West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
Two updates tonight on West Seattle help for Japan. First, we checked in again with West 5‘s Dave Montoure on the second day of tallying up the donations/proceeds percentages from the nearly 30 businesses that joined in West Seattle For Japan on Sunday:
As of 2:00 p.m. we had passed the $6,000 mark, with 15 businesses left to collect from. Getting e-mails that several of those businesses made deposits after I checked at 2:00 p.m. Tremendous!
West 5 also is hosting a “tweet-up” (Twitter users’ gathering) on Thursday night that will include a Japan-fundraising raffle, starting at 5:30 pm.
Meantime, Community School of West Seattle is getting ready for a fundraising bake sale – teacher Jen Foster shares the update, and this photo:
Jen writes:
In a whole school effort, students, teachers and parent volunteers have been busy all day baking for our bake sale.
We will have some gluten-free, some nut-free, and of course typical bake-sale favorites like brownies and Rice Krispie treats for purchase.
Last year we were lucky to have a Japanese pre-school teacher, Mayuko, who returned to Japan in September. While she was with us, she taught the kids some Japanese words and origami. When the students heard about the earthquake and tsunami they thought of Mayuko. We have been in contact with her through e-mail and Facebook, and she said the best way to help was to send $ to the Red Cross.
*All of the bake sale proceeds will benefit the Red Cross.
Our k-2 class has been busy making origami cranes. These cranes have been strung onto mobiles and will be for sale also. The class decided that they would like to donate their proceeds to Mercy Corps.
Bake sale at CSWS, 9450 22nd Ave SW
Thursday 2:45 PM-3:30 PM
Friday 11:45-12:30 PM
As first reported here yesterday, the King County Water Taxi‘s West Seattle-to-downtown run will start its new spring/summer 7-day-a-week schedule on April 8th. And now we have details of how that’ll work this year, including shuttle and game-day plans. The schedule is online here, and you can read on for the overview!Read More
Among the many ongoing changes related to Alaskan Way Viaduct and Spokane Street Viaduct construction, here’s one that starts tomorrow, affecting bicyclists:
Starting Wednesday, March 30 through Friday, April 8, crews will route bicycles off of both directions of Alaskan Way S. between S. Atlantic Street and S. Royal Brougham Way while they rebuild the entrance into the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 46. Cyclists will need to follow a signed detour route via East Frontage Road S.
Find more information about the detour – including a map – by going here.
We’re at the King County Courthouse, where the hearing we came for lasted barely a minute. The defendant: 46-year-old Duane Starkenburg, the West Seattle man arrested in late January and charged with indecent liberties for allegedly attacking three women in Lincoln Park over the past seven months. This was to be a “case-setting” hearing; Starkenburg’s lawyer asked for a continuance (postponement), as they continue to receive and review various records in the case, he told the judge; the prosecutor did not object. So Judge Ronald Kessler agreed to the defense’s request to set Starkenburg’s next appearance for May 3rd. Starkenburg did not speak; we won’t have a new photograph from today, but he looked about the same as he did at his last hearing (see photo in this February story), close-shaven head, wearing a dark suit. He remains free on $175,000 bond, and remains under orders to stay out of all parks in King County.
The latest Land Use Information Bulletin from the city brought word that the proposal to renovate the interior of the Shoremont Apartments on Alki is proceeding – it’s been determined no environmental review is needed. You’ll recall the twin apartment buildings were once proposed for demolition, to make way for an ultra-modern development planned 3 years ago; then foreclosure led to new ownership. This morning, we talked for the first time with new owner Dennis Schilling, who tells WSB he bought the Shoremont because he has “always liked small brick buildings … I thought (these) were pretty interesting.” More about his plans, ahead:Read More
10:40 AM: Police and fire are now rushing into Fairmount Ravine (Fairmount Avenue south of Harbor). There is a report via scanner that someone went off the Admiral Way Bridge over the ravine. Avoid Fairmount from either end. Crews on scene report via radio that they do not believe the person survived.
10:53 AM: Though Fairmount is not blocked on the Harbor Avenue end, the emergency response is centered near the underside of the bridge. Units have just called by radio for the Medical Examiner to be summoned, which is a confirmation that the person died.
11:07 AM: Authorities on the scene tell WSB this is believed to be suicide. Identifying the victim will be up to the ME, who has not yet arrived. Traffic remains blocked off along Fairmount on both sides of the site where the road goes under the bridge. It has been three years since the last such death on which we reported.
EDITOR’S NOTE: If you are wondering why we are reporting this, when some media do not: Suicide is an epidemic – claiming more lives than homicide – that must be addressed, not ignored; we report it here along with other violent deaths, and as per experts’ recommendations, offer resource information: If you or someone you know has contemplated suicide, the local Crisis Clinic is there to help: 206/461-3222. There’s a national hotline at 800/SUICIDE
5:41 PM: We asked the Fire Department if they had any age/gender information from the time their crews spent at the scene; Lt. Sue Stangl says their report notes only that the victim was an adult female.
Petition signatures have just been turned in at City Hall by the group Protect Seattle Now, seeking a public referendum vote this summer on the tunnel-related measures recently passed by the City Council, then vetoed by Mayor McGinn, whose veto was overturned by councilmembers. The group says they have almost 29,000 signatures; here’s their announcement, including a challenge to the mayor and council (2:10 PM UPDATE – responses from the council and city attorney, who is taking this whole thing to court, have been added, ahead):Read More
Just got to the scene of what originally drew a sizable “rescue” response from Seattle Fire crews but has now scaled back – a car up on the sidewalk at 28th/Trenton. According to scanner traffic from the call to cancel most responding units, “no major injuries.” Major advisory on this – be careful driving this stretch of SW Trenton, northwest of Westwood Village, till the scene is clear.
According to the Daily Journal of Commerce (if you subscribe, here’s the link), West Seattle’s Westwood Village shopping center is about to get a new owner. The DJC says Bentall Kennedy is buying Westwood Village from Wesbild for $78 million but isn’t planning major changes (the article mentions parking-lot upgrades, and painting). The DJC says Wesbild also just sold Burien Town Square, to a different buyer, for $14 million. The current WV website says Wesbild has owned the center for more than 20 years.
(Melanie says this owl is now a fixture in her West Seattle backyard)
Good luck to the Roxhill Elementary Bulldogs, Sanislo Elementary Ice Dodos, and Concord’s Orange Dragons as they go downtown tonight to compete with seven other teams in the citywide finals of the Global Reading Challenge. Public’s welcome at the Central Library, 7 o’clock. Also today/tonight:
BENEFIT CONCERT: West Seattle Community Orchestras‘ Symphonette and Beginning Strings perform a community outreach concert at 7 pm at Concord International School (723 S. Concord in South Park) to benefit the music programs of Concord and Arbor Heights Elementary in West Seattle. Musical selections will include several of Disney’s most popular tunes from “Mary Poppins” as well as youth orchestra standards. Suggested donation, $1.
FREE SCREENING AT HEALTH FAIR: Senior Center of West Seattle‘s Health Fair 10 am-1 pm today includes free peripheral-arterial-disease screening by Futura Health Screening (WSB sponsor).
LIVING WELL WITH CHRONIC CONDITIONS: Also at the Senior Center, this 6-week class begins, 1-3:30 pm, call 932-4044 to see if space remains.
INTERGENERATIONAL BOOK CLUB: Tibbetts United Methodist Church (WSB sponsor) sponsors an intergenerational book club. Readers of all ages are welcome. Potluck and dessert as this month, the discussion centers around “The Book Thief,” a gripping tale set in WW2 Germany. 5:30 pm; for more info, call the church office at 206 932-7777.
More on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar!
By Bill Hutchison
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Continuing to reach out to help Japan is important, not just in the short run, “because it’s going to take years to recover from this,” observes Chef Hajime Sato.
For the owner of Mashiko Restaurant in The Junction – who joined in Sunday’s West Seattle for Japan fundraising effort (WSB photo at left) – the recent earthquake in Japan and ensuing tsunami hit too close to home. Hajime grew up in Utsunomiya, an inland city in the Tochigi Prefecture of Japan, not that far from the quake zone. His immediate family is safe here in the USA but he has many extended family and friends near the disaster areas.
Luckily, everyone is okay. The hardest part of dealing with the disaster was trying to communicate with friends and family. “Trying to get hold of someone by phone was frustrating and nearly impossible for the weeks following the disaster”, he said. As it turned out he finally did so by using e-mail and other online methods, such as Facebook.
Asked how he first heard about the March 11th quake, Hajime told a story full of irony. He was vacationing in Hawaii (on the Big Island) and went to his hotel room after dinner. While watching TV, he started seeing the stories about what just happened in Japan. Suddenly, Hawaii was under a tsunami watch. Hajime and his girlfriend struck up a conversation with a hotel employee summoned to his room to fix the internet connection and asked, “Where do you go if there is a tsunami?”
It’s the 2nd Annual “Dogs For Dogs” Dog Social at Muttley Crew Cuts (4200 SW Admiral Way Suite C) from 7 to 10 pm. Muttley Crew Cuts offers kennel-free grooming, and doggie daycare and boarding in the Admiral District for West Seattle canines.
You are invited to socialize with other dog owners while your K9 friends play. There is a raffle and $2 “dogs”, beer and wine (w/ ID), and snacks. All proceeds go to English Springer Rescue America (ESRA).
You can RSVP on the Facebook Event page here.
That’s the Rev. Dr. Donald Schmidt, in his second year leading Admiral Congregational UCC Church in West Seattle, offering a Buddhist prayer during an interfaith candlelight vigil Monday night. It wasn’t a fundraiser, as Rev. Dr. Schmidt reminded participants, but they did have baskets available for anyone who wanted to donate. The March 28th vigil idea, he said, was inspired by Greenpeace.
Heike shared that Admiral Theater ad from the January 23, 1942, “Seattle Daily Times.” We asked how the old paper was found. Reply: “We put a few can lights into the ceiling, and had to go up into the attic for rewiring. Pretty amazing that it’s been there all this time!”
Longing for the warmer months so you can get out and garden? Here’s something to fuel your dreams: The West Seattle Garden Tour may seem like a long way off – three and a half months! – but tonight, you can preview the gardens on this year’s tour. WSGT’s website is now in full bloom, so to speak, and that includes the garden descriptions and photos. For example, check out the “Outrageous Waterfront Garden.” This year’s tour is July 17th, and there’s still a little time to sign on as a sponsor, too (we did) – proceeds benefit local nonprofits; sponsorship info is here.
West Seattle journalist Kathy Mulady has reported on the Charlestown Street Café‘s ups and downs over the past five years, for the Seattle P-I and for WSB. Following up on our Sunday report of the café’s imminent closure, she went there today to cover the first day since the bad news hit.
(Café owner Ron Hanlon and longtime staffer Shavaun Bartlett)
Story and photos by Kathy Mulady
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Ron Hanlon is done, and so is the Charlestown Street Café he has owned for more than 30 years.
Customers strolling in for their regular breakfast or lunch today were stunned by the note on the door announcing that the restaurant that has been so much a part of their lives will be closing for good at 3 p.m. next Sunday, April 3 (as reported here yesterday morning).
Hanlon said he will stay open long enough to serve a final meal to the after-church crowd, but that’s it. There will be no last-minute rescue this time.
“It’s very sad. This has been a community gathering spot for a long time. The landlord wants to move on,” said Hanlon. “A long-term lease for us is out of the question.”
The last four years have been a roller coaster for Hanlon and his regulars.
The business survived threats of demolition, a kitchen fire that closed the restaurant for four months, and was finally done in by a sour economy that refuses to rebound.
“The bottom fell out of the economy and we never recovered,” said Hanlon, who turned 65 this year, but insists he isn’t ready to retire.
Just a few weeks ago he bought new chairs for the restaurant, thinking that he would keep going.
Three school updates tonight:
MADISON MIDDLE SCHOOL MUSIC UPDATE: From the WSB inbox:
The Madison Middle School band, under the direction of Clark Bathum, performed at the All-District Middle School Band Concert at Eckstein Middle School, Thursday, March 24. They played “Into the Storm” by Robert W. Smith and listened to 12 other band performances. Select Madison musicians performed “Trombone King” by Karl L. King with the All-District Honor Band. This was the largest number of middle-school bands performing at the All-District concert to-date. Go Bulldogs!
ARBOR HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY NOTE #1 – PLANT SALE! Thanks to Cori for sending word that the Arbor Heights Elementary School fundraising plant sale is under way. They’re taking orders through April 11; pickup will be April 30th. The plant list and order form can all be found at this link on the AH website. Another green tidbit:
Thanks to the AH parent volunteer who shared that photo of the school’s new Up-Cycling and Recycling Center. It’s the creation of second-grade teacher Angie Nall (shown with kindergartener Ella), described by our tipster as “the powerhouse behind the school’s composting and Up-Cycling programs,” several of which AH participates in. (There’s more about “up-cycling” here.)
With the West Seattle Water Taxi resuming service today after several days off for repairs, some have asked when the 7-day-a-week spring/summer schedule will begin. We got the answer from the office of West Seattle’s King County Councilmember Joe McDermott: April 8th, one week from this Friday. The official schedule isn’t online yet but should be available soon. Councilmember McDermott, by the way, recently became chair of the King County Ferry District board, which oversees the Water Taxi.
(VIDEO ADDED: This afternoon’s council meeting, in its entirety, from Seattle Channel)
Three notes of local interest from this afternoon’s Seattle City Council meeting (besides the major citywide headline, the Families/Education Levy going to the ballot):
WHITE CENTER/NORTH HIGHLINE ANNEXATION: We have been tracking this on partner site White Center Now. It took yet another turn today. End result: While the council is on record as saying it will make a final decision by the end of next February on whether to seek an annexation vote, amendments today make it clear that if Burien wants to start the ball rolling on annexing White Center and the rest of North Highline in the meantime, they won’t object. More here.
ADMIRAL SAFEWAY VOTE DELAY: As reported previously, City Council approval is needed for the change in one part of the Admiral Safeway project – doubling the number of apartments in the building on the site’s southeast side to 79, because the original plan for flex-work units could not get financing. After committee approval last week, the full council was supposed to vote today, but Councilmember Tom Rasmussen asked and received a 1-week delay, saying he wanted to review the public record.
HEARING SET FOR ‘ALLEY VACATION’ ON JUNCTION PROJECT: It’s been two years since the last notable public meetings related to Conner Homes‘ proposal for two buildings along SW Alaska between 42nd and California; the “underground alley vacation” that is part of the plan, facilitating the 2 buildings to share 1 parking garage, is just now reaching the council, which today agreed to set April 26th for the official public hearing on that part of the plan. (Council approval is needed since alleys, even just the underground sections of them – the aboveground section of this one would remain an alley – are considered public right-of-way.) SDOT’s street/alley-vacation specialist Beverly Barnett explained why this is coming up now (after the jump):Read More
Just in from West 5‘s Dave Montoure, organizer of Sunday’s communitywide West Seattle for Japan benefit:
Initial deposits are in: 7 of 28 participating businesses have collected $3665.11. This is an exciting number to report this early in the collection, and remember all these funds will be matched.
There are two remaining West Seattle for Japan posters at West 5 that can be had for a donation (in any amount), just ask the bartender on duty. We will be printing an additional dozen posters that will be available at the West 5 this week.
This Thursday, an informal “tweetup” will be held at West 5, with participants raffling items and donating proceeds to West Seattle for Japan.
Many thanks to Viking Bank West Seattle for providing the ³West Seattle for Japan² account and agreeing to waive account fees. They will even allow donors to this account use their coin counting machine at no charge (dig in the sofa!). This account will remain open for several weeks, and anyone can swing in to make a donation.
Thanks West Seattle!
Dave Montoure
The architects who are working on the plan to renovate the Alki Homestead, closed since an electrical fire in January 2009, will return to the city Landmark Preservation Board‘s Architectural Review Committee this Friday morning. It’ll be the third time they appear before the committee, which doesn’t vote, but rather advises applicants on their project before they get to a vote of the full board – whose approval is required for an official city landmark to proceed with renovations/modifications. The meeting is open to the public and is scheduled for 9:30 am this Friday at the Municipal Tower downtown; here’s our report on the first review in January, and the second review last month. The proposal seeks to renovate the historic Fir Lodge as a restaurant, with banquet facilities, and an added structure to its rear (west side) that would house the kitchen among other things.
Just out of the WSB inbox:
King County Metro is hosting two transportation focus groups for West Seattle residents in April 2011:
King County Metro is bringing a new program to West Seattle in the Admiral, Alaska, and Morgan Junctions. The focus groups are designed to help shape a new program to increase the number of people walking, biking, taking the bus, and carpooling in and out of West Seattle.
Two focus groups will be hosted on the following days/times:
Tuesday April 5th at Hope Lutheran Church, 4456 42nd Avenue SW, from 6pm to 7:30pm
Wednesday April 6th at Gatewood Elementary, 4320 SW Myrtle Street from 6pm to 7:30pmParticipants will receive a 2011 Chinook Book a guide to living well and having fun in the Puget Sound good for savings of up to $3,000 at local businesses. Food and beverages will be provided.
Space is limited. Reserve your spot at www.westseattletalks.org or by calling Derrick Van Kirk 206-652-2310 or emailing derrick@feetfirst.org
It was a big weekend for restaurant news in West Seattle – Charlestown Café announcing its imminent closure, A Terrible Beauty adding a Junction location, the Chaco Canyon Café open house, and the opening date set for the new Beachside Café inside what was until November the Alki Bakery‘s flagship retail location. After the latter announcement, we asked the Beachside’s owners – Sharon and John Bang of the across-the-street Alki Café – for a sneak peek inside. It’s undergone some freshening, but not a dramatic overhaul:
When Beachside Café opens at 7 am next Monday, April 4th, you’ll be able to get hand-pulled espresso (see the machine in the top photo) – the owners say their staff just received training from coffee provider Caffe Vita. (Other vendors are listed in their Friday announcement.) There’s lots of brand-new preparation equipment, including the soft-serve frozen-yogurt machine:
And the waffle machine:
Even the cash-register equipment is new; much of the equipment from the Alki Bakery was more than a decade old. A new menu board is on the way, hand-chalked by a local artist. And they’ve done some repainting, though they kept the burgundy color on the south side of the interior, while using a “khaki” tone for much of the rest. The tables and chairs have gotten a facelift too, and in addition to fountain drinks, you will also see a few coolers with bottled drinks. Meantime, back across the street at Alki Café, they’re launching some menu changes, too – more burgers and salads. (Next Monday’s opening of Beachside comes just two months after they finalized the lease.)
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