West Seattle, Washington
20 Monday
Two development updates this morning:
DESC DELRIDGE PROJECT SCHEDULE: We checked with DESC after noticing an online business-publication ad seeking “sub-bids” for this project – 66 units of “supportive housing” at 5444 Delridge Way SW, much-discussed since the project first came to light in June 2011 (all of our coverage is archived here, reverse chronological order). Its land-use permit was issued a month ago; the construction permit is still pending. According to DESC executive director Bill Hobson, Walsh Construction – whose portfolio includes Youngstown – is the general contractor, and that’s who is soliciting subcontractor bids right now. (Its ad describes the project as 75 units, its original size, but Hobson says that is a mistake, and it remains at 66.) Regarding when work will begin, he tells WSB, “We anticipate starting construction sometime in the first 2 weeks of November.”
FORMER ‘PSYCHIC BARBER’ SITE: We have reported on the building at 5247 California SW largely through the relocation of its longtime tenant, “Psychic Barber” Rick Cook, now at The Classic Barber Shop further north on California. He called our attention to the demolition work now under way behind the one-story commercial building, and we went by yesterday afternoon:
Rick says the house is gone as of early this morning, while the commercial building’s still standing. Timetable for its demolition isn’t as clear, as the proposal for a three-story building at the site, with underground parking, is still in the early stages. We’ll be following up with the owner, who didn’t want to discuss his plans in detail last time we checked.
You could call that a pop-up library as well as a “free library,” which is how Linda described it, sharing the photo and explaining:
My dad and son, both West Seattle residents, made a free library in honor of what would have been my mom’s 71st birthday. She was a public-school teacher for many years.
Linda says you’ll find it in “the corner of my yard at 6119 SW Spokane Street” (map).
(Great blue heron photographed by Danny McMillin, shared via Flickr)
Midway through the week – you can glide from here! Highlights from the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar:
1ST AVENUE SOUTH OFFRAMP ON EASTBOUND BRIDGE REOPENS: It closed four weeks ago, and by morning’s first light, SDOT says it will be open again, along with a stretch of eastbound surface S. Spokane St.
TRAFFIC ALERT #2: Another overnight southbound 99/Viaduct closure, 9 pm to 5 am.
BEACH DRIVE WORK REMINDER: Resurfacing continues today, 8 am-7 pm, between Atlas and Juneau. Here’s our Tuesday report.
BABY PEPPERS: 10:30 am, it’s the weekly meeting of a West Seattle support group for parents with babies. Find out more here.
HIGH POINT MARKET GARDEN FARM STAND: Fresh-vegetable sales continue on Wednesdays at the stand next to the organic mini-farm at 32nd and Juneau, 4-7 pm. More info here.
GIRLS’ FIGHT NIGHT OUT: Self-defense and spa treatments are all on the program, starting at 6:30 pm at The Sanctuary @ Admiral (42nd/Lander). Details here.
SANISLO ELEMENTARY PTSA: 6:30 pm in the school library, first meeting of the school year.
K-5 STEM AT BOREN PTA: 7 pm, first meeting of the school year at West Seattle’s newest school (which by the way has a robust discussion group online, here).
DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOODS DISTRICT COUNCIL: The agenda for tonight’s 7 pm meeting at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW) includes an SDOT update on changes in the works for Delridge Way and a Seattle Public Utilities update on stormwater projects in the works for eastern West Seattle.
NCOMPASS’S BACKYARD COTTAGE WORKSHOP: What are the rules? The benefits? The prerequisites? WSB sponsor Ncompass Cottage Company presents everything you want to know about building a backyard cottage, 7 pm, details here.
‘BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON’: 7:30 tonight, it’s opening night for the Tony-nominated musical that starts the 2012-2013 season for ArtsWest in The Junction. Here’s our preview from last night.
More on the calendar!
Neighbors brought concerns to tonight’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting – exactly what the meeting’s for. A big one involves a situation that’s been reported and discussed here – a house in Upper Morgan linked to a recent arrest in a neighborhood some blocks north. Read on for that, the latest crime trends, updates on recent cases including last night’s search, and more:
Thanks to Bill Bacon for sharing a sunset photo tonight (taken at Lincoln Park)! Looks like more full-color sunsets ahead, because the forecast remains rain-free. If you’re looking for storms – look east. A few thousand miles east.
Five and a half months after ArtsWest revealed the productions comprising its 2012-2013 season (WSB coverage here and here), its season opener is about to hit the playhouse’s West Seattle Junction stage. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is opening night for the Northwest premiere of “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” a Tony-nominated musical, directed by Christopher Zinovitch, with musical direction by Kim Dare. In ArtsWest’s announcement last March, it was described as a “comedic audacious mix of historical fact and fiction surrounding America’s controversial seventh president — the man who invented the Democratic Party, drove the Indians west, and ultimately doubled the size of our nation,” with “outrageous comedy, anarchic theatricality, and a rock score.” It runs through October 20th, Wednesdays-Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 3 pm (with a few exceptions to that schedule, so check here – same link where you can buy tickets online).
Just stopped by Proletariat Pizza (9622 16th SW in downtown White Center) to catch Stefanie and Mike Albaeck and family for a quick photo to mark the popular pizzeria’s 3rd anniversary. (Here’s our 9/18/09 report on partner site White Center Now.) Busy night, which is also good news for the White Center Food Bank, to which Proletariat is donating 30 percent of the night. (WC Food Bank also serves south West Seattle, from SW Myrtle south.) They’re open till 9 pm.
(WSB video from start of last year’s first-ever Beat the Burn 5K – this year it’s at Jack Block Park)
New info today about Beat The Burn, the 5K fundraiser coming up September 30th at Jack Block Park and along the West Seattle waterfront: They point out it’s not ONLY a 5K – it’s also a community festival with everything from food trucks to kayaking to the legendary Bubbleman:
The Port of Seattle Fire Department/Local 1257 Firefighters and the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters Burn Foundation would like to invite you to bring the family and join us on Sunday, September 30th at Jack Block Park on the scenic West Seattle Waterfront.
The BEAT THE BURN 5K RUN/WALK event is open to all runners, walkers and family members of all ages. Join us for a fire engine siren start, live music by SLACKER, a local band favorite, health and safety displays, Lumpia World and Sweet Wheels food trucks, entertainment, beer garden, a kid’s area. And don’t miss the Alki Kayak Tours standup paddle board and kayak demonstrations at 11:00 a.m., the Bubbleman at 11:30 a.m. and the Northwest Disaster Search Dogs in action at 12:45. And we’ll have hourly drawings for $100 Gift Cards compliments of Salty’s and a $200 Gift Card from El Gaucho for the first runner across the 5K finish line. And don’t forget to pick-up your 2012 Firefighter Calendar; we’re giving away 100 copies!
Come meet the firefighters at Jack Block Park and join us for a fun outing on the West Seattle waterfront. It’s all for a great cause – to help send young burn survivors ages 7-17 to Camp Eyabsut. Thank you. Register at saveburncamp.org
For another week – till Wednesday 9/26 – you can also register in person at West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor).
We hear about coyotes and raccoons all the time, but West Seattle chicken owner Alyssa says you should keep your eyes on the skies:
I live on 35th near Kenyon Hall and have 3 little backyard chickens. I thought I should let everyone know…I had the little chickens free ranging in the yard (Monday) and a hawk literally swooped down and would have taken them if I hadn’t lunged. I was sitting about 10 feet away and saw it coming in my peripheral vision. I knew we had dogs/cats/raccoons/opossums/rats after our chickens, but this one actually surprised me! Of course I didn’t get a picture, but it looked possibly like a cooper’s hawk? It was brown with white streaks on the wings, not too big, maybe 16 inches tall? I have attached a picture of the chickens, it was the little ones it went for — they are only a couple of months old. West Seattle needs scarecrows, I guess??
P.S. In the vein of the “co-existing with coyotes” link we often include in those reports, we have found a “Living with Wildlife: Hawks” link for info from the state, if you’re interested.
Another section of the remaining bumpy stretches of Beach Drive is getting help right now – Atlas to Juneau, as announced by SDOT last week. Traffic is getting through, but one lane at a time, so you may have to stop and wait for a bit. The work is expected to continue till about 7 this evening and then again 8 am-7 pm tomorrow. With this and the section that was repaved back in May, only the section abutting the long-disputed (now settled), slide-prone slope will remain, and the city says that’ll be fixed once the slope work is done (no timetable yet).
We know more today about what’s planned for Fairmount Park Elementary before Seattle Public Schools reopens the closed-since-2007 campus. Last week, it was explained at the school board’s work session about the BEX IV levy (WSB coverage here) that the district planned “an addition” at Fairmount Park, which in turn, administrators said, would eliminate the need to reopen the former Hughes Elementary, currently leased to independent Westside School (WSB sponsor). But we didn’t know the details until this week’s school-board meeting agenda. District documents show it is planned as an eight-classroom addition, and the board will be asked tomorrow night to approve almost a million dollars for its design. It is proposed as an addition to a contract Miller Hayashi Architects already had for design/engineering work to get the school in shape for reopening in the fall of 2014. The district has not said yet what kind of program it plans for the reopened school – regular neighborhood school or something else (such as permanent home of the K-5 STEM school just opened at Boren on Delridge).
Tomorrow marks exactly 31 years since Greggette R. and Dwight K. Guy were wed at a church in Burien. Today – six months and one week after Mrs. Guy was murdered in West Seattle – her husband (above) came from Kent to stand in a South Seattle parking lot with other murder victims’ families, showing support for a new billboard/bus-board campaign. CrimeStoppers and Seattle Police are among the sponsors of “Who Killed Me?”, which will place billboards around the city, showing murder victims’ faces, and imploring people with any information to come forward. Dwight Guy did not speak at today’s media event, but several of those on hand did, often emotionally. (Added – here’s our video of the entire event:)
Mr. Guy’s message, in a conversation with WSB afterward, is the same: Even if it takes years, his wife’s killer can be found and brought to justice. Organizers tell us a billboard will be put up in West Seattle with Mrs. Guy’s photo; they’re checking on the planned location (update – it’ll be on Harbor Avenue near the bridge). The first billboard, unveiled during the media event, highlights three other unsolved killings.
For more on where the Greggette Guy case stands, here’s our detailed followup from last week. P.S. There is one more West Seattle case on SPD’s list of spotlighted unsolved murders in the past 2 years – that of Kaari Higgins, a Fauntlee Hills woman whose January 2011 death was not classified as a homicide till long afterward. Find out more about Ms. Higgins, Mrs. Guy, and the other unsolved-murder victims here.
(Photo by Machel Spence)
Neighborhood crime concerns? Questions for police? Tonight the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council resumes its season of monthly meetings. That’s one of the highlights from the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar:
TRAFFIC ALERTS: From our latest day-by-day/night-by-night list: In West Seattle, SDOT announced Beach Drive repaving between Atlas and Juneau would start today, 8 am-7 pm. No closure expected but lane restrictions. On the highways, another southbound 99 closure between Battery Street Tunnel and West Seattle Bridge, 9 pm-5 am. And a Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project note – there’ll be work on the surface at 1st/Spokane tonight because the eastbound 1st Avenue South offramp is scheduled to reopen tomorrow morning.
JUDGE SPEAKS TO ROTARY: As previewed here on Monday, King County Superior Court Judge Mary Yu speaks to the Rotary Club of West Seattle today, noon at Salty’s on Alki (WSB sponsor).
PROLETARIAT PIZZA’S ANNIVERSARY GIFT: Three years ago today, the popular family-owned pizza place opened in downtown White Center, and they’re celebrating by donating 30 percent of tonight’s take to the White Center Food Bank. Hours 4 pm-9 pm.
DROP-IN CHESS: For youth, at High Point Library, starting at 4 pm.
JOIN A DRILL TEAM! The Spinnakers are having an open house at Highland Park Elementary tonight, 6-8 pm. Details here.
EVENING BOOK GROUP: “In the Time of the Butterflies” by Julia Alvarez is the featured book this month for the group meeting tonight at High Point Library (35th/Raymond), 6 pm.
WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL: After summer break, this volunteer citizen group is back in session. Local police leadership is there for crime-trend updates and citizen Q/A, so if you have concerns or questions, this is your best chance each month to get them answered directly. 7 pm, Southwest Precinct meeting room, right off the parking lot along Webster west of Delridge Way SW.
CHIEF SEALTH INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL PTSA: The PTA/PTSA meetings for the new school year are under way, and tonight, Chief Sealth’s PTSA kicks off its year, 7 pm in the school library; details in the calendar listing.
NIGHTLIFE: Alauda belly-dancing showcase at 7:30, followed by Baby Ketten Karaoke at 9, at Skylark Café and Club … Open-mike night at The Cask in the Admiral District, 8 pm … Trivia That Rocks at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 8 pm …
More on the calendar!
Questions about RapidRide and/or route restructuring, all of which kick in on September 29, just one week from Saturday? Metro is one of the participants scheduled for a Transportation Fair at Greenbridge, 2-4 pm tomorrow, in the Wiley Community Center, 9800 8th SW (just south of Roxbury). Other groups and agencies will be there too, with information about a wide range of transportation options; they’re listed on this flyer.
The Junction is a popular place for wedding photos these days! West Seattleites Chris and Mariko Raynor are announcing their marriage after returning from their long honeymoon in Thailand. Chris is a remodeler and Mariko is a paralegal. Chris says their wedding July 21st was at a chapel in Kent, with the officiant from West Seattle’s Our Lady of Guadalupe, Father Jack Walmesley. Congratulations to the newlyweds!
Thanks to JayDee for sharing tonight’s sunset view from Upper Alki. (For beach-level views, check out WSB’ers Debra and April, who have launched the Facebook page Alki Beach Daily Sunsets.) There still isn’t even a hint of rain in the forecast, according to what the National Weather Service is projecting for the next week. Wildlife-care tip: Be sure to keep water in the bird baths, or even set up makeshift ones (past years’ Christmas-tree stands on our back patio have been popular with the birds).
7:37 PM: The police search that is under way in Sunrise Heights right now started with a “routine traffic stop,” we’ve learned at the scene. Police say they were trying to pull over a driver for something “routine” when the driver took off and headed east, then got out of the car at some point and ran. They don’t know why but they’re trying to find him; the search includes a greenbelt area stretching down the hillside off SW Othello. A K-9 team is involved in the search.
7:51 PM: The search is also covering greenbelt area southeast of High Point, stretching down toward Home Depot, as a commenter notes.
If you drive 99 between West Seattle and downtown, you probably noticed (as did commenter Robert) that while the new northbound stretch through SODO is open, the southbound side is still two lanes. Not for long, says WSDOT spokesperson Travis Phelps. He says, “We will start pulling back the barrier tonight when the southbound viaduct is closed. We hope to be done by Wednesday.”
(Thursday photo courtesy Benjamin Blain)
The proposed Seattle Parks purchase of the commercial site north of Morgan Junction Park (reported here last week) is on this Thursday’s City Council Parks and Neighborhoods Committee agenda. Last Thursday night, the Morgan Community Association invited community members to come see and discuss the site (above) with Parks reps; this Thursday, Parks Superintendent Christopher Williams will brief committee members on where the deal stands. The agenda includes a proposed ordinance that would authorize the city to acquire the site via condemnation – “eminent domain” – which seemed a little drastic, so we checked today with Parks’ Chip Nevins to get an explanation. He says the ordinance “was written several months ago when negotiations were not going as well as they are now. We always expect that we can negotiate a successful acquisition, but condemnation authority shows the landowner that we are serious, provides us with some more negotiating tools and also provides some tax advantages to the seller.” He says that while there have been past cases of the council authorizing this process for Parks’ use, they’ve never had to deploy it. The Morgan Junction site (6311 California SW) is still on the open market for $2 million, as it was when we first mentioned it back in June.
Next Monday, the new school year starts at South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) on Puget Ridge. Today, they’re celebrating receiving the “military-friendly school” designation again:
South Seattle Community College has been designated by G.I. Jobs magazine as a “Military Friendly School” for 2012 – 2013, the third year in a row.
G.I. Jobs polled more than 7,000 schools across the country to compile its “2013 Guide to Military Friendly Schools.” Criteria for making the list included efforts to recruit and retain military and veteran students, results in recruiting military and veteran students, and academic accreditations. The recognition honors the country’s colleges and universities for their work in welcoming military veterans and enhancing their student experience.
The honor ranks South in the top 15 percent of all colleges, universities and trade schools nationwide that are doing the most to embrace those who have served their country.
South was noted a good choice because of the college’s experienced staff and personal commitment to ensure that each and every veteran that comes to South has all the means necessary to complete his or her academic goals.
Here’s more info about SSCC’s Veterans Affairs department.
(Click image for PDF with larger view)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
On September 27th – one week from Thursday – the Southwest Design Review Board gets its first look at the mixed-use megaproject (we haven’t used that term in a while, but this one seems to merit it) proposed for 4755 Fauntleroy Way SW.
As noted in our September 7th report on the project – which first came to light in July – it would span not only the ex-Huling Chevrolet site at that address but also, fronting Alaska, the block from Fauntleroy to 40th, now holding a gas station, funeral home, and ex-used car lot.
By the end of this week, the “packet” with visuals for the meeting should be available online. Over the weekend, the project team went public with three sketches that envision the streetscape in the spots where they are looking at mid-block connectors, aka passthroughs Above, a possible Fauntleroy view looking into the “connector” – next, a possible view from 40th SW on the other side.
(Click image for PDF with larger view)
The project team say they are envisioning the 40th SW side overall as more of a “green street.” Here’s their concept of a potential street-level view:
(Click image for PDF with larger view)
The project site does NOT include the Alki Masonic Lodge, though its Fauntleroy side would be immediately east of that. Right now, the project – which does not have a working title as of last check – is envisioned at six floors, more than 350 apartments, and around 55,000 square feet of retail, over more than 530 parking spaces. While no retailers have been named yet, the project team confirms they’re in “advanced” talks with an unnamed grocer for about two-thirds of the space.
The September 27th Design Review Board meeting is set for 6:30 pm at what’s become the board’s usual venue in West Seattle, the Senior Center (California/Oregon). Public comment is welcome; if you’ve never been to a DRB meeting before, here’s the city’s guide outlining the process.
P.S. For one more layer of public process, an alley vacation – which triggers a different review process that includes the city Design Commission and City Council – would be involved in the plan, too.
We usually only report on judges when they preside over high-profile trials or sentencings – but their work includes much more. If you’d like to hear from a judge firsthand outside court, the Rotary Club of West Seattle invites you to lunch tomorrow, with featured speaker King County Superior Court Judge Mary Yu. She has been on the bench for a dozen years, serving in the court’s civil-, criminal-, and family-law departments, and shared the Washington State Bar Association’s Judge of the Year award in 2011. (Our most recent coverage of Judge Yu’s work was at a murder sentencing in April.) The Rotary meets at noon Tuesdays at Salty’s on Alki (WSB sponsor).
(Photo by Guy Smith, taken last week near Alki Point)
Happy Monday! From the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar – what you need to know about the day/night ahead:
TRAFFIC ALERTS TODAY/TONIGHT: Those who use Highway 99 to head downtown and beyond are driving on the new northbound stretch this morning (it opened Saturday night, earlier than projected). Then tonight, there is another southbound 99 closure – WSDOT is still working on reinforcing a section of remaining Alaskan Way Viaduct that’s over the future tunnel-boring zone – 9 pm tonight to 5 am Tuesday.
AFTERNOON BOOK GROUP: The Southwest Library welcomes you to the group discussing “The Deptford Trilogy” this month, meeting at 2 pm today at the branch (35th/Henderson).
IRISH DANCE: New class sessions (including Mondays) are under way this month at the VFW Hall in The Triangle – find out more here.
WINTER GARDENING, WITH SUSTAINABLE WEST SEATTLE: 6-8 pm at the South Seattle Community College Arboretum, you can get ready for fall/winter food growing by attending SWS’s monthly Community Forum – full details on the SWS website.
DELRIDGE PRODUCE COOPERATIVE: Everyone’s invited to DPC’s general meeting at 6:30 pm tonight, Delridge Library (Brandon/Delridge). The agenda includes a variety of topics from involvement with the upcoming West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival, to a future fundraising dinner/auction, to a market-research survey.
NIGHTLIFE: Pub quiz night at Shadowland, 8 pm … Flat Earth Society at West 5 features Matt Lukin spinning tonight (Melvins/Mudhoney alum), 9 pm … that’s also when Karaoke Kelli presides at the Benbow Room …
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