West Seattle, Washington
09 Saturday
Just out of the WSB inbox from WestSide Baby executive director Nancy Woodland: They need people-power as well as diaper donations, in order to help West Seattle and White Center-area families:
As you can expect, we are experiencing an incredible increase in requests for the items we distribute. This week we have orders to fill for 300 children! This is double what a normal week was just in September. We are also down approximately 12 hours of regular volunteer time from those who commit time each week to this task.
WE NEED HELP TO FILL ORDERS!! Ever wanted to be a personal shopper for a child who really needs the items you find? This task is one level higher than sorting clothes and requires about ½ hour of training before we let you loose.
WE WILL BE OPEN TOMORROW, FRIDAY OCT. 24 (10-2) AND SATURDAY OCT. 25 (10-1) AND INVITE ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED TO COME IN TO HELP FILL THESE ORDERS. THIS IS AN ADULT OR “ENTHUSIASTIC TEEN” REQUEST. If you can join us, just show up.
In addition, please spread the word… diaper requests are skyrocketing and we are unable to purchase enough to fill the gap. We desperately need size 4, 5 and 6 diapers this week. Please let folks know that this is a real need. Although we gather large numbers of diapers in the summer, this need is ongoing and the need is rising very quickly.
Diaper-only dropoff locations are:
· WestSide Baby 10032 15th Ave. SW (in White Center; map)
· White Center Chiropractic 10030 15th Ave. SW (map; our wonderful landlords upstairs will take diapers only if you arrive and we are not open)
· Red Cup Espresso 4451 California Ave. SW (map)
· Eats Market Café (north-central Westwood Village, near Bed Bath and Beyond; map)
· On the Way Maternity 5446 California Ave. SW (map)Other regular dropoff sites are listed on our website at www.westsidebaby.org
As always, thank you so much for your support of WestSide Baby. We realize everyone’s situation is unique. If you can help now, great. If you cannot, we hope you’ll think of us another time!!
With regards,
Nancy
Just posted on the new SPD Blotter site: A 17-year-old girl told police a 19-year-old “male acquaintance” had sexually assaulted her in his home in the 5900 block of High Point Drive SW (map) on Monday; she called police the next day, and they arrested the suspect for investigation of rape. (Reminder, the latest entries from SPD Blotter’s Southwest Precinct page are automatically posted on the WSB Crime Watch page.)
Minutes ago at Arco on Delridge. Down eight cents from a day earlier, down 28 cents since the time of our weekly West Seattle-wide gas-price check on Sunday night. (With most West Seattle stations now below $3 for regular, we’re notably below the AAA citywide average.) Anybody want to bet on whether it’ll go below $2.50? Or dare we wonder, even below $2? 2:23 PM UPDATE: Hopey just texted to say it’s $2.79 at Costco.
From the Chief Sealth PTSA, a confluence of events this Saturday that they’d like you to know about:
• Our adoption of Delridge Way SW, from Orchard to Brandon, through the Seattle Public Utitlies Adopt-A-Street program, which is part of our outreach efforts to the North Delrdge community while Sealth is located at Boren. In addition, we will plan to pick up litter on the school grounds and on other neighborhood streets within a 1-2 block radius of the school
• Make a Difference Day – We would like this to be a new PTSA tradition that we participate in each year
• The Teacher & Staff Wishlist program that we launched this school year. We are midway through fulfilling their request to make the teacher & staff lounge at Boren more friendly. Phase 1 was a furniture placement re-design in the space; Phase 2 is painting the walls (part of our event on 10/25); Phase 3 is decoration & finishing touches. We are working with a wonderful West Seattle designer, Gwen Williams of Space Transform
Volunteers are still needed for the Saturday 10/25 event, which starts at 10 am and finishes with a free lunch for volunteers when the work is done (around 1 pm). Chief Sealth students who participate will earn service learning hours. All materials and equipment will be provided. Contact PTSA president Leslie
Menstell: president@chiefsealthptsa.org
See the flyer here. Side note: Friday night is the big annual Chief Sealth vs. West Seattle HS “Huling Bowl” football game; we’ll be live-tweeting it (and reporting afterward) as we did with WSHS-Rainier Beach last week.
It’s all on the WSB Events calendar, but for extra emphasis, a few highlights: West Seattle Democratic Women lunch; first in-store wine-tasting at Thriftway; Design Review for The Kenney and 4106 Delridge; city Parks Board looks at West Seattle Stadium private-operator search; South Delridge/White Center Community Safety Coalition; WS Ministerial Association’s Initiative 1000 forum; Alki Idol; West Seattle Pins and Needlers. Plus two open houses: Family Promise (previewed here) and Explorer West Middle School. For times/places/links, just go here. ADDED: Seattle Lutheran High School has an open house tonight too, 6:30-8 pm in the gym, on Genesee east of 42nd.
David Hutchinson from the Seattle (Alki) Statue of Liberty Plaza Project sends an update on the “brick legibility problem” (previous report here): He says the city Parks Department has been investigating methods for “safely removing the calcium deposits that have formed on about 100 of the 1,500 inscribed pavers.” The photos at left show the results of a white-vinegar cleaning method that was tested – for spot-cleaning, it looks “encouraging,” but an evaluation by a professional cleaning company subsequently suggested it wouldn’t be appropriate for the large-scale plaza cleaning Parks wants to do initially. He explains, “It is not possible to use many of the standard cleaning methods for ordinary masonry products in this situation due to the nature of the engraved inscriptions.” So the tests continue – as do the sales of additional pavers (through 12/31/08; order info is available at sealady.org) to be placed next spring or summer, probably “in the east and west paths and in the brick landings of the stairs.”
Today was the first full day of testimony in the trial of the Alki 18-year-old charged with second-degree murder in the 10/13/07 59th/Admiral shooting; WSB start-to-finish courtroom coverage continues – here’s who testified today, what they said, and what happens next:Read More
Drury shares the “nerve-rattling” story – read on:Read More
That was the scene in the 2100 block of Alki SW (map) earlier this evening – and though it looks bad, nobody was badly hurt. This happened in the northbound lane — according to police and a witness, the motorcycle had stopped to let a woman walk across the street, in the crosswalk, when the red car came up from behind and plowed right into the stopped motorcycle. Its rider, a man, was hurt, but not seriously, and was taken to the hospital in a private ambulance; the woman driving the car wasn’t hurt but was clearly badly shaken up. The woman walking across the street wasn’t hurt at all – she’s the witness who talked with us. Traffic was being allowed around the scene.
While Election Day is technically still 13 days away, 
so many people vote by mail that it’s become more like Election Weeks. The presidential and governor’s races are getting lots of play, but you’ll be making other meaningful decisions too – particularly when it comes to several state and local ballot measures. One of the state initiatives, I-1000, “Death With Dignity,” will be explored at a forum tomorrow night at West Seattle High School, sponsored by the WS Ministerial Association, with speakers expected from both sides, 7:30 pm. Meantime, the most-debated local measure on the ballot — Sound Transit Proposition 1, raising the sales tax half a cent — got a thorough airing at this week’s Sustainable West Seattle meeting. If you’re guessing it was a warm, friendly pro-Prop 1 crowd since sustainability and transit seem to go together — not entirely:Read More
From Mary at Twilight Art Collective (west of Easy Street in The Junction), who usually e-mails us about openings and parties (like their Halloween gala), but is reporting something much different today:
Sad news from us this time. My motorcycle that I often park in front of the gallery was stolen from right in front of my house on 32nd and Holden last night 10.22.08. It’s a German-made MZ 125 sm. Very rare in these parts. I’ve made a flyer with two similar bikes. Mine is black with grey logos exactly like the ones on the lower picture. Please help!!
Here’s that flyer (Wednesday night update, Mary sends word that the reward is up to $500):
We told you last week about a vanpool open house that a West Seattle woman is organizing, coming up this Sunday. Just got word that its scope is now expanded – she started off with a plan to look for other vanpoolers interested in getting to Bellevue, but now, all would-be West Seattle vanpoolers are invited to come and find out about this commuting alternative and potentially make some commuting connections, whatever your destination happens to be. The open house is 4:30-5:30 pm at Uptown Espresso in The Junction. It’s not an official Metro event,, but you’ll meet some current vanpoolers there too, in case you have questions on how it really works. (If you can’t make it on Sunday but are interested in finding out more, e-mail the get-together’s organizer, Lisa: l.rough@comcast.net.)
WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli captioned that recent photo from the Fauntleroy Place worksite as, “They put the ‘hole’ in ‘Whole Foods’.” The developers behind that project and two others are part of an all-star slate lined up by the Fairmount Community Association for a meeting to which you’re invited: Reps from BlueStar and Harbor Properties (six Triangle/Junction projects between the two) will be there; the association plans to ask them to speak specifically about the projects closest to its neighborhoods, the ones planned along SW Alaska. Also expected to attend, City Councilmembers Tom Rasmussen and Sally Clark. The Fairmount Community Association meeting is at 6:30 pm November 6th in the chapel at The Mount. Those six projects are all in various stages — for BlueStar, Fauntleroy Place is well under way, Spring Hill has finished Design Review, Gateway Center hasn’t gotten to DR yet; for Harbor, Mural is in its final months of construction, Link has finished Design Review, the motel site hasn’t gotten there yet — and this will be an excellent chance to hear what’s new, as well as the latest on new development rules (like the multifamily code proposal — aka townhouse design — Councilmember Clark helped unveil three months ago).
They’ve been practicing for weeks (see video of their latest dress rehearsal here) – and now it’s almost showtime for the Thrill the World/West Seattle crew, joining forces with the citywide group in the collective attempt to help set a world record this Saturday for dancing to the Michael Jackson classic “Thriller.” Tonight they have one last rehearsal, and then organizer Lora Lewis from Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) says they’ve gotten final approval for the official on-the-record-for-the-record dance to be in Pioneer Square’s Occidental Park at 11 am Saturday – then you have two chances to see them in West Seattle: 2 pm at Easy Street in The Junction, 9 pm at the Admiral Theater. (This is all in the Halloween section of the WSB Holidays page, too.)
Two of your West Seattle neighbors have e-mailed to let you know what happened when burglars targeted them – one in Arbor Heights, one on Genesee Hill. Sometimes, the Crime Watch reader reports we get are simple and emotionless, but not these two:Read More
A wild time at Camp Long tonight, as the “Living With Wildlife” presentation offered info about how to do just that – particularly so far as our two biggest wild neighbors are concerned, coyotes and raccoons. Both smart, both requiring specific behavior from all of us so that we can co-exist with as little trouble as possible. Read on for some facts and advice that might surprise you!Read More
The city yard belonging to SDOT on 8th SW in Highland Park could be said tonight to resemble something more like S-D-O-Tree. We got word this afternoon that 300 trees had just arrived, destined for plantings in various West Seattle spots, so we went over for a quick pic of city arborist Nolan Rundquist with some of his new charges, which include two types of elm. (These trees are spoken for, but if you’re interested in free street trees sometime in the future, find out more here.)
After jury selection was completed on Monday, testimony began today in the trial of the 18-year-old charged with murder in the deadly shooting inside a car at 59th/Admiral (map) a year ago. WSB is covering the trial start to finish — read on for today’s report from court:Read More
This morning, we brought you first word of the U.S. Coast 
Guard‘s decision (read it here) not to grant the City of Seattle request to restrict openings of the Spokane Street “low bridge” during weekday rush hours. We asked for reaction from both City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who had pursued the idea, and from SDOT, which made the official request. Heard back from both late today — read on:Read More
Thanks to WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli for providing that photo as well as information about the sizable “fire in single-family residence” call in Highland Park, 7700 block of 15th SW (map). “Food on the stove,” firefighters told Christopher, nobody hurt, but crews had to stay a while, using fans to clear smoke out of the house.
That unassuming 65-year-old fourplex in the 3600 block of California SW (map) probably doesn’t catch your eye when you drive by. From the outside, it looks a lot like countless similar-vintage West Seattle multiplexes that have been torn down and replaced with townhouses or taller apartment buildings. But inside, it’s bright and comfortable – partly renovated to serve as the day center for Family Promise of Seattle, a project that started as an idea involving several West Seattle churches, and grew from there, as a way to help newly homeless families. Back during the “Nickelsville” hubbub last month, many asked “who in West Seattle is helping the homeless?”; this is one of the answers. You can get a closer look this Thursday, when Family Promise invites you to an open house to come see the day center and find out more about what the program and its volunteers are up to. We stopped by for a sneak peek – and to see if there was any help they needed from you right now (the answer: yes!) – read on:Read More
We’ve reported several times in the past two months about The Kenney‘s major redevelopment proposal (here’s our first in-depth report from August; here’s our coverage of last month’s community meeting), which has stirred some concern because one of the buildings is proposed to be six stories high. This Thursday night, it’s one of two projects going before the Southwest Design Review Board for “early design guidance,” and the city has posted the presentation submitted by The Kenney and its consultants. You can see the full 20-page presentation here (including side views of the three proposed alternatives); the third option is the one closest to what was presented at the community meeting, including a re-creation of part of its “park-like” northwestern corner:
The design-review meeting for The Kenney’s proposal is at 8 pm Thursday, in the Madison Middle School library, following reviewers’ 6:30 pm look at 4106 Delridge (5 stories of residential and retail; city project page here; that project’s presentation is not online yet – we’ll let you know when it turns up).
(photo by WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli)
Just in from the U.S. Coast Guard: They’ve turned thumbs down on the City of Seattle request to restrict openings of the “low bridge” during peak commute hours (comments were taken May-July; WSB coverage here). We will keep expanding this report with more details over the next hour or so, but for starters, Austin Pratt of the Coast Guard told WSB by phone that the reasons include “massive” opposition by the Port of Seattle and local maritime concerns, as well as not enough traffic volume using the bridge to justify the change. Here’s the official document (published today in the Federal Register); technically, the action taken by the USCG was to “withdraw” the proposal to change the bridge rules. Read on for the key excerpt from the federal document explaining why this proposal isn’t going forward – as well as additional information we’ll continue to add:Read More
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