West Seattle, Washington
02 Thursday
Don’t faint. A West Seattle-based couple is opening their own bakery — but not on our side of the bay. We best remember Stephanie Crocker and her “Sugar” creations from the Farmers’ Market last year; also, last November we told you about the pie fundraiser to help Stephanie and her husband John with expenses from his fight against cancer. That’s going well and now they’re getting ready to open their own place, Sugar Bakery & Cafe on First Hill (and blogging about it too). Stephanie tells WSB they hope to open in October – just in time for the bakery-mania of the holiday season.
Much more WS news to tell you about, but it’s going to have to wait till morning. For now, we close the night with words of thanks for polite WS drivers, from a WSB reader who hopes to see more of them:
I know that it’s been tough for commuters using Admiral Way lately.
From those of us living just off Admiral between 37th and 39th, I’d like to send out a thank you to the few drivers who have been kind enough to let us into and out of our neighborhood.
Some days (like Monday when I had to take my cat to the vet) I waited 10 minutes to turn right onto Admiral from 39th. Finally, one driver, a man in a black sedan, let me in. Special thanks to that driver!
This week’s Seattle Weekly has a mini-profile of the man who runs Easy Street, including his five fave records albums (what do we call them these days, anyway?) of all time.
The first banner to appear on the Fauntleroy overpass since its last cleaning has also appeared online, thanks to the birthday girl’s proud dad.
More than two dozen heat-braving souls just wrapped up the first of two meetings led by an earnest Alki couple, Libby and Paul Carr, who are trying to salvage the stalled Alki Statue of Liberty plaza project. Ultimately, the final say on the future of this West Seattle icon rests elsewhere …Read More
Time & place: Somewhere after noon today atop the Alki seawall. One of the hundreds of small children awaiting the Seafair Pirates‘ Landing said to an accompanying adult: “We’ve been here THREE HOURS!”
Said the adult: “Yeah, we’re not doing THIS again next year. We’ll just watch it on the news.”
Having watched this particular orchestration of the Seafair Pirates Landing two years in a row now (as we wrote last year, we had given up on the whole thing long ago, till we launched WSB and therefore felt dutybound to check it out) — we might do the same. Why, you ask? Click ahead for more, including more photos, and links to some other writeups already up online:Read More
Every weekend this month has something huge in WS — and it all kicks off this morning with the Seafair Pirates’ Landing bash at Alki. According to the Pirates’ own website (yes, even these scalawags of the sea can be found online), they’ll storm the beach around noon-ish, but fun can be had starting around 9:30 am; read full details here, including special freebies for kids. All this will also kick West Seattle Hi-Yu events into high season; check the Hi-Yu schedule here. (If you’re interested, our writeup of last year’s Pirates Landing is here. Note the part where we did NOT park near Alki. Don’t even try. Take the free Water Taxi shuttle’s Alki route, take the regular bus, walk, ride your bike, do anything but turn side streets into Attack of the Parking-Challenged.)
Until this article turned up in today’s Times, we had no idea WS is home to a champion “competitive eater.” The article mentions he’s got a blog; looks like this is it.
As of today, West Seattle Helpline joins the WS Food Bank, Megawatt, and others in the WS Community Resource Center @ 35th/Morgan. (Their old corridor in The Junction just got a little lonelier …)
2 years after Hurricane Katrina, its survivors are still struggling. In about a week, right here in WS, you’ve got two ways to help: The Total Experience Gospel Choir is leading a benefit at Kenyon Hall on 7/8, and advertising right now for more musicians to join in. If you can’t help with that, at least mark your calendar to drop by and chip in — there’ll be good food as well as good music — 1-9 pm a week from Sunday.
This Saturday, 11 am-2 pm, is the big pro-Charlestown Cafe picketing rally (backstory here). So that participants can prepare, a selection of sign suggestions has just been uploaded to the Our Town West Seattle group (join it and you can download them too, while getting full details on the latest developments) — here are four of them; the last is our fave:
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We just got e-mail about Alki Boot Camp. What an awesome name for a workout class.
The West Seattle couple featured in the documentary “Inlaws & Outlaws,” Jane Abbott Lighty & Pete-e Petersen, are celebrity grand marshals of today’s Pride Parade downtown.
On the easternmost edge of WS, the tribe that reached out to the first European-American West Seattleites will have something to celebrate tomorrow.
6-8 pm @ Southwest Library – all are welcome at the next meeting of SWS, which describes itself as “a newly-formed group of West Seattle citizens who want to make a difference locally, working within our neighborhood to become more self-reliant while using fewer natural resources.”
Earlier this week, we grumbled to ourselves there just wasn’t much WS news to share with you; but tonight, it just won’t stop. Looks like WS is home to at least two members of this local family who survived a scare while hiking in Canada.
Jake Nickels faces a judge, as his lawyer confirms he’s indeed living at the family home here in WS, and therefore should be allowed to drink while awaiting trial (?); the judge is reported to have disagreed. (Perhaps he’d seen the motto on this cached version of the defendant’s MySpace.)
-A WSB reader from the West Seattle Unitarian Universalists asked us if we’d mind mentioning that the WSUU congregation is looking for a music director. Full posting is on their site; or send an e-mail inquiry here.
-The school year may be almost over, but learning doesn’t stop when the last June bell rings. The Youth Tutoring Program needs volunteers for its summer reading program, right here in West Seattle. We heard about it from a WSB reader who says she’s been volunteering for YTP and loves it; she adds, “The long-term effects of this impact our neighborhoods and communities as a whole, as well as each individual child.” Click to read more about YTP and how you can help:Read More
TUESDAY: One last event in memory/honor/celebration of popular WS waiter John Hartley (photo at right), who died suddenly last month — John Hartley Memorial Karaoke @ Skylark, 9 pm-1 am. Free; donations will be accepted to help his roommate stay in the house they rented together; singers will be encouraged to share stories and memories.
THURSDAY: The next West Seattle Art Walk in The Junction. Go here to see the artist/location lineup as it stands so far (at left – the Art Walk’s new logo), then get yourself down to The Junction 6-9 pm that night (and every second Thursday).
A WEEK FROM NEXT SATURDAY (JUNE 23): Four hours that could save your life — and your family. Neighbors and groups from all over WS will gather at WS High School (theater and commons) 9 am-1 pm to talk and learn about WS Disaster Preparedness — how ready are we, what can you do right now to be as ready as you can be, and more. See the poster with full details here.
The Times profiles WS-based Officer Ralph Wilson, the star of this recent post about a bank-robbery suspect busted while panhandling.
Tough month for Mayor Nickels. First he lost his father — now he has to deal with reports that his son has been indicted for alleged casino cheating. FRIDAY EARLY AM UPDATE: Citizen Rain (new local blog aggregator) has a link to Jake Nickels’ MySpace. (The cached version seems more interesting.)
West Seattle-based naturalist Stewart Wechsler is featured in a Times article today about a plant restoration project at Seward Park. He also does naturalist work at other city parks including Camp Long here in WS. We first met Stewart while chaperoning a school field trip at Camp Long some time back; when it comes to the troubled state of our natural world, he is truly one of the people who, to paraphrase the saying, lights a candle rather than cursing the darkness.
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