day : 02/12/2014 10 results

West Seattle holiday updates: Junction decorations/celebrations; Festivus party; OLG’s new lighting plan…

| Holidays | West Seattle news

Holiday decorations are officially up in The Junction. Wreaths were added to streetlight poles this morning, and their lights are aglow tonight; garlands are decking storefronts too.

Just in time for Hometown Holidays (co-sponsored by WSB) to gear up starting later this week – that’s one of the holiday notes we’re sharing tonight:

SHOP LATE THURSDAY, HOLIDAY PARTY SATURDAY, SANTA & CARRIAGE RIDES SUNDAY: This is the first big holiday week in The Junction, with the first of three Shop Late Thursdays coming up two nights from now, 6-9 pm on December 4th. Then on Saturday, another chance to shop into the evening, with the Junction Holiday Party before and after the tree lighting – see the list of participants here (and in the West Seattle Holiday Guide), and what’ll be happening at this neighborhood-wide party 4-8 pm on Saturday. On Sunday, 10 am-2 pm in The Junction, bring your own camera for photo ops at the Santa Meet & Greet at City Mouse (4218 SW Alaska), and ride the mule-drawn carriage that will be making regular departures from California/Alaska.

FESTIVUS PARTY FRIDAY: The only official one we’ve heard of so far this season is this year’s Sustainable West Seattle/WS Tool Library gala, 5-9 pm Friday (December 5th) just a short ways across the bridge at SODO MakerSpace (1914 Occidental Ave. S.) Full details are on the SWS website.

ALSO FRIDAY, OLG ‘LIGHT UP THE NIGHT’: Something new at Our Lady of Guadalupe‘s outdoor celebration of light this year, coming up 7 pm Friday at 35th/Myrtle: This year, OLG won’t be lighting up the big tree outside its church – the cost has jumped, we’re told, and the church needs to devote its resources elsewhere. But you’re still invited to a celebration of light and community, same place, near the highest spot in Seattle – there’ll be lights, just not on the big tree, and there’ll be carols and holiday cheer. Also a food drive – bring nonperishable food to fill the sleigh in the parish center across SW Myrtle from the church.

HOLIDAY EVENT PLANNED? We’re still updating the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide with new events/info at least once a day – if you have a bazaar, community party, decoration display, Santa visit, concert, performance, anything holiday-ish to which the community’s invited, please e-mail us the info ASAP! editor@westseattleblog.com – thank you – and keep checking the guide for updates (we already have a sleigh-full of new info to add later tonight).

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Congratulations! Big wins for West Seattle Elementary chess players

December 2, 2014 6:38 pm

| 13 COMMENTS

| High Point | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Congratulations to West Seattle Elementary Chess Club members who did very well at a regional chess tournament before the Thanksgiving break. The fifth-grade team placed third overall and two students qualified for the state tournament, Rory Moriarty Carey and Jimmy Oto. Thanks to Ritchie for sharing the news.

(P.S. – You might recall that chess at WSES made news last spring, when the school was visited by international chess star Phiona Mutesi.)

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West Seattle scene: The view from USS Stennis, passing by

December 2, 2014 4:50 pm

| 3 COMMENTS

| Seen at sea | West Seattle news

Monday afternoon, we showed you the USS John C. Stennis heading past West Seattle, going out for training after the carrier’s quarter-billion-dollar maintenance project.

(Photo by Guy Smith)
Today, we received a photo from Lt. Cmdr. Sarah Higgins in public affairs for the Stennis’s group. She wrote, “Thanks for covering USS Stennis’ departure from Bremerton yesterday! Attached is what our view looked like. Absolutely gorgeous day in the PacNW.”

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Ignacio D. Perez)
Click either photo for a larger view.

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New leader for West Seattle-based Nature Consortium: Meet incoming executive director Merica Whitehall

December 2, 2014 2:52 pm

| 4 COMMENTS

| Environment | West Seattle news

(Photo courtesy Nature Consortium)
Big news today from West Seattle-headquartered Nature Consortium, which focuses on forest restoration and environmental arts for youth: A successor to founder/executive director Nancy Whitlock. Meet (above left, with Whitlock) Merica Whitehall, who becomes NC’s new executive director on December 15th, a year and a half after Whitlock announced she planned to step back. Ahead, messages from both:

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City Light to start cleanup work at Dakota Substation site tomorrow

December 2, 2014 12:42 pm

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| Environment | Genesee Hill | West Seattle news

Alert for Genesee Hill residents – cleanup work starts tomorrow at the former Dakota Substation. This is one of the “surplus” ex-substation sites whose fate has yet to be decided. Here’s the official announcement we received:

Seattle City Light will start work this week to cleanup the former substation located at 4918 SW Dakota Street. The work is expected to take approximately 2-3 weeks to complete. Planned work will remove soil, debris and some vegetation due to contamination. Pesticide contamination at the site is many times higher than the state’s required cleanup level. This work will not involve planned electrical outages.

Removal of soils in treed areas of the property is necessary; however, City Light plans to preserve the trees in these areas. To protect tree roots, City Light will use vactor trucks to remove the contaminated soil. The vactoring technique has been successful at each of the sites in which City Light has used it, including the Fauntleroy site in West Seattle. The utility has received recognition and thanks from community members for the successful protection of the trees on the Fauntleroy site.

Work will include operation of heavy equipment such as backhoes, dump trucks and vactor trucks. This vactor soil removal process will result in louder noise levels than conventional methods of excavation. Noise studies have been performed on this type of work and have indicated that sound levels are considered safe for residents near the work site.

A communications rep for the project tells WSB that notices have been circulated to neighbors already via e-mail, and that door-hanger notification is under way too. The Seattle Green Spaces Coalition, which began as a West Seattle-based group but has expanded to a citywide focus, has been working to find ways to keep sites like this one saved as open space.

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Update: King County burn ban lifted as of noon

December 2, 2014 11:41 am

| Comments Off on Update: King County burn ban lifted as of noon

| Environment | Health | West Seattle news

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is lifting the King County burn ban as of noon, so fireplace and woodstove use will be OK again (as will outdoor fires where approved, including the fire rings at Alki Beach).

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West Seattle Tuesday: Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights council; WS Bike Connections; Blues To Do; more

December 2, 2014 10:03 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

This is our last freezing-cold morning for a while, so we’re sharing Karen‘s icicle photo (thank you!) along with today’s list of calendar highlights:

VIADUCT/HIGHWAY 99 ADVISORY GROUP: The quarterly-or-so meeting of the merged stakeholder groups is at 4 pm today at Safeco Field (entrance by the home-plate gate).

WESTWOOD-ROXHILL-ARBOR HEIGHTS COMMUNITY COUNCIL: Some councils are taking December off, but not WWRHAH – so if you live and/or work in any of those neighborhoods, don’t miss it! 6:15-7:40 pm at Southwest Branch Library. Agenda:

6:15-6:30: Introductions & Community News; New Business

6:30-7:10: Committee & Neighborhood Council Updates – Metro Committee, Infrastructure Committee (35th SW, bus-loop pavement issues), Bog Committee, Roxhill Park Committee, DNDC, SWDC

7:10-7:40: Housing Affordability: The Mayor’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda is a hot topic for the City. We will discuss this, as well as the Westwood / Highland Park Urban Village.

WEST SEATTLE BIKE CONNECTIONS: Also meeting tonight, 6:30 pm at HomeStreet Bank (WSB sponsor) in The Junction. Details on the WSBC website. (41st/Alaska)

FAMILY STORY TIME: 7 pm at Delridge Branch Library – songs, rhymes, AND stories. (5423 Delridge Way SW)

BLUES TO DO: 8 pm at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), tonight it’s Sweet Billy Spaulding & His Soulful 88s. Details in our calendar listing. (6451 California SW)

MORE!!!! Full list of today/tonight events on our regular calendar, and ongoing listings including nightly light shows and tree lots are part of the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide (which you’ll want to browse to preview the MANY, MANY, MANY events coming up next weekend).

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Golf on Maui or in SoCal! Dream trips to bid on, at benefit for Jasmin’s leukemia fight, 2 nights away

December 2, 2014 9:00 am

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| How to help | West Seattle news

Update on a community fundraising effort first mentioned here last month, to help Jasmin Egan, a West Seattle native and mom of 3 fighting leukemia. This Thursday is the night you can go to Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) and not only have a good time with some great music – Rocky Votolato is performing a special live acoustic set! – but also bid for some spectacular silent-auction items. Sarah, who’s organizing the benefit, points out for one thing, golfers might want to come bid for BIG items including a 6-day, 5-night golf trip to Maui (at the Kapalua Golf Villas) and “a chance to golf at the famous Lakeside Golf Club in California with Kiefer Sutherland, Oscar De La Hoya, and PGA pro Duffy Waldorf.” Other silent-auction items have been donated by more than 20 businesses in the area – listed at the bottom of the official flyer. Drop by The Feedback on Thursday night, any time after 6:30 pm.

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TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Tuesday updates; ORCA card-reader woes

December 2, 2014 7:02 am

| 6 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
7:02 AM: Good morning! Freezing (or just below) temps out there again today, but it’s going to start warming up. No trouble reported in our area so far.

8:34 AM: Had trouble with an ORCA card reader this morning? Jeremy and Colleen did (see Twitter exchanges below), and Metro says it’ll check that out:

@kcmetrobus @westseattleblog looks like many (all?) curbside ORCA readers in West Seattle are busted ("UNIT FAULTY")

— Jeremy Kahn (@trochee) December 2, 2014

9:04 AM: Thanks to Flint for sharing this video of the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth ferry, time-lapsed to a minute and a half:

This was recorded in the Monday sunshine.

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Alki storm aftermath: Liberating Liberty from sand, driftwood

December 2, 2014 12:38 am

| 3 COMMENTS

| West Seattle beaches | West Seattle news

Remember those wild waves at Alki on Saturday?

(Saturday photo by Long Bach Nguyen)
(More video/photos here.) Monday, it was cleanup time at Statue of Liberty Plaza:

(WSB photo)
We spotted those workers while catching a quick view of the USS John C. Stennis. Later, David Hutchinson shared a clearer look at what Seattle Parks had to pick up:

One inch of sand, David points out. Plus plenty of driftwood:

The afternoon high tides for the next few days are about as high as they were over the weekend – but without the strong north winds and extra stormwater, they’re just, well, high tides.

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