West Seattle, Washington
26 Friday
(WSB photos)
That cake was part of the party tonight at Salty’s on Alki (WSB sponsor), where the Seattle-Gdynia Sister City Association celebrated its first quarter-century with a dinner celebration tonight. (Thanks to member Gail Ann Wodzin for the tip!) Gdynia, a port city in northern Poland, is one of Seattle’s 21 sister cities (here’s a bit of backstory). And of course the dinner featured VIPs:
From left, guest speaker Ken Workman of the Duwamish Tribe, Gdynia city councilmember Maja Wagner, Gdynia deputy mayor Bartosz Bartoszewicz, Seattle deputy mayor David Moseley, and the association’s president Zbig Konofalski. The Sister City Association has another event coming up in West Seattle – its summer picnic is this Sunday in Lincoln Park.
Just looked it up after questions via text. Fireworks tonight across Puget Sound for the Whaling Days festival in Silverdale. It’s been audible here in the past – next year we need to set a reminder!
Though construction is complete at the new Aegis Living of West Seattle (4700 SW Admiral Way; WSB sponsor), a mobile crane was on the site today. Here’s what it was lifting:
That’s a replica of the tugboat Norene, which was the inspiration for the name of Aegis Living founder/CEO Dwayne Clark‘s mother-in-law. Her father had such an inspiring experience working aboard the tug in Puget Sound, he gave that name to his daughter, who is the mother of Dwayne Clark’s wife T Clark. The custom replica was brought in as a centerpiece of the new memory-care/assisted-living center’s Mediterranean theme, to anchor the courtyard on the west side of the complex.
Aegis Living expects its first West Seattle residents to move in soon, with a grand-opening celebration next month, and an open house announced for noon-4 pm August 25th. It’s been almost five years since Aegis Living bought the former Life Care Center site at 47th/Admiral/Waite.
8:45 PM: Thanks again to Barry J. White for the photo and report on today’s game in Sedro-Woolley:
It was equal parts relief and elation as the West Seattle All-Stars rallied for five runs in the fifth and held on for a 5-3 win over Sammamish to stay alive in the 2018 State Tournament in Sedro-Woolley. The win knocks Sammamish out and sets up a rematch with Pacific at 12:00 tomorrow at Tesarik Field. Westside needs to win to set up a winner-take-all game on Sunday.
Barry promises more later – so check back for additions!
ADDED SATURDAY MORNING: Game highlights as promised:
Westside turned to Matthew Henning to keep the season alive and he responded with a strong outing, pitching into the sixth inning as he surrendered two runs while striking out seven. Caden Fahy inherited a bases-loaded jam but limited the damage to pick up the save.
Miles Gosztola prepares to be mobbed by teammates at the plate after his one-out home run in the bottom of the fifth finally got Westside on the board and tied the score. Westside had stranded multiple runners in three of the previous innings.
Jake Daily watches his two-run home run, his second in the last two games, clear the left field fence. Eli Palmer would follow with a solo shot for the third homer of the inning.
The team takes a traditional postgame walk past the stands to salute its supporters.
In and around the Alki Bathhouse, setup is under way for this weekend’s Alki Art Fair (co-sponsored by WSB). We’ve already published the music schedule, and West Seattle’s own PNTA is on site setting up the main stage:
Here’s the overview from fair organizers, including what’s new:
We have 89 artists and 11 food vendors schedule to attend – over half of our artists are returning vendors! For the first time in 2018, the Fair will have an Emerging Artist Booth. We will be featuring 10 first-time Alki Art Fair artists who are just beginning their career. This booth was made possible by a grant we received this year from the Office of Arts and Culture.
Also for the first time, the Fair will have a Children’s Music Time from 10am to 12pm on Sunday morning. We will have children’s musicians at 10 am followed by Brian and Danika Duo (of Brian Vogan and his Good Buddies) at 11 am. The Little Gym of West Seattle will also be setup doing activities during that time. All weekend long we will have our Children’s Art Activities Booth (located right next to the Bathhouse) and our new Fairy Garden (located at the far end of the boardwalk). We hope to see more families come down and enjoy the event!
The Fair will run a FREE shuttle again from the West Seattle Park & Ride to the Fair. The shuttle will run continuously Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 am to 6:30 pm. It will pick up under the West Seattle Bridge at the West Seattle Park & Ride. It will go up Admiral Way, stopping at the Metro bus stop on the northwest corner in front of the Chevron station, and then will drop off in front of the Starbucks on Alki Ave. It will reverse this route on the way back to the Park & Ride. This is a great option to avoid circling the neighborhood for somewhere to park!
We received some wonderful donations from local West Seattle businesses for our Silent Auction which is held in the Bathhouse. Many of our artists also donate pieces of their work to the Auction.
We are also incredibly thankful for all of our sponsors this year which include: Full Circle, Getaround, Gutter Helmet, Office of Arts and Culture, Northwest Art & Frame, Renewal by Andersen of Seattle, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Therapeutic Associates of West Seattle, and West Seattle Blog. Our community sponsors are: Seal Sitters, Sea Shepherds, Log House Museum, and Aegis Senior Living.
The Fair goes from 10 am to 6 pm both days, with music until 9 pm on Saturday.
Here’s the full list of artists/vendors (including visiting food vendors).
The heat wave’s not over yet. The National Weather Service has issued a “special weather statement” alert for the metro area, warning that the high temperature will be back up in the 90s Sunday and Monday. You can read the entire alert here. The NWS says this is already our area’s second-hottest July on record.
In addition to the film-crew alert in effect in the Don Armeni Boat Ramp/Duwamish Head area right now, two for Saturday:
ADMIRAL WAY RAMP CLOSED: As announced by SDOT, the Admiral Way ramp from the bridge is to be closed during the day Saturday for landscaping-related work. Two documents – here and here – show exactly where.
HARBOR AVE PARKING RESTRICTIONS: Much of Harbor Avenue’s southernmost stretch has “No Parking” signs up for 2-10 am Saturday. Notices attached to some of the signage indicate this is because of the annual pre-Torchlight Parade float storage (usually at Terminal 5).
P.S. And remember the NB Viaduct will be closed for Saturday night’s Torchlight Run, 4:30-7:30 pm.
That’s the trailer for “Secret Life of Pets,” which will be onscreen Saturday night for West Seattle Outdoor Movies‘ week two. The movie’s free as always but if you can – BRING DIAPERS! WestSide Baby is the spotlight nonprofit this week, and it’s the last major event in WS Baby’s Stuff the Bus Diaper Drive, which still needs thousands more diapers to reach this year’s goal.
You also need to bring your own chair/blanket to the WSOM site outside the West Seattle YMCA (3622 SW Snoqualmie; WSB sponsor) BUT if you want to have dinner at the movies this week, you don’t have to bring your own, because the Macho Burgers food truck will be there (as well as the Y’s concession stand). You’re welcome to come stake out your spot as early as 6:30 pm; the movie starts at dusk.
(Courtesy Mike Russell Foto)
Thanks to Mike Russell for the photo and first word of this work that will cause some closures on the Admiral Way Bridge next week. After Mike reported spotting the sign, we asked SDOT for the details. Mostly lane closures, but next Wednesday will include closing the entire bridge to vehicle traffic for a few minutes at a time. Here’s the notice:
If the embedded version above doesn’t work for you, here’s the notice in PDF.
10:22 AM: That’s the view from Emma Schmitz Memorial Overlook along Beach Drive right now as canoe families on the Paddle to Puyallup journey continue leaving Alki after an overnight stop (WSB arrival coverage here), headed for their second-to-last stop, Dash Point. More to come.
10:42 AM: Still more canoes rounding Alki Point, a few at a time, and singing can be heard from shore. We’re off to the beach to see if any canoe families have yet to depart.
11:20 AM: Still a few departing Alki. Adding photos from our time there earlier this morning during preparations for departure:
As listed on the Paddle to Puyallup home page, some participants have come a very long way. Announced during Alki arrivals yesterday was a canoe with paddlers from an indigenous people in Peru.
(Photos by Barry J. White. Above, manager Mike Fahy’s somber postgame huddle with the players)
Thanks to Barry J. White for the report and photos on the West Seattle Little League 12-year-olds’ first loss at the state tournament:
The West Seattle Little League All-Stars ran into a hard-hitting Pacific team and lost their first game of the 2018 State Tournament in Sedro-Woolley 8-4. Westside now moves into the loser’s bracket and must win out or come home.
Above – baseballs were flying on a hot, dry day in the Skagit with the wind blowing straight out. Pacific chased starter Eli Parker (L) in with two outs in the third. Blake Taft (center) and Tristan Buehring (R) came in to pitch effective relief and keep the team in reach.
Above, Jake Daily reacts after cracking a two-run homer in the second that briefly put Westside up 2-1. A Matthew Henning solo home run, his fourth in four games, and a pair of minor rallies gave the team life at the end.
West Seattle plays again today at 5:00 at Tesarik Field against the same Sammamish side they knocked off two days ago. The winner advances to play Pacific on Saturday.
(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
7:24 AM: Good morning! No incidents so far in/from West Seattle.
SATURDAY VIADUCT CLOSURE: One more reminder = the northbound Alaskan Way Viaduct is closing for Saturday night’s Torchlight Run. The closure is scheduled for 4:30-7:30 pm.
9:40 AM: Crash on the eastbound bridge. Thanks for the text!
2:54 AM: Police are investigating a shooting, complicated by the fact the victim wasn’t shot at the location where he was found. That location is the Longfellow Creek Apartments (5915 Delridge Way SW), where both SPD and SFD are converging right now. The 28-year-old victim is reported to have (update) two gunshot wounds, back and shoulder, and is reported – according to police-radio communication – to not be telling police where the shooting happened. He’s been taken to Harborview.
12:13 PM: SPD has just published an item about this on its blog-format blotter, and we’ve also obtained the report narrative. Still no arrest; police believe the victim, whose injuries are described as “non-life-threatening,” was dropped off at the apartment complex, where he apparently used to live.
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