West Seattle, Washington
31 Friday
Thanks to Dave for the tip that a “for lease” sign is now up in the window of The Sneakery at 4736 California SW in The Junction.
We checked in with proprietor Drea via e-mail; here’s what she told us:
The Sneakery will be leaving West Seattle at the end of April and consolidating things back to our original location on 65th Street in Ballard, where we’ve been since 2006. We had a great time in the Junction over the last 4 years and would like to thank our customers for their support. Most merchandise will be deeply discounted through the end of April, so we encourage everyone to use their gift certificates and coupons. Although we are sad to leave the Junction, we are also thrilled to be growing our business in Ballard, where we will be able to offer our customers even better selections and service.
The Sneakery’s West Seattle location opened in May 2011. Half of its side of the block has been a construction zone for the past year and a half.
When Mayor Murray announced the “Move Seattle” plan back on March 2nd (WSB coverage here), he said financing for its projects/goals would be announced later. Now, according to a media advisory we just received from the mayor’s office, “later” arrives tomorrow. The mayor will gather Wednesday morning southeast of downtown with councilmembers, SDOT director Scott Kubly, and unspecified-as-of-yet “community leaders” to announce a proposed transportation levy for the November ballot – successor to “Bridging the Gap,” which expires this year. We’ll be there too.
In case you missed earlier mentions of this, we wanted to publish the reminder with an extra day’s notice:
(Click image to see full-size, full-details flyer)
Tomorrow’s the night the Madison Middle School PTSA is hosting a special meeting with information about keeping kids safe:
Our Children’s Safety and Security is of paramount importance to each of us. If the recent reports of lewd or violent behavior by unknown suspects in West Seattle has you worried about your kids, then you can’t afford to miss the Student Safety Night Event that Madison PTSA has put together for you!
From advice for routine issues like safely crossing busy intersections, social-media pitfalls, to alarming issues like how to respond to and handle a potential threat by an attacker or mugger, we will host experienced experts to share their insights with you!
Join us for this FREE informational event on March 18th at the Madison Middle School Library and learn from our Special Guests like Mark Solomon – Crime Prevention Officer from Seattle Police Department’s South Precinct and Marlan Teeters, Security Supervisor for Hiawatha Park. As usual we will also have our Principal, Dr. Gary, in attendance to represent safety on campus at Madison.
The meeting will be at 7 pm in the library at Madison; the campus is at 45th/Spokane.
11:43 PM: Thanks to Dave for sharing that video of the King County Firefighters Pipes and Drums outside Alki Elementary School this morning. What else is going on around West Seattle for St. Patrick’s Day? Tipsters told us the famous “green stripe” in Admiral has been refreshed, so we’re off to check that out. Anything else? Let us know and/or send a pic – thanks!
1:52 PM: The green stripe on 41st SW, looking north from the shamrock toward its end, at SW Hill:
(Added: WSB photo, taken noontime today at Seacrest)
A quick highlight list for the rest of today/tonight in West Seattle:
FAUNTLEROY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION FOOD FEST/MEMBERSHIP MEETING: [updated time] 6 pm at The Hall at Fauntleroy, it’s the annual membership meeting of the Fauntleroy Community Association, including some tastes from local restaurants. Renew your membership and help choose FCA leadership, while mingling with neighbors and friends old and new. (9131 California SW)
URBAN VILLAGES – ARE THEY WORKING? 6:30 pm at the Junction Neighborhood Organization meeting, Peter Steinbrueck and his consulting team present the report that drew a crowd to City Hall in January. All welcome. Senior Center of West Seattle. (Oregon/California)
WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL: 7 pm at the Southwest Precinct, come to the WSCPC meeting to hear about local crime trends, and to ask local police about your crime/safety concerns. (Webster/Delridge)
ST. PATRICK’S DAY EDITION OF ‘BLUES TO DO’: Tonight at Feedback Lounge, 8 pm, including a special set of Irish music. (6451 California SW)
(Screengrab taken this morning from camera pointed into the tunnel-machine repair pit)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Much has happened since the Alaskan Way Viaduct (Highway 99) project stakeholders met three months ago.
Just days after their early December meeting (WSB coverage here), the “settling” was revealed.
For the first time since then, the stakeholders’ group (membership listed here) convened Monday afternoon in a lower-level meeting room at Safeco Field, and WSB was the only news organization there. Among other things, the group was told that the ground has stabilized, and that the partial deconstruction of the Highway 99 tunnel machine (aka Bertha) is likely to hit a milestone this week.
Other topics tackled included the work that’s out of sight but not out of mind, updates on related projects including the seawall, and what’s up with the decision-making process on tunnel tolling. (Here’s the full slide deck.)
9:00 AM: Seattle’s biggest St. Patrick’s Day celebration was actually back on Saturday – the downtown parade. Thanks to Denny International Middle School for photos of the Denny Marching Band in action that day: “Congratulations to the scholars in the Denny International Middle School Marching Band for doing a great job marching in the St. Patrick’s Day parade on Saturday. The music and marching was outstanding! Thank you, Mr. Pimpleton and volunteers, for all of your hard work and support! Go Dolphins!”
As previewed here on Saturday morning, the running order also included the West Seattle High School Band. (Sorry, no photo! We’ve been able to cover the parade in the past but this year, with a historic election ahead, we were covering the VIEWS-presented candidates’ forum.)
ADDED 10:42 AM: Thanks to Laura for the WSHS video from the parade:
If you’re a parade fan, mark your calendar for the Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day next year!
(Four WS-relevant views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
7:46 AM: A crash at 35th and Holden is on the SFD log right now – no word on whether it’s blocking traffic but we’ll be checking.
7:53 AM: The crash call has closed. Reminder – the South Park Bridge‘s overnight closures are scheduled to continue tonight, midnight-5 am.
ROAD WORK AHEAD: If you missed the announcement Monday afternoon – one block of California SW in Fauntleroy will be resurfaced next week, March 24-25.
8:39 AM: At the east end of SW Roxbury, there’s an emergency response at Olson/2nd. Haven’t heard the specifics of the call, but if you’re headed that way, you’ll see one fire engine and at least one police car.
While helping Friends of Lincoln Park restore the forest, a University of Washington environmental-studies senior has also been studying one of the park’s thorniest issues: Off-leash dogs. Sam Timpe has been working with the local volunteers 15 hours a week since January, planting natives and pulling invasives.
Spending all that time in the park, he’s been able to observe dog owners and their pets, and while most follow the rules, he says the ones who don’t are responsible for more damage than you might think. He’s hoping for an “attitude shift” in the park, and hoping that people feel empowered to talk to those not following the rules, to say “please don’t do it,” to have a sense of community.
Restoration work is something you often won’t detect just with a casual glance. It’s a cleared spot, a small plant. “With all the people doing restoration work there,” Sam said, “to have a dog run through it and tear it, is kind of disheartening.”
Any individual dog, of course, wouldn’t do that much damage, he explains, but if he sees one every hour, ten times a day, 50 times a week, the cumulative effects add up.
From Sam’s research:
I did a study within Lincoln Park to get some baseline data on leash and trail compliance. I chose three different locations within the park (south open area near bluff trail, north open area west of soccer field, and the north parking lot) and at each location I conducted three 90-minute samples, one on a weekday morning, weekday evening, and weekend morning. I found that 59 of 239 (25%) of dogs were off leash. 55 of 239 (23%) of dogs were observed going into the woods (off trail, off grass). When excluding the north parking lot, I found that 38% of dogs are off leash and 29% are going into the woods.
The effects go beyond the “trampling of plants,” he explains. When that happens, it’s easier for seeds to disperse and the forest edge to break down. Those seeds are seldom desirable ones – instead, they’re the invasives, the berry-laden plants like ivy, holly, blackberries, cotoneaster.
And the giddily exploring pooch might spread them beyond the park – seeds can catch in their paws, and be carried far away.
One area that Friends of Lincoln Park is particularly concerned about is near the north parking lot. A restored area might look like a clearing – with the invasives removed, and the new native plants fragile and small – and that might seem to some like an invitation to make their own trails. Sam says he also sees people stop, let their dogs out for a quick dash or bio-break, and then move on.
What would he say to try to educate people, convince them not to do this?
Without the restoration work, he says, invasive plants will start to take over and start climbing up trees (think of all the ivy-covered trees you’ve seen). Eventually that weakens the trees, and a windstorm might be all it would take to bring them down. On the ground level, the invasives take over and nothing else can get established, so a “monoculture desert of holly and ivy” results, he explains. Take a look at the difference between a clump of native vegetation before cotoneaster removal, and after:
The value of a healthy urban forest? Priceless. He ticks off benefits: “Reduces stormwater runoff, improves water quality, captures and filters air pollution, provides wildlife habitat, aesthetically improves neighborhoods’ appearance …”
About the wildlife: Even if a dog doesn’t catch it, or eat it, it is a threat: “A lot of these animals, if you watch them for a while, they’re working on eating, building shelter, nests, on what it takes to survive. When you do have dogs chasing them, they have to expend a lot of energy on the chase, getting safe …maybe that next chase does it in, it’s tired. I found one study about shorebirds – having to avoid dogs chasing after them 12 times a day. Many were getting ready for migration. In another study, researchers walked through different areas (of a forest/park) with dogs on leash, with dogs offleash, without dogs … when humans were there with dogs, there was a 41 percent decrease in the amount of birds present. Birds are aware it’s a potential threat.”
So what’s the solution?
More parks specifically set up for off-leash dogs seems like an obvious idea, Sam says, but they’re not so simple to set up – grassy fields get muddy in the rainy season very fast; gravel can lead to runoff problems for nearby waterways.
He hopes that information and education – like this report about his volunteer activities and research – can help people be aware that dogs at least need to stay on the paths, and to share that awareness with others.
He’s working toward a research paper and presentation next quarter. And he’s well aware that dogs are the light of their humans’ lives … he’s just hoping a little enlightenment will help the forest and its inhabitants too.
Stay on the trail, or at least grassy edges and fields – it’s not grass they’re worried about. If it’s a native plant, don’t walk or run on it – salal, Oregon grape, red flowering currant, ocean spray, seedlings of evergreens such as Western red cedar, Douglas fir, Western hemlock, all types of ferns, snowberry … He could go on.
He’s been working on a spot near the bluff trail but hopes to see all the restoration areas thrive.
P.S. He’s interested in your thoughts, if you have a moment to comment.
We’ve been watching the Seattle Public Library‘s page for the Global Reading Challenge – the “Battle of the Books” for 4th and 5th graders – awaiting word of any local teams who made it to the GRC finals one week from tomorrow – and finally the list is up: Congratulations to the Reading Warriors from West Seattle Elementary in High Point and the Rad Radical Hyperactive Jellyfish from Lafayette Elementary in Admiral! They and seven other teams from non-WS schools will be in the final round at 7 pm March 24th at the Central Library downtown. Here, by the way, are the books in the GRC this year.
ADDED 11:47 AM MONDAY: Thanks to Laura Bermes from WSES for the photo added above and more info on their team: “This is West Seattle Elementary’s 2nd year participating … Congratulations to our team: Merichle, Dan, Jimmy, Nelson, Leyla, Jordan & Amer!”
Thanks to James Bratsanos for capturing tonight’s sunset colors. His photo reminded us to mention to you that the spring equinox arrives this Friday (3:45 pm on March 20th), which means it’s season-change sunset-watch time Friday night with Alice Enevoldsen of Skies Over West Seattle, Alice’s Astro Info, and more. As she wrote in this month’s SoWS roundup of reasons to look up at night: “6:55 pm-7:55 pm — Come and watch the Spring Equinox sunset with me at Solstice Park across from Lincoln Park. The sunset itself will be around 7:10 pm. Bring your children and your parents.” (Forecast looks iffy now, but check back as it gets closer.)
4th-grade PE students had an audience at Highland Park Elementary School this morning.
Physical-education professionals are gathered in Seattle for the SHAPE (Society of Health and Physical Educators) America national convention this week, and today dozens of them visited several SPS campuses to check out unique programs, such as flag football that’s played at HPES as part of an NFL collaboration:
Teacher Kevin Schmidt leads this program at Highland Park.
What the kids showed off today are drills they do after their teacher explains the objective, as the students write it down:
Once they have grasped the goal, it’s on with the drill. Highland Park Elementary, by the way, was the only West Seattle stop for the visitors from the conference, and it was the first school they visited on their all-day citywide tour.
Just in from SDOT:
Paving crews from the Seattle Department of Transportation will resurface a block of California Avenue Southwest, between Southwest Brace Point Drive and California Drive Southwest on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 24 and 25. The crews will resurface the street pavement, working from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The street will be open to traffic on Tuesday, March 24, but there may be a wait of up to 15 minutes for equipment to clear the roadway. On Wednesday, March 24, the street will be closed to through traffic and pedestrians and driveways on this block will not be accessible. On-street parking will be restricted in the work area.
That block is in Fauntleroy – here’s a map.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Mayor Murray promised today that his office will review the proposed development-rule change regarding transit availability and offstreet-parking requirements, formally known as Department of Planning and Development Director’s Rule 6-2015, before it takes effect.
We wrote about this week before last, before the comment period closed. First, here’s the proposed rule:
We asked the mayor about this during a wide-ranging conversation at City Hall today, his first in a series of planned meetings with “neighborhood press” (the invitation was sent widely; along with WSB, journalists from CapitolHillSeattle.com and the Capitol Hill Times were there – photo above – we’ll have a full report on the entire event tonight).
The West Seattle-based group SeattleNERD. (Neighbors Encouraging Reasonable Development) contends the proposed rule runs counter to what city Hearing Examiner Sue Tanner said in her ruling last year on their appeal related to an on-the-drawing-board development at 3078 Avalon Way SW. SeattleNERD’s official comment is in this letter:
Note Tanner’s observation (see section 15 in her conclusions) that the distinction would have to be changed by legislation – in other words, by a new action the City Council. But Director’s Rules don’t go through the Council; the mayor noted in our conversation this morning, however, that the buck stops with him, since departments such as the DPD report to him, and so that’s why it won’t go forward without mayoral review.
This also is becoming a campaign issue; City Council District 1 (West Seattle/South Park) candidate Lisa Herbold sent a news release saying she also has sent a letter to the DPD, saying in part:
I believe that the City Council did not intend for the DPD to interpret the Land Use Code in this way, and that the department should instead follow the Hearing Examiner’s December 1, 2014 decision. Further, the proposed rule will unnecessarily and unjustifiably reduce parking availability as West Seattle moves towards finding ways to make transit service more reliable, frequent, and consistent.
Read her letter in full here:
That is the point many have made here – while the ultimate goal of less car use and more transit use is supported by most, this area does not currently have the volume and range of transit, even with what Proposition 1 funding is about to pay for, to enable car users to renounce private-vehicle use en masse and eliminate the need for new parking to accompany new residential units.
So what are the next steps on deciding all this? We asked DPD that on Friday, and spokesperson Wendy Shark replied, “We will take the range of comments we received into consideration as we make final edits to the Director’s Rule. Then the Director will sign the final rule, it will be published on our website, and filed with the City Clerk.” (As for a timeline – we’re still waiting for the answer to our followup question about that.)
Last year came word of the nomination … now, finally, it’s time to vote on a local book nominated for a national award.
The announcement:
“Leopard & Silkie: One Boy’s Quest to Save the Seal Pups” has been nominated for the prestigious Beverly Cleary Children’s Choice Award for best book.
Written by Brenda Peterson with photos by Robin Lindsey (co-founders of Seal Sitters), the book weaves a tale based on the true story of the friendship of two West Seattle seal pups in 2007 – and the young volunteers who protected them.
There are 5 nominees for the award, and children must read or listen to at least two of the books in order to vote for a winner. Voting must be completed online between March 15 and April 10, 2015. All elementary-school-age children are eligible to vote.
The highly respected Beverly Cleary Award will help bring even more national attention to the book. This award will help protect seal pups and inspire children to reap the rewards of volunteerism and environmental stewardship.
While Leopard & Silkie has garnered much praise from critics (including 2013 Outstanding Science Trade Books K-12 by National Science Teachers Assoc), the best award of all would be from the children we so hope to influence!
Wondering how to vote? Details are in this post on the Seal Sitters’ Blubberblog.
P.S. – WANT TO BE A SEAL SITTER? TRAINING NEXT SUNDAY! We’re told space remains at this Sunday’s training session for potential Seal Sitters volunteers of (almost) all ages – if you’re interested, it’s a rare chance to get the training and get involved. Go here to get details, including the mandatory RSVP link.
The “urban villages” neighborhood-planning strategy from the ’90s paved the way for much of the development you see today. As part of the city’s process to map the next 20 years, former City Councilmember Peter Steinbrueck and his consulting firm presented a study in January looking at how the plans have played out, closely examining some of the designated urban villages around the city, including The Junction and vicinity, as well as Westwood-Highland Park. If you couldn’t make it to the downtown presentation but are interested in the topic, tomorrow night you get a chance to find out about it without leaving West Seattle, as Steinbrueck is a guest at the Junction Neighborhood Organization meeting – 6:30 pm Tuesday at the Senior Center of West Seattle (Oregon/California), all welcome.
When PTAs and PTSAs raise money for their schools, it’s usually for academic and enrichment necessities that just can’t be covered by the school budget. Right now at Denny International Middle School, the PTA finds itself raising money to keep kids safe, in the wake of the recent robberies/assaults against students in their area (and elsewhere in West Seattle).
Denny PTA co-president Catherine Irby Arnold tells WSB that after meeting with police to find out what more could be done, they’re setting up a Block Watch as soon as they can – what’s above is *part* of their roughed-out map showing the coverage area – and are raising money via their Direct Drive to train volunteers, since they need at least 20. Also, she adds, the money will cover buying security vests, flashlights, and Denny sweatshirts for the volunteers. “We will kick this off as soon as possible. We are all fed up with the rash of security issues around our school. Safety of our scholars is our highest priority.”
If you’d like to help, you can donate online – scroll down this page and click the golden button.
(Looking toward Alki Point: Photo by James Bratsanos; click image for larger view)
It’s the calm after the (2.2 inches of rain!) storm. Calendar notes for today/tonight:
FREE ART ACTIVITIES … for toddlers and preschoolers, 11 am-12:30 pm at the Family Center in Neighborhood House’s High Point Center. Details here. (6400 Sylvan Way SW)
AFTERNOON BOOK GROUP: 2 pm at Southwest Branch Library, all are welcome for this month’s afternoon book group, reading “The Forgotten Garden” by Kate Morton. (35th/Henderson)
GOT ALL THE ANSWERS? Then maybe you’ll want to join trivia at Christo’s on Alki (7:15 pm, 2508 Alki SW), or trivia at OutWest Bar (7:30 pm, California/Brandon), or pub quiz at Shadowland (8 pm, California/Oregon).
MONDAY MEDITATION: 7:30 pm Buddhist-meditation class at Sound Yoga (WSB sponsor), whose weekly schedule is here. (5639 California SW)
(Four WS-relevant views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Winter, what we’ve had of it, is in its final days – spring officially arrives Friday afternoon. This morning, we’re dealing with the aftermath of Sunday’s deluge; please let us know, when you can, if you encounter any trouble spots (here’s what was happening last night).
Also, one alert to start the week – those overnight closures of the South Park Bridge are scheduled to start tonight.
8:23 AM: Still a relatively quiet commute. And weatherwise, we’re seeing some blue sky.
8:36 PM: Thanks to Ramona (who also sent the photo) and Matt for the tip – a slide is covering part of Fairmount Avenue, near SW Hill (toward the north end of Fairmount; here’s a map). We’re hearing Seattle Fire crews heading to check out a slide report in that area right now – not sure if it’s the same one, since as you can tell from the photo, this slide happened before nightfall.
9:22 PM: The SFD response closed fairly quickly. Slides are causing trouble elsewhere in the region, too, blocking rail travel between Seattle and Everett, and also blocking part of a road in the Southworth area, on the other side of the ferry route from Fauntleroy. The rain is expected to ease overnight.
10:59 PM: New problem (via scanner): Vehicles reported to be stalled in water across West Marginal Way at Highland Park Way – frequent trouble spot in heavy rain, with runoff down the HP Way hill and from the West Duwamish Greenbelt. Police are on the way.
11:07 PM: Police are also at another flooded section of West Marginal, 6300 block (map), and closing it in both directions.
(Thanks to Aleda for sharing the photo)
8:20 PM: Seattle Fire crews are checking out a possible fire at 4700 42nd SW (the Jefferson Square office building). Nothing reported to have been found so far; they’re checking floor by floor.
8:24 PM: Still nothing found; much of the response is being dismissed.
8:58 PM: The call is now completely closed, meaning all SFD crews have left the scene.
Another storefront in Admiral will be vacant soon – but the business that’s leaving it is NOT shutting down. Monica Skov of West Seattle Fabric Company announced late today that their focus is shifting, recognizing how the retail world is changing. From the message sent to the WSFC mailing list:
We are making a big shift to our business, and although it is a bittersweet decision, let’s celebrate together. As a retail storefront, we have had the beautiful benefit of getting to know all of the people in our community. We feel so thankful to have made connections and friendships that we would have never encountered. Inspiring a community of new sewing enthusiasts fills us with so much happiness. And I cannot tell you the joy I feel every time a customer comes in and says ~ I come here to be inspired. But the days of dense neighborhood shopping districts & bustling storefront commerce are evolving into online shopping and home delivery. Honestly, we’ve seen a shift from increased online sales and less storefront traffic. Shopping online has become much more convenient and in order to grow in an ever-changing economy we are going to transition our fabrics to an online-only fabric shop.
But, she continues, that’s just part of the change:
Seeing this trend for some time, we’ve been turning our focus toward the one thing you can’t get online – Services. The thing that we love about being small-business owners isn’t selling new collections or decorating a shop (although that is fun). We truly love helping our community. Our team has taught hundreds of customers to sew & quilt, we’ve been a resource for all sorts of sewing related questions and advice, and we’ve already completed a large number of customers’ quilts in the past couple of months. In addition to all of our other services, the ultimate way that we can help our community is Repairing and Servicing Sewing Machines, which we will now be offering.
So next month, West Seattle Fabric Company will move to a smaller space on Harbor Avenue in the ActivSpace [WSB sponsor] building, not retailing fabric, but focusing on services and education – classes, repairs, quilt finishing, plus, in relation to the online merchandise, “FREE local pick-up for our local online shoppers …” First, the shop (at 2210 California SW, where it opened in December 2010) plans a liquidation sale starting at 10 am Friday (March 20th), 30 percent off everything in the store, and “incentives for buying in bulk.” You can read the entire announcement here.
Award-winning West Seattle-based environmental/cultural photographer Art Wolfe has published more than 80 books and taken more than 2 million images in his storied career, according to his website. While he travels much of the year to seek and photograph what’s beautiful in our world, on occasion he is able to stop down for a presentation – like the one shown in these two video clips, a recent gathering with the Southwest Seattle Historical Society‘s top supporters. While there wasn’t enough room at the venue to open this event to the public, SWSHS executive director Clay Eals explains, Wolfe agreed to allow it to be recorded on video so it could be shared, and that’s what we’re doing here. His presentation included his most famous images as well as West Seattle photos from his early days.
Wolfe is a lifelong West Seattleite; his main gallery is in Pioneer Square. And, checking his website, we note he has a presentation coming up one month from today at Benaroya Hall downtown (April 15th) – find out more here.
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