West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
Tonight at 6:30 – like just about every Thursday night, and two other times each week – you’ll see that group on the go in West Seattle. Dave Howard shares that photo and news of a change:
I am the president of West Seattle’s local running club, where we have been supporting local runners since 1994. We have just made an important change and I want to share it with the neighborhood. So here is our story.
After 16 years as West Seattle’s own running club, West Seattle Runners is changing its name. We are now called what we truly have always been, the West Seattle Running Club. As we have from the beginning back in 1994, West Seattle Running Club continues to create opportunities for runners of all levels to meet and run with others, to provide support and encouragement to members in achieving their personal goals, and to be a lot of fun. We have three organized runs each week, participate in a lot of local events, and put on a few of our own. No matter what your pace or distance our club can work for you. We start out together and fall in with those at our pace. One evening a week we do pizza after the run. On Sunday mornings after the run we head into the Alki bakery for coffee and conversation. Not to mention the cinnamon rolls. As always, our running schedule can be found at our website. Visit us at www.westseattlerunningclub.org and come run with us.
(May 17th photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Two weeks ago, Southwest District Council co-chairs Chas Redmond and Erica Karlovits, along with West Seattle Junction Association executive director Susan Melrose (photo second from right), hosted a visitor at “The Hole” – Natalie Quick (photo left), a spokesperson for Madison Development, whose owner owns the entity that holds the note for the stalled Fauntleroy/Alaska/39th project. The tour (WSB coverage here) was in response to the letter that Melrose drafted and the SWDC sent in April, pointing out safety and aesthetic concerns at the long-idle site. But a written response didn’t come till now: Melrose announced at tonight’s SWDC meeting that it had just been received, signed by Quick. Shortly after the May 17th tour, a few steps were taken – tagged tarp was replaced along the fencing, and “they did get out there with a weed-whacker,” as Melrose put it tonight. But now, she told the council, they’ve addressed other issues. For one, she said, they don’t have a solution for the issue of “The Hole” being right up against the sidewalk with nothing to stop, oh, say, a car from going in, but “they’re working with SDOT.” She says they have “agreed to remove the chain-link fence surrounding the park,” the small triangle adjacent to the site’s southeastern corner, and to maintain “the park.” And she says they will create a more aesthetically pleasing backdrop on that corner, including “a reinforced wood fence,” as well as making public the reports about the condition of the shoring on the north side of the site. Last but not least, they’re “committing to actually checking up on the site,” Melrose reported. We’ll add the letter itself when we get a copy. (More from the SWDC meeting coming up next – including the hour of discussion with Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith.) ADDED 8:55 AM THURSDAY: Here’s the letter – actually more like a memo – in its entirety, just forwarded by SWDC co-chair Karlovits.
(The chickens are reported to be back home, by the way.) Meantime, if you happen to see THIS critter hopping along the West Seattle shore sometime soon, here’s the story behind it: Maria says it showed up in her Seaview backyard, and isn’t sure whether it’s a frog or toad (we vote for the latter). The silver coin alongside it is a quarter, for comparison. She reports, “We lured the frog into a large paper bag and released it by Lowman Beach! He was a big fella, that is for sure! I’d say at least 6 inches square!!”
Just out of the WSB inbox, from Kevin:
Wanted to let people know of yet another car theft and give a huge thank you to the SPD for incredibly quick work recovering it.
We woke up Tuesday morning to find our one and only car missing from our parking spot – 5ft from our house in the Fairmount Park neighborhood. Last night, Tuesday, we got a call that the car was found on the other side of WS, very near the “lifeline vehicle” that WS Blog reported recovered a few days ago. While we were getting the car picked up, the very attentive neighbors around the recovery spot came out and told us that he saw the car Monday night at 11 and again today at 5 AM. He also saw the cops there 2x, the second time with a guy in handcuffs.
Another officer later told us there was a spate of car robberies last weekend. According to him the guy was caught Tuesday in one of other stolen cars and started “giving up the rest” so they found ours. They got a search warrant for the guy’s house and found 40 GPS systems from other stolen cars.
We’re really lucky and glad to have our car back, but wonder one thing, are Subarus the next Honda Civics? I’ve heard of many of them being stolen and ours was one.
We don’t know if that’s related to a similar-sounding case reported in this comment thread; police declined to comment on that because it’s an ongoing investigation.
Counting down to the next big festival – ReFRESH Southwest, combining Delridge Day and the Sustainable West Seattle Festival – this Saturday, 1-5 pm at Delridge Community Center – we’ve got new information tonight. First: SWS, which is handling exhibitors, has provided the map of who you’ll see where (hope you’ll stop by to say hi – WSB will be next to North Delridge Neighborhood Council, where, as reported here yesterday, the cool (Heart) Delridge T-shirts will be on sale, and we’re told you do NOT have to pre-order!). Here’s that map – we’re #26. Meantime, SWS Festival coordinator Christina provided the list of workshops during Saturday’s festival:
1:30 – 2 pm – Keeping Goats by Jennie Grant, Goat Justice League
2:30 – 3 pm – Electric Vehicles by Craig Vinton
3:30 – 4 pm – Keeping Chickens by Jenifer McIntyre, Seattle Farm Coop
4:30 – 5 pm – Keeping Bees by Puget Sound Beekeepers Association
One more new tidbit tonight – the flyer’s out for the city-supported Clean and Green cleanup that will precede the festival, 9 am-noon, centered around Southwest Youth and Family Services, whose HQ is south of Delridge Community Center. Here it is as a 1-page PDF. And you can still sign up online for Delridge Walks – as an individual or group – to walk to the festival from your part of West Seattle.
The next meeting of the citywide Parks Board has only two major items – but one is a project that’s drawn a lot of attention in West Seattle: The county’s project to reduce combined-sewer overflows (CSO) at Lowman Beach’s Murray Pump Station. 
We’ve covered the controversy over the past few months; most recently, the county loosened the tight timetable it had set for itself to make a decision on how to proceed, and instead of announcing a preferred alternative this month (from among these 3), it’s having another public meeting (June 19, based at Gatewood Elementary but including field trips to Murray and Alki pump stations) and has extended the public-comment period TFN. Whatever is decided for Murray, it is likely to have a major effect on Lowman Beach, a city park, and so the board is scheduled to be briefed during its June 10th meeting – special location, Woodland Park Zoo, whose annual report is the only other major item on the agenda. (Briefing items do not involve votes or other actions, but there will be a chance for public comment. Agenda’s not on the Parks Board page yet but we’ve uploaded it from e-mailed PDF.)
Much symbolic breath is being held citywide to see what will be cut/closed/etc. when the city announces midyear budget cuts, requested by Mayor McGinn after it became clear this year’s budget needed some adjusting. The Parks Department is being watched most closely, after months of rumors swirling regarding all sorts of possible cuts. At one point, Parks expected news on or around June 1st; then, as we reported from last week’s Parks Board meeting, the acting deputy superintendent thought not before June 5-6; we checked with Parks communications today and they were looking toward June 4; a subsequent check with the mayor’s office revealed there’s no indication yet the news will come that soon, so we may not hear for at least another week. Therefore, today’s bottom line seems to be – we’ll find out, when we find out. (PubliCola reported last night that they are hearing the cuts “may not be as devastating” as feared.)
From Lashanna:
West Seattle Summer Fest 2010, brought to you by the West Seattle Junction Association, is quickly approaching. Do you belong to a dance, choir or martial-arts group? Or a group with another talent that you would like to share? There are some performing slots open for local youth groups at Summer Fest. July 9-11th. For more information or to request a time slot please e-mail Lashanna at lashannaw@gmail.com – Last year we had performances by West Seattle Karate and Pathfinder K-8’s performing troupe – it was quite the treat for festivalgoers. This year we would love to have more!!
After 30+ years in news, we finally get to use the old joke in a headline. Actually, Susanna Moore suggested it, sending these photos with this report:
Returned from a preschool pick-up to find these two in front of our house on Walnut Ave. in Admiral district. Who is missing these pretty chickens! Here are a few pictures – they’re still out there pecking at the grass and sidewalk….
Yes, we’ll add them to the lost-and-found Pets page too – but couldn’t resist; on a showery day, you would expect to see ducks wandering instead of chickens …
(WSB photo of the Satterlee House, 4866 Beach Drive, taken in 2008)
Just got word from the clerk’s office at the state Supreme Court that the justices have said “no” to the request that they take up the longrunning case of whether a specific 3-house development can be built in front of West Seattle’s city-landmark Satterlee House, aka the “Painted Lady of Beach Drive.” As previewed here Monday night, the court’s Department 2 took up the “petition for review” (along with dozens of others) yesterday, behind closed doors. This is a process that does not involve oral argument – the justices review the documents submitted in the case, and decide whether to take it on. And the clerk’s office tells WSB “the petition for review was denied.” They confirm that’s the end of the line as far as judicial review; we will be checking for comment from both owner William Conner‘s lawyer G. Richard Hill and the city’s lawyer, Judy Barbour; this case even had drawn national attention along the way. More to come. (We have covered this extensively over the past 2+ years, each step of the way through the system – our stories are archived, newest to oldest, here.)
2:33 PM: We’ve heard back from Barbour, who called the ruling “a nice retirement present for me! And I do hope that Mr. Conner will now give up the fight and let the old place be fixed up and returned to usefulness as a home.”
5:09 PM: Hill hadn’t seen the decision yet, so is reserving comment until he has. The denial has now been noted on the Washington Courts website, however.
When you visit Delridge Community Center for the ReFRESH Southwest festival this Saturday (1-5 pm, another update later today), you might wonder what’s up with 
Delridge Skatepark construction on the northeast corner of the DCC grounds. Though fall completion was the hope just a few months ago, that won’t happen – project manager Kelly Davidson tells WSB that skatepark construction is now expected to start in late summer, which would mean completion early next year. She says issues with groundwater and drainage at the skatepark site have meant it’s taking longer to completing the documents needed to send the project out for bid, but they’re getting closer – she’s hoping a meeting with engineers tomorrow will settle the issue of how they’ll deal with drainage.
Pending approval by Seattle Public Utilities, Davidson says “over-excavating” is likely to be the solution — digging a bigger hole, and surrounding the project area with fill that drains better than the existing clay. (She says a project team member has described it as “surrounding it with a sponge.”) Otherwise, groundwater could back into the bowls during heavy rain, and that would be a safety risk. She says this won’t change the skatepark design (by West Seattle-based Grindline), and doesn’t expect the water work to put the project over-budget, as they have a “contingency” to deal with this kind of issue. “Everything else [regarding construction] is ready to go,” she says, while acknowledging they would have liked to have known more about the drainage/groundwater challenges sooner, but geotechnical engineers didn’t get involved until the project’s “additional funding” was available at the first of the year. Once construction begins, she says it’s likely to take around 80 working days – based on a five-day workweek, that would be four months – meaning the skatepark isn’t likely to be open before next year. (If you’re looking for Parks info about this online – Davidson says the project webpage should be updated sometime later today.)
(WSB photo from March 16)
In March, the first organizing meeting was held for a brand-new West Seattle neighborhood association, the Genesee-Schmitz Neighborhood Council (WSB coverage here). Now organizers have scheduled the first official, general meeting and want to make sure people who live in the area know it’s coming up, one week from tomorrow! Click ahead for full details on the 7 pm June 10th meeting at West Side Presbyterian Church:Read More
(The white geese of Fauntleroy’s shore, photographed mid-May by Bonnie)
SOUTHWEST DISTRICT COUNCIL: Reps from groups/organizations around western West Seattle – the area the city considers the Southwest District – meet tonight at 7 pm, board room at South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor). Deputy mayor Darryl Smith is a highlighted guest.
COOLMOM TALKS ENERGY: CoolMom‘s monthly meeting, with a special guest from Seattle City Light, C & P Coffee, is tonight at 7 pm.
SCHMITZ PARK PERFORMS FOR SCHOOL BOARD: Just before tonight’s Seattle School Board meeting, around 5:45 pm, Schmitz Park Elementary students will present a preview selection from next week’s school musical, “Willy Wonka, Jr.”
NOT *IN* WEST SEATTLE EITHER, BUT … 2 chances today/tonight to see and hear the three finalists for Seattle Police Chief: You can attend (or watch a live online stream from) a special forum with them and the mayor at 6 pm, Rainier Room at Seattle Center – or, earlier, the City Council Public Safety/Education Committee hears from the finalists, City Hall, 9:30 am (agenda here; Seattle Channel will be live on cable and online).
More on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar.
Your Seattle Public Library team wants you to know that the Summer Reading Program has officially begun, never mind whether the weather agrees. Ken Gollersrud from High Point Library says there are “many great free programs over the summer for all ages right here at several West Seattle branches including Duct Tape Mania, Bookmaking for Teens, Save Our Amazing Raptors, Electronic Gaming, Zinery 101, Paper Airplanes, 20,000 Volts Under the Sea, among others.” You can sign up, and track progress, online – details here.
Starting right now, and continuing through this time the night of June 21st, nominations are open for the next round of West Seattle Volunteer Recognition Awards. WSB co-sponsors them with the Southwest and Delridge District Councils, which provide the volunteers who review the nominations and choose the winners. It’s a pretty simple concept: Volunteers need to be celebrated – and this is a way to honor the most hardworking, wonderful one(s) you know. This’ll be the third round since last spring; here’s who won the first round; here’s the list from the second round. Use the form below (or if it’s not working for you, here’s a direct link). There are four categories, for individual volunteers in community, environment, or youth work, and for a group award. Winners will be honored during the West Seattle Hi-Yu Concert in the Park at Hiawatha on July 20th.
That’s the promotional video for this year’s Lunafest – a one-night film festival of sorts – featuring short films by and about women. It’s been making its way around the country, and Thursday night, it’s in West Seattle at Admiral Theater, co-hosted by Stroller Strides of Seattle (which offers fitness classes in locations including West Seattle). Every place it goes, Lunafest is also a benefit for a local nonprofit, and as noted online, the West Seattle showing is benefiting the Salvation Army’s domestic-violence programs, as well as the Breast Cancer Fund, a Lunafest beneficiary nationwide. The 90-minute showing of short films (all described here) will be preceded at 6:30 pm Thursday with a silent auction and reception; more info on The Admiral’s website; tickets are available online here.
No news release or e-mail announcement yet – it’s not even on the official Seattle Parks page so far – but a city postcard that turned up in the postal mailbox today announces the date for the 4th and final public meeting on the design for the 20 acres of new parkland atop West Seattle Reservoir: 10 am-noon June 26, Southwest Community Center. The postcard says the “final schematic design” for the 20 acres of new park land, adjacent to the current Westcrest Park, will be unveiled at the meeting. The parkland was created by covering half of the previously open reservoir and filling in the other half; as reported here last Thursday, the reservoir lid is complete, and Seattle Public Utilities says the newly undergrounded reservoir is already two-thirds full. P.S. If you haven’t seen the three “concepts” shown at the last meeting April 24, they’re in this short version of the presentation that was given.
5:13 PM ORIGINAL REPORT: We’ve gotten two tips of a robbery at Viking Bank on the east edge of The Junction. Will be there shortly to find out in person. 5:19 PM: Adding photo in a moment. Police are definitely at Viking Bank (4022 SW Alaska) and we’re seeing would-be customers getting turned away. Working to get info of description(s). 5:31 PM UPDATE: Confirmed at scene that the bank was indeed robbed. Talked to Det. Jeff Kappel in SPD media unit – he says the robber was described as female, 55 years old, 5-1 or 5-2, sunglasses, black scarf, gray zip-up hoodie, thin build. Possible maroon SUV getaway vehicle. 5:48 PM NOTE: For those who were wondering, the last West Seattle bank robbery was the Admiral B of A on May 5th (here’s our original coverage; here’s our followup with news of arrests).
Over the weekend, after local TV stations reported a teenager had been beaten up in Highland Park early Tuesday and had said his attackers made racist remarks, we promised to work to get the police report as soon as possible. Today’s the first day it’s available; even the SPD media officer who was on call over the weekend did not have access till now. But SPD has now provided the report narrative, and we have transcribed it below in its entirety. One new detail you’ll see in the narrative- an officer spoke with two potential suspects shortly after the victim was discovered:Read More
Just got word from the Seattle Mariners that a West Seattle poet is one of their three finalists in the nationwide “All-Stars Among Us” contest (sponsored by Major League Baseball and People Magazine). From the Mariners’ announcement:
Richard Gold, of West Seattle, founded the Pongo Teen Writing Project to help abused and neglected kids heal through writing poetry about their experiences. Over the past 15-years, Pongo has helped over 5,000 kids in such places as juvenile detention centers, homeless shelters and psychiatric hospitals. Gold says writing, especially poetry, has powerful therapeutic value because the act of expression is a relief that helps young people understand and cope with their emotions surrounding often traumatic losses in their lives.
You can vote for him (or any other finalist) by going here by June 20th. Each MLB team will have one winner, and all 30 will be honored during the pre-game ceremony at the MLB All-Star Game on July 13th (this year it’s in Anaheim). The Mariners’ other two finalists are Puyallup’s Tim Hannah, who founded Jamie’s Heart after losing his two-year-old daughter to a congenital heart defect, and Lake Forest Park’s Alyse Rome, who founded Amazing-Kids.org to inspire and honor excellence in children.
With two days to go till Thursday night’s open-house celebration at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse, one of its major tenants, the Fauntleroy Children’s Center, is welcoming some outdoor cleanup help today – a small herd of goats. Four of them were at work on various ivy-and-other-invasive-infected spots around the back parking lot when we stopped by, so no big group shots, but FCC’s Kim Sheridan says, “They should be here for the day, cleaning up our planting beds and miscellaneous greenery that needs their attention.” (The one in our photo was taking a quick break to stare – wistfully? – at the nursery stock on the other side of the fence from his designated ivy patch.)
Thanks to Pete Rowen for the photo – he’s one of several people who e-mailed this morning to share the news that the “For Sale” sign just went up at Alki’s vacant, vandalized, weed-ringed Shoremont Apartments (2464 Alki; map). As reported here a month ago, the bank that owned the site – once slated for ultra-modern condos – was taken over in April by the federal government; the city has continued to write up the site for various code violations, but the inspector told us that due to the ownership situation, that had been little more than “an exercise in paperwork.” We couldn’t find the new for-sale listing online so we talked with one of the agents listed on the sign; Steven Chattin tells WSB that the listing will be online in a few days – they’re “having a website built for the property right now” and it should be live later this week. (The website for the team that’s selling it is here.) He says there’s no listing price: “We’re going to do a call for offers on June 25th.” We asked if he knows whether anything will be done about the condition of the site in the meantime, and he said not to his knowledge – “it’s being sold as-is.” (Note: We will always disclose if we alter a photo beyond cropping/light adjustment – so please note that we blurred out a big black-paint tag that’s on one of the boarded-up windows in Pete’s picture.)
Last year at West Seattle Summer Fest, the then-new (Heart) Delridge T-shirts were a hit – at the information booth, we fielded multiple queries on where people could find the North Delridge Neighborhood Council‘s table so they could buy one. Just got word from Holli Margell of NDNC (who’s modeling the shirt in the 2009 photo at right) that they’re selling them at this Saturday’s Delridge Day/Sustainable West Seattle/ReFRESH Southwest Festival – but you need to preorder, so that yours will be waiting for you at the NDNC booth:
We have a new batch of Heart Delridge T-shirts ready to sell to raise money for the North Delridge Neighborhood Council. Sized from kids 2T to XXL, they cost $15. You can reserve one of them by e-mailing heartdelridgetee@gmail.com with your name and desired size and it will be waiting for you at the booth.
The festival is 1-5 pm Saturday on the Delridge Community Center grounds; several big events will precede it in the morning, including community-cleanup activities and Delridge Walks – there’s still time to get a group together to walk to the festival, and potentially win a prize! You can sign up here. Meantime, there’s more festival info here, including activities/music highlights.
| 6 COMMENTS