West Seattle, Washington
29 Thursday
Just announced by the mayor’s office: A new van using photo radar to crack down on school-zone speeders will be introduced by Mayor Nickels, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, and City Councilmember Nick Licata at Gatewood Elementary on Monday. That’ll be the fourth WS mayoral event in less than four weeks (click these links for coverage of the previous three: Alki Elementary walk, the Sanislo Elementary sidewalk, the Orchard Street Ravine dedication). P.S. Next week’s a big one for Gatewood – on Friday, the school hosts Seattle Green Schools‘ Earth Summit.
This afternoon, we’re welcoming the newest WSB sponsor: West Seattle Nursery, 
where fall gardening season is in full swing (check out the colors in the photo at left). As is the tradition when a new sponsor joins the WSB team, we offer them the chance to let you know who they are and what’s up with their business: “West Seattle Nursery has been selling plants to neighborhood gardeners year-round for 22 years. We are proud to provide a great selection of perennials, annuals, shrubs and trees – tried and true favorites but also rare and unusual garden gems. Quality is important to us, so the majority of our plants come from Northwest growers, thus they are acclimated for our climate and growing conditions. Our staff is a well-rounded group of seasoned gardeners and plant enthusiasts. When you come to visit us, our first priority is to show you around, answer your questions and help you find the perfect plants for your garden. Our destination gift shop is overflowing with beautiful and unusual gifts, housewares, books, and indoor plants. We also provide a great selection of seeds, bulbs, tools and soil amendments. Mark your calendars for upcoming events at West Seattle Nursery: Through October 25th, our Fall Art in the Garden Exhibit – talented and creative local artists and craftspeople have honored us with their beautiful, durable and fanciful garden art; Saturday, October 25th, from 10 am to 1 pm: Our first-ever Growing Gardeners Appreciation Event! Children ages 4-12 are welcome to join us for a costume contest and scavenger hunt. There will be prizes and treats for everyone, and you’ll be done just in time to go trick or treating in The Junction! For more information on joining our Growing Gardener Club visit our website: www.westseattlenursery.com; Saturday, November 15th, from 11 am to 3 pm: Our Fall Open House – Join us for complimentary espresso and hors d’oeuvres. Check out Ingrid’s beautiful Christmas trees and all of our other holiday-themed merchandise. Get seasonal gardening advice from our staff. We look forward to this event every year and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do! In December, some of the artists among our staff will be giving a wreath making seminar every week. We’ll teach you how to build beautiful holiday wreaths and table swags out of seasonal evergreens. They make great gifts. Dates and times to be announced in our Fall Mailer (add your name to our mailing list the next time you visit) and also on our website: www.westseattlenursery.com.” Huge thanks to West Seattle Nursery for its support, and to all our sponsors, as well as to you, in turn, for supporting them. Our full list of current advertisers can be found here, along with information on how to join them.
More than 100 people jammed the Chief Sealth HS Library (at Boren) last night for the International Baccalaureate program’s Information Night. IB is a rigorous academic program for juniors and seniors, with some components even good for college credit. This is the second year for IB at Sealth; we spent a moment last night talking with the program coordinator, Laura Robb – our clip, and more info, just ahead:Read More
A few weeks after Vera from Village Green Perennial Nursery told us someone had stolen one of her streetfront signboards (from 26th/Roxbury) by sawing it away from its tether, she e-mailed to say it’s happened again: “Another Village Green sign has been stolen! This time they cut off 2 legs.” And apparently hers wasn’t the only business whose sign was taken — Vera says someone from e-green landscaping (WSB sponsor) “found (the sign) at Home Depot on Delridge – the store employee said they found several business signs dumped in their dumpster! This is apparently a fun hobby for someone!”
(October 2007 Lafayette Walk-A-Thon photo courtesy of Luckie)
THIS MORNING: Lafayette Elementary School‘s annual Walk-A-Thon – you can cheer the kids on between 9 am and 3 pm as they circle the recreation areas on the west side of the school (map). This year they’re hoping to raise $38,000 for enrichment programs the district doesn’t fund; the $55K raised in last year’s Walk-A-Thon paid for a tutor program, Accelerated Reader tests, school computers, and a science enrichment program, as well as adding to a fund for playground updates.
TONIGHT: That’s our video (it’s better than the automated thumbnail implies) from the end of the thrilling West Seattle High School victory over O’Dea last month. Tonight, the undefeated Wildcats play their homecoming game, facing Rainier Beach at Southwest Athletic Complex (7 pm) – and before the game, you’re invited to a pep rally and barbecue (hot dogs and hamburgers!) at the WSHS Commons, 4:30-5:30. For anyone who can’t be at the game, but will be online somewhere, we’re planning updates via Twitter (if you have or get a Twitter account, follow us at westseattleblog; or you can see our Twitter updates on the web at twitter.com/westseattleblog).
Another note from last night’s Morgan Community Association meeting (in addition to our Fauntleroy Way paving report; still to come, new information about the Morgan Junction park): Martha Tuttle from King County was there with updates on the Murray Avenue Pump Station project, which will dig up a major chunk of Lowman Beach Park when construction begins – read on to see what she announced:Read More
Zombies on California Ave! A “ghostly gala”! Trick-or-treating in The Junction and Admiral business districts! And looking beyond – dates for the Christmas Ship‘s West Seattle visits! All part of the WSB Holidays calendar page that’s now up; many thanks to those who already have e-mailed us about scheduled events to include on that page and our regular Events calendar – if you know of something that’s scheduled for Halloween or the winter-holiday season (November through New Year’s) and it’s not on the Holidays page, please e-mail us the basic info! We’ll continue to add info to the page as it comes in. (And also, for the holidays page and elsewhere, we’ll feature photos of West Seattle jack-o-lanterns and holiday lights again this year – e-mail your photos and/or your sightings!)
This is the only West Seattle murder case from 2007 to go to trial – and that trial started this week with jury selection. WSB is covering the trial of the Alki 18-year-old charged with second-degree murder for the 10/13/2007 deadly shooting in a car at 59th/Admiral; we have not published his name since it emerged last fall that his defense focuses on a contention he was a longtime victim of sexual abuse. Here’s the update from our reporter on what happened at the courthouse today:Read More
Congratulations to Redmond’s Mike Town, who won the webpoll portion of the “Cox Conserves Heroes” competition in which Fauntleroy’s Judy Pickens was also among five people in Western Washington honored for their work to lend nature a helping hand. Thanks to everybody who voted for Judy, not just because she does great work, but also in hopes her chosen nonprofit, EarthCorps, would get the $5K donation in the winner’s name; you can still help EarthCorps right this second with an online donation. And you can help Judy and the Fauntleroy Creek coho by being at the creek overlook (across from the ferry dock) later this month for a special event – here’s her latest update:
The annual drumming to call the salmon home to Fauntleroy Creek needs a lead drummer or two. The event will be Sunday, Oct. 26, 5-6 p.m. at the fish-ladder viewpoint (SW Director and upper Fauntleroy Way SW) and typically draws 40-60 people of all ages to sing, act out salmon stories, and enjoy spirited drumming. If you’d like to set the beat, e-mail Judy_Pickens@msn.com. In case of rain, instruments will have canopy cover.
Thanks to two people who e-mailed us in the past several hours that they’d heard Jefferson Square Starbucks has an official closing date (we had first word in July that it was on the Starbucks shutdown list) – we have just received confirmation from a PR firm working with SBUX (though they won’t get any more specific than “end of October”; if it’s really 11/7, that would be a few days short of what would have been the store’s 1-year anniversary, since it opened 11/9/07). Read on for the full statement we received (it’s mostly boilerplate but we always like to share the whole thing so you can read it for yourself if you so choose):Read More
A few quick reminders before the day’s too far gone, from the WSB Events calendar: Interested in the International Baccalaureate (IB) academic program at Chief Sealth High School? Special info night, 7 pm, cafeteria (at temporary Boren location). Also at 7 pm – West Seattle knitters welcome at the Pins and Needlers meetup at Uptown in The Junction; here are some of the friendly faces from last week:
A bit earlier – 6 pm – 2nd of 3 workshops where you’re welcome to help design a new fitness room for Southwest Community Center (read more here). And at 9:30 pm – Alki Idol @ Bamboo (more here).
FIRST SIGHTING OF WEST SEATTLE REGULAR GAS IN THE $3.10s: A short time ago at Gasco (35th/Henderson), it was down to $3.19. That’s a dime drop from their price at weekend’s end.
NOT EXACTLY ROSE-COLORED GLASSES: West Seattle entrepreneur Nate Eddings sent us his press release too, but we hadn’t gotten around to digitizing the profanity on his main product. Daily Weekly is PG-13 so they are showing his glasses in their full, um, glory.
AND THE WINNER IS … Channel 7’s 5 pm news tonight is scheduled to include the announcement of who won the Cox Conserves Heroes web vote. Thanks to everybody who voted for Fauntleroy’s Judy Pickens (and therefore for EarthCorps, which gets a $5K Cox donation if Judy wins).
Those photos show the lineup of law-enforcement vehicles — and law enforcers — on 42nd SW between Holy Rosary‘s church and school this morning, after a motorcade that kicked off a “Red Ribbon Week” drug-awareness rally; (added at 1:47 pm) here’s video of the motorcade’s arrival, as students stood on the curb to welcome the visitors:
The rally had a bigtime guest list, including Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske (media weren’t allowed to photograph students’ faces closeup, a fairly common rule for coverage of schools’ events, so that’s why you’re seeing the tops of heads here):
Holy Rosary was chosen as the only school in Seattle to host this major event this year (there was one in Tacoma too) — and at the assembly that followed the show of force in the street (plus a helicopter landing on the playground), students heard from the widow of murdered DEA agent Enrique Camarena, the inspiration for “Red Ribbon Week.” This wasn’t your average “drugs are bad, don’t do them, see ya” rally – Mika Camarena spoke quietly and powerfully to ask the children to respect themselves and their health, as well as those in uniform. In the middle of the gym where she and others spoke was a bust of her late husband, which she acknowledged as she walked up:
Just before the indoor portion of the assembly began, this DEA chopper landed on the playground out back (who needs a helipad?):
The chopper and various law enforcers (including Duke the Seattle Police drug dog, shown below with his human partner) were on display as show-and-tell for Holy Rosary students after the assembly.
Today’s assembly was emceed by local TV reporter Jim Dever, who lives in West Seattle. As part of Red Ribbon Week, by the way, Holy Rosary students have made artwork that’s on display at Jefferson Square Safeway; you can see samples on the school’s home page (scroll down).
That’s a spot along the West Duwamish Greenbelt trail where the Nature Consortium leads free monthly hikes – and the next one is tomorrow afternoon, 1 pm, 14th/Holly trailhead (directions here). RSVP today by calling 206-923-0853 or e-mail lisa@naturec.org. (Here’s our report from taking that same hike last May.) The forecast for tomorrow is already better than it looked yesterday, so you might as well take a chance if you have the opportunity to check it out. (NC executive director Nancy Whitlock, who leads the hike as shown in our photo, notes that “extreme rain cancels.”)
WEST SEATTLE TRAILS KICKOFF: Chas Redmond mentioned this again at last night’s Morgan Community Association meeting – he and Feet First have been working on the West Seattle Trails project, with a free map available all over WS, and now a $100,000 city grant for signage along the routes of what’s envisioned as the West Seattle Trail Network. This will include 60 signposts and 10 kiosks (above, a rendering from the design process). Where, you ask? That’s where you come in – join the kickoff event Saturday morning, 10 am-noon, Camp Long Lodge.
(click to see full-size potential route map on Metro website)
Thanks to Michael Taylor-Judd for first calling our attention to this: He wrote, “… did you know Metro may propose a new Route 50 which would provide a new, direct connection between Seward Park and the Columbia City Link station, Beacon Hill, SoDo, Harbor Island, and Alaska Junction? In particular, it would run along Spokane St. to Delridge and then make a right turn up Genesee to Avalon and the Junction, providing a new link for folks in Youngstown and Pigeon Point to get up the hill to the Junction!” And indeed, the map you see above (which links here) is somewhat buried in the Metro website, where it’s categorized as a “Southeast Seattle” proposed service change. Nonetheless, wherever you live, you have a chance RIGHT NOW to comment on whether you’d be interested in this — and this page has all the details on how to do that, starting with a community meeting tonight in Columbia City, but also including e-mail, phone, and postal-mail options, or this online questionnaire.
According to this P-I story, roofing work that’s under way at a house near Schmitz Park represents the final chapter in a decade-long fight over neighborhood views. (More background in this story from three years ago.) For those who like to read court documents, here’s one of the appeals court rulings; interestingly, we also found the case cited in the court fight over the Lora Lake Apartments in Burien. 11:18 AM NOTE: This one’s turning up on TV – two channel 7 trucks in the driveway.
Just out of the WSB inbox, a request for discussion. We’re looking up the law – meantime, what do you think?
As I stood at the deli counter in the Jefferson Square Safeway today, waiting my turn to get lunch, a woman wheeled one of the store’s little shopping carts up to the counter with her pet dog standing in the top basket, nose sniffing at all the food smells. The dog wasn’t tucked under an arm or sitting in a purse, he was standing up with front paws on the rim of the cart with all his boy doggy parts hanging out. It was disgusting. I told the checker on the way out that I was disgusted Management allowed pets in the store and in the carts we all use. I asked her to please tell the store manager about my comment.
Earlier in the week it was QFC in Westwood Village where I stopped to get the last minute ingredients for dinner when I saw a woman with her little pug on a leash wandering through the store. Why do these neighbors of ours think it is ok to bring their pets into the place where we purchase food? There is no good reason to do this.
On both occasions I thought about confronting the shoppers with the dogs, but worried about their reactions. Instead I chose to tell store personnel how I felt about the dogs being allowed in the store. I would love to hear from other neighbors on this topic. If more people feel as I do, that only service animals need to be allowed in areas where food is purchased or consumed, then maybe we can get the Management of these stores to do something.
Dogs are not accessories that complete an outfit. Being a dog owner/lover myself I would never consider taking my dog into a grocery store. Are there City Ordinances about this, and what about liability issues for the stores?
Interested in my neighbors’ view,
Linda Thomson
(Other similar issues have been discussed here, and in the WSB Forums, before, but we still can’t find the exact rule/statute; summaries boil it down to, pets aren’t supposed to be in grocery stores, unless they’re service animals, and proprietors generally are advised not to push for proof.)
From tonight’s Delridge District Council meeting: Several notes of interest, including the first official presentation on the West Seattle Stadium private-operation proposal search, with some answers to questions that have come up since our first reports (here and here) – read on for tonight’s full report:Read More
(April 2008 WSB photo of “Fauntle-rut Way” pothole repairs)
We’re at the Morgan Community Association‘s quarterly meeting at The Kenney, and Liz Ellis from SDOT revealed HUGE news that’s buried in the mayor’s 2009 budget proposal: Money is proposed for repaving Fauntleroy Way next year between Alaska and California — the stretch we once dubbed (and we probably weren’t the first) “Fauntle-rut Way.” It’s the only West Seattle project proposed for the Arterial Asphalt and Concrete Program. You can find it on page 11 of this PDF.
A week ago tonight, we brought you word of a milestone in the Fauntleroy Community Service Agency‘s negotiations to purchase the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse, agreement on a “term sheet.” Last night, two FCSA reps joined the Fauntleroy Community Association‘s monthly meeting, at the schoolhouse, for an informal presentation about the latest developments, and Q/A. Read on for the newest information, including school board action expected tonight, plus a statement on the latest developments from the Fauntleroy Children’s Center director Kim Sheridan, which we received just before last night’s FCA meeting:Read More
Texted by Shannon (thank you!): There’s a stall in the righthand lane on The Bridge “just after the Fauntleroy split.” So if you run into a backup, that’s what’s up.
Thanks to the tipster who called us about this sign that’s just gone up at the recently reopened former 76 station on ROXbury, a couple blocks east of 35th. Also worth noting, this is our first sighting of $3.20-something regular gas since the price plummet began.
We’ve mentioned various Democratic events – we hear often from the 34th District Democrats (who also are sponsoring WSB this month to get the word out about their “sample ballot” endorsements list) – 
and always tack on the note that we’d be happy to report local Republican events too if and when somebody sends word. “Somebody” finally did – Matthew Lundh, a West Seattleite who is also communications director for the statewide Republican Party organization. He reports these two 34th District Republican events coming up: “On Saturday, we will be doorbelling in West Seattle. We will be meeting at the Westwood Village Starbucks at 9:30 am and doorbelling until 1:00 pm. Every Tuesday, until the election, we will be phonebanking from the Prudential Realty office at 127 SW 156th St in Burien from 6:30-8:30 pm.” (Saturday, as reported here yesterday, Democrats plan to doorbell in the area too, with high-level help.) For more election-related info, including pro/con/neutral info on the local and state ballot measures, check the WSB Election page any time.
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