day : 08/03/2016 10 results

(2014 WSB photo)

From tonight’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting: Our area’s premiere summer outdoor-music series, Summer Concerts at Hiawatha, is a go for this year, its eighth year, and coordinator Katy Walum is ready to start hearing from musicians interested in applying to be on the six-show slate.

Here are the basics for the series, which is free to concertgoers, who bring their own seating/blankets/etc. to the east lawn at Hiawatha Community Center:

*Six Thursday nights, starting July 21st
*The 6:30 pm shows run about an hour and a half, with an opportunity for a 10-minute break

To apply, e-mail info@admiralneighborhood.org with information including:

*Band/performer name
*Description of your music
*Requested fee for 90-minute performance
*Web address where video of your music can be seen
*Staging or sound requirements

The series has generally featured musicians performing their own music. Here are our reports with the lineup announcements from the past four years – a wide range of genres:

*2015
*2014
*2013
*2012

Also, ANA’s Dave Weitzel is rounding up sponsors again this year. Use that same e-mail address if your business is interested in backing the series. (WSB has sponsored Summer Concerts at Hiawatha every year since the start in 2009, and we’ve already signed up again.)

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STUDENT SAFETY: Wednesday night meeting @ Chief Sealth IHS

March 8, 2016 9:32 pm

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| Safety | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

One more reminder – tomorrow (Wednesday) night, students, families, staff, and neighbors of Chief Sealth International High School and Denny International Middle School (and anyone else interested) are invited to come talk about keeping students safe, in the community as well as on campus. It’s happening at 7 pm in the library at CSIHS (2600 SW Thistle) and will include reps from Seattle Police, Seattle Public Schools, and other community-service providers. School administration and the Sealth PTSA are hosting the meeting and hoping to see you there.

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FRIDAY: Parents’ Night Out, WSHS student project to help schoolmates

March 8, 2016 8:24 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle people

West Seattle High School senior Gabby Carufel is trying to raise money for underfunded special education via her senior project – and the big fundraiser this Friday night still has room for more participants – a Parents’ Night Out. Gabby is raising money for audio books for WSHS students with learning disabilities:

West Seattle HS students are hosting a Parents’ Night Out fundraiser to buy audio books and playaways for learning-disabled students at the school.

PARENTS’ NIGHT OUT – child sitting
WSHS students will watch and have fun with your kids so the parents can go out and have fun too!

Friday, March 11th, 5:30-10 pm

For ages 3-11 (child must be potty-trained)
Cost: $20 includes, pizza, drink, snacks, crafts, movie and games.

RSVP to Gabby at wsparentsnightout@gmail.com

Many sitters are CPR trained
Check in at the West Seattle High School Commons/ lunch room

Please tell your friends. Our goal is to raise enough funds to buy at least one audio version of each required reading for the English classes. Thank you for supporting WSHS.

If you can’t or don’t want to take part in the event but want to support this project, contact Gabby via that same e-mail address.

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Bus-battered roads, curbs, homes: Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights CC, report #3

March 8, 2016 6:45 pm

| 27 COMMENTS

| Safety | Transportation | West Seattle news

(Bus headed southbound on 26th SW, north of Roxbury; watch for the damaged pavement panels after it passes)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

One of the side effects of Westwood Village becoming a de-facto transit center is something that residents just to the south say they’re living with day in and day out, night in and night out – buses rumbling by almost continuously, leaving behind damaged pavement and causing their homes to settle.

More than a dozen residents brought their concerns to last night’s meeting of the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council (as we tweeted during the meeting). WWRHAH’s transportation committee is headed by Chris Stripinis, who lives in the area, and has created a website with a clearinghouse of information about the problem, at westwoodbus.wordpress.com.

In his introduction on that site, Stripinis wrote:

Severe visible road damage – On Barton, 26th Ave. and Roxbury, concrete panels in bus lanes are misaligned, cracked and subsiding under the weight of the buses.

Shaking of homes – Residents of Roxbury, 26th Ave. and Barton have reported significant, earthquake-level shaking in their homes as buses pass by. A seismic sensor designed for monitoring earthquake activity has recorded earthquake-level shaking in one Roxbury Street home.

Pavement Condition Index (PCI) numbers – On Barton and 26th Ave., PCI numbers supplied by SDOT show markedly lower ratings for lanes used for bus travel.

Bus weight waiver – Transit buses are overweight for local roads but operate under federal and state waivers to allow them on surface streets not engineered to handle these loads.

The panels over which the buses travel on 26th, as seen in our video clip above, look like this:

Last night, the problem was discussed with both Metro and SDOT reps in the room:

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About those post-construction road patches: Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights CC, report #2

March 8, 2016 3:36 pm

| 12 COMMENTS

| Transportation | West Seattle news

(WSB photo: Road patch in Junction area)

Before we get to the second of two big transportation topics from last night’s Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council (the first one, a Roxbury rechannelization report card, is here) – one issue that came up during the discussion, of interest to people all over West Seattle (and likely elsewhere in the city): Those road patches left behind after construction crews dig up part of a street to get to utility connections.

The subject came up while Westwood residents were expressing frustrations about pavement damage since transit service has increased in the area. One asked why the city allows “the backfilling … with (non-concrete material)” such as asphalt or rocks.

SDOT pavement engineer Benjamin Hansen was there and gave a frank reply saying he’s frustrated too: “Historically the way utility cuts have been restored .. a pipe crew, from a utility, will come out – a building has a number of connections, and the folks doing the pipe work have a certain skill set. Working with concrete or hot-mix asphalt is another skill set. So what happens is that they do that work and then they have this cold-mix asphalt that doesn’t take much work to handle, and they put it over the top as a temporary surface, and the idea is that after everyone has done their connections in that area, in that neighborhood, a paving crew with expertise will sweep through and restore those areas, and that’s the most efficient way …”

He said that may change: “We’re working at SDOT right now trying to remake some of the rules about how that’s done, to get away from, especially on the arterial streets, the number of temporary cuts we have, to shorten the time of restoration that a utility (is given) to do that work. Right now that temporary patch is allowed to stay in place up to a year. And there’s no way it can hold up to heavy loading, like on a bus route, for (that long).”

Hansen added that he is hoping to see some sort of synergy that could bring the pavement crew out closer to when the construction crew is done, so they don’t have to go through a second round of disconnections, shutoffs, reconnections to make the permanent fix. We will be checking in with SDOT soon to find out more about the potential rule changes.

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Ticket time too: Northwest Hope & Healing fashion show Style ’16

March 8, 2016 2:23 pm

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| Fun stuff to do | How to help | West Seattle news

Another big springtime benefit to announce, with tickets available: West Seattleite-founded-and-led Northwest Hope & Healing is getting ready for its 14th annual fashion-show benefit, “Style ’16.” It’s at Showbox SODO this year, on Thursday, April 21st, VIP doors at 6:30, general admission at 7. From Amy Daly-Donovan:

Fashion. Fun. Fundraising. Firefighters!*

NW Hope & Healing supports local women as they undergo breast and gynecologic cancer treatment at Swedish Cancer Institute. Please join us for a great night out, and make a direct impact in local cancer patients’ lives. We are expecting 400 guests to enjoy a fantastic evening! Northwest Hope & Healing’s Patient Assistance Fund provides financial grants to women undergoing treatment who are struggling with expenses for essentials such as rent, transportation, prescriptions, groceries, and utility bills. In 2015, NWHH provided 388 grants and we want to be able to do more in 2016 and beyond. The fashion show is our biggest fundraiser of the year!

Tickets are on sale now at www.nwhopeandhealing.org. Choose from General Admission ($50), VIP ($125) or Runway VIP ($250) – more information on the levels is on our site. Single tickets and tables are available for purchase.

We are still looking for financial or in-kind sponsors as well as volunteers. Please contact Kristina Dahl, Executive Director, at kristina@nwhopeandhealing.org for more information.

The show will feature local boutiques (representing West Seattle: Carmilia’s, Coastal, West Seattle Runner), hair & makeup support from West Seattle’s Ola Salon, and models who are all breast and gynecologic cancer survivors or currently in treatment, many from West Seattle as well as Seattle and the Eastside.

*A special treat this year – we are pleased to announce that a bevy of Bellevue Firefighters will serve as our male models, participating in support of their colleague who is a breast cancer survivor and also modeling in the show!

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Explore Fairmount Ravine, while cleaning it up

March 8, 2016 12:15 pm

| 5 COMMENTS

| How to help | West Seattle news

(2015 WSB photo by Patrick Sand)

It’s one of a kind, once a year, and a way to get a closer look at an area of West Seattle you might only have driven or rode through – or never seen at all: The Fairmount Ravine community cleanup is next Saturday. From longtime coordinator John Lang:

Fairmount Ravine Preservation Group will sponsor the 24th Annual Spring Cleanup and Reforestation of Fairmount Ravine, Saturday, March 12th, at 8:30 am.

Meet at top of ravine (Forest St. and Fairmount Ave. – map). Wear boots and gloves. Bring a pruning saw if or large loppers if interested in removing ivy from trees. Delicious beverages and food from our local merchants will be provided.

We extend a special invitation to those who use the ravine to access the waterfront; please donate an hour of your time to keep this greenbelt healthy and pristine. More info – call John at 206-932-5151.

By the way, you don’t have to go up under the bridge, as shown in our photo from last year – lots to clean up at the surface, including, as John mentions, getting ivy off the trees. As he said following last year’s cleanup, “It is a great example of community pride and putting into action the teamwork necessary to tackle a difficult situation.”

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Taste of West Seattle 2016: Ticket time!

March 8, 2016 11:26 am

| 1 COMMENT

| How to help | West Seattle news

As West Seattle Helpline executive director Chris Langeler describes it, it’s “the most delicious night of the year in West Seattle” – the Helpline’s big food-and-drink benefit Taste of West Seattle. Tickets are now on sale, and you’ll want to get yours early because this always sells out. They’re still adding food-and-drink vendors to the lineup, too, as well as sponsors – here’s the info:

Date: May 26th, 2016

Location: The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California Ave SW)

Time: 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm (VIP entry at 6:00 pm; General Admission at 6:30 pm)

Tickets are now available for the Taste of West Seattle 2016! This local, community-based food fair is the largest event of its kind in West Seattle. This year’s Taste will feature food and drink from more than 40 different restaurants, breweries, wineries, coffee shops, bakeries, chocolatiers, and more–all from right here in West Seattle!

All proceeds from the event go directly to the West Seattle Helpline’s emergency assistance and homelessness prevention programs. These services stabilize and support low-income individuals and families in West Seattle who are recovering from a crisis or unexpected hardship.

The Taste has drawn a sell-out crowd of more than 500 people for the past five years in a row. Make sure to get your tickets before they sell out!

Buy your tickets online – go here

Sign up to participate as a West Seattle food/drink vendor – go here

Promote your business at the Taste of West Seattle 2016 – go here

For more information – go here

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West Seattle Tuesday: Listen, learn, play…

March 8, 2016 9:13 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Photo by Lori McCallister)

Highlights for today/tonight, from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:

FREE CHINESE LANGUAGE/CULTURE CLASSES: 4:30-6 pm at the Seattle Chinese Garden on the campus of South Seattle College (WSB sponsor), the next series of “Chinese Corner” language/culture classes starts today and continues for seven more Tuesdays. Check ASAP to see if there’s still room! Our listing has details.

JUSTIN KAUSAL-HAYES: Live acoustic music at Salty’s on Alki (WSB sponsor), no cover, 5-8 pm. (1936 Harbor SW)

SEATTLE PRIDE BASKETBALL TRYOUTS: High-school-age player tryouts continue tonight – 5-7 pm for girls, 7-9 pm for boys, at the Seattle Lutheran High School gym; more info here. (4100 SW Genesee)

LET’S TALK ABOUT IT BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE: “We have more control over our endings than you may think,” say organizers of tonight’s free film and discussion, “Speaking of Dying,” a “visually beautiful film” telling the stories of people who have become comfortable talking about what happens to us all. The screening is presented by West Seattle-based Care at Home of Washington, at the Senior Center of West Seattle. (SW Oregon/California SW)

LIVE, WORK, SHOP IN ADMIRAL? Your community council meetings tonight. Safety and crime are on the agenda, with Community Police Team Officer Jon Flores as the guest at tonight’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting, 7 pm at The Sanctuary at Admiral. If you have safety/crime concerns, be there. Also on the agenda – talk with ANA’s new leadership about the organization’s future direction – focus, frequency of meetings, etc. (42nd SW/SW Lander)

LIVE, WORK, SHOP IN FAUNTLEROY? Your community council has its monthly board meeting tonight, open as always, 7 pm at the historic Fauntleroy Schoolhouse. (9131 California SW)

STORY TIME: Free and fun for kids 1-5 pm, family story time tonight at the Delridge Library. (5423 Delridge Way SW)

BILLY JOE AND THE RC’S: 7-9 pm, live at Parliament Tavern, no cover. (4210 SW Admiral Way)

BEN HARPER @ EASY STREET: The 7 pm free in-store show is sold out to those who pre-ordered Ben Harper‘s new LP, but we’re mentioning it in case you wonder about the crowd at Easy Street Records tonight. (California SW/SW Alaska)

SEE WHAT ELSE IS UP … with a quick browse of our complete calendar.

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TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Tuesday on the move

March 8, 2016 6:30 am

| 6 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

6:30 AM: Good morning! You can’t see it in the cameras but if you have a southeast view, check out the sunrise colors. So far, no incidents in or from West Seattle.

8:53 AM: I-5 northbound has a lane blocked right before I-90, which might cause some backups because of the proximity to the West Seattle Bridge offramp. Otherwise, a relatively “normal” commute; rain is due back this afternoon.

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