West Seattle, Washington
19 Sunday
(recent WSB photo peeking inside the Zeeks construction site)
As we first reported last night, the new Zeeks Pizza coming to the ex-Corner Inn spot at California/Fauntleroy has finalized its grand opening date and time: 11 am on Friday, May 1st. After we published word here and on Facebook following Zeeks executive Dan Black‘s announcement at last night’s Morgan Community Association meeting, some WSBers asked if they had firmed up their delivery boundaries yet (always a hot topic when it comes to West Seattle and pizza). We followed up with Black this morning, and here’s his reply:
North – Water
West – Water
South – 116th St SW [map]
East – Highway 509
Plus one pocket outside those boundaries, which he described as “the Shorewood neighborhood.” He also told us after last night’s meeting that Zeeks is thinking about asking customers, once they’re open, to co-create a West Seattle-exclusive pizza that would only be on the menu at this location. Meantime, he adds that they are still hiring, and in the midst of an intensive final two weeks of work renovating and rehabilitating the space; the building’s owner was at last night’s meeting too, and recalled that it was a market and hardware store when he took it over more than 40 years ago.
One day after Tax Deadline Day, the merchants of the West Seattle Junction Association have just announced a plan to free you from (sales) taxes for a day – the “Junction Rebellion.” Tax-free shopping – in other words, the store pays the tax, not you – with other discounts and promotions, are planned for participating merchants (see the poster) on Saturday, April 25th.
3:46 PM UPDATE: After some commenters asked whether this was tied to yesterday’s “tea party” protests around the country, WSJA’s Susan Melrose asked us to share this message:
The purpose of this promotion was to generate shopping in The Junction for the benefit of our retail members in this trying economy. It was in no way intended to be construed as a political statement, and the timing was inadvertent and unfortunate for our intention (we planned this 2 weeks ago). One of the Junction Association’s core values is to support community and the true intention behind this promotion is nothing more than to have a fun shopping day in The Junction, enjoy living local, and have merchants pick up the tab on sales tax. Sorry for overcomplicating a simple neighborhood sale! To contact me directly: susan@wsjunction.org
The Rotary Club of West Seattle sends word that it’s accepting applications right now for the Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship program. As Steve Fuller explains it, “The program provides several types of international scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students as well as for qualified professionals pursuing vocational studies”; you can find more details and application information in this section of the Rotary International website, but applications go directly to the Rotary Club of West Seattle, due before May 15, with final interviews scheduled for June 20. Questions? wsrotary@gmail.com
Also from Wednesday night’s Morgan Community Association meeting (first report here) – officer elections: Pictured, from left, former president Steve Sindiong, who’s now secretary; public information officer Cindi Barker; new MoCA president Deb Barker; treasurer David Fansler; former secretary Eldon Olson; not pictured, vice president Chas Redmond, who was at the Delridge/Southwest District Councils’ joint meeting on the other side of the peninsula (WSB report here). MoCA usually meets quarterly, but has two special events coming up before the next meeting – May 4, co-sponsored with the Fauntleroy Community Association, the community meeting about The Kenney‘s new design proposals that save the cupola-topped Seaview building (here’s our Tuesday update), and June 13, the Morgan Junction Community Festival, which will start with the dedication of the new MJ park.
At Youngstown Arts Center tonight, the Southwest District Council and Delridge District Council got together for one of their periodic joint meetings; these groups include representatives of various organizations in the two city-defined “districts” that comprise West Seattle. Highlights ahead:Read More
More to come, but first some toplines, starting with: Two park updates from the Morgan Community Association meeting that’s under way right now at The Kenney: First, the new Morgan Junction park is unofficially open; it’s not going to be dedicated until the Morgan Junction Festival on June 13th, and its name hasn’t been chosen yet, but the fences are down (photo above added 9:19 pm) and the park is open for use. Second, a trail is complete in Solstice Park (the former Lincoln Park annex), some invasive-clearing work has been complete (and more is ahead), more than half a dozen new trees will go in this fall, and “site furniture” is going in within the next month, including benches behind the tennis court and a picnic table, according to Parks Department planner Susanne Friedman, who is briefing MoCA tonight. The park discussion is just part of a busy MoCA agenda – more to come.
ADDED 8:16 PM: Also at the meeting, SDOT’s Jessica Murphy is updating the Fauntleroy repaving/restriping project; she says the contract (with Merlino) was just executed today, and the start date for the work is mid-May – no word yet exactly where along the Alaska-to-Holly route the crews will start. Murphy also says Puget Sound Energy will be doing some gas main work in the Morgan Junction area in late May — we’ll check tomorrow to find out more on that. We also are getting a Zeeks Pizza update – Dan Black from Zeeks says they’re still on track for a MAY FIRST opening in the new California/Fauntleroy location (11 am!). (More details in a Thursday followup.) The building owners are here – they say the Feedback Lounge owners (north of Zeeks) couldn’t be at this meeting but hope to be open BEFORE Zeeks; checking their MySpace site, they’re saying they will announce their grand opening date this Saturday.
Four Five (with a late addition) more reports to share with you tonight, starting with a burglary this afternoon — read on:Read More
WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli is back from the disaster-training exercise at the Joint Training Facility on the southeast edge of West Seattle — the one with Seattle Fire Department crews and the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department (which contributed the helicopter) working together, as mentioned in advance yesterday just in case the chopper alarmed anyone.
ADDED 7:55 PM: Here’s Christopher’s video:
(November 2008 photo by WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli)
Five months after police swarmed that North Admiral neighborhood when neighbors noticed a break-in (original WSB coverage here), the case is almost closed on the only adult suspect arrested that day, 18-year-old Skyelar Hailey. As we noted in a followup when he got out of jail 10 days later, he has a lengthy record, which, according to court documents, includes convictions for harassment, theft, vehicle prowling, reckless burning, and trespass. In the November break-in case, Hailey has pleaded guilty to criminal trespass, with prosecutors recommending a month in jail “converted to 240 community-service hours” in addition to a 12-month sentence suspended if 2 years of probation go well; he is scheduled to be sentenced a week from Friday. Court documents say he and the two other suspects were seen running from the house, after a neighbor noticed someone was inside at a time when the homeowner was away, but he wasn’t caught with any loot. (Hailey also has been in jail once since the November arrest, according to county records showing a day behind bars in late February; the charge, filed in Seattle Municipal Court, was described as violating a domestic-violence protection order.) Information is harder to find on the other two suspects’ status, since they were juveniles, but what little information is publicly accessible online indicates that both of them have been prosecuted.
(Evan Woltz as Bud in “Gutenberg! The Musical!” – photo by Matt Durham, mattdurhamphotography.com)
It’s opening night tonight at ArtsWest in The Junction for “Gutenberg! The Musical!” ArtsWest describes it as “a loving spoof in which two aspiring playwrights perform a backers’ audition for their new project: A big, splashy musical about printing press inventor Johann Gutenberg … With an unending supply of enthusiasm, Bud and Doug sing all the songs and play all the parts in their “historical” epic, with the hope that one of the producers in attendance will give them a Broadway contract – fulfilling their sky-high, if simple-minded, dreams.” “Gutenberg!” runs through May 15; showtimes and ticket sales are accessible online here.
ALSO TONIGHT: You could call it an all-star lineup at the Morgan Community Association meeting, 7 pm at The Kenney, from City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, to SDOT’s Jessica Murphy with the latest on the Fauntleroy Way repaving/restriping, plus a RapidRide update, officer elections, and more. Also tonight, the two “district councils” whose territory together covers the entire peninsula will sit down together – the Delridge and Southwest District Councils meet at 7 pm at Youngstown Arts Center. (Both of these meetings are open to the public.)
Also from Tuesday night’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting (see report #1, about a new concert series, here) – what City Councilmember Sally Clark had to say, on what she revealed was her first visit to an ANA meeting, plus a few other notes – read on:Read More
From tonight’s Fauntleroy Community Association meeting: FCA board members will meet next week with counterparts from the Fauntleroy Community Services Agency to talk about where FCSA’s plan to buy the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse stands, and where the process goes next. As we reported two weeks ago, a legal challenge to Seattle Public Schools‘ sale of the building could throw a wrinkle in the deal. We’ll find out more about its status when the two groups meet at 6 pm next Tuesday in the schoolhouse building.
ONE MORE NOTE FROM TONIGHT’S FCA MEETING: Two weeks from tonight, Tuesday 4/28, Endolyne Joe’s will donate a portion of the night’s proceeds to benefit the Fauntleroy Fall Festival.
We were working on this story before the Fairmount School break-in happened – now that that incident is over, we need to let you know about this:
First the American Legion hall was burglarized – then the Senior Center of West Seattle was broken into and vandalized – now, crooks have hit the Nature Consortium, a WS nonprofit whose major mission is marshaling volunteers to help restore the West Duwamish Greenbelt. This comes from the NC’s newsletter, which arrived in the WSB inbox late today:
We are sad to report that our Restoration Project storage container was vandalized last week and all of the tools stolen. The thieves broke in by damaging the padlock and hasp and emptied out all of the container’s contents. We lost a multitude of tools used for large work parties, including pruners, machetes, a brush cutter, a chainsaw, extra blades, and a pop-up tent used for shelter and sign-in purposes. We calculated the loss to be $1,324.30 worth of materials. The Restoration team is currently working to secure the container and to replace the equipment. If you would like to help us replace these items, donate here.
We followed up with Nature Consortium executive director Nancy Whitlock, who confirms the storage container is the structure that the group maintains along the West Duwamish Greenbelt trail often used for their monthly hikes.
We’re at the Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting, where Katy Walum has just discussed plans for a new summer concert series – six Thursday nights outside at Hiawatha Community Center in July and August – and she’s starting to look for music acts, “classy” like jazz and folk, as well as seeking businesses to sponsor the series – contact her at katy.walum@gmail.com. More shortly, including what ANA attendees heard from Councilmember Sally Clark.
(thanks to Stephanie for the photo)
Dorcas sent first word of major police activity near Fairmount Playfield (map), and then Stephanie provided a the follow-up report (also confirmed via scanner) that an apparent break-in at closed (though opening soon for summer school) Fairmount Park Elementary is involved, and arrests are reported. We’re on the way to find out more in person. UPDATE: On site, we’ve counted nine cruisers and at least one Seattle Public Schools vehicle – good area to avoid till things settle down.
From the scanner, sounds like four suspects are in custody and one more is being sought. 5:50 PM UPDATE: Two more suspects in custody, per both the scanner and what we’re seeing on scene. Officers are still checking inside the school for more. We’re told at the scene that an alarm was tripped, leading to the successful response.
8:17 PM UPDATE: SPDBlotter has a little more information – all six suspects are described as male, 2 “young adults” and 4 “juveniles.” Looks like no property damage in the building, the report says.
WorkSource of Seattle-King County is presenting two workshops at Delridge Community Center: Tomorrow, 6:30-7:30 pm, “Developing a Job Search Plan for Tough Times“; Wednesday 4/22, 6:30-7:30 pm, “Online Job Search and Resume Techniques.” Number to call to RSVP – 206-684-7423.
Looks like whatever form The Kenney‘s $150 million redevelopment project ultimately takes, some form of that familiar view (photographed this afternoon from SW Myrtle, alongside Gatewood Elementary) will live on. Original plans for the project — as first reported here last August — called for demolishing the century-old, cupola-topped building. Community members and Southwest Design Review Board reps alike had called for The Kenney to find a way to save it — and the biggest glimmer of hope, as we reported last week, came in the announcement of the upcoming Morgan Community Association/Fauntleroy Community Association neighborhood meeting to update The Kenney’s project: The groups had been told a way had been found to move it up to the Fauntleroy/Myrtle corner. That’s now confirmed and explained by Kenney CEO Kevin McFeely, who tells WSB that the next round of “early design” for the project will include ONLY options that save The Seaview: “Basically, it’s feasible to move it to a separate spot on the campus. A company came out to give us a bid. (The new plans are) a pretty significant departure from our last (Design Review) go-round, so we’re bringing another set of drawings, and (MoCA and FCA) offered to have a community meeting where people could come give their comments, vent a bit, share thoughts and concerns. … What we heard at (all previous meetings) was, please figure out a way to save this building. The other main concern was the massing on the perimeter, and whether there’s anything we could do to mitigate that … (moving the Seaview building) would give us the opportunity to do that by putting more of the buildings in the ‘bowl’ in the center. We heard what the community said, we heard what the board said, we hope they’ll be very happy with (the new proposal).” Your first chance to see it will be the community meeting at 7:30 pm May 4 at Fauntleroy Church; then the Design Review Board meeting is at 6:30 pm May 14, location TBA. (One more Kenney note – Its skilled-nursing facility has just received a 5-star rating in a national review; read about it here.)
At right, that’s West Seattle Helpline executive director Anna Fern marshaling volunteers this morning at Hillcrest Presbyterian Church in Arbor Heights, as they sort and arrange donated clothes in preparation for the reopening of Helpline’s clothing bank, Clothesline, this Friday. Local churches (including Holy Rosary, home parish to some of the volunteers helping this morning) and even the Inspire book club, have already donated clothes — the bags in the foreground were collected at a club gathering:
Hillcrest churchgoers can bring donations when they come to church; everybody else is asked to bring donations to the Helpline’s office at 35th/Morgan (map), which is staffed Monday through Friday from 7-8:30 am; Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2-4 pm; Wednesdays noon-6 pm. You can also call 206.932.4357 – which is the same number for people to call to make an appointment to “shop” at the Clothesline (for free), which Anna says is stocking kids and adult sizes, even shoes (currently, though, men’s clothing is limited).
Two more Helpline notes – Metropolitan Market has donated grocery bags for Clothesline “shoppers” – and the Taste of West Seattle fundraiser for Helpline (which provides emergency services for area families) is just one month away – May 14, The Hall at Fauntleroy; Anna says some tickets are still available — ticket info is on the Helpline website (or call that same number,
From the WSB Events calendar, two major neighborhood meetings tonight: Fauntleroy Community Association, 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy. Also: Admiral Neighborhood Association, 7 pm, Admiral Church, with guests including City Councilmember Sally Clark.
That’s Andy Worline, just elected to chair the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council in West Seattle’s northeasternmost neighborhood, taking the reins from Pete Spalding, who took over on an interim basis after Matt Swenson resigned six months ago. Andy’s election (by acclamation of all 20-plus attendees in the Cooper School cafeteria) came midway through a meeting that began with some reassurance from Southwest Precinct Lt. Steve Paulsen, invited by Pete because of a recent car-crime spree that rattled the neighborhood. Read on to hear what he had to say, along with details of the upcoming Pigeon Point Spring Clean event, and more:Read More
That’s a little of what we used to call “raw video” in the TV business, where West Seattle-based broadcaster New York Vinnie and your editor here used to work together. NY Vinnie got that video behind the scenes on the field at Safeco today as Ken Griffey Jr. got ready for tomorrow’s Seattle Mariners home opener against the Angels; we’re using it to remind you about some traffic and travel notes: Game time is 3:40 pm; Vinnie notes that “if you are coming from West Seattle, leave extra time, as there is major road construction going on on 1st Avenue between Spokane Street and the ballpark.” The King County Water Taxi‘s an option, since it promises extra night runs to get you home from Mariners games (with late shuttle-bus runs too); see the schedule here (and find it atop the WSB Traffic page, any time).
This Friday, Metro is set to announce proposed changes to more than two dozen bus routes, including 128, which runs between the Admiral District and Southcenter. These changes are linked to the impending start of Link light rail; you’ll get a chance to comment at a special evening meeting of two County Council committees, set for 6:30 pm April 28 at the County Courthouse downtown. According to today’s update, county councilmembers are expected to vote within the next month and a half, and any approved changes could take effect as soon as September. (We’ll see Friday, if not sooner, if the package of proposed changes also includes the addition of Route 50, with a Delridge-to-Junction leg, as previously discussed.)
First, a West Seattle Crime Watch update – if you saw our first report this morning about the Senior Center burglary, take another look – we added a surveillance-cam screengrab later, provided by police. Now, two even newer burglaries – Rob and Naomi e-mailed to say it happened to their home in Sunrise Heights this afternoon:
Our home in the 7500 block of 32nd Avenue SW [map] was broken into today sometime between Noon and 4 PM. They stole a TV and other items like jewelry that’s more of a sentimental value than monetary. If anyone saw anything or if anyone seems stuff dumped on the road, please post! Thanks and keep watch on yourselves and neighbors!
And from Richard and Brenda:
Our neighbor in the 3400 block of 47th (along the west side of Madison Middle School) [map] had a break-in today. A wedding ring, lap top, and electronics were stolen. The police said that there have been a series of break-ins in the area.
Also, from the WSB Forums, another hit-and-run sideswipe – this time near 50th and Edmunds [map].
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