Non-snow news: Neighborhood radio test – talk about timely!
Before we launch our Sunday night edition of snow coverage, wanted to mention this – since it turned out to be particularly timely: Saturday morning, hours before the snow hit, volunteers from neighborhoods all over West Seattle got together to test emergency radios that could be used for West Seattle-wide info-relaying in case of catastrophe – the photo above shows preliminary results (broken lines are iffy, solid, better) – here are photos taken before participants fanned out for the actual test:
That second photo is Ron Zuber, a radio expert who coordinated the test (and the one we mentioned on Night Out in August) — that test had mixed results, so this time, they tried more powerful radios. Cindi Barker from the Morgan Community Association reports, “Not a perfect result, but there were enough inter-neighborhood connections that we think we can stick with family service style radios, and that way Block Watch and SNAP groups can hear our communications. Alki and Fauntleroy will be our biggest challenges, we may have to get a repeater to boost the signal all the way from end to end.” They’ll meet again next month to further develop the plan.
They made things happen: Neighborhood $ winners’ Alki party
No shortage of big news last night – from the Alaskan Way Viaduct “scenarios” getting narrowed down to two, to Cooper Elementary parents and teachers meeting to plot strategy to save their school (our report’s coming up later this morning), to Snow Watch. But one event that some might have overlooked contained big news all its own – because of neighbors from all over West Seattle celebrating community projects that received city $. (And taking home reusable shopping bags, shown above!) The periodic Neighborhood Matching Fund celebration brought people from all over the city to Alki Elementary – and a WSB reporter was there too – story and photos ahead, along with information that can help you seek out this kind of grant for your own neighborhood project:Read More
Admiral Neighborhood Association: Park, preparedness, more
The school-closure-related meetings already reported here weren’t the only newsworthy, West Seattle-related events happening last night; we had a reporter at the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s monthly meeting too, and she’s sent in an update including the latest on California Place Park — read on:Read More
Alki Community Council: Crime prevention; ex-board awards
From tonight’s Alki Community Council meeting: Crime prevention was the major topic on the agenda, as the ACC held its last scheduled meeting of the year. Southwest Precinct crime-prevention coordinator Benjamin Kinlow had been invited to speak as a followup to a meeting last month with neighbors in the 1500 through 1700 blocks of Alki SW. That in turn was a followup to a late summer wave of break-ins in those two blocks (which spawned this WSB reader report at the time). Kinlow gave an abbreviated version of his standard Block Watch presentation, saying he hoped to return with more detailed information tailored to both the neighborhood and the residences involved. He said the security issues involved in a condo building are very different than those of single-family residences, noting that the neighborhood had both. Also he encouraged the Council to have an informal meeting prior to Night Out next August so that neighbors could meet and share information about what they see going on in their neighborhoods. ALSO: The ACC gave out recognition awards to former board members of their board. Receiving personalized coffee mugs and gift certificates to the Phoenician restaurant were Jackie Ramels, Gary Ogden, Peter Stekel, and Don Wahl.
West Seattle Crime Watch: Three ways to fight back
TONIGHT: Wherever you live in West Seattle, you can get the lowdown on the latest trouble spots – and a chance to voice your concerns directly to your local police – by showing up for tonight’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting. 7 pm – but not the usual location; it’s at Denny Middle School (30th and Thistle; here’s a map) this time.
THURSDAY: People living in the southeasternmost neighborhoods of West Seattle are also welcome at the South Delridge/White Center Community Safety Coalition meeting, which also focuses on neighborhood trouble spots and crime concerns, with King County Sheriff’s Deputies usually in attendance as well as Seattle Police, to address both jurisdictions. 6 pm Thursday, St. James Place (9421 18th SW; here’s a map).
OCTOBER 28TH: After crime concerns came up while neighbors of California Place, the mini-park at California/Hill (map), were discussing proposed park changes, it was discovered there’s no Block Watch in the general area of California Avenue between SW Walker and SW Holgate (map), and adjoining streets. So a meeting to organize one, with Southwest Precinct crime-prevention help, is set for 6:30 pm 10/28 at West Seattle (Admiral) Library. If you are interested but unable to attend, e-mail info@californiaparkplace.org to get in touch with organizers.
How to help your ‘hood: For starters — just show up!
Four major neighborhood/community group meetings this week, and really, it’s a huge first step to helping your neighborhood when you just show up. We go to as many of these meetings as we can every month and that’s what the groups’ leaders are dying to see (they’re all volunteers, by the way) … the more people the merrier. And you’d be surprised what you find out. Here’s your chances this week: TONIGHT – The Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council is having what’s been billed as its “most important meeting of the year,” 6:30 pm, Cooper Elementary (map). TOMORROW (TUESDAY): Admiral Neighborhood Association, 7 pm, Admiral Church basement meeting room (map); Fauntleroy Community Association, 7 pm, The Hall @ Fauntleroy (in the old schoolhouse, which itself is on the agenda, after last week’s big news). WEDNESDAY: Morgan Community Association‘s quarterly meeting, 7 pm, The Kenney; Delridge District Council (wireps from eastern West Seattle’s community groups and other organizations), 7 pm, Southwest Precinct meeting room. See our right sidebar, under WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY GROUPS, for a list of other neighborhood associations who’d be thrilled to see/hear from you. MONDAY AFTERNOON ADDENDUM: One more neighborhood event this week where you would be more than welcome – the Junction Neighborhood Organization‘s quarterly cleanup (free treats!) is this Saturday morning. Help get the streets in shape before winter barrels into us. E-mail JuNO prez Erica Karlovits – erica@wsjuno.com – if you can help (or have a Q). TUESDAY AFTERNOON ADDENDUM: JuNO’s cleanup has been postponed – but e-mail Erica to get you on the list for helping when it’s rescheduled!
North Delridge Council: New signs; a juicy invitation; more
That’s one of the signs you can expect to see around North Delridge before the next meeting of the North Delridge Neighborhood Council – purchased with money from an outreach grant, and unveiled at last night’s NDNC meeting. Also discussed last night: They’re still working on next steps for the Cottage Grove “tot lot” playground upgrade, for which they have received a $15,000 matching-funds grant from the city. Expect an official update soon. Meantime, next year’s Neighborhood Street Fund plans for the area were outlined – projects that have been requested for years, as NDNC co-chair Mike Dady pointed out – including a sidewalk along Brandon from Delridge to the park and traffic calming on 26th SW north of Brandon, between Cottage Grove and Greg Davis parks; still some work to be done on projects approved for this year, as well, including calming on the 21st/Dawson hill that’s “supposed to start any day now” (that’s the hill heading down to Oregon, scene of this guardrail crash we covered recently). For the “juicy invitation” and a few more items, read on:Read More
Notes from the Southwest District Council meeting
No blockbuster items on last night’s agenda for the Southwest District Council, where reps from local neighborhood groups and other key organizations get and give updates on what they’re up to. One citywide hot potato did get the spotlight for a while – read on:Read More
Tonight: Southwest & North Delridge councils; school board
IN WEST SEATTLE TONIGHT: The North Delridge Neighborhood Council meets at 6:30 pm @ Delridge Library, with its agenda including a playground-project update and a progress report on Chief Sealth HS @ Boren. Then at 7 pm, the Southwest District Council, with reps from neighborhood groups and other organizations in what the city considers West Seattle’s “Southwest District” (map here), meets @ the board room at South Seattle Community College. NOT IN WEST SEATTLE BUT WITH WS AGENDA ITEM: The Seattle School Board’s semimonthly meeting is at 6 pm at district HQ in Sodo; among the agenda items, the district’s share of the project to renovate Hiawatha Playfield (the city announced this summer that work would start this fall – although the timetable in that update has already slipped, since it anticipated an August vote). OTHER EVENTS: See the WSB Events calendar (including open-house nights at WSHS tonight, CSHS tomorrow).
Neighborhood-plan updates, the next step
Many neighborhood activists and advocates around West Seattle, as well as around the rest of the city, are watching to see what happens with city government’s announced intention to reopen the official neighborhood plans for potential updates. So we wanted to pass along the official city news release about action taken by council members today. West Seattle has no areas up for the first round of intensive review, but will have areas eligible for the “status review” mentioned here:Read More
Fauntleroy Church: Sale today, documentary Wednesday
(photos added 11:16 am)
The all-church sale happening today at Fauntleroy Church quite decidedly has “indoor” in its official name, so that’s one place you can go to stay dry till we get a break in the showers. The sale’s under way 9 am-3 pm today; the church is at 9140 California SW (map). Then, Wednesday night is your next chance to see the new Fauntleroy documentary on a big screen – here’s a preview from Judy Pickens:
The Fauntleroy neighborhood, past and present, will hit the silver screen on Wednesday, September 24, when The Fauntleroy Story: 100 Years of Community premieres at 7 p.m. in Fellowship Hall at Fauntleroy Church. The 35-minute documentary explores the neighborhood from its founding at the end of the streetcar line to present-day challenges of sustaining community.
The project originated as an idea for the church centennial and soon grew into a profile of the whole neighborhood. The steering committee has wide representation from the community and the Southwest Seattle Historical Society. Residents, businesses, and the church pitched in to help fund the $30,000 project and match a $15,000 grant from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.
The screening will include a Q&A with the production team. Take-home copies of the DVD will be available by donation.
If you miss the premiere, DVDs will be available starting Sept. 25 at The Original Bakery, church office, and Loghouse Museum gift shop. The next local screening will be during the Fauntleroy Fall Festival on Oct. 19.
We attended a preview of the semifinal cut back in July; here’s that report.
Alki Community Council: Sidewalk controversy resurfaces
(click image to see full three-page document with city’s “final design”)
First update from tonight’s Alki Community Council meeting: Issues are still simmering with the city plan to finish the sidewalk on the north side of Alki Sw, from 63rd SW west to the other side of Alki Point. What you see above – difficult as it may be to decipher (even if you click on the image to see the full three-page document) – is what’s described on the city’s webpage for the project as “the final design,” and labeled on the document as “100% review” (dated tomorrow, by the way). At one point, the ACC had hoped that city project manager “Sam” Woods would be at tonight’s meeting; instead, she has been going door-to-door through the affected area this week to talk with residents. Just one problem, said a few attendees at tonight’s meeting: The letter from SDOT director Grace Crunican (read it here) says those visits were happening yesterday and today – but some didn’t even get the letter till today. They say they still have safety concerns about the plan and would like to see it presented one last time (the previous, contentious community meeting was this one in April) – with safety details highlighted (beyond the two raised crosswalks, at 64th and at Alki/Beach, as reported here in July) — before it’s finalized prior to construction (which Crunican’s letter says will start early next year). ACC secretary Larry Carpenter says he’s certain that such a meeting is already in the city’s plans; we’ll check with SDOT tomorrow, and we’ll also be asking about a report tonight that the project is $150,000 over the original budget.
Tonight: Admiral Safeway plan; Kenney plan; Alki Community Council
ADMIRAL SAFEWAY: We first reported in February that Safeway had advised the Admiral Neighborhood Association its long-anticipated plan to redevelop the store site was ramping up. Last month, general bullet points emerged when Safeway applied for a permit. Tonight, the company unveils its design at a community meeting at Hiawatha, 7 pm.
THE KENNEY: Last night, the century-old Fauntleroy retirement center discussed its major redevelopment plan — all but one building will be torn down — last night with neighbors. (Our article will be published later this morning; two major changes were revealed last night, including the proposal for one building to be 6 stories high.) Tonight, The Kenney’s management and consultants are presenting the plan again, in a meeting geared toward local community groups and organizations (though everyone’s welcome), at The Kenney, 6 pm.
ALKI COMMUNITY COUNCIL: West Seattle’s fabled beach community has had a lot going on this summer – what’s ahead for fall? Attend tonight’s ACC meeting to find out. 7 pm, Alki Community Center.
Later today – we look ahead to a few of the big events coming up in the next few days beyond tonight, including Holy Rosary’s West Fest (WSB sponsor) tomorrow and Saturday and the first-ever West Seattle Junction Car Show (co-sponsored by WSB) Sunday.
West Seattle Gateway Cleanup: The final word, and what’s next
If you’ve driven the westbound Fauntleroy Way end of The Bridge in daylight since Saturday, you’ve probably noticed the difference more than 200 people made with long hours of work under the blazing sun that day: Months in the making, the West Seattle Gateway Cleanup cleared tons of overgrowth, trash, and other materials from the stretch between Walking on Logs and 35th/Fauntleroy, which is where, at one point, we passed this solo worker:
No doubt, getting out there and slogging through the mess last Saturday was a chore. So was organizing the whole thing – with a lot of hard work done by the woman whose name you saw on updates posted here in the weeks and months leading up to it:
Nancy Driver took the podium for a moment before the cleanup started on Saturday morning, just for final logistics and marching orders. After it was all said, done, bagged, picked up, cleared away, hours later, we asked her to put together a final wrapup when she had a chance. And we wanted to share that with you tonight, interspersed with more photos:Read More
More West Seattle weekend scenes, Saturday evening edition
As the West Seattle Gateway Cleanup wrapped up around 3:30 this afternoon, that was the scene in the neighborhood immediately west of the cleanup zone (near the ramp to the walkover bridge) – we heard one organizer saying they had collected a HALF-TON OF TRASH. We’re hoping for official wrapup info at some point later after organizers recover (they did a heroic job pulling this all together, and thanks to everyone in WSB’land who stepped forward to donate time, treats, etc.). When we get that info, we’ll post it separately with a few more scenes from today’s big event (earlier coverage was here and here). Meantime, here’s video of the four-legged cleanup crew now on duty along 34th north of Myrtle (map), on the east edge of Our Lady of Guadalupe‘s northern lot:
As mentioned here, the goats — from Rent-A-Ruminant — are expected to be on site through Tuesday. (Just note that it’s not too safe to get up close and personal to where they’re working – no sidewalk on that side of the street – but you can admire them from across the street, along High Point Playfield.) Meantime, we couldn’t resist going back to Alki to check in on the Evergreen State Barbecue Championship competitors’ progress. As usual, some of the booths show flashes of humor (note the sign AND the yellow tape here):
And there’s a little timely solemnity too:
We noted earlier that two booths across from 62nd SW are selling food (that was a big question last year, when we happened onto the barbecue event without advance warning). Pricewise for the main courses – the salmon sandwiches at the Tom Douglas booth are $7; offerings at the other booth (whose name we forgot to write down) range from $5 “German sausage on bun” to $25 dinner with a full rack of ribs. The main competition is tomorrow, but a little bit of judging was going on late today — an appetizer contest when we sauntered by around 5 pm. (The judges were sequestered mysteriously behind four walls of tent tarp.) The whole promenade smells amazing so you might just want to go be an olfactory spectator; the competitors will be camped out all night, some in tents by their massive grilling/smoking setups, some in RVs along Alki SW.
Happening now: Barbecue battle; open house; cleanup update
Lady Liberty isn’t the only one at Alki with a torch today – that’s Home on the Range barbecue (whose MySpace site declares the team “… is gonna win at Alki”) cleaning off the grill in dramatic style (go here for a few seconds of video including the roaring torch), just one of the sights late this morning as the competitors in the Evergreen State Barbecue Championships revved up for the first of two days. Two vendors are selling food – they’re both along the walkway that’s across the street from Pegasus (62nd/Alki):
Also happening right now (till 2 pm), the Neighborhood Matching Fund 20th-anniversary open house at Youngstown Arts Center. Scrapbook-making is under way; we caught Ron Angeles, Delridge Neighborhood Services coordinator (left), and Pete Spalding (Delridge District Council president, among other roles) making entries for Delridge:
You’re also invited to make sure any local NMF project you are or have been involved with is represented on this map:
Free treats too and reusable shopping bags while they last. That’s what the mayor also was supposed to be handing out at the West Seattle Gateway Cleanup, continuing till about 3:30 – we caught him as he posed for pix near the Fauntleroy walkover around 10:30:
After that, we walked onto the pedestrian bridge (an interesting experience for an acrophobe) to get an aerial perspective of what the history-making volunteers are up to:
As we mentioned earlier, more than 200 had signed up, including representatives of a variety of local groups – among those we spotted this morning, Mars Hill Church-West Seattle, local LDS church members, the Morgan Community Association (later we’ll show you a photo of their cute T-shirts) and more.
West Seattle Gateway Cleanup, report #1: Making history!
That’s a group shot taken just before the first group of volunteers in the West Seattle Gateway Cleanup left the staging area (ex-Huling Buick lot, future Gateway Center) about half an hour ago and headed off to start tackling the task. Kimberlee Archie from the city Department of Neighborhoods had just noted that this not only is the 89th cleanup under the umbrella of the Clean and Green Program, she thinks the 200-plus volunteers represent the biggest group EVER in a C&G cleanup. Archie also read a proclamation from the mayor (who’s visiting the cleanup crews later this morning) declaring today to be Earl Cruzen Day, and Earl himself was on hand to accept the honor:
(ADDED SATURDAY AFTERNOON – here’s video of the proclamation being read)
You probably see the results of Earl’s work every day. He’s the guy who hatched the idea for the West Seattle Murals, for one; the story of how that happened, and who else helped, is told nicely on this page of the Fauntleroy Church website; you can also read about it in this West Seattle 101 chapter. Cruzen and the murals group then went on to come up with Walking on Logs – the starting point for today’s cleanup. Those two lines barely scratch the surface of what he’s given to the West Seattle community (and continues to give, well into his 80s), but we’ve got to get back out to see how the cleanup’s going; volunteers will be at work from Walking on Logs to 35th/Fauntleroy until about 3:30 this afternoon, and that means a westbound lane closure on the Fauntleroy end of The Bridge, so if you’re going to be driving that way, PLEASE be careful – hundreds of your neighbors are giving up part of their Saturday to make that stretch less of an eyesore, so help them stay safe. More updates later, on this and other big events happening around West Seattle today.
West Seattle scenes: High Point cultural lesson; Art Walk night
The centerpiece of tonight’s High Point Neighborhood Association meeting was a presentation about Somali/East African culture – including Gurey Faarah (pictured) talking to attendees. Non-Somali speakers on hand got a bit of a language lesson too (sample, from a handout distributed tonight: “Nabad miyaa” means “how are you?” – literally “are you at peace?”). All this, under a peaceful moonrise (which we photographed near the meeting scene at the Commons Park Amphitheater):
High Point doesn’t currently have a venue in the West Seattle Second Thursday Art Walk, but almost everywhere else in West Seattle does, from Delridge to Alki to The Junction and beyond. WSB video cam #1 (celebrating its first anniversary tonight!) was along for the ride at Twilight Art Collective, where Grayface (Christopher Hydinger on keyboards, and Space) played:
Then we strolled up the street for a look at art we thought WSB dog fans might enjoy – canine portraits at Clementine by Janet Wold:
Next West Seattle Art Walk is October 9th.
Followup: New timeline for city’s Junction parking review
We’ve been keeping you up to date on plans for the city’s “community-parking review” in The Junction — which ultimately will lead to a decision on whether changes are made in management of the parking spots managed by the city (pay stations? Residential Parking Zones on nearby streets? status quo?). We published our first report last February, when WSB went to the Municipal Tower downtown for the first media briefing on the plan; then in May, the city Transportation Department (SDOT) told us it expected to start the review in September — and in our May update, we included the West Seattle Junction Association‘s call for your comments on the parking situation. Now that it’s September, we checked with SDOT – and here’s what communications director Rick Sheridan told us about the parking review’s status, and how you’ll get to have a say:Read More
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