West Seattle news 62193 results

1st meeting in the books for next round of Highland Park levy-funded improvements

October 31, 2014 2:18 am
|    Comments Off on 1st meeting in the books for next round of Highland Park levy-funded improvements
 |   Highland Park | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

If you missed this week’s first meeting about the next round of Parks and Green Spaces Levy Opportunity Fund improvements in Highland Park – don’t worry, two more chances are ahead. The first round was the spraypark completed and opened last year; now, the nearby park space is the focus of a community-initiated project to address park access and play-equipment suitability, as outlined in the original proposal.

Seattle Parks landscape architect Pamela Alspaugh and planner Jeron Gates were at Highland Park Elementary School for the project’s first community meeting this past Wednesday night. Two major issues for the park are the age of its playground equipment – which dates back to the ’90s – and its noncompliance with the accessibility laws. Also a concern: Safety and crime prevention, with suggestions for more lighting and CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design) features. Synergy with the school’s upgrade plans also was discussed; Highland Park Elementary parents are looking into grants, and it was suggested that play equipment for that project and this one be complementary rather than redundant. The Opportunity Fund project budget is $374,000 for design and construction, and it’s expected to be done in two years. A meeting early next year (no date yet) will bring a “schematic design” back to the community for review and discussion; then a “preferred design” will be presented in the spring.

Last chance to ‘Time Warp’ with ‘Rocky Horror’ at The Admiral

Saturday night – the night after Halloween – brings the end of an era at West Seattle’s historic Admiral Theater – the last of the monthly “Rocky Horror Picture Show” events with shadow cast, after a decade. From The Admiral’s Dinah Brein:

Saturday night, November 1, will mark the final live shadow-cast performance of the Vicarious Theater Company as they shadow-cast The Rocky Horror Picture Show on the Admiral Theater stage.

The cast has performed here for over ten years and many of the original cast members are still involved.

“We have enjoyed our time with the Vicarious Theater group immensely,” said theater manager Dinah Brein. “They’ve been like a family to us. We’ve watched many of the cast members meet, fall in love, and even get married from their time here at the Admiral. I think the only one that will be sorry to see them go is the janitor. That was a lot of rice and toast to clean up over 10 years. We could have probably fed a small country.”

Come say goodbye to the cast and catch the show, this Saturday night, November 1st. Doors open at 11:30 and the ticket price is $6.00 – cash only (exact change preferred). You must be at least 17 or accompanied by an adult to attend as the pre-show and the movie are rated. R.

In case you’re wondering, we talked to Dinah while stopping by The Admiral for the “I Am Eleven” event on Tuesday night; still nothing new to report re: the theater’s future.

West Seattle Health Club update: Hoping to open Sunday

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Members of the abruptly shuttered West Seattle (Athletic) Club are wondering when its successor, the West Seattle Health Club, will open.

We talked this afternoon with Dan Lehr, who is managing the transition for property owner John Pietromonaco, who is now the club owner too.

“Possibly as early as Sunday, maybe sooner,” Lehr told WSB in a phone conversation.

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Noticed the line outside Skylark? It’s for video star Taylor Caniff

Thanks to Rachelle for calling us about an hour ago and asking what was up with the massive line outside The Skylark in North Delridge. Research ensued, and here’s what we know: An 18-year-old online-video star named Taylor Caniff is here to meet his fans. He’s famous mostly for clips on Vine (:06, endlessly looping) and YouTube. Samples in this YT compilation of some of his Vines:

According to this tweet (he has 1.5 million Twitter followers), he’s officially holding court for the next three hours:

And if the line we found around quarter till 5 is any evidence, he’ll be busy. Listen to the fans scream as his RV rolls up:

He lives in Indiana; an online bio says he’s been posting videos to YT since 2012, Vine since 2013.

West Seattle Crime Watch: Little Free Library withstands attack; apartment building break-in;

Four West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports to share:

LITTLE FREE LIBRARY TARGETED: If you have a Little Free Library in your neighborhood, have the closest neighbors keep an extra-close watch on it. Last night, somebody targeted this one in Seaview with a suspected firework/explosive. Neighbors heard a loud noise; police were called. Its sturdy craftsmanship kept the damage light. Our photographer wasn’t even sure he’d found the right one, but finally detected its door was a bit crooked.

APARTMENT BUILDING BREAK-IN: From JM:

I wanted to alert our West Seattle neighbors about a robbery that happened yesterday, October 29th around mid day maybe 1-3:PM in the heart of California Avenue at zip 98116 about 3 blocks south of PCC/West Seattle High School. The tenants of one apartment came home to find their apartment broken with their jewelry, climbing gears and laptop missing. The burglars also broke into the individual storage units cutting and twisting the padlocks in the 1st floor and emptied two suitcases full of valuable East Indian sarees. Officer J Barnes from Seattle Police Dept. was there inspecting the storage units and taking statements from tenants who were violated.

CAR PROWLERS STRIKE, AGAIN: From Kate:

Our car was broken into for the third time in recent months while parked in front of our house last night. We are near 36th Ave SW and Dakota. It sure feels like car prowls are on the rise. It doesn’t seem to matter if the car is locked or not, they are getting in regardless, but thankfully not smashing windows.

PACKAGE THEFT: From Dave in Seaview: “We had a UPS package stolen in the 5900 block of 49th. Folks should be careful with home shipping!”

Thanks again to everyone for sharing alerts that we can share communitywide. While we listen to the scanner and monitor SPD’s tweets and maps, many noteworthy incidents do NOT surface in any of those channels, for various reasons – and even if they do, there’s no info beyond an incident type/vicinity – so your tips and reports are vital. Always call the police *first* – then let us know when you can.

West Seattle traffic alert: Crash at 8th and Roxbury

3:55 PM: Avoid 8th/Roxbury for a while if you’re heading out – a crash is blocking at least part of the intersection. No word yet on injuries or other circumstances; we’re en route to check.

4:06 PM: Won’t be blocked for too long, per scanner – tow trucks have been called. Northbound Metro on 8th is affected for a bit, though.

4:30 PM: The tow trucks were there when our crew arrived a short time ago. One lane on Roxbury was blocked eastbound, and 8th was blocked pending removal of the cars. No injuries, we’re told.

Sound Transit light rail for West Seattle? Constantine, McDermott announce they’ll seek to get WS into ST’s updated plan

Will light rail for West Seattle be written into Sound Transit‘s forthcoming long-range-plan update? Two West Seattle-residing elected officials said at a ST board meeting today that they will support amending the plan to call for “high-capacity transit service” for WS in that update: County Executive Dow Constantine (who chairs the board) and County Councilmember Joe McDermott (who’s a board member). Here’s the news release:

King County Executive and Sound Transit Board Chair Dow Constantine and King County Council and Sound Transit Board member Joe McDermott today moved to add future high-capacity transit service to West Seattle and Burien to the Long-Range Plan now being prepared for Sound Transit.

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Update: West Seattle power outage over, affected 4,200+ customers, mostly north WS

(SCL OUTAGE MAP: MOBILE VERSION HERE. OUTAGE HOTLINE: 206-684-7400)

2:17 PM: Several reports that the electricity is out in multiple parts of West Seattle. This might be linked to what’s reported as an “electrical fire/explosion” near the Delridge Library. So far, we have reports from The Junction, Admiral, near Camp Long. (Here on the Upper Fauntleroy/Gatewood line, so far, we just had a flicker, power’s still on.) Let us know if it’s out where you are.

2:22 PM: Thanks to everyone who’s texting/commenting/Tweeting etc. about their power status. Some traffic signals are out – and please remember, that means when you approach one, it’s a four-way stop. Meantime, we’re headed off to check out the reported electrical fire that might be part of it. We’ve also just heard that Schmitz Park Elementary is without power. (added) Madison Middle School reported to be out too. (added) Lafayette is reported out as well.

2:25 PM: City Light says at least 4,250 homes/businesses/etc. are without power. IF your power is out – IMPORTANT ADVICE: Unplug what you can. After being out of power for 16 hours last weekend, several things around our house were damaged by the surge when it came back on. Some who didn’t lose power are reporting their cable/Internet *did* go out.

2:34 PM: See comments – some businesses are affected, too. If you haven’t already seen it on the City Light outage map, we’ve added a screengrab above showing the areas affected. Note that there are often gaps in the map – if you’re not shown, be sure they know you’re out, 206-684-7400. No estimated restoration time yet (and remember, those are ALWAYS just “guesstimates”); our crew is near the reported electrical-fire scene, trying to track down SCL.

2:44 PM: From the scanner – even police are being told they have no ETA for repairs yet, so they’re trying to figure out if they can get any help at intersections. AGAIN – if no power, it’s a four-way stop.

2:52 PM: We found a City Light truck taking a look at a transformer west of Greg Davis Park. Meantime, from SCL via Twitter:

Also via Twitter, Seattle Public Schools confirms the three schools we’ve mentioned as being affected are the only three:

3:12 PM: No updates on the repairs but the cause is now listed as “equipment failure.” Remember that unlike last weekend’s outage, this one is affecting many businesses – in comments, Junction True Value says it’s letting customers in one at a time, cash only, since somebody might *really* need something. Also in The Junction:

Police are helping with traffic where they can. (That’s Community Police Team Officer Jon Flores in The Junction.)

3:17 PM: Back on!

The schools that were out confirm they’re back on – they’d been getting calls from worried parents. If you are NOT back on, please make sure you call City Light; the outage hotline is 206-684-7400.

West Seattle Halloween: Pumpkinpalooza today; trick-or-treating tomorrow…

Hours until Halloween, and pre-Halloween fun is already happening:

(WSB photos by Torin Record-Sand)
West Seattle’s city-run community centers always scare up a long list of Halloween activities (as featured in their quarterly brochure). Today’s Toddler Pumpkinpalooza was for the very-little ones:

Pumpkinpalooza is held annually at High Point Community Center, where costumed cuties spent two hours this morning with crafts and games, and even a bouncy toy:

For older kids, tonight brings Delridge Community Center‘s biggest Halloween event, 5:30-7:30 pm; other centers’ spotlight events were last weekend.

TRICK-OR-TREATING TOMORROW: In addition to neighborhood trick-or-treating, three local business districts welcome you on Friday (The Junction’s trick-or-treating, you probably know, was during last Sunday’s Harvest Festival):

THE ADMIRAL DISTRICT: 3-6 pm Halloween, with participating businesses mostly on Admiral Way and California for a few blocks radiating out from where those streets meet. (Check down side streets including 42nd SW and College, too.)

WESTWOOD VILLAGE: 5-7 pm Halloween, merchants at West Seattle’s only mall (WSB sponsor) are welcoming trick-or-treaters.

WHITE CENTER: 4-7 pm Halloween, businesses around WC’s sprawling business district are planning their biggest event yet. See the list of participants on our partner site White Center Now.

Along with the business-district trick-or-treating mentioned above, several local churches are having Trunk-or-Treat parking lot events and Halloween-alternative festivals. You can see ALL the aforementioned listings – and more, including several All Hallows’ Eve events – by browsing our one-page West Seattle Halloween Guide, which we’ve been updating daily. (Not too late to let us know if anything for tonight, tomorrow, Saturday is missing!)

‘Symbol of hope for a better tomorrow’: Citywide request

October 30, 2014 11:58 am
|    Comments Off on ‘Symbol of hope for a better tomorrow’: Citywide request
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS & Sports

A show of support and solidarity, requested citywide: Chief Sealth International High School activities director Sarah Martin asked if we would share this, a request that originated with the district’s athletics department:

Because of the recent tragedies in the Western Washington community, we are asking ALL FANS attending any Seattle school sporting event this weekend to wear something WHITE signifying HOPE and HEALING. This includes fans, parents, students, administrators and staff attending any and all sports contests — This includes playoff games. It is at times like these that we must come together to support one another, even if we aren’t personally affected. We express our thoughts of healing by coming together as ONE and wearing WHITE as a symbol of hope for a better tomorrow.

Tomorrow marks one week since the school shooting that ended three young lives at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Snohomish County.

West Seattle weather: Get ready for slide season

(WSB photo from 2009 – slide behind condo building in 1200 block of Alki SW)
If you live in a potential slide zone – it’s time to take note and take precautions: Seattle Public Utilities says the wet weather has brought our area to the brink of what’s considered slide season, which means time for a few important reminders:

With more than an inch of rainfall forecast for Seattle over the next two days, the city is expected to cross the official U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) landslide threshold for the first time this year.

“Historically, the end of October is the start of landslide season,” said Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) meteorologist James Rufo-Hill, who writes a blog on local weather conditions. “Despite the fact that we have yet to experience widespread flooding or soil saturation this season, October is already much wetter than normal, so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that landslide season is here.”

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West Seattle Thursday: Halloween eve; Whale Trail orca talk; more

October 30, 2014 9:55 am
|    Comments Off on West Seattle Thursday: Halloween eve; Whale Trail orca talk; more
 |   West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Tail-slapping orca photographed by Gary Jones off Alki Point on October 17th)

It’s Halloween Eve! Our highlight list begins with two events from our West Seattle Halloween Guide:

TODDLER PUMPKINPALOOZA: 10 am-noon at High Point Community Center: “Toddler dress up station, bubble station, face-painting booth, carnival games and so much more will be waiting for you and your toddler at our annual fall event.” $5 ticket. (6920 34th SW)

HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION: 5:30-7:30 pm at Delridge Community Center. Free! (4501 Delridge Way SW)

KARAOKE & COSTUME CONTEST: Starting at 9 pm at Yen Wor Village in The Admiral District, it’s a Halloween party with a costume contest, karaoke, and a midnight $2 buffet. (2300 California SW)

From our regular West Seattle Event Calendar:

KALEIDOSCOPE PLAY ‘N’ LEARN: 11 am-12:30 pm, parents/caregivers are invited to bring kids 2-5 to Delridge Branch Library for a fun session promoting early learning. (5423 Delridge Way SW)

PROTECTION ZONES FOR ORCAS? 7 pm at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), The Whale Trail begins its new series of Orca Talks by examining the idea of even more protection for the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales – details in our calendar listing, including a ticket link – $5 suggested donation adults/kids free. (5612 California SW)

‘DOGFIGHT,’ WEEK 2: 7:30 pm at ArtsWest (WSB sponsor), it’s curtain time for the next performance of the musical “Dogfight,” described as “the romantic and heartbreaking story of three young Marines in 1963” as they prepare to deploy to Vietnam. Directed by AW’s new artistic director Mathew Wright. (4711 California SW)

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Thursday on the move

October 30, 2014 6:30 am
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 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)

Good morning! Final Thursday of the month – here we go. Notes for starters:

TUNNEL MACHINE RESCUE DIG MIGHT RESUME SOON: One day after the state announced the start of the archaeological examination of shells found in the tunnel-machine-rescue pit, the Seattle Times (WSB partner) has an update – they probably are related to settlers, not natives.

‘FALL BACK’ EARLY SUNDAY: This is the weekend that Daylight Saving Time ends – Sunday morning at 2 am, “fall back” to 1 am.

West Seattle Crime Watch update: Stolen truck, found!

EARLY THURSDAY: “We’re a two-person company, so this truck means a lot to us.” So says BWM from Orec, the company whose logo is on a 2006 Isuzu NPR truck stolen last weekend from the 4800 block of Fauntleroy Way SW (map). It’s a lot like the truck you see above at right; it carries the logo you see above at left. BWM thinks it was likely taken during stormy Saturday night/early Sunday; it’s been reported to police, so if you see it somewhere, please call 911.

THURSDAY NIGHT: See comments – a reader spotted the truck, and we just got confirmation that truck and owner were reunited.

West Seattle birdwatching: Brown pelican seen off Alki

Thanks to Guy and Joy Smith for another unusual Alki Point sighting – a brown pelican. They report it “rested on the water just north of Alki Point (Wednesday) before it headed south around the point.” Though the photo is from a distance, it’s clear from the pelican’s coloring that it’s a mature brown pelican – the ones that are truly “brown” are juveniles, like this one that hung around West Seattle for a while in early 2013. They are more common the further south you go, but generally keep to the seacoast and aren’t often seen on inland waterways like ours.

West Seattle scenes: Colorful late-October sunset, your views

October 29, 2014 8:26 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle scenes: Colorful late-October sunset, your views
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

(Photo by James Bratsanos)
8:26 PM: This year of sunset spectacles just doesn’t end. Thanks to everyone who’s sent photos of tonight’s painted sky – this is the start of a mini-gallery.

(Photo by Mark Dale)
Adding a few more shortly. The rain’s back tomorrow, and who knows when we’ll see this again!

ADDED 9:18 PM: Click ahead for more (or scroll, if you’re viewing this from the standalone story page and not the home page)

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West Seattle restaurants: Opening night for Peel & Press

(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
Two months after we first reported that Peel & Press was moving into the former Abbondanza space in Morgan Junction, it’s opening night. Just got that word from proprietor Dan Austin (below), with whom we talked in August.

His focus is “stone-fired” pizza and spirits – here’s the drink menu for happy hour (until 6) – and P&P will be open until 11 tonight at 6503 California SW.

E-mail signed Sam Adams: ‘The West Seattle Club has closed … For falling short, I apologize’

For the first time since the fitness center at 2629 SW Andover closed last Thursday – billed as a two-day closure but then extended by an ownership change – members on a mailing list from the former ownership received a message this afternoon. This is the entire unedited text of the e-mail:

It is with great sorrow that I write to you that the West Seattle Club has closed. The landlord will be taking over shortly and the club will be back open as soon as possible. I am sorry that I was unable to turn the club around from its first bankruptcy and I take full responsibility for its failure. The strain on the relationship with the landlord became too much as he refused to fix anything structural or mechanical in the club. I invested money into systems and structures that are typically not the tenants responsibility. The landlord refused to fix the following:

The HVAC system. This caused the system to always broken. It was either too hot or too cold.
The swimming pool filtration system was always broken.
The electrical wiring was in adequate in the building which caused fires and the voltage spikes. These spikes would cause the pool and hot tub control equipment to always blow up, fail, or catch on fire. Thus the hot tub and pool are always out of order. These spikes also blew up a lot of the cardio equipment. That is why a lot of pieces were always down.
The pool is not VGB certified and was supposed to be certified back in 2011. By draining the pool the landlord can get this fixed so the pool is to code.
The sprinkler system in the locker rooms are too short so we could not put a ceiling up in the locker rooms.
The air exchange system in the locker rooms is broken so the ceiling do not always dry and they collect water which leads to the mold.
The air exchange system in the pool does not work properly and should be replaced. That is why the walls are dripping with rust.
Landlord needs to tear out the shower walls so mold and water will not continue to go into the shower walls.
Landlord needs to replace all of the leaky windows.

I have also taken out most of my equipment and will hopefully be able to finish removing the remaining pieces in order to make room for your new owner to purchase newer equipment for the club. The club was not attacked or sabotaged. The swimming pool was drained so it can be repaired, the drains brought to code, and painted. There was no vandalism and there was a lot of good equipment left. I left the carpet shampoo machine, tile cleaning machine for the bathrooms, and many other cleaning supplies. All paper towel dispensers were left on the walls. The club needs cleaning from the move, upgrades in equipment, supplies purchased. All of which is a small investment by your new owner John Pietromonaco. If you have any question you can contact him by clicking on his name or you can call his office at (206) 232-7502 .

All of your membership and credit card information has been removed from the premises and will be destroyed. If you would like to sign back up at the club you will have to email John or stop by the club. Your memberships are officially terminated and you will not be charged again by the West Seattle Club. Some of you have not been charged for the last two months as we have been in transition with our new management software CSI. You will not be charged for those two months. For those of you that have been charged before the club was closed down or you joined less than 30 days ago, you will be receiving a full refund. If you have any questions please feel free to email us from the website at www.westseattleclub.com. We will be using the contact information that we have on file to send you your refund.

There are also many mistakes that I made that I will learn from. West Seattle is a great community and deserves a great club for people to reach their fitness goals. For falling short I apologize. Good luck and God Bless.

Sam Adams

The denial of sabotage is an apparent response to what the property owner’s representative, Dan Lehr, said in a message we published as part of our Saturday night coverage.

Meantime, a new document in Adams’s bankruptcy-case file confirms what had been mentioned in other documents the past few days – what technically happened is that he sought extra time to decide on whether to extend or “reject” the club lease, a decision required as part of the proceedings, and last Friday, the judge turned down the request, so the lease was “rejected” as of this past Monday. The newest information from the new ownership/management of the 2629 SW Andover facility is in this story we published Tuesday afternoon; we’ll update this with anything else that comes in this afternoon/evening.

4:21 PM: While the message suggests e-mailing “from the website,” we haven’t found an e-mail address on it so far. A couple layers in, we did find this form; let us know if you use it and get a reply.

West Seattle windstorm aftermath: Lowman Beach cleared to reopen after sewage overflow during power outage

(WSB photo: Excavation site at midday today)
As the excavation continues at the Murray Combined Sewer Overflow Control Project site across from Lowman Beach Park, another reminder of what the future million-gallon tank is for – King County announced that Saturday night’s windstorm led to a power outage and another overflow from Murray Pump Station, into Puget Sound. We’re still waiting to hear the amount of sewage that (updated) 200,000 gallons of sewage overflowed; county Wastewater Treatment spokesperson Annie Kolb-Nelson says bacteria levels “were never elevated,” but the beach was closed “as a precaution” and has since reopened. The county brought in a mobile generator to get the pump station back online and stop Saturday night’s overflow; once the entire Murray project is complete, that shouldn’t be necessary either, since the pump station itself is getting a “permanent back-up electrical system” in addition to the huge tank to hold overflows. Right now, the overflow tank site is more than two-thirds of the way into the 60-foot-deep excavation that’s planned for the $26 million project, which is designed to bring the county into compliance with orders to limit overflows to no more than one per year; currently, this pump station averages five.

Speaking of play areas: Tonight’s the night to be in Highland Park

October 29, 2014 12:23 pm
|    Comments Off on Speaking of play areas: Tonight’s the night to be in Highland Park
 |   Highland Park | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

Too busy a day for a calendar preview (please go directly to our calendar to browse everything that’s up) but there’s one spotlight event, as the Highland Park Action Committee reminds us:

*Highland Park Playground Public Meeting #1* will be held tonight, 6:30 to 7:45 p.m.at Highland Park Elementary School, 1012 SW Trenton St. An Opportunity Fund Grant was awarded to the park with the goals of improving access into the park, and making better connections to SW Thistle, 10th Ave SW, and SW Cloverdale so that it can evolve into an easily accessible node between Riverview and Westcrest. Participants can learn about this community-initiated project that will improve the access, usability, and safety of Highland Park. More information on their website.

Roxhill Castle followup: Turret lifted off, play area reopens

October 29, 2014 12:06 pm
|    Comments Off on Roxhill Castle followup: Turret lifted off, play area reopens
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | Westwood

(Photo courtesy Amanda Kay Helmick)
Thanks to Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council chair Amanda Kay Helmick for sharing the photo of liftoff for the community-created turret at Roxhill Park‘s “castle” play structure. She observed its removal this morning and said the Parks staffers worked very carefully and respectfully.

(This photo and next by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
As first reported last Thursday, safety concerns regarding the turret led to the closure of the castle until it could be removed. We got there this morning after the turret, created during the play structure’s construction a year and a half ago, was bundled onto a Seattle Parks truck:

Helmick says she’s been told that Parks hopes to replace it on the structure by reinforcing the area beneath, and the structure itself, so it can bear the weight. No timeline yet; we’ll be checking in with Parks. Meantime, the play area is expected to reopen today (if it hasn’t already reopened since we were over there about an hour ago).

12:59 PM UPDATE: Just went back over – fence is gone, play structure is reopened:

West Seattle traffic-alert update: Fauntleroy/Oregon light fixed

10:50 AM: Heard this on the scanner and just checked it out. The signals at Fauntleroy/Oregon are out – a truck is believed to have taken out part of the equipment. People are zipping through the light rather than treating it as an all-ways stop as they should be. No sign of a repair crew yet.

11:37 AM: Just added two photos, including the pole that was knocked down on the north side of Fauntleroy. If you’re in the area, please let us know (206-293-6302 text/voice or editor@westseattleblog.com) if you see a repair crew; we’ll otherwise be checking back in an hour or so.

3 PM UPDATE: We went by within the past hour; the light’s back on and other repairs were being completed:

Gathering of Neighbors 2014: See you there, November 15

You see the announcements and stories go by – this project, that community council, this meeting, that survey – but you’re still not quite sure how to get fully community-connected. Here’s an excellent opportunity: This year’s Gathering of Neighbors, organized by local community advocates and volunteers, just announced for 9 am-1 pm Saturday, November 15th. If you’ve been in the past – this one’s different; instead of another resource fair where you can circulate between tables and booths, it’s a chance to talk and listen. After a one-hour opening program at 9 am, here’s what’s scheduled:

10:00-11:00 AM – 4 BREAKOUT SESSIONS

*Land Use (led by Delridge & Southwest District Councils’ Joint Land Use Committee)
*Transportation (led by West Seattle Transportation Coalition)
*Public Safety (led by West Seattle Blockwatch Captains and Seattle Neighborhood Group)
*Staying Informed & Getting Connected (led by Tracy Record, West Seattle Blog)

About that last one … along with info on where to find and share info, we’ll also share the best ways (not just WSB) for you to get maximum exposure for what YOU need to announce, including the best way to write a “news release” (hint, sometimes you don’t need one at all) and the top things you DON’T need to do (but might think you do) to get media coverage/attention. Back to the schedule:

11:15 AM-1:00 PM – 2 MODERATED DISCUSSIONS
After choosing one of the breakout sessions to learn more about how you can stay informed and get involved, join in one of two discussions about major projects underway in West Seattle:

*North Delridge Action Plan (led by DPD/DON staff)
*Fauntleroy Way SW Boulevard Project (led by SDOT staff)

The Gathering of Neighbors will happen this year at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW). See you there!