West Seattle news 67777 results

We photographed the new fencing, lock, and signage at closed Genesee Hill Elementary‘s southeast field, after multiple tips from WSB’ers. They wondered if it had to do with the field’s popularity as an unofficial off-leash dog park. No, says Diane Taguba with Seattle Public Schools, who answered our inquiry:

The fence at Genesee Hill recently repaired and secured was not due to the “dog park” use, but to prevent additional vandalism that was happening to the building. To maintain building security, we do not intend to reopen the gates anytime soon. To also note, it is district policy that dogs are not allowed on district property without proper authorization.

Genesee Hill has been closed since Pathfinder K-8 moved out in summer of 2009. It’s considered a possible site for building a new school or extensively renovating the old one as part of the BEX IV levy that will be finalized this year and sent to voters next year. (Three public meetings about that levy are set for next month, including one in West Seattle on April 5th.)

Update: Washington Federal robbed in Morgan Junction; van impounded

March 16, 2012 3:03 pm

| 44 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

(Thanks to Anthony for the photo)
3:03 PM: Police are looking for a bank robber after a holdup at Washington Federal Savings at California and Fauntleroy. Only description so far: Black man in his 20s, “tightly pulled hoodie.” The bank is closed for a while as investigators work.

4:35 PM UPDATE: Commenters asked about past robberies. Our archives indicate this bank was held up last October. The suspects were arrested five days later. We lost track of that case, so we don’t know their current status.

9:50 PM UPDATE: We have some additional information, from Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Smith responding to our inquiry. He says the robber “presented a note to the teller” and got away with “an undisclosed amount of cash.” We also asked him about a van that we photographed in the West Seattle Thriftway parking lot across the street, being guarded by multiple officers:

Lt. Smith says they were tipped to the van when “witnesses contacted officers and advised that they had seen a suspicious male leave a vehicle in the lot. Their description closely matched that of the suspect. The vehicle was impounded to SPD Processing. The suspect has not been located.”

SATURDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: SPDBlotter just published a short item about the robbery, but the only thing it mentions that we didn’t already report here is a bit more descriptive info about the robber: “black male, 40 years of age, last seen wearing a blue hooded jacket under a dark blue jacket, and khaki pants.”

P.S. THANK YOU to the WSB’ers whose texts/phone calls were our first word about the robbery shortly after it happened on Friday afternoon. We are not always in earshot of the scanner and your tips help immensely, so we can get out the info and get busy finding out more. (206-293-6302, voice or text, any time, day or night, weekday or weekend.)

Day off for students, not educators: Symposium @ Sealth/Denny

March 16, 2012 2:10 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Seattle Public Schools students don’t have classes today because it’s a “Professional Development Day” for teachers – and if you ever wondered what that really meant, here’s one example. Chief Sealth International High School principal Chris Kinsey explains what’s happening at his school (and its neighbor) today:

Right now on the Denny/Sealth campus teachers from all current International schools (Sealth, Denny, Hamilton, John Stanford, Beacon Hill, Concord) and future International schools (Ingraham and McDonald) are all engaged in an International Education Symposium focusing on global competencies. Veronica Boix-Mansila from Harvard was the keynote speaker where she provided an overview of her book, Educating for Global Competence: Preparing Our Youth to Engage the World and provided a framework for teachers to analyze student work.

Teachers will spend the day looking at curriculum, projects, student work, and bouncing ideas off one another so they can better support the work being done in our International schools.

Side note: One of the projects that has underscored Sealth’s reputation for global awareness, World Water Week, is about to come around for its second year – events are running Tuesday through Friday, according to teacher Noah Zeichner; we’ll have a more detailed preview ahead, but for now, this webpage has a preview.

ArtsWest chooses new managing director: Line Sandsmark

March 16, 2012 1:33 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

Just in from ArtsWest, which is two weeks away from announcing its lineup for next season – the Junction-based arts enterprise has chosen a new managing director. Here’s the announcement:

ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery announces the appointment of Line Sandsmark as its new Managing Director, effective March 22, 2012.

Ms. Sandsmark recently returned to the Northwest, after twenty years’ arts management and producing experience in Scandinavia and Europe. After acquiring an undergraduate degree in Comparative Literature from the University of Washington, and studying Critical Theory and Film Analysis at the graduate level at the Sorbonne, Sandsmark turned to film in the late 1990s, producing award-winning short films through her own production company, Kaliber Filmproduksjon, continuing as a regional grantmaker for the Norwegian Ministry of Culture, and heading the Copenhagen-based European Documentary Network.

March 16, 2012 12:55 pm

| 7 COMMENTS

| Spokane St. Viaduct project | West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

(The westernmost aqua spur is the new Harbor Island ramp – click for larger image)
An alert for westbound drivers on the West Seattle Bridge – Another component of the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project is ready to open. SDOT has just announced that the new Harbor Island offramp from the westbound bridge will open tomorrow. Here’s what’s on the project website:

… on Saturday morning, March 17, the old westbound exit to Harbor Island will be closed and the new off-ramp will open. Signage will direct motorists wishing to take this exit, but it should be noted that the new off-ramp begins east of SR 99, whereas the old-ramp began west of SR 99.

Meantime, the 1st Avenue offramp on the eastbound SSV is still months away. We’ll be adding more project updates from the first meeting of a new informal task force that SDOT promised to form after the communications crisis that complicated a daylong bridge closure in January. SDOT reps at the meeting say the new Harbor Island offramp will open early in the morning – no hard-and-fast time, but as soon as crews are ready, 6 am or so.

ADDED 6:10 PM: SDOT has sent a news release with not only the ramp opening we mentioned, but also a reminder about tonight’s bridge closure and other changes ahead – read on:Read More

1st-ever ‘Food for Art’: West Seattle restaurants invited to help

March 16, 2012 11:46 am

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

Next month’s West Seattle Art Walk will be held in conjunction with a new fundraiser – “Food for Art,” benefiting Transitional Resources, a WS-based organization that helps people living with mental illness. They’re looking for participants, writes TR’s Yemaya St. Clair:

Calling all West Seattle Restaurants: Join the first annual Food for Art event on Thursday, April 12!

In partnership with the West Seattle Art Walk, join Transitional Resources’ first annual Food for Art event, which will raise funds to benefit the art therapy program at Transitional Resources while providing restaurants with free publicity. Transitional Resources is a nonprofit organization in West Seattle serving men and women living with severe and persistent mental illness. We help over 200 individuals in our community stay off the streets, out of institutions, and on the road to recovery.

The dual goals of Food for Art are to raise money for our art therapy program and to make this your best charitable investment of the year.

The concept is simple: Your restaurant, along with others from West Seattle, commits to contributing a portion of your proceeds on one night – Thursday, April 12 (in conjunction with the West Seattle Art Walk) – to help support our art therapy program. Transitional Resources commits to promoting your restaurant through an extensive promotional campaign and to filling seats and increasing revenue at your restaurant on April 12. Also, you will be assigned an ambassador, whose primary function will be to make sure your restaurant is as full as possible on Thursday, April 12.

If you are a West Seattle restaurant and would like to be a part of the action, please e-mail Yemaya St.Clair for more details at yemayas@transitionalresources.org.

And Yemaya adds a message for readers: “Transitional Resources needs to hear directly from restaurateur(s), so if you have a suggestion, please make sure your favorite restaurant sees this!”

West Seattle Friday: Bridge alert; movie night; live music…

March 16, 2012 9:46 am

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Photo courtesy of SDOT’s Marybeth Turner – stairway work continues at the top of 60th/61st/Spokane)
What’s up for the rest of today/tonight, you ask?

NO SCHOOL: It’s a day off for Seattle Public Schools students.

BRIDGE CLOSURE: SDOT will again close the westbound Spokane Street Viaduct overnight – that means no access to the West Seattle Bridge from I-5 or Beacon Hill. Details here.

WINE TASTING: 1-4 pm at South Seattle Community College‘s Northwest Wine Academy (more here).

BEER TASTING: 3-7 pm at Admiral Safeway, featuring 3 ales.

LIVE MUSIC AT C & P: Tonight from 6-8 pm at C & P Coffee (WSB sponsor), the always-memorable Bobcat Bob. Says C & P, “You’ll feel great and leave smiling.”

MOVIE NIGHT IN HIGHLAND PARK: Doors open at 6:30 pm, movie at 7, at the Highland Park Improvement Club (12th/Holden). They say they can’t announce the actual movie title but the hint: “Magical forest creatures befriend 2 sisters whose mother is hospitalized! Japanese anime.” Admission’s free, bring your own blanket/pillow (HPIC provides chairs if you’d prefer). Popcorn, candy, “other movie fare” available for purchase.

‘RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE VOICE’: ArtsWest production continues this weekend, 7:30 pm tonight.

LIVE MUSIC AT SALTY’S: 8-10 pm ~ @ Salty’s on Alki, singer/songwriter Barbie Anaka with a mix of classic and contemporary jazz, in the lounge, no cover. (Same time frame, it’s Late Night Happy Hour.)

LIVE MUSIC AT SKYLARK: Sad Face, The Sundries, The Fancy, starting at 9 pm.

LIVE ACOUSTIC MUSIC AT THE BENBOW ROOM: Featuring Robyn Dee.

Saturday morning traffic alert: Viaduct’s north end closed

March 16, 2012 9:13 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| Holidays | West Seattle news

In addition to another westbound Spokane Street Viaduct closure tonight (as announced here), there’s a weekend traffic note for Highway 99 – the St. Patrick’s Day Dash will shut down its northernmost end, from the Western Avenue exit stretching onto Aurora Avenue and beyond, from approximately 7:30-11 am Saturday. Details are in this SDOT update (along with a few other downtown-area traffic notes, including tomorrow afternoon’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade).

West Seattle Crime Watch: Possible serial burglars arrested

March 15, 2012 10:57 pm

| 20 COMMENTS

| Crime | Highland Park | West Seattle news

Police think they have solved several burglaries with two arrests in West Seattle this afternoon. First, we heard from Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen, who says that a vehicle description provided by neighbors after a burglary in the 9200 block of 13th SW led officers to a car in the 1900 block of SW Brandon (here’s a map of the 2 locations), and the 2 suspects. And then, we got this report from Zach – whose home was the one broken into on 13th (he shared the broken-window photo above):

Thanks to a good neighbor and some fast-acting cops, the teenagers who broke into our home were nabbed and our belongings were recovered. One of our neighbors had noticed a suspicious car cruising the neighborhood earlier. Later, our neighbor noticed a stranger opening our front door and letting in another person who emerged from our backyard. In moments, the pair of teens left carrying our flat screen TV and a laptop. They dumped the items in the trunk of their car and drove off. … The car is a silver, four door sedan.

Our neighbor alerted the police, who were able to identify a partial plate using some of the photos our neighbor took using a cell phone. The police, Officers Thompson and Longley, were not only familiar with the owner of the car, but they were able to catch up with the suspect and recover our things. Granted, we’re out a window, but it could have been much worse.

He says one officer told him they believe the suspects “are affiliated with a network of thieving minors who are ‘hammering’ the greater Seattle area. And Zach added, “I only wish that our courts weren’t so lenient on minors. It seems like we’re making teenage crime a deal that’s just too good to pass up.” Following juvenile cases through the court system is difficult, because the documentation is not openly available as it is for adults, but we will do our best to followup. Meantime, Capt. Paulsen says police appreciate another case of “alert citizens calling 911 when they are observing suspicious circumstances in their neighborhood.”

Roxhill’s ‘Stoehr SuperStars’ also in Global Reading Challenge finals

March 15, 2012 10:20 pm

| 3 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Earlier this week, we brought you news of two West Seattle teams making it into the finals of the Seattle Public Library’s Global Reading Challenge competition – Da Peeps from Arbor Heights Elementary and George’s Magician’s Treasure from Alki Elementary. Tonight, we have word that a fifth-grade team from Roxhill Elementary, The Stoehr SuperStars, is in the finals too. From Roxhill’s head teacher Christopher Robert:

Jade, Cory, Natavia, Jeremy, Viridiana, Pieran, and Sarah placed second in today’s semifinal to earn a spot in the finals in two weeks. (Graham Hill placed first in today’s semifinal to earn the other spot.) All seven are students in Kristie Stoehr’s class. Their classmate, Akira, served as a coach. Congrats to the team…and good luck in the finals!

(Christopher is not only Roxhill’s head teacher, but also Pieran’s dad!) Roxhill had a team in the 2011 finals, too. Like last year, the finals are downtown on March 27th (at the Central Library auditorium).

Video: Rep. Jay Inslee in West Seattle for High Point forum

March 15, 2012 10:00 pm

| 6 COMMENTS

| High Point | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

At right with Democratic governor candidate Rep. Jay Inslee are, left, Farhiya Mohamed, and at right, Shukri Olow, High Point community builder – Shukri put together tonight’s forum at High Point Community Center, during which he spoke to and with an audience of more than 50 people. Their questions touched on topics from health care to jobs and beyond; we recorded the forum on video and ~~will add it to this story once it’s ready~~ here it is. (added 12:39 am)

The sponsoring High Point Neighborhood Association invited Republican candidate Attorney General Rob McKenna as well, but says he told them he could not attend. (He sent a representative.)

West Seattle traffic alerts: Latest list of upcoming closures

March 15, 2012 5:55 pm

| 4 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

Three notes of interest in the weekly list of closures/changes, just out: First – next Friday night, March 22nd, southbound Highway 99 is scheduled to close overnight between Denny Way and S. Spokane St. … We first told you last week about the Alaskan Way Viaduct closure planned for early March 24th through early March 26th, for the semi-annual inspection; that’s still on the list. … From March 26th through April 6th, the 1st Avenue South offramp from the eastbound West Seattle Bridge is scheduled to be closed around the clock for surface paving. The 4th Avenue “loop” offramp will stay open. … More details of all this can be found here.

Woman found dead off Beach Drive was murdered, SPD says

March 15, 2012 2:32 pm

| 161 COMMENTS

| Beach Drive murder | Crime | West Seattle news

(Scroll down for tonight’s newest info)

(Monday photo by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
2:32 PM: Three days after a woman was found dead in the water off Beach Drive, near Cormorant Cove Park – as covered here extensively on Monday – Seattle Police finally have announced that it’s being investigated as a murder case.

We have checked daily since then, and until this afternoon, they would only characterize it as a “death investigation.” But now, here’s what police are saying:

Seattle Police are asking the public for assistance in an active homicide investigation. On March 12th at approximately 7:30 a.m. a citizen reported seeing a body floating in Puget Sound approximately 30 feet off-shore of the 3800 block of Beach Drive SW. Officers and detectives responded to the scene and have since determined that the deceased, a 51-year-old female from Kent, was murdered.

Homicide detectives believe the victim (photo right) parked her car in the 4400 block of Beach Drive SW on Sunday night, March 11th. The victim had planned to take a walk along the beach but was found deceased just offshore the next morning. The suspect(s) remain at large.

If you have information about this incident or if you saw any suspicious activity, vehicles or persons in the area on the evening of Sunday, March 11th, please call 911 or the Seattle Police Homicide Tip Line at (206) 233-5000. Anonymous tips are welcome. You can also call Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound at 1-800-222-TIPS.

Police say the cause of death will have to be released by the Medical Examiner, which also will be the source for her name; we have heard a name from a source but will not publish it until we have confirmed it with the Medical Examiner. Police also have released this photo of her car, a 2010 Buick Lacrosse, which appears to have been photographed across from Me-Kwa-Mooks, a few blocks south of where her body was found:

Police added this to their report on SPD Blotter:

The Seattle Police would like to remind everyone to be vigilant and aware of your surroundings anytime you are outdoors and especially in the hours of darkness. This remains an active and ongoing homicide investigation.

This is the second murder of the year in West Seattle; the first was a deadly shooting next to Morgan Junction Park in January (a suspect is jailed and awaiting another hearing next month).

3:20 PM UPDATE: The Medical Examiner identifies the victim as Greggette Guy but says final word on how she died is “pending.”

ADDED 5:35 PM: For those not familiar with the Beach Drive area, here’s a Google Map showing the spots where Ms. Guy’s body was found and where her car was found:

View Beach Drive locations in a larger map

One commenter wondered if flyers would be distributed in the area, to reach those who don’t see news reports about this (citywide organizations have picked it up now); we have heard from two police sources that flyers are indeed planned. (Let us know if you see any – we don’t know the timetable, but have already taken one drive through the area to look.)

6:29 PM UPDATE: We just received a scan of the flyer from Richard Worthington of Seattle Real Estate Associates (WSB sponsor):

He says police are indeed canvassing the area to ask if anyone saw anything or anybody out of the ordinary.

West Seattle RapidRide: The first shelters are up

March 15, 2012 2:22 pm

| 38 COMMENTS

| Transportation | West Seattle news

Another milestone in the work to convert certain stops along the path of Metro Route 54 to stops/stations for the coming-this-fall RapidRide C Line: The first shelters are going up today. As of a few minutes ago, they are complete at Fauntleroy/Rose (shown in our photos), across from the central parking lot at Lincoln Park, and Fauntleroy/Webster, by Solstice Park. These have more features than the bare-bones bench-and-sign stop we photographed last Sunday by Fauntleroy Church – they have an outside bench and one under-the-shelter seat:

The “stations” nearest to this stop will be at the Fauntleroy ferry terminal and at California/Fauntleroy – those will have electronic displays showing when the next bus is due to arrive. Here’s a C Line route map – the dark dots are stations, while light dots are “stops.” RapidRide service is scheduled to start in West Seattle in September.

The WSBeat: Canine clash; money-wiring scam; more…

March 15, 2012 1:42 pm

| 4 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle police | WSBeat

By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog

As always, the WSBeat summaries are from reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers, incidents of note that (usually) have not already appeared here in breaking-news coverage or West Seattle Crime Watch reports:

*In the 4100 block of 25th SW, a woman let her dog out into her fenced yard. A stranger approached and began taunting the dog and causing it to bark. When told to leave, he responded “What are you going to do about it?” “Call the police,” the woman replied. Fortunately she took her dog inside, because the suspect quickly returned with a large dog, opened the gate, and came into the yard. He began yelling and kicking the fence but left before officers arrived. Based on the subject description, the dog description, and the fact that he could return so quickly, officers thought they knew both who they were looking for and where he lived. When they went to his home, the suspect refused to answer the door, said he hadn’t done anything and invited them to “F*#@ off” if they didn’t have a warrant.

*A local couple fell victim to a scam and wired $5,600 “bail money” after receiving a phone call claiming their granddaughter had been arrested. Before sending more funds, they discovered that their granddaughter was fine and was at home in her college town.

11 more summaries ahead:Read More

Video: ‘Avalanche airbag’ test-fired at Mountain to Sound

March 15, 2012 1:24 pm

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| Safety | West Seattle news | WS & Sports

The unpredictable weather has led to high avalanche danger in the Cascades – and it’s already been a deadly season. But there’s some equipment available that can help boost a skier/snowboarder’s chances of avalanche survival – and one device was “test-fired” this afternoon at Mountain to Sound Outfitters in the Triangle; we stopped by to catch it on video. M2SO’s Greg Whittaker explains that the BCA Float 18 Avalanche Airbag system “can help a skier or snowboarder survive a large-magnitude avalanche by keeping them at the top of the slide to avoid trauma associated with moving snow. The Float 18 also helps victims stay on top so that they can be spotted by rescuers, as it only takes one finger to give someone a clue as to where to look.” Backcountry Access tech rep Chris Simmons – a West Seattle resident – narrated the demo. The device retails for about $700, and you can see it at M2SO (3602 SW Alaska). P.S. Yes, its air tank is refillable.

West Seattle schools: Sanislo book sale Saturday; Literacy Night tonight

March 15, 2012 12:23 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Lots of news about reading and books this week – and here’s more. Tonight, Sanislo Elementary invites you to its Literacy Night event – 6-7 pm, “Passport to the World,” with storytelling/reading in Russian, Mandarin, and Spanish. Then on Saturday, it’s the famous Sanislo Used Book Sale, benefiting the 4th graders’ annual overnight camping trip – 10 am-2 pm (March 17th). Sanislo is at 1812 SW Myrtle.

West Seattle Thursday: Bridge alert; Inslee @ HP; DESC comments

March 15, 2012 10:54 am

| Comments Off on West Seattle Thursday: Bridge alert; Inslee @ HP; DESC comments

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Added 11:39 am: Big puddle at Fauntleroy/Raymond and Seafair-esque hydroplaning)
A few notes for tonight, before we get too much further into the day:

BRIDGE CLOSURE: We’re checking with SDOT to see if weather will affect this, but in the meantime, the westbound Spokane Street Viaduct is scheduled to close tonight overnight – that means no access to the West Seattle Bridge from I-5 or Beacon Hill. Details here. (11:45 am note, SDOT confirms it’s still on.)

INSLEE VISITS WEST SEATTLE: High Point Neighborhood Association presents forum with Democratic governor candidate Rep. Jay Inslee (organizers say Republican candidate Attorney General Rob McKenna was invited too but is unable to attend), 5:30 pm, HP Community Center, preview here.

CHICKEN CHAT: 6:15 pm, “Keeping Chickens in the City,” presented by Seattle Free School at West Seattle (Admiral) Library. Details and registration link here.

DELRIDGE DESC PROJECT, ENVIRONMENTAL-IMPACT COMMENTS: 6:30 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, there’s a city meeting to listen to comments about the environmental impacts of the DESC project (as noted here) – in the context of state law, “environmental” means more than “ecological,” it includes traffic, noise, etc.

ALKI COMMUNITY COUNCIL: 7 pm meeting tonight, Alki UCC (6115 SW Hinds).

LIVE MUSIC AT SKYLARK: Live music @ Skylark Café – PeopleTank, The Slags, and Gunn & The Damage Done, 9 pm, $5, 21+. Here’s the Facebook event page./

West Seattle weather: Arbor Heights/Seola outage; downpour

March 15, 2012 8:09 am

| 11 COMMENTS

| Arbor Heights | West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

(Scroll down for updates on the outage and other weather woes)

8:09 AM: Looks like another round of wild weather moving through. And while we’re not sure yet if it’s weather-related, Martha in Arbor Heights reports a power outage. She’s at the end of 35th near Seola Park and says it went out about an hour ago. The outage is not on the City Light map and we haven’t reached them for confirmation yet, but she says that when she called it in, they told her 106 homes were affected. Meantime, the National Weather Service has a “short-term” forecast alert for heavy rain, up to half an inch an hour, this morning.

8:35 AM UPDATE: Not far from Martha’s location at the end-of-35th bend, a tree on SW Seola Lane (map) is apparently to blame for the outage, according to Tbone‘s note in comments and a 6 am “wires down” listing on the 911 log.

9:41 AM UPDATE: Added a photo of the tree trouble at Seola Lane/Seola Beach Drive. City Light’s Scott Thomsen, meantime, confirmed the outage and said it should be fixed by early afternoon. He also says the SCL outage map is fixed now.

10:05 AM UPDATE: Massive downpour for the past few minutes, in line with the Weather Service’s warning (above), though a little past their timeframe.

10:55 AM UPDATE: Sage K sends word that the Delridge onramp to the West Seattle Bridge is flooded again and should be avoided. We’re going to check that out.

11:56 AM UPDATE: Seattle Public Utilities crew was on scene at the Delridge ramp puddle, clearing the drain, when we arrived. (Besides the crew members in our photo, they had a vacuum truck there, too.) Meantime, we have an update from City Light on the Seola outage:

Crew is on site. They’ve isolated the damage to restore most customers. 23 are still out. Two spans of wire are down. Estimate for restoration of service for the remaining customers is about 2:30 pm.

West Seattle’s new school: K-5 STEM at Boren design team debuts

March 15, 2012 2:12 am

| 9 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The decisions made during the first meeting of the newly announced Design Team for West Seattle’s new public school, K-5 STEM at Boren, were primarily logistical.

Wednesday night’s meeting at Seattle Public Schools‘ headquarters in SODO was mostly a getting-to-know-you and stage-setting event – the opening act of five-and-a-half intensive months of work to give birth to a new school.

“You are doing very important work,” declared Dr. Cathy Thompson, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning (and a West Seattleite), to the 14 (of 16) design-team members who assembled for the history-making session.

She also pronounced the new school “a viable entity … good to go,” saying 141 applications already had been counted as of Tuesday, and that more were expected as the district continued to process what it received during open enrollment, which ended Monday afternoon. They expect to “max out” at three kindergarten classes and two each for 1st through 5th grades.

March 14, 2012 10:40 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS culture/arts

From Marcus Pimpleton, news about some of his Chief Sealth International High School musicians – including an event coming up weekend after next:

Please join me in congratulating the following Sealth students who were selected for Commendation Awards from the 2012 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. The award states that the students were selected for “giving a Superior Solo Performance within an Ensemble or Combo.”

Spencer Duncan, piano
Janelle Maroney, voice
Will McMinn, alto sax
Paal Nilssen, alto sax
Cameron Nakatani, trumpet
Nehemiah Parker, trombone
Emma Pierce, clarinet

(You can see all these students in action and many more at the Big Band Dinner dance on March 24th – see below for more on that:

On Saturday, March 24th, from 6-10 pm, please join the jazz ensembles of Chief Sealth International High School and Denny International Middle School for a night of jazz music, dinner, and dancing in the Chief Sealth International H.S. Galleria. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for students. Dinner will feature Otis Pimpleton’s awesome barbecue chicken, chicken gumbo from the New Orleans restaurant, red potatoes, baked beans, rice, and cornbread. A vegetarian option is available upon request and attendees will enjoy the sounds of the Denny Jazz Band, Chief Sealth High School Jazz Ensembles I and II, and the West Seattle Big Band. Students interested in dancing without the dinner, can purchase a special dance-only ticket for $10. This will be a fun night…. please come out and support our jazz students.

Memorial this Sunday for Kathleen Anne Nickels, 1929-2012

March 14, 2012 7:45 pm

| 12 COMMENTS

| Obituaries | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

A memorial service and celebration of life is planned this Sunday for longtime West Seattle resident Kathleen Nickels, whose obituary and photo are shared by her family:

Kathleen Anne Nickels of Seattle passed away on March 11, 2012 after a heroic 15-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Kathleen Anne McKenney was born July 15, 1929, in Dixon, Illinois. She was the third of five children born to George Jerome McKenney and Helen Bernice Ryan. George worked for the Illinois Central Railroad and Helen was a public-school teacher.

After graduating from Dixon High School, Kathie attended St. Anthony College of Nursing in Rockford and did her residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. While in Chicago she met Robert Nickels and they were married January 23, 1954 in Dixon.
The couple lived first in Chicago, where their first child, Gregory James, was born. In early 1956 they moved to Erie, Pennsylvania where three additional children were born: John Mark, Peter Robert and Amy Beth. Kathleen was very active in church activities in Erie.

March 14, 2012 5:34 pm

| 16 COMMENTS

| Development | West Seattle news

(WSB photo of Mural, completed and opened in 2009)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The new combined entity that includes what was Harbor Properties, developer/owner of the Link and Mural mixed-use buildings in West Seattle (both WSB sponsors), confirms they’re in talks to sell both buildings.

We spoke this afternoon with executives from the new partnership, four weeks after our first report with some information about what was brewing.

Since that time, at least two citywide publications have reported that Mural had been sold – but in reality, it was a transfer to one of the entities with which Harbor is now merged, as part of the deal.

Our conference-call interview this afternoon – following the circulation of an official news release – included Harbor Properties president/CEO Doug Daley, as well as Matt Burton of Urban Partners and Jim Atkins, managing director of the newly named Harbor Urban LLC.

They say the deal, a purchase of Harbor more than a merger, is virtually complete.

“We started evaluating a couple years ago ways to provide a return to our shareholders,” Daley explained. “The new, combined company (will) be able to do more of the same thing Harbor’s been doing” – primarily mixed-use “infill” development on lots within urban areas, as was the case on Link (4550 38th SW) and Mural (4727 42nd SW).