day : 21/08/2014 12 results

This year, Sustainable West Seattle members and friends headed into the trees for the group’s annual picnic, gathering among the food-producing plants at the Community Orchard of West Seattle on the northeast edge of the South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) campus. Before dessert time – which included the option to make smoothies with a human-powered blender! – SWS’s Stu Hennessey announced this year’s honorees. First, Steve Richmond, honored for his work with native plants and removing invasives – projects such as the wetland restoration by Sanislo Elementary – “which he does all by bicycle!”

Speaking of bicycling – tonight’s other honoree was West Seattle Bike Connections president Don Brubeck, not on hand, but lauded by Stu for his “mild-mannered” advocacy, and everything he and WSBC have accomplished in just a few short years.

Stu also listed some of SWS’s main projects/events this past year, including the orchard itself, where a row of trellissed apple trees grows – most made naturally problem-resistant, compared to a few on the north side that aren’t:

Apples were going into the cider press borrowed from the West Seattle Tool Library, also a SWS project:

SWS also planned and presented the GreenLife area at West Seattle Summer Fest again this year; other programs and projects include DIY Bikes, Tox-Ick.Org, Spokespeople, and West Seattle Meaningful Movies, whose next presentation, September 6th, is “Princess Angeline,” about Chief Sealth‘s daughter, an event also intended for support of and updates about the Duwamish Tribe‘s ongoing battle for official recognition.

Find out more about SWS at sustainablewestseattle.org.

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‘Hold On To Your Butt’! Surfrider Foundation campaign Saturday

August 21, 2014 8:08 pm

| 8 COMMENTS

| Environment | West Seattle beaches | West Seattle news

Every time there’s a big cleanup at Alki Beach, we hear about volunteers collecting pounds and pounds and pounds of cigarette butts. Even one is too many, says the Surfrider Foundation, which is trying something new this Saturday – an awareness campaign:

For the last several years, the Seattle Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation has held numerous beach cleanups at some of the city’s most popular parks.

Even though smoking is banned on Seattle Parks beaches, play areas, and playgrounds, the cigarette filters continue to pile up at every beach cleanup and according to the Ocean Conservancy are the most common item picked up on beach cleanups around the world. A report from San Diego State University found that the toxins leaching from just one cigarette butt could kill a fish placed in a one liter bucket.

“A common misconception is that cigarette filters are biodegradable because they look like a paper product, but they are actually plastic and recyclable”, says Susan North, Surfrider volunteer. “The San Diego and Vancouver Island Surfrider chapters are already leading very successful Hold On To Your Butt campaigns which are cleaning up our beaches, cities, and streets.”

Their goal is to reduce local cigarette litter by educating smokers that butts are plastic and toxic to marine life. Surfrider believes it is important to empower smokers through education and also to provide smokers with ways to dispose of cigarette butts that are not a fire hazard. The chapter is working with Seattle Parks and Recreation by placing two ash cans at Alki Beach Park.

On Saturday, August 23rd, from 10 AM-1 PM at Alki Beach and in conjunction with the Alki Beach Volleyball tournament, Surfrider volunteers will hand out flyers and hold a beach sweep to draw attention to the amount of butts on our beaches. The campaign committee invites the public to attend and learn more about the initiative and find out how to sponsor an ash can.

P.S. Also on Alki this Saturday morning, the annual Great Cross-Sound Race, so heads up, it’ll be busy at the beach!

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Happening now: Jessica Lynne @ Summer Concerts at Hiawatha

August 21, 2014 7:00 pm

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| West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

One hour of excellent free live music still left on the east lawn at Hiawatha – with Jessica Lynne belting out contemporary-country tunes onstage.

Tonight is the fifth show in the concert series presented each summer by the Admiral Neighborhood Association (with sponsors including WSB); next week’s the finale with Funky 2 Death, 6:30-8 pm.

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Happening now: Party time as Luna Park Café celebrates 25 years

August 21, 2014 6:46 pm

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| Luna Park | West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

Until 10 pm, whatever time you see on the clock at Luna Park Café is party time! Tonight’s the night the café celebrates its 25th anniversary, not only by hosting diners and imbibers as it does daily/nightly, but also with entertainment including live bands:

BrittMania, one of two bands playing during the celebration, is a Beatles tribute band – and that has bonus significance tonight, since this is the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ 1964 Seattle Center show. (P.S. If you double THAT number, you’ll get a century, which is how long it’s been since Luna Park’s namesake amusement park closed … read the history on the café’s website.) Anyway, lots going on at the party, as noted in our preview of this very busy day.

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West Seattle scene: Daystar Retirement Village residents help WS Senior Center

August 21, 2014 5:58 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle people

It’s a double celebration tonight at Daystar Retirement Village (WSB sponsor) in Westwood – a barbecue party during which they are celebrating not only summer but also residents’ support for the Senior Center of West Seattle. Last month, Daystar’s Wanda Daudet (above, with SCWS’s Lyle Evans) explains, they sponsored the center’s annual luau, prepared by Daystar chef Kemberli Greco and served to more than 100 attendees, which brought the nonprofit center more than $600. A week later, Daystar’s second annual Senior Summer Camp raised $460 for SCWS, and that’s the check presented during tonight’s barbecue.

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Mode Music Studios: Welcoming a new WSB sponsor, with grand-opening celebration on Saturday

August 21, 2014 3:42 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

We’re welcoming Mode Music Studios as a new WSB sponsor. You can welcome them to the neighborhood at their Grand Opening on Saturday! Here’s their story:

We offer music lessons at an affordable cost with a unique, intuitive approach. Every Mode Music Studios teacher is prepared to mold a lesson to each student’s needs and wants. We’re all multi-instrumentalists, so some students will go back and forth between several instruments or reference another instrument to put music in perspective. We’re all hard-working musicians who play locally and tour, so we have to be able to step in for each other and help out. It makes for a tight family of staff and a more enjoyable environment for our clients.

I think the families that come to Mode Music Studios understand that our methods are unconventional. They come to us when the basic approach to music isn’t working for themselves or their child. We come from all sides in order to keep the student engaged while getting a well-rounded education through classical, jazz, pop, country – whatever music interests the client. We’ve built the studio off recommendations from our existing families and have been lucky enough to keep a steady flow of new students through the expansion. It’s a true testament to the dedication our teachers have to music instruction.

Our recitals at The Sanctuary at Admiral, summer programs, and rock bands at The Skylark Cafe also keep the students growing and interested. Playing music with others and performing on stage has motivated some of our students to continue onto other instruments, start their own bands and compose their own songs. We just attended Delridge Day for the first time with our friends and neighbors from The Skylark and had a blast. We’re so excited to form relationships in our new neighborhood and get more involved in the community.

This Saturday (August 23rd), 3-6 pm, Mode Music Studios celebrates its Grand Opening, including a party next door at Skylark (free admission) with student rock band performances, teacher performances, and a raffle for lessons and prizes. The studio itself will be open for punch and cake, so you can take a full walkthrough of the new facilities. Find Mode Music Studios at 3805 Delridge Way SW, online at modemusicstudios.com, and by phone: 206-659-4018.

We thank Mode Music Studios for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.

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West Seattle traffic alert: Crash blocking 5200 block of Delridge Way

August 21, 2014 2:54 pm

| 4 COMMENTS

| Delridge | West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

2:54 PM: It didn’t look like a major incident on the 911 log, but we’ve since learned from text and e-mail tips that a car crash in the 5200 block of Delridge Way has the road at least partly blocked, and drivers are having to turn around. We’re checking to see if anyone was hurt. (Thanks to Tim for sending the photo from a passing bus.)

6:03 PM UPDATE: According to Kyle Moore from Seattle Fire, one person was hurt and taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

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Weekend traffic reminders: Highway 99, Alki Beach 5K, other citywide events, plus ramp closure TONIGHT

August 21, 2014 2:35 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

We usually just link SDOT’s weekly citywide-alert roundup in our daily traffic watch – but this time around, seems to be worth sharing immediately, so here it is, featuring the Highway 99 closures (the Viaduct itself is ONLY involved in the weekend closure), plus Sunday morning’s Alki Avenue closure for the Alki Beach 5K, and more. Also please remember if you’re out late TONIGHT, the ramp to northbound 99 from the eastbound bridge will be closed overnight (10 pm tonight-5 am Friday) for work related to the weekend 99 closure. And if you need Metro reroute info – it’s here.

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Happening now: ‘Paint party’ as Pathfinder preps for playground

August 21, 2014 12:13 pm

| 7 COMMENTS

| How to help | Pigeon Point | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
As the new playground for Pathfinder K-8 and its Pigeon Point neighbors gets closer to reality, today’s the “paint party” announced in the most recent project update. Until mid-afternoon, more than 100 visiting volunteers are at the school to help the PF community, courtesy of a grant from Capital One. Their projects include, above, the “braided river” that’s part of the new-playground plan; below, a map:

Even curbs are getting TLC:

More photos later! P.S. Here’s the full-size design rendering for the new playground.

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Land swap proposed near Puget Park, next to homebuilding site? City wants to hear from you

August 21, 2014 10:47 am

| 9 COMMENTS

| Development | West Seattle news

(If you can’t see the embedded document above, go here for the PDF version)
That announcement arrived this morning from Seattle Parks, asking for public comment on a proposed “land swap” near Puget Park – before and during a public meeting about it, set for September 9th, one week before the proposal will start making its way through the City Council approval process. Since these types of notices are rare, before publishing it, we contacted the Parks point person listed on the notice, MaryLou Whiteford, for more context/background, and also checked our archives. Here’s what we have found out so far:

4707 14th SW (map), the house mentioned in the notice as “served by” the driveway crossing Parks property, is proposed for demolition and replacement, as mentioned in this WSB report last month. In the same area, there’s been a permit on file for four years related to a proposal for more than 30 new single-family homes; we reported early last year that the site was for sale, and county records show a sale completed in the fall. City records show the 14th SW homebuilding project in the throes of the permit process, and some of the 15th SW sites are scheduled to be used for staging related to that project (as shown on this plan filed with the city), though otherwise, the status of the multi-home construction proposal isn’t clear.

Whiteford says the parcels proposed for involvement in the swap are all owned by the same owner as the 14th SW house site. While property records show different entity names, most of the parcels in the area are owned by “West Seattle Acquisition,” a “foreign limited liability company” registered in New York, while the listed owner for the 4707 14th SW Site, “206 West Seattle Realty Holdings,” is also registered to that same NY address with the same description

Whiteford says the parcels in this area have been held by the city since the county transferred them more than 50 years ago. On the map, it appears to be an even swap in terms of land area, 13 parcels for 13 parcels, and Whiteford says it would “preserve more of the greenbelt.” We’ve asked for the proposed City Council legislation that would finalize the swap if approved in that part of the process starting next month. Meantime, the public meeting announced in the notice above is scheduled for 6:30 pm Tuesday, September 9th, at Delridge Community Center (4501 Delridge Way SW).

ADDED 11:29 AM: In addition to the proposed Council bill, we have four accompanying documents now, received from Parks, related to it. No additional information, mostly confirmation that the city says this swap would have no fiscal impact.

*Mayor’s letter introducing the bill, including this:

The existing driveway was constructed prior to the City-owned land being placed under the jurisdiction of Seattle Parks and Recreation. The private property accessed by the driveway is now being redeveloped, and the owners seek to obtain ownership and control over the land the driveway crosses. Allowing the existing driveway to continue to serve the private property avoids the need to improve unopened rights-of-way in this Environmentally Critical Area, thereby preserving more of the desirable characteristics of the greenbelt including tree canopy, bird habitat, and wildlife corridor.

*Proposed council bill
*Fiscal-impact statement
*Detailed map
*Aerial view with map overlay

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West Seattle schools: Gatewood Elementary combined event next week

August 21, 2014 9:13 am

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| Gatewood | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Not to rush the end of your summer, but Seattle Public Schools‘ first day is now less than two weeks away, and some schools have get-ready-for-the-new-year events even sooner. Like this announcement we just received:

Gatewood Elementary would like to get the word out that this year the K-5 Meet & Greet, Volunteer Fair and Ice Cream Social will be combined on Thursday, August 28th, with a staggered start.

We hope you can join us! This will give your child an opportunity to find out your child’s class assignment, meet their new teacher, interact with new friends and take a small tour of the school and classroom.

K-1 @ 5:30 to 6:15 pm
2-3 @ 6:00 to 6:45 pm
4-5 @ 6:30 to 7:15 pm

Thanks again in advance to the parents, PTA leaders, volunteers, staffers (and sometimes even students!) who share big news here so we can help get the word out too – here’s how.

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TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Thursday updates; Highway 99 closure reminder; more

August 21, 2014 6:12 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)
Good morning! The outbound signs are all reminding you of the looming Highway 99 closure. Remember that while many signs say “4-day closure,” it’s 2 days for the Alaskan Way Viaduct and 99 south of there to the West Seattle Bridge, all 4 days from the Battery Street Tunnel northbound to Valley St. (lower Queen Anne). See maps/times here. The preparation work that’s been happening overnight all week will also include closure tonight, 10 pm-5 am, of the West Seattle Bridge offramp to NB 99. Also of note:

CONTINUING ROAD WORK: Arbor Heights microsurfacing, and restriping all over the place.

TRANSPORTATION NEWS: Next step in the Fauntleroy Way “Boulevard” project, a community meeting, which we learned on Wednesday is set for September 23rd.

ADDED 9:27 AM: Trouble on the 1st Avenue South Bridge’s northbound side:

@seattledot More fire trucks on scene on 1st Ave S Bridge, northbound traffic reduced to 1 lane on the bridge. pic.twitter.com/tm3AqDj7Bw

— seattledot (@seattledot) August 21, 2014