West Seattle, Washington
21 Thursday
Espresso is back at 16th and Holden in Highland Park! This is opening day for Jenny’s Java Joint, and proprietor Jen Francisco is thrilled to be up and running, with coffee from Zoka. (The congratulatory flowers on the left side of our photo are from family members, as she explained on Facebook.) We brought you her story just four weeks ago – and now her dream is reality. She’s open till 2 today, 6-2 tomorrow, 5-2 Mondays-Saturdays.
It’s a world of bargains until 3 pm today – and again 11 am-2 pm on Sunday – at Fauntleroy Church‘s 2nd-Time Sale. And it’s not just the small stuff – volunteers are excited about the barely used furniture donated this year:
The small stuff’s there too, of course. Commemorative spoons, anyone?
And it’s never too soon to get ready for Christmas:
Fauntleroy Church is at 9140 California SW. And NEXT weekend, it’s where you’ll find the twice-yearly Recycle Roundup – start stacking up your electronics and more now (but don’t bring them to the church parking lot until Sunday 9/23, 9 am-3 pm).
(West Seattle’s Friday sunrise – photo shared by Ashley – thanks!)
Last official weekend of summer – fall starts exactly one week from today (the equinox is at 7:49 am our time on Saturday 9/22). Not a moment to be bored, from traffic changes to big events:
NORTHBOUND 99 CLOSED: Between the West Seattle Bridge and Royal Brougham Way, northbound 99 is closed right now and scheduled to be closed until early Monday, as WSDOT gets ready to open the new elevated northbound section in SODO. (Here’s our photo-tour report of Thursday’s media briefing at the site.)
RIDE AROUND THE SOUND: West Seattle’s South Seattle Community College is the starting point for several versions of this many-options bike ride to raise money for the American Lung Association. Even if you’re not registered, you can register there before starting the ride, 6:30-8 pm for two of the longer rides, 11 am for the 12-mile family ride. Full details here.
SECOND-TIME SALE: At Fauntleroy Church (9140 California SW), 9 am-3 pm, “in and around the Fellowship Hall,” browse and buy at the big sale. Bake sale too!
HOLY ROSARY WESTFEST, ALL DAY & INTO THE NIGHT: 10 am-10 pm, it’s the second, final, and biggest day of Holy Rosary School‘s family festival, WestFest (on the campus along 42nd north of Oregon). Lots of info in our preview from earlier this week.
ALKI BEACH CLEANUP: Check in (and register if you hadn’t done so online already) at Duke’s on Alki, then head across the street and start cleaning up. as part of International Coastal Cleanup Day! 10 am-noon; details in the calendar listing.
ONE LAST DOGPADDLE: 10 am-1 pm today is the final session of swimming for dogs only at Arbor Heights Swim and Tennis Club‘s pool (already closed to humans for the season). Details/map here.
THE NOT-ITS AT HIGH POINT COMMUNITY CENTER: Fun band! They’re headlining a Family Fun Saturday at HPCC, starting at 10:30 am – $5 admission if you didn’t buy an advance ticket.
FIESTAS PATRIAS: Head to South Park for the parade at 11 am and festival afterward. Our partners at The Seattle Times have a detailed preview here.
HIGH POINT CC OPEN HOUSE: Right after The Not-Its’ show, 11:30 am is the start of an open house to which you’re invited, so you can find out more about the community center’s programs and facilities.
SECOND-TO-LAST DAY FOR COLMAN POOL: The renovation-shortened season ends tomorrow at West Seattle’s only city-owned outdoor pool (on the shore in Lincoln Park). Today, swim sessions run noon-7 pm – see the schedule for the breakdown.
HONEY HARVEST! Noon-4 pm, special event with Seattle Bee Works at West Seattle Produce – details on this Facebook event page.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS GRAND OPENING: 6-9 pm, see the art/wellness space and find out more about Photosynthesis.
GUITAR AND GEAR SHOW: At Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), a first-of-its-kind show, followed by Aaron Daniel performing live at 9 pm.
NIGHTLIFE: Several listings for today – see the calendar!
(Photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
Huge win for the West Seattle High School Wildcats varsity football team Friday night at Southwest Athletic Complex – 46-0 over the visiting Franklin Quakers – and a big night for #12, Joe Ylagan:
… though Franklin tried to stop him:
Eight more photos, with game notes, ahead:
Read More
If you like explosive, action-packed football, you wouldn’t have been disappointed if you had come early and stayed late Friday night at Chief Sealth International High School‘s road game against Rainier Beach HS. While RB scored on the opening kickoff and racked up 28 unanswered points by 30 seconds into the second quarter, the Seahawks made a go of battling back:
Two months ago, we reported on the city’s consideration of a system to automatically detect gunfire – and one vendor’s suggestion that it be purchased and placed in part of West Seattle, as well as two other “hot spots” in the city. (Here’s the story, which included the map you see above.) At the time, it was just a presentation – but now, Mayor McGinn says he is going to propose almost $1 million for a system – brand not specified, so far – in his budget plan for next year. Read the city announcement (which includes other public-safety-budget proposals) here.
(Photo by Patrick Sand)
Police were still talking to people at the scene, so we don’t have official information on how it happened, but a vehicle went up the embankment at Fauntleroy and Myrtle and took out one of the signs that the Gatewood Elementary PTA announced last February.
(Photo by Nick Adams)
No injuries reported.
(SATURDAY NIGHT UPDATE: Proprietor Miranda reports via FB that she has signed the lease.)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
She’s not sure yet whether it’s a total move or an expansion.
But Miranda Krone, proprietor of Meander’s Kitchen in north Morgan Junction, tells WSB she is signing the lease tomorrow for a space in White Center (the former Papa’s Pub, closed since February, at 9635 16th SW).
If you follow Meander’s on Facebook, you know she’s been talking for the past week-plus about a potential new location – first, maybe Delridge, then, maybe White Center. And now, the decision is in – like Zippy’s Giant Burgers before her, she’s heading south to WC.
Big buzz for a new festival – the West Seattle Junction Association‘s Harvest Festival on Sunday, October 28th (10 am-2 pm), an expanded, streets-closed version of the megapopular annual trick-or-treat event – combined with a one-time-only California SW version of the West Seattle Farmers’ Market. Here’s our report about the festival, as published when it was announced last weekend; now, the Junction Association is putting out the call for kids’ activities to be included in the festival. Excerpted from the announcement:
West Seattle schools, non-profits, and businesses are invited to provide a Harvest Activity for kids in the neighborhood. This will help make a fun and healthy event and give families an alternative to candy! The applicant will provide the materials and hopefully their own tent.
It is free to participate and the Harvest Committee will choose the projects best suited for the event. Your Harvest Activity must be a fun kids activity and meet ALL of the guidelines…
• Activity must be FREE and suited to children. No sales.
• Must try to have a Harvest connection and be an activity or project
• Activity should not be an advertisement or promotion of the
applicant. Of course have your banner and some materials, but the emphasis is on giving kids a fun activity and families an alternative to candy.
Got something in mind? You have just over two weeks to send in your proposal; applications will be reviewed October 1st. You can e-mail WSJA’s Susan Melrose at susan@wsjunction.org. (Postal-mail, fax options are on this PDF with the full announcement.)
In West Seattle Crime Watch this evening, Timothy reports his home was broken into this afternoon:
I wanted to alert the neighborhood (we live in North Admiral on 46th between Hill and Walker) of our house burglary today 9/14/12, around 12:30 pm. My wife, our two kids, and my visiting mother-in-law came home to a loud noise in the upstairs bedroom. A side ground level window was jimmied open, with a small hammer left on the ground which was used to pry the window up thus breaking the lock. My wife went upstairs to find a shoebox on the bed, where she keeps her meds, that had been rifled through. Her jewelry box was emptied, which fortunately mostly had costume jewelry in it. Her iPhone is missing too. The upstairs window was open with the blinds hanging on the outside.
It seems that this burglary was interrupted at the very beginning, and the thief exited the house onto the roof while my kids and wife and MIL entered the house. Fortunately, no one was injured and only a few things were stolen. … There were several neighbors around at this time, and only one finding was a “tall lanky white guy with light hair” was walking down the street, likely a coincidence.
If you have neighborhood crime concerns, note that the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council resumes its monthly meetings next Tuesday (September 18th), 7 pm at the Southwest Precinct (Delridge and Webster).
3:42 PM: One Genesee Hill area resident says she heard a “boom” – then the power went out. The outage wasn’t on the City Light map when we got that note, but it is now: 157 homes affected, with restoration expected by early evening. The cause is listed as “bird/animal.”
5:13 PM NOTE: Back on, according to commenters AND the City Light map. (The image above is a screengrab of the map, before the power was restored.)
After Mayor McGinn’s August 28th Town Hall meeting at Southwest Teen Life Center (WSB coverage here), we brought you followups on two of the issues citizens asked him about – computer access and a bike lane that was about to be built without neighborhood discussion. Now, a third – Alki Community Council president Tony Fragada called the mayor’s attention to the FAA’s public-comment process on the “Greener Skies” proposal, which would (among other things) bring the flight path a lot closer to Alki, Admiral, and the rest of north West Seattle. Today was scheduled to be the comment deadline – after public meetings last week, neither of which was in or near West Seattle (here’s our coverage of the closest one, which was in Ballard). We just got word from the mayor’s office that he has sent the FAA a letter asking for an extension, AND for a meeting on the south side of the city (Beacon Hill is concerned too). Read on for the full text of the letter:
Read More
An update on another Delridge Way road project – this time, transit-related work including the rechannelization of the north end, from Oregon to Andover, to add a bus lane. We first reported on this project back in April (there have been some changes since then – which we’ve added to the end of this story). Metro has just sent word that this work is scheduled to start soon:
A new bus lane will soon be under construction on Delridge Way Southwest to improve bus speed and reliability for Route 120 – one of Metro Transit’s Top 10 busiest routes.
During construction and restriping work, crews will maintain two open lanes of traffic by shifting lanes on Delridge Way Southwest. When weather-dependent construction starts later this month, work is planned during daytime hours outside of commute times, Tuesday through Saturday.
When complete, the half-mile-long northbound bus lane along a key stretch of Delridge Way Southwest will improve travel times approaching the West Seattle Bridge during the morning commute.
Wherever you are, the smoke that’s drifted over from fires to our east is hard to miss – for the reduced visibility and for the breathing difficulty it’s causing for some. Cliff Mass showed satellite views on his website Thursday, and that’s also when West Seattle pilot/photographer Long Bach Nguyen took the photo you see above. No rain in the forecast any time soon, by the way.
12:41 PM: If you’ve driven along Fauntleroy Way SW in recent days, you likely have noticed the missing fencing across the front of Fairmount Playfield. (One person even wondered if it might have been stolen.) It’s intentional – a replacement project is under way, says Seattle Parks spokesperson Karen O’Connor: “Seattle Parks and Recreation will be replacing the fence at Fairmount Playfield next week. To complete the project Parks will mark about 250′ of parking on the east side of Fauntleroy Way SW, south of Brandon Street, with ‘No Parking’ signs.” Find out more about the project here.
9 PM UPDATE: In case you’re wondering why the fenceposts have been there for some days with no work appearing to be done – Linda Hubert, Parks’ major-maintenance manager, explains what happened: “When the contractor removed the fence, he found an asphalt mow strip that we did not realize was there. Apparently, it had been covered over with turf for some years. The bid had been for replacement of fencing in the ground, and did not include paving. Our budget did not include paving. So, the contractor had to regroup, change his technique, order new materials, and will begin work again on Monday, September 17th. We are so sorry for the inconvenience to users. Fortunately, no games are scheduled until September 21st. The project should be complete by then.”
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
“Love The ‘Hood,” read the sticker worn by many of the three-dozen-plus neighbors who made Thursday night’s Southwest Design Review Board meeting the most-attended one in months.
Some even stood in the back of the room to listen, and to speak, as the board took up the 108-unit apartment project proposed for 3078 SW Avalon Way.
If you wonder, “what’s the big deal about another apartment building on Avalon?”, note that the neighbors, from 32nd SW behind the site and a few from adjacent sites on Avalon, were not there to protest or rage or weep. They said they had met four times since first word of the project exactly one month ago, and they came with clearly articulated requests and recommendations (as previewed here).
In the end, the project passed Early Design Guidance, and the architects went away with a list of recommendations to work on before the second, and possibly final, meeting.
(Photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
Dozens of businesses opened their doors again last night for the September edition of the West Seattle Art Walk, and we have a mini-photo tour of several stops this morning, from WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams. Twilight Artist Collective in The Junction opened its new “Cryogenic Nude America” exhibition – top photo is “The Last Cookout,” and it’s by The Collagemonauts, who are in the next photo – from left, Craig van den Bosch, Marty Gordon, and Tim Manthey:
Nick also visited Admiral and Alki venues – with sights including this:
Nine more Art Walk scenes ahead – and remember, most installations up through the month, so you still have a chance to see them even if you weren’t out last night!
Read More
(Photo by David Hutchinson, from low tide yesterday. Check tides on the WSB Weather page!)
For today’s preview, we point you to the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar, which includes the start of Holy Rosary School‘s WestFest (6-10 pm tonight), Rainbow Bingo at the Senior Center of West Seattle (doors open at 6 pm); high-school football (WSHS is at home, Sealth on the road, both games at 7); and the weekend-long closure of northbound 99 between the West Seattle Bridge and Royal Brougham, starting at 11 tonight. See EVERYTHING here – click on the right side of any line to expand the preview, then click “read more” for full details (including maps).
A major function of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce is to bring local businesses together so they know about and can potentially work with each other. Toward that end, the Chamber sponsors a monthly “After Hours” event, held at a different local business every time. Thursday night, Swedish Automotive (WSB sponsor) in Gatewood hosted visiting Chamber members; in our photo, that’s Chamber board chair Dave Montoure of West 5 at left, with Chamber staffer Terry Ahern and Swedish proprietor Dave Winters. Next week will mark two years since Swedish Automotive moved into its spacious, sustainability-focused location at 35th and Kenyon.
The King County Sheriff‘s race is a countywide vote, so when your ballot arrives next month, in advance of the November 6th election, you’ll have to choose between current Sheriff Steve Strachan – appointed when Sue Rahr resigned for a new job – and challenger John Urquhart. Their first joint appearance in this area was tonight in White Center, during the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council‘s quarterly Public Safety Forum, and it was an energetic hour-plus faceoff – all on video above. (That’s NHUAC’s Richard Miller introducing them, with Sheriff Strachan speaking first.)
Two lovely sunset photos shared by WSB’ers tonight. Top, Lise‘s photo from High Point Pond. Next, Susan shares a Puget Sound view:
Aside from some morning low clouds on Saturday, looks like sunshine all the way through the weekend!
A memorial is planned on September 23rd for Joe Miller, who died a week ago, just a few weeks short of what would be his 57th birthday. We received this tribute to share with you:
Joseph Brian Miller
September 24, 1955~September 5, 2012
Joe was born September 24, 1955 at the West Seattle Hospital to August “Gus” and Kathleen Miller. He was the 4th of 6 children and easily the most charming from birth. He was considered by some to be a local celebrity, everyone knew and loved Joe Miller. Words fall short to describe the good feelings everyone had for Joe Miller.
He was a graduate of Chief Sealth High School. He worked in sales and marketing for more than 30 years and lived many places, but his heart always remained in West Seattle where he was raised. Joe spent the last 20 with Trendwest Resorts, now Wyndham Resorts, frequently earning awards for his top performance. It was a natural fit for a man who truly loved people.
(Bumpy section of Delridge near Kenyon)
For the “I won’t believe it till I see it” contingent – the city is officially calling for bids on its plan to resurface Delridge Way SW south of Orchard. (See here and here.) As had been noted in our original reports, it’s a three-part proposal – they’re guaranteeing the resurfacing from Orchard to Henderson, no matter what; then if there’s money, they’ll go from Henderson to Roxbury on Delridge and that same stretch on 16th. The estimated “base bid” for the guaranteed part is $5.9 million to $6.5 million; for the extra work on Delridge, $1 million to $1.2 million more; for the extra work on 16th, $900,000 to $1.1 million more. Bids are due to be opened October 2nd. This plan was first mentioned during Mayor McGinn‘s May town hall in West Seattle; then in June, the city revealed at a Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting that it intends to “rechannelize” that section too (see the plan here).
| Comments Off on Jenny’s Java Joint: West Seattle’s newest coffee stand now open