West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
Business was a big topic at Monday night’s North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting – local businesses present and potentially future. Read on for our toplines:Read More
If you don’t drive in the late-night/early-morning hours, you won’t notice, but the state just issued another reminder of these partial Viaduct/99 closures the next two nights (mentioned in THIS WEEK’S CLOSURES atop the TOP STORIES list on the WSB sidebar):
Crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation will close the southbound State Route 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct for the next two nights to continue work to reinforce both decks of a two-block section of the viaduct between South Washington and Columbia streets in Pioneer Square.
Protecting this section of the viaduct is important because crews will drive the tunnel boring machine beneath it in late 2013.
Closure details:
· Tuesday, April 10 – the morning of Thursday, April 12 – Southbound SR 99 between the West Seattle Bridge and the Battery Street Tunnel will close nightly from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The Elliott Avenue and Columbia Street on-ramps to southbound SR 99 will also close.
Both nights, there’s ALSO a city-project closure, as also forewarned earlier – the eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct, same hours. If you are expecting to drive at that time, do read the entire city alert, because some surface/ramp changes might affect you even if the major bridge shutdown doesn’t.
With the pro-football preseason is four-plus months away, there’s plenty of time for players to set their sights on a different playing field – local schools. Seattle Seahawks quarterback Josh Portis made a surprise appearance today at Arbor Heights Elementary School (whose students are the “Junior Seahawks”). His message: Stay in school. Not that dropping out is a big problem at the elementary level, but it’s never too soon to start making sure the message sinks in – encouraging better attendance has been a big districtwide campaign this school year. (Thanks to the Arbor Heights parent volunteer who shared the photo of the quarterback and Ms. Wilson, the first-grade teacher who led today’s assembly.)
Thanks to Danny McMillin for sharing that photo from the South Alki area, where SDOT‘s two-month project to extend the 61st/Spokane stairway up to 60th is complete. He says a sign informed users it was open as of last Friday.
If you haven’t already spotted the new Goodwill donation station in West Seattle – it’s been there at least a week – the nonprofit organization is now ready to tell the world about it. 4722 Fauntleroy Way SW is the address, on the south side of West Seattle Produce, between SW Alaska and SW Edmunds. Goodwill spokesperson Katherine Boury shared the news, and the photo (that’s the type of truck you’ll see set up there every day). The collection site is open 9 am-6 pm every day of the year (except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter) and, as noted on its official web page, will even take electronics, as long as they’re not too big – no TVs or computer monitors larger than 19 inches. (West Seattle also has a donation-dropoff site for Northwest Center, 44th and Edmunds in The junction, 9 am-5 pm on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.)
(Photos copyright Timothy S. Lusk)
If you closely watched Laura James‘ “Sunny Saturday on Alki” video clip atop today’s WSB “West Seattle Monday” preview – without blinking – you probably glimpsed a short shot toward the end, with people rolling up a banner. We asked Laura about it when we previewed her clip, and she said she just happened to catch the tail end of a fly-by proposal – with the proposee in a helicopter overhead. She, and we, agreed we wished we’d heard about it in advance; what a tale to tell.
Then, this afternoon, the WSB inbox brought a note from the proposer, Jason Hawkes. He had e-mailed to ask if we had any more visuals (even though he had a professional photographer documenting the excitement on the ground – this story has three of those photos). We managed to coax some details out of him so we could share the story with you.
Jason explained, “Last Saturday, around 6:30 PM, I proposed to my girlfriend (Robin Pritchett) via Alki and a helicopter. Family and friends were on Alki Beach holding a 12-foot banner with the words ‘Robin, will you marry me?’ Meanwhile, Robin and I were in a helicopter that I chartered and had the pilot fly right over Alki Beach so she’d see the banner.”
He says they are Alki residents, too, in a condo near the Lighthouse. Jason says, “I grew up in Kent, but always came to Alki for barbecues and get-togethers. During that time, I knew that when I graduated from WSU, I’d move to Alki. 
Sure enough, 4 months after graduating, I bought a condo on Alki Ave.” That was three years ago. He and Robin have been together about a year, though they’ve known each other since their freshman year in Pullman.
So, we asked, where did the helicopter idea come from? “I wanted my proposal to be something memorable, but also meaningful. Our first kiss was at Alki (Alki Beach), our first date was at Alki (Cactus), we fell in love at Alki (everywhere), and we live on Alki (next to the Lighthouse), so proposing hundreds of feet above Alki sounded like a pretty cool idea.”
Oh, and of course, Robin said “yes.” They’re looking at a wedding date in July of next year.
Another orca-sighting alert (via Elissa, on the WSB Facebook wall) sent us down to Beach Drive to take a look – but this was the only black-and-white-marked wildlife group we spotted – the beautiful brant who come here to eat eelgrass. (Here’s what Alki resident Guy Smith wrote about them for WSB in fall 2009. Note – brant are easily spooked, so if you see them, shhh!) The whale tips came from multiple sources; though we never saw them, that’s par for our course, but others including Jeff Hogan from Killer Whale Tales, plus two city Park Rangers, had better luck. And Orca Network‘s Facebook page says two pods may be in the Sound today. Meantime, the lowest tide of the month (-2.3 feet) is bottoming out right about now; if you have the chance to tidewalk tomorrow, it’ll be almost this low (-2.1 feet) at 2:23 pm – here’s the chart.
If you are, or know, a graduating West Seattle High School senior, time has almost run out to apply for a West Seattle HS Alumni Association scholarship, says 1966 class rep Tom Friberg, sending out one last call for applications:
One of the activities of the Alumni Association is the awarding of scholarships to graduating Seniors. This year 14 scholarships are available, ranging from $500 to $5,000. The request for applications has been out since December 2011 and the deadline is nearing. All applications must be postmarked by April 13th. … For last-minute entry forms, contact the school directly at (206) 252-8800.
And if you have one that hasn’t been postal-mailed in yet – West Seattle High School Alumni Association, (updated address) 4742 42nd Ave. SW, #215, Seattle 98116.
Amie e-mailed this morning not only to report that her car was broken into, but to share what she saw, in hopes it will lead to an arrest:
My car was broken into this morning at the Westcrest offleash dog park. I witnessed one of the suspects running away from my car, getting into the getaway car and driving away. I was walking up the lower hill with two friends and our dogs when I witnessed a suspicious-looking guy jogging away from my car. I immediately went to my car and saw that the window had been smashed. I definitely interrupted the burglary in process. The only things that were takes were an FM iPhone adapter and car charger.
My call to 911 was at 6:20 am, which was about 3-4 minutes after I witnessed him running from my car. The suspect is caucasian, early to mid 20s, tall (6′-ish) with sandy-blonde hair and a thin build. I’m less sure of what he was wearing but think it was jeans and a dark-colored sweatshirt.
There was a second person driving the car, but I did not see them at all. A woman at the dog park said she saw the car and occupants when she arrived at the park and that they were both caucasian males. The car is an older model red Japanese model (Honda Civic/Accord or Toyota Tercel) that has a black or gray-primed quarter panel over the driver’s side wheel. The SPD took prints and provided an incident # of 12-107322. If you see a car matching this description, please reports its location to the police immediately.
(Thanks to Laura James for chronicling what was up – with people as well as water/wildlife – on Alki this past Saturday!)
Welcome to a new week! From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
ROAD WORK: Tonight, “only” one major closure – the eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct, 10 pm-5 am. This means you won’t be able to get to I-5 from the West Seattle Bridge during those hours; there are a few other ramp/surface changes too. Here’s our list, as it stands, of closures announced for this week, both city (WS Bridge) and state (99/Viaduct) – we will update it if anything else is added.
WATER TAXI REMINDER: If you haven’t seen the story from earlier this morning – starting today, the West Seattle Water Taxi is now on its all-day, every-day spring/summer schedule. That means the 773/775 free shuttles’ schedules have changed for the season, too.
EARTHQUAKE-HAZARDS REPORT: During this morning’s City Council “briefing” meeting – the first of two full-council meetings held most Mondays – federal experts will talk with councilmembers about a new report on local quake risks. We previewed it here last Thursday, when the agenda and presentation slides were made public. The meeting starts at 9:30 am and will be live on Seattle Channel (cable 21 as well as online); this briefing is expected to start around 10:15 am.
(added) WEST SEATTLE COOKING CLUB: Today’s ingredient is greens! Bring something cooked with ’em. 3 pm, Beveridge Place Pub. (More info at westseattlecookingclub.org)
NORTH DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: 6:30 pm, Delridge Library (Delridge/Brandon) – our calendar listing will connect you with agenda info.
(added, spotted via Twitter) ROXHILL ELEMENTARY PTA: 6:30 pm, school library. (30th/Roxbury)
PIGEON POINT NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: 7 pm, Pathfinder K-8 cafeteria (1901 SW Genesee) – and check out the neighborhood’s remodeled website!
(added) ‘FLAT EARTH SOCIETY’ GUEST DJ @ WEST 5: 9 pm tonight, per West 5‘s Dave Montoure: “DJ BackBackon (the irrepressible Matt Lukin, alumnus of Mudhoney, Melvins).”
Spring is finally here, so far as the West Seattle Water Taxi is concerned – its spring/summer schedule is now in effect. No more service gaps between morning and evening commute, no more Water Taxi-less weekends, while this schedule is in effect. See it here (and remember that the shuttle schedules are changing to match the boat schedules too). If the expanded Water Taxi brings you back on board for the first time, remember some things are different in the Seacrest area – Alki Crab and Fish moved out a month ago, and the suddenly complicated Marination situation is being worked out, but Alki Kayak Tours is open for the season, and brand-new Alki Juice and Java is open across the street. New for the Water Taxi itself – the county Ferry District has a new administrator, Christine Nelson.
10:31 PM SUNDAY: If you’re in eastern West Seattle, you might have noticed Seattle Fire crews rushing eastward. They’re headed for South Park, where smoke is coming from a 40-foot boat at a marina on the Duwamish River. We’re tracking it on our recently soft-launched site The South Park News.
MONDAY MORNING UPDATE: Here’s the update published on TSPN. West Seattle side note: Ladder 13’s firefighters were instrumental in getting the hose laid out to reach the fire – an unusually long way, 800 feet!
Yes, West Seattle had an “Easter seal” today (By the way, the original Easter Seals are still around.) Jen sent us the top photo of a pup on Alki this morning, watched over by Seal Sitters, whose Robin Lindsey told us tonight they nicknamed “Bunny” – because it kept popping up all over the place! Robin shared a photo too:
Robin also calls our attention to a story published tonight by our partners at the Seattle Times, following up on a sad story she broke last week – also reported here last Monday – the death of the rehabilitated pup “Sandy,” found tangled in old fishing gear in Edmonds. The Times story quotes a conservation group as saying more than half a million sea creatures are killed by lost/abandoned gear every year.
8:08 PM SUNDAY: It was originally Louisa Boren Junior High School … with multiple school using it as temporary quarters in recent years … and now, the Seattle Public Schools site at 5950 Delridge Way SW has a new sign officially declaring it the “Louisa M. Boren Building.” As you probably know, it will be home to a new school, K-5 STEM at Boren, for at least the next two years, and the first wave of enrollment letters for the opt-in school are scheduled to go out one week from tomorrow. Meantime, the school Design Team meets again Tuesday night at 6:15 pm at school district HQ in SODO; you can plug directly into discussions about the new school on its community-created Yahoo! discussion group, here.
ADDED MONDAY AFTERNOON: Just received the link for district notes on the Design Team’s long Saturday session – you can see them here. New principal Dr. Shannon McKinney is now here from Arizona and joined the team for the session focusing on curriculum and related items.
600+ peeps in a Lowman Beach-area yard, said the e-mail tip from Scott. So we had to go take a peep – er, peek – for ourselves.
We didn’t count them, but we’ll take his word for it. Pastel bunny Peeps, to be specific, all over the lawn. And even in the bushes, with some of their faceless marshmallow cousins:
P.S. For other Peeps creations, check out the gallery from our partners at the Seattle Times.
Maybe you’ve heard of the “cash mob” concept, now that it’s been tried in a couple neighborhoods around, and near, Seattle – supporters of a local small independent business “mob” it at a pre-set time and place, usually pledging to spend at least $20 each. 
The first West Seattle/White Center “cash mob” has just been announced, with its “target” Village Green Perennial Nursery (WSB sponsor) at 2 pm April 28th. Local entrepreneur Michael B. Maine of Menrva Labs, whose mission is “to promote social change by increasing social awareness,” came up with the idea this weekend, and will roll out more information in the week ahead. He explains that “… after meeting Vera Johnson at the ‘Women on a Mission’ conference a few weeks ago, I decided to head down to her nursery yesterday. After spending a couple of hours with her, I thought her place would make a great location to host a cash mob.” We think every day would be a great day to “mob” your favorite local independent businesses, and Michael says he agrees, while adding, “I think it’s important for them to know where to be and when. Then they can make the conscious effort to support or not support that business.” Keep tabs on the “cash mob”‘s Facebook event page in case something changes.
Bob A in North Admiral took this photo around 8 this morning – looking north toward Magnolia – and shared it with WSB, wondering what the smoke was from. All we could tell at the time was, nothing in Seattle. Our friends at KING 5 said they had heard about something in North Kitsap. And now the Kitsap Sun has details – the community of Indianola actually had two fires to deal with today, including one at a “large new house,” though their time frame and description would correlate the smoke with the other fire, involving a garage and exploding propane tanks sending flames high into the air. So now you know.
Another tale of West Seattle student achievement this weekend: Eight students from Denny International Middle School went downtown for the Youth Town Hall, reports principal Jeff Clark (who shared the photos, too):
This Saturday, Denny International Middle School scholars joined many Seattle area teens at the Youth Town Hall, an annual event hosted by the Seattle Youth Commission.
Denny’s delegation of eight student leaders took time out of their weekend to get up close and personal with Mayor McGinn, Council President Sally Clark, and Council members Sally Bagshaw, Tom Rasmussen, Nick Licata, and Tim Burgess.
They really showed remarkable leadership in connecting with our civic leaders asking questions during the Q&A session and then approaching individual council members to hear more about what these city leaders do to serve our great city. Our Denny Dolphins joined scholars from other Seattle middle and high schools to ask questions about educational funding, transportation, crime prevention, public safety and civic service. We are proud of all the students who participated and got a first hand opportunity to engage our civic leaders.
Principal Clark says the Youth Town Hall is scheduled to be televised by Seattle Channel – cable 21 – at 10 pm Wednesday (April 11th), 9:30 am Thursday (April 12th), and 1 pm next Sunday (April 15th). We’ll also keep an eye out for its appearance on the Seattle Channel website, so we can add that video to this story.
At one elementary school in West Seattle, dozens of students have been attending six days a week for the past three months – to get an extra educational boost. It’s the Roxhill Elementary Saturday Academy, and principal Carmela Dellino shares photos and a report on this weekend’s “graduation” ceremony:
More than 150 students, teachers, family members and volunteers packed the Roxhill Elementary School cafeteria Saturday for a celebration of knowledge and community. The 12-week program concluded with 44 students from grades 3-5 graduating and receiving a diploma.
Saturday Academy is a program introduced by third-year Principal Carmela Dellino in an effort to offer extended learning time in mathematics and reading for students grades 3 – 5. The Academy started last year, but grew even bigger thanks to a $20,000 infusion of cash from the school’s fundraising auction last May and from a grant from the Symetra Foundation.
The day started off like every other Saturday Academy with a breakfast snack at 9:00 am for all participants. All students then attended 2 separate sessions reviewing what they had learned, giving each other positive compliments and preparing their mini-speech for the graduation ceremony. Each student prepared a binder of their work over the 12-week course.
At 10:30, family and friends joined the scholars for brunch of eggs, pancakes, waffles, and bacon.
After the brunch Principal Dellino gathered everyone to attention and started the graduation proceedings.
Ms. Dellino started out by thanking the scholars, the “Stars” of the day, and led them on the 3 Saturday School chants. She then thanked the essential Saturday Academy teachers, City Year volunteers, and family members for their commitment to their children. Four young people were singled out for their tireless volunteer work, sometimes arriving at 7:30 am to help set up.
Each student was called up individually and one of the eight teachers read a statement about the work and improvement that specific student had demonstrated. The intelligence, dedication and enthusiasm to be life-long learners were reflected in the mini-speeches. Then the scholar said a few comments about what they had learned and improved on over the 12 week period.
After the scholars presented their comments, they shook hands with the principal and received their graduation certificate while ‘pomp and circumstance’ played over the speakers in the cafeteria.
It was a great day of celebration for the scholars and their families.
You can help make Saturday Academy a reality for the 2012-2013 school year by either donating to or attending the annual ‘Night for the Stars’ fundraising auction, 6:30 pm May 4th, at 415 Westlake in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle. Please see the link on the school’s website for further information.
(Photo by John Hinkey, taken Saturday from Hamilton Viewpoint Park in North Admiral)
Another sunny day is unfolding – maybe into the mid-60s! Besides church and brunch, which we’re sure you have figured out already if they are in your plans, three notes:
VIADUCT STILL CLOSED: The state is working on Highway 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct again this weekend, reinforcing it in advance of tunnel-construction work. Reopening isn’t planned till 5 am Monday, but if it’s earlier, you’ll hear it here (and on the WSB Facebook page and Twitter feed, of course).
YES, THE FARMERS’ MARKET IS OPEN: 10 am-2 pm at 44th/Alaska, you’ll find West Seattle Farmers’ Market vendors. Market managers’ promotion point for this week is: “Welcome back Tiny’s Organics, with perfectly preserved preserves and dried goodies!”
ALKI KAYAK TOURS IS OPEN FOR THE SEASON: Yes, that includes today (and what a perfect day to be out on the water!), according to proprietor Greg Whittaker, who says AKT – at Seacrest Boathouse (1660 Harbor Avenue SW) is up and running for “early season sea kayak tours and rentals, stand-up paddleboard (SUP) instruction and rentals, as well as skate and bike rentals … More information on our website @ www.kayakalki.com or by calling 206-953-0237.”
VILLAGE GREEN IS OPEN TODAY: Another sunny day got you in the mood to get out in the garden? Village Green Perennial Nursery (WSB sponsor) is open – “and hiding little treasures,” according to proprietor Vera Johnson. (10223 26th SW – open at 10 am)
OK, so the shopping frenzy is nothing like an Easter egg hunt … we don’t do a countdown to 9 am and yell “GO!” but – we ARE counting down, in a more low-key way, to West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day itself (always the second Saturday in May, so that’s 9 am-3 pm Saturday, May 12th this year), exactly five weeks away. We just started signups this week, so you have a few weeks to decide to jump in, but if you’re ready to commit to being part of it this year, we invite you to sign up now. You get to be on the printable and clickable maps, with a classified-style “ad” for your stuff, and you’ll be part of a fun meet-your-neighbors sale day that draws people from around the region (we promote it in a variety of online and offline channels that reach hundreds of thousands of potential shoppers, for miles and miles around). We’re closing in on 50 sales registered already! Here’s the form.
With the community centers’ events all combined at Southwest Athletic Complex, today’s only Admiral District-area community egg hunt was at Life Care Center of West Seattle – with more than 100 people on hand.
Oh, and in addition to the 100-plus people, one Easter Bunny, holding court for DIY photos:
WSB was among the sponsors, by the way – we chipped in for some of the candy.
Notice the fire engine in the back of that photo? The Admiral District’s own Engine 29 came to Life Care Center for the occasion, and provided almost as many photo ops as The Bunny:
Miss today’s egg hunts? There’s the usual casual, low-key Easter Sunday one at C & P Coffee (WSB sponsor) tomorrow morning at 11 am, and if you’re going to an Easter church service, check your favorite church’s website to see if they’re having one before or after the service – we’ve noticed a few.
One week from today, as North Delridge Neighborhood Council Beautification Committee chair Lisa Taylor-Whitley puts it: “Two hours of your time will make a visible difference in our neighborhood.” It’s the annual North Delridge Spring Clean, 10 am-noon on April 14th:
Volunteers will meet at the Delridge Community Center, 4501 Delridge Way SW, and break into groups from there.
We will provide the bags and pickers while you will provide the labor to spruce up our neighborhood! We will be cleaning Delridge Way from Andover to Juneau, pruning around the “Welcome to Delridge” sign, and planting plants at the Community Center.
P.S. And for other neighborhood happenings and discussions – NDNC’s monthly meeting is Monday, 6:30 pm, Delridge Library, agenda info here.
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