day : 15/07/2014 11 results

(WSB photo)
8:33 PM: Firefighters are arriving at a house fire in Arbor Heights near 34th and 102nd (map), reporting black smoke and also that ammunition is going off in the house – so they’ll be fighting it from outside.

(Photo texted by Joe)
8:38 PM: Scanner now indicates they don’t believe there’s more ammunition in the building and they are changing firefighting tactics.

(WSB photo)
8:48 PM: Our crew is at the scene. No word yet on whether anyone’s been hurt. They believe everyone in the house got out safely.

Fire over the garage/Kitchen. @KING5Seattle @KIRO7Seattle @westseattleblog pic.twitter.com/MZm4v2zkg5

— Colby Blanton (@colby_blanton) July 16, 2014

8:58 PM: Just talked again with our crew at the scene. The fire appears to be under control but there are still flare-ups of flames visible here and there. Way too soon to know what caused it.

Above this line, we’ve added a quick Instagram clip – you can see firefighters on the roof and hear the saws they’re using to ventilate the attic.

(WSB photo)
9:18 PM UPDATE: We’ve just talked again with firefighters. The fire began in a bedroom and spread up to the attic. The house has major damage and isn’t inhabitable. One person was inside when it started, and we’re told he got out OK, unhurt. The “ammunition going off” suspicion is now a mystery – we’re told the resident said there had been firearm(s)/ ammunition in there, belonging to a renter who moved out a few weeks ago, so whatever the bangs/pops were in the early going, they now don’t know. SFD’s investigator is en route to work on figuring out how the fire started.

ADDED 11:16 PM: From SFD: “Cause of West Seattle Arbor Heights fire is man using spray paint can & lighter to try and kill spider in the wall. Damage estimate $60k.”

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West Seattle Big Band @ 2014 Hi-Yu Concert in the Park

July 15, 2014 7:17 pm

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| West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival | West Seattle news

That’s a quick clip from “In the Mood,” the Glenn Miller classic with which the West Seattle Big Band started tonight’s annual Hi-Yu Concert in the Park. They’re just a few songs in, so there’s lots of time to get to the east lawn of Hiawatha (Walnut south of Lander) for the rest of the free concert – bring a chair or blanket, picnic if you want, and enjoy the music.

ADDED WEDNESDAY MORNING: More photos and video from the concert. It’s a tradition for Hi-Yu royalty to speak to the crowd at intermission:

Their upcoming public appearances include Hiawatha Fun Fest on Friday afternoon and the West Seattle Grand Parade on Saturday. Meantime, WSBB’s Jim Edwards, a former Hi-Yu president, and daughter Michelle Edwards, 2006 Hi-Yu Senior Court Queen, showed off the Orville Rummel Trophy for Outstanding Community Service that’s been updated for this Saturday’s parade (they’re both part of the parade-coordination team too):

As reported here Monday night, this year, the trophy honors community volunteer/advocate Earl Cruzen, best known for West Seattle’s murals, a project that expanded to include the Walking on Logs art installation. He’s scheduled to ride with it in the parade.

Back to the concert – the band, with director Donn Weaver at left:

(We met a concertgoer who was excited to be there because she had been a student of Weaver’s in high school!) Next, vocalist Sarah Ackers:

Still working on the video.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Flasher reported in Admiral area

July 15, 2014 5:45 pm

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| Crime | West Seattle news

Reader report – a flasher exposing himself to girls in the Admiral area:

At 3:15 today, my 13-year-old daughter and her friend were walking home from Hiawatha and spotted a silver SUV parked on SW Stevens street with its driver door open. As they were walking the man inside exposed himself to the girls and took off in his car. As they rounded the corner, he was there again, this time in the middle of the street with no pants on, masturbating and laughing at the girls. They ran home and we called the police and filed a report right away. He is approximately 5’9, large frame, scruffy looking with brown hair and wearing a red t-shirt. He was last seen driving north on 38th in a 2000s silver SUV. Please alert readers in the area to be on the lookout and to call police right away if they spot anyone matching this description.

7:05 PM UPDATE: We asked the person who reported this if there were any other description/location details; for the former, white, “short, scruffy brown hair and shadow of a beard”; for the latter, “he was on 39th SW and SW Stevens to start and ended up getting out of the car on 38th SW and SW Stevens heading toward Lander when he got out of the car.”

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West Seattle businesses: Clementine moving to Pioneer Square

July 15, 2014 4:14 pm

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| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

(WSB photo by Patrick Sand)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Linda Walsh has a clearance sale going right now at her West Seattle Junction shop, Clementine.

This isn’t just any old clearance sale. It’s also a moving sale: She’s leaving West Seattle and moving her shop to Pioneer Square.

It’s been eight years now since, in the early months of WSB, we noticed the “coming soon” sign on papered-over windows of what had been a tanning salon at 4447 California SW.

The shoes, handbags, and other accessories Walsh has sold in the ensuing years have received acclaim and attention citywide. Yet making a go of it as a bricks-and-mortar business in an increasingly digital world hasn’t been easy, as Walsh and the proprietor of nearby Carmilia’s, Linda Sabee, told us in this WSB story a year ago. Yet Walsh says she’s not ready to give up on in-person shopping … after eight years, she says, she feels like she finally has a handle on how things should work.

But she’s going to deploy the knowledge elsewhere soon. Walsh says her new Pioneer Square space at 310 Occidental (a former lighting store) just seems to be a better place for what she does and offers. Office workers will be there during the day. Tourists will be there during the summer.

Besides the location, her new storefront will bring a few changes – it’s bigger than her cozy Junction space, including some basement. And Walsh will change the name a bit – it will now be Clementine’s. (Her web address has always been clementines.com, anyway.)

In the meantime, the aforementioned clearance sale continues. She told us today, “I hope not to have to move a single shoe.”

She also hopes for a seamless move to the new space without much, if any, downtime, intending to open there by early September.

SIDE NOTE: Hers is the second business to announce it’s about to leave the block of California SW north of Oregon – as reported here two weeks ago, Shoofly Pie Company is closing in mid-August; no new location in this case – they say they’re just getting out of the retail business.

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Jailed, West Seattle-residing deputy fired by King County Sheriff

July 15, 2014 4:00 pm

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| Crime | West Seattle news

Followup on the story of Darrion Holiwell, the King County Sheriff’s Deputy jailed and charged with crimes including promoting prostitution and drug dealing: Sheriff John Urquhart has fired the 49-year-old West Seattle resident, according to this announcement we just received:

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New website up for West Seattle Car Show, set for September 14

July 15, 2014 3:14 pm

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| Fun stuff to do | West Seattle news

(WSB file photo)
Yes, the West Seattle Car Show is definitely a go for September 14th, and its new website has just gone live, announces Oliver Little, producing the show again this year, with new co-presenters Swedish Automotive and West Seattle Autoworks (both WSB sponsors), who stepped up to continue the legacy of car-show founder Michael Hoffman, who died in March, just 47 years old.

As always, you’ll be able to wander the streets of The Junction admiring hundreds of vehicles; admission will be free as usual, with optional raffles/drawings that will raise money for Pencil Me In For Kids, which provides school supplies to children in need. So mark your calendar – 10 am-4 pm Sunday, September 14th – and stand by for news of applications, plus sponsorship info, soon.

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West Seattle whales: Orca sighting!

July 15, 2014 1:57 pm

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| West Seattle news

A group of transient orcas is in the area – northbound off Alki Point as of minutes ago.

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New look at Fauntleroy Way ‘Boulevard’ in-progress design

July 15, 2014 12:37 pm

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| Transportation | Triangle | West Seattle news

That’s a “typical cross-section” from a brand-new update on the long-in-the-works Fauntleroy Way SW “Boulevard” project, focusing on Fauntleroy Way through The Triangle, between 35th SW and SW Alaska. Right now, the plan is ~~more than halfway~~ still in the early stages of the design process, and SDOT is stepping up the public communication. Spokesperson Maribel Cruz tells WSB they’re meeting with property owners and community organizations in the area. Here’s the brand-new fact sheet from SDOT:

(Click here if you can’t see the embedded version above.) While $1.3 million for design was worked into the current city budget (as reported here last year), the construction funding isn’t yet nailed down, nor is a timeline. But the design is scheduled for completion early next year, and a community open house is planned (no date yet) for this fall. Watch the official project webpage for updates.

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West Seattle Grand Parade countdown: 3 convertibles needed!

July 15, 2014 11:40 am

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| West Seattle Grand Parade | West Seattle news

(WSB photo from staging zone of 2010 Grand Parade)
We’re continuing to count down to the West Seattle Grand Parade this Saturday, 11 am, California/Lander southward to California/Edmunds. This morning – a request for convertibles! Keith Hughes, parade chair for the Rotary Club of West Seattle, says three convertibles/open vehicles are needed – for Grand Marshal Col. Bruce Crandall, for Orville Rummel Trophy winner Earl Cruzen, and for the Rotary’s new District Governor, West Seattleite John Enger. Classic convertibles would be awesome, but any would be welcome. If you can help, please contact Keith ASAP – keith@westseattlenaturalenergy.com or 206-941-6654.

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West Seattle Tuesday: Concert in the Park with WS Big Band; Little League tournament; more…

July 15, 2014 9:31 am

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| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Photo by Don Brubeck, Seacrest Pier as seen from Alki Trail)
It might be a sweater morning, but the forecast promises a sunny afternoon. Three highlights for today/tonight, mostly from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:

POLLINATOR WORKSHOP: Learn about bees – and more – today:

The Urban Pollination Project (UPP) will be offering free pollinator identification workshop for kids or adults, at Delridge P-Patch garden, 3-4 pm. UPP is a non-profit citizen science initiative from the University of Washington, and their goal is to help get people excited about pollination, bees, and how local food depends on this amazing process. UPP will do a free 60-minute workshop. They will bring photos and specimens to help us learn to recognize our local pollinator biodiversity, talk about some of the fascinating life histories and adaptations of our local pollinators, and walk through the garden to identify them at work on our plants!

(24th SW/Puget)

LITTLE LEAGUE TOURNAMENT: The West Seattle Little League 11-12 All-Stars won yesterday at the state tournament WSLL is hosting at Bar-S, so they’re playing again tonight, 6 pm. (64th/Admiral)

CONCERT IN THE PARK – WEST SEATTLE BIG BAND, FREE! Bring friends, family, picnic dinner, etc. to the east lawn at Hiawatha Community Center at 7 pm for the FREE annual Hi-Yu Concert in the Park with the West Seattle Big Band. Always an awesome night of music. BYO chair/blanket. (2700 California SW is Hiawatha’s official address, but the concert zone fronts Walnut)

BELLY DANCING: Get in gear for this weekend’s Mediterranean Fantasy Festival at Hiawatha by checking out bellydancing in West Seattle tonight. It’s the monthly Alauda showcase at Skylark tonight, 7:30 pm, free. (3803 Delridge Way SW)

LOTS MORE for today/tonight on the calendar – see it all here!

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TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Tuesday on the move

July 15, 2014 6:21 am

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Today’s traffic watch begins. And as always, we have reminders:

ONE WEEK OF I-90 LANE CLOSURES … westbound 90, starting this Friday – details here.

WEST SEATTLE GRAND PARADE CLOSURES: Saturday morning, California will be closed south of Admiral, all the way to Edmunds, for the parade. Staging zones will be on side streets along both ends of the route. We’ll be previewing the parade all week – here’s our “countdown” update from last night.

THAT HIGHWAY 99 CLOSURE IN AUGUST … if you missed the new details made public last Friday, here’s our report.

8:21 AM: No trouble reported because of it yet but fog is drifting through and we’re hearing the occasional foghorn in the distance. But the forecast says it WILL make way for sunshine again later, with a high in the 80s.

9:09 AM: Ferries on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run are delayed because of the fog – 15 to 30 minutes, says WSF.

11:08 AM: Eddie points out in comments that California is narrowed again today between Alaska and Edmunds because of street work related to the 4730 California project at midblock – one lane each way, no parking.

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