West Seattle, Washington
13 Saturday
By Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Because working on a master’s degree in post-Katrina New Orleans and being pregnant with a third child while raising twins wasn’t quite enough to keep Gretchen Williamson-Evans occupied, she decided to move to the Northwest and start a business … selling fully cooked, frozen organic grains.
They’re now arriving in local stores, packaged as Gretchen’s Grains.
The idea of having those staples available for easy use started in the Evans’ kitchen in New Orleans, while Gretchen was working on her Master’s and husband Bill Evans was operating his flight-training school.
Gretchen wanted the ease of eating the grain-and-vegetable salads featured in the healthier delis, but didn’t want to pay the deli prices, so she made grains in advance and froze them. Friends and family began requesting packages of the cooked quinoa, brown rice and wheat berries for themselves, and the couple recognized a niche market.
They did some research and realized “the whole-grain market was exploding,” says Gretchen. “We decided to throw our whole weight into it.”
The decision was the easy part.
Before more clouds move in for a projected two-day stay, they helped create another beautiful sunset tonight. Bill Wolford shared the photo above; the next one is from John Kieltyka:
ADDED 8:53 PM: From Rebecca Emmert, via Twitter:
Today by the way, was the 48th day without measurable rain at Sea-Tac, according to the National Weather Service, which says the record is 51 days.
Seattle Lutheran High School‘s varsity football team had to travel about five hours for today’s game vs. Lake Roosevelt. We just got word they are coming home with a win, 19-6.
We’re now less than two months away from the November election – less than a month and a half from the arrival of ballots and the start of voting. One of the marquee local races is for King County Sheriff. Steve Strachan, appointed to the job after Sue Rahr left earlier this year, is on the ballot along with John Urquhart, who as a KCSO sergeant was the department’s longtime media spokesperson till leaving a year ago. Both candidates will be featured during an event in White Center next Thursday – the quarterly public-safety forum presented by the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council. Everyone’s invited, wherever you live, and we haven’t heard yet about any West Seattle forum planned with this nonpartisan race, so we’re mentioning this one here – 7 pm Thursday (September 13th), North Highline Fire District headquarters, 1243 SW 112th.
(Photo courtesy Tyler – added 12:50 pm)
12:31 PM: At least one person is reported hurt in a crash that the 911 log says is on the westbound bridge – described on the scanner as involving a vehicle on the median. If you happen to see this while getting ready to head back this way from points east, you’ll want to use another route – low bridge, 1st Avenue South Bridge – for now. (The only city bridge camera that’s working shows a backup on the eastbound side – adding the image here – so avoid the bridge entirely for a while.)
12:44 PM UPDATE: Commenters say the crashed vehicle is a red pickup. From one: “Truck involved in accident is hanging by 2 tires off the westbound median sideways.”
12:50 PM UPDATE: Added a photo (thanks, Tyler!). Per scanner, police are reopening the westbound side of the bridge.
4:19 PM UPDATE: The scene is long clear but we’ve received a few more photos. The one above is from David.
Another stolen vehicle to watch for: From Brady via Twitter, “My black ’99 Subaru Outback Sport was stolen last night outside of the Link Apts (38th & Alaska)! WA license 045VTO.” As Seattle Police note in their @getyourcarback tweets – if you see a known stolen car, call 911.
(SEVEN otters frolicking in a yard south of the Fauntleroy ferry dock! Thanks to Dan and Philip for the photo)
Welcome to the weekend! From the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar:
GARAGE SALES! The West Seattle Eagles are having a big one at their HQ in The Junction, 9 am-3 pm (map in the listing); also, we notice a sizable list of sales for this weekend that have been posted directly (free!) in the Freebies/Deals/Sales section of the WSB Forums.
ADMIRAL ADOPT-A-STREET CLEANUP: Meet at Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) at 9 am and join the Admiral Neighborhood Association for its quarterly cleanup. Tools and bags provided – as are free treats!
ALSO IN THE ADMIRAL DISTRICT: Pets looking for new homes will be at Umpqua Bank (next to Admiral Safeway) with Saving Great Animals, 10 am-1:30 pm.
HOLY FAMILY STREET FAIR: Bigger than ever this year, says Holy Family School principal Frank Cantwell. Food and fun, 10 am-4 pm (tomorrow too), 20th/Roxbury, details here.
GRANDPARENTS’ DAY CELEBRATION: At Life Care Center of West Seattle (WSB sponsor) – everybody’s invited, 11 am-2:30 pm, with festivities including free barbecue and live music.
LOG HOUSE MUSEUM: Open noon-4 pm (61st/Stevens); go see the new exhibit from the first phase of “Telling Our Westside Stories,” which includes audio!
‘MAD SCIENCE INSTITUTE’ BOOK SIGNING: Author Sechin Tower will be at Atomic Boys in the Admiral District, 1-4 pm.
SKIHAWKS BENEFIT: They help get developmentally challenged people involved with winter sports, and you can help them in that work by attending tonight’s benefit at Our Lady of Guadalupe, 6:30 pm.
LIVE MUSIC: Gary Kanter at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 6-8 pm … Three bands at Skylark, starting at 8 pm … Blake Noble Band at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 9 pm … You saw their “West Seattle Hey” video here this week, now see/hear Not Dead Yet at Poggie Tavern in The Junction, 9 pm.
… and, as always, more on the calendar!
The Chief Sealth International High School Seahawks were on the road Friday night, but had a strong cheering section on hand for the game against Cleveland at Memorial Stadium downtown. Above, with the Sealth Cheerleaders, are Sealth’s first-ever Link Crew participants (explained in our story from two weeks ago) – the mentors in the red shirts accompanied some of their freshmen charges to the game, which saw Sealth beat Cleveland, 32-14. Ahead, highlights and toplines:
Friday night’s West Seattle High School football game was actually the second half of a doubleheader of sorts. First half was presided over by the WSHS Cheerleaders – their back-to-school barbecue, held at Southwest Athletic Complex right before the game. That, we’re told, was awesome; the game itself, not as much for WSHS, which lost to visiting Seattle Prep, 32-12. More photos and the key points, ahead:
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