West Seattle, Washington
12 Tuesday
That photo is from tonight’s Sustainable West Seattle community picnic at Lincoln Park, where SWS (whose president Kimberly Leeper is second from right) honored West Seattle Bike Connections (4 reps at left) as Sustainability Champions and “Diver Laura” James (at right) as Volunteer of the Year. Here’s our video of the back-to-back presentations – and speeches:
As members explained in the clip, WSBC is a relatively new group – its early organizational outreach last year, in fact, involved the WSB Forums. WSBC has since gotten deeply involved in advocacy for safety, for a louder West Seattle voice in transportation planning, and much more. You can find WSBC online here.
“Diver Laura,” meantime, at first gained attention for her amazing underwater video and cleanup work – and then got increasingly involved in organized environmental advocacy, taking over the Tox-Ick Monster runoff-reducing campaign and most recently joining up with Puget Soundkeeper Alliance.
The announcements were part of an annual tradition for SWS, now in its seventh year (first mentioned here on WSB in the summer of 2007) – a celebratory summer picnic:
This past year, its meetings continued evolving into community forums, focusing on a particular sustainability topic for more than one month at a time – such as a popular series on gardening. Watch for upcoming events – not just sponsored by SWS, but related to sustainability, all over the peninsula – on the group’s frequently updated website.
Think politicians tend to live in fancy mansions? Some might. But for more than a quarter of a century, Greg Nickels, two-term mayor of Seattle, and wife Sharon Nickels have resided in a humble Craftsman bungalow in North Admiral, where they hosted a party on Sunday afternoon. The benefit for the Southwest Seattle Historical Society celebrated the 100-year history of the Nickels family’s home, as well as its restoration, and the concept of restoring and researching any not-so-new home. We were there for the early going, with dozens there to look, listen, and learn:
We also recorded video of the warm introduction by SWSHS executive director Clay Eals, and then Greg Nickels’ remarks, humorous and informative:
He had many memories to share, including dealing with the rust-colored shag carpet you might remember from this photo shown in some of the pre-event previews:
But as Eals said, the event wasn’t just a look back – it was also meant to create new memories, and new history at which attendees and others will look back, years down the road. Also featured was Greg Lange from the King County Archives; we weren’t able to stay to record what he had to say, but you can learn a lot about property research – current and past information – via the county website.
Watch the SWSHS website for more on Sunday’s event and other frequently updated content; you can even go there right now for details of SWSHS events coming up, including a West Seattle-centric 9/11 commemoration on Sunday, September 8th, at Alki Arts, displaying the bags from the luminarias that were displayed at the Alki Statue of Liberty starting the night after the attack 12 years ago – details here. (The day before that – September 7th – is the next informational session for potential volunteers; read about that here.)
(West Seattle’s last PARKing Day mini-park, 2010)
5:04 PM: PARK(ing) Day is coming 
up on Friday, September 20th, and applications to participate are now available. Started in San Francisco back in 2005, it’s now an annual worldwide event where on-street parking spots are turned into temporary mini-parks, just for one day, to promote sustainability and more-livable cities. West Seattle hasn’t had a mini-park since 2010, so if you’re interested in being the next to host a park, apply ASAP – you’ll need to get your application in by August 30th (one week from this Friday).
It’s free to apply; you will have to submit your proposal to the Seattle Department of Transportation to show that it meets safety guidelines. Go here for more info, including application criteria, frequently asked questions, and photos of past years’ parks around the city.
6:51 PM: Just found out at the Sustainable West Seattle community picnic (separate report to come) that at least one application is in for a West Seattle PARKing Day park – Kathy Dunn from West Seattle Bike Connections mentioned that she is working on one for an area in front of Mashiko and Husky Deli in The Junction.
(Photo tweeted by @mayormcginn account)
To the classic “no shirt, no shoes, no service,” you can add “no gun” for Seattle businesses who join a campaign launched today by Washington Ceasefire, with the support of Mayor McGinn. The campaign formally announced this morning on Capitol Hill (photo above) encourages any interested business, anywhere in the city limits, to declare itself a “Gun-Free Zone”; the voluntary sign-up form is here, along with links to download pre-produced signs such as this one:
The same link will take you to an FAQ explaining that it’s “generally” within business owners’ rights to set rules that could include banning particular items from their property, and if those rules exist, police could be called to deal with rule violators as trespassers. Washington Ceasefire director Ralph Fascitelli is quoted on his organization’s website as saying, “We know this won’t stop someone determined to cause violence, but we hope that standing together and giving businesses a tool to say no to guns will change the conversation around gun violence.”
So far, the only West Seattle-linked business on the list of participants (scroll down that same page) is Cupcake Royale; we walked by the Junction location around noon and didn’t see a sign up at the Junction location, but will be checking on the company’s plans. Any other local businesses planning to support this campaign? Or, for that matter, to actively oppose it? Let us know.
This will likely explain more no-parking signs you’ll see today and later this week – another round of Seattle Public Schools portable-classroom moves in West Seattle. The newest list includes two portable-moving operations headed OUT of this area:
Overnight tonight, by 6 am Tuesday – From Boren (5950 Delridge) to Schmitz Park Elementary (50th/Spokane)
Overnight Tuesday night, by 6 am Wednesday – From Boren to View Ridge Elementary
Overnight Thursday night, by 6 am Friday – From Genesee Hill (50th/Genesee) to Jane Addams
10:44 AM: Bail is set at $10,000 for the man arrested for allegedly stabbing a state worker at an encampment site in the 9500 block of Myers Way (map) last Friday – and it turns out, there’s a federal warrant out for his arrest. The victim, who was not seriously injured and declined treatment at the scene, was posting 72-hour eviction notices at the site along with a colleague, according to the Seattle Police report we obtained today:
… They noticed that (the suspect) was sleeping under a tarp or blanket. (Worker) said, “Good morning, it’s time to leave the property.” (Suspect) stood up and told (worker) that he was trespassing. (Worker) told Hadley that he was actually the one trespassing. (Suspect) pulled a knife and lunged at (worker), cutting him in the chest. (Worker) quickly grabbed a branch to try to keep distance between himself and (suspect …. who) grabbed a bigger branch. (The workers) retreated to their work truck and called the police. (The suspect) walked out of the state-owned property he was camping on at the same time (an officer) arrived at the scene.
However, the suspect didn’t surrender quietly, according to the report; he ignored the officer’s orders and walked across Myers Way, then running southbound, with the officer driving behind him for about two blocks until the suspect stopped again, at which time the officer took away his knife, and took him into custody. The subsequent check of the suspect’s record turned up the federal warrant for what’s described only as a weapons offense, with “full extradition.” We’re following up on that as well as on the status of the “encampment” site and the injured worker, and will add any additional information we get.
12:33 PM UPDATE: Just talked with Bart Treece of WSDOT, who says the worker who was attacked is fine – they did talk him into getting checked out at a hospital, eventually; the wound was described as a “nick.” These are workers from the WSDOT’s maintenance division, who do everything from roadway repair to plowing snow to something like this. And while they have been threatened before, Treece says this is the first known actual attack on a WSDOT worker while posting or clearing this type of site.
The “Myers Way woods” area has to be posted relatively often, Treece told WSB in a phone conversation. Typically, that’s followed by a cleanup, usually done with assistance of work crews from the Department of Corrections; in this case, that’ll likely be done sometime later this week. It’s WSDOT property because it’s right-of-way for Highway 509, immediately east, and it’s a safety issue, he emphasized, in making sure people don’t camp there. In the general West Seattle vicinity, besides Myers Way, Treece says, the 1st Avenue South Bridge area requires postings and cleanup relatively often. That costs hundreds of thousands a year at sites like this around the state, according to Treece, money WSDOT would rather spend on the roads.
(2012 Alki Beach 5K start; photo by David Hutchinson)
Less than one week until West Seattle’s next benefit run/walk – the Alki Beach 5K, benefiting Northwest Hope and Healing, the West Seattleite-founded nonprofit that helps breast-cancer patients. It starts at 9 am next Sunday (August 25th) on Alki Avenue SW near 61st SW, and heads east from there – remember that the race route on Alki/Harbor Avenues will be closed for a few hours Sunday morning as a result. Online registration remains open until Friday morning; sign up here. Or you can sign up in person at West Seattle Runner (California/Charlestown; WSB sponsor), and of course, near the 5K starting line on Sunday morning (but why wait?).
Thanks to Bill Bacon for the photo of this weekend’s pink-salmon-fishing crowd on the shore at Lincoln Park – which also happens to be the scene of one of tonight’s highlighted events. From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
SUSTAINABLE WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY PICNIC: Everybody’s welcome to join SWS for its annual community barbecue/picnic on the beach at Lincoln Park (Shelter #3); it’ll start around 5 pm, show up whenever you can, and get ready to help celebrate their annual award recipients along the way. Full details on the SWS website.
FAMILY STORY TIME: High Point Branch Library welcomes kids and parents for tonight’s story time, 6:30 pm. (35th/Raymond)
FOY VANCE AT EASY STREET: Another free, live in-store show at Easy Street Records in The Junction – Foy Vance (read about his music here), 7 pm. (California/Alaska)
And two reminders:
SCHOOL VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Programs at Roxhill and Lafayette Elementaries need volunteers this week; if you missed the request when we published it, here it is again.
SOLSTICE PARK TENNIS COURTS CLOSED: As announced recently by Seattle Parks, the Solstice Park tennis courts (just northeast of Lincoln Park) are scheduled to be closed today through August 30th for renovation work.
(Live view of the 1st Ave. S. Bridge, looking south at northbound lanes)
No major problems reported on local outbound routes so far this morning – except that the city’s traffic cameras don’t appear to be updating (they all appear to have stopped at about 5:37 am); checking on that (and looking at a state-operated camera in the meantime). Meantime, remember the West Seattle road closure that is scheduled to last all week – Orchard/Dumar between Delridge and (almost) 16th; here’s our reminder, with map, from last night.
| Comments Off on Video: Sustainable West Seattle honors ‘Diver Laura’ James, WS Bike Connections at Lincoln Park picnic