West Seattle, Washington
11 Saturday
From the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar:
VIADUCT/99 CLOSURE TONIGHT: Again tonight, Highway 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct will close overnight SOUTHBOUND between the Battery Street Tunnel and West Seattle Bridge. 9 pm-5 am.
METRO CHANGES ON COUNCIL COMMITTEE AGENDA: Following last week’s public hearing, the proposed Metro changes for September – many of them affecting West Seattle routes – are back before the King County Council’s Transportation, Economy, and Environment Committee, 9:30 am, council chambers downtown (agenda here; more info here).
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FEEDBACK! Tonight’s the 3rd anniversary celebration at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor). From their website:
We have the Balloons of Mystery, cake, music by DJ Hairball, and a one-night only Fresh Sheet sneak peek of our new spring/summer menu courtesy of Chef Wade, and a few surprises!
Dinner, drinks, revelry, stop by for one or all of the above, 6451 California SW.
K-5 STEM AT BOREN DESIGN TEAM: We’re told some big decisions are expected at tonight’s meeting of the community/district team working on the new public school that’s opening in West Seattle this fall. 6:15 pm; the meetings are now at Madison Middle School (45th/Spokane).
COLLEGE FUNDING WORKSHOP: Whatever age your child/ren are, it’s not too soon or too late to plan for how to pay for college. A free workshop at Fauntleroy Church (9140 California SW) tonight, 6:30-7:30 pm, might help. More details and RSVP info here.
HIGHLAND PARK ACTION COMMITTEE: Monthly meeting for HPAC, 7 pm at Highland Park Improvement Club (whose Julie Schickling, just honored as Volunteer of the Year, will be celebrated, among other agenda items), 12th/Holden.
ACADEMIC FAIR AND OPEN HOUSE AT HOPE LUTHERAN SCHOOL: 7-8 pm, details here (4456 42nd SW).
OPEN MIKE #1: At C & P Coffee (WSB sponsor), the monthly PoetryBridge event features an open mike for poems and stories after readings by Cara Mbaye and Tom Nivision.
OPEN MIKE #2: At Mind Unwind in the Admiral District, Wednesday night is open-mike night, 9 pm (2206 California SW).
More on the calendar!
School fundraiser season isn’t over yet – we have word of one happening this Friday on behalf of the PTA at Sanislo Elementary, “the small school with big ideas.” Matt shared this invitation:
Sanislo Elementary is a small, culturally diverse West Seattle public school that likes to have a good time. This Friday we will be hosting a Benefit Bash at the Highland Park Improvement Club.
*Admission is free (any donations will be gratefully accepted), and doors are open to the public (21 and over).
*Live music by Seattle’s own Roy Kay Trio
*Doors open at 6:30, music starts around 8:30
*There will be a very small silent auction, games and prizes, a 50-50 raffle, and a wine raffle.
*Proceeds will support education enrichment programs at Sanislo.
HPIC is at 12th/Holden.
The three finalists for Seattle Public Schools superintendent are visiting this week, each one in the spotlight for a day, including group media interviews. The first spotlight came on Tuesday, for José Banda, from Anaheim, California. Above, unedited SPS video of one of his 3 quarter-hour-long group interviews (partly conducted in Spanish, in which he is fluent); here are reports from two of the participants in today’s interviews, Seattle Times (WSB sponsor) reporter Brian M. Rosenthal, here; Seattle Schools Community Forum writer Melissa Westbrook, here. (The Times also profiled Banda, here.) Today, finalist Steven Enoch, from San Ramon, California, will go through the same routine, and we hope to have video and links here again late tonight or early tomorrow. To tell the School Board what you think about any of the candidates, you’re invited to e-mail schoolboard@seattleschools.org.
Providence Mount St. Vincent administrators past and present were there this afternoon to celebrate the dedication of The Mount’s newly expanded Transitional Care Unit. At left is Sister Rita Ferschweiler, who gave the blessing at this afternoon’s ceremony, photographed with current administrator Tom Mitchell. Sister Rita has been a Sister of Providence since 1944, when she was in her mid-20s, and came to West Seattle in 1977 to become administrator of The Mount. This expansion means the facility now has 58 beds for “transitional care,” explained as what’s needed by some people who are out of the hospital after surgery or treatment but still need time to recover, rehabilitate, and go through therapy before they can transition back into their regular lives. The services are now headquartered on The Mount’s 5th floor, where today’s ceremony happened:
From left, Providence’s Laurie Corrington, Renee Fowler, and Ken Wolcott; Kees Cusveller from Graham Construction, and Steve Anderson from Providence. Previously, The Mount had 20 beds for this kind of care, so its capacity is tripled. A fact-sheet provided by Providence says it’s the only part of The Mount where they have “patients” rather than “residents.”
Last month, we followed up on a long-running discussion in the WSB Forums – about a $100 fee charged by Highline Medical Center‘s Urgent Care Clinic in West Seattle, not covered by all insurance companies, with prospective patients required to agree that they’ll pay it if their insurance doesn’t.
As we reported in that story, Highline’s administrator told WSB the fee is “for the higher costs of operating an urgent care facility during weekends and evening hours, when there is irregular demand for services. …” Adam and Gabrielle Kramer, who first surfaced the complaint, contend that the charge, which they say she had to agree to pay before she could be seen at the clinic for a neck problem last December, violates our state’s law against “balance billing,” and that is the root of the class-action lawsuit they have filed in King County Superior Court (see it here). After Adam Kramer sent us word of the suit this afternoon, we requested comment from Highline, but did not hear back; if and when we do, we will add their response here.
(Photo by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
After a 2-0 win over Ingraham at home this afternoon, the Chief Sealth International High School boys-varsity soccer team remains undefeated, with a record of 11-0-1, two-thirds of the way through the regular season. Their next game is also at home, this Friday vs. Bainbridge Island.
This time of year, the term ‘waitlist’ is a source of angst for hundreds of families around the city, once they discover that a spot wasn’t immediately available at the school of their choice. Today, WSB’er Kathleen pointed out that information on the length of waitlists around the city is finally available online. And the waitlist for West Seattle’s newest public school is NOT what it seems, it’s been pointed out to us. More on that in a moment. First, we’re not going to list all the waitlist numbers from West Seattle schools (you can see that here), but here are the ones with double-digit wait lists:
67 for 9th grade at Chief Sealth International High School
46 for kindergarten at Pathfinder K-8
26 for kindergarten at Alki Elementary
23 for kindergarten at Schmitz Park Elementary
20 for 6th grade at Denny International Middle School
17 for 10th grade at Chief Sealth
17 for kindergarten at Gatewood Elementary
11 for 1st grade at Gatewood Elementary
11 for 11th grade at Chief Sealth
11 for kindergarten at Highland Park Elementary
10 for 3rd grade at Pathfinder K-8
10 for 2nd grade Spectrum at Lafayette Elementary
10 for 3rd grade Spectrum at Lafayette Elementary
(Longest waitlist in the city is for Franklin High School 9th grade – 104.) Then there are waitlists that are unlike any others – the ones for the new K-5 STEM at Boren. Today we heard from two parents who both said, if you are even contemplating enrolling your child in the new science/tech/math/engineering school for this fall, PLEASE get on the list now – because (as we reported last week) the district has said that it could add extra classes IF there are enough kids to fill them. Right now, according to that same district data set, there are 8 waiting for kindergarten, two each for 1st and 3rd. Enrollment information is here.
(WSB photo from April 2011)
As discussed here last Saturday, the city was out striping the West Seattle Bridge without advance warning – but today, they are issuing a blanket traffic alert pointing out that you might find yourself in the vicinity of a painting crew sometime, somewhere, between tomorrow and late September:
Now that the rainy season is winding down, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is revving up to begin its annual five-months of road striping work covering 1148 lane miles. The majority of work begins tomorrow, April 25, and could continue through September 26, depending on weather and accomplishments.
The work will primarily involve slow moving paint trucks, averaging about three to six miles an hour. Drivers may encounter slight delays as a result. There will be no lane closures required, unless extensive lay-out (measuring) is needed to delineate lane markings that have been totally eradicated by traffic and snow removal. In which case, warning signs will be posted.
The road striping, which requires dry weather, could start as early as 5 a.m., but will likely take place between the hours of 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. mainly on secondary arterials Tuesdays through Fridays. Arterials, the Downtown Core area (First through Sixth avenues), and known high-volume traffic areas will be striped early Saturday mornings to minimize the impact on motorists.
Funding for the work is provided by the Bridging the Gap voter-approved transportation initiative and the General Fund. Drivers are asked to drive cautiously through the work zones allowing the crews plenty of room to do their work safely.
Besides the bridge, we saw freshly painted markings on Delridge Way SW yesterday, too. If you happen to spot a painting crew and can safely call or text (you’re in the passenger seat, on a bus, noticing from your window at home, etc.), please consider letting us know so we can share the traffic alert, however shortlived – 206-293-6302 voice or text, any time.
(WSDOT photo from March 29th keel-laying event for 1st 144-car-ferry project at Vigor)
Less than four weeks after that ceremony at Vigor Shipyards marking the start of work on a new 144-car state ferry, WSDOT and Vigor just formalized paperwork for the next one, with construction set to start in December. Total costs for the two ferries are expected to total $277 million, according to WSDOT’s announcement today. The first one is due to start service in early 2014, the second one, a year after that. Up to two more may follow. They’ll be replacing Evergreen State-class ferries (two of which are often on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run – Klahowya and Tillikum).
Though the sun is gone for now, it’ll be back, and so will Alki crowds the size of the ones that left behind the weekend litter/overflowing can problem shown/discussed here yesterday. As a result, Seattle Parks spokesperson Dewey Potter told WSB this morning, more cans would be set out – and as the photo we took around 10 am shows, they’re already there. (Compare to the photo in Monday’s story – today, two cans are side by side in each of the two spots east of the Bathhouse that previously had one apiece. Don’t have any comparisons for the rest of the beach, though.) Potter also says that contrary to her first reply, some Parks employees WERE on duty over the weekend, but they had some pickup challenges with the larger “in-ground” cans – a special cable-equipped truck used for emptying them broke down (they have a loaner replacement now).
If you have clothing you don’t need any more, but you don’t already have other plans for it such as a yard sale – the Neighborhood House High Point Center has a clothing drive under way and asked us to share this call for donations:
n the spirit of reducing, reusing, and recycling, we are celebrating Earth Day by holding a clothes drive for the residents of the High Point community. We are asking the wider West Seattle community to contribute any new or slightly used clothing. Please bring clothes clean and no undergarments. Clothes donations may be left with the High Point Center front desk, 9 am-5 pm Monday-Friday of this week, April 23-27. Our address is: 6400 Sylvan Way SW. We thank you in advance for your generosity! If you have any questions, please contact High Point Living Green Project Manager, Rochelle Saedi at rochelles@nhwa.org or (206) 588-4900 ext. 612
(And though it’s not related, we can’t resist a reminder that a whole variety of NON-clothing items can be recycled via the Fauntleroy Church event this Sunday.)
Approaching the first anniversary of its opt-out-of-phone-books program, the city says more than a fifth of Seattle households are using it. According to a news release this morning: “More than 75,000 residents and businesses have stopped nearly 420,000 individual unwanted phone-book deliveries – saving 375 tons of paper.” Another round of deliveries looms, so they’re getting the word out now – you can opt out online by going here – do it by May 22nd, Seattle Public Utilities says, or the next round of Dex books will be on your doorstep (you can opt out of others, too). If you don’t want to opt out online, do it via an automated phone service, (206) 504-3066. (P.S. To stop junk mail, go here – note that you’ll be asked to opt out by name of company whose mailings you get, so it’s not as streamlined a process.)
(Photo by Machel Spence – fern season!)
From the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar:
VIADUCT/99 CLOSURE TONIGHT: Again this week, nightly through Thursday night, Highway 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct will close overnight SOUTHBOUND between the Battery Street Tunnel and West Seattle Bridge. The closures are scheduled for 9 pm-5 am.
WEST SEATTLE CHAMBER ‘LUNCH AND LEARN’: The ongoing series focuses today on learning how to use LinkedIn “like a pro.” 12:30-1:30 pm at The Kenney (WSB sponsor), $25 Chamber members/$35 nonmembers (7125 Fauntleroy Way SW).
COMMUNITY CONVERSATION WITH MARTY McLAREN: Want to talk to West Seattle’s school-board rep about the BEX IV levy, the new K-5 STEM at Boren school, the superintendent finalists, anything else? She’ll be at Southwest Library (35th/Henderson) 1-2:30 pm today to meet with anybody interested in talking.
AFTERNOON PIANO MUSIC AT PARK WEST: You’re invited to come see/hear Eric “Two Scoops” Moore perform, free, 2:30 pm at Park West (1703 California SW).
UNBEATEN SOCCER TEAM BACK IN ACTION: Public high schools’ spring-sports teams are back on the field, the court, etc., this week, and today is the first game in more than a week for the Chief Sealth International High School boys-varsity soccer squad, 4 pm at Southwest Athletic Complex, vs. Ingraham. (We have ongoing sports schedules for CSIHS and WSHS throughout the week on the WSB Events Calendar.)
METRO ROUTE 120 CHANGES – AND IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT BUSES: An open house 5:30-7:30 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center tonight is meant to gather comments on, and share information about, big changes ahead along this popular route. That includes “rechannelization” for part of Delridge and changes in the spacing of stops along the route. Here’s our preview from Monday, including a link to a survey, if you can’t make it tonight.
‘CRIME PREVENTION THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN’ AT WSBWCN: Community Police Team Officer Jonathan Kiehn is scheduled to bring the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network an updated encore pre about multiple ways to make your home less attractive to criminals – in ways you don’t routinely hear about. 6:30 pm, Southwest Precinct (Delridge/Webster).
SANISLO PTA: New families are invited as well as families who already have students at Sanislo Elementary, 6:30 pm tonight (1812 SW Myrtle)
FREE ‘INTRO TO REIKI’: Tonight at Highland Park Improvement Club, 7:30 pm. Details here.
More – for today/tonight, and far beyond! – on the calendar.
One week from Thursday, it’s the most fashionable fundraiser on the West Seattle calendar – “Style ’12,” the 10th annual “Look Good, Feel Good, Do Good!” fashion-show benefit for Northwest Hope and Healing. Though it’s not happening IN West Seattle – it’s not far, at Showbox SODO! – there is so much West Seattle involvement, both NWHH leadership – including executive director Shari Sewell – and local businesses (as well as participating breast-cancer survivor/models!), that you might say the peninsula honorarily stretches that far for the night. For example: West Seattleite and three-time breast-cancer survivor Tracy Dart, known even more widely as a fundraiser extraordinaire, is keynote speaker. Participating boutiques/businesses include, from West Seattle, Carmilia’s, Coastal, Ola Salon, Sweetie, and West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor). Proceeds go toward helping NWHH assist women fighting breast cancer – though diagnosis and treatment may have turned their lives upside down, everyday life must go on, and NWHH assistance is geared toward helping make that happen. Find out more – and buy tickets – online, by going here. (Photo credit: Sarah Halston)
(Click for larger image)
When Lynn Sweeney Pedersen accepted “Emerging Business of the Year” at last Wednesday’s West Seattle Chamber of Commerce Westsider Awards, for her family’s The Grove/West Seattle Inn (WSB coverage here), she noted its history – opened as the Mar-Lyn Motel 50 years ago for the Seattle World’s Fair. Today, The Grove shared this 50-year-old postcard view of the Mar-Lyn. While the motel’s configuration hasn’t changed much, if you look closely, you’ll see some fun details (phone booth, drink machine, cars)…
A “brush fire” call this past hour at 29th and Cambridge wasn’t major – but it did bring police to Roxhill Park along with two fire engines; officers were looking for witnesses. Here’s the damaged patch:
Nobody was hurt; the fire was called in quickly enough that the fire crews made fast work of it.
It’s no guarantee that the current state-liquor-store locations will turn into private liquor stores, but the auction for rights to liquor licenses at existing store sites is over, and the state has announced the high bids. While many bidders face the prospect of negotiating with the sites’ current landlords – since the auction was just for exclusive license-application rights, NOT for the sites themselves – that’s not the case for one in West Seattle: At Capco Plaza in The Junction, owner Leon Capelouto was the high bidder for the license rights to his building’s almost-new “premier” store location, $225,445 – and also the high bidder for an Issaquah liquor-store location’s license-application rights, $251,000. For the Westwood Village liquor store location’s license-application rights, Ankur Patel was high bidder at $300,100. Kulwinder Pabla was the high bidder for the White Center store, $130,100. There are a variety of deadlines in the process now that bidding is over – for example, a deadline of May 4th for payment (per “terms ande conditions” here), after the state finalizes its announcement of winning bidders a week from today. The state has till June 1st to get out of the liquor business, when privatization, as approved by voters last year, takes full effect. The total amount bid on the license-application rights statewide was almost $31 million, according to the state’s news release.
(Mount Rainier over the 38th/Dakota rooftops, courtesy MG)
Gratuitous shot of The Mountain just to get your attention … it’s REALLY nice out – come home! But first:
From Alki to Arbor Heights, from Genesee to Greenbridge, 160 individual, group/organization, and block sales are now ready to go for the 8th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day on May 12th, and if you are planning to join them on The Map, you have 56 hours till the registration deadline. Once signups end just before midnight this Wednesday night, Team WSB puts on our Team Garage Sale Day hats to get busy map-making and taking care of other details to pave the way for a great day – six hours of person-to-person recycling, as we like to call it, and also a great chance for the rest of the region to come on over and shop (not just the garage sales, but West Seattle stores and restaurants too). Speaking of which, if you have a bulletin board nearby (your workplace? school? favorite coffee shop? store? wherever!) to put up a simple letter-sized Garage Sale Day miniposter, thanks in advance for printing it out (here’s the PDF) and posting it, or sending it around, sharing this update via Facebook (and more) with the ShareThis tool beneath it, etc.! The more shoppers, the merrier. So whether you’re shopping or selling, we’re looking forward to another glorious WSCGSD on May 12th – here’s the signup form if your sale isn’t on the list already!
(Photo by Wendy Hughes-Jelen)
Thanks to Bill and Wendy for word of a crash at 35th/Morgan. Bill says no injuries are reported; Wendy says one car is involved that went “straight into the corner, took out the street tree, and hit two U-Haul vehicles. … Antifreeze or something is hissing from the engine compartment because of the tree damage. Front bumper is on sidewalk behind vehicle now.” Both have shared photos.
(Photo by Bill Bacon)
3:19 PM: Two photos added. No SFD medic unit sent to the scene, which would be confirmation that if there were any injuries, they weren’t major.
3:31 PM UPDATE: Just drove through 35th/Morgan – no traffic impediments on 35th; the westbound lane on Morgan by U-Haul (northwest side of the intersection) should clear soon, since the tow trucks is already there to take away the car that hit the U-Haul vehicles.
Two transit-related notes:
RAPIDRIDE WORK: Work continues along West Seattle’s future RapidRide route – the bus service that starts this fall – and we just noticed while in The Junction that, though the crew has moved off the Twilight/Edie’s/Rose Nails side of SW Alaska west of California, they are now cutting up the concrete on the other side of that stretch, by KeyBank, and that is closing the north entrance to the alley. The parking lot there is still open, but your best bet for getting to it is from 44th SW.
ROUTE 120 MEETING ON TUESDAY: One more advance reminder, tomorrow is your chance to get more information, and get questions answered, about the big changes ahead for Route 120 through eastern West Seattle. Metro’s having a meeting/open house 5:30-7:30 pm tomorrow (Tuesday, April 24) at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW). We first brought you word of this during a briefing at the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting last month (WSB coverage here). Even if you can’t be there tomorrow night, you can take an online survey – deadline is this April – find it on the right side of this Metro webpage (which has more info about the Route 120 changes – not just the buses, but also Delridge “rechannelization” related to the changes).
It seems to be an annual Alki occurrence – looking back a few years into our archives – the morning after the first major sunshine, the beach park has trash trouble. John sent the photo, taken this morning east of Alki Bathhouse, noted, “Obviously the trash wasn’t emptied during the day yesterday … the whole boardwalk area is disgusting!” We checked with Seattle Parks to find out about this year’s maintenance plan, given yet another round of city budget-belt-tightening. Spokesperson Dewey Potter says yes, John is right – trash wasn’t emptied on Sunday, because crews won’t be on the summer schedule for another month: “Our crew, because of budget reductions, is on a Monday through Friday schedule until the summer seasonals start work at the end of May. The crew should be finished cleaning up Alki Beach by now. Not all the cans were full, which means people were just discarding trash. Sad, on Earth Day weekend.”
TUESDAY MORNING: We received some new info from Parks – here – including, they’re adding cans.
Publishing this on SPD Blotter this morning, Seattle Police headlined it “Road Rage Incident on Alki.” Reading the narrative, we’re retitling it “Parking Rage.” Nobody hurt, but one man went to jail:
On April 22nd, just before 7:00 pm, a Southwest Precinct officer working as part of the Alki Emphasis was flagged down by a motorcyclist at Alki Avenue SW and Marine Avenue SW. The complainant stated that just moments earlier a man driving a white Hyundai had intentionally struck his motorcycle as he was attempting to park it in the 2300 Block of Alki. The victim stated that after intentionally striking his motorcycle, the suspect got out of his car and went to the trunk of his car, where he pulled out a backpack. As the victim was asking the suspect why he struck his motorcycle, the suspect pulled a handgun out of the backpack. The victim told officers that he asked the suspect, “Do you really want to go there with your gun?” to which the suspect replied, “Yes, I do.” The victim later told officers he was afraid he or someone else might get hurt, so he got back on his motorcycle and left southbound on Alki, until he saw the officer and reported the incident.
(Photographed at the Seattle Chinese Garden by “old desolate,” shared via the WSB Flickr group pool)
70s again! Today’s calendar highlights:
VIADUCT/99 CLOSURE TONIGHT: Again this week, Monday-Thursday nights, Highway 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct will close overnight SOUTHBOUND between the Battery Street Tunnel and West Seattle Bridge. This week’s closures are scheduled for 9 pm-5 am.
BACK TO SCHOOL: Seattle Public Schools is back in session after spring-break week. That means sports, too!
DANCE, DANCE, DANCE … with Balorico at Kenyon Hall, starting at 6:30 pm. More on the listing page.
FLAT EARTH SOCIETY DJ SESSION AT WEST 5: It’s a Monday night tradition – 9 pm at West 5, turntable time. As they describe it, “Featuring a lineup of some luminous Seattle record junkies spinning the rarest and fairest vinyl from deep within their respective LP collections. Rare soul, garage, dirty-funk, J Pop, jazz and a smattering of world-stage psychedelia will be spinning at the popular lounge in the heart of West Seattle.” Tonight, it’s “Iron Megan” Wilson from West 5 and Easy Street.
LOOK AHEAD! Today/tonight might not have much on the schedule, but you can scroll ahead for days, weeks, months, via the all-grown-up WSB calendar.
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