West Seattle, Washington
03 Wednesday
Hard-fought game Wednesday afternoon at Southwest Athletic Complex, but West Seattle High School clinched the Metro championship with the eventual win over Chief Sealth International HS, reports Greg Slader:
The stands were full as the Wildcats traveled across town to face the Seahawks. Chief Sealth had a 3-2 lead through four innings before Andy Snook (top photo) took the mound to shut them down. West Seattle rallied to tie 3-3 heading into the seventh inning, and then Spencer Elder decided to steal some bases. Sam Hellinger drove him in with a shot into the six hole, 4-3:
A stolen base, a hit and suicide squeeze, as Sam scored to give West Seattle a 5-3 lead. The Seahawks will get another chance on Friday, 3:30 pm @ Hiawatha.
Three reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch tonight – first, from Beth, who wanted her neighbors to know about mail thieves at work:
This morning while I was out for a run, I noticed a bunch of mail in some bushes. It turns out it belonged to two of my neighbors. Most of it was fliers but there was one envelope that had been opened and discarded. We live on 37th between Andover and Dakota.
In the Admiral area, someone stole Ignacio‘s bike early Tuesday morning:
Element 42’s lower gated parking garage was cut open, thief pressed the interior button to open the garage door. He cut the bike lock cable with bolt cutters and stole my bike. It looks very similar to this bike. My apartment complex has the video. … It’s not the most expensive bike but it was a lot of money to me. (Police) reviewed the video and got a good look at the guy so I’m hopeful they’ll find a serial bike thief.
We told Ignacio we could add the video if it clearly shows the crime being committed – waiting to hear back.
Added 10:49 pm – here’s the video:
(The thief enters toward the start, then leaves at about 3:25.)
(Back to original report) And in Fauntleroy, Todd reports a car prowl in the 4500 block of SW Hemlock Way:
Sometime early Sunday 4/21 morning, someone went through my car, which I had stupidly left unlocked. They took a gym bag with a pair of shorts and gym shoes. They also took a black “laptop” style bag that is embroidered with “Kinect For Windows” in purple thread. I point this out because I work at Microsoft with the Kinect Team, so I would personally know anyone that had that particular bag. And my bowling shoes were in it, and I really liked them. The crook was apparently not the brightest, as he/she/it didn’t take the CD Box set of Frank Sinatra, which would have been easy cash, and way easier to pawn than size 11 Asic running shoes and bowling shoes. The other two cars in my driveway were locked, and untouched. So, make sure to lock up.
It wasn’t just a cross-town clash at Southwest Athletic Complex today, actually, but a contest between the #1 and #2 softball teams in the Metro Sound Division – Chief Sealth International High School and West Seattle High School, respectively. Sealth (in black) pulled off the win, 3-2.
The two local schools are scheduled to play again later this week, 4 pm Friday at Riverview Park – before that, Sealth hosts Rainier Beach tomorrow at 4 at SWAC, while WSHS has an off-day.
West Seattle High School culinary students will meet a TV chef next month, when Maneet Shauhan comes to campus to judge a cooking contest. Word comes from the Seattle Public Schools website. The event is set for 1:30 pm May 8th, and will feature three ProStart students who “will compete in the 40-minute cooking challenge to create an entree that represents contemporary American cuisine.” Shauhan’s achievements include serving as a judge on the Food Network show “Chopped” and having been the first Indian woman to appear on “Iron Chef.” The announcement says the winning student gets a chance at a trip to a competition in Washington, D.C.
(UPDATED WEDNESDAY NIGHT with full list of Saturday activities added to end of story)
Seattle Parks and Rec Superintendent Christopher Williams returned last night to West Seattle – where he grew up – for the second time in four days, to join in on the first of two Fauntleroy Community Association-presented “Celebrate Lincoln Park” events. In case you weren’t able to be there – it included an hour of presentations about the park’s history, wildlife, and more, and we recorded it all on video. Here’s who you will see/hear:
*FCA president David Haggerty begins with a welcome
*At 3 minutes in, a history presentation from Judy Pickens
*Just after 13 minutes in, volunteer forest steward Sharon Baker from Friends of Lincoln Park
*Just after 22 minutes in, Trileigh Tucker with stories and photos of park wildlife
*39 minutes in, Superintendent Williams
*Then at about the 56-minute mark, Q/A:
As Haggerty noted at the start of his speech, FCA board members now have uniforms of sorts – green aprons, so you’ll spot them during public events such as the popular Fauntleroy Fall Festival – here are Kim Petram and Kathleen Dellplain sporting theirs:
The second “Celebrate Lincoln Park” event happens this Saturday (April 27) at the park – 10:30 am-2:30 pm, with beach naturalists on hand to help you explore a -2.6 low tide, nature tours of other parts of the park, and more, all detailed on the FCA home page.
P.S. You can also help out with the next Fauntleroy Fall Festival by dining at Endolyne Joe’s (WSB sponsor) on Tuesday, May 7th – 5 pm till close, a portion of the proceeds will benefit the festival.
ADDED WEDNESDAY NIGHT: FCA is out with the full schedule for Saturday’s event – click ahead!
As the Barton Pump Station Upgrade Project proceeds next to the Fauntleroy ferry dock, a new phase is days away – here’s the explanation from King County:
Starting as early as Monday, April 29, crews will take wastewater flows from underground pipes and move those flows to an above ground bypass – pipes that will run the length of the site directly adjacent to the ferry terminal.
Once completed, the bypass will allow crews to shut down normal pump station operations in order to perform the pump station upgrades. The bypass will connect to a temporary pump station currently under construction. Once the temporary pump station is completed, it will be in use for the duration of the project.
The initial bypass work is expected to take up to two weeks, requiring four days of running two above-ground diesel pumps 24 hours per day.
We’ve mentioned all four of these before, but now that the weekend is in view, we thought a reminder might be in order:
SATURDAY – SHRED EVENT: 10 am-2 pm this Saturday at C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW), free shredding of your unneeded paperwork, presented by IHeartWestSeattle.com (which like C & P is a WSB sponsor) – details here.
SATURDAY – DRUG TAKE-BACK DAY: Also 10 am-2 pm this Saturday, with the Southwest Precinct (Delridge/Webster) serving as the closest local dropoff spot for medications that are expired or otherwise unneeded – more info here.
SUNDAY – RECYCLE ROUNDUP: 9 am-3 pm, the Fauntleroy Church Green Committee invites you to come to the church parking lot (9140 California SW) to give 1 Green Planet anything unwanted that you see on the official list. (Free, though the Green Committee accepts and appreciates $ donations if you’re so moved.)
AND TODAY … is the last day to register for the 9th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day. We call it “person-to-person recycling” – more than 230 sales of all sizes already ready for their spot on the map for Saturday, May 11th, 9 am-3 pm, one wild day of shopping, browsing, and mingling, presented/coordinated again this year by WSB. If you’re planning to be part of it, 11:59 pm tonight is the registration deadline – sign up here!
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
This fall – probably around October – one big question should be settled for West Seattle’s trailblazing STEM elementary school: Its permanent home.
That’s what the Seattle School Board’s West Seattle rep, Marty McLaren, told us last night at the school’s current home, the former Louisa May Boren Junior High School that sprawls along the 5900 block of Delridge Way SW.
But the school’s staff and families aren’t waiting for that big decision to map out their future. That’s why McLaren was at the school last night, in fact – watching and listening as its community went public with the first draft of a five-year strategic plan, and invited the first round of feedback.
That feedback came in the form of sticky notes added to the huge yellow scroll of paper representing the envisioned timeline, posted along the biggest wall of Boren’s cavernous cafeteria. In our top photo, teacher Craig Parsley stands alongside the timeline during the presentation he led, laying out what were described as “the building blocks of a project-based-learning school.”
All the individual touchpoints along the timeline – and everything from the slide deck that started last night’s presentation – is published on the K-5 STEM PTA website; see it here.
But that doesn’t cover everything seen and heard by the more than 50 people in attendance last night – including hints of future hopes even bigger than a timeline might contain:
(WSB photos added 11:16 am: Sign posted on P-Patch shed)
Seattle Police are investigating a shed fire at Longfellow Creek P-Patch in Westwood this morning after it was determined to be arson. From Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Kyle Moore:
Fire Investigators have determined a shed fire located at a West Seattle P-Patch is an incendiary fire.
At 6:50 a.m., a delivery driver called 911 to report a shed fire located in the park in the 2400 block of SW Thistle Street. Engine 11 arrived to find a smoldering pile of combustibles in a wheelbarrow bucket.
The fire was quickly extinguished. There was also minor scorching to the shed.
The damage estimate is $500. The Seattle Police Department’s Arson Bomb Squad was notified of the fire and will investigate.
Anyone with information that can help solve this case is asked to call the Arson Hotline at 800-55-ARSON.
The garden area where this fire happened is alongside Longfellow Creek, just east of Chief Sealth International High School. According to the P-Patch’s city website, it has more than two dozen garden plots.
(Tuesday morning photo by Myrtle Griffiths)
Another beautiful day! From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
MOMMY & ME PAINTING: Mind Unwind in The Admiral District is starting a new once-monthly class – more often if there’s interest! – and the first one is today, 1 pm, painting with your 3-to-5-year-old. Details here. (2206 California SW)
TALK LIVE WITH PROFESSIONAL PADDLERS: Candice Appleby and Danny Ching will answer “questions on racing, training, and all things SUP” during a live closed-circuit broadcast event 6-7 pm tonight at Mountain to Sound Outfitters in The Triangle – and proprietor Greg Whittaker says any question they answer will bring a prize for the person who asked it! More info on the Facebook event page. (3602 SW Alaska)
FEEDBACK TURNS FOUR: Tonight’s the first of multiple 4th-anniversary parties Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) has in store, starting at 6 pm. (6451 California SW)
BELLY-DANCING CLASSES: A six-week session at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center starts tonight at 6 pm – more info here. (4408 Delridge Way SW)
HIGHLAND PARK ACTION COMMITTEE: Urban wildlife and the proposed Duwamish River cleanup plan are part of tonight’s agenda – 7 pm at Highland Park Improvement Club. (12th/Holden)
POEMS AND STORYTELLING: The monthly event at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) is tonight, 7 pm – including readings and open-mike time. Details here. (5612 California SW)
(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
Could be the warmest, sunniest day of the week, suggests the forecast – don’t forget your sunglasses!
Road-work reminders are the same as yesterday:
*SW 106th repaving in Arbor Heights is planned – details here
*Highway 99 north of downtown continues overnight closures through Thursday night – details here
And a reminder about the weekend ahead – the Delridge repaving project is scheduled for Delridge/Thistle intersection closure, Friday night until Monday morning – details and detours here.
Not much chance SDOT will move the much-criticized California/Fauntleroy bus bulbs. So said the SDOT rep who came to the Morgan Community Association‘s quarterly meeting last week. Ahead, our roundup from the meeting, also including an update on preparations for demolition work on the now-vacant block across from Lowman Beach Park, where a sewer-overflow tank will be built, and other topics:
West Seattle High School‘s varsity baseball team played Franklin on Tuesday afternoon to make up for the game rained out last Friday. Greg Slader shares the photos and recap:
11-2 was the score of the game and is also West Seattle’s record in Metro League play. Three games left in the Season and they have the inside track to Metro Sound Division first place. In today’s makeup game with the Quakers, TK Snow #18 (top photo) pitched 4 & 2/3 innings holding Franklin to two runs on five hits. Spencer Elder made a rare appearance on the mound to close it out. The team hit well, with RBI doubles by Tim Adams, Spencer Elder, Sam Hellinger and Cameron Slader. Next game is Wednesday @ Chief Sealth, 3:30 pm.
That’s Tim Adams #24 catching a fly ball with the WS softball team plays on the other field in the background. (Unfortunately, we don’t have the score on that game, nor do our partners at The Times. But the schedule shows they play Sealth today, too!)
Reports of discolored water have come in via e-mail, via Twitter, and the WSB Forums tonight – mostly in the Genesee area. Residents who checked with Seattle Public Utilities say they were told fire crews were running the hydrants earlier today; via e-mail, Eileen adds, “They suggested not running much hot water right now since it will fill up your hot water tank w/ sediment. Wish I’d known that before running the dishwasher tonight!” If you’re having this problem tonight – or encounter it some other time – check out this online advice from SPU.
Spring sports got another dose of spring sunshine today – the state’s #2-ranked varsity soccer team, the Chief Sealth International High School Seahawks, hosted their division rivals Ingraham on this sunny Tuesday, and came away with a 3-1 win.
Our partners at The Seattle Times published the scoring summary here. Sealth’s next game is at home too – 4 pm Friday, hosting Eastside Catholic.
(Video sent by Bob Mohr, recorded by son Jack, in Genesee Hill around sunset Monday, between 55th/54th/Genesee/Dakota)
While that short clip of a coyote on the run in a West Seattle neighborhood – watch the sidewalk at :25 and :40 – isn’t from Highland Park, that neighborhood’s plan to talk about coyotes and other urban wildlife tomorrow night would seem to be of interest to all. A federal wildlife biologist is on the Highland Park Action Committee‘s agenda, 7 pm Wednesday at HP Improvement Club (12th/Holden), and all are welcome. Also on the agenda: The proposed Duwamish River cleanup plan, and why, with a month left for public comment, it should matter to you.
(Photo courtesy ‘Keep King County Moving’ Coalition)
Following up on our Monday report about transportation-funding proposals approved by the House Transportation Committee, two notes:
First – as promised, the “Keep King County Moving” coalition of political and organizational leaders hit the road for Olympia this morning to urge approval of the package. Among them were two West Seattleites seen in the photo above – County Executive Dow Constantine and County Councilmember Joe McDermott.
Second – a little more information on part of the proposal that sparked some discussion among WSB commenters following our Monday story. It would include funding to “split” Metro RapidRide Lines C and D – which currently are really one line going between West Seattle and Ballard. We asked the King County Department of Transportation if any more details were available, and spokesperson Rochelle Ogershok replied today:
This is a proposal for capital improvements. It calls for $15 million to split the RapidRide C and D lines to improve reliability and provide additional direct service to growing job centers in the South Lake Union and SODO neighborhoods.
The approach under consideration would have the C Line running between West Seattle and South Lake Union. The D Line would operate between Ballard and SODO. There is no specific routing sketched out at this point – that is something we would want to work with businesses and the city on if this legislation passes. Also, this proposal does not include added service hours or bus terminal/transit center space in South Lake Union that would be required to support these changes so this concept would need to be part of a broader legislative package that includes sufficient operating revenues.
Again, the bills are HB 1954 and HB 1955. 34th District State Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon says the next move is up to the Rules Committee.
This is our closest look yet at Spirit of Kingston, the future West Seattle Water Taxi vessel, since the King County Marine Division took possession last month – it’s been parked behind a fence at the county’s also-new maintenance barge while crews have been in training, but today we happened to be at Seacrest during one of its test runs. We’re checking with the county Department of Transportation to see if there’s an update on when it’ll be put into service to replace the older and breakdown-prone Rachel Marie.
Haven’t gotten around to registering your sale for West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day 2013 yet? Just 36 hours left to register! It’s 9 am-3 pm Saturday, May 11th, one big day of sales big and small all around the peninsula – a chance for “person-to-person recycling” as well as meeting neighbors, making friends, finding treasures … We have 200+ sales so far, from Admiral to Alki to The Arroyos, Pigeon Point to Highland Park, and beyond, from individual homes to block sales, business sales, benefit sales, school sales … If you don’t have room for your own sale, or just don’t have THAT much stuff to sell, be sure to check directly with group-site organizers Hotwire Coffee or C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsors) ASAP! But if you ARE signing up your own sale: Go here, before the deadline (11:59 pm tomorrow [Wednesday 4/24] – that’s when we get busy making the maps so shoppers all over the region can get them a week in advance).
(July 4, 2012, photo by Jamie Kinney – Lake Union fireworks as seen from Admiral Way Bridge)
10:29 AM: Just announced at City Hall – 4th of July fireworks are definitely ‘a go’ – and they’re staying on Lake Union. So says the Metropolitan Seattle Chamber of Commerce, making the announcement in conjunction with Mayor McGinn, Seafair, and others, including contributions from Microsoft and Amazon. You can watch live here. The show will change fireworks providers (Western Display is the new one) and TV-broadcast partners (now it’s KIRO 7), and those speaking at the briefing say this is a multi-year commitment, so you won’t hear “we might not have fireworks” again next year.
ADDED 10:45 AM: Of note, since West Seattle hosts its share of citywide-draw events (Seafair Pirates Landing, for example) – in response to a question, the mayor says they’re expecting stepped-up security at “probably all our events” this summer, not just the fireworks, in the wake of Boston. So you might see explosives-detecting dogs (which are already fixtures at ferry docks), for example. Also – the briefing (linked in the first part of the update) is over now.
Thanks to Bob Michaels for the view of this morning’s beautiful sunrise … those clouds are just memories now, and the sun’s shining full force. The WSB West Seattle Event Calendar has the full slate of what’s up today/tonight, and here are five highlights:
BIG SOCCER GAME: Division-leading Chief Sealth International High School – also ranked #2 statewide! – hosts division #2 Ingraham at Southwest Athletic Complex, 4 pm today. (2801 SW Thistle)
FORUM FOR CAREGIVERS: Merrill Gardens (WSB sponsor) continues its series of forums for caregivers – tonight’s topic at MG-Admiral Heights is communication in multiple-caregiver situations. 6 pm; details here. (2326 California SW)
CELEBRATE LINCOLN PARK, PART 1: You’ve probably walked its paths, through the forest, along the shore – but do you know its history? Details about its wildlife? (Yes, even the squirrel photographed today by Machel Spence:
The Fauntleroy Community Association‘s two-part “Celebrate Lincoln Park” begins tonight at The Hall at Fauntleroy with an event to help you learn about the park (prelude to a Saturday event AT the park) – 6:30 to 8:30 pm, free, details here. (9131 California SW)
CRIME PREVENTION THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN: Also known as CPTED, it’s what you’ll learn about tonight if you go to the West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network‘s monthly meeting – you don’t have to be a captain, or even a Block Watch member (though BW’s are highly recommended for EVERY neighborhood), to be there. Details on the WSBWCN website; 6:30 pm at the Southwest Precinct meeting room. (Delridge/Webster)
K-5 STEM STRATEGIC PLAN: 6:45-8:15 pm tonight, current and future K-5 STEM families are welcome to come hear – and comment on – the presentation of the school’s five-year plan. (5950 Delridge Way SW)
(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
You probably won’t need to scrape your windshield – but there’s some frost out there this morning (for us, atop a hill, it was just on top of the car).
Meantime, today/tonight road-work reminders, from the full-week list we published in Monday morning’s traffic tracker:
*SW 106th repaving in Arbor Heights is planned for today and tomorrow – details here
*Highway 99 north of downtown continues various overnight closures nightly through Thursday night – details and detours here
METRO RIDER NOTE: An e-mail advisory this morning says, “Metro’s Customer Information phone line at 553-3000 is temporarily out of service.”
(Photo courtesy Historic Seattle)
Southwest Seattle Historical Society executive director Clay Eals sends a reminder – if you want to join this Sunday’s rare tour of the historic Colman Estate in West Seattle, you need to sign up by Thursday!
The Laurence Colman Estate Tour is right around the corner, on Sunday, April 28. What better way to spend a spring afternoon in West Seattle?
Organized by Historic Seattle and co-sponsored by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, this rare opportunity provides an in-person glimpse of the home of one of the legendary families of the Fauntleroy neighborhood, West Seattle and Seattle as a whole.
Under new ownership, the four-floor Colman Estate sparkles with panoramic views and a vivid rhododendron garden.
Southwest Seattle Historical Society members can register for the tour at a discount. Sign up now, while there are still slots available. The deadline is Thursday, April 25.
You don’t have to be a member to take the tour, though. For details and registration, go here.
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