West Seattle, Washington
22 Wednesday
Today and next Monday are great days to get holiday-dinner food donations to the West Seattle Food Bank (here’s the list we originally published). On Thursday, WSFB got a big boost from Nucor, which showed up with more than $9,000 in cash and gift cards along with thousands of pounds of food – here’s one of the truckloads they unloaded:
We also talked to the Nucor managers who were there to help with the delivery; Nucor’s been doing this at holiday time since 1996!
Online, that is. Junction Neighborhood Organization president Erica Karlovits has set up a blog-style site for the group; check it out here. And as you’ll see on the website, the next JuNO meeting is set for 6:30 pm January 8 — for everybody who lives in and around The Junction and wants to get connected with ways to keep it a great place to be.
In comments last week on this post, the Seattle (Alki) Statue of Liberty Plaza Project organizers promised they would give the WSB community an updated $ accounting shortly. This afternoon, they posted it in that same comment thread, which is long gone from the home page, so we are reposting here to make sure everyone interested can see it:
Dear WS Blog:
I am sure many of you have been waiting for a financial update on how we are doing at this point in time with the fundraising efforts for the Statue of Liberty Plaza project. I was waiting for the most recent figures, so here it is:
As of Wednesday, December 12th:
$13,500 – Funds raised thru Urban Sparks (Net)
$50,000 – Grant from City of Seattle
$10,500 – Prior fundraising balance$74,000 – Total
+17,000 – Pledges currently identified
$91,000More funds are continuing to be identified and pledged, so the rest of the money is in process and we could Use Your Help to Make It Happen!
Note: Expenses now accounted for include total $3,673.26 at this point in time. A 7% fee is charged by the fiscal sponsor, printing is already done for all promotional material (10,000 brochures, 5,000 inserts, 144 t-shirts), website expenses, postage & office supplies. No money has been expended for the volunteer time of the Carrs, or their committee members.
We think we are doing very well here and are optimistic that we will be successful in raising the rest of the money to build this design in 2008.
We have been in contact with the Mayor’s office and we are in agreement that we will build as much of this design as we have the money for, so yes, it is very important that we finish raising all the money needed to build this design. We would even like to have a bit left over, just in case for any further contingencies such as adding some backs to some of the benches, a suggestion that came from the Sept. 13th meeting. Also, the existing families with benches at the site now are being offered the option of having one of the new benches in the new design at no charge.
We are now also focusing on names for the Major Donor Plaque for the pedestal ($15,000+), Benches ($5,000) and a new category of Landscape Plaques ($2,000).
In general, we are ramping up fundraising efforts with special Brick promotions (see website www.sealady.org) more print and live media exposure, more internet and blog exposure, a fundraising event at Duke’s on Dec. 27, and just lots more phone calls in general to Statue supporters. We have agreed with staff in the Mayor’s office to wrap up fundraising efforts by January 15, 2008.
So, if you are one of the people whose been planning on buying a brick “one of these days,†that day has arrived! If you want to give a truly memorable gift this Holiday Season, there is probably no present that will last longer.
We know this community has the capacity to finish this project just as we have envisioned it now for 3+ years. Now is the time to step up and demonstrate what we can really accomplish together, and finish this project for generations of people to come.
Thanks, in advance, for your help!
Paul & Libby Carr, Co-Chairs of the SSLPP
www.sealady.org
206-938-8720
The last official public meeting on the project was September 13 (our detailed report here), two days after the recast statue was returned to the existing pedestal at Alki on September 11 (WSB coverage, with video, here). All of our Alki Statue of Liberty coverage including those reports and this one is archived here.
Big news just in from the latest edition of the Southwest Precinct Public Safety Newsletter sent by Crime Prevention Coordinator Benjamin Kinlow, with this excerpted section written up by Detective Bauer:
Southwest Precinct Officers and Detectives, within the last week and a half, have arrested, booked, and filed charges on nine (9) Burglary suspects. Detectives have cleared fifteen (15) burglary cases with the arrest of these suspects. Most of the stolen property has been returned to the owners.
Below are some recent cases that we have been working on. Please notice the incredible Police work along with calls from alert citizens:
12-03-07: Burglary incident: On the morning of 12-03-07, a neighbor was standing on her front porch, and noticed an unfamiliar vehicle pull up to a neighbor’s home. Two males got out of the vehicle and went to the back of the residence. The witness called police. Officers responded and arrived very soon after the call came out. Officers caught the two males after they had burglarized the home by way of forced entry. Both suspects were later booked.
Note that King County detectives have another burglary case in their jurisdiction in which these suspects have been identified. The King County Detectives are also looking at these suspects as good possibles on the series of BB gun shootings in the SW area. That investigation continues.
12-05-07: Burglary/Wanted fugitive arrest: Officers responded to a Burglary call in the 5800 block of 38th Ave SW. Detectives were aware of a wanted fugitive who possibly broke into a nearby residence and took a shotgun and ammunition a few days earlier. Through cooperation of the case detective and patrol officers, the fugitive was caught hiding in a limousine that was parked in front of the home of the burglary/shotgun theft victim.
12-06-07: Burglary incident, 4800 block of Colorado Ave S. Suspect enters fenced in property of metal recycling site. A night watchman sees the suspect and calls police. The suspect exited the property and got into a van before officers arrived. The responding officers located the suspect in the van, and had the watchman do a show up ID of the suspect, which was positive. The officers also arrested another male in the van, who had an outstanding warrant.
12-10-07: Theft/Trafficking stolen property investigation, 4800 block of 35th Ave SW: Detective Bauer investigated an on-going theft incident in which an employee was allegedly stealing property from vulnerable adult residents, and then selling the items on EBAY. Detectives arrested the suspect, and later booked her.
Please noted the following:* Outstanding work by the Patrol Officers!
* Outstanding follow-up by the Detectives!
* Outstanding work by the witnesses who had the presence of mind to call the Police or jot down the license plate number and other information!
Please read that last line again — it’s vital to call SPD as soon as possible when you see something suspicious, not just an emergency. (The non-emergency number is 206/625-5011.)
Just into the inbox, from the city Transportation Department:
Paving Contractor Carrying Out Minor Work on California Avenue SW
The contractor from the California Ave SW paving project will be on site periodically over the next few weeks correcting minor deficiencies and remaining restoration from the project completed in August. You may have noticed some temporary lane closures in the last day or two. This was necessary to adjust some utility manholes and create a smother ride.
Traffic disruptions and parking impacts will be minimal and of very short duration.
Normal work hours for the contractor are 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday-Friday.
Experimenting with yet another video host – let us know how/if this one works for you – we’ve also uploaded the same clip to YouTube in case you’d rather watch it there (click for that version). Here, we captured the first moments of the backhoe biting into the building (click the pic to play the clip):
We also ran by a little while ago for this photo of the progress made in the past few hours – the facade’s all gone:
If you missed earlier coverage of what’s planned for this spot — per the city project page, it’s a two-story commercial building with retail, a restaurant (TBA as far as we know), and “medical-services offices.”
(“approved concept” as provided by Seattle Parks, with a note that “the installed football field grid will not be as fully marked” as shown above)
Actually, by the time construction starts next year on $3.6 million in renovations to Hiawatha Playfield, almost six years will have passed since the first public meeting on this project. Last night at neighboring Hiawatha Community Center, reps from the city Parks Department and the project’s design firm DA Hogan presented details on the big changes that are in the works:Read More
Just back with pix and video. Demolition of the building started about an hour ago. Here are two photos of the Demo King backhoe starting its work – video to come.
The demo crew also wanted to warn drivers that trucks will be coming and going over the next couple days, every few hours, to pick up debris, so the California/Charlestown intersection may be a little more precarious than usual.
So suggested Sealth teacher Delfino Munoz toward the end of tonight’s Westwood Neighborhood Council meeting to update the project status; he was followed by West Seattle’s new school-board rep Steve Sundquist saying the board’s trying to get a legal opinion on whether they do indeed have the power to cancel the plan – if they wanted to. Bottom line, now more than ever is your time to speak out, if you have a strong opinion on the proposal either way; WNC president Steve Fischer provided lots of resources tonight on how to do that. Here’s our detailed report (updated 11:59 pm):Read More
West Seattle-based Schooner Exact Brewing Co. is celebrating its first award — at last weekend’s 3rd annual Winter Beer Festival, their “Hoppy Holidays” brew got 3rd place in the People’s Choice competition. If you want to try this award-winner, Marcus and company @ Schooner Exact say it’ll be available later this week at Beveridge Place Pub in Morgan Junction (which by the way appears to be making great headway on the new location next door; we’ll be checking with them soon for an official update).
Hope that’s not YOUR car. Sarah Davies spotted it and sent the photo along with this – we share it as an alert to anyone else who parks in the area:
I passed this car on my walk home today around 4 pm in the 2100 block of California Ave SW. Looks like someone smashed the passenger window and grabbed the stereo (along with any valuables) in broad daylight.
Sarah hadn’t reported it as of our e-mail exchange but we urged her to call police, which is also our reminder to you if you see anything suspicious (or overtly criminal, of course). Keep their non-emergency number handy: (206) 625-5011.
West Seattle’s own South Seattle Community College just dedicated its expanded Automotive Collision Repair training facility – with $1.7 million in improvements, including new painting and paint-prep facilities. We weren’t able to attend the dedication but asked SSCC’s Michael May for pix and he kindly obliged. Some of the work will involve cool restored classic cars like the ones shown above; more pix ahead:Read More
It was really exciting about an hour ago – got a note from Todd that a backhoe had shown up at the burned-out ex-Schuck’s (California/Charlestown) — we stopped what we were doing, grabbed the cameras and raced (well, as fast as legally possible) down because this is one demolition we don’t want to miss — unfortunately, as we, and Todd, subsequently found out, looks like the backhoe is just scooping up the debris cleared from inside the building last week. (We’re going to check again in a bit just in case.) Thanks to Todd for the tip and the photo.
The view this morning from the alley behind 4116 California, where the old green rentals are coming down to make way for apartments and retail (we mentioned the demolition permit just two days ago).
Leave a few minutes early if you come from the Fauntleroy end of The Bridge – there’s a four-car fender-bender blocking the left lane on the eastbound side, roughly parallel with Delridge. Note the solid block of headlights in the background of this west-facing bridgecam (8:35 AM UPDATE: the city has shifted the camera angle, and it’s now simply showing the backup, still looking west):
Here’s the backup on Fauntleroy (camera pointing east):
8:18 AM SIDE NOTE: We just heard the first radio traffic report about the Bridge problem on our news station of choice — one hour after it happened. As with other matters of WS-specific interest, we will do our best to monitor traffic trouble for you during rush hours, and we also appreciate your help — if you see a problem on a route into, out of, or within West Seattle, you can call or text us at 206-293-6302 (2062936302@vmobl.com) and one of us will post as soon as possible to get the word out.
A few weeks after we first told you about the West Seattle High School Travel Club working to raise $ to make sure no one’s left behind when they journey to Italy & Greece next year (original report here) — there’s word of progress. First, the club reports last weekend’s rummage sale raised more than $2,000; second, your next chance to help is coming up on Saturday night, when three West Seattle restaurants will donate part of their proceeds to the Travel Club quest — Beato, Puerto Vallarta, and Kokoras Greek Grill.
Out of the inbox, from Robyn, who wanted to share a warning for other dog owners:
I went to the Alki bonfire/Christmas ships event Saturday night, December 8. I’m a long-time Alki resident and have two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels who are family members and function as service dogs. For 9 years my dogs have greeted visitors to Alki from all over the world, spreading peace and love and community. On Saturday night a woman greeted my dogs, and then came back under cover of the music and tried to steal my eldest dog. My dogs were leashed and standing quietly beside me. This woman, who smelled of alcohol, first grabbed my dog’s leash and demanded I give her my dog, then grabbed the leash with both hands and started yanking. I was with a friend, who helped me protect both my dogs and fend off the thief. A warning to West Seattleites—all small dogs need to be protected, even when they are right beside you. Do not leave small dogs and children unprotected for even a minute. Do not tie your small dogs up at coffee shops or grocery stores, particularly gregarious breeds like Cavaliers! Alki residents—be vigilant, wacko criminals are everywhere!
Robin’s note to WSB also expressed concern that she didn’t see any police at the event; she acknowledges that friends have since urged her to report what happened, and we would echo that for everyone who experiences a crime or attempted crime – be sure to call 911 — even if you don’t think something can be done about it, or if you are sure the culprit(s) are long gone, police need to have a record to track what’s happening in the community, to assign resources and follow trends.
We mentioned last week this was coming (that post, with project background, is here) …
The parking lot behind Petco is now closed for construction of Mural, but note, however, that the alley is NOT blocked off (notice the car parked behind Curious Kidstuff in the background of the photo). Other free parking options besides the one on the big banner in the pic include one lot we suspect many people overlook – the one on 42nd south of Oregon, behind the businesses on the eastern side of California.
We first told you in October (detailed report here) about Spring Hill, the development planned for the area shown above, in the 5000 block of California, just south of The Junction (map). The developer is BlueStar Management, same firm behind Fauntleroy Place, future home to Whole Foods, 170 apartments, etc. Now, a date is set for the Southwest Design Review Board to give “early design guidance” on the project — January 10. According to the city project page, the scope of Spring Hill (no known relation to the future restaurant) has grown a little since our original post – it’s now described as six stories, 90 apartments, 4,000 sf of retail, 100 parking spaces.
So suggests the fifth bullet point in this entry on “Pastors’ Prayers,” one of the many official Mars Hill Church blogs. Quoting here:
Multiple pastors request prayers for our financial state. With the deep deficit, it is a test for all the staff to choose Jesus over anxiety when ministry funds are cut short and the possibility of lay-offs and additional budget cuts is on the horizon. Please pray for repentance by those who are disobeying God in their giving …
Now, before the Mars Hill critics fire up their typing fingers to snark, we also did want to note there is a sad West Seattle-related item in the same long Mars Hill blog entry: Jeanne Clem, wife of Bill Clem, the pastor who led Doxa in the building that became MH-West Seattle, is described as “slipping away” in her battle with cancer. (She is interviewed starting about 3 minutes into this recent Mars Hill video clip we found on YouTube.) TUESDAY MORNING ADDENDUM: Thanks to Adam on Alki, who points out in the comments below that Mars Hill has gone back and edited out the “disobeying God in their giving” line. We briefly cursed ourselves for not getting a screen grab, then remembered the miracle of Google caching, where it had already been captured. So just in case you didn’t believe us (full cached version here):
Several people have e-mailed us about those light poles that have popped up on strategic spots along West Seattle arterials — two round lights and a solar panel — wondering what they are for. We hadn’t gotten around to checking with SDOT or WSDOT yet but Ty has saved us the trouble (thank you!) — he says at least one of them now has a sign saying “ALASKAN WAY VIADUCT CLOSED WHEN FLASHING.” Great idea! (Will they add a second sign beneath saying “so don’t bother leaving West Seattle right now, k?”)
It’s the hottest topic on WSB since the now-legendary “West Seattle Dishes to Die For” — 85 comments and new ones every day — so we’re thinking you might be interested in the next chance for an in-person discussion of the upzoning proposal on California between Hanford and Hinds (and a little further south, on the west side of the street, as shown on the city map @ left): Tomorrow night, you’re invited to the monthly meeting of the Admiral Neighborhood Association, 7 pm tomorrow at Admiral Congregational Church (California/Hill, map here). The ANA’s last meeting brought the first word of full details on this proposal, so who knows what you’ll hear if you drop by tomorrow night!
Or maybe even your mom’s. Back when we moved here in the early ’90s, really not THAT long ago, we lamented that we would have liked to do more shopping in The Junction, but everything seemed to close so early — “rolling up the sidewalks,” as the small-town saying goes. 
Not these days, and here’s the latest proof: Coinciding with this Thursday night’s West Seattle Art Walk in The Junction is “Wrap It Up,” with participating stores open well into the night for holiday-shopping fun. And it’s not just The Junction that will be jumping — on the north side of West Seattle, we’ve heard from more shops planning to be open late on Thursday, including WSB sponsor Click! Design That Fits and Shanti in the Admiral District, and along Avalon, Murphy’s Furniture Studio has an event planned Thursday night for late-night shopping while raising money for GambiaHELP. All in all, Thursday’s a good night to spend your $ where you live. Here’s the “Wrap It Up” flyer listing Junction participants, by the way:Read More
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