PM: Receiving lots of calls/texts about a helicopter over White Center/Highland Park. Witnesses say it’s Channel 7 TV, which subsequently said via Twitter they were checking out an “unconfirmed” report of a possible drug bust in the area.
5:43 PM UPDATE: We checked with King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West, who says she’s working to get more information about a search warrant in WC.
In three and a half weeks, you can make history by being part of the first-ever West Seattle Float Dodger 5K – a run/walk right before the West Seattle American Legion Post 160 Grand Parade, reminiscent of the Torchlight Run preceding the Seafair Torchlight Parade. If you haven’t registered for the Float Dodger 5K yet, you can have fun doing that during the registration party at West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) this Sunday. We asked WS Runner’s Tim McConnell for a few more details on what they’re envisioning the Float Dodger will be like:
The race is 75 minutes before the start of the parade. The course starts at West Seattle Runner (Charlestown and California), goes north and turns around at Lander. There may be a float (or two) parked in the middle of the road we will have to run around.
From there, it’s south on California to Edmunds for the second turnaround, then heading north on California to West Seattle High School’s southwest parking lot (just north of Hanford). The parking lot is the finish area, where we will have vendors giving out products to the participants. We will also be announcing the top 3 finishers of the race, male and female, plus the winners of the costume contest.
The race is open to everyone; runners, joggers, walkers, dogs, cats, even kids! There is a time limit, and those in the back will be getting followed by the vehicles that deliver the floats, hence the name Float Dodger. If you are slower than 4 mph (15 minutes a mile), then you may be asked to finish on the sidewalk, but you will be able to finish. A steady pace walking will keep you in the race and on the course, so you don’t have to run any of it to be able to complete the entire distance. The start time means that there will be a good amount of your West Seattle neighbors lining the course waiting for the parade.
100% of the profits benefit West Seattle Rotary and the Lymphoma/Leukemia Society. We are still looking for sponsors; call West Seattle Runner for more details.
And this Sunday, you can sign up – and ask questions – noon-4 pm, at WS Runner. Get $5 off your registration fee, enter prize drawings, check out the massage booth, and share in a birthday cake for WSR co-proprietor Lori McConnell! WSR is upstairs on the northwest corner of California/Charlestown. (P.S. If you’re worried about running and not having a place to watch the parade – WSR says there’ll be a special viewing zone for participants.)
(Click photo for larger view)
In North Delridge, the Youngstown Flats development at 26th and Dakota is almost at its full six-story height, as our newest aerial view from West Seattle pilot/photographer Long Bach Nguyen shows. Its 190-plus units are scheduled to open next spring; the design approval and permits originally were obtained under different ownership, and then the project idled – before groundbreaking – until Legacy Partners and Barrientos LLC stepped forward last year. There are two components to the development that you don’t often find – one is that they’re working to turn the SW Dakota “street end” to the north into a pocket park with access to Longfellow Creek; the developers’ latest update mentions that the North Delridge Neighborhood Council is planning to seek a Neighborhood Matching Fund grant to help fix it up, and NDNC is looking for volunteers to be on a project committee – here’s more on their site. The other is their ongoing “artist engagement program”; we reported on one acquired piece in April, and the developers have announced that they’ve chosen two more artists to create work for the lobby – Michael Harrison and encaustic artist Patti Bowman.
Go see a Mariners game while helping the West Seattle High School baseball team! They play in the annual High School Baseball Classic at Safeco Field every spring, and part of the deal is for WSHS to help sell tickets to an M’s game. This year, they’re selling tickets to a second game to meet their quota, and offering you the chance to buy in: The game is Saturday, September 22, vs. the Texas Rangers. You can get what would be an $20 ticket for $8 (***that’s the corrected amount – we had the numbers transposed previously**). If you’re interested, call Gina at 206-779-9793.
Those are the tables and chairs placed in Junction Plaza Park by the West Seattle Junction Association. They are this morning’s “photo of the day” in honor of their continued existence – when we reported their installation two-plus weeks ago, a few commenters predicted they’d vanish within a few weeks; we countered good-naturedly with faith in humanity (despite 30 years in news). The tables/chairs have been there almost three weeks, so three cheers for optimism … and for a place to enjoy lunch in the park. On with the calendar highlights:
TONIGHT’S TRAFFIC ALERT: From our custom-combined list of this week’s closures, day-by-day: Just one for today/tonight – the southbound Alaskan Way Viaduct will be closed overnight, 9 pm-5 am. (P.S. Wherever you’re heading, and whenever, the WSB Traffic page has all the West Seattle-relevant cameras.)
TRYING TO DECIDE ABOUT RETIREMENT LIVING? West Seattle’s senior/retirement-living communities are joining forces for a Town Hall-style event to share information and answer questions, 2 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon). Details here.
STAND-UP PADDLEBOARDING: The lack of summer sun doesn’t stop this summer series of Tuesday night racing. 6 pm, Alki Kayak Tours at Seacrest (1660 Harbor SW); details here.
OPEN HOUSE: Arbor Heights Cooperative Preschool (10404 34th SW) invites prospective families to visit; starts at 6 pm – more info here.
BLOCKWATCH CAPTAINS NETWORK: This month’s meeting is all about getting ready for Night Out block parties on August 7th, as previewed here last night. Tonight’s meeting is at 6:30 pm at the Southwest Precinct meeting room, Delridge/Webster.
HI-YU WHITE ROSE RECEPTION: It’s a reunion and a celebration for Hi-Yu royalty past and present as the heart of the summer West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival season nears. 7 pm at Fauntleroy Church (9131 California SW), details here.
21st SW south of Croft Place has just reopened to traffic, after most fire crews left the scene of a small early-morning fire at a vacant house in the 6500 block. (The house is almost completely hidden from the street, behind the white fence at the left side of our photo.) No injuries reported, and SFD was working to figure out what caused it, and whether it was intentional or accidental. (Scanner traffic noted that a silver Toyota Tacoma pickup truck was stolen from a neighboring home, and police were trying to find out if that was somehow related.)
The motorcycle rider killed on West Marginal Way SW in West Seattle on Sunday is now identified: 67-year-old Dave Fenton, who, The Seattle Times (WSB partner) reports, served eight years on the Tukwila City Council. (The photo at right is from his 2005 campaign, when he lost his bid for a third term.) The King County Medical Examiner’s Office lists the cause of death as multiple traumatic injuries; Seattle Police said on Sunday that the rider was killed instantly after hitting a pole and being thrown from his Harley (WSB photo above left) and that witnesses say the motorcycle and a black car were “racing” right before the crash, which closed the road for 5 hours. Tukwila records archives show Mr. Fenton’s focuses as a councilmember included crime prevention and telecommunications, as well as multi-family housing (he is listed as an owner of a large complex there).
ADDED 8:15 AM: Overnight, Mr. Fenton’s daughter Monica posted this comment following our original story:
This is tragic and my heart is broken. Dave Fenton is my father and he was the victim of this terrible fatal accident. My heart aches and I still can’t believe he is gone. He loved riding his Harley on beautiful sunny days and Sunday was one of those rare delights. He was 67, a trained rider, both participant and advocate of offered safety courses for ALL bikers. He LOVED to ride Alki and on a beautiful sunny day he was doing what he loved. There is more to this story and investigation. We will have a celebration of life ceremony on Sunday, July 1.
| 9 COMMENTS