day : 21/06/2019 14 results

10:24 PM: Thanks to Diana for the tip. She says a loud boom preceded a power outage that the Seattle City Light map says is affecting 43 customers just southwest of California/Fauntleroy. The utility blames the outage on “bird/animal” – we’ve had several of those lately.

2:15 AM: The map shows the outage is over.

BIZNOTE: See inside new home of Thunder Road Guitars and The Bass Shop, opening Saturday

June 21, 2019 9:35 pm

| 3 COMMENTS

| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

(WSB photos)

The crew at Thunder Road Guitars and The Bass Shop (WSB sponsors) were all smiles this morning as they entered the home stretch of a grueling week. Since the close of business last Saturday, they’ve moved into their new Morgan Junction space at 6400 California SW, and at 10 am tomorrow, it’ll be time to open!

So what’s different? “It’s going to be tight for a while,” acknowledges TRG proprietor Frank Gross, who has moved the shop twice now (its original location was south of Admiral) and has bought this building, planning to occupy it in its entirety in about a year. But they still offer guitar repair and guitar lessons, along with a merchandise, and out back, this shop has something the previous Junction location did not have:

Yes, that’s a dedicated parking lot, for TRG/TBS and The Wash Dog – enter from the alley off Fauntleroy. Back inside, Frank says, the ex-restaurant space didn’t have much of the old kitchen equipment left; they tore off the old floor covering and stained the concrete, giving everything else a “spit-shine.” The guitars are the stars:

Frank says they’re happy to be part of the Morgan Junction “transformation,” including other new businesses like just-opened Youngstown Coffee Company and soon-to-open Paper Boat Booksellers. You can check it out for yourself 10 am-6 pm Tuesdays-Saturdays; tomorrow they’ll be opening just as the Morgan Junction Community Festival gets going across the street, so that’s a bonus reason to visit.

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Memorial planned July 13 for James J. Granquist, 1945-2019

June 21, 2019 8:08 pm

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| Obituaries | West Seattle news

Family and friends will gather July 13th to remember Jim Granquist. Here’s the remembrance his family is sharing with the community:

James Joseph Granquist was born on August 1st, 1945, as WWII was ending.

He was the 3rd of 6 children, born to Joe & Mildred Granquist. It was a fun-loving, rollicking bunch: Lee, Sally, Jim, Mary, Bob, & Gary.

Jim was very athletic. He grew up mainly in West Seattle, where he would swim every day at Colman Pool & play tennis at Lincoln Park. He also loved baseball & football.

Despite a devastating brain hemorrhage just before his 16th birthday, he managed to graduate on time from West Seattle High School in 1963. He went on to get a teaching degree at the University of Puget Sound and a Master’s Degree in Social Work at the University of Washington.

Despite his left-side paralysis, Jim didn’t let it slow him down. He worked as a Psychiatric Social Worker at Rainier School in Buckley, WA for 35 years, where he was well liked by staff & parents.

Jim married Wanda in 1968, and they celebrated their 50th anniversary just last year. Jim loved being a Dad to his two sons, Doug and Joe. And delighted in his two daughters-in-law, Megan and Keri. He was blessed with four sweet grandsons: Tyler, Elliott, William, & Ruston.

Jim loved many things, but especially: his sports teams, Scrabble, flashlights, Fig Newtons, the Auburn Senior Center, playing dummy rummy, traveling with our camping buddies, his family, his friends, & his church.

A celebration of Jim’s life will be held on Saturday, July 13th at 3 pm at Family of Grace Lutheran Church in Auburn, WA. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Auburn Senior Center.

(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available, to editor@westseattleblog.com)

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Wading-pool season starts Saturday. Here are West Seattle opening dates

June 21, 2019 7:51 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

(WSB file photo, Delridge wading pool)

The city is about to start opening its wading pools! Tomorrow’s the first day in our area. From the citywide schedule, here’s the plan:

Lincoln Park Wading Pool (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW)
6/22-9/2
Daily
11 am – 8 pm

Delridge Playfield Wading Pool (4501 Delridge Way SW)
6/24-8/18
Mon/Tue/Sun
Noon – 6:30 pm

South Park Playground Wading Pool (738 S. Sullivan)
6/24-8/15
Mon/Tue/Wed/Thurs
Noon – 7 pm

Hiawatha Playfield Wading Pool (Lander/Walnut)
6/26-8/17
Wed/Thurs/Fri/Sat
Noon – 6:30 pm

E.C. Hughes Playground Wading Pool (2805 SW Holden)
6/26-8/16
Wed/Thurs/Fri
Noon – 7 pm

Important to remember – the city only opens the pools on days expected to have sunshine and temperatures of at least 70 degrees. The hotline – 206-684-7796 – is updated every morning. We also check on iffy weather days and include the information in our daily highlights list. Our area’s one city-run spraypark, at Highland Park Playground (1100 SW Cloverdale), is open every day, 11 am-8 pm, whatever the weather.

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Celebrating summer’s start, & doing good, at Click! Solstice Happy Hour

June 21, 2019 5:44 pm

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

Hurry! You have until 7 pm to celebrate a Summer Solstice Happy Hour with Click! Design That Fits (4540 California SW; WSB sponsor) proprietors John Smersh and Frances Smersh, and their friend, cookbook author Kim O’Donnel:

They’re serving up chocolate beet bundt cake, rhubarb salsa, sangria, and more.

It’s also – as explained here – a benefit for the Alzheimer’s Association, a special cause for Click! because Frances is living with young-onset Alzheimer’s. She is an accomplished artist and at tonight’s happy hour, a donation of $25 or more gets you one of these “little pictures” she has created:

Whether you can or can’t get to tonight’s event, here’s how to donate.

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Containers fall into Duwamish River during Matson offloading at Terminal 5

June 21, 2019 5:16 pm

| 6 COMMENTS

| Helicopter | Port of Seattle | West Seattle news

(Added: Photo of containers, courtesy Clayton LaPlant)

Thanks for the inquiries about the helicopters over the north end of the Duwamish River. They were TV choppers checking out an incident about which we have just obtained information. A spokesperson for Matson tells WSB:

Two shipping containers – both empty – were knocked into the water this afternoon at Port of Seattle T-5 during discharge (unloading) of our vessel Mahimahi.

No injuries and no reports of damage. We’re working on recovering the containers now. Vessel operations/schedule were unaffected and apparently no impact on waterway navigation / harbor ops.

(WSB photo: Matson’s Mahimahi, photographed from westbound West Seattle “low bridge” this afternoon)

Matson moved its weekly Seattle calls to T-5 back in April as an interim tenant while the terminal modernization project gets going. (Speaking of which, tomorrow is the Jack Block Park open house for info about the project, 9:30-11:30 am Saturday.)

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WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Street robbery north of The Junction

June 21, 2019 4:29 pm

| 6 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

Thanks for the tips. We’ve obtained the police report on a street robbery Wednesday night just north of The Junction. The 48-year-old victim told police her purse had been stolen by robbers described as “3 males, 18-21, two black males and one mixed race, one with a gray hoodie,” who got away in a silver sedan. Within minutes, she had already gotten an alert from her bank that one of her cards had been used a a store for tw $400 transactions. She told police she was walking in the alley behind her apartment building near California and Dakota when the first robber walked up and asked her for the time. She replied and tried to keep walking – then the other two approached her, cut her off, grabbed her purse. A struggle ensued and she was dragged a few yards before they ran away with the purse then jumped in the car and drove off. Police went to the store where the cards had been used – to buy $800 in gift cards – and obtained surveillance video; they also found some of the victim’s cards, after a witness in the store told them the three suspects had thrown cards on the ground outside. The police report notes that one of the officers had responded to a shoplifting incident at the 35th/Barton 7-11 earlier that day “and received surveillance footage of similar suspects.”

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CRIME WATCH FOLLOWUP: 2 charges against man accused of threats on WSHS campus

June 21, 2019 3:39 pm

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| West Seattle news

Earlier this week, we reported on the arrest of a man who allegedly threatened to shoot someone at West Seattle High School. 30-year-old Rodney D. Kearney is now charged with two misdemeanors, harassment and criminal trespassing. We first learned of his arrest via a forwarded email announcement sent to WSHS families Tuesday night, and obtained the police report Wednesday. It alleged that Kearney tried to get into the locked school gym, claimed to be a student, then threatened to go get a gun and come back and shoot someone. Police found him, unarmed, a short distance south of the campus. Kearney remains in jail, in lieu of $10,000 bail. As we reported on Tuesday, he spent six months in jail last year for hitting a Metro driver in the face; looking further into his record, Kearney was charged in 2016 with threatening to shoot people at a downtown drugstore, though no gun was seen or found. He was sent to Western State Hospital while that case was making its way through the system. The charge eventually was dismissed. His next hearing in the current case is scheduled for July 1st.

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DEVELOPMENT: New proposal for forfeited-after-raid South Delridge site

June 21, 2019 1:51 pm

| 5 COMMENTS

| Delridge | Development | West Seattle news

(WSB photo, July 2015)

Last November, we reported that 9200 16th SW was listed for sale. It’s the site raided in 2015 because of an illegal marijuana-selling operation; the sale was ordered as part of a settlement. Though no sale is final yet – it’s listed publicly as “pending feasibility” – there’s an early-stage redevelopment proposal in city files. The roughed-out site plan for the 12,900-square-foot parcel proposes a 5-story mixed-use building with an unspecified number of apartments, plus 1,800 square feet of “retail” space and 24 offstreet parking spaces. Again, this is very early-stage, so no reviews or comment periods are scheduled yet.

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PHOTOS: West Seattle summer starts with Highland Park Elementary Field Day – and a request for neighbors

June 21, 2019 1:05 pm

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| Highland Park | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Less than an hour after summer officially arrived this morning, Highland Park Elementary started celebrating with this year’s Field Day.

PE teacher Chellie LaFayette invited us to stop by and see the variety of activities students are enjoying.

The sun came out just in time. Field Day is in two sessions – this morning, the third- through fifth-graders; this afternoon, the younger students.

One request for people in the neighborhood – and maybe even beyond – see that big inflatable black-and-white ball in the photo above? Chellie also had a rainbow-striped version but it vanished this morning. Like this, only multicolored:

If you find the missing ball, please take it to the school office (1012 SW Trenton).

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Imagine the West Seattle Art Walk, with a soundtrack!

June 21, 2019 12:32 pm

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| How to help | West Seattle Art Walk | West Seattle news

You can help give the West Seattle Art Walk a soundtrack – by donating to a new crowdfunding campaign. The announcement:

FUNDING MUSIC IN THE WEST SEATTLE JUNCTION.

The West Seattle Junction Association is planning a series of 5 musical performances — dubbed The Art of Music — that will take place in the West Seattle Junction on Second Thursday Art Walk evenings in the West Seattle Junction during August, September, October, November, and December. Efforts are underway to raise funds to make it possible for scheduled musicians to be paid for sharing their musical talents.

The Art of Music performances will complement the opportunity to view art on those evenings in addition to providing entertainment for those in the Junction for dining, shopping or just to be entertained. Individuals willing to help support this project with a donation are invited to visit the crowdfunding page set up here.

We’re told two of the performances would be outdoors, three indoors.

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West Seattle Friday: Soccer, sunset, square dancing, more as summer starts!

June 21, 2019 10:53 am

| Comments Off on West Seattle Friday: Soccer, sunset, square dancing, more as summer starts!

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Last sunset of spring, photographed by David Hutchinson)

Summer is officially here! Some options for what to do with the first afternoon/evening:

PRIDE MONTH PARTY AT SANISLO ELEMENTARY: 2:30-6:30 pm, the community’s invited to celebrate, with events including a parade around the playground! (1812 SW Myrtle)

SUMMER SOLSTICE HAPPY HOUR & MORE: 4-7 pm, stop by Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) for a happy hour celebrating the start of summer and raising money to fight Alzheimer’s. Food – with cookbook author Kim O’Donnel – and beverages, and more – details here.(4540 California SW)

SOCCER TRAINING FUNDRAISER: Two sessions – train with Highline Premier FC players, including a team that’s headed to nationals, and help them raise money for the trip!

Come and train with some of the best young soccer players in the state and join the HPFC Eagles 02’s for one night of soccer fun! All proceeds support the team’s travel to National
Premier League Nationals in Colorado next month!

Boys & girls ages 5-6: check-in at 5 pm, $15 per player, games and skill-building drills 5:15-6:15 pm

Girls 7+: check-in at 6:15 pm, $25 per player, training session 6:30-8 pm

At Walt Hundley Playfield. (34th/Myrtle)

COMMUNITY SQUARE DANCE: 7 pm at Fauntleroy Church. Admission includes dessert and beverage. (9140 California SW)

SIGGIE THE VINTAGE MAN: Live at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 7 pm. No cover. All ages. (5612 California SW)

SUMMER SOLSTICE SUNSET WATCH: Join NASA Solar System Ambassador Alice Enevoldsen at Solstice Park for the quarterly change-of-seasons sunset watch! Sunset’s around 9 but Alice will be there starting at 8:30. Upslope from the tennis courts and P-Patch. (7400 Fauntleroy Way SW)

INDIE ROCK: 9 pm at Parliament Tavern – The Black Planes, Runaway Satellite, The Cells. $7 cover. 21+. (4210 SW Admiral Way)

THERE’S MORE! See it all on our complete calendar.

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SURVEY: Your opinion sought on West Seattle’s next big transportation project

June 21, 2019 10:03 am

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| Delridge | Transportation | West Seattle news

Though the next big transportation project in West Seattle is headlined as the RapidRide H Line, because of repaving, rechannelization, and other features, it’ll affect people who use Delridge even if they never ride the bus. So SDOT has a survey out as design continues – you can answer it starting here. The work is scheduled to be done in 2020-2021; Route 120 will become the H Line in September 2021; our recent in-depth look at the current stage of planning is here.

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