West Seattle, Washington
17 Saturday
We’ve never before gone to a political caucus or convention beyond the precinct level (Feb. 9 caucuses this year, WSB coverage here). There’s a first time for everything, and so we are back from a long day at the 34th Legislative District Democratic Caucus at West Seattle High School. If you thought the February caucuses were lively, you haven’t seen anything until you’ve packed into a high-school gym with more than 1,000 people — and “packing in” was a challenge long before everyone entered the WSHS doors:Read More
Less than a week till His Holiness the Dalai Lama visits Seattle; if you want to see his appearances but didn’t/couldn’t get tickets, the Seattle Public Library is organizing the next best thing: Live video webcasts of select events April 11-15 at select library branches, including High Point and West Seattle (Admiral). Here’s the full list of dates and times. In case you’re wondering, though these are described as webcasts, the announcement doesn’t mention whether they will be viewable online outside of the library-branch events; we have a message out to SPL PR to clarify.
That’s Longfellow Creek Farm — a quarter-acre at 2311 SW Myrtle (just off Delridge; map) where Growing Washington is inviting you to a “community-garden restoration work party” noon-4 pm April 19. Help is needed raking leaves, clipping brambles, spreading mulch, weed-whacking, and painting. The goal is to restore the site into a “functioning, food-producing garden,” and volunteers will be first in line for free organic produce — once it’s grown. They’d like you to let them know you’ll be there; register during the next week by using the contact info here.
That’s the listing photo for 4600 37th SW, the SK Food Group building immediately north of the American Legion Hall. The company laid off 90 people last summer; the site is now listed for sale for $5,795,000, with a description that includes “… USDA food production facility and many other potential specialty uses. Redevelopment potential with C1-65`zoning and potential to acquire adjacent properties.” This listing is now added to our clickable map of known development projects and for-sale sites in the Junction/”Triangle” area (find it below on 37th one block north of Alaska):
Still working on a permanent home for this map plus counterparts for other development-laden areas such as greater Alki.
Seattle Public Library managers just announced that eight teams of fourth- and fifth-graders citywide have made it to the finals of the 2008 Global Reading Challenge, an event set for 7 pm April 22 at the downtown library. Among those eight teams are the “Flaming Reader Raiders” of Highland Park Elementary School and the “Concord Cougars” from Concord Elementary. Here’s the full announcement:Read More
Two weeks after we brought you the announcement that April 27 is Opening Day for the Elliott Bay Water Taxi season … the county has just released more details about the kickoff event and the season, including how long it will last. 6:55 PM UPDATE: One more key detail – County West Seattle County Councilmember Dow Constantine‘s team points out that the EBWT will remain on a full schedule all the way through the end of the season, unlike last year when it cut back to commute-runs-only in the final weeks. Now, here’s the full text of the King County news release made public this afternoon:Read More
Seen this morning along California SW:
That sign’s for the building going up at the ex-burned-out-Schuck’s site (WSB video coverage of the December demolition here) – now christened Charlestown Shopping and Business Center. A short distance south, the California/Andover gas station is now an ex-Exxon:
And in The Junction, that new banner is hanging outside the laundromat next to Yummy Teriyaki. (Which island? Vashon? Blake?)
Thanks to Patricia for the tip, which we just confirmed by phone – Pioneer Coffee’s Aimonetto, in the ex-Alki Mail/Dispatch location at 2536 Alki, is finally open as of today; they’ll be open till 9 pm tonight, said the cheery person who answered the phone, also noting they open at 5:30 am. (We’ve been tracking the progress here since the business name first surfaced last September.)
That’s 20-year-old Adrianna “Addie” Killam, who grew up in West Seattle — graduating from Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2002, Holy Names Academy in 2006, then heading to Arizona to go to college at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical and Engineering University. Today, she traveled home to Seattle on a plane from Maui – but it was no tourism flight – it was a “medical lift” so that Addie could be admitted to the University of Washington Medical Center for therapy and rehab after a spring-break surfing jaunt left her with a spinal-cord injury. Family friend Maureen Emerson e-mailed WSB to help get the word out about Addie’s injury — which didn’t happen the way you might think after hearing the phrase “surfing injury” — and her fight to recover, which she’s chronicling online:Read More
One month after the Seattle School Board‘s vote to move Denny Middle School into a new building on the Chief Sealth High School campus (WSB video coverage here), an official challenge to the decision is filed. We just got a copy; it’s filed in the name of 12 individuals and one union (Operating Engineers). The legal documents say the individuals are concerned about “property values, crime, and other effects” of the move, as well as the safety of a 6-12 campus; the union, which represents classified school workers, says it’s concerned about job loss. The filing also contends, among other things, that the decision was made without “following the procedural requirements for citizen involvement required by the school closure statute.” This is filed in King County Superior Court. We will pursue district comment tomorrow.
A few days into the “Inconvenient Ride” cross-country bicycle trip starring six West Seattle students calling attention to climate change (WSB video preview here), updates are starting to appear on their website, with photos added to the gallery here and media coverage added here. Their stops are listed here (Atlanta tonight); they’re due back in Seattle on Earth Day, April 22, with the final leg of their trip taking them from West Seattle to the “Global to Local” Project Earth Care fundraiser at Benaroya downtown.
Another quick update from the Design Commission meeting downtown: A new schematic design for Myrtle Reservoir park, “option C,” is moving forward. (It’s not online yet but we have a printout and will upload a photo when we get back to WSB HQ; 7:12 PM UPDATE – that’s it atop the post; we’ll try to get an electronic copy tomorrow so you can see it more clearly.) The design moves the play areas on the park’s north side further to the center of that side, and sets aside an area a short way south of the northeast corner (fronting on 35th) as “future skate spot.” Parks managers and architects at this meeting pulled back from the statements we heard in February that this area was definitely where the skateboarding proposal would move forward, going back to the “one is proposed for here or for High Point,” and also countered what a parks manager had told us in February, now saying skate feature funding would NOT come out of the park’s $1,068,000 budget ($668,000 for construction, $400,000 for design/planning/administration). After the meeting, we asked parks official Colleen Browne to clarify the situation regarding precisely where the Myrtle skate feature stands now; she asked us to check with her tomorrow for an official answer. 7:13 PM ADDITION: Most important of all, the next public meeting for the project is set: 7 pm May 1, High Point Community Center. The Design Commission also asked the Parks Department and architects to bring the project back for them to have another look, too.
We’re at City Hall, where the city Design Commission is about to hear a presentation on the Myrtle Reservoir park design, but just finished hearing and voting on the first presentation of the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza design (same design that’s been circulating through months of fundraising, but this is the first time it’s come before an official city voting panel). Bottom line: Commissioners say it needs to be a lot simpler, with the focus on the statue and its new base, rather than other elements, reminiscent of some community concerns voiced at the Alki Bathhouse meeting last September. (See some of the original design sketches on the sealady.org site.) Many more details later. 9:51 PM ADDITION: Here are those details, including a new timetable for completing the project:Read More
This is a fairly long story involving city crews planting trees and a Seaview resident who says she had no idea one was headed her way until it turned up in her parking strip – here’s her story, plus the city response:Read More
Controversy aside, the Alki sidewalk plan (last night’s coverage here) is just one of the projects that originate from an intensive process that involves neighborhood groups pitching the city for a share of a limited amount of $ available for local street/safety-related projects. It’s called the Neighborhood Street Fund, and it’s the time of year when the project pitches are making progress. Last night at the monthly meeting of the Southwest District Council — at which many West Seattle neighborhood groups and other organizations are representatives — a committee announced which ones it’s pitching for the next round of money available for NSF projects in SWDC jurisdiction: Speed-slowing signs for Admiral like the one on Fauntleroy by Lincoln Park (showing how fast you’re driving, as you approach); sidewalk improvements in front of the new Morgan Junction park; safety improvements for those walking through Orchard Street Ravine; a new walkway into the Duwamish Greenbelt south of the Admiral Viewpoint; and a walkway to Solstice Park at 44th/Fontanelle. Next step is for the city to review the list and to see which ones advance to the next round.
Judy Pickens shares that historic photo of Fauntleroy Church and its bell tower, along with word that the church will begin 100 days of bell-ringing — every day at noon — starting Saturday, April 19, in honor of the church’s centennial observance. The 100 days will take the observance up to the anniversary of Fauntleroy Church’s first-ever service (July 26). Judy says, “Folks are signing up to ring the bell as a family, to observe a wedding anniversary, to memorialize a loved one, etc.” She also notes, “In the early days, the bell was also rung to alert people to a fire in the neighborhood. In fact, after our evening wedding in 1978, Phil and I rang the bell and a nearby church member came down to see what the emergency was!” So that’s why they’re getting the word out now – make a note that if you’re in the Fauntleroy area, you’ll hear bells daily at noon April 19-July 26. The centennial celebration the weekend of July 25-27 will feature major events including a Friday night community bean feed reprising the event that Judy says was “a community staple through WWII,” vespers on the beach afterward (reprising the beach gatherings that sparked the idea of building a church), a formal Saturday dinner for present/past church members and invited clergy, featuring the premiere of the forthcoming Fauntleroy documentary. We told you earlier this year about the search for a producer for that production; the hire’s been made, and here’s the announcement Judy wrote for the Fauntleroy Church newsletter:Read More
This one has just appeared on the city’s “Design Review/Upcoming” page, with an “early design guidance” meeting set for April 24: 2743 California, site of a duplex that had been up for sale a long time, set fairly far back from the street between the north side of PCC and the south side of the mixed-use building with Freshy’s among others. County records show it sold for $985,000 in late February; now it’s proposed for demolition and replacement with what’s described on the official city project page as “a 3-4 story structure with 15,000 sq ft. of medical office (…) Parking for 10 vehicles to be located below grade.” (Reminder, before we get to that Design Review Board meeting in three weeks, next Thursday is the DRB meeting at Chief Sealth HS for two major Junction-area projects: the Conner Homes buildings @ California/Alaska/42nd and the Harbor Properties building at 38th/Alaska.)
WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli shot that around 6 am.
First, an update on the 37th SW burglaries reported here last night, from Block Watch Captain Karen:
The timeframe for the burglary in the 5000 block of 37th [last night] was sometime in the late afternoon/early evening, before 7:30 PM. One neighbor (who wishes to remain anonymous) told me today that, in hindsight, he may have seen the vehicle & one of the burglars around 5 PM. He has provided a report to the police.
The second burglary was in the north end of the 5200 block of 37th. The owners e-mailed to say that the burglars kicked in their French doors in the back of the house for entry. They ransacked the house, turned over the bed, went into pantry, closets, dressers, etc. They took items that were easy to take. The burglars put their dog in a bedroom & closed the door. One of the owners reports seeing a gray/silver color car with 4 teenage boys in it around noon, driving slowly & suspiciously on 37th. The burglary at their house took place in the afternoon between 1 & 4:30.
Also, a theft report to pass along, from BJ:
Just noticed that our street sign corner of Alaska and 50th is gone today. I caught some teenagers in the act a couple of years ago but didn’t catch them this time. It took 2 years to get a new sign the first time it was stolen.
BJ has since checked with the city, and is hopeful a replacement will arrive sooner this time, as her neighborhood is slated for those bigger street signs that have already been installed in many West Seattle neighborhoods (by the way, the old signs are still for sale).
We told you yesterday about an exchange at the City Council Pedestrian Safety Committee meeting regarding school-crossing safety concerns at 34th/Morgan in High Point (as we documented in this video report in January). During that meeting yesterday, an SDOT manager vowed his staff would visit the intersection “by the end of the day.” So did they? He didn’t answer us directly but apparently forwarded the inquiry to SDOT spokesperson Marybeth Turner, who e-mailed us this evening:
We did send staff out to 34th and Morgan yesterday. School was out so not much was happening at the time. We will address the parking issues and will coordinate with the school district when classes resume.
We had also left a message asking about an SDOT crew that Ken reported (in comments here) he had spotted a block away; didn’t get an answer on that, will try again.
Just back from the contentious Alki Community Center meeting where SDOT briefed community members on two options for completing the segmented sidewalk on the north side of Alki Ave from the west end of Alki Beach Park to the spot where the unbroken sidewalk picks up again just south of Alki Point. Most of the residents along the affected stretch of Alki Ave want to keep the status quo, which the city says is not an option; at the end of the meeting, after one attendee said “What would it take to just stop this process?” and Sandra Woods from SDOT said she couldn’t answer that, neighbor Charles Turbak announced he’s starting an opposition group with the goal of hiring a lawyer to stop the project. Stand by for more details from the meeting. ADDED 11:22 PM: Here are those details:Read More
Just in from WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli:
My neighborhood near the Junction (4500 block of 41st between Alaska and Oregon) was canvassed about 5pm this afternoon by a shady door to door solicitor. The young woman said she was from “American National” and when I asked for ID she produced only a few pages of cheaply laminated materials. She claimed she was fundraising for youth leadership. When I asked for ID or a business card she said that she didn’t have any but that her “van handler” did. I asked her to leave and immediately called the SPD non-emergency number. They took a description and thanked me for filing the report.
Remember, solicitors have to have licenses and ID. Here’s the city code. ADDED 9:23 PM: Christopher also got a photo of the solicitor, zooming in on a subsequent stop she made down the block. Click for the pic:Read More
(1st photo from King County Assessor; 2nd by WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli)
We’re at the Municipal Tower downtown, where the Landmarks Preservation Board has just voted NOT to designate the brick fourplex at 3811 California (across from Charlestown Cafe) as a city landmark. Pending final decisions on permitting matters, this theoretically clears the way for it to be razed and replaced with a four-story building, apartments over retail. Full details a bit later on why a majority of the board voted no (only three voted in favor of making it a landmark, including board chair Stephen Lee). ADDED 9:50 PM: As promised, here are more details from the meeting and the discussion before the vote:Read More
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