day : 11/08/2014 10 results

(Photo by Christopher Frankovich)
9:18 PM: As predicted, thunderstorms have arrived – coming up from the south/southeast right now, and you might even have seen lightning over downtown already. This follows a record-setting high temperature today, 96 degrees (it was still 85 at 9 pm). The thunderstorms are expected to stay in the area through at least tomorrow.

10:42 PM UPDATE: Rain arrived with the most recent cell. Also a reminder … we had one short-lived lost pet report, a dog spooked by the thunder and lightning, so make sure your pet is extra-safe. Meantime, just received, and added, an excellent lightning photo from West Seattle photographer Christopher Frankovich – thanks!

11:04 PM NOTE: And in case you’ve noticed this too – yes, that’s aircraft heading westward, likely because of the weather, in a different pattern than usual this time of night.

1:24 AM: Thanks also to Doug B for sharing a view of a bolt spotted from Hamilton Viewpoint in North Admiral. Things have calmed down since our last update – the air traffic shifted away, no further thundershowers – but they remain in the forecast for today (Tuesday) as of a late-evening update.

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Remembering Robin Williams: His West Seattle Food Bank benefits; also – how to get help if you need it

August 11, 2014 6:05 pm

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| Not WS but we're mentioning it anyway | West Seattle news

You have likely heard by now that actor/comedian Robin Williams is gone too soon, at 63, found dead in his San Francisco Bay Area home this afternoon, believed to be a victim of suicide.

Two things we wanted to mention here:

(Photo courtesy WSFB, added Tuesday: Mr. Williams in 2004 with WSFB volunteers Aaron & Laurie and then-operations manager Gretchen)
First, Mr. Williams had at least one West Seattle connection – a history of generous gifts to the West Seattle Food Bank, most notably, more than $50,000 in proceeds from downtown performances in 2004, 2007, and 2008.

Second, we wanted to again share the local hotline number that offers help to anyone thinking about suicide (or experiencing other crisis situations), the Crisis Clinic – 206-461-3222. The CC website also recommends reading this.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Beach Drive purse-snatching arrest

August 11, 2014 5:11 pm

| 7 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

Thanks to the tipsters who texted/e-mailed about police activity on Beach Drive this past hour. We checked with Seattle Police’s Det. Drew Fowler, who tells us that one “juvenile” suspect is in custody after a purse-snatching incident. Information is still preliminary, but the police log shows that a woman reported someone had stolen her purse and phone around Weather Watch Park (Beach Drive/Carroll; map), and she or someone else was in pursuit. One person was taken into custody.

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Election 2014: Despite (or because of?) park proliferation, Seattle Proposition 1 on losing side here

August 11, 2014 2:58 pm

| 35 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | West Seattle police

At week’s end, King County Elections published the legislative-district-by-legislative-district breakdown of the first night’s results in the August 5th election. Though the citywide total has been in favor of Seattle Proposition 1 – creating a Park District with taxing authority for extra parks funding that has previously come via levy – parkland-rich West Seattle is in the “no” column. West Seattle has the bulk of in-city voters in the 34th Legislative District (map), and the district’s opening-night vote was 42 percent “approve,” 58 percent “reject.” That was the lowest “approve” percentage of any legislative district with some Seattle voters; next lowest was the 32nd District (map) in northwesternmost Seattle, at 43 percent “approve.” The strongest support, meantime, was 63 percent “approve” in the 43rd District (map), which includes downtown, Capitol Hill, and Green Lake.

If you’re interested in other King County races’ election-night district-by-district breakout, it’s all in this PDF. No precinct-by-precinct breakout yet; the final vote won’t be certified until next week. (And again, what’s reported above is from a breakdown of the first count, made public election night, and does not include ballots counted and reported since then. The “approve/reject” gap has widened a little citywide since that first round; as of Friday afternoon, “approve” was ahead with 53.2 percent, while on Election Night, it was at 52.4 percent.

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Next at West Seattle Outdoor Movies: ‘The Goonies,’ by demand!

August 11, 2014 2:07 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | West Seattle Outdoor Movies

When we published the call for West Seattle Outdoor Movies suggestions this year, 10 commenters – from Al to WSResident – nominated 1985’s “The Goonies.” As announced in May, it’s on the schedule for next Saturday (August 16th) on the big screen next to Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor). It’s free – just bring your own chair/blanket as moviegoers do every Saturday night of WSOM; here’s part of last week’s crowd:

Big turnouts this year and this Saturday is bound to bring the same, so don’t wait until the last minute; gates open at 6:30 pm. There’s plenty to do before the movie; this week’s pre-show band is Layered System, promising blues and jazz. Raffles and concessions benefit a local nonprofit each week, and this Saturday it’ll be Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (which is getting ready for its big mural unveiling two days before movie night). The screen’s in the courtyard at 4410 California SW – see you there! (P.S. “Goonies” is the second-to-last WSOM show of the year; the finale on August 23 is “Frozen.”)

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You can help! Community support meeting Tuesday for Highland Park Elementary

August 11, 2014 11:51 am

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| Highland Park | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

The new school year is less than four weeks away, and there’s a push to muster support for one local school that needs it more than ever, Highland Park Elementary. If you can help – or want to at least find out how to – you can do that tomorrow night. For the basic story, here’s the invitation that Highland Park Action Committee co-chairs Carolyn and Billy Stauffer wrote to district, city, and other leaders:

(HPAC’s) role is to affect positive change in our neighborhood, and we have historically been active in bringing together a voice for our neighborhood, which has faced many challenges.

We hosted parent Peter Weiss at our May community meeting, who came to speak with us as a member of the Highland Park Elementary PTA. In discussing his ideas with us to organize a 5K as a fundraiser for the school, the community learned about the state of affairs for our local school – Highland Park Elementary is ranked last in the Seattle Public School System.

Some of our members were brought to tears with this news, exhausted by what feels like yet another blind eye turned towards our community from our leaders. We write to you in response to a request that night from the community to get some answers as to why our school is doing so badly and what the plan is for improvement. We have since discussed this idea with the PTA and have formed a partnership in our efforts. We, along with incoming PTA president Sol Mendez, would like to invite you to a meeting to discuss the school, and answer some questions from our community.

And that invitation is for you too. Come to the Highland Park Improvement Club (12th/Holden) tomorrow night (Tuesday, August 12th), at 7 pm. HPAC says the RSVPs so far include HPES’s new principal Chris Cronas, school-board member Marty McLaren, and City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen.

ADDED TUESDAY: HPAC co-chair Carolyn Stauffer says the school district’s executive director of schools for this area, Israel Vela, also has RSVP’d.

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West Seattle scene: Preparing to paddle across the bay to downtown rally

August 11, 2014 10:03 am

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| Seen at sea | West Seattle news

Thanks to Anne for the photo from Don Armeni Boat Ramp, where canoe paddlers are launching a trip across Elliott Bay to participate later this morning in a rally to show concern about environmental risks from increased oil/coal-carrying train/ship traffic in our region.
(Added 12:57 pm: Tweet with photo of Blue Heron Canoe‘s arrival:)

Blue Heron Canoe Family have landed at the #salishsearally @IdleNoMore4 @billmckibben @backboneprog pic.twitter.com/oDfZuo7vFz

— 350 Seattle (@350_Seattle) August 11, 2014

(back to earlier report) We received this announcement about that rally late last night:

(Today) at 11 am a ‘Protect Our Salish Sea’ rally will begin with a traditional Northwest Coastal canoe landing and kayak flotilla at the beach below the Olympic Sculpture Park, which is a traditional sacred gathering place of the Coast Salish Nations. The rally will include speakers such as Freddy Lane and Laverne Lane of the Lummi Nation, a traditional welcoming and protocol by Ken Workman of the Duwamish Tribe, Mike Evans of the Snohomish Tribe leading a traditional canoe ‘Paddle to Seattle,’ activists Carlo Voli of 350 Seattle, and Bill Moyer of Backbone Campaign. This is a family-friendly event that will include an inter-tribal jam session, a Water Blessing ceremony, and will be immediately followed by a procession to the tracks for a symbolic blockade of the BNSF Railroad at Alaskan and Broad Street in Seattle.

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West Seattle Monday: Weather alert; plus, what’s up today/tonight

August 11, 2014 8:55 am

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Sunday’s low tide on Alki, by Danny McMillin)
This will be a great day to get out on the beach (if you’re not stuck in an office) – but take note of the weather alert for tonight/tomorrow, before we get to highlights from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:

WEATHER ALERT: “Scattered to abundant lightning” is forecast for much of Western Washington, possibly even here in the metro area, tonight through tomorrow, and the National Weather Service has a wide area under a “red flag warning.” And before we get to that, it’s going to be even hotter today – possibly into the 90s.

Now, from the calendar:

APPEAL HEARING: The second appeal filed in relation to the project to rebuild Arbor Heights Elementary School is being heard today by the city Hearing Examiner, starting at 9 am; here’s our earlier report. (Municipal Tower downtown, 40th floor)

LAST DAY FOR BEACH NATURALISTS: With a low-low tide of -2.0 feet at 11:50 am, it’s the final day of this summer’s Seattle Aquarium volunteer-beach-naturalist program. On the shore at Constellation Park south of Alki and at Lincoln Park (toward the south end), look for the naturalists in red hats, 10:30 am-1:30 pm.

SCIENCE MAGIC! See how to use science for magic tricks – this is a library presentation for ages 5 and up – free! – but it’s at Delridge Community Center, 2:30 pm. (4501 Delridge Way SW)

…AND MORE SCIENCE! Celebrating science is the theme of tonight’s Family Story Time at High Point Branch Library, 6:30 pm, free as always. (35th/Raymond)

NORTH DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: No formal agenda for tonight’s monthly NDNC meeting, so if you have a community concern/question, bring it! Tonight will be another outdoor meeting, 6:30 pm in Delridge Community Center Park. (Delridge Way SW/SW Genesee)

WONDERING HOW TO SHARE AN EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT? The basics are on the WSB Contact page. Thanks!

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TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Monday updates; busy road-work week

August 11, 2014 6:16 am

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
As our traffic watch begins for a new week, a reminder of what’s ahead (the links each go to the previous stories with details on the work):

ROXBURY REPAVING: Scheduled for Tuesday/Wednesday, 25th SW to 27th SW.

CHARLESTOWN TRACTION IMPROVEMENT: Scheduled for Tuesday, 45th SW to 47th SW.

GENESEE TRACTION IMPROVEMENT: Scheduled for Wednesday, between Avalon and Delridge.

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West Seattle supermoon scenes: So close, and yet so far

August 11, 2014 2:40 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

(From Harbor Avenue: Photo by David Hutchinson)
As Space.com put it, Sunday night’s full moon was the “superest supermoon” of the year – the closest one to Earth this year.

(Photo by Jim Clark)
Next month’s full moon (September 8th) will be almost as close.

(Photo by Craig Young)
As Alice Enevoldsen writes in the newest edition of “Skies Over West Seattle,” it’s only one of this week’s attractions for skygazers.