West Seattle, Washington
03 Sunday
When today’s impeachment-inquiry witness Gordon Sondland, a Northwest hotelier who is current US Ambassador to the European Union, first hit the spotlight in October, a Seattle Times story noted that Sondland’s parents were longtime operators of a dry cleaners in West Seattle. We did some looking around for more on that but he faded from the foreground for a while and we shelved the research. But Sondland’s appearance has renewed interest, and several readers asked us about the location of his parents’ cleaning business. Multiple references, including his mother Frieda Sondland‘s obituary, say it was called Fauntleroy Cleaners. There’s no current business with that name; we found an archived March 1962 newspaper ad (bottom of that image) for Fauntleroy Cleaners, listing its address as 4509 Wildwood Place, the brick building in the heart of Fauntleroy’s Endolyne business district. Another archived newspaper page from earlier that year, however, showed a different name for that cleaners. The obituary for Sondland’s father Gunther Sondland says they operated the cleaners for almost 30 years. We can’t find anything mentioning whether the family lived in WS for any of that time; Gordon Sondland graduated from Mercer Island High School in 1975.
The Argosy Cruises Christmas Ship is visiting West Seattle on its very first night this season, so we want to give you an early heads-up if you haven’t already seen the listings in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide and Event Calendar. Here’s where and when to see it here – you’ll watch and listen from shore while onboard singers perform:
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29 (with Kirkland Choral Society)
-7:25 pm at Lowman Beach Park (7017 Beach Drive SW)
-8:10 pm at Alki Beach Park (2701 Alki Avenue SW)
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30 (with The Dickens Carolers)
-8;40 pm at Salty’s on Alki (1936 Harbor Avenue SW; WSB sponsor)
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7 (with Emerald City Voices)
-2 pm at Duwamish Waterway Park (7900 10th Ave. S., South Park)
-3:05 pm at Don Armeni Boat Ramp (1220 Harbor Avenue SW)
This is part of a 3-and-1/2-week series of voyages for the Christmas Ship on Puget Sound, Lake Union, and Lake Washington. It’s free to watch on shore, but if you want to ride on the Christmas Ship or one of its follow boats, you can book that through Argosy.
(WSB photo from June)
If you’re interested in the city-sanctioned “tiny house village” encampment on the Myers Way Parcels, Camp Second Chance, tomorrow night is the first major city-convened meeting about it in more than a year. In September, the city announced it had extended the camp’s permit another 6 months; what happens after that is expected to be discussed at tomorrow’s meeting, which was announced a month ago. It’s happening 6:30-8 pm Thursday (November 21st) at the Joint Training Facility (9401 Myers Way S.), a few blocks north of Camp Second Chance, which has been on Myers Way almost three and a half years. As of the most-recent Community Advisory Committee meeting, 33 men and 17 women were living at CSC.
(WSB photo from September)
The 44th/45th/Admiral crossing-safety proposal is one of four West Seattle projects that the city has just announced as winners in the latest round of Your Voice, Your Choice voting. Lafayette Elementary families who were already pushing for safety improvements at the intersection got involved in promoting voting before it closed two months ago. From the city’s announcement:
More than 6500 community members voted for their favorite park and street projects and the 22 projects have been selected. It’s all part of the City’s Your Voice, Your Choice: Parks & Streets, a participatory budgeting program in which community members democratically decide how to spend a portion of the City’s budget. …
… The projects were selected from more than 600 ideas submitted in January by community members across Seattle. More than 1200 participated in evaluating and prioritizing the ideas based on the need and community benefits. Then during the month of October, 6500 community members ages 11 and above voted by Council District for their favorite projects online and at in-person polling stations at Seattle libraries. The top-voted projects were all focused on street improvements which will be implemented by Seattle Department of Transportation in 2020.
With $2 million available for projects, a maximum of $190,500 was allocated for each City Council District. The remaining $666,600 is going towards eight projects in the City’s Equity and Environment Initiative Focus Areas—geographic areas where communities of color, immigrants, refugees, people with low incomes, Native peoples, and limited-English proficiency individuals tend to live.
Seattle is one of over 3,000 cities around the globe including Chicago, New York, and Boston that implements participatory budgeting. Your Voice, Your Choice is managed by Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.
For more information on Your Voice, Your Choice, visit our website or contact Program Coordinator Shaquan Smith at shaquan.smith@seattle.gov). For information on project implementation, visit Seattle Department of Transportation’s YVYC webpage or email yvyc_projects@seattle.gov.
2019 Your Voice, Your Choice Results
DISTRICT 1
Admiral: Crossing Improvements on intersection of SW Admiral Way and 44th Ave SW (Cost: $120,000; Votes received 554)
Alki: Calming Improvements on 61st Avenue SW between SW Admiral Way and Beach Drive SW (Cost: $30,000; Votes received: 428
Highland Park: Crossing Improvements on 16th Ave SW & SW Holden St (Cost: $30,000, Votes received: 293)*
South Delridge: Sidewalk/Trail Improvements on SW Barton St between 21st Ave SW and SW Barton Pl (Cost: $112,700; Votes received: 261)*
Eleven projects were voted on – this story from September includes links to the proposals, including the ones that won, if you’re looking for details.
(WSB photo, Caspar Babypants at Easy Street Records, December 2018)
You’ve probably heard the music industry’s Grammy Awards nominations were announced today. Two local nominees were noted by The Seattle Times – including kindie-rocker Caspar Babypants, nominated for Best Children’s Music Album for “Flying High.” It’s Chris Ballew‘s first nomination as Caspar Babypants, third when you count two from his time with The Presidents of The United States of America. CB told The Times that it happened completely without a “hey, consider nominating me” campaign. You can next see him in West Seattle, by the way, at Easy Street Records on December 14th.
P.S. Also nominated, West Seattleite Jeff Ament as part of the team on a Chris Cornell boxed set, for Best Recording Package..
(Photos via King County Assessor’s Office)
Just filed with the city, an early-stage plan for an 8-story apartment building to replace those two houses at 3010 and 3014 SW Avalon Way. The site plan shows a proposal with 87 apartments, 78 off-street spaces for bicycles, no off-street parking for cars. Since it’s an early-stage plan, that’s all the detail on the document, which is by architecture firm Studio 19.
Logged police calls indicate a burglary spike in West Seattle. So does what Erin was told after her home was broken into:
Our home in Gatewood (39th and Southern Street) was burglarized in the middle of the day (Tuesday). The burglars entered through an unlocked kitchen window and took jewelry, computers, a wallet, and rifled through our entire house. The police officers who responded said the area has seen increased burglaries in the past couple days.
We checked Tweets by Beat and found these West Seattle residential burglaries logged so far this week:
-3700 block of SW Tillman
-2200 block of SW Myrtle
-5600 block of 38h SW
-5400 block of 37th SW
-10100 block of 31st SW
-3800 block of 45th SW
Report details aren’t routinely posted so that’s why we appreciate reader reports so we can share information – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you.
P.S. Southwest Precinct crime-prevention coordinator Jennifer Danner reminds us that she offers “free residential safety/security assessments, as well as burglary follow-ups” – jennifer.danner@seattle.gov is how to reach her.
West Seattle Elementary sheltered in place for half an hour this morning. We checked on this after several phone calls/texts. It was over by the time we confirmed it, and there was no corresponding police incident anywhere nearby – which is often the case for these situations – so we followed up with Seattle Public Schools spokesperson Tim Robinson. He tells WSB the shelter-in-place happened 9:15-9:45 am because “A parent was upset and had contacted police. There were no issues.”
(Pileated Woodpecker, photographed by Mark Wangerin)
Highlights from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
EQUITY IN SPECIAL EDUCATION: Noon-2 pm at Bethaday Community Learning Space in White Center, the Equity in Education Coalition hosts its monthly Lunch and Learn, focused this month on equity in special education. (605 SW 108th)
PUMP-HOUSE LANDMARK NOMINATION: 3:30 pm, the Landmarks Preservation Board meets at City Hall, with the landmark nomination of the SW Spokane Pump House on the agenda, as previewed here last month. The meeting in the Boards and Commissions Room is open to the public. (600 4th Avenue)
THAT GRATITUDE GUY: With Thanksgiving around the corner, it’s time to get thankful. 6 pm reception and 6:30 presentation at The Kenney (WSB sponsor) – info here. (7125 Fauntleroy Way SW)
WEST SEATTLE TIMEBANK MEETUP: Come find out about timebanking, if you’re not already a member! 6:30 pm potluck – bring something if you can (not required) – and gift-card making. Meeting this time at The Mount. (4831 35th SW(
‘HEAD OVER HEELS’ PREVIEW NIGHT: The new production at ArtsWest (WSB sponsor) is about to open, and you’re invited to tonight’s preview performance, 7:30 pm. Get your “pay what you can” ticket(s) here. (4711 California SW)
THE SUFFERING F-HEADS: 9 pm at Parliament Tavern. 21+. (4210 SW Admiral Way)
SEE EVERYTHING … via our complete calendar!
(SDOT MAP with travel times/ Is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE/ West Seattle-relevant traffic cams HERE)
7:29 AM: Good morning. No current incidents/alerts reported in our area.
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