(1st, 2nd, 4th photos by William Morgan)
Scurvy dawgs! Those two begin a gallery of more sights we want to share before Alki’s big Seafair Saturday is too much further away in the rear-view mirror – both community-contributed photos and a few more from our crews at the scene. And then there’s the aerial view of the pole-vaulting alongside the Seafair Pirates‘ Landing festivities:
(Photo by Long Bach Nguyen)
The Pirates of course came in with cannon fire, just like their landlubbing parade sailings:
And they had many a welcoming delegation – by sea…
(Photo by David Hutchinson)
… and by land …
… as they “barged in”:
14 more photos ahead – including pirate portraits!
That’s our video of local luminary Star Anna‘s star turn during the 2011 Summer Concerts at Hiawatha series; last year, she played West Seattle Summer Fest; and tonight – you can see her at Feedback Lounge (6451 California SW; WSB sponsor). This time, it’s an acoustic performance, as part of the slate for tonight’s second edition of the Bar Chords benefit series at The Feedback, featuring local musicians on Sunday nights. No cover, but donations will be accepted for Saving Great Animals. See the rest of the lineup on the Feedback’s home page; show starts at 8 pm.
Update on the Highway 99 closure north of downtown: By dawn, SDOT says, both directions should be back open – southbound now, northbound around 4 am. They’ve finished “demolition activities on the east side of the SR 99 bridge over Mercer Street,” so that’s why they’re reopening, though if you’re traveling on the surface in the area, note that Mercer itself is expected to remain closed until 5 am Monday as scheduled, while crews haul bridge debris.
(Photos by Christopher Boffoli for WSB) 10:52 PM: WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli is at the scene of that flipped-vehicle crash in the 5400 block of West Marginal Way SW (just north of the Lafarge plant). Avoid the area.
11:07 PM: Christopher says the vehicle’s female driver was reported to have suffered “bumps and scrapes,” no serious injury, and was being taken to the hospital by private ambulance to be checked out. Police told him at the scene that the driver said she swerved to avoid an animal, hit a utility pole, and that’s what flipped her Toyota SUV. He says City Light was arriving at the scene when he left – likely to check out the not-insignificant damage to the pole.
11:20 PM: Police have reported (per scanner) that southbound W. Marginal is open again. (added) Shortly thereafter, the other direction reopened too.
Friends and family have announced a benefit one week from tonight for 29-year-old Logan Wicker, who was driving home from his job at Skylark Café and Club late at night two weeks ago when a van driven by an alleged drunk driver hit his car at 17th and Cambridge, sending him and a friend to Harborview Medical Center. In our photo from the scene (left), you can barely see his car behind the van. Police say the other driver was running away from the scene when they caught her; as reported here June 26th, she is charged with two counts of vehicular assault and one county of felony hit-and-run. But for Logan’s family and friends, the focus is on his recovery; here’s how you can help:
Friends and family of Logan are hosting a benefit in his name to take care of the financial load that is accumulating so that he and the family can focus solely on his health and recovery. To raise money toward his recovery, we are organizing an all-ages benefit on July 13th from 2-6pm at the Skylark Café. There will be live music, information about the consequences of drunk driving, a raffle containing numerous items, and an auction. Hella Sunshine will be playing at 5 pm and we will have another band (tba) before that. There will be a cover (tba) at the door. All proceeds go directly to the Logan Wicker Fund.
There’s a website too – getrightlogan.com – and a Facebook event page for the benefit. And if you can’t make it to the benefit at Skylark (3803 Delridge Way SW), you can donate via any Chase Bank; the Logan Wicker Fund is account #954-989-786.
P.S. We don’t know how the other crash victim is doing, but would be happy to publish an update too if family/friends contact us. Meantime, the accused drunk driver who hit them, 26-year-old Kalameu Paulo of Seatac, remains jailed in lieu of $75,000 bail.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports to share tonight. First, Al‘s bicycle was stolen – again – in Highland Park. Be on the lookout for a blue Trek 7300 mountain bike; 2 locks were cut by the thief/thieves. Al explains, “It’s blue and has a mount on the back of the bike. It was a gift from my best friend.”
Meantime, Ernie has a car-prowl alert:
We’re at 47’th and Walker in the Admiral District and last night (7/5) someone rummaged thru our car. They took some change and a gold men’s wedding band but left other items of value (leatherman tool, GPS, sunglasses etc.). We suspect it was amateur car prowlers.
Normally we lock the doors on all our vehicles; last night was the night we forgot to do so. Just a friendly neighborly reminder to remove all valubles and lock up your vehicles at night.
More sights from Alki today: As always, Seafair Pirates Landing day also brought a pole-vaulting meet, and photographer David Hutchinson caught this sight: “Indiana Jones put in an appearance at the pole-vault competition at Alki Beach today. Unfortunately his famous whip dislodged the crossbar on his attempt.”
Further down the beach, the Duwamish Raven Canoe was visiting.
That’s Jonnica keeping watch on board. Linda from the Duwamish Longhouse had e-mailed earlier to say the Duwamish Canoe Family was headed for Alki – and we spotted it onshore after the Pirates had landed.
4:05 PM: Two weeks after the first “guerrilla art” sighting at Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza (WSB coverage here and here), and a week and a half after the followup, something new showed up today. Ben Hutchinson shared the photo and observation:
This one looks like an assault rifle. On the front of this work of art, it has written in French, “Ceci nest pa un fusil d’assault”. I put this into Google Translate, which gave me the English translation “This is not an assault rifle”. I’m not sure, but I believe this may have been a protest in response to a number incidents in various places that have been mentioned in the news over the past few months, about kids who were suspended from school or even arrested for simply carrying Nerf guns (shoot foam rubber darts) or other toy guns like squirt guns or cap guns either to school or onto pieces of property (such as a park/playfield) that belongs to a school. Children are often forbidden from doing so under so called “no tolerance” rules involving anything that even looks like a gun (in one such case, a kid was suspended for just pointing his finger in a way that looked like he was pretending it was a gun, while playing, as kids tend to do). I believe the artwork here is a protest against such no-tolerance policies, for how strict (and possibly unfair) they can be in some situations.
We didn’t see Ben’s e-mail in time to check while we were at Alki so we don’t know if it’s still there.
12:43 AM: The “not a rifle” has been moved to Walking on Logs. The sighting was reported by @macjustice on Twitter when we were downtown picking up a family member; checked it out on the way back, and it’s either the same one or a duplicate.
ADDED EARLY MONDAY: We heard on Sunday from Chuck, who identified himself as the artist, but said he is NOT the person responsible for the previous creations left at Liberty Plaza and in The Junction. He says somebody had removed the “not a rifle” from Walking on Logs by 10:30 am Sunday, adding, “I hope that whoever took it returns it. If they don’t, I guess it served its purpose. I had a lot of fun making it.”
Seattle Police say the suspect in a street robbery/attack in The Junction last September is now in jail. Police in Shoreline stopped the suspect in that city last night and discovered he was wanted in Seattle, so he’s now been booked into King County Jail. Details of the September incident are part of the report on SPD Blotter.
12:04 PM: Got a tip (thanks, Christine) that the Hiawatha wading pool was found to have broken glass, which is being cleaned up now, so it’s opening late. We’ll check over there in a while; please let us know if you see it open before we update its status! Here’s the citywide wading-pool schedule.
1:33 PM: Still closed when we drove by about 15 minutes ago – saw staffers still sweeping. Added a photo of the ongoing cleanup, sent by Christine (thanks again!).
3:42 PM: As of our last drive-by about 15 minutes ago, it’s open!
11:34 AM: Cannon fire can be heard offshore as the Seafair Pirates make their way toward Alki Beach – with landlubbers awaiting them. (added) Listen to the cannon blasts in our video:
11:44 AM UPDATE: They’ve arrived, wading ashore as usual, after the Global Diving and Salvage craft brought them as far in as it could. (added) This year’s Captain Kidd is West Seattleite Rusty Harper:
Onshore festivities commence now!
ADDED 12:13 PM: Above, the Pirates accompanied ashore by the West Seattle Hi-Yu delegation; below, the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle‘s been here handing out special pirate hats, and Kiwanian Mike LaFranchi shares smiles with a recipient:
More to come. Events on the beach continue into the afternoon, including bouncy toys for the kids.
One more reminder: Highway 99 is closed in both directions from the Battery St. Tunnel northward to Valley Street all weekend, so if you need to get north of downtown, you’ll need an alternate route; even if you’re just taking NB 99 to downtown, you might face backups, since everyone will have to exit at Western, if not sooner. This is all part of the city’s ongoing Mercer Corridor work.
A number of West Seattleites traveled across the state to join in the Spokane Hoopfest last weekend, competing against more than 7,000 teams in the world’s largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament. Hoopfest, begun in 1990, is an annual tournament that draws players and fans of all ages from around the country. It takes place outdoors, covering an area of 42 city blocks in downtown Spokane.
After playing through thunderstorms on Saturday and 96-degree heat on Sunday, at least four young West Seattle teams became champions of their brackets:
Regus ICE: Jayce, Grace, and Lexi
Gray Wolves: Teagan, Bryce, and Jaxton
Golden Arches: Josh Meyer, John Ursino, Andrew Burggraff, and Tyler Lenzie
Lady Hawks: Samantha Scroggins, Lani Taylor, Alison Hadaway, and Sidney Proctor
To see each team’s draw, check out Hoopfest’s Team Tracker. (Thanks to Mike Jensen and Jeffrey Proctor for the photos and info!)
… as they work on new mobile apps. This is the second survey on the topic; they’re asking for specifics on what kind of information you would find useful in three particular areas. Here’s the link.
8:53 PM: Emergency crews are handling a crash across SW Thistle from Chief Sealth International High School. Our crew says that’s blocking eastbound Thistle at the scene. The crash originally was dispatched as a “heavy rescue” situation, but many of the crews were subsequently canceled. Our crew says it looks like two cars went up over the sidewalk and through a fence at an apartment complex. A private ambulance is there, which suggests the injuries are not life-threatening. Avoid the area.
9:11 PM UPDATE: In addition to going through the fence, it looks like at least one vehicle hit an apartment, breaking a window, and firefighters are helping clean up the glass inside.
As for how it happened – police were still sorting that out.
If you noticed police activity in the 16th and Holden area of Highland Park earlier today, here’s what it was about: Southwest Precinct Lt. Alan Williams says two neighbors called police after seeing four people break into a house in the 7700 block of 15th SW and run away. Two suspects were stopped at 16th and Holden, two at 15th and Holden; all were juveniles, and Lt. Williams says some “had property on their person that was later identified by the victim as their property.” One had a “loaded semi-automatic ammo clip on his person,” but a K-9 searching the area didn’t find a gun. He says three suspects were booked, one interviewed and released.
After the Tuesday night multi-location investigation described as involving a possible carjacking (WSB coverage here), police promised they would have followup information once they sorted it out. They still haven’t entirely sorted it out, but an update just appeared on SPD Blotter – read it here. Bottom line: It all may have had something to do with stolen auto parts that someone was trying to buy back; the later locations involved police trying to find a suspect who had called them. While two people were briefly in custody at one Highland Park location, as we noted in a followup comment Wednesday, nobody was actually arrested; two vehicles were impounded, though.
Many places display flags on the 4th of July and other patriotically themed holidays. The West Seattle home of Sharon and Duff Kennedy is among them. Or – has been. The flag they hang every 4th of July was stolen last night; the photo above shows where it had been displayed. This is not just any flag, Sharon explains:
We hung the flag that was given to my husband when his son Roger was laid to rest.
It was the flag presented to him at (Roger’s) burial; he was a Vietnam War casualty.
We hang it every 4th of July, and this year we hung it in a new spot, and after our company left late the night of the 4th, we forgot to take the flag down.
It is a very large flag and we hung it so proudly each year.
The thief took it down carefully, and all the hangers we used are still in place.
We want our flag back, we will buy a replacement flag for the person who stole ours, not ask any questions, no bad feelings.
The flag is about 10 feet wide and about 5 feet long.
The sentimental value is priceless.
Perhaps the thief can simply return it – the Kennedys are at 4234 Beach Drive SW.
You might not be counting the days yet, but we are – West Seattle’s biggest festival of the year, the Junction Association-presented West Seattle Summer Fest (co-sponsored by WSB), is now exactly one week away – Friday, Saturday, Sunday (July 12-14). Or you might say it’s six days away, if you count what we call Summer Fest Eve, Thursday night, July 11th, when California and Alaska close in the heart of The Junction starting at 6 pm and Summer Fest setup begins, concurrent with the July edition of the West Seattle Art Walk, and featuring street performances (we’ve already mentioned Bret Wiggins bringing his award-winning Elvis styling to the street outside La Romanza Bistro Italiano [WSB sponsor] that night).
Quick links and notes:
*Summer Fest music lineup
*Summer Fest vendors/exhibitors directory (use the column titles to sort alphabetically or numerically)
*Summer Fest vendors/exhibitors map (PDF; we’re not listed because you’ll find WSB in the Information Booth again this year)
*Summer Fest kid zone is on Alaska WEST of California, where the food used to be
*Summer Fest food zone is on Alaska EAST of California (sort the vendor list by “location” and click ahead to the pages starting 151 and 176 for the “F” as in “food” entries – earlier in the list, note a few “Sidewalk Cafes” too)
*Other specialty areas – GreenLife is back on the south side of the festival area; Art Dive is back on the north side
*West Seattle Farmers’ Market will be ON during Summer Fest, 10 am-2 pm as always
Festival hours will be 10 am-8 pm Friday and Saturday (with music running later) and 11 am-5 pm on Sunday. More details to come as our countdown continues in the days/nights ahead! And if your business/organization has something special to spotlight, please let us know ASAP so we can include it in countdown coverage – editor@westseattleblog.com.
(9-10 team Wednesday night, congratulating Reece McAllister after his double allowed Spencer Burgess to score from 2nd for the win)
Big day for Alki tomorrow – not just the Seafair Pirates Landing, but also, the championship games for the Little League District 7 All-Star tournaments that have been under way since last weekend at Bar-S Playfield. And, Laurie Rasmussen tells us, both teams from the hosting West Seattle Little League are in their respective championship games!
Both the 9-10 and 11-12 year old West Seattle Little League All Star teams will be playing tomorrow in the District 7 championship games beginning at 10:00 at Bar S fields.
*The 9-10 year old team will face the winner of tonight’s game, PAC West vs. South Highline National. The 9-10 year old team beat South Highline National on Wednesday night in extra innings by the score of 9-8.
*The 11-12 year old team will face the winner of tonight’s game, PAC West vs. Renton. The 11-12 year old team beat PAC West on Wednesday night in a shutout, with a score of 17-0.
Both teams go into the championship game undefeated in tournament play. The winner of the District 7 tournament will move on to the State tournament.
The 10-11 year old tournament and Juniors tournament begin tomorrow also at PAC West fields in Burien. We wish them luck! Go Westside!
And remember, you are welcome to go watch and cheer the players on. There’s more information, including scheduling, on the WSLL website.
During the Southwest Seattle Historical Society‘s 4th of July membership picnic, executive director Clay Eals rolled out a long list of events SWSHS has in the works, including a series of monthly author talks in partnership with South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor), a 9/11 commemoration on September 8th at Alki Arts, and the annual fundraising gala in November, spotlighting the Alki Point Lighthouse‘s centennial. But first up will be the August event that SWSHS is formally announcing today – centered on another centennial, that of a well-known couple’s home:
(Photo by Jean Sherrard)
The event August 18th at the North Admiral home of Sharon and Greg Nickels will be both a celebration of history and inspiration for homeowners considering renovating their own classic homes. Here’s the official announcement from SWSHS:
What do you do when the house you live in turns 100? Former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and his wife, Sharon, have a ready answer: Throw a community celebration and make it a fundraiser for the Southwest Seattle Historical Society.
To be held Sunday afternoon, Aug. 18, 2013, the event is called “If These Walls Could Talk: The Centennial of Hizzoner’s Home.” It will take place at the Nickels home in the Admiral neighborhood of West Seattle.
Sponsoring the two-tiered event is the 29-year-old Southwest Seattle Historical Society, which also will be the beneficiary.
11:20 AM: The new Highland Park Spraypark has had a few technical glitches since opening a week ago, as we’ve been noting, and Seattle Parks just sent word there’s another today:
Highland Park Spraypark has mechanical problems with the backwash system. It cannot open until repairs are made. Tom Dunning, (project manager) Kelly Goold and Contractor are on site, but it will not open at 11:00. There is no estimate for the time.
We have updated the Wading Pool Hotline.
Of special note, people in the community brought their own brooms to help clean up the spraypad to remove fireworks garbage.
We’ll post an update when we hear (or see) that it’s fixed. Parks spokesperson Joelle Hammerstad, who sent the announcement, says, “We do expect to get it open today. We just don’t know when.”
ADDED 11:44 AM: We asked if this is related or similar to the earlier problems. Parks says no – the first-day glitch involved nearby grass-mowing just before the spraypark opened, and cut grass repeatedly clogged the system; today, it’s “an electrical problem on the automatic backwash system.”
3:26 PM UPDATE: Seattle Parks confirms a commenter’s report – it’s open!
(Click image for larger view)
“Our island at 9,000 feet” is how pilot/photographer Long Bach Nguyen captioned that view shared with us this week. Here are highlights for today/tonight on “our island,” from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
SCOOTER INSANITY:Red Cup Espresso in The Junction is hosting this big scooter rally for a brunch stop, 11 am until 3 pm – here’s the rally schedule, in case you wonder what they’re up to before/after.
BLOOD DRIVE: The Puget Sound Blood Center Bloodmobile is at Westwood Village until 3:30 pm, and walk-up donations are welcome – holiday weekends are too often a time when the supply runs low. Details in our calendar listing.
MAYOR AT SOUTHWEST PRECINCT: Not a public event, but FYI, the mayor’s tour of Seattle Police precincts, with media updates on the Safe Communities Initiative, brings him to the Southwest Precinct at 1:30 pm today. We’ll of course be there and report here.
CORNER BAR CELEBRATES A YEAR: One year for the pop-up “first Fridays” bar at Highland Park Improvement Club! To celebrate, tonight’s theme is “reunion” – explained here. 6-9 pm it’s all ages, then at 9 it’s 21+. (12th/Holden)
LIVE MUSIC AT SKYLARK: 8 pm, Knut Bell and the Blue Collars, Sourmash Stevedores. Details on the Skylark calendar. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
FLAT FIVE AT FEEDBACK: R&B, soul, rock, and funk, live at 9:30 pm at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) with the Flat 5. (6451 California SW)
In our photo from the scene (left), you can barely see his car behind the van. Police say the other driver was running away from the scene when they caught her; as 
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