West Seattle, Washington
28 Thursday
Not only was it a gorgeous day to wander neighborhoods and shop, it was a spectacular day for a ride – particularly if you were helping the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle raise money to benefit cancer research at Children’s Hospital. They gathered at midmorning at 40th/Alaska, to head out on a “poker run”:
The concept was explained in the preview we published – get a card at each checkpoint along the ride, then see what kind of hand you wound up with. The ride was followed by a barbecue, and as you know if you were out and about today, the sun shone all the way through!
About 1 o’clock this afternoon – according to Brian Presser from TouchTech Systems in The Junction, who shared the photo – drivers heading westbound on the West Seattle Bridge would have seen that bumper-to-bumper traffic headed eastbound. (What? You left before West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day was over?) Backups have historically been fairly typical when the Alaskan Way Viaduct is closed – as WSDOT warned almost two weeks ago that it would be this weekend – but the photo gives us one more excuse to remind you that the reason for this closure will also affect Highway 99 drivers between West Seattle and downtown for at least the next few years: Crews are reconfiguring the section between The Bridge and the stadiums to be two lanes each way, to facilitate the next steps in construction of the South End (Holgate-to-King) Viaduct replacement (which is a separate project from the tunnel-or-? project for the Central Waterfront). So this is what you’ll find when The Viaduct reopens early Monday:
(It’s explained further here.) The vague end date is because, as WSDOT explains it, it all depends on what happens with the plan for the Central Waterfront section; the South End project, they say, is designed to connect to whatever eventually is built, tunnel or something else.
(Photos by Katie Meyer for WSB)
Very busy spring on the southeastern side of the heart of The Junction’s business district. On Friday, we got a quick peek inside Bang Bar, the Asian-fusion restaurant/lounge that has been in the works for the former Tom Yum Koong spot (that restaurant closed three months ago, and we confirmed the Bang Bar plans the next day). Manager Michael Anthony Pascua tells WSB they’re working to set up the kitchen this weekend, after completing most of the other interior work. No date set yet – like most new restaurants, they will go through a few trial runs (private party, “soft open”) before throwing open the doors to the public.
Katie says one of the features inside is a waterfall wall that “rains” instead of just having water rippling down the surface. By the way, we don’t know if it’s finalized information, but a menu has taken shape on the Bang Bar website, too.
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*Around 4:30 last Friday afternoon, a 13-year-old was walking home from school when a car pulled into a driveway, blocking the sidewalk. A young passenger demanded money and the boy’s iPod. The boy said something to the effect of, “I don’t think so,” and added “I live near here. How about if I just get my parents instead?” The chagrined suspects drove off northbound in the 3400 block of Walnut SW. Both driver (aged 16 or so) and passenger (12-13 years old) were described as white males wearing white t-shirts; they were in a Nissan Frontier pickup truck.
4 more summaries (quiet week!) ahead:Read More
While checking back in on the Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) courtyard sale during West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, we spotted this work under way next door at the Junction Post Office – with bins of donations for the Stamp Out Hunger one-day door-to-door food drive. Haven’t heard any local totals yet but we’ll be checking. And if you missed it, no worries, both food banks that serve West Seattle will be happy to take your donation another time (or even an online $ donation right now) – West Seattle Food Bank information is here, and White Center Food Bank (which also serves WS south of Myrtle) is here.
Some sellers are continuing on till 4 or so – the folks raising money at West Seattle High School for its girls’ basketball team have cut everything to half price, says coach Sonya Elliott. Other sellers who are extending hours are posting on the WSCGSD Facebook page. And then there are the spots where leftovers can be donated:
The Big Blue Truck from Northwest Center is staying late today at 44th and Edmunds for anybody who wants to haul over unsold items, instead of booking a pickup next week (which you can do online at bigbluetruck.org) or taking them back down to the basement. They’ll be there till 6:30 today only – then back tomorrow regular hours, 9 am-5 pm. If you have kids’ stuff, WestSide Baby always has a wish list – check it out here. Tools? See what the West Seattle Tool Library needs – they are open tomorrow, 1-5 pm, at 4408 Delridge Way (east side of the building).
(Among the many unusual items we’ve seen – Potter Construction hard hats at Sale #223, 5606 California SW)
Quick notes in addition to the coverage in earlier stories, to which we’re continuing to add: We’re publishing individual-sale photos/reports at westseattlegaragesale.com; sellers/buyers are continuing to post at facebook.com/westseattlegaragesaleday; and if you still don’t have a map, not too late to follow the downloadable-map link (12-page PDF) at westseattleblog.com/garagesaledaymap (where you can also browse the online version) – or there may still be a copy or two of the limited-edition printouts at Hotwire, C&P, Bird on a Wire, or the West Seattle Library branch in Admiral. Sales continue till 3 – and then if there are leftovers, Northwest Center‘s pickup spot is open later than usual today at 44th/Edmunds in The Junction (or schedule Big Blue Truck pickups next week); WestSide Baby also is taking donations longer than usual for a Saturday, till 4 pm. And the West Seattle Tool Library will be happy to take donations too!
That’s the vintage cash register VFW Post Commander Ron Zuber brought for the VFW Hall’s West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day debut, 3601 SW Alaska in The Triangle. It’s a group site, with multiple sellers renting tables – here’s vintage audio equipment:
The Triangle and Junction are hot spots today – among others! – right across the street from the VFW Hall, you’ll find Mountain to Sound Outfitters:
That’s M2SO boss Greg Whittaker, with some of what they have on sale. Just around the corner at 4550 Fauntleroy Way, more fun stuff for active people – it’s a bike swap and sale at Cycle University:
And at Merrill Gardens-West Seattle (WSB sponsor), 4611 35th SW, they’re raising money for the Senior Center of West Seattle. It’s Christmas in – May!
The MG folks tell us business has been good – and we are indeed seeing shoppers out all over the place. 3 1/2 hours to go, lots of time! Not far from The Triangle, by the way, Mural Apartments (WSB sponsor) has a sale indoors – multiple residents participating, and free popcorn!
Mural is on 42nd SW just north of SW Edmunds, right across from Jefferson Square.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: We are continuing to add photos to this update and others on WSB, which are grouped by category. For even more photos, sale by sale, each identified individually, go to westseattlegaragesale.com – sellers/buyers are also posting to facebook.com/westseattlegaragesaleday – thanks!)
On the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day 2011 maps, you’ll find more than a dozen sales labeled BENEFIT – they’re raising money for a group, or a person. In the case of Sale #204, 9843 42nd SW in Arbor Heights, that’s longtime WSB’er “JanS,” above left, with daughter Jessica. Jan is facing a kidney transplant – for which they are hopeful Jessica might be a “living donor” match. Once she gets the operation, she won’t be able to work for a while, so Jessica and friends are raising money today to help with Jan’s living expenses. Here’s some of what they are selling:
Adding other benefits:
Sale #4: 1227 SW Othello, raising money for a friend in need
Sale #15: 7944 20th SW, raising money for Chief Sealth Int’l High School cheerleaders (photo above; bake sale, too!)
Sale #25: 4142 47th SW, with bake sale to fight breast cancer
(Sale #29 photo by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
Sale #29: 3000 California SW, raising money for West Seattle High School girls’ basketball team
(Lots of dresses, and lots of shoppers, at the Ruby Room benefit sale, #31)
Sale #31: $10 dress sale at Cherry Consignment benefits The Ruby Room, 4142 California SW
Sale #39: 4136 Beach Drive, multifamily sale, all proceeds to American Cancer Society
Sale #42: 5704 SW Winthrop, partial proceeds benefiting YMCA Foundation for Youth
(Sale #58 photo by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
Sale #58: 4030 55th Avenue SW, benefiting Amethyst Chapter #138, Order of the Eastern Star.
(Hot dogs at sale #67, photo courtesy Kelly @ Muttley Crew Cuts)
Sale #67: 4200 SW Admiral Way at Muttley Crew Cuts, benefiting English Springer Rescue America
Sale #79: Fundraiser for 3-Day Walk, at Hotwire courtyard (4410 California SW)
Sale #105: 4116 55th SW. Fundraiser for Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure
Sale #120: 4003 53rd SW, Boy Scout Troop #284 benefit
(Amy at sale #126, photo by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
Sale #126: 3222 64th SW, benefiting lung-cancer research – sellers are organizing first Breathe Deep Seattle 5K, 8/13 at Lincoln Park
Sale #143: 2737 37th SW, proceeds benefiting PAWS
(Sale #156 photo by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
Sale #156: 3533 SW Elmgrove, benefiting Drillers softball team
Sale #176: 3204 SW Morgan, 2011 West Seattle Relay for Life multi-team benefit at Bridge Park – restrooms available for public use!
Sale #194: 3929 SW Elmgrove, benefit for Susan G Komen 3-Day
Sale #202: 5931 47th SW, benefits Foolscap SF Convention
Sale #204: 9843 42nd SW (featured above, benefit for kidney-transplant-awaiting patient)
Sale #210: 8436 Fauntleroy Way, benefits teacher scholarships
(Photo courtesy Sue Winter, who’s being helped at Sale #220 by Jordan Winter & Larisa Sulcs)
Sale #220: WestSide Baby fundraiser, selling Usborne Children’s Books outside The Little Gym, 7025 California SW
(Gary Potter from Potter Construction [WSB sponsor] at Sale #223)
Sale #223: 5606 California SW, benefits local and worldwide programs supported by Rotary Club of West Seattle and Rotarians everywhere.
Sale #225: 7400 Fauntleroy Way SW, Lincoln Park P-Patch
(Sale #251 – with what we believe to be the largest number of participants in a single sale!)
Sale #251: 10404 34th SW, Arbor Heights Co-op Preschool
Sale #252: 10251 41st SW, benefits Susan G Komen 3-Day, members of the fabled Team Tracy are raising money.
(Sale #153 photo by Patrick Sand)
Sale #253: 10455 42nd SW, for West Seattle Community Orchestras
Sale #254: 10435 28th SW, benefit for medical treatment not covered by insurance.
Sale #258: 10033 37th SW, benefits the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
That photo is just in from Lora at Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor), Sale #28 on the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day map, 4410 California SW, where dozens of sellers are setting up. (Including Sale #79, a fundraiser for the breast-cancer-fighting 3-Day.) Same courtyard where you enjoy the West Seattle Outdoor Movies every summer! Other group sites: Sale #138, VFW Hall (3601 SW Alaska – indoors); Sale #200, C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 5612 California SW; and the bike swap at Cycle U (4550 Fauntleroy Way), Sale #139. Then there are the block sales! More on them coming up.
9:34 AM: Another photo from Lora – the plant sales at Hotwire, and shoppers! Plus, we have word from Ron at the VFW Hall – “Lots of stuff! China and glassware, Tools, Poker chips, automotive, sewing machines. Most, just make an offer!”
(Right across the street from the VFW Hall, you’ll find a sale at Mountain to Sound Outfitters – more on the Triangle overview shortly.)
2:23 PM: Selling outside at C&P, sale #200:
In addition to West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day 9 am-3 pm (maps here), lots of other events happening around West Seattle today – some highlights from the WSB Events calendar:
ALASKAN WAY VIADUCT CLOSED: All weekend, as WSDOT sets up for the lane reductions that officially start Monday morning (2 lanes each way for the next few years, West Seattle Bridge to the stadium zone) – details here.
PUT OUT YOUR DONATIONS FOR STAMP OUT HUNGER: Before you leave for whatever you’re doing today, put out your bag of nonperishable food for the annual Stamp Out Hunger letter carriers’ food drive. Or – drop it off at Café Osita, west side of 35th just north of Webster, by 2 pm.
WEST SEATTLE KIWANIS MOTORCYCLE RIDE/SHOW AND POKER RUN: Signups start at 8:30; ride starts at 9:30; barbecue at 1:30 pm; all at 40th/Alaska – full details here.
DONATE BLOOD: Bloodmobile at Westwood Village – Barton Entrance (by between Pier 1 and Barnes & Noble. 9 am-3 pm (closed 11:30-12:30)
GENESEE-SCHMITZ GARDEN PARTY: 9 am – 1 pm will be the first of our gardening events at Genesee Hill School, SW Dakota Ave and 51st Ave SW, North Playground. Volunteers will tend the beds, distribute wood chips, and pull ivy. Tools, gloves (and the weed wrench) are provided by the Seattle School District. The goal is to help make the vacated Genesee School grounds more visibly pleasing and more enjoyable for community use. This is being organized by the Gardening Committee, Genesee Schmitz Neighborhood Council (GSNC). www.genesee-schmitz.org
GARDEN DAY TO HELP SENIORS: Free Senior Garden Sharing in West Seattle.Senior Center of West Seattle has organized this day and event. Volunteers and professional gardeners will help seniors with yard work. This is an all-day event culminating with a community potluck and barbecue. The event starts at West Seattle Produce (4721 Fauntleroy Way SW) with coffee. Schedule: 9 – 11 am: sign-in. 10 am – 3 pm: 2, 3 or 4 hour work-team assignments, go garden!! 3 – 7 pm dinner and celebration of work well done.
BARTON STREET P-PATCH GROUNDBREAKING: The official web marking post will be installed by Barker Landscaping at 9:30 am. Sign up sheets will be available for work parties from 9:00-11:00. Plots are assigned based on volunteer hours so come out. 34th/Barton.
LUPUS-FIGHTING WALK ON ALKI: The annual Walk with Us to Cure Lupus fundraising walk on Alki – registration by the bathhouse at 9 am, walk starts 10 am, full details here.
ASK AN EXPERT: Ask an Expert for the DIYer at West Seattle Tool Library (at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW), 10 am – 1 pm. Free and informal community meetups offer an opportunity to bounce project ideas off fellow DIYers and even receive some free professional advice in the process. You can then grab whatever tools you need from The Tool Library to get your ideas off the ground (or in the ground, if that’s the case.) The tool library also is an official stop on the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day map.
TALK WITH YOUR SCHOOL BOARD REP: Informal discussion with Seattle School Board president Steve Sundquist at High Point Library (3411 SW Raymond St.), 11 am – 12:30 pm.
ROOM TO ADD A CAT TO YOUR HOUSEHOLD? Seattle Animal Shelter adoptathon at Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon), noon-3 pm (details here)
SOUTHWEST SEATTLE SUPER STRING SATURDAY: Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra performs at South West Seattle Super String Saturday: 12:30 p.m. Chief Sealth International High School Auditorium: Everyone is invited to attend a mini-concert by the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra. They will perform Holst’s The Planets at 12:30 p.m. in the Chief Sealth International High School Auditorium. Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras is the largest youth orchestra training program in America. The organization operates four academic-year orchestras, three summer music festivals and a broad portfolio of public school partnership programs The concert is part of the first-ever Super Springs Saturday for South West Seattle Students, which runs from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. The days events will also include students who are learning string instruments at elementary schools in South West Seattle, and at Denny Middle School, performing and learning alongside the student musicians of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra (SYSO). The event is free and open to the students and families of Roxhill, Arbor Heights, Gatewood, Sanislo, West Seattle, Concord and Highland Park Elementary Schools as well as Denny International Middle School and any other community members wanting to support the young musicians of these south West Seattle Schools.
YOUTH SUMMIT AND MAYORAL VISIT: Mayor Mike McGinn at B.O.O.M Youth Summit (where youth are discussing issues of Violence, Food Justice, Institutional Oppression, and Youth Jobs and Resources). 11 am – 4:30 pm at Southwest Community Center (2801 SW Thistle).
EXTRA WATER TAXI RUNS FOR SOUNDERS GAME: 11 pm run added so you can take West Seattle Water Taxi home from Sounders game – see the schedule here.
The day starts with sunshine – whew! 256 garage sales of all sizes are set for 9 am-3 pm as part of the 7th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, which we are proud to have coordinated/presented since the fourth edition. Wherever you are in West Seattle, there are probably sales near you, a fun chance to meet neighbors and do some person-to-person recycling. Find the maps here – a clickable online map, and a printable 12-page (PDF) list/map. We’ll be out and about getting photos – but would love yours too, for our ongoing reports, whether it’s a general photo of a sale or a pic of something interesting you bought (or are selling). Here’s how to reach us. More to come as sale time approaches; next up, we’ll preview other highlights happening today. We’ll have sale highlights at westseattlegaragesale.com beyond those featured here, and sale chat (what are you looking for? or, what are you selling?) continues on the WSCGSD Facebook page. Have a great Saturday!
First we heard from Tim, who saw a black Lab get hit by a car on 35th Friday evening, and wanted to make sure that was mentioned on the WSB Pets page in case someone was looking for the dog. We added a mention to the page, but now that we’ve heard from Jon, who took the dog to a clinic, seems like front-page news:
Know someone missing a black Lab?
I was coming home from work (Friday) on 35 ave in West Seattle & just a few blocks south of the Chevron close to Austin st. i saw some people helping a dog that was bleeding from the mouth and she was apparently hit by a car!
So i turned around and went to offer any help i could. it turned out that I was the only person with a car so i offered to take the dog to an emergency facility.
I ended up taking the dog (Angus) is what i named her, I thought she was a he [?] ! Anyway, i took the nice Labrador to the VCA Animal Hospital in Burien [15707 1st Avenue S.] around 7 PM on Friday the 13th of May 2011.
The Dog (Angus) had a purple collar with little metal dog prints around the buckle, and was just a complete sweetheart! If anybody may know who this dog is, please help her find her way back to her owners.
I signed the dog over to King County’s care, and if they were able to save her, and the owners don’t come forward, she then would go up for adoption through the King County Animal Shelter. If you know this dog, please help her find her proper owners! I’m sure they are missing her as much as she wants to be home and misses her owners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I also want to be contacted once she finds her family so i may have closure as well! Please contact me at 206 280 0202
Thanks For Reading This & check your local neighbors who may be missing their labrador!
Jon Prince
ADDED SATURDAY 2:20 PM: Lots of new information from commenters – including the dog’s owner.
Andy wonders if anyone else has seen the car that appeared to be casing his house in Arbor Heights – read on:Read More
That pile of stuff is from what just might be the sale with the most participants – more than 100 families donating to Sale #251 at 10404 34th Avenue SW in Arbor Heights, to raise money for Arbor Heights Co-operative Preschool. It’s one of a dozen-plus benefit (fundraiser) sales registered among the 256 sales on the map for Saturday’s 7th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, 9 am-3 pm all over West Seattle. Explore the online version of the map here (where you’ll also find the link to print your own list/map if you haven’t already). And then there are the individual sales, where you never know what you might find – Dana sent a photo from hers, Sale #193, at 5617 Beach Drive:
This one’s an “estate sale,” with antiques, furniture, vintage dishes. Whatever you are looking for, you just might find it out there somewhere tomorrow. We’ve sent up the flares and invited the rest of the metro area, so we hope there will be plenty of buyers/browsers to go around. The forecast so far sounds cloudy, but the forecasters say the main rain threat isn’t till tomorrow night, so here’s hoping we will avoid soggy selling/shopping. The pre-sale chat goes on at the WSCGSD Facebook page; feel free to share photos there during the sale too (and/or postmortems afterward), or e-mail them to us, as we’ll be covering the goings-on best as we can.
P.S. Still indoor sale room at the VFW Hall, 3601 SW Alaska, just show up, in case you decide you want to be indoors; other group-sale sites where you’ll find multiple sellers are Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor; 4410 California SW), C & P Coffee (WSB sponsor; 5612 California SW), and the bike-swap site at Cycle U (4550 Fauntleroy Way). Have fun!
Tonight, a photo (click the pic for a larger version) and report shared by Schmitz Park Elementary principal Gerrit Kischner (thank you!):
I’m attaching a picture taken this afternoon at Schmitz Park of Principal-for-the-Day Chloe Simmons (fourth-grader, in white dress) joined by 45 international students from the University of Washington. This was our second annual Global Ambassador Day during which UW students teach Schmitz Park students about their home countries and cultures. Every year, Schmitz Park students learn global geography through the Passport Program. Today, students met real people who live in the countries they study. After welcoming the UW students with a fifth grade drum circle and an all school performance of the Schmitz Park “anthem,” a version of “Under One Sky,” Schmitz Park students learned languages, sang songs, played games, and did crafts from 20 different countries, all thanks to the Foundation for International Understanding through Students (FIUTS, the international student support organization at the University of Washington). The picture shows students showing their “quiet banana slug” signal.
Postseason for many high-school sports, and tonight we checked on baseball, since it was West Seattle High School against Chief Sealth International High School. Final score: WSHS 3, Sealth 0. The Wildcats are hoping to see a good turnout for their game against Blanchet at 11 am tomorrow, Steve Cox Memorial Field in White Center (1321 SW 102nd).
There’s a fence around the big birch tree to protect it as work is about to begin to turn the big lot at 34th/Barton into West Seattle’s next P-Patch community-gardening area. After months of planning and preparation, the official “groundbreaking” is tomorrow – albeit a low-key one; the landscaping consultant will install “the official web marking post” at 9:30 am. That’s a reference to the final design chosen for the site after 3 community meetings – WSB coverage here – which resembles a web.
(Courtesy Barker Landscape Architects)
You’re invited to come celebrate and to sign up for work parties; sign-up sheets are available 9 am-11 am, and garden plots will be assigned “based on volunteer hours,” so if you want a garden, you’ll have to work for it! The city’s webpage for the project is here; on Facebook, there’s a Barton Street P-Patch group here. The project is funded through the Parks and Green Spaces Levy.
By Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
The owners of OutWest – the new bar in the works for the former Westside Pharmacy building at California/Brandon, south of West Seattle Nursery, first reported here last December – are finally ready to discuss details.
After months of working through permitting processes, Bob Lunke and business partner Chad Gabelein are announcing their plans for OutWest Bar to be a LGBT-community-friendly establishment. We reported its name back in February, but even then they weren’t ready to comment beyond saying they were working on a “small, comfortable neighborhood (establishment).”
OutWest Bar will include a full kitchen, open for dinner and initially serving appetizers and entrees such as burgers and Caesar salad. They plan to adapt the menu to the clientele’s tastes as they go.
The owners are both West Seattle residents who love it here.
The first musical act for West Seattle Summer Fest (co-sponsored by WSB) has just been announced – and promoter Jason Fitzgerald says it’s a biggie:
The 29th annual West Seattle Summer Fest will take place on July 8th, 9th and 10th. The team is hard at work planning and finalizing all of the great things we have in store for everyone this year.
Programming for Summer Fest has gotten bigger and better every year. Two years ago, we welcomed a huge crowd for Mudhoney. Last year, it was record numbers for Hells Belles.
And now – we have a special performance announcement that we can’t wait to share…
A one-time-only, Summer Fest exclusive: a reunion of the legendary Seattle band The Fastbacks. Yes, that’s right; Kurt Bloch, Lulu Gargiulo, Kim Warnick and Mike Musburger will play together for the first time in nearly 10 years. Right here in the streets of West Seattle on Friday, July 8th.
And the band couldn’t be more excited:
Mike Musburger – “I never thought I’d get the chance to play these songs again with Kurt, Lulu AND Kim. They have about 15 other drummers they could’ve asked to be a part of this reunion. It will be an absolute joy and an honor to be on stage with The Fastbacks at the West Seattle Summer Fest.”
Kim Warnick: “I still cherish those songs of ours so much….so much so that I am willing to re-learn them all. School starts now! I think it goes without saying that we are all really excited about this show. Sounds ultra fun and punk. Otherwise, what’s the point? Nada.”
As always, all concerts at Summer Fest, including The Fastbacks, are FREE and ALL AGES. The West Seattle Summer Fest is brought to you by the West Seattle Junction Association. …
Further line up announcements will follow in the coming weeks.
3:58 PM: After another faceoff with the city over a permanent site, the homeless encampment that still calls itself “Nickelsville“ has packed up and moved again, and just sent an announcement that its new location is on West Marginal Way in West Seattle, near the intersection with Highland Park Way (map), where the camp had put down stakes before. They’ve been headquartered at the former Fire Station 39 in Lake City, and the city reportedly was ready to let them stay there at least a few more months, but their news release proclaims, “We moved anyway!” for a variety of reasons, including that they needed more space, and they think city leaders are just stringing them along. The address is the same as the one where the camp first set up in September 2008 (WSB coverage here).
7:06 PM: We went over about an hour and a half ago to see what’s happening at the site, and took the photos we have just added (above, 3 of the 4 trucks a camp manager told us they’re using – one was still in transit from Lake City when we stopped by). There were about 50 people in view, and the piles of belongings, pallets and other materials you see in our top photo; one person was wondering aloud when spaces would be assigned. The camp manager told us they should be all set up by tomorrow. No word thus far from the city – who owned this site last time we checked (which is why Seattle Police were used to evict campers back in 2008) – on how this will be dealt with, if at all.
From the just-in-case-you-were-wondering-too files: After a few notes asking if we know what Starbucks is doing with the remodel of its original West Seattle store, we stopped by for a photo today and e-mailed Starbucks PR, which answered our questions as follows:
Our store at 4101 SW Admiral Way is getting both an interior and external refresh. When work is finished, customers will see an expanded patio area with bench and table seating, as well as a new modern awning to replace the previous canvas version.
The interior of the store will also be updated and will feature a wood-paneled espresso bar, new furniture, a remodeled restroom and a new mural on the North wall. We think it’s going to be gorgeous and can’t wait for West Seattle to see the finished product when work is complete at the end of the month.
Remodeling is standard course of business for Starbucks stores and typically done on a regular basis in order to provide the best experience to customers. There are no other remodels in the West Seattle area to announce at this time.
In addition to West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, among many other events, tomorrow is also the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive. Leave a bag of nonperishable food by your mailbox or front door (if you get mail through a slot) in the morning, and your letter carrier will pick it up – what could be easier than a door-to-door food drive? If it’s not convenient to leave the bag outside, or if you want to save your letter carrier a little work, owner Andrea at Café Osita in Sunrise Heights (northwest side of 35th/Webster) says her coffee shop is now an official dropoff spot: 8 am-2 pm tomorrow, take your bag of food there, and she’ll give you free flavoring (or a free extra shot) if you order a drink while you’re there.
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