West Seattle, Washington
15 Sunday
As mentioned here last month, today’s the first day that “enhanced driver licenses” are available in our state, for people who want to be able to travel to Canada without a passport when new ID requirements kick in next week. The West Seattle driver-license office next to Westwood Village is one of only 11 statewide where it’s available. By the way, if you’re going to that office to get one of these or handle any other business — you can get an update on current waiting times by clicking the “Seattle-West” link on this page.
Quick headline (more to come) from tonight’s joint meeting of the Delridge and Southwest District Councils: The Westwood Neighborhood Council announced it’s set the date for its next community meeting on the Denny-Sealth project — Feb. 6 Feb. 5, Southwest Community Center CSHS Commons. (THURSDAY NIGHT UPDATE: WNC says it had to change the date to Feb. 5 after getting word today that school board rep Steve Sundquist couldn’t make 2/6.)
So declares Seattle Public Schools parent/activist Melissa Westbrook in a brand-new update on the saveseattleschools.blogspot.com blog, following up beyond the School Board’s Denny/Sealth work session two days ago (WSB coverage here). Westbrook posted a thorough account of that meeting (find it here) and then attended a meeting today of the BEX III (the bond measure that included the Denny/Sealth money) Oversight Committee. That committee meeting is detailed in her new post (and e-mailed to School Board members and district leadership), including what she says were discrepancies between the Denny/Sealth presentation made to that committee today and the one made to school-board members on Wednesday, and what she describes as a bottom-line revelation that under current district plans, Sealth will eventually be the “only non-renovated high school in the district.” Anyway, her update seems like a must-read for those closely following the Denny/Sealth project controversy. Until more meeting dates are set, the major “next step” here is letting the school board know what you think should happen; their contact info is here.
This just out of the inbox, from Teresa (thank you!):
Was at the Westwood Starbucks this morning and there apparently is a man that is approaching women and actually trying to touch them inappropriately. One of the employees of Starbucks was calling the police as I was leaving. He apparently approached a grounds worker while I was getting my coffee. PERV!
No word so far if anyone was caught.
What we heard from Seattle Public Schools administration at the end of the school board’s Denny-Sealth shared-campus project work session tonight boiled down to something a lot like what we heard at a meeting about it that we covered here in West Seattle last summer — Yes, we know, we didn’t get a whole lot of public input before roaring forward with this plan, but really, we’re in it too deep now to pull back, though we’ll get you a little more information on what it would cost to change course, if you really, really want it. The majority of the board members, of course, have been elected since the project was approved last year — 4 of the 7 school board members are brand new — and even though board president Cheryl Chow warned them not to get bowled over by the “freshman rush” of project opponents hitting them up, they asked for a chance to reconsider anyway.Read More
Ellen Hansen from Metro just forwarded details on the newly added Westwood-area meeting planned to discuss RapidRide (as mentioned in our report below on the RR briefing at last night’s JuNO meeting): It’s not on the Metro website yet but she says it will be 6-7:30 pm February 19 at the Southwest Library.
WSB contributing photographer Christopher Boffoli is at the scene of a fire callout at 9231 32nd. He says it’s a small fire blamed on a candle that got knocked over. Photo to come. (P.S. The Fire Department has released information about the fire we covered this morning at 9000 20th SW, and we’ve added it to the top of our original report.) 8:18 PM UPDATE: Here’s one of the photos Christopher sent back. The call is closed now; no injuries, no noteworthy damage.
No, not looking for a new arena site on all that suddenly vacant property; it was a special holiday-shopping spree at Westwood Village Target, according to the official Sonics blog.
Got last-minute Christmas mail to send? We just checked on West Seattle post-office hours. 
The Junction branch is open 8:30-5 on weekdays; the Westwood branch is open 8:30-6, though when we stepped into the lobby to check on its hours, a worker volunteered that the doors open a few minutes early this time of the year. (Here’s the Postal Service webpage with holiday deadlines.)
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
From just west of Westwood Village, on 30th south of Barton (map). Got bright lights or seen some? Please let us know (and thanks to those who’ve e-mailed sightings already!).
We went to tonight’s Southwest Community Center meeting for the Parks Department’s future Strategic Business Plan not realizing it would be an interactive format – listen to organizers for a few minutes, then break into groups and discuss ideas and opinions for most of the rest of the time. What resulted was a public meeting that really felt like a public meeting – with the emphasis on “public.” This was the first of six of these meetings happening in West Seattle over the course of the next week (full list here, continuing with High Point Community Center @ 7 pm tomorrow), and if you care about the future of our city parks, we strongly urge you to make time to participate in one of them. Here’s what we experienced tonight – including a high-level observer:Read More
So a particular chain retailer at Westwood Village had this incredible laptop deal. Got there when they opened at 6 am … 100 people in line, plotting near-military strategy for bargain reconnaissance. We retreated. Friendlier crowd at the one Junction store that opened its doors at 5 am, the rubber-stamping store Friends and Company, where we caught up with proprietor Doris Goulet and her early-bird shoppers during the first half-hour:
Nobody camping outside West Seattle’s early-opening chain stores when we checked late last night (just the big cart lineup outside Westwood Village Target, shown above). But they’re not the only ones opening early (Target 6 am, Bed Bath Beyond 6 am, Radio Shack 6 am, for example) — some independent retailers are getting creative too, like Friends & Company in The Junction, which is coupling a 5 am opening today with free early-bird eats and a tiered sale, starting at 40% off between 5-6 am. But there’s time to pace yourself — from today through Christmas Eve, 32 shopping days this year, and lots of new choices (as well as existing faves) for keeping your $ here on the peninsula.
(photo from Christmas Past by WSB contributing photographer Matt Durham; prints of his work are available at his site, MattDurhamPhotography.com)
We’ve heard from West Seattle parents wondering if Santa Claus is coming to Westwood Village as usual this year, since they hadn’t seen any flyers up — Fear not, we just checked with WV management and they confirmed Santa will be there for photos on holiday-season weekends, starting this Saturday (Nov. 24), noon-4 pm. As in years past, Santa’s “house” is in the streamside courtyard area between Bed/Bath/Beyond and Wyatt’s Jewelers. Photos are free with just one prerequisite; here’s the WV flyer with full details:Read More
Even as some of the bar parties just start getting into gear, we are in for the night. We traveled north to south, east to west, across West Seattle, including a stop at Skeleton Theatre (we’ll put up video in the morning — it’s playing again tomorrow night, so you have another chance to go see for yourself). We saw luminaria and lights, costumes from A(ngels) to Z(ombies), but we’re also glad to be back at WSB HQ sharing your Halloween scenes — including this last round of photos before the Witching Hour arrives. First, from the inbox: Tigger turned up to greet trick-or-treaters at Westwood Village tonight:
More major cuteness from the inbox: Baby Nate goes crustacean for his first Halloween:
We had seen this cool decoration outside a house not far from Skeleton Theatre but didn’t get a picture – Todd did:
Todd also was one of 2 people who sent us a photo of “Feed-O” the scary cat – this “Feed-O” photo is by MIST, who says the cat “was spitting out gummy rats”!
Now a final round of jack-o-lanterns. From Danny and Diane, a pumpkin with a statement:
A seasonal pumpkin array, from “mtnester” of Shorewood:
Huindekmi sent this next one and noted, “We don’t carve our pumpkin till Halloween”:
And the proud wife of Dan sends his creation, saying, “he just LOVES Halloween” …
Speaking of attacks – we have heard one more time from “West Seattle Art Attack,” who e-mailed WSB to say: “I placed a final pumpkin tonight in a deserving yard. It was a very pretty purple and pink one that my wife didn’t want to part with. I’ve discreetly checked on a couple of my previous placements and they haven’t moved. I’m not sure if the owners even know they are there.” Quick! Go check your yard (or tell your friends to check theirs)! You don’t want an unnoticed WSAA pumpkin sitting out there till spring … 11:55 PM ADDENDUM: This blogger tells the sorrowful saga of a nearly trick-or-treater-less night for her first West Seattle Halloween. Boo!
Some pix we wanted to share before the weekend ended … First, a rainbow over Westwood, sent on Friday by “The House”:
The rest of these pix are ours — first one from Lowman Beach, eligible for the title “as the crow flies”:
Not far away, on the northernmost end of the Lincoln Park shore, we found what looks from this perspective like The Spider That Ate Blake Island:
Up the hill from Lincoln Park, alongside the top of the Thistle staircase, a little house with a beautiful garden has this fall-colored plant almost a fluorescent shade of red:
And in a different garden, near the west side of The Kenney, a Halloween creature lurks among the trees:
Earlier this week, we discussed the notice (however official or unofficial) that frequent WSB contributor “The House” got on the windshield of his parked-on-the-planting-strip car in Westwood. At the time, he suggested that police should be focusing instead on the seemingly abandoned RVs lining nearby streets. Tonight, good news for “House” and neighbors — we spotted Seattle Police enforcers in action (on Trenton west of the Westwood Village turn-in) along RV Row:
Dori, the Denny Middle School Lunch Lady, says that’s what she serves every day, and she invited the architects and school administrators overseeing the Denny-Sealth construction project to come have lunch. She was one of about 35 people who came to tonight’s overview of the latest plans for the Denny-Sealth shared-campus project with some serious concerns over the initial plans. The plan presented showed one kitchen which would serve both schools, to be located between the gym and the common areas. As Dori said – a kitchen with no windows or adequate ventilation is not a good idea. What she wants is for the planners and architects to see the existing Denny lunch room and kitchen, which she calls a “kitchen done right.”
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We’ve had a cascade of cupcakes, a plethora of pet stores … now, perhaps, a surge of supplement shops. A year after Super Supplements moved into The Junction, a new permit granted for space in Westwood Village (we haven’t done the backwork yet to figure out which space “E8” refers to) reveals the impending arrival of “Fresh Vitamins.” A quick websearch shows they have several other outlets around the metro area.
Just got word from the Westwood Neighborhood Council that Seattle Public Schools has scheduled a community update meeting next week about the impending Chief Sealth High School/Denny Middle School campus consolidation construction project. The neighborhood group itself called the last update meeting, in June, after learning details about the project that previously hadn’t gotten much public airing. (We covered that meeting in-depth; here’s the link.) The district’s flyer (which touts a weblink, buildingexcellence.org, that as of this writing goes only to a “parking page”) says the meeting at 6:30 pm next Tuesday (10/9) in the Chief Sealth HS theater will include updates on the schedule and design for the project, and take Q/A. Here’s the flyer:Read More
SIGN SAGA #1 — A medic call to Westwood Village around 6 pm tonight is explained by a reader as follows:
One of the main signs inside of Westwood Village Target fell on a lady’s shoulder earlier tonight. It was one of the main signs that say Bedding or Electronics that hang from the ceiling with two tiny strings. It fell on the lady and shattered on the floor. They called the medics for her. I asked her if she was okay right after it happened and she said I think so.
SIGN SAGA #2 — Yes, it’s illegal to hang banners on the Fauntleroy pedestrian overpass, but it’s a tradition anyway — apparently, a tradition someone is intent on stomping out, as any banner that’s gone up lately hasn’t been up for long, and here’s the latest example: A volunteer for a local nonprofit group desperate to get the word out about an upcoming event told us she went up with a banner today and left a note saying “we’ll be back for this on Thursday; if you need it taken down before then, please call (number).” The banner was up when we drove by at 7 pm tonight; gone at quarter past 9; the banner-hanger tells us no one called. Other prospective banner-hangers, you’ve been warned.
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