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Design Review tonight, Fauntleroy Place presentation online now
August 14, 2008 12:08 pm
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   Development | West Seattle news

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Top to bottom, those are the views of Fauntleroy Place‘s proposed new design – its east side facing 39th SW, west side and southwest corner along 40th SW, and its south side along SW Alaska. Site work has been under way for weeks now but the project’s back in Design Review because of changes; tonight’s Southwest Design Review Board meeting is at 8 pm at High Point Community Center (here’s a map), and the PDF of the presentation is on the city website now (see it here). It’s preceded by the 6:30 “early design guidance” meeting for the mixed-use building proposed in High Point at 35th/Graham; the presentation for that project is not online as of this writing .

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Remembering Gregory Hampel: 2 funds; memorial today
August 14, 2008 7:33 am
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle people

Many people have posted tributes to Gregory Hampel among the comments below our Monday night report that he did not survive the 35th/Dawson accident in which a car hit him as he ran into the street to try to catch his dog. The 39-year-old West Seattleite is survived by his partner Ed Swaya and their daughter Vivian; late last night, we received word of two funds being set up for donations in his memory, including one at the school where he taught:

Donations in honor of Gregory Hampel can be made to The Seabury School, where they are setting up a scholarship in his name.

Or, given the family’s commitment to the education of their daughter, donations are being accepted at any US Bank for the education fund for Vivian Swaya.

DONATIONS BY MAIL:
Deposit into “Vivian Swaya’s Account” (educational fund)
US Bank
1436 S. 312th St
Federal Way, WA 98003

DONATIONS IN PERSON:
Go into any branch of US Bank.
No account number needed; simply use Vivian Swaya’s name.

Sorry, no online donation available

The US Bank branch in West Seattle is at the northwest corner of 42nd/Edmunds (map). 10:09 AM UPDATE: A comment on our previous report includes this information on a service for Mr. Hampel today:

Gregory’s Memorial Service:
Thursday August 14
University Lutheran Church
1604 NE 50th

viewing 10-noon
service following

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34th District Democrats’ decisions, with days till the primary
August 14, 2008 5:08 am
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle jail sites | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

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(photo by Dina Johnson)
If you still think the primary election – next Tuesday, or maybe you’ve voted by mail already – is a snoozer, last night’s 34th District Democrats donkey5.jpgmeeting would have cured you of that notion. With sometimes-raucous debate and questioning, our area’s largest political organization settled on some endorsements and budgeting decisions, looking ahead to both the primary and general elections. Five of West Seattle’s own elected officials were there, along with one of the most controversial statewide politicians running for re-election, and a city leader – read on to say what was said, decided, and revealed, including their recommendation on the primary’s most convoluted ballot measure:Read More

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Crime Watch reader reports: Monday mugging; hit-run crash
August 13, 2008 10:59 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | Safety | West Seattle news

If you look at the link dates on the WSB Crime Watch page, things were quiet for a long stretch – now that’s changed, at least temporarily. Two more reader reports ahead, along with a reminder about two ways to become a better neighborhood crimefighter:Read More

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West Seattle Thriftway may be trailblazer for beer/wine tastings
August 13, 2008 8:02 pm
|      8 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news | WS beverages

This past winter, we reported twice on a bill in the State Legislature to allow beer and wine tastings in grocery stores — first report here, second report here. photo_beer.jpgThe bill eventually passed, and tonight, the state has announced the first 15 grocery stores “randomly selected” to participate in a pilot version of the program starting this October, and the only Seattle store in the first 15 (see the list here) is West Seattle Thriftway in Morgan Junction. 15 more stores statewide will be announced soon – they’ll be chosen from chains; Thriftway and the other 14 are all independents. (Hat tip to The Big Blog.) Here’s how the state says the program will work:Read More

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Denny/Sealth updates: Sealth appeal, Denny site future
August 13, 2008 2:34 pm
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   Denny-Sealth | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | Westwood

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Two updates today: First, we reported earlier this week about West Seattle-based activist Chris Jackins‘ appeal of the Sealth site “determination of nonsignificance,” and a controversy over tree-cutting that had been done before a hearing on that appeal. We have new information on the appeal (and why there was no public notice of the hearing) – also, we have a report from last night’s Westwood Neighborhood Council meeting, where both city Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher and West Seattle’s school-board rep Steve Sundquist were on hand for some honest and open discussion about the future of the Denny site, once the old school’s demolished (shown above, the WNC “vision” for what the site could become – click image for a larger view):Read More

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Casing alert
August 13, 2008 12:02 pm
|      29 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | Safety | West Seattle news

Out of the WSB inbox, from “a resident on 40th between Alaska and Oregon” (map): The note begins, “Just wanted to let the community know about a guy who was casing our house today …” Here’s the rest, including a precise description of the person:Read More

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Closer look at gang life – in West Seattle and other neighborhoods
August 13, 2008 11:11 am
|      27 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

We’ve received several notes about a P-I in-depth article today that we agree is a must-read: A closer look at gang life, including prominent mentions of West Seattle and White Center (scroll to the bottom of the article for a map indicating which gangs are active and where). It’s accompanied by a photo gallery, which features a series of pictures of a gang initiation in Lincoln Park, starting with this photo. The P-I promises a follow-up tomorrow about the people searching for solutions.

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Two bag-fee updates: Website’s REAL backer; plus, comic relief
August 13, 2008 10:24 am
|      9 COMMENTS
 |   Bag fee battle | Environment | West Seattle news

FIRST, ABOUT THAT WEBSITE: Huge kudos to Blogging Georgetown, one of our favorite nearby-neighborhood sites, for going an important step further than we did in our report last night on the anti-bag-fee website: As you can read in this BG post, he looked up the StopTheSeattleBagTax.com URL registration, and notes that the domain was registered Monday, to … the American Chemistry Council. No surprise, as several commenters on WSB speculated along those lines, but it is a little startling that they didn’t bother to register the domain in the name of Washington Food Industry. We have sent a note to WFI spokesperson Jan Gee asking for comment on the Chemistry Council’s relationship to her group and this referendum campaign. This section of the ACC site has links about its previous efforts to stop this bag fee (and proposals in other states), including the radio commercial BG mentions.

SECOND, ON A LIGHTER NOTE: Just got this link from West Seattle’s own “tea lady” Tracy (who closed her Admiral shop some months back to focus on her downtown Tea Gallery operation) — Her brother, syndicated comic-strip artist Keith Knight, took on plastic bags in his strip “The Knight Life” over the weekend. You can see it here.

12:51 PM UPDATE ON FIRST ITEM: Response from Jan Gee at WFI:

The ACC is a member of the coalition and was very active during the City’s public hearing process on this issue. Their membership includes the manufacturers and suppliers of many of our bags. We expect them to be very supportive of this effort including significant financial support. As an association of family owned businesses we don’t have the resources to meet all the demands Seattle places on citizen referendum. They also have an IT person and I don’t.

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New information on The Big Cleanup – and how to be part of it
August 12, 2008 11:11 pm
|      18 COMMENTS
 |   How to help | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

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That’s the overgrown and undermaintained “Gateway to West Seattle,” along the Fauntleroy end of The Bridge. Just a month is left now till the September 13th event that pretty much needs to be the volunteer effort of the century to get this cleaned up — all the way from Walking on Logs to 35th/Fauntleroy — and all you have to do is commit two hours to be part of it – but organizers REALLY need to hear from you NOW. Here’s the latest from Nancy Driver, who’s not only coordinating volunteer help but also the massive preparation work that’s going into maximizing what those volunteers will be able to do that day (with free coffee! snacks! warm feeling of having accomplished something!) as well as soliciting sponsors for some of the costs the city doesn’t cover (like blackberry-munching goats!):

Stan Lock and I met this morning with the City of Seattle’s Clean & Green Interdepartmental team and did a reconnaissance of the cleanup area. The plan is that the City (SDOT) will be trimming up the bottoms of the trees so that Wa. Dept of Corrections can get in and clear out underbrush under the trees. The City will also be blocking off the lane of traffic adjacent to the clean up site for the 6 hours of the cleanup. Additionally, the City is providing three trucks to haul off green debris and bagged litter, as well as providing rakes and garbage bags.

The City is firmly behind the project and has made a substantial commitment to the project but it’s a huge area to clean up and they can’t provide all the resources to do everything that needs to be done to do a complete cleanup. The community needs to show its support, not only through volunteering the day of the project but by donating funding to get the additional needed work done. There’s probably a half acre or more of blackberries to contend with so we hope to raise money to get in a herd of goats for two to three days to clean out the blackberries. This will cost $825 per day. We are also hoping to raise money to have a tree company come in and finish trimming up the trees and take out any trees that need to be removed. There is substantial tree work that needs to be done and based on the estimates received, this will cost around $10,000 to $12,000. We hope that West Seattle merchants and companies developing properties in West Seattle will step forward to cover the costs for this work. Of course, we would welcome donations from individuals too.

Beyond the actual cleanup, we also need local groups and businesses to step up and “adopt” a portion of the gateway area. The City wants to know that once we get this area cleaned up, it will be maintained. Adopting a portion of the area would mean a commitment similar to one you’d have with the “Adopt a Street” program.

We need to pull together 200 or more volunteers for the cleanup day to donate 2 hours of their time. We will need groups of volunteers of 60 to 70 at two-hour intervals starting at 9 am. Volunteers will be asked to do some hand weeding, rake up green debris and pick up and bag litter. Tools and safety vests will be provided by the City, and gloves have been donated by the West Seattle Garden Tour Committee. Diva Espresso is providing coffee and we are talking to other merchants to chip in with some light snacks.

Some of the groups that have committed to pulling together teams of volunteers are: Mars Hill Church, Karen Lavalle/Windermere Realty, West Seattle Garden Tour, Democrats Work, and Harbor Properties.

Because this is such a big undertaking, we have to be well organized on the day of the cleanup to get everything done. This means we need to line up as many volunteers as possible prior to the cleanup (the earlier the better) so that we can have more or less equal numbers of volunteers showing up for the 9 am group, the 11 am group and the 1 pm group.

Anyone interested in volunteering, helping pull together volunteers, or helping with fundraising should contact me at ndriver@quidnunc.net.

Thanks to all who have already volunteered.
Nancy Driver/Fairmount Community Association

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“Bag the bag tax” group puts up a website
August 12, 2008 10:26 pm
|      31 COMMENTS
 |   Bag fee battle | Environment | West Seattle news

banbag.jpgThough it’s not West Seattle-specific, we’re going to keep close tabs on the bag-fee-referendum drive because it’s clear a lot of people are passionate about it – on both sides. So here’s the latest: Jan Gee of Washington Food Industry, recyclebag.jpgthe grocer-advocacy organization that’s gathering signatures to cancel the bag fee/foam ban, points out that their website has gone live at StopTheSeattleBagTax.com. Gee also confirms what we had suspected – this was the first place where the petition drive was reported; they didn’t announce it publicly before signature gatherers like the one we met just started fanning out over the weekend. If you come across anyone organizing a “defend the bag fee” effort, let us know; meantime, one of the fee’s main backers is in West Seattle tomorrow night — City Council president Richard Conlin will be a guest at the 34th District Democrats‘ monthly meeting, 7 pm at The Hall @ Fauntleroy. (Also on the agenda, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson, who’s in a tough re-election campaign looking ahead to next Tuesday’s statewide primary.)

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West Seattle development: Design Review updates
August 12, 2008 6:40 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Development | West Seattle news

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Two notes regarding proposed projects that the Southwest Design Review Board will consider in public meetings coming up this month and next: First, a change — The 9/11 date we first mentioned last week for the Admiral Safeway (photo above; the rendering for the new proposal is to be released at a community meeting sometime in the next few weeks) rebuild project has just been moved to 9/25, per the city’s Design Review-Upcoming page; on that night, after the Safeway project at 6:30 pm, it’s the next review for the Harbor Properties project at 38th/Alaska, both meetings at the Southwest Precinct. Meantime, here’s what’s on design reviewers’ agenda this Thursday night:

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On Thursday, two major projects are on the Southwest Design Review Board agenda – the newest design for Fauntleroy Place (above, the most recent publicly released rendering) at 8 pm; the 35th/Graham High Point mixed-use project at 6:30 pm, both meetings at High Point Community Center. Chip Marshall from Lowe Enterprises, which is developing the HP project, gave WSB a tiny bit of a sneak peek today regarding the commercial part of the project:

At this point the commercial is only in the very rudimentary planning stages. It will be along 35th and a portion of Graham street with a public plaza space in-between at the junction of the two streets.

Of course we are at the mercy of what end users will want to locate there, but we believe that given its location on a busy street as well as being the gateway to High Point that it should be attractive to a number of potential tenants.

We have had a meeting with High Point residents and they expressed interest in a coffee shop, some form of food related business that could also serve as a community meeting place, a restaurant as well as possible live work spaces, all of which we are open to.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: From the police-report files
August 12, 2008 3:29 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle Crime Watch: From the police-report files
 |   Crime | Safety | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

We’re still combing through the past week or so of reports filed and approved at the Southwest Precinct – read on for the noteworthy cases we’ve seen so far:Read More

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New teen baseball team coming up to bat in West Seattle
August 12, 2008 12:52 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle news | WS & Sports

baseballclipart.jpgIntroducing – the Puget Sound Stars Baseball Club (13U)! We heard from Brian Chase, who says, “My son just finished with West Seattle Little League and some of us decided to start a Sandy Koufax Select 13U Baseball Team here in West Seattle. We have many WSLL & Bronco kids on the team but have a few spots open for the 2009 season.” If you know a player who might want to go for one of those spots, tryouts are a week from tomorrow, 6-8 pm 8/20 — for more details including location, e-mail Brian by clicking here.

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Honked off by West Seattle train noise? New group wants you
August 12, 2008 10:48 am
|      59 COMMENTS
 |   Neighborhoods | Pigeon Point | West Seattle news

From Admiral to Pigeon Point, some West Seattle residents say train noise is getting worse, and – as first discussed in this WSB Forums thread – they are ready to figure out how to put some limits on it. railroadsign.jpgNot to stop the trains — as Liz Hardy explains, “Many people are affected by this noise because we have found that the bulk of the train traffic is at night and early morning. While we all understand that this is an industrial area and we do not expect (or want) the train traffic to stop, this is also a residential area and something needs to be done to mitigate the effect that the train noise is having on the surrounding neighborhoods.” As the West Seattle Train Noise Action Committee, they are now working to establish a federal “quiet zone” (explained here) in the area around the Port and Harbor Island. They’re hoping you can come to their first meeting, even though it’s downtown – they’ve booked West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, plus SDOT and Port of Seattle reps too – is Monday, at City Hall downtown for various reasons, and they are hoping for a big turnout – if you are concerned about train noise, be there: 5:30 pm Monday 8/18, Sam Smith Conference Room on the 2nd floor at City Hall (600 4th Ave.; here’s a map).

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Update: 35th/Dawson accident turns fatal; victim made history
August 11, 2008 10:18 pm
|      49 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news

According to two sources, including a comment on the original accident coverage, the man hit by a car last night after chasing his dog onto 35th near Dawson has died. The King County Medical Examiner identifies him as 39-year-old Gregory Hampel, who lived near the accident scene. The commenter on last night’s report, identified only as “a friend,” says:

He was a great man, a great father and a good friend. He will be missed by all.

As a father, in fact, it has been pointed out to us, Mr. Hampel helped make legal history; he and his partner won a case involving adoption rights for same-sex couples. Here’s one of many online references we have found so far; a newer article says a federal appeals court upheld the ruling almost exactly a year ago. Meantime, he is the third person hit and killed by a car in West Seattle in the past year (we mentioned the other 2 in Sunday night’s coverage). ADDED 12:55 AM: This short Times article says Mr. Hampel worked as a teacher at Tacoma’s Seabury School, which sent e-mail about the crash to the school community, calling him “a bright light in our community.”

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Westwood Council tomorrow night: Latest on Denny (and Sealth)
August 11, 2008 10:09 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Denny-Sealth | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news | Westwood

The second Tuesday of every month is usually a very busy night, with up to four major neighborhood associations/councils in West Seattle holding their monthly meetings. This month, all but one are on hiatus — the one that WILL meet tomorrow night is the Westwood Neighborhood Council. They are expecting two high-profile guests: city parks superintendent Tim Gallagher and West Seattle school-board rep Steve Sundquist. WNC has been focused on the Denny/Sealth school project for quite some time and now is laser-focused on what will happen with Denny’s current site, once the school moves to its new spot on the Sealth campus. Here’s the Westwood vision for that site’s possible future; as we mentioned the other day, citizen involvement is being solicited now for both the school district’s “design team” for the site and for a committee that will hold hearings on code “departures” for the Denny/Sealth project. The WNC invites you to join its meeting at 7 pm tomorrow night, Southwest Precinct meeting room (Delridge/Webster).

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As time goes by: Following up on the California Ave “upzoning”
August 11, 2008 7:29 pm
|    Comments Off on As time goes by: Following up on the California Ave “upzoning”
 |   California Ave upzoning | Development | West Seattle news

upzonescreengrab.jpgWhen last we checked in on the proposal to “upzone” California Avenue between Hanford and Hinds, and a bit further south on the west side of the street (city map at left) — first reported here nine months ago — city planners told us in mid-June that they were “writing the recommendation.” Now, almost two more months have gone by, while the signs and notices posted along that stretch of California SW continue to fade in the summer sun, so we called the city today to see where in the pipeline that recommendation might be. According to Bryan Stevens in the city planning department, the decision “should be published at the end of the month. Due to the complexity of the issues and the analysis that must occur, it’s not uncommon for a rezone request to take 10-12 months before it goes to Council.” (That refers to the City Council approval that would be required for a zoning change; a Hearing Examiner hearing would be scheduled after the recommendation is published, too.) If you missed the original round of reports on this, our coverage is archived newest to oldest here; the official city webpage for information on the proposal is here.

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Freeway followup: The truck that caused the trouble
August 11, 2008 5:27 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   Transportation | West Seattle news

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Thanks to John Cahill for sending photos of the truck that toppled onto its side on the West Seattle Bridge exit to southbound I-5 this morning (WSB coverage here), blocking that ramp for more than two hours. From another angle, its contents didn’t look too much the worse for wear:

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Update: Who’s behind the proposal to bag the bag fee
August 11, 2008 4:20 pm
|      39 COMMENTS
 |   Bag fee battle | Environment | West Seattle news

signbag.jpgWe first told you yesterday about a petition drive to repeal Seattle’s upcoming disposable-bag fee (and foam ban) by referendum, after we encountered a signature-gatherer (toting the sign you see at left) outside West Seattle Thriftway. City law does not require such referenda to be recorded or even reviewed before signature-gathering begins, so we were having some trouble finding out who’s behind it — till two people (thanks to Alcina and Diane) just posted/sent word that the Puget Sound Business Journal reported about an hour ago, it’s the Washington Food Industry, a grocer-advocacy group.

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Update: Grand-reopening day for locksmith hit by arson
August 11, 2008 2:05 pm
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

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We stopped in a while ago to check back with Michael Dein, who told WSB over the weekend (previous coverage here) that he would be reopening Puget Sound Key and Lock in Morgan Junction today, four and a half months after the as-yet-unsolved arson attack that gutted his shop – this photo was taken that day:

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A month after the fire, West Seattle Blog Forum members put on a benefit to raise money to help him reopen; today he wanted to thank them – and he also told us his new start is off to a good start:

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As reported over the weekend – he is giving back to the community, by offering a special service for domestic-abuse victims (read about it in our Saturday report). Puget Sound Key and Lock is at 6016 California SW, on the north edge of Morgan Junction.

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Update: West Seattle side note in school-district tree tussle
August 11, 2008 12:51 pm
|      11 COMMENTS
 |   Denny-Sealth | Environment | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | Westwood

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Reading citywide-media coverage regarding the latest developments in Seattle Public Schools‘ plan to cut trees to make way for an Ingraham High School project, we were startled to see the reports featuring a line about alleged unauthorized district tree-cutting as Denny/Sealth construction/renovation work begins on the Chief Sealth HS campus. Certainly the West Seattle project has had more than its share of controversy, but we hadn’t heard about any tree trouble, so we started digging around. Here’s what we found out:Read More

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New medic unit dedicated at West Seattle’s Fire Station 32
August 11, 2008 10:58 am
|    Comments Off on New medic unit dedicated at West Seattle’s Fire Station 32
 |   West Seattle news

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(Photo courtesy Seattle Fire Department)
It’s been in service since July 1st, but this weekend marked the official dedication of the new Medic 32, based at Fire Station 32 in The Junction – thanks to the Ed and Karen Levy Charitable Foundation (that’s Karen Levy, photographed with some of the SFD team, including Chief Gregory Dean next to her [in a tie]). This is the seventh medic unit the foundation has donated to SFD in the past 20 years – here’s a little more background info from the fire department:

The 2008 model is manufactured by Braun Northwest and has an updated drive train, engine and body style. The interior of the unit was custom designed by Seattle Fire Department firefighter/paramedics.

The Department’s medic units are staffed by two firefighter/paramedics that have completed nine months of intensive medical training through the Medic One Program. The County-wide Medic One system focuses on providing first-rate pre hospital emergency care to critical patients. The Department has a total of seven medic units assigned to fire stations throughout the City.

Station 32 itself, by the way, is targeted for replacement – yet another one of the major private and public projects on the drawing boards in The Junction/Triangle area.

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