West Seattle, Washington
25 Wednesday
Today we’re welcoming CrossFit Loft as a new WSB sponsor!
CrossFit Loft is a West Seattle Junction fitness center with a staff of 17 coaches and flexible options to make your routine work with the hours you keep.
CrossFit Loft offers only month-to-month membership that can be cancelled at any time. They also offer vacation holds so that you’re not charged for those times you might be out of town or unavailable to stop by. CrossFit Kids classes are offered for ages 5-18 years; child care for all ages is available during 9 am CrossFit classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.,
After an initial one-on-one session with a coach to introduce you to what CrossFit Loft offers, you can then work out by yourself or in a group. You can also request personal sessions with one of the coaches at any time. General manager Bethany adds, “As a member of the West Seattle community for over seven years, CrossFit Loft is proud to help our neighbors achieve their fitness goals and much more. Whether you’re looking to be able to tackle Mount Si or play with your grandkids, our coaches are here to tailor every workout to your current ability level and purpose.”
CrossFit Loft is located at 4140 California SW and is open Mondays through Thursdays 5 am to 9 pm, Fridays 5 am to 8 pm, Saturdays 7 am to 3 pm, and Sundays 8 am to 2 pm.
We thank CrossFit Loft for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
Just two days until city-run Southwest Pool shuts down for a month. The work that will be done during the closure is part of a citywide package of repairs and maintenance that one contractor is handling, according to Seattle Parks, which says the pool’s liner will be removed and replaced. This is separate from the accessibility work that has been under way for months (we’ve asked Parks for an update on when that will be done and will add that info here when it’s available). The facilities co-housed in the building at 2801 SW Thistle, the Neighborhood Service Center and SW Teen Life Center, will remain open. And remember that city-run outdoor Colman Pool in Lincoln Park is opening earlier this year – with pre-season weekends starting May 11-12.
(Not up early enough to catch today’s sunrise? Lynn Hall was!)
As always, there’s lots on the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar. Here are five of the highlights:
2347 44TH SW PROJECT ‘EARLY OUTREACH’: If you have comments and/or questions about the four-house project planned at this site, join project-team reps there at 5:30 pm for a site walk and “early outreach” meeting. (2347 44h SW)
NEW SDOT DIRECTOR, PLUS AVALON PROJECT … those are the highlights of the agenda for tonight’s West Seattle Transportation Coalition meeting. All welcome to come hear from new SDOT director Sam Zimbabwe as well as Adonis Ducksworth from the Avalon/35th/Alaska repaving/rechannelization projet, 6:30 pm at Neighborhood House High Point. (6400 Sylvan Way SW)
4-HAND PIANO CONCERT: Come to The Kenney (WSB sponsor) at 6:30 pm for an “American Souvenirs” 4-Hand Piano Concert with Dainius and Asta Vaicekonus. (7125 Fauntleroy Way SW)
DRAG RACE, WITH PIE: As noted here on Wednesday, A la Mode Pies in The Junction will be open later Thursday nights – starting tonight – until 10:30 pm so you can watch “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and enjoy the shop’s festive fare, including, of course pies as well as, among other things, boozy milkshakes. The show’s on at 9. (4225 SW Alaska)
INTO THE COLD: Live music at Parliament Tavern, 9 pm. 21+. (4210 SW Admiral way)
(WSB photos)
What was a dingy concrete wall at Lafayette Elementary School is now alive with color.
Muralist Lina Cholewinski, (added) for Urban ArtWorks, led what she refers to as a team of 400 artists in its creation. We stopped by on Wednesday as finishing touches were applied.
She sketched out designs on the wall, and the kids then painted them in on Earth Day. Principal Cindy Chaput said the school had been looking for an Earth Day project and it all came together with the help of the Lafayette PTA.
Parents were part of the team – some were there during our visit, doing touchup and finishing work with the artist herself.
Something cool happening at YOUR school? Let us know – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
(SDOT MAP with travel times/ Is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE/ West Seattle-relevant traffic cams HERE)
7:02 AM: Good morning! No transit alerts or traffic problems reported in our area so far.
BEACH DRIVE PAVING CONTINUES: Between Me-Kwa-Mooks and Weather Watch Parks.
STADIUM ZONE: The Mariners are back home tonight vs. the Rangers, 7:10 pm, which means the West Seattle Water Taxi runs into the late evening.
8:02 AM: Crash blocking 1 lane of NB 99/509 just south of the 1st Av S Bridge.
8:33 AM: Cleared.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The questions were similar but the format different as the 34th District Democrats put four of the Seattle City Council District 1 candidates side by side last night for the second time in two weeks. From left, Phil Tavel, Brendan Kolding, Jesse Greene, and incumbent Lisa Herbold spent an hour an a half in what was billed as a debate, with rebuttals and counter-rebuttals.
So far, as with previous events, the debate at Holy Family Bilingual Catholic School generally ran along the lines of the challengers criticizing city leadership in general and, at times, Herbold in particular, rather than any of the three non-incumbents taking on the others. It’s all in the video above; the 34th’s Jordan Crawley and Chris Porter moderated (the video begins with Crawley explaining the rather intricate rules). Our toplines are after the jump:
Another update on West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day 2019 – just two and a half more weeks until the big day of sales, all sizes, all neighborhoods, Saturday, May 11th! Thanks to everyone who has signed up so far – 245 sales and counting. If you’re still deciding, time’s almost up – the registration deadline is TOMORROW NIGHT (Thursday, April 25th, 11:30 pm). You’ll find the signup form here. Important note for sellers – please be sure you got a PayPal receipt as well as our confirmation email – several are showing as having not completed that step of the process, and so we don’t know whether that means you changed your mind or just had trouble with the system. If you didn’t, please send a note to westseattleblog@gmail.com and we can send you a special link. As soon as registration closes tomorrow night, we start making the map and list so everyone can access the clickable and printable versions one week before sale day!
Thanks to Kersti Muul for word that orcas are in the area – southbound transient killer whales passing Bainbridge’s Restoration Point as of a little while ago. Let us know if you see them!
Thanks to Chief Sealth International High School teacher Joshua Hansell for the photo – the group is from Chongqing Nankai School, Sealth’s sister school in China, shown on the Boeing factory tour in Mukilteo. The teacher explains, “Every other year Nankai spends 2 weeks at Sealth, and every other year Sealth students spend 2 weeks at Nankai in Chongqing, China.” They are here through Saturday, he adds: “10 students and two chaperones – one administrator and one international department secretary. The students are all basically HS sophomores – 15 or 16 years old. Every other day we take them on a field trip – downtown Seattle, Boeing Factory, Rattlesnake Ridge hike, City Hall, etc. Then every other day they’re shadowing Sealth students at school.”
Thanks to the tipster who reports, “There’s a semi-truck stuck on the curve of 20th Ave. SW/21st Ave. SW headed toward the 7-11 on SW Holden. Police have it blocked off.”
It’s fundraiser season, with many chances to have a good time for a good cause. Perhaps the most flavorful fundraiser is a month away – but TODAY is your last chance to get tickets at the early-bird discount rate. The West Seattle Helpline‘s Taste of West Seattle fills The Hall at Fauntleroy with local food and beverage providers offering delicious dishes, savory and sweet, 6-9 pm on May 23rd. If you buy your ticket(s) by tonight, admission is $75 – that’s a $20 discount! Just go here.
House-to-be-replaced-with-house demolitions aren’t always noteworthy, but several people messaged us about this one. This is happening at 5603 42nd SW, where what started as an eviction attempt one year ago ended with a standoff and a fire set by the resident, 51-year-old David M. Severtson, who then died by suicide. City and county online records show the house was sold in December by the estate of Mr. Severtson’s mother and that it will be replaced by another single-family house.
Two West Seattle business notes from the food-and-drink world:
FREE COFFEE: Happy 25th anniversary, Caffe Ladro! To celebrate the company’s quarter-century anniversary, they’re offering “your first coffee” free today in all stores, including West Seattle (7011 California SW, open until 7 pm), for the occasion. (And if you’ve missed our previous mentions – while the business buildings to its north are about to be demolished for residential construction, CL has told us it’s staying.)
TV AND PIE: From Chris Porter, proprietor of A la Mode Pies in The Junction (4225 SW Alaska):
Starting this week, we’re going to be staying open late every Thursday to air RuPaul’s Drag Race. The café will be open from 11 AM-10:30 PM – everyone is welcome! The show starts at 9 PM.
It’s a great opportunity to socialize with the neighborhood, watch one of the most popular shows on TV and eat lots of pie. We offer a selection of sweet and savory pies along with beer, wine and boozy milkshakes. Every Thursday it’s Happy Hour all day.
With renowned yacht builder Delta Marine nearby, we have superyacht sightings off West Seattle now and then. This morning, Jim Borrow photographed 175-foot MLR, launched by Delta earlier this year. MegaYacht News notes it docked recently downtown, and includes aerial-tour video provided by MLR’s designer Jonathan Quinn Barnett.
(Horned Grebe, photographed by Mark Wangerin as these birds get ready to head to Alaska)
Here are highlights of what’s happening in the hours ahead, from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar (where you can always browse days, weeks, months ahead)
POP-UP NEIGHBORHOOD STREET FUND VOTING: Don’t want to vote online? Here’s another option. Look for SDOT at Roxbury Safeway 3-6 pm today. Here’s more on the NSF vote and other ways to be part of it. (9620 28th SW)
LEARN HOW TO ‘STOP THE BLEED’: 6 pm at West Seattle (Admiral) Library, important preparedness info – free! But you need to RSVP. Still room as of right now. (2306 42nd SW)
DOWNSIZED BICYCLE MASTER PLAN: SDOT is downsizing its list of projects from the Bicycle Master Plan to be implemented over the next few years, and invites you to come talk about it, as previewed here Tuesday. 6 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, with presentation at 6:15, “café-style conversation” to follow. (4408 Delridge Way SW)
HIGHLAND PARK ACTION COMMITTEE: 7 pm at Highland Park Improvement Club, HPAC’s monthly meeting focuses on options for a new barrier/fence to keep vehicles off Riverview Playfield. Also planned, a preview of next month’s vote on merging Riverview and South Delridge into HPAC. (1116 SW Holden)
OPEN MICS: At Great American Diner and Bar (4752 California SW) with signups at 7; at The Skylark (3803 Delridge Way SW) with signups at 7:30.
THE BILLY JOE SHOW: You know him, you love him, he rocks! 8 pm at Parliament Tavern. No cover. 21+. (4210 SW Admiral Way)
SOMETHING FOR THE WSB CALENDAR? Please send the info to westseattleblog@gmail.com – preferably at least a week before your event – thank you!
ORIGINAL REPORT: From Rachel:
Have you seen our truck? 1995 Nissan Truck. Purple/maroon with blue detailing on sides. Extended cab. Similar to one in picture (no rust on bumper). Stolen evening of 4/23 in North Admiral neighborhood. Washington license plate: B54139W
If you see it, call 911.
FRIDAY UPDATE: The stolen truck’s been found.
(SDOT MAP with travel times/ Is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE/ West Seattle-relevant traffic cams HERE)
6:58 AM: Good morning! No traffic or transit alerts so far this Wednesday morning.
BEACH DRIVE PAVING: This project announced last week is scheduled to start today.
STADIUM ZONE: Home match tonight for Sounders FC, 7:30 pm vs. San Jose.
9:59 AM: Crash reported eastbound West Seattle Bridge to southbound I-5.
Next week, ArtsWest will be honored at the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s 2019 Westside Awards breakfast as Not-For-Profit of the Year. This week, the Junction playhouse has a big announcement of its own – its 2019-2020 season slate, under the title Agents of Change:
Artistic Director Mathew Wright today announced AGENTS OF CHANGE, ArtsWest’s 2019-20 Season, with six productions – featuring plays by Tony and Nobel Prize-winning playwrights, a boldly reimagined classic, and a world premiere from local luminary Sara Porkalob – all centered on revolutions, and the people who create, fuel and represent them.
Speaking to the idea of change and revolution that informs the Season – and draws on the theatre’s mission statement to, among other aims, use live theater as a powerful agent of change – Wright said, “We must each be constantly renewing ourselves. This company must always be renewing itself. Our politics must always be renewing itself. Our understanding of each other must always be renewing itself.” Wright invited everyone to join ArtsWest “for a season of theater that probes, interrogates, and celebrates change, growth, renewal – and revolution.”
AGENTS OF CHANGE opens with the Seattle premiere of SUNSET BABY, OBIE Award-winning playwright Dominique Morisseau‘s fiery saga of a former revolutionary rebuilding a relationship with his estranged daughter. For the holidays, ArtsWest is thrilled to present the Seattle premiere of the riotous, joyful musical HEAD OVER HEELS, a technicolor tale of a kingdom in crisis set to the irresistible music of The Go-Go’s. Next, from Lauren Gunderson, American Theatre’s Most Produced Playwright of 2017, THE REVOLUTIONISTS reimagines the lives of four famous women who risked their necks during one of France’s most infamous periods of social upheaval.
Kicking off the second half of the Season is SAINT JOAN, George Bernard Shaw‘s celebrated story of one of history’s most infamous revolutionaries, to be directed in a new, stripped-back staging by Mathew Wright. Next is ALEX & ALIX by celebrated playwright and activist Sara Porkalob (DRAGON LADY, DRAGON CYCLE), a moving meditation on love and memory, in its world premiere. Capping off the AGENTS OF CHANGE Season is the Seattle premiere of MISS YOU LIKE HELL, a dynamic, heart-rending musical about an immigrant mother, her estranged daughter, and their cross-country journey to discover what – if anything – can keep them together.
Dates, and more about each play, after the jump:
Sunset Baby
By Dominique Morisseau
September 26 – October 20, 2019When the tough, independent Nina is visited by her father, a former revolutionary in the Black liberation movement, she can’t tell what he’s after – a fix to their broken relationship, or the cache of letters that ties their fates together. As father and daughter circle one another, old wounds are revealed, generational differences exposed, and blazing truths laid bare. Morisseau’s smart, entertaining, and moving story about family, survival, and the nature of liberation is “not only dynamic, it’s dynamite” (The New York Times).
Head Over Heels
Songs by The GoGo’s
Based upon The Arcadia by Sir Philip Sidney
Conceived & Original Book by Jeff Whitty
Adapted by James Magruder
November 21 – December 29, 2019A hilarious, exuberant musical that will get you grooving in your seat, Head Over Heels follows a royal family on an outrageous journey to save their beloved kingdom from extinction, only to discover the revolution they need is within their own hearts. From the visionaries who rocked Broadway with Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Avenue Q, and Spring Awakening, this bold and fierce new musical comedy – set to the iconic music of the ’80s all-female rock band The Go-Go’s, including the hit songs “We Got the Beat” and “Our Lips Are Sealed” – is a spirited and sexy celebration of love in all its infinite varieties.
The Revolutionists
By Lauren Gunderson
January 16 – February 9, 2020Four beautiful, badass women – Playwright Olympe de Gouges, assassin Charlotte Corday, former queen Marie Antoinette, and Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle – lose their heads in this irreverent, girl-powered comedy set during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. As this fearless comedy about a motley female foursome unfolds, The Revolutionists rewrites the book on violence and legacy, art and activism, feminism and terrorism, compatriots and chosen sisters, and how we actually go about changing the world.
Saint Joan
By George Bernard Shaw
March 12 – April 5, 2020Tracing the life of Joan of Arc, from the siege of Orleans through her trial and recantation, and culminating with the tragedy that transformed her into a legend, Saint Joan is an electrifying portrait of one of history’s most revered and revolutionary lightning rods. Fiery and timeless, Shaw’s masterpiece shines a fierce light on the limits of an individual in a society dominated by political and religious forces.Presented in a new, stripped-back staging directed by Mathew Wright, prepare to see Joan’s incendiary life shine brighter than ever.
Alex & Alix
By Sara Porkalob
April 30 – May 24From artist & activist Sara Porkalob (Dragon Lady, Dragon Cycle) comes a new play about endings, beginnings, and the unseen forces that shape the way we remember love. A moving meditation on memory, trauma and healing from one of Seattle’s-and now, one of the nation’s-most celebrated theatre makers, Alex & Alix is about two women, one name, and a love story that gets rewritten every day.
Miss You Like Hell
Book & Lyrics by Quiara Alegría Hudes
Music & Lyrics by Erin McKeown
June 18 – July 26, 2020Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes (Water by the Spoonful,In the Heights) and acclaimed, genre-breaking singer/songwriter Erin McKeown join forces for anew musical that will find your soul and stay with you forever. When Beatriz, an undocumented immigrant facing trial for deportation, persuades her estranged daughter to speak on her behalf, they set off on a road trip that crosses state lines and reveals what sets them apart-and what connects them forever. Featuring music every bit as diverse and eclectic as America, Miss You Like Hell exudes the joy, love, and frustration of being a family in a changing country.
ArtsWest (4711 California SW) is selling season subscriptions now, and plans to offer individual tickets by August 1st.
(Photo from kingcounty.gov)
A belated Earth Day note from King County today: Its annual Green Globe Awards were presented on Monday, and the winners included Young’s Restaurant in South Delridge, “the first restaurant to participate in the RainWise program, which offers rebates to property owners who install green stormwater infrastructure.” The county announcement continues:
Supported by ECOSS and its language and multicultural environmental outreach expertise, Young’s installed three stormwater cisterns that will keep more than 11,000 gallons of runoff out of the combined sewer system each year. The King County – Seattle Public Utilities RainWise partnership recently established a “big roof” initiative expanding its work beyond residential structures to capture and divert stormwater from larger buildings.
You can see the Young’s cisterns here. Meantime, King County’s full list of winners – also including South Park’s Paulina Lopez, of the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition – is here.
If you’re waiting until the last minute to decide whether to be part of the 15th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day on Saturday, May 11th – you have two more days to decide. Registration closes at 11:59 pm this Thursday night (April 25th). 220+ sales are signed up so far for the big day – all sizes, all kinds of merchandise, all over the peninsula. Official sale hours on May 11th are 9 am-3 pm; some start early, some end late (if you’ll be doing one or both, be sure the “ad” you include with your registration has that information too).
So – ready to register? Here’s where to do it!
Along with other changes to SDOT‘s project list in the reevaluation of Move Seattle levy spending, the department has downsized its plan for implementing projects from the city’s Bicycle Master Plan. The 2014 version of the plan included in West Seattle, for example, protected bike lanes on multiple arterials (see page 60 of that link). But the implementation plan has been revised in recent years and right now SDOT’s taking comments on another revision, with a meeting in West Seattle tomorrow night (6 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 6:15 pm presentation, 6:30 pm “café-style conversations”). The city also is taking emailed comments through next Tuesday. We were CC’d on longtime local advocate Stu Hennessey‘s view that the downscaling is being done inequitably; we asked for and received his permission to publish:
Over the 26 years since I co-founded Greater Harbor 2000 and have advocated for bicycle transportation improvements in West Seattle through leadership with groups like Sustainable West Seattle, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways group, Spokespeople West Seattle and West Seattle Bike Connections, I have seen a great disparity between what is allocated north of SODO and moreover north of the ship canal compared to what is allocated for West Seattle.
It looks as though this pattern of neglect is not going to improve as West Seattle will be taking the biggest hit on the retracted implementation of the Bike Master Plan. This is very ironic considering West Seattle has the largest neighborhood population outside of the downtown corridor and is landlocked on a peninsula.
I am calling for SDOT to reexamine the retracted plan and take some projects off the bicycle infrastructural wealthy north end to reinstate most if not all of the planned West Seattle projects.
I am sure, and rightfully so, those neighborhoods will be upset too but let’s be fair and spread the improvements out evenly. Whatever marginal improvements that have occurred in West Seattle due to the Move Seattle funding are a drop in the bucket to overcome years of neglect.
If you can’t make it to tomorrow night’s meeting, the email address for comments is CCBike@Seattle.gov.
P.S. Another big transportation meeting in West Seattle is happening one night after the bike-plan meeting – Thursday (April 25th), 6:30 pm at Neighborhood House High Point (6400 SW Sylvan Way), new SDOT director Sam Zimbabwe is the scheduled guest.
There are now three candidates in the running for the countywide Port of Seattle Commission seat that Courtney Gregoire is leaving. The first of those three to send an announcement is Dominic Barrera:
South King County may soon have representation on the Seattle Port Commission again, as Fire Commissioner, airport union leader, and environmental advocate, Dominic Barrera announced his intention to run for the open position being vacated by Courtney Gregoire.
Barrera has served as an elected Fire Commissioner for the North Highline Fire District since 2015, where he represents about 10,000 constituents in the communities of White Center and Boulevard Park. There, he was the driving force behind station improvements that increased workplace safety, helped craft an innovative joint-operation plan with a neighboring district to improve service and increase efficiency, and has twice amended and passed state legislation to protect low-income tax payers in his district.
“I’ve worked to balance budgets and restore the District’s economic stability without compromising the well-being of our employees or the communities we serve,” Barrera said. “I bring unparalleled experience, not only leading a public agency, but also working on the frontlines of a major Port facility, fighting for worker protections, and advocating for our environment. The Port of Seattle needs this kind of strong, well-balanced leadership in this critical time of growth.”
Barrera’s father, born in Tokyo to Mexican and Japanese parents, was an aircraft mechanic at Sea-Tac. Barrera himself has worked for Alaska Airlines for seven years, both in airport operations and accounting. Throughout his tenure, he has been a proud member of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) Local 2202 and currently serves as a union shop steward to his peers at Sea-Tac.
Barrera was part of a successful grassroots campaign in 2015 to save the Myers Parcels, an environmentally critical wetland that feeds into the Duwamish River, from industrial development. He was later selected to lead PlantAmnesty, an environmental nonprofit that works to protect Seattle’s greenspace, as their Executive Director.
He and his fiancé, Andrea, live in the Highline-area, directly under Sea-Tac’s northern flight path and within earshot of seaport operations.
“I would bring a voice for people living in the areas most impacted by Port activities,” Barrera said. “I know firsthand how crucial it is for the Port of Seattle to be a good neighbor.”
Barrera also served on the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council board. The other two candidates who have registered Position 2 campaigns with the Public Disclosure Commission so far are Ali Scego and Preeti Shridhar, but we haven’t yet received an announcement from either. Position 5 is also up for election this year; so far incumbent Fred Felleman is the only registered candidate. The formal filing period is in mid-May; the primary election is August 6th.
Another West Seattle business that’s being displaced by development has just announced it’s found a new location. Good Dog, on the southwest corner of California/Frontenac where rowhouses are about to be built, confirms it’s moving to 9064 Delridge Way SW. There’ll be a lag between their closure April 30th at the current location and the reopening at the new one. (Thanks to Anne for the tip!) Previous coverage of what’s happening on that block is here and here.
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