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Followup: Mike Gain takes the Prudential NW reins with optimism
March 1, 2009 11:18 pm
|      9 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

(photo at left, Mike Gain in his West Seattle office, next to framed drawings of Cayce and Gain’s past headquarters)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

“Personally, I think the market’s bottomed out.”

Longtime West Seattle real-estate/development leader Mike Gain was careful to include the term “personally.” But it’s emblematic of his optimistic nature, which he is using to fuel what he calls the “run” to get up to speed as he takes over Prudential Northwest Realty, which he ran for two years after he and Roger Cayce sold their West Seattle-iconic Cayce and Gain real-estate firm to Prudential in 2002.

That “run” hasn’t stopped since at least Tuesday, when he prepared to tell the PNW areawide team he was coming back to run the company (as first reported here Thursday morning, once Gain confirmed it).

Even as I sat in Gain’s 3210 California SW office this afternoon – where I’d last visited in December 2007 to talk with Gain and Cayce about their rezoning proposal for the blocks surrounding it (more on that proposal’s status later) – signs of that “run” persisted.

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Update: Fire in South Delridge; prayer hall closed
March 1, 2009 6:16 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle fires | West Seattle news | West Seattle people | WS breaking news

(added 7:14 pm, photo by Tony Bradley, replacing our original iPhone photo)
ORIGINAL 6:16 PM REPORT: 9428 Delridge, commercial building. Here’s a map. Scanner says smoke from the second floor. Off to check it out.

6:31 PM UPDATE: (From TR at the scene) No visible flames, but smoke coming from roof of the Ty Ty Market building that is just to the north of the Cafe Rozella (etc.) building on the alley (which veers southeast from a driveway opening on Delridge). Flames were seen on the second floor, but seems to be out now. The fire engines have traffic blocked around the Delridge and Roxbury Triangle.

UPDATE 6:43 PM: No one was hurt and fire crews are mopping up.

UPDATE: 6:51 PM: Traffic is also blocked along 17th SW between Roxbury and Delridge as crews are still packing up.

7:02 PM UPDATE: The incident commander told us at the scene that fire investigators have just gone in to figure out what started the fire and how much damage was done. SFD spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen says nobody was inside when the fire started. Photographer Tony Bradley got to the scene shortly after firefighters and saw some flames behind a 2nd-story window; we’ll add his photo when we get it (7:13 pm, we subbed it out for the iPhone photo originally on top of this – and here’s a second one from Tony, beneath this update).

10:07 PM: Just in case you’re wondering, we’re still awaiting official word from SFD on the fire’s cause.

8:49 AM MONDAY: Our fellow White Center Now contributor Ricardo Guarnero at neighboring Cafe Rozella says the fire actually was in a Muslim prayer hall in this building. We are still awaiting word from Seattle Fire investigators regarding cause/damage. Ricardo adds that there’s a note on the door saying “MASJID is closed indefinitely,” and adds, “The sign is on the door where Muslims gathered to pray five times a day. Next door is the ‘Hope Academic Enrichment Center.’ Both were there for the Muslim community in White Center – mostly African immigrants from the horn of Africa.”

12:39 PM MONDAY: SFD tells WSB that “improperly discarded smoking materials … in a vinyl couch” were to blame for the fire, which has been ruled accidental. Damage is estimated at $25,000. A photo we took at the scene this morning shows a burned couch:

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Feedback Lounge update: A sign and a countdown clock
March 1, 2009 3:30 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | WS beverages

Just noticed that new sign in front of the future Feedback Lounge in Morgan Junction. The sign says “opening soon-ish,” but JenV e-mailed to point out an online countdown clock – which is not on the MySpace site that’s been the main source of FL info, but on this new website, which details FL’s forthcoming attributes:

West Seattle’s new place featuring full-service cocktails, food, music videos, in-house programmed music, the Tune-O-Matic Library, The Whammy Bar, the 40-foot outdoor Sunndeck (no, that’s not a typo), Harmonic Happy Hour, Rok Box, Front of House music videos/live concerts…and LOTS more!

The date the clock is currently counting down to is Saturday, April 4. Meanwhile, back at the MySpace site, you can see photos from the work that’s been going on inside to transform the former Beveridge Place Pub (also once known as the Full Moon Saloon) – which is between the new BPP location and the future Zeeks Pizza/ex-Corner Inn – into Feedback Lounge. (Want to be the first on your block with their T-shirt, featuring the slogan “We deal in volume?” Those are on sale on the MySpace site.) Morgan Junction side note — more big progress at the park just east of FL and BPP – tree installation and more benches:

The latest update on the park-naming process is here.

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Checking on the Steve Bushaw murder investigation, 1 month later
March 1, 2009 12:41 pm
|      17 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

(February 1 photo by WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli)
One month ago tonight – Super Bowl night – the southern block of the heart of the West Seattle Junction business district, Alaska to Edmunds, swarmed with police collecting evidence in a sudden, shocking shooting. Though the victim, 26-year-old Steve Bushaw (shown at right in a family photo from last summer, holding his niece Ava), originally was described as having non-life-threatening injuries, he died within hours at Harborview Medical Center, and the search was on to find the two men suspected of West Seattle’s first 2009 murder. Police have had little to say since the shooting that night — they say both men opened fire, both were described by witnesses as black, and their getaway car was said to be a “white sedan,” last seen heading south from The Junction. We checked again with SPD’s media unit late Friday, and Detective Mark Jamieson told WSB there is ZERO new information to make public – no additional description, no hint at whether arrests are any closer than they were after it happened. Jamieson reiterated that the moment homicide detectives — who continue to call this “an active investigation” — have something new to release publicly, we’ll hear it.

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Parades! Scholarships! Apply for West Seattle Hi-Yu Senior Court
March 1, 2009 12:15 pm
|    Comments Off on Parades! Scholarships! Apply for West Seattle Hi-Yu Senior Court
 |   Fun stuff to do | West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival | West Seattle news

(WSB video of West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival’s award-winning appearance in 2008 Seafair Torchlight Parade)
Riding on a float, waving at hundreds of thousands of people during the Seafair Torchlight Parade – and tens of thousands during other parades in communities from West Seattle to Sequim – is just one of the side benefits of being West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival royalty. Scholarship money is another big attraction. To be considered for the Hi-Yu Senior Court to be chosen this summer, candidates need to apply by the end of this month – here’s the announcement one more time:

Miss West Seattle Hi-Yu Scholarship Competition: Applications due
3/30/09

Young women who live, work or attend school in West Seattle are invited to apply for the Miss West Seattle Hi-Yu scholarship competition. There are several scholarship awards given out at the pageant, including, but again, not limited to: Athletic, Media Career, Community Service, Academic, Miss Congeniality, Creative Expression, and Hi-Yu Involvement. There are three titles awarded: Queen and two Princesses.

Each title winner receives a scholarship (Princesses- $1,000 each, Queen- $2,000), crown, and sash. The Queen will receive $1,250 at the end of her reign and $750 after completing the Miss Seafair competition. She will represent the community during the 2009-2010 festival year and travel to several Northwest parades with the Hi-Yu float. The Senior Court members must be available to participate in the Hi-Yu Summer Festival activities.

While there is some work involved, West Seattle royalty will have a lot of fun serving your community, making new friends, increasing confidence, and developing leadership. New this year, all candidates will have the opportunity to work with a local businesswoman as a professional mentor and spend a day with professional health & beauty professionals receiving advice on hair, make-up, and dress. Hi-Yu serves the West Seattle Community by providing fun and affordable entertainment for adults and children alike.

The application, found at www.hiyu.com, must be postmarked by March 30, 2009. Mail your completed application to Candidate Coordinator, West Seattle Hi-Yu, PO Box 16130, Seattle, WA 98116. If you have questions, call Shirley at 206-935-5224.

Again, here’s the direct link to the application. And another Hi-Yu reminder, from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar: Three weeks from today, it’s the Hi-Yu Spring Tea and Silent Auction at The Hall at Fauntleroy, 2-4:30 pm March 22nd, $25/person. Make a reservation – 206-935-6517 or info@hiyu.com.

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3rd review Thursday for Conner Junction project “alley vacation”
March 1, 2009 10:03 am
|    Comments Off on 3rd review Thursday for Conner Junction project “alley vacation”
 |   Development | West Seattle news

(January 2009 rendering of Conner project alley area, courtesy Weber Thompson)
Will the third time be the charm for Conner Homes as it takes the “alley vacation” portion of its West Seattle Junction megaproject back to the Seattle Design Commission? That group has to sign off on such requests (as do SDOT and the City Council) and already has seen two presentations by Conner’s architects, each time asking for an encore (WSB coverage: January 2009 and November 2008). Now, they’re set to make another presentation at 2 pm this Thursday during the commissioners’ all-day meeting in the Boards and Commissions room at City Hall downtown (map). In this case, the “alley vacation” isn’t the classic case of a developer wanting the actual alley, but instead, requesting the right to use land UNDER the alley, to connect what otherwise would be two separate underground garages for the two buildings at California/Alaska/42nd. (Meantime, as mentioned here last month, the entire two-building project also is set to return to the Southwest Design Review Board on March 12 – 6:30 pm, High Point Library.)

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1st step in West Seattle Junction parking study: Today’s tour
February 28, 2009 11:59 pm
|    Comments Off on 1st step in West Seattle Junction parking study: Today’s tour
 |   Junction parking review | Transportation | West Seattle news

That’s Dante Taylor from SDOT, project manager for the city’s West Seattle Junction parking study, announced almost exactly a year ago (here’s our 2/21/08 story) but not really launched in earnest till a walking tour this afternoon. The open invitation was accepted by fewer than a dozen people:

Taylor and a fellow SDOT manager, Mary Catherine Snyder, say what was seen and said today will help their department prioritize which blocks of The Junction will be studied most closely before any proposals for possible changes (new restrictions? pay stations? or?) can be made – read on for more details of today’s tour, and what happens next:Read More

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Request for help: Anyone see a Beach Drive bicycle accident?
February 28, 2009 9:37 pm
|      7 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news

Jane is looking for anyone with information that can help her friend, who’s just come home from the hospital:

Yesterday afternoon (Friday 2/27), my friend had a bike accident … on Beach Drive. He flipped over his handlebars, hit pavement, cracked his helmet, and, fortunately (given what could’ve resulted), is escaping with a broken collarbone and a concussion that has given him a headache but will eventually go away. Because of the concussion he doesn’t really remember what happened before or during (or for that matter, immediately after) the accident. In the process of calling through my friend’s cell phone contacts, paramedics called my house and spoke to my husband, and it seems someone must have called 911 for my friend, and paramedics or ER docs told both him and my husband that witnesses said he was biking fast but hit a patch of gravel or something on the road. At any rate, on the off-chance any readers on here witnessed the accident or called it in (a thanks from him, by the way!), he is wondering what exactly happened, what you saw, etc. He wants to better piece together what took place.

There was a 3 pm call for medical help in the 4100 block of Beach Drive (map) on Friday afternoon and Jane says that was likely the one. If you have any information on the bicycle accident, please e-mail: pitysings@yahoo.com

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Homeless shelter staying at West Seattle church 1 more week
February 28, 2009 4:54 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle religion

nazarene.jpgFellow neighborhood-news site My Ballard has been covering the controversy since a neighborhood there was told that a church-owned building would become the new site of the homeless shelter that’s spent the past year at West Seattle’s Church of the Nazarene (2008 photo at left; here’s our update from a week ago; here’s our story from 3/08). A short time ago, My Ballard published breaking news of a new development – the shelter’s overseers at SHARE are holding off on the potential Ballard move for at least 4 weeks, while saying they’re being allowed to stay in West Seattle another week. (As for what would happen during the interim three weeks, My Ballard is working to find out.)

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Update: 2 hurt in crash at Delridge and Henderson
February 28, 2009 3:22 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   Delridge | West Seattle news | WS breaking news

FIRST 3:22 PM REPORT WITH IPHONE PHOTO: A car’s flipped at Delridge and Henderson. Traffic is closed to northbound traffic.

(photo added 4:29 pm – the other car involved in the crash is the one at left with front-end damage)
3:42 PM UPDATE: The scene should be cleared soon. The crash happened feet away from Stan’s Mt. View Towing on the southeast corner of the intersection – one truck quickly towed the white car that suffered front-end damage in the crash, and another has already righted the overturned burgundy-colored car. Two people were being treated for what did not appear to be life-threatening injuries, and one ambulance arrived for each one. A witness told us that the burgundy car apparently ran the light, and went airborne after hitting the white car. More visuals shortly.

ADDED 4:35 PM: Here’s the unedited video of the flipped car being turned back over. It happened in two stages: Seconds into this clip, the tow truck pulled it onto its side; then after a bit more repositioning and tinkering, toward the end of the clip, the job was finished:

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Keeping kids moving: Girls on the Run; West Seattle Little League
February 28, 2009 11:16 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Fun stuff to do | West Seattle news | WS & Sports

Two updates today on programs to get kids moving – the first one is new to West Seattle, according to Rebecca Evans, who e-mailed us to announce:

Starting in mid-March, Hiawatha Community Center will be a program site for Girls on the Run!

This exciting, non-competitive program combines training for a 3.1 mile walking/running event with self-esteem enhancing, uplifting workouts. The goals of the program are to encourage positive emotional, social, mental and physical development for girls. The program is for 3rd through 5th grade girls of ALL fitness levels. The only requirement is to believe in GIRL POWER!

Where: Hiawatha Community Center – 2700 California Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98116
Dates: March 17th – June 7th, 2009 (New Balance Girls on the Run 5k)
Days: Tuesdays & Thursdays
Times: 3:15-4:45pm
Cost: Fees based on a sliding scale. Click here to view the sliding scale.

Registration deadline is this Friday; you can register online (go here), or by postal mail – here’s the form; send it to GOTRPS, 8757 15th Ave NW, Seattle 98117. You can also find Girls on the Run on Facebook.

Meantime, we also have just received word of West Seattle Little League tryouts/drafts tomorrow:

***TRY-OUTS AND DRAFT FOR MAJORS AND MINORS DIVISIONS THIS SUNDAY, MARCH 1ST AT BAR-S PLAYFIELD****

MAJORS: 9:30 – 11:30 A.M. PLEASE ARRIVE NO LATER THAN 9:00 A.M. TO CHECK IN AND WARM UP.
MINORS: BECAUSE OF THE LARGE GROUP SIZE, WE WILL HAVE TWO SESSIONS BROKEN UP ALPHABETICALLY BY LAST NAME.

LAST NAME “A-K”: 1:00 – 2:15 P.M. PLEASE ARRIVE NO LATER THAN 12:45 P.M.
LAST NAME “L-Z”: 2:30 – 3:45 P.M. PLEASE ARRIVE NO LATER THAN 2:15 P.M.

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR BALL PLAYER IS PROPERLY DRESSED FOR THE WEATHER. ALL PLAYERS SHOULD WEAR THEIR GLOVE, CLEATS, HAT (AND PROTECTIVE CUP FOR BOYS)

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Update: Harbor Island tugboat fire ruled accidental
February 28, 2009 8:49 am
|    Comments Off on Update: Harbor Island tugboat fire ruled accidental
 |   West Seattle fires | West Seattle news

While checking on the 48th SW fire (see below), we also got an update on the Harbor Island tugboat fire we covered last night: An “accidental electrical fire,” say investigators; damage to the Corbin Foss – whose size they have corrected to 140 feet – totals half a million dollars.

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Update: 2 people hurt in early morning fire near Lowman Beach
February 28, 2009 8:23 am
|      8 COMMENTS
 |   Seaview | West Seattle fires | West Seattle news

(photo added 8:44 am)
A man and woman were taken to the hospital from the scene of a duplex fire that happened around 4:30 am in the 6700 block of 48th SW (map). No word yet on its cause; Fire Department spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen says firefighters had it out within about 20 minutes of the first report. As of 8:30 am, investigators are still on the scene; the front of the duplex is heavily damaged. Vander Houwen says the two who went to the hospital got out through a window. No update on their condition so far.

ADDED 10:53 AM: One other photo from this morning, looking southwest toward Lowman Beach, to show even more clearly where this is – barely a block uphill from that waterfront park (which itself is just north of Lincoln Park):

SATURDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: LD reports in comments:

The couple have been released from the hospital and are doing ok. They are receiving help from friends and the American Red Cross and doing as best they can under the circumstances.

9:24 PM UPDATE: SFD says the fire was accidental – caused by “combustible material too close to a baseboard heater” – with damage totaling $150,000.

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West Seattle high-school sports: Saints to state!
February 27, 2009 11:37 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS & Sports

Just in from Seattle Lutheran High School‘s Bil Hood:

The Seattle Lutheran High School Saints Are Going to State

Both the boys and girls basketball teams secured an invitation to the State Basketball Tournament with wins at Chief Leschi Friday night.

The boys beat a tough Mount Vernon Christian team and the girls won a nailbiter over Tacoma Baptist.

Both teams are now back-to-back state qualifiers with trips to Spokane last year. They will play again Saturday afternoon at Chief Leschi for seeding. Watch the SLHS website www.SeattleLutheran.org for information about next weekend’s state tournament.

We’ll update you here too. Sports and other school updates ALWAYS welcome – editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!

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Update: Fire aboard tugboat Corbin Foss off Harbor Island
February 27, 2009 7:23 pm
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle fires | West Seattle news | WS breaking news

ORIGINAL 7:23 PM REPORT: If you’re on the east side of West Seattle and have heard a lot of sirens – there’s a big “ship fire, 50′, on shore/pier” call on Harbor Island, 1700 block of 13th SW (map). Apparently at or near Todd Shipyard. Whatever’s on fire, it was attached to a barge, according to scanner traffic. More as we get it. 7:48 PM UPDATE: We’re along Harbor Ave to see if we can get a vantage point. Can still see smoke rising from the Todd vicinity, but it’s on the other side of the docks that are visible from here. Monitoring the scanner as well, and it’s clear that many firefighters are being used in what is still an intense firefight. No official word that we’ve gotten yet on exactly what (or what kind of) boat caught fire. 8:01 PM UPDATE: The fire’s just been reported under control; also from the scanner, one person who was on the boat is undergoing medical evaluation. Can’t see smoke any more from this side of the water (we’re now looking from Seacrest). 8:14 PM UPDATE: Just got the first official update from Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen: The fire is aboard a 120-foot tugboat, and one person does have a “minor injury.” This is officially a “two-alarm fire”; no word yet on how it started. 9:25 PM UPDATE: Vander Houwen says the fire is now out. She says the tug is the Corbin Foss. She says 75 firefighters have been working at the scene, as well as the fire investigators who are waiting to be able to get onto the tug to figure out how the fire started. Here’s a link to a photo of the Corbin Foss in 2003, towing the USS Midway.

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Update: More details on this year’s “car-free” day on Alki Ave
February 27, 2009 2:20 pm
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   Environment | Transportation | West Seattle news

westendclosure.jpg

(WSB photo from “Car-Free Day” on Alki last year, 9/7/08)
63rd SW will once again be the starting point for a car-free day on Alki Ave SW. That’s one of the new details we’re learned today, one month after our first report that Sunday, May 31st is the date this year that the city will close much of West Seattle’s main waterfront thoroughfare street to (most) cars. Mayoral spokesperson Alex Fryer also confirms that 9 am-6 pm is the scheduled shutdown time for Alki that day, from 63rd to California Way SW, and that timeframe includes the West Seattle High School PTSA 5K (scroll down this page). The event series includes five other dates in five other neighborhoods, but it’s not being called Car-Free Days this year; it’s “Celebrate Seattle Summer Streets,” and the official webpage with the full list of locations/dates can now be seen here.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Stolen “care package…from Grandma”
February 27, 2009 1:30 pm
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

We’re moving this up for wider attention after Molly K posted it as a comment on this mail-theft story from Monday:

We had a care package from my mom stolen from our front porch (28th & Myrtle in Sunrise Heights [map]) on Friday, February 20. We knew it had been stolen because a neighbor in Sylvan Heights found a letter and check from my Grandma in their trash and sent it back to her . My husband and I walked the trail between our house and Sylvan Heights and found traces of our package – a couple pacifiers, a book, a card and check addressed to my son from Grandma, and the empty box with my mom’s return address. The jerks ripped it open and threw the stuff they didn’t want into the blackberry bushes. Apparently they kept the baby clothes, the quilt my mother made, and the needlepoint Christmas stocking my 90-year-old grandmother made for my son because we have yet to find those. We also found the remains of another person’s package and took that stuff back to her.

If anyone was along that trail last Friday (the one that starts at 28th and ends at Sylvan Way) and found any baby stuff, or if you live in Sylvan Heights and had inexplicable baby items in your trash Friday afternoon, please let us know.

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Final chapter in Huling/Gee court fight: Now, “private arbitration”
February 27, 2009 12:16 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

Thanks to the anonymous postal-mailer who suggested it was long past time for a followup on the Huling/Gee lawsuit. If you’re new to the area or your memory’s murky, long story short: The deal to sell West Seattle’s longtime Huling Brothers car dealerships to Spokane-based Gee Automotive was announced in January 2007 — shortly afterward, a criminal case erupted involving former Huling employees. Gee closed the dealerships less than nine months later and sued Huling, originally seeking $7 million, saying they knew and should have disclosed what was happening. Huling countersued, to evict Gee, but a deal was reached relatively quickly, and Gee cleared out as agreed at the end of November 2007. The suit against Huling proceeded, however, and WAS tentatively set for trial next month — but, as of right now, it is no longer scheduled for further court proceedings, because of a decision earlier this month to send it to private arbitration (see the court document here) to address the Gee claims and Huling “counterclaim.” Arbitration is what Huling had originally wanted, but the courts previously said no go (as reported here in November 2007) because of a certain part of the claim, seeking “equitable relief”; that part was dismissed on “summary judgment” this past November, which cleared the way for arbitration. We called Huling lawyer Randall Beighle to ask for details of when arbitration might happen and how it would be done; he said he couldn’t elaborate, but said they considered the summary judgment a “victory.”

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What’s that noise? Loud labor protest south of The Junction
February 27, 2009 10:51 am
|      39 COMMENTS
 |   Seen around town | West Seattle news

Thanks to the multiple tipsters who e-mailed (editor@westseattleblog.com) about this: All that noise in the 5000 block of California SW is from a labor protest south of The Junction; Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters members say they have a beef with a scaffolding company, which they say they’ve been targeting at worksites all around the region. We’ll be checking for more information on the background, but meantime, if you heard or saw this and wondered what it’s all about, that’s the scoop. Thanks to Karen for the photo you see above; we’re there now to check on the situation and will have video shortly. 11:31 AM UPDATE: Swapped video for the original photo (you can hear how loud the protest is; Seattle Police also have been keeping watch). We also have a message out to Berg Scaffolding, seeking comment on the union’s claims.

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Junction Plaza Park campaign: “Take the pledge”
February 27, 2009 10:46 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   How to help | Junction Plaza Park | West Seattle news

A week ago, we told you about the new campaign to enlist community support in pledging volunteer time to help Junction Plaza Park qualify for a Neighborhood Matching Fund grant. An update now from West Seattle Junction Association‘s Susan Melrose:

As you may know, the effort to build Junction Plaza Park have been underway for several years. But this is the year we make it happen! We are in a good position to complete fundraising for the park this year. A brief update – we ‘value engineered’ the cost down to $350k, have already raised $55k mostly thanks to the Seattle Parks Foundation, and have a solid plan for securing large donors and grants. We are currently asking for $100k from the Neighborhood Matching Funds Grant.

Now community volunteer hours are needed to build support for the park and help win our grant from the Neighborhood Matching Funds. Friends of Junction Plaza Park is hosting its first meeting on Tuesday, March 3 from 6:30-7:30 pm in the Nelson Room at the Senior Center.

If you’d like to help build community support, please see the attached information and volunteer opportunities. And most importantly… Take the pledge by April 6th! It’s easy for individuals to pledge a handful of hours and the results are satisfying. Businesses and organizations can take the pledge too.

The pledge form is on the second page of this JP Park fact sheet. You can e-mail it to junctionplazapark@yahoo.com.

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From the “no news is good news” department
February 27, 2009 7:15 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Transportation | West Seattle news

Metro issued a news release this morning saying they’ve been patrolling roads throughout the county all night checking for ice/snow and haven’t found any, so buses should all be running on schedule.

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Kids helping kids: Tilden School students’ book donations
February 27, 2009 12:54 am
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

By Tilden School’s 5th-grade class
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Last fall, Tilden‘s fourth and fifth grade students read books for a Scholastic Books contest in which Scholastic would donate 100 books to a community in need for each class that read 100 books. Both classes did, so Scholastic donated 100 books each to the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, and Laguna Pueblo in Cibola County, NM!

This made us eligible to enter another Scholastic contest, the Care Where You Are Sweepstakes, to win 500 books that we could donate to a local organization. Our 5th grade class is one of 200 winners out of 16,000 entries.

After researching local nonprofit organizations, we found out about the foster kids at Treehouse (treehouse4kids.org), and decided this was the right place for the 500 books. Our class thought Treehouse could use some of the books for tutoring foster children, and put some of the books in its Wearhouse for the foster kids to choose and take home.

It makes us feel really good to be able to help foster children, and donate books that they could read and use to learn. The books we’re donating include 100 preschool and Kindergarten books, 100 Kindergarten and 1st grade books, 100 2nd and 3rd grade books, 100 4th through 6th grade books, and 100 books for grades 7 and up. We hope that Treehouse foster kids enjoy using these books!

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Proposals sought by Parks: West Seattle Stadium; Alki firewood
February 26, 2009 11:04 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle beaches | West Seattle news | WS & Sports

westseattlestad.jpg

If you don’t frequent the city Parks Department‘s page for “requests for proposals” – you might have missed word that the city has finally published the official “request for proposals” to get a private operator for West Seattle Stadium. It’s one of two RFPs of West Seattle interest — the other seeks vendors to sell firewood at Alki (and Golden Gardens). More on that in a moment. First, the stadium proposal has been in the works a while (first covered here last fall), and still seeks an operator that will pay for improvements as well as run the stadium; the desired improvements are described in the RFP this way:

At minimum, the City has identified the North Grand Stand area, including the restrooms, locker room, walkways, and concession building as a focus for major renovation.

That appears to be a shorter wish list than the draft version of the RFP (9/08 WSB report here). Proposals have to be turned in by March 26; a decision is to be made, with applicants notified, by April 23. Now, about that firewood – the RFP for the vendor search is the last surviving remnant of last summer’s brief beach-fire-ban flap:

Interesting tidbit buried in this RFP – year 1, the vendor-sold firewood would be just an option for beach-fire fans, but if there’s a year 2, they would no longer be allowed to have the option to bring their own:

The Department is seeking proposals from operators to sell wood to the general public for beach fires at specific beach locations in these two parks, from May 1 2009 through April 2010. The Summer months which includes May through September and selected special events, such as the Christmas Ship event, would be the required and most-beneficial times to sell. (NOTE: Park Patrons are not required to purchase wood from this concession and are allowed to bring in their own wood during this first year. If the Department decides to extend or advertise again the following year, we will require that all Park Patrons must purchase the wood from the permitted vendor.)

The Department will select the concessionaire(s) that best demonstrates the ability to provide
innovative, affordable, safe and reliable services to park patrons while paying reasonable concession
fees to the Department. The price of the wood must be no higher than the average price of wood
sold in the Seattle metro area stores (ie Safeway, Albertsons, etc.) You are encouraged to offer
services and/or products that would be complimentary to the existing uses of the park. The
Department reserves the right to approve any proposed business activity.

If you want to seek that contract, March 11 is the deadline for your proposal. Forms and details for both RFPs are linked from this city page.

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