West Seattle news 60762 results

West Seattle road-work alert: 2nd project ahead on Beach Drive

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| Transportation | West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

SDOT has now sent word of work this week on another section of Beach Drive, in addition to this one:

SDOT paving crews have been given the go-ahead to pave a block on Beach Drive SW, from SW Oregon Street to SW Snoqualmie Street starting Wednesday, October 14 and possibly continuing through Tuesday, October 20.

First the crews will grind off the old surface and then they will lay new asphalt. When they are grinding, (Wednesday and possibly Friday) one lane will remain open in each direction, with bicycles sharing the same lane as motor vehicles, and the crews working from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. When they are paving (possibly Friday, and could extend into Monday and Tuesday of the following week), all traffic will share one lane, assisted by a traffic flagger, and the crews may work as late as 6 p.m. Sidewalks will remain open.

The paving is needed to restore the street surface.

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Junction bus-stop update: “Within a day or two”

| Transportation | West Seattle news

Another quick update on the long-gone bus stop on SW Alaska by the new QFC: SDOT‘s Marybeth Turner sends word that the city’s received the sign they need to restore the bus stop, and that work will happen within a day or two.

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Election 2009: Pete Holmes campaigns in The Junction

October 12, 2009 1:12 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

(From left, Chas Redmond, city attorney candidate Pete Holmes, former City Council candidate Dorsol Plants)
Voting starts later this week; vote counting starts on the official Election Day, three weeks from tomorrow. So campaigning, and campaign coverage, revs into high gear, and if we get word a candidate’s campaigning/speaking in West Seattle, we’ll be there. This morning, city attorney hopeful Pete Holmes visited The Junction to talk with supporters (like the two well-known West Seattleites in our photo above), reporters and businesspeople. He is challenging two-term city attorney Tom Carr, a West Seattleite; Holmes lives in the Seward Park area. While many candidates in other races are somewhat mellow about drawing distinctions between themselves and their opponents, not this one. At his Junction visit today – the first of at least five campaign stops on this day alone, he told us – Holmes again sought to contrast himself, for example, on the issue of how to fight graffiti vandalism:

For his part, Carr describes graffiti vandals/taggers as his “personal pet peeve.” (We talked with Holmes about several other issues and will add more to this report.) Both candidates were in West Seattle last month for a debate before the West Seattle Democratic Women; here’s our coverage; here’s the city Voters’ Guide with more information on both candidates.

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SHARE bus-voucher-money protest moves back to West Seattle

October 12, 2009 12:19 pm

| 17 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

They started with a sleepout in Mayor Nickels’ North Admiral neighborhood – they then moved on to the non-West Seattle abodes of several city councilmembers – and tonight, SHARE says, they will be back in West Seattle, sleeping outside Councilmember Tom Rasmussen‘s Beach Drive-area home, and by the shore nearby. From their news release:

Mr. Rasmussen lives on a small street. Our protesters will (divide) into two groups. Some will sleep outside of his house while the majority will sleep on the strip by the beach one block away.

SHARE says its main point of contention is a request for $50,000 from the city for bus vouchers; the city has said it would provide the money if SHARE promised not to close its shelters, a promise SHARE has said it cannot make because of funding challenges.

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Chocolate sauce, anyone? Westside Pharmacy inventory sale

October 12, 2009 12:07 pm

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| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

(September WSB photo of Westside Pharmacy owner Michael Ng by Keri DeTore)
This would usually be fodder for the WSB Forums’ Freebies/Deals/Sales section – but Westside Pharmacy (California/Brandon) has made headlines here a couple times in the past month, for the QFC move and then for the armed robbery (with the arrested/rearrested suspect) so its “goodbye sale” (just out of the WSB inbox) announcement is news too – they’re selling off remaining inventory at the old location from medical supplies to soda-fountain chocolate sauce – read on for their announcement:Read More

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Westcrest reservoir park: City starts looking for designers

October 12, 2009 10:03 am

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| Highland Park | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

(Westcrest Reservoir construction photo from last spring)
As work continues on the West Seattle (Westcrest) Reservoir lid, the city is taking another step toward construction of the park atop it. A published notice indicates the Parks Department is now seeking letters of interest and statements of qualifications from landscape architects (deadline 10/26). The notice says construction is set to start in early 2011, and includes:

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The vision for this site is to create an innovative park addition adjacent to Westcrest Park that can accommodate a variety of park features and recreational uses, while seamlessly integrating the reservoir lid with the surrounding park. The project area is approximately 20 acres.

Park funding is coming from the Parks and Green Spaces Levy approved by voters last year. Highland Park Action Committee has been working to stay closely involved with the park-development process, including discussion during its Westcrest “mini-summit” in June (WSB coverage here).

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Today/tonight: Closures, road work, school notes, and more

October 12, 2009 6:21 am

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| Pigeon Point | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

COUNTY FURLOUGH DAY/COLUMBUS DAY CLOSURES: Another $-saving furlough day for King County, though courts are open; federal offices and banks are closed for Columbus Day, no mail either.

ROAD WORK ALERTS: Reminder, today’s the day SDOT starts rebuilding a small section of Beach Drive. Here’s our original alert. And the bike lane (etc.) work on Fauntleroy Way south of Morgan Junction continues too (here’s last week’s story on that).

NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING: The Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council meets at 7 pm tonight, Pathfinder K-8/Cooper School building.

SCHOOL NOTES: Got questions about the proposed attendance boundaries just made public as part of Seattle Public Schools’ assignment plan? Listen to what West Seattle’s school-board rep Steve Sundquist has to say in an appearance tonight at Schmitz Park Elementary, 6 pm, presented by the Schmitz Park, Lafayette and Alki PTAs. Meantime, a book fair with part of the proceeds benefiting Roxhill Elementary is happening tonight at Barnes and Noble-Westwood Village, 6 pm; use the voucher that you can download here.

COUNTY EXEC CANDIDATES’ ENVIRONMENTAL FACEOFF: Not in West Seattle but not far – King County Executive hopefuls Dow Constantine and Susan Hutchison are scheduled to focus on environmental issues at a forum at 6:30 pm tonight, Seattle Aquarium. (Here’s the original announcement.)

(added 8:59 am) CAMPAIGNING IN THE JUNCTION: With voting starting later this week (ballots are to be mailed at midweek), campaigning is intensifying – city attorney candidate Pete Holmes plans to be in The Junction at 11 am today, talking with supporters and reporters (and anyone else interested) – he’s starting near Talarico’s, according to his campaign.

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Orchard Street Ravine spruce-up – and 2 BIG events ahead

October 11, 2009 11:22 pm

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| Environment | Gatewood | West Seattle news

Yes, cleaning up and restoring West Seattle’s greenspaces can be fun, even if they call it a “work party.” We got the photo from a participant in Saturday’s work party at Orchard Street Ravine in Gatewood, where 8 people showed up, including new volunteer Cassandra. According to our contributor, the biggest job of the day was creation of “tree life saver rings” around a madrona and native bitter cherry to keep them from being strangled by clematis and “blackberries on steroids.” One more native cherry needs work next time, and 100 creeping dogwoods will be planted then – “next time” means November 7th, which is Green Seattle Day, with Friends of Orchard Street Ravine partnering with the Green Seattle Partnership. Find out more about Green Seattle Day here; this also gives us an excuse to remind you that, to the east, Duwamish Alive! work party/cleanup day is next Saturday – find out more about that (and how to be part of it) here.

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Video/photos: Eat Local Now! gala in The Junction

October 11, 2009 6:08 pm

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| Sustainable West Seattle | West Seattle news

We’re at the Alki Masonic Hall in The Junction (with sponsors including Sustainable West Seattle) with more than 250 people for the sold-out Eat Local Now! celebration.

Exhibitors (including us) line the walls, beautiful herb plants decorate the tables, and attendees are milling about enjoying appetizers and beverages. We’ve checked in on the kitchen, where some of West Seattle’s best-known chefs are working, and we have the menu too, which we’ll be adding to this report so that if you’re not here, you’ll see some of the local food that’s being celebrated – more to come! 6:22 PM: Added video of chefs in the kitchen dishing up Roasted Winter Squash and Carrot Soup, a recipe by Chef Bill Taylor of Talaris Conference Center. Green salad and warm salad by Chef Brad Glaberson of Cucina Fresca are coming out too.

The Jeff Fairhall Local Food Hero Award (for which nominations were sought here last month) will go to Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin, during the “spoken presentation” part of the program in about an hour. 7:03 PM UPDATE: Among the speakers, Mashiko proprietor Hajime Sato, who made headlines recently for vowing to serve only “sustainable sushi” – he talked about the reality of farmed fish:

Being aware of where your food comes from – how it’s raised, how it’s grown – is a central theme of this event. The Eat Local Now! menu lists lots of information about each item – here’s part of the main course, Miso-Glazed Salmon from the Wild Salmon Fish Market with Granny Smith apples from New Roots Farm (whose Jason Salvo is among the speakers, talking about the hard but rewarding work of being a farmer) and celery-root salad from Boistfort Farm, prepared by Chef Dalis Chea of Fresh Bistro, and Roasted Fingerling Potatoes.

Among the forthcoming desserts: Chocolate Bread Pudding with Mint Creme (chocolate from Theo’s) by Chef Toby Matasar from Eats Market Cafe in Westwood Village.

8:32 PM: Added the dessert photo. Speeches are over, and it’s on to music/dancing. As one speaker put it, you can’t just accept what you get, you have to demand more – more locally grown food, more knowledge about where your food comes from, more support for local growers. The kitchen staff here got a big round of supportive applause, by the way:

We’ve got more info/visuals to add when we get back to HQ, including video of Council President Conlin, as he accepted his award, talking about local-food efforts on Delridge. (10:50 pm – here it is)

This is a citywide event, held in West Seattle for the first time, presented by – in addition to SWS – CoolMom, BALLE Seattle, and Sustainable Cascadia.

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Time capsule opened during Holy Rosary centennial celebration

October 11, 2009 5:27 pm

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| West Seattle history | West Seattle news | West Seattle religion

From WSB contributing journalist Kathy Mulady: Holy Rosary capped its Centennial Celebration today, with celebrations that included removing the 1937 time capsule (above) from the cornerstone of the church:

The contents were on display a few minutes later across the street in Lanigan Hall, where church members and friends celebrated.

The time capsule included a 1937 newspaper, letters that had yellowed and crumpled with age, coins and other a little envelope of powder that left many wondering what it was … or what it once was:

Holy Rosary’s Father John Madigan thanked everyone for many volunteer hours that were put into the year-long celebration.

Seattle Archbishop Alexander Brunett celebrated Mass and attended the afternoon events afterward.

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West Seattle Whale Watch video: Orcas! Seen from Beach Drive

October 11, 2009 2:32 pm

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| Seen at sea | West Seattle news | Wildlife

ORIGINAL 2:32 PM REPORT: Just got a message from Jeff Hogan – orcas headed northbound, spotted near Southworth (on the ferry run with Fauntleroy). Get those binoculars out! 3:47 PM UPDATE: Just back from Beach Drive, where we caught sight of them from Constellation Park (as did others nearby with binoculars and/or hands-shielding eyes)- they were closer to the Bainbridge side than the West Seattle side. Checking to see if our video came out! 4:09 PM: It did – and we have just added it to this report. A bit shaky/blurry but we were zooming all the way to almost-Bainbridge, and it’s just a standard-issue small handheld. More whales than we thought we were seeing, squinting at the camera in the sunshine! 8:20 PM UPDATE: For a closer look – here are two photos just shared by Terry Wittman, taken from Southworth:

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Election 2009: Referendum 71 faceoff at Farmers’ Market today

October 11, 2009 2:14 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

Thanks to Sandi and Dave for sending that photo from the West Seattle Farmers’ Market, noting the counterprotesters with handwritten signs reading “Meet the Bigot.” Referendum 71 is one of two statewide measures on next month’s ballot (the other is I-1033). Your ballot may arrive in the mail as soon as the end of the week, as mailing is scheduled to start Wednesday. R-71 is a referendum on the domestic-partnership-rights bill approved by the State Legislature and signed by the governor to make sure that registered same-sex domestic partners (and opposite-sex partners 62 and up) will not be denied rights such as hospital visitation, death benefits and taking leave to care for an ailing partner. Voting to approve Referendum 71 — the positiion WSB endorses (a departure from our general current no-endorsement policy) — affirms the Legislature’s vote and guarantees those rights. Here is the “ballot title” language you will see on your ballot:

The legislature passed Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5688 concerning rights and responsibilities of state-registered domestic partners and voters have filed a sufficient referendum petition on this bill.

This bill would expand the rights, responsibilities, and obligations accorded state-registered same-sex and senior domestic partners to be equivalent to those of married spouses, except that a domestic partnership is not a marriage.

The state’s Online Voters’ Guide with information on R-71 (as well as arguments for and against) can be seen here.

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2 boards need you: Fauntleroy Schoolhouse; SW Historical Society

October 11, 2009 1:25 pm

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| How to help | West Seattle housing | West Seattle news

Looking for a way to get more involved with your community? Here are two!

FAUNTLEROY SCHOOLHOUSE BUILDING ADVISORY BOARD: As the Fauntleroy Community Service Agency gets closer to closing the deal to buy the historic Fauntleroy Schoolhouse (here’s our most recent update), it’s forming a Building and Site Development Advisory Board “to oversee the building development and operations within the context of this mission,” according to the official announcement. They’re hoping its members will include (but not be limited to) people with expertise in areas such as real-estate development, building renovation and construction, property management, real-estate negotiations, public/private financing options, familiarity with city/state/school district, connections to local community groups. Interested? Call FCSA president Kevin Wooley, (corrected) 206-933-6410.

SOUTHWEST HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD: SWSHS, which operates The Log House Museum, says it’s “looking for board members who have the skills and enthusiasm to bring to our organization for three-year terms beginning in 2010. Participation in our board will be challenging and rewarding, stretching your skills and abilities. You will also gain experience in the meaningful work of preserving West Seattle history, making new friends in the community and the pride of knowing you’ve contributed to a vital organization.” Interested in helping with historic preservation and running a small museum? E-mail a letter of interest to board member Joey Richesson at EuniceSnit@aol.com, or call her at 206-909-9016, before the end of the month.

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West Seattle business news: Seen in The Junction

October 11, 2009 12:26 pm

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| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

Got that photo from Brian at TouchTech Systems in The Junction – he spotted those signs in the window of the storefront in The Junction formerly inhabited by Funky Jane’s. “Heavenly Wholesale,” we’ve seen on A-boards all around WS. “Leslie’s, A Country Store” brings back memories of the similarly named business that preceded The Bohemian at 3405 California SW (though at the time, two and a half years ago, that closure was described as “retirement”). Nothing in the city’s business-license database to yield a clue at this point but we’ll be checking tomorrow!

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2 Senior Center events not just for seniors: Festival & Bingo

October 11, 2009 9:22 am

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| Fun stuff to do | West Seattle news

Two reminders from Carol Johnston at the Senior Center of West Seattle (SE corner of California/Oregon):

HARVEST FESTIVAL: This Tuesday, 10 am-2 pm, free admission. Check out bazaar crafts with new items and collectibles, a bake sale, flu shots by Safeway pharmacists (free with Medicare Part B and $30 for everyone else), and $3-$7 lunch.

LAST RAINBOW BINGO OF THE YEAR: Friday 10/23, with a Halloween theme – costumes encouraged, and there will be a parade! Doors open at 5, bingo starts at 7 with caller Sylvia O’Stayformore assisted by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. $15 in advance, $20 at the door, call Margie for reservations/info at 206-932-4044.

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West Seattle weekend scenes: Shipwreck, car washes, pancakes

October 11, 2009 3:22 am

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle people

The photo’s from Kendall, sent “live” a few hours ago from opening night at Shipwreck Tavern – he reported a capacity crowd — and wrote more about it at Washington Beer Blog. Hours earlier, Saturday morning, we stopped by all three high-school-fundraising car washes – all reporting a brisk business in the early going! – top to bottom in the next three photos, it’s Chief Sealth (check the fall colors in the background) at Boren, Seattle Lutheran at Swedish Automotive (WSB sponsor), and West Seattle High School at WSHS:

Last but not least, folks fueled up for a busy Saturday by starting the morning at Alki Lodge 152‘s pancake breakfast –

For a look ahead to what’s happening today, here’s the latest West Seattle Weekend Lineup.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: 2 robbers hold up Tervo’s Mini-Mart

October 10, 2009 11:20 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Crime | Triangle | West Seattle news

While we were at the scene of the SW Barton crash, police there confirmed a report we’d been checking out shortly before it happened – that Tervo’s Mini-Mart in the Triangle (map) had been robbed a few hours ago. Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Smith says two people, one with a handgun, held up the store. He says nobody was hurt, and nobody’s been arrested yet. No other details so far.

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Updates: Car hits pole west of Westwood Village, 1 to hospital

October 10, 2009 9:45 pm

| 7 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | Westwood | WS breaking news

(Photo added 9:54 pm)
ORIGINAL 9:45 PM REPORT: A crash described as car vs. pole — “heavy rescue” on the 911 log – is closing Barton at 30th (just west of Westwood Village – here’s a map), all lanes according to the scanner. The collision has cut power to part of the area, also per the scanner. 9:54 PM UPDATE: Just added a cameraphone photo. Fire/rescue crews are trying to get into the vehicle by cutting its top off – it’s on its side against the pole – we don’t know how many people are inside or what condition they are in. 10:08 PM UPDATE: Commenter Conrad has a different line of sight than our crew and says they’ve gotten the driver into an ambulance. 10:21 PM UPDATE: Our crew confirms one man’s been taken to the hospital; since it was by ambulance rather than SFD medic unit, that usually indicates injuries were not life-threatening. Power’s still out around the intersection. Seattle City Light has arrived. 10:38 PM UPDATE: Barton is partly reopened (and should be fully reopened shortly); the power’s back on; the wreckage will be cleared before long.

11:04 PM UPDATE: Lt. Ron Smith at the Southwest Precinct tells us the driver has a minor injury and that investigators are looking into the possibility of DUI, though, he confirms, the driver did indeed tell police (as Conrad reported in comments) he had swerved to avoid a dog.

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West Seattle Weather Watch: Possible record cold tonight

October 10, 2009 7:26 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

If there’s anything you need to protect … might even get below freezing, says the forecast.

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West Seattle MaxMobile visit followup: “Baron” finds a home

October 10, 2009 7:12 pm

| 6 COMMENTS

| How to help | Pets | West Seattle news

More dog news: When the Seattle Humane Society‘s big yellow MaxMobile was at West Seattle Thriftway the other day, Michele sent a photo of a German Shepherd named Baron who was there awaiting his “forever home.” Tonight, we got a note confirming he did – Brent wrote in to say thanks for the news about Baron, with the photo above:

Baron (was a name given by the shelter) now going by “Payton” has a new family and a new buddy “Indy,” a 5 year old German Shepherd, and is doing well very well in his new surroundings. Baron is wearing the harness.

Got room to give somebody a new forever home? The MaxMobile calendar shows it’s coming back to West Seattle twice in the next eight days – Pet Pros in Westwood Village next Friday, then Next to Nature in The Junction two days later.

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Video: Human, canine volunteers finish up new Westcrest feature

October 10, 2009 3:37 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Highland Park | Pets | West Seattle news | West Seattle video

That video shows what you might call a victory howl for the canine volunteers at Westcrest Park Off-Leash Area this morning, as they and human companions finished spreading wood chips at the newly created “special needs” area at West Seattle’s only off-leash park – a section that’s more easily accessible for disabled/elderly users. We first reported earlier this week on Westcrest OLA steward Steve McElhenney‘s effort to make this happen; during this morning’s work party, we asked Steve to tell us more about the volunteer efforts and their result:

If you’re a Westcrest OLA user and want to keep up with other volunteer efforts (among other topics), you can join their Yahoo! mailing list by going here.

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Next chance to help library supporters fight more budget cuts

October 10, 2009 12:17 pm

| 10 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

Another City Council-led hearing on the 2010 city budget is coming up this week. It’s not happening in West Seattle, but the fate of many city-operated services hangs in the budget balance – particularly the Seattle Public Library. According to Friends of SPL, there will be dramatic effects at West Seattle libraries, particularly the Delridge, High Point, and WS (Admiral) branches — which would close on Fridays and Sundays, and cut back other hours — as well as nearby South Park. Sarel Rowe from Friends of SPL says they didn’t get the support turnout they were hoping for at the first budget hearing this past week (as they report here), so they are pleading with library supporters to come make brief remarks in support of prioritizing library funding at these two hearings – one just days away:

5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14
Northwest African-American Museum
2300 S Massachusetts St. (map)

5:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26 at
City Council Chambers
600 4th Avenue (map)

Rowe says, “We need people who will stand up and speak for two minutes in support of the library. One night at a hearing is a small investment if one considers that the risk is closures and reduced hours of our neighborhood branches. E-mails help alot but we must also have support at the hearings if we have any hope of blunting or avoiding these service cuts.” And if you haven’t taken the Friends of SPL survey about library use yet, go here. Meantime, you can dig into details of the 2010 budget proposal by going here.

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Eat Local Now! tomorrow night: See who’s exhibiting

October 10, 2009 11:49 am

| 1 COMMENT

| Environment | Health | Sustainable West Seattle | West Seattle news

Hope we’ll be seeing you tomorrow night at Eat Local Now! – the first year West Seattle is headquarters for this dinner/auction event celebrating the growing (in more ways than one) local-food movement, co-presented by groups including Sustainable West Seattle and CoolMom, featuring a great lineup of local chefs and other food stars, and with co-sponsors including WSB. We got word a couple days ago that tickets were sold out, so if you don’t have yours, it’s unfortunately too late, but organizers asked to share a list of — and acknowledgment for — exhibitors who will be there (including us) — check it out:Read More