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  • Closure

    CLOSURE CHANGE: Low bridge, starting Saturday

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    MOVING MODE: Another music biz’s big gift

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    WS GARAGE SALE DAY 5/11: Register by April 25!

West Seattle Friday: Gardening; baseball; SIFF; live music …
May 27, 2011 9:38 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(No, not the same bird as yesterday! Warbling vireo, photographed by Trileigh Tucker in Lincoln Park)
Traveling for the holiday weekend? Stay safe, and see you soon! If not – no worries, you have options! From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:

GARDEN CLUB: West Seattle Garden Club will honor its Past Presidents as they meet at Daystar Retirement Village, (Bldg 1, 2615 SW Barton Street), 10 am – 2 pm. Coffee and registration begin the meeting, followed by business, and lunch. Master Gardener Mick Duggan presents a program about the gardens at El Centro de la Raza, his work and experiences as the gardeners grow vegetables for the Food Bank. Donation $5.

BASEBALL FINAL FOUR: Seattle Lutheran High School plays DeSales in state baseball 2B tournament tonight, Yakima, 7 pm.

SEALTH STUDENT’S SHORT AT SIFF: Chief Sealth International High School student Rachel Townsend’s short “Technicolor Love” will be shown before the Seattle International Film Festival’s screening of The Sandman and the Lost Sand of Dreams at West Seattle’s Admiral Theater, 4:30 pm.

LIVE MUSIC AT C & P COFFEE: Bob “Bobcat” Rice at 6 pm (C&P, a WSB sponsor, is at 5612 California SW).

LIVE MUSIC AT SKYLARK: 9 pm, The Navins; 10 pm, Valis; 11 pm, Sir Coyler and His Asthmatic Band, $5 cover (Skylark, a WSB sponsor, is at 3803 Delridge Way SW).

Got an event to announce? E-mail editor@westseattleblog.com – info preferred in plain-text e-mail, not attachments – who/what/when/where/why, plus, links to further info on your website/Facebook page are appreciated, if available, since we include those in listings when we can! Thank you!

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Stolen car; interrupted car prowl
May 27, 2011 9:01 am
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports to share this morning (and the latest WS Beat roundup is in the works for a bit later) – First, just in from Judy, a Fairmount Springs car theft early today:

I wanted to alert the WSB community of a car theft. Seems like there’s been a rash of these posted recently!

Our car was stolen from in front of our house this morning around 4:30 am. 39th Ave SW and Raymond (one block off Fauntleroy – 5900 block of 39th Ave SW)

1998 white Nissan Maxima
License plate 984VFE

Also a *reminder* to not leave anything in your car. Unfortunately, my husband left his golf clubs, backpack and umpire gear in the vehicle – so this was all taken.

Another thing – I heard them this morning. I thought it was the newspaper delivery person when I heard the rustling- looked at the clock 4:30 am- and decided it wasn’t worth getting up to investigate.

If you see this car, call 911. As for a “rash” of car thefts – we checked the police-report map; 11 noted in West Seattle in the past week (not counting Judy’s, since the map is time-lagged and won’t show a report from this morning till later today), 10 the previous week. No particular hot spot – they’re on the map from Admiral to Arbor Heights, Beach Drive to Highland Park. Meantime, after the jump, a car-prowl-interrupted report from this past Wednesday:Read More

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Election 2011: Joe McDermott launches County Council re-election campaign
May 27, 2011 1:53 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   King Co. Council District 8 | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

He’s only been on the job six months, but King County Councilmember Joe McDermott is already running again. Last fall, he was elected for the year remaining in what was now-County Executive Dow Constantine’s term, after Jan Drago served a year as an appointee; this time, a full four-year term is at stake. Thursday night, in bowling shoes, McDermott presided over his official campaign-kickoff party at Roxbury Lanes just yards south of West Seattle. Among those in attendance were County Council colleagues Julia Patterson, Larry Phillips, Larry Gossett, and Bob Ferguson, State House Rep. Eileen Cody, elected city officials from Burien and Tukwila, members of the North Highline Unincorporated Council, and community advocates from neighborhoods in the 8th District including White Center, South Park, and Vashon. And from McDermott’s home neighborhood, West Seattle – his parents Terri McDermott and Jim McDermott:

Though all at the party were exhorted to have fun and get some bowling in, there was of course the opportunity for the candidate to offer a short speech first:

McDermott spent almost a decade in the State Legislature before moving to the County Council. The other candidate in this race so far is another West Seattleite, Diana Toledo, whom he also faced in last year’s general election. We covered her kickoff party at the Admiral Theater last week.

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Packed house for ArtsWest student art show reception/awards
May 26, 2011 11:19 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS culture/arts

(Photos by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB. This is “Summer,” Best in Show and Gervais Award winner, by Maddy Jones of Seattle Lutheran)
This week, ArtsWest Gallery in The Junction is full of work by local high-school students, and tonight was the reception/awards ceremony for the juried exhibit. Ellen Cedergreen was there for WSB and reports that there were a total of 14 winners in all from our area’s three major high schools: Chief Sealth International, Seattle Lutheran, and West Seattle High.

The show was judged by West Seattle-based artist RobRoy Chalmers. Arts West’s Nichole DeMent told WSB she chose him due to his visibility in so many different avenues in the arts, his potential for good leadership, and because he is “a fantastic artist.” Chalmers and DeMent handed out the monetary awards to the students, with “Best in Show” receiving a special award.

Read More

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Another Alaskan Way Viaduct closure coming up June 10th-13th
May 26, 2011 9:26 pm
|    Comments Off on Another Alaskan Way Viaduct closure coming up June 10th-13th
 |   Alaskan Way Viaduct | Transportation | West Seattle news

(WSDOT construction photo from May 20th)
This turned up in the latest “Seattle Area (Road) Construction Look Ahead” – the Alaskan Way Viaduct has another weekend closure coming up in two weeks, June 10th through June 13th. It’ll be structured like the one two weeks ago: The Viaduct is scheduled to be closed in its entirety 11 pm Friday, June 10th, through 5 am Monday, June 13th, except for the NORTHBOUND stretch between the stadiums and the Battery Street Tunnel, which will reopen at 10 am Saturday, June 11th (doesn’t do drivers heading out of West Seattle much good unless you take surface streets to the stadium-area northbound on-ramp). This is part of the ongoing work to rebuild the southern (Holgate to King) stretch of 99.

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Flags up at Forest Lawn Cemetery; Memorial Day service Monday
May 26, 2011 8:29 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Holidays | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

Gus Mears is one of the local Boy Scouts who, along with other volunteers, has been putting up flags and crosses on veterans’ graves at Dignity Memorial-Forest Lawn Funeral Home and Cemetery (WSB sponsor). We caught up with him just as they were finishing work this evening. His last stop was the only Civil War veteran’s grave at the cemetery east of High Point. You’re invited to honor veterans past and present at the annual Memorial Day service at Forest Lawn on Monday, co-sponsored by American Legion Post 160, 2 pm.

More than a thousand flags/crosses are placed each year on graves at Forest Lawn.

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Skate with Rat City Rollergirls on Alki (and elsewhere)
May 26, 2011 7:36 pm
|    Comments Off on Skate with Rat City Rollergirls on Alki (and elsewhere)
 |   West Seattle news | WS & Sports

Here’s the summertime chance of a lifetime – a six-week trail-skating series with the Rat City Rollergirls‘ “Rain of Terror” travel team. For six Thursday nights, starting June 2nd (one week from tonight), you’ll hit area skating trails “followed by a heart-pounding off-skates workout” and then a visit to “a nearby watering hole for a refreshing beverage.” RC Rollergirl “Lucinda Pack” shared news of this tonight and says spots are still available – the trails are all around the region, from Renton to Sammamish, with an Alki session planned, all ages welcome, $80 for the entire 6-week series (orientation plus 5 skating sessions, and a T-shirt). Here’s where to sign up.

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On the farm: Soccer star, Home Depot volunteers, Concord students
May 26, 2011 4:44 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   South Park | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Just over the ridge in South Park, an exciting day at the community food-gardening site known as Marra Farm. First, a soccer star from the Mexican national team – which is in Seattle to play the Ecuador national team on Saturday – stopped by to meet fifth-graders from nearby Concord International School. 44-year-old Luis Roberto Alves, known as Zague, hung out for a while with the students from Linda Martinez and Kate Ayers’ classes. Besides autographing, he also dropped into a pickup game of keep-away:

The students had walked over from Concord to join in on the final part of a work party with about 50 Home Depot employees from around Seattle:

Their volunteer work included donations of strawberry plants and materials for new garden beds; the West Seattle/Fauntleroy YMCA (WSB sponsor) facilitated the project through its programs at Concord (which is considered part of the West Seattle region for Seattle Public Schools), where the Y supports Head-Start preschool, Community Learning Center programs with after-school academic/enrichment classes, and before- and after-school child care.

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Zippy’s Giant Burgers to open its new location Tuesday at 10:30 am
May 26, 2011 1:20 pm
|      27 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants | White Center

The wait is almost over, for fans of Zippy’s Giant Burgers. West Seattle Blog/White Center Now contributor Deanie Schwarz has just spoken to Zippy’s proprietor Blaine Cook, who says the opening date/time is officially set – next Tuesday (May 31st), 10:30 am. Zippy’s left its original location in Highland Park on April 16th, amid much uncertainty that followed the building’s foreclosure (its previous owner ran the now-closed SeaMart store on site), and had hoped to reopen in White Center about a week and a half later, but challenges with permits and upgrades stretched the time far beyond what they had expected and hoped for. As first reported here in February, the new location is at 9614 14th SW.

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Mechanical problem delays Colman Pool opening till Sunday
May 26, 2011 12:26 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

Just in from Seattle Parks – A mechanical problem at Colman Pool is causing problems with heating the water that’s brought in from Puget Sound, so the pool won’t open for the season until Sunday, instead of Saturday, since the part won’t arrive in time for fast repairs. Usually, Parks explains, the water is heated to 84 degrees (from the upper-40s Sound temperature) – but even with the expected repair schedule, the water will be cooler than normal, in the 70s, when the pool opens on Sunday. Parks spokesperson Joelle Hammerstad tells WSB the problem is unrelated to the vault work that had been under way by the pool the past few weeks. Here’s more info from Parks’ frequently updated site “Parkways.” The pool’s schedule brochure (minus this change) can be seen here, and it includes word that Colman Pool will celebrate its 70th birthday with a 4th of July party, 1:45-4:45 pm.

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Seattle’s transportation needs: What would you pay for & how much?
May 26, 2011 11:47 am
|      17 COMMENTS
 |   Transportation | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

If you missed Monday night’s Citizen Transportation Advisory Committee workshop in West Seattle, the last of three planned around the city is tonight, at Washington Middle School (2101 South Jackson; map). The question posed here on Monday was two-fold: What are your transportation priorities, and how would you pay for them – would you support new taxes and fees, and if so, how much?

During the forum attended by about 20 people at the Southwest Library, the message delivered through boards and PowerPoint presentations – which are all linked here – was clear: Seattle’s transportation system is currently hanging by its financial fingertips, so if you want anything more than bare-bones progress, the city says, you will need to be further taxed, or tolled.

West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who lives in West Seattle and chairs the council’s Transportation Committee, spoke briefly as the gathering began. More ahead:Read More

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Vanquishing vandalism: West Seattle work party for Boren campus
May 26, 2011 10:31 am
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Delridge | How to help | West Seattle news

Those volunteer-created murals are destined for display on the vacant Delridge site that’s been interim home to many local schools – the former Louisa May Boren Middle School – in hopes that’ll cut down on repeated graffiti/tagging vandalism. Community advocate Pete Spalding is leading the project and invites you to be part of the next step:

Many Delridge area residents were disappointed and frustrated when the Seattle Public Schools district chose to board up the Louisa Boren School this year due to inactivity of the site. A number of community members pointed out to the school district that this would lead to tagging and potential vandalism to the site. As many of you have noted, this has in fact been the case.

After many discussions with School Board President Steve Sundquist and others within the school district, an idea came up to deal with the problem.

On a recent Saturday, 900 Starbucks volunteers showed up to do projects in the Mt. Baker neighborhood. At Franklin and Muir they had over 200 of these volunteers doing painting, grounds cleanup, and playground projects. One of the painting projects was to paint 40 plywood murals for the Boren building.

Now we need volunteers from our Delridge community to help finish the project. These 40 murals still need to have the back and sides painted to help increase the longevity of the murals. On Saturday, June 4th from 9 – 11 am there will be a work party at the Louisa Boren School site. Please come out and help your community in this project to attempt to curtail the tagging and vandalism at this location. All of the materials and tools to do this project will be provided.

If you are interested in helping, contact Pete at bayouwonder@comcast.net or call him at 206.579.4373. (Boren’s status, in case you wondered, is that it’s remaining in the SPS inventory for possible emergency use.)

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West Seattle Thursday: Parenting; politics; burlesque; wine; dinner
May 26, 2011 8:57 am
|      16 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Western Tanager! Photo from Paul in Seaview. Hear one here)
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:

PARENTING WORKSHOP: At Alki Arts (2820 Alki Ave SW), 7 pm – 8:30 pm, Creating a Whole and Healthy Family, with Bill Dean. This is for parents who are concerned about their kids who may be struggling, or who just want to find out how to assist their children as they begin to traverse the slippery slope of adolescence.

STUDENT ART RECEPTION/AWARDS: This week’s high-school-student art show at ArtsWest Gallery culminates in an artist reception/award ceremony event tonight, 6-7:30 pm.

WEST SEATTLE DEMOCRATIC WOMEN: 11:30 am at the West Seattle Golf Course. (New website: westseattledemocraticwomen.org) Speaker: Elaine Rose from Planned Parenthood Votes Washington on “legal issues in women’s reproductive rights” w/Q & A. Discussion Group before the meeting will discuss the DOMA or Defense of Marriage Act. Discussion Group meets from 10:30 am to 11:15; Registration begins at 11:15 am.; meeting begins at 11:30 am. Lunch $12 for members; $15 nonmembers; and $5 for drink/dessert. Call (206) 935-3216 to see about last-minute attendance.

CAMPAIGN KICKOFF: King County Councilmember Joe McDermott officially launches his re-election campaign at Roxbury Lanes, 5:30-7:30 pm – details here.

BURLESQUE: Westside Burlesque Review at Skylark Café and Club (WSB sponsor, 3803 Delridge Way SW). 21 and over only. Doors at 9 pm, cost is $7.

DINNER: Tuscan Tea Room and Romanza Floral in The Junction debuts dinner service tonight, Thursdays-Fridays-Saturdays, 5:30-10 pm. Menu here.

SANISLO FUNDRAISER: Thanks to Shane for the tip; order pizza from Red Star Pizza tonight, mention Sanislo Elementary, they get part of the proceeds.

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Update: Early-morning SWAT team action in West Seattle
May 26, 2011 6:01 am
|      46 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle police

(Photos added 6:36 am)
6:01 AM: We’re near 38th and Oregon, which is blocked to traffic because of police activity including the SWAT team.

6:10 AM: Police on scene won’t comment, but whatever it’s about, it’s ending, and they’re leaving. We received a few notes saying people in the area heard loud explosion-type noises within the past hour; there’s no indication from the Fire Department’s 911 log of anyone needing medical attention, but SWAT officers do use devices creating noise as a diversion – we’ll be asking if that’s what happened.

7:09 AM UPDATE: Det. Mark Jamieson with the SPD media-response unit confirms it was a warrant situation – a “high-risk search warrant” with the hopes of finding a particular (not publicly identified) suspect. As for whether they did or didn’t, he’s still checking, so we’ll probably have yet another update here later.

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Highland Park ‘sprayground’ centerstage for HP Action Committee
May 26, 2011 2:57 am
|      14 COMMENTS
 |   Highland Park | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

(Rendering of the infrastructure it’ll take to run the recirculating spray park)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

While nature’s own spray graced the world outside the windows of the Highland Park Improvement Club, HP’s forthcoming spray park – or “sprayground” – was the main agenda item for the HP Action Committee‘s monthly meeting Wednesday night.

It was something of a meeting within a meeting, as the first official Seattle Parks community meeting on the spray-park project – to be built at the site of the Highland Park wading pool (above), closed for almost three years – started after a short period of HPAC updates.

Project manager Kelly Goold began with an overview of how it began as a simple project with $200,000 planned from the Parks and Green Spaces Levy – whose Oversight Committee had two members on hand, chair Pete Spalding (from Pigeon Point) and member Donna Hartmann-Miller (from Maple Leaf) – until Carolyn Stauffer, now co-chair of HPAC, led a plan to seek more money from the levy’s Opportunity Fund (as first chronicled here in early 2010). The proposal won approval, and the spray park now has a $635,000 budget, which means “we’re going to be able to build a more robust spray park,” Goold explained. He says the city has applied for an additional $100,000 grant from the state’s Recreation/Conservation fund, but won’t know till early next year whether they’ll get it.

After the basic facts – it was time to talk design.Read More

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West Seattle schools: WSHS student accomplishments
May 25, 2011 10:32 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS culture/arts

Michelle Sloan at West Seattle High School shares news of several students’ accomplishments, starting with the above photo: It’s by Sage Taber, who won an award for it in the district’s annual art competition. It’s on display – as are other student works – at the Seattle Art Museum through June 5th … 20 creations by WSHS students are part of the ArtsWest Student Art Show that opened yesterday; tomorrow night, meet the young artists at a reception and awards ceremony, 6-7:30 pm. The show continues through Saturday … Student artist Jimmy Le will have work published in a student art book as the result of being selected in the Celebratingart.com competition … And last but not least, Michelle reports:

West Seattle High School Marketing students recently competed against each other in a Micro Loan competition. Student Marketing teams used the Kiva.org website to find small business entrepreneurs throughout the world who are in need of small loans to build their businesses. Students presented their entrepreneurs’ business to a panel of judges from the marketing/business industry. Holland America Cruise Line and West Seattle resident Jon Dawson and Marketing Judge Christa Peck contributed over $500 to fund the Micro Loans. After the loans are paid back (most within a year), West Seattle High School students will be able to loan the money out again to other small businesses throughout the world in need that cannot get loans through large banks.

Congratulations to all!

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Traffic alert: ‘Heavy rescue’ on southbound 99 at West Seattle Bridge exit
May 25, 2011 8:33 pm
|      9 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | WS breaking news

(Photo by Shari, via Twitter)
8:33 PM: We don’t know a lot about the circumstances yet, but there’s a “heavy rescue” callout on southbound 99 at the West Seattle Bridge exit; one caller tells us a car has “one wheel over the edge.” (And now we’re getting photos via Twitter too – just added one above – thanks to Shari and Judy for sharing theirs.) For now, if you happen to be in or north of downtown, you’ll want to find an alternate route back to WS. No information yet on injuries.

8:57 PM UPDATE: The Fire Department has cleared the scene, according to the 911 log, but still no official info yet. In comments, “Mn” says it appeared the driver was OK and talking with authorities.

9:35 PM UPDATE: Just drove The Bridge/99 downtown and back, and the scene is clear, everything moving normally.

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Happening now: Dining out for World MS Day Seattle
May 25, 2011 7:58 pm
|    Comments Off on Happening now: Dining out for World MS Day Seattle
 |   Health | How to help | West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

We caught up with World MS Day Seattle organizer William Khazaal and family as they arrived at Spring Hill in The Junction a short time ago. You still have the rest of the night to get out and dine/nosh at dozens of participating restaurants/lounges to raise money to help kids with multiple sclerosis, including more than 30 in West Seattle (Spring Hill, of course, among tem). The map page (with the sites listed on its left side) is here. Here’s the backstory on what the event is all about.

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Denny demolition: Schedule outlined; community meeting planned
May 25, 2011 5:18 pm
|      8 COMMENTS
 |   Denny-Sealth | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools


(CLICK FOR FULL-SIZE VERSION: Top of the rendering is west, left is south, right is north)
That’s the final layout of what will take the place of the current Denny International Middle School buildings at 30th/Thistle/Cloverdale, once they are demolished after the school year ends. BNBuilders, the contractor on the project, has just shared the rendering along with news that’s about to be distributed in the Denny-area neighborhoods, via door-hanger flyers: A community meeting to discuss the demolition/construction plan is scheduled for 6-8 pm June 14th at nearby Southwest Community Center. According to River Steenson from BNBuilders, “The agenda will cover an introduction of the project team and key members from the Seattle Public Schools district, Bassetti Architects, BNBuilders, etc. We’ll describe the project, review the schedule, what neighbors can expect to see over the coming months, answer any questions, etc.”

As for that demolition schedule – we’re told the contractor will take over the site on Monday, June 27th, days after school ends. After abatement work – removal of asbestos, doors, windows, etc. – actual teardown is likely to start in mid-July. Denny’s summer operations will be in the new adjacent-to-Chief-Sealth building (Denny’s new official address will be 2601 SW Kenyon). As noted here earlier this week, a June 11th farewell-to-the-old-building event is in the works.

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West Seattle High School alumni: After-party invitation!
May 25, 2011 4:41 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle High School alumni: After-party invitation!
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Just nine days till the West Seattle High School all-school reunion on June 3rd, announced a month ago, PLUS the annual after-party – Terese Machmiller wants to get the word out, particularly to prospective performers:

It’s that time of year again – the first Friday in June WSHS all-school reunion at the school starting around 5 pm and the fourth annual afterparty at The Bridge, starting after 8 pm.

In addition to live music brought to you by the Tim Turner Band following the all-school reunion, Tim once again invites fellow alumni performers to come share the stage at The Bridge at 4439 35th Ave SW (formerly Redline Music and Sports/Legends). As always, dedicated musicians will be on hand to back up other musicians – and as well, standup comedians, acoustics and other performers are encouraged.

In years’ past, WSHS alumni classes spanning about 50 years fill the house, with fellow classmates and even current WSHS faculty/musicians taking their turns on the stage. Tim keeps things hopping as a dynamic host and entertainer. This year, the space is newly renovated, the outdoor patio extended and polished up and the menu expanded. Come check it out, support our alumni musicians and a new Westside business, and kick up your heels to some rockin’ tunes!

PERFORMERS: Please contact Tim @ cell 206.271.5384 ASAP and no later than Tuesday 5/31 to reserve your performance slot, let him know what you have in mind to contribute and what you want by way of jam partners so Tim can get you covered.

Questions? You can reach Terese at 206-890-2277.

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West Seattle wildlife: Rare view of the ‘Lincoln Park lovers’
May 25, 2011 4:24 pm
|      22 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | Wildlife

That’s how Trileigh Tucker referred to them, headlining the note that included that photo:

I was delighted (Tuesday) evening to come across both of Lincoln Park’s resident Barred Owls together. Although we probably won’t be seeing owlets in the park this year, this pair is loyally mated for life and I’m sure they’ll try again next year. In the meantime, there’s lots of hunting available to keep them busy.

Thanks to Trileigh for this, and for sharing another photo of a different bird we’re saving for tomorrow!

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Bicycle-car crash at 35th and Barton, no serious injuries
May 25, 2011 4:04 pm
|      9 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | WS breaking news

The scene’s clearing, but in case you passed by and wondered – the police/fire response at 35th and Barton (map) this past hour was for a bicycle-car collision. Police were still sorting out how it happened but told us that no one was hurt badly enough to be taken to the hospital. It happened on the northwest side of the intersection.

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West Seattle buses: Sound Transit 560 service cuts kick in soon
May 25, 2011 1:52 pm
|      36 COMMENTS
 |   Transportation | West Seattle news

(Route 560 bus photo by Flickr member Atomic Taco)
The date is set for service cuts on Sound Transit Route 560 – June 11th. We found this out thanks to Nicholas, who uses Route 560 regularly between West Seattle and Sea-Tac and heard that the service was about to be reduced. ST spokesperson Kimberly Reason confirms it to WSB:

As first communicated last year in our DRAFT 2011 SIP (Service Implementation Plan) and posted in the final 2011 SIP, the 560 will continue to run during the weekday, but the route segment between West Seattle Junction and Burien Transit Center is being discontinued weeknights and weekends beginning June 11th. The West Seattle segment will operate from approximately 4:20 A.M. to 9:00 A.M. and from 3:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. on weekdays.

As background, total Route 560 ridership has declined about 23 percent between 2nd Quarter 2009 and the same period in 2010. This does not necessarily mean that these riders are lost but it is likely that many now use other public transit services.

With the increased availability of Metro alternatives between many of the points served by Route 560, the West Seattle-Burien segment will be deleted entirely except during weekday commuter hours. This will continue to provide West Seattle residents with direct access to the airport during peak demand times while achieving significant cost savings. Alternative West Seattle-Airport service is now available outside of commuter hours using Metro Route 128, which operates between West Seattle and the Tukwila International Boulevard Station with a one-station connection to the airport via light rail.

A detailed explanation (starting on page 72 of this document) notes also that midday service on the route was cut from every half hour to once an hour last year, and that too may account for ridership reduction. Meantime, another ST document notes that further restructuring of Route 560 is possible in 2013, “in conjunction with startup of Metro Rapid Ride Line F (Renton-Burien),” which is to replace Metro Route 140.

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