West Seattle, Washington
15 Thursday
Sometimes, new-business announcements are greeted with “oh, not ANOTHER …” Can’t say that this time; this new business is the first of its kind. Longtime local community advocate Lashanna Williams – most recently featured here for a volunteer project that fed hundreds last fall – has just opened Cuddle Club in Morgan Junction. Here’s her official announcement:
Today, Washington’s first professional cuddling establishment opened its doors in West Seattle. Cuddle Club’s free membership allows members to schedule cuddle sessions in the safe, secure, and beautifully designed comfort of the new club at Fauntleroy Square.
Cuddle Club is about creating a welcoming space for members to be themselves. Nonsexual, nurturing touch is a basic human need. Everyone needs to be held, and all of us benefit from more relaxing, meaningful human contact. Cuddle Club’s mission is to improve lives in small ways that matter, and in lieu of a membership fee, members are asked to support that mission with donations of time, food, or other goods to local organizations.
Benefits of cuddling can include reduced stress and anxiety; improved social skills, self-esteem, and sleep; lower blood pressure and heart rate; reduced drug cravings and risk of heart disease; and improved immune system and recovery time.
Cuddle Club is operated by Lashanna Williams, a graduate of the University of Michigan, a Certified Member of Cuddle Professionals International, and an active volunteer coordinator in the South Park and West Seattle neighborhoods.
You can find out more here.
Just nine nights until the next Taste of West Seattle, Thursday, May 21st, at The Hall at Fauntleroy. It’s a benefit for the West Seattle Helpline, and they’ve now exceeded their sponsorship goal to the point where all expenses are covered, says new WSH executive director Chris Langeler, “so all proceeds from admission and raffle ticket sales will go directly to WS Helpline’s programs to help our neighbors in need.” If you don’t have tickets, you need to buy them fast! More on that in a moment – first, we asked Langeler for the lineup of participating food/drink establishments:
(9:44 PM UPDATE: Foss’s appeal document added, after coverage of 75 speakers at Port Commission meeting, followed by commissioners passing both motions – as Shell drillship Noble Discoverer arrived in Everett)
12:58 PM: Just as Seattle port commissioners are about to start their meeting on the controversial Terminal 5 lease to Foss/Shell, we received that photo of one of the Shell offshore-drilling rigs that is expected to wind up here for a while: The Noble Discoverer, which, as we reported earlier, entered Washington waters early today. Jason Mihok photographed the ND (and Foss tugs) as they passed Port Townsend – he was on board the Victoria Clipper. Meantime, we’re at Pier 69 (steps from the Clipper’s HQ, in fact), where the commission chambers are overflowing – we in fact are sitting on the floor in the back of the room. We’ll be chronicling the meeting as it unfolds.
1:05 PM: The meeting has begun. Commissioner Stephanie Bowman is leading it; her co-president Courtney Gregoire is absent “for health reasons.” Bowman urges civility, saying her 70-year-old mom is in the front row so if you’re rude to the commission, you’re rude to her mom. This will start with public comment, and #1 is the one elected official Bowman has mentioned as being here – Alaska State Senator Cathy Giessel, who chairs the Senate’s Resources Committee and “the special committee on the Arctic.” She urges the commission to “stand firm” on the lease with Foss/Shell.
…and the other half of the meeting room. pic.twitter.com/uhvdoXBUME
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) May 12, 2015
#2 – a speaker who says he’s from a faith-based community: “Help us find the courage to make our lives a blessing … It is my hope and prayer that this commission will … find a sustainable path leading to the right side of history.” Drilling in the Arctic “is not on the right side of history,” he continues.
#3 – Anthony Edwardson from Barrow, AK, chair of Arctic Inupiat Offshore, “asking the commission to honor (the lease). … We have partnered with Shell to be sure they do right in our waters.”
#4 – Mohawk, a speaker who urges the commission to “follow the Seattle city laws” in terms of the DPD interpretation that said the drilling vessels’ docking is not allowed under existing port permits.
#5 – Hugh, who also has come from Alaska, “imploring you to understand the far-reaching effects of your decision to our communities on the North Slope.” He too chairs an Alaska Native corporation, he says. “The environmental community doesn’t have a plan for our people. … We are the people of the Arctic – we live it, day by day. They would like to place us in a diorama in a museum.”
#6 – John Hobson from Wainwright, Alaska; he and we believe all of the Alaskan Natives who have spoken so far spoke to the Seattle City Council yesterday as it considered its resolution opposing drilling and asking the Port Commission to reconsider the T-5 lease. “There are people involved who want the same things you have -” like education and sanitation. “We want to impress on you that the Arctic isn’t just a place of polar bears.”
#7 – Stu Yarfitz. He is a Seattle resident who says he has two questions: How will the commission respond if the city DPD issues a stop-work order? And he asks about Terminal 5’s future – why is the modernization work not happening now, when that was the reason it closed last year?
/AS-IT-HAPPENED COVERAGE CONTINUES/ – click ahead if reading this from WSB home page)Read More
Thanks to Cheryl Brown for the photo of the division champion West Seattle High School softball team, and this update on how they got there, with their next game just hours away:
Last week (at the end of the regular season), the West Seattle HS, Bainbridge HS and
Ballard HS Girls’ Fastpitch Softball teams were tied for 1st place in the Metro-Mountain Division. Two 4-inning games were played last Thursday at Southeast Athletic Complex to break the tie. WS beat Ballard 2 – 0 in 4 innings. At the end of 4 innings WS was tied 1 – 1 with Bainbridge so it went into extra innings with international tiebreaker rules. WS beat Bainbridge 2 – 1 in 6 innings.Outcome for Metro-Mountain division:
1 – West Seattle
2 – Bainbridge
3 – BallardLast night, WS played Chief Sealth (Metro-Valley #3) at SEAC in the Round 2 of the Metro League Tournament. WS won 13 – 0.
Tonight, in Round 3, WS plays Eastside Catholic at 7 pm at SWAC, and Chief Sealth plays Holy Names at 7pm at SEAC.
ORIGINAL REPORT, 11:29 AM: As announced a week ago, Seattle Public Schools will close one week from today – Tuesday, May 19th – because of teachers’ one-day protest walkout. The city says today that it’s planning to help out families by offering free programs at its community centers, including all of its West Seattle/South Park centers. IMPORTANT: You need to register ASAP if interested. Here’s the announcement:
Seattle Parks and Recreation has announced it will open and staff drop-in activities at 21 designated community centers for Seattle Public School students from kindergarten to 8th grade in response to the May 19 teacher walk-out. The free program will operate from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19 and will include supervised recreation activities, with an anticipated supervision ratio of 20 children to 1 adult leader.
“We’re willing to open Seattle’s community centers for parents needing daycare on May 19,” said Mayor Ed Murray. “Our programs for school-age kids offer educational and fun options during the summer and school vacations. It just makes sense for Parks for to step up during this exceptional circumstance.”
Due to space limitations, eligible students will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. All students must have a completed registration form. Registration forms can be obtained at open community centers, at the community centers the day of the drop-in service, or printed from http://www.seattle.gov/parks/. To hold a spot at a center, register in advance; please go online at class.seattle.gov/parks/Start/Start.asp. A registration form still must be brought to the community center on the 19th.
Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Associated Recreation Council will staff these sites. Parents are asked to drop off eligible children by 9:00 a.m. Spaces for parents who have pre-registered will not be held past 9:00 a.m. Once signed in, children will only be released to the authorized contacts listed on the registration form (identification is required).
Parents are asked to send a sack lunch with their child. Snacks will be provided to all students, and lunch will be provided to those students who are unable to bring their own.
The drop-in activities will be available at (editor’s note: we’re just listing the local centers, full citywide list here):
Alki, 5817 SW Stevens St.
Delridge, 4501 Delridge Way SW
Hiawatha, 2700 California Ave. SW
High Point, 6920 34th Ave. SW
South Park, 8319 8th Ave. S.Parks’ Teen Centers [including Southwest, 2801 SW Thistle] will be open 2:30-8:00 p.m. in order to provide some daytime drop-in activities for teens.
ADDED: As noted in comments (including the comment we procured from Parks), this will mean some originally scheduled programming at the centers is in turn canceled that day.
Announced minutes ago by the West Seattle Junction Association – the music lineup for this year’s West Seattle Summer Fest, coming up July 10-12.
With a bigger emphasis on the musical portion of the event, the line-up includes some of the hottest bands in the Northwest including The Thermals, The Cave Singers, La Luz, Sisters, VOX MOD, “S,” Kithkin, The Fame Riot, and West Seattle’s own DJ Lance Romance among others. This FREE 3-day party in the streets celebrates West Seattle as a thriving music and arts community.
You can catch more than 20 artists performing on the California main stage all weekend from up-and-coming artists like Pig Snout (a father & his two kids-that ROCKS), NAVVI, Solvents, Evening Bell to Seattle music heavy hitters like Gibraltar, Sisters, and Black Whales.
Here’s a YouTube playlist put together by The Junction. And – the schedule:
(Photo by Ed Swan, who identifies it as a Red Admiral butterfly, photographed in the Admiral area)
Wide-ranging lineup of highlights tonight:
SEATTLE GREENDRINKS HEADS WEST: 5:30 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center – details here, including how to RSVP. (4408 Delridge Way SW)
HIGH-SCHOOL INFORMATION FAIR AT WESTSIDE SCHOOL: Happening tonight:
Westside School will be holding a high-school information fair on Tuesday May 12 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The fair will host approximately 15 Admission Directors from the Seattle area, along with two boarding schools. We would like to invite students and parents to the fair, with the purpose of providing an opportunity to learn more about these great schools and the admission process. Some of the schools that will be in attendance are Bishop Blanchet, Seattle Prep, Kennedy, Seattle Lutheran, Annie Wright, St. Michaels University School (BC), Aviation High School, Academy Schools, and Holy Names Academy
Westside is in Sunrise Heights. (7740 34th SW)
WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY ORCHESTRAS: 6:30 pm at Chief Sealth International High School Auditorium, program including works by Haydn and Beethoven, and a premiere work by West Seattle composer Robert Duisberg – details in our calendar listing. (2600 SW Thistle)
JUNCTION NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATION: 6:30 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle, JuNO meets with agenda highlights listed by director René Commons:
Our Guest Speaker is: Lynn Best, Director, Environmental Affairs, Seattle City Light. Lynn will advise our community on the current and future status of the Avalon Substation and adjoining restaurant property. Seattle City Light owns both properties (location is 35th ave and SW Genesee st at NE bridge entrance); the large concrete substation is cleared and fenced off – looks like a bunker, and the restaurant site – former terriyaki- was recently leased by them to Pecos Pit BBQ. We have asked Lynn to share with our community an an overview on the process of how sub station properties can convert to public green spaces. Are the sites marketed only to private investors; can there be a more rigorous evaluation process of converting sites as green spaces to benefit our dense urban community?
J u N O meetings are open to the public and all are welcome. … Working together to make our West Seattle Junction and Triangle Neighborhoods a better place to work, live and play!!! … (Also) We will discuss dates for Junction Plaza Park cleanup and future artwork concepts for this small but integral neighborhood park.
Emergency Hub – update on Saturdays event at Hiawatha
Fauntleroy Boulevard Improvement – discussion with updates
Juno Events – martini walk or pub crawl organizers needed
Juno Booth at WS Street Fair – ideas and volunteers needed
(Oregon/California)
SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS BELL TIMES: Should they change? The district is taking a closer look at three options for scheduling and would like to hear from you – whether you are a parent, staffer, neighbor, or anyone else with an opinion. The comment period is running out but you’re welcome at a meeting at 7 pm tonight at Chief Sealth International High School. Our calendar listing includes other ways to have a say, as long as you do it quickly. (2600 SW Thistle)
FAUNTLEROY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION: Public’s always welcome at the FCA‘s monthly board meeting, 7 pm in the conference room at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse. (9131 California SW)
ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION: 7 pm at The Sanctuary at Admiral – learn about land use, how to find out what’s happening and how to have a say in it. All welcome. (42nd/Lander)
PUBLIC HEALTH CAFE ON CHILDHOOD ASTHMA: Is it linked to the environment? Hear from and talk with Dr. Catherine Karr, Pediatrician, UW research scientist, & Director of the NW Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit. 7 pm at Chaco Canyon Organic Café in The Triangle. Free, all welcome. (3770 SW Alaska)
MORE … today/tonight/beyond – just check out our calendar.
(Four WS-relevant views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Good morning! We start with notes/alerts for today and beyond:
HARBOR AVENUE WORK: Noticed while making rounds on Monday that this project is well under way. – be aware when continuing onto Harbor northbound from south of the bridge or turning northbound from westbound Spokane.
WEST SEATTLE BRIDGE WORK: The ongoing work in the outer lane of the eastbound West Seattle Bridge is scheduled to continue again today and tonight, outside the peak hours; here’s the SDOT schedule.
WEST SEATTLE 5K THIS SUNDAY: Time to start with the reminders that Alki Avenue SW will be closed to traffic during this Sunday’s annual West Seattle 5K Run/Walk, starting early in the morning and continuing until about 11 am. A change this year: As first reported here a month ago, the 5K will *not* be followed by the SDOT Summer Streets “car-free” festival this year as it has been each previous year, so the street will fully reopen to vehicles after the 5K. (A community celebration has been organized by Alki neighbors, but no street closure is involved.)
Hours after federal approval of Shell‘s Arctic offshore-drilling plan, 
and hours before the Seattle Port Commission‘s public meeting about the Terminal 5/Foss/Shell lease, one of Shell’s two designated drill rigs entered Washington waters. We reported Sunday night that the drillship Noble Discoverer had done a turnaround off the Washington coast and went out of tracking range; early this morning, it reappeared, and entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It’s still headed for Everett first, Shell told The Seattle Times (WSB partner), also saying the other designated driller, Polar Pioneer, is to be towed this week to T-5 from Port Angeles (where it remains visible on webcam as of this writing). (June 2012 photo of Noble Discoverer by Long Bach Nguyen)
As for the Port Commission’s meeting this afternoon, the agenda details finally have been added. They include two potential motions: The first one comes down to, the port can’t/won’t do anything about the city interpretation disallowing the drill rigs until “if and when this code interpretation is deemed a final decision by the City of Seattle.” (The way the Hearing Examiner process works, that usually takes months.) The second one seeks to have the port appeal the city interpretation too. Today’s meeting is set to start at 1 pm at port HQ at Pier 69 on the downtown waterfront and will start with a public-comment period.
9:04 AM: The Noble Discoverer is just now passing Port Angeles.
One week from tonight, the West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) expansion project will benefit from a unique fundraiser aimed at superfans of the Seahawks and Sounders. Here’s what it’s all about, 5-8 pm Tuesday, May 19th, at The Hall at Fauntleroy:
Seahawks and Sounders FC team up for the Y with stars Steven Hauschka and Zach Scott to benefit the West Seattle YMCA expansion!
Your up-close-and-personal experience is guaranteed because we are limiting the guest list to 50 superfans!
As a superfan, you will have the opportunity to:
· Bring an item to be autographed by Steven and Zach, and talk to them one on one!
· Have your photo taken with Steven and Zach and take it home framed with their signatures.
· Hear stories from the sidelines and locker rooms about Steven’s and Zach’s unique experiences in professional sports.
· Bid on exclusive items including:
*Two Seahawks club level tickets & two field passes to the Panthers game on October 18th.
*#12 Fan jersey signed by Richard Sherman, Doug Baldwin, and others (top photo).
*Sounders FC jersey signed by Zach Scott (top photo)
*Sounders FC field passes for the Kansas City game on May 23rd (top photo)*Game-worn cleat signed by Steven Hauscka (photo above)
*Plus other autographed items.· Enjoy drinks and appetizers with like-minded die-hard 12s and Sounders FC supporters.
We’re now offering a limited number of tickets for $100 each, plus ticket processing fees. (VIP tickets are $250.00 plus fees.) Purchase tickets online at WestSeattleYMCA.eventbrite.com. When 50 tickets are sold, that’s it — there will be no additions! Proceeds benefit the expansion of the West Seattle YMCA. The YMCA of Greater Seattle is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization registered with the IRS. For this event, $50 of the ticket price may be considered a charitable donation. Learn more at www.OurNewY.org
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