West Seattle, Washington
14 Thursday
Just found out about this tonight at West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor), where organizer Sierra Shea was handing out flyers: For the next three days, you can drop off new or gently used blankets at Gatewood Elementary School to help the children of Mary’s Place. The organization helps homeless families around Seattle (and will be operating a family shelter soon in White Center). Blanket dropoffs are welcome Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, March 1-3, 7:30 am-3:30 pm, at the school, 4320 SW Myrtle. If you have questions, text or call Shea at 206-265-2362.
Thanks to Gary Jones for the photo! As previewed here last night, the naval-museum ship USS Turner Joy was towed back to Bremerton today after almost a month in drydock on Lake Union (the Kitsap Sun explained last month what was planned). It’s expected to reopen for tours this weekend.
P.S. Historian Jean Sherrard published photos of its passage through the Ballard Locks.
(Sketch of vision for potential “Dakota Homestead”)
Major milestone for the Urban Homestead Foundation, community volunteers pursuing a dream for the former City Light substation on Genesee Hill. And you have three chances in the next eight days to stop by, find out more, and have fun, starting tomorrow morning.
First, the milestone: Katie Stemp from the UHF says the organization has finally been granted 501(c)(3) nonprofit status “after a year of working on the application and waiting to hear from the IRS! Now we are qualified to apply for several more grants than before! It’s a big step and we are very excited!”
Now, the backstory, since we haven’t mentioned the UHF in a while (here’s what we wrote about it last year) – it’s a community effort that first needs to raise money to buy the vacant city-owned land across from Genesee Hill Elementary, a former Seattle City Light substation, to turn it “into a valuable community asset for West Seattle and beyond.”
Next, the events
Tomorrow (Wednesday) morning and March 7th, you’ll see a coffee cart at the site, where you’re invited to enjoy a cup of coffee (donated by Admiral Bird tomorrow, C & P Coffee Company [WSB sponsor] on March 7th) and find out more about getting involved with the project, including “a sneak peek at the future and hopeful home of the Dakota Homestead – a place for the community to gather, learn, play and grow together!” Look for the canopy at the corner of SW Dakota and 50th SW. Coffee’s free; donations will be accepted.
And next Sunday – March 5th – the Urban Homestead Foundation is hosting a Block Party on SW Dakota between 49th and 50th SW, 2-3:30 pm, “bringing neighbors together to celebrate the potential of what this vacant piece of land could be for our community. All are welcome! We’ve gotten a street permit along Dakota and we’re working on getting donated food and beer.”
Aside from events, the UHF team is working not only to seek grants but also to “connect with people from the area who are interested in helping fund or connect funders to the project, who are excited about positively impacting thousands of students through workshops that teach life skills (kitchen skills, growing food, finance, etiquette, etc.) and the opportunity to create a model, organic food garden for the community that all can enjoy. When we, as a community of invested adults, are able to influence youth in a positive way that builds self-confidence and resiliency, it changes the path their lives take and impacts the people they come into contact with. The ripple effect of helping youth is exponential and we want to bring that positive guidance into their lives.”
If you can’t make it to any of the events, connect with the UHF via its website.
As announced at this month’s Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council meeting (WSB coverage here), West Seattle/South Park City Councilmember Lisa Herbold will be the guest at March’s meeting, the just-released agenda confirms. All are welcome at the meeting, which is one week from tonight – Tuesday, March 7th, 6:15 pm at Southwest Library (35th SW/SW Henderson).
3:50 PM: That’s the scene at Island Tug and Barge in West Seattle, where the U.S. Coast Guard and state Ecology Department say a diesel spill of up to 1,200 gallons is being cleaned up. Ecology says it happened “at 3456 West Marginal Way SW on the West Waterway of the Duwamish River after a tug struck a barge, causing a breach in the hull of the tug that damaged one of its diesel fuel tanks. Island Tug and Barge and its response contractor Global Diving and Salvage contained the spill with double layers of containment boom, absorbent boom and absorbent pads. The response continues under Coast Guard and Ecology oversight. The tank’s capacity is 9,000 gallons; however, the reporting source stated it contained approximately 1,200 gallons at the time of the incident. The initial approach assumed that the entire amount could have been released.”
The USCG update quotes Lt. j.g. Madeline Ede, federal on-scene coordinator representative, as saying, “The Coast Guard and Ecology are working together to monitor the situation to ensure any further environmental threats are mitigated.”
4:04 PM UPDATE: Ecology spokesperson Larry Altose tells WSB, “The response is winding down, with the rate of recovery now very slow. ITB and their contractor got boom around the scene very quickly. That’s a critical move as soon as a spill occurs. The boom and absorbent setup will remain in place, which will catch whatever is swept from the dock pilings as the tides come and go over the next, say, couple of days.
Kristin is asking you to be on the lookout for a car stolen from family members who were already in tough-enough circumstances:
My mother-in-law has been staying with us for the past week while father-in-law is in hospital recovering from surgery. Their 1998 red Honda CRV, plate AVX4234, was stolen from in front of our house near 46th and Trenton [map] sometime Monday night. If anyone sees it parked/abandoned in their neighborhood, we sure would appreciate being notified. Incident #17-72308. My daughter’s car door was also jimmied and gone through, but nothing of value to take.
Here’s a stock photo resembling the stolen vehicle. If you see it, after you call 911, you can notify the family at 206-327-2071 or 206-595-6434.
(Monday afternoon photo by Anand Rajaratnam, before sold-out 4:45 run)
If you took – or tried to take – the Water Taxi home to West Seattle during Monday’s tanker-crash freeway shutdown, you know it was a hot ticket. How hot? We just checked with King County Department of Transportation’s Brent Champaco, who confirms that, as readers told us, the 4:45 and 5:15 runs sold out, and that overall: “The Water Taxi carried 1,200 riders on the evening West Seattle routes. For reference, the typical ridership number for an evening commute in February is 366.” Champaco says that by evening’s end, though, nobody was left behind: “Our crews were able to get everyone who was waiting for a trip to West Seattle onboard by the final scheduled run at 6:45 p.m. Big kudos to our crews.” Might not have worked out that way before January 2016, when the M/V Doc Maynard became West Seattle’s Water Taxi vessel, with capacity of 271, more than double its predecessor, the Spirit of Kingston (which the county has kept as a backup boat).
P.S. If you’re interested in the comparison, here’s our story with the early Water Taxi stats from last year’s tunneling-related Viaduct closure. (Of course, people had advance warning for that.)
One month after John’s Corner Deli closed in Sunrise Heights, we know more about The Best of Hands Barrelhouse, which is taking over the space at 7500 35th Avenue SW. When we first contacted co-proprietor
Nicholas Marianetti last month, after we found an early-stage site plan in city permit files, he said he’d be happy to comment once they finished negotiating a lease. Now, he tells WSB that’s happened, and they’re signing this week, so here’s what’s planned:
The Best of Hands Barrelhouse is a startup specialty brewery with a target launch date of late fall/early winter 2017.
The Barrelhouse will specialize in barrel-aged and barrel-fermented beers as well as wild ales that utilize different souring methods and multiple strains of Brettanomyces. While these sour and/or funky beers will be the brewery’s main focus, we will also produce “clean beers” fermented exclusively by Saccharomyces (brewer’s yeast) that have a proven following here in the Pacific Northwest. We aim to yield styles such as IPAs, barrel-aged stouts, farmhouse ales (such as saisons), and beers crafted in various traditional brewing methods from around the world.
The brewery and taproom will be managed and directed by co-owners Nicholas Marianetti, Gregory Marlor, and Chris Richardson. All three are longtime West Seattleites and veterans of the food and beverage industry. Nicholas and Gregory are Certified Cicerones®, and award winning homebrewers. Chris is a small business owner with 20 years experience in small business operations.
The team is excited to bring their brews and vision to the West Seattle community later this year!
As part of the permit process, the city has to grant a permit for changing the building’s use from retail to “drinking establishment”; Monday’s Land Use Information Bulletin included notice of that application, opening a comment period until March 13th.
(Photo by Trileigh Tucker – who says she did remove the snow from the feeder post-photo so this Anna’s Hummingbird could get her access back!)
Too warm for more snow, so you shouldn’t have trouble getting to anything on the list for today/tonight:
LAST DAY FOR YUMMY TERIYAKI: As reported here last week, Yummy Teriyaki is closing in The Junction after a decade-plus, and told us that today is its last day. (If you missed our Sunday story, Falafel Salam is taking over the space.) 11 am-9 pm. (4746 California SW)
EARLY DAYS PARENTING SUPPORT GROUP: Parents of babies are invited to the Early Days drop-in support group – twice weekly in West Seattle, including 1 pm Tuesdays at Nurturing Expressions (WSB sponsor), as explained in our listing. NE has moved across the street, by the way! (4727 44th SW)
EDUCATED WINE TASTING … is what you’ll learn in Dieter Schafer‘s three-week class starting 6 pm tonight at South Seattle College (WSB sponsor). Details in our calendar listing – call ASAP to see if there’s still space. (6000 16th SW)
WEST SEATTLE BLOCK WATCH CAPTAINS NETWORK: You don’t have to be in a Block Watch to come to the Southwest Precinct and talk with local police and West Seattle neighbors during tonight’s 6:30 pm meeting. Here’s the preview on the WSBWCN site. (2300 SW Webster)
‘TAME THE TEARS – PARENTING POSITIVELY’: 7 pm tonight at South Seattle College’s Brockey Center on Puget Ridge, West Seattle Cooperative Preschools and Parent Map present author/professor/parenting adviser Dr. Laura Kastner. Discounted tickets are still available online until mid-afternoon – go here, or buy at the door. (6000 16th SW)
FREE COMMUNITY MEDITATION GATHERING: 7 pm Tuesdays at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center: “Based on Tibetan Buddhist practice, non-denominational, free and open to all. Meditation instruction offered at the start of each evening, with tea and open discussion following group meditation for any who wish to participate.” More info in our calendar listing. (4408 Delridge Way SW)
EDENJONELL: “Love songs and stuff” at Parliament Tavern, 8 pm-11 pm. 21+. (4210 SW Admiral Way)
Wishing you an excellent Tuesday.
Just announced – a March 14th self-defense workshop at Chief Sealth International High School, open to everyone, not just students:
Come Discover Your Power!
The WAVE Foundation and Fight the Fear will be leading a FREE workshop at Chief Sealth International High School on Tuesday, March 14th from 3:30-6pm in Room 222 (The Confucius Room). The School-based Health Center sponsored by Neighborcare Health will be hosting and providing snacks!
With sexual assault dominating media headlines, this workshop is more important than ever. This workshop with the WAVE Foundation is designed to give students real tools to protect themselves including intuition honing, de-escalation, boundary setting, assertive communication, and self-defense and fighting techniques, as well as access to resources for survivors of violence or abuse. Because the vast majority of those directly impacted by sexual assault are women, be sure to come with the understanding that the workshop’s target audience is girls and young women; however, ALL students, friends, parents and community members of all genders are welcome to attend!
Please mark your calendars! For more information, contact the Neighborcare Health School-based Health Center at Chief Sealth at 206-938-1360.
The school is at 2600 SW Thistle.
(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)
6:34 AM: Good morning. While it’s just a few degrees above freezing, our area didn’t get any significant snow overnight that we have seen/heard, and everything’s open/running on time so far. The National Weather Service has a Special Weather Statement out warning of potential slickness, though.
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