day : 18/05/2016 12 results

Next Tuesday night brings the public meeting Seattle Parks promised for community comment on its potential “trade” with King County for 8923 Fauntleroy Way SW, a 35-foot-wide strip of beach with a single-family house, adjacent to community-maintained Cove Park, which is immediately north of the Fauntleroy ferry dock. The county bought the house to use as a construction office and staging area during the Barton Pump Station Upgrade project, which was finished last year. It’s talking with the city about trading the house for use as parkland if in exchange it gets a street vacation for land that’s part of the pump station. We covered a Parks presentation about this at the April meeting of the Fauntleroy Community Association. At its May meeting, FCA decided not to take a position on the possible trade but did commit to creating and circulating a “fact sheet” about the situation, and that’s what you can review at the top of this story.

The meeting, meantime, is at 6:30 pm Tuesday (May 24th) in the Emerald Room at The Hall at Fauntleroy on the south side of Fauntleroy Schoolhouse (9131 California SW). In-person input always has a big impact, but if you absolutely can’t make it, you can comment via e-mail to chip.nevins@seattle.gov.

UPDATE: Fire call in 9200 block 16th SW

May 18, 2016 9:31 pm

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| West Seattle fires | West Seattle news

9:31 PM: Big fire callout to the 9200 block of 16th SW (map) – but we’re hearing the first units to arrive reporting that the fire is tapped. More to come.

9:43 PM: We’ve just arrived in the area. 16th is mostly blocked at the scene, south of Barton, by SFD vehicles but what appears to be a civilian in a reflective vest is directing traffic so some is getting through.

9:45 PM: Our photographer’s been told it was a dryer fire – all out, no injuries, nobody evacuated, the fire crews will be leaving shortly.

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CONGRATULATIONS! 8 scholarship winners from Sealth

May 18, 2016 8:42 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

The photo and report are from Chief Sealth International High School principal Aida Fraser-Hammer:

Eight Chief Sealth International High School students received scholarships Monday) night courtesy of the Alki Masonic Lodge #152. These students were honored by the Masons for their scholarship, community service and leadership. Congratulations to CSIHS Juniors Harrison Robel, Michelle Ly, Cormac Toler-Scott, Rico Romo, Emily Richards, Janet Carter, Daniel Hatch and Amy Ly. Also in the picture are former recipients of the scholarship, seniors Katherine Staudt and Hidetaka Yoshino. Both Katherine and Hidetaka delivered speeches in which they thanked the members of the Masonic Lodge for their generosity and recognition. CSIHS joins them in thanking the Masons for their commitment to the education of youth in West Seattle.

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West Seattle restaurants: Irashai confirmed for ex-Mawadda space in Admiral

May 18, 2016 7:34 pm

| 28 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

Thanks for the tip that the signage is up for Irashai, taking over the former Mawadda Café space at 2352 California SW in The Admiral District. When last we reported on this space in March, Mawadda’s proprietor indicated they would soon shut down – which they did – but wouldn’t confirm that Irashai was taking over, though a liquor-license application was already in the works. Now, there’s also a remodeling permit on file. We haven’t made contact with Irashai’s proprietor(s) yet but will update when we do. One more thing the signage reveals, besides the name – sushi seems to be part of the plan, underscored by the one detail in a document found online related to the remodel – “install sushi bar.”

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UPDATE: About the Seattle Fire response at 35th/Morgan

May 18, 2016 5:30 pm

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| High Point | West Seattle news | WS breaking news

5:30 PM: Thanks for the text about the Seattle Fire response – four units sent – at or near Walgreens at 35th/Morgan in High Point. According to the SFD 911 log, the response is for a “natural gas leak.” We’re en route to find out more.

5:45 PM: Here’s what we’ve found out: Store employees called SFD because of a strong odor of natural gas. Responding firefighters used detectors (special equipment from the technical rescue apparatus in our photo, we’re told) to try to find a source, but couldn’t trace it. It’s reported to have dissipated and people have been allowed back in the store.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: The loot left behind

May 18, 2016 4:01 pm

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| Crime | West Seattle news

Car prowlers who hit a neighborhood west of Morgan Junction apparently had no use for CDs. It’s a complicated story – this is from the first note we received from Grant:

On the morning on Tuesday, May 17, a neighbor in the Beveridge-Holly neighborhood (off Fauntleroy near California) found a container of CDs abandoned in front of her mailbox. The container holds ~10 CDs and they are mostly from a “Golden Age of Country” disc set. I also found three abandoned CDs on my yard waste bin. Suspecting car prowlers abandoning loot, I checked my security camera footage and found that at 3:37 am, three drunken-appearing men deposited a vodka bottle in my recycling bin and these three CDs on top of my yard waste bin.

A neighbor confirmed these are her CDs and so the men in the video who abandoned them are almost certainly car prowlers.

That neighbor subsequently said those were empty CD cases. So far, no one in the neighborhood has spoken up for the other CDs – but the neighbor who did ID the CDs recognized something else in the video: A white box that had contained comic books and some paperwork from her job, all of which was taken from her vehicle.

Then, Grant contacted us again before we finished writing this, to say yet another neighbor found this tossed-aside garage-door opener:

If you have any clues about the unclaimed CDs or opener, or the identity of the people in the video – please speak up.

P.S. Car prowls remain the top crime problem in our area, Southwest Precinct Capt. Pierre Davis told the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council again last night (here’s our story in case you missed it).

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TUNNEL UPDATE: One-fifth of the way there

May 18, 2016 2:33 pm

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| Alaskan Way Viaduct | Highway 99 tunnel | West Seattle news

In the middle of the second week post-Viaduct closure, an update on the Highway 99 tunneling machine: After a “break for rest and routine maintenance,” WSDOT says this afternoon, “Seattle Tunnel Partners resumed mining late Tuesday evening.” The machine has now gone more than 2,000 feet in all, which is more than 20 percent of the way along the full tunnel route, shown in the WSDOT-created graphic above. It also shows the machine in Zone 2, which will take it under the Columbia onramp; as explained during the closure, when we asked WSDOT on behalf of a reader, the machine is much further beneath that structure, so a precautionary closure was NOT considered necessary. WSDOT says that from there, the machine will travel under Western Avenue, and they promise twice-weekly updates here.

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‘Adventure Park’ for Myers Way Parcels? New proposal emerges

May 18, 2016 12:15 pm

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| Myers Way | West Seattle news

(Part of the Myers Way Parcels, photographed during last week’s tour)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The city-owned 30+ acres of southeast West Seattle land known as the Myers Way Parcels aren’t even officially up for sale – yet – but a prospective buyer has emerged with a new idea:

A commercial zipline-and-ropes-course park.

“My guy can provide the most elegant and simple solution to the whole problem,” declared Douglas Plager, who says he represents Brian Funtleyder, the owner of The Adventure Park at Long Island in Wheatley Heights, NY. “Leave the trees, clean out the trash, the Scotch broom, the blackberries, clear it all out, employ 40 or 50 people.”

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West Seattle development: 5431 California demolition; 6010 California plan

May 18, 2016 11:02 am

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| Development | West Seattle news

Two development notes this morning, both on California SW:

DEMOLITION: Today’s teardown is at 5431 California SW, where a storage building is being demolished to make way for a project first mentioned here almost a year ago. It’s a mostly residential configuration that’s become fairly common: Three live-work units, with a two-unit townhouse building behind them, and two single-family houses on the alley. (Thanks to the nearby residents who tipped us to today’s demolition.)

NEW PROPOSAL: That configuration is so popular that a brand-new proposal is now on file for something similar a few blocks south (on a site with the same zoning, NC2-30, “neighborhood commercial” and three stories): An early-stage “site plan” just filed for the site of a small old house at 6010 California SW would replace it with three live-work units facing California, and two rows of two-unit townhouse buildings behind them. The plan shows six offstreet-parking spaces along the alley.

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West Seattle Wednesday: WordsWest; ‘Screenagers’ @ Madison; project pitches @ Delridge District Council; more

May 18, 2016 10:03 am

| Comments Off on West Seattle Wednesday: WordsWest; ‘Screenagers’ @ Madison; project pitches @ Delridge District Council; more

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Photo by Laura Goodrich, from the WSB Flickr group)

Six of the many options for the rest of your West Seattle Wednesday, from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:

FIGHTING STRESS: Free workshop at noon at West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) – details in our calendar listing.

NETWORKING MEETUP: Noon-1:15 pm at West Seattle Office Junction (WSB sponsor), network with local entrepreneurs, coworkers, freelancers, whoever shows up! Bring your lunch and spend some time networking. (6040 California SW)

KIDS’ NIGHT AT WORDSWEST: As previewed here last weekend, there’s a special 6 pm start time for this month’s WordsWest Literary Series presentation, which is geared for young readers as summer-reading season approaches – bring the family to C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) and enjoy the free event! (5612 California SW)

MADISON PTSA + ‘SCREENAGERS’: The final Madison Middle School PTSA meeting of the year at 6:30 pm precedes a screening of “Screenagers,” the documentary about today’s youth and their lives online, at 7 pm. All welcome for both, in the Madison Commons – it’s a dessert potluck, too! (45th SW/SW Spokane)

34th DISTRICT REPUBLICANS: 7 pm at American Legion Post 160, it’s this month’s meeting of the 34th District Republicans, with an agenda featuring Lieutenant Governor candidate Marty McClendon and an update on Bill Bryant‘s campaign for governor. (3618 SW Alaska)

DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOODS DISTRICT COUNCIL: 7 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. This month’s meeting features community members’ presentations for proposed Neighborhood Street Fund projects. The proposals’ titles:

*Highland Park Way SW Access from Dumar Way SW
*New Sidewalks on 17th Avenue SW
*Operation Sidewalk 18th Avenue SW
*Project Fix Delridge Way SW
*Complete SW Barton Street
*Roundabout for Highland Park Way/SW Holden St
*14th Avenue SW Sidewalk Completion (Phase 1 – North of Trenton)
*Safety Improvements to 26th Ave SW and/or 25th Avenue SW (Connecting Chief Sealth HS and the Westwood Village Bus Hub)
*Modernize the Intersection of 16th Ave SW & SW Holden Street (Highland Park)
*16th Avenue SW & SW Trenton St (Safe Route for Schools)
*Brandon St Sidewalks (Delridge to High Point)
*16th Ave & SW Holden Left Turn Signal
*South Delridge Alleyway Improvement
*(Highland Park) SW Henderson Accessibility Improvements
*9000 – 17th Avenue SW Natural Drainage

DNDC members (representing organizations from around eastern West Seattle) will then have to decide which five they support advancing to the city for further review. All welcome. (4408 Delridge Way SW)

MUCH MORE … on our calendar – please take a moment to browse it here.

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TOMORROW: SPD and more @ Alki Community Council

May 18, 2016 9:11 am

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| Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Before we get to today’s calendar highlights – if you live in and/or work at and/or visit Alki, you might want to know that the Alki Community Council has confirmed it is meeting tomorrow night for the first time in two months. On the agenda for the ACC meeting at 7 pm Thursday at Alki UCC (6115 SW Hinds) are updates from Seattle Police, both recent activity and the neighborhood policing plan, plus the Seattle Summer Parkways event planned for September 25th and Seattle Neighborhood Greenways‘ campaign for lower speed limits.

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TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Wednesday alerts; third night of bridge closures

May 18, 2016 6:21 am

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)

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

6:21 AM: Good morning! More sunshine, and so far, no incidents in/from West Seattle.

OVERNIGHT BRIDGE CLOSURE #3: Tonight is scheduled to be the third night that the west end of the West Seattle Bridge will close, 9 pm-5 am, for the Fauntleroy Expressway seismic-cushion-re-replacement project. You might notice the closure – requiring, among other things, bridge exiting at or before Delridge – if you’re returning from …

STADIUM CONCERT: Stadium-zone traffic alert – superstar Beyoncé performs at CenturyLink Field tonight (7:30 pm).

LOOKING AHEAD – “BIKE EVERYWHERE DAY” FRIDAY: Friday is “Bike Everywhere Day“ (Cascade Bicycle Club‘s new name for what used to be “Bike to Work Day”), and riders will find a “celebration station” in the usual spot on the path west of the low bridge.

LOOKING AHEAD – WEST SEATTLE 5K SUNDAY: Sunday, Alki Avenue will be closed until late morning for the West Seattle 5K (with co-sponsors including WSB) run/walk. Tomorrow’s your last chance to sign up online, or do it at West Seattle Runner (2743 California SW; WSB sponsor) noon-6 pm Saturday or at the start line 8 am Sunday.

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