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One more weekend community cleanup that brightened West Seattle – thanks to Brian Callanan for the photo and report:

Eighth grader Gabriel Berger (in glasses, right) picked up trash along 35th Ave SW with a group from OLG as his eighth-grade service project. Another pickup at 9:30 am next Sunday, just outside OLG church. We picked up well over 100 pounds of trash in forty-five minutes!

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Memorial service Wednesday for Victor Weith, 1920-2013

| Obituaries | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

A memorial service is planned Wednesday for 92-year-old Victor Weith, whose family shares the remembrance that he himself wrote:

Victor Paul Weith
April 12, 1920 – March 8, 2013

Several years ago, Vic wrote his own obituary:

“Born in Alva, OK, 4/12/1920. Spent next 20 years in Alma, Kansas. Graduated from Alma High School.

Two of my buddies and myself decided to go to Seattle in 1940 to look for better jobs. We worked for Boeing and Bremerton Shipyards. Met my future wife in December 1941; we married in October 1942. I went into the service in February 1943 in the 11th Airborne Division. Spent the war in New Guinea, Leyte, Luzon, Okinawa, and then Japan. Our division was the only Airborne Division that was in the Pacific. Participated in a lot of war in several years.

My wife and I moved to West Seattle in 1945 and still have our home there. I spent most of my working years in sales.

I had several exciting things happen to me. In 1981, as I was getting ready to retire I picked 18 out of 20 Monday Nite NFC football winners, earning my wife and myself a trip to the Super Bowl. Then in 1993, playing golf in La Quinta, California, I had two holes in one on the same day. The odds for that was 67 million to one.

I had a very good life and a wonderful wife. It was great! We had 4 children: Susan Blakely (husband Dick), Michael Weith (deceased), Cathy Kemper (husband Neil), John Weith (wife Patty). Five grandchildren: Brad Herriges (wife Cara), Sean Herriges (wife Miho), Abbey Weith, David Weith, and Ryan Kemper; and three great-grandchildren, Alexis, Andrew, and Nicholas Herriges.”

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am on Wednesday (March 13, 2013) at Holy Family Catholic Church, at 9622 20th Ave SW. Reception following.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Shots fired, night two

For the second night in a row, someone has fired a gun from a car in West Seattle. Saturday night, a car and home were hit at 20th and Cloverdale, no injuries; Sunday night, again no injuries, and this time no property damage, but Southwest Precinct Lt. Alan Williams confirmed to WSB that spent casings were found after shots were reported to have been heard around 10th SW and SW Elmgrove. Also, he says, whoever did it was nowhere to be found.

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Heads up: Site downtime expected after 11 pm

March 10, 2013 10:43 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle online

10:43 PM: Turns out the server switchover we mentioned Friday night, to address recent intermittent site slowness, needs a bit more tinkering – and the tech team is set to do it tonight, right after 11 pm. As a result, WSB will have a bit of downtime – maybe 15, 20 minutes, we’re told. As always, if there’s breaking news in the interim, we’ll get the word out in our other major channels – Facebook (here), Twitter (here), and if needed, our other websites, White Center Now and The South Park News. Thanks yet again for your patience.

6:42 AM NOTE: The tinkering is finally over as of about half an hour ago, and WSB has fully moved onto a more-powerful new server. Seems to be running well, but it’s early, so if you hit any speed bumps, please let us know.

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Police advice: Door-to-door sellers; ‘it’s OK to call 911’

March 10, 2013 9:54 pm

| 5 COMMENTS

| Crime | Safety | West Seattle news

Earlier this week, the new Westwood/Roxhill/Arbor Heights community council heard from Seattle Police crime-prevention coordinator Mark Solomon (here’s our report). Later in the week, he addressed two recurring topics in his periodic community newsletter – the rules regarding door-to-door sellers, and when it’s OK to call 911. You might find the advice helpful, so if you aren’t on his mailing list, check out the newsletter in its entirety here, courtesy of the West Seattle Block Watch Captains’ Network.

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Allstar Fitness bankruptcy: What prospective owner Sam Adams says about contract cancellations and club renovations

March 10, 2013 8:30 pm

| 62 COMMENTS

| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news | WS Health Club/ex-Athletic Club/ex-Allstar Fitness

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Allstar Fitness‘s prospective new owner Sam Adams says the court documents don’t tell the whole story.

After members of the club, which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, contacted WSB yesterday about court documents they’d received, we reported on those documents and other recent filings, which ask a judge to “reject and terminate the contracts” of “long term prepaid members” who bought their memberships before last August’s bankruptcy filing (reported here in October), without otherwise defining “long term prepaid,” but saying that would be about 2,100 contracts.

Even before that, we had messages out seeking a conversation with Adams, the former Seahawks (and other teams) pro football player turned health-club entrepreneur, to find out more about his plans for West Seattle’s biggest fitness club, which he says he will rename the West Seattle Athletic Club.

This morning, he called. He claims that while the court documents say about 2,100 membership contracts are proposed for termination, he intends to honor “99 percent of them.”

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Ferry alert: Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth on 2-boat schedule Monday

March 10, 2013 6:24 pm

| Comments Off on Ferry alert: Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth on 2-boat schedule Monday

| Fauntleroy | Transportation | West Seattle news

Just in from Washington State Ferries:

The Klahowya will be out of service on Monday, March 11, due to necessary repairs to the vessel. Fauntleroy, Vashon and Southworth will be operating on a two-boat schedule. Updates will occur as more information becomes available.

We’ll update this story if the plan changes tonight; there’ll also be updates in tomorrow’s edition of our daily transit/traffic tracker.

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Video: SDOT director in the hot seat @ Southwest District Council

March 10, 2013 5:20 pm

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| Southwest District Council | West Seattle news

As previewed here, you had a chance to ask questions directly of the man who runs the Seattle Department of Transportation if you had gone to the Southwest District Council meeting this past Wednesday night. A few people took advantage of the opportunity to bring up neighborhood problems as well as larger issues. We recorded the wide-ranging 47 minutes of Q/A on video. If you can’t spare 47 minutes to listen – here are direct links to some of the topics (note – if the links don’t go to the spots they should, drag the playback bar on the YouTube window of the full clip above to the minutes/seconds spot mentioned):

14:00 – The bus bulbs at California/Fauntleroy

16:00 – Bus lanes on SW Alaska

21:31 – With increased development in The Junction, how involved is SDOT? “There are days we can’t go to The Junction because there’s no place to park.” Density is based on the city’s Comprehensive Plan, Hahn noted. He cited South Lake Union rezoning. “With 1,000 more apartments going up in The Junction, does SDOT say, we need (something) to help with traffic … ?” Hahn observed that the same question came up at the Sustainable West Seattle Transportation Forum last year (here’s our coverage, with video), and mentioned the alley-vacation process (frequently covered here) requiring “public benefit” from the developer. He mentioned that one developer downtown wound up buying another streetcar for the city. So, he was asked, could developers buy another bus, or ?

27:30 – Who makes the decisions to add bus bulbs, reduce lanes, etc.? asked another attendee, and how can the “silent majority” have their feelings known? “It’s not like individuals are just making up stuff,” Hahn said, citing again the city’s Comprehensive Plan, ultimately saying it’s a reflection of the City Council. He also says they often hear from people with a specific interest, more bike facilities, for example, so whatever your opinion is, come to meetings and have it heard.

31:00: SW Alaska on the RapidRide route through The Triangle – including parking and traffic concerns as well as unfulfilled promises about making that stretch a “pedestrian corridor,” with street trees. Ongoing parking issues exist, with parking commitments made to businesses between 36th and 38th in jeopardy again. Hahn says he could come out to walk the area and see the issues.

39:00 – Density in The Junction is already 104 percent of what was projected, but the capacity of the street has been reduced.

At 41:50, Vlad Oustimovitch from the Fauntleroy Community Association summarized much of what had been said to Hahn in the preceding half-hour-plus: “It’s almost like somebody deliberately designed something to not work.”

SDOT will be back in West Seattle this week – at the North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting tomorrow (Monday) night (6:30 pm at the Delridge Library), for example, a rep will discuss the new parking restrictions on SW Genesee to make more room for buses (here’s our February story on those changes).

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Fairmount Ravine cleanup: Record turnout; 4 encampments found

March 10, 2013 2:45 pm

| 21 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news

Photos by Nick Adams, on assignment for WSB
Report by Fairmount Ravine resident John Lang, special to WSB

Blue skies and warm weather greeted a record-number 39 volunteers for the 21st annual Fairmount Ravine cleanup.

Thank you to all the ambitious hard-working neighbors who participated Saturday morning.

It was great to see so many new faces this year, especially those who live adjacent to the ravine.

There have been homeless people periodically camping in this area and that was the case Saturday.

Seattle Police quickly responded and politely moved 5 individuals and their property away so the ambitious community of workers could clean up trash.

Needless to say, there was so much trash that it filled two full-size pickups (thanks, Randy and Tim!)

We discovered four encampments, three in the woods and one under the bridge. Two were within 50’ of a residence.

Three were cleaned up and the fourth will need to be addressed in the near future, as the work crew ran out of energy. The bridge provides an attractive dry cover and all campsites provide relatively obscurity.

Unsupervised homeless camps are an absolute mess of garbage, discarded clothing and other water-soaked articles, and without any latrine provisions. These are very difficult to clean up considering the steepness of the hillsides.

We encountered widespread evidence of drug use, which is also a concern.

That aside, it is gratifying to see the result of everyone’s hard work and their willingness to make West Seattle a great place to live.

Special thanks to Sarah Schieron, Zatz Bagels, and Metropolitan Market for their generous contributions of sustenance in support of this community event.

EDITOR’S POSTSCRIPT: Even before we published this, an area resident e-mailed to say she was so grateful to the neighborhood volunteers she saw out working yesterday, but, she added, she is seeing transients back under the bridge today and “throwing trash in the ravine”; she asked, “Is there anything we can do?” Contacting the SPD Community Police Team is one suggestion; a CPT officer had mentioned at a recent community-group meeting that there had been some encampment abatement elsewhere.

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West Seattle biznotes: Happy 10th, Ventana! and more…

March 10, 2013 1:24 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

Three West Seattle business notes to share:

VENTANA CONSTRUCTION CELEBRATES ITS TENTH: Above are Anne and Clarence Higuera, owners/founders of Ventana Construction (longtime WSB sponsor), photographed during an open-house celebration Friday night marking their business’s 10th anniversary. They shared thoughts about the milestone on the Ventana website, describing their work as something that “affords us the opportunity to meet new people every day and talk with them about the dreams for their home, and after some careful planning, make those dreams come true.” Congratulations!

HARRY’S CHICKEN JOINT UPDATE: We reported last week on the new restaurant’s delivery-to-Beveridge-Place-Pub launch; today Harry’s announced via Facebook that the restaurant (former Meander’s/Jade West space) will open this Wednesday.

ALSO OPENING NEXT WEEK: West Seattle’s fitness-business boom continues. The next to open will be Inspire West Seattle, in the California SW-fronting building north of Admiral Safeway, whose owner tells us they’re formally opening on March 15th. We first reported on Inspire’s West Seattle plan back in August.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: House, car hit by bullets

March 10, 2013 11:10 am

| 6 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

From SPD Blotter this morning:

Officers are investigating a possible drive-by shooting that occurred last night in the 2000 Block of SW Cloverdale Street [map]. No one was injured, but a parked car and a house were struck.

Officers from the Southwest Precinct responded to a report of shots fired last night around 10:35 pm at that location. The occupants of the home told officers they heard the bullets hit the house, but did not hear any gunshots. Officers located a parked car that had been hit by a bullet, and a bullet was removed from the wood door frame on the house. It is presumed that the shots came from a car on the street. Officers conducted an area check, but did not locate any suspects.

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West Seattle Sunday: Happy Daylight Saving Time!

March 10, 2013 9:20 am

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

Perhaps in recognition of the fact it’s an adjustment day for everyone, with Daylight Saving Time arriving overnight, there’s not much on the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar today. The biggest one-time-only event: Tryouts for West Seattle Little League players, as previewed here on Friday. P.S. If you’re looking for the new sunrise/sunset times, you can always find them – along with forecasts, tide times, and more – on the WSB Weather page.

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AllStar Fitness bankruptcy: Cancellation sought for 2,100 prepaid contracts

March 9, 2013 10:54 pm

| 72 COMMENTS

| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news | WS Health Club/ex-Athletic Club/ex-Allstar Fitness

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The newest development in the AllStar Fitness Chapter 11 bankruptcy and proposed sale: We heard today from multiple club members who reported receiving a copy of these court documents for a motion asking the federal bankruptcy judge to allow the cancellation of contracts purchased before the bankruptcy proceedings started last August.

Other court documents we have since obtained online say that would mean a cancellation of more than 2,100 contracts for the North Delridge club.

Those documents explain that Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee Richard Hooper believes:

… the Club’s balance sheet has been hampered by the Debtor’s longstanding practice of selling long-term membership as significant discounts. A practice which the Trustee ceased in the interim period of his appointment. It was often the case that the Debtor would offer members reduced monthly rates in return for prepaying 6 or 12 months at a time. The Debtor would further discount these pre-paid memberships by offering an additional 6 or more months free of dues as an additional incentive for prepaying the already reduced rate. As sales of these prepaid membership slowed, the Debtor’s ability to meet its ongoing obligations suffered greatly. It appears from the Debtor’s financials that it relied heavily on these prepayment to meet operational and other needs…

The court documents say the trustee does want to:

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West Seattle weekend scene: Admiral cleanup

March 9, 2013 9:43 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| How to help | West Seattle news

Every quarter, the Admiral Neighborhood Association marshals an Adopt-A-Street cleanup – and this sunny Saturday was the day. In the photo is ANA’s new president David Whiting, photographed at the Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) staging area by ANA member Karl de Jong, who co-chairs the Southwest District Council. Want to get involved next time? Keep an eye on the ANA’s e-mail list and/or Facebook page.

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All eyes on ferry-in-progress Samish during governor’s Vigor visit

March 9, 2013 6:54 pm

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| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

(Friday photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
With all of yesterday’s breaking news, we are finally now getting the chance to share with you more of WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams‘ photos from a big Friday event on Harbor Island – Gov. Jay Inslee ceremonially making a weld during the keel-laying ceremony for the new state ferry Samish at Vigor Shipyards.

Workers took pictures too:

Samish, named for a Northwestern Washington tribe, is a 144-car ferry, one of four planned in the new Olympic class – it’s under construction at Vigor along with the first in the class, Tokitae:

While at Vigor, the governor took a look at both:

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Seen off West Seattle: Aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan

March 9, 2013 4:39 pm

| 39 COMMENTS

| Seen at sea | West Seattle news

First we got a note from Amanda asking which aircraft carrier is passing West Seattle right now; while we tried to find out, without even asking the question publicly, we received the photo above from Thom, who identified it as CVN-76, the carrier USS Ronald Reagan. We last featured it here in January 2012 as it arrived for what was described at the time as a year of maintenance.

ADDED 4:57 PM: Amanda also shared a photo. We haven’t figured out yet what the Ronald Reagan is heading out for – but we did find a bit of information saying the USS John C Stennis is due back in Bremerton later this month, so we’ll be watching for that sighting off Alki and Beach Drive.

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Skies Over West Seattle update: Where to comet-watch tonight

March 9, 2013 3:50 pm

| 4 COMMENTS

| Skies Over West Seattle | West Seattle news

3:50 PM: Hoping to comet-watch tonight, with Pan-STARRS in the western sky? Above, that’s a new graphic from local skywatching expert Alice Enevoldsen, updating the one originally featured when we published her second “Skies Over West Seattle“ here last Sunday. We see some clouds gathering to the west right now, so hard to tell how things will look post-sunset, but now you know where to look if there’s a clearing.

5:12 PM UPDATE: Alice says via Twitter that if there aren’t too many clouds, she’ll be at the south end of Lincoln Park around 6:20 to be on the lookout for the comet. Even if it doesn’t show, she says, Jupiter and Sirius will be worth watching.

6:18 PM UPDATE: Update from Alice (in case you haven’t looked outside lately) – we won’t see the comet tonight; the clouds are thickening.

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Taste of West Seattle, May 16: Tickets on sale; restaurants sought

March 9, 2013 1:06 pm

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| How to help | West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

(Photo courtesy West Seattle Helpline)
The tastiest fundraiser of the year has opened ticket sales – and has room on its roster of restaurants. From West Seattle Helpline executive director Tara Luckie, here’s first word of this year’s Taste of West Seattle:

It’s time to start preparing your appetite for the Taste of West Seattle on Thursday, May 16th. The only event where you get to taste the local food West Seattle have to offer all in one place, one night. Last year we had 50 establishments comprised of restaurants, breweries, bakeries, and wineries to taste from! The best part is that all of the funds raised go to help West Seattle families facing emergencies through the West Seattle Helpline.

Last year we sold out, so buy your ticket early (go here).

Are you a West Seattle restaurant that wants to be a part of the Taste? Go to tasteofwestseattle.org and click on the “For Restaurants” tab to fill out the application. Spots are limited; sign up while there is still space available.

Never been? Here’s our report on last year’s Taste of WS – biggest yet!

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West Seattle schools: Gatewood Elementary’s ‘Mad Hatter’ auction

March 9, 2013 12:28 pm

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| Gatewood | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

(Photos by WSB’s Patrick Sand unless otherwise credited)
Even before we got to the big room with the big party last night at The Hall at Fauntleroy – Gatewood Elementary‘s annual Bids for Kids auction, whose organizers invited us to stop by – the sight above brought us to a full stop: A tree hung with old-fashioned rabbit’s-foot keychains, popular trinkets in the ’60s-’70s. Worked perfectly with the sign, given that the theme was Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, which also meant it was no surprise to spot more than a few hats in the crowd:

Also in keeping with the theme – this Cheshire Cat cake from the “dessert dash,” donated by Melinda Pond:

(Photo by Doug Branch)
Student-made artworks were among the auction items – as was this teacher/student (among others) collaboration:

The card with the puppet theater explained that the Team Lake Union kindergarteners of Nancy Carney and Charlene Higuchi worked on designs and sock puppets for the theater, which was built by Carney’s husband. Congratulations to everybody at Gatewood, including auction chair Ava Barnes and the numerous volunteers it takes to put on this kind of event. (Got a fundraiser coming up at YOUR school? Please let us know!)

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New women’s soccer team playing in West Seattle this summer; host families, local players needed

March 9, 2013 9:33 am

| 3 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS & Sports

Big news for soccer fans – the Women’s Premier Soccer League – largest women’s league in the world – has a new team that will play home games at Delridge Playfield this summer. That news comes with a request for host families for players. We received this from AC Seattle‘s Katie Milne:

The 2013 season of Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is right around the corner and we have an exciting new team – AC Seattle PH America. It is an Italian-made team as most of its players will be coming to the USA from Italy. This is a unique project with two souls: Soccer and life experience in the United States. As such, we are looking for host families for these players.

My family had the pleasure of hosting one of these players, Alessandra Nencioni, last year when she played with Issaquah Soccer Club. It was a wonderful experience for our family and we will be hosting her again this year. Once your interest is confirmed and the roster is finalized, players will be matched with families.

The commitment level for interested families:

• Housing for June and July
• Healthy meals and snacks
• Possible transportation to and from practices and home games. Are you close to public transportation? Or would you have a car the player can use while in town? (we may be able to figure out carpooling as well- we do not want this to be a burden and will work with you to figure this part out). The team will provide transportation for away games.
• Access to washer and dryer

These women are excited for this opportunity to play soccer and experience life in the United States, but it would not be possible without the support of area families. We hope you will take this opportunity to welcome one of these players into your home and show them around the great Pacific NW. They are expected to integrate into the family and share some household chores and possibly childcare or other light work. If you are interested in hosting a player, please email or call me and I will put you on a list of prospective homes.

The players range in age from 18 to 27. More than a dozen host families are needed; you can reach Katie at jkmilne@mac.com or 425-427-8139. She adds that “the team is looking for American players to play with them as well. They have scheduled open tryouts for Mar 30th and 31st, at 6-8 pm,” both nights at Delridge Playfield. “Talented women soccer players over the age of 16 can try out.” More details here. For prospective spectators – read more details here about the new team’s plan.

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West Seattle Saturday: Cleanups; concerts; time change tonight…

March 9, 2013 8:01 am

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| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Shoring timbers along the bicycle route between West Seattle and downtown; photo by Don Brubeck)
Good morning! Here’s a quick look at highlights for today from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar – please note that the calendar software has some glitches for events this evening, related to the overnight time change – if you go to the page itself, note that the correct time for evening events is in the title and on the full listing page. And times are correct below, too:

SPEAKING OF TIME… SPRING FORWARD EARLY TOMORROW: 2 am Sunday, it’ll become 3 am Sunday, as Daylight Saving Time arrives overnight. But before we get there …

ANNUAL FAIRMOUNT RAVINE CLEANUP: 8:30-10:30 am, meet at Fairmount and Forest to join the 21st annual cleanup. Full details in the calendar listing, and our preview story. Refreshments for participants.

FLASH WORKOUT BENEFIT: Meet at Colman Pool on the Lincoln Park shore, 8:45 am, for workout with Coach Michele, benefiting The Big Climb. Details here.

ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION ADOPT-A-STREET CLEANUP: All welcome to the ANA’s quarterly patrol of Admiral District streets, which also includes breakfast treats before and a sack lunch after. 9 am-noon – meet at Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) at 42nd/Admiral.

DAY 2 OF THE BIG SALES: Tibbetts United Methodist Church (WSB sponsor) and West Side Presbyterian Church both continue their big rummage/garage sales today – location, times, and more in our Friday story.

WESTSIDE SCHOOL’S FUTURE SITE OPEN HOUSE: Find out more about Westside School (WSB sponsor) plans for purchasing and renovating Hillcrest Presbyterian Church in Arbor Heights – first of two community open houses is 10 am today, 10404 34th SW.

NORTH DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION ENCORE CLEANUP: Picking up where they left off last Saturday, NDNC will resume work at Greg Davis Park, 26th/Brandon, 10 am-noon. Beautification chair Lisa Taylor-Whitley says, “Meet at the 3 large rocks.”

GOT BOOKS? Members of the Rotary Club of West Seattle will be at 40th and Alaska (southeast corner) to accept your donations for the Books for the World program, 10 am-1 pm; here’s our preview story with info on what kind of books they’re seeking.

GIRL SCOUT COOKIE SALES: It’s the halfway point for this year’s cookie sales, and Sheryl Guyon shared this update and photo on behalf of one troop:

Girl Scout Troop 40766 wishes to thank the West Seattle Community for all of the cookie sales! They are the top-selling troop in the West Seattle and appreciate all of the support from the community. They are a group of 16 girls from Madison Middle school. The cookie sales support girls in our community and teach responsibility. The troop also recognizes the value of giving back to our community; they have supported Tent City in West Seattle and other neighbors in need. The troop will be selling cookies at QFC in Westwood village from noon to 4:00 pm today. Thanks for your support!

We’d be happy to feature other troops daily in the final week, so yours is welcome to send an update too (editor@westseattleblog.com). Many other troops are out and about selling, and you can find the full list via the Cookie Locator.

HIGH-SCHOOL SPORTS: Spring season is here, and Chief Sealth International High School kicks it off with baseball at noon and soccer at 6 pm, both home games.

FREE CONCERT: Rose City Mixed Quartet at Peace Lutheran Church (39th and Thistle), 4 pm, no admission charge, all welcome.

RONNY COX AND FRIENDS: As previewed here earlier this week, the TV/movie actor/musician plays Kenyon Hall tonight, 7:30 pm.

THREE BANDS AT SKYLARK: 8 pm tonight, Superedge, Sweetlix, and Tangerine at Skylark Café and Club.

BURLEY MOUNTAIN AT ALKI TAVERN: Second to last weekend for Alki Tavern, and final performance by Burley Mountain tonight, 9 pm.

SOUNDGARDEN TRIBUTE: The all-female Soundgarden tribute band Bleed Together plays Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 9 pm.

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Site note: Technical upgrade tonight, short outage likely

March 8, 2013 10:57 pm

| 4 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle online

FRIDAY NIGHT, 10:57 PM: Just a warning – WSB may be offline for a short time later tonight, because we’re making a technical upgrade – moving to a new server with more power and memory, to handle the ever-increasing usage, which sometimes leads to site slowness. Thank you for your support and collaboration, and forgive us in advance for the inconvenience while we’re making and verifying the change. If there is breaking news during the downtime, we’ll report it in full on WSB’s Facebook page and will have bulletins on Twitter, as always. Our sites White Center Now and The South Park News are on other servers, so they’re always available for backup too.

SATURDAY, 7:31 AM: Looks so far like the move was a success – please let us know in comments or via e-mail (editor@westseattleblog.com) if you encounter any error messages or unavailable pages. Meantime, we’re moving on to catching up with some stories we covered yesterday/last night that were delayed by breaking news and then the technical move. Thanks for your understanding!

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Seattle Police announce meetings for surveillance-camera feedback, starting on Alki

March 8, 2013 10:19 pm

| 15 COMMENTS

| Seattle Police surveillance cameras | West Seattle news

Seattle Police have just announced the promised meetings for “thorough public vetting” – Mayor McGinn’s phrase – of their federally funded surveillance-camera network. First one is Tuesday (March 12th), 7 pm, at Alki Bathhouse; second one, 7 pm March 19th at Belltown Community Center. They’ve also set up an address for e-mail feedback: cameraquestions@seattle.gov. It’s been more than six weeks since we broke the news of half a dozen cameras’ installation along Alki and Harbor Avenues, Beach Drive, and Fauntleroy Way, part of a 30-camera system linked to a “wireless mesh” communication system, and two weeks since SPD indicated there would be public forums, without mentioning dates, places, times. Tonight the city’s Seattle Channel also took an closeup look at the controversy. Our coverage dating back to January 29th is archived here, newest to oldest.

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