West Seattle, Washington
25 Tuesday
Three West Seattle Crime Watch notes tonight:
MAIL THEFT: Surveillance video caught someone stealing mail on Beach Drive near Lowman Beach around noon Friday:
The victim is offering a thousand-dollar reward if a tip leads to identification. You can refer to police incident #16000087115.
HIT-RUN: Emily reports her vehicle was hit “on Fauntleroy coming off the ferry (Friday). If you see a maroon Mercedes SUV missing its front emblem, with license plate AYJ4***, please call 911 and report to SPD, attn: Officer Johns!”
STOLEN-BIKE UPDATE: We reported Friday on Kim‘s stolen bike. Now, an update: “The boneheads couldn’t ride it and crashed. Found by neighbors where it was ditched. Back home in locked space.”
P.S. Reminder that the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meets Tuesday (March 15th), 7 pm at Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster) – bring your crime/safety concerns directly to local police, as part of the meeting.
It’s been said that it’s far more important to have the right questions, than to have the right answers.
Tomorrow, you have a chance to do something unique with your question(s):
In honor of Albert Einstein‘s upcoming birthday, this will be Question Week, and local organizers have announced:
To launch Question Week locally, Red Cup Espresso, 4451 California Ave SW, is allowing use of their deck on Sunday, March 13th from 10 AM – 2 PM, where everyone can come to have their photos professionally taken by West Seattle’s own Filmateria when they share their questions. We will have some starter exercises to align with the Sunday West Seattle Farmers Market, and there will be the option to participate via social media.
For more about Question Week, read on:
3:51 PM: The weather alert for tomorrow has been upgraded this afternoon to a “High Wind Warning,” and the National Weather Service‘s forecast discussion describes it as a “classic Puget Sound windstorm scenario,” with sustained wind from the south/southeast/southwest potentially 35-45 mph and gusts as high as 70 mph. This is all supposed to happen Sunday afternoon/evening, so you have time to charge everything, get flashlights handy, and other precautions for possible outages.
9:44 PM: As noted in comments, there’s now more of a possibility this might be a little weaker than the afternoon projection – you can read the NWS’s newest “forecast discussion” by going here. As of right now, they’re keeping the warnings up, since the possibility of winds strong enough to bring down trees and cause outages remains. We’ll see what the morning forecast updates (there’s usually another by 4 am, for night owls/earlybirds) bring.
1:35 PM: The St. Patrick’s Day Parade is just wrapping up downtown – and the three local school bands that marched in it turned out to be the only school bands in the parade. First, Chief Sealth International High School:
(Added: Video)
Then Denny International Middle School:
(Added: Video)
(Added: Video)
One more West Seattle sight – the Seattle Police Mounted Patrol, which is based next to Westcrest Park in Highland Park:
From Highland Park, the @SeattlePD Mounted Patrol pic.twitter.com/Ab49Wy20rz
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) March 12, 2016
The parade began with sights and sounds best known for summertime parades, the SPD Motorcycle Drill Team …
… and the Seafair Pirates, whose first two cannon blasts are on our short Twitter video:
And two cannon blasts from the @SeafairPirates !! pic.twitter.com/MfFgDRR4YW
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) March 12, 2016
This year’s Grand Marshal was SPD Chief Kathleen O’Toole.
(Added above: Photo with, from left, Chief O’Toole, husband Dan, local journalist Casey McNerthney, and retiring Congressmember Jim McDermott.)
5:35 PM: Updated with video of all three marching bands. Yet to come: Photos to replace the early ones we added from our as-it-happened tweeting.
9:22 PM: Photos added, as well as substituted for the bands’ Twitter images that we had originally included.
10:14 AM: In the hallway at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, the Gathering of Neighbors is under way, starting with a resource fair – tablers include:
*SWYFS
*West Seattle Food Bank
*Dept. of Education & Early Learning
*HALA
*West Seattle Time Bank
*SDOT
*DPCI
*West Seattle Helpline
*Seattle Subway
Opening ceremony is at 10:30. More to come.
11 AM: First panel is under way in the theater.
11:37 AM: The theme today is ‘growing pains’ and this discussion with Councilmember Lorena González and the Junction Association‘s Susan Melrose, plus Ben Crowther from The Urbanist and the city’s HALA project manager Michelle Chen, has touched on many challenges and opportunities. We have it on video and will add later when the clip’s ready. West Seattle-residing broadcaster Brian Callanan moderated. (Added – here’s the video:)
12 PM: Breakout sessions now, from business development to light rail. Still time to get here for the concluding panel on homelessness, to be moderated by Councilmember Lisa Herbold, scheduled as an encore of the panel we covered at the 34th District Democrats in January.
ADDED SATURDAY EVENING … a few more photos. From the organizing group VieWS (Visualizing Increased Engagement in West Seattle), Pete Spalding showed off his T-shirt from the first GoN back in 2004:
The group that launched the GoN was Megawatt, which disbanded in 2007 but not before having a lasting effect on the local community, not just via this event but also by creating West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day in 2005 (after MW’s closure, we took it over in 2008 and beyond; we’ll be opening registration in early April for this year’s WSCGSD, which is nine weeks from today – Saturday, May 14th).
(Another beautiful jay photographed by Mark Wangerin – this time a Western Scrub-Jay found by the Duwamish River)
Tonight, we “spring forward” as Daylight Saving Time arrives at 2 am Sunday. But first, a big day/night in West Seattle – from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar (which you can browse any time of the day or night to see what’s ahead), highlights include:
24th ANNUAL FAIRMOUNT RAVINE CLEANUP: It’s along the route so many take between the water and Admiral, so this cleanup is of interest even if you’re not a nearby resident. Spend an hour or two helping not only clean up the ravine but also clipping ivy off its trees – more info here. Treats for volunteers. Meet at 8:30 am. (Fairmount/Forest)
GATHERING OF NEIGHBORS: 9 am-1 pm, drop in for any or all of this year’s “Gathering of Neighbors” at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center and talk/hear about West Seattle’s “growing pains” – the challenges, the opportunities, and more. See our preview for what’s happening, who’s talking/listening, and when. (4408 Delridge Way SW)
SOFTBALL JAMBOREE: 9 am-4 pm, 10 teams at Southwest Athletic Complex, including all three of our local high schools. Free to watch – 2-inning games will be ongoing at the upper and lower fields. See the schedules and addresses in our preview (including Sealth vs. WSHS at 9:55 am on the lower field).
SHOP, DINE, HAVE FUN ALL AT ONE EVENT: 9 am-3 pm at the Seattle Lutheran High School Gym, Soroptimist International of Seattle South is throwing a fun(draising) event including “food, Easter baskets, plant starts, yard art, garden gnomes, gifts for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Kids can have their picture taken with the Easter Bunny and there will be an area for little ones to color while their parents shop.” There’s an admission charge – details in our listing. (4100 SW Genesee)
GIGANTIC GARAGE SALE: 9 am-2 pm, it’s the second and final day of West Side Presbyterian‘s megasale, indoors and out – just look for this (which we photographed yesterday afternoon):
(3601 California SW)
LOCALS IN ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE: The Denny IMS, WSHS, and Chief Sealth IHS bands are all in the parade downtown today. It starts at 12:30 pm, heading north from 4th/James. Route, running order, more, all here.
AUDITION FOR ‘LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER’: Local auditions for interested in writers start at 1:15 pm at High Point Library – explained here. (35th SW/SW Raymond)
SPAGHETTI DINNER: The West Seattle High School ASB hopes you’ll come have dinner with them tonight – (updated start time) 5:30 pm-8:30 pm, $10 adults, $7 kids at the door, spaghetti, garlic bread, dessert, beverages, and they’re selling T-shirts too – ASB officer Angelo Guerrero e-mailed us the info and promises it’ll be a lot of fun. Questions? angeloguerrero850@gmail.com (3000 California SW)
ULTIMATE ORIENTEERING AT LINCOLN PARK: Navigate in the dark! The Cascade Orienteering Club is hosting a nighttime orienteering event at Lincoln Park – sign up at 6 pm, start time 7 pm, details in our calendar listing. (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW)
DANNY O’KEEFE: The legendary singer/songwriter is live at Kenyon Hall tonight, 7:30 pm – check ASAP to see if there’s still room. Here’s how. (7904 35th SW)
THE ESOTERICS IN CONCERT: 8 pm at Holy Rosary, choral music based on poets’ work – full details (including ticket info) in our calendar listing. (42nd SW/SW Genesee)
MAURICE AND HIS THING: 9 pm, live at Parliament Tavern. (4210 SW Admiral Way)
NO, THIS ISN’T *EVERYTHING* – take a quick run through the calendar for even more.
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