West Seattle, Washington
11 Wednesday
This year’s West Seattle Rock Club show has not one, but two silent auctions – including the one above, just for kids. Admission to the show, which started today and continues tomorrow, is free, with members displaying their collections and showing some of the skills it takes to turn a rock or gem into a shining collection piece.
You’ll also find vendors selling gems, minerals, tools, and jewelry:
More demonstrations and hands-on activities for all ages, plus refreshments, all happening again tomorrow in the Masonic Center at 40th and Edmunds, 10 am-5 pm.
Also coming up tomorrow: The free “Warrior Woman Self-Defense Seminar” at Straight Blast Gym of Seattle (5050 Delridge Way SW; WSB sponsor). Gym proprietor Sonia Sillan explains, “Life is unpredictable, and you never know what’s going to happen. This is why we’ve been planning this event – we believe that every woman should have access to proper life-saving awareness and self-defense strategies to protect themselves, and their families. As women, we have to learn that we are worth fighting for. We are worth every bit of effort that we can put into being strong, smart, and skilled in self-defense.” The seminar will run noon-3 pm, and you’re asked to e-mail to register – welcome@sbgseattle.com. Sonia says more than 40 women are already signed up, but there’s room for more. And they’ll be collecting donations for New Beginnings, a Seattle-based organization serving those whose lives have been affected by domestic violence.
After our recent reminder about tomorrow’s Recycle Roundup at Fauntleroy Church – a popular twice-yearly dropoff event – sharp-eyed commenter PSPS noticed something new on the list of what will and will not be accepted: TVs. Judy Pickens confirmed that and shares this reminder:
You may have noticed (or more likely missed) that this Sunday’s Recycle Roundup at Fauntleroy Church will not be accepting televisions (CRT, LCD, or plasma). You can, however, bring computer monitors.
As a collector for the E-Cycle Washington program for environmentally responsible recycling, 1 Green Planet gets paid by manufacturers for TVs dropped off at its warehouse, not for community events such as the semi-annual roundup. The closest E-Cycler where you can drop off your derelict TV is Burien Goodwill (1031 SW 128th).
The Recycle Roundup is in the church parking lot, 9 am-3 pm tomorrow, 9140 California SW (map).
Just mentioning in case you heard/saw the big dispatch to 6300 block of High Point Drive about 15 minutes ago – crews have given it the “food on the stove” label so far; our crew has verified at the scene. Units are being dismissed.
4:49 PM: We’ve received multiple reports – including this photo courtesy of Kerry – about a water outage in the Hansen View area, southeast of The Triangle (35th/Hudson, 35th/Edmunds so far). Anyone else?
6:27 PM UPDATE: Thanks to Kerry for noting in a comment that the water’s back on – and thanks to everyone else who helped flesh out the details; very helpful since SPU does not have an outage map along the lines of what City Light has.
6:29 PM UPDATE: … maybe not for everyone, per Tracey‘s comment.
The ever-greener Highland Park Improvement Club is an official “sustainability stop” during today’s free, self-guided Northwest Green Home Tour, which you can check out until 5 pm. (It’s the same spot where we showed you the “de-paving” action just five weeks ago; now see the result!)
The southwest sites also include two West Seattle homes – a new one on Beach Drive and a remodel in Sunrise Heights – addresses and details here – and there’s another “sustainability stop” nearby, at the South Park Neighborhood Center. If you are checking out the tour in other parts of the city, note that West Seattle’s Ventana Construction (WSB sponsor) is showing a backyard-cottage project in North Seattle.
Big smile from Wyatt’s Jewelers (WSB sponsors) co-proprietor Kirk Keppler – the shop is celebrating its anniversary today, and you get the gift – an open house with the only storewide sale of the year at Wyatt’s (up to 60 percent off). Stop by any time before 6 pm, in the heart of Westwood Village.
Still time to get to the West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) Healthy Kids Day in The Triangle – thanks to Maria for the photos!
It’s on at 36th/Snoqualmie until 1 pm. Here’s what Healthy Kids Day is all about.
(West Seattle from the Space Needle, tweeted last night by @alkiamyratz)
Sunny and busy Saturday, under way! From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, some of your options for the hours ahead, but first:
TRAFFIC ALERT: Reminder that the Admiral Way offramp from the westbound bridge is scheduled for closure 8 am-~3 pm today (SDOT says it’ll reopen earlier if the work is done).
(WSB photo, added 9:49 am)
FREE SHREDDING: At C & P Coffee Company, 9 am-noon, Roger Steiner of IHeartWestSeattle.com co-sponsors a free shredding event. (C&P and IHWS are both WSB sponsors.) Here’s a page full of information on what to shred and what not to shred; also, a message from Roger: “Just a heads-up to everyone planning to stop by: the truck will only be on-site until noon, so please bring a reasonable amount of materials. As a general guide, we think we can accommodate everyone at a pace of 2 to 3 file boxes. Thanks!” (5612 California SW)
JUNCTION PLAZA PARK CLEANUP: Join the Junction Neighborhood Organization at 9 am. (42nd/Alaska)
STAIRWAY CLEANUP AT DELRIDGE/MYRTLE: 9 am-noon Saturday. Details here.
NORTH DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL SPRING CLEAN: The NDNC invites you to meet them at 10 am tomorrow at Delridge Community Center (4501 Delridge Way SW) for Spring Clean, with groups tackling various tasks including the stairway at Delridge/Genesee. Bags, pickers, refreshments provided – just “show up in conference clothes”!
THREE MORE STAIRWAY CLEANUPS: Five in all in West Seattle as part of Feet First‘s citywide day of stairway cleanups, also including, from 10 am-noon: 46th/Hanford, 49th/Genesee, 58th Place/Carroll.
REWARD-FUND FUNDRAISER: As reported here two weeks ago, the family of murder victim Stephen Jeffries, Jr., is having a fundraiser at Puerto Vallarta in The Junction, 10-1, to raise money for the reward fund in hopes of finding his killer. (4727 California SW)
DRUG TAKE-BACK DAY: SPD’s Southwest Precinct is the West Seattle dropoff spot for the twice-annual opportunity to bring in unneeded/expired medicine and get rid of it safely and anonymously. That includes liquid, as long as the lid/cap is tight; more info here. 10 am-2 pm. (Delridge/Webster)
ROCK AND GEM SHOW: Literally tons of fun (and rocks/gems) at the West Seattle Rock Club‘s annual rock fest, 10 am-5 pm (today and tomorrow) at the Masonic Center. (40th/Edmunds)
HEALTHY KIDS DAY: The West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) presents its annual festival of family fun, 10 am-1 pm; details in our calendar listing. (36th/Snoqualmie)
WORLD TAI CHI DAY AT THE SEATTLE CHINESE GARDEN: Be part of the 10 am event, explained here. The garden is on the north side of the SSC campus. (6000 16th SW)
NORTHWEST GREEN HOME TOUR: Three West Seattle stops – two homes, as well as the greening project at Highland Park Improvement Club – are part of the self-guided tour; info in our calendar listing. Tour hours are 11 am-5 pm.
TALES AMONG THE TREES: Learn the forest’s story through storytelling at Lincoln Park, 2-4 pm; details in our calendar listing. (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW)
SPRING TEA AND DESSERT, WITH HARP: Soothing harp music accompanies the spring tea/dessert event at 2 pm at High Point Community Center; details in our calendar listing. (6920 34th SW)
NIGHTLIFE/ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT too … see the calendar!
At All American Marine in Bellingham today, a keel-laying ceremony marked the start of construction for the two new King County Water Taxi vessels.
(Artist rendering of new vessels’ basic design)
The boats are scheduled to be delivered next year, as reported here last December, with federal money covering 80 percent of their $11.8 million cost.
Calling all artists – the West Seattle Junction Association has a potential project for you:
West Seattle Junction
Signal Box Art Installation Project
Application deadline June 1, 2014The West Seattle Junction Association is seeking to hire an artist for a neighborhood beautification project. The West Seattle Junction has up to five signal boxes which are an excellent opportunity to create new art for our community. Our organization will provide funding, project oversight, and permitting. There will be a volunteer committee to choose the artist. The artist concept will need to follow City of Seattle guidelines and be approved by the City’s Arts Representative.
Please see map for signal box locations:
When a citizens’ group announced on Wednesday that it would file a ballot measure for a Seattle-only property-tax levy to pay for Seattle-only bus service, we promised to publish the text when it was available. Here it is, now that it’s been filed:
The measure would raise property taxes 22 cents per $1,000 of property valuation – meaning, for example, $88 a year if you have a $400,000 house. The full news release is on the Friends of Transit website (which also includes a link to the ballot-measure text, in case you can’t read it in the Scribd embed above). The group needs to gather more than 20,600 valid signatures to get the measure onto the November ballot.
(Thanks to Shannon for sharing this photo via the WSB Facebook page)
2:54 PM: If you missed seeing them earlier this week – those two orcas are back in the area again, just passing Alki Point moments ago and headed south. Thanks to the tipster who sent word of this; the Orca Network Facebook page also has sightings reports, and mentions that NOAA has been tracking them, so you might be able to spot them by looking for a research boat. Please let us know if/where/when you see them!
ADDED 10:21 PM: Thanks to Trileigh Tucker for two more orca photos – above and below this line.
Two weeks and one day until the 10th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day on Saturday, May 10th, and there will be PLENTY of shopping to do – invite your friends, your relatives, your co-workers, get people here from out of town, it’s another big day with more than 270 confirmed sales. We also have some information to share for would-be shoppers who want to help local nonprofits – and we’ll roll that out on the official WSCGSD site later today. But first, a couple logistics points for sellers:
*More than 20 sales only made it halfway through the registration process. We will send e-mail tonight to the addresses we have for those would-be sellers – but if you think you registered, PLEASE check to be sure you have both the acknowledgment note from us AND a receipt from PayPal. If you don’t have both, you might not be registered. E-mail us at garagesale@westseattleblog.com if you don’t, so we can check. And whatever e-mailbox you registered from, please check it over the weekend, because that’s where we will be sending notes checking on whether you just changed your mind midway through, or whether there’s another problem. Our map will only show fully registered sales. Thanks!
*Registered sales will get the “packet” next week and we’re also hoping to include your official sale number, so that you can start telling folks you will be #(whatever) on the map (which will be out one week in advance as usual – that means May 3rd).
More previews to come!
$669.75 worth of Western Family products from the shelves of West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor) are on their way to West Seattle Food Bank clients, thanks to the WST customer who donated a shopping spree to the WSFB, and the mad speedy-shopping skills of WSFB board member Chris Porter (top left), who filled the cart this morning:
P.S. The next big WS Food Bank fundraiser is the Instruments of Change gala one week from tonight.
Tomorrow’s a BIG day of community cleanups, with half a dozen around West Seattle, so we wanted to make sure you’d heard about them before the last minute. They include:
STAIRWAY CLEANUP AT DELRIDGE/MYRTLE: 9 am-noon Saturday. Details here.
NORTH DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL SPRING CLEAN: The NDNC invites you to meet them at 10 am tomorrow at Delridge Community Center (4501 Delridge Way SW) for Spring Clean, with groups tackling various tasks including the stairway at Delridge/Genesee. Bags, pickers, refreshments provided – just “show up in conference clothes”!
THREE MORE STAIRWAY CLEANUPS: The two aforementioned stairway cleanups are also part of Feet First’s citywide day of stairway cleanups, and there are three more in West Seattle, listed here: 46th/Hanford, 49th/Genesee, 58th/Carroll.
JUNCTION PLAZA PARK CLEANUP: Join the Junction Neighborhood Organization in sprucing up The Junction’s park at 42nd and Alaska. Meet them there at 9 am tomorrow.
(Are we missing one? Let us know and we’ll make sure it’s on the list as well as part of tomorrow morning’s reminder! editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks! – and if you’re part of one, please share a photo afterward so we can share your hard work with the community … )
(Pond at South Seattle College Arboretum, by “old desolate,” shared via WSB Flickr group)
From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, some of what’s up for today/tonight:
FOOD BANK SHOPPING SPREE AT THRIFTWAY: You’re invited to cheer on the West Seattle Food Bank during the shopping spree donated by the winner of the WS Thriftway (WSB sponsor) contest, 10 am; details in our preview. (California/Fauntleroy/Morgan)
LOG HOUSE MUSEUM: Still on spring break? Check out the home of West Seattle history, noon-4 pm on Alki Beach. Find out more about the museum here. (61st/Stevens)
RAINBOW BINGO: “Wild, Wild West” is this month’s theme for Rainbow Bingo at the Senior Center of West Seattle (WSB sponsor). Doors open for refreshments at 6 pm, bingo starts at 7 pm. But call ASAP for reservations! Information’s here. (California/Oregon)
‘BOBCAT BOB,’ LIVE: Popular musician Bob “Bobcat Bob” Rice is live at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) tonight, 7-9 pm. (5612 California SW)
SINGERS AND SONGWRITERS MUSIC FESTIVAL: Music, silent auction, refreshments at Grace Church to benefit summer day camp program, 7 pm; details in our listing. (10323 28th SW)
MIGHTY WURLITZER SPECTACULAR: 7:30 pm at Kenyon Hall, it’s the “Mighty Wurlitzer Spectacular” with a Buster Keaton silent movie. Details here. (7904 35th SW)
‘HAIR’ AT ARTSWEST: First weekend for the new, yet classic, production at ArtsWest (WSB sponsor) curtain time 7:30 pm. (4711 California SW)
FEEDBACK LOUNGE ANNIVERSARY: Celebrate The Feedback’s 5th anniversary with “A Very Ozzy Celebration,” 9 pm; details here.
(Latest bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Happy Friday! Two notes looking ahead to the weekend:
RAMP CLOSURE: The Admiral Way offramp from the bridge will be closed much of Saturday.
CITYWIDE ALERTS: Here’s the SDOT citywide list of weekend events (all outside West Seattle) that might affect traffic.
Two months after our first report on Steps at Stevens, a community-proposed plan including a safer walking route into West Seattle High School from California/Stevens, it’s design time, and one of the project organizers, Janet Jones, shares the invitation for you to join in:
Steps at Stevens: A neighborhood connectivity project located at SW Stevens and California Ave SW.
You’re invited to join us for the planning and design of the Admiral District’s Steps at Stevens Project at West Seattle High School.
Help us create a …
*Safe and useful pedestrian route
*Public place of interest and comfortHelp us to …
*Incorporate art and historic architecture
*Reflect the character of the neighborhoodMark your calendar!
Community Design Workshop #1
Tues April 29th 2014 7-9 pm
West Seattle HS Commons
Participate in the Design Game!Community Design Workshop #2
Wed May 21st 2014 5-7 pm
West Seattle HS Commons
Review and Critique 3 conceptual designs!Community Design Workshop #3
Mon June 9th 2014 7-9 pm
West Seattle HS Commons
Review and Critique Final Preferred Design!
A grant is funding the design process; fundraising is planned to get it built.
Refreshments will be provided.
Last year, we reported on Gatewood author Lyanda Lynn Haupt‘s tale of in-city wildlife – something experienced in West Seattle more than many other places! – “The Urban Bestiary: Encountering the Everyday Wild.” This week, big news – “Urban Bestiary” is one of four finalists in the nonfiction category of the Orion Book Awards, which span North American work published in the preceding year and just this year separated nonfiction and fiction contenders. The winners will be announced next month.
The first festival of the year is a week and a half away – and tonight, Lauren Englund from the West Seattle Bee Garden shares details about the second annual WS Bee Festival on Sunday, May 4th:
Festivities will begin with a parade at 11 am, and the West Seattle High School Marching Band will lead the way!
The parade will begin at West Seattle Elementary parking lot (6760 34th Ave SW), and head down 31st Ave and Lanham Pl. to the WS Bee Garden in Commons Park.
The parking lot will open at 10 am for pre-parade face painting and craft making. Everyone is welcome to join!
The picnic will take place in High Point’s Commons Park at 31st Ave SW and SW Graham St. Activities will include a craft tent, face painting, vendors, food, music and more!
Husky Deli is making a special honey-flavored ice cream for the event – with local honey donated by West Seattle’s own Seattle Bee Works. All proceeds will go back to the bees!
Members of the Keep High Point Green project will be around to share their story of successfully preventing the use of herbicides in High Point, way to go team!
The bees are happily nestled in their hives, and can be seen through the plexiglass enclosure surrounding them.
There is plenty to celebrate. The garden is celebrating its first anniversary, and has hosted 15 field trips since its inauguration last May. Schools from as far away as SeaTac have scheduled visits this year – and some are pairing visits with pollinator curriculums that are now available on the bee garden website here, making visits even more meaningful. Students at the University of Washington are presenting a proposal to create a replica of the bee enclosure on UW’s campus, spreading pollinator education even further, and geared toward a new demographic of students. The bee garden has served as an example to other cities, and has been included in presentations as an example of a successful urban bee project in cities as far away as Lafayette Ohio, who hope to build similar spaces.
The garden has been named a beneficiary of the West Seattle Garden Tour this year (thank you very much to the tour!) and is being considered for Seattle Tilth’s Urban Farm Tour in July.
Way to go West Seattle! We did it, and are still going strong! The bees and plants thank you, and we all hope you can come celebrate with us May 4th!
That’s where King County Executive Dow Constantine says Metro will make the cuts to close the funding gap that remains after Proposition 1’s defeat (here are today’s updated results) and the Legislature’s failure to pass a transportation-funding package. As far as we can tell, it’s the same revised draft that was on the county website by Election Night, and featured in our coverage that night. In West Seattle, four routes would be deleted – 21, 22, 37, 57.
The county’s news release says the cuts will revert service to 1997 levels. An excerpt:
Following the defeat of Proposition 1, King County Metro Transit must move forward with its proposal to cut about 16 percent of transit service, steps required to reduce spending and balance its budget in light of the expiration of the temporary Congestion Reduction Charge and the lack of replacement revenues.
“We’ve worked more than five years to create efficiencies and take other steps to avert service cuts and keep the buses rolling for our riders, so it’s deeply disappointing to see this measure defeated. As a result, we must now move forward to reduce the system to match our revenues, as any enterprise must do,” said Metro Transit General Manager Kevin Desmond. “We regret that many people who rely on Metro will lose service, be inconvenienced, or ride on more-crowded buses because of the service reductions.”
An online summary list shows the 72 Metro bus routes slated for deletion and the 84 routes that would be reduced or revised. Detailed route-by-route information will be updated online today as the service cuts ordinance is transmitted to the King County Council for action. The council is scheduled to consider the legislation in May and act by early June. If adopted, the service cuts would be scheduled to begin in September.
We’ll add links when the route-by-route information is available – we just checked a moment ago and it’s not on the county website yet.
5:24 PM: The route-by-route information is now available – here’s the starting page. Each “square” with a route number links to the information about that route. Note that the headings for each route’s info shows when the change/deletion is proposed. Routes 21, 22, 37, and 57 – the four to be eliminated in West Seattle – aren’t scheduled for deletion until September of 2015, according to this new information.
Two reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:
First, a street attack/robbery for which we finally have the police report – we heard about it from the victim’s sister early yesterday, but it happened around 2 am Tuesday. 
The victim works nights at Home Depot and was taking a break out walking northbound on Delridge at Orchard when he was attacked and robbed by three men who told him not to run as they passed him on the street. He started to walk away, and they followed him, so he started to run, and they chased him. One caught up with him and pulled him down to the ground in the crosswalk at Delridge and Orchard; the two others started punching him and kicking him, and reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet. The police report says two witnesses who saw the attack from outside the nearby Tug Inn told the same story. The only descriptive information given by the witnesses and victim was that all three attackers were male and black, the first attacker about 6’3″ and wearing a gray plaid long-sleeved polo shirt, the other two in their teens/early twenties, one wearing a gray hoodie and gray pants, the other with dreadlocks and white shorts. Police arrived within four minutes of the first call, the report says, and called in K-9s to try to track the attackers, but they were unsuccessful. The victim’s sister says her brother is doing better but was hurt pretty badly from being kicked in the head.
Our second report is from the “in case you wondered” files – thanks to Marika for the tip last night that police had converged on West Seattle Coins at California/Oregon.
A window was shattered, but so far as police could determine, it wasn’t a burglary – there was no sign anyone had entered.
| 3 COMMENTS