day : 25/07/2014 12 results

Big afternoon of basketball at West Seattle High School on Saturday – and players are welcome as well as spectators. All the info’s on the flyer above, shared by head coach Keffrey Fazio; basics are that the doors open at noon, shoot-around starts at 12:30 pm, 3-pointer-shooting contest at 1 pm, alumni game’s at 2 pm, food/social event at 3:45 pm. $20 fee for players, with proceeds benefiting the WSHS boys-basketball program.

Video/photos: Band Jam 2014 fills Southwest Athletic Complex with music, marching, more

July 25, 2014 6:52 pm

| 6 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

(UPDATED overnight with more photos, video added inline)

6:52 PM: We’re at Southwest Athletic Complex in Westwood, where the Junior All-City Marching Band – seen in our quick video clip above – has just opened this year’s Band Jam, an event that’s continued to grow in the past few years as a tune-up event (and showcase) for some of the marching bands participating in the Seafair Torchlight Parade, which is happening tomorrow night.

Following the Junior All-City Band, the Pacific Northwest Drumline (above & below) has just taken the field.

This is going on for at least another hour and a half, and it’s free (with concessions available, to support music programs) – we’ll have more sounds and sights later, but for now, c’mon down.

7:14 PM: The Sumner High School Marching Band – explained by their announcer as including middle-school musicians too – is on the field now:

These musicians came almost all the way from Mount Rainier, which you can see in a peek view here in the SWAC stands.

P.S. Non-conventional “marching” bands play Band Jam too; the Ten-Man Brass Band followed Sumner (bound for the Capitol Hill Block Party later tonight):

And Chaotic Noise Marching Corps – a punk-ish hit last year – is still to come, as is the host All-City Band, directed by Marcus Pimpleton, who launched Band Jam here five years ago:

(added post-show) Chaotic Noise was wild as ever:

(See video on Facebook.) We noticed some membership overlap between CNMB and Sounders FC’s Sound Wave, which rocked the stadium too:

8:41 PM: And last up, ACB:

(added) Followed by the night-ending jam, with just about everyone joining ACB on the field:

Meantime, it’s less than 24 hours until the Torchlight Parade downtown tomorrow night – we’ll have info in our Saturday morning preview (including the Torchlight Fan Fest starting at noon, where you can go check out floats long before the parade begins).

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17 questions from Councilmember Rasmussen for new SDOT boss Scott Kubly; anything missing?

July 25, 2014 3:11 pm

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| Transportation | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

A short time ago, Scott Kubly, Mayor Murray’s choice for SDOT director, tweeted that he’s arrived:

Finally arrived in Seattle after cross country road trip. Excited to get started Monday AM.

— Scott Kubly (@skubly) July 25, 2014

Next month, he faces confirmation hearings before the City Council. The chair of its Transportation Committee, West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, shared with us the questions he wants Kubly to answer. See them here. You’ll note that they include a request for Kubly to review the June 10th five-hour, four-mile Highway 99 crash-investigation-related closure (here’s our most-recent followup) and whether policies should be changed as a result. But that’s just one of 17 questions Rasmussen has asked Kubly to answer by August 5th, in advance of his August 12th hearing. Anything you think he’s missing?

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West Seattle development: Three more teardown plans

July 25, 2014 3:00 pm

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| Development | West Seattle news

No new big development proposals have popped up lately. No new Design Review Board meetings on the schedule. But some smaller projects are of note, including these three which if nothing else will be noticeable with demolition activity on arterials:

3923 CALIFORNIA SW: The first demolition-permit application for the multiplexes on the northwest corner of California/Andover (map) is in. The city’s online files say a four-unit rowhouse is proposed (with the address 3925 California) for this side of the site, while the SW Andover side of the site is proposed for three single-family houses and a two-townhouse unit. (We first reported on this site two months ago, when a lot-boundary adjustment was sought.)

4151 CALIFORNIA SW: The same developer (Block II LLC) has been granted a demolition permit for two houses behind the California-fronting Pica Border Grill restaurant (map) on the north end of The Junction. The restaurant building is NOT involved in the project; the two houses behind it are slated to be replaced by a building with one townhouse and one live-work unit.

3036/3038 ALKI SW: Two “residential structures” here (map) are the subject of another demolition-permit application. As noted here last month, a proposal is on file for four townhouses and one single-family home, with a subdivision application to make it possible.

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How local teens spent part of their summer: Rebuilding a custom vintage motorcycle with MISSIONmoto, SW Youth & Family Services

July 25, 2014 1:45 pm

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| Delridge | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

Program names go by … say, the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative … but we don’t often see/hear the results of activities related to those programs. Here, for a change, is a result. In the photo is Terry, one of the participants in a SYVPI project that led to the teardown and rebuild of that custom vintage motorcycle over the course of a 10-week after-school (etc.) project. He did it with MISSIONmoto, a nonprofit “motorcycle ministry” with garage space near Morgan Junction, which invited youth from the SYVPI program at North Delridge-based Southwest Youth and Family Services to “do a complete teardown and rebuild of a custom vintage motorcycle” – a 1973 Honda CB750K, to be precise. It was a pilot partnership, MISSIONmoto explains; we photographed Terry and the motorcycle at a celebratory barbecue held Thursday afternoon at SWYFS.

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Nine ‘new acres’ of greenbelt restoration in West Seattle

July 25, 2014 12:38 pm

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| Environment | West Seattle news

More work to protect West Seattle forest land: Seattle Parks plant ecologist Michael Yadrick sent word of a new round of greenbelt restoration happening now – nine acres in the West Duwamish Greenbelt, the city’s largest contiguous forest, some of which is shown in our photo above, looking at the greenbelt behind the Parks facility on West Marginal Way SW.

These are what we call “new acres,” an area that hasn’t been touched for restoration before. This zone is very visible from the West Seattle Bridge. If you ever cruise westbound and look south at the hillside above the river, we are getting into the steep slopes above W Marginal Way. This Andover tract has some of the forests most heavily impacted by invasion of non-native plants, over 80% cover of ivy on the ground (and it was thigh-high when we first went in to survey for the work) and every single tree had ivy climbing up the trunk. The crew removed ivy from over 800 trees! A month or so after the crew completed the “survival rings,” I could actually see the texture of the forest canopy change. Much of that green, pillowy look that you see from the bridge is from ivy foliage that was hanging in the trees, which ultimately contributes to their decline over time. By removing it, we allow more light on the forest floor, which creates conditions more amenable to a healthy, mixed conifer forest.

(As far as we could tell from below, the brown areas in our photo are dead invasives. Yadrick’s explanation continues after the jump, if you’re reading this from the home page:)
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Name the new Water Taxis, round two: Vote on your favorites from 11 finalists – 6 for West Seattle, 5 for Vashon

July 25, 2014 11:03 am

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| King County Water Taxi | West Seattle news

(Rendering of new vessels – reflecting size/shape/configuration, not final color/paint/trim)
Four weeks after the King County Ferry District invited you to suggest names for the new Water Taxi vessels that are under construction, here comes Round 2 – your chance to choose between 11 finalists. Just out of the WSB inbox:

The process to name the King County Ferry District’s new vessels continues with public voting starting (today) and running through August 15, 2014. To vote, see surveymonkey.com/s/TTPBNZQ or call 206-477-3840.

“The public’s participation in this process has been incredible – we have received 326 different name nominations. People in this region really value this service,” said King County Ferry District Chair Joe McDermott.

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West Seattle Friday: Band Jam, Delridge farmstand, Pencil Me In For Kids, Shakespeare in the Park, more …

July 25, 2014 10:57 am

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| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar for today/tonight:

VOTE UNTIL 1 PM: The Major League Soccer Community MVP voting continues until 1 our time today, and West Seattle Cup organizer Terry Kegel remains in the running. Our previous story includes the link.

PENCIL ME IN FOR KIDS DONATION DRIVE: PMIFK collects and buys school supplies to help kids in need, and even though it’s the middle of summer, donations are needed now to make sure everyone’s set for next school year. 3-6 pm today, you can donate supplies and/or cash to Rotary Club of West Seattle volunteers who will be at QFC in The Junction; details in our calendar listing. (42nd/Alaska)

FRIDAY FARMSTAND: Delridge Grocery‘s second weekly farmstand is set for 4:30-7:30 pm today (here’s our coverage of last week’s launch). Here’s what DG’s update says will be available:

Strawberries
Peaches
Nectarines
Raspberries
Blueberries
Cherries
Apricots
Beets
Kale
Collards
Salad mix
Cabbage
Spring onions
Chard
Zucchini

The stand is right next to the sidewalk at 5435 Delridge Way SW.

BAND JAM: As previewed here earlier this week, more than half a dozen marching bands participating in tomorrow night’s Seafair Torchlight Parade will be tuning up with the free-and-open-to-the-public Band Jam tonight at Southwest Athletic Complex, 6:30 pm. (2801 SW Thistle)

SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK: Tonight, Greenstage presents “Othello” at Lincoln Park – free! 7 pm. (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW)

LIVE MUSIC: Salty’s, C & P Coffee, The Cask, Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsors), Skylark Café and Club, Benbow Room all have listings for tonight – see them by going directly to our calendar.

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West Seattle power outage: Crow vs. transformer again

July 25, 2014 10:11 am

| 10 COMMENTS

| Utilities | West Seattle news

City Light says 10 homes are still out of power northeast of The Junction as part of an earlier outage that at one point was reported to be up to 90. According to a photo texted to us, this was another case of crow vs. transformer, with the bird making deadly contact at 38th/Dakota. The current estimate for repair completion is around 12:30 pm.

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Another traffic heads-up: Underground work ahead on Spokane @ Beach Dr.

July 25, 2014 9:54 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| Utilities | West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

Though King County says the timeline’s not set yet, it’s circulating an alert about work that will dig up a section of road south of Alki Point soon. The alert begins:

Beginning later this month, a contractor working for King County will be making repairs to the County’s Alki Regulator Gate. This below-ground structure is located in Southwest Spokane St., near the corner of Beach Dr. Southwest. (see attached map). This facility is part of the County’s regional wastewater system; it helps to regulate wastewater flows going to the County’s West Seattle tunnel and pump station. These repairs are important to help avoid wastewater overflows into Puget Sound during times of high wastewater flows in the system.

See the full alert here (PDF, including a map). It says the work will last up to two weeks, with traffic-flagging for the duration, and that other projects are ahead, including improvements to the pump station in the area and installation of a “flow meter” near Spokane/62nd.

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TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Friday updates; looking ahead

July 25, 2014 7:26 am

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Sunshine’s back, in time for a busy summer weekend. First – today’s commute. OK so far. (The I-90 westbound lane closures ended early today, by the way.) So here are the looking-ahead notes:

SATURDAY NIGHT VIADUCT CLOSURE: Tomorrow night, the northbound Alaskan Way Viaduct closes 5:30-7:45 pm for the Seafair Torchlight Run – this SDOT roundup has details on that and other citywide weekend traffic alerts.

MONDAY NIGHT NOTE: The West Seattle Water Taxi will run late Monday night (July 28) for the Sounders match.

BLUE ANGELS-RELATED I-90 CLOSURES NEXT WEEK: Looking way ahead to Thursday 7/31 through Sunday 8/3 – here’s the schedule for that.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Early-morning investigation; wheelchair-theft attempt; bicycle found

July 25, 2014 1:31 am

| 8 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

Three West Seattle Crime Watch notes: First, this is developing – Seattle Police are investigating another possible strong-arm robbery in the Roxhill Park area. Seattle Fire medics were sent to check out someone found unconscious in the bushes by the bus stop on the south side of SW Barton, reported as a possible victim of a robbery/assault. We’ll follow up later this morning to see what police determined.

Meantime, Creighton reports two incidents in Admiral:

Both incidents happened in front of my house during the daytime at 37th Ave SW and Admiral, just north of Belvedere Viewpoint Park.

Wednesday morning after breakfast, between 9 am and 11 am, someone started to steal my visiting-from-out-of-town handicapped father’s wheelchair from the side of my house, where it was placed to stay dry and out of the hard rain. Upon searching the neighborhood, we found it one house south of ours, stashed in the bushes. It looked like they started to steal it, but either decided it was too big to toss in their vehicle, or I’m hoping had a change of heart and realized it was bad karma to steal a handicapped man’s wheelchair.

Did they come back and try again later that day? Later that same day, after dinner (between 6 pm and 8 pm) I went out to clean my wife’s late-model MDX and discovered all of the contents of the glovebox (registration, manual, etc), center console and change dish were missing. We’re pretty sure we locked the doors, but there was no sign of forced entry to the car so we’re scratching our heads. Both incidents have been reported to the Seattle PD using the CORP online reporting tool.

Finally, Brian found this bike in Highland Park: