West Seattle, Washington
28 Thursday
(Sketch showing the “hill” and “valley” topography of the added future parkland)
It’s on the Events page and will be in the forthcoming West Seattle Weekend Lineup BUT since it’s a rare weekend public meeting, wanted to send out one more standalone reminder – the second public meeting about the West Seattle Reservoir/Westcrest Park expansion is TOMORROW (Saturday 2/6), 10 am-noon at Southwest Community Center. Here’s our story about what happened at the first meeting; it’s another chance to have a say about what’s done with the extra park space when the Highland Park reservoir cover is done.
Just in from the city – a call for artists for two city park projects – including the expansion of Westcrest Park that is planned for the top of the “lid” that’s going in atop adjacent West Seattle Reservoir. (The next public meeting to talk about park design is THIS SATURDAY, 10 am-noon at Southwest Community Center.) Read on for the details of both projects – each with a $150,000 budget:Read More
From Heather:
I just thought I would send a note that my neighbor’s car was broken into last night. We’re in Highland Park on 17th between Trenton & Cloverdale (map). It seems they broke the window only to open the trunk….then threw most of the contents onto the ground. We think a camera was stolen out of the trunk but the radio was left untouched. My neighbor was waiting for the police when I left for work….not sure how long she had to wait or if there have been any other break-ins like this.
We covered tonight’s South Delridge/White Center Community Safety Coalition meeting, coverage area including Highland Park – report to come, but police didn’t report any particular spike in car break-ins.
They’ve worked hard on tough issues, like a possible city jail in their own backyard, but the Highland Park Action Committee has a sense of humor too – as evidenced by their New Year’s Eve parade (WSB coverage here) and by their newly re-elected leaders’ decision to ham it up for a post-election photo last night. (From left, chair Dan Mullins, secretary Michael Shilley, vice chair Nicole Mazza, treasurer Shawn Mazza.) They were re-elected in a flash tonight – nobody else was nominated, a quick motion to re-elect them passed, applause ensued, on to other business, which included news of an important role that is getting a new face – read on:Read More
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports: First, an e-mail that may have landed in almost every inbox in West Seattle, judging by the number of people who forwarded it to us. When we first saw it Monday morning, we tried reaching contacts at the Southwest Precinct to get it confirmed or denied; we didn’t hear back but will try even harder tomorrow. Anyway, the note tells the story of a daylight burglary last Friday, apparently in Highland Park, going on to say that police told the victim that there’s “a ring of high school students that look for empty homes during their lunch hour” and are dropped off and picked up by someone; the note also says “This is going on 6-8 times a day in West Seattle alone, in all neighborhoods.” Higher than any local burglary rate we’ve ever heard, so we will persist with our police inquiries today to see if that’s really the case. Meantime, one other burglary report has come in, from Grace in Gatewood:
Wanted to let everyone know that there’s been a burglary in the Gatewood area on the 3500 block of SW Southern Street (map) right off of 35th Ave. Entry was through a kicked-in ground-level back door while the owners were out of town. If anyone saw anything suspicious on this block between Friday the 22nd and Sunday the 24th of January, please report it. No one was hurt, but lots of items of sentimental value were stolen.
The next neighborhood group to meet in West Seattle is Highland Park Action Committee, with its monthly get-together this Wednesday night. Chair Dan Mullins has just sent around this invite:
… the Holidays are behind us and it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get back to work.
Please come to our monthly Highland Park Action Committee meeting and pot-luck at the H. P. Improvement Club, 1116 SW Holden St. , this Wednesday, January 27th at 7:00 PM (Pot-Luck at 6:30)
Along with neighborhood events and announcements, we will have nominations and elections for the 2010 HPAC board (Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer) and we will also have a surprise Local Business Spotlight and Raffle that you won’t want to miss.
So if you can, bring something yummy and spend some time with your neighbors and let’s start thinking about a new vision for the neighborhood.
It wasn’t quite a downpour, but certainly a drenching mist, but that didn’t get in the way of a good time as Highland Park kicked off one of West Seattle’s two-dozen-plus New Year’s Eve extravaganzas tonight. Above, a two-minute spectacle outside Highland Park Improvement Club before the Highland Park House Party that’s just getting under way inside (you’re welcome to go join – details here) and after the HP neighborhood parade (video of that, to be added shortly). It was billed as the “Sage Comet” performance (watch the clip and you’ll get the “comet” reference) — but one of the performers explained afterward, sage is tough to get this time of year, so what burned was “rosemary from local farms”! ADDED 8:28 PM: Just before the “Rosemary Comet,” the first-ever HP parade returned to the luminaria-ringed HPIC, after about half an hour doing a mile-or-so loop through neighborhoods to the south:
As you can see in the video, most of the balloon lanterns had trouble staying lit – smaller fires don’t win the battle with rain – but paraders young and old whooped and cheered, drummed and thumped, all along the way; we trailed them for the first few blocks, and saw neighbors along the way coming to the door or the window, often returning the shouts of “HAPPY NEW YEAR!” Indeed.
A table full of lantern-makers worked busily at Highland Park Improvement Club when we visited to see how the New Year’s Eve parade-prep project was going. The lanterns are papier-mache over balloons, to be carried during the “Not-So-Silent Night” neighborhood parade Thursday night:
Everyone’s welcome during the parade; meet at HPIC (11th/Holden) at 6:30 pm Thursday – it’ll be followed by a parking-lot performance around 7:30 and the HPIC New Year’s Eve house party indoors. (More West Seattle New Year’s Eve options here.) Meantime, nature put on its own beautiful show one more time today:
Chas Redmond shared that iPhone photo from along Beach Drive; David Rosen shared the view from West Seattle’s downtown-facing waterfront:
Looks like the clouds will hold centerstage for the next few days, though.
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: No holiday break for West Seattle’s favorite outdoor buy-local eat-local weekly adventure. 10 am-2 pm as always, 44th/Alaska. Here’s what’s on the fresh sheet; one more market note, the Thanksgiving dinner-cooking contest winners have been announced (a vegetarian feast for 7 took top honors).
“TEAM TRACY” FUNDRAISER @ SKYLARK: West Seattle’s most-famous Breast Cancer 3-Day team, Tracy Dart’s Team Tracy, gets 20% of the proceeds from food sales during brunch today at Skylark Cafe (WSB sponsor), from 10 am to 1 pm – chow down and help save lives. (The next Seattle 3-Day is set for Sept. 24-26.)
LANTERN WORKSHOP TO PREP FOR NEW YEAR’S EVE PARADE: Help put together lanterns for the Highland Park Improvement Club-led neighborhood parade on New Year’s Eve – drop by HPIC (1116 SW Holden) between noon-6 pm today for artist-coached lantern-making. Full details are here, including the materials you need to bring, to supplement what’ll be provided.
“PLAID TIDINGS” FINALE: Today, the (plaid) curtain falls on the holiday extravaganza at ArtsWest (WSB sponsor) – as of late Saturday night, a couple dozen tickets remained (according to this AW tweet) – buy yours ASAP here; showtime’s 3 pm.
Now that it’s Christmas night, thoughts turn to New Year’s Eve/Day (if they haven’t already). The list of events on our West Seattle Holidays page keeps growing – and the Highland Park neighborhood parade (first reported here in HP Action Committee coverage 2 months ago) is among the most intriguing. You have a chance to prepare for it at a workshop Sunday – but whether you can join in that or not, they hope to see you Thursday night – here’s the announcement of the workshop, parade and (right afterward) party, courtesy of Julie @ Highland Park Improvement Club:
Sunday, December 27th from noon until 6:00 pm
The Highland Park Improvement Club (1116 SW Holden) is hosting a luminaria (lantern) making workshop in preparation for our New Year’s Eve Neighborhood Parade! HPIC members, friends and families, and neighbors are welcome to join. Even if you are not making a lantern, please stop in and say hello to your neighbors!
Visiting artist Tricky Bunny from the Fremont Arts Council will provide instruction on how to make a papier mache lantern. To make a balloon lantern, please bring:
– Balloon(s)
– Tissue paper (colorful tissue paper looks especially pretty)
– Wire to attach your lantern to a stick or rod
– Tea candle (the kind where the candle is in a metal cupTricky Bunny will provide Elmer’s wood glue, dry wall paper paste, acrylic medium for paper mache, and a hot glue gun and hot glue gun sticks, along with demonstration. Wear clothing that you don’t mind getting glue or papier mache goop on. (Also, for gluten allergy sufferers, please note that wallpaper paste contains gluten.) Bring snacks to share! Children are welcome.
New Years Eve: Thursday, Dec 31 – Not-So-Silent Night Parade – meet at 6:30 pm, HPIC parking lot
Bring drums/pots & pans/tambourines/musical instruments
followed by the Sage Comet performance, HPIC parking lot after the parade, around 7:30pmand then the Highland Park House Party at 8 pm
an electronic jukebox with playlists from the neighborhood: a guaranteed eclectic assortment that will dance us all into the New Year. Gourmet homemade food from the neighborhood foodistas! (byob) $15/person, $5/kids under 12 and bring dollar bills for the jukebox!
For more information on any of the above, e-mail HPIC1919@gmail.com or leave a message at 206-762-9825; HPIC is online at www.hpic1919.org.
Becky got an unsettling call and wanted to sound an alert just in case – read on:Read More
Local community groups, from the Highland Park Action Committee to the Highland Park Improvement Committee to sports leagues and dog owners, have long been talking and brainstorming about the 20-acre Westcrest Park expansion to be built atop and around the new West Seattle Reservoir cover – but only now is the official conversation getting under way, after a standing-room-only meeting — read on:Read More
(Thanks to Gary Jones for sharing his photo of this morning’s full-moon moonset over the Olympics)
ORNAMENTS FOR EDUCATION: From the WSB West Seattle Holidays page (keep checking it, we’re adding new events daily!) – Join Scholastic Journey at a drop-in workshop, noon-5 pm downstairs at West Seattle (Admiral) Library (map), to help make ornaments for an upcoming fundraiser to help get school supplies and uniforms for kids in developing countries. “Drop in for a few minutes or a few hours!” says Krista Livingston (krista@scholasticjourney.org), who adds that it’s free to participate.
NORTH DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL MEETING/POTLUCK: NDNC is forming new committees on public safety, outreach, beautification, streets/pedestrian, transportation, land use/economic development, and hopes to see a good turnout of North Delridge neighbors tonight for a potluck meeting to talk about those issues and how to make a difference, 6:30 at Delridge Library (map) – bring something to share if you can. “We need YOU to help us make a difference!” says board member Holli Margell.
HIGHLAND PARK ACTION COMMITTEE HOLIDAY POTLUCK: You’re invited to come help HPAC trim the tree at the historic Highland Park Improvement Club building (where the group always meets) and enjoy a holiday potluck – 7 pm, 1116 SW Holden (map).
FAIRMOUNT PLAYGROUND IMPROVEMENTS MEETING: Reminder that tonight’s your chance to have a say in how this Parks and Green Spaces Levy-funded project will improve the playground at Fairmount Playfield. 6:30 pm, High Point Library (map) – here’s our previous preview.
Also tonight — “Plaid Tidings” opens at ArtsWest – more on that coming up! Check our Events calendar and Holidays page (which also has ongoing lists, like tree lots and giving opportunities) for lots more of what’s happening around West Seattle.
This final day of the month is relatively quiet — nothing major on the calendar. But the first public meetings for two West Seattle park projects – both funded by the Parks and Green Spaces Levy – are happening later this week, so here’s an early reminder: 6:30 pm Wednesday night, Fairmount Playfield playground improvements, for which $170,000 is budgeted, will be discussed at High Point Library (map). Then at 7 pm Thursday night, the new $3 million Westcrest-adjacent parkland created by the now-under-construction covering of West Seattle Reservoir (right) will be the topic at High Point Community Center (map). Lots more this week too – your next chance to get involved with neighborhood groups including the North Delridge Neighborhood Council, Highland Park Improvement Committee and Westwood Neighborhood Council (check out their remodeled website!) – it’s all on the WSB Events calendar (and all the holiday excitement – revving up for the West Seattle Christmas Tree Lighting this Saturday – is on the West Seattle Holidays page).
(Photo of Julie and Dorothy at Highland Park Improvement Club’s Nov. 15th party, by Dina Johnson)
Two weeks after the 90th-anniversary party at Highland Park Improvement Club, a closer look at the event and the group is online this morning at seattletimes.com (WSB partner) – see the story and photos here. HPIC’s website is at hpic1919.org; the club building is also home to the Highland Park Action Committee, which invites you to its holiday potluck meeting there, 7 pm next Wednesday (more here).
(very brief clip added 9:09 pm, K-9 crew returning to SPD car after searching)
ORIGINAL 7:21 PM REPORT: (original headline described “assault with weapons” call) All we can tell so far from the scanner is that police are looking for a suspect who ran west from the scene in the 7600 block of 8th SW (map), and that there is an “injured victim.” More as we get it. 7:35 PM UPDATE: No details on the circumstances but a private ambulance has been called to take the victim to the hospital, a general indication the injury’s not major. According to SeattleCrime.com, this started as a robbery. 8:03 PM UPDATE: Details now directly from Seattle Police media unit Det. Jeff Kappel: The call came in to 911 as a robbery around 7:10 pm; officers found a man who had apparently been robbed at gunpoint, then hit on the head with “the butt of what we believe is a shotgun wielded by the suspect,” said Kappel. The robber then ran or walked away; Kappel says the only description they have to work with right now is “black male, 30s, black skullcap, Army fatigues, gold tooth.” WEDNESDAY MORNING UPDATE: Just checked back with SPD. They did not find the robber last night, so he’s still out there somewhere. Also one clarification on circumstances – the victim was confronted, robbed and beaten as he was getting out of his car at his home, according to SPD’s Det. Mark Jamieson in the media unit.
Music to money-free-shop by – that’s what you hear harpist Kathy Wilmering performing in our video from last night’s Sustainable West Seattle Money-Free Shopping Spree. So what kind of sustainable gifts did folks exchange? We asked Sarah and Kate to tell us what they were offering:
SWS’s event was held at the brand-new High Point Neighborhood Center. Meantime, a couple images from last weekend:
Lynn Ogdon shared Tom Wolken‘s photo of the Chief Sealth High School Jazz Band after their performance in the Mill Creek Jazz Festival on Saturday, celebrating “a job well done,” as Lynn puts it. And from Sunday, Dina Lydia Johnson shares more photos from the Highland Park Improvement Club‘s 90th birthday – first, HPIC trustees:
And West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen was there to present an official city proclamation:
Coming up at the HPIC building in just a few weeks, the Highland Park Action Committee will have a holiday potluck replacing its November/December meetings – 7 pm on Wednesday, Dec. 2.
The foggy, soggy weather isn’t keeping friends, neighbors and well-wishers away from the Highland Park Improvement Club 90th anniversary party, in full swing now till 5 pm, including tantalizing treats:
Live music too, with the Zadrozny Jazz Trio. Read the HPIC history here; go join the fun at 12th and Holden – all ages welcome.
Tons of fun today – if you’re not out and about tonight, it’s time to think about tomorrow. One of the most spirited celebrations will be at 12th SW and SW Holden, as the Highland Park Improvement Club celebrates one decade short of a century. Here’s its official announcement:
Friends and neighbors are invited to attend a ninetieth anniversary party at the Highland Park Improvement Club, 1116 SW Holden, on Sunday, November 15, from 2 to 5 p.m., to celebrate the club’s past, present and future.
The non-profit was established in 1919 to bring improvements to the community while providing a social center. Since then, the club has worked on projects ranging from securing a streetcar line that came up Highland Park Way, to fostering a WPA sewing group, to sponsoring playgrounds and baseball teams, all the while hosting dance parties and other entertainments. More recently, the organization has persevered through uncertain times, as the membership had difficulty attracting new members, and considered dissolution. Despite their discouragement, the long-term members continued to reach out to the neighborhood, and today the Club has a steady and growing membership. New members have presented gala events for the Club and the community: the Day of the Dead dance last year, the Inauguration Day celebration in January, the popular Wine for Our Times event this spring, and the Second Annual Rummage Sale this summer.
(WSB note: That’s the one where we found this scene:)
The Highland Park Improvement Club hosts several neighborhood groups, including the Highland Park Action Committee (HPAC), which is dedicated to community issues, and meets at the club monthly. The Club is also home to on-going dance and yoga classes.
This historic neighborhood hub, at the corner of 12th and Holden, is becoming vibrant again- just in time for its 90th birthday.
It’s a humble old building that just got some new trimmings – including curtains and paint – before the big bash. Here’s where to find HPIC; online, they’re at www.hpic1919.org.
As promised when a team from Seattle Fire Department Station 11 (map) visited last month’s Highland Park Action Committee meeting (WSB coverage here), HPAC put together a delegation to bring the station a home-cooked dinner tonight, and we dropped by to catch the good deed in progress. From left, firefighter Dan Peterson, HPAC chair Dan Mullins, firefighter Shane Casillas, HPAC treasurer Shawn Mazza, Colette Napoli, SFD Lt. Russ Wiseman, firefighter Sean Williams, and standing tall behind them, HPAC vice chair Nicole Mazza, who organized the whole thing. (HPAC’s also organizing a Station 11 tour a week from tomorrow.) What’d they bring for dinner, you ask? Lasagna, salad, chips ‘n’ salsa, pickles, plums, cookies, chocolate, ice cream. Hopefully they got a chance to enjoy it; it was delivered just after 6, and the 911 log shows Engine 11 didn’t have an emergency call till almost 8:30.
(Photo courtesy Seattle Parks and Recreation, from project sign installation Thursday)
From the last meeting of the Highland Park Action Committee, we reported that Seattle Parks had set a December 3rd meeting for discussion of the West Seattle (Westcrest) Reservoir park design (here’s that story). Today, the official flyer’s out, setting the meeting time for 7 pm Dec. 3, High Point Community Center. Main point of the meeting, per the announcement: “To learn what the community priorities are for transforming the 20 acres of open space” that the reservoir-covering project will create. Here’s the official flyer.
(Our camera’s flash helps prove how well those reflective strips work!)
Usually toward the end of Highland Park Action Committee meetings, there’s a “Local Business Spotlight” organized by HPAC vice chair Nicole Mazza, with information about an area business and maybe even a raffle. Last night, she threw a changeup, inviting Seattle Fire Department personnel from nearby Station 11, led by Lt. Russell Wiseman (second from left). They answered questions and shared details about how they work, including:
*They work in 24-hour shifts that change at 7:30 am, four people in the station per day. When they arrive for the day, they have to check all their gear, make sure everything works, from the vehicle to the “shocker” that might be needed to revive someone in cardiac arrest. Inbetween emergency calls, their day will include everything from cooking to housekeeping to exercise to training.
*Their training doesn’t just involve fighting fires – since they are first responders to many medically related calls, that requires a lot of training, not just CPR – earlier on Wednesday, they’d spent four hours in “street medicine” training, for example, and they’ve also recently received training regarding the flu and how to deal with patients without bringing it home to their families or spreading it between calls. And they are trained in counseling people in difficult situations, such as deaths that happen before or during the incident – “we see more dead people than most.”
Ahead – What’s the difference between a fire engine and fire truck? Is there a “fire station dog”? and more:Read More
(Photo from reservoir-covering project site tour last week – looking from the site toward existing park)
The first of four planned public meetings on designing the new park land atop and around West Seattle Reservoir, adjacent to the existing Westcrest Park, is set for December 3rd at High Point Community Center. That’s the biggest news Parks Department manager Susanne Friedman brought to the Highland Park Action Committee on Wednesday night. She answered questions about the status of and timeline for the $3 million (from the Parks and Green Spaces Levy) project to create 20 new acres of parkland once the reservoir-covering work is done. She fielded repeated questions about the extent of the fencing that will remain once the site is done – only around a couple Seattle Public Utilities “outbuildings,” she promised. What will be on the lid itself? She noted some “limitations,” like a load limit, no tree roots that might break through the “lid,” no plants that would require herbicide or pesticide. But the rest of the 20 acres, she said, should have a “fabulous design” that will integrate well with the existing park and off-leash area. And she promised that the many comments already received from Highland Park – particularly during HPAC’s June “mini-summit” on the park – will be considered. What’s next? Read on:Read More
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